Sound On: Biden Pot Pardon, NK Missile Barrage

it automatically expunging any prior criminal record. Bloomberg Sound On with Joe Matthew on Bloomberg Radio. Kim Jong un will not be ignored. Welcome to the fastest hour in politics. As the threat level rises around the Korean peninsula after the North fire, two suspected short range ballistic missiles in the direction of a US carrier strike group, one of them flying directly over Japan. We'll discuss with Kurt Tong at the Asia Group, former US Ambassador for Asia Pacific

Economic Cooperation. Later, President Biden makes good on a promise of marijuana reform, sort of announcing plans to pardon those convictive possession while aiming to reschedule the plant for research. We'll have more on what this means with criminal defense attorney Jeffrey Lickman and with our panel. Bloomberg Politics contributor Jeanie Schanzano was with US Democratic analyst along with Republican strategist Bill McGinley of the Vocal Group. This is what

it sounded like in Tokyo. Not in World War Two, but yesterday, that's what we believe to be too. Short range ballistic missiles were shot from North Korea, one of them directly over Japan. The first launch of a rocket over the country in five years. Is shortly after North Korea condemned the Biden administration for redeploying the Ronald Reagan Aircraft carrier group. It's in waters just east of the peninsula.

They say that escalated tensions, and of course it follows the visit from Kamala Harris to the d m Z Karreean. Jean Pierre, the White House Press Secretary, speaking to the violation, the launch was a danger to the Japanese people, destabilizing to the region, and a clear, a clear violation of the United Nations Councils Security Council resolutions. We also heard from the Secretary of States Anthony Lincoln. You're taking appropriate

defense and detern steps with allies and partners. We've called for UN Security Council meeting UH and we're consulting with our partners on next steps. UM. But I also want to make very clear that our commitment to the defense of our allies and partners free in Japan is is

iron clad statement from the North Korean Foreign Ministry. The DPRK is watching the US posing a serious threat to the stability of the situation on the Korean Peninsula and in its vicinity by redeploying the Carrier Task Force in waters off the Korean Peninsula. And we talk about a carrier strike group. That's the aircraft carrier and all of the components that come with this. This is the most deadly mobile platform in the world. And so that's where

we begin here. By the way, that language sounding a lot like Beijing, following the visit by Nancy Pelosi in the whole uproar over the straight Taiwan, this is where we begin with Kurt Tong, managing partner at the Asia Group, former U s Consul General in Hong Kong and Macau, former US Ambassador for Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, just the man we need to speak with now, Ambassador, welcome to Bloomberg.

How much of these missile launches by North Korea are a reaction to the Reagan carrier group being deployed in the region versus Kim Jong un feeling ignored by the international community. Well, those are probably both factors in the in the exact timing of the missile launch. But I think that it's important to keep in mind another key objective for North Korea, which is to continue to develop and refine their their technology, both missile technology and nuclear technology.

And so in order to do that, they need to test it, and that that that's no excuse for them breaking you and Security Council resolutions and threatening their neighbors. But but it is a fact that under underscores there there the drum beat of their of their launches. Well, does a meeting of the Security Council mean anything anymore? With Russia and China at the table, How does this

all add up? Well, one of the difficulties of shaping North Korea's decisions has always been that it is the country is so isolated that additional sanctions have limited effect. And at this point North Korea, north Korea's external economic relationships almost exclusively with China, and China has never proven willing to push North Korea hard enough that it would actually really forced to make some tough decisions about it

about its weapons programs. So the leverage, in addition to the fact that the Security Council is probably not the best venue for additional actions because for the reason you cite it um that the existing sanctions are also not really fighting because North Korea, by having a very weak and isolated economy, is immune to them. Vombing missile's ambassador over Japan is something we have not seen in years.

How dangerous is that escalation, Well, it's certainly very worrisome to the Japanese people, um, and it demonstrates an ability to reach all of Japan with with missiles. No one's quite sure how kightly targeted these items are or whether they'd be willing to hit any specific targets, but the demonstration of that capability is certainly very concerning too, And it's also concerning the United States the latest missile launches.

I understand it theoretically as capability to reach Guam, which is your territory, and that would be a whole other world of something like that happened. Though, who is the missile for Who is the missile over Japan for Tokyo or the U S Who was the audience? So I think both, but probably more of the US. I thought you might say that I think that North Korean used

US as a potential um interlocutor. Again, the question is how much of their program is intended just to have the program and they need it and they want it, and how much of its an attended is the negotiating item um the uh. It's it's always hard to tell until you sit down and talk to the North Koreans, but certainly they view the United States as by far the most important interlocutor for negotiations, and no one's about

to sit down with them from the United States. Is that it doesn't appear so no, because the US has has seen this movie several times now and uh, and it's become quite a franchise. Well that's right, and and and and also the United States has a significant deterrent against North Korea actually using the weapons that it's developing. UM, so it ends up becoming a stable but dangerous situation.

Stable and dangerous at the same time. Dangerous because of the miscalculation by North Korea or accidental launch or a failed launch could could end up escalating into a crisis. The timing here is awful considering new tensions over Taiwan, tensions with China, the Taiwan straight a broken relationship if I can call it that, describe it that way, between the US and Beijing, a Russia at war Ambassador, What is all this leading to, Well, it's it's it's quite worrisome.

I think North Korea, again to your time and question, is seeing that given the current state of US China relations, they're less concerned about the US convincing China to put

a lot of pressure on North Korea. But more broadly, to your point, I think that the confluence of increased tensions around Taiwan and the war in Ukraine is really and certainly I feel this in the consulting business is making people very uncertain about the near term future UM and the security space and UM it's it's going to put real pressure on the Biden administration to do deaf diplomacy.

What are your clients most worried about. I think they're concerned about that the situation around Taiwan could escalate out of control, and then you know, we really reassure them that there are lots of circuit breakers that can prevent things from escalating and becoming uh incredibly dangerous or disruptive. It. But you know, people thinking um tens of billions of dollars in various businesses are always, of course concerned about the risk. Well, we thought there might be some circuit

breakers in Ukraine as well, didn't we. That's right, and those circuit breakers didn't seem to work, mainly because of the character of the Russian leadership. UM. And this is a fundamental question for the United States as they consider UM. The issue with respect to Taiwan is at the end of the day, UM she paying a rational actor. UH. The disincentives or the or the cost to China of drastic action on Taiwan military action from any objective standpoint

would far outweighed the benefit UM. But but there is an emotional and um historical element to this issue that is quite powerful as well, and so handling that skillfully is really a and challenge for the United States and for China. Are you curious about Kim Jong UN's silence over the past couple of weeks. He's been out of the public eye more than three weeks now, his longest absence in a year. They made a big deal out of it last time he disappeared for a while, and

it's uncharacteristic as as we're writing on the terminal. Typically this comes with a lot of chest thumping when you have missile tests like this, but there's almost no one talking. Yeah, I I never know what to make of that kind of absence questions. It could be as just taking a vacation somewhere, but the um who knows. It's really hard to guess. Lastly, Ambassador, if the United States got into something deeper here regretfully, uh, and of course nothing that

the Pentagon is planning now. But if something did spiral out of control around Taiwan or North Korea, would we be able to balance from a weapon standpoint, wars on on two sides of the world, supporting Ukraine and becoming involved into conflict in Asia. I think it would strain our resources. I'm not a deep expert on this, but my understanding is that it would. It would be a strain. But the military planners, how for many years I thought about ways to have a robust presence in both Europe

and the Pacific. And and so I wouldn't despair, but it is a it's you know, it's a it's an issue of concern, something we don't really want to think about. Kirt Tong, I want to thank you for being with us. He's managing partner at the Asia Group. Former U s Consul General in Hong Kong and Macau, former US Ambassador for Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Ambassador. Thanks for being with us today on Bloomberg. Thank you. So the pressure is rising and coming up. We assemble the panel for their

take on this. Bloomberg Politics contributor Democratic analyst Jennie Schanzano along with Republican strategist Bill McGinley from the Vocal Group. This is Bloomberg. You're loosening to Bloomberg. You sound on with Joe Matthew on Bloomberg Radio. Following the missile launches from North Korea, the US got together with Japan and South Korea and conducted joint naval drills earlier today as the Aircraft Carrier Group US S. Ronald Reagan was redeployed.

This is fascinating I've never heard of this. It pulled a rare you turn the aircraft carrier group redeployed in waters between South Korea and Japan, making that you turn after Kim fired the missile that went over Japan. Isn't there a saying about turning around an aircraft carrier, Well, they actually did it one ping only please, and it's making people worry about what might come as we conduct joint naval drills. This feels a lot like the whole

story around Taiwan. But I can assure you Nancy Pelosi is not about to go to North Rha, although Kamala Harris was recently in South Korea and that may have prompted some of this as well. Let's assembled our panel. Bloomberg Politics contributors. Jeannie Chanzano are Democratic analyst. Along with Bill McGinley, Republican strategist principle at the Vogel Group, form a National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee General Council. It's great

to have both of you here. Yeah, Matt, you're probably right. Are you turn? That cost a trillion dollars? Genie? How worried are you about this? Or is it just Kim Jong oun? Make a noise. I think it's very concerning, and I think the reaction of the United States um as you mentioned, the U turn itself is but one signal. Also Japan and South Korea, everyone seems to be on edge. We've seen them come back with a show of force.

And of course, when the United States and several other members of the U N. Security Council asked for that emergency meeting on Wednesday, they couldn't get any agreement, and you had Russian China they're saying that it was the US led military exercises that had provoked North Korea. So you know, this is where we are and why it is so concerning at this moment when you know you've got Russian gold and what is it's involved in, and

you've got this going on in the East. So forget the Security Council, Bill McGinley, apparently there's really just no reason to have it at this point with the with the war raging in Ukraine and Russia sitting at the table. Obviously China would always love an opportunity to embarrass us a little bit. So this means what the US and regional partners like Japan have to figure this out alone. Yeah,

I think that's exactly right. I mean, the UN at this point is nothing but a debating society UH and a messaging forum to try and get our side of the story out. But in terms of real impact on these situations, I think UH it's standing is greatly diminished, if not UH anywhere that that where it should be

to deal with these types of issues. I mean, I think what this shows with North Korea becoming increasingly aggressive, obviously we've been we've been watching China being increasingly aggressive against Taiwan, and as Cheni said, you know, with all of the statements from Vladimir in the Russians annexing part of Ukraine and then threatening nuclear war if they're attacked. UM, we're seeing tensions escalating across the globe, not decreasing right now.

And one of the places we're not talking about that also is boiling is the Middle East with some of the issues that are there. So the world's becoming far more complicated and UH intentions are rising, and so this is going to be a real challenge for the Biden administration UH to corral our allies so that we can do an effective diplomatic response so we don't end up in a kinetic war anymore, God forbid. But these stories get a lot more complex when you start stacking them

on top of one another. But Kim jong un has fired off a record number of ballistic missiles this year. I'm not sure a lot of people are aware of that genie. We used to they used to make a lot more news, frankly, and it got to be the boy who cried wolf. But you know, this most recent barrage has so far total ten missiles. That's since September, and of course also coincided with the visit to the region. As I mentioned by Vice President Kamala Harris Uh, At

what point does the US stop ignoring? I mean, military drills are one thing, but Kim jong un clearly feels like he can get away with anything he does. And the sound you played at the top of the you know you hear is such an eerie sound. And that was one of the intermediate range missile missiles that they flew over Japan, which is a stunning development. And what we're hearing is forty ballistic and cruise missile launches this

year alone, which is a stunning number. And so the United States is trying to respond by working closely with its allies. We heard Anthony B. Lincoln and Chile come out. Um. You know, I think your previous guest made a very important point about the fact that North Korea, because it

wants to develop this technology, has to test it. Um. But it is doing so, and it is flaunting what is you know, agreed upon international etiquettelet alone law, and so you know, the United States is going to have to react, but it's going to have to do so in a rapidly changing world in which tensions are escalating

all around. I mean, just look at where Joe Biden was today and pot Keepsie, New York, trying to pull semiconductor manufacturing back to the US because it's over in Taiwan to a large extent, and if we go to war over there or something happens, our lives will be in you know, changed forever. With twelve pc production of semiconductors here, it's quite a thought. Uh, you know, you start thinking about North Korea here, Bill McGinley, and Iran

is watching very closely what's going on here. How important is our response when you consider the standoff over nuclear weapons with Tehran? I think it's incredibly important. We want to we want less nuclear weapons in the hands of these types of dictators um and despots instead of increasing them, because it has such a destabilizing impact on the geo political world. If though this emboldens Iran, right, I mean, there's no way absolutely, And you know, I don't think

we can view any of these in isolation. They're not mutually exclusive. You know, there have been meetings where you had the Russians, the Chinese, uh and and the Iranians and others getting together, and I think you know, what we're really beginning to see is them kind of testing the resolve the West and NATO, UH and some of our traditional alliances to see whether we still have the resolve to try and stand up to this type of aggression.

And I think it's going to be incredibly important. What a lot of people need to remember, you know, military maneuvers like this is really in support of diplomatic efforts. That's what you like to think. Bill. Thank you, Bill McGinley and Jennie Schanzano. We'll be back. As we turned to cannabis next, this is bloomber I Governor, Oh help me. There is a rare appearance by Willie Nelson on the broadcast. Yeah, he was playing this is from last weekend in South Austin, Texas.

Roll me up and smoked me when I die on behalf of betto or Rooric, who he was actually rallying for. And man, I'll tell you what with the crowd's favorite part of the whole rally. And that brings us to the matter at hand, something that progressive Democrats have been asking for and in fact demanding since electing Joe Biden because he promised cannabis reform and today I didn't go all the way with decriminalization or some of the other things that have been discussed, but he did announce this.

As I said when I ran for president, no one should be in jail just for using a possession marijuana. It's already legal in many stays, and criminal records from marijuana possession have led the needless barriers to employment, housing,

educational opportunities. And that's before you address the racial disparities around who suffers the consequences, and white and black and brown people use marijuana in similar rates, black and brown people are arrested, prosecuted, and convicted at disproportionately higher rates, highlighting the equity component of this story and pardoning thousands.

This is the announcement. It's a two pronged announcement, a blanket pardon for all prior federal offenses for simple possession as they call it, of marijuana, also urging governors to do the same for state offenses involving marijuana and likely affecting potentially many more people that way, but also calling to reschedule the drug so that it can be researched and potentially help for medicinal purposes or any number of issues. But there are a lot of complexities that come with this.

Criminal defense attorney Jeffrey Lickman joins us to talk about it. He runs a marijuana crimes practice at his firm, having gotten John Gotti acquitted and even wrapping Al Chapo in federal court. Jeffrey, thank you for being with us. We're talking about incremental steps here, right. This is just about the least that the president could have done, starting on the federal level. How much larger would it be for governors at the state level to follow? Well, I mean, look,

it can be decriminalized, obviously. It can also be done federally where it's removed from a schedule. One doesn't that be a Schedule one drug. It's hardly the same seriousness as LSD as it has been since it was made a Schedule one drug and linkeden I think seventies two. Um, so there's many things that can be done. I think people are really getting ahead of themselves here. Um they're not appreciating is that Biden is not pardoning people anybody

who's got a federal marijuana conviction. He's only pardoning people that have a simple possession. So explain the difference for us, Jeffrey, Well, the difference is that in thirty one years of practice, I don't think I've ever had case with somebody who's just charged with simple possession. Simple possession, it's just somebody who possesses drugs. They're very rarely m prosecuted federally. It's such a minor charge that's usually done in the state.

So wouldn't that would that normally involve crossing state lines or something, Jeffrey, how do you actually get arrested on the federal level for marijuana. It could look it could be crossing state lines, it could be that it was done in a federal facility. But the percentage of people that are convicted of just simple possession compared to related drug offenses, which include the possession with intend to distribute rico um A million different things. Maybe I don't know

one percent. So instead of all these years that marijuana in the legal federally, you think that we'd have how many people would have been convicted a million? We're talking

a few thousand people. So that's the number I was looking for here, this that, and you're getting I think to the point that that that I was reaching for here, this is gonna get a very complicated rollout, and it could be a very disappointing one for uh, for a lot of folks when when they realize number one, how few people this impacts, and the the even greater patchwork will be left with when some governors follow the president and some do not. Jeffrey, Well, look, you know, that's

that's the way this country is. Sometimes states have rights and they make decisions, and you decide to live in whichever state you want based on the laws of that state. But I think that people anticipate that the jails are going to be opened and people are going to be let out, They're just not going to be you know,

there was one comment that you made. I was listening before I came on where you said, I think that a congressman was concerned that perhaps did a lot of these people that have convictions for simple possession, that they were charged with something more serious perhaps and they just

plea b orgain it down. It's not true because if you're charged in a in a federal narcotics or drug conspiracy or or drug case, and there's a charge included a gun charge, there's no way they're letting you plead it down to something where you're facing no jail time. It just doesn't happen. You either go to trial or they have to dismiss the case because the case fell apart. Where they give you a plan, you spend years in prison. So the great majority of people that have marijuana convictions

have much more serious convictions related to it. There's guns, there's this. None of those people are affected. Hence the complexity we're talking about here. Jeffrey mentioned the scheduling of the drug This is the other component of this. As I mentioned, it's not only the pardoning, but the President is calling on the Secretary of Health and the Attorney General, and I can only assume they will follow to review marijuana's classification as what they call a Schedule one drug.

That means the federal government sees it as having no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. As Jeffrey mentioned, that puts it in the same category as heroin and LSD, which to most, I mean, say what you will about cannabis, that does seem a bit extreme at this point, Jeffrey, how significant is that component compared to the pardoning. Well, that will change the penalties.

But at the end of the day, I mean, look in nineteen I'm looking at my notes because I argued a federal appeal on this very issue this year in seventy three. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals said they basically laughed at the fact that marijuana was considered a Schedule one. That was in seventy three, when when people didn't know that marijuana had the medicinal uses that it has today, that it wasn't quite people aren't quite as knowledgeable.

So this has been going on forever. What has to happen is it has to be the criminalized period and then there won't be the related, uh criminal offenses that occur in connection with marijuana. You know, the gun charges where their gangs trying to protect their drugs. All that will end if marijuana is legal. And frankly, we've got enough bad drugs in this country that's coming in. Marijuana

should not be your focus. It's taking away resources and it's punishing people that really don't need to be punished. It's really incredible. Uh, there's so much to discuss here and anticipate from the President. And again, I don't know what kind of moment item that this might take on the state level here, But when you talk about decriminalization, Jeffrey, that's got to be done legislatively, right, that's Congress not

doing its job to keep up with the with the states. Yeah, I mean, look, it's gonna have to be done progressionally. I really do believe that the time is right for it. Um. And you know, there's some discussion. I know that Biden said that, you know, this is the type of offense that is racially unfair. No. Look, you know Biden was in the Senate when when crack became a sing and when there was massive penalties for crack compared to powder cocaine.

You didn't see him talking about the racial disparity. Then the people that were going to jail for the rest of their lives were mostly black people. Nobody seemed to care back then. Now we just have to be criminalize it and focus on the drugs that are killing Americans. I don't know that there's been a massive amount of people killed by smoking marijuana, but we know that there are fentinal we know that there is cocaine, you know

that there is heroin. Marijuana is the least of our problems when need to direct our resource, sultzwhere well, I'm awfully glad we got you on the line, Jeffrey. Can you give us a sense before you leave how much of your caseload involves uh, marijuana crimes. How much of your time is spent on this? I would say probably. I mean I do mostly federal work. I do a lot of white collar stuff, and in terms of the drugs,

the heavy cases are the cocaine cases. And judges, when you appear in front of a federal judge on the marijuana case, unless there's violence involved, they're squeamish to give any kind of serious time because everybody recognizes that this should have been rectified, this a long time ago, and for some reason, you know, we just keep on ignoring it. You represented John Gotti. You have a sense of how

organized crime works. How much of a business is marijuana trafficking for organized crime, whether it's John Gotti or another former client of yours, El Chapo. Well, I would say that marijuana is not as um. You're not making the same amount of money in terms of marijuana as you would cocaine or heroin, So it's not really that big of a deal in terms of gangs. I represented Jamaican

gangs as well, where marijuana was a big deal. Remember, you've got to have a lot of packages of marijuana to make the same amount of money that you would for maybe a softball size amount of cocaine or crack. So people aren't really doing it the same way. The time is so passed for this, I can't believe that we're still talking about this in two thousand and twenty three year. You know, eventually it'll end. Maybe this will become a campaign issue in twenty four. We'll see what

happens with that. But my gosh, he's a man who has forgotten more than most of us have ever seen when it comes to this stuff. Jeffrey Liickman, many thanks to you, for bringing your expertise to the conversation. We'll get back to the panel next as you would expect on Bloomberg Sound On. Thanks for being with us on Bloomberg sound On, the fastest hour in politics, with the

best panel in the business. And today we have Genie Chanzano, Bloomberg Politics contributor, Democratic Analysts, joined by Bill McGinley, Republican strategist principle at the Vogel Group. What do you think about what you just heard, Gennie. We wanted to drill down with an actual expert here, a lawyer in the business, and boy Jeffrey certainly knew what he was talking about.

This is one percent maybe of the marijuana convictions that are being pardoned here by President Biden, and it could be even less than that when you start factoring in other crimes, when people start understanding what's really going on here. Will he be blamed for not doing enough? He could be. And I think he made a really important point about how limited this step is. But I think by and and he's absolutely right, of course. And and you know, the number we heard again was like maybe a couple

of thousand more. That's not that many. And as he mentioned these are simple possession people convicted with simple possessions, certainly not other higher crimes. But that said, I also think it's important to underscore that this is quite a turnaround for Joe Biden. Yes, he did on the campaign trail promised to take this step, but he was the only candidate in who did not publicly support federal de scheduling.

And as your guests just mentioned, he also was responsible as a senator for some of the to this prime laws drug laws in the country, and so there is some kind of people of ring with hypocrisy as he talks today about the impact on black and brown people in terms of disproportional rates of incarceration and conviction and arrest, because of course he led the charge in the other

direction as a senator. So you know, I do think it's remarkable from the perspective of who Joe Biden has been and who he is today that he took this step, and it reintroduces this issue at a time when it's desperately needed to catch up with where the states are headed. If it were not for the mid terms being less than five weeks away, Bill McGinley, would this be announced

right now. I think so I think they would have waited until after the election and probably tried to work with the congressional committees, uh, the judiciary committees on both the House and Senate, to try and do something. Develop a little bit more data before you do something like this. I think, uh, your prior guests made a good point about how limited in scope, but the President actually did but I think also reinforcing the point this is something

for aggress to tackle. We need to do some legislation on this. UM. Presidential executive orders and even clemency is not going to get this done and not resolve the issue. It's time for cogress back. We'll tell you the reaction on Wall Street was significant today. The marijuana eat t F m J up twenty three per cent. That's the

alternative harvest ETF cure leef I just mentioned. Because it is the largest retailer, largest operator of dispensaries around the country up thirty five, Wall Street sometimes knows more than Washington does, JUNI they do, and you know, this is one side of this story that I think people involved in this have not have felt that hasn't been told enough UM, which is the economic benefits of you know, we're not talking about legalization, certainly at this point at

the federal level, but of taking steps towards legalizations the states.

Some of these localities they have recognized that. And people in favor of you know, decriminalization, legalization, they've long been sing that there are benefits here that have gone unrecognized, and certainly Wall Street is not surprisingly recognizing that before Washington, d C. And to Bill's point, which is so important, as with so many other things in the United States, it's not enough to be making policy by executive order EO.

You've got to get Congress to act. And unfortunately, I think after the election it's likely we're going to see the breaks put on something like this for a lot of period time. That's the that's the flip of the coin here, Bill. You know, it's not just Joe Biden looking to help Democrats, but they know that this window is closing, right, I mean, any effort to decriminalize in a Republican lead House going to die a quick death, right. Yeah. But look, I mean we're spending a lot of time

talking about the criminalization versus decriminalization. Which schedules should marijuana be on? You know, equally important to all of the states where marijuana is legal. Is also the banking issue and how they're able to transact business. I mean, you know, this is such a big business in some of these states.

We really need to have a comprehensive look at how the marijuana, cannabis industry, it's uh is performing, how it's sold, you know, what some of the restrictions are to keep it away from school children, but also the economics of it, including how these businesses are able to conduct their business through banks as opposed to cash transactions, et cetera. So, I mean, it's it's a pretty significant issue that deserves a lot of attention from Congress, and hopefully we'll we'll

get a resolution to this. Siner. Yeah, hopefully, Although we're not holding our breath. Bill McGinley and Jeanie Schanzano with us in our remaining moments as we steer the panel. And I'm sorry to do this to you, but I have no choice to herschel Walker, it's the story, uh that won't go away. As the woman who earlier this week's at herschel Walker, this, of course, the Republican Senate candidate in Georgia paid for her abortion in two thousand nine now says that he knows who she is because

she is the mother of one of his children. This is a new report out after The Daily Beast first made this report this week. He hasn't been able to stop talking about it and has spent the better part of his week on Fox News answering questions. Much like in this case, not on Fox News, he actually had

to hold a news conference today. He set up an outdoor briefing so reporters could throw questions in him because this is obviously a big deal, and it's one that we've seen in his race, spen somewhat into the to the favor of of his Democratic rival, the incumbent Raphael Warnock, listened to this exchange with reporters today as they try to find out if herschel Walker actually knows this woman. Have you reached out to any of the mothers of

your children to ask why not? Well, because according to the article, one of the woman who says that you paid for her and also the mother of one of your children, it seems like that's not to be anything. The article I had more kids as why I reached out to anyone? Because I said no, And that's what I mean, and I said, no, I said, it's not correct. That's a lie, and that's what I mean, that's a lot. I have literally no idea what that answer means. Genie.

Did Democrats just let him take the rope here that he's clearly running with or do they actually have to start leaning into attacking him. No, I think they I

think they should let him go forward. I think Raphael Warnox response and the Democrats response has been right on to focus on the policy issue and the fact that this is somebody advocating a very extreme position when it comes to an issue that you know, sixty percent of Americans feel that there should be an exception in the case of rap or ancestor the life of the mother. That's not a position he's adopted, except apparently perhaps when it comes to himself and let the voters decide that.

You know, as you listen and I did listen to what he had to say, he leaves himself an opening. If you notice, he says he's given money. He doesn't know what people have done with that money. And I think that will be the out if it becomes tied that it is the mother of one of his children, and he does know who the woman is. He will say he had no knowledge of where that money went. Every day this week. If you really listen to the words that he's saying, he hasn't denied a lot. He

has called this alive. But then he goes to to to use very careful language, Bill, I send money to lots of people. I never urged anyone to get an abortion. What the heck is going to happen here? And well, Republicans continue to defend him through November. I think it's a stands right now. Yes, I mean Senator Rick Scott, the chairman of the NSC, has has come out to say that they're they're going to stand by him right now.

I think other National Republicans have done the same. Um. You know, from the Republicans point of view, Um, you know these are you know, it's a serious issue. But he's come out and denied it. But also it also speaks to the fact that is his candidacy was beginning to get traction. I mean consistently in the polls herschel Walker was up by two points so for the Senator Warnock. Um. And it just tells you that the Democrats felt that they needed to dump this opposition research now in October.

So it speaks to the competitiveness of that race, where the Democrats, I think, thought that they had the race shown up. How worried over the summer. How worry should Warnock be about an APO dump in the next couple of weeks, Jennie, you know, I think he's, oh, you

always have to be worried about that. We do know there are grumblings of of of charges that could be made against him, And I think the real concern here for Democrats and for Raphael Warnock is the fact that despite this issue, voters simply may not be responding to it. And I don't think, at least I haven't seen enough public polling out of Georgia to know, because you know, issues of crime, issues of inflation, issues of gas, those

are things on top of mind. This may not be and you know, we've seen candidates like Donald Trump and others who have weathered these kinds of storms. So that's got to be a concern. And that's why Warnock's got to keep focusing on the issues that are important to voters and stay out of this fray and let Walker deal with this issue on his own. Did Georgia voters care more about Republicans being in the majority, Bill or

or this latest access Hollywood type of story. You know, I really think this is gonna come down, you know, Republicans for Republicans. This this election is all about change um for all of the reasons that Genie just said, you know, the gas and food inflation, the sputtering economy, all of the foreign affairs issue, but really the catching cable issues. Uh No, I think and I think they do care, But I think Democrats are going to continue these types of attacks because they don't want it to

be a change narrative they're fighting over. It's a choice between two candidates and the domat Bill McGinley, Genie Chanzano, great panel. I'm Joe Matthew. This is Bloomberg