Free Virtual Event: December 17, 5:00 PM ET

   

The Trump Administration has tested our political norms like none other in recent history.  As the Trump presidency draws to a close, the Biden presidency about to begin, two special senatorial elections that will determine the balance of power in the Senate on the horizon, and the prospect of precedent setting presidential pardons a daily threat, it's time to look back on where we have been these past four years, distill the lessons to be learned, and project where we will be heading.  

That Said, join Michael Zeldin as he speaks with CNN’s Abby Phillip, Political Correspondent, and Manu Raju, Senior Congressional Correspondent, to break down what to expect at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave and on Capitol Hill. How will this divided government work, if at all? Who will hold the keys to success or stalemate? How will centers of power shift if the Democrats win the two Georgia Senate seats, win one, or lose both?

Introduction by Lawrence J. Parnell, Associate Professor & Program Director, Masters in Strategic Public Relations – GSPM, Adjunct Professor – School of Business, The George Washington University

Speakers

Abby Phillip

Political Correspondent, CNN

Abby Phillip is a CNN Political Correspondent covering the 2020 presidential election. She is on the campaign trail but is based in Washington, D.C. She joined the network in 2017 to cover the Trump Administration and served as White House Correspondent through 2019. In January 2020, she moderated CNN's Democratic Presidential Debate in Iowa.

Phillip joined CNN from The Washington Post where she most recently served as a national political reporter, covering the White House. While at The Washington Post, Phillip wrote on a wide range of subjects related to the Trump White House, including efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, the president's overseas trip to Poland and Germany for his first G-20. As a campaign reporter during the 2016 election Phillip extensively covered Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

Phillip was also a general assignment reporter for the Washington Post, where she covered domestic an international news including the tragic Charleston, S.C. and San Bernardino massacres. Before joining the Washington Post, Phillip was a digital reporter for politics at ABC News. She has also covered the Obama White House for POLITICO as well as campaign finance and lobbying.

Phillip was raised in Bowie, Md. and is a graduate of Harvard University with a degree in Government. She currently lives in Washington with her husband.

 

Manu Raju

Senior Congressional Correspondent, CNN

Manu Raju is a senior congressional correspondent at CNN, covering Capitol Hill and campaign politics. Raju is a veteran reporter in Washington, having previously served as a top Capitol Hill correspondent at Politico for seven years. Prior to his time at Politico, Raju reported for The Hill newspaper, Congressional Quarterly and Inside Washington Publishers. He has long been a frequent guest on political talk shows on TV and radio.

Raju has won multiple journalism awards for his reporting on the major battles consuming Washington and his coverage of campaign politics. In 2012, Raju was part of a team of four reporters who won the White House Correspondents Association's prestigious Merriman Smith award for presidential reporting under deadline pressure for their coverage of the debt ceiling crisis. In 2015, Raju also was awarded first prize by the Society of Professional Journalists in D.C. for beat coverage of the 2014 midterm elections, and a Folio: Eddie Award for a feature profile on Senator Elizabeth Warren. In 2017, Raju won the Joan Shorenstein Barone award, given annually for best congressional reporting by the Radio and Television Correspondent Association.

Raju has developed a reputation as a reporter who can find out what politicians are privately discussing out of the public's view. And he is well known for his sharp and skillful questioning of politicians, a skill he showcased in 2014 when he moderated debates in two of the biggest races in the country -- for a key Senate seat in Colorado and a hotly contested governor's race there as well.

Raju got his start in media working at the student newspaper The Badger Herald at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, his alma mater. And his writing roots extend to his late grandfather, Gopalakrishna Adiga, a legendary poet from South India who wrote in the language of Kannada. Raju is a long-suffering Chicago sports fan and a native of the Greater Chicago area.

 

Michael Zeldin

Michael Zeldin is a well-known and highly-regarded TV and radio analyst/commentator.He has covered many high-profile matters, including the Clinton impeachment proceedings, the Gore v. Bush court challenges, Special Counsel Robert Muller’s investigation of interference in the 2016 presidential election, and the Trump impeachment proceedings. In 2019, Michael was a Resident Fellow at the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School, where he taught a study group on Independent Investigations of Presidents.Previously, Michael was a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice. He also served as Deputy Independent/ Independent Counsel, investigating allegations of tampering with presidential candidate Bill Clinton’s passport files, and as Deputy Chief Counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives, Foreign Affairs Committee, October Surprise Task Force, investigating the handling of the American hostage situation in Iran.Michael is a prolific writer and has published Op-ed pieces for CNN.com, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Hill, The Washington Times, and The Washington Post.Follow Michael On Twitter @MichaelZeldin

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