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Welcome to the fastest show in politics. This is kind of like the old days, Remember the fastest hour in politics. That's what we have today. As we hand things off to our colleagues a little early today at Bloomberg Business Week. It is the tenth of October and we're tracking Milton along with the candidates here as always, the President getting his daily brief today and being brief throughout the day
on Hurricane Milton. With the storyline here could have been a lot worse, certainly according to people on the ground. There are still a lot of issues to deal with though, more than three minute million people without power of storm serves that has left floodwaters in many places contaminated. A real issue today as rescue crews start their work here, the storm is blasting out into the Atlantic, and we have Lauren Rosenthal back with us. Has been an indispensable
voice since we first heard the word Helene. Now we've added the name Milton. She is Bloomberg's weather reporter, and Lauren joins us from world headquarters in New York, so it's made its way across the state here. Lauren, how would you describe the impact of this storm.
We knew that there would be a lot of water and a lot of flooding from Hurricane Milton, and that has definitely turned out to be the case. While storm surge estimates are still rolling in and it's going to take some time because you know, readings are difficult to confirm. They'll have to get crews out to look at high water marks on some buildings. It looks like surge was about five to eight feet in the Tampa Bay area. That is a lot of water. Has caused a lot
of localized flooding. And we also saw record breaking one day rainfall from Hurricane Milk, and yesterday more than eighteen inches of rain fell at an airport in Saint Petersburg. That beats the existing record by more than half a foot. So there is a lot of water. You know, it's complicating efforts to get to people to see how communities are doing, to try to start assessing the damage and then figuring out where to go next to see.
The roof torn off Tropicana Field was pretty remarkable. Some of the optics here. But the narrative, and you can tell me if this is even fair, Lauren, is that the state managed to avoid a worst case scenario. Is that true?
That's definitely what we're hearing from. I think it was Governor Ron De Santis said that at a briefing this morning. Yeah, you know, there was the potential for significantly higher surge. There was a real concern that Tampa Bay would see its first direct hit from a landfalling hurricane in more than a century, which would have caused catastrophic damage, you know, in a region that's home to more than three million people. The storm hit slightly further south, obviously, as some emergency
managers told me even before landfall. You know, if Tampa is spared a direct hit, it is still really bad for someone else. And I think that's still what we'll be seeing over the coming days. This is going to be a complicated recovery, especially on the heels of Hurricane Helene just two weeks ago.
Understood, and it's a really important point that you that you make. The National Hurricane Center says, as of at least the update one hour ago, that Milton could still cause quote considerable urban flooding unquote in some areas, as additional rainfalls on a swath of the state between Orlando and Jacksonville. Laura, and how how worried should we be about what's left here?
I definitely think, you know, the risk is not over. You know, Milton is a very large storm now. Its tropical storm force winds extend for more than three hundred miles. So even though Milton's eye is close to pushing back out over the over the open ocean, it's winds and rain are still going to leave lingering effects for the eastern coast of Florida. They're definitely not out of the
woods yet. The Hurricane Center is advising people to please pay attention to local flood warnings, to be careful with those winds. Eighty miles an hour right now. Top sustained winds in higher gusts possible. It's definitely not something you want to take lightly.
Thank you so much, Lauren. Lauren Rosenthal Bloomberg Weather Report are doing great work for us here to keep tabs on this storm. It's not over yet. A boil water notice issued. I see clearly here in Saint Petersburg due to water main breaks from Hurricane Milton. A city wide boil water notice is now in effect for Saint Peter's purg Gulf Port, South Pasadena. Lielman, this is the case all around a large swath of the Gulf Coast of Florida where clean water is going to be an issue. A
lot of the floodwaters have been contaminated by sewage. So we've got got a power situation, a water situation for at least those who have been left behind, and they include Kathy Caster, the Democrat from Florida's fourteenth district. The congresswoman was with us ahead of the storm and is back with us now on the line having lost power with more than three million people out. Congresswoman, I thank you for making the time to talk to us today
in the throes of the recovery of this storm. Can you just give us the lay of the land where you are now?
Yeah, thank you, Joe. This is a harsh double whammage, Hurricane Helene then Hurricane Milton within two weeks. That so we're grappling with the short term challenges that you've mentioned power outages, fuel shortages, critical infrastructure, water and wastewater that need to be repaired. But I'll tell you the long term economic harm to our way of life in Florida also is going to be critical. We're already suffering property insurance crisis. We pay the highest rates by far than
any place across the country. Electric bills have been out of sight, and this is the new abnormal. I'm afraid because of extreme hot temperatures an overheating Gulf of Mexico. It's my fear that this will become routine. So what I'll be looking for in a disaster supplemental in Congress is safeguarding taxpayer dollars.
Build it.
When we build back, do it in a more resilient way, do it in a smarter way. For example, McDill air Force Space is a critical economic engine here. They've had some flooding. How do we safeguard the missions at the base safe? Same thing for our Coastguard Air station and clear water, and then the City of Tampa Kinells County all of our water and wastewater rebuilding. We're going to have to be smarter about how we'll do it.
Well, that's you just said a lot kid with someone. I want to unpack some of the things that you just said, if you can bear with me through a couple of questions here. We understand that swift water teams were active overnight and have continued with water rescues this morning. Do those continue now? Are we getting beyond the rescue phase of this operation? I think we may have lost the congress woman. Can you hear me, congress Woman Caster,
I can hear you now, got you? Are there still water rescues underway?
Now?
We know that swift boat teams were out overnight.
Yes, there are. There's one assisted living facility in Northampa near the University of South Florida where they are sending school buses over to get folks out. Because this was much more of a rain event. There are places that maybe they didn't flood during Helene. That was a coastal flood surge event. So this is a real double whammy, and the first course of business is making sure everyone
is is safe. Many that's a saving grace. They went to shelters, they left the evacuation zones, and I think that's why the loss of life is going to be minimal here in the Tampa Bay area, But I really feel for the folks who had to deal with these outrageous tornadoes on the eastern side of the state.
It's very scary stuff. A congresswoman, we're showing our viewers images of Tropicana Field, which is now convertible after last night we saw actual rain water on the grass in the park here. You mentioned people in shelters. There are more than seventy thousand in government shelters now that stadium was supposed to be one of them. Does Florida have room for everyone? We do.
A lot of our public schools are converted over to shelters. But I think a serious long term issue will be the tens of thousands of my neighbors who were flooded out by Hurricane Helene. And where are they going to go? They have all of their their lives out on the in their front yards. They tried to collect as much free, but where where are we going to house them? And thank goodness, FEMA is here delivering the disaster aid into
people's bank accounts that they need. I've heard of thousands of dollars going into people's bank accounts to make sure that they can relocate pay rent and get us the assistance they need.
Well, that's awfully important based on some of the misinformation that surrounded the response to Hurricane Helene. You can tell us then that FEMA is on the ground and is active now on this day after the storm.
Yes, they were, They were active in the days after Helene. FEAMA Administrator Dan Chriswell was here last week talking with Mayor Castor Tampa, Mayor Welch of Saint Petersburg. She's going to be back. President Biden is checking in with all of US. Vice President Harris. This is a this is an unprecedented response I've seen by THEEMA of the largest
mobilization in recent history, and we're gonna need it. We're going to need everyone's help to rebuild and do it in a smarter way and take care of our neighbors.
We're spending time talking with Congresswoman Kathy cast who represents Florida's fourteenth district that includes the Tampa Bay area, and she's on the phone right now because she has no power like three million other people in that part of Florida. Congresswoman, you mentioned funding for FEMA. We understand the agency does have enough money for the Individual Assistance Program, but there are some worries about the SBA not being able to
help businesses turn the lights back on. You mentioned the possibility of a supplemental or an emergency request, and I saw a posting on Twitter from your Republican colleague in the House, Annapolina Luna of all People, Congresswoman. It looks like she is working with President Biden. Here she says he is personally overseeing that FEMA does not create problems with debris removal and is supportive of fifteen billion in FEMA funds only for hurricane victims. It sounds like the
Florida delegation is working with the administration on this. What can you tell us.
It is going to take a bipartisan, cooperative response to get the disaster supplemental that we need. I don't think fifteen billion is going to cover everything that we're going to need for Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina especially, But okay, yes, we're going to need those SBA funds. They're very important for business and individuals to rebuild over the long term. And then all of the critical water wastewater infrastructure is going to have a price tag to it.
Anna Paulina Luna writing on ex Congresswoman, this needs to happen. Speaker Johnson call us back. Is that the case? And have you heard from leadership about this yet?
I haven't heard from Republican leadership, but I just got off the phone with the lead Democrat from Rosa Delaro of Connecticut, who is asking for us to be working with our local and federal partner track of the harm and the damages here so that we can get things
rebuilt as quickly as possible. But this is going to be job one for the Congress when we come back, and it's and as I said, if we're going to safeguard the taxpayer dollars, we have to rebuild in a more resilient way in our energy systems, our water systems, and where we allow development to.
Hopefully you're still with us, Congressman. I know that there's a lot of demand on the cell phone infrastructure in Florida right now without power especially, can you still hear us, Congresswoman?
I can?
Okay, great, I'll ask you lastly, and you've been very generous with your time, that there was an executive order issued by Governor Ron DeSantis allowing elections supervisors to consolidate voting centers or relocate them if they're flooded or destroyed, easing some rules as well for mail in ballots. Is enough being done to help people access ballots as early voting continues ahead.
Of November, this is going to be a primary focus, Joe, because in Hillsborough County vote by mail ballots arrived in mailboxes last Saturday, So if you had been flooded out of your home like tens of thousands were during Helene, I'm not sure you received that ballot. So we're going to need a lot of flexibility. But right now it's I think it's making sure everyone is safe. And then there'll be plenty of times for elections, but will need the extra time and extra flexibility for sure.
I can't thank you enough for giving us your time, Congress On, I'm sure you're hearing not only from constituents but family and friends, and I appreciate your time today. Kathy cast Florida's fourteenth district, of course, right where the hurricane went through in the wee hours of this morning late last night. In fact, a congresswoman caster has no power, which is why she was on the line with us, and we appreciate the insights here. I'm Joe Matthew in Washington.
Glad you're with us today on balance of power as we gauge the aftermath of this storm, the political impacts, of course, the economic impacts as well. On this CPI day, there are some concerns about the potential for inflation and things like fertilizer and other items that are made in the storm path. I will mention as well. The White House has just added some remarks from the President who's being briefed we're told throughout the day to day from
FEMA officials. Two pm Eastern time, Joe Biden will deliver remarks on the initial impacts of Milton. I'm just reading directly from the White House schedule here that was just released. He will talk as well about the ongoing support to state and local officials. Will do that from the old Executive Office building next door across the driveway from the
West Wing. We'll have ears on that for you. Our panel is on the way in next Davis and Genie Shanzano this day after the storm, on the fastest hour in politics. Glad you're with us. I'm Joe Matthew and Washington. This is Bloomberg.
You're listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast. Kench just live weekdays at noon Eastern on Applecarplay and then ron Oo with the Bloomberg Business App. You can also listen live on Amazon Alexa from our flagship New York station, Just say Alexa Play Bloomberg eleven thirty.
CPI Day. Charlie Pellett with the deep tease. Yeah, Molly Smith is coming in. You heard the words, he said, higher than expected and that's kind of all you need to know today if you're paying attention to that job support last week. Now everybody, all the naysayers have a little more grist for the mill. And yes, Molly Smith with us after an early morning editing the copy here on the terminal and online. She's Bloomberg's economics editor. Molly.
It's great to see you. You connect the dots, and you know, as journalists we like to try to reach for a trend, and this is pouring a little bit of cold water on the idea of winning the war on inflation. But is that the case or does it simply remind us that this doesn't move in a straight line.
Exactly. That's more of the takeaway that this is going to be a bumpy path. We actually just heard New York Fed President John Williams described that there were going to be quote wiggles along the way. I thought that was a fun way of describing it. So it's not
a straight line down. But that said, it does seem to be that the fundamental drivers of disinflation are still intact, and we got good news on that front, at least in today's report showing that shelter costs, I mean, that's really been the big one holding back the bigger progress. That housing costs did moderate in September, so that was very welcome to see. But of course you don't like to see the things that flared up. You know, car
prices were a big one. Also saw apparel, car insurance, stadium admissions for sporting events that tied in with the start of the NFL season. So yeah, definitely a lot of things there that I think think economists seemed to be painting more is one offs and not so much the big drivers of what's going to bring inflation down.
Okay, so that's good. We're not going to freak out today. What do we learn about shelter prices this time. I know that's something you've been watching closely.
Definitely, Yeah, this was really welcome to see that shelter was up zero point two percent on the month, and that's compared two point five percent in August, so a really big step down there. The thing is, though a lot of it was by hotel prices, which can be really volatile from month to month, and people had actually been expecting hotel prices to go up in September and to see them fall was quite a big surprise. So
that dragged down the overall shelter measure. But the thing that you really want to look at within shelter is how people are, you know, their actual housing costs, not just the hotel stays. So those ones were definitely more tame, those rental measures. So was that was definitely good to see today.
So the next question, of course, needs to be about the FED, right, I was looking at writing from our colleagues at Bloomberg Economicsannah Wong and Stuart Paul, despite the upside surprise, they say, and this kind of echoes your point, we do not think the report will alter the fomc's view that inflation is on a down trend trajectory, So what does that mean for rates going forward?
So it looks like, based on the trading in the market today, that there's just more conviction for the November meeting to be a twenty five basis point cut, which was already moving in that direction after the strong jobs report last week that you mentioned. Honestly, I'm I was thinking there might be a bit more argument that there could be some debate as to whether there's a pause after these latest two data points that came in pretty strong. But you also had jobless claims today rise to the
highest level in over a year. Definitely reflected some weakness from Hurricane Helene in there, with claims in North Carolina very high, but also a lot in Michigan. So might be some more going on in the manufacturing sector there.
Gotcha great, Great to talk to Molly Smith. As always, people get all worked up at eight thirty, right you start calling in trades, everyone freaks out. Then you talk to Molly. You reminded this will come up the next day. Thank you, as always, Molly Smith in New York, Bloomberg Economics Editor. As I remind you, now this is all we're going to get this is it. September Consumer Price Index report is the last one before the election, and for that matter, before the next FED meeting, which is
at least it begins the day after the election. Our signature panel is with us on this important economic day. Rick Davis and Genie Shanzano are here, of course, both Bloomberg Politics contributors. She is political science professor at Iona University. He is a partner at stone Court Capital. So it's an interesting moment here, Genie, this is all we're going
to get. There's no more debates. Donald Trump said just yesterday he's not going to do it again with Kamala Harris, and we're pretty much all out of the big economic data. Is it time to start closing arguments?
Well, you know, and he not only said it, Joe, as you know, he said it in all caps. So I guess that means fair enough. Fine, No today, Maybe he'll change his mind. But you know, I think, you know, they are making something of closing arguments, but you just got to underscore how important the news is today and
the economy is overall. I was really struck by the latest Gallup pole which said that is the issue fifty two percent of Americans agree on as the most important issue, describing it as extremely important, another thirty eight saying very important. So you're up in the eighty percent plus range of Americans who say the economy is it for them when
they go in the polling booth. And so what that means is in these closing statements, so to speak, they better be focusing Harrison Trump on the economy and what their plans are. That has got to be the number one issue that they talk about. And so far, I think the two of them have done that to a certain extent. But you can't do it enough. So they've got to get on this economic policy bandwagon.
It's a very important point that Genie makes here. That gallup pulled out yesterday finds the economy is the number one issue for both Republicans and Democrats. A majority of voters put them together fifty two percent, with a pretty start partisan divide. Rick On on the way you look at the economy based on all the data, now we've got what we're going to get. The snapshot of the economy on the eve of this election favors whom look I think that it.
Really it favors those who looking through the prism of who you like for president. As you point out, if you're a Republican, you think the economy is horrible, if you think if you're a Democrat, you think the economy is great. Now it helps that the news today, for instance, on CPI is pretty good. It helps that this week we've had a record you know, run up in the markets,
and so consumer attitudes are improving. But I would say, if you're the Biden administration, if you're the Harris campaign, you wanted to have seen a lot more improvement in these metrics by now. How much of this is going to seep in between now an election day? I really question, because you have a lot of people voting today. They're voting on the economy that they woke up to today, and so do they feel better about it than they
did four years ago under Donald Trump? And I do think one of the unique things in this election is Donald Trump left office in twenty twenty with a thirty five percent approval rating or something near there. Today he has a fifty percent job approval rating as president. So people have forgotten what they didn't like and have focus on what they liked. So that's as much of what they're battling as the economy itself.
So what do you think, Genie, The S and P five hundred hit it's forty fourth record high of the year yesterday. When you listen to what Rick Davis just said, think about the broad snapshot on the economy, knowing the different ways that d's and rs look at that, you can't argue the forty fourth record high on the S and P five hundred. To what extent does the wealth effect from this market help the incumbent if at all?
Wall Street seems that at least there's a narrative that Wall Street favors Donald Trump because of a lower corporate tax rate. But is this something that the Harris campaign needs to start highlighting in the closing hours of this campaign.
Oh? Absolutely, you know. I will go to my grave hopefully not soon, so to speak, saying that September eighteenth was the best day for Kamala Harris and the Harris campaign because of the drop in interest rates. Those macroeconomic numbers help them. They need to talk about them, and
they need to keep talking about them. But the reality is they also have to understand where people are when they go to the grocery store and go to get gas and the costs are high, and so they've had this really difficult challenge as the incumbent, so to speak, of walking that line. And I thought, that's why what Kamala Harris started to do on the View the other day is something that she should do all the time,
which is keep introducing new economic policies. In this case, she was talking about how to help the you know about one hundred million Americans who are trying to care for elderly people in their homes. Now, whether that is economically sound I have some questions about, and of course
it got overshadowed by her hugging of Joe Biden. But that aside, she needs to be putting out these economic ideas and she needs to stick with them, and she needs to talk about this at these macro numbers that look good for them, and keep talking about how she's going to do things better than Joe Biden did or differently as it pertains to costs. Especially.
I don't know who keeping track I understand, Genie, I don't know who's keeping track of all these proposals on the daily though you mentioned that one from Kamala Harris too days ago, right involving support for home health aids. Rick. Last night, Donald Trump dropped another one, no income tax on expats. We're the tenth of October. At what point does the window close on new proposals? How much more room do people have in their brains for this? Yeah?
I think the window closed a long time ago. I mean, you you hit it, Joe. I mean, politics is about repetition. There's gonna be no recall. If I took a poll today and ask people, you know, what have you seen right or heard about these campaigns lately?
And you asked Donald Trump.
Supporters, you know what they think, and they're not going to be able to repeat any of this stuff. They've heard it one time. That's why you do advertising over and over and over on the same issue, because it's hard to get through to these voters. They got a few distractions in places like Georgia and Florida and North Carolina,
you know. And so this, this is an incredible mistake that both campaigns are making that in the last you know, four weeks of the election, they're introducing new ideas into the voters. It's only going to add confusion. I mean, Kamala Harris is fighting yesterday's battle yesterday's battle was you're not detailed enough.
We don't know your proposals.
She's done as much as she could do on that, and now's the time just to reinforce. Reinforce, reinforce.
Advice from Rick Davis and Jeanie Shanzano. I hope they're listening. I know they like to get this program whenever they can, not just on the radio, but on YouTube, where you can find us now search Bloomberg Business News Live. Because we're not done with our panel. Coming up next a lot more with Rick Davis and Genie Shanzano and the politics of a hurricane. We've just had another set of
remarks added by Joe Biden. He's going to address the nation coming up at about ninety minutes with the initial reaction the response to Hurricane Milton. Avoided the worst in Florida, but they're still dealing with a very dangerous situation, as we heard from Congresswoman Caster early this hour. We'll have much more ahead on Balance of Power. This is Bloomberg.
You're listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast. Catch Just Live weekdays at noon Eastern on applecar Play. And then Brounoro with the Bloomberg Business app Listen on demand wherever you get your podcasts A watch us live on YouTube.
CPI Thursday, known to some as Little Friday. Welcome to the fastest show in politics, the fastest hour in politics. Today it's like the old days as we hand things over a little early to Bloomberg Business Week and an important series of conversations ahead coming up from screen time in la they are convening a meeting as we speak
in the Situation Room at the White House. President Biden and the Vice President, along with members of the administration, getting together to talk about the impacts of hurricanes Milton and Helen, of course within two weeks of each other. At two pm Eastern time, Joe Biden will be holding forth with an update from the White House. Much like yesterday, He'll be addressing the American people about the initial impacts
of this storm. And of course we've got a lot of different layers of polic surrounding natural disasters this week that we want to talk about with our political panel. But I have to first not only bring in Rick Davis and Genie Shanzano, Bloomberg Politics contributors. You know them well if you're here every day on this program. She is political science professor at Iona University. He is partner
at stone Court Capital. But if you hear this hour typically the twelve New hour, you never get to hang out with Kaylee, and so we thought we'd bring Kaylee Lines in as well. Of course, normally you hear her at one pm Eastern time. Nice to see you, Thanks for coming over. I thought we'd hang out for a little bit. Absolutely. Yes, we have Rick, we have Genie, we have Kaylee, which means that we can do anything here.
You know, last evening was something listening to Joe Biden actually fact checking Donald Trump from the White House, and you wonder if he gets into that more today.
Well, he very well might, as he is making the case that the government is there to help people despite some of the misinformation that is out there. The concern, of course being that it is going to affect human lives. We already have seen lives that were lost in the storm when it made landfall in Florida yesterday. Still millions without power. Access to clean drinking water an issue in some areas, and when humanity hangs in the balance, perhaps that underscores the need to make sure the facts.
Are out there yeah, and that's for sure. Let's start with our panel and see how this is playing. I can go in a lot of different directions here, Rick Davis, whether it's misinformation or just actually getting the job done. But there are political implications anytime you see the recovery from a storm. Here is Florida. Now on the second storm, I'm going to go through what we did the first time with misinformation and rumors and social media and the
fact checking and all the rest of it. Or have we've gotten that out of our systems?
You know, I don't think we've gotten out of our systems. I woke up this morning reading a piece that James Carvell was talking about, and he was criticizing the Harris and Biden administration for losing ground on the narrative about how effective these kinds of responses are going to be.
And even though you have to sort through all this this and MISSI and you know it's being done for primarily, if not singularly, political purposes, you have to respect the fact that James Carver makes the point that if you lose the control of the narrative, then what is being put out there as misinformation becomes the truth to many voters, and so it doesn't surprise me that President of the United States has to go out and knock down these rumors because he runs the risk of getting and run
by a fake narrative that people have a tendency to right now believe conspiracy theories, and some of them are so outlantish you can dismiss them, but not all of them.
And so I think you're going to see a real effort on the part of the Harris campaign and the Biden White House to try and knock this stuff down so they don't lose control over a narrative, which is the American government stands by people who have been injured, in lost property and lives from these natural disasters, and that that should not be at all a question that we're going to do everything we can to support.
Them, well everything they can, Genie doesn't necessarily mean that rescue and recovery efforts will go perfectly, as we saw in North Carolina. While there broadly was applauding for the emergency personnel who did respond, we know there were some delays in western parts of the state. Access was an issue. The troops didn't necessarily get there on the timeline that
was originally proposed. If there are weaknesses any of them in the federal response, even if by and large they do try to show up in the best way possible for these people who are affected, how poorly does that reflect back on the Vice president herself since she is the candidate in consideration here?
It's an enormous problem, And you know, I am surprised I have to say that Joe Biden is going out and trying to fact check on this. The reality is Joe Biden is not a great communicator at this point.
God bless him. He wants to fact check, and he's right to fact But the reality is the White House and the Harris campaign need somebody front and center the way they did or we did during COVID for instance, to come out and say we are in a crisis, this is what we're doing, this is the information we have. There are a lot of great communicators in the White House, in the Democratic Party, one person who's been named, you guys know, well, Mitch Landrew. Get somebody out who can
correct this misinformation. And I would just add that I spent a lot of yesterday with young people, and I could repeat just enormously for a long time, the amount of misinformation that they are getting, and they believe a lot of what they are hearing. It's got to be fact check. But Joe Biden is not the person to do it out of the White House, and it's important for the campaign and the people in the South who are dealing with all of this.
We saw a post from Anapaulina Luna not to one to be working with or complimenting Joe Biden Rick of course representing chunk of Florida here, since you just got off the phone with Joe Biden, who is personally overseeing that FEMA does not create problems with the debris removal and supportive of the fifteen billion in FEMA funds only for hurricane victims. She ends the post by saying this needs to happen. Congress a Special Session Speaker Johnson call us back. Is that going to be the next step
in this reaction from Washington? Rick to lawmakers in fact, need to come home despite or back to Washington, despite what the speaker is saying.
Well, I certainly think it's good politics. What else are they doing? I mean running for reelection? They got four more weeks. You know, the reality is that they actually make more friends and find more votes if they gain back to Washington and hustled up a supplemental to help support victims of these hurricanes. I mean, the reality is the entire country, if not large portions of the world,
have been watching what's been happening here. It's an extraordinary set of conditions that have existed, and it would just be rational that the Republican leadership should would say, you know what, we've got to get our piece of this. We're going to come in and we're going to show our support for these folks. But I think they've been distracted by all this disinformation that's emanating from mar Lago and they think somehow that now they can't be part
of the solution. They have to just point out the problems, and that is taking politics in the wrong direction. And frankly, I think going to hurt a lot of the momentum of these Republican congressional candidates if they sign on to this kind of thing.
Well, it's not just the congressional candidates to consider, but Senate ones as well as Senator Rick Scott, the Republican incumbent in Florida who is up for reelection this cycle, has also called for potentially supplemental funding emergency session. We have new polling from The New York Times in Santa College that finds while Trump is up thirteen points in Florida and the presidential race, Senator Scott is ahead by nine points. A separate Merist poll finds him up by
just two points against his Democratic opponent Rick. When you consider the impact of this particular natural disaster, how does it affect Senator Scott's rece.
Well, I think he's going to get graded on how they feel the federal responses is occurring, and he can't have the luxury of spreading misinformation and thinking that's somehow going to help him. He is the primary elected official who's connected to the federal response, connected to FEMA, connected to the White House, who needs to make sure that the people of Florida are taken care of. And so
I'm not surprised that he's calling for special session. I know that it would show that he is doing something in this regard. There's little he can do at home directly other than be a catalyst for federal action. So being a catalyst means getting something done. If he does nothing in the next four weeks, it's not going to help him get re elected.
Interesting, Kaylee points to this Siena College New York Times poll Genie and it brings troubling news for Democrats in these Senate races, not just Florida, but also Montana and Texas, and they conclude here that the GOP is on a clear path to winning Senate control. Does any element of the response to these storms affect that outcome?
It absolutely does. First of all, you and Kaylee know that this was very distressing for me as I have a bet with Rick Davis about Texas.
And to see the thing by.
It's very distressing. Although I would add if I could, that it's still that state is still the one where the Democrats have the best shot. So Colin all Red has got to come through just for me. Beyond that, you know, this is I think where you know, forget all the noise, forget the storm. We knew this was going to be a really tough year for Democrats. The map has totally worked against them, and we're seeing that. And of course, you know Montana looks like it is
lost already. You were just talking about Florida. Sure this you know the storm can change that, but you know, you still have Scott up, and of course Colin already is still down by fourig in Texas. So it is looking very much like the Republicans have a very good shot of taking the Senate. And you know, one thing just to add to the conversation on Florida and Rick Scott is the fact that housing and insurance costs are just really really hard to get insurances, you know, in Florida,
and the costs are exorbitant. And that's something Democrats have been talking about for the last several years. That may help turn the state, but I don't think it's going to happen this year.
All right. So that's a look down the ballot, if we could zoom back up and look at the presidential race. We've course learned yesterday that there will be no rematch in terms of a debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, at least according to Trump. Harris of course had agreed she went October twenty third debate on CNN. Now CNN Today has proposed two separate town halls with the candidates on the network on that date. We're getting reporting that
Harris has agreed to participate. Not sure yet on Donald Trump, Genie, if he decides not to participate or to counter programming in some way, net who benefits from that?
You know?
I think she it's important for her to go out and to keep talking to voters. I say the same thing about him. But if he's going to counter program, I don't think his absence from CNN is going to hurt him all that much. You know. The reality is is that Donald Trump has been out there trying to speak to the people in his base, and he has been doing so successfully. CNN is not that audience, So I don't think it hurts him that much if he
stays away from it. Maybe another story if he gets invite from Fox and declines that.
All right, guys, great conversation as always, Genie Shanzano and Rick Davis. A rare appearance by Kaylee Lyons here at the noontime Eastern hour. Great to see both of you. Partner at Stone Court Capital, Rick Davis and Genie Shanzano, political science professor at Ionia University. Thanks for listening to
the Balance of Power podcast. Make sure to subscribe if you haven't already, at Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, and you can find us live every weekday from Washington, DC, at noontime Eastern at bloomberg dot com.