October 14, 2025 • 41 mins
The guest host for today's show is Brad Bannon. Brad runs Bannon Communications Research, a polling, message development and media firm which helps labor unions, progressive issue groups and Democratic candidates win public affairs and political campaigns. His show, 'Deadline D.C. with Brad Bannon,' airs every Monday from 3-4pm ET.
Brad is first joined by Charlie Cook, Founder of the 'Cook Political Report' and Columnist for 'The National Journal,' to discuss the 'playing field' for the 2026 midterm elections in the Senate and House of Representatives.
Then, Senior White House Reporter for 'Bloomberg Government,' Mica Soellner, joins Brad to talk about the new peace agreement between Israel and Hamas, the government shutdown, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's recent criticisms of President Trump's policies.
Brad writes a political column every Sunday for 'The Hill.'
He's on the National Journal's panel of political insiders and is a national political analyst for WGN TV and Radio in Chicago and KNX Radio in Los Angeles. You can read Brad's columns at www.MuckRack.com/Brad-Bannon. His handle on BlueSky is @bradbannon.bsky.social.
(Image Credit: Getty Images)
Brad is first joined by Charlie Cook, Founder of the 'Cook Political Report' and Columnist for 'The National Journal,' to discuss the 'playing field' for the 2026 midterm elections in the Senate and House of Representatives.
Then, Senior White House Reporter for 'Bloomberg Government,' Mica Soellner, joins Brad to talk about the new peace agreement between Israel and Hamas, the government shutdown, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's recent criticisms of President Trump's policies.
Brad writes a political column every Sunday for 'The Hill.'
He's on the National Journal's panel of political insiders and is a national political analyst for WGN TV and Radio in Chicago and KNX Radio in Los Angeles. You can read Brad's columns at www.MuckRack.com/Brad-Bannon. His handle on BlueSky is @bradbannon.bsky.social.
(Image Credit: Getty Images)
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Leslie Marshall Show, A true democracy in talk radio
of for and by you, the people speak.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Live from our nation's capital. It's Deadline DC with Brad Bannon.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Welcome. This is Brad Bannon, the host of Feline DC
with Brad Bannon. I'm a national democratic and progressive strategist.
I'm a political analyst for news radio KNX and Los
Angeles ninety seven point one on your FM dial, and
(00:59):
a weekly columnists to the Hill in Washington, DC to
get my take on Donald Trump's imperial presidency. You can
read my columns in the Hill at The Hill dot
com front slash Brad Bannon or Muckrack dot com front
slash Brad Bannon. Mondays on Deadline DCE, I talked to
(01:24):
the people and players behind the politics and policy that
drive our great nation forward, or at least try to
keep it from going backwards. During Trump two point zero,
we have two of our favorite guests today for a
wide ranging political discussion. In the first half hour, our
guest is Charlie Cook, the founder of the Cook Political Report,
(01:50):
a columnist for the National Journal, and one of our
great nation's foremost political analysts. In the second half hour,
Mika senior White House reporter for Bloomberg Government joins us
to discuss the Middle East Peace Agreement and other matters
(02:10):
relating to sixteen hundred Pennsylvania Avenue. But let's start with
our first guest. Our first guest is Charlie Cook. Charlie,
thanks for joining us today on Deadline DC with Brad Bannon.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Thanks for having me on brid First, let's.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Start with this. There's some key elections coming up in
a few weeks. On November fourth, there's an election a
ballot question in California that would allow Governor Gavin Newsom
to redistrict the congressional districts in the state. We've got
(02:47):
goudenatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia, and we've got
a very high profile mayor's race in New York City.
My first question to you is, what, if anything, are
you looking for in those election results that might suggest
what might happen next year in the mid term elections.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Well, Brad, I think one thing to do is to say, Okay,
what's your prior, what do you expect? And I would expect,
for example, in the California ballot initiative, as democratic as
the state is, as anti Trump as the state is
that the ballot initiative will be sort of more or
less a referendum up or down on Trump, so it
(03:32):
should go through. So it's only really noteworthy if that
doesn't happen. Otherwise, it's just exactly what you expect. Both
New Jersey and Virginia. Virginia technically speaking, they're in the
nineteen You have nineteen blue states, twenty four red states,
seven purple states in the middle. They're in the nineteen
(03:53):
blue states. I would actually probably put a more of
a kind of an indigo light blue, but they're Democrats.
Ought to win both by a couple of two or
three points. If it's less than that, that might be noteworthy,
but it's really only if they lose one or the other.
(04:13):
To be honest, I think if President Biden's numbers hadn't
been plumbting four years ago, the New Jersey governor's race
wouldn't have been close, and Democrats wouldn't have lost Virginia.
But that's what happened. I don't expect either one to
be particularly close. And New York City I don't really
follow memorial politics. I don't think they have a lot
of relevance nationwide. But to me, a socialist leaning guy
(04:40):
winning a New York City maurial race over a serial
sexual harassmer was not exactly or shattering news. But you
know whatever. But I wouldn't.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
I've never seen a mayorage race have said anything about
what's going on in the country.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Okay, I ask you a question. The last time we talked,
you told me you were working on a study of
partisan voting patents in governors and senate races. What can
you tell us about that?
Speaker 2 (05:12):
I hadn't finished it yet, But no, Okay. The thing is, though,
I actually what's interesting is it two of the things.
You know, each party has a challenge senate wise, and
for Democrats, the challenge is that there are too many
red states. I mean, they're twenty four red states, it's
(05:34):
forty eight, So that means that Republicans start off with
forty eight Senate seats almost in the bag, so pretty hard.
And they're only you know, there's seven purple states, so
it's fourteen sent seats. Democrats already have ten of them.
So it's it's it's it's tough arithmetic. Now let's flip
around the other way. Though, you look at the four
(05:56):
elections twenty eighteen, twenty twenty two, twenty four and in
those seven swing purple states, Democrats have won seventeen out
of twenty one Senate races and ten out of fourteen
governors races. Something's happening, and I have a theory, but
something's happening that Republicans are not winning the share of
(06:17):
Purple states that they used to in Senate and gumernatorial races.
And I sis fact that what you're seeing is the
Republican part is that the kind of the caliber of
people that used to run as Republicans in purple states
aren't Either they're not running because they don't think they
(06:40):
could win a MAGA primary, or they're running and losing
in a MAGA oriented primary, but they're not getting the
candidates that you know, you don't run red candidates in
purple states, just as Democrats shouldn't run, you know, blue
candidates in purple states. I mean go for purple and
I mean and for Democrats it doesn't matter who you
(07:00):
a blue state that much, I mean exaggeration, and for
Republicans in a red state. But so that's the main thing.
But the the nationalization that's taking place has taken place, Senate, governor, everything.
Very few of these races are going against type.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Okay, okay, let me ask you another question, Charlie. Next
year we have mid term elections. We have US Senate
seats up, we have House seats up. Let's start with
the House of Representatives. Now, there are some questions in
(07:43):
terms of House races because we have redistricting going on
in some states Texas, maybe California, there are a couple
of others. What do you think the prospects are for
control of the House moving from Democrats from Republicans to Democrats.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Well, I think I mean, first of all, I think
all mid decade redistricting is horrible and should never ever happen.
Doesn't matter which side does it. I think it's awful.
But I think Republicans will end up netting about maybe
a dozen when all of a sudden done sort of
all the Texas, Indiana, Missouri, whatever, whatever, whatever, minus what
(08:29):
Democrats were able to do in California. It'll probably be
about a dozen. But to be honest, I don't think
I don't think it's going to be enough to save
their majority. I would put it a seventy thirty bet
that Democrats take the House. That you know, blue districts
are going to blue, go blue, Red district going to
(08:49):
go red. But of the ones in the middle, President
Trump's approval ratings among pure independents, you know, in the
twenty seven to thirty five range, and that's that's the
predominant group in these purple purple districts, and they have
become pretty much nationalized. So I kind of think, I
(09:10):
kind of think the House will flip. I think the
simps really hard for him, But the House, I think
is more likely to flip than not.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
Okay, is it people? It just bent out of shape
in general? Is it Donald Trump's standing or combination of both.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Well, Brad, you're you're more of the political scientists.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
I'm not.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
But there's a there's a very thermostatic politics. You know,
when you come home and if your house is too hot,
you bring down the thermostat, if it's too cold, you
raise up the thermostack that. And I'm not talking about
partisan voters. I'm talking about swing voters in the middle.
That's what they do. And in twenty twenty, I think
(09:59):
they basically they were tired of Trump and they threw
him out and that election was about Trump, it wasn't
about Biden. And in twenty twenty four, even though Biden
was not not on the ballot, that Hairs took over.
It was about Biden and they threw and they threw
Democrats out. And that these peer independents, they don't they
tend to vote against more than four.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
And how I'm going to have to cut you off. Unfortunately,
We've got to. This is when we take the breaks
for our radio listeners. We'll be right back with more
Deadline DC and Charlie Cooked right after this quick break,
(10:42):
welcome back to Deadline. We see with Brad Banner. I
want to thank our radio audience for being patient. I
also want to remind our radio audience that if you
want to watch us as well as listen to us,
you can watch us at Twitter dot com front Slash Bradbannon,
(11:04):
at Facebook dot com front Slash, Deadline d C with
Bradbannon front Slash videos, and at YouTube dot com front
Slash at Deadline DC. Our guest in this half hour
is Charlie Cook, columnist for the National Journal. Charlie, I'm
(11:26):
going to take you through some of these Senate races,
and if you could comment on them. Please. First, you're
very familiar with the UH With Maine, we just got
a new Democratic candidate, the governor, Janet Mills, who's going
to oppose Susan Collins. What do you make of that race?
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Yeah, this is the last Senate race in the country
where you have either a Republican in a blue state
or a Democrat in a red state that after Mansion
retired and and you Democrats lost Ohio and West Virginia,
that was it. This is a state that it leans Democrat,
but not overwhelmingly. But Collins has managed to hold on. Now,
(12:10):
the thing is, I think you can get a good
argument whether Susan Collins was a heavyweight prior to twenty twenty,
but for her to win in a state that what
Trump was losing by what seven eight points? She won
by eight points. After being outspent. Between that and becoming
chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Susan Collins is now heavyweight.
(12:33):
And I think you to beat a heavyweight, you need
a heavyweight and not a novice, not somebody that's never
run for anything before or you know, held an office
or anything. I frankly think that the only chance Democrats
has had was if Mills ran and was the nominee.
And part of it is that, you know, Graham Platters,
(12:55):
he's obviously an interesting guy, you know, Afghanistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, veteran,
h oyster farmer.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
But the other Democratic candidate, yeah we yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
I mean there are actually several, but he's the one
that's getting most of attention. But the thing is it,
y us Senate, why not just run for president? Or
run why run for why not run for Hancock County Committee?
You know, council money? I mean, you know, I mean
it's just sort of this is this is gonna be
a The spending is going to be in the nine
(13:28):
figures and one hundreds of millions of dollars? Is this
really what you want to do? And that I think
it's going to end up? Yeah. I Democrats have a
history of going with sort of novelty in some races.
Novelty candidates that have some kind of quirky interesting bio
raise a ton of money and they don't do particularly well.
(13:51):
I think they need a heavyweight to win in May
against Susan Collins.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Okay, let's try moving across the map. Well, let's try
all right, this one Texas is a very bitter Republican
primary going on in their Senate race between the Attorney
General Ken Paxton and the incumbent. What do you make
of that race?
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Yeah, I think it comes down too if John Cornyan,
the Republican incumbent, holds on, then I don't think Democrats
have much of a chance. But if Ken Paxton, the
attorney general who was sort of full maga and Cornin
isn't but trying to kind of act like one. If
Ken Paxton is a Republican nominee, I think a good
(14:35):
Democratic candidate would have a good chance of winning. But
it would they But if they won, it would not
be about them. It would not be about Texas. It
would be about Republicans sort of jumping the shark and
going with a candidate that was just way too controversial,
had too much political baggage more than anything else. But
you take them wherever you can get them. But to me,
(14:57):
that's the third, the third shot best shot that Democrats
have of picking up Senate races.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
What is the second best shot?
Speaker 2 (15:05):
That would be well the Persons Act. That would be
North Carolina the open seat Tom Tillis is retiring, And
the other would be Collins in Maine, and then you know,
we're we're waiting to see who Republicans nominate. You know,
if they nominate I mean North Carolina. It's a purple
swing state, but it's a lot closer to red than
(15:26):
to blue, you know, kind of magenta. If Republicans nominated
a you know, slightly right of center, not terribly controversial candidate,
I think they'd have a good chance of beating Roy Cooper,
the former Democrat governor. But on the other hand, if
they nominate somebody that's out of more of a maggot type,
(15:48):
that's a race they could lose. And you never know
with Republican primary voters anymore.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Yeah, Now, the Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer got Janet
Mills into the race in Maine and gun himself a
good candidate in North Carolina. Could that make the difference?
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Well, you know that's two and yeah. Okay, So let's
assume for a second that John osof hangs on in
Georgia and he's you know, it's a tough race. It
depends on who Republicans nominate. In part, Let's assume that
Democrats hold on to the Michigan open seat that's a
toss up race. Let's assume they hold on to the
(16:30):
open seat in Minnesota, which is sort of more you
know in that Indigo category, technically blue, but not that blue.
Even if they get both North Carolina and Maine, that
only gets them to forty nine, and they need fifty
one if there's a Republican in the White House. So Texas,
if Republicans nominate nominated Paxton. But I don't buy I
(16:57):
don't buy Iowa as a possibility. I don't buy Nebraska.
Those are those are states that are just have gotten
out out of reach for for for Democrats. I mean,
I you know when you leave the two party vote
where you factor out in independent. So that's three elections.
Ioway is fifty five percent republic has voted fifty five
(17:18):
percent Republican. Uh, that's that's tough. Nebraska sixty one percent.
Those are that's a Those are tough places for a
Democrat to win, to stay and age.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
Let me ask you about Ohio former Senator Shared Brown,
a Democrat, is running again. What does that race look
like to you?
Speaker 2 (17:39):
I think Shared Brown is the strongest possible Democratic statewide
candidate in Ohio. But you know he couldn't hold on,
and I don't think he'd be able to win win
this thing. I mean, it's it's a fifty just a
hair under fifty five percent Republican voting state now in
terms of the two party vote. You know, he was
(17:59):
the asked he like John Tester and Montana and Joe
Manchin West Virginia was the last Democrat remaining in a
statewide race. Those states have just moved, you know, they've
just moved away from Democrats. And you know, that's part
of the problem is that Democrats have too many states
that they that have become no fly zones. They've got
to figure out a way to win in states with
(18:21):
you know, lots of voters that are in small towns
and rural America, you know that sort of thing. And
there's a lot of Ohio like that.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
Okay, one last question, Uh, what do you is this
just is this an election going to focus on Trump
or what do Democrats have to do to win some
of these races we've talked about?
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Well, I mean I think this election is just gonna
be about Trump and and and you know sort of
the the too too much, too far would be if
you were going to put in a nutshell what the
message ought to be because even when Trump's starts articulating
or addressing things issues that swing voters care about, he
(19:07):
goes way too far, does way too much. And I
think that's exactly what this thing's going to be about,
is that thermostatics pulling thermostatic.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
At Charlie, thank you very much for joining us today.
Our guest in this half hour was the prominent political analyst,
Charlie Cook. We'll be right back after this break with
more Deadline DC. Welcome back to Deadline d C with
(19:47):
Brad Vannon. Our guest in this half hour is Mika
Sola and her new job as senior White House reporter
at Bloomberg Government. Mika's going to talk about the events
in the Middle East today. We're going to talk about
(20:07):
Marjorie Taylor Green and heard what I described as a
strange case of Marjorie and Taylor Green and also the governments,
governor's the government shutdown.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
UH.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
Mika, thanks for joining us again on Deadline DC. It's
good to have you back.
Speaker 4 (20:25):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
Okay, let's start with the Middle East. UH. Today there
was an exchange of hamas hostages and UH and Israeli prisoners,
very dramatic. President Trump was there. Could you tell us
(20:47):
what happened, what is supposed to happen next now that
they've done the prisoner exchange.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
Yeah, I mean, I think that we're really going to
see how this piece deal plays out. And a lot
of people are watching, and I think a lot of
people are going to be specifically looking at you know,
Hamas and being able to disarm them completely. I think
that's one of the major concerns. But overall, I think
that you know, that this is a step and we're
going to have to see if this is lasting after
(21:15):
almost two years of war that has really torn apart
both political parties.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
Now, assuming that Israel stops their attacks on Gaza and
that Hamas does disarmed, what's going to happen to Gaza
after all this has done. Is there going to be
some kind of peacekeeping force? Will there be United States involvement?
How's this going to work? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (21:42):
I think that we're really going to be in the
rebuilding phase now for Gaza. President Trump signaled that the
United States was helping to, you know, help with that effort.
I know that part of this deal also includes, you know,
no restrictions at all when it comes to getting aid
into the region, which has been an issue in the past.
So I think we're going to look at that. But
(22:03):
I think that there will be some level of U
AS involvement, given you know, what the President said today.
But you know, we'll have to see also given the
United States relationship with Israel and how Israel keeps up
its end of this deal as well.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
Okay, right now, the president's job rating is not great.
It's depending upon which national poll you look at. It's
probably in the low forties. Some poles have them a
little higher than that, but it's not good. Do you
(22:39):
think this will boost the president's standing?
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Now?
Speaker 3 (22:42):
I mean, this is actually a pretty big deal if
it holds. Do you think it will boost the president's ratings?
Speaker 4 (22:51):
Well, I think that it has a temporary potential to do. So.
I mean, we saw that the President was getting some
rare bipartisan you know, praise today in regards to this deal.
But I think that there's a lot to see still
in terms of, you know, what's going to happen in
the region. But I know that there were some Democrats
that came out in sport of you know, Trump's plan
(23:15):
and the goal of his whole working group today, including
Vice President Kamala Harris, his former rival.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
Okay, let's try this. How did Trump you know, from
what you've learned at the White House, from his station
at the White House, How did Donald Trump make this
situation work? It seemed intractable and now there seems to
be at least a hint of progress. How did he
do it? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (23:43):
I mean I think that you know, he established this
close group around them, and I think one of the
areas that we've seen is that they were willing to
kind of sit down with Hamas and I know that
that got a lot of pushback, but I mean that
was one of the okay, between a lot of difference.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Okay, let's try this. I wanted to discuss with you.
One of the things that I've found very curious about
the news lately, the political news, is the strange case
of Representative Margie Taylor Green, who all of a sudden
(24:28):
is bashing the crap out of the president on tariffs,
on healthcare. What do you have any idea?
Speaker 4 (24:37):
What?
Speaker 3 (24:37):
You covered the Hill for a long time, and I
guess you still are. What is going on with Marjorie
Taylor Green.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (24:46):
I mean I think that we've seen her become outspoken,
you know, with her party in recent weeks. And I
mean she's always been someone that has not been afraid
to criticize her own party at times, but it is
interesting to kind of see her do it more vocally
against the presidents. And I know that I spoke with
her last week and she said that she's not spoken
(25:07):
with President Trump. He has not called her since she
came out in favor of the ACA extensions. Obviously that's
you know, not the position of the president or the
or a House Republicans, and you know, the issue that's
also in the middle of this government shutdown fight that
Democrats are fighting for. So I think she kind of
sees herself as a maverick or an independent voice in
(25:31):
among the conference.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Yeah, it's really quite being the maverick. I mean, she's
almost swung from one political extreme to another. It's really
very strange. Let me, since we're talking about the House,
what is the mood? There are several We just had
Charlie Cook on in the first half hour, and Charlie said,
(25:57):
there's at least some danger. He thinks that the Democrats
are going to flip the House. If Charlie's right, there
must be a lot of nervous Republican House members out there.
And what are they thinking. Are they worried, scared? Do
they think they've maybe going too far following the line
(26:23):
with Trump? Or they, you know, pretty confident that somehow
they'll work this thing out.
Speaker 4 (26:30):
I mean, I think that there's always tension ahead of
a midterm, but I mean I think that Republicans do
know that they're in for a year that is just
going to be more bullish for Democrats because it is
going to be a mid term election where Republicans are
in charge of you know, the White House and both
chambers of Congress. So whatever is happening at the time,
(26:50):
you know, they're likely to get the blame for it,
especially if the economy is going badly. But I will say,
you know, one thing that's also indicative of their nervousness
is the redistricting efforts. I think that the White House
is pushed on all of these redistricting efforts in these states.
Uh One, it's unprecedented, but I think it's a huge
signal that they are nervous that they're going to lose
(27:11):
seats in such a narrow margin as well.
Speaker 3 (27:15):
Okay, you know, it strikes me and I'd be like
to know your opinion that Trump and the Republicans and
the Speaker, I guess, are betting that the commitment to
Donald Trump is so strong among Republican voters that they'll
(27:40):
basically tolerate anything, and that there's and Trump has ginned
them up so much even if they're in trouble, they
can win this thing by outperforming Democrats and turnout.
Speaker 4 (27:52):
Is that the bet that.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
Trump and you know, the Speaker of making or is
it something else.
Speaker 4 (27:59):
I think that they're going to play on some of
the things that they view as you know, the best accomplishments.
I mean, they're they're going to play on, you know,
cutting spending and and you know, after this peace deal.
I think that they'll play that up a lot. But
I think that some Republicans will tie themselves to Trump
while others will all distance others. In more blue districts,
(28:21):
I mean, we've seen you know, people like Mike Lawler
from New York, who's very vulnerable speaking out on some
of the things that the president's done, including you know,
slashing federal jobs during the government shutdown, or we saw
members like Kevin Kylie from California who actually introduced a
bill to ban redistricting in mid decade cycles completely. So
(28:43):
you know, I think that it really depends member by member.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
Okay, and I sure I assume they're counting up. They're
going to get a lot of money out of Washington
from people's support Donald Trump, and that must make them
feel a little better. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (29:01):
Absolutely. I think that's one of the things that the
House campaign arm is really relying on and the Senate
campaign Arm with the major Senate races happening next year,
is that Trump's going to really help them fundraise and
for Democrats to honestly.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
Okay, how do you think the Speaker has performed? You know,
it seems to me actually kind of amazing. Even on
a very very tough votes were his members of putting
themselves at political risk. He's always able to turn out
(29:38):
just enough for publican votes. He loses one or two
on a lot of key votes, but that's all. How
is how is he able to do that? Is that
some skill the Speaker has or it's just because Donald
Trump is backing them up, or what.
Speaker 4 (29:54):
I think that Trump is heavily benefiting Speaker Johnson. I
think that the Speaker Johnson has kind of found his
footing a little bit more since he first took the gabble.
But no, I think that with Trump's backing, he can
pretty much pressure any Republican for the most part, to
vote in the way that he wants otherwise threaten a
primary against them. So I think it's heavily due to
(30:16):
Trump's influence.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
Okay, we're going to kick a quick break now for
our radio listeners. We'll be right back with more of
Deadline DC with Brad Bannon and our guest, Mika Sola,
the senior White House reporter at Bloomberg Government. Welcome back
(30:43):
to Deadline DC with Brad Bannon. Our guest in this
half hour is Mika Sona, who is the senior White
House reporter for Bloomberg Government. Before she covered the White House,
she covered the House of Representatives, so she's in a
unique position to discuss the showdown between the White House
(31:08):
and Congress on the shutdown. Mika, both sides dug pretty
deep into their trenches. The Democrats insist they're not going
to vote to break the silibuster in the Senate over
the shutdown until the President restores Medicaid benefits and reduces
(31:36):
healthcare premiums under the Affordable Care Act. At least to
my vantage point too far off. The President or the
Speaker doesn't seem to be in a mood to compromise
on this issue. So what do you think is going
to happen? How long is this shutdown going to break?
(31:59):
And will it take to break it?
Speaker 4 (32:01):
Yeah, I mean I think Speaker Johnson said himself this
could end up being the longest shutdown, and you know that.
I think that there's a lot of pressure that he's facing,
you know, particularly, and the Speaker went on c SPAN
last week and there were you know, callers just you know,
telling him to bring the house back. He's had the
house out for about I think this is going to
(32:23):
be the third week. So I think that there's pressure
that Democrats are trying to put on him as well
to kind of call them back. But right now, pretty
much all the action is going to be in the Senate.
I mean, Senate Democrats are really putting in the healthcare
fight into the shutdown. You know, they want to bring
the ACA extensions and have those conversations now, and so
that's really at the heart of their fight. In terms
(32:45):
of the shutdown.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
Okay, Now, I've been critical of the Democratic congressional leadership
in the past on the show, but it's my opinion,
like your opinion, that the Democratic congressional leadership's actually handled
us pretty well. They picked an issue healthcare, especially inflation
(33:08):
and healthcare costs, as their hill to fight on, and
it's important because the number one issue of concern out
there to Americans if you look at the national polls,
is inflation. And they've built this opposition to Trump's big,
bad budget bill on opposition to health care cuts and
(33:34):
increases in healthcare insurance premiums. And you know, the remarkable
thing is if you look at the Democratic constituency groups,
labor unions, progressive progressive issue groups, they really are very
much on message on this thing. And I'd like to
(33:54):
know how you feel the Democratic congressional leadership has handled this.
And I you know, usually i'm pretty critical of them,
but on this thing, I think they've done a pretty
good job.
Speaker 4 (34:05):
Yeah, I mean, I think that it's very good optics.
And it's notable that Leader Jefferies is keeping his caucus
here in town, and I know that they're really trying
to message on the fact that Democrats you know, are
in Washington, you know, trying to work this out while
Mike Johnson has kept Republicans away. So I think that
that's you know, a really good messaging on their point.
(34:28):
But yeah, I think that it's really interesting to kind
of see Democrats holding up this long. I mean, usually
I thought government shutdown would be something that conservative hardliners
who often threatened shutdowns to So yeah, I actually kind
of thought that, you know, they would probably give in
by now, but that hasn't been the case. So we'll
see what happens here.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
Do you see either side giving something on this issue
to reach a compromise? I mean, I gues I was
going to say the shutdown has to end at some point,
but I'm not sure it does. I actually, do you
think there's any room for compromise between the two parties.
Speaker 4 (35:05):
I mean, at the moment, there doesn't seem to be
anything going on in the future, just the way that
it's going. I think that this bill has been put
on the floor in the Senate what five six times
or so, and it's failed every single time, And like
there really hasn't been much traction among you know, Senate
Democrats who have signed on even a vulnerable ones like
(35:28):
Senator Ossov who's facing who could face a really difficult
election next year. I mean, he hasn't even caved or
he's been kind of on the side of progressives on
this as well.
Speaker 3 (35:39):
You would think something has to give it at some point.
God only knows what. I guess I don't know what
it is, and you don't, not really either, so I
left to wait and see. Let me ask you this question.
The speaker, Speaker Mike Johnson is under some pressure now
(36:01):
because the House has been out of session I don't
know for two or three weeks now, it's not going
to be in session this week. Why is why is
he not want to bring the House back in session.
Is it just because he doesn't see hope of an
agreement or are there are other things going on here? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (36:22):
I mean the Speakers made the argument that he thinks
that House Republicans have already done the job. I mean
they passed the cr and like the fights really in
the Senate, and to that extent that he is correct.
But I do think that, you know, the longer this
drives that, he's also I think keeping members out to
try and put pressure on the Senate in some way,
you know, to prove that kind of point. But at
(36:45):
the same time, I think that some members of his
own conference that are getting kind of antsy, being like,
you know, should they really be away? Should they not
be in Washington? While you know, I think the troops
are about to not get paid. I think the Pentagon
sorted that out. But essentially at the time, you know
that there's a lot of federal workers that are gonna
(37:07):
miss their first paycheck here off in that time period.
Speaker 3 (37:10):
Okay, yeah, uh, Let's let me ask you this. There's
a well she's not a member yet because she hasn't
been sworn in. But there's a new Democratic representative from
Arizona who Mike Johnson, and I to my knowledge, hasn't
sworn in yet. Why hasn't Johnson sworn her in? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (37:36):
I believe that he said that he's now open to her.
There's been a lot of pressure on him to do that,
but you know, I think that he has just said
that he will do it when the House is back
in session. But I know that there's a lot of
pressure growing from Democrats. I watched one of the pro
formas last week. I think it was I can't tell
(37:57):
you who the Speaker Proton was, but there was a
lot of there's Democrats that really screaming at, you know,
the person telling them to swear her in, especially because
there has been discrepancy when two Republicans were first elected,
Randy Fine and then one other Floridian who I can't
think of right now, but they were sworn in during
(38:18):
a pro forma session. So I think that it's more
also about that discrepancy more than anything else.
Speaker 3 (38:23):
Okay, do you think you know, some Democrats believe it's
because if once she's sworn in and can vote, could
sign the petition to release the Epstein files, does that
have anything to do this in the speaker's calculations.
Speaker 4 (38:40):
Democrats are definitely trying to make that an argument. Yes,
the Speaker has denied that, but I think that that
is going to be a huge concern and a huge
issue for him, you know when that happens.
Speaker 3 (38:52):
Okay, so you think this is gonna I'm the impression
on getting talking to you is this shutdown could last
for a real long time because there's really no sign
on either side they're willing to compromise, So we looking
in for a real long haul here.
Speaker 4 (39:13):
Well, I mean I say that I think it's possible,
but I say that with the caveat just because you
never know. I think, you know, especially with Trump in office.
I mean, he could just be like and the shutdown now,
and I don't you know, I don't actually know who
would uh you know what Republicans can do, but he
might try and broker He's trying to the administration is
trying to broker some back deals too. I think that
(39:33):
Vice President Vance is in touch with some vulnerable Senate
Democrats and more moderate ones that he probably has personal
relationships with from his time. So I mean, we'll see
what happens, but as of now, I'm not confident.
Speaker 3 (39:46):
Yeah, it's you know, looking pretty bleak. Uh. You know,
a general question, is it a room for compromise? I mean,
we're so polarized politically, is it for compromise in American
politics anymore? And if there isn't, how do we get
things done?
Speaker 4 (40:08):
I mean, I like to hope, So I still think that,
you know, I think under the radar, a lot of
members and lawmakers and people that don't always have their
name in the news often are doing you know, good
bipartisan work that's important and doesn't always get the attention
it does, but it should. And yeah, I think that
(40:29):
it still exists. I just stn't think it's as flashy
because you know, people don't want to read about it.
Speaker 3 (40:34):
Okay, Mika, thank you very much for joining us today.
It was a pleasure to have you back on Deadline DC.
Congratulations and good fortune on your new job. I want
to thank Mika for joining us today. Mika Solna, Senior
White House reporter Bloomberg Government. Also Charlie Cook, the founder
(40:59):
of the Cook Political Report and a columnist for the
National Journal, And of course, our intrepid producer Mark Grimaldi,
who makes sure the show runs on time and stays
online despite my best efforts to sow chaos. Next week,
Paul Lisnik, the political and legal analyst for WGNTV in Chicago,
(41:25):
joins us to discuss the age of ice in Chicago.
We'll see you all next week.
The Leslie Marshall Show, A true democracy in talk radio
of for and by you, the people speak.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Live from our nation's capital. It's Deadline DC with Brad Bannon.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Welcome. This is Brad Bannon, the host of Feline DC
with Brad Bannon. I'm a national democratic and progressive strategist.
I'm a political analyst for news radio KNX and Los
Angeles ninety seven point one on your FM dial, and
(00:59):
a weekly columnists to the Hill in Washington, DC to
get my take on Donald Trump's imperial presidency. You can
read my columns in the Hill at The Hill dot
com front slash Brad Bannon or Muckrack dot com front
slash Brad Bannon. Mondays on Deadline DCE, I talked to
(01:24):
the people and players behind the politics and policy that
drive our great nation forward, or at least try to
keep it from going backwards. During Trump two point zero,
we have two of our favorite guests today for a
wide ranging political discussion. In the first half hour, our
guest is Charlie Cook, the founder of the Cook Political Report,
(01:50):
a columnist for the National Journal, and one of our
great nation's foremost political analysts. In the second half hour,
Mika senior White House reporter for Bloomberg Government joins us
to discuss the Middle East Peace Agreement and other matters
(02:10):
relating to sixteen hundred Pennsylvania Avenue. But let's start with
our first guest. Our first guest is Charlie Cook. Charlie,
thanks for joining us today on Deadline DC with Brad Bannon.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Thanks for having me on brid First, let's.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Start with this. There's some key elections coming up in
a few weeks. On November fourth, there's an election a
ballot question in California that would allow Governor Gavin Newsom
to redistrict the congressional districts in the state. We've got
(02:47):
goudenatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia, and we've got
a very high profile mayor's race in New York City.
My first question to you is, what, if anything, are
you looking for in those election results that might suggest
what might happen next year in the mid term elections.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Well, Brad, I think one thing to do is to say, Okay,
what's your prior, what do you expect? And I would expect,
for example, in the California ballot initiative, as democratic as
the state is, as anti Trump as the state is
that the ballot initiative will be sort of more or
less a referendum up or down on Trump, so it
(03:32):
should go through. So it's only really noteworthy if that
doesn't happen. Otherwise, it's just exactly what you expect. Both
New Jersey and Virginia. Virginia technically speaking, they're in the
nineteen You have nineteen blue states, twenty four red states,
seven purple states in the middle. They're in the nineteen
(03:53):
blue states. I would actually probably put a more of
a kind of an indigo light blue, but they're Democrats.
Ought to win both by a couple of two or
three points. If it's less than that, that might be noteworthy,
but it's really only if they lose one or the other.
(04:13):
To be honest, I think if President Biden's numbers hadn't
been plumbting four years ago, the New Jersey governor's race
wouldn't have been close, and Democrats wouldn't have lost Virginia.
But that's what happened. I don't expect either one to
be particularly close. And New York City I don't really
follow memorial politics. I don't think they have a lot
of relevance nationwide. But to me, a socialist leaning guy
(04:40):
winning a New York City maurial race over a serial
sexual harassmer was not exactly or shattering news. But you
know whatever. But I wouldn't.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
I've never seen a mayorage race have said anything about
what's going on in the country.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Okay, I ask you a question. The last time we talked,
you told me you were working on a study of
partisan voting patents in governors and senate races. What can
you tell us about that?
Speaker 2 (05:12):
I hadn't finished it yet, But no, Okay. The thing is, though,
I actually what's interesting is it two of the things.
You know, each party has a challenge senate wise, and
for Democrats, the challenge is that there are too many
red states. I mean, they're twenty four red states, it's
(05:34):
forty eight, So that means that Republicans start off with
forty eight Senate seats almost in the bag, so pretty hard.
And they're only you know, there's seven purple states, so
it's fourteen sent seats. Democrats already have ten of them.
So it's it's it's it's tough arithmetic. Now let's flip
around the other way. Though, you look at the four
(05:56):
elections twenty eighteen, twenty twenty two, twenty four and in
those seven swing purple states, Democrats have won seventeen out
of twenty one Senate races and ten out of fourteen
governors races. Something's happening, and I have a theory, but
something's happening that Republicans are not winning the share of
(06:17):
Purple states that they used to in Senate and gumernatorial races.
And I sis fact that what you're seeing is the
Republican part is that the kind of the caliber of
people that used to run as Republicans in purple states
aren't Either they're not running because they don't think they
(06:40):
could win a MAGA primary, or they're running and losing
in a MAGA oriented primary, but they're not getting the
candidates that you know, you don't run red candidates in
purple states, just as Democrats shouldn't run, you know, blue
candidates in purple states. I mean go for purple and
I mean and for Democrats it doesn't matter who you
(07:00):
a blue state that much, I mean exaggeration, and for
Republicans in a red state. But so that's the main thing.
But the the nationalization that's taking place has taken place, Senate, governor, everything.
Very few of these races are going against type.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Okay, okay, let me ask you another question, Charlie. Next
year we have mid term elections. We have US Senate
seats up, we have House seats up. Let's start with
the House of Representatives. Now, there are some questions in
(07:43):
terms of House races because we have redistricting going on
in some states Texas, maybe California, there are a couple
of others. What do you think the prospects are for
control of the House moving from Democrats from Republicans to Democrats.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Well, I think I mean, first of all, I think
all mid decade redistricting is horrible and should never ever happen.
Doesn't matter which side does it. I think it's awful.
But I think Republicans will end up netting about maybe
a dozen when all of a sudden done sort of
all the Texas, Indiana, Missouri, whatever, whatever, whatever, minus what
(08:29):
Democrats were able to do in California. It'll probably be
about a dozen. But to be honest, I don't think
I don't think it's going to be enough to save
their majority. I would put it a seventy thirty bet
that Democrats take the House. That you know, blue districts
are going to blue, go blue, Red district going to
(08:49):
go red. But of the ones in the middle, President
Trump's approval ratings among pure independents, you know, in the
twenty seven to thirty five range, and that's that's the
predominant group in these purple purple districts, and they have
become pretty much nationalized. So I kind of think, I
(09:10):
kind of think the House will flip. I think the
simps really hard for him, But the House, I think
is more likely to flip than not.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
Okay, is it people? It just bent out of shape
in general? Is it Donald Trump's standing or combination of both.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Well, Brad, you're you're more of the political scientists.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
I'm not.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
But there's a there's a very thermostatic politics. You know,
when you come home and if your house is too hot,
you bring down the thermostat, if it's too cold, you
raise up the thermostack that. And I'm not talking about
partisan voters. I'm talking about swing voters in the middle.
That's what they do. And in twenty twenty, I think
(09:59):
they basically they were tired of Trump and they threw
him out and that election was about Trump, it wasn't
about Biden. And in twenty twenty four, even though Biden
was not not on the ballot, that Hairs took over.
It was about Biden and they threw and they threw
Democrats out. And that these peer independents, they don't they
tend to vote against more than four.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
And how I'm going to have to cut you off. Unfortunately,
We've got to. This is when we take the breaks
for our radio listeners. We'll be right back with more
Deadline DC and Charlie Cooked right after this quick break,
(10:42):
welcome back to Deadline. We see with Brad Banner. I
want to thank our radio audience for being patient. I
also want to remind our radio audience that if you
want to watch us as well as listen to us,
you can watch us at Twitter dot com front Slash Bradbannon,
(11:04):
at Facebook dot com front Slash, Deadline d C with
Bradbannon front Slash videos, and at YouTube dot com front
Slash at Deadline DC. Our guest in this half hour
is Charlie Cook, columnist for the National Journal. Charlie, I'm
(11:26):
going to take you through some of these Senate races,
and if you could comment on them. Please. First, you're
very familiar with the UH With Maine, we just got
a new Democratic candidate, the governor, Janet Mills, who's going
to oppose Susan Collins. What do you make of that race?
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Yeah, this is the last Senate race in the country
where you have either a Republican in a blue state
or a Democrat in a red state that after Mansion
retired and and you Democrats lost Ohio and West Virginia,
that was it. This is a state that it leans Democrat,
but not overwhelmingly. But Collins has managed to hold on. Now,
(12:10):
the thing is, I think you can get a good
argument whether Susan Collins was a heavyweight prior to twenty twenty,
but for her to win in a state that what
Trump was losing by what seven eight points? She won
by eight points. After being outspent. Between that and becoming
chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Susan Collins is now heavyweight.
(12:33):
And I think you to beat a heavyweight, you need
a heavyweight and not a novice, not somebody that's never
run for anything before or you know, held an office
or anything. I frankly think that the only chance Democrats
has had was if Mills ran and was the nominee.
And part of it is that, you know, Graham Platters,
(12:55):
he's obviously an interesting guy, you know, Afghanistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, veteran,
h oyster farmer.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
But the other Democratic candidate, yeah we yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
I mean there are actually several, but he's the one
that's getting most of attention. But the thing is it,
y us Senate, why not just run for president? Or
run why run for why not run for Hancock County Committee?
You know, council money? I mean, you know, I mean
it's just sort of this is this is gonna be
a The spending is going to be in the nine
(13:28):
figures and one hundreds of millions of dollars? Is this
really what you want to do? And that I think
it's going to end up? Yeah. I Democrats have a
history of going with sort of novelty in some races.
Novelty candidates that have some kind of quirky interesting bio
raise a ton of money and they don't do particularly well.
(13:51):
I think they need a heavyweight to win in May
against Susan Collins.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Okay, let's try moving across the map. Well, let's try
all right, this one Texas is a very bitter Republican
primary going on in their Senate race between the Attorney
General Ken Paxton and the incumbent. What do you make
of that race?
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Yeah, I think it comes down too if John Cornyan,
the Republican incumbent, holds on, then I don't think Democrats
have much of a chance. But if Ken Paxton, the
attorney general who was sort of full maga and Cornin
isn't but trying to kind of act like one. If
Ken Paxton is a Republican nominee, I think a good
(14:35):
Democratic candidate would have a good chance of winning. But
it would they But if they won, it would not
be about them. It would not be about Texas. It
would be about Republicans sort of jumping the shark and
going with a candidate that was just way too controversial,
had too much political baggage more than anything else. But
you take them wherever you can get them. But to me,
(14:57):
that's the third, the third shot best shot that Democrats
have of picking up Senate races.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
What is the second best shot?
Speaker 2 (15:05):
That would be well the Persons Act. That would be
North Carolina the open seat Tom Tillis is retiring, And
the other would be Collins in Maine, and then you know,
we're we're waiting to see who Republicans nominate. You know,
if they nominate I mean North Carolina. It's a purple
swing state, but it's a lot closer to red than
(15:26):
to blue, you know, kind of magenta. If Republicans nominated
a you know, slightly right of center, not terribly controversial candidate,
I think they'd have a good chance of beating Roy Cooper,
the former Democrat governor. But on the other hand, if
they nominate somebody that's out of more of a maggot type,
(15:48):
that's a race they could lose. And you never know
with Republican primary voters anymore.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Yeah, Now, the Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer got Janet
Mills into the race in Maine and gun himself a
good candidate in North Carolina. Could that make the difference?
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Well, you know that's two and yeah. Okay, So let's
assume for a second that John osof hangs on in
Georgia and he's you know, it's a tough race. It
depends on who Republicans nominate. In part, Let's assume that
Democrats hold on to the Michigan open seat that's a
toss up race. Let's assume they hold on to the
(16:30):
open seat in Minnesota, which is sort of more you
know in that Indigo category, technically blue, but not that blue.
Even if they get both North Carolina and Maine, that
only gets them to forty nine, and they need fifty
one if there's a Republican in the White House. So Texas,
if Republicans nominate nominated Paxton. But I don't buy I
(16:57):
don't buy Iowa as a possibility. I don't buy Nebraska.
Those are those are states that are just have gotten
out out of reach for for for Democrats. I mean,
I you know when you leave the two party vote
where you factor out in independent. So that's three elections.
Ioway is fifty five percent republic has voted fifty five
(17:18):
percent Republican. Uh, that's that's tough. Nebraska sixty one percent.
Those are that's a Those are tough places for a
Democrat to win, to stay and age.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
Let me ask you about Ohio former Senator Shared Brown,
a Democrat, is running again. What does that race look
like to you?
Speaker 2 (17:39):
I think Shared Brown is the strongest possible Democratic statewide
candidate in Ohio. But you know he couldn't hold on,
and I don't think he'd be able to win win
this thing. I mean, it's it's a fifty just a
hair under fifty five percent Republican voting state now in
terms of the two party vote. You know, he was
(17:59):
the asked he like John Tester and Montana and Joe
Manchin West Virginia was the last Democrat remaining in a
statewide race. Those states have just moved, you know, they've
just moved away from Democrats. And you know, that's part
of the problem is that Democrats have too many states
that they that have become no fly zones. They've got
to figure out a way to win in states with
(18:21):
you know, lots of voters that are in small towns
and rural America, you know that sort of thing. And
there's a lot of Ohio like that.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
Okay, one last question, Uh, what do you is this
just is this an election going to focus on Trump
or what do Democrats have to do to win some
of these races we've talked about?
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Well, I mean I think this election is just gonna
be about Trump and and and you know sort of
the the too too much, too far would be if
you were going to put in a nutshell what the
message ought to be because even when Trump's starts articulating
or addressing things issues that swing voters care about, he
(19:07):
goes way too far, does way too much. And I
think that's exactly what this thing's going to be about,
is that thermostatics pulling thermostatic.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
At Charlie, thank you very much for joining us today.
Our guest in this half hour was the prominent political analyst,
Charlie Cook. We'll be right back after this break with
more Deadline DC. Welcome back to Deadline d C with
(19:47):
Brad Vannon. Our guest in this half hour is Mika
Sola and her new job as senior White House reporter
at Bloomberg Government. Mika's going to talk about the events
in the Middle East today. We're going to talk about
(20:07):
Marjorie Taylor Green and heard what I described as a
strange case of Marjorie and Taylor Green and also the governments,
governor's the government shutdown.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
UH.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
Mika, thanks for joining us again on Deadline DC. It's
good to have you back.
Speaker 4 (20:25):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
Okay, let's start with the Middle East. UH. Today there
was an exchange of hamas hostages and UH and Israeli prisoners,
very dramatic. President Trump was there. Could you tell us
(20:47):
what happened, what is supposed to happen next now that
they've done the prisoner exchange.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
Yeah, I mean, I think that we're really going to
see how this piece deal plays out. And a lot
of people are watching, and I think a lot of
people are going to be specifically looking at you know,
Hamas and being able to disarm them completely. I think
that's one of the major concerns. But overall, I think
that you know, that this is a step and we're
going to have to see if this is lasting after
(21:15):
almost two years of war that has really torn apart
both political parties.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
Now, assuming that Israel stops their attacks on Gaza and
that Hamas does disarmed, what's going to happen to Gaza
after all this has done. Is there going to be
some kind of peacekeeping force? Will there be United States involvement?
How's this going to work? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (21:42):
I think that we're really going to be in the
rebuilding phase now for Gaza. President Trump signaled that the
United States was helping to, you know, help with that effort.
I know that part of this deal also includes, you know,
no restrictions at all when it comes to getting aid
into the region, which has been an issue in the past.
So I think we're going to look at that. But
(22:03):
I think that there will be some level of U
AS involvement, given you know, what the President said today.
But you know, we'll have to see also given the
United States relationship with Israel and how Israel keeps up
its end of this deal as well.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
Okay, right now, the president's job rating is not great.
It's depending upon which national poll you look at. It's
probably in the low forties. Some poles have them a
little higher than that, but it's not good. Do you
(22:39):
think this will boost the president's standing?
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Now?
Speaker 3 (22:42):
I mean, this is actually a pretty big deal if
it holds. Do you think it will boost the president's ratings?
Speaker 4 (22:51):
Well, I think that it has a temporary potential to do. So.
I mean, we saw that the President was getting some
rare bipartisan you know, praise today in regards to this deal.
But I think that there's a lot to see still
in terms of, you know, what's going to happen in
the region. But I know that there were some Democrats
that came out in sport of you know, Trump's plan
(23:15):
and the goal of his whole working group today, including
Vice President Kamala Harris, his former rival.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
Okay, let's try this. How did Trump you know, from
what you've learned at the White House, from his station
at the White House, How did Donald Trump make this
situation work? It seemed intractable and now there seems to
be at least a hint of progress. How did he
do it? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (23:43):
I mean I think that you know, he established this
close group around them, and I think one of the
areas that we've seen is that they were willing to
kind of sit down with Hamas and I know that
that got a lot of pushback, but I mean that
was one of the okay, between a lot of difference.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Okay, let's try this. I wanted to discuss with you.
One of the things that I've found very curious about
the news lately, the political news, is the strange case
of Representative Margie Taylor Green, who all of a sudden
(24:28):
is bashing the crap out of the president on tariffs,
on healthcare. What do you have any idea?
Speaker 4 (24:37):
What?
Speaker 3 (24:37):
You covered the Hill for a long time, and I
guess you still are. What is going on with Marjorie
Taylor Green.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (24:46):
I mean I think that we've seen her become outspoken,
you know, with her party in recent weeks. And I
mean she's always been someone that has not been afraid
to criticize her own party at times, but it is
interesting to kind of see her do it more vocally
against the presidents. And I know that I spoke with
her last week and she said that she's not spoken
(25:07):
with President Trump. He has not called her since she
came out in favor of the ACA extensions. Obviously that's
you know, not the position of the president or the
or a House Republicans, and you know, the issue that's
also in the middle of this government shutdown fight that
Democrats are fighting for. So I think she kind of
sees herself as a maverick or an independent voice in
(25:31):
among the conference.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Yeah, it's really quite being the maverick. I mean, she's
almost swung from one political extreme to another. It's really
very strange. Let me, since we're talking about the House,
what is the mood? There are several We just had
Charlie Cook on in the first half hour, and Charlie said,
(25:57):
there's at least some danger. He thinks that the Democrats
are going to flip the House. If Charlie's right, there
must be a lot of nervous Republican House members out there.
And what are they thinking. Are they worried, scared? Do
they think they've maybe going too far following the line
(26:23):
with Trump? Or they, you know, pretty confident that somehow
they'll work this thing out.
Speaker 4 (26:30):
I mean, I think that there's always tension ahead of
a midterm, but I mean I think that Republicans do
know that they're in for a year that is just
going to be more bullish for Democrats because it is
going to be a mid term election where Republicans are
in charge of you know, the White House and both
chambers of Congress. So whatever is happening at the time,
(26:50):
you know, they're likely to get the blame for it,
especially if the economy is going badly. But I will say,
you know, one thing that's also indicative of their nervousness
is the redistricting efforts. I think that the White House
is pushed on all of these redistricting efforts in these states.
Uh One, it's unprecedented, but I think it's a huge
signal that they are nervous that they're going to lose
(27:11):
seats in such a narrow margin as well.
Speaker 3 (27:15):
Okay, you know, it strikes me and I'd be like
to know your opinion that Trump and the Republicans and
the Speaker, I guess, are betting that the commitment to
Donald Trump is so strong among Republican voters that they'll
(27:40):
basically tolerate anything, and that there's and Trump has ginned
them up so much even if they're in trouble, they
can win this thing by outperforming Democrats and turnout.
Speaker 4 (27:52):
Is that the bet that.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
Trump and you know, the Speaker of making or is
it something else.
Speaker 4 (27:59):
I think that they're going to play on some of
the things that they view as you know, the best accomplishments.
I mean, they're they're going to play on, you know,
cutting spending and and you know, after this peace deal.
I think that they'll play that up a lot. But
I think that some Republicans will tie themselves to Trump
while others will all distance others. In more blue districts,
(28:21):
I mean, we've seen you know, people like Mike Lawler
from New York, who's very vulnerable speaking out on some
of the things that the president's done, including you know,
slashing federal jobs during the government shutdown, or we saw
members like Kevin Kylie from California who actually introduced a
bill to ban redistricting in mid decade cycles completely. So
(28:43):
you know, I think that it really depends member by member.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
Okay, and I sure I assume they're counting up. They're
going to get a lot of money out of Washington
from people's support Donald Trump, and that must make them
feel a little better. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (29:01):
Absolutely. I think that's one of the things that the
House campaign arm is really relying on and the Senate
campaign Arm with the major Senate races happening next year,
is that Trump's going to really help them fundraise and
for Democrats to honestly.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
Okay, how do you think the Speaker has performed? You know,
it seems to me actually kind of amazing. Even on
a very very tough votes were his members of putting
themselves at political risk. He's always able to turn out
(29:38):
just enough for publican votes. He loses one or two
on a lot of key votes, but that's all. How
is how is he able to do that? Is that
some skill the Speaker has or it's just because Donald
Trump is backing them up, or what.
Speaker 4 (29:54):
I think that Trump is heavily benefiting Speaker Johnson. I
think that the Speaker Johnson has kind of found his
footing a little bit more since he first took the gabble.
But no, I think that with Trump's backing, he can
pretty much pressure any Republican for the most part, to
vote in the way that he wants otherwise threaten a
primary against them. So I think it's heavily due to
(30:16):
Trump's influence.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
Okay, we're going to kick a quick break now for
our radio listeners. We'll be right back with more of
Deadline DC with Brad Bannon and our guest, Mika Sola,
the senior White House reporter at Bloomberg Government. Welcome back
(30:43):
to Deadline DC with Brad Bannon. Our guest in this
half hour is Mika Sona, who is the senior White
House reporter for Bloomberg Government. Before she covered the White House,
she covered the House of Representatives, so she's in a
unique position to discuss the showdown between the White House
(31:08):
and Congress on the shutdown. Mika, both sides dug pretty
deep into their trenches. The Democrats insist they're not going
to vote to break the silibuster in the Senate over
the shutdown until the President restores Medicaid benefits and reduces
(31:36):
healthcare premiums under the Affordable Care Act. At least to
my vantage point too far off. The President or the
Speaker doesn't seem to be in a mood to compromise
on this issue. So what do you think is going
to happen? How long is this shutdown going to break?
(31:59):
And will it take to break it?
Speaker 4 (32:01):
Yeah, I mean I think Speaker Johnson said himself this
could end up being the longest shutdown, and you know that.
I think that there's a lot of pressure that he's facing,
you know, particularly, and the Speaker went on c SPAN
last week and there were you know, callers just you know,
telling him to bring the house back. He's had the
house out for about I think this is going to
(32:23):
be the third week. So I think that there's pressure
that Democrats are trying to put on him as well
to kind of call them back. But right now, pretty
much all the action is going to be in the Senate.
I mean, Senate Democrats are really putting in the healthcare
fight into the shutdown. You know, they want to bring
the ACA extensions and have those conversations now, and so
that's really at the heart of their fight. In terms
(32:45):
of the shutdown.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
Okay, Now, I've been critical of the Democratic congressional leadership
in the past on the show, but it's my opinion,
like your opinion, that the Democratic congressional leadership's actually handled
us pretty well. They picked an issue healthcare, especially inflation
(33:08):
and healthcare costs, as their hill to fight on, and
it's important because the number one issue of concern out
there to Americans if you look at the national polls,
is inflation. And they've built this opposition to Trump's big,
bad budget bill on opposition to health care cuts and
(33:34):
increases in healthcare insurance premiums. And you know, the remarkable
thing is if you look at the Democratic constituency groups,
labor unions, progressive progressive issue groups, they really are very
much on message on this thing. And I'd like to
(33:54):
know how you feel the Democratic congressional leadership has handled this.
And I you know, usually i'm pretty critical of them,
but on this thing, I think they've done a pretty
good job.
Speaker 4 (34:05):
Yeah, I mean, I think that it's very good optics.
And it's notable that Leader Jefferies is keeping his caucus
here in town, and I know that they're really trying
to message on the fact that Democrats you know, are
in Washington, you know, trying to work this out while
Mike Johnson has kept Republicans away. So I think that
that's you know, a really good messaging on their point.
(34:28):
But yeah, I think that it's really interesting to kind
of see Democrats holding up this long. I mean, usually
I thought government shutdown would be something that conservative hardliners
who often threatened shutdowns to So yeah, I actually kind
of thought that, you know, they would probably give in
by now, but that hasn't been the case. So we'll
see what happens here.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
Do you see either side giving something on this issue
to reach a compromise? I mean, I gues I was
going to say the shutdown has to end at some point,
but I'm not sure it does. I actually, do you
think there's any room for compromise between the two parties.
Speaker 4 (35:05):
I mean, at the moment, there doesn't seem to be
anything going on in the future, just the way that
it's going. I think that this bill has been put
on the floor in the Senate what five six times
or so, and it's failed every single time, And like
there really hasn't been much traction among you know, Senate
Democrats who have signed on even a vulnerable ones like
(35:28):
Senator Ossov who's facing who could face a really difficult
election next year. I mean, he hasn't even caved or
he's been kind of on the side of progressives on
this as well.
Speaker 3 (35:39):
You would think something has to give it at some point.
God only knows what. I guess I don't know what
it is, and you don't, not really either, so I
left to wait and see. Let me ask you this question.
The speaker, Speaker Mike Johnson is under some pressure now
(36:01):
because the House has been out of session I don't
know for two or three weeks now, it's not going
to be in session this week. Why is why is
he not want to bring the House back in session.
Is it just because he doesn't see hope of an
agreement or are there are other things going on here? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (36:22):
I mean the Speakers made the argument that he thinks
that House Republicans have already done the job. I mean
they passed the cr and like the fights really in
the Senate, and to that extent that he is correct.
But I do think that, you know, the longer this
drives that, he's also I think keeping members out to
try and put pressure on the Senate in some way,
you know, to prove that kind of point. But at
(36:45):
the same time, I think that some members of his
own conference that are getting kind of antsy, being like,
you know, should they really be away? Should they not
be in Washington? While you know, I think the troops
are about to not get paid. I think the Pentagon
sorted that out. But essentially at the time, you know
that there's a lot of federal workers that are gonna
(37:07):
miss their first paycheck here off in that time period.
Speaker 3 (37:10):
Okay, yeah, uh, Let's let me ask you this. There's
a well she's not a member yet because she hasn't
been sworn in. But there's a new Democratic representative from
Arizona who Mike Johnson, and I to my knowledge, hasn't
sworn in yet. Why hasn't Johnson sworn her in? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (37:36):
I believe that he said that he's now open to her.
There's been a lot of pressure on him to do that,
but you know, I think that he has just said
that he will do it when the House is back
in session. But I know that there's a lot of
pressure growing from Democrats. I watched one of the pro
formas last week. I think it was I can't tell
(37:57):
you who the Speaker Proton was, but there was a
lot of there's Democrats that really screaming at, you know,
the person telling them to swear her in, especially because
there has been discrepancy when two Republicans were first elected,
Randy Fine and then one other Floridian who I can't
think of right now, but they were sworn in during
(38:18):
a pro forma session. So I think that it's more
also about that discrepancy more than anything else.
Speaker 3 (38:23):
Okay, do you think you know, some Democrats believe it's
because if once she's sworn in and can vote, could
sign the petition to release the Epstein files, does that
have anything to do this in the speaker's calculations.
Speaker 4 (38:40):
Democrats are definitely trying to make that an argument. Yes,
the Speaker has denied that, but I think that that
is going to be a huge concern and a huge
issue for him, you know when that happens.
Speaker 3 (38:52):
Okay, so you think this is gonna I'm the impression
on getting talking to you is this shutdown could last
for a real long time because there's really no sign
on either side they're willing to compromise, So we looking
in for a real long haul here.
Speaker 4 (39:13):
Well, I mean I say that I think it's possible,
but I say that with the caveat just because you
never know. I think, you know, especially with Trump in office.
I mean, he could just be like and the shutdown now,
and I don't you know, I don't actually know who
would uh you know what Republicans can do, but he
might try and broker He's trying to the administration is
trying to broker some back deals too. I think that
(39:33):
Vice President Vance is in touch with some vulnerable Senate
Democrats and more moderate ones that he probably has personal
relationships with from his time. So I mean, we'll see
what happens, but as of now, I'm not confident.
Speaker 3 (39:46):
Yeah, it's you know, looking pretty bleak. Uh. You know,
a general question, is it a room for compromise? I mean,
we're so polarized politically, is it for compromise in American
politics anymore? And if there isn't, how do we get
things done?
Speaker 4 (40:08):
I mean, I like to hope, So I still think that,
you know, I think under the radar, a lot of
members and lawmakers and people that don't always have their
name in the news often are doing you know, good
bipartisan work that's important and doesn't always get the attention
it does, but it should. And yeah, I think that
(40:29):
it still exists. I just stn't think it's as flashy
because you know, people don't want to read about it.
Speaker 3 (40:34):
Okay, Mika, thank you very much for joining us today.
It was a pleasure to have you back on Deadline DC.
Congratulations and good fortune on your new job. I want
to thank Mika for joining us today. Mika Solna, Senior
White House reporter Bloomberg Government. Also Charlie Cook, the founder
(40:59):
of the Cook Political Report and a columnist for the
National Journal, And of course, our intrepid producer Mark Grimaldi,
who makes sure the show runs on time and stays
online despite my best efforts to sow chaos. Next week,
Paul Lisnik, the political and legal analyst for WGNTV in Chicago,
(41:25):
joins us to discuss the age of ice in Chicago.
We'll see you all next week.
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