Speaker 1: Well, ladies and gentlemen, California Senator Dianne Feinstein at 89 years old,
will not seek reelection in 2024. This clears the path for a hotly contested
Democratic primary in that state involving Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee,
as well as others who have already declared that they are indeed running. We have been
wondering for some time, is Dianne Feinstein going to retire now? There are sort of two stories here.
First, there is the story, as CNBC writes about Feinstein being the oldest sitting U.S. senator
and the longest serving senator. And a growing appetite among Democrats in various parts of
the country for the next generation of leaders. Now, what's interesting is the next generation
after Dianne Feinstein is still people. You are in their sixties. So like two generations later,
maybe, you know, you understand what I'm saying? So there's the general desire there.
The second part, and we want to be respectful when we talk about this is specifically about Dianne
Feinstein and her cognitive state. As for years now, there have been growing concerns about what
is happening with Dianne Feinstein as she is close to 90 years old. Pretty widespread reports of her
very quickly, forgetting that she has met people when she's going through her normal course of
being a senator. We have seen a sort of confused Dianne Feinstein during Senate hearings during
which she will read a question off of a piece of paper that she doesn't fully seem to understand,
and then she will immediately read the same question again, not realizing that she already
asked that one. So it's not something we laugh at. It's it's a sad situation more than anything. But
it has also raised concerns among some Democrats that because of the power of incumbency, that if
she did choose to run again, it could get very messy and complicated. But none of that is going
to happen because 89 year old Dianne Feinstein says this is going to be it for her. Now,
when you look at the names of folks that are currently running here, there are a lot of
different names. Some we recognize, for example, Katie Porter, Adam Schiff, Barbara Lee. Actually,
Barbara Lee is not on this list. I thought. Hold on a second. Barbara Lee Senate race.
Lee is planning to launch, but has not yet announced. Okay. There is also a guy named
Barack Obama, Mandela who's running. This is not in the Democratic side. Remember that in
California it is I believe they call it a jungle primary where everybody is on the same ballot
and the top two vote getters make it to the final election in November of 2024. So this is a large
list of folks here because of the political dynamics in California, a very blue state.
The Senate election, in practical terms, is the primary. And it becomes clear from the primary
who is ultimately going to be the senator. And Katie Porter versus Adam Schiff is going to be
very interesting if, indeed Barbara Lee announces that she is running and she's expected to in a few
days. This is going to be a primary with numerous Democratic heavy hitters. And I am not taking a
position on it at this time. I genuinely don't know what to expect from such a primary. Adam
Schiff, Barbara Lee and Katie Porter, all three relatively well known Schiff, probably the best
known. Although Katie Porter social media presence is significant. Lot of viral moments. She's very,
very good in hearings. So that's going to be an interesting primary for sure. It is a good thing.
It is a good thing that Dianne Feinstein has said. I've had a great run and she has. Longest
serving senator, oldest senator. And it will be very interesting to see the direction that
California voters want to see their representation go. So we will be certainly covering that race