Alcindor: Welcome to the Washington Week Extra. I'm Yamiche Alcindor.
Alcindor. This week, A number of high profile leaders in Washington tested positive for
covid 19. They include, and it's a long list here. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, attorney
General Mayor Garland, the Secretary of Commerce, Gina
Raimondo, Senator Susan Collins and Jamal Simmons.
The communications director for the vice
president. That's just some
of them. All of this comes as Senate Republicans
blocked a $10 billion
covid aid bill over their desire to keep trump
air border restrictions
in place.
Joining me tonight to discuss this and more.
Nia Malika Henderson,
senior political analyst for CNN, and Jeff Mason,
White House correspondent
for Reuters. Thank you, both of you for being
here, Jeff. We started
talking about it a little bit in the show, but I want to
Get more into this, Um people around the
president. People who the
White House has weren't close contact with
people who are clearly
in his vicinity at the White House with him
have come up with Covid.
What's the feeling inside the White House
about where things might
go next?
Well, you know, Number one. They are certainly
focusing on funding
which you mentioned in your intro just now,
And that seems to be
kind of their answer
when they are pressed about what, what The next
steps are with regard
to covid, but specifically on the cases around
the president and
in Washington.
You know, it's a concern. It's certainly
concerned. Joe Biden is
79 years old. He is vaccinated. He is boosted, but we are seeing
with these cases that that are exploding right now,
at least in Washington.
That lots of people who are vaccinated and
boosted are getting the
virus. So it's a It was interesting to me, and
I mentioned this earlier
that they seem to be shifting and saying,
Yeah, the president might
get it.
Well, also sticking to their line broadly that
they do have protections
in place that people are tested before they
come to meet with him.
Um, he's getting tested regularly. But you
don't see him wearing
a mask, and he's been at multiple events this
week. Where there are
a lot of people. Today's, of course, was
outdoors, but the others
this week we're indoors.
And and Nia. As Jeff said the president is
double is double boosted.
Um what? What do you What's your sense based
on your reporting about
the White House and President Biden's their
interest in trying to
return to some sense of normalcy?
Especially given the politics of this
Yeah. I mean, you can see by what they've
been doing all with with
not wearing the mask is that they have been
concerned about this
discourse That really, I think permeates a
lot of the conversation
around the country when it comes to
Talking about Covid talking about covid
restrictions. The thought
among many Americans is that maybe Democrats
have taken it too far,
right? Uh, and that they have taken the mask
mandates and the vaccine
mandates too far. So you saw this White house
react to this and you
see now that they haven't been wearing masks the
president went overseas
was
You know, hugging babies and all sorts of stuff
without a mask, And
then he comes back to this country. Some people
came back from that
trip with Covid. And and and that's what I
sort of started talking
to people about concerns around the White House
about what the policy
was. Were. They sort of following the policy
with the concerns were
about whether or not the president would get
it or other folks would
get you saw Jen Psaki, for instance.
Get covid as well. So there have been this
concerns and you see now
the White House. Kate Bedingfield was the
comms director was on our
air CNN's air, essentially seeming to lay the
groundwork for the
likelihood that the president at some point
could test positive for
Covid, Uh, and what That will mean in terms
of the politics of it
in terms of how he handles his job that will
be something that that
the country in the White House will have to confront.
But it certainly seems like they're sort of Ah,
putting that expectation
out there.
That he might have it. The other thing to point out in Washington
is that were sort of coming up towards party
season in Washington.
We had the gridiron dinner. There are other
big parties were well.
Washington will celebrate Washington that are
coming up so lots of
decisions to be made about
Reporters going to these gatherings and whether
the white the White
House will will also allow President Biden
to go to the White House
correspondents dinner. He didn't go to the
gridiron Dinner is probably
a good thing that he didn't at this point,
given that that has turned
out to be a super spreader event.
A super spreader event and one that is proceeding.
It's sort of the
kickoff party to the Washington celebrating Washington Party, So
there's a lot there. Jeff, I wanna ask you
when it comes to the White
House. They say that they're disappointed that
this $10 billion Covid
aid package was successfully blocked by
Republicans. But what's the
plan inside the White House to actually get
this money? Do they think
that it's going to be able to get there or do
they think that they're
going to be able to get this money?
Well, good question. Um, you know they were. They
were not only disappointed
that they didn't get the 10 billion. They
were disappointed that
the 10 billion was that figure instead of the
22.5 billion, which
I believe was what they originally requested
from Congress. They're
not getting either right now, and they have
continued to sound the
alarm. I think that take to answer your question.
I think that will
be
The game plan going forward is to sound the
alarm hope perhaps, that
the fact that there are outbreaks sort of
beginning now, this is
not awesome, but it but it underscores, I think
from the White House's
perspective.
The need for that funding. Now you're also
going to see Jeff sides.
Step aside. He's been the Covid coordinator
and the new doctor coming
in will be a new face of the covid response,
So I imagine we'll start
seeing him out.
On the airwaves and talking to the public
and talking to the press
about the need as well.
There's a lot to talk about their. We're
definitely going to keep
talking about Covid. Meanwhile, on Tuesday,
though, Ivanka Trump,
former president Trump's eldest daughter and a
former senior adviser
at the White House, testified before the January 6th.
Committee, and this week In an interview with
The Washington Post,
former president Trump said he wished he had
joined the march to
the capital on January 6th. We remember, the
president told people
to march to the capital, but then himself,
went back to the White
House and watch the capital attack on TV.
Nia. I wonder if I'll start first with Ivanka
and then we'll get
to the president and what he's saying and the
former president when
he's saying, Why do you think it's significant
that Ivanka came in?
Um and talks? Lawmakers say that she was that
she was forthcoming,
and it seems that she didn't evoke invoke
any privilege there.
That's right, and she didn't have to be
subpoenaed did to get there
and she did it fairly willingly, fairly openly, according to the
folks on that committee.
We have seen people in the president's inner
circle really fight
and not want to come before that committee, So the fact that she
did it quite significant, and she was very much
there in the White
House, as the president you were saying was
watching TV at different
points in watching this on fold happily by some accounts as this
violent attack on the
The capital unfolded there he was in Ivanka
Trump knows what his
state of mind was and knows what he was doing.
Knows who he was talking
to. Because, remember, there is this huge gap
in the phone logs in
terms of who he was interacting with and who he was talking with
on the phone so she could be a very good witness
in terms of helping
this committee.
Piece together what the president was doing for
those hours and hours
and hours as this was unfolding before our
very eyes on television,
I think initially when this committee was put
together, there was
a feeling that well, maybe their report wouldn't be you know, is
credible because it wasn't going to be bipartisan
or fully bipartisan
committee, but they have talked to
Ah, hundreds of people at this point there have
been some, you know,
high profile, stonewalling by and a number of
people. But the fact
that they got
Trump as well as Jared Kushner, who wasn't
there, but certainly knows
this President certainly knows Ivanka Trump.
Certainly I'm sure has
been filled in on some of the things that were
happening that day.
Quite significant.
Remember, They are sort of under the gun at
this point, because it
could be that come November. Democrats
aren't in control anymore,
And so they won't have the same kind of convening
in subpoena power
around this, and they themselves.
Could also start to be the targets of
investigation. So they are
really under some pressure to wrap this up
to get his many people
to come in in in in in giving account of what
they know about that
day.
In in near high profile stonewalling is a term
that you could coin
and one that we will continue to use here because Jeff, I want to
come to you because in talking about high
profile stonewalling, Of
course, there is the former president Trump
speaking to the worst
to the Washington Post, and he said, and I have
to read it because,
he said, quote.
The Secret Service said I couldn't go. I would
have gone there in
a minute.
Here is President Trump, saying he wished he
would have gone to 2
to 2 people breaking into the U. S. Capitol. Jeff, we covered him
together. I mean, please tell us what's going on.
Yes, we did. Yamiche. Um, you know what's
what's interesting to me
about that That interview is that it's not
surprising. Of course
he wanted to go. And he even said that day
that he was going to go
which, of course, didn't turn out to be true.
I believe him when
he says his secret Service wouldn't let him. I'm
sure that's probably
true.
But the you know the other broader political
point. Here is the fact
that he's willing to say that now a year and a
half after the carnage
that happened that day just just really
underscores how he continues
to reach out or or to try to appeal to that
base. That political
base that was part of that day. I think it
also throws Republican
Efforts to describe that as sort of a fringe day
and fringe movement.
Um
I think it I don't think it helps the argument
there, either. You
know if the if the former president United
States is saying, I wish
I had been there instead of condemning what
was an attack on the
U. S Capitol? Uh, it's pretty hard to paint
that in a way that many
Republicans have since then.
As a one off and something that should not even
be investigated The
way it's being investigated now and the away in
here and with the
especially with the idea that there was the
first acquittal from
from my understanding of a defendant charged
in the capital right
here, you had Matthew Martin of New Mexico. He
argued that he thought
police allowed him to come into the capital.
And that argument worked.
And now we have a defendant who had a plea
deal and has withdrawn
from that plea deal because
At least he saw Matthew Martin, get off. So
you have people being
acquitted. And you have the former president
saying, Man I wish I
wish I would have gone there with them.
A and you're going to have all sorts of
outcomes from the people
who are being swept up in this massive
investigation that the DOJ
is undertaking a lot of people you know, or
focused also on Dhamma
on Donald Trump in his criminality and what
kind of exposure he has.
What was so interesting about that interview
is on the one hand,
he says.
He wishes he had gone. But then he sort of
says it was a shame what
happened, and also that Nancy Pelosi and Muriel
Bowser should have
stopped it. So he's all over the place. I
mean, we do know that he
has brought millions of his followers along with
him into his delusional
thinking about January 6th about the 2020 election as well. And,
you know, reading that
We covered Donald Trump. We lived through the
Donald Trump presidency
in sort of nothing is shocking. But it is
shocking to hear him in
such a delusional state of mind, impossibly on
the precipice of running
for president again in 2024 may be announcing that at some point
in the near future
And possibly also being the front runner for
that nomination. AM
if he gets that nomination, getting the
vote of Mitch McConnell.
I mean, this is you know something that all
kind of came together
this week with with that interview as well
as Mr Mitch McConnell,
saying If Donald Trump wins all that, of
course he would vote for
him. Apparently, there's sort of no moral red line.
For Mitch McConnell. But listen, this is going
to be ongoing. This
investigation into what happened in January.
6th. There are hundreds
of people who were wrapped up in it and are
going to be charged and
tried in their outcomes are going to be very
different in will, of
course, have the former president.
Downplaying what happened and also saying in some
ways it was legitimate
because he still believes that 2020 I was stolen from him.
Yeah, well, this is all stuff that we're
definitely going to have
to keep talking about Nia. You said nothing
is shocking that open
that'll be where we leave it for today because that might be the
phrase that we're saying more than one So
we'll have to leave it
there. Thank you so much to Nia and Jeff for sharing.