Sound On: WH Covid Messaging Shifts After Biden Diagnosis

a weak attempt at trying to feed the beat. Bloomberg Sound On with Joe Matthew on Bloomberg Radio. The President of the United States has COVID. Welcome to the fastest hour in politics, as Washington reels on news of the positive tests who the close contacts might be while following Joe Biden's travel to the Middle East and Massachusetts in

the recent days. We've been gathering sound and information all day, ing you the very latest on this story, and we'll discuss ahead with Chris Meekins, healthcare policy analyst Managing director

at Raymond James. The January six Committee goes primetime again, but is tonight the finale will examine the legal case being built against Donald Trump and his lieutenants and what we might expect this evening with Michael Zelden, former federal prosecutor, former special counsel to Robert Muller at the Department of Justice. Analysis from the panel Today. Bloomberg Politics contributor and Democratic analyst Jennie Schanzana was with us, along with Republican strategist

Doug High. It's the second time we've seen a president get COVID. And while almost everything about this pandemic COVID nineteen has changed since we watched Donald Trump go through this, one thing remains the same. And that's the video to reassure the world. In this case, President Biden, standing on the balcony overlooking the south lawn of the White House, suns out hot day today, is wearing a shirt and

a blazer, and here's what he said. Hey, folks, guess you heard this morning night tested positor of it, but I've been double vaccinated double boost. Symptoms are mild and uh and I really appreciate your increating the concerns, but I'm doing well and get a lot of work done, going to continue to get it done and uh and in the meantime, thanks for your concern and keep the faith.

It's going to be okay. Do you have it? Of course, remembering Donald Trump kicked out his own video message couple of him around at that time that he was going through this as well. Well, I'll tell you one thing. Will you get COVID, A lot of work gets done, it test positive. We're working here. The White House kicked out a tweet with a picture of the President heart at work, smiling behind the desk in the White House

residence where he is now isolated. So a lot of questions over this beyond the work, and that's why they sent Dr she shot of the podium the White House briefing room. Today. He's the White House COVID Response Coordinator and suddenly a very important member of the administration. One of the first questions asked was do we know which variant Joe Biden has. Here's the doctor. Thevirus has been sent off for sequencing. It takes usually about a week

for that sequencing to come back. That's under normal circumstances. He's the president, the sequencing will get prioritized, so we should have an answer sooner than that. But you can't just tell from a regular test what kind of variant. So the sequencing results will be back at some point less than a week from now, Okay, less than a week, we'll know what he's got. Be a five for Maicron. I don't know. Of course. The other thing we all asked was you probably said the same thing because you

follow this stuff. Where did he get it? He's been to Israel, Saudi Arabia and beautiful Summerset, mass all in the last week, even touched down in Warwick, Rhode Island. We're typically good things happen on his way to the event yesterday. So where do we know where the doctor jaques? Where was he infected? I don't think we know. Um, I certainly don't know. If you if you have any thoughts, Look, I don't think that that matters, right, I think what

matters is we prepared for this moment. Okay, hold on, Karine. John Pierre jumps in the White House as press secretary. We don't think that matters. It matters a lot as the White House gathers potentially hundreds of close contacts, and it's probably smart to find out where the leader of the free world got COVID now, So that was one comment, and she did have to get back to that a

little bit later. People say, really this doesn't matter. But fascinating messaging today from this White House a year and a couple of weeks after President Biden said that the US was close to declaring independence from COVID. Listen to the messaging from the Press secretary at the White House today because basically, you're all gonna get it is now

what the administration is saying. Here's Karine Jean Pierre. We knew this was going to happen, as doctor Jah said, uh, you know when he was when he joined me at the briefing in the briefing room not too long ago, he said, this is this is uh, you know, everyone was at some point everyone's going to get COVID. What is important is to make sure that you have you get the treatment that is that we have provided for folks. Okay, we knew this was going to happen. Everyone at some

point is going to get COVID. Remarkable messaging and an evolution from the administration that was elected in part to beat COVID. Now realizing of course that the president is probably gonna you know, being the residents and he's got mild symptoms, fully vaccinated, double boosted. But of course, at one point people thought that would keep them from getting COVID, and now it's a manner of managing symptoms. We knew this was going to happen. We never were told that

the president was definitely going to get COVID. They were going out of their way to keep him from it. Everyone at some point is going to get COVID. We'll bring Chris in on this now. Chris Meekins is healthcare policy analyst managing director at Raymond James. He does. He's with us now, correct, Chris, Thanks for being here because we all have a lot of questions. I just wonder how concerned you are with the messaging today from the West wing. Yeah, it's definitely a reversal in messaging, No

question about dangerous. I think I don't think it's dangerous, but I think it's going to When you hear the West wing say, oh, everyone's going to get COVID, it kind of contradicts the whole desire of everyone has to get boosted. Everyone has to get boosted. Well, that's right, and I say that, you know, is it dangerous because it's gonna as people are gonna say, well, forget it. Then forget the mask, forget the vaccine. We're all getting it.

Like Donald Trump said, ride it like a cowboy, Chris Well, I'm not going to encourage people to write it like a cowboy. What I don't say is that, um, I think that the part of the message that got muddled today was the fact that someone who is approaching eight as the president is, would normally be in a much higher risk hadding up, been boosted twice and now taking

the treatment that the government successfully made investments in. So I think, you know, at the end of the day, we don't want people to be hospitalized, We don't want people to die. But there does seem to be stepping on the message with regard to how likely people were to get it and what it means for those that do have it. And we are seeing hospitalizations increase, certainly cases in a lot of cities as b A five

becomes a reality. Here, what do we have hospitalizations passing forty that's a little bit of a trip back in time here, cases over a hundred and twenty thousand per day. Does this present an opportunity for the White House to get serious about COVID again. Chris, I'm asking you that after ten billion dollars in funding that was supposed to be passed a couple of months ago to replenish therapies

and vaccines never saw the light of day. Yeah, I mean House Democrat rank and file members walked away from fifteen billion earlier this year of additional funding, and them Republicans decided to hold up ten billion because there was a fight over Title forty two immigration policy. I think it does put additional pressure on the White House to encourage Senator Mansion if they're able to get a reconciliation built on, to throw some money for COVID into it.

Here's the thing about COVID funding. The US government doesn't pay for flu vaccines. The US government doesn't pay for polio vaccines. Right now, we have polio first case again, that's the New York first time in more than a decade we have that. So there's a system in place with the US health system to pay for vaccines, pay for treatments. We just need to transition over to that and then they can focus their resources on areas where

they can make a big difference. What worries need is that they haven't been making investments the next generation vaccines and they've been a little late to the game with regard to targeting specific variants. There's no reason we shouldn't have had an omicron or be a one of to be a strains. You know, four or five variant vaccines

already available to us. Additionally, if you want to try to prevent transmission, you really need to move coorted nasal vaccine rather than Chris I if they if investments had continue to be made in the next generation technologies we look at. So what you're saying is we need funding, but not to be buying vaccines for people to be

going into research and development. What I'm saying is we need funding for research and development for next generations and then allow the system we have in the US, which already covers a wide range of vaccines. So how do you make that transition, Well, you just tell everyone this is what it's going to be. In insurers, Hey, you're going to cover this piece. Now, this is where we're going. And you tell the companies you're going to make sure the US DAWs enough supplies and if you don't't, well

we're the U S Government. That's not going to make us very happy. And see what the pharmaceutical industry does. I guarantee you Visor is not going to say, well, if you don't buy three billion dollars from US in a bulk purchase anymore, which made sense at the beginning, that we're not going to supply the US market. That probably would be a bad PR day for the suspect. You're right to provide what we need. Here. We're spending time with Chris Meekins from Raymond James on this day

we learned that Joe Biden got COVID. Here. Uh, the other part of that statement from the White House, we talked about everyone at some point is going to get COVID. Apparently that's the new mantra. We knew this was going to happen, Chris. Of course they did, right, but they never said that. They always said that they were going out of their way to test the president. They were a little bit cagy about his testing regiment. They were a little cagy about close contacts. Uh. And now it's well,

we always knew this was going to happen. Is that something you believe that's very different than the messaging we saw last July before the delta way. That's very different than we've seen messaging with regard to vaccines and the need for people to get boosters. I think for those of us that are fortunate at this point and not have gotten COVID to our knowledge, I think that the

idea that there's no hope is a bit problematic. And so I think what we're seeing is real movement and messaging that's trying to make it seem like, oh, this isn't a big deal that the leader of the free world has COVID, when reality is it matters, and that's okay that it matters. It's something a lot of America and have to deal with us. Hopefully it you know it. It helps to underscore the story that these vaccines keep you alive and out of the hospital, because we seem

to lose track of that at some point. Chris, I'm glad you could talk to us. Chris Meekins is healthcare policy analyst managing director at Raymond James. Helping us dissect what we learned today from the White House. It did sound like a little bit of that living well it was at living at the Podium, and that's why we want to turn this to the panel. Next, Jenny Schanzana was with US Democratic analysts Bloomberg Politics contributor along with

Doug High Today Republican strategist. There with us for the hour. We'll check traffic and markets for you on the way on the fastest hour in politics. I'm Joe Matthew and this is Bloomberg. You're listening to Bloomberg. You sound on with Joe Matthew on Bloomberg Radio. The program brought to you by the letters B and A and the number five. As I read on the terminal B A five has an increased ability to evade immunity from prior infections and immunizations.

So did this just make the argument more difficult for people to get a vaccine or did this just make it easier because you see a near eighty year old man, Well he's working. If you heard how busy he is. He's in the residents working, which is a lot better than being in the hospital. Then again, an increased ability to evade immunity from prior infections and immunizations means you're gonna get it anyway, or as Karine John Pierre said today,

everyone at some point is going to get COVID. We assemble the panel, deeply curious to hear what Genie has to think about A Genie Chanzano. Bloomberg Politics contributor and Democratic analyst Doug High is here as well today. Always a pleasure to have Doug with US Republican strategist and former deputy chief of staff to Eric Canter, former communications director at the r n C. A Genie, the whole

world change since I spoke with you last. Not only did the President get COVID, but we're told everyone, at some point one is going to get it. I've had one turn. I've been waiting for b A five. To be honest with you, I'm back and forth to New York fairly often. But what kind of a message is that to send to people, you know, who have who have folks who are vulnerable, who have older parents, grandparents, and children who have immuno deficiencies. Really, everyone is going

to get it now? Yeah, it wasn't quite the message. They stumbled again on this messaging. And it was a bit ironic because the one hand they're saying, we knew this was going to happen, Everybody's going to get it, including the president, and yet their messaging for some reason, wasn't prepared for this inevitability, and you know, that's sort

of the irony here. There is a way that they can handle this, and I think importantly they can handle it by saying very clearly that the vaccination keeps you out of the hospital often and then a later and it keeps your symptoms less severe. So everybody should get it. Congress should get put the funding together that we've been

asking for. The President is doing fine, he's working. I mean, there's a way to do this to be transparent, but you know, to simply go out and say everybody is going to get it, so your turn is next is certainly not the message for a White House to be sending. We played the message from President Biden that he tweeted today, remembering when when Donald Trump got COVID, he also did the same thing. Let's just go back in time for a second and listen to former president then president Donald Trump.

So I just want to tell you that I'm starting to feel good. Uh, you don't know over the next period of a few days, I guess that's the real test. So we'll be seeing what happens over those next next couple of days. Not all that different really, maybe a little bit more dour than we we saw. And her today from President Biden, who gave a smile, is said, Everything's gonna be all right. Uh, Doug Hi used to

run a communication shop. What would you have done differently today? Well, I'm the first thing that you do is preparations, as Genie said, you anticipate, you know, these eventualities and then the questions that are going to come from them, you know, And this starts not on January nineteenth of last year. It starts the day the day after the election. What

do we do when the president elect? Where the presidents and the vice president and on down the line, And so I'm very surprised to see them stumble, especially given that Trump isn't the only world leader that we've seen, you know, get this. Boris Johnson obviously got it and was also quite up. And Johnson, and like Trump, was

a massive booster public booster of the vaccine. And you know, this is coming at a time, Joe, when we're hearing about a lot of changes potentially in the White House communications personnel, communications director leading Live Allen, who's at the State Department's talk about getting that role Kendra Barcroft Landy, who worked for Biden the Vice President's office on Capitol Hill and the Senator as well. For Doug, we're having

a little trouble with your line. I apologize. I want to hear what you're saying, but I think it might be better to to reconnect or or fix whatever here in their genie. Uh remembering back to Donald Trump, did this White House learn a lesson from watching another president go through this? You know, I'm not sure that they learned the lesson in the communications from a communications standpoint

that they should have. Um. You know, when I first heard this news, of course you're you're deeply concerned about the president and the first Lady, but really, you know, happy to hear that he seems to be doing well. I thought the video was well done. They're portraying strength. But you know, one of the things that that came to my mind is how lucky are we When Donald Trump got this. He was hospitalized, he was close, we've

heard to being put on a ventilator. We didn't have the vaccinations and the boosters for somebody Biden and Trump's age, or all of our ages to help us through this. So we're so lucky we have those today. And that's something that I thought I would hear from the White House. Look at how far we've come. We may not be, you know, have reached the independence they declared last year, certainly, but you've got you know, people who are coming down with this and the number of people we lost. You know,

when this first started. People need to remember when Donald Trump got it. To remember when he jumped in the in the the suv and had the Secret Service drive. We were afraid everybody in the vehicle was going to die. We just didn't know anything then and there were no vaccines like we have now. Doug High is back with us. Doug, if you're on Capitol Hill, if you're a Democrat looking

for COVID funding, is this an opportunity? I think it is an opportunity to, you know, restress the message of positive message of s Gene said, look how far we've come, and this is why we need to go farther. And this isn't just COVID. This potentially is also a message that House and Senate leadership can use on monkeypox as well. What does he do tomorrow? Doug means he you go out there and do uh push ups on the north lawn, take a run. What do you do to for people

to realize that he's going to be all right? Well, we'll certainly see him, and we'll see him not just in in pre pre shot videos, but also we'll see him in person. And you know that may be riding a bike that maybe walking outside, but not a bike. We tried that already. I'm kidding, of course, do it again, can and careful with the pedals this time. Uh, Jennie Chanzano our panel. They'll be back in just a bit.

As we turned to the January six committee, you know, this was supposed to be the grand finale tonight either way, We're not sure about that, but it will be in prime time. This is Bloomberg Hearing Number eight begins at eight. Unclear exactly how long the hearing tonight will go. This was originally supposed to be the grand finale, right, we're

gonna start and finish in prime time. People sitting down thinking they're watching their shows, they're gonna see Benny Thompson via zoom because he's got COVID as well, by the way, and Liz Cheney and company will of course be holding forth. Uh. Interesting tonight. We were connecting the dots in the last hearing, at least an attempt to between the White House and the groups that attacked the capital tonight, filling in the blanks as Adam Kinzinger says on what the President was doing,

he says, they know. They'll have a tick talk and we'll be hearing from a former deputy National Security Advisor, Matt Pottenew will be testifying along with Sarah Matthews, a former deputy Press secretary. They were both in the West Wing that day and resigned based on what they witnesses. What they witnessed. But I want to recall as well what happened at the end of the last hearing. And for some people, you know, it's like the post credit scene. Some people were gone by then, but Liz Cheney had

quite a statement to make about witness tampering. Listen again, after our last hearing, President Trump tried to call a witness in our investigation, a witness you have not yet seen in these hearings. That person declined to answer or respond to President Trump's call and instead alerted their lawyer to the call. They're lawyer alerted us. And this committee has supplied that information to the Department of Justice. Was Cheney just going to leave that there? So what will

we learn tonight? Let's bring in Michael's Eldon, former federal prosecutor, former special counsel to Robert Mueller while at the Department of Justice. It's great to have you back with us, Michael. Are we going to be in the realm of building a legal case tonight? Is this about tying up loose ends? What's your expectation. The objective of tonight's hearing is the final of the seventh part conspiracy plan that the committee

laid out on day one. This seventh part of their plan is, as they said it, as the violence was underway, President Trump ignored multiple police for assistance and failed to take immediate action to stop the violence and instructive supporters to leave the capital. So I think we're gonna get a lot of evidence about the political or moral depravity of that inaction and try to and the community is going to try to have this in the sense of a closing statement to say he summoned all these people,

all part of the Big Law. His pressure campaign failed, and this was the last act of a desperate man trying to cling to power, and that they I think will argue violated the criminal laws in the United States. I'm not sure that they get to that last point. That's the that's the tough part though, right Michael. I mean, what what does it matter? And I realized that part of the purpose here is to set the record straight for for the sake of history, for the sake of

it not happening again. But from a legal standpoint, does it matter what Donald Trump did once he went back to the West Wing? Well, does matter in a legal sense if a case was going to be brought that President Trump was part of a conspiracy to obstructive official proceeding and or defraud the United States. Leave aside the sedition part of it, but just the defrauding United States through the perpetration of the Big Law, the pressure campaign

on Trump on Pence rather than the others. Then his state of mind would be probative of whether or not he intended to carry out a criminal conspiracy or not. So I think yes, it is relevant to that. It's corroberative of his state of mind with respect to the official proceeding, obstruction of justice, and the defrauding United States. But it doesn't get us standing alone to seditious conspiracy. Okay, well, so away we go on those grounds, Michael. We don't

know when we're going to get a final report. It sounds like the committee says this was originally going to be the finale, but well, there could be more hearings because more evidence and more witnesses continue to come forward. Uh, this may in fact not be done before a potential change over in power. If Republicans run the House, they may in fact have the opportunity to control the outcome of a final report, So they're going to do an

interim report. I guess I'm just wondering if this is ever going to be if if certainly Republicans take the House, Michael, if this is ever going to be really concluded. Knowing that this this could have been the last word tonight, but the committee is allowing for more time, right, because more evidence keeps coming in. As you just suggested in the tease to this conversation, there may be a witness tampering investigation that now has just surfaced by the Trump

call to a perspective witness. And we know from the reporting in the newspaper that after Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony. More people have found a spine and have come forward to say what they know, So you know, you can't blame the committee if people who were stone walling them all of a sudden decide that you don't want it's time for me to speak there that I know, and so it goes on. But of course, from a criminal law standpoint, none of this really matters. The only one that makes

that determination as the Attorney General. Do you expect to hear more on witness tamperings? And how is important? How important is it for them to follow up on that

having opened that canon worms just two weeks ago. I think it's important for them to follow up on that because it's a standalone criminal offense to tamper with a witnesses testimony, and it doesn't require you know, this big lie and defrauding the United States sort of evidence it could be in and other self sufficient to bring for a Merrick Garland to bring a charge this committee, that's

going to be the focus. I don't think that's going to be the the because it's going to be on his inaction slash cheerleading of the event, and that when pressed by his advisers to call it off. He was reluctant to do so and only did so when they said, look, if you don't do something, your cabinet may invoke the amendment and where to have you removed. There'll be a lot more where that came from. Starting at eight o'clock, I'm guessing wonderful have new images, new sounds, certainly new

stories from the two witnesses. Michael Zelden, thank you, former federal prosecutor with us on the fastest hour in politics. Will reassemble the panel next. Genie and Doug are back in. This is Bloomberg. You're listening to Bloomberg. You sound on with Joe Matthew on Bloomberg Radio. The headline on the terminal jan six hearing to make case of Trump as derelict in duty. Expect to hear that phrase more than

once tonight. It all comes down to what he was doing during that eighties seven minutes in which the former president waited before calling on his supporters to leave the capitol. To that end, great reporting from Billy House on the terminal. If you want to get ready for this tonight starts at eight o'clock again Washington time. Billy says, look for the committee to emphasize how even when Trump did issue a video to supporters to leave the capital, he repeated

his fraudulent claim that the election was stolen. Remember go home, we love you. You're very special there. I actually saw an image earlier from the Rose Garden, kind of behind the scenes, if you will, and I suspect we'll be seeing more of those tonight. Let's reassemble the panel. Doug High is with US Republican strategist along with Bloomberg Politics contributor Democratic analyst Genie Schanz. No, uh, Doug, what's going

to be the most effective use of time tonight? I have to admit, you know, hearing a droning opening statement from Benny Thompson via zoom in his COVID quarantine is probably not the kind of television most people are looking for at eight o'clock. How do they make a count? Yeah? You know, that's one of the problems that we always have with congressional hearings is members like hearing themselves, and

so questions are often speeches, and speeches are are even longer. Um, what what's most effective is testimony directly from witnesses and whatever video they have that we haven't seen, and the combination of the two is what will be most effective and we should always be mindful of and it's why we've had so many of these hearings now is two things. One the committee knows more than we do. And to the committee doesn't know everything. They're learning things sometimes in

almost real time as we are, Genie. From a legal standpoint, will there be more added to the case or is this about telling the story? About wrapping up the story? And and and I'm sure more wild versions of what happened, you know, I think Representative Lauria really laid it out well. You know, she's a navy veteran. She talked about the fact can you imagine, you know, you have a ship's captain and the ship is burning, and he is there

watching it happen and reveling in it. And and that's really what they're going to focus on in this one and eighty seven minute gap of what he was doing. And and I thought that it was so well said by by your previous guest, by Michael, when he talked about the political and the moral depravity of that. Now to your question, whether that rises to the level of

illegality is another question. And there's several possibilities from conspiracy to obstruction, to seditious conspiratorcy, to fraud and now to witness tampering. So there's a lot available there. And I thought Attorney General Merrick Garland yesterday when he came out with a very strong statement that they are taking this the d o J very seriously and looking into it.

So I think tonight it's less about, in my mind at least, the legality and more about the fact that you have the President of the United States doing nothing as people are dying and being abused and the capital is under attack. Doug, is the purpose of this committee to build a legal case or set the record straight for history? Are you gonna tell me it's both? It is both. And look, let's be clear, there's politics involved here as well, and I don't say that in a

negative sense per se. And one of the things that we're seeing in this is that you're seeing more and more of a Republicans trying to inch away from Donald Trump. Independent voters are seeing this and they are devastated by it. They don't like they didn't like it before and now they're being reminded of it. And just yesterday in the Capitol Hill Club. Mike Pence was excuse me, in the Capital. I believe Mike Pence was meeting with a group of

House Republicans. I don't think that would have happened three months ago, given Trump's book proclivity to attack um Mike Pence. But with the things we've seen over the past few weeks, it makes it more palatable for those Republicans to do so. Doug High is with us and Jeanne Schanzano or panel. I want to ask you both about your travel plans. But you know it's because everything changes here if you

just ask Nancy Pelosi. This idea of Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, traveling to Taiwan on what could be the very day or just following a meeting between President Biden and President she has people all worked up here in the Capital. If you're not aware of this story and it is on the terminal, Uh, it took on another of another form today as we heard from Nancy Pelosi. But I want to just back up for a second.

Listen to President Biden as he got back from Massachusetts yesterday. Uh, not knowing of course that he had COVID at that point when he was asked about Nancy Pelosi traveling to Taiwan. Here, he is, the military thinks it's not a good idea right now, but uh, I don't know what the status of it is. The military thinks it's not a good okay.

So and this, by the way, was within hours of the of the headline breaking on his potential meeting here in the next ten days, they said with President she Nancy Pelosi asked about it today, two very different answers from the same speaker. Here was the initial response. Discussed my travel plan. It's it's a national it's a security issue. Uh. You never even hear me say if I'm going to London because it is a security issue, and so I won't be discussing that now, Okay, nothing to see. By

the way, I love the London. That's like, was that right out of Tom King's hand with even when I I don't even let people know when I go to London, like for the weekend. But then she came back around, by the way she says he's not talking about it, she did talk about it. Here's Nancy Pelosi. None of us has ever said for independence when it comes to Taiwan.

That's up to Taiwan to decide. But if what you're the inference to draw on from your comment is that my going there is problematic, I think what the President was saying is the maybe the military was afraid our plan would get shot down or something like that by the Chinese. I don't know exactly. I didn't see it. I didn't hear it. You're telling me, and I've heard

it anecdotally, but I haven't heard it from the president. Okay, this is well, this is the day for hot takes at the podium or podia in this case, Genie, both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. They thought that my plane was going to be shot down. Is that what the speaker should be saying today, Joe Matthew, Now I know why you don't share your travel plans with me. This has been a revelation, so thank you God. You know, just

very very strange. You know, I wasn't sure why. You know, Nancy Pelosi first came out and said she hadn't spoke with the president. She might have tried to do that before she made the statement. And then this idea that you know, this is equivalent to going to you know, London, of all places, is laughable. And then, of course you know the idea that this you know, the military concerned about her plane being shot down. I think the reality is is that the speaker likely should not be going

over there at this point. It is a massive, massive headache, I think was the word used on Bloomberg Terminal. For the president and the president of her party at a time when they are facing huge crises at home, she maybe needs to stay home. And I understand her desire to make this trip and sort of repeat New Gingrich's trip, but but at this point for her own party, it

doesn't make much sense. She she's planning to go in August, had postponed it from April apparently, Doug and I don't know if you're gonna end up in London this weekend per chance, But should she end up in Taiwan or is it I mean, does it look like we're cow towing if she cancels that trip, Well, you don't want to know what fights I have looked that I'm looking up on Google flights over the past hour, by the way, but look to it highlights the fact that, um, there's

often a difference between Republicans and Democrats. We know that but there's so often a difference in in Capitol Hill and the White House, regardless of what party that is. They have different priorities and they act on things differently, just given the nature of the executive and the legislature. So obviously they haven't coordinated here very obviously on some level they may have to do so, given that this

has now become um an issue. You were deputy chief of staff to Eric Canter, you know what it's like to be in in the the senior ranks in the United States House. How much coordination should there be between Pelosi's office and the president. They're both talking like they haven't spoken with each other. They're just just happen to

be hearing things and weighing in on it. Well, given the nature of everything that's happening right now globally, you would think there will be some coordination between the Speaker's office in the White House. Regardless of that, there will be coordination with the military, because it's you know, the air force that flies you over, it's air force personnel.

Who are you know, staffing those flights and so forth, So they'll have to coordinate in the congressional delegation sense, the what's called a codell is what that trip would be. But there's obviously a lot internationally and geopolitically happening, and that's why I'm surprised there haven't been those conversations yet. Maybe a planet for six months from now to save face, Genie, is that a good move? You know that there's going to be a meeting certainly by then between the two presidents,

and maybe things have calmed down a bit. You know, I think that's a possibility. I think she's got to take seriously what the military obviously and the President are saying. And you know, if she was visiting England, she may not need to discuss that with the military and the president. But it's Taiwan and it is a hotbed for the United States and this administration. The Speaker of the House, of the party of the President should get that, you know,

lined up with the White House before going public on it. Well, it's going to be something to see this meeting come together. It's interesting how the stakes have changed since the last one. President Biden's had a couple of calls now a couple of video calls with President She and we haven't seen this much concern leading up to them, Doug, is that

because of Ukraine or something else? Well? Absolutely, and there's certainly a sense that what would happen globally if China had gone first instead of Russia in the Ukraine or if they go now, and if they were to go now, we are in a very much more dangerous um political, geopolitical position than than we are now globally, and we're already in a pretty bad place. I think Nancy Pelosi had a clear from the White House when she went

to Kiev. Genie, that's that's a bit different. Yeah, I mean, and I would think that that that would have been obviously, as Doug was saying, it's approved by the military because they have to get her over there, and certainly the White House. And I think a big question with this call is what is it say, for instance, about tariffs, just one of the many issues on Biden's agenda, and we still haven't gotten a decision on that, many people

waiting for that decision, and of course many others. Just interesting to think that it's cool for the Speaker of the House to touch down in the middle of a war zone, do a photo op, have some meetings, but don't you fly to Taiwan, where there's no war underway right now. Doug High, great to have you back, and of course Jeanie Chantino Bloomberg Politics contributors, great conversation. As always, I look forward to these as we try to make sense of the madness on the fastest hour in politics.

We'll have a full recap of The Ring tomorrow on sound On. We're watching so you don't have to. I'm Joe Matthew. This is Bloomberg m