Transcripts For CNNW Inside 20240703

Sunday, republican turmoil deepens and still no way out of a crisis that they caused. Sear searching for a House Speaker as congress enters the fourth week still unable to governor. Plus flash point. Aid trucks cross the border as an israeli air strike escalates alarm but a middle east war. And joe bidens allies see israel as a chance to remind the country why they believe he should have four more years. Inside politics and all of the best from inside of the corridors of power, starts now. Good morning, and welcome to Inside Politics sunday. Im manu raju. Republicans in house find them sfz in desperate times. It is day 19 without a speaker and some of the nations most Urgent Business has been put to a halt until republicans could resolve the Leadership Crisis started at the hands of one of their own members and after jim jordan became the second to drop his bid for the speaker ship in the wake of the mccarthy ouster, there is the current race to be the latest Campaign Mostly closed doors and it has been a free for all over the last few days. Gop sources tell me that seven new speaker hopefuls have been working the phones and having meetings and trying to convince colleagues that they could somehow get 217 votes on the floor. Sources tell me this morning that house gop whip tom emmer is locking in support across the republican conference but still uncertain if he could get the votes on the floor to be elected speaker. On friday afternoon, i found two other candidates in the hallway in the chaotic aftermath of jordan dropping his bid and they were already making their pitches. People want to be heard and valued and i think that is what were seeing right now. And there is a lot of historical relationships that some are not going to ever be able to work around and i dont have those negatives out there. It was a danger game that was being played. The consequences are real for the country. If men were angels, we wouldnt need the government but we need the United States house of representatives open. And this morning another candidate Byron Donalds making his case on fox. We cant have unity in our conference. It will start with a fresh voice in leadership working with all of our colleagues to accomplish the mission that our voters sent us here to do. Now the deadline to enter the race is in one hour. The gop Candidate Forum tomorrow night behind closed doors, a seek Ballot Election for republicans to nominate their new candidate on tuesday morning. And in a floor vote, well, well see when that happens but sometime after that. And all the while, the clock ticks as a massive aid package for israel and ukraine awaits congressional action and a potential shutdown less than one month away. And lets break it down with mj lee, paul kane, mario parger and Margaret Talev from axios. Thank you for being here. It is been an ugly, messy week on the hill. The moment there is seven possible candidates who have emerged as speaker. There is a list of the potential nominees here, people running to be the nominee. There could be others. Well see in the next hour or so if there is anyone else. Im hearing and im sure youre hearing, paul, youve worked the Capitol Hallways for many years and talking to sources, tom emmer is the clear frontrunner to win the republican nomination on tuesday. Given his support internally, and the infrastructure he has as republican whip and used to be chairman of the Campaign Committee and he deserved some credit for taking them back to majority but could he get the votes on the floor. That is a dilemma for him and other candidates as well. Yes. He has the most experience and the inside game, he ran their Campaign Committee, hes traveled to their districts. So on a secret ballot, that stacks up and he looks to be the frontrunner. Gosh, but to get 217 out of 221, you have to placate so many different wings and factions. What happened on friday afternoon, the very first person to come out of the gate to endorse emmer was Kevin Mccarthy. Everything he touches is falling apart. Why on earth did tom emmer want Kevin Mccarthy to endorse him. He just spent three rounds of voted sitting behind jim jordan. Because he was jim jordans guy and what happened to jim jordan. He wasnt down in flames. And now mccarthy is trying to say, tom emmer is my guy. That is not helping tom emmer get to 217. And it is especially among the members who pushed him out. There are eight republicans who voted to push him out. You could only lose four votes on the floor. Mccarthy has been saying to me and others, this past week, hes been calling the eight members the crazy eights who led to this crisis in the house. And this morning he was he also made that pitch on National Television about tom emmer taking to the airwaves and saying that emmer is the guy. This is not a Employmoment T around with learning the job. I believe tom emmer, our whip, in the room from our bills to secure the border, from parents bill of rights and getting work requirements, he knows how to do the job across the street helping us win the majority. He sets himself head and shoulders above all of those others that wan to run. The challenges that some of the folks in the far right, the House Freedom caucus, some of them may be close to tom emmer, but some are skeptical of anybody in Republican Leadership and that is the challenge. If it is emmer or some of the other ones. There are proxies for jim jordan and donald trump and if you make a list of a handful of people that we know to be in this race right now, they are fro from the southeastern United States and mid western states and i think all but one initially moved to block to certify the election. So there are all kinds of Cross Currents and cross winds going on here. And if you want to get super ma macaw vellan, if you run through this whole list and nobody could get to 217 and there is a shut down looming, where is the country going to be. And it is actually in the to play a game, this is a possibility. They just have not done anything. Everything has been stalled. Typically theyve been making progress toward a shutdown or getting an agenda passed, anything, absolutely nothing has happened because of this fight. We did look at past records and some of the key issues. We pulled out two of them to make clear to the viewers on where the seven candidates stand. One was on the Spending Bill to avoid a government shutdown. Kevin mccarthy allowed that Spending Bill to go forward. And that led to the ouster of his speakership and then certifying the 2020 election, and kevin hearne voted for both. Tom emmer voted for both. Byron donalds didnt vote for the Spending Bill and against certifying the elections and jack burgman from michigan voted for the Spending Bill against certifying the election and mike johnson from louisiana, someone seen as a serious candidate in this race, voted against both. So, that is the issue of certifying the election is something that some of the trump allies have already been seizing upon. Because emmers and some others voted to certify the 2020 election. Absolutely. And while Donald Trump Endorsed jim jordan for the gavel, and republicans didnt follow through, were going to see the next test here. Because from what we understand from sources, trump is actively lobbying against emmer right now. Right. So part of it is because of that vindictive nature of him voting to certify the 2020 election. Maybe someone like Pete Sessions emerges, if emmer doesnt. Pete sessions was at the helm the last time that republicans had this red wave. And this moment, we have to remember, republicans are haunted by that spector of what didnt happen in 2022. That is what were all dealing with. That narrow majority. It is a secret Ballot Election and so chaotic. There is still the talk of an interim speaker, Patrick Mchenry and republicans selfed that under just a furious backlash. I could tell you, just in talking to republicans in the last several weeks, weve they are just so much butting heads with each other and taking personal direct aim at each other. And something that i have simply never seen before. Weve done this week after week because it is so the tension is so palpable and these members are really going after members of their own party. Listen. It is the biggest f you to republicans voters ever seen. The americans are sick of it and most members house are sick of it. It is time for big boys an big girls to stop. And it is as swampy as swampy gets. We cant have a branch of government offline. We have to get our act together because im getting calls from saying what is going on with your republicans. The challenges that they all say we need to move forward. But they cant the candidate is unable to bridge that divide and convince those members that they are the ones that could get the house back open. I mean, there is real exasperation. There is real exhaustion. And i think for these members, yeah, theyre also thinking about their political futures, too. Right. If the House Republican caucus continues to be an absolute clown show, heading into 2024 it just makes it easier and easier for President Biden, the democrats to campaign against a party that is the the party of insurrection, of chaos, of doing nothing. And that is something that democrats have shown that they are eager to do already. I also just have to say, this isnt just about political chaos, right. You know this better than anyone else. This is about their personal lives being thrown into chaos as well. These members take on these jobs and design their entire personal lives so they could be members of congress. They have often families that are waiting for them back home. They have these Grueling Travel schedules an now the question is why. For what . What are we doing this for . Were not doing anything in our day job. It is such a good point. Because ive heard from members that they could see potentially more retirements in the aftermath of this and that could change the whole political dynamic in the talk of keeping them in this past weekend. There was so much backlash to that idea but keeping people in of over the weekend. Personal schedules to matter in the capitol. That is true. But you have to raise an interesting point about the politics of this. This is not just a hugely significant president ial election, this is a narrow Republican House majority. There are 18 republicans who are in biden districts. Who are concerned about their seats, concerned about the chaos. Ive talked to so many of the members about all of this. Those are the 18 on your screen. Nine of them voted for jim jordan all three times. Six of them voted against jim jordan all three times. Three of them flipped against jordan on the third ballot that would include tom kim jr. And Brian Fitzpatrick of pennsylvania and Mark Mollinaro of new york. How concerns are the members that this chaos could cost them their seats in the republican majority . Their very concerned. But the reason a lot of them voted for jordan was because they had a built in belief that, while jordan is probably going to win this, we think, and they want to stay loyal to the guy who is going to be speaker. Theyre from districts that are around new york city, los angeles, philadelphia, these are really expensive media markets. And they dont know what to do. Theyre afraid, because there are five of them up in the new york media market and, well, whoever is speaker next, might only have money to finance three of the five campaigns. Yeah. And so they just sort of were just a lot of them were basically trying to hide as they were casting their votes for jordan. And you cant overstate the significance of mccarthys fundraising machine. He raised so much money for these members an now hes stepped aside, the next speaker will have to do what mccarthy did. Well see if they could do that. And there is so much finger pointing at the eight. The eight republicans who voted with democrats but it started by republicans but the democrats did vote with the eight republicans to oust mccarthy. I talked to some of them this past week about what they thought they got out of this. What did you get for leading this charge to push out mccarthy . Were shaking up washington, d. C. And breaking the fever. An it is messy, but the only reason people think there is chaos in this town is because the special interests arent in control any more. What did you get out of this . Were changing the direction of washington. Doing the same thing weve always done is not going to work. Did they get anything out of this . They got talking points to take back to their primary voters. That is if you were to go to some of the districts and say, what is important and you would hear things like drain the swamp or chanch the way things are done and they need some message to explain what is happening but i dont see any evidence that washington has changed for the good. One other point, in the realm of 2024, there are major Imp Implications for the senator as long as they dont get bogged down. Youre seeing Mitch Mcconnell and other republicans trying to distance themselves from this. And those donors, will they decide to give money to the senators because they think the senate is in play and not the house. That is a real impact down the line about how the money raised plays out and significant because the house cant act and that means no aid to israel and that is what were going to talk about next. More aid trucks entering gaza near lebanon. Well bring you the latest live from israel. Today relief crosses in a war zone. In israel, it issued a warning to a neighbor. You could see it here. Supply trucks finally rolling across the Rafah Crossing. But in israels north, netanyahu said stand down or face devastation. Now here to discuss all of the developments on the ground, Alex Marquardt and kim dozier, thank you for coming in. Alex, you have some new reporting about what is happening about this possible incursion in gaza, the hostage situation. What are you learning . Weve seen u. S. Expressing solidarity from israel and what they plan to do in the gaza but there are major humanitarian concerns so the Biden Administration is pressing the israelis to slow down, to delay their incursion into gaza to allow for more time to make progress on the humanitarian fron on both the hostages and the aid. Weve just seen this first batch of aid going into gaza. We know the u. S. Wants that aid to be sustained. Weve seen the first two american hostages coming out of gaza on friday. We know that the u. S. , of course, wants all of the hostages to be released. So what im hearing is that there has been some pressing by the administration on the israelis to allow for more time for progress on both of those fronts. I should know, manu, that the israelis are denying this. I heard from a senior official this morning who said that they have a close dialogue and consultation with the administration and the u. S. Is not pressing israel. Weve already heard publicly from the top officials in the Biden Administration, Secretary Blinken today when asked whether there was any pressure on the israelis, he said that Thei Israelis have to make their own decisions. And President Biden said were speaking with Thei Israelis. Theyre very weary about telling the israelis what to do and there are certain humanitarian concerns on this side. And we heard that the Ground Invasion might be imminent, before last weekend. Is that part are they listened to those concerns or are they still pressing ahead here . Look, every day that you make the opposition think that you might be invading the next day is a day you rob them of sleep, it is psychological operations in a sense. So it works to the israelis advantage. But one of the reasons they wouldnt want hamas to think they have this lever with the americans, that hey, we could get the americans to stop the israelis from going in on ground by releasing hostages in dribs and drabs. The israelis dont want that because that is what is going to happen. Were going to see ones and twos instead of a bill bulk release. So, that is why hamas is Still Holding on to the hostages and noe negotiating with the qataris and each day that they keep attacking from the air, it is more targets on the ground that are going into, they wouldnt have to deal with. They talked about that theyre taking out many of the highrises because those are potential sniper nests for the hamas militants as the israeli militants come in. And there is all of these concerns about real serious about this escalating into a broader regional conflict. Perhaps the u. S. Could get drawn into it as well. Lloyd austin, the Defense Secretary was asked about this, this morning. If any group or any country is looking to widen this conflict and take advantage of this very unfortunate situation that we see, our advice is dont. We maintain the right to defend ourselves and we wont hesitate to take the appropriate action. What do you make of that . It is a reflection of very significant concerns in the Biden Administration about what iranian proxies and perhaps iran themselves might do. Weve seen a growing number of examples of the potential for this to really explode. The most dramatic of which was the houthis in Yemen Firing Missiles an drones northwards and in the direction of israel. They were taken down by a u. S. Destroyer In The Red Sea called the uss carney. But, manu, this is a major fear of the Biden Administration. They have been issuing that warning repeatedly. Obviously, the most pressing one when it comes to israel and perhaps u. S. Assets is hezbollah in lebanon. They are far better equipped and better trained and armed than hamas ismen and were they to op up the secondary front, that would be a iran has proxies all across the region and secretary austin today said they are expecting an escalation against troops and americans in the region, that theyre sending por air Defense Systems to help with that. And we saw these aid trucks roll into the Rafah Crossing this morning. How delicate is this diplomatic relationship with between israel, egypt, qatar, others to accomplish that small but critical task . Well the more aid that gets into gaza and the more it fights the narrative that the israelis arent allowing humanitarian supplies to reach the displaced palestinians, Something Like a million according to the u. N. At this point, but lets remember that the Rafah Crossing is controlled by hamas and egypt. So, a lot of the delay, Theize Raelies have no control over beyond saying that were not going to bomb the route coming in. From the palestinian perspective, though, there have been bombs continuing in the south. And so you still have some of the quarter million that are estimated to be left in the north who are worried about going south because they could see food is running out and water is running out and the u. N. Said it is running out of fuel. So that aid is not getting in fast enough and israel is wearing the blame for it. And humanitarian crisis growing by the day. Thank you both for that. And in coming up, as the conflict continues to abroad, how has President Biden handled the situation . From chrome to duckduckgo. Duckduckgo is a browser you download to your mobile and desktop devices. Unlike chrome, the Duckduckgo Browser has privacy builtin. It comes with a private alternative to google search, which doesn■t spy on your searches, and it blocks cookies and creepy ads. And theres no catch. Its free. We make money from ads, but they dont follow you around. Join the millions of people taking back their privacy by Downloading Duckduckgo On Mobile and desktop today. Now to the fight over the war here at home. 105 billion, that is the amount that President Biden wants congress to approve for aid to israel, ukraine and to deal with problems at the southern border. The deepening involvement in foreign wars opening a new chapter in bidens presidency, when he delivered a rare prime time address to the nation from the oval office. Hamas and putin represent different threats. But they share this in common. They both want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy. American alliances is what keep us, america safe. American values are what make us a partner that other nations want to work with. To put all of that at risk if we walk away from ukraine, if we turn our backs on israel, it is just not worth it. The president also flew to israel, meeting with leaders in a world wind 7 1 2 hour trip a second time to an active war zone during his presidency, the first being to ukraine. The panel is back with me. M. J. , you cover the white house for us here at cnn, biden when he was on this trip to israel, he essentially said he got the job done, that he accomplished. Let viewers listen to what he had to say. Look, i came to get something done. I go the it done. Not many people thought we could get this done. And not not people want to be associated with failure. It had to be, in my view, we either took all of the blame, or not put anybody else on the spot, or get it done. And i think we should take the chance to get it done. Why does the white house see what hes done so far if israel successful so far . I think a lot of this will actually take time. We have seen how difficult it has been to get the humanitarian aid flowing into gaza. Of course, the release of the two american hostages, that is something that the white house was incredibly joyful about. Look, i think if we could put the politics completely aside for a for a second, there is a point to be made how this is entirely the sphere that President Biden has always felt the most enthusiastic about. Right. It is Foreign Policy, it is national security, this is why he ran. This is why he wanted this job to begin with. But i do think if you start to bring the politics in a little bit, this obviously doesnt help him with anything on the homefront, if you are a voer who was sort of dissatisfied with the biden presidency, because for example of the high cost of living, you watch him travel to israel and make this kind of speech from the oval office, and it doesnt make you feel better about any of that. So that is going to be a Balancing Act for the president. Obviously, this is war. This is incredibly serious, lives are on the line. That is all true. An it is also true that were in the middle of a president ial election and voters will be judging his performance. And New York Times david sanger wrote about how hes dealing with this trip and obviously the concerns about bidens age, that has showed that that is a predominant issue among others. He wrote bidens argument reflects his certainty that this is the moment hes trained for his entire career, when challenged about his age, his sense of mission explains why at age 80 he has in the past eight months visitd two countries in the midst of active wars. What do you think . This is true. And for the white house, you get to message an 80yearold president going to the second active war zone this year, right. I mean, if bidens strongest suit is consoler in chief, his second strongest suit is being, to m. J. s point, a long time member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as well. He didnt, in this instance, he didnt gain points with domestic voters but he doesnt lose any as well. We have to remember that the honeymoon of bidens presidency ended with a chaotic withdrawal from afghanistan. So you get punished for the Foreign Policy mistakes. And were going to pause this discussion about the politics and the campaign and how biden is dealing with this significant conversation, but also have Matthew Chance who is live in northern israel. Matthew, you are are the troops who are preparing for the possibility of a sebld front in the north. How concerns is israel that there could be in an escalation with hezbollah . Reporter i think it is really concerning, manu. Because hooezbollah, in lebanon just across the border from here, is many times more powerful in terms of the Missile Arsenal than the militants in hamas are, in gaza are. And obviously forces are massing toward the gaza strip in preparation for that widely anticipated land operation. But the big concern is that hezbollah could start opening up its Missile Arsenal to areas in the north of the country. Already the entire region has been evacuated of its people. Hundreds of thousands of israelis have now been pushed from their homes both from here in the upper gallery region in Northeshern Israel but in the south fleeing from where those atrocities happened last week. Also weve seen Tens Of Thousands of Israeli Forces move up towards this northern border and in anticipation or defending against the possibility that there could be a second front opening up here now. Israeli political figures that weve spoken are not looking for the second front to open up. But if it does, the israelis have been clear they will unleash absolute destruction on Southern Lebanon and hezbollah positions there. Basically they appealed or warned hezbollah not to drag lebanon into a destructive con flick. But nevertheless, tensions still very high. Real fears of a region al grohhing and escalating by the day. Stay safe and thank you for that report on ground here. Back here in the panel here in washington, theyre dealing with the possibility of dealing with a significant aid package. That is what President Biden called for, 105 billion. Not just with israel but aid to ukraine and souther border dealing with some other part flpartners with the situation in taiwan. I want to listen to republican leader Mitch Mcconnell, who is on the sunday shows this morning, rare appearance on a sunday shows, i might add, and the reason why he did it was to try to make the case for tieing the aid to israel to the aid to ukraine, something that President Biden is pushing for and facing opposition among other republicans. I know there are some republicans in the senate and maybe more in the house that think ukraine is somehow different. I view it as all inconnected. You sound like you have a lot in common with President Biden and in his world view based on what you just laid out . Well not on the domestic side. But on this issue, that we were discussing today, we generally are in the same place. Paul, how complicated is this going to be to get this through Congress Gib Ven the house can act on anything because they dont have a speaker, but this is the politics and the gop in dealing with this are very tricky right now. Yes, mcconnell is laying out something that is the standard way of doing something for the last 15 years. There are very big issues. Some people want to have ukraine funding. Some people want to have israel funding. A whole lot of republicans want Border Security funding along or border with mexico and dont dp forget taiwan and we get support from different places and 80 senators will vote for it and boom. And the House Republicans hate that. We are in the situation we are in the house right now with no speaker, ive lost track, what are we on day 18 . Almost day 21 on tuesday. And House Republicans have been screaming for single issue bills and appropriations is just one measure. This is the the an anthema to what theyve been trying to do over there. Taken away there is no speaker, if Kevin Mccarthy was still speaker, that he would be able to get it through the house. How concerned should the white house be about getting that aid through congress . They are concerned. But they should be happy to have an alliance with Mitch Mcconnell. And i think to the topic just a couple of minutes ago before we heard from Matthew Chance, this idea of where biden is leaning so hard into his handling of Foreign Policy, it is not because Americans Care that much about Foreign Policy, we know gal oup polling tells us economy is by far the top issue. A third ever americans say it is the top issue. Nothing else even comes close. The other issues up there are strong and competent leadership in government and handling of immigration. When you ask people is russia important, youre getting barely singledigit numbers. But if joe biden could take the na National Debate away from the economy and to competent handling of major moments that could impact people and roll in immigration, it has the support from a majority of senate republicans, that could be important not just for him politically, but for a coalition to get this over the fence. And while hes under water and his Approval Ratings on handling of his policy toward israel and ukraine, it is higher up than he is with the economy and overall in terms of how americans view his handling of all of those issues. That was a Quinnipiac Poll last week and will be tested. And next, the Trump Campaign and all of the latest developments up ahead. Donald trump may have a new reason to worry. Even as he maintains a commanding lead in the gop primary, the criminal charges in four separate cases continue to loom. Now two of his codefendants in the fulton county, georgia, Election Interference Case have reached plea deals. Sidney powell and Kenneth Chesebro pled guilty to over turn the 2020 election. Our panel is back with me here. Trump had to post about this this morning. About sid knowney powell, who pd guilty and is appropriating now with prosecutors. This is what he said on truth social. He said, miss powell was not my attorney and never was. That was his post from this morning. Well, turn back the clock, to 2020, not too long ago, he said on twitter, he said that, look, sydne Sidney Powell added to our wonderful representatives and she was at the november 17th, Rnc Press Conference where she was introduced as a member of the legal team and in the oval office with trump and an attorney in the filings in michigan and in the plea deal for georgia, it is specifically said she was a attorney for the campaign which is the same thing as an attorney for trump. Yes. I remember that time. I remember when there were measures at the white house to try to prevent her from getting in and she still got in because she knew the vip there as well which is former president trump. So there is that. I think what it shows, though, right, between Sidney Powell and chesebro, powell is more of a threat. Again, i invoke the Oval Office Meetings and while Chesebro Maish is more threat to john eastman and Rudy Giuliani and the lawyers who were advising trump. Sidney powell is privy to conversations oneonone with the president about what was taking place during that time period. And this is classic trump. Someone gets close to him and gets in trouble and could implication him, i dont know him or her. That is what he said and does. I this i there are two things going on here that should be keeping donald trump up at night. One, is you look at the calendar and it is just extraordinary how besieged he is with Court Appointments and these legal obligations and so you think about the 2024 General Election coming up, that takes away a lot of time for him to be able to make any kind of case for himself as a candidate and second, to your point, these are not peripheral characters that were talking about. A Sidney Powell or a chesebro, these are people that could make the difference between there being evidence or not being evidence to make the case against donald trump and i think for a long time there was sort of this understanding or maybe an assumption that the inner circle around donald trump was not going to crack. But now it seems like that is totally shattered. And there has been some issues that have played out here. There was a Gag Order Put in place in the d. C. Gag order in 2020 Election Fraud criminal case. That is now been litigated to on freeze because of an appeal that went through the appeals court. But that is the question, how trump could manage this campaign while running for president , he was outside A Civil Case Last Wednesday in new york trying to essentially use the courtroom as his campaign. If i were president , israel with not have been attacked. It was viciously attacked. It would not have been attacked. Ukraine would not have been attacked. You take a look at what going on throughout the world, the world right now is a mess. Im not sure how israel would not have been attacked or how ukraine would not have been attacked. He doesnt explain that. But the larger point is that he is not he may be having rallies but he views him going to these the courthouse what he could use to drive his message and drive attention to him and take attention away from his rivals. Yes, the courtroom has become the back drop for the campaign. Which tells you that hes not putting his eggs in the legal basket, putting his eggs in the political basket. There is so many ways to cut the data. Look at the polling, donald trump is still by far leading all of the rest of his rivals in the dust for the gop nomination. Hes either ahead of, within the margin of error or slightly outside of the margin of error and joe biden, but there are a couple of things to watch and one is that it is still early for most voters. And ive seen little bits of color from our colleagues who were out on the Campaign Trail at republican rallies. There is is this desantis and nikki haley for survival for number two and everyone else is running out of money. I think were about to see that in the coming weeks in this race. And one quote, i wish i could remember, it was a woman who went to a nikki haley thing and she had been leaning more toward desantis but never heard nikki haley speak before. I think we people are not paying attention to the way that we are paying attention right now. Even inside of the gop base. So what donald trump cant control at what point are voters tuning in. And to that point, there is fight for the second place and you mentioned desantis and haley and your paper, headlines how haley is sending sparks flying. That is where things are. But there is still 40 points ahead, could they make up 40 points or make up that deficit ahead of iowa. It is hard to envision. Because he is just sucking up all of the oxygen right now. He continues to do so. The better haley performs, the more she might be setting herself up for 2028. The Republican Party has a long tradition. A lot of tradition has been broken in the last seven, eight years in the Republican Party but they do have a long tradition of that person who finished second gets the leg up for the next go around. So, if she continues to perform well, i dont think shell end up on the vp slot. Exactly. But she could be positioned herself to be a frontrunner well see how that plays out. Thank you, guys. Coming up, mitt romney is doing his own name calling on his way out of washington. Retiring utah republican senator mitt romney is not holding back on his way out of washington. The New York Times published from the new biography of the retiring senator. Lines called senator ted cruz of texas scary and a demagogue and Newt Gingrich like a smug know it all. He refers to Chris Christies Primadonna Tendances and calls him another bridge and tunnel loud mouth just like president trump. Mitt romney saved his stinging words for the former president. In an email to chris christie, romney said, quote, trump is unquestionably, unstable, hes racist, zxenophobic and prone t violence and someone with those characterist beings, will his peers respond to him in kind or ignore him altogether . We shall see. Thats it for Inside Politics, State Of The Union is next. See you next time. Nice footwork. Man, youre lucky, watching live sports never used to be this easy. Now you can stream all your games like its nothing. Yes [ cheers ] yeah woho running up and down that field looks tough. Its a pitch. Get way more into what youre into when you stream on the xfinity 10g network. Youre probably not easily persuaded to switch mobile providers for your business. But what if we told you its possible that comcast Business Mobile can save you up to 75 a year on your wireless bill versus the big three carriers . Have we piqued your interest . You can get two unlimited lines for just 30 each a month. There are no Term Contracts or line activation fees. And you can bring your own device. Oh, and all on the most reliable 5g Mobile Network nationwide. Wireless that works for you. Its not just possible