Oz and Fetterman face off in a crucial debate

Transcript

NIALA: Good morning! Welcome to Axios Today!

It’s Wednesday, October 26th.

I’m Niala Boodhoo.

Today: a crucial Senate race gets its one and only debate.

MEHMET OZ: John Fetterman takes everything to an extreme and those extreme positions hurt us all.

JOHN FETTERMAN: It's the Oz rule. He's on TV and he's lying.

NIALA: Plus: the Biden administration’s change for Venezuelan migrants at the border.

But first, what we learned last night in Pennsylvania. That’s today’s One Big Thing:

NIALA: Last night, Pennsylvania Senate candidates Dr. Mehmet Oz, a Republican, and Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, a Democrat, squared off in their first and only debate as part of a high-stakes race that's critical, not just for their state, but for control of the US Senate.

Alayna Treene was watching along with us. Hi Alayna.

ALAYNA TREENE: Hi Niala.

NIALA: Alayna, I think we need to start with what Fetterman himself called the “elephant in the room.”

JOHN FETTERMAN: I had a stroke. He's never let me forget that.

NIALA: You and I were watching. There were numerous instances of Fetterman stumbling, halting. There were also moments that didn't happen and he responded quite fluidly. What did you hear from both Democrats and Republicans afterwards about Fetterman's performance?

ALAYNA: You know, there were criticisms from Democrats and Republicans alike. I talked to some folks, mainly Democrats, who are in positions of power and in government in Pennsylvania, as well as throughout Capitol Hill, and I think the big thing that I heard was it did seem like Fetterman was still very much struggling.

And I think a big part of the debate was to show confidence to viewers and to voters that he is fit for office like his doctor says. And that was addressed, as well, during the debate when they asked about whether or not he would release his medical records, which he would not answer to.

JOHN FETTERMAN: My doctor believes that I'm fit to be serving, and that's what I believe is where I'm standing.

ALAYNA: And from what I was hearing, a lot of people arguing that they don't think that this debate helped him in any way. And that both of these candidates haven't done very well in the debate stage in the past. But, because of Betterman's position, he was not in a better place to clap back. And that was a, a criticism from many Democrats I had heard on the Capitol Hill.

NIALA: We should add, there was close captioning for Fetterman so he could read the questions, as he's been struggling with auditory processing since the stroke that he had. So Alayna, do you think we've answered whether or not his performance in the debate is indicative of his ability to serve as a politician?

ALAYNA: Listen, debates are not make it or break it normally in a lot of these races. But I do think that this was a really big moment for Fetterman to show the world that he is ready and he struggled, and that's something that they're gonna have to reckon with. And, and it also comes at a time when this race is very close and it's going to be one of the deciders of whether or not Democrats hold onto the majority or cede it to Republicans.

NIALA: Both candidates came out strong on their positions on abortion.

JOHN FETTERMAN: I believe abortion rights is a, a universal right for all women in America. I believe abortion is healthcare.

DR. OZ: As a physician, I've been in the room when there's some difficult conversations happening. I don't want the federal government involved with that at all.

NIALA: Alayna, I wanna ask you about Oz's position on this, because he was specifically asked about Lindsay Graham's 15 week bill and did not clearly answer.

ALAYNA: He didn't. I mean, I will say, he thinks that it should be left up to the states, and of course, Lindsey Graham's bill is a federal law and would go against that. And, if Oz does become a Senator, he's going to have to grapple with this, particularly if Republicans in the Senate end up having control. There's gonna be talk about wanting to pass some sort of abortion ban, and Lindsay Graham’s would probably be the one that would be, that would come up.

NIALA: Another issue I wanna talk about is fracking. Fetterman was asked repeatedly to address and explain his position, which has changed on fracking, and he did not.

ALAYNA: Fracking is a huge issue in Pennsylvania, and it's always been. And this was something that has been a concern for the Fetterman campaign that he has flip-flopped from, you know, in 2018 he had said he doesn't support it, and now recently come out that he does. And he had an opportunity to explain himself on the debate stage, and he failed to do so.

NIALA: Axios political reporter, Alayna Treene. Thanks Alayna.

ALAYNA: Thank you, Niala.

NIALA: In a moment, the impact of a new rule on Venezeulan migrants at the Southern US border.

The Biden administration’s change for Venezuelan migrants at the border

NIALA: Welcome back to Axios Today. I'm Niala Boodhoo. The Biden administration two weeks ago abruptly decided to stop allowing Venezuelan migrants to enter the country through the southern border requiring them instead to apply through a sponsor. The move has left tens of thousands of Venezuelan migrants stranded, and comes as President Biden faces criticism for his immigration policy ahead of the midterm elections. Here to give us the political context on this and update us on the fallout for Venezuelan migrants as Michelle Hackman, immigration reporter for the Wall Street Journal. Hi Michelle, welcome back to the podcast.

MICHELLE HACKMAN: Hey, thanks for having me.

NIALA: Michelle first, can you explain more about what the Biden administration actually just decided?

MICHELLE HACKMAN: Sure. So the thing to understand is that this was a negotiation with Mexico and both countries I think we're feeling pretty frustrated that there was this massive flow of, you know, Venezuelan, basically refugees coming up from South America through Mexico into the US. The numbers were sort of massive, you know, you had 33,000 Venezuelans come in September alone. And so they suddenly took this drastic action. They basically, you know, reached a deal with Mexico where they said, “hey, we're going to use Title 42, this pandemic policy that we, you know, a few months ago said we were gonna end, we're gonna actually use that to take Venezuelans and expel them back to Mexico.” And Mexico is agreeing to take them back, or at least some of them back.

NIALA: How have the midterm elections influenced the administration's decision on all of this?

MICHELLE : I mean obviously, the administration's handling of immigration, you know, how busy the border has been, has been a top topic for Republicans during this campaign, something that they've really been able to hit Biden on for the last two years. They're threatening even to impeach the Homeland Security Secretary over this, if they, you know, take over the House of Representatives. And so I think the Biden administration wants to be seen as doing anything it can to sort of crack down at the border, shrink the numbers of people who are coming. And, you know, it's interesting to me that a few months ago, They were arguing the title 42 needed to end, and now they're sort of dropping all pretenses that it was ever even a public health policy and using it as a blunt deterrence tool to try to stop Venezuelans from coming. They even had a call with reporters last week where they told us, the number of Venezuelans had dropped from about 1200 people crossing the border a day. That's just Venezuelans. And after this Title 42 policy took effect, they were seeing about 150 Venezuelans a day. So huge drop.

NIALA: Republican governors have been sending migrants to democratic enclaves by plane and bus. Did that have any effect on President Biden's decision here?

MICHELLE: I think definitely it did. You know, because of the way the demographics work at the border, Venezuelans were making up a lot of the people that these Republican governors were then taking and busing to places like New York and DC. It was causing a huge headache for the Biden administration. You know, you suddenly the mayor of New York City, the mayor of Washington DC, two prominent Democrats criticizing the Biden administration saying that they were in crisis. You know, this was a huge issue for the administration and, and really interestingly, New York and DC have both seen the buses really dry up recently. I mean the, the number of immigrants arriving in those cities has dramatically slowed in the last week or so.

NIALA: So Michelle, what's next for Venezuelans who are trying to come to the US? Are they aware of this new change in law? Because I know that some people spend months in transit trying to get to the border.

MICHELLE: It's important to emphasize that there's a real human tragedy going on. I mean, 7 million Venezuelans are just displaced from their country. Most don't have a permanent place of residence. Venezuelans in Mexico don't really have a place to go. They're sort of at the end of their road. What's worse is that the Venezuelans who recently arrived and got expelled under Title 42 were handed back to Mexican authorities who were then giving them notices saying, “you have 50 days to get out of Mexico.” You know, there's some people who fear they could get deported back to Venezuela, and a lot of these people, you know, you get deported back to Venezuela and you're seen as a trader for leaving the country. So I think people are feeling really desperate and that's starting to come across.

NIALA: Michelle Hackman covers immigration for the Wall Street Journal. Thanks, Michelle.

MICHELLE : Thank you.

NIALA: That’s it for us today! You can reach our team at podcasts at axios dot com or reach out to me on twitter. Or you can text me directly at (202) 918-4893.

I’m Niala Boodhoo - thanks for listening - stay safe and we’ll see you back here tomorrow morning.

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