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Speaker 2: Eighteen sixty four, as we step into the wayback machine,
Speaker 2: a law from the Civil War that criminalized nearly all
Speaker 2: abortions in Arizona can now take effect according to Arizona's
Speaker 2: Supreme Court. This is a ruling that could have massive
Speaker 2: implications in the presidential campaign. I know it's just Arizona,
Speaker 2: but that's one of the swing states that we are
Speaker 2: looking at that could well decide the next president of
Speaker 2: the United States, and so we wanted to talk about
Speaker 2: it with Samara Klarr on the ground in Arizona has
Speaker 2: been hearing about it for the last twenty four hours
Speaker 2: in person here, political science professor at the University of Arizona,
Speaker 2: co author of the book Independent Politics, How American disdain
Speaker 2: for parties leads to political inactions. Samora, it's great to
Speaker 2: have you back. Did Joe Biden just win Arizona?
Speaker 1: Well, you know.
Speaker 3: It's interesting to see Republican candidates here in Arizona over
Speaker 3: the last twenty four hours really almost clamoring to express
Speaker 3: the strongest possible outrage they can, which is a bit
Speaker 3: of a shift from what we've been seeing over the
Speaker 3: last ten years or so. Both Republicans and Democrats in
Speaker 3: Arizona are seeing the polling and they see what I
Speaker 3: see when I pull Arizona's which is that there's really
Speaker 3: very very weak support for a ban like the one
Speaker 3: that went into place yesterday. In fact, I pulled eight
Speaker 3: hundred registered voters just a couple of weeks ago, and
Speaker 3: only seven percent of Arizona voters support the type of
Speaker 3: ban that was ruled yesterday. Seven percent. So that's not
Speaker 3: good news. Re candidate here in Arizona is really doing
Speaker 3: what they can to distance themselves from this ruling.
Speaker 2: No better symbol than the evolution of Carrie Lake, of course,
Speaker 2: running for Senate in Arizona, who at one time embraced
Speaker 2: this Civil War era law, said that this was a
Speaker 2: good thing, and has been certainly backing away from it
Speaker 2: in the last twenty four hours. Doesn't that tell us
Speaker 2: everything we need to know?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, there's really been no more dramatic pivot
Speaker 3: than what we're seeing am on Carrie Lake, and it's
Speaker 3: been in the works for a little while. I remember
Speaker 3: noticing just several months ago that she was really starting
Speaker 3: to change her rhetoric from this strong pro life position
Speaker 3: to now saying sort of what we're hearing Donald Trump
Speaker 3: say now, which is that it should be left to
Speaker 3: people to decide, and you know, meet's up to the states,
Speaker 3: aft to the voters. So you know, Democrats have had
Speaker 3: abortion as kind of a winning issue for them, honestly,
Speaker 3: really ever since Dabbs. It's really helped out Democrats in
Speaker 3: states like Arizona, and the Republicans now are just kind
Speaker 3: of trying to do some damage control and trying to
Speaker 3: figure out how they can sort of balance between maintaining
Speaker 3: this pro life position that many of them have put
Speaker 3: forward for years now, but also understanding that the vast majority,
Speaker 3: especially in a state like Arizona, voters do not support
Speaker 3: an abortion ban.
Speaker 2: Two years ago, Carrie Lake called this a great law,
Speaker 2: that's a direct quote, calling it a model for other
Speaker 2: states to follow. Another quote, yesterday, she condemned it, calling
Speaker 2: for an immediate, common sense solution that Arizonas can support.
Speaker 2: David Schweikert, Republican Congressman from Arizona, this issue should be
Speaker 2: decided by Arizona's not legislated from the bench. I encouraged
Speaker 2: the state legislature to address this issue immediately. Is this
Speaker 2: how Republicans will run on this in Arizona?
Speaker 3: I think that at this point, unless they do a
Speaker 3: full pivot and you know, become pro choice, which who knows,
Speaker 3: I mean, anything could happen in the way things are going,
Speaker 3: but at this point I think that's their best bet.
Speaker 3: I mean, the polling that I did last week shows
Speaker 3: forty percent of Arizona voters forty percent, which was higher
Speaker 3: than I expected, said that they think abortion should always
Speaker 3: be left to a woman and her doctor to decide.
Speaker 3: Twenty five percent support a ban with exceptions, so exceptions
Speaker 3: for rape, for incess, for threats to mother's life. The
Speaker 3: ruling yesterday put into place a law that has no exceptions.
Speaker 3: So the ruling as of yesterday would put into place
Speaker 3: an abortion ban without any exceptions for rape forrincess. So
Speaker 3: this is a deeply unpopular law. As I mentioned, you know,
Speaker 3: seven percent of Arizona's say they support this kind of
Speaker 3: a loss seven percent, so Yeah, Republican candidates are trying
Speaker 3: to figure out how they can distance themselves from it
Speaker 3: without completely going back, although as you just mentioned, we're
Speaker 3: already seeing a lot of backtracking.
Speaker 1: That's remarkable.
Speaker 2: This is a Samara's poll of eight hundred registered voters
Speaker 2: in Arizona. If you didn't quite just hear that, seven
Speaker 2: percent single digits support a ban with no exceptions, twenty
Speaker 2: five percent with exception, sixty six supporting abortion at various
Speaker 2: points in a pregnancy. Will the state legislature act then
Speaker 2: based on numbers like these?
Speaker 3: Oh, I think already, you know, they're already trying to
Speaker 3: figure out how they're going to move forward. The ban
Speaker 3: is not currently in effect. There's I think a two
Speaker 3: week period where it's now being sent to a different court,
Speaker 3: and then they're going to have several weeks to figure out,
Speaker 3: you know, what exactly their plan is going to be
Speaker 3: going forward. But I think there's a very very low
Speaker 3: chance that this band will stay in place in Arizona.
Speaker 3: It has no support among the public, it has no
Speaker 3: support among the politicians. It doesn't seem like this is going.
Speaker 5: To last long.
Speaker 2: Pretty remarkable timing. Just a day after Donald Trump issued
Speaker 2: his statement on abortion, saying that it's up to the states.
Speaker 2: So all the states have spoken, haven't they.
Speaker 3: I mean, I think this is really going to be
Speaker 3: a huge issue for Democrats, of course in Arizona and elsewhere.
Speaker 3: Another thing I'd point out from that pull that I
Speaker 3: recently did is that those who support abortion rights also
Speaker 3: say that it's much more important to them when it
Speaker 3: comes to their vote choice relative to those who are
Speaker 3: pose abortion. So pro choice voters are more likely to
Speaker 3: make that a centerpiece of their voting decision. Pro life
Speaker 3: voters are more likely to actually vote on something else.
Speaker 3: So there's a far greater risk of losing the pro
Speaker 3: choice voters than there are losing the pro life voters.
Speaker 2: We're going to talk about this more over the course
Speaker 2: of our hour. Really great to have you back, Samara
Speaker 2: Klar from the University of Arizona. Great conversation, great insights,
Speaker 2: and thank you tomorrow for sharing your research with us.
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Speaker 1: Just say Alexa play Bloomberg eleven thirty.
Speaker 2: Pretty fascinating. Here is Joe Biden makes news in an
Speaker 2: interview on Univision about apparently what will be an executive
Speaker 2: action that he's preparing to take. Remembering that this border
Speaker 2: deal never got past the Senate that was struck earlier,
Speaker 2: it was tied to funding for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.
Speaker 2: In this case, he is eyeing a restriction on the
Speaker 2: definition of asylum, and this brings us back to that
Speaker 2: very debate. A tightened criteria for asylum he would use authority,
Speaker 2: according to Univision and what he said in this interview
Speaker 2: in section two twelve of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Speaker 2: Here's a little piece of his interview that aired last
Speaker 2: evening on Univision.
Speaker 6: Well, it suggests that that we're examining whether or not
Speaker 6: I have that power. There's no guarantee that I have
Speaker 6: that power all by myself without legislation, and some suggests
Speaker 6: that I should just go ahead and try it and
Speaker 6: if I get shut down by the court, and get
Speaker 6: shut down by the court, but we're trying to work
Speaker 6: through that right.
Speaker 1: Now, so.
Speaker 2: Maybe it'll work. Let's assemble our panel for their take.
Speaker 2: Rick Davis and Jeanie Shanzano or together today Bloomberg Politics
Speaker 2: contributors are signature panel. Jeanie, what do you think about
Speaker 2: this most recent swing at an issue that will not
Speaker 2: leave Joe Biden alone?
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, this was something the President raised when
Speaker 5: he was an eagle pass. I think it was about
Speaker 5: a month ago. He said, you know, we need to act,
Speaker 5: and we understand there has been a fierce debate in
Speaker 5: the White House over whether in fact this is legal constitutional,
Speaker 5: but very much as you described, he's going to do
Speaker 5: what you know, essentially use the same portion of the
Speaker 5: bill that we saw Donald Trump use to try to
Speaker 5: take this executive action. And he really does need to
Speaker 5: act on this issue because we are talking about an
Speaker 5: issue where he is losing support among Latinos in the
Speaker 5: polls where we are seeing this is the number one
Speaker 5: issue on the minds of many voters, and not just
Speaker 5: on the southern border states. Of course, Donald Trump has
Speaker 5: been using these issues, so he needs to address this.
Speaker 5: He's going to try to act this way, but again,
Speaker 5: it is not the comprehensive policy we need. It is
Speaker 5: what we've seen for the last several years quite frankly,
Speaker 5: and he will try it, but it probably won't be effective.
Speaker 2: I don't know if this will require a congressional approval
Speaker 2: or if members of Congress, Well, what of who am
Speaker 2: I kidding?
Speaker 1: Rick?
Speaker 2: The pushback from Republicans in the House will be fierce,
Speaker 2: won't it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, the pushback will be fierce. They want hr to
Speaker 4: the flagship border bill that they created over a year
Speaker 4: ago that's gone absolutely nowhere, a talking point that's about
Speaker 4: as dead as the bill itself. But the reality is
Speaker 4: this is sort of an ongoing talking point coming out
Speaker 4: of the White House that they established with the Senate
Speaker 4: Bill on Security as Systems. This was part of this
Speaker 4: idea that they could empower the president if a number
Speaker 4: of border cross he's got over five thousand a day,
Speaker 4: that that would give him the ability, you know, laterally
Speaker 4: then to shut the border. So I think this is
Speaker 4: kind of you know, Senate border bill too, which is okay,
Speaker 4: maybe I don't need congressional approval to do that. Maybe
Speaker 4: I just try and do it myself. Get pretty canny
Speaker 4: on the part of the White House. They are looking
Speaker 4: at this going okay, he can look tough on the border.
Speaker 4: I would bet that it has a threshold issue involved
Speaker 4: like five thousand people crossing the border in one day,
Speaker 4: and my guess is that he would welcome a court challenge.
Speaker 4: One they've always been skittish about controlling the border, and two,
Speaker 4: you know, that would give him an argument that says, hey,
Speaker 4: we're trying to do this and these crazy you know,
Speaker 4: Trump courts are keeping us from doing it. And we
Speaker 4: couldn't get the build through Congress because Republicans bailed on
Speaker 4: their own idea. So I actually think it's a good
Speaker 4: way to deal with the border issue. He's never going
Speaker 4: to win on it, but he just needs to look
Speaker 4: like he's trying the best he can to not let
Speaker 4: the border me completely free.
Speaker 2: So that's the point here, Jennie. It's messaging you don't
Speaker 2: necessarily have to create a new policy when you're running
Speaker 2: for reelection here, just be caught in the act trying.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and what Rick says is absolutely right politically, and
Speaker 5: you're absolutely right, Joe. The problem is this does nothing
Speaker 5: to address the key issues, and that has always been
Speaker 5: the problem. So there is very little sunlight between Joe
Speaker 5: Biden and Donald Trump in these EO attempts. They either
Speaker 5: fail in court or they minimally address the issue, and
Speaker 5: we can't. We don't. We have a Congress that's not acting,
Speaker 5: and so yes, it is a lot of theater. If
Speaker 5: you will, it may help around the edges, but it's
Speaker 5: not going to solve the issue. And let's not forget
Speaker 5: we had the highest number of border crossings in December
Speaker 5: of last year. That's just a few months ago. So
Speaker 5: you know that is I think the troubling part of this.
Speaker 5: We need comprehensive reform, we are not going to get it,
Speaker 5: and so they are choosing in this campaign year to
Speaker 5: do what candidates do.
Speaker 2: Rick, We're about to hear from Joe Biden and the
Speaker 2: Prime Minister of Japan a bilateral news conference in the
Speaker 2: Rose Garden, and you know how this stuff goes. The
Speaker 2: White House would love for us to ask a lot
Speaker 2: of questions about investing in Japan and strengthening our military alliance,
Speaker 2: but it's going to be just like this that come up, right,
Speaker 2: what's the job for Joe Biden when he goes to
Speaker 2: Q and A with reporters today?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean a job for Joe Biden is not
Speaker 4: to do what he always does, which is wax on,
Speaker 4: you know, not so poetically about issues that aren't there
Speaker 4: for the day, that may be driven by special interests
Speaker 4: that are sitting in there, sometimes referred to as the press,
Speaker 4: and so like this, it's just so hard for him.
Speaker 4: He loves to talk about these issues of domestic interest,
Speaker 4: and yet today really is an incredibly important day. The
Speaker 4: Prime Minister's visit harkins a new relationship defence y with
Speaker 4: Japan puts them from a passivist nation into one that
Speaker 4: will protect their self interest in not only their own waters,
Speaker 4: but territorial waters, which means code for the South China Sea.
Speaker 4: And so this is kind of a page turner. We
Speaker 4: haven't had much conversation about this part of the world lately,
Speaker 4: and I think it's an opportunity for the Biden administration
Speaker 4: to show what kind of deterrence they're trying to put
Speaker 4: up against Chinese aggression. And part of it is these
Speaker 4: bilateral and multilateral relationships that have been developed as part
Speaker 4: of the deterrence effect against China.
Speaker 2: Is this a high risk situation for Joe Biden meeting
Speaker 2: the press today, Genie, what's your take?
Speaker 5: It should not be. I mean, there is nothing that
Speaker 5: has bipartisan support more than confronting China, and that's what
Speaker 5: this visit is all about, or it should be about.
Speaker 5: You know, there are some potential areas where he can
Speaker 5: stumble or know they can ask him things that that
Speaker 5: may cause him to veer off. But you would think
Speaker 5: this would be a you know, home run, so to speak,
Speaker 5: because there is bipartisan support for doing what we're doing.
Speaker 5: And you know, I suspect Hill will get some questions
Speaker 5: on his intervention in US steel. You know, obviously they're
Speaker 5: going to talk about inflation, as you mentioned, all kinds
Speaker 5: of things, but on this particular visit, it should be
Speaker 5: widespread support. The Prime Minister is supposed to be speaking
Speaker 5: before Congress this week. This is an important relationship for
Speaker 5: the United States and the Biden administration's efforts to as
Speaker 5: Rick was talking about, confront China, So you don't think
Speaker 5: there would be any room to sort of get off
Speaker 5: off focus, but you never know that you press, even
Speaker 5: the Premary.
Speaker 2: Well, i'll tell you what we're going to experience this
Speaker 2: together as always with Rick and Genie. They're going to
Speaker 2: be back with us next hour or second hour of
Speaker 2: balance of power, and I suspect that the President will
Speaker 2: join us via the Rose Gardener that time as well.
Speaker 2: This was scheduled for twelve thirty, a little more than
Speaker 2: twenty minutes ago, and when he speaks, along with the
Speaker 2: Japanese Prime Minister, will bring you his remarks. With that
Speaker 2: in mind, I wanted to bring Nick Watams into the conversation.
Speaker 2: Of course, runs our national security coverage here in Washington,
Speaker 2: because this is a military alliance that we're talking about here.
Speaker 2: I know he's going to get questions on abortion and
Speaker 2: the border, but assuming those reporters are called on, but
Speaker 2: this is about strengthening our military ties with Japan investing
Speaker 2: in our military. In fact, the order as we saw yesterday,
Speaker 2: or the call to create a Council on Defense Industries,
Speaker 2: all with China in mind. Nick is with us at
Speaker 2: the table here. It's good to see you, sir. This
Speaker 2: is pretty significant when you think of US collaborating on
Speaker 2: military projects, Japanese workers on US ships import overseas. How
Speaker 2: much time went into this, How significant is it?
Speaker 7: Well, you know it's there's the big question we always
Speaker 7: have on these summits is how much of it is
Speaker 7: really about signaling in the alliance and how much of
Speaker 7: it is we actually are going to see some real
Speaker 7: concrete action here, and it looks from this one like
Speaker 7: there's going to be some action. The two sides are
Speaker 7: really are deepening ties, but and they're taking concrete steps
Speaker 7: to mesh their militaries closer together, which is interesting for
Speaker 7: Japan because you know the defense spending for Japan. Historically
Speaker 7: they have not put a huge amount of money in
Speaker 7: the military, but there's been this change because of the
Speaker 7: rise of China and its own military expansion, So that's
Speaker 7: quite interesting. But I think you really need to see
Speaker 7: this summit much more as a signal to China. So
Speaker 7: it's not so much about the individual things that these
Speaker 7: two countries are going to be doing, but that they
Speaker 7: are presenting a united front against what they see as
Speaker 7: their chief rival. So it'll be much more about about
Speaker 7: the signaling effort to sort of show that also with
Speaker 7: the Philippines. There's a trilateral some with the Philippines coming
Speaker 7: up the next day. It'll be a big part of that.
Speaker 2: This is slowly becoming the NATO of the Pacific, as
Speaker 2: Admiral Stavritas called for.
Speaker 7: I don't know if we're quite there yet, but is.
Speaker 2: That a real conversation though, I am.
Speaker 7: Yes, But certainly nothing as formal as NATO. I mean
Speaker 7: that has been essentially the most successful and biggest defense
Speaker 7: and security alliance of the post Cold War world. I
Speaker 7: think it would be very difficult. There's a little bit
Speaker 7: too much fractiousness in Asia for countries to be able
Speaker 7: to do that. I mean, another interesting element here is
Speaker 7: how much of this summit is the Biden administration also
Speaker 7: trying to spread the love among its allies. It wasn't
Speaker 7: too long ago that the US had a summit in
Speaker 7: Washington with South Korea. Now they have their summit with
Speaker 7: the Japanese leader as well, So it's you sort of
Speaker 7: see this alliance management through the distribution and awarding of
Speaker 7: summits to various allied countries. So this is a very
Speaker 7: big deal for Japan. I think our sense is that
Speaker 7: for the US, it's really about sending a signal more
Speaker 7: than actually trying to achieve something company the.
Speaker 2: Real For Japan, first time in almost a decade for
Speaker 2: a Japanese leader to be at the White.
Speaker 1: House like this, we get the full roll out the
Speaker 1: state dinner.
Speaker 2: Not every world leader gets a reception like this, so
Speaker 2: there's clearly a deliberate messaging going on.
Speaker 7: Well, and the other thing that's fascinating about it is that,
Speaker 7: you know, if you look at the Trump administration, they
Speaker 7: really heralded his alliance, his close friendship with Japan, as
Speaker 7: a key foreign policy success for him. So there was
Speaker 7: some unease by the Japanese when President Biden came in
Speaker 7: if he would maintain what was essentially what President Trump
Speaker 7: had as the premier alliance of his presidency. Of course,
Speaker 7: got an election coming up. President Biden also wants to
Speaker 7: send a signal to Japan that hey, you guys did
Speaker 7: really well under Trump. You've had a great time, but
Speaker 7: I've got your back as well. So there's a domestic
Speaker 7: element here as well that's fascinating.
Speaker 2: Just quickly, in our last moment, they're going to be
Speaker 2: talks about how Japan can help support the Aucust alliance
Speaker 2: as well as what is it a second pillar as
Speaker 2: they call it, that's sort of an adjacent relationship. Could
Speaker 2: they eventually become part of it.
Speaker 7: Well, Australia is pushing back really hard on that idea,
Speaker 7: but what they have said is that they do want
Speaker 7: to fold Japan into the sort of technological element of August.
Speaker 7: So there's the whole subs deal that Australia is going
Speaker 7: to get these subs. But then there's this whole other
Speaker 7: part where they're talking about advanced technologies, and that's obviously
Speaker 7: a place where they want a pen to play a role.
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast. Catch
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Speaker 8: We want to turn now to one of our favorites
Speaker 8: here on Bloomberg Television and Radio. The former Congressman from Virginia,
Speaker 8: Ver Rigelman, is joining us once again. Congressman, it's great
Speaker 8: to have you here as we're talking about geopolitics very
Speaker 8: much in focus with this visit between Biden and the
Speaker 8: Prime Minister of Japan and countering China in that specific theater.
Speaker 8: We know that geopolitics are at play in congressional behavior
Speaker 8: as well, including this issue of aid for Ukraine and
Speaker 8: whatever could come as a consequence. We've heard from members
Speaker 8: of Congress today that Ukraine aid could go to the
Speaker 8: floor next week for a vote. So then will it
Speaker 8: be what the next day that there could be a
Speaker 8: move from Marjorie Taylor Green to oust how speaker Mike Johnson,
Speaker 8: What do you think is going to go down here?
Speaker 9: You know what happens with the irrational?
Speaker 1: You know, good to be here.
Speaker 9: By the way, I was thinking about, I guess there's
Speaker 9: a meeting right now between Marjorie Taylor Green and Mike Johnson.
Speaker 9: And when you're talking about serious discussions on foreign policy,
Speaker 9: I think many of us, you know, including me and
Speaker 9: many have been warning that the unserious shouldn't be making
Speaker 9: policy discuss decisions. And right now you have somebody who
Speaker 9: compared himself to Moses talking to somebody who misspelled Marshall
Speaker 9: law when she called for it in the Mark Meadows text.
Speaker 9: I don't know how serious those discussions are. So when
Speaker 9: you see Marjorie Taylor Green actually coming up and saying, hey,
Speaker 9: we're going to put a motion to vacate on the floor,
Speaker 9: I really can't imagine, even with the insanity that's going
Speaker 9: on on the GOP caucus right now, I can imagine
Speaker 9: that a majority or even a large minority will back
Speaker 9: Marjorie Taylor Green and calling for Mike Johnson's ouster at
Speaker 9: this time. I just don't think that's going to happen. However,
Speaker 9: it's very hard to predict insanity, and I think when
Speaker 9: you're looking at Congress right now, I think that's the
Speaker 9: issue that you have, is that it's so unpredictable and
Speaker 9: so unserious. That's something like that Mike gain traction. But again,
Speaker 9: I'm hoping that we still have enough serious legislators in
Speaker 9: there where something like that wouldn't happen at this time.
Speaker 2: Hey, Denver, great to have you back. I bet you
Speaker 2: can predict the reaction to Joe Biden's apparent looming executive
Speaker 2: order on the border. You talked to Univision last night
Speaker 2: and said that he's going to do this and start
Speaker 2: to squeeze the definition of asylum, lower the number of
Speaker 2: people who are crossing the border. This, of course, is
Speaker 2: something that's come up multiple times and in different forms,
Speaker 2: including an actual compromise piece of legislation that was kicked back.
Speaker 2: What's Mike Johnson going to say to this, You.
Speaker 9: Know, Mike Johnson is actually going to take a victory
Speaker 9: lab you know, if you look at it completely politically,
Speaker 9: he's going to say, listen, our warnings about the border
Speaker 9: are proved fruitful, and we finally have a President who's
Speaker 9: acting way too late on the border. That's what they're
Speaker 9: going to message, and they're going to roll that message
Speaker 9: throughout the entire GOP conference. You know, President Biden's going
Speaker 9: to say, listen, we've seen the data. There is an
Speaker 9: issue at the border, and we feel that we have
Speaker 9: to do this at a time because Congress isn't they're
Speaker 9: unable to act. Think about These are going to be
Speaker 9: the competing political visions that you have there, and that's
Speaker 9: how each will message. One will message that we were
Speaker 9: right all along. The other will message that Congress is
Speaker 9: so ridiculous that they have to do something. And if
Speaker 9: you look at it really empirically, there is a problem
Speaker 9: at the border. We know that that's there. I've been
Speaker 9: doing national security for twenty years. I've actually done border
Speaker 9: ops back in the day, things I really can't talk
Speaker 9: about as much based on intel in surveillance and reconnaissance
Speaker 9: back in twenty ten and twenty eleven. So you know,
Speaker 9: so again, there is definitely a problem there. There are
Speaker 9: issues there, but both will try to claim victory. One
Speaker 9: that they've been right all along and the other that
Speaker 9: Congress might have been right but they just can't act
Speaker 9: on it because they're so misaligned and so chaotic. So
Speaker 9: I think that's what that's the messaging that's going to
Speaker 9: come from both camps after this happens.
Speaker 8: Well, Denver, you mentioned your intelligence background, it's worth noting
Speaker 8: that it's not just the border that former President Trump
Speaker 8: has weighed in on in terms of potential congressional action. Today,
Speaker 8: he weighed in on the FISA reauthorization specifically, of course
Speaker 8: section seven oh two, which is the warrantless surveillance program.
Speaker 8: There's been some concern about the privacy of Americans who
Speaker 8: may get caught up in some of that intelligence gathering activity.
Speaker 8: Trump posted on True Social kill FISA it was illegally
Speaker 8: used against me and many others. They spied on my campaign.
Speaker 8: You have a number of House Republicans now, Matt Gates,
Speaker 8: Anapauline A Luna, Tim Burchett saying they will vote no
Speaker 8: on the rule, the procedural vote to try to get
Speaker 8: this thing across. Is this once again Trump wielding his
Speaker 8: power in the House. Is FISA potentially not going to
Speaker 8: be renewed before that April nineteenth deadline.
Speaker 9: It's a great question, and yes, it is him wielding
Speaker 9: his power to the House. So look at the people
Speaker 9: you just mentioned that are voting against it. It's not
Speaker 9: a surprise. I think it's saying people that want to
Speaker 9: do the UFO committee, So that doesn't surprise me very much.
Speaker 9: And you know, when you're looking at FAISA also, FISA
Speaker 9: is incredibly important the United States security. Anybody who's dealt
Speaker 9: in the FISA world like I have when I worked
Speaker 9: at the National Security Agency, actually should be trying to
Speaker 9: support FIES in many levels. Of course, we don't want
Speaker 9: to trample on Americans' rights. We want to make sure
Speaker 9: that's properly regulated. We want to make sure that the
Speaker 9: authorizations are correct. We want to make sure that there's
Speaker 9: transparency to actually the committees that that oversee the PISA process.
Speaker 9: We want to make sure the intelligence communities are transparent
Speaker 9: when they're asked for budgeting. Of course, you want to
Speaker 9: do all that, but FISA is very important. What you
Speaker 9: have as a president, you know, he's screaming into a
Speaker 9: popcorn box and you've got people that are actually listening
Speaker 9: to them. And that's the issue that you have, is
Speaker 9: that instead of thinking about the actual nuances of policy
Speaker 9: protecting American citizens in America based on the ability to
Speaker 9: use FISA for arism or financial activities that support terrorism
Speaker 9: or criminal activity from foreign sources. We have people that
Speaker 9: literally believe that aliens are in the Bible talking about
Speaker 9: voting against FIZA based on President Trump putting out a
Speaker 9: declaration about FAIZA because actually he's in trouble with the
Speaker 9: law so much so I hope everybody got that cascading effect.
Speaker 9: That's how I like to actually do it. But again,
Speaker 9: there's an unseiousness in Congress. I think that all of
Speaker 9: us in America need to address and point out when
Speaker 9: this happens.
Speaker 2: I'm spending time with former Republican Congressman Denver Riggleman, the
Speaker 2: gentleman from Virginia with us as we wait to hear
Speaker 2: from Joe Biden. We've been showing you pictures of a
Speaker 2: ever more busy Rose Garden where he's going to be
Speaker 2: speaking with the Japanese Prime Minister.
Speaker 1: Denver.
Speaker 2: We spoke with Sarah Chamberlin yesterday here on Balance of Power,
Speaker 2: the head of the Republican Main Street Partnership. This is
Speaker 2: somebody talking every day with Centrists, and when the matter
Speaker 2: of Ukraine funding came up, she said something we hadn't
Speaker 2: heard before. We keep hearing it's going to be weeks,
Speaker 2: maybe months. I want you to listen to what Sarah
Speaker 2: said about the potential for an imminent vote on Ukraine
Speaker 2: and we'll have you respond here.
Speaker 8: She is it's going to pass either this week of
Speaker 8: very early next.
Speaker 4: Week without quest Wow.
Speaker 8: Yeah, we haven't seen the text yet.
Speaker 4: It's going to pass.
Speaker 3: They really want to get this moving and get this done,
Speaker 3: and they want to help Ukraine.
Speaker 2: Well to Kaylee's point, we haven't even seen the text yet, Denver.
Speaker 2: Do you actually think that this Republican Ledhouse could surprise
Speaker 2: us on Ukraine.
Speaker 9: I think it's possible. You know, there's always a difference
Speaker 9: between the possible and the probable, and it's easy to
Speaker 9: make statements if you're not in Congress like that. But
Speaker 9: I will tell you this, they sort of have to
Speaker 9: get the Ukraine Aid moving. And I think what you're
Speaker 9: seeing right now in Russia, what you're seeing in Ukraine,
Speaker 9: if you're a serious legislator, we have to support Ukraine.
Speaker 9: It is one hundred percent down the line that anybody
Speaker 9: that sees Russian history and what's happening in Russia today
Speaker 9: should support Ukraine Aid immediately. And I just want to
Speaker 9: state that, and that's how I would vote. However, you
Speaker 9: never know, you got people voting on the rule. Have
Speaker 9: we had mar Lago and Donald Trump actually way in yet,
Speaker 9: like you did on Faiza. All these things we have
Speaker 9: to look at. And you know, those are the type
Speaker 9: of issues you have to look at. Again, you can
Speaker 9: only predict the future after it happens when you're in
Speaker 9: Congress to saying that, I learned an intelligence training. Also,
Speaker 9: you know, it's very hard to predict the future. I
Speaker 9: would think that they should have a bill on the
Speaker 9: floor for Ukraine AID this week. I wouldn't be surprised
Speaker 9: if they didn't, but I do think I think it's
Speaker 9: fifty one forty nine that they do.
Speaker 5: That would be news.
Speaker 8: Indeed it would. And Congressman is we're still waiting here
Speaker 8: the press conference between Biden and Kashida as we're talking
Speaker 8: about US alliances, especially given what we are seeing in
Speaker 8: the current behavior of the US Congress for when it
Speaker 8: comes to many allies, including Israel and Ukraine. Of course,
Speaker 8: as we've been discussing, when the President says something and
Speaker 8: I'm making up words here, but I would imagine a
Speaker 8: lot of this conversation has gone Japan. We stand with you.
Speaker 8: Our alliance is strong, we would like to make it stronger.
Speaker 8: Is Congress making that our dogument have less credibility right now?
Speaker 8: Is the US credible when it says such things?
Speaker 9: You know, it's really hard. I think allies were probably
Speaker 9: looking for stability, and I would hope that Congress exudes
Speaker 9: that over the next week or two, which is still,
Speaker 9: again I think, very difficult. But I would say this
Speaker 9: is that stupid suggests instability, so does unseriousness, and I
Speaker 9: believe that's what a lot of Allies are saying. When
Speaker 9: you see Mike Johnson, you know, him actually having to
Speaker 9: negotiate with the Marjorie Taylor Green. I do think that
Speaker 9: foreign governments in the executive in their legislative branch, as
Speaker 9: we're looking at this like America has certainly gone crazy
Speaker 9: at this point, and they're hoping for some sobriety and
Speaker 9: stability at the executive branch to balance out what's happening
Speaker 9: in the legislative branch. So I think that's what you're
Speaker 9: going to see today is Biden trying to reassure Japan
Speaker 9: that the chaos that they're seeing the legislative branch is
Speaker 9: not going to somehow cascade into our support of Japan,
Speaker 9: especially when you're looking at China, you're looking at the
Speaker 9: South China Sea, and also really the future of US
Speaker 9: helping Japan grow their military capability beyond where they are today.
Speaker 9: I think a lot of that is very important. But again,
Speaker 9: I think you're going to see in the Rose Garden
Speaker 9: today President Pride trying to reassure Japan and the Japanese
Speaker 9: people that America can overcome the chast that we're seeing
Speaker 9: the legislative branch right now.
Speaker 2: Denver, it's great to have you back, Denver Riggleman, former
Speaker 2: congressman from Virginia. Great to see you and good to
Speaker 2: have you back with us today. Thanks for listening to
Speaker 2: the Balance of Power podcast. Make sure to subscribe if
Speaker 2: you haven't already, at Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get
Speaker 2: your podcasts, and you can find us live every weekday
Speaker 2: from Washington, DC at noontime Eastern at Bloomberg dot com.