Latest / Curtis Sliwa & Larry Mendte In The Morning / Jon Decker, WOR White House correspondent Interview

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Jon Decker, WOR White House correspondent Interview · Curtis Sliwa & Larry Mendte In The Morning

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Well, it is the election day and what a great
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: time to talk to John Decker, White House and Washington correspondent,
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: host of the podcast, The White House Briefing Room with
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: John Decker. You can find that on the iHeartRadio app. So, John,
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: there has been some surprises in this midterm election. Nobody
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: thought South Carolina would be in play or Kansas or Nebraska. Sure.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: all Republican strongholds. So it feels a little bit like
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: a Democratic year. I think there was some hope at
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: first they could hold the Senate. That hope is questionable now.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Well, it is. You know, I think that the House
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: is definitely going to flip, that Democrats will control the
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: House of Representatives after this midterm election. It's just about
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: how much the margin will be. On the Senate side,
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: you're right. There are a number of states that at
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: the very beginning of the cycle, no one thought would
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: be at play. You know, we're talking about Texas, for instance, Alaska.
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  Speaker 2: But because of certain headwinds, the Republicans are not doing
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  Speaker 2: well there. And those are two really good pickup opportunities
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: for Democrats this midterm election cycle.
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  Speaker 3: Now, John Decker, I notice in the president's closing remarks
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  Speaker 3: at my favorite location, the reflection pool. I didn't hear
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  Speaker 3: the bravado that I've heard before when he's on the stump,
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  Speaker 3: either for himself or fellow Republicans, where he was saying,
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  Speaker 3: we're going to win so much you're going to get
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  Speaker 3: tired of winning. It was almost like he had reserved
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  Speaker 3: himself to understand he's going to lose the House.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I can't get inside President Donald Trump's head, and
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  Speaker 2: I don't think anyone can, Curtis, but I think that
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  Speaker 2: you're right in terms of the tone. There's no doubt
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  Speaker 2: about it. I was there yesterday when the president made
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  Speaker 2: his remarks for about an hour at the reflecting pool
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  Speaker 2: at the Lincoln Memorial. And, you know, the very first
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  Speaker 2: part of that speech was a little odd. You know,
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  Speaker 2: it was tone deaf in the sense that, you know,
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  Speaker 2: if it's a closing message, I think you want to
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  Speaker 2: reach out to those undecided voters, those voters on the
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: fence and explain why Republicans should get your vote. Instead,
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  Speaker 2: the president talked about some of the projects that the
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: White House and the president have pursued during the course
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: of his one and a half plus years back in
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  Speaker 2: the White House, including the reflecting pool. There's no doubt
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  Speaker 2: about it. These various projects have beautified Washington, D.C. But
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  Speaker 2: was yesterday the time to make that argument? I don't
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  Speaker 2: think so. I think, you know, the second half of
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  Speaker 2: the speech made more sense than the first half of
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  Speaker 2: the speech, which focused on all the work that went
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: into the reflecting pool.
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  Speaker 1: You know, if the scenario works out the way that
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  Speaker 1: most people think it's going to happen, or at least
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: it's very possible to happen, where the Democrats take the
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: House and the Republicans still hold on to the Senate,
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  Speaker 1: either have a tie and J.D. Vance has the deciding
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: vote or they win by one vote, then what is
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: going to happen? Is the government just almost shut down
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  Speaker 1: for a while because nothing is going to get through?
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  Speaker 2: Well, that's right. I think the only thing that will
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  Speaker 2: get through if your scenario plays out and Republicans control
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  Speaker 2: the Senate but not the House is that the president's
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: ability to name certain individuals for open positions that require
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: Senate confirmation, it makes it that much more easier. Having
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: said all that, you'll also have to take into account that,
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  Speaker 2: you know, the numbers may not be the same that
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  Speaker 2: existed before this midterm election. So you have certain senators,
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  Speaker 2: certainly during the lame duck session, they're in place still.
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  Speaker 2: But also beyond that, Lisa Murkowski is still there. So
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  Speaker 2: is she always a yes vote for everything that the
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  Speaker 2: president wants or every personnel decision that the president wants
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  Speaker 2: confirmed by the U.S. Senate? I don't think so. So
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  Speaker 2: you have to factor that into account. And also, let's
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  Speaker 2: just say for argument's sake, it's 50-50. We love hypotheticals,
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  Speaker 2: Larry and Curtis. What about John Fetterman? Does he switch parties?
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  Speaker 2: That is interesting to see whether or not that actually happens. He,
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  Speaker 2: like all senators, like all lawmakers, focused exclusively first and
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: foremost on political survival. And I just don't see how
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  Speaker 2: he survives. And if he wants to run for a
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  Speaker 2: second term in the U.S. Senate, As a Democrat, I
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  Speaker 2: don't think he's going to get elected and win that
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  Speaker 2: nomination as a Democratic senator from Pennsylvania.
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  Speaker 3: Now, John, we've talked to you many times about Supreme
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  Speaker 3: Court rulings. I saw yesterday there was an unsigned order,
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  Speaker 3: which is always difficult for me to understand, is that
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  Speaker 3: they weren't going to do anything that they had been
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  Speaker 3: asked to do to give permission to the Trump administration.
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  Speaker 3: to involve themselves with state-run elections. Could you explain that,
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  Speaker 3: what that is?
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  Speaker 2: Well, what that is, I think, more than anything else is,
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  Speaker 2: you know, you're asking the Supreme Court to weigh in
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  Speaker 2: on a decision which would impact, in a certain way,
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  Speaker 2: the vote count in California a day before the presidential election,
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  Speaker 2: and the Supreme Court just doesn't want to go there.
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  Speaker 2: Every justice on the Supreme Court doesn't want to go there. Now,
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  Speaker 2: if this issue came up, let's say, 60 days ago,
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  Speaker 2: 90 days ago, perhaps they would have weighed in on
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  Speaker 2: this issue, but they're not going to do it 48
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  Speaker 2: hours before the midterm election date takes place, November the 3rd.
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  Speaker 2: And I think that's what that decision was all about.
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  Speaker 2: Also keep in mind, two lower federal courts had ruled
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  Speaker 2: against the administration on this particular issue, essentially segregating 20,000
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  Speaker 2: ballots that went out from California to Two lower courts
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  Speaker 2: said you can't do that. There's no there's no possible
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  Speaker 2: way of doing that. And so I think that's what
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  Speaker 2: that decision by the Supreme Court yesterday was all about.
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  Speaker 2: No dissent from the Supreme Court yesterday, even from the
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  Speaker 2: most conservative justices like Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.
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  Speaker 3: What about Alaska?
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  Speaker 1: I know that that's been in the courts now, and
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  Speaker 1: one of the courts denied the movement, the request to
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  Speaker 1: take away the other Dan Sullivan's votes until they can
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  Speaker 1: be counted and checked on later to find out if
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  Speaker 1: that's exactly where people wanted to vote on. But that
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  Speaker 1: is going to be appealed by the Justice Department. Where
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  Speaker 1: does this go?
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  Speaker 2: Well, just the way you described it, it would go
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  Speaker 2: to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, That covers the
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  Speaker 2: District of Alaska. As you point out, Larry, a federal
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  Speaker 2: district court judge has already ruled against the federal government,
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  Speaker 2: ruled against the Department of Justice on this particular matter,
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  Speaker 2: and we'll see what happens at the appellate level. I
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  Speaker 2: think that the arguments being put forward by the administration
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  Speaker 2: were not good arguments, and I think they're going to lose,
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  Speaker 2: even if it were to go all the way up
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  Speaker 2: to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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  Speaker 3: John, once again, the last thing we're talking about is Iran,
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  Speaker 3: the war with Iran. Yesterday, it seemed to spark up hopes.
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  Speaker 3: The vice president commented we're in active negotiations through Qatar
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  Speaker 3: with Iran. Iran acknowledged that that is correct. Do you
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  Speaker 3: have any updates on that?
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  Speaker 2: Well, the update is Iran said, well, we have an
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  Speaker 2: idea to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. And it was
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  Speaker 2: essentially an idea that they've put forward time and time again.
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  Speaker 2: They want to get reimbursed for all of the damage
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  Speaker 2: that has been inflicted upon Iran, reparations. That's a non-starter.
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  Speaker 2: It's pretty clear it's been a non-starter the first, the second,
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  Speaker 2: the third time they asked for that. And they also
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  Speaker 2: said they would like to see their frozen assets unfrozen.
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  Speaker 2: That is also a non-starter as far as the U.S.
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  Speaker 2: is concerned. So we're back at square one. The president
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  Speaker 2: has said time and time again that Iran will want
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: to negotiate an end to the war. But after the midterms,
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  Speaker 2: I don't know. I haven't seen any indication of that.
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  Speaker 2: This could be something that continues all the way through
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  Speaker 2: 2028 in the sense that Iran may say, you know what,
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  Speaker 2: we impacted the midterm elections. Maybe we can impact the
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: presidential election as well.
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  Speaker 1: Let's talk about the other scenario. President Trump has said
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  Speaker 1: time and time again that if the Democrats take the
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  Speaker 1: House and the Senate, which is a real possibility, they
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  Speaker 1: are going to impeach me. And many of the Democrats,
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  Speaker 1: none of the leadership did, but many of the Democrats
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  Speaker 1: like Ro Khanna have come out and said, yeah, we're
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  Speaker 1: absolutely going to try to impeach him. But it seems
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  Speaker 1: like at first they have their target on Pete Hegseth,
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  Speaker 1: the Secretary of War, who they really don't seem to like.
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  Speaker 2: Well, that's right. You know, and he may not have
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  Speaker 2: the kind of support that he needs to have from Republicans. So,
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  Speaker 2: you know, I think that he could be one of
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  Speaker 2: those administration officials who departs after the midterm elections on
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: his own rather than face the wrath of senators who
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: would like to see him gone and may start the
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: process of impeachment as it relates to impeachment for President Trump,
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  Speaker 2: which would be his third impeachment sentence. I don't know
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  Speaker 2: what those articles of impeachment look like. I don't know
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  Speaker 2: on what grounds you'd impeach the president. But remember, impeachment
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  Speaker 2: is a process. It's a political process. You would have
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  Speaker 2: the votes to impeach the president in the House, simple majority.
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  Speaker 2: You need 67 votes in the Senate once it goes
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  Speaker 2: over to the Senate. to remove the president, and you're
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: not going to get anywhere near that. So it's just that,
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  Speaker 2: Larry and Curtis. It would be a political exercise.
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  Speaker 3: One final quick question. I'm concerned about cyber attacks on
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  Speaker 3: the electronic equipment. We know Iran has the capability. We
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: know others. All they have to do is hit one
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  Speaker 3: state where the vote is neck and neck, and that
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  Speaker 3: could throw the final results into chaos. They have the
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: ability to do that. Each state does their own thing.
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  Speaker 3: Can the federal government protect that process from cyber attack?
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  Speaker 2: Well, you know, certain governors, even Democratic governors like Washington state,
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  Speaker 2: they've brought in the National Guard for this purpose. You know,
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  Speaker 2: it has to do with what you just mentioned, Curtis,
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  Speaker 2: these potential cyber attacks coming from bad actors, from foreign actors.
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  Speaker 2: And so, you know, I don't know what may or
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: may not happen today. I think that, you know, this
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  Speaker 2: is something that has not just sprung up. Election entities
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  Speaker 2: in various states prepare for this day, literally for years.
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  Speaker 2: So I'm sure that, you know, they have certain processes
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  Speaker 2: already in place to prevent the kind of scenario that
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  Speaker 2: you're talking about. Let's hope that's the case. I would
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  Speaker 2: hate to see, you know, a delay because of a
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  Speaker 2: cyber attack being caused by a foreign actor on election
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: systems in various states.
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  Speaker 1: John Decker, thanks so much. You've got a busy day ahead.
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  Speaker 1: WOR White House and Washington correspondent and host of the podcast,
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: The White House Briefing Room with John Decker. You can
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: find that on the iHeartRadio app. Thank you so much, John.
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: Tristan.