The NPR Politics Podcast - Weekly Roundup: December 4th

Episode Date: December 4, 2020

Georgia's January 5th runoff elections will determine control of the Senate. That's brought 2024 contenders — including Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, and Tim Scott — to the state to campaign.Also, it looks like another coronavirus relief package will actually come together.This episode: correspondent Asma Khalid, reporter Emma Hurt of member station WABE, national political correspondent Don Gonyea, congressional reporter Claudia Grisales, and congressional correspondent Kelsey Snell.Connect:Subscribe to the NPR Politics Podcast here.Email the show at [e-mail] the NPR Politics Podcast Facebook Group.Listen to our playlist The NPR Politics Daily Workout.Subscribe to the NPR Politics Newsletter.Find and support your local public radio station.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Hey everybody, before we start today's show, we have a favor to ask. We know this is an incredibly tough moment for folks, but if you're able to, we'd love if you could donate to your local NPR station. Supporting them means you're supporting this podcast, a podcast you've turned to every day over this crazy year to make sense of what was happening with the pandemic, the election, and so much more. We're able to report the facts because of your support. Just head to donate.npr.org to get started.

As they say in politics, every dollar counts. And thank you. We are the Everly Set, an Everly Brothers tribute band. We've been unemployed since March We hope our concerts get rescheduled Or else we're gonna cry This podcast was recorded at 1.06 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, December 4th.

Things may have changed by the time you hear this, but if they haven't, we can always Dream, dream, dream, dream. All right, here's the show. I love this. We haven't had a song on our timestamp in ages. Well, hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Asma Khalid. I'm covering Joe Biden's transition. I'm Don Gagne, national political correspondent. And today, like a lot of political reporters, I've got Georgia on my mind. So we brought on a special guest, Emma Hurt from WABE in Atlanta. Emma, thank you for coming on the show. Thanks for having me. So, Emma, it feels like the entire political world is zeroed in on Georgia because you all have two Senate runoffs coming up very soon that could determine the fate of the Senate and which party controls it.

Yes, it's it was an unlikely scenario in some ways, but in other ways, it feels like, of course, this is what happened. And yeah, you're right. I mean, today we have former President Barack Obama and Vice President Mike Pence both campaigning for their respective parties' candidates. And really the tenor and the pace in this campaign has just gotten faster and faster. And there are a lot of reporters down here with us and a lot of attention. So we're happy to have everyone's eyes and hope people come down and enjoy Georgia. And Don, we have another very high profile politician who's headed there tomorrow. President Trump will be holding a rally in South Georgia, which is interesting because he has not yet actually officially conceded the election. No, this is this is the tricky thing. He is going to be in kind of a rural part of the state, Valdosta, Georgia, down near the Florida state line.

And he is going to be encouraging turnout, even as he, I think we can expect him to still grumble, and that's probably a mild word for what he will do, about the state of the election. And he will, again, I'm sure, maintain that he won and that he also carried Georgia, even though our recount has shown that Joe Biden did indeed carry Georgia. But he's balancing all of these things. On one hand, he has to be the good soldier and he has to help out these two Republicans because Republicans need these two Senate seats. But on the other hand,

he's got all of these other kind of conflicting things that he would just as soon be talking about. Does it change, do you feel like, the dynamic of who's in Georgia or what Republicans in Georgia are able to say and do? And I guess I say that because, you know, our colleagues Tamara Keith and Frank Ordonez reported earlier this week that it seems like Donald Trump is considering running for president again in 2024. And so this kind of like hangs over, it feels like,

much of the Republican Party at this point. Oh, it absolutely does. And look, we have had a steady stream of potential Republican 2024 candidates coming through Georgia, not just because of all the attention that the state is getting now because of the runoff, but also this is a newly minted swing state. We know Georgia is going to be really important next year. So look, we've had Marco Rubio come through, Rick Scott, the other senator from Florida. We've had Tom Cotton, the senator. We've had Vice President Mike Pence not there yet, at least. South Carolina's former governor, Nikki Haley, she's also the former U.N. ambassador. She is helping raise money for the Republicans. Same with Senator Josh Hawley. Ted Cruz is coming. Dan Crenshaw, the Navy SEAL member

of Congress, is coming through. And Trump. So it's all just a little bit breathless. But Trump is obviously the big dog here, right? And I talked to Republican strategist Rick Tyler, who worked with Ted Cruz when Cruz ran for president four years ago, unsuccessfully, of course. But Tyler has become one of those never Trump Republicans. He talks here about the kind of problems Trump just hanging over everything creates for anyone else who's got a half a mind on running in four years. The problem is it doesn't allow other candidates to become organized. And it makes donors and operatives and volunteers all sit on the fence to see what he's going to do. And that's what I mean by the field will be

frozen if Donald Trump doesn't make a commitment either to run or not to run. But of course, you know, for President Trump, it's in his interest to kind of keep this an open question. And that creates problems for, again, any other potential candidate. You know, Emma, at the same time, the president has been fighting with state officials there in Georgia over his bogus claims of election fraud. And we've heard pushback from some Republican election officials in the state telling him, frankly, that he needs to stop. So I'm so curious, you know, does the president coming to Georgia this weekend help or hurt fellow Republicans?

You know, that's that's an open question. But Republicans, I would say, are very much taking the opinion that they need the president's full throated support in order to win this. I mean, Vice President Biden narrowly won the state. Republicans in the Senate did outperform Democrats in November, but it's going to be tight and they need everybody out. They can't afford to lose any Republican voter. And right now, the election integrity questions that the president has been continuing to ask without evidence, as you said, are threatening that while the president himself has said, you know, we need to make sure that we are voting for Senator Loeffler and Senator Perdue in January. Some of his supporters have said, why vote in a system that's rigged?

And that is a very scary thing for Republicans in Georgia right now. And so they need the president to come out and try to tamp some of that down. They've got about a month to convince people who have decided the election is too rigged to vote again to change their mind. What's the dynamic like between President Trump right now and some of these high profile Republicans within the state, whether we're talking about the two GOP Senate candidates, Loeffler or Perdue, or even the governor, Brian Kemp. I mean, I think back to 2018, I remember going and covering this mega rally that President Trump held, where it was for Brian

Kemp, like he was the main attraction, President Trump, and everyone was coming out there. And people wanted to align themselves as closely as they could with the president. Is that still the dynamic amongst the Republican elected officials as well as these two Senate candidates who are running? Do they want to be as closely aligned with the president as possible? Right now, it seems like they do because of what I said before, because they need his support and they need his supporters. But you're right. It's been pretty tense for some top officials, including Governor Kemp, who's been on the receiving end of some of the president's frustration this week. He called him hapless on Twitter, which is kind of just mind boggling. If you think back to 2018 and that rally in Macon, I was there, too. And it was crazy. And and so while Kemp and our secretary of state, who Trump also endorsed, have been on the receiving end of some of this venting, Senators Perdue and Loeffler have kind of stayed on the sidelines.

And I think you can make the argument that Governor Kemp in particular could think, well, it's better for me it be at me because we need Senators Perdue to protect Donald Trump's legacy. And that is something that appeals very much to Donald Trump's self-interest, right? So that's the incentive for him to be fully on board. Now, they also know he's not going to be fully on board with, you know, mail-in voting or the ballot machines, both of which he has vilified. But if he can just kind of keep the focus on what this means for him, if these two candidates win, then that is, I think, exactly what the Republicans in Georgia would be hoping for. And also, I think that Republicans will hope that he reminds everyone that the deadline to register to vote is on Monday. All right. Well, Emma and Don, thank you

both very much. Have a great weekend. Glad to be here. Thanks for having me. And we're going to take a quick break. When we get back, we'll talk about coronavirus relief efforts in Congress. Support for NPR and the following message come from Quantacy and Associates, a full-service creative agency and studio helping brands grow by pushing culture in the right direction while introducing a new era of thinking. With a business model designed to help companies excel, they specialize in melding the worlds of marketing, content, technology, and influence. Quantacy works with brands of all sizes, ranging from Fortune 100 clients, public figures, and small businesses. Find out more at Quantasy.com.

From young to old. How many 99-year-olds have you interviewed? A look at how this pandemic has changed people's lives forever. You're officially married. Listen now to the It's Been a Minute podcast from NPR. And we're back and we're joined now by Kelsey Snell and Claudia Chrysalis, who cover Congress for NPR. How are you all doing? Hi there. Hi there. Good. I have some sort of crazy blowtorch situation happening outside of my house. So... Oh, wow. Like a construction situation.

Yes, the construction next door might be joining us for this podcast. And I may have some leaf blowers. So this is going to be the home improvement edition. This is NPR politics slash home improvement podcast. Well, nonetheless, I am glad that both of y'all are here because we talked earlier this week about the movement on a coronavirus relief package. It was a compromised bipartisan deal that did not yet have the support of leadership. But then after we taped, top congressional Democrats, Chuck Schumer in the Senate, Nancy Pelosi in the House, said that this bill would work for them. So where do things stand now? So that was a big breaking of the dam, if you will. Democrats have

been stuck at this $2 trillion figure. They wouldn't go below it. And Republicans have been trying to pull them closer to a $1 trillion figure. So this bipartisan deal really put the pressure on these leaders to come their way. And so we've seen some real momentum break since then. And talks are underway between both sides to try and see if they can reach some sort of a deal that they can attach to a larger funding measure that they could pass maybe by year end. Are Republican leaders on board with this bipartisan compromise plan as well? Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is talking to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which is something that they really haven't done in a

remarkably long time. You know, they had a phone conversation, and that in and of itself is progress. They haven't really embraced this bipartisan bill that Democrats say is their starting point for negotiations. But the fact that they're talking is really important. And it's a lot easier to bridge the gap between $500 billion, which is where Republicans were, and $900 billion, which is where Democrats say they are now, and $2.2 trillion, which is where Democrats were a week ago. And I thought it was interesting that we heard from Republicans this week, such as Chuck Grassley. This is a key lawmaker for Senate Republicans saying that he was on board with possibly as much as $900 billion in funding, which is what this bipartisan deal tries to get done. And he would be open to $150

billion in state and local funding. We haven't heard a lot of Republicans saying that they're on board with that. So that's a bit of a breakthrough there. And we also heard from Lindsey Graham, this is a senator from South Carolina, a key Trump ally, say he spoke to the president this week about the deal, and told him this is the one to sign on to. This is the one that has the broad bipartisan support that could finally make it through. He said he was on board as well. So it's some amazing momentum we're seeing from both sides, especially Senate Republicans at this point. So we know that millions of people are facing this pretty dire economic cliff by the end of the year, right, where they could

potentially lose some unemployment assistance, moratoriums on evictions are ending, student loan deferrals are ending. Do we have any sense if those items in particular will be part of this, you know, compromise that Republicans and Democrats are looking at? I mean, what do they basically agree on in this point? The universe of what they agree on kind of does focus on things like some funding for schools. They do generally agree that there needs to be some level of additional federal unemployment. Right now, the Democrats have embraced a number of $300 for four months. They also tend to agree that there should be a moratorium on evictions. They've been talking about student loans. It looks like it's more or less a short-term extension of basically the programs that are set to expire, including money for small business loans. The one thing that I think is really

interesting about all of this is that some reporters caught up with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the halls today. She was saying that she feels uncomfortable about the conversation that they're having about what should be in this bill because she thinks it needs to include not just a little bit of unemployment, but it should include direct payments to people once again, because she's worried that, you know, people will hear that Congress passed a coronavirus relief bill, but they won't feel it. They won't get the relief that they need if there is somebody who has been out of work and is facing eviction. Just stalling the possibility of eviction, she's saying, doesn't resolve the problem that these people may be behind on bills by many, many months.

And one little interesting point, too, is Lindsey Graham in his conversations talking to reporters this past week about selling this plan to Trump, he was asked about these direct payments. And he said he doesn't think that they can pull through an agreement on that, a bipartisan deal, because he thinks the coalition will fall apart if they include direct payments. So that is going to be a tough point of contention for both sides. I mean, it is worth noting that this is all happening not just against the backdrop of the pandemic, but the backdrop of a new jobs report that came out this week that doesn't look good. That's something that came up in Pelosi's press conference today. You know, people are

really starting to worry that the winter is getting really, really, really difficult for people. People are not finding work. People are watching, you know, these numbers spike all across the country. And there's a lot of fear that Congress didn't do something before, that they didn't act. And people are frustrated. And I think a lot of members of Congress feel worried that their constituents have been kind of left out to dry. Pelosi was really defensive about that and said that the strategy that they have had for this entire time was essentially that they needed something big and bold because they did not trust that the Trump administration would ever pass an additional stimulus package if they didn't get it all in right away. And she says it's completely different

with an incoming Biden administration where Biden himself has explicitly said that anything that they do this month is a down payment for the future. You know, to your point, Kelsey, Joe Biden said last night on CNN that he wants to see this $900 billion compromise plan passed. That would be a good start. It's not enough. It's needed. And they should focus on the things that are immediately needed. And what's immediately needed is relief for people in their unemployment checks, relief for people who are going to get thrown out of their apartments after Christmas because they can't afford to pay the rent anymore,

relief on mortgage payments, relief on all the things that are in the original bill the House passed. You know, I think it's noteworthy to hear this urgency from the president-elect, but also in the same breath, this kind of optimism that he thinks, regardless of who is in control of the also think that Biden will have leverage with more moderate senators, people who, you know, like Mitt Romney or Susan Collins, who was just reelected, people who that had the ear of McConnell, whether he is majority or minority leader. And, you know, if Republicans hold on to the Senate, it will be no matter what an extremely tight Senate. So the votes of some of those moderates could really make a difference between whether or not something can pass.

So if you are able to, if you're Joe Biden, you're able to convince some of the more moderate senators that additional stimulus is needed, that might be enough to move a Republican Senate where they wouldn't move under President Trump. So one quick last question on this topic. Do we have any indication of where President Trump stands on this? I think that's difficult to say. We have to basically rely on his officials, such as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, or Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, or his allies on Capitol Hill, such as Lindsey Graham, telling us that he was receptive to this deal, and he had spoken positively about it this week. So they're saying so far he looks like he could be on board. But again, as usual, he is a wild card. All right, well, let's take a quick break. And when we get back,

it is time for our favorite segment and yours, Can't Let It Go. And we're back and it's time now to end the show like we do every week with Can't Let It Go. That's a part of the show where we talk about the things from the week that we just cannot stop thinking about, politics or otherwise. Asma, why don't you go first? What is it for you this week? So mine is politically related. I don't know if you all have been following this very closely, but long story short, you know, President Trump has made these baseless allegations of voter fraud in a variety of states and his personal attorney,

Rudy Giuliani, has been holding hearings in some states for him. One such very unusual hearing occurred this week in Michigan. Michigan, I should point out, is a state that has already certified its election results and already certified that Joe Biden won by more than 150,000 votes. That all being said, there was this very strange hearing where Giuliani calls up these like witnesses. I don't even know if I can say who they are because I like saw this clip on social media and then went down this rabbit hole trying to find out who this person actually was. And I will warn you, she says some rather objectionable things. A lot of people think all Indians look alike. I think all Chinese look alike. So how would you tell? If some chow shows up, you can be anybody and you can vote. And if somebody with my name, you can't even tell my name. Anybody can vote on my behalf. So ID should be the basic requirement. So she was using this claim that some people think all

Indian people look alike as her justification for saying that in her view, all Chinese people look alike. Therefore, you should have voter ID, which by the way, voter ID is a requirement in Michigan to vote in person. You know, my understanding is you are allowed to vote without a voter ID. Like there is an exemption. But I was on the Secretary of State's website because I went on this rabbit hole. And apparently you're supposed to have an ID. So I don't really know what was going on there.

Wow. Yeah, this is a I mean, that's that's a very intense moment. And it's kind of surprising to hear. own identity and how people perceive her that are kind of problematic. But it's just one of these strange, really wild moments that to me was a microcosm of how wild and out of touch these hearings have gotten. Oh, my gosh. But Kelsey, why don't you go next? Well, I think the thing I can't let go of is maybe because the world is a little bit crazy around us. I can't let go of the Apple TV show Ted Lasso, because I have been like on this quest to fill the void that is left in my heart by having finished all of Schitt's Creek and all of Great British Bake Off. And I needed just

something that was like a big existential hug after I'm done with work for the day. And I don't care about soccer, but this show has so much heart and it's so fun. For people who don't know, it's this character, this coach from, he was a football coach in America who gets chosen to come to the UK to coach a Premier League soccer team. He knows nothing about soccer. And it's just, it's just lovely. It's fun. It's, it's just nice to like, laugh and see people be good to each other. And I don't know, I'm, but I'm worried now. Because I don't know what I'm going to watch next when this is over, because I got nothing else on my docket. So if people out there... Yeah, that happened to me the other day. Yeah, what did you pick? I finished The Crown.

Well, I finished The Crown. I don't know. I mean, that's very serious. I'm on The Crown right now. I'm on second season right now. That's wonderful. It's good. I don't know. This is like a problem. Like, where do you go for additional TV at this point? Yes, exactly. Especially during the pandemic. So listeners, if you have suggestions. Yeah, please. Yes. Claudia, it's your turn. My Can't Let It Go is a little bit of joy

and a little bit of pain. It has to do with Harry Styles. He had a spread in Variety this past week. Just another reminder that he's living his best pandemic life. He's done many now. He's the Gucci man. He's a Grammy-nominated hit maker of the year. He's just having a great time. For me, though, when I see Harry Styles, it's a little painful because it reminds me of one of the last pre-pandemic joys that I had and a little bit of an awkward moment when he had a tiny desk

performance at NPR. Oh, I missed that. No one was there. Did you get to go? And I got to go. And then just days before I went, I had had a conversation with one of our own, Lexi Schapittle, about Who Is Your Dream tiny desk concert concert and she said Harry Styles and she couldn't go she was out of town so I was on a mission I'm gonna get his autograph I'm gonna get a video I'm gonna get everything for Lexi so I accosted him after the tiny desk to the point where security had to call me off and I was. Can you just, I need an autograph. I was giving him orders, this young man. I need an autograph.

And also, can you say hello to Lexi on video? And security's forcing me to shut down my camera. And I'm still accosting him. And then he finally, he's so nice. He hands me the autograph. But since that moment, I was able to get it to Lexi. Thank goodness. But I couldn't get her a good video. It's just me accosting him for a matter of seconds. That sounds like a good

video. It's terrible. It's shame, basically. I've taken it to my daughters. I'm like, how do I make this up to Harry Styles? I was such a jerk to him. Why did I think I was going to direct him on a video? Well, how can I make this up to him and I said an apology. How do I make the amends? And my daughters are like, nah, he doesn't remember you, mom. It's okay. But still, I live with the pain. I mean, look, he gave you the autograph. Yes. That was quite endearing that he did that for Lexi. I love this story so much. So I always, I see Harry, I feel joy and I feel a little pain, little pain, but good for Harry, good for you. All right, well, that is a wrap for today.

Our executive producer is Shirley Henry. Our editors are Muthuni Mathuri and Eric McDaniel. Our producers are Barton Girdwood and Chloe Weiner. Thanks to Lexi Schipittel, Elena Moore, Dana Farrington, and Brandon Carter. Our intern is Kalyani Saxena. I'm Asma Khalid. I'm covering Joe Biden's transition. I'm Claudia DeSantis. I cover Congress. And I'm Kelsey Snell. I also

cover Congress. And thank you all, as always, for listening to the NPR Politics Podcast.