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

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Speaker 1: Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast.

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Speaker 2: Catch Just Live weekdays at noon Eastern on Appocarplay.

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Speaker 1: And then Rouno with the Bloomberg Business app.

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Speaker 2: Listen on demand wherever you get your podcasts, or watch

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Speaker 2: us live on YouTube.

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Speaker 3: So let's get started.

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Speaker 4: As we assemble our panel, didn't think we'd be talking

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Speaker 4: about this, but need to hear from Rick Davis and

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Speaker 4: Genie Shanzano, Bloomberg Politics contributors on News that Mitch McConnell

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Speaker 4: is in fact stepping down as leader. Rick, you spent

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Speaker 4: a number of years, I think, as we all know,

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Speaker 4: working with John McCain in the United States Senate. You

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Speaker 4: have every sense of the importance of this particular tenure.

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Speaker 4: What does it mean that it's coming to an end now?

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Speaker 5: It's really the end of an error. We saw Nancy

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Speaker 5: Pelosi and her eighties be retired, and now we have

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Speaker 5: Mitch McConnell eighty two retire from this leadership post. We're

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Speaker 5: going to have a whole new generation that comes into

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Speaker 5: power power positions in Washington in the very near future,

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Speaker 5: and I think that era is going to be ushered

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Speaker 5: in as to youthful leadership. It'll be interesting to see

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Speaker 5: what happens in the Senate as far as the elections go,

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Speaker 5: and whether or not we're picking a minority leader or

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Speaker 5: a majority leader in this cycle. But at the end

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Speaker 5: of the day, we're going to lose a master strategist

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Speaker 5: at legislation and politics. I was actually happy to hear

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Speaker 5: that he talked about his grasp of politics. I've never

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Speaker 5: met a member of the United States Senate who knew

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Speaker 5: more polling and strategy than Mitch McConnell did. He was

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Speaker 5: a real study in politics, and for people like me

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Speaker 5: that helped have conversations with him about the impacts of

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Speaker 5: what happened in the United States Senate. They weren't in

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Speaker 5: a vacuum politically. He calculated the politics of every move

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Speaker 5: he made.

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Speaker 4: The quote that stuck out to me, Janie, the end

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Speaker 4: of my contributions are closer than I'd prefer. And you

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Speaker 4: wonder how much of this had to do with his

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Speaker 4: age or the impact of Donald Trump on his party.

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Speaker 4: Maybe you can't separate the two.

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Speaker 3: What do you think?

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Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, I think I agree with you. I

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Speaker 6: think it's really hard to separate the two and I

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Speaker 6: was struck by that as well, because, of course this

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Speaker 6: is a party that has changed enormously in the last

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Speaker 6: several years, but certainly since Mitch McConnell took the helm

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Speaker 6: in the Senate and since he joined the Senate, this

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Speaker 6: is not the same Republican Party of Mitch McConnell's time.

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Speaker 6: And we have seen challenges to his leadership in the

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Speaker 6: Senate very very recently, and so I think that's part

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Speaker 6: of it, and I think we have to take him

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Speaker 6: at his word that he feels like it is now

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Speaker 6: time to hand over the mantle. And this is something

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Speaker 6: so many of our leaders are grappling with right now,

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Speaker 6: right up to our presidential leading contenders in Joe Biden

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Speaker 6: and Donald Trump. As you see new generations saying wait

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Speaker 6: a minute, is it time for you to exit stage left?

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Speaker 6: So so many you know, of our leaders grappling with

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Speaker 6: this challenge, and I think Mitch McConnell makes a really

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Speaker 6: important point. Part of being a leader is having a

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Speaker 6: succession plan, and we know that he's got the three

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Speaker 6: Johns in waiting, and I would hope a couple of

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Speaker 6: the women as well in the Senate leadership on the

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Speaker 6: Republican side who may be able to fill his shoes.

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Speaker 6: But that's a critical part of being a leader, is

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Speaker 6: knowing when to exit and hand over the mantle to

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Speaker 6: the next generation. He is right about that part of it.

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Speaker 3: So what do you think about the succession plan here? Rick?

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Speaker 4: It's always been about the three Johns in terms of

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Speaker 4: recent history, Barasso, Thoon, and Cornyn. Will it in fact

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Speaker 4: be one of them?

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Speaker 5: It could be. There's no question that the caucus itself

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Speaker 5: is going through some turmoil. We saw attacks against Mitch

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Speaker 5: McConnell earlier in the year related to his efforts to

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Speaker 5: try and pass Ukraine funding, and so I think you'd

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Speaker 5: have to sort of see it as an opportunistic situation. Obviously,

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Speaker 5: the three Johns, who have been participating in leadership for

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Speaker 5: a very long time, know how the strings are pulled,

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Speaker 5: understand how to get legislation passed, understand the dynamic within

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Speaker 5: the caucus probably better than anyone else. But there are

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Speaker 5: other people who have ambitions in leadership, people like Tom Tillis,

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Speaker 5: who I think have you know, studied Mitch McConnell's leadership

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Speaker 5: for quite some time and may be ready to emerge.

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Speaker 5: And so I think you can see also potentially a

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Speaker 5: right flank attack. You know, Ted Cruz and some of

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Speaker 5: his buddies have been very vocally opposed to Mitch McConnell

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Speaker 5: and may put up a candidate that represents their point

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Speaker 5: of view.

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Speaker 4: Do you wonder, Genie, with all the talk lately of

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Speaker 4: conversations happening that might bring Mitch McConnell to it dom

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Speaker 4: Trump endorsement, which we talked about yesterday and some think

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Speaker 4: is inevitable, was this this way of saying no, that

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Speaker 4: I'm not going to be part of this.

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Speaker 6: I was thinking about that. You know, I think it's

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Speaker 6: a hard call. I think I veer on the side

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Speaker 6: that Mitch McConnell is a real institutionalist, and he is

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Speaker 6: somebody who is deeply committed to the Republican Party. Since

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Speaker 6: he committed to supporting whoever is the nominee, I believe

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Speaker 6: he will probably in the end support Donald Trump. He

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Speaker 6: may hold his nose like some other voters and do that,

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Speaker 6: but I think he will as Donald Trump goes to

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Speaker 6: take that mantle as the nominee this year. Again, you know,

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Speaker 6: I would also again just let's add to the list

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Speaker 6: of possible successors Ernst and Iowa Shelley Moore Capito in

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Speaker 6: West Virginia. There are women in the House Republican leadership

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Speaker 6: who could really play a very important role. And so

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Speaker 6: you know, in addition to all those folks that Rick

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Speaker 6: just mentioned in the Three Johns, I think we also

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Speaker 6: have to look to that because they have a very

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Speaker 6: sort of interesting perspective and a path to the Senate

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Speaker 6: and a lot that they could do in their House

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Speaker 6: Republican I mean, sorry, Senate Republican leadership.

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Speaker 4: Yes, right, yeah, A lot to consider here as we

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Speaker 4: move into this election cycle or further into it. Rick,

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Speaker 4: I don't know, if you see a McConnell endorsement of

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Speaker 4: Trump in the offing, does he want to be remembered

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Speaker 4: as a tried and true Republican or in this case,

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Speaker 4: the guy who said no.

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Speaker 5: I don't think it was an accident that he wistfully

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Speaker 5: discussed on his floor speech just now how much he

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Speaker 5: was impacted by Ronald Reagan's leadership, basically given credit to

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Speaker 5: Rob Reagan for his marriage.

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Speaker 3: But the reality is that is.

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Speaker 5: The Republican Party that Mitch McConnell has fought so hard

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Speaker 5: to be successful in the isolationist policies of Donald Trump.

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Speaker 5: May as well be in Democratic Party, right, That's what

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Speaker 5: he's thought his entire career, And so it wouldn't surprise

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Speaker 5: me that in conjunction with a decision that I suspect

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Speaker 5: has a lot more to do with being eighty two

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Speaker 5: years old than anything political. Right now, Remember he's had

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Speaker 5: some challenges with his health this last year. Yes, that

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Speaker 5: he uses the opportunity to not feel compelled to have

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Speaker 5: to play in this presidential election and may just skip

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Speaker 5: an endorsement. You know, if it's Donald Trump's to.

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Speaker 4: Have Genie, I wonder what Joe Biden is going to

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Speaker 4: make of this. He's of course a similar age to

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Speaker 4: Mitch McConnell, of course a former senator, and they've been

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Speaker 4: through a lot together. They've found themselves on the same

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Speaker 4: side of history lately on a number of issues. Is

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Speaker 4: Joe Biden going to deliver a Mitch McConnell tribute in

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Speaker 4: that speech next week?

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Speaker 6: You know, I think he probably will say something in

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Speaker 6: the State of the Union about Mitch McConnell, his service

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Speaker 6: to the country, their relationship, you know, they famously have

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Speaker 6: a have had a you know, contentious and close relationship

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Speaker 6: at the same time. So I suspect he will. And

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Speaker 6: I think to your point, this also does raise questions

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Speaker 6: again about Joe Biden and Donald Trump. And this is

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Speaker 6: the same thing that Nancy Pelosi was dealing with. This

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Speaker 6: is the same thing Dianne Feinstein was dealing with. Now,

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Speaker 6: Mitch McConnell, you know, leadership requires a plan to move

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Speaker 6: on and leave the role in the institution better than

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Speaker 6: you found it, and to do so with grace and

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Speaker 6: with young people to come forward and take the mantle.

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Speaker 6: And you know, Mitch McConnell, he made several statements in

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Speaker 6: his speech before the Senate today and he was indicating

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Speaker 6: that this is something that he needs to do. And

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Speaker 6: I suspect Joe Biden knows the reality that at some

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Speaker 6: point he'll need to do the same. I don't suspect

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Speaker 6: we'll see it now. But is this god away heavy

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Speaker 6: on him as well?

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Speaker 3: Well, that's for sure.

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Speaker 4: Wendy Benjamin said said something fascinating earlier this hour when

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Speaker 4: we saw the headline cross Rick. She said, the transformation

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Speaker 4: is now complete, of course, referring to Donald Trump's influence

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Speaker 4: on the Republican Party. I suspected a statement like that

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Speaker 4: might hit you the wrong way and I wonder if

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Speaker 4: you think it's true.

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Speaker 3: You know, it's hard to tell.

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Speaker 5: I mean, there's no question that the rank and file

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Speaker 5: Republican voter is more like Donald Trump and his views

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Speaker 5: than they were of Ronald Reagan and his views in

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Speaker 5: nineteen seventy six and nineteen eighty, right. I mean, like

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Speaker 5: the party has changed demographically, and so that demographic shift

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Speaker 5: has to be represented in this leadership, and that's Donald Trump.

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Speaker 5: I mean, these are you know, white, rural, mostly male,

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Speaker 5: lacking college education voters who make up the majority of

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Speaker 5: the Republican Party right now, and they represent a different

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Speaker 5: ideological shift. It's not any more or less conservative, it's

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Speaker 5: a different kind. As I mentioned earlier, it represents an

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Speaker 5: isolationist wing of the Republican Party that we've always had

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Speaker 5: Rand Paul people like that represent it. But this is

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Speaker 5: the first time that someone like Donald Trump would be

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Speaker 5: able to reach in twenty sixteen, the leadership of that party.

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Speaker 5: So there is a different party. That being said, the

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Speaker 5: one thing I would watch Mitch McConnell do is he

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Speaker 5: will work overtime to ensure that there's a Republican majority

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Speaker 5: in the United States Senate after this election. I mean,

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Speaker 5: this will be his commitment. It always is during an

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Speaker 5: election year. He loves the rough and tumble of politics,

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Speaker 5: and my guess is what we'll see is a little

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Speaker 5: less legislative activity which you would see anyway during an

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Speaker 5: election year like this, but a lot more effort to

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Speaker 5: ensure that part of his legacy is he left with

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Speaker 5: a Republican majority.

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Speaker 4: There you have it from a Republican who made a

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Speaker 4: career in the United States Senate, Rick Davis. It's great

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Speaker 4: to have you with us, Rick, he and Jeanie Shanzano.

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Speaker 4: Of course our signature panel here on Balance of Power.

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

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Speaker 1: just live weekdays at noon Eastern on Apple car Play

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Speaker 1: and then roud Oro with the Bloomberg Business app.

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Speaker 7: Of course, hearing Washington, there is one thing dominating's thought

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Speaker 7: at the moment, Joe, and that is the fact that

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Speaker 7: Mitch McConnell has announced today that he will step down

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Speaker 7: as the leader of the Republicans in the Senate after

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Speaker 7: the election in November.

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Speaker 4: He's going to be part of the rank and file,

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Speaker 4: which I can't quite imagine on him imagining, and he

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Speaker 4: says he's actually looking forward to it, which says a

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Speaker 4: lot about the straits that he's been in as leader.

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Speaker 4: Certainly in this session of Congress, but over the past

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Speaker 4: couple of years, dealing with Donald Trump has not come easily.

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Speaker 3: Mitch McConnell.

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Speaker 4: He's seen his wife disparaged publicly by the former president,

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Speaker 4: and he's seen politics move away from him. I think

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Speaker 4: we can argue and us what we want to talk

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Speaker 4: about with Bloomberg's Michael Shepherd, who of course helps to

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Speaker 4: lead our bureau and our coverage of Capitol Hill and

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Speaker 4: the White House here in Washington, DC. Michael, it's great

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Speaker 4: to see you at the table here. You know, it's

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Speaker 4: important when Michael Shepherd is in the room, and so

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Speaker 4: I wonder your initial reaction to this. Wendy said earlier,

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Speaker 4: the transformation is complete. You might not want to go

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Speaker 4: that far, but we have to acknowledge the evolution of

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Speaker 4: this party.

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Speaker 8: It may not be complete. We're taking another big step

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Speaker 8: in that direction, Joe and Cayley. Wendy, my colleague, is

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Speaker 8: absolutely right that this is another signpost that we will

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Speaker 8: look at in the history books for evidence of Donald

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Speaker 8: Trump's growing hold.

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Speaker 3: On the party.

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Speaker 8: And Mitch McConnell, even in recent months and weeks, has

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Speaker 8: been advocating against Trump over Ukraine EID. The former president

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Speaker 8: has expressed great reluctance and urged the party to reject

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Speaker 8: measures further back in Kiev ahead of anything that would

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Speaker 8: be done on the US southern border. And Mitch McConnell

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Speaker 8: has really tried to push this through. He's tried to

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Speaker 8: make that his legacy. Other parts of his legacy also

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Speaker 8: will be seen not only on the international stage but domestically,

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Speaker 8: and one in particular is the right word shift of

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Speaker 8: the judiciary, and that's really helped shape a lot of

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Speaker 8: social issues, especially abortion, as they play out here in

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Speaker 8: the US.

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Speaker 7: Well, it was noteworthy Mike here McConnell in that speech

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Speaker 7: talking about how he's going to continue to defend American exceptionalism.

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Speaker 7: He also specifically called out the National Security supplemental that

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Speaker 7: you mentioned he worked incredibly hard on. And so he's

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Speaker 7: been so passionate about this Ukraine issue and really his

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Speaker 7: advocacy for ad Ukraine at a time when a lot

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Speaker 7: of Republicans don't necessarily seem with him on that may

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Speaker 7: already have been evidenced of his diminished hold over the

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Speaker 7: party at large. Now that he has said eight months

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Speaker 7: from now, I will no longer be your leader, does

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Speaker 7: he lose more leverage and trying to push for his

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Speaker 7: policy priorities.

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Speaker 8: That's a great question because this gives his opponents and

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Speaker 8: his rivals even more purchase an opportunity to try to

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Speaker 8: move in and try to head off the things that

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Speaker 8: McConnell might have been pushing, including more aid for Ukraine.

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Speaker 8: And this is another opportunity for the next generation, and

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Speaker 8: he talked about that in his remarks to step in.

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Speaker 8: Some of the people we could look at as immediate

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Speaker 8: successors would be his number two, John Thune from South Dakota,

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Speaker 8: or John Barrasso, the number three from Wyoming. They've both

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Speaker 8: endorsed Trump. That's a step that so far Mitch McConnell

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Speaker 8: has not yet done. For the twenty twenty four presidential race.

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Speaker 8: The two men, McConnell and Trump have really grown a

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Speaker 8: strange since Trump left office, and especially since the January

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Speaker 8: sixth Capitol insurrection.

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Speaker 4: You wonder if this is an early answer to the

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Speaker 4: questions of whether he will endorse Donald Trump because he

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Speaker 4: might have just given himself an out. He was emotional

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Speaker 4: during that floor speech. Michael, we all stopped to watch

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Speaker 4: and listen.

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Speaker 3: Is he doing this reluctantly?

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Speaker 8: I think that he, like he said in that speech,

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Speaker 8: And you're right. I noticed it right away too. You

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Speaker 8: could see his voice catching, and it was a fraud

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Speaker 8: moment and freighted moment for him.

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Speaker 3: Think about it.

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Speaker 8: He has been serving in that chamber since nineteen eighty five.

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Speaker 8: That's a lifetime, and that is more than a career.

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Speaker 8: And he has felt so vested, and he said he

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Speaker 8: still gets a thrill walking through the chamber. Now the

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Speaker 8: challenge for him has been it is much tougher these

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Speaker 8: days to do it. His health has been declining visibly.

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Speaker 8: Our reporters up on Capitol Hill have noticed how much

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Speaker 8: more slowly he is moving, and of course he had

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Speaker 8: that high profile fall last year and a few more

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Speaker 8: recent episodes where he froze in public appearances.

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Speaker 7: All right, Michael Sheppard, who helps lead our coverage here

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Speaker 7: in our Washington bureau for Bloomberg, thank you so much

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Speaker 7: for joining us on what is a historic day. Joe

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Speaker 7: McConnell in that speech, talking about how he came into

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Speaker 7: the Senate. As Mike just said, nineteen eighty five, it

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Speaker 7: was the Reagan era. It is now twenty twenty four,

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Speaker 7: and in many ways this is still Trump's a Republican

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Speaker 7: Party at this point. It's just a very different time

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Speaker 7: as he steps down from being leader to when he

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Speaker 7: entered Now. Of course, as we pay attention to these

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Speaker 7: power dynamics changing in the senat or at least they

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Speaker 7: will have changed come November, we also want to get

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Speaker 7: the view from the House and police to say. Joining

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Speaker 7: us now is a Democratic Congressman from California, John Garramendi.

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Speaker 7: He is with us live from Capitol Hill on both

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Speaker 7: Bloomberg Television and radio. Congressman, thank you so much for

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Speaker 7: being with us. I know it is a busy time

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Speaker 7: as you return to the House today. First, though, I

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Speaker 7: would love to get your reaction on Mitch McConnell's announcement

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Speaker 7: in the other Chamber that he will no longer be

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Speaker 7: serving as Republican leader. What does this reflect to you

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Speaker 7: about the way your colleagues on the other side of

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Speaker 7: the aisle have changed on Capitol Hill over the course

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Speaker 7: of not just McConnell's tenure but really more immediately the

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Speaker 7: last several years, I.

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Speaker 9: Think there's extraordinary changes taking place from the Reagan period,

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Speaker 9: which was optimistic. Reagan was an optimist. Now, whether you

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Speaker 9: liked his policies or not, he thought America's future was

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Speaker 9: well taken care of into the future. That's not where

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Speaker 9: we are today. The Republican Party is led by Trump,

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Speaker 9: who is a downer. He sees nothing but problems and

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Speaker 9: hate and disarray, and he has said it very very

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Speaker 9: clearly that America's future is trashed. So we really see

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Speaker 9: an enormous difference in where the Republican Party is in

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Speaker 9: the leadership of it. And McConnell has been very, very

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Speaker 9: much a part of denying Americans they're basic rights. You

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Speaker 9: take a look at what McConnell did with Trump and

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Speaker 9: others to form the Supreme Court, the most conservative in many, raged,

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Speaker 9: outrageous Supreme Court that we've had, perhaps in the history

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Speaker 9: of this nation. If you're a woman, you can count

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Speaker 9: on Mitch McConnell having played a critical role in denying

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Speaker 9: you the rights to your own health care, the abortion issue,

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Speaker 9: and beyond also voting rights. Mitch McConnell had everything to

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Speaker 9: do with setting up a Supreme Court as well as

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Speaker 9: other lower courts, in putting in place justices that have

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Speaker 9: no use for the notion that every citizen has a

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Speaker 9: right to vote, so taking away fundamental civil liberties as

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Speaker 9: well as the right of a woman. McConnell did that.

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Speaker 9: He did that by using his power to establish a

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Speaker 9: Supreme Court and lower courts that are extraordinarily conservative.

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Speaker 4: So no love lost, certainly over Merrick Garland, Congressman, I

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Speaker 4: think I hear what you're saying. Will the Senate be better

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Speaker 4: served in the hands of a MAGA friendly leader.

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Speaker 9: Absolutely not. You take a look the two gentlemen. I

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Speaker 9: know him well. I think of them as people that

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Speaker 9: I have worked with, But they're coming from extremely conservative states.

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Speaker 9: I represent more people in my district than they do

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Speaker 9: in their entire state. The nation has shifted, and yet

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Speaker 9: it looks as though the future leadership of the Senate

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Speaker 9: is going to be dominated by two people who represent

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Speaker 9: very very few people and an extraordinary conservative states. So

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Speaker 9: what we're seeing is the Republican Party giving way to

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Speaker 9: the mega extremist and that's going to have long term

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Speaker 9: implications for this nation, and it will clearly have implications

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Speaker 9: in the upcoming Senate races where we should be arguing,

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Speaker 9: Wait a minute, in America, is this really what you

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Speaker 9: want in the future. The answer, I think is very clear. No,

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Speaker 9: we don't want the Senate controlled by the extreme mega Republicans,

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Speaker 9: which is what is now going to happen.

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Speaker 7: Well, Congressman, of course, this announcement from Mitch McConnell comes

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Speaker 7: at a especially precarious time on Capitol Hill, as we

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Speaker 7: are just days away, potentially from the start of a

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Speaker 7: partial government shutdown if there is not some deal reached

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Speaker 7: to avert one. It's really unclear what exactly the standing

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Speaker 7: plan is of House Speaker Mike Johnson. But we were

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Speaker 7: told by the House Majority Whip Tom Emmer just a

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Speaker 7: few weeks ago before the recess that it would not

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Speaker 7: be another continuing resolution. I'd like you to just listen

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Speaker 7: to what Congressman Emmer told us earlier this month.

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Speaker 10: Here he is, You're not going to get another continuing

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Speaker 10: resolution out of our conference in Congress. The last one

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Speaker 10: was difficult, and that was done because our speaker recognized

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Speaker 10: that there just wasn't enough physical time to process all

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Speaker 10: the bills. Once the House and the Senate had agreed

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Speaker 10: on the top line number. When we come back, the

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Speaker 10: key is going to be what are the packages that

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Speaker 10: are put on the floor. We should be there before

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Speaker 10: the first deadline of March first.

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Speaker 7: So Congressman, you are now back, what is your understanding

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Speaker 7: of what exactly is going to happen to avert a

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Speaker 7: partial shutdown come midnight Friday? Will it be a CR?

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Speaker 9: Well, currently the House of Representatives is run by the

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Speaker 9: Chaos Caucus. It's total, absolute chaos. I'm a good guy,

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Speaker 9: but he's going to prove to be proven wrong. There

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Speaker 9: will be a CR for how long we don't know.

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Speaker 9: Let's keep in mind that the Republicans are incapable of governing,

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Speaker 9: totally incapable of governing. The major pieces of legislation that

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Speaker 9: kept this government functioning have been by the minority party,

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Speaker 9: by the Democrats. We're the ones that have governed over

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Speaker 9: the last year. You take a look at the dead

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Speaker 9: limit that was sixty percent Democrats, forty percent Republicans. Democrats

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Speaker 9: were governing, then we're the sane, rational group that have

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Speaker 9: been able to keep this government functioning. The crs of

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Speaker 9: the past Republicans couldn't put their own cr out there.

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Speaker 9: Each one of the crs that have brought us to

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Speaker 9: this this week have been done by the Democrats. We're

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Speaker 9: the ones that have kept the government functioning. You take

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Speaker 9: a look at the National Defense Authorization Act. The Republicans

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Speaker 9: didn't put up the majority of votes. It was the

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Speaker 9: Democrats once again that put up the legislation that allows

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Speaker 9: for our national security. Not the Republicans. They are the

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Speaker 9: chaos Caucus. And now we're looking at where are we today.

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Speaker 9: It'll be a continuation of that. They're continuing to try

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Speaker 9: to put onto the appropriation bill. Absolutely crazy writers, dealing

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Speaker 9: with women's rights, dealing with voting rights, dealing with the border,

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Speaker 9: on and on and on. None of us solve any

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Speaker 9: problem but make the situation worse for Americans. It's the

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Speaker 9: Democrats put up their votes.

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Speaker 3: Yes, but that said a Congressman.

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Speaker 4: The speaker says, if there's no agreement on these four

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Speaker 4: spending bills that are set to expire Friday, that he

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Speaker 4: will not entertain a cr We're just trying to figure

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Speaker 4: out not even who's the blame right now, but whether

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Speaker 4: this thing's going to start shutting down or not.

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Speaker 3: What's your gut check.

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Speaker 9: Well, we're going to find out, aren't we do The

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Speaker 9: Republicans want to be responsible for shutting down about it.

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Speaker 9: You don't know, We don't know, but we do know.

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Speaker 9: This total chaos and the Republican cough Conference. They cannot govern,

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Speaker 9: they cannot get their act together. Speaker Johnson has no

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Speaker 9: power whatsoever. One member of the Republican Party can terminate

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Speaker 9: his office. And he has no power if he ever

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Speaker 9: knew how to use it in the first place. The

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Speaker 9: answer to that is probably he doesn't know how to

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Speaker 9: use it. And keep in mind that he is an

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Speaker 9: extraordinary conservative person. His record on voting, his record on

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Speaker 9: conservatism is way beyond, way beyond the MAGA conservatism. So

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Speaker 9: he's coming at this from a radical conservative point of

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Speaker 9: view personally trying to govern a caucus that is total chaos.

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Speaker 9: It will I'll tell you what will ultimately happen. There

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Speaker 9: will be a CR and that CR will be put

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Speaker 9: forth with Democratic votes. It will be the Democrats that

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Speaker 9: once again put up the majority, probably as much as

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Speaker 9: sixty sixty or two thirds of the votes. The Republicans,

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Speaker 9: a few of them, will sign on and then will

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Speaker 9: continue to operate the government. Is that the way to

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Speaker 9: do it? Absolutely not. But the Republican leadership if they

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00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:14,080
Speaker 9: would today allow the vote to go forward on funding Ukraine.

442
00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:18,040
Speaker 9: And by the way, the Republicans like to fancy themselves

443
00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:23,760
Speaker 9: as being the national security program that they're out there

444
00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:26,119
Speaker 9: beating their chests saying, oh, it's all about a strong

445
00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:31,280
Speaker 9: military really, but they won't fund it. They won't fund Ukraine.

446
00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:34,240
Speaker 9: Most of that money for Ukraine is to rebuild our

447
00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:39,560
Speaker 9: supplies in our depots in America and around the world,

448
00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:44,479
Speaker 9: the United States depots, and also will provide ambunition for Ukraine.

449
00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:50,520
Speaker 9: It is absolutely unconscionable what the Republicans, who fancy themselves

450
00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:55,560
Speaker 9: as being national security advocates are standing down. They're not

451
00:24:55,840 --> 00:25:00,560
Speaker 9: lining up to support America's national security or the border funding.

452
00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:03,600
Speaker 9: They want border they won't vote for it. They want

453
00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:05,920
Speaker 9: funding for the voter, for the burder, but they won't

454
00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:09,760
Speaker 9: fund it. I mean, it is absolute, total chaos.

455
00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:16,159
Speaker 4: The congressman from California, Democrat, serves on the Armed Services Committee,

456
00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:18,080
Speaker 4: John Garamendi, It's great to see you again, Congressman.

457
00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:18,840
Speaker 3: Don't be a stranger.

458
00:25:20,480 --> 00:25:23,960
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast. Catch

459
00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:26,000
Speaker 1: us live weekdays at noon Eastern on.

460
00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:29,200
Speaker 2: Apocarplay and then Roud Otto with the Bloomberg Business app.

461
00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:32,400
Speaker 2: Listen on demand wherever you get your podcasts, or watch

462
00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:35,480
Speaker 2: us live on YouTube.

463
00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:39,040
Speaker 3: Mitch McConnell announcing his plans. He's going to keep his seat.

464
00:25:39,080 --> 00:25:41,600
Speaker 4: If you're just joining us, it's an important breaking story today.

465
00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:44,600
Speaker 4: He's going to leave his leadership post in November, and

466
00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:48,080
Speaker 4: we'll continue to serve the state of Kentucky. This is

467
00:25:48,119 --> 00:25:51,200
Speaker 4: not only a generational leader in the Republican Party in

468
00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:52,040
Speaker 4: the Senate here.

469
00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:52,520
Speaker 3: But a member.

470
00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:54,960
Speaker 4: He's been a Senator since nineteen eighty five, kle and

471
00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:59,000
Speaker 4: he spoke lovingly about Ronald Reagan being his inspiration to

472
00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:02,920
Speaker 4: enter politics. He did not mention Donald Trump as an inspiration.

473
00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:05,520
Speaker 7: He did not mention Donald Trump by name. But he

474
00:26:05,560 --> 00:26:08,920
Speaker 7: did speak on the Senate floor earlier today about how

475
00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:12,359
Speaker 7: he's aware of the politics politics of the Republican Party

476
00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:14,439
Speaker 7: right now, kind of alluding to the fact that the

477
00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:16,800
Speaker 7: politics are no longer the politics of the Reagan era

478
00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:19,320
Speaker 7: of nineteen eighty five. This is twenty twenty four. Donald

479
00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:21,960
Speaker 7: Trump is at this point far and away expected to

480
00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:25,600
Speaker 7: be the Republican nominee. And he hasn't always agreed with

481
00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:28,160
Speaker 7: Donald Trump in the past. As we know, he said

482
00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:31,160
Speaker 7: he was practically and morally responsible for January sixth, twenty

483
00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:34,000
Speaker 7: twenty one, when we saw the attack on the Capitol.

484
00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:36,240
Speaker 7: And of course Donald Trump has also had some really

485
00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:39,840
Speaker 7: harsh words about Elaine Chow, Mitch McConnell's wife, who he

486
00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:41,919
Speaker 7: spoke fondly of on the Senate floor earlier.

487
00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:46,000
Speaker 4: Today, he sure did talked about the fact that he

488
00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:48,919
Speaker 4: was reaching the end of his tenure here in words

489
00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:52,000
Speaker 4: that you could only hear really from Mitch McConnell. The

490
00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:56,119
Speaker 4: end of my contributions are closer than i'd prefer. And

491
00:26:56,160 --> 00:26:58,800
Speaker 4: that's why we wanted to spend some time again today

492
00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:01,080
Speaker 4: talking with Rojick Kumar.

493
00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:02,679
Speaker 3: We had him here yesterday to talk.

494
00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:06,040
Speaker 4: About negotiations involving Mitch McConnell Kaylene, not knowing that this

495
00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:07,920
Speaker 4: development would take place today.

496
00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:10,240
Speaker 3: He's at PwC now, but spent many.

497
00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:13,680
Speaker 4: Years working with Mitch McConnell, including his time as Deputy

498
00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:16,520
Speaker 4: Chief of Staff. Rohan, it's great to have you welcome

499
00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:18,240
Speaker 4: back twenty four hours later.

500
00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:20,080
Speaker 3: What did you make of this news when it broke.

501
00:27:22,359 --> 00:27:26,880
Speaker 11: Look, I am a proud alum of the McConnell operation,

502
00:27:27,119 --> 00:27:30,360
Speaker 11: and so I was a little bit sad I won't lie.

503
00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:34,040
Speaker 11: I have a lot of affection for the leader. He

504
00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:38,680
Speaker 11: was great to work for. He was an incredibly gracious boss.

505
00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:40,800
Speaker 11: You don't see it, you saw hints of it in

506
00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:45,240
Speaker 11: his remarks today, but he has an incredibly sharp and

507
00:27:45,359 --> 00:27:48,359
Speaker 11: dry sense of humor, and it made him a really

508
00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:51,480
Speaker 11: great boss to work for. Even I think even those

509
00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:54,560
Speaker 11: who don't always agree with his policy positions or the

510
00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:57,679
Speaker 11: choices that he made sort of over time came to

511
00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:00,399
Speaker 11: respect the way in which he handled himself. I certainly

512
00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:04,119
Speaker 11: saw that up close and personal. And while this was

513
00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:06,359
Speaker 11: the announcement today was certainly a surprise, it was not

514
00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:10,040
Speaker 11: something that I knew yesterday when we last spoke. At

515
00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:15,200
Speaker 11: some level, one of his superpowers has been a deep

516
00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:19,240
Speaker 11: sentence of self awareness, a trait that is perhaps not

517
00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:23,760
Speaker 11: always so commonplace amongst elected officials, not just in this

518
00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:25,280
Speaker 11: country but everywhere.

519
00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:29,159
Speaker 7: Well you speak to the surprise of the timing of

520
00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:31,359
Speaker 7: this announcement, and maybe it is a product of his

521
00:28:31,640 --> 00:28:35,159
Speaker 7: self awareness. As he said essentially that his time has come.

522
00:28:35,640 --> 00:28:37,439
Speaker 7: But if he's saying he's no longer going to be

523
00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:40,600
Speaker 7: the leader post the election in November, this is more

524
00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:44,080
Speaker 7: than eight months away. Rohit why do this now.

525
00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:47,760
Speaker 11: Oh, that to me makes I mean, at some level,

526
00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:49,600
Speaker 11: I think the timing was, as he said, and his

527
00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:52,640
Speaker 11: remarks driven by the personal tragedy in the family with

528
00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:56,880
Speaker 11: the death of his sister Laana car accident. But I

529
00:28:56,920 --> 00:29:00,520
Speaker 11: think it's also if you know this is coming level,

530
00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:03,760
Speaker 11: you owe it to the conference not to surprise them

531
00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:06,920
Speaker 11: in November and saying, you know, everyone thought I was

532
00:29:06,920 --> 00:29:09,240
Speaker 11: going to be leader, and he almost surely would have

533
00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:11,960
Speaker 11: had the votes to be re elected leader again had

534
00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:14,960
Speaker 11: he run. To give everyone notice right that I'm not

535
00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:17,040
Speaker 11: going to be doing this again. You all will have

536
00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:18,800
Speaker 11: to pick a different leader, and to give those that

537
00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:20,520
Speaker 11: are running, and there have been at least three names

538
00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:23,880
Speaker 11: that have been widely discussed in the press as potential successors,

539
00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:26,080
Speaker 11: you know, a chance to make their case to the conference,

540
00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:30,680
Speaker 11: so that it's not an artificially truncated race that the

541
00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:34,160
Speaker 11: conference will have. Senate Republicans will have time to engage

542
00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:36,320
Speaker 11: in a thoughtful conversation about who they want their next

543
00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:38,720
Speaker 11: leader to be. And as he said in his form marks,

544
00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:41,160
Speaker 11: if he has his brothers to be the next Senate

545
00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:44,760
Speaker 11: Majority leader, not just Senate Republican leader, a.

546
00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:47,239
Speaker 4: Big question that everyone's asking, and I bet you've been

547
00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:51,160
Speaker 4: asked it already, is why now? And some folks look

548
00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:53,080
Speaker 4: to Donald Trump for an answer, Some folks look to

549
00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:54,680
Speaker 4: Mitch McConnell's age for an answer.

550
00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:55,320
Speaker 3: Where do you look?

551
00:29:57,080 --> 00:29:57,640
Speaker 2: I look.

552
00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:00,640
Speaker 11: I take the man at his word, which is that

553
00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:03,960
Speaker 11: you know there was a family tragedy causes a moment

554
00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:07,680
Speaker 11: of introspection. He realizes, you know that, as he said,

555
00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:10,120
Speaker 11: you know, the end of his contributions are closer than

556
00:30:10,160 --> 00:30:12,920
Speaker 11: the beginning of his contributions, and it's time to pass

557
00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:16,960
Speaker 11: the mantle. And as I said, and I really I

558
00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:19,160
Speaker 11: can't emphasize how much I saw this just in working

559
00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:21,960
Speaker 11: with him for the seven years I worked for him directly,

560
00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:24,120
Speaker 11: and then four years prior to that, when I worked

561
00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:26,360
Speaker 11: for Senator First he was the Senate Republican Whips. We

562
00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:31,680
Speaker 11: worked very closely together for an eleven year stretch, being

563
00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:34,520
Speaker 11: self aware, right and understanding that the time has come

564
00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:37,400
Speaker 11: to pass the baton. Now. I can't tell you why

565
00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:40,760
Speaker 11: today versus yesterday or tomorrow or next week. Only he

566
00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:44,240
Speaker 11: can answer that question. But I think at some level,

567
00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:47,400
Speaker 11: once you've made the decision, or putting myself in his shoes,

568
00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:50,120
Speaker 11: once he'd made the decision he wasn't going to run again.

569
00:30:50,640 --> 00:30:52,960
Speaker 11: There was no reason to keep that a secret from

570
00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:55,959
Speaker 11: the conference, And at some level it was a final

571
00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:58,720
Speaker 11: act of service to the conference to give notice with

572
00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:03,160
Speaker 11: sufficient time for the potential candidates to make their case

573
00:31:03,280 --> 00:31:04,160
Speaker 11: in a fulsome way.

574
00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:08,720
Speaker 7: Well, as we consider the fact that really he's just

575
00:31:08,760 --> 00:31:11,480
Speaker 7: stepping down as leader here in November he said he

576
00:31:11,520 --> 00:31:15,760
Speaker 7: is still sticking around to serve as the Senator from Kentucky,

577
00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:19,000
Speaker 7: why not just leave the chamber entirely. If he's talking

578
00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:22,720
Speaker 7: about how he mentioned, you know, time and the fact

579
00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:24,520
Speaker 7: that he is eighty two years old, that a new

580
00:31:24,560 --> 00:31:28,960
Speaker 7: generation is needed, why not let that actual generational change

581
00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:33,600
Speaker 7: happened sooner and just call time on a Senate career

582
00:31:33,640 --> 00:31:35,120
Speaker 7: that's lasted four decades.

583
00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:37,720
Speaker 11: Well, I mean, I think he has a tremendous sense

584
00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:39,720
Speaker 11: of duty. And the voters of Kentucky elected him to

585
00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:41,360
Speaker 11: a six year term. They knew how old he was

586
00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:43,040
Speaker 11: when he was elected. They knew how old he would

587
00:31:43,080 --> 00:31:46,080
Speaker 11: be at the end of his term. And you know

588
00:31:46,240 --> 00:31:50,880
Speaker 11: he is in this. You just can't state this. I

589
00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:53,800
Speaker 11: will surely understate this, even though I will attempt not to.

590
00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:57,720
Speaker 11: He is not a quittor you know, he rather famously

591
00:31:57,760 --> 00:32:01,200
Speaker 11: overcame polio as a child, and that has just been

592
00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:04,280
Speaker 11: ingrained in his personality from an early age. It's a

593
00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:07,360
Speaker 11: lesson you're taught early as an early McConnell staffer. There

594
00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:10,200
Speaker 11: is just no quit in him. This is a passing

595
00:32:10,200 --> 00:32:12,600
Speaker 11: of a baton. It's not really a quit. And I

596
00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:15,160
Speaker 11: think for him, serving out the term is sort of

597
00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:19,400
Speaker 11: an important sort of feature of keeping the commitment he

598
00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:23,200
Speaker 11: made to the voters of Kentucky and honoring the term

599
00:32:23,200 --> 00:32:25,520
Speaker 11: that they elected him to. And there will be, of

600
00:32:25,560 --> 00:32:28,640
Speaker 11: course a natural time for that to change. He sort

601
00:32:28,640 --> 00:32:30,680
Speaker 11: of effective announced he's not going to run again. He'll

602
00:32:30,720 --> 00:32:33,560
Speaker 11: serve out until January of twenty twenty seven, and then

603
00:32:33,600 --> 00:32:35,320
Speaker 11: the voters in Kentucky will have a chance to have

604
00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:38,120
Speaker 11: their say in presumably November of twenty six.

605
00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:44,720
Speaker 4: We got news here on an endorsement already. It just

606
00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:46,440
Speaker 4: gives us a sense of what we might be in

607
00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:48,720
Speaker 4: for between now. In November, row Hit, the chair of

608
00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:52,720
Speaker 4: the Freedom Caucus, has endorsed Rick Scott to run the

609
00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:54,840
Speaker 4: Republican Party in the Senate. And we know that that's

610
00:32:54,840 --> 00:32:57,960
Speaker 4: something Rick Scott, at least at one time was interested

611
00:32:57,960 --> 00:32:59,680
Speaker 4: in doing. Is there going to be a bigger field

612
00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:01,800
Speaker 4: than we're allowing for right now?

613
00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:05,280
Speaker 11: I mean, I think it's too early to say, you

614
00:33:05,280 --> 00:33:08,080
Speaker 11: know what the field will look like. Senator Scott ran

615
00:33:08,400 --> 00:33:12,120
Speaker 11: last time, no idea if he's planning on running again.

616
00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:16,920
Speaker 11: In my several years, almost two decades of service to

617
00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:21,400
Speaker 11: the Senate, I have found that senators were rather uninterested

618
00:33:21,440 --> 00:33:24,080
Speaker 11: in the House's thoughts about how this organized their affairs.

619
00:33:26,200 --> 00:33:28,120
Speaker 7: Fair enough, but it does raise the question, real hint

620
00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:33,720
Speaker 7: of what kind of Republican could succeed McConnell, because as

621
00:33:33,720 --> 00:33:36,520
Speaker 7: we kind of began this conversation talking about how McConnell

622
00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:40,680
Speaker 7: was a Reagan era Republican, perhaps representing an internationalist wing

623
00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:44,240
Speaker 7: of the Republican Party, whereas Donald Trump represents another wing

624
00:33:44,280 --> 00:33:46,800
Speaker 7: and has growing influences we see evidenced on Capitol Hill

625
00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:51,200
Speaker 7: almost each and every day among Republicans. Who could be

626
00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:56,320
Speaker 7: realistically the next Senate leader who could get support from

627
00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:57,040
Speaker 7: both sides.

628
00:33:58,240 --> 00:33:58,680
Speaker 1: Well, it's a.

629
00:33:58,680 --> 00:34:01,280
Speaker 11: Little bit hard to tell, because the electorate hasn't even

630
00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:04,400
Speaker 11: been deciding, right, it will be the Senate Republican conference

631
00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:07,080
Speaker 11: of the upcoming Congress, not the one that we have today.

632
00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:11,520
Speaker 11: Shot weld Side and Centater McConnell alluded to he is

633
00:34:11,520 --> 00:34:14,080
Speaker 11: certainly hoping and doing everything within his power to elect

634
00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:16,920
Speaker 11: more Senate Republicans. Cent are there now that would you know,

635
00:34:16,960 --> 00:34:19,840
Speaker 11: in an effort to put Senate Republicans in the majority.

636
00:34:19,960 --> 00:34:22,920
Speaker 11: So without knowing who the electorate is, it's very difficult

637
00:34:22,920 --> 00:34:24,280
Speaker 11: to predict who's going to win an election.

638
00:34:26,600 --> 00:34:27,759
Speaker 3: Ro Hit, thanks for coming in.

639
00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:31,200
Speaker 4: It's good to see you, especially in an emergency situation

640
00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:34,400
Speaker 4: like this at PwC. Former deputy chief of staff for

641
00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:36,720
Speaker 4: Mitch McConnell, who's going to be stepping down as Republican

642
00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:40,320
Speaker 4: leader in November. Kayley, It's just another layer to the

643
00:34:40,400 --> 00:34:42,200
Speaker 4: drama that we're going to be covering for the next year.

644
00:34:43,640 --> 00:34:46,960
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast Ken

645
00:34:47,120 --> 00:34:49,919
Speaker 1: Just Live weekdays at noon Eastern on Apple car Play

646
00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:52,120
Speaker 1: and then Rodoo with the Bloomberg Business Ad.

647
00:34:52,280 --> 00:34:55,160
Speaker 2: You can also listen live on Amazon Alexa from our

648
00:34:55,160 --> 00:35:00,839
Speaker 2: flagship New York station, Just Say Alexa play Bloomberg eleven thirty.

649
00:35:01,560 --> 00:35:03,839
Speaker 4: We have an opportunity to have a special conversation right

650
00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:07,200
Speaker 4: now with the chief executive from one of America's great cities,

651
00:35:07,600 --> 00:35:10,360
Speaker 4: the mayor of Atlanta is with us from World Headquarters

652
00:35:10,440 --> 00:35:12,840
Speaker 4: in New York. Andre Dickens as part of the conversation

653
00:35:12,920 --> 00:35:16,000
Speaker 4: today on Bloomberg. Mister mayor, I appreciate your joining us.

654
00:35:16,160 --> 00:35:18,720
Speaker 4: You should know that we're fans of mayors around here

655
00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:21,520
Speaker 4: because as we cover Washington in and out every day

656
00:35:21,560 --> 00:35:23,760
Speaker 4: and the madness that you just heard us talking about,

657
00:35:23,960 --> 00:35:25,560
Speaker 4: we are well aware that you do not have the

658
00:35:25,680 --> 00:35:28,839
Speaker 4: luxury that lawmakers in Washington have when it comes to

659
00:35:28,880 --> 00:35:31,479
Speaker 4: making decisions. And so I'll start by asking you would

660
00:35:31,480 --> 00:35:34,600
Speaker 4: a government shut down mean anything for the city of Atlanta.

661
00:35:35,880 --> 00:35:39,239
Speaker 12: Yeah, you know, mayors are just different. I'm a part

662
00:35:39,280 --> 00:35:42,000
Speaker 12: of the US Conference of Mayors, and we say, you know,

663
00:35:42,239 --> 00:35:45,520
Speaker 12: no Democrats, Republicans. Mayors got to get the job done

664
00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:48,720
Speaker 12: on the streets of our cities, and so we could

665
00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:52,440
Speaker 12: not tolerate a government shut down from a city perspective.

666
00:35:52,719 --> 00:35:56,600
Speaker 12: You know, the federal government is dealing with that every

667
00:35:56,680 --> 00:35:59,160
Speaker 12: other quarter or so. It gives us a little heartburn.

668
00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:01,719
Speaker 12: We're hopeful that get through this one as well. But

669
00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:04,560
Speaker 12: there are federal agencies that are within the city of Atlanta,

670
00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:08,520
Speaker 12: from TSA to the FAA at the world's busiest airport,

671
00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:11,439
Speaker 12: to of course there's some national parks, like the King

672
00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:15,360
Speaker 12: Center is a national park in the city of Atlanta,

673
00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:17,600
Speaker 12: which is one of the most visited places in the

674
00:36:17,719 --> 00:36:21,320
Speaker 12: United States, and so many other things that the federal government.

675
00:36:21,360 --> 00:36:24,799
Speaker 12: Of course, there's federal employees from the IRS to the

676
00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:28,320
Speaker 12: various institutions, So a government shut down by the fees

677
00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:32,919
Speaker 12: affect our cities across America in a major way. We'll

678
00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:34,560
Speaker 12: get through it, We'll still be able to do what

679
00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:36,440
Speaker 12: we need to do. But think about all the funding

680
00:36:36,480 --> 00:36:40,319
Speaker 12: that goes to various households through the federal government. It's

681
00:36:40,400 --> 00:36:43,560
Speaker 12: just intolerable to see all this wrangling each end every.

682
00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:48,200
Speaker 4: Time for those watching on YouTube and elsewhere. Right now,

683
00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:51,040
Speaker 4: clearly the mayor is at home in Atlanta with that

684
00:36:51,120 --> 00:36:53,960
Speaker 4: beautiful skyline behind you. Mister Mary, didn't mean to confuse

685
00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:56,359
Speaker 4: that I know exactly where you're sitting. As a matter

686
00:36:56,360 --> 00:36:59,240
Speaker 4: of facts, we've been talking about dysfunction here in Congress

687
00:36:59,719 --> 00:37:02,520
Speaker 4: for I guess months and months. You're talking about, though,

688
00:37:03,080 --> 00:37:06,960
Speaker 4: one of the biggest bipartisan victories that we've seen in

689
00:37:07,000 --> 00:37:10,399
Speaker 4: the capital in some time, and that's infrastructure. And you've

690
00:37:10,440 --> 00:37:13,319
Speaker 4: got your own seven hundred and fifty million dollar infrastructure

691
00:37:13,360 --> 00:37:16,160
Speaker 4: project that you're talking about in Atlanta. I'd like to

692
00:37:16,200 --> 00:37:19,359
Speaker 4: hear more about it, beginning with how you're paying for it.

693
00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:21,239
Speaker 4: Will that be helped by the federal law.

694
00:37:22,760 --> 00:37:25,839
Speaker 12: Yeah, So we are very thankful for the Biden and

695
00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:30,000
Speaker 12: Harris bipartisan Infrastructure law that really brought a lot of

696
00:37:30,040 --> 00:37:32,600
Speaker 12: dollars to the city of Atlanta and all the cities

697
00:37:32,640 --> 00:37:35,919
Speaker 12: across this country. That's been very helpful, as well as

698
00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:39,439
Speaker 12: the infrastructure, the Inflation Reduction Act, the Chips Act. We're

699
00:37:39,440 --> 00:37:41,719
Speaker 12: taking it all to be able to help the residents

700
00:37:41,760 --> 00:37:45,879
Speaker 12: of Atlanta. We also did our own bond last year,

701
00:37:45,960 --> 00:37:49,000
Speaker 12: which is the Moving Atlanta Forward Bond, because we have

702
00:37:49,120 --> 00:37:51,880
Speaker 12: this great credit rating, the highest in the city's history.

703
00:37:52,400 --> 00:37:55,360
Speaker 12: So we're capitalizing on that because of being good stewards

704
00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:58,560
Speaker 12: of our public trust. The public has said, let's go

705
00:37:58,680 --> 00:38:02,160
Speaker 12: forward and do all of this new road infrastructure, new

706
00:38:02,200 --> 00:38:05,839
Speaker 12: parks and recreation centers, new fire stations, as well as

707
00:38:05,840 --> 00:38:08,279
Speaker 12: a new police station. So we're taking all of this

708
00:38:09,239 --> 00:38:12,320
Speaker 12: great bond infrastructure that we have and putting it to

709
00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:16,239
Speaker 12: use for the public. So we're now deploying those resources

710
00:38:16,280 --> 00:38:18,880
Speaker 12: with contractors to get these things built so that the

711
00:38:18,920 --> 00:38:20,759
Speaker 12: public can enjoy these new amenities.

712
00:38:21,840 --> 00:38:23,920
Speaker 4: So you're at the contracting stage already. Do you have

713
00:38:23,960 --> 00:38:25,440
Speaker 4: the workers to do all those jobs?

714
00:38:26,600 --> 00:38:30,360
Speaker 12: Well, some of this we're at the procurement stage where

715
00:38:30,400 --> 00:38:33,160
Speaker 12: we are out there looking for bidders, and you know,

716
00:38:33,200 --> 00:38:35,200
Speaker 12: some are in the design stage so that we can

717
00:38:35,440 --> 00:38:37,239
Speaker 12: you know, properly build it to make sure that it

718
00:38:37,280 --> 00:38:39,640
Speaker 12: is sustainable. But you know, once we are at the

719
00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:42,840
Speaker 12: contracting stage, and some of these we are open for

720
00:38:42,920 --> 00:38:45,640
Speaker 12: business in Atlanta, and we want to make sure that

721
00:38:45,680 --> 00:38:48,879
Speaker 12: the contractors have enough staff. So we're utilizing as many

722
00:38:48,880 --> 00:38:51,480
Speaker 12: incentives as possible to be able to get them to

723
00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:54,799
Speaker 12: do that. We would love to do more workforce development

724
00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:57,799
Speaker 12: so that individuals can learn these trades to do more

725
00:38:57,840 --> 00:39:01,359
Speaker 12: construction jobs so they can have middle income wages. That's

726
00:39:01,440 --> 00:39:04,640
Speaker 12: part of the bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which was to not

727
00:39:04,680 --> 00:39:07,880
Speaker 12: only do the construction, but to have workforce development for

728
00:39:07,880 --> 00:39:10,200
Speaker 12: people to have a skill. And we're, you know, we're

729
00:39:10,239 --> 00:39:12,080
Speaker 12: working on all ends to be able to do that.

730
00:39:13,560 --> 00:39:16,160
Speaker 4: I'd love to get your view on crime in your city,

731
00:39:16,800 --> 00:39:19,040
Speaker 4: Mayor Dickens, part of the national conversation. We're hearing a

732
00:39:19,080 --> 00:39:21,480
Speaker 4: lot about it on the campaign trail now is about

733
00:39:21,680 --> 00:39:28,160
Speaker 4: crime in America's cities. Republicans tend to criticize Democrat run cities.

734
00:39:28,520 --> 00:39:31,160
Speaker 4: Your office those says you've managed to lower homicides by

735
00:39:31,200 --> 00:39:33,520
Speaker 4: twenty one percent in the last year.

736
00:39:33,600 --> 00:39:34,239
Speaker 3: How'd you do it?

737
00:39:35,480 --> 00:39:37,920
Speaker 12: Yeah, we are so thankful that last year we reduced

738
00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:41,960
Speaker 12: homicides by twenty one percent, the third highest drop across

739
00:39:42,040 --> 00:39:44,960
Speaker 12: the nation for cities. We're very proud of that. We

740
00:39:44,960 --> 00:39:48,640
Speaker 12: did it through policing and non policing activities. The policing

741
00:39:48,680 --> 00:39:52,880
Speaker 12: activities were we went after gangs, guns and drug dealers.

742
00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:55,520
Speaker 12: We really cracked down on violent crime in that way.

743
00:39:55,920 --> 00:39:59,640
Speaker 12: Fifty percent reduction in rapes also as well as reduction

744
00:39:59,719 --> 00:40:02,520
Speaker 12: in robberies and burglary. So we were everywhere with our

745
00:40:02,560 --> 00:40:05,759
Speaker 12: police force, our great police chief, and our partners at

746
00:40:05,760 --> 00:40:10,080
Speaker 12: the GBI, the FBI, our District Attorney's office, etc. We

747
00:40:10,160 --> 00:40:12,560
Speaker 12: worked together on the policing side. But make no mistake

748
00:40:12,600 --> 00:40:16,080
Speaker 12: about it, we reduced crime before crime even started by

749
00:40:16,080 --> 00:40:19,080
Speaker 12: working with our youth. I declared last year the Year

750
00:40:19,120 --> 00:40:23,000
Speaker 12: of the Youth. We had kids insted. We made investments

751
00:40:23,040 --> 00:40:27,040
Speaker 12: in midnight basketball where you were able to play basketball

752
00:40:27,080 --> 00:40:30,120
Speaker 12: from seven pm to midnight, and I got out there

753
00:40:30,160 --> 00:40:34,400
Speaker 12: a few times. We had the highest summer youth employment ever,

754
00:40:34,840 --> 00:40:37,640
Speaker 12: five thousand young people between the ages of fourteen and

755
00:40:37,680 --> 00:40:40,879
Speaker 12: twenty four, making an average of seventeen dollars an hour.

756
00:40:41,120 --> 00:40:43,319
Speaker 12: They were so busy making money they couldn't be out

757
00:40:43,360 --> 00:40:45,960
Speaker 12: doing crime or doing any other thing that we wouldn't

758
00:40:46,000 --> 00:40:48,760
Speaker 12: want them to do. So throughout that year we invested

759
00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:52,799
Speaker 12: in nonprofits that had a really good hand on our

760
00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:57,080
Speaker 12: young people to help them with stem, with robotics, with sports,

761
00:40:57,160 --> 00:41:00,360
Speaker 12: with dance, and arts. So we did every thing we

762
00:41:00,440 --> 00:41:04,160
Speaker 12: could to keep youth busy. We brought down youth crime

763
00:41:04,280 --> 00:41:07,080
Speaker 12: by forty six percent. So when you bring down youth

764
00:41:07,160 --> 00:41:10,000
Speaker 12: violent crime, you bring down overall crime. And we had

765
00:41:10,040 --> 00:41:13,440
Speaker 12: an overall message through our violence interrupters. We were going

766
00:41:13,480 --> 00:41:17,279
Speaker 12: out there talking to grown folks telling them, hey, no retaliation,

767
00:41:17,719 --> 00:41:20,359
Speaker 12: Let's learn how to de escalate issues because so much

768
00:41:20,400 --> 00:41:22,719
Speaker 12: of the crime that we saw was intrapersonal people that

769
00:41:22,800 --> 00:41:25,719
Speaker 12: knew each other. So overall, we're thankful. Now when you

770
00:41:25,719 --> 00:41:28,319
Speaker 12: get twenty one percent homicide, people are thankful about it,

771
00:41:28,320 --> 00:41:30,360
Speaker 12: but they're like, let's do it again this year and

772
00:41:30,400 --> 00:41:33,799
Speaker 12: again and again. So we While you say that Republican's point,

773
00:41:33,880 --> 00:41:37,319
Speaker 12: the Democrat led cities as crime ridden. We don't see

774
00:41:37,320 --> 00:41:39,920
Speaker 12: it that way. I work very closely with a Republican

775
00:41:39,960 --> 00:41:43,160
Speaker 12: governor and I'm a Democratic mayor, and we work together

776
00:41:43,239 --> 00:41:46,360
Speaker 12: to bring down violent crime. And that's true policing and

777
00:41:46,440 --> 00:41:47,480
Speaker 12: non policing.

778
00:41:47,040 --> 00:41:50,320
Speaker 3: Efforts as we consider law enforcement.

779
00:41:50,400 --> 00:41:52,560
Speaker 4: Mister Mayor, I have to ask you about District Attorney

780
00:41:52,920 --> 00:41:55,279
Speaker 4: Fannie Willis now a household name because of her case

781
00:41:55,760 --> 00:41:57,279
Speaker 4: against former President Donald Trump.

782
00:41:57,360 --> 00:42:00,680
Speaker 3: You made a personal appearance in court to support her.

783
00:42:01,360 --> 00:42:04,680
Speaker 4: Considering the sensitivity in this case, I wonder if you

784
00:42:04,719 --> 00:42:06,960
Speaker 4: can talk in a remaining couple of minutes about this,

785
00:42:07,000 --> 00:42:09,600
Speaker 4: why not turn to someone else who is not shrouded

786
00:42:09,640 --> 00:42:11,439
Speaker 4: in controversy to lead this case.

787
00:42:12,840 --> 00:42:14,879
Speaker 12: Well, first of all, if we talk about somebody who's

788
00:42:14,880 --> 00:42:18,640
Speaker 12: shrouded in controversy, that would be the former President Donald J. Trump.

789
00:42:19,000 --> 00:42:23,880
Speaker 12: So when someone says Fannie's in some controversy, we've literally

790
00:42:23,920 --> 00:42:27,000
Speaker 12: watched the president that's been in controversy for most of

791
00:42:27,040 --> 00:42:30,799
Speaker 12: my entire life and definitely my political life. So I

792
00:42:30,880 --> 00:42:32,879
Speaker 12: wanted to go to court the other day to say

793
00:42:32,880 --> 00:42:35,799
Speaker 12: that Fannie Willis is actually not on trial. Who is

794
00:42:35,840 --> 00:42:38,760
Speaker 12: on trial is the former president of the United States,

795
00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:42,800
Speaker 12: who has been accused of trying to steal an election,

796
00:42:42,960 --> 00:42:45,640
Speaker 12: where four people in his orbit, four people that work

797
00:42:45,680 --> 00:42:48,840
Speaker 12: with him or for him, have been have played guilty

798
00:42:48,840 --> 00:42:51,200
Speaker 12: to that in that very same court. And so what

799
00:42:51,200 --> 00:42:53,680
Speaker 12: we're what I came there to say was Fannie Willis

800
00:42:53,800 --> 00:42:57,680
Speaker 12: is not on trial. She's standing up here looking, you know,

801
00:42:57,960 --> 00:42:59,879
Speaker 12: like she's on trial, but she's not. And I didn't

802
00:42:59,880 --> 00:43:02,560
Speaker 12: want her to feel like she was alone. She needs

803
00:43:02,600 --> 00:43:05,360
Speaker 12: to continue to do the job that she's doing, which

804
00:43:05,440 --> 00:43:09,520
Speaker 12: is to bring prosecution forth on this case as well

805
00:43:09,560 --> 00:43:12,120
Speaker 12: as all the other cases. As I mentioned, this is

806
00:43:12,160 --> 00:43:14,759
Speaker 12: a group project in Atlanta of how we bring down

807
00:43:14,840 --> 00:43:17,960
Speaker 12: violent crime. Fannie Willis and the DA's office has been

808
00:43:18,080 --> 00:43:21,080
Speaker 12: very instrumental in our gain charges and our drug dealing,

809
00:43:21,680 --> 00:43:24,239
Speaker 12: you know, prosecution of drug dealers as well as those

810
00:43:24,280 --> 00:43:26,880
Speaker 12: gun runners and the various people that do harm in

811
00:43:26,920 --> 00:43:29,560
Speaker 12: our community. We want her to continue to do that work.

812
00:43:29,719 --> 00:43:32,239
Speaker 12: Take the spotlight off of her for you know, the

813
00:43:32,320 --> 00:43:34,640
Speaker 12: things that she's being accused of and the things that

814
00:43:35,239 --> 00:43:38,600
Speaker 12: are personal her personal life. You know, she can manage

815
00:43:38,640 --> 00:43:40,880
Speaker 12: that and others can help her manage that. For me,

816
00:43:41,200 --> 00:43:43,000
Speaker 12: I need a DA that's going to help bring down

817
00:43:43,080 --> 00:43:46,080
Speaker 12: violent crime and make sure we have trusted elections in America.

818
00:43:47,400 --> 00:43:50,040
Speaker 4: The Mayor of Atlanta, Andre dickens with us from our

819
00:43:50,080 --> 00:43:53,000
Speaker 4: bureau in Atlanta. Mister Mayor, I appreciate your joining us

820
00:43:53,040 --> 00:43:55,160
Speaker 4: to talk. I hope we'll do it in person sometime

821
00:43:55,239 --> 00:43:59,759
Speaker 4: in your city. Thanks for listening to the balance of power.

822
00:44:01,160 --> 00:44:04,279
Speaker 4: Make sure to subscribe if you haven't already, at Apple, Spotify,

823
00:44:04,360 --> 00:44:06,960
Speaker 4: or wherever you get your podcasts, and you can find

824
00:44:07,000 --> 00:44:10,719
Speaker 4: us live every weekday from Washington, DC at Noontimeeaster at

825
00:44:10,719 --> 00:44:12,759
Speaker 4: Bloomberg dot com.