- [margaret] what does senator lisa murkowski say now? - [narrator] "firing line" with margaret hoover is made possible in part by robert granieri, vanessa and henry cornell, the fairweather foundation, the tepper foundation, the asness family foundation, charles r. schwab, and by the rosalind p. walter foundation and damon button. - senator lisa murkowski, welcome to "firing line." - thank you so much. it is so good to be with you, margaret. thank you for the invitation. - you were elected to your fourth term in the u.s. senate last november. and before we dive into it, i should disclose that i am the president of an organization which works to advance lgbt equality amongst republican federal office holders. and that organization supported you in your reelection. - thank you. - you were the only republican who was up for reelection in 2022 who had voted to convict donald trump in his second impeachment trial. the alaska republican party censured you, and president trump made it a personal mission to defeat you. and yet you won your reele

that answer from lisa murkowski was a political congratulations. you can almost see it in her head of, i don't want to say anything bad about trump. i need those trumpy voters to get reelected. and i don't want to say joe biden, so i'll just split the baby and say somebody who is not actually even running and who is, would potentially be running on a third party ticket that we don't even know what they stand for. >> well, in new hampshire, a no label conversation. chris christie who has been -- >> they don't count. >> why not? >> they're considered rinos. but lisa murkowski is an independent. she had to do the write-in and all that stuff. she's definitely a renegade. susan collins sometimes. the part of conversation that you didn't hear, that we didn't play, was where she talked about the republicans in the caucus who were very turned off and are saying, they have no courage to say the publicly but they're i don't know how much longer i can be in this party. i think it's radicalized. i think it's gone in a direction i'm no longer comfortable with.

then there is a moment today where lisa murkowski was asked about the prospects for a rematch betweenen and trump, even in spite of all of those conversations. listen to what she had to say. >> would you support him if he decided to run? >> i'll tell you, if it is a matchup between biden and trump, i know exactly where i'll go. i would go with joe manchin. i am one who doesn't like to use my vote for the lesser of evils. i want to be proactive and who could do the job. i think manchin could do the job. well our system allow for that? that i don't know. >> all right, who's surprised? >> joe manchin is actually not running, we should say that -- from the great state of west virginia, let's just -- that. that answer, talking about, that was such a political answer, and the ties into what we're talking about the fundraising on trump's side. that radicalized base that we're talking about, they have a stranglehold on the republican party that no one in the republican party has had the courage to stand up to with any force. that answer from lisa murkowski was political calculation, you can a

republican senator lisa murkowski thinks one of his democratic colleagues might be up to the task. >>ow exactly where i'd go i would go with joe manchin. i am one who doesn't like to use my vote for the lesser of evils. i want to be proactive in who i think could do the job. i think manchin could do the job. but will our system allow for that? that i don't know. >> and joining us now is republican governor of maryland larry hogan. the former governor, i should say. he is an honorary national co-chair of the centrist political organization no labels which is actively considering running a third-party candidate in 2024. governor hogan, thank you for joining us, as a former constituent in maryland, i made you a permanent governor there of that state. i do want to ask you though -- >> thank you, i appreciate it. good morning. >> good morning. i want to ask you about what lisa murkowski was saying there because there was a new poll just out yesterday asking basically this question, asking voters would you consider a third-party stitt? there was a generic option, but also an option to choo

i just -- i don't see a large group of moderate voters looking like lisa murkowski. i don't see a lot of folks like that. you're an expert. tell me i'm wrong. >> no, trey, i think you are right. i think you have a majority of americans that find themselves somewhere in the middle, center left, center right, but are mostly disengaged. we see most of the engagement, the action, the activity on the extremes in mostly primaries that mostly decide who represents us in congress are those primary elections. and year after year, census after census, we see those competitive districts fall by the wayside as more and more republicans flock to red states and their areas, rural areas, and democrats similarly to the cities. that is an interesting news piece with senator murkowski. i think she has made a name for himself as someone in the middle in the senate as a deal maker. she's worked extensively with the biden administration, whether it be on the energy permitting, whether it be on the infrastructure bill to actually achieve things. she's already working with joe biden who ha

what we're doing now, i don't see a large group of moderate voters like lisa murkowski, i don't see a lot of folks like that. you're an expert, tell me i'm wrong. >> kevin: i think you are right, majority of americans are in the middle, center right or center left and are mostly engaged and we see activity on extreme in mostly primary that decide who represents us in congress. year after year, census after census, competitive flock to red states and democrats similarly to cities. interesting news piece with senator murkowski. she has made a name for herself as someone in the middle, as a deal maker. she's worked extensively to achieve things. to her point she wants to work with someone, she is, with joe biden, who notched more bipartisan victories in last 2-1/2 years than any president in recent memory. there is interest with joe manchin, he was in new hampshire with no labels talking about potential of a third party run. never seen a third party be successful, last guy who got a single vote was ross peron the and george wallace 50 years ago. i think no labels is misguided in offering

take a listen to independent well, i think she's a republican, again, lea lisa murkowski, labelling howte. hear as murkowski asked about this. >> it's a match-up between biden and trump, i know exactly where i would go. i would go with, i would go with joe manchin, i am one who doesn't like to use my vote for the lessor evils. i want to be proactive in who i think can do the job, i think manchin can do the job, but, will our system allow for that? that i don't know. >>> let's go to the person at the table who i think this bother the most. >> i know. i know. he can't win. >> who can't win? >> joe manchin. >> she doesn't know if he's going to win. >> i like manchin, i like him a lot, he's a good guy. but, ross perot spent millions and millions and millions of dollars, he got the votes of one out of five americans and zero votes. all he did was throw the election to the other party. >> george wallace got electoral points. >> they were looking for a racist, regional candidate. manchin is not that. he's a descent guy and a moderate. the problem for the biden people is biden won moderates by

a possible third-party bid from democratic senator joe manchin, i want you to listen to what lisa murkowski listen to this. >> if it's a match-up between biden and trump, i know exactly where i'd go. i would go with -- i would go with joe manchin. i am one who doesn't like to use my vote for the lesser of evils. i want to be proactive in who i think could do the job. i think manchin can do the job. but will our system allow for that? that i don't know. >> should democrats take that possibility of a manchin run more seriously? >> first of all, i don't know anybody who believes senator murkowski. i think she's not being totally honest about that. we know if the question for senator murkowski is between donald trump and joe biden, she will choose not joe manchin, but she will choose to support and prop up donald trump. but democrats do need to be concerned about a third party. we've seen it before. we saw jill stein just recently in the election of donald trump over hillary clinton. we've seen the role that third parties can play. by my warning lights to democrats would not be to be concerned

lisa murkowski of alaska, threw her weight behind his spoiler bid. >> it's a matchup between biden and, i know exactly where i would go. i would go with joe manchin. i am one who doesn't like to use my vote for the lesser of evils. >> marlon murphy and cornell belcher are both democratic pollsters and strategists. joe manchin, whether you like him or not, he is a smart, sophisticated guy, who always knows what he is doing next and what the outcome is going to be. he wins more than he loses on almost every level. there's no chance. i have a better chance of coming chance. well, maybe an equal chance, statistically, than he does. so what's he up to? >> it's hard to know. he's got a tough call in his own home state of west virginia. the former governor's potentially gonna run against him. that's a tough matchup for him. i think he's looking at his options. like it or not, this is getting him a lot of attention. it's raising his post profile, and it may help him long term. >> before twitter goes nuts on me, i wasn't born in this country, i have no intention of being president. cornell, let

you have republican senator lisa murkowski weighing in on the 2024 race.he said that she would vote for democratic senator joe manchin. manchain said he's waiting for next year to decide on a third-party run. he's been appearing with no labels, talking about a unity ticket with a republican and democrat on it. what do you make of murkowski already going there? >> well, i mean, no labels, murkowski and manchin also claim that a donald trump presidency would be very dangerous. and yet, they are headed in a direction that could hand oaf the white house, the oval office back to donald trump and a real threat to democracy. and so, you know, i hope it's not just a vanity trip, an ego trip for no labels and senator manchin. let's not forget john huntsman in there too. that's a ticket that's been floated. i really worry. i think the polls are kind of a mixed bag as to whether that would benefit democrats or republican, but let's say it would be very disruptive and could well land donald trump back in the oval office to do even further damage to our democracy. it's

i am delighted that our ranking members here, lisa murkowski. >> good morning. welcome back to it committee -- to the committee. i am glad to discuss the budget request with you. i will start out by acknowledging thank you for the working relationship that uni have built -- you and i have built. before i turn to alaska specific issues this morning, i must note my concern over the direction that i believe the agency is taking in regards to recent and planned national regulatory actions, in particular, i believe the agency is engaging in a regulatory overreach with -- which the senate has expressed its disapproval all -- on. if press reports are true, epa's rule will follow the same unfortunate pattern in these broad national regulations often have a disproportionately affect on the state of alaska as we have had an opportunity to discuss. a very significant percentage of alaska is considered a wetland. the rule phase -- fails to consider alaska conditions like permafrost and will harm economic development. while i have serious concerns about how these negative po