weeknights on pbs.
John: A Chinese surveillance
balloon, the federal debt
ceiling, and Tuesday's state of
the union address.
That's all grist for today's
weekend briefing with our own
congressional correspondent Lisa
Desjardins and white house
correspondent for NPR Tamara
Keith.
The Chinese balloon really
gripped everyone in the nation
and here in Washington.
What are they saying in the
white house about how this was
handled?
>> President Biden said he
ordered it shot down on
Wednesday but wanted it done
safely.
The department of defense said
they did not believe it would be
safe, they thought it would be a
risk to people on the ground if
they did it Overland.
They waited until it was just
out to see but still within U.S.
Territory to shoot it down.
The white house is insisting
this was the best and only way
it could have been handled.
Of course they are getting a lot
of criticism and have been all
John: Is some criticism coming
from capitol hill?
Lisa: A groundswell from
conservatives and Republicans.
They see this as an opportunity
politically but they also think
the president should have acted
sooner, should have directed the
military to take this down more
quickly.
They question whether there was
a hazard.
They say surely there was a
space over the United States
where it could have been safely
done.
They are starting to define how
they will go after president
Biden for his expected
reelection bid.
Mitch Mcconnell said the Biden
administration reacted at first
to indecisively, then too late.
They are going to cast him as
someone who is weak and
indecisive.
There are not as many Democrats
supporting his move overtly, but
it's the weekend, we will have
to see.
Some say we are glad he got it
done.
John: The dance of the debt
ceiling has begun.
The first big test for the
relationship between the
president and the house
Republicans.
>> I love that, dance of the
debt ceiling.
It is early.
There are some positives in that
the president and speaker
Mccarthy are saying they are
talking respectfully.
We don't see the conflict
politics that we get sometimes.
These guys don't think in terms
of months as anything urgent,
only when it comes down today's.
The underlying problem is still
there.
House Republicans still want to
the spending cuts and physical
boundaries that it's hard to
imagine president Biden agreeing
to.
I spoke to someone a few days
ago who said maybe we do a
smaller deal for a smaller debt
ceiling increase, also something
I don't see the president going
along with.
John: The president travels to
capitol hill Tuesday for his
first state of the union before
a divided congress, going into
an election cycle where he says
he is running for reelection.
>> Chief of staff says he is
looking forward to working on
the reelection, so the signals
are there.
This is the biggest audience in
all likelihood president Biden
will have all year, the speech
everyone will Carey.
This is a messaging tester
president Biden and his likely
presidential campaign.
We have been seeing him on the
road touting legislation that
was passed by congress and the
results he is delivering for the
American people.
We can expect to hear messaging
along those lines, talking about
inflation coming down, job
growth continuing to be strong.
There is always a foreign policy
element in the state of the
union address.
We can expect him to talk about
defending Ukraine at a time when
Republicans in congress are
showing discomfort with the
amount of spending in Ukraine.
Also talking about competition
in China.
I don't know if the balloon will
come up but it is a ripe
opportunity for that.
He is going to make a pitch for
bipartisan cooperation.
Of course the environment is far
different.
John: Talking about the election
cycle coming up, Americans for
prosperity, very influential
group in terms of money and
influencing folks in congress.
They say they are not going to
support Donald Trump in the 2024
election.
What does this do to the
Republican field?
>> These are the conservative,
libertarian Koch brothers.
They did not endorse Donald
Trump last time either.
This time they have gone out of
their way to do an
anti-endorsement, saying it
needs to be somebody else,
writing strong words saying
frankly, Republicans are
choosing bad candidates who
espouse things that run counter
to American values.
Amazing from a conservative
political organization that is
all targeted at trump.
This could have effects may be
down valid.
They did not really have an
influence with trump voters
before, I don't think they have
that now.
It may embolden some candidates
to get into the field but I
don't know if it changes the
base and how they see this
primary.
>> This is Republican elites
versus the rank and file.
Former president trump raises a
lot of small dollar money from
people who don't care what the
Koch brothers have to say.