Sound On: Pelosi Gives Up Gavel, Madness in Maricopa

On with Joe Matthew on Bloomberg Radio. Nancy Pelosi gives up the gabbl Welcome to the fastest hour in politics. On a big day in Washington. Is the first woman to be speaker, announces her decision on the House floor

after Republicans clinched control of the House. Will discuss the leg to see and the future with Congresswoman Sherry Bustos, who was on the floor today with Pelosi and with a Democratic Senate still intact, We'll talk with Jim Kessler of Third Way, former policy director for Senator Chuck Schumer.

Former Congressman Joe Crowley joins us, as well as the leadership, rebuilds in the future, and as a group of House Republicans moved to stop US funding for Ukraine, will run all these stories by our signature panel with Bloomberg Politics contributors Jeanie Chanzano and Rick Davis. They're here for the hour, the end of an era here in Washington, or, as Speaker Nancy Pelosi said today on the House floor, for everything,

there is a season. This I will continue to do as a member of the House, speaking for the people of San Francisco, serving the great state of California, and defending our constitution, and with great confidence in our caucus. I will not seek re election to Democratic leadership in the next Congress, ending in a store run as Democratic leader for the Better Party to get decades, including the

first woman to be elected Speaker. And we're going to bring you perspective from a range of voices over the course of the hour, beginning with Congresswoman Sherry Bustos, Democrat from Illinois, with us now, Congresswoman, welcome back to sound On. Thanks for having me. I saw you on the floor of the House embracing Nancy Pelosi immediately after her announcement.

What did she tell you well she was. Everybody was in line to give her a quick hug and tell her thank you for her many, many years of service. I I told her it was actually a very personal moment, even though there were people all around. UM. I told her a line that my father always said to me at the end of many of our phone calls, which was, I love you, I respect you, and you've helped the helpless. And UM, you know, I have a beautiful relationship with her.

I led the political arm of House Democrats for the previous two years before this cycle. Um, and as part of that, every every time we flew back to Washington, I met with her one on one for half an hour for two straight years. And UM, so we're I just have a great amount of respect for how great she has been to this nation. And so yeah, so that was our conversation. Well, I appreciate your sharing that.

I know it's a personal moment. Did you expect the announcement today that was certainly buttoned up right until she walked out? You know, I my guest, and I can't verify this because only Nancy Pelosi could, but I guess as only her immediate family knew maybe before this and then probably her staff just before the announcement. But she is a she's a steel traps, as they say, as far as if you tell her something incompetent, she's not

going to repeat it. And she is not one who would go around sharing what her h what she was going to do as the next step in her career. Will it be strange to serve with a congresswoman Nancy Pelosi? I guess you still call her speaker, right? Well, I mean I think she's forever the speaker, you know, and you think about the historic nature for the first and

only woman ever to hold that position. Um, And when I think about her, she's not only the the strongest woman I've ever known, She's the strongest person I've ever known. You think about all she's had coming at her for for not just you know, a few months or even a few years, but for decades now. She's been in a leadership position for two decades. And um, she on on the folks on the other side of the aisle

love to hate her. And so she's probably the most recognizable Democrat outside of Joe Biden because she's been on attack ads for for many, many years, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. Uh, you know, the Republicans like to tie every Democrat in a tough district to Nancy Pelosi. That was their big attack. Well, I wonder what you think of that. I mean, she's a pioneer in politics, a pioneer in Washington, a hero of yours clearly and of Democrats. But seen is very visive

by Republicans. Why has she been so controversial with the right? Well, as I said, they've loved to hate her. She's Uh, first of all, she's a female, the only the person only as I said, first, only a woman Speaker of the House in the history of our our nation, you know, obviously well over two hundred years of our of our nation. And she has just been a target. She's from San Francisco, which if you're from the center part of the country where we're perhaps a little more moderate and a little

more reserve. Um. They like to call her a San Francisco, San Francisco Liberal. They had all these little names for her, and I just really did their best to vilify her, you know, how to give it back to though. I'll never forget her tearing up that speech after Donald Trump delivered you know, She's iconic in so many ways. You know, you think about her wearing that burnt orange coat when she came out of the meeting with Donald Trump after he was the president. She's the only woman in the room,

and she can hold her own in any situation. And I do mean in any situation. I remember when I invite her her to Illinois. Um, and it was when we were negotiating the the redoing of our trade agreement and what ended up being the U. S m c A, the US Mexico Canada trade Agreement and the farmers in my region and we're just really anty to get that done because farmers rely so much on trade. So I asked her she would sit down with some farmers from the state of Illinois and uh, because they wanted to

be heard. And she said absolutely. She didn't. She didn't want for once think, oh, you know, I'm a liberal from San Francisco. I'm not going to do that. She sat down in this this room was about ten farmers. It was an intimate group. She listened to them, She looked each of them in the eye and um, and they what they wanted to send her away with the sense of urgency around getting this done, and it was only a matter of months later that we got it done.

And she went back to Washington and was quoting the farmers saying how there had to be a sense of urgency around this and we had to we had to do right by them. Um. So yeah, again, I have never seen her not hold her own in any meeting. And uh, you know that there's a lot to be said for a person who can do that. Well, So a tough act to follow here, I said earlier, it's the worst kept secret in Washington that Hakem. Jeffreys will be the next Democratic leader. Is that the way you

see it? Um? You know, look how Kim is very well respected, uh and well liked. I just think the world of him. I'm I'm a fan of his. I think he's going to be outstanding. Well, it's a big day, Congresswoman, and I want to congratulate you as well on seeing the Speak Out Act past. I know that was a follow up to your own ending Forced Arbitration for Sexual Assault Act. That that gets to this issue of nondisclosure agreements. I'm sure that's something that you were glad to see

here towards the end of this session. Yeah, it's it's monumental. It's it's been dubbed um one of the most important labor legislation, pieces of labor legislation this century. We passed the four st Arbors Ending Forced Arbitration Act, and now we passed the elimination of nondisclosure agreements, and uh, that second part of it will be signed into law here very shortly. Well, we always enjoy the conversation. Congresswoman, I

appreciate the time as ever. Representative Sherry Bustos, thanks for being back with us on Bloomberg. Thank you for everything. So it's on a rebuilding leadership majority leaders Stanny Hoyer is also retiring from the leadership now, as we learned today, and we bring in someone who has been inside the family here, inside the House Democratic leadership spent a number of years. In fact, I'm glad to say Joe Crowley is with us, a former Congressman from New York who

was chair of the Democratic Caucus. Joe, thanks for coming back. I'm sure this is a big day for you as well to see the Speaker make this announcement. Uh, what's the motivation? And I know that you're gonna tell me she loves serving the people. But why hang around after this? Isn't life going to be a little bit weird for everybody when you know, you go from the head of the table to sitting with the leaves. Yeah, that's that's

that's a great question. Um. I really hadn't contemplated that in terms of that, because I think, you know, I do think she has a great deal to offer in terms of experience. We know that these really are these three Kim Jeffries, Catherine Clark, and Pete Aguilar. They're They're very capable of people. Um, but I do think that she has something to offer. Uh. It may have to do with the fact that she was just re elected. She's not someone who wants to pull the wool over

anyone's eyes, including your unstitents. Maybe give those who might contemplate running an opportunity to the field themselves, including our daughter Christine so I who's also were which to be interested in running for her seat. So I really I don't I don't have a perfect answer for that. But uh, why is Steady Hoyer stay for the same reason they begin? So is this the start of the team Jeffreys era, I certainly hope. So I have been a big fan

of hat Kim's Uh. You know when I when I left Congress, um uh, he replaced me as the chair of the caucus. Uh, and I was. I I oversaw that election. In fact, that was one of the last official acts I was part of, and I saw how he handled himself. He's a great orator, he has great skills. He's very smart, um and Uh. I think he knows how to build coalitions. And that's what's so critical about being Congress. You have you know, the person could be an island in Congress. If you are, you never to

be successful. And Hakim was how to knows that he's a legislator, but he's also a great paul. So what's life like when you're in the minority? Democrats have been used to run on the show for a minute, here, do you become the opposition party just by the nature of it? Or is the minority uh so greater? I guess I should say the majority so slim here when it when it comes to math that you're gonna have Democrats and Republicans at the table, Yeah, there's no doubt.

I mean there's gonna be opportunities. I think for Democrats to be a part of important decision making because we still control the White House and certainly the Senate, and so I think the White House will be looking to Hakim in his leadership to keep the the Democratic Caucus together as best that can happen. And um, you know, it's not gonna happen on every vote. Um, but there

may be opportunities as well. The Republicans are going to need Democrats in the House to pass um, you know, spending bills for instance, the dead feeling that I'd be able to do that before the new Republican conference takes control of the speakership. Um. There may be other issues that come up as well that I think it's gonna be so tight that McCarthy is gonna need to I think turned to Hakim Jeffreys on the health Democratic U

Caucus for assistance in getting must pass legislation. Yeah right, Well, it's been reported that Congressman Jefferies is not a fan of this man, the man who would be speaker. Can you wake up tomorrow? We will be in the majority and Nancy Pelosi will be in the minority. That was Kevin McCarthy over a week ago. It took a lot longer than he thought it would to get to this point, and his his caucus is going to be his membership

a lot smaller than he anticipated. But these two have not been friends, right, Is this going to be a confer intational relationship. Well, I think there's a big difference between running for office and running for speaker and running to win the majority and not some of the something to actually to govern. And I think I think how Kim is a big boy. Um. I think he will

be cordial. I think he'll be professional. Uh. They may not agree, you may not even like each other, but I don't think it's gonna stop Akim from doing what he thinks is the best interest of the American people. And I think that is paramount there. I don't think Kim is not about himself. He never has been. He represents some largely an already African American district in Brooklyn, UM, and I think that he is. He's not selfish in anyway, shape or form. Uh, And he will work in the

best interests of American people. There's something else, of course, looming out there, and it's apparently a long list of investigations. Uh. Confersman, this is James Comer. Uh. The parent Chair imminent Chair in waiting here of the Oversight Committee held a news conference today with some of his colleagues to give us

a sense of what was coming. Committy. Republicans have spoken with multiple whistleblowers from humorous schemes involving the Biden family, reviewed Hunter Biden's laptop and received documents of previously previously unknown transactions. What we found our business plans aimed at targets around the world based on influence peddaling, including with people closely tied to foreign governments like China and Russia. Wow, so we're still doing Hunter Biden's laptop. All this has

yet to transpire. How how do you do business with the majority party that's pursuing all these leads and a potential impeachment hearing. Yeah, that's a great question. How do you do that? I think if Republicans continued on his path of a personal attack of the president, Listen, there was an open FBI and criminal investigation into Hunter Biden. That's already there. There's no need for the time was to do that. But this is all showmanship. That's not

to say that every person is perfect. Every family has had issues in their lives. Uh, and I think that that's uh, you know, let's not new what I think if they're going to be successful, they need the American people are tired of this. You know, they've demonstrated that in these elections. This is part of their this is part of their election strategy, strategy, and they didn't work. They didn't they didn't win all those seats they said

they were going to win. So there really is nothing they're compelling this to happen except pure partnership and the most basic, basic kind of that. I think the American people want to see that the members of the the time, we're working together, working with the White House on behalf of the American people, and let's the Justice Department to which work that's not the work of Congress. Can anything

get done? Though with this division that it was clearly surviving the mid term elections, this is the lame duck might be more productive than the next two years. You think, well, there are certain things that have to get done. And if they can't come to an agreement that a death ceiling in the in the lame duck, and it's the talk is they won't be may not be able to do that. They will have to pass a death ceiling at some point that has real perfect points that they Yeah,

if they failed to do it will have real consequences. Um, they were gonna be spending package bills that have to there will have to be done. Um, you know. So this is not somewhere where you know. And I also I will suggest that now they had taken control of the House representers and they have responsibility for for ruling,

in for governing. If they failed to meet that challenge, if they failed to meet those responsibilities, they will pay a price to that in at the post as Democrats did here the perception that they weren't doing enough that we ended up been losing the House, but narrowly m Republicans, it's it's no, it'll be it's the divided government now, it's no, it's no longer one government, one party will all. And I think Republicans would pay a price if they

don't accomplish something. Great insights from Joe Crowley. We always appreciated former Congressman Democratic Caucus Chair. He's been there and now he's watching this along with us, and great to have the insights here on Bloomberg Sound Off for May the hours come for a new generation to lead the Democratic Caucus that I so deeply respect, and I'm grateful that so many are ready and willing to shoulder this awesome responsibility. And there it is. The doors opened for HOCKEYM. Jeffreies,

Catherine Clark, Pete Aguilar and company. We also have to add the panel. Let's assemble our signature panel back together tonight with Rick Davis and Jennie Chanzano, Bloomberg Politics contributors. Jennie, it's a big day for Democrats here. HOCKEYM. Jefferies apparently is the leader in waiting. Is that how you also see it? It is? And and that would put two New Yorkers in charge of the Democrats in the Senate and the House. And and it's hard to remember a

time when that happened. I don't think it has happened in the past, but you know, I think we should say, Kim Jeffrey has huge stilettos to fill. He is going to have big heels to fill. I would argue that Nancy Pelosi may go down as one of the most memorable speakers, one of the best speakers in American history. There's been very few who he remember. We remember James

Polk because he became president Henry Clay Sam Rayburn. Nancy Pelosi has broke them old, not just with her gender, but with the way that she negotiated through a polarized Congress almost evenly divided for two decades. And I think it's you can arguably say she's been one of the most effective. Even her opponents have to agree. She is a formidable force. Rick, you spent enough time on Capitol Hill to have encountered Nancy Pelosi. Can you imagine life

without her? Uh? Can imagine life without her? It's going to be different, Yes, I can imagine a life without her. I mean, you know, look, I mean when she was first speaker, you know, she had a ten year period between then and when she became speaker, you know, four years ago. So, um, she's she's she's a survivor, right, I mean, like that is an incredible, tenacious woman. Who can you know, weather that amount of political time and still be as relevant ten years later after being speaker

first to to the terms she's had now. So and I don't counter out as a you know, force of nature within the Democratic Party. I mean this gives her freedom and uh so you know it'll be interesting to see what role she carves out from here. Well, yeah, I still can't quite figure out what that vision is, you know, for the next two years of walking in without the gavel, without the big office. Why so controversial or divisive among Republicans? Rick, What was it about Nancy

Pelosi that drove Republicans crazy effectiveness? I mean, we like ineffective Democratic speakers. I got it. And uh, and look, I mean you have to have somebody to run against right in in in for a lot of the twentieth century, it was Ted Kennedy. Now didn't mean Ted Kennedy was a great a senator, he was, but like he was a big name, and and and Republicans spent tens of billions of dollars, you know, saying, you know, we gotta

vote against the liberal Washington establishment that's run by Ted Kennedy. Well, the only other person who's really filled those shoes is Nancy Pelosi, where tens of billions of dollars has been spent in TV ads over her career, putting her as the most powerful Democrat to oppose in in Washington. No matter what district you're in, what states you're from. And so I know, from just having been around the hoop

a few times. That's a great honor for people like Nancy Pelosi and Ted Kennedy, right, I mean, like you know they see that is like, bring it on. If I'm going to be the subject of the Republican Party's attacks on government, Uh, so be it. Let's let's go to war. I don't know what this new era with

Kevin McCarthy holding the gavel will be. Like Genie, but he he today was was speaking with Fox I think was the Fox Business channel, Uh, suggesting that Nancy Pelosi is resigning right now so she will not have to hand him the gavel should he become speaker. What do you make of that? Well, classy Kevin McCarthy again, you know, he doesn't go to her speech today, which was by any you know measure, a moving moment and a bipartisan moment.

You saw many Republicans there, including Steve Scalise. You know when when Stenny Hoyer stepped down, she gave him a special office. We'll see if Kevin McCarthy does the same. I doubt it. Um, you know, and look at how Washington has changed since she's been there. As she said today twelve women in the House. That's at twelve when she came into office and eight seven ninety plus today. It's still not enough, but it's getting there. And she

has led that charge. And I would say we should all go back and watch that January six footage of her trying to maneuver through what was an attack on the Capitol and ensured that the electoral electoral vote count occurred. She that's who she is. And so you know, Kevin McCarthy can say she's frightened to turn over the gavel. We've never seen Nancy Pelosi frightened about anything. Reck The

call came last night, Republicans Take the House. The statement from Nancy Pelosi's spokesperson came out a very short time later. They were waiting for that moment. I just wonder how much it had to do with losing the majority, as opposed to the attack on her husband Paul Pelosi for really getting her to this point of saying, you know what I'm done. Yeah, I wouldn't venture to guess. Obviously pretty horrific personal circumstances that she had to go through

at an incredibly difficult time round around elections. Uh, And so I'm sure that everybody gives her a pass on what her rationale is. But look, all things good things must come to an end, and she's had an incredible tenure, So I don't think anybody is going to second guess the motivation. Uh. And I would say, Uh, she's going out at a time when she's kind of defied history. Right.

This election cycle, which she was responsible for, Um, you know, is going to be uh, probably a footnote in history that says, at a time when the economy was so bad, president was so unpopular, the Democratic party in power did not lose the historic number of seats that typically happens. And that's that's that's going to be in the history books.

More messaging from the incoming majority. I've referenced James Comer earlier, the Hunter Biden laptop investigations brewing separately in another room inside the House today, Marjorie Taylor Green joined with a few colleagues. Matt Gates was there, the congressman from Florida, among others, to call for an end to funding for the war in Ukraine. Here in the news, we're just finding out about the situation with f t X and

the cryptocurrency. So is American people's taxpayer dollars going to fund aid in Ukraine, but yet it's really funding something else that's happening, maybe ending up in Democrat donor's pockets. Was that helping Democrat campaigns? That's a long walk here, Jeanie, but that that was the suggestion today that this was a money laundering operation without accountability for where the money is going. Matt Gate says he will not vote for one more dollar. Is this the beginning of a real

debate or is this a fringe argument? You know, I didn't know if I could follow her better or herschel walker on the Vampire. It is very, very tough to follow that logic, and I think it is a sign of what's to come in a divided Washington with the Republicans and control of the House at least this faction. It's going to be theater and the idea that you would look at what happened in the Ukraine in the last seventy two hours and come to the conclusion it's

now time to cut funding. That's that's really hard if you're a Republican or Democrat to wrap your head around. No, we're not done talking about this yet. I presume Rick Davis, Jeannie Schanzano stay with us our signature panel on the Fastest Hour in Politics. More voices to add, including Jim Kessler. I always look forward to talking with the co founder of third Way Democratic Strategist, former longtime insider on Capitol Hill.

This is Bloomberg. Question I have today about the U. S. Senate and specifically the Republican minority in the Senate is what happens if you try but you fail to kill the king. That's why I wanted to talk to Jim Kessler, in part, the co founder of third Way Democratic Strategist. He has been their former legislative policy director for Senator Chuck Schumer, who has had a lot to smile about over the last week. It's great to have you back here. Jim wouldn't want to be Rick Scott right now. First,

you're responsible for achieving a majority in the Senate. Didn't make that happen. Then you challenge Leader Mitch McConnell for the leadership position and you lose. Is he on an island now for the next couple of years. It's an island called Hutzpah. I mean, how can you have he runs the National Republican Senate Campaign Committee really underperforms and then says, I want to promotion, I want to be

leader of the party. You know, the reality of the Senate is that if you're the leader, like Mitch McConnell, you can only I slate your foes within your party so much. You need their votes. So in the House it's a lot easier to banish people who run against you. But in the Senate, you know, you need to unify the caucus all the time. So I think Rick Scott and the nine or so who voted with him, you know, they have a future in the Senate under Mitch McConnell.

McConnell will not be there forever. They'll survive, They'll get on. Uh. Chuck Schumer, as I mentioned, seems to be a pretty happy guy. Can you explain to our listeners the difference between fifty and fifty one, Well, it's a huge difference. So one of the differences is on committees. Right now, when it's fifty the committees are divided completely even between the parties. When you're at fifty one, the Democrats can

add another member in the party. The other is, you know, you can things like Judge is and legist um and other places where the Senate acts alone. You don't need the House White House appointments. You can afford to lose one vote. So there was a situation where Near Attendon was going to be, you know, appointed to a position that needed Senate confirmation. Joe Manchin came out against her, and now you know in this case she would get confirmed.

So it's a big difference. Pretty remarkable to consider this based on the expectations that we had a couple of weeks ago, Jim, we talked in advance of these mid terms, how much credit, uh, does Chuck Schumer take here, if any, in maintaining this majority. He deserves a lot of credit. And they had some risky strategies here, and one was they said, we're going to help Republicans nominate people who

are outside of the mainstream. And that was a high risk, high rewards strategy because if they managed to to win the general election, you'd have extremists in the Senate. It was very controversial, but in nearly all cases those candidates lost and Democrats kept the majority, so it turned out to be a good beat. It's all on a Georgia. Now,

of course, that will decide whether it's fifty or fifty one. UM, I don't know if you have an opinion on how this goes or how Democrats, since you are a democratic strategist, might seize the moment here. But I've been listening, as many have, to herschel Walker, and we've been familiar with Raphael Warnick. He's been in he's the incoment, he's been a senator for a couple of years. Here we hear

him speak a lot. Herschel Walker's approach has been evolving, and I've been hearing some interesting things from him on the campaign trail. Listen to this from a speech yesterday. I've gotten better because I've been to a hospitalcast today. I can see the light before I was in the darkness before. I probably wouldn't be here because I can guarantee you one thing. If I'm not going to a hospital, I would a kill my wife. I can guarantee you I would have killed my wife now. And really, you know,

he's talking about his rehabilitation. But there's been a great conversation about candidate quality here. Jim who's writing these speeches. Why I imagine he's going off on his own on these things. I mean, look, if you're gonna bet on this, I would bet on Warnock and give the points here. Does he sees on this kind of stuff or just let herschel Walker keep talking. I imagine they're gonna seize on it um and and run ads. Neither candidate will have a shortage of money on this. I mean you

talked about candidate quality. I've never seen a race, a midterm race, in which candidate quality there was such a difference between the two parties. And exhibit A is the Georgia race like such a huge gap between war Knock and Walker. The fundamentals really benefit the Democrats here, particularly since control of the Senate is not at stake, so that could depress some vote on the Republican side. I think war Knock is in the driver's seat here, and

he knows how to win runoffs. He's done it once before. He's got experience. Jim, thank you for coming to see us. Jim Kessler, co founder A Third Way. He spent time as legislative policy director for Senator Chuck Schumer. He's seen this movie before, but the question is, have you seen the vampire movie? This happened too, as herschel Walker rig gales and outdoor crowd with his late night TV viewing habits.

The other night, I was watching this movie, watching this movie called Friday Night for et Night and some kind of night, but about vampires. I don't know if you knew vampires and cool people are they not? But I'm will tell you something that I found out where I wolf to kill a vampire. Did you know that? I never knew that. So I don't want to be a vampire the more I want to be a were wolf. But in anyway, well you know who could blame him.

This story went on for over two minutes, talking about being up at one o'clock in the morning watching a crazy vampire movie and so I wouldn't want to make it. Sit through the whole thing. It was fine that these kids had a vampire in that at it at that house. So they were watching that TV. No, I'm watching my TV. They're watching that TV. Or they see the vampire killer on that TV. So they win this contest to bring

this actor. Now, y'all gotta stay with me, bring this actor who's a vampire killer from that TV to get rid of his real life vampire. And they added the whole thing. I look, I don't I'm lost, but it does have to do with faith. And they jumped behind that hero. The guy jumped in front of this whole a word, threw it on the vampire forehead. He covered his eye and he took his hand away. He started laughing,

and he said that don't work. He took the carls he put it on the vampire forehead and the vampire didn't even do anything. He said that this was Fright Night. Right, this was the movie Fright Night. You guys, remember this virtual walker at one o'clock in the morning. What do you do with that? On the campaign trail? And bring some of the post Rick Davis, Geenie Chance, this is Bloomberg. You're listening to Bloomberg. You sound on with Joe Matthew

on Bloomberg Radio, the fastest hour in politics. And gosh, I haven't even had a chance to get to Arizona yet. So much to talk about today in Washington. As Nancy Pelosi says she's putting the gavel down, the Republican leadership comes together, Mitch McConnell in place, Kevin McCarthy and waiting, we have a better sense of things. And you know, I thought the governor's race in Arizona had been called. I'm pretty sure it has told you about that. Katie

Hobbs wanted the Democratic secretary of State. But we heard from Carrie Lake last night. You know. We thought, well, geez, maybe it'd be of a concession and it's it's one of these videos with the blurry background. It's coming to you from heaven and it opens up like a hey, we're checking in on vacation. Just want to make sure you're good. But it does and keep going there. Hey, Arizona, carry Lake here. I wanted to reach out to you to let you know that I am still in this

fight with you. For two years, I've been sounding the alarm about our broken election system here in Arizona, and this past week has confirmed everything we've been saying. When we called for Katie Hobbs to recuse herself over a year ago, they ridiculed us. It turns out we were right. The fox was guarding the hen House and because of that, voters have been disenfranchised. Okay, so we're not conceding. We are fighting though. Yes, she's she's lawyered, up, rest assured.

I have assembled the best and brightest legal team, and we are exploring every avenue to correct the many wrongs that have been done this past week. I'm doing everything in my power to right these wrongs. My resolve to fight for you is higher than ever. I love broadcasters, and it sounds like we're listening to an industrial documentary. Let's reassemble the panel, Rick Davis and Jeanie Schanzano back with us. As you would hope in a moment like this.

There's been a tough couple of weeks in Arizona, RIC going back to before the election, with you know, armed masked people's stalking drop off boxes. I guess we should not be surprised by this. A couple of days later, there had been no concession. What's this gonna look like over the next couple of months or years. Well, as

you say, we shouldn't be surprised. In an interview prior to the election, uh, you know, the reporter asked carry Lake if she would accept the results of the election, and she says, if I win, I also accept them. I mean in essence paraphrasing, but uh, that's exactly what she's doing. She's only going to accept the results if she wins. So Uh. You know, look, I mean she's gonna do whatever she can do. She's gonna hire lawyers.

That's fine. You know, she won't be the first candidate in Arizona that ever hired a lawyer to do a recount or something like that. But at the end of the day, it really doesn't matter because probably on Monday, the governor of Arizona Republican is going to certify the election. And and like Donald Trump's two year war to try and decertify a presidential election, Carry Lake can spend her wheels for years and and and have the same outcome.

You know that that Katie Hobbs won Farren Square and election in Arizona, close but good, and and she'll be governor and she'll get sworn in in early January. And there's there's not a lot they can be done. Look, these were close elections. Even today the attorney general's races flipped. Uh it may or may not stay this way, but you know, we got more ballots in from Arizona and there happened to be heavily Republican, and that's an incredibly

close race. And so the reality is so far she's the only one that I've heard in Arizona claim you know, mauthfeasance of any kind, and yet she doesn't even lay out what that is video at least, you know, good luck prosecuting your case. Car She says she's got the evidence. She did say that, Genie. Uh, And it was nice to listen to and nice to look at with the foggy background of the whole thing. But just imagine if

Mark Finchham had won. Uh. You know, things came actually pretty close to being a lot different in Arizona than they they did. And you've got to give her credit for consistency. She's sticking to her guns. Here she said she's not going to accept a loss, and here she's not. But the bad news for her is you had both the Democrat and Republican county Board of Supervisors in Amercopa County come out with a joint statement and say that we have the technology in place to catch any of

these problems. And it was all it was all in place that day. So if on occasion you had a failure of technology, they have the backup. And so you know, she is, you know, absolutely able to hire lawyers and to pursue this, but the reality is probably we're going to see the election certified, and a judge say that there's nothing here here and she's going to have to go back to mari Laga, where she's been spending a lot of her last few days and enjoy the golf course.

A judge or judges, does this disqualify her somehow from being Donald Trump's running mate? Rick? Well, now, it may actually qualify her because she's doing exactly what he's doing, denying another election, and he seems to like that. In fact, she flew off to marl Lagos, I understand today to be with him and revel in their anti democracy points of view. Well, you know, let's hear it for the

pro democracy folks in Arizona. This has been a hell of a time for members of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, along with a lot of different elections workers and volunteers. We spoke with Bill Gates here, who made it clear to us that he's the chair of the board.

His family has been under threat. This is wild stuff and they so they had their first meeting since the election yesterday, this yeah, Wednesday, before the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors came about two dozen people who spoke at this meeting. Most of them just railing, screaming and railing against the way the election was handled. Um, some of them got pretty wild. I don't know if you guys

have seen this guy with the dreads. The board has to sit there, listen quietly, just listen to all of this. None louder or stranger than a man named Matt Baker who screamed from the podium with a head full of dreadlocks. He's wearing a green T shirt with a picture of the Statue of Liberty. And I want you to hold onto something if you're not sitting down. This is what

it sounds. And then you look into your own soul and you look back at yourself in the mirror, and I realized that you are the cats are that is tearing this nation. Wow, good dame, thank you our next speaker. Now I love the calm reply, Thank you, and and Mr Baker's formality. Good day. He clearly watched Will They Want when he was a kid. You stole fizzy lifting drinks, you bumped into the ceiling, which now has to be washed and sterilized, so you get nothing you lose. Good day, sir,

Good day, sir, Just another day. In the chocolate. We're talking about politics in Arizona, there possible for you, Rick, So how does it end? Uh? Multiple court trials? What happens to all these people who were railing before the Board of Supervisors? They're not going away. I was hoping you'd go to Genie after that. Uh yeah, Look, I mean it's a lot more stable than you've just represented. I mean, you know, these guys are all showing up in a public hearing and making their voices. O. That's

democracy and its purest form. Well, it sure is. But look, as I said, I mean, the election is going to be certified next week, and this is over and and once you have a certified election, the transition and begins and people start to move towards the next administration and nobody, nobody's gonna look back there. There's not gonna be a tear drawn for those people who are whining and crying

about losing a perfectly good election. So, um, look, sore losers are well known throughout history, and it's just unfortunate that in Arizona we're still talking about a sore loser today. She did call out Katie Hobbs. What was it the smokey and the headhouse or something like that, because she's secretary of Stage Junie. How does Katie Hobbs get over this as a brand new governor. Katie Hobbs just focuses on getting into office and her next role as governor

of Arizona. And I could listen to the umpa loompa's all day long. And Matt Baker, bless his heart, there's another statement he says in there. He says, heavens no, for that would make me a terrorist, wouldn't it. I mean, the whole thing is is wonderful and it is a democracy at work. And you know, I'll give him the he showed up and you know, one of what only a couple dozen, and and good for him. More people

should show up at these hearings. And good for the board for holding their cool and being so professional about it. They have to have, you know, a number of these hearings. This isn't gonna end. Does this actually get to be a security risk, Rick, or is it in fact glorious democracy? Well, we we do worry about the security. As you pointed out, um uh, there have been threats against poll workers and election officials. Um we've seen assassination attempts in Arizona against

members of Congress. Uh. Look, it's something we have to continue to have a dialogue. We talked a lot about that going into this election, about the violent political violence that seems to be grabbing our nation, and we need to continue to have that conversation because it has to be unacceptable. How do you continue that conversation with election deniers? Genie. I realized that that this was a rebuke for election

deniers on election night a week and change ago. But there are still millions of people who are following Donald Trump and are following Carry Lake. Yeah, yeah, that's right. And I think you know the way that you do

that as you keep speaking about the truth. You allow them to make these legal challenges, and you allow them to lose at every turn, and hopefully they get tired of losing and they look to go to the ballot box and win, because quite frankly, there's been very little evidence legally that these elections have been unsafe or that they have been you know, somehow um corrupted or corruptible, and so you just got to keep doing it that way.

And it's a hard argument to make two people, but the process itself is you know it should be fairly clear. And you look at the Maricopa Board of Supervisors and they're doing a very good job and they're bipartisan. We need to get Bill Gates back on the program and check in with him. Rick Davis and Jeannie Chanzano thank you, as always the best panel in the business, our signature panel in fact, here on the fastest hour in politics.

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