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Chinese spy balloon, State of the Union, debt ceiling: 3 things to watch in D.C. this week

Yahoo Finance’s Kevin Cirilli joins the Live show to discuss the latest political events happening out of Washington, D.C, which include the Chinese spy balloon and the expectations for President Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday.

Video Transcript

[AUDIO LOGO]

- Lots to watch on the political front this week from Tuesday's State of the Union to the fallout from that balloon. Joining us now with three things you need to know in DC this week is Yahoo Finance's contributor Kevin Cirilli. Kevin, of course, we have to start with the balloon gate.

KEVIN CIRILLI: Yes, balloon gate. And all attention now putting US-China relations front and center for the week. I'm on Capitol Hill this morning. And I can tell you that talk amongst Republicans is whether or not to bring forward a resolution condemning President Biden's handling of the balloon and the Chinese balloon.

But when I talked to Democrats, their issue with this is that perhaps, the focus is being put on domestic politics and less so on the actual issue of China having this surveillance balloon fly above the United States.

So this balloon gate definitely the latest illustration in terms of Chinese surveillance. And it's pushing the issue of the US-China relationship front and center. As you alluded to, President Biden's State of The Union Address coming in just more than 24 hours.

And also at a time in which Secretary Blinken has postponed that trip to China, remember last week, we were talking about his travels. He will no longer be traveling to China this week as a result of that surveillance balloon.

- And, Kevin, you mentioned the State of the Union this week. Now, China is probably going to come up during that. What else should we be looking for?

KEVIN CIRILLI: Well, from the perspective of as it relates to the business community, China will no doubt be one of the dominant themes in terms of what investors will be looking for from President Biden tomorrow. It also comes at a time in which there's been a coalition forming of Republicans and Democrats in how to address the China challenge and the China strategic competition.

And so whether or not President Biden is able to thread that political needle of being a unifier as it relates to a longer-term approach to the China challenge remains to be seen. But then the other half of this speech, which will be closely watched by domestic politicians and Republicans and Democrats alike, will be whether or not he's going to run for reelection in 2024.

Now, the White House is saying that President Biden is going to be hitting a series of domestic political stops following the State of the Union Address. But look, I mean, we've all talked about it in the last several weeks there have been Democrats who have been openly wondering, if not Biden, then who?

And so he, as the leader of the Democratic Party, definitely needs to speak to the 2024 campaign as well. It's going to be a fascinating state of the Union Address. Folks are wary about the economic footing of the United States and whether or not it's headed into a recession. And so there's a lot that President Biden has to do both domestically and internationally tomorrow night.

- And, Kevin, while we've got you, what about the debt ceiling talks here?

KEVIN CIRILLI: Ugh. Let's not forget about the debt ceiling. I mean, look, you know, I've been talking to folks all over the last couple of days as it relates to the debt ceiling. And, you know, I think that McCarthy-Biden meeting at the White House last Wednesday in which McCarthy then following that meeting said to conservative news outlet Fox News, Sean Hannity, that ultimately, he believes he'll get President Biden to concede on making some spending cuts.

Now that signaled that ultimately, I think from the business community's perspective, that Speaker McCarthy will and wants to raise the debt ceiling, but he's going to need some type of concession from Democrats in order to do so. Whether or not that hurt Speaker McCarthy politically remains to be seen.

- That was some vociferous exasperation there a moment ago, Kevin. I hope everything is OK. We're going to make it through this week. We got this.

KEVIN CIRILLI: I'm just excited for the Super Bowl so, you know.

- Yes, indeed. Kevin, good to speak with you this morning. Thanks for teeing up this week. Yahoo Finance contributor, Kevin Cirilli there.

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