WEBVTT 00:01.433 --> 00:02.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: It is shaping up to be a busy week in politics, 00:02.933 --> 00:06.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% as Washington and the nation gear up for midterm races. 00:06.633 --> 00:08.233 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Amna Nawaz has more. 00:08.233 --> 00:10.200 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% AMNA NAWAZ: Right, Judy. 00:10.200 --> 00:13.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Republican candidates are garnering key endorsements this week as the primary election 00:13.033 --> 00:17.900 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% season ramps up. Meanwhile, President Biden will tout his climate accomplishments this week 00:17.900 --> 00:22.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% in honor of Earth Day, a move that some hope could boost his slumping poll numbers. 00:22.466 --> 00:26.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% To help us break all of this down, I'm joined by our Politics Monday duo. That 00:26.000 --> 00:30.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% is Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report With Amy Walter and Tamara Keith of NPR. 00:30.800 --> 00:32.200 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Welcome back. Good to see you both. 00:32.200 --> 00:33.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% AMY WALTER, The Cook Political Report: Thank you. 00:33.466 --> 00:34.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% AMNA NAWAZ: Let's dive right in, shall we? 00:35.633 --> 00:37.933 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Tam, President Biden's been talking about what his administration has 00:37.933 --> 00:40.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% been doing on the climate front. We know it's a huge priority for them. 00:40.733 --> 00:44.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But he is up against a tightening energy market. And he's trying to act on that. 00:44.833 --> 00:48.033 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Just on Friday, they announced they're going to start resuming oil 00:48.033 --> 00:53.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% and gas leases on federal lands. He took a lot of criticism on that from environmental groups. 00:54.433 --> 00:56.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Is this the president going back on his pledge? 00:56.833 --> 01:00.633 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% TAMARA KEITH, National Public Radio: The White House would argue that they are constrained by 01:02.566 --> 01:04.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% court rulings and other things that are basically out of their hands, 01:04.933 --> 01:09.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that this is certainly not the way the president would like to be moving forward on this issue. 01:11.900 --> 01:15.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But this is not the only way that they are running up into challenges. They also 01:15.500 --> 01:19.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% want to -- had a big environmental agenda that was part of the Build Back 01:19.266 --> 01:24.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Better legislation that has completely stalled out. And they faced other court challenges 01:27.500 --> 01:30.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% in their efforts to do this through regulatory means. 01:30.133 --> 01:33.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Now, the White House tried to get out ahead of all of this, 01:35.066 --> 01:38.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% held a call today with reporters, where they insisted, no, we really -- there 01:38.400 --> 01:43.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% are many paths to meet our goals for climate emissions, and we will get there, they say. 01:45.133 --> 01:47.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: They say they're still going to hit them. 01:47.200 --> 01:49.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% TAMARA KEITH: They say they're still going to hit them. They're insistent. 01:50.633 --> 01:54.600 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% But it almost seems like the insistence is stronger than the path. 01:56.166 --> 01:58.266 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% AMNA NAWAZ: Well, here's the thing on the message, though, Amy. 01:58.266 --> 02:00.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% If you are if you're a voter who backed Biden because you wanted someone who was going to act 02:00.733 --> 02:05.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% on climate crisis, but you really don't like paying more for gas every day because 02:05.333 --> 02:08.933 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% of the war in Ukraine and the tightening energy market, are you OK with this? Do you excuse this? 02:08.933 --> 02:13.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% AMY WALTER: So there's a famous political thing that you 02:13.033 --> 02:15.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% campaign in poetry and you govern in prose. 02:17.766 --> 02:21.133 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% The other way to say it now is, you campaign in poetry, you govern in reality. And the reality is, 02:22.533 --> 02:23.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% gas is super expensive. And it's not just impacting 02:25.933 --> 02:28.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% you as you go and fill up your own gas tank, but it's affecting the prices of everything, right? 02:28.633 --> 02:32.866 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% Anything that needs to be transported or any trip you take on an airplane is impacted by this. 02:32.866 --> 02:34.366 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% AMNA NAWAZ: Right. 02:34.366 --> 02:36.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% AMY WALTER: So it goes to a broader inflation message. 02:36.300 --> 02:40.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And it's not just -- if you're talking about environmental goals the president 02:40.133 --> 02:45.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% would like to hit, it's not just things like leasing that he's gone back on. But 02:47.100 --> 02:50.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% he was at an event, was it last week, in Iowa, saying this blended ethanol... 02:51.433 --> 02:53.333 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% AMNA NAWAZ: Right. 02:53.333 --> 02:56.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% AMY WALTER: ... which has higher pollution in -- especially in the summer months, 02:58.700 --> 03:02.233 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% that's going to be OK, we're going to get a waiver for that. It should lower gas prices a little bit. 03:02.233 --> 03:07.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Releasing more gas from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The reality is, back in 2020, being 03:10.800 --> 03:15.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% able to do an energy policy that took us away from fossil fuels made a whole lot more sense. 03:17.366 --> 03:20.400 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% AMNA NAWAZ: Yes. So here is where we are right now with -- in terms 03:20.400 --> 03:24.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% of his support. When you will look at a key demographic, in particular younger voters, 03:24.400 --> 03:28.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% for whom climate is a very important issue, if you take a look at that graphic, no group, 03:28.866 --> 03:33.866 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% no group has soured more on President Biden in his time in office than Gen Z and millennials, 03:35.833 --> 03:39.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% 60 percent approval back in January of 21. That's down to 40 percent as of March of 2022. 03:40.600 --> 03:42.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% AMY WALTER: Yes. AMNA NAWAZ: It's a 20-point drop. 03:42.533 --> 03:45.100 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Is it just the economy? What's driving it? 03:45.100 --> 03:46.600 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% AMY WALTER: It's a host of things. 03:46.600 --> 03:48.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, I sit in a lot of focus groups with these voters. And 03:50.833 --> 03:53.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% one woman summed it up pretty well at the beginning of the month. She said, what got 03:53.333 --> 03:58.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% me out to vote in 2020, I had to -- everything that was Trump, I was against. It's hard to get 04:00.900 --> 04:03.800 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% me motivated when Trump's not there. Also, there are a lot of other problems I'm worried about. 04:05.700 --> 04:08.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Almost everybody in that group talked about inflation, talked about their worries 04:08.533 --> 04:13.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% on just everything from, is COVID going to come back, to what's going on in Ukraine. 04:15.133 --> 04:16.633 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% AMNA NAWAZ: Right. AMY WALTER: So there's a sense of anxiousness 04:18.066 --> 04:21.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and worry about what's coming next that is impacting them. 04:21.100 --> 04:24.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I think the other thing that's important to appreciate about this group of voters, 04:24.233 --> 04:28.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% especially when we compare them to, say, the voters that were with Barack Obama, 04:28.000 --> 04:33.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% a lot of those then younger voters were inspired to vote because of Obama. 04:34.533 --> 04:36.533 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% AMNA NAWAZ: Yes. 04:36.533 --> 04:39.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% AMY WALTER: These were voters who were inspired to vote because of Donald Trump, right? 04:39.200 --> 04:41.233 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% AMNA NAWAZ: Right. 04:41.233 --> 04:43.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% AMY WALTER: And that is a very different -- trying to bring them back into the fold is 04:45.000 --> 04:46.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% much difficult -- more difficult for different... 04:46.466 --> 04:47.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: These were all questions, by the way, 04:47.933 --> 04:48.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% you mentioned that we also have, like, is COVID coming back? 04:50.400 --> 04:51.200 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% (CROSSTALK) 04:51.200 --> 04:52.700 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% AMY WALTER: Right. 04:52.700 --> 04:53.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: Tam, what is the White House saying about this? 04:53.966 --> 04:56.700 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% TAMARA KEITH: Well, they in part are saying that 04:56.700 --> 05:01.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% there isn't an alternative right now, that there isn't an opponent 05:03.400 --> 05:07.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% for the president or for Democrats necessarily to compare themselves to at this moment. 05:07.500 --> 05:12.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% That will change. And they are arguing that ,even if we haven't achieved our goals, they say, 05:14.133 --> 05:18.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% their policy aims at least are more aligned with these voters 05:18.400 --> 05:22.133 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% than what they -- what the White House sees as Republican policy aims. 05:22.133 --> 05:27.100 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% We shall see about that, whether that's enough to motivate midterm voters, 05:27.100 --> 05:32.100 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% because midterm voters are notoriously fickle and unmotivated, except for the ones that are super 05:34.066 --> 05:37.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% motivated, which tend to be the hardcore partisans and tend to be older voters. 05:37.000 --> 05:39.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% AMY WALTER: And they tend to be older, right? Young voters tend not to turn out... 05:39.500 --> 05:41.000 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% (CROSSTALK) 05:41.000 --> 05:43.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: We shall see is the key phrase from there. 05:43.466 --> 05:45.733 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% But speaking of Republicans, I do want to get both of your takes on a new slate of endorsements we 05:45.733 --> 05:50.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% saw from former President Trump, have a lot of people scratching their heads. He's jumping into 05:50.000 --> 05:54.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% what I would call some messy Republican primaries, among them, backing folks like 05:54.633 --> 05:57.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% David Perdue, of course, former Georgia senator now running for governor, 05:57.833 --> 06:02.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Dr. Oz running for a seat in the Senate from Pennsylvania, Adam Laxalt, who's running for 06:02.700 --> 06:07.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% a Senate seat in Nevada, and J.D. Vance, who is also running for a Senate seat in Ohio. 06:08.900 --> 06:10.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Tam, what do you make when you look at this list? 06:10.933 --> 06:14.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% TAMARA KEITH: Yes, I mean, these are candidates who are not clearly winning their primaries 06:14.066 --> 06:19.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% by any stretch. These are, in some cases, candidates that the Republican establishment 06:21.566 --> 06:23.833 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% definitely would not get on board with because they don't know that they're necessarily winners. 06:23.833 --> 06:27.500 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% These are also people who are very aligned with Trump and Trumpism 06:27.500 --> 06:32.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% and his lie that he won the election. And that has value and currency to him. He also likes 06:35.100 --> 06:40.100 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% people who have a certain celebrity feel, which is how you get Dr. Oz and, to a lesser extent, 06:42.100 --> 06:45.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% J.D. Vance, even though he once opposed Trump, he now supports him. And that is good enough, 06:47.066 --> 06:49.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% because it's all about Trump, Trump, Trump, loyalty, loyalty, 06:49.100 --> 06:52.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% loyalty, or whatever his definition of loyalty is, which is accepting the lie. 06:52.300 --> 06:54.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: To be clear, he doesn't have to endorse anyone. 06:54.933 --> 06:56.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% (CROSSTALK) AMNA NAWAZ: He's choosing to do this. 06:56.133 --> 06:58.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% AMY WALTER: He's choosing to do this. 06:58.133 --> 07:00.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% He would like to be in the conversation. He's not in the conversation now. He's no longer 07:00.333 --> 07:03.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the president of the United States. One thing that I think is very important to appreciate, 07:03.333 --> 07:08.333 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% though, especially in places like Ohio, but even in Pennsylvania, all of the Republican 07:10.266 --> 07:13.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% candidates are touting their support for Donald Trump or how aligned they are with Trump. 07:15.600 --> 07:18.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I took a look. Of all the ads that have been run since the beginning of the year until now, 07:18.700 --> 07:23.700 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% $24 million of Republican aligned ads, so either candidates or groups that support 07:25.666 --> 07:29.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Republican candidates, have mentioned Donald Trump in their advertising in a positive way, 07:29.500 --> 07:32.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% so candidates saying, I'm the pro-Trump conservative, 07:32.000 --> 07:37.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% or we're going to build Trump's wall, or I'm going to do as Donald Trump would do, XYZ. 07:38.466 --> 07:39.966 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% AMNA NAWAZ: Yes. 07:39.966 --> 07:42.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% AMY WALTER: No matter who wins these primaries in these states, 07:42.933 --> 07:45.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% they are going to be supportive of Donald Trump. 07:45.033 --> 07:50.033 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% We are not talking about an anti-Trump wing vs. the pro-Trump wing in these primaries. 07:51.933 --> 07:54.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% What we're going to look for is, does his primary give enough juice 07:54.400 --> 07:58.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% in a crowded primary to put somebody over the top? 07:58.000 --> 08:02.233 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% That's what the president, the former president, certainly wants to see, right? I endorsed you, 08:02.233 --> 08:07.233 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% you went from bottom of the polls to the top. But it does not tell us a lot about what the -- how 08:09.166 --> 08:13.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% these folks will be aligned ideologically or temperamentally once they get into Congress. 08:15.900 --> 08:17.566 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% (CROSSTALK) 08:17.566 --> 08:19.333 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% TAMARA KEITH: But if they don't win, it risks his political currency. 08:19.333 --> 08:21.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: Yes. There is also that. There is also that. 08:21.266 --> 08:23.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% I have a feeling we will be talking about this some more. 08:23.333 --> 08:25.033 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% AMY WALTER: Couple more times. 08:25.033 --> 08:27.733 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% AMNA NAWAZ: Yes. Amy Walter, Tamara Keith, good to see you guys.