morning. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is respoible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

king, jr. "washington journal" is next. ♪ host: good morning. monday, february 19, president's day. we will mark the federal holiday coming up with a conversation about president ronald reagan.

we will also discuss today black history month later on. in our first hour, we want your views of vice president kamala harris. here is how you can join the conversation. if you are a republican, dial in at (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002.ust wi name,ity, andcn ate, (202) 748-8003.■.or on facn x with handle @cspanwj. a look at recent polling done on the vice president's approval rating. she shares the same number with president joe biden, 40%. disapproval rating is at 58%.

in a recent "wall street journal" interview, she said she is ready to serve. this morning, we want to know your view of the vice president. on abc's "the view" last month, she was asked about the biden administration's record on border security. the president put her in charge of one part of the border. here is what she had to say. [video clip] vp harris: 2023 was the biggest year with crossings, cities pushed to the brink. do you think this is a crisis, and what can you do to address the root causes. vp harris: listen, first of all, everyone knows our immigration system is broken. ok. the first bill that we offered right after inauguration was to

fix the immigration system. a comprehensive plan to deal with the immigration system. do you think they have taken it up? no. we want solutions. dissolutions are at hand. but frankly, we are in an election year, and the folks that want to return donald trump to the white house would prefer to talk about a broken immigration system instead of focusing on solutions that are at hand and engaging in bipartisan work. let's remember the days of george bush, john, even lindsey graham, who agreed that let's fix this and work together on the solutions. >> but it makes the biden administration look good, and they don't want that. >> what are you doing to work with republicans to try to fix this? vp harris: in the senate, we have offered that there will be bipartisan work to fix it. it literally was the first bill

we passed. i think it is critically important that we understand that they were petty politics at play on this issue, as much as anything. we need solutions. the solutions are at hand. we have to work on them together. we have offered that in our security package coming, $14 billion that we would like them to approve. to address this issue. and senate republicans support it so, hey, let's all participate in solutions if we want to call ourselves leaders. host: the vice president on "the view" february 17 talking about border security issues. we want to get your view of the vice president this morning. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. a little bit more from her, and

this is last week responding to the special counsel's report about when then vice president joe biden took classified documents and the special counsel's note about the president's memory. [video clip] vp harris: i have been privileged and proud to service vice president of the united states with joe biden as president of the united states. and what i -- when i saw that report last night, i believe it is, as a former prosecutor, the comments that were made by that prosecutor were gratuitous, inaccurate, and inappropriate. october 7 israel experienced a horrific attack, and i will tell you, we got the calls, the president and myself, in the

hours after that occurred. it was an intense moment for the commander-in-chief of the united states of america. and i was in almost every meeting with the president in the hours and days that followed. countless hours with the secretary of defense, the secretary of state, the heads of our intelligence community, and the president was in front of and on top of it all. he was asking questions and requiring that america's military and intelligence community and diplomatic community would figure out and know how many people were dead, how many are americans, how many hostages, is the situation stable -- he was in front of it all, coordinating and directing

leaders who are in charge of america's national security, not to mention our allies around the globe. host: your thoughts on the vice president this morning, that is our conversation for the first hour of the "washington journal." on facebook, leanne says better than trump or pence. michael in plant city, florida, in a text, vice president harris is the result of dei when you hire based on skinol and not other aspects. this one says she is brilliant. and most people are disgusted over trump 24/7. more kamala, please. and this in a newspaper, vote for, harris -- vote for kamala harris. i am ready to serve, she told

the "wall street journal" last week. this was before a release highlighting mr. biden plus failing memory. everyone who sees her on the job, ms. harris says, works fully -- walks away fully aware of my capacity to lead. brenda in arkansas, republican. your view of the vice president? caller: i think she is in the bears meant. she -- i think she is an embarrassment. she cackles like some clown to be a comedian. she has never been to the border and she is in charge of the border. when they ask her why, she says, well, i have never been to europe either. that is the typical kind of answer you get. these long sentences you are giving here now are not anything i have ever heard out of her. she is basically invisible. she is super hidden because the more people see her, a more they dislike her.

so perhaps more democrats should see her. host: brenda come on the border question, this is from axios, they had a piece in mid february about the handling of the border by the biden administration. reality check, saying much of the team has had little control over the factors, including unprecedented global calamities that have pushed millions of migrants to the u.s., decades of congressional inaction, and the state of the agencies after the trump administration. many current and former biden officials say they believe they have done the best considering the circumstances. but others have said the administration has fallen far short on matters within its control. many administration leaders treated the issue like a hot potato because they were politically thankless. the idea that no one wanted to own it came up repeatedly in interviews about the border crisis, as the humanitarian

conditions at the border had deteriorated and the politics surrounding immigration had become a thorn for biden, he becomes scratchy or when the issue comes up, according to current and former aides. it says here on the role of vice president, kamala harris and her office made clear to others in the administration that her responsibilities began and ended with the factors driving people to leave guatemala, honduras, and el salvador, the issues biden had assigned to her to examine. as the migration became more global, harris' team remain focused on the northern triangle and mexico. a senior official told axios she has been, at best, ineffective, and at worst, sporadically engaged, and not seeing it as her responsibility. it is an opportunity for her that she did not fill. sandy in columbus, ohio, democratic caller. caller: good morning.

i am calling about -- the thing i do nothing people understand, how you have to have bills to correct things as far as the border. now, they put out one, like vice president harris said, when they first got in, they had taken it up, and i am going to move forward to the fact that they all got together, the senate republicans and the house, and the senate republicans and democrats, and what they did was they passed the bill over to the house. the house did not say we are not going to accept this part, we will send this back, and let's negotiate to get this situation resolved. what did they do? they went on spring break with a shutdown looming. then they want to talk about who is not doing what. they fire mayorkas. we're is there bill of exactly what they want?

-- where is their bill of exactly what they want? they are supposed to negotiate. host: you are saying this needs to come from congress on the border, that you do not blame the vice president on this because action needs to come from congress? caller: yes, i am saying the action is to come from the body for that type of large situation that it came to. by the way, i watched a special where it does not look like it is the mexicans or the other foreigners bringing the fentanyl and cocaine and all in. it looked like americans that had visas that were caught bringing it back and forth. host: and where did you see that, sandy? caller: on a pbs special. host: sandy in columbus, ohio, democratic caller. on the debate happening in washington between the two bodies of congress over tying aid to ukraine, israel, and taiwan to some order security

provisions, the agreement that was negotiated by a bipartisan group of senators fell apart. the senate took action on just the foreign aid part of it. this is from the "new york times," the clear cost of inaction as military aid languishes in the house. it is not clear whether the losses in eastern ukraine will be enough to move republicans skeptical of sending edges no funding to kyiv. lawmakers on capitol hill say they have not heard a plan for ukraine to turn the tide of the battlefield, even if the supplies were replenished. that is from the "new york times." this is from "washington times" this morning, centrists in the house are looking at a $66 billion bill that pairs foreign aid and border security, the legislation underscores the urgency to push ukraine's funds.

the legislation which focuses on military it would some $47 billion to ukraine, $10 billion to israel, just shy of $5 billion for the indo pacific region. it includes over $2 billion to u.s. central command for recent conflicts in the red sea. similar to a failed senate predecessor, measures. it would bring back former president trump remain in mexico for one year. but the success of the policy requires buy-in from mexico, which rejects it. we are talking about the vice president, your view of her. rhonda in oakland, california, republican. caller: yes, good morning. i am calling to comment on kamala harris -- yes, i do live in oakland, california, which is

the area over which kamala harris had jurisdiction. host: as attorney general? is that what you are talking about? caller: yes, i am. and the reason i am calling is because, as a seniorly aged black female, i find kamala harris to be absolutely hypocritical, and she threatened to send parents to jail if their children were absent from school. she held over someone's conviction even though she knew that the man was innocent. and she called her own boss a racist -- [laughs] --and now

she is out there defending him. you could not pay me to vote for or defend this woman. and then she stands there claiming to be the first black face -- vice president who is a female. it is utterly embarrassing, and i would never vote for her as president or as a vice president on anybody's ticket, let alone the most racist president that i have known in my lifetime. host: so who will you be voting for in the fall? caller: it is none of your business, but it will be them. host: ok, all right.

tim in kentucky, independent. caller: how you doing? thank you for taking my call. i watch y'all every morning, and i also watch the cbs today. i can't get a view on our vice president because i have no earthly idea what she does or what she has done. that is all i got. host: so you think she needs to be more visible? caller: of course. i mean, you always heard about mike pence another vice presidents down the road, but i haven't seen nothing on this. this the most i've seen on her since she got elected. host: ok. fox news, juan williams, an analyst with fox news, recently said this, this is reported by the hill newspaper, after all the bad press, the first female vice presiroving to be a campaign asset.

sh fire up core liberal voters, beginning with women, college-educated voters.oters, those are the voters that democrats are targeting for a high turnout and swing states, from pennsylvania to wisconsin, states they need to win in november. her standing as the first black, first fema, and first indian-american vice president gives her a unique attraction to face the republican party that is dominated by white men and by former president trump. here is the vice president speaking at an mlk day event last month in south carolina. [video clip] vp harris: from our young leaders, i heard that the assault on freedoms -- well, it is lived experience. it is not just hypothetical. think about it. during the height of their reproductive years, this generation has witnessed the highest court in our land, the court of thurgood, take a

constitutional right that had been recognized from the people of america, from the women of america. this generation now has fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers. that is not a hypothetical. that from kindergarten through 12th grade, this young generation has had to endure active shooter drills. our children should -- who should be in a classroom fulfilling their god-given potential to explore the beauty of the world and instead have to worry that someone might bust through their classroom door with a gun. and when students go to vote, they often have to wait in line for hours because of laws that intentionally make it more difficult for them to cast a

ballot. it is not a hypothetical. but even though our young leaders are clear-eyed about these challenges, i will share with you, they will not be discouraged. they will not be deterred. standing on the shoulders of the generations who came before, our young leaders are prepared and ready for this fight. as are we. host: the vice president in south carolina marking the mlk holiday recently, targeting female voters, young voters, voters of color, and she also kicked off early this year an abortion-rights tour on the 51st anniversary of roe v. wade. here are the headwinds facing the ticket of biden-harris, "washington times," biden can't

make inflation fit for household budgets, pins problems on corporate greed. the president and his aides note the annual inflation rate has eased steadily from the high of 9.1% in december of 2022 to 3.1% in january. it has not brought down russia prices. it means only that prices for many items are not rising as fast as they were 18 months ago. then there is this in the "wall street journal," mishkin voters, anger is a problem for -- michigan voters, anger is a problem for biden. it says, arab americans in this state are crucial for the democrat coalition. here is the reporting, there are lots of voters, like the one that is a future in this piece, and the metro detroit area, which is crucial for any victory for mr. biden in the state, wayne county, the most populous in michigan, is home to about

the united auto worker's international headquarters and the largest arab american community in the united states. thousands of arabs settled here in the 1960's and 1970's and got jobs in the ford plant. today there are 190,000 arabs in wayne county alone. out of about 1.8 million people, dozens have elected leaders in the area and have signed the pledge to vote uncommitted in the february 27 primary in michigan as their signal and willingness to abandon mr. biden unless the administration changes course. that in the "wall street journal." there is also a piece today in the papers about congresswoman to leap urging michigan democrats -- congresswoman talib urging michigan democrats not to vote for biden as a protest of his handling of the israel-gaza war. georgia north carolina,

democratic caller, your next. caller: good morning. i just love c-span, love the way y'all stay up with things going on throughout the world. thanks again for taking my call and for showing what you're showing about that in michigan. i want to say this, the vice president has a lot to do. she is a vice president. i have listened to callers. she has to report to the president. she is the vice president, the assistant. she travels and keeps up with both political sites, house of representatives and the senate. and she has to report information to the president. that is what a vice do. ima vice, so i know what a vice has to do. thanks for showing what you show. president biden is trying to do the right thing. president biden has had a bill they sent over to the house of representatives.

any president -- citizen trump is telling mike johnson what to do. he has presented a bill over there, and all it has to do is sign it. what they do? like the lady three calls before me, they take a vacation. they project every year, congress does, how much vacation they going to take. last couple years, the only been working 100 days out of 365. host: on this border issue, as a democrat, you're blaming the republicans and not the biden- harris white house? caller: the biden-harris is not the one blocking it. if mike johnson passed a bill, they can secure the border better. not to mention, ukraine can have the weapons and things they need to combat against putin aggression. if we don't stop that, putin is going to continue to try to take

over more and more of those countries. and we can't see it. host: i am going to bring up the front page of the "new york times," scenes of arkham -- armageddon as ukrainian cities fall. the ukrainians withdrew under withering bombardment, fighting intense battles across ruined streets to break out of russia's attempt to encircle them. russian warplanes bombed a processing plant in the city's northern outskirts, using incendiary munitions to blow up the plant, unleashing a toxic smog. that from the front page of the "new york times" this morning. how russia treats wounded soldiers as heroes or not at all, this is from the "new york times" this morning.the in an article published last month that russian dead and

wounded soldiers numbered 315,000. multiple interviews indicated that the main aim in treating the wounded was to redeploy them to the battlefield quickly. a lengthy piece today in the "new york times." don in missouri, your view of the vice president. caller: hello. there is a prayer that means putting two words together to form one. dim and wit, she is a dimwit. the sooner biden and kamala are gone, the happier the united states of american people will be. they yak yak yak yak. they do not want to make the heart choices to make the american better. it would be so easy to secure

the southern border. they have got a big army base out there in oklahoma, and you just move those tanks down there and do whatever it takes just to close the dang border. and you don't need a lot of legislation to do this or that or this or that, although mike johnson, he is the greatest thing that has come along for the united states right now, his common sense as speaker of the house. host: what about the worldly vice president has played only border? -- what about the role the vice president has played? caller: she does not do anything she is the laughing woman. that is all she does, she gets up there and laughs. i do not like listening to people say she -- host: sam in greenville, south

carolina, independent. caller: well, that was -- hey, not going to go on that. but i am not really a fan, not because of the things he says but just because of her track record in regards to her previous jobs. she has been accused of weaponizing technicalities to keep wrongfully convicted people behind bars. in 2011, there was a case where she argued that they should keep people in prisons because she has a client and she does for her client, referring to the united states government. 2014, she argued the early release of prisoners, saying she needed them to fight fires. you know, slave labor of prisoners, fight fires in california. on top of that, her record on environmental protections is pretty awful. she kept seven companies that

were actual price of the actual cleanup. in 2008, with an oil spill, she got 44 million dollars for cleanup, estimate was less. she wants to talk about how she is the defender of the environment and all this and that. but it is kind of hollow when i look at the record. host: is the environment the number one issue for you? caller: i think it probably should be for everybody. we kind of need it to not collapse. probably should be a higher priority for everybody. host: if it is a hypothetical -- caller: obviously, the better choice, but neither of them are very good. and we're sort of running out of time. so as it stands, i guess the choice for most people is not a good choice. host: what do you mean we're

running out of time? caller: if you look at the reports coming out, just two weeks ago, there were multiple reports sounding alarm bells about how various changes in, say, the current systems going between the atlantic ocean pushing heat into europe, they are on the brink of collapse now. that is a random one. there are countless reports like that coming out every week, and we just ignore them. host: ok, so you went through the environmental record of the vice president. again though, if it is biden- harris versus trump and his vp, who do you vote for? caller: i mean, it is going to have to be biden-harris, but i am not happy about it at i do not think we should just support them glumly because those are the only two choices. i think we, as americans, should have a little more pride and try

to do better, even when faced with two bad choices. and criticizing them does not mean that we want trump or want things to get worse. it is a good thing to criticize because you try to hold people accountable teddy roosevelt said chris's -- criticizing the president is like patriotism. to not do that is servile. so hold them accountable, criticize. host: how old are you, sam? caller: i am 33. host: sam in greenville, south carolina. brian in durham, north carolina, democratic caller. caller: good morning, and he why so much for taking my call, c-span. this is a wonderful topic. i believe that everyone should consider vice president harris

and where she is and what she has done. she has done an incredible amount for the people. she really has. she has worked for the president. one of the things that i think is really important for me, because i am a senior, is the cost of insulin has now dropped down to $35 a month, cut prescription prices across the board, which is important for everyone. she has done a ton of things. she has helped pass the gun safety law, which, as you know, guns are a huge issue in america today. we have to look at how that affects us and our families generations to come. she enacted a $1 trillion investment in the country's infrastructure, $1 trillion to help jobs and build better bridges and roads, just to help

the american people. that is what kamala is all about. i have heard some callers talk about they have not seen her. well, i would rather have someone that is doing the job versus someone who wants to be seen. and she is doing the job. she is out there with her sleeves rolled up and working every day for the american people. and that is what the vice president is supposed to be about. not only that, but is she ready for the presidency? i think from day one she would be a marvelous president for the people of america, because she believes in working for the families of america. host: we will leave it there in durham, north carolina, a democratic caller. republican candidate nikki haley

on the breakfast club radio show a few weeks ago had this to say about the idea of the vice president serving as president. [video clip] ms. haley: she has never been a governor, never had executive experience she was a senator for a couple years but the things that biden gave her, she did not do anything with them. the border, she did not do anything. i have spent more time at the border. when it came to artificial intelligence, he gave her that. she did not do anything with it. america is behind everyone else when it comes to artificial intelligence. i just have not seen her do anything. she went overseas, he sent her to a foreign policy conference. she should have been talking about how we were going to have more allies, philippines, india, south korea, japan, all that. she did not have anything, and china just had their way with the conversation. host: that was nikki haley, presidential candidate, on the breakfast club, the morning show

that hosts any politicians such as hillary clinton, bernie sanders, pete buttigieg. abc was told yesterday that vice president harris has not met his 2020 expectations -- 2024, but also says i do not think it is too late for her to pivot. here is that. [video clip] >> you been kind of tough on her. >> i do not think it is too late for her to pivot. historically, vice president's have always kind of played their role, to basically parrot the president, speak on behalf of the president. batman, we are -- but man, we are in a new era. new jack problems, we need new check solutions. she is the first woman of color in that position, so there think she can talk about, things she can say.

man, we'll remember her in those senate hearings when she was pressing this people, she was like really -- she was prosecuting these people. i want to see her prosecute the case against donald trump in this country. i feel like she could go out there and really the -- let the american people know what is going on. i would like to see her going on outlets like fox news. i would like to see her go in there and mix it up. host: this morning here, your view of vice president kamala harris. patricia in minneapolis, republican. caller: yeah, i think she is a joke. i am not surprised that you have not been playing her ridiculous speeches where she has all this circular reasoning and circular sentences saying nothing. she is in charge of our border. how is that working out? you did show where she was coherent, she did not say a

thing about all the young women dying from fentanyl and getting raped and murdered from all these illegal aliens that are coming across the border. millions and millions. she has got to be the worst vice president in our history. she slept her way into -- host: how do you compare that? how do you say the worst vice president? caller: wait a second, you know what you guys do? when democrats call in and are speaking beautifully about your candidates, you let them go on and on and on, do not interrupt them. and when a republican calls in saying some the could go, you jump in and you try to shut us down and take a soft point. and here -- take us off point. here's another thing, u.s. people who they are voting for. who are you voting for?

you don't have to answer that. we know who every one of you vote for. you all vote for democrats, every single one of you. host: oh, patricia, you do not know that. our role as moderators is to not answer that question, not to give our opinions certainly, we are humans, we have them, but when we sit in this chair, we moderate a conversation. that is our role. we do not give our opinions. we try to facilitate a conversation between you and the debates happening in washington, lawmakers, journalists, etc. larry, alabama, independent. caller: good morning, greta. you know, that lady there must be on fentanyl or something. if she think you don't hang up on democrats, i know for a fact that is a lie. anyhow, let me make my point, and then you can go ahead and hang up on me like you used to. my point with ms. harris, that is a strong black woman. a lot of strong black women we

have out there is representing and helping those here who can't help themselves. for instance, like ms. james who prosecuting donald trump, like ms. willis who prosecuting donald trump in georgia, those are some strong black women. i agree with the guy from north carolina, he absolutely right, she have implemented a lot of bills, especially with this border wall which donald trump, mike johnson, and all them don't want to pass because i do not want to help see biden get elected. but this my second point, for black people's out there who want to vote for donald trump, i would like to know why. this man in 2018 went to the you win -- to the u.n, which consists of a lot of countries, he went and told the u.n. as president of the united states,

is history, he loves his history, he loved the confederate battle flag, he loved the confederate monument. he did not say nothing about george floyd, nothing about the black and brown people and yellows and other people getting brutality by police. he did not say nothing like that. i just want to know, why would you want to vote for white supremacy? host: ok, all right. rhonda in jersey shore, new jersey, democratic caller. rhonda in the jersey shore, new jersey, democratic caller? rhonda, one last call for you. caller: hello? hello. good morning, america. good morning, greta. you look beautiful this morning. you so calm with all the drama. i think kamala harris is more than qualified if something were to happen to joe biden. i am more concerned about our border and the do-nothing

republican congress who has allowed putin to take another city in ukraine. we are paying these people over $200,000 a year, more money than we will ever see on our own, and they are doing nothing. for three years, they have done nothing but campaign for donald trump. i think they all need to resign and put people in there who are willing to secure the border the republicans in the senate passed a border bill that they had been working on for four months, and donald trump said kill it, kill the economy, let the country go into a recession, and that me run again on racist policies. host: but bring it back to the vice president all you said was that you like her and think she is doing a good job. caller: i know she's more than

qualified. first of all, the republicans are going to lose because of women's reproductive rights. they have reversed this country back 50 years. we have gone back 50 years. they killed affirmative action. now they are killing reproductive rights for women. people are leaving this out to come to new jersey in the north because they have no rights. my brother lived in south carolina. he moved there, him and his wife bought a home there because they could get it at half the price you could get it in the north. he is dead. he is dead from covid. he lived there three years, and he is dead because they have no hospitals, have no internet. they are so far behind the times. the minimum wage is less than eight dollars an hour. host: what with the vice president do about those issues? caller: she would fight for reproductive rights for women, make sure we had that.

she would make sure we had equal justice under the law. host: all right, i'm going to get in some other voices. tim in michigan, republican. caller: hi, good morning. hey, the vice president and joe biden, i would just like to see some proof that they are -- like people out there in the audiences and stuff, because what i see, i do not see the proof that people are actually there for them. i see a lot of reporters and stuff. but i would like to know, how does donald trump have thousands and thousands of people at his rallies, then you don't see that at president kamala harris or joe biden's, where they go out and tell what they are doing.

which, i mean, i do not really understand what they are doing because they really do not say anything. they always get very, very angry at maga, whatever that is, that is just a thing where people love their country. so why does that matter if people love their country and see that it is going wrong? they have to come down on them. i do not understand it, whether you're republican, independent, or democrat. also, the last like two weeks i have watched the show, you have had maybe 3% republicans call in on the show or pick up the phone, the rest have been democrats and independents. host: tim, we take the calls that come in. we do not choose to have only

democrats call in -- well, sometimes we do questions that are just democratic or just republican. but when it is an hour like this, we're just taking the calls a commonly. ed in ocean city, new jersey, independent. caller: yes, on the vice president and the president job on the border, first, the united states and charities and churches need to provide financial incentives for businesses to establish businesses in the countries from which the greatest number of immigrants are coming. we cannot handle the flow. and second, working with the united nations, we have to get every nation to agree to take in a certain number of immigrants. we cannot handle the entire number. then on housing, there are many college prep schools and retreat centers, both religious and corporate, rooms that are vacant during the night, many nights

during the year. host: take aspect to your view of the vice president. caller: -- take us back to your view of the vice president. caller: i think all washington servants should resign this morning. host: who will you vote for in the fall? caller: i am a third-party candidate for president. host: ok, all right, ed there. abc's recent polling, the former president fends off nikki haley with a double-digit win and other takeaways from new hampshire's primary. abc news recently came out with a poll that shows she has a double-digit lead in south carolina heading into that primary, which is this weekend coming up. following that will be super tuesday. another politics article, "washington post the role of nebraska that it will play in the general election, democrats look to nebraska to shore up

biden. the trifecta of wisconsin, michigan, and pennsylvania stood for more than a decade of the last democratic stallworth since republican seeking the white house. with enough votes on their own among the core swing states give government -- to give democrats a majority. cracks in those three states gave republican donald trump the margin he needed to win. but the math has changed since 2020, because congressional redistricting reduce the number ability or a votes in some key states, including michigan and pennsylvania, meaning democrats must look elsewhere in 2024 for an additional electoral vote to tibbett if they want to win -- tip it if they want to win the trio. enter omaha. they need a single electoral vote to push the democrats over the finish line.

bruce in california, democratic caller. caller: how you doing. host: your thoughts on the vice president? caller: she's doing great, one of the best we have ever had. i wish the president a very good and happy presidents' day. jimmy carter, too. i would like to say i would like to see kamala harris show the republicans for what they are. like snakes, so everybody their voting records and show them for what they are, get strong on the insurrectionists. show how they all participated. show how margaret greene, senator greene, she planted bombs on the capitol. they instigate all of this stuff. you know what i mean? she has to press the supreme

court to do the right thing. tell lindsey graham to go to hell because he is one of the insurrectionists, too. they are all betting on donald trump to win so he can cancel all this -- host: to michigan, independent. caller: please, whatever you do, don't cut me off my -- like you do most people. you give these democrat's two minutes, now let me have about a minute and a half. host: make your point, make your point, then we will move on. caller: see, this is what you do. we call in to make your point, and you start cutting us off. ok, let's go back to the very beginning when kamala harris first got her job. she was up in the california, a piss poor legislator out there, could not do her job she did not have a boyfriend out there that helped her get started. she would have never been where she is now. now let's go back to this last election paired when she was up

there on the stage running against those other five democrats, she made it two debates and had so little support that they kicked her out. nobody wanted her to be there. nobody wanted her to be a president of the united states. joe biden selected her because she is a black woman, or joe biden might not have got elected. host: john, sanford, north carolina, republican. caller: hello. host: your view of the vice president. caller: ok, yes. well, i can only say what i see. i think the lady is trying to do a good job, but i am 58 years old, self-employed, and i just see our country changing. and i do not recognize it anymore.

and i like democrats and republicans. i am an american, that is the way i look at it. and i just see a lot of change i do not recognize our country. and i just feel like the southern border, they can do more. you know, so yeah, they are doing a good job, but they are not doing enough. so i hear all this divisiveness, and it is really unsettling. i have two daughters. i am worried about their future. i just think they need to do a better job securing the border where people come in legally. anyway, i think you handled yourself very well with that lady when she went off on you. host: thanks. will in wisconsin, democratic

caller. caller: good morning. i think that the vice president has done as good a job with what they have given her to do, but she does need to step up her game a little bit more. and i think the president and his team could give her more to do. host: in what way? caller: she has not had a lot of visibility. they gave her the border to do, and i do not know exactly what she has done down there. they need to make what she has done a little bit more available to us. i do not know if the news media is not covering her enough, but -- host: did you hear the axios reporting about her role, the vice president and her office make clear to others in the administration that her responsibilities began and ended with the factors driving people to leave guatemala,

honduras, and el salvador, the issues biden a signed -- assigned her to examine. that is one part of the surge of the border, and she is pointing out, or her folks are pointing out that that is the area that she was assigned. what do you make of that? do you think that is not clear enough? caller: i don't think that was clear enough. i pay attention to these things quite a bit. i do not know if she needs to toot her own horn more or if the president needs to really put it out there what she is doing for the country, for the administration. but we just do not hear enough of what the vice president is doing. i have a lot of respect for her, think she would be a very good president. but we need to hear more from her and about her. host: got it. mark in massachusetts,

independent. caller: yeah, i want to piggyback on that last caller. i think kamala harris has definitely stepped up her game in the past six months that i have noticed. she has given more speeches and become more confident. i just think the republicans are going to -- i think if she keeps -- if democrats keep hammering the border and she is a spokesperson and goes out and says, listen, we put the deal on the table and republicans did not want to vote for it, and obviously with the ukraine thing, i think she is definitely coming into her own in the past six months and things you will only get better. host: ok. joe in pennsylvania, republican. caller: yes, i am calling on the republican line. first, i am an american. i have tried to think this through, i think kamala harris would be a good democratic

president because she would fill the shoes right now of kind of what we are used to of a president that is ruled by like a committee of people, so we do not have an individual. joe biden is not running the presidency right now. he even admitted he thought he would have more power, such comments he has made like that. host: who is running it then? caller: i would say there's a group of people -- i forget what they call them, like the dark state or whatever. host: all right. delmar, maryland, a democratic caller. caller: good morning. happy president's day to you. i think kamala harris is doing a fine job as vp. these republicans and maga's or

whatever you want to call them are just so critical of her. she has got a jovial personality. she is intelligent, speaks well, is educated. i do not see what the problem is. she is going to do a fine job. if joe biden doesn't work out, something happens to him or whatever. but she is a great person, great vp. thank you. host: joann, washington state, independent. caller: i think she has improved a lot. i want to see her a lot more before we have to make a decision on that. one question, looking underground at the borders, they dig underground into the san diego area -- are they finding anything doing that?

or following ghost trucks? --or following those trucks? host: ok. mike in indiana, independent. caller: i just want to say, there's a lot of comments about first black vice president woman -- first of all, i do not think she is pure black. and on the border wall, they complain about the republicans not doing anything on the border wall, if they go back and check other policies that biden canceled when he come in and opened the border and welcomed everybody in at the beginning, blaming the republicans, that could be something else. and the ukraine war, they talk about giving the money to them but they cannot account for the billions of dollars we have given to them. a lot of it is going to pensions and stuff like that. why is that?

and abortion, it is a problem, but i think more important problems are the border wall, shutting down the pipeline, and military, letting our military go, and gas prices were a lot better when trump was in there. now that biden is in there, i think they need to go back and check on a few things. people on the election part, 2020 election, i think they're going to find out it was the first biggest socialist election we had by patting the ballot boxes. host: john in oregon, democratic caller. hello, donna. caller: i really respect kamala harris. she is highly educated, speaks well, knows what she is talking about when she speaks. i believe that the american

people need to listen more, stop arguing, try to get along with each other for a change, and admire the fact that she works really hard at her job. host: gloria in virginia, republican. caller: hi, thank you for taking my call. i have three comments to make about kamala harris. the first is she needs to take a crash course in geography. so do most of these people who want to welcome immigrants from all over the world. they should not be coming all the way from china or sudan or wherever they are coming from. they should be coming from mexico and canada. canada is a free western hemisphere country.

so canada is not a problem. what is coming through the southern border is a problem. these immigrants are passing through many, many countries where they could have a safe haven from politics or just anything. they could have a safe haven to find a job. that is my comment on that. the second thing that i would like to talk about is i am a diabetic, and the cost of insulin going down has been a benefit. but my concern is in oregon where fentanyl is 25 cents a pill. let me tell you something, that is a cheap drug that we need to stop.

host: do you give the biden-harris white house credit for the lowering of insulin? caller: i give all presidents, anyone in leadership credit for that. the past ones and biden as his administration. it needs to be a furtherance. it needs to go from one president administration to the next president. it needs to be carried forward because health issues are a growing concern. host: we will leave it at those two points because we will take a break. up next on this residence date, historian craig shirley discusses his new book, the search for reagan about our 40th president and then we kickoff our weeklong series today on black history month with dr. joseph, founding director of the center for the study of race and

democracy at the lbj school of public affairs at the university of texas at austin. we will be right back. ♪ announcer: a healthy democracy doesn't just look like this. it looks like this. where americans can see democracy at work. when citizens are truly informed, our republic thrives. get informed straight from the source on c-span. unfiltered, unbiased, word for word. from the nation's capitol, to wherever you are. the opinion that matters the most is your own. this is what democracy looks like. c-span, powered by cable. ♪ >> friday nights to watch c-span's 2024 camping trail, weekly roundup of our camping covers providing a one-stop shop to discover where the candidates are traveling across the country and what they are saying to voters along with first-hand

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