Now from our nation's capital. This is Bloomberg Sound On. We have seen the most serious escalation of the war since the invasion in February. Stop. He needs to be stopped, and this is our goal, and this is our aim, and this is our attack. We can just flat leave and still probably hold his position together in Russia. Floomberg sound On, Politics, Policy and perspective from DC's top name. It's especially good to be here with the next United
States Center from Georgia. I'm not running because i want to be a Senate. I'm running because I'm sick. Bloomberg Sound On with Joe Matthew on Bloomberg Radio. The Allies plan a new air defense system for Ukraine as Vladimir Putin threatens more missile attacks. Welcome to the fastest hour in politics with breaking news on a new effort by the US and NATO to close the skies. We'll talk about it with Mike Rogers, former Republican Congressman from Michigan
and chair the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Herschel Walker tries to manage to damage sitting for an emotional one on one interview just a day after the Republican leadership tried to boost his campaign in Georgia. We'll talk about the race with political scientists Under Gillespie of Emory University Analysis from our panel today. Bloomberg Politics contributor Republican strategist Rick Davis is here along with Democratic canalyst Roger Fisk
of New Day Strategy. Just a day after President Zelenski addressed a virtual meeting in the G seven, and after the deadly missile strikes on civilians across Ukraine over the weekend, the U S and its allies in Europe are up with a new plan to help. It's an integrated air defense system to protect against Russian cruise missiles weapons from airplanes. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke in Brussels earlier today. The meeting in the Ukraine Contact Group as it's called.
It's a group of fifty countries that meets to assess Ukraine's defense to gather again today to support Ukraine's an alienable rights to defend himself. Can Our resolve and steadiness of purpose has only been strengthened. But this will come with some challenges, and we're joined to talk about it by Mike Rogers, former Republican Congressman from Michigan chair the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and is steeped in this material. Mr Chairman, welcome back to Bloomberg. It is great to
be here. Thanks for having It's looking like Ukraine is about to get something that it's been asking for. I don't know if I should call it an iron dome. I think it's not such a thing technically, but a massive air defense system that would protect against air attack. Will it make a difference, Oh, it'll make a huge difference.
Not only can it target incoming missiles, but some of the missiles that have been launched into Ukraine by Russia are plane based, and so any time that you can make those weapons have to stand off at a further distance to fire, it absolutely has an impact in our ability to a shoot them down there and stop the onslaught. Why don't we do this eight months ago? We should have absolutely done a date months ago once. Should you were in you know, it's in for a penny, in
for a pound. Some notion that we can very publicly debate about which weapons systems go in or don't go in, or that one might be more leethful to Russians than that weapon. That's just an absolute losing, Uh, just a losing approach to this, and so think about it. You'll actually save lives, You'll by trying to draw this thing down to a close earlier. So a well weaponized Ukrainian army shouldn't be able to just not lose. They need to be able to put some hurt on the Russians.
Now they've done that based on their their absolute tenacity to this point, but imagine if they had other weapons systems that would help round out their ability not only to defend their cities and their civilians, but again put the hurt on these Russians that are now just pouring over the border. From what we understand from General Millie, this will involve of weapons systems, weapons defense systems to be clear, from the US, from Germany, maybe even other countries.
Based on your experience, do you have a sense of how long it would take to make all these different technologies work together or is this something that we can start now. Well, most NATO technology by design and implementation works together already, so that's not going to be the issue. Uh. If the issue is getting the equipment forward, meaning up to Ukraine, getting the Ukrainians trained on it so that
they can be effective. And one thing I will tell you they have very quickly adapted to new technology on the battlefield, I mean very impressive. So not that won't part won't take long, but there is going to be some lag here. Uh. And if the Russians know it's coming, the only word you have is do they pour it on missile wise up until that point? And that's that's to be determined. Yeah, they obviously know it's coming as well.
Of course, you know, wouldn't take long to train Ukrainians on fly and make twenty nine jets because they already know how to fly them. Are we're gonna be talking about this eight months from now, Congressman, as the jets finally go over there. That could have made a difference at the beginning. Oh, they definitely could have made a difference. Some I saw these arguments, crazy arguments that both jets wouldn't make a difference early on in the conflict and
have no good under national security. Person who understands military doctrine knows that that was true. That was just nonsense. Steven said, it wouldn't make a difference. So how do you square that? Uh, that's I don't understand it. I think there's more politics in that than there is substance, and I think that's unfortunate. We know the way that they're delivering these other missile systems that they absolutely would have made a difference. Uh and uh, you mean getting them.
I don't know if it's inevitable one of the things. And I think why you're seeing this pullback in this notion, while that might not be effective, that might be effective. Listen, we want to give them what they're asking for they were asking for mix months ago. Is because the Pentagon keeps saying in the White House, keeps saying, well, what if they go into show listen that we're right now, we're just kind of dribbling and drabbling in and they're
taking it and making huge games. And the original purpose was so you just don't lose. I'd give them everything right now. The concern was sending fighter jets could be seen as something more of a direct conflict between the US or NATO and Russia. Do you feel that way about a no fly zone? Is this air defense system a better way to keep Americans out of danger? I think it is, Listen, we don't want it to escalate beyond the borders. Of Ukraine, certainly from a NATO perspective,
which is also the United States of that. Nobody wants that. But what you don't want to do is give this false notion to the Russians that they can just keep doing this for camp time infinitum, because that they have the ability not to have the Ukrainians really punchment in the mouth. Now they've been punched in the mouth. They've
performed poorly. Their missile systems are excuse me, some of their technology and their weapons systems are not functioning the way we actually believe they would, and so all of that is a drag on them. But what you don't want to do is say, listen, I'll just call up through inter thousand people, I'll flood the zone, and I'll be doing this for a long time. And that means killing lots of civilians, lots of Ukrainians along the way.
We need to force this to get to a point what Putin needs to sit down and say, Okay, let's work this out right now. Neither side as well to do that. President Biden says, Vladimir Putin is a rational actor, as we heard in the interview last night. Do you agree with him? Listen. I think obviously he's got some issues, but I do think in this military sense, he's a rational actor. He was told something different from by his
military commanders about the readiness of his forces. He committed him, and if you see the decision since then, even though their conscripts are not doing well, there's more strategy in what he's doing, including, by the way, you know that leak that came out that said he has a nuclear torpedo, which would mean something that would attack ports, which would impact you know, the whole world's economy if you set one off. The fact that he said, you know, I'm
not opposed to using tactical nuclear weapon. And by the way, he's been saying that for twenty years. He believes tactical nuclear weapons are a part of his battlefield arsenal, So that's something to factor in, and so in that way, I do think he's rational, And I think what what the White House was trying to walk back is this notion of armageddon you use a tactical nuke. What the President was inferring is a strategic missile exchange, which would
be absolutely catastrophic to the world. I don't think anybody believes that's the right answer. And I mean anybody's a new effort on Capitol Hill to stop selling or at least pause selling arms to Saudi Arabia following the oil production cut. Listen to Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut talking about this today. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it, asdis need to come to their senses. They have committed a humongous blunder very much. It's their own economic and
security interests as well as ours. Should the US freeze out Saudi Arabia. Mr Chairman, as long as they're helping Russia, even if indirectly. Listen, I think they need to turn back around. But remember how we got here, and this is you know, diplomacy has consequences, and we sometimes forget that. The very fact that this administration stop supporting the Saudias in their proxy fight against Iran and what the Houthi
rebel rebels was significant to them. The fact that they are negotiating with Iran on a nuclear deal that all of our arably partners say, what are you doing? Please don't do it? Uh, And then the very fact of this continued arm length lecturing, finger pointing. Listen, there's a time to be really tough diplomatically and I and I'm all in on that, and then there's a time to be smart diplomatically. We need the Saudiast, and I argue we need the Saudia is more than we need the Iranians.
And it would be a smart thing to do to walk all of that back and say, listen, we're going to give you some strategic help. You know, the geographic region of the Saudi of the Saudiast is really important to the United States, better an ally there than an enemy. And they've marched down this path to ostracize the Saudiast to the point where I think they have nowhere else to go. We need to change that thinking also means
we ought to ramp up our own domestic production. If we were energy independent, would you feel the same way. I mean, listen, we would get we would have more leverage. But again, remember the strategic area and what flows through there. It is a significant economic zone through the canals and all of that over uh in that region, and having either Iran in Sun of the Arabia fighting is bad
for the world economy and our economy. The very fact that they would, you know, continue these proxy fights in and around the region is bad for our national security and their national security. So we just need to align our national security interests. Again, doesn't mean he can't be tough.
It doesn't mean you can't put your finger in the chest sometimes, but right now we need to align it to what the bigger strategic threats are to the United States, and the way they're doing this, you're gonna shove this out east right into the loving arms of the Russians who have no morals. Former Congressman Mike Rogers, former chair of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, appreciate your insights today on Bloomberg. Thanks again, come back and talk to
us soon. Yeah, we'll do. Thanks for having me fascinating conversation that you're not going to hear anywhere else, and that's what we do here on Bloomberg. I'm Joe, Matthew and Washington. Thanks for joining us on the fastest hour in politics. It's sound on and a lot more to follow here. As Joe Biden weighs in on the idea as I mentioned, of Vladimir Putin being the rational actor but also one with irrational thoughts. We're gonna get into that with the panel next and see if this plan
for air defense is one that's gonna work. Rick Davis will be with us Bloomberg Politics contributor and Republican strategist, and Roger Fisk is back the Democratic analysts, strategist and principle at New Day Strategy. We'll get their insights straight ahead after we check traffic and markets for you. Glad you came along on a Wednesday. I'm Joe Matthew. This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Sound On with Joe Matthew
on Bloomberg Radio. President Biden weighs in on the war in Ukraine, his thoughts on Vladimir Putin, and of course a lot of other issues and what was one of the only sit down interviews that we have seen in his presidency, sat down with Jake Tapper at CNN. We're gonna go through some of this. That's where the rational actor line came from. As we look to the future
here in this conflicts we welcome our panel. Rick Davis is with US Republican strategist and of course Bloomberg Politics contributor, now joined today by Roger Fisk, Democratic strategist principle at New Day Strategy. Great to have both if you hear and Roger, welcome back. It has been far too long. Why don't we go back through this moment here as we just discussed with Mike Rogers. As Jake Tapper asks Joe Biden the question of the night, do you think Putin is a rational actor? I think he is a
rational actor who's miscalculated significantly. He did stop to think about that. Roger didn't seem like a rehearsed answer. Was it the wrong answer? First off, Joe, thanks so much for having me, and I very much enjoy being on with Rick. I would of of the entire conversation. I think we could safely put that one into the into the bucket of of gaffe. I doubt that he intended
to go out there and say that. I kind of I get what he's trying to say, which is to say that, um that even even an unstable um international vision of one's country can be um pursued by a by a quote unquote rational actor. I think in in In. In Putin's own mind, he regards himself as rational. UM. But what we're seeing is is the kind of curdling of those of that entire conflict and the most dangerous thing to someone with the self regard, shall we say,
of Putin is international embarrassment. When I think that, I think what we've seen just in the last forty eight hours in terms of the barbarity is going to be dialed up intensely. So even if he continues to be um pushed back into Russia, um that he will dial up the cruelty. Um. So, unfortunately, I have a feeling that we have much more still ahead of us than behind us. Rick was that President Biden's way of saying that we should take him seriously just didn't come out
the way that maybe he wanted it to. Well, I think the conclusion by most of the national security team within the Biden administration, including Defense Department, is that that
that Putin is acting as a rational actor. Some of the things he does seem irrational, but that that that know, he's acting as a you know, sort of commander in chief who's moving his chess pieces around and he's just not having much success with the chess and and and the reality is we have to act that way because if he is irrational and he has nuclear weapons, it
poses a completely different dilemma. Uh. And so I think that that the President was playing out his hand saying he's rational, we expect him to act rationally and and therefore the use of nuclear weapons, regardless of whether they're a you know, water based, seed based weapon or a tactical nuke. Uh, it's it's unacceptable, uh to the western world, not just to the United States. I mean, you know, in this case, the president speaks for the civilized world.
The companion question here, uh was about meeting with Vladimir Putin. Okay, so if you think he's a rational character, would you not sit down and meet with him? The answer was interesting as well. Look, I have no intention I mean with him. But for example, if you came to me the G twenty and said I want to talk about the release of Grinder, I live with him. I mean, it would depend. He might have wanted to use her first name, Roger, But that's actually a little bit warmer,
right he he actually might have thought about that question. Yeah, And I think the president is is absolutely correct because what what what Putin would want from that is just the image the validation um and a lot of what goes into diplomacy before something like that is most of your leverage is before that moment, right, So, for example, working with North Korea about something verification mechanisms and all these other things that could lead into a head of
state meeting with another head of state. And so I think he's absolutely spot on about that, and and more tactically, having staffed a president out of G eight and things like that or at a G twenty in this context. Nine, Um, if it were as if it were as a a microscopic situation that was to be discussed a specif of an individual, a specific prescription drug, a specific vaccine, then you could put it in that in that kind of bucket, and and and somewhat decouple it from this larger dynamic.
But if it is just let's shake hands in front of our country's flags kind of stuff, not gonna happen. Rick, do you think he should make the point if it, if it resulted in a prisoner swap or prisoner release, make the point to meet with putin that would be that would be quite a story, The images would be historic. Well, I think you've got to be careful. I mean, you know, I learned from John McCain who used to say, I'll meet with anybody as long as they have my conditions
for the meeting, and and and it made total set right. Okay, a condition space meeting? Is there a ceasefire in Ukraine? Is there a exchange of prisoners there? I mean, like, there are a lot of things that you could condition a meeting with Vladimir Putin on that that would actually be potentially attractive to Vladimir Putin to do, and then create a better environment for that meeting. Um doesn't do any good for the president to meet with this guy while he's acting like a global thug, and so UH
it elevates Putin, It does not solve the problem. And I think this was the mistake when UH Donald Trump met with Kim Jong Il, and UH gave him a platform that he could never have gotten from a president United States and or anybody else who was a world leader. So I think if you can create the right conditions for a meeting, then I think a meeting has always
got to be on the table. But my guess is UH Putin probably wouldn't accept whatever conditions would be reasonable enough to be publicly accepted to have a meeting like that. The White House still can't figure out why they haven't heard back on this offer for a prisoner swap. We'll keep talking with Rick Davis and Roger Fisk are panel for today on Bloomberg. Sound on, as we turn to the race in Georgia. Ahead, herschel Walker has decided to sit down for an interview and begin cleaning up the mess.
Is that possible or did he just make it worse. We're gonna talk with political scientists Under Gillespie and our panel about it. Ahead, this is Bloomberg. The event was supposed to be a reset. You get Rick Scott, Tom Cotton, both Republicans from the Senate. Rick Scott, of course part of the leadership here to stump with herschel Walker actually go to Georgia and get down to business. Is great to be back in the state of Georgia. It's it's especially good to be here with the next United States
Center from Georgia. There's no scandal, Tom Cotton, they're getting the crowd rolling. Rick Scott spend time talking with them, and then of course herschel Walker himself. Now, if you've been living under a rock, you might not know about this. I don't think I have to give you the background
on this whole story. As the Senate Canada who opposes abortion rights, has been hit with allegations that he paid for a girlfriend to have the procedure, urged you to have a second one, And now she's telling the Washington Post she had to argue for him and begged him to pay for it. Interesting backdrop to tell a story like this one that herschel Walker has been telling on the campaign trail. We actually talked about it here once,
the whole bull cow story. So I've been telling this a little story about this bull light in the field with six cows and three of them are pregnant, so you know he got something going on. But all he cared about it's kept his nose against the fence, looking at three other cows that then blowing to him. Just that would have would have been enough, I suspect, But I mean, we have to finish the story again, herschel Walker. So one day he measured that fence up and he said,
I think I can jump this. So that day came where he got back, and he got back and as he took off running, he dove over that fence and his bed that got cut up on it at bottom. But as he made it over on the other side, he shook it off and got so excited about it, and he ran to the top of that hill. But when he got up there he realized they were bulls too. So what I'm telling you don't think something is better somewhere else. I mean, if you could make up something better,
I'd play it. Sat down today with ABC News in exclusive one on one to reinforce the denial, denial to any knowledge of an abortion out there now lie la la la. And you know what's sad about it that he had well is it a receipt and had a check and had all that he hadn't shown anything and shown me having a saying something about an abortion. And that's that's what's terrible. Let's bringing under Gillespie, Emory University political science professor Ander What a time for us to
speak here. He's got a debate on Friday night. The average of polls are real clear. Last I saw, I had him down by five against Raphael Warnock. How would you describe the state of the Walker campaign? I would point out that based on the margin of error UM and the confidence intervals of of these polls, that's still statistically a tie in most of these instances, and so this race is going to be very close. Um, it's
too close to call. There are two other candidates in the race, and according to Georgia law, candidate has to get plus one of the vote in order to avoid a run off. So one we very likely could be looking at a runoff election. UM, and to regardless of who wins, we're looking at very narrow margins between Walker and Warnock because of the competitive nature of Georgia politics.
Who cares about this story? Because I keep hearing from Republicans that people in Georgia don't care that they're worried about inflation, they're worried about crime, that it's people like me and the media who are playing this stuff. How is this actually resonating in your state. I think most voters have already made their minds up about the race, and the polling data shows that there are very few
undecided voters. But it's those undecided voters that could make the difference between one of these candidates winning or losing the race, and that's why these stories are most important. I think the vast majority of voters are either really strong Democrats are strong Republicans. They've made up their mind about who they're going to vote for. There's a small sliver of undecided voters, of independent voters who may be
still trying to gather more information. And this isn't the type of information that the Walker campaign would want these voters to have, because they may make a decision to say that this, compounded with the other baggage that Welcome brings to the table, maybe enough to disqualify him from holding the seat. So what we're waiting for in the
general election is to see when how independence break. But we're also going to look to see whether or not there's actually going to be a drop off, if you will, So there may be people who skip the Senate race, choose to vote Republican down ticket and all the other races, including the gubernatorial race. Um and if that happens, that actually bolds well or that would actually probably build better for Robe one than it was. Andrew, thank you so much.
I appreciate your talking with us on Bloomberg Radio under Gillespie at Emery University. You want to bring the panel in on this quickly, Roger Fisk and Rick Davis Uh Roger, I'm guessing for starters you would tell the candidates to not be telling that story. But does sitting down for an interview in this day and age help well. To his credit, the Old Testament does make numerous parallels between shadow and women, so maybe that's what he's thinking about.
But now, I mean, this isn't This is an absolute train wreck, and unfortunately for Mr Walker it joins eight or ten other data points. Right. It's it's not just an anomaly. Um. It seems as if we're living in essentially a consequence free environment. UM, for especially folks on the Republican side. I don't know what depths of conduct um could could we could be lowered too and still
have people support them. What's really interesting for me to add to the list of your very able guest of just a moment ago is that Brian Camp has gone radio silent on the Walker candidacy. So if all of a sudden you have something as tight as your guests just described, which I completely agree with, and then you have a relatively popular Republican incumbent governor governor who is um not seemingly willing to carry any water for his own party's Senate nominee, that in and of itself could
make the difference. In addition to educated independent women who are who split from the former president and um resulted in not only him losing Georgia, but losing the two Senate seats. Rick, we'll have some more time to hear your thoughts on this in a couple of minutes. But but before we we turn to traffic and markets, would you be spending time with herschel Walker preparing for this debate? I mean, is that going to be a change maker
here in this campaign? Well, certainly a lot of people are going to be curious, right, I mean, what he's done is into a curiosity. But now he and only he can extinguish they're gonna have a ratings record on this thing. Hold that thought, Rick, I'm Joe Matthew. This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg. So long with Joe Matthew on Bloomberg Radio, as we spend time with our panel.
Rick Davis is with us today along with Roger Fisk and an eye on this race in Georgia just a couple of days before their big debate, Hershall Walker and Raphael Warnock Walker as we were just discussing, and we'll hear again from the panel on this staff for an interview today with ABC News, and it wasn't just the denials that were important, it was also the level of emotion. Now, remember here, this is this is a football players. He's a tough guy, probably doesn't cry a lot on TV,
but they got there today. I'm not running because i want to be a senator. I'm running because I'm sick and tired. People have died, people can't. He called her to people and Washington doing to people, and then they lie, let's bringing Rick Davis and Roger Fiske. Rick. I'm not sure this works or not, but somebody I'm assuming told him it was okay to go there, that that that he might want to do, uh, something more personal, more
emotional on camera. What do you think? Well, I'm pretty confident that the people around him, uh really needed to reset this campaign some reason. There are other senators coming in from Washington, d ced try to change the narrative. He desperately needs to get a narrative change, and so I'm sure they walked him out thinking, you know, Brook, this year one best jot to set the record straight and try to reconnect with the people of Georgia. Um, Look,
these are hard, long campaigns. They create a lot of emotion. It doesn't surprise me that he became emotional because I think he sees his life kind of being torn apart, and whether it's accurate or not, his his life's in the grinder. He's in the crucible, and it's his moment and he's got to set it right. So the pressure
is enormous in those kinds of situations. Rick Scott again was there in Georgia to stump with herschel Walker and he was asked after that little scrum after he and Tom Cotton about Raphael Warnock and about this whole scandal, and was with his bothered and he turned right to the opo on Warnock, listen to what he said ahead of a church, and they kicked people out of the church for being just a few dollars behind the writ. Here's a guy that abused his wife. He didn't he
didn't stand up for anything. He's he's voted for abortion up until the moment of birth, Rafael Warnock has. These are pretty heavy accusations, Roger. I don't know if any of them are true or not. I don't know if this will will be U will be aired out in the campaign, but you expect a lot more where that came from sure about a reverend. I mean, you can just feel the kind of projectile vomiting of like, let's
just send everything possible out of there. Uh um. And you know, Rick Scott Have, the person who I believe it is paid one of the largest medicaid fraud finds in history, is not necessarily not really someone to be the traffic cop of morality and a lot of these things. And you could tell in his voice is so hurried and he's just trying to kind of machine gun this stuff out. Um. And that's certainly no way to get it to actually um to to stick at all. And
they're they're panicking. Um. It's far back as when I first started to even just read news, let alone politics. I always thought there was a fundamental kind of shall we say insincerity to be polite about the moral majority voting kind of movement. I always thought there was just a core kind of fraudulence to it. And and lo and behold, especially in the last five or six years,
we we see that it's it's all circumstantial, it's all transactional. Um. There's an absolute vacuum of principle there, and it's all about um getting the majority in the U. S. Senate so that they can you know, move forward an agenda that marginalizes women and increases tax cuts for the for the wealthy. And you can see the panic as they see that slipping away because they debate on Friday. I know. And and what's the reverence job on Friday? The reverence job.
It's odd. It's a very very odd situation in the last few years when it's become the Democrats to fault posture, to be the adult in the room that that used to be the province of our our friends across. But you just let him do this to himself? Or does the does does Warnock have to go on the warnoc has to go in there and be a stable, sober steward of civic and public life and dependable somewhere between the forty yard lines of the American kind of ideological spectrum.
And uh and and and then just you know, when the other guys digging, you know, just don't take away his shovel, Okay? Is that the move here, Rick? Or does Warnock need to go on the attack? Uh? You know, I think Rogers got something to this notion that you've got a guy like Rick Scott coming down there to campaign for herschel Walker. I wouldn't. I wouldn't attack Rick Scott, but like I would definitely if I were Raphael Warrant, use the opportunity to say, hey, look these guys get
in power. Their agenda is take away your social security, take away your welfare checks, take away your medicaid, make you pay higher prices for drugs. And I mean, like, this is his agenda, and I would I would stick that right on herschel Walker and say you just campaigned with him, You tell me you disagree with everything that
he's for. And I think he has to go on the attack because the reality is it is a dead heat and there's nothing guaranteed in this election, and we've seen Georgia, you know, uh, be pretty rocky when it comes to outcome. So I think sitting on at one point lead is a disaster. Fisk and Davis with us here for a couple of more moments our panel today.
I've got to talk about what's going on in Los Angeles, because while this fire is burning for publicans in Georgia, there's a real mess for some Democrats in l A. This is sound from inside the l A City council chamber, where three city councilors, including Council President Nouri Martinez, were caught on tape making crude and racist remarks about, among other things, the black son of another council member named Mike Boner speak they chance as one of the three
council members, not the council president, walked out onto the panel. Here. President Biden has called for all three to resign. Now, if you're not familiar with the story, the l A Times was out with this leaked tape of Nouri Martinez again as the council president, who is now taking a leave of absence, talking with these two other counselors, the black and brown on the floor, and then there's the white guy with the little black hid with risky hate.
It's I mean you have no Yeah, there are doing the kids bouncing off the wall on the floating it over. There's nothing able to go to control him. Yeah, that was translation little monkey she said at the end. There again, that white guy is Counselor Mike Bonnen, who is a gay, white man who adopted this black child, and he made
a remarkable and emotional address to the council. There are a lot of people who are now asking for forgiveness, and and asking for forgiveness is a good first step, but well it's the second step because first first you must resign and then asked her for getting This speech lasted over ten minutes, it was emotional. You can hear how involved the people were there. Uh to think that this has gone all the way to the White House. Roger President Biden, according to Karine, Jean Pierre, thinks all
should resign. You agree, I do think they should resign. Um. I would hesitate about getting the White House involved only because they're probably asked to intervene in fifteen or twenty of these things a month in some form or another. And you can think back early in the Obama administration about Professor Gates at Harvard and the police officer and Cambridge Mass and then they ended up doing this kind
of clumsy beer or somethingthings. You get into these kind of um microscopic, kind of singular situations, and they they're gonna have to turn around. The White House is going to have to decline to get involved in twenty or thirty or fifty or a hundred other situations like that. So tactically I would have recommended that they not get involved and let this play out based on the rules and the code of conduct of the Los Angeles City Council.
But for my money, UM, based on who these folks are and the tinder box that Los Angeles is and the responsibility that they have, they should really take a hard look at themselves and step down. It's a pretty major scandal for the city, Rick, but it's actually made international news. Should the White House even be weighing in on this, Yeah, I wouldn't. I wouldn't suggest the White House get involved in something like this. I mean, you could be cute and say, well, Gavin Newsom wants to
be president, let him handle it, But that's just just me. Um. It's just one of these very nasty, sad uh situations where you know, unfortunately in politics, especially local politics, sometimes really bad people say really bad things, and the community there is going to fix the problem, you can be sure of that, uh and uh and and they'll get their ounce of flesh out of these people. But to to to make this more than it really is. I know, this is the social media world we live in now,
and you know, everything is everything local is international. But in this case, I think these are best handled by the community that's affected directly by them attempt to do this. I've got one more for both of you, and it brings us to Pennsylvania, where a very importan and senate races underway. And John Feederman, the Democratic Lieutenant governor, of course, had a stroke and we've talked on this program about the back and forth about his health with Dr Oz
But he sat for an interview. Uh this was with NBC News, and he had to use a closed caption to to fully understand the questions he was being asked. In his words, here that auditory processing where I'll hear someone speaking, but sometimes will be it will be precise and what exactly that they're saying. I use captioning. He did have to slow down a couple of times correct himself. He's clearly not fully recovered here. We only have about
a minute left. Rogers, Is this a liability or something that, in the words of Senator Bob Casey, he could use to his benefit in what is now a world that's much more sympathetic to people with disability. Ultimately, people ask himself, is this person who they say they are? And they can they can look at his time as mayor of Braddock.
They can look at his time as a lieutenant governor and know that this is not a condition that he's had all this time, right, And so I think they can factor that into him encountering a particular stumble in his health. And you the reflective surface of that is the his his opponent, you know who. It's not coming off as genuine or authentic. So in a sense, I think it can cut relatively well for him. Do you agree with that, Rick, You've been down this road before
with the candidate's health. Was at the right time for that conversation? Yeah, you know, I've read the reporting on it, and then I was really disturbed by it. Right, Wow, can the guy actually campaign? Can he do a debate? Can he can he do the functions of the office. And then I watched the interview, I thought, are he's doing fine? Rick Davis, Roger Fisk, what a great talk, great panel. I'm Joe Matthew. This is Bloomberg