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

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

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Speaker 1: noon and five pm Eastern on Apple Coarclay and Android

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

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

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Speaker 2: Thank you for joining us on this day after the

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Speaker 2: first day of the year, January second. I'm Joe Matthew,

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Speaker 2: and Washington as the nation's capital, steers its attention here

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Speaker 2: to these two terror attacks we have just been hearing about,

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Speaker 2: and we just did get an update from the FBI's

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Speaker 2: Deputy Assistant Director of its Counter Terrorm Division, that's Christopher Rea.

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Speaker 2: You were just hearing from who says this was an

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Speaker 2: act of terrorism point blank, and an individual here, shamsu

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Speaker 2: Din Jabbar, who was quote one hundred percent inspired by

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Speaker 2: isis unquote. The most surprising element to come from this

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Speaker 2: news conference, which really answered one of the biggest questions

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Speaker 2: that we had going into it, is they now believe

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Speaker 2: Jabbar acted alone. Reya says, quote, we do not assess

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Speaker 2: at this point anyone else is involved in this attack

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Speaker 2: except for shamsu Din Jabbar. Now of course, we also

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Speaker 2: had the investigation in Las Vegas. They did take some

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Speaker 2: questions on that, answering another one of the major questions

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Speaker 2: we've been asking over the past twenty four hours. Knowing,

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Speaker 2: of course, there's an FBI investigation in Las Vegas where

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Speaker 2: the cyber truck exploded in front of the Trump International Hotel. Quote,

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Speaker 2: we are following up on all potential leads and ruling

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Speaker 2: nothing out. However, at this point, there is no definitive

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Speaker 2: link between the attack and New Orleans and the one

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Speaker 2: in Las Vegas. Another quote from the FBI today, and

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Speaker 2: what was a very newsy briefing here, knowing that the

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Speaker 2: IEDs we've learned now that were planted in the French Quarter.

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Speaker 2: In fact, we're done so after midnight and a couple

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Speaker 2: of hours before that attack that took place just after

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Speaker 2: a three amis on New Year's morning. We heard from

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Speaker 2: the mayor of New Orleans as well, LaToya Cantrell, who

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Speaker 2: made clear that they have cleared Bourbon Street. The city

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Speaker 2: is back in possession of Bourbon Street with a plea

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Speaker 2: for additional resources. They did clean Bourbon Street starting at

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Speaker 2: two am, and they are now getting back to what

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Speaker 2: is going to be an important day in New Orleans,

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Speaker 2: of course, with the Sugar Bowl set for four pm

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Speaker 2: Eastern time, the Mayor of New Orleans saying, quote, not

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Speaker 2: only are we ready for game day, but we're ready

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Speaker 2: to host large scale events in our city. We heard

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Speaker 2: from Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry as well, as they try

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Speaker 2: to put a real show of force here in front

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Speaker 2: of this story and transparency to their credit with what

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Speaker 2: we know and what we don't know. And I want

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Speaker 2: to remind everybody that some of these details can change.

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Speaker 2: We've already seen that, remembering that frequently the first round

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Speaker 2: of reporting is not always true. We had a lot

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Speaker 2: of different things that we heard about now beginning to

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Speaker 2: clarify some of them here on Balance of Power. Welcome

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Speaker 2: to the Thursday edition. I know it feels like a

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Speaker 2: Monday for many of you, but it is Thursday here

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Speaker 2: and we've got a lot to talk about this day

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Speaker 2: before the new Congress begins and some major national security

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Speaker 2: events that are about to take hold here in Washington,

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Speaker 2: d C. That's why connecting the dots on these two

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Speaker 2: stories would have been very important if authorities had the

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Speaker 2: ability to do that. And we want to start our

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Speaker 2: conversation today with Michael Sheppard, of course, joining us here

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Speaker 2: in Washington as Bloomberg Senior editor for Technology and Strategic Studies.

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Speaker 2: We wanted to talk with Michael though, because he's been

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Speaker 2: covering politics and national security in Washington here for many years,

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Speaker 2: and there are a lot of stories that cross over. Michael.

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Speaker 2: It's great to see you, and I appreciate your coming in.

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Speaker 2: Happy New Year for starters. This was a terrible way

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Speaker 2: for the year to begin for a lot of Americans,

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Speaker 2: looking at scenes of terror from New Orleans, from Las Vegas,

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Speaker 2: but to hear from the authorities today somewhat reassuring to believe,

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Speaker 2: at least so far, that they are not connected.

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Speaker 3: Settling, especially as Americans look to, you know, since the pandemic,

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Speaker 3: really be able to revel once again in these large

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Speaker 3: scale events, going to a ballgame, celebrating New Year's Eve

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Speaker 3: with friends in New Orleans, and attending major political events

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Speaker 3: like we're about to host here in Washington, including the

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Speaker 3: pre inaugural event that Donald Trump intends to host at

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Speaker 3: Capital One Arena just around the corner from our offices here,

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Speaker 3: and of course the inauguration on January twentieth. But even

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Speaker 3: before that tomorrow we have a new Congress being seated

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Speaker 3: and a speaker election, and then on January sixth, remember

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Speaker 3: that date, they will be certifying the twenty four election results.

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Speaker 3: So people have in their memory, in their sense of

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Speaker 3: things that can go wrong, and it is something that

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Speaker 3: they are concerned about. And this is what law enforcement

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Speaker 3: and public safety authorities and political authorities, including the governor

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Speaker 3: of Louisiana and the mayor of New Orleans are trying

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Speaker 3: to express. This confidence and also this sense that they

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Speaker 3: want to get back on their feet quickly.

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Speaker 2: There were a lot of concerns, not only seeing a

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Speaker 2: cyber truck, but also the location of Trump International, that

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Speaker 2: there might have been some timing here to coincide with

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Speaker 2: the incoming president here or reaction to the election of

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Speaker 2: some sort. But we have to remind ourselves that these

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Speaker 2: just could be two deranged people that's, according to the FBI,

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Speaker 2: had nothing to do with one another.

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Speaker 3: And yeah, the FBI was quick to say that they

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Speaker 3: see no immediate connection between these two events. As terrible

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Speaker 3: as they were, we know quite a bit less about

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Speaker 3: what took place in Las Vegas based on what we've

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Speaker 3: heard from authority so far, so we will have to

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Speaker 3: see what more they can tell us about the nature

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Speaker 3: of the explosion of this cyber truck, the fact that

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Speaker 3: it was a vehicle produced by one of Elon Musk's

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Speaker 3: companies at a hotel I'll owned by Donald Trump. In essence,

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Speaker 3: it really does raise a lot of questions. And must

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Speaker 3: himself further those questions by suggesting yesterday on X that

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Speaker 3: there could be a link between these two events and

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Speaker 3: also suggesting that it was a bomb and not the

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Speaker 3: vehicle itself that may have caused the explosion.

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Speaker 4: So we don't but we don't really know.

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Speaker 3: We don't have a definitive assessment from authorities about what

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Speaker 3: took place.

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Speaker 2: What do you make of the reaction we're hearing by

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Speaker 2: this an interesting scenario, and we've got an outgoing president

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Speaker 2: and a president elect, both almost carrying equal weight when

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Speaker 2: it comes to commenting on a story like this. We

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Speaker 2: should let our audience know. By the way, about ten

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Speaker 2: minutes from now, Joe Biden is expected with his national

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Speaker 2: security team to sit down in the situation room for

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Speaker 2: a briefing on this. But a lot of people are

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Speaker 2: looking at the reaction from Donald Trump, and while we

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Speaker 2: heard from Joe Biden, yesterday actually went on national television.

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Speaker 2: Trump took to truth social and started to blame the

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Speaker 2: border to sort of prove some of hiss and a

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Speaker 2: number of his correct Yes they did. Let's talk about

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Speaker 2: what he said when I said the criminals coming in

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Speaker 2: are far worse than the criminals we have in our country.

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Speaker 2: That statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the fake

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Speaker 2: news media, but it turned out to be true. Of course,

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Speaker 2: it's false, Michael, this is an American who served in

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Speaker 2: the military.

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Speaker 3: An American who served in the military and served in

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Speaker 3: the military for a number of years. He was somebody

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Speaker 3: who apparently held a good paying job, lived in Houston,

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Speaker 3: and is somebody you wouldn't necessarily connect to an event

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Speaker 3: like this in the way that.

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Speaker 4: Donald Trump was trying to do.

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Speaker 3: The Republican Party has tried to make the border security

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Speaker 3: question one wrapped around national security two in terms of

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Speaker 3: terrorism by suggesting that the people who perpetrate these kinds

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Speaker 3: of attacks with fealty or association with foreign extremist movements,

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Speaker 3: that they have some now crept over the border into

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Speaker 3: the US through some surreptitious means, when in this case

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Speaker 3: we saw that not to be the case. And the

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Speaker 3: President elect was commenting well before anybody in the investigation

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Speaker 3: I've been able to comment or offer any kind of clarification.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I wanted to say the crime rate in our

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Speaker 2: country is at a level that no one has ever

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Speaker 2: seen before, which is also not factual. It brings us

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Speaker 2: back a little bit to the tweet storms that we

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Speaker 2: used to see in the first administration. What does it

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Speaker 2: make you think, is you covered that White House, Michael,

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Speaker 2: You helped our bureau edit coverage from that White House,

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Speaker 2: and we're about to do it again.

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Speaker 3: Well, we remember it all well, And there was a

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Speaker 3: question about Trump as he was being elected. We all

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Speaker 3: talked about it that night, and I think we were

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Speaker 3: discussing it, you and me election night and in the

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Speaker 3: days after.

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Speaker 4: Will we see a different Donald Trump?

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Speaker 3: Will we see Trump two point zero that will be

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Speaker 3: a little bit more restrained, a little bit more serene

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Speaker 3: or above doing that kind of I guess, incendiary or

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Speaker 3: provocative kind of challenge and communication to the world.

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Speaker 4: But we're seeing already.

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Speaker 3: Via truth social via his posts, that he is not

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Speaker 3: holding back anything.

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Speaker 2: Rare in to go here on a day like this

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Speaker 2: with a lot of misinformation.

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

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

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Speaker 1: flagship New York station. Just say Alexa play Bloomberg eleven thirty.

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Speaker 2: If you're just joining us here on Bloomberg, we welcome

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Speaker 2: you with some updates on the situation in New Orleans

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Speaker 2: from the FBI and from officials in the city. We

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Speaker 2: just heard from and brought you a briefing live here.

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Speaker 2: The FBI is calling this an act of terrorism, but

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Speaker 2: also making clear that shamsu Din Jabbar, as far as

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Speaker 2: they know now, was not linked to the attack New

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Speaker 2: Orleans and in fact acted alone. We are going to

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Speaker 2: get further updates here, knowing that some of these details

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Speaker 2: can evolve. We heard a little bit earlier as well.

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Speaker 2: Who do we have here, guys from that briefing. This

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Speaker 2: is Christopher Rea again speaking for the FBI, who is

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Speaker 2: Deputy Assistant Director for the FBI's Counter Terrorism Division. A

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Speaker 2: short time ago in New Orleans. Let's listen.

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Speaker 5: There's also an FBI investigation in Las Vegas. We are

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Speaker 5: following up on all potential leads and not ruling everything out. However,

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Speaker 5: at this point there is no definitive link between the

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Speaker 5: attack here in New Orleans and the one in Las Vegas.

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Speaker 2: Michael, I want to talk to you about journalism for

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Speaker 2: a moment. This is your profession while you talk with

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Speaker 2: authority about a lot of different things. I want to

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Speaker 2: go back to something that I mentioned earlier, because you

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Speaker 2: remember how frequently the first draft of history is wrong.

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Speaker 2: Speak to us about the process of going through how

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Speaker 2: little we still know at this point when you're crafting

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Speaker 2: a story and the governor that you have to put

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Speaker 2: on your own inclinations to cover what you're hearing.

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Speaker 3: We all remember the name Richard Jewell, and we remember

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Speaker 3: the story about nineteen ninety six and the bombing at

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Speaker 3: Sentenagal Park during the Atlanta Olympics, and how very quickly

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Speaker 3: law enforcement authorities were putting blame on this man who

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Speaker 3: actually was turned out a hero and trying to save

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Speaker 3: lives and get people away from the scene, and how

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Speaker 3: it up ended his life. It ended up being completely wrong,

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Speaker 3: and there was somebody else, a domestic terrorist. We should

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Speaker 3: note Eric Rudolph, who was later blamed for it and

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Speaker 3: so we can see that the first draft of history

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Speaker 3: is quite rough, and that is one of the risks

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Speaker 3: that we run and reporting on this. We have to

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Speaker 3: make sure that we're attributing it, that we're gut checking it,

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Speaker 3: and we're not just going through the motions of putting

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Speaker 3: out there anything that we.

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Speaker 4: Hearing from authorities. It's important for.

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Speaker 3: Us to say with authority and clarity ourselves that it's early,

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Speaker 3: there's still a lot of things we don't know, and

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Speaker 3: also emphasize what it is that we don't know as well.

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Speaker 2: So we're bringing into the newsroom now these are literally

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Speaker 2: the conversations that we have in This is why you

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Speaker 2: can trust Bloomberg knowing that this is our approach here.

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Speaker 2: We just knocked down another bit of misinformation. That was

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Speaker 2: the idea that this man in New Orleans, Jabbar, was

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Speaker 2: wearing a suicide vest. The FBI wanted to be very deliberate,

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Speaker 2: was very deliberate and knocking that down.

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Speaker 3: Yes, they were deliberate and knocking that down and also

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Speaker 3: debunking the number of improvised explosive devices that had been found.

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Speaker 3: There were reports circulating in the hours after the three

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Speaker 3: point fifteen am New Year's Day attack, that there may

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Speaker 3: have been several devices, but the FBI was quick to

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Speaker 3: say that there were only two found in the vicinity

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Speaker 3: of the scene. Ill scouring the area and the larger

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Speaker 3: city of New Orleans, of course, ahead of the Sugar

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Speaker 3: Bowl this afternoon, but they wanted to make clear that

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Speaker 3: this was not as wide scale or coordinated as they

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Speaker 3: had initially feared.

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Speaker 4: Yesterday.

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Speaker 2: I mentioned earlier, Michael, that we heard from Joe Biden.

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Speaker 2: He spoke in the second half of the day yesterday.

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Speaker 2: Let's listen to the president.

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Speaker 6: We're tracking the explosion of a cyber truck outside the

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Speaker 6: Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. Law enforcement and the intelligence

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Speaker 6: community are investigating this as well, including whether there's any

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Speaker 6: possible connection, but the attack in New Orleans. Thus far,

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Speaker 6: there's nothing to report on that score at this time.

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Speaker 6: While this person committed a terrible assault on the city,

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Speaker 6: the spirit of our New Orleans will never, never, never

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Speaker 6: be defeated.

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Speaker 2: I'm sure Joe Biden didn't think he'd be spending his

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Speaker 2: New Year's Day talking about this as they wind things

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Speaker 2: down at the White House. Where's the line when this

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Speaker 2: becomes an event that draws the president to that level

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Speaker 2: where he needs to go before the cameras to try

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Speaker 2: to get the confidence and trust of the American people

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Speaker 2: in at a time of uncertainty like this.

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Speaker 3: Well, this is one of those moments where being presidential

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Speaker 3: and acting presidential is so key because the public is

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Speaker 3: looking for that reassurance. Now what rises to that level.

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Speaker 3: There are certain moments that are unforgettable. We remember Sandy

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Speaker 3: Hook and how that shook the nation to its very

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Speaker 3: core and how them President Barack Obama reacted and his

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Speaker 3: public display of emotion sharing what the nation felt in

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Speaker 3: the moment. And there are other episodes when it's critical

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Speaker 3: for the president to really try to bring the nation

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Speaker 3: together and offer that sense of security. And it's not

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Speaker 3: just the president, of course, as we saw the governor

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Speaker 3: of Louisiana Jeff Landry, the mayor of New Orleans doing

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Speaker 3: the same thing, But for the president, it is an

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Speaker 3: essential function where the president really provides that sense of reassurance,

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Speaker 3: that sense of confidence, that sense we have things under control.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's something that only a president is capable of doing,

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Speaker 2: and it reminds us of how impossible it is to

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Speaker 2: prepare for moments like these. You simply have to be

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Speaker 2: in the job Michael, we're talking about not only the

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Speaker 2: Sugar Bowl later today, but a Super Bowl in the

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Speaker 2: super Dome. We're talking about a presidential inauguration here, we're

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Speaker 2: talking about January sixth. Do you already put your fingers

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Speaker 2: on some of these massive national security events? How does

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Speaker 2: all of this change them?

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Speaker 3: Well, it will further heighten the awareness and the alert level.

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Speaker 3: But you and I both know that the alert level

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Speaker 3: here in DC, even during normal time high.

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Speaker 4: It really couldn't be higher.

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Speaker 3: And yet they do have to be on their toes

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Speaker 3: in a way that they think, hey, we have to

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Speaker 3: take it up even further. We remember, going all the

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Speaker 3: way back to nineteen ninety five, that was a time

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Speaker 3: when you could drive on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of

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Speaker 3: the White House. That area has steadily been cordoned off

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Speaker 3: and blocked off, and now you really can't even cross it.

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Speaker 3: And the amount of security around the US Capital too,

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Speaker 3: has been heightened to a great degree, not only because

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Speaker 3: of nine to eleven, not only because of January sixth,

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Speaker 3: but if you go all the way back to the

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Speaker 3: time when a deranged gunman first into the Capitol and

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Speaker 3: shot several people, including a Capitol police officer, this is

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Speaker 3: you know, these are the kinds of events that authorities

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Speaker 3: are having to brace for in a way that you know,

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Speaker 3: it makes Americans uncomfortable. We like to think we would

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Speaker 3: have access to these places, but you know, we live

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Speaker 3: in a free and open society. But the security needs

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Speaker 3: are really overwhelming us, the people and the officials who

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Speaker 3: have to maintain those barriers.

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Speaker 2: Michael Shepherds were helping us bring back a lot of memories,

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Speaker 2: a lot of tough ones in this case. I was

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Speaker 2: in Washington on the day of the Oldenahoma City bombing

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Speaker 2: when they shut down Pennsylvania Avenue. It never reopened. That

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Speaker 2: wasn't the plan that day, You're right, but it never reopened.

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Speaker 2: And I wonder if that's going to be the story

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Speaker 2: for Bourbon Street. I know that it's back in the

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Speaker 2: possession of the city. They cleaned things up this morning,

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Speaker 2: but why shouldn't that be a pedestrian only way.

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Speaker 3: Well, and this would really further calls for that. They

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Speaker 3: planned to put in some heightened security, some additional ballards

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Speaker 3: to block vehicular traffic. That hasn't been carried out yet.

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Speaker 3: We'll probably see that accelerated at some point in the

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Speaker 3: wake of all this, and other cities will have to

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Speaker 3: investigate whether to do this in other heavily traffic pedestrian

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Speaker 3: byways too, Do they need to close some of those

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Speaker 3: off as well to vehicular traffic for these same reasons?

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Speaker 3: And you know there are other aesthetic and urban planning

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Speaker 3: reasons as well, where maybe you don't want cars on

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Speaker 3: that street so people can enjoy it too.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, the ballards are coming, and boy, you wonder if

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Speaker 2: that has an echo effect in other cities with congested

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Speaker 2: pedestrian heavy areas like this. They were closing down Newbury

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Speaker 2: Street in Boston just for shopping days because it's so

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Speaker 2: difficult to get around. New York has its version of it.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and Broadway in times where have long since been

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Speaker 3: closed to vehicular traffic, giving pedestrians much much greater leeway

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Speaker 3: to move around and enjoy the area. But it also

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Speaker 3: does provide a measure of security for them too.

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Speaker 2: We have fourteen souls who were lost in New Orleans.

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Speaker 2: That number fifteen you may have just heard by the

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Speaker 2: way from authorities, does include the driver, does include jabbar.

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Speaker 2: There are going to be funerals, tributes, remembrances. Will the

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Speaker 2: president be part of them?

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Speaker 3: That's a good question, and it's unclear what those plans are.

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Speaker 4: We are as authorities were.

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Speaker 3: Quick to remind us during that news conference today only

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Speaker 3: twenty four hours removed from the event itself, so the

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Speaker 3: plans are still taking place, and the President will have

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Speaker 3: a busy schedule too, because speaking of funerals, we also

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Speaker 3: have the state's funeral schedule for Jimmy Carter on January ninth,

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Speaker 3: and he is expected to give a eulogy there. So

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Speaker 3: this is a real moment for the nation in terms

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Speaker 3: of reflection and mourning and an appreciation of course for

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Speaker 3: Jimmy Carter as well.

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Speaker 2: Of course, it's a sobering moment and one that we

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Speaker 2: like to think Washington is ready for. But if there's

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Speaker 2: anyone we could have spend time with today to help

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Speaker 2: us make sense of this, it was Michael Sheppard and

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Speaker 2: Michael I thank you so much for the time here

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Speaker 2: reporting for Bloomberg in Washington, DC.

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

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

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Speaker 1: and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app. Listen on

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Speaker 1: demand wherever you get your podcasts. Or watch us live

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Speaker 1: on YouTube.

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Speaker 2: The confirmation hearings, and there's a lot of crossover here

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Speaker 2: with what we're talking about. The events in New Orleans

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Speaker 2: and Las Vegas has prompted John Thune himself, the incoming

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Speaker 2: Majority leader, to call for a hastening or an advance

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Speaker 2: in the schedule for these confirmation hearing so the national

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Speaker 2: security team specifically can be put together in time for

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Speaker 2: the inauguration. It's unclear if that's possible. And that's where

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Speaker 2: we start our conversation with Laura Davison, who directs our

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Speaker 2: political coverage here in Washington, d C at Bloomberg. Happy

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Speaker 2: New Year, Laura, it's great to see you. Is that

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Speaker 2: something that will come from the events of the last

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Speaker 2: twenty four hours and an accelerated confirmation schedule for Donald

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Speaker 2: Trump's team.

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Speaker 7: You'll certainly see pushing for that. You know, we saw

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Speaker 7: Stephen Miller sort of in the aftermath of all of

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Speaker 7: this saying, look, this really just makes the case that,

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Speaker 7: you know, we need to get all of these national

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Speaker 7: security folks confirmed as soon as possible. You know, there's

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Speaker 7: already some of these top administration officials. Pete Hegseth, you know,

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Speaker 7: he already has his hearing confirmation hearing in the Senate

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Speaker 7: for January thirteenth, so you're starting to see those get scheduled. However,

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Speaker 7: there's already sort of a pushback from Democrats saying, look,

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Speaker 7: we're going to move methodically, We're not going to hasten

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Speaker 7: things just because of the events of recent days.

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Speaker 8: Well, and there's also a question as to whether some

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Speaker 8: of the pushback against these nominees, like Tulsi Gabbard, for example,

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Speaker 8: who's faced a lot of scrutiny over her relationship with

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Speaker 8: the now abst to dictator in Syria, Basher al Assade,

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Speaker 8: if the scrutiny actually gets more intense, if there is

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Speaker 8: concern about a resurgence of some of these terrorist groups

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Speaker 8: or those affiliated them or pledging allegiance to them, as

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Speaker 8: the FBI said, the Vegas the rather the New Orleans

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Speaker 8: attacker specifically was inspired.

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Speaker 7: By isis this is going to be really interesting. Lawmakers

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Speaker 7: are going to come back into town, you know, today,

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Speaker 7: later tomorrow, and they've had you know, basically two weeks

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Speaker 7: when they've been away from each other, they haven't been talking,

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Speaker 7: and sort of some of the concerns of you know,

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Speaker 7: sort of twenty twenty four are now old news, and

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Speaker 7: these new things come to light, particularly you know, with

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Speaker 7: the events in Syria in December as well. That Tulsy

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Speaker 7: Gabbert is one of those names that is coming up

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Speaker 7: as someone, you know, who if Republicans are going to say, okay,

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Speaker 7: we're there's one that we're not going to confirm, She's

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Speaker 7: sort of at the top of that list. We'll see

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Speaker 7: kind of how these things shape up going forward. There

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Speaker 7: were at least signs that potentially the New Orleans attacker,

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Speaker 7: the suspect there was inspired by Isis. We'll see how that,

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Speaker 7: you know, moose forward is as investigators continue.

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Speaker 2: Just constantly blown away by how quickly the news cycle

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Speaker 2: and the conversation can change. But I suspect these hearings

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Speaker 2: are going to be difficult one way or the other.

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Speaker 2: Does it make the others more likely, for instance, Pete

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Speaker 2: Hegseth more likely to be confirmed? Will it maybe move

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Speaker 2: up the date for cash Betel's not supposed to have

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Speaker 2: a hearings to the middle of February at this point,

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Speaker 2: it's certainly possible.

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Speaker 7: You know, on the heg Seth front, a lot of

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Speaker 7: Trump's closest allies, you know, they said, look, if he

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Speaker 7: can kind of survive those really raucous two or three

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Speaker 7: weeks he had, he's probably good to go. And that

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Speaker 7: if you didn't have more people coming out saying look,

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Speaker 7: I can't support him, that ultimately people would fall in line.

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Speaker 7: We saw that with Joni ORNs. She didn't say outright

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Speaker 7: she would support him, but she said she would support

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Speaker 7: him through the process, whatever that means specifically. You know,

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Speaker 7: on cash Betel, he's another one who you know, people

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Speaker 7: have raised some concerns about. But the calendar is just

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Speaker 7: going to get really tricky, you know, because the Senate

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Speaker 7: has all these rules and procedures, and there's a lot

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Speaker 7: of stuff they want to do. They want to do

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Speaker 7: an immigration build, as you know in the Senate as

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Speaker 7: one of the first things. The House doesn't necess agree

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Speaker 7: on doing that yet we'll see what whoever the next

438
00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:04,800
Speaker 7: speaker is where they go. But there's just a lot

439
00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:06,280
Speaker 7: of things that Republicans have said they want to do

440
00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:08,399
Speaker 7: on day one, and Day one, like every other day,

441
00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:10,040
Speaker 7: is only twenty four hours and only so much you

442
00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:10,520
Speaker 7: could fit in.

443
00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:12,880
Speaker 8: Well, let's talk about who that next speaker is, because

444
00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:15,400
Speaker 8: obviously Mike Johnson would like to stay in the job.

445
00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:18,120
Speaker 8: Donald Trump has suggested he wants Mike Johnson to stay

446
00:23:18,119 --> 00:23:20,320
Speaker 8: in the job, as does Elon Musk. But we have

447
00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:22,760
Speaker 8: very serious questions as to whether tomorrow, when the new

448
00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:25,679
Speaker 8: Congress convenes, Mike Johnson is going to be able to

449
00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:28,600
Speaker 8: get the votes. How steep? Is this climb a hill

450
00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:30,760
Speaker 8: he has to climb and is there anyone else who

451
00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:32,280
Speaker 8: could climb it if not hit it?

452
00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:34,320
Speaker 7: So he could only lose you know, we'll see who

453
00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:36,600
Speaker 7: actually shows up in the room that you know tomorrow

454
00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:38,320
Speaker 7: to vote. But he could only lose a handful of votes.

455
00:23:38,359 --> 00:23:41,160
Speaker 7: You have Tom Massey's saying no, he won't vote. There's

456
00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:44,480
Speaker 7: not a clear person. If it's not Mike Jensen, Mike Johnson,

457
00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:47,679
Speaker 7: then who you know you floated Chip Roy earlier. You know,

458
00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:49,240
Speaker 7: he has someone who has sort of built a following

459
00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:51,800
Speaker 7: the house, except he also has bad beef with Donald Trump.

460
00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:53,840
Speaker 7: They go back and he's supported DeSantis in the primary,

461
00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:56,080
Speaker 7: and Trump is unlikely to come out and support him.

462
00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:58,560
Speaker 7: You know, Jim Jordan's name has always come up during

463
00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:01,600
Speaker 7: these discussions, but it's not clear. You know, Steve Scalice

464
00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:03,360
Speaker 7: also he ran last time. You know, he has had

465
00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:04,800
Speaker 7: some of his own health issues, that he does have

466
00:24:04,840 --> 00:24:07,800
Speaker 7: broad support within the conference. It's possible that we go

467
00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:09,800
Speaker 7: through several rounds of voting, two or three or four

468
00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:12,119
Speaker 7: rounds of voting for some protest votes that have the

469
00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:18,600
Speaker 7: Republicans get out of their system, and then ultimately exactly so,

470
00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:20,920
Speaker 7: this is going to be, you know, a real tense moment.

471
00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:23,600
Speaker 7: It's possible he sails through and then that that particular

472
00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:25,960
Speaker 7: drama is behind us. But his job is still on

473
00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:27,959
Speaker 7: the line no matter what happens. You know, you all

474
00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:29,880
Speaker 7: you have to do is make a couple of Republicans

475
00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:30,520
Speaker 7: mad and he could be.

476
00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:30,920
Speaker 2: Out of a job.

477
00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:33,520
Speaker 8: Narrowest majority we've seen in what almost a.

478
00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:36,200
Speaker 2: Century, Majority one is what we're on track.

479
00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:38,560
Speaker 8: It can be easy for him. Bloomberg's Laura Davison, our

480
00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:41,400
Speaker 8: politics editor here in Washington, thank you so much. Now,

481
00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:44,840
Speaker 8: we are just learning from authorities in Las Vegas related to,

482
00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:47,640
Speaker 8: of course, the cyber truck explosion that happened there, that

483
00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:50,560
Speaker 8: the Las Vegas Police Department will be holding a briefing

484
00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:53,360
Speaker 8: less than an hour from now at two pm Eastern time,

485
00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:56,840
Speaker 8: pertaining of course to that incident, which authorities did tell

486
00:24:56,920 --> 00:25:01,240
Speaker 8: us earlier today, they do not believe is necessary directly related,

487
00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:03,879
Speaker 8: at least they can't say so definitively to the attack

488
00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:06,639
Speaker 8: that happened in New Orleans in the early hours of

489
00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:07,160
Speaker 8: New York State.

490
00:25:07,359 --> 00:25:10,439
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's for sure. This also was a deadly event.

491
00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:13,439
Speaker 2: As we learn more about the driver and the source

492
00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:16,879
Speaker 2: that both of these vehicles came from, that same touro service,

493
00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:19,439
Speaker 2: that had a lot of folks attempting to connect the dots,

494
00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:21,560
Speaker 2: but as of now we don't have the ability to

495
00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:23,880
Speaker 2: do that. No definitive link according to the FBI.

496
00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:26,520
Speaker 8: No definitive link. But what the FBI did say definitively

497
00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:29,639
Speaker 8: was that the events that took place in New Orleans,

498
00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:33,240
Speaker 8: an attack that killed fourteen people plus the suspected perpetrator,

499
00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:34,679
Speaker 8: was terrorism.

500
00:25:35,119 --> 00:25:38,119
Speaker 5: Let me be very clear about this point. This was

501
00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:43,000
Speaker 5: an act of terrorism. It was premeditated and an evil act.

502
00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:48,680
Speaker 5: This was obviously a critical incident, and with that, lots

503
00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:51,960
Speaker 5: of information and tips come pouring in from law enforcement,

504
00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:54,360
Speaker 5: first responders, and the public.

505
00:25:56,520 --> 00:25:59,280
Speaker 8: We want to get more reaction now to these events

506
00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:01,159
Speaker 8: and what they mean. Turned to Jane Harmon, who was

507
00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:04,120
Speaker 8: chair of the Commission on the National Defense Strategy also

508
00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:08,320
Speaker 8: former congresswoman from California and author of Insanity Defense. Why

509
00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:11,800
Speaker 8: our failure to confront hard national security problems makes us

510
00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:15,000
Speaker 8: less safe? Jane, thank you so much for being with

511
00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:17,640
Speaker 8: us here on Bloomberg TV and Radio. As we consider

512
00:26:17,720 --> 00:26:22,320
Speaker 8: the FBI's characterization of this individual, Jabbar specifically as someone

513
00:26:22,359 --> 00:26:24,879
Speaker 8: who at this time they believe was a lone wolf

514
00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:27,720
Speaker 8: inspired by ISIS, it raises the question of how the

515
00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:32,439
Speaker 8: US can better combat radicalize lone wolf terrorists like this.

516
00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:38,200
Speaker 9: Well, this continues to be a very hard challenge. Soft

517
00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:41,800
Speaker 9: targets like three am in Las Vegas, when the ballards

518
00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:45,120
Speaker 9: are down in New Orleans, when the ballads are down

519
00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:48,760
Speaker 9: or Las Vegas are hard to protect totally. I mean

520
00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:52,240
Speaker 9: New Orleans has to do a better job yesterday. But

521
00:26:53,119 --> 00:26:56,600
Speaker 9: it is interesting that both attacks occurred right around the

522
00:26:56,640 --> 00:27:02,000
Speaker 9: New Year, and the local authorities have said there's no connection.

523
00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:05,159
Speaker 9: But I would just offer the fact that there are

524
00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:08,280
Speaker 9: copycats and there could be more, and I hope we

525
00:27:08,359 --> 00:27:11,359
Speaker 9: don't have a failure of imagination here. It seems to

526
00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:15,000
Speaker 9: me there would be motivation by ISIS because of how

527
00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:17,560
Speaker 9: Syria has gone, and we have attacked them in Syria.

528
00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:21,320
Speaker 9: We the US to hit more soft targets in the US,

529
00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:23,800
Speaker 9: and let me just point out that they're not targeting

530
00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:28,640
Speaker 9: Democrats or Republicans. They're targeting America. So we better pull

531
00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:31,159
Speaker 9: together a little here as we did after nine to eleven,

532
00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:34,159
Speaker 9: and understand that our country, not just one party, is

533
00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:36,960
Speaker 9: under attack. And that motivates me to say one more thing.

534
00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:41,480
Speaker 9: These people were not illegals coming across the southern border.

535
00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:44,080
Speaker 9: Let's get over this. I'm not saying there isn't a

536
00:27:44,080 --> 00:27:46,800
Speaker 9: border issue, and a bill could have passed months ago

537
00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:49,760
Speaker 9: if Trump hadn't blocked it. But I'm saying that there

538
00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:53,640
Speaker 9: are other threats to America and to our infrastructure from

539
00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:57,560
Speaker 9: many countries and many terror groups, and having a responsible

540
00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:01,200
Speaker 9: group of people in chairs in there at the Pentagon

541
00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:06,080
Speaker 9: and the DNI and all the other senior lawn and

542
00:28:06,200 --> 00:28:10,800
Speaker 9: the FBI law enforcement positions matters well.

543
00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:13,119
Speaker 2: Indeed, the points taken Jane, and we haven't seen a

544
00:28:13,119 --> 00:28:17,280
Speaker 2: correction on that truth social post. But I wonder your

545
00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:20,159
Speaker 2: thoughts on what we heard from the outgoing director of

546
00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:23,320
Speaker 2: the FBI, who has been framed as a sort of

547
00:28:23,359 --> 00:28:26,359
Speaker 2: bad guy by the incoming administration. He's basically been fired

548
00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:29,080
Speaker 2: or forced to resign, but it was Christopher Ray, who

549
00:28:29,119 --> 00:28:32,879
Speaker 2: repeatedly said in congressional testimony last year that the United

550
00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:37,400
Speaker 2: States faced a significant threat from lone wolf terrorists inspired

551
00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:41,160
Speaker 2: by the events in the Middle East specifically, and now

552
00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:44,400
Speaker 2: we have this truck with the ISIS flag and basically

553
00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:47,840
Speaker 2: what the FBI director was warning us was going to happen.

554
00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:49,720
Speaker 2: Does he need to be acknowledged for being right?

555
00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:53,840
Speaker 9: He was right, and he's not the first person to

556
00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:56,360
Speaker 9: say this. We've been talking about this since nine to eleven.

557
00:28:56,640 --> 00:28:58,760
Speaker 9: Right after nine to eleven, I became ranking member on

558
00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:02,440
Speaker 9: the House Intelligence Committe and we talked again, not on

559
00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:05,240
Speaker 9: a partisan basis, about threats to America.

560
00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:06,080
Speaker 2: He is right.

561
00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:09,560
Speaker 9: I'm kind of sorry he's resigning. He has a ten

562
00:29:09,640 --> 00:29:14,480
Speaker 9: year position, and he's now creating a circumstance where possibly

563
00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:18,720
Speaker 9: the Trump appointee or whoever is confirmed for the position,

564
00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:21,600
Speaker 9: may be forced out in less than ten years. The

565
00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:25,720
Speaker 9: whole point of a tenure was to put him beyond

566
00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:28,840
Speaker 9: political whims, sort of like the Supreme Court, but they

567
00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:31,800
Speaker 9: have life tenure. But the point is to make the

568
00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:35,400
Speaker 9: FBI an independent agency, and I worry a lot that

569
00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:36,680
Speaker 9: that could change very quickly.

570
00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:40,560
Speaker 8: Well, you're alluding to Jane. Of course, Cash Mattel, who

571
00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:43,200
Speaker 8: has been nominated to lead the FBI next needs to

572
00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:45,840
Speaker 8: be confirmed, as does Tulci Gabbard, who has been tapped

573
00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:49,280
Speaker 8: to lead or be the Director of National Intelligence. There's

574
00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:52,200
Speaker 8: Pete Hegseth who's been tapped for Defense secretary as well.

575
00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:56,720
Speaker 8: Do these events make all of those confirmations easier to

576
00:29:56,840 --> 00:29:58,320
Speaker 8: achieve in the US Senate?

577
00:30:00,280 --> 00:30:00,680
Speaker 2: Unclear.

578
00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:03,640
Speaker 9: I know that that's what the Trump administration is pushing.

579
00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:06,800
Speaker 9: But if I were a Senator, which I'm not, and

580
00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:13,040
Speaker 9: I wanted to exercise my responsibility to approve these nominees,

581
00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:15,480
Speaker 9: I would want this to go at a reasonable pace,

582
00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:18,480
Speaker 9: not too slow, but not too fast. Putting the wrong

583
00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:21,440
Speaker 9: people in these positions and the Senate has to determine

584
00:30:21,440 --> 00:30:25,480
Speaker 9: if they're wrong really violates the senate responsibility to advise

585
00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:27,760
Speaker 9: and consent. And I would point out that the Senate

586
00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:32,240
Speaker 9: hasn't passed budgets on time since twenty eleven, the year

587
00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:36,000
Speaker 9: I left, kind of interesting, and they haven't done this function,

588
00:30:36,120 --> 00:30:38,240
Speaker 9: or they may not do this function well. And they

589
00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:42,440
Speaker 9: have passed on all opportunities to authorize wars, and we've

590
00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:44,640
Speaker 9: been in a few of them, and you know at

591
00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:47,440
Speaker 9: some point some voters going to say, hey, buddy, what

592
00:30:47,520 --> 00:30:49,840
Speaker 9: are you doing in your job? And I really think

593
00:30:49,880 --> 00:30:52,040
Speaker 9: this is crunch time for the United States Senate. And

594
00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:55,440
Speaker 9: there's some excellent senators in both parties who I hope

595
00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:57,680
Speaker 9: will step up and do whatever they think is the

596
00:30:57,720 --> 00:30:58,400
Speaker 9: right thing here.

597
00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:02,360
Speaker 2: How's Joe Biden doing, Jane in these final weeks of

598
00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:05,280
Speaker 2: his administration? He was before the American people yesterday. I

599
00:31:05,280 --> 00:31:08,240
Speaker 2: suspect you might speak again today or tomorrow after being

600
00:31:08,240 --> 00:31:10,280
Speaker 2: briefed in the situation room on what happened in New

601
00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:13,640
Speaker 2: Orleans and Las Vegas. Should he try to correct some

602
00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:16,360
Speaker 2: of the information that Donald Trump is putting out here?

603
00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:21,080
Speaker 2: What is the role as these two essentially compete for

604
00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:23,640
Speaker 2: attention in the next three weeks.

605
00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:26,480
Speaker 9: Well, Joe Biden has a diminished audience. I think he

606
00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:30,719
Speaker 9: has been pitched perfect. On the Jimmy Carter death and

607
00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:33,560
Speaker 9: planning the funeral. I look forward to attending it myself

608
00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:36,960
Speaker 9: since I was Deputy's Cabinet secretary in the Carter White

609
00:31:36,960 --> 00:31:39,880
Speaker 9: House and have some very fond memories of Carter. And

610
00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:42,960
Speaker 9: one of the things that's heartening is that his four

611
00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:47,440
Speaker 9: years in the White House has been reviewed and reconsidered.

612
00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:50,280
Speaker 9: He didn't do everything right, but he was a moral

613
00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:55,280
Speaker 9: conscience and we surely need one now and Biden gets that. Biden,

614
00:31:55,360 --> 00:31:59,360
Speaker 9: I think endorsed Carter, was the first Senator to endorse

615
00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:01,640
Speaker 9: Carter back to the day, and they were good friends,

616
00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:03,920
Speaker 9: and he stepped up to that. And he does need

617
00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:07,040
Speaker 9: to speak out here if he has an opinion, certainly

618
00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:12,520
Speaker 9: he should. I think this claim that these people crossed

619
00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:17,840
Speaker 9: the border to carry out these attacks, which is totally bogus,

620
00:32:18,040 --> 00:32:18,960
Speaker 9: has to be corrected.

621
00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:23,200
Speaker 2: It's great to have you back, Jane, especially on this day.

622
00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:25,000
Speaker 2: Happy New Year to you, despite the news that we've

623
00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:27,719
Speaker 2: been discussing, and we look forward to another year of

624
00:32:27,760 --> 00:32:30,080
Speaker 2: conversation with Jane Harmon, chair of the Commission on the

625
00:32:30,160 --> 00:32:33,640
Speaker 2: National Defense Strategy, former congresswoman, of course, with a lot

626
00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:36,240
Speaker 2: of questions still to be answered. Kaylee, though the FBI

627
00:32:36,280 --> 00:32:39,520
Speaker 2: has been doing a pretty good job knocking down misinformation,

628
00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:43,160
Speaker 2: ideas of connections that may not exist, and the fact

629
00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:46,000
Speaker 2: that he apparently the attacker in New Orleans was not

630
00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:49,080
Speaker 2: wearing a suicide vest as had been reported early on,

631
00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:51,120
Speaker 2: the FBI saying that's not true as well.

632
00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:53,640
Speaker 8: And again the FBI saying that They do believe that

633
00:32:53,720 --> 00:32:56,040
Speaker 8: it was just a single suspect that was involved in

634
00:32:56,040 --> 00:32:59,080
Speaker 8: that attack in Louisiana, a lone wolf at this time,

635
00:32:59,120 --> 00:33:01,800
Speaker 8: and they do not believe the public is in danger.

636
00:33:01,880 --> 00:33:04,320
Speaker 8: We'll have much more still ahead here on Bloomberg TV

637
00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:05,240
Speaker 8: and Radio.

638
00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:11,040
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast. Catch

639
00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:14,160
Speaker 1: us live weekdays at noon and five pm Eastern on

640
00:33:14,280 --> 00:33:17,520
Speaker 1: Apple Cockley and Android Atto with the Bloomberg Business app.

641
00:33:17,560 --> 00:33:20,560
Speaker 1: You can also listen live on Amazon Alexa from our

642
00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:24,400
Speaker 1: flagship New York station. Just say Alexa play Bloomberg.

643
00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:28,080
Speaker 8: Eleven thirty Tomorrow is going to be a big hickoff

644
00:33:28,120 --> 00:33:30,760
Speaker 8: as well in Washington, as the one hundred and nineteenth

645
00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:34,480
Speaker 8: Congress takes its seats, and of course a pretty big

646
00:33:34,560 --> 00:33:36,840
Speaker 8: order of business has to happen first in the House

647
00:33:36,840 --> 00:33:40,080
Speaker 8: of Representatives, and that is an election of a speaker.

648
00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:42,760
Speaker 8: It's required for the Chamber to get on with the

649
00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:44,959
Speaker 8: course of the rest of its business, including the swearing

650
00:33:45,040 --> 00:33:49,160
Speaker 8: in of members. Mike Johnson, of course, is the current

651
00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:52,280
Speaker 8: Speaker of the House. Donald Trump has said he would

652
00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:55,840
Speaker 8: like Johnson to remain, so, as has Elon Musk, but

653
00:33:55,920 --> 00:33:59,840
Speaker 8: already at least one Republican Member of Congress, Congressman Tom

654
00:34:00,240 --> 00:34:02,560
Speaker 8: He has said Johnson will not get his vote, and

655
00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:05,719
Speaker 8: he can only afford to lose one more with a

656
00:34:05,840 --> 00:34:08,600
Speaker 8: very tight margin in the House at this time. Mike

657
00:34:08,680 --> 00:34:12,160
Speaker 8: Johnson pled his case on Fox News this morning.

658
00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:14,960
Speaker 10: We're going to get this done. Look, I'm humbled, in

659
00:34:15,040 --> 00:34:17,959
Speaker 10: honored to have President Trump's endorsement for the role again,

660
00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:20,600
Speaker 10: as well as the endorsement of leaders across the conservative

661
00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:25,279
Speaker 10: spectrum and the Republican Party, all my colleagues that are

662
00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:27,200
Speaker 10: standing with us, and we will get this done. Look,

663
00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:29,920
Speaker 10: the things that we're talking about this morning are an

664
00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:33,080
Speaker 10: illustration that we live in very serious times. We cannot

665
00:34:33,120 --> 00:34:36,560
Speaker 10: afford any palace drama here. We have got to get

666
00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:39,880
Speaker 10: the Congress started, which begins tomorrow, and we have to

667
00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:40,959
Speaker 10: get immediately to work.

668
00:34:42,280 --> 00:34:45,640
Speaker 2: Did he say palace drama in this House of Representatives.

669
00:34:45,680 --> 00:34:48,360
Speaker 2: Let's assemble our panel. They're with us on this first

670
00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:51,400
Speaker 2: program of the new year. Jeanie Schanzano, Senior Democracy fellow

671
00:34:51,520 --> 00:34:53,680
Speaker 2: with the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress,

672
00:34:53,680 --> 00:34:57,560
Speaker 2: Democratic analyst and Republican strategist. Rick Davis, partner at Stone

673
00:34:57,600 --> 00:35:01,040
Speaker 2: Court Capital. They are both Bloomberg Politics contributors, and great

674
00:35:01,080 --> 00:35:02,560
Speaker 2: to have you both with us here. I don't know

675
00:35:02,840 --> 00:35:06,040
Speaker 2: if the math is working for you here a genie,

676
00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:09,799
Speaker 2: but I believe hackem Jeffries said not a single Democratic vote,

677
00:35:09,800 --> 00:35:13,239
Speaker 2: So that means that Mike Johnson can basically only lose one.

678
00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:15,960
Speaker 2: His name is Tom Massey. Are we going to have

679
00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:16,840
Speaker 2: a speaker tomorrow?

680
00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:20,160
Speaker 11: I thought the same thing, by the way, about the

681
00:35:20,200 --> 00:35:23,200
Speaker 11: palace drama. I guess he's fancying himself the king or

682
00:35:23,480 --> 00:35:24,480
Speaker 11: prince or something.

683
00:35:25,520 --> 00:35:25,759
Speaker 9: You know.

684
00:35:26,080 --> 00:35:28,080
Speaker 11: Can I just throw a monkey wrench in this whole

685
00:35:28,080 --> 00:35:32,160
Speaker 11: thing and say if I was Donald If I was

686
00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:35,040
Speaker 11: Donald Trump, I would be on the phone with Matt

687
00:35:35,080 --> 00:35:40,000
Speaker 11: Gates saying, get yourself to Washington, d C. And you

688
00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:42,440
Speaker 11: make this a two twenty, because as you and Kayley

689
00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:43,360
Speaker 11: keep talking about.

690
00:35:43,120 --> 00:35:43,920
Speaker 9: It's two nineteen.

691
00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:46,560
Speaker 11: He can only afford the one Gates gets in there.

692
00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:48,880
Speaker 11: He can afford a little bit more. It wouldn't, you know,

693
00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:51,560
Speaker 11: be a home run. But That's what I'd be doing

694
00:35:51,560 --> 00:35:53,719
Speaker 11: if I was Donald Trump today. And let give Mike

695
00:35:53,800 --> 00:35:55,800
Speaker 11: Johnson a little bit more breathing room.

696
00:35:57,120 --> 00:35:59,080
Speaker 8: I'm sure there are plenty of people on Capitol Hill

697
00:35:59,160 --> 00:36:03,120
Speaker 8: right now that that exact scenario does not happen. Former

698
00:36:03,160 --> 00:36:05,520
Speaker 8: Congressman Matt Gates has said he doesn't intend to take

699
00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:07,400
Speaker 8: his seat that he was elected to for the one

700
00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:10,400
Speaker 8: hundred and nineteenth, though I guess we can't rule anything

701
00:36:10,440 --> 00:36:12,240
Speaker 8: out barring that scenario.

702
00:36:12,800 --> 00:36:13,000
Speaker 10: Rick.

703
00:36:13,080 --> 00:36:15,399
Speaker 8: We obviously know about Tom Massey. There have been other

704
00:36:15,480 --> 00:36:17,799
Speaker 8: Republicans who have cast a lot of doubt on whether

705
00:36:17,880 --> 00:36:20,440
Speaker 8: or not they would support Mike Johnson. Thinking here specifically

706
00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:23,520
Speaker 8: of Congressman Ship Roy of Texas. How hard is this

707
00:36:23,560 --> 00:36:24,800
Speaker 8: going to be tomorrow?

708
00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:25,799
Speaker 12: Yeah?

709
00:36:25,840 --> 00:36:28,439
Speaker 13: Look, I mean I think Genie kind of alludes to

710
00:36:28,560 --> 00:36:30,640
Speaker 13: what the really magic could be here, and that is

711
00:36:30,719 --> 00:36:32,480
Speaker 13: changing the denominator.

712
00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:34,480
Speaker 12: It's fifty one percent.

713
00:36:34,400 --> 00:36:37,160
Speaker 13: Of people, you know, members voting on the floor at

714
00:36:37,160 --> 00:36:39,839
Speaker 13: the time, so anytime you take someone on or off

715
00:36:39,880 --> 00:36:43,399
Speaker 13: the board, it changes the overall configuration. So you're right,

716
00:36:43,680 --> 00:36:45,920
Speaker 13: he can't afford to lose two. But if there are

717
00:36:46,040 --> 00:36:50,480
Speaker 13: fewer members voting, and that includes both Democrats and Republicans,

718
00:36:51,200 --> 00:36:54,279
Speaker 13: then it could actually enhance his chances of winning. And

719
00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:57,480
Speaker 13: I think, you know, the big question is Victoria Sparks.

720
00:36:57,560 --> 00:36:58,520
Speaker 12: Is she going to show up?

721
00:36:58,719 --> 00:37:01,560
Speaker 13: She said she's not going to cock She's not interested

722
00:37:01,600 --> 00:37:06,480
Speaker 13: in playing party politics, so she could actually enhance Johnson's

723
00:37:07,000 --> 00:37:09,640
Speaker 13: opportunity to be Speaker on the first ballot if she

724
00:37:09,719 --> 00:37:13,600
Speaker 13: doesn't show up. And also there are others who have

725
00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:17,240
Speaker 13: problems with Johnson, you know, some of the Freedom Caucus members.

726
00:37:17,280 --> 00:37:21,120
Speaker 13: Andy Biggs from Arizona good example. He's not real keen

727
00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:23,400
Speaker 13: on Johnson. He hasn't said whether he'll.

728
00:37:23,200 --> 00:37:25,200
Speaker 12: Support him or not. Just don't show up.

729
00:37:25,880 --> 00:37:29,399
Speaker 13: He'll make his case that he never voted for him,

730
00:37:29,400 --> 00:37:31,480
Speaker 13: and at the same time he actually helps him get elected.

731
00:37:31,520 --> 00:37:33,120
Speaker 12: So that is a.

732
00:37:33,040 --> 00:37:36,719
Speaker 13: Pretty typical Washington parlor game. I wouldn't be surprised to

733
00:37:36,760 --> 00:37:40,360
Speaker 13: see it play out here. My guess is that Democrats

734
00:37:40,400 --> 00:37:43,040
Speaker 13: all show up in force, so the more Republicans that

735
00:37:43,040 --> 00:37:44,680
Speaker 13: don't show up, the easier it is for them to

736
00:37:44,719 --> 00:37:48,880
Speaker 13: actually get Speaker Johnson elected.

737
00:37:50,040 --> 00:37:53,160
Speaker 2: Rick just said something important, Genie that he passes on

738
00:37:53,239 --> 00:37:56,919
Speaker 2: the first round, is that the job tomorrow or after

739
00:37:56,960 --> 00:37:59,319
Speaker 2: what we saw with Kevin McCarthy, is that anything under

740
00:37:59,320 --> 00:38:00,560
Speaker 2: fifteen is a when.

741
00:38:01,800 --> 00:38:05,680
Speaker 11: I think anything under fifteen, you know, listen, at this point,

742
00:38:05,680 --> 00:38:08,719
Speaker 11: if they can get a speaker tomorrow, even if it

743
00:38:08,719 --> 00:38:10,919
Speaker 11: takes a few rounds, that would be a good thing.

744
00:38:11,239 --> 00:38:14,400
Speaker 11: And of course the person everybody is watching because we know,

745
00:38:14,480 --> 00:38:17,520
Speaker 11: as Kayleie mentioned that Massey is a sperm no is

746
00:38:17,560 --> 00:38:21,400
Speaker 11: what happens with chip Roy. And what we understand is

747
00:38:21,480 --> 00:38:25,080
Speaker 11: he had said, maybe Mike Johnson names him chair of

748
00:38:25,120 --> 00:38:28,080
Speaker 11: the rules committee, that may help him get to a yes,

749
00:38:28,160 --> 00:38:30,680
Speaker 11: because he's not a firm no yet. So in addition

750
00:38:30,719 --> 00:38:33,440
Speaker 11: to the denominator issue that Rick was talking about, a

751
00:38:33,480 --> 00:38:35,520
Speaker 11: lot of this is going to be what can you

752
00:38:35,600 --> 00:38:38,399
Speaker 11: do for me, Mike Johnson? What kind of carrots can

753
00:38:38,440 --> 00:38:40,960
Speaker 11: you give to get me to yes or at least

754
00:38:41,280 --> 00:38:43,839
Speaker 11: to stay out of the chamber and so you can

755
00:38:43,880 --> 00:38:46,719
Speaker 11: get to yes. And that's what we'll be watching as well.

756
00:38:46,960 --> 00:38:49,080
Speaker 11: You know, if they were to name chip Roy chair

757
00:38:49,120 --> 00:38:51,319
Speaker 11: of the committee he's already on it, that would be

758
00:38:51,400 --> 00:38:54,319
Speaker 11: problematic for a lot of other Republicans. And you know

759
00:38:54,440 --> 00:38:56,640
Speaker 11: Democrats are going to be there in full force. Even

760
00:38:56,719 --> 00:38:59,600
Speaker 11: Nancy Pelosi, who broke her kith recently, is going to

761
00:38:59,640 --> 00:38:59,959
Speaker 11: be there.

762
00:39:01,840 --> 00:39:04,880
Speaker 8: Yeah, we heard that from the Speaker, Amrita herself today

763
00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:09,399
Speaker 8: from the airplane. As we consider this notion that this

764
00:39:09,480 --> 00:39:13,040
Speaker 8: obviously has to happen at some point to certify the

765
00:39:13,080 --> 00:39:16,440
Speaker 8: results of the presidential election, which is scheduled to take

766
00:39:16,480 --> 00:39:18,360
Speaker 8: place on Monday, January sixth.

767
00:39:19,000 --> 00:39:19,160
Speaker 10: Rick.

768
00:39:19,200 --> 00:39:21,240
Speaker 8: It speaks to the very serious nature of the business

769
00:39:21,280 --> 00:39:23,439
Speaker 8: the House does have to deal with in pretty short order.

770
00:39:23,520 --> 00:39:26,439
Speaker 8: Not just of course that, but then there's other things

771
00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:29,520
Speaker 8: happening in January, including a state funeral for former President

772
00:39:30,120 --> 00:39:32,719
Speaker 8: Jimmy Carter on the ninth, and there's the inauguration on

773
00:39:32,840 --> 00:39:36,120
Speaker 8: January twenty. It's just given this very stacked calendar of events,

774
00:39:36,160 --> 00:39:39,200
Speaker 8: how much pressure does that put on this situation? And

775
00:39:39,440 --> 00:39:42,560
Speaker 8: Mike Johnson specifically to try to find a resolution here

776
00:39:42,840 --> 00:39:46,439
Speaker 8: by potentially, say, negotiating the rules package that was put

777
00:39:46,480 --> 00:39:48,320
Speaker 8: out in the last few days.

778
00:39:48,840 --> 00:39:49,319
Speaker 2: That's right.

779
00:39:49,360 --> 00:39:52,600
Speaker 12: This is no typical year in transition.

780
00:39:53,239 --> 00:39:56,840
Speaker 13: Republicans now have each of the chambers of power, the Senate,

781
00:39:57,160 --> 00:40:00,640
Speaker 13: the White House, and the House. There's an expect that

782
00:40:00,680 --> 00:40:03,000
Speaker 13: because of that they'll step out lively and get a

783
00:40:03,040 --> 00:40:04,840
Speaker 13: lot done in the first one hundred days.

784
00:40:05,680 --> 00:40:07,360
Speaker 12: You know even how much they can get done in.

785
00:40:07,360 --> 00:40:11,080
Speaker 13: The first year, and so I think there's enormous pressure there.

786
00:40:11,080 --> 00:40:14,200
Speaker 13: And of course you point out the constitutional requirements. This

787
00:40:14,280 --> 00:40:17,520
Speaker 13: is a presidential election year, so you have to actually

788
00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:21,359
Speaker 13: certify the election on the sixth of January, and you

789
00:40:21,640 --> 00:40:25,279
Speaker 13: have to actually have an inaugural on the twentieth, and

790
00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:29,640
Speaker 13: so these are deadlines that are gonna really press hard

791
00:40:30,239 --> 00:40:33,200
Speaker 13: on the willingness to have a lot of mischief in

792
00:40:33,280 --> 00:40:36,200
Speaker 13: this first day. I think that it's actually going to

793
00:40:36,239 --> 00:40:40,440
Speaker 13: make it easier for Johnson. Nobody's that enthusiastic about him.

794
00:40:40,440 --> 00:40:43,799
Speaker 13: Nobody thinks that his first year in office was particularly

795
00:40:43,840 --> 00:40:49,120
Speaker 13: smooth or successful, and so there's not like a desperate

796
00:40:49,480 --> 00:40:53,280
Speaker 13: want to have him in his leadership. But the reality

797
00:40:53,400 --> 00:40:57,400
Speaker 13: is he's short a couple of votes. Maybe today, everybody

798
00:40:57,440 --> 00:41:01,280
Speaker 13: else on the list of likely successors would be short

799
00:41:01,400 --> 00:41:04,160
Speaker 13: thirty or forty votes on the first ballot, And so

800
00:41:04,320 --> 00:41:08,560
Speaker 13: the Republicans know that the minute they reject Johnson, they

801
00:41:08,640 --> 00:41:12,040
Speaker 13: open themselves up to a lot of potential political harm

802
00:41:12,760 --> 00:41:15,560
Speaker 13: and delays that could actually put pressure on these important

803
00:41:15,600 --> 00:41:19,760
Speaker 13: constitutional dates. So yeah, it's not so much everyone's excited

804
00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:23,840
Speaker 13: about Johnson getting another term a speaker, but they fear the.

805
00:41:23,719 --> 00:41:26,920
Speaker 12: Outcome if he's not, and that is enough probably.

806
00:41:26,560 --> 00:41:29,319
Speaker 2: To get him over well. For the benefit of our

807
00:41:29,400 --> 00:41:32,600
Speaker 2: radio listeners, we had a graphic up showing the busy

808
00:41:32,800 --> 00:41:36,799
Speaker 2: month of January starting tomorrow with the new Congress. As

809
00:41:36,880 --> 00:41:40,160
Speaker 2: Kayleie mentioned, we go through the sixth, the election certification,

810
00:41:41,560 --> 00:41:45,280
Speaker 2: Jimmy Carter state funeral on January ninth, we have the inaugural.

811
00:41:45,280 --> 00:41:48,640
Speaker 2: Of course, on the twentieth, I'll add Donald Trump's rally

812
00:41:48,680 --> 00:41:53,719
Speaker 2: here downtown at the Cap Center. That'll be the night

813
00:41:53,800 --> 00:41:57,680
Speaker 2: before the inauguration. Jeanie, there are a lot of questions

814
00:41:57,719 --> 00:42:01,759
Speaker 2: about securing these events for what took place yesterday in

815
00:42:01,920 --> 00:42:05,800
Speaker 2: Las Vegas and New Orleans. Realizing now, according to the FBI,

816
00:42:05,920 --> 00:42:08,879
Speaker 2: these events, however, were not connected, does that make us

817
00:42:09,400 --> 00:42:13,279
Speaker 2: feel better about managing these massive security events in the

818
00:42:13,360 --> 00:42:14,160
Speaker 2: nation's capital.

819
00:42:15,920 --> 00:42:17,600
Speaker 11: You know, I don't know if it makes us feel

820
00:42:17,640 --> 00:42:21,360
Speaker 11: any better. Even if we go before what happened in

821
00:42:21,400 --> 00:42:25,000
Speaker 11: New Orleans and Las Vegas. We see the president elect,

822
00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:30,360
Speaker 11: he was victimized by two attempted assassinations, just really unprecedented

823
00:42:30,640 --> 00:42:34,359
Speaker 11: amount of violence in this last presidential election. Now, these

824
00:42:34,400 --> 00:42:38,000
Speaker 11: two incidents, which as you mentioned, they're saying are not connected,

825
00:42:38,280 --> 00:42:41,600
Speaker 11: but it is still an environment so scary in terms

826
00:42:41,640 --> 00:42:44,600
Speaker 11: of the amount of violence. I'm even just thinking about.

827
00:42:44,640 --> 00:42:47,359
Speaker 11: The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court just issued his

828
00:42:47,480 --> 00:42:50,640
Speaker 11: annual State of the Court report, and the number one

829
00:42:50,800 --> 00:42:55,360
Speaker 11: issue he highlighted was the challenge that justices are facing

830
00:42:55,520 --> 00:42:59,360
Speaker 11: as it pertains to threats to their life violence. We

831
00:42:59,440 --> 00:43:02,360
Speaker 11: even have chief have a justice rather of the Supreme

832
00:43:02,400 --> 00:43:06,560
Speaker 11: Court wearing a bulletproof vest. So I think all of

833
00:43:06,600 --> 00:43:09,720
Speaker 11: these what's going to happen in DC over the next month,

834
00:43:10,000 --> 00:43:13,240
Speaker 11: security is going to be very tight. They're already starting

835
00:43:13,239 --> 00:43:15,920
Speaker 11: to plan boarding up the place, and I think it

836
00:43:16,080 --> 00:43:18,920
Speaker 11: really is going to be a big challenge. Are we

837
00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:22,120
Speaker 11: up to the challenge, Absolutely, and we have enough notice

838
00:43:22,120 --> 00:43:24,600
Speaker 11: of these events for sure. But as we've seen in

839
00:43:24,640 --> 00:43:27,560
Speaker 11: the last few days, just one bone wolf can do

840
00:43:28,000 --> 00:43:29,640
Speaker 11: enormous amount of damage.

841
00:43:31,160 --> 00:43:33,360
Speaker 8: Well, and we can add a few items to the

842
00:43:33,400 --> 00:43:36,759
Speaker 8: calendar in January, Rick, For example, January fourteenth is when

843
00:43:36,760 --> 00:43:39,680
Speaker 8: the confirmation hearings for the nominee for Secretary of Defense,

844
00:43:39,680 --> 00:43:43,200
Speaker 8: Pete Hegseth will begin. As we consider these national security

845
00:43:43,680 --> 00:43:48,680
Speaker 8: oriented cabinet officials who want to join the second Trump administration,

846
00:43:49,080 --> 00:43:52,200
Speaker 8: how much do the events of the last thirty six

847
00:43:52,280 --> 00:43:55,360
Speaker 8: hours influence their confirmation prospects?

848
00:43:56,040 --> 00:43:58,319
Speaker 13: Well, it puts a lot more heat on them, right,

849
00:43:58,360 --> 00:44:01,040
Speaker 13: So nobody's going to want to see delay in this process.

850
00:44:01,120 --> 00:44:04,279
Speaker 13: So they've laid out a schedule for many of these

851
00:44:04,800 --> 00:44:09,879
Speaker 13: national security appointees to have committee hearings, which would then

852
00:44:09,880 --> 00:44:12,480
Speaker 13: trigger obviously votes on the floor of the Senate. And

853
00:44:12,520 --> 00:44:16,080
Speaker 13: so yes, nobody wants to see that delayed. And of

854
00:44:16,080 --> 00:44:18,279
Speaker 13: course on top of that, it'll put more pressure on

855
00:44:18,320 --> 00:44:21,040
Speaker 13: things like background checks to be done on time so

856
00:44:21,080 --> 00:44:22,600
Speaker 13: there are no delays to that process.

857
00:44:22,680 --> 00:44:25,280
Speaker 12: So it creates tension inside the system.

858
00:44:25,320 --> 00:44:27,319
Speaker 13: And as Genie was talking about the Supreme Court, I

859
00:44:27,360 --> 00:44:30,920
Speaker 13: was reminded, in additional all these things happening in January,

860
00:44:31,040 --> 00:44:32,239
Speaker 13: don't forget that.

861
00:44:32,200 --> 00:44:35,680
Speaker 12: The Supreme Court will be hearing the TikTok tape case

862
00:44:35,760 --> 00:44:38,720
Speaker 12: and just a couple of days, and so we'll have.

863
00:44:38,760 --> 00:44:42,000
Speaker 13: Lots to talk about on balance of power throughout the

864
00:44:42,000 --> 00:44:43,080
Speaker 13: month of January.

865
00:44:44,680 --> 00:44:46,879
Speaker 8: Oh, you best believe it, and you best believe we'll

866
00:44:46,880 --> 00:44:49,279
Speaker 8: be talking to our signature political panel about all of

867
00:44:49,320 --> 00:44:51,959
Speaker 8: these things. Rick Davis and Jeanie Shanzino here with us

868
00:44:52,280 --> 00:44:54,600
Speaker 8: on our first show of the new year, twenty twenty five.

869
00:44:54,640 --> 00:44:56,839
Speaker 8: Thank you so much to you both. Joe, I'm tired

870
00:44:56,840 --> 00:44:59,000
Speaker 8: already and it's literally just begune.

871
00:44:59,120 --> 00:45:01,680
Speaker 2: Yeah, don't worry, You'll have this weekend the eat your wheaties.

872
00:45:01,719 --> 00:45:04,759
Speaker 2: We'll come back full strength. We are full strength today.

873
00:45:04,760 --> 00:45:06,799
Speaker 2: They're all with us in the bureau. Stay here on

874
00:45:06,840 --> 00:45:08,440
Speaker 2: Bloomberg TV and radio.

875
00:45:11,760 --> 00:45:15,239
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast. Catch

876
00:45:15,280 --> 00:45:18,279
Speaker 1: us live weekdays at noon and five pm Eastern on

877
00:45:18,440 --> 00:45:21,720
Speaker 1: Alma Coarckley and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app.

878
00:45:21,880 --> 00:45:25,080
Speaker 1: Listen on demand wherever you get your podcasts, or watch

879
00:45:25,200 --> 00:45:27,680
Speaker 1: us live on YouTube.

880
00:45:27,960 --> 00:45:29,680
Speaker 2: As we try to get our arms around the start

881
00:45:29,719 --> 00:45:32,440
Speaker 2: of this new Congress, we'll be right at this time tomorrow.

882
00:45:32,480 --> 00:45:34,720
Speaker 2: We'll be talking with you on Bloomberg TV and Radio

883
00:45:35,160 --> 00:45:38,280
Speaker 2: about what may be happening with a speaker's vote. Of course,

884
00:45:38,320 --> 00:45:40,279
Speaker 2: to bring in the new Congress. To swear in the

885
00:45:40,280 --> 00:45:42,480
Speaker 2: new Congress, you need to have a Speaker of the

886
00:45:42,480 --> 00:45:44,200
Speaker 2: House and somebody who knows a little bit about that,

887
00:45:44,239 --> 00:45:47,760
Speaker 2: as Britney Martinez, who works in Kevin McCarthy's Speaker's office,

888
00:45:47,760 --> 00:45:51,879
Speaker 2: Republican strategist and founder of Espina and Company. It's great

889
00:45:51,880 --> 00:45:54,640
Speaker 2: to have you back, Britney. Happy New Year. What's your

890
00:45:54,680 --> 00:45:59,160
Speaker 2: expectation for tomorrow when the one hundred nineteenth Congress attempts

891
00:45:59,200 --> 00:45:59,640
Speaker 2: to begin?

892
00:46:00,880 --> 00:46:02,439
Speaker 14: Well, thank you for having me back in a Happy

893
00:46:02,480 --> 00:46:04,640
Speaker 14: New Year. To you as well. You know what, I

894
00:46:05,600 --> 00:46:08,560
Speaker 14: think that Johnson's going to get the vote. I don't

895
00:46:08,560 --> 00:46:10,280
Speaker 14: know if it's going to happen on a first round.

896
00:46:10,320 --> 00:46:12,040
Speaker 14: I do think that a little bit of chaos is

897
00:46:12,080 --> 00:46:15,320
Speaker 14: going to ensue. But he did get the Donald Trump endorsement,

898
00:46:15,400 --> 00:46:18,959
Speaker 14: so I think his speakership is safe for the most part.

899
00:46:20,280 --> 00:46:22,799
Speaker 8: Well, so let's talk about that Trump endorsement, because many

900
00:46:22,800 --> 00:46:25,120
Speaker 8: people have suggested to us that that is what would

901
00:46:25,120 --> 00:46:28,520
Speaker 8: make or break anyone's speaker's bid. But it doesn't seem

902
00:46:28,560 --> 00:46:32,480
Speaker 8: that Trump is necessarily swaying the minds of those lawmakers

903
00:46:32,480 --> 00:46:35,279
Speaker 8: that we have greatest question about. Tom Massey, as we've

904
00:46:35,320 --> 00:46:38,680
Speaker 8: repeatedly said, is a firm no. But we are unclear

905
00:46:38,719 --> 00:46:41,799
Speaker 8: on people like Chip Roy or Andy Biggs. Keeping in mind,

906
00:46:41,840 --> 00:46:46,480
Speaker 8: Chip Roy endorsed Ron DeSantis in the Republican presidential primary initially,

907
00:46:46,520 --> 00:46:48,600
Speaker 8: So does Chip Roy really care what Trump says?

908
00:46:50,360 --> 00:46:52,600
Speaker 14: I think that the folks that are the most concerned

909
00:46:52,600 --> 00:46:54,920
Speaker 14: are probably the ones that you mentioned and may not

910
00:46:55,320 --> 00:46:57,839
Speaker 14: care that much what the former president has to say.

911
00:46:57,840 --> 00:47:01,120
Speaker 14: But there were some folks during the cr who were

912
00:47:01,280 --> 00:47:05,600
Speaker 14: very tough on Johnson Beyond those people, so I think

913
00:47:05,880 --> 00:47:08,799
Speaker 14: in that sense, it'll help those people. The freshman coming in.

914
00:47:08,880 --> 00:47:10,880
Speaker 14: I think they don't sway their vote. But yes, you're right,

915
00:47:10,920 --> 00:47:13,440
Speaker 14: there are a couple of outstanding ones from the Freedom

916
00:47:13,440 --> 00:47:16,920
Speaker 14: of Caucus especially who probably won't vote for Johnson, at

917
00:47:17,000 --> 00:47:19,200
Speaker 14: least not on the first or second vote. I would

918
00:47:19,360 --> 00:47:21,440
Speaker 14: expect it to maybe go to three votes. If it

919
00:47:21,440 --> 00:47:23,759
Speaker 14: went longer than that, I would be a little bit surprised.

920
00:47:24,120 --> 00:47:27,319
Speaker 14: But it's one hundred and nineteen Congress. Hopefully things will

921
00:47:27,360 --> 00:47:29,960
Speaker 14: be more normal than they have been. But it's been

922
00:47:29,960 --> 00:47:32,360
Speaker 14: a weird few years, so I think that he doesn't

923
00:47:32,360 --> 00:47:33,359
Speaker 14: have it on the first time.

924
00:47:34,520 --> 00:47:36,799
Speaker 2: All right, this is good though, Brittany Martinez tells us

925
00:47:36,840 --> 00:47:40,239
Speaker 2: three rounds. I'm gonna remember this tomorrow. Brittany will play

926
00:47:40,280 --> 00:47:43,640
Speaker 2: the tape back. We're hearing anything less than fifteen is

927
00:47:43,800 --> 00:47:46,520
Speaker 2: a good look for Mike Johnson. There's a question though,

928
00:47:46,520 --> 00:47:50,120
Speaker 2: about whether the gentleman from Florida shows up. Is Matt

929
00:47:50,200 --> 00:47:53,160
Speaker 2: Gates going to show up tomorrow to be sworn in

930
00:47:53,200 --> 00:47:56,040
Speaker 2: and help Mike Johnson and Donald Trump with the math.

931
00:47:57,360 --> 00:47:59,920
Speaker 14: I wouldn't be surprised if Gates shows up, but I

932
00:48:00,120 --> 00:48:03,000
Speaker 14: think he just likes to be a little bit of

933
00:48:03,040 --> 00:48:04,960
Speaker 14: a chaos agent. I don't know if he would go

934
00:48:05,000 --> 00:48:08,279
Speaker 14: through the whole motions of being sworn in and doing

935
00:48:08,320 --> 00:48:11,719
Speaker 14: a vote for Johnson. Maybe again, I know we talk

936
00:48:11,760 --> 00:48:14,880
Speaker 14: about this every time. It's been a few weird years

937
00:48:14,920 --> 00:48:17,400
Speaker 14: in politics, but I don't know if I see him

938
00:48:17,440 --> 00:48:20,279
Speaker 14: going through all those steps, if he's going to just

939
00:48:20,320 --> 00:48:22,759
Speaker 14: step back again. But maybe he shows up just like

940
00:48:22,800 --> 00:48:26,760
Speaker 14: George Stantos keeps showing up just to sort of be involved,

941
00:48:26,760 --> 00:48:29,400
Speaker 14: and he starts. I think tonight is his first episode,

942
00:48:29,400 --> 00:48:31,360
Speaker 14: if I believe. If I saw that correctly on Twitter,

943
00:48:31,440 --> 00:48:34,200
Speaker 14: Ona and n So, I think he's ready got.

944
00:48:34,120 --> 00:48:37,000
Speaker 8: Us to talk about it free promotion.

945
00:48:37,320 --> 00:48:39,920
Speaker 2: Little did I know what I was star well.

946
00:48:40,320 --> 00:48:42,040
Speaker 8: But we should all keep in mind that it was

947
00:48:42,080 --> 00:48:45,200
Speaker 8: Matt Gates, a single member of Congress, who brought the

948
00:48:45,239 --> 00:48:48,600
Speaker 8: motion to vacate against your former boss, Kevin McCarthy, and

949
00:48:48,640 --> 00:48:50,600
Speaker 8: he was able to do so, Brittany, because of what

950
00:48:50,680 --> 00:48:53,719
Speaker 8: McCarthy had to negotiate to become speaker at the beginning

951
00:48:53,760 --> 00:48:55,959
Speaker 8: of the one hundred and eighteen Congress, porting certain people

952
00:48:56,000 --> 00:48:58,799
Speaker 8: on the Rules Committee and allowing anyone member to have

953
00:48:58,880 --> 00:49:01,319
Speaker 8: that power to try to kick out the speaker. The

954
00:49:01,360 --> 00:49:03,400
Speaker 8: rules that have been put forward this time are different.

955
00:49:03,400 --> 00:49:06,680
Speaker 8: It would take nine Republicans to oust a speaker. Do

956
00:49:06,760 --> 00:49:09,040
Speaker 8: you think that will stay firm? Or if Johnson isn't

957
00:49:09,080 --> 00:49:11,640
Speaker 8: able to get the votes he needs on ballot one,

958
00:49:11,719 --> 00:49:13,680
Speaker 8: is he going to have to start negotiating as we

959
00:49:13,719 --> 00:49:14,520
Speaker 8: saw McCarthy do.

960
00:49:15,719 --> 00:49:17,960
Speaker 14: I think going with nine was a smart place to start,

961
00:49:18,080 --> 00:49:20,400
Speaker 14: trying to start from a place of strength, where what

962
00:49:20,480 --> 00:49:23,160
Speaker 14: it had been for a few years had been five votes,

963
00:49:23,400 --> 00:49:25,360
Speaker 14: what it had been historically for a while it was

964
00:49:25,400 --> 00:49:27,560
Speaker 14: one vote. So McCarthy brought it back to the one vote.

965
00:49:27,600 --> 00:49:29,440
Speaker 14: I believe that we started with the five and then

966
00:49:29,440 --> 00:49:31,560
Speaker 14: brought it down to the one. So yes, I think

967
00:49:31,600 --> 00:49:34,080
Speaker 14: that was intentional and strategic in order to be able

968
00:49:34,120 --> 00:49:36,920
Speaker 14: to negotiate with the chip Roys and Tom Massey's, the

969
00:49:36,920 --> 00:49:39,960
Speaker 14: Freedom Caucus folks who aren't sold on him yet, and

970
00:49:40,040 --> 00:49:43,480
Speaker 14: I wouldn't be. I don't expect that it'll be nine ultimately.

971
00:49:44,239 --> 00:49:46,800
Speaker 14: I could see it ranging in the one to five range.

972
00:49:46,840 --> 00:49:49,080
Speaker 14: And I might be wrong on this too. We'll see,

973
00:49:49,239 --> 00:49:52,279
Speaker 14: you know what ultimately turns out tomorrow. But I don't

974
00:49:52,280 --> 00:49:57,320
Speaker 14: see nine is way too many for these Freedom Caucus guys.

975
00:49:57,360 --> 00:49:59,520
Speaker 14: I think they'll try to do the fib or below.

976
00:50:00,760 --> 00:50:04,960
Speaker 2: How about for just Republicans. There's a proposal here to

977
00:50:05,000 --> 00:50:07,920
Speaker 2: make it for Republican members only, so Democrats, for instance,

978
00:50:08,120 --> 00:50:11,160
Speaker 2: would not be able to fire the Republicans. Speaker Jim

979
00:50:11,239 --> 00:50:13,440
Speaker 2: McGovern's head exploded when he heard about this, and he

980
00:50:13,520 --> 00:50:16,399
Speaker 2: put out a pretty stern warning that it would never

981
00:50:16,440 --> 00:50:18,960
Speaker 2: happen in his statement, what does the final product look like?

982
00:50:19,000 --> 00:50:19,160
Speaker 6: There?

983
00:50:19,239 --> 00:50:20,560
Speaker 2: Is it d's and ours?

984
00:50:22,120 --> 00:50:24,560
Speaker 14: I think it should be both. Ultimately, you know, it's

985
00:50:24,560 --> 00:50:27,520
Speaker 14: a Congress for the people. So why are Republicans, just

986
00:50:27,520 --> 00:50:29,960
Speaker 14: because we're in the majority, the only ones who can

987
00:50:30,080 --> 00:50:34,160
Speaker 14: bring forward that motion? You know when Democrats do. We

988
00:50:34,160 --> 00:50:36,600
Speaker 14: want Democrats to do the same thing in a few

989
00:50:36,640 --> 00:50:38,960
Speaker 14: years ultimately when the House flips again, because that's just

990
00:50:39,040 --> 00:50:41,480
Speaker 14: the way that Congress works. I think that when you're

991
00:50:41,520 --> 00:50:43,960
Speaker 14: in the majority and you're in the position of power,

992
00:50:43,960 --> 00:50:46,240
Speaker 14: you need to be careful about the rules and precedent

993
00:50:46,400 --> 00:50:49,520
Speaker 14: that you implement because in a few years that might

994
00:50:49,560 --> 00:50:50,719
Speaker 14: come around to bite you.

995
00:50:52,400 --> 00:50:56,600
Speaker 8: Well, especially when you're in a majority but just barely Brittany,

996
00:50:56,760 --> 00:50:59,960
Speaker 8: even if Mike Johnson canned on round one, two, three,

997
00:51:00,120 --> 00:51:02,760
Speaker 8: or whatever, however many rounds it takes to secure the gavel.

998
00:51:02,800 --> 00:51:05,120
Speaker 8: Even if he can get that done, if it proves

999
00:51:05,160 --> 00:51:08,520
Speaker 8: difficult to accomplish tomorrow, what does that signal about the

1000
00:51:08,560 --> 00:51:11,279
Speaker 8: way legislation is going to move through the House in

1001
00:51:11,320 --> 00:51:14,399
Speaker 8: this Congress. Knowing that Donald Trump has some pretty big

1002
00:51:14,440 --> 00:51:17,080
Speaker 8: ticket items he wants to see done in short order.

1003
00:51:18,560 --> 00:51:20,239
Speaker 14: A lot of people are out there are saying that

1004
00:51:20,960 --> 00:51:23,320
Speaker 14: Trump really has his first two years to try to

1005
00:51:23,360 --> 00:51:25,840
Speaker 14: push his agenda forward, and that afterwards, it's going to

1006
00:51:25,840 --> 00:51:28,200
Speaker 14: be a lame duck. To be honest with you, I

1007
00:51:28,239 --> 00:51:30,520
Speaker 14: feel like we're already kind of going into a lame duck.

1008
00:51:30,680 --> 00:51:32,680
Speaker 14: Like you said, the majority is so slim in the

1009
00:51:32,719 --> 00:51:35,120
Speaker 14: House and the Senate. It's a little bit stronger, but

1010
00:51:35,160 --> 00:51:37,080
Speaker 14: it's going to be hard to be able to move

1011
00:51:37,120 --> 00:51:39,920
Speaker 14: the needle on some of these Trump things if Republicans

1012
00:51:39,960 --> 00:51:42,600
Speaker 14: and Democrats don't work together. We saw that issue come

1013
00:51:42,680 --> 00:51:44,359
Speaker 14: up with CR funding at the end of the year.

1014
00:51:44,640 --> 00:51:47,239
Speaker 14: Well you only a couple days ago, I guess, But

1015
00:51:47,640 --> 00:51:49,560
Speaker 14: at the end of twenty twenty four, we saw that

1016
00:51:49,640 --> 00:51:52,040
Speaker 14: issue come up. We saw Elon come in and try

1017
00:51:52,080 --> 00:51:55,160
Speaker 14: to sway things his way. We see Vivek, we see

1018
00:51:55,200 --> 00:51:58,839
Speaker 14: you know, the doge folks, admin folks, so you know what,

1019
00:51:59,000 --> 00:52:03,480
Speaker 14: I am not going to be surprised if this solemn

1020
00:52:03,520 --> 00:52:06,920
Speaker 14: majority proves to be pretty tough to navigate.

1021
00:52:08,400 --> 00:52:11,200
Speaker 2: You know, there's been an idea here that it's different

1022
00:52:11,280 --> 00:52:14,080
Speaker 2: this time Brittany than it was for Kevin McCarthy or

1023
00:52:14,160 --> 00:52:17,920
Speaker 2: even for Mike Johnson the first time around, because of

1024
00:52:18,000 --> 00:52:21,319
Speaker 2: the election of Donald Trump. That vote needs to be

1025
00:52:21,360 --> 00:52:24,920
Speaker 2: certified by January sixth. On January sixth, according to the

1026
00:52:25,040 --> 00:52:28,200
Speaker 2: US Constitution, and some think that's enough leverage to get

1027
00:52:28,280 --> 00:52:31,239
Speaker 2: every Republican member of the Conference to vote for Mike

1028
00:52:31,320 --> 00:52:33,840
Speaker 2: Johnson so Donald Trump can move into the White House.

1029
00:52:35,880 --> 00:52:39,560
Speaker 14: I don't envision this going as long as McCarthy's vote did.

1030
00:52:39,840 --> 00:52:41,879
Speaker 14: It was the fifteen rounds, but it was also over

1031
00:52:41,920 --> 00:52:43,719
Speaker 14: the course of a few days. I think this will

1032
00:52:43,760 --> 00:52:47,640
Speaker 14: probably get done tomorrow. I wouldn't be surprised, maybe if

1033
00:52:47,640 --> 00:52:50,239
Speaker 14: it goes into the early hours of Saturday morning, sort

1034
00:52:50,280 --> 00:52:52,040
Speaker 14: of like it did when it was McCarthy on that

1035
00:52:52,080 --> 00:52:54,640
Speaker 14: final vote. It was very very early in the morning.

1036
00:52:54,920 --> 00:52:57,279
Speaker 14: But I do think that Republicans are ultimately going to

1037
00:52:57,320 --> 00:53:00,719
Speaker 14: want to come together and push this speaker forward, and

1038
00:53:00,800 --> 00:53:02,080
Speaker 14: no one else is going to be able to get

1039
00:53:02,080 --> 00:53:04,759
Speaker 14: the boats, so they can be upset about it, they

1040
00:53:04,800 --> 00:53:08,279
Speaker 14: can use that to negotiate, but ultimately I think that's

1041
00:53:08,320 --> 00:53:10,960
Speaker 14: all they have, is the tool to negotiate. I don't

1042
00:53:10,960 --> 00:53:12,880
Speaker 14: think anyone else is going to be able to be

1043
00:53:13,040 --> 00:53:15,880
Speaker 14: in that role unless Trump decided to put an endorsement

1044
00:53:15,880 --> 00:53:18,600
Speaker 14: behind somebody else, which is not going to happen, And

1045
00:53:18,640 --> 00:53:22,360
Speaker 14: so I think we'll see it ultimately come together tomorrow.

1046
00:53:23,600 --> 00:53:23,960
Speaker 7: All right.

1047
00:53:23,960 --> 00:53:27,040
Speaker 8: Brittany Martinez, founder of Aspina and Company. Of course, former

1048
00:53:27,080 --> 00:53:30,520
Speaker 8: staffer to Speaker Emeritus Kevin McCarthy, who had to go

1049
00:53:30,560 --> 00:53:33,000
Speaker 8: fifteen rounds to secure the gavel at the beginning of

1050
00:53:33,040 --> 00:53:35,160
Speaker 8: the one hundred and eighteenth Congress. Thank you so much.

1051
00:53:35,200 --> 00:53:37,440
Speaker 8: We still have, of course, a long day of events,

1052
00:53:37,440 --> 00:53:40,600
Speaker 8: it seems, Joe to look ahead to tomorrow.

1053
00:53:46,000 --> 00:53:49,200
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to the Balance of Power podcast. Make

1054
00:53:49,239 --> 00:53:52,160
Speaker 2: sure to subscribe if you haven't already an Apple, Spotify,

1055
00:53:52,280 --> 00:53:54,879
Speaker 2: or wherever you get your podcasts, and you can find

1056
00:53:54,920 --> 00:53:58,160
Speaker 2: us live every weekday from Washington, DC at noontime Eastern

1057
00:53:58,480 --> 00:53:59,840
Speaker 2: at Bloomberg dot com.