>> clinical professor at austin and negation clinic talks about executive action president biden is considering. also we will discuss the latest on the government funding deadline, border security and u.s. aid to israel and ukraine. washington journal is next. >> i always imagined a moment when i had total clarity and peace about the sunset of my work. i held preserve the ideals i so

strongly believe. that day arrived today. host: senator -- mitch mcconnell announced he will be exiting the leadership role. this morning, your reaction to the news. republicans can call (202) 748-8001. democrats (202) 748-8000. independents (202) 748-8002. kentucky residents can call us at (202) 748-8003. all of us you can join us at that same number, texting. include your first name, city and state. or you can go to facebook.com/c-span.

we will get your reaction to mitch mcconnell into his reign as the republican leader in the senate in just a minute. more details on the announcement. was it a surprise yesterday? >> the decision itself was not necessarily a surprise to a lot of people. there were questions as to if he would try to go for a leadership position again. the fact he decided to step down was not shocking to many people i was talking to, but the fact that he did it yesterday and the timing of it was a surprise to most people. only a handful of people knew ahead of time that he was planning to announce this decision yesterday. there was surprise on the timing

. host: who was given a heads up? guest: i have heard from a couple of people who are close to mcconnell who got a little bit of a heads up that this would be coming, the lead no he told colleagues. many of the senators did not know ahead of time that mcconnell was planning to make this announcement yesterday. we all got to talk to the senators reacting to the news because the vast majority of them had no idea until yesterday. host: what led to his decision? guest: that is a good question.

he laid out reasons himself of course, he already has the longest serving leader in history. he has already kind of reached that goal and made mention of the fact that he understands political wind is changing. at least part of his conference in recent weeks, we know there was a big showdown over the deal that ultimately failed. he was unable to get half of his congress to vote for aid. trump is a big reason as well. we have seen time and time again that the former president continues to have a strong grip on the republican party.

there was kind of a breakup between the senate republican leader and donald trump. that certainly factors into it as well. he mentioned personal reasons saying he might want to step away, not wanting to hang on for too long. the death of his sister-in-law is a moment of reflection for him on what he wants to do. host: did it help play a role in his decision-making? guest: the people i talked to said that did not play a role, but he has had a difficult health journey the past couple of years. him freezing up on camera certainly sparked questions. but i'm sure that factored into it, going back to last year when

we were seeing some of those episodes. host: what senators are in the running to replace him as republican leader? guest: leadership election will happen in november and we are looking at the most likely candidates. we have john zune, the number two republican, number three in the senate and a texas senator who does not currently have a leadership role but has had leadership roles in the past. they offer a different direction for the party the senate. many see him as the front runner at this point, the more natural heir of mitch mcconnell.

but on the others, he does not have a good relationship in trump's circle, so that could be a hindrance to run for leader. john has been a long time endorse or of the former president and has backed a lot of the conservative style candidates so far. he is an interesting character to watch as well because of his appeal to the further right. whether we see both senators pull some power and sway. seems likely to make a run for this position. he also has a little bit of a difficult relationship with former president trump, but he

has never endorsed with any other challenger. host: you can follow her reporting on this story and others. thank you for your time. now he turned to all of you to get your reaction to the news. mitch mcconnell stepping down from the top spot. stephen, you are up first. caller: good morning. i just wanted to say that but mitch mcconnell created, rushing coney barrett on the quiet has created a republican super majority, not a legal super

majority but a republican super majority. they are not a supreme court. they are six republicans doing what they want. overturning roe v. wade -- this last decision to delay trump's case is another example of them working exclusively for the republican party and not the american people. there is no presidential immunity to kill people, and they know that. they should not be taking this case. we have mitch mcconnell to thank for all of this. i'm glad he stepped down and i cannot wait for him to retire from the senate. thank you. host: democratic caller talking about the role that mitch mcconnell played in the current makeup of the supreme court,

referencing barack obama's election and then working with the trump administration with the current conservative justices, getting that through the senate and onto the bench. tony, republican. hello. caller: yeah. i wanted to say that mitch mcconnell was a nice guy he was a zero as a leader. i will give him his due on that one, but let's be real. if you had seen the judges -- the democrats would have never done the same to the republicans like that. this guy offered no leadership. that is a ladder movement.

i never remembered this guy. he issued that he would never impeach people. he had no aggression at all. i think the democrats today are sad to see that he is leaving because the sky is like many were. if there is an into the republican party, this guy will be the first chapter. host: ok. it sounds like you will disagree with the wall street editorial board. great senate legacy is what they write. trump would not have won without his assistance. the great irony of his legacy is that the left hates him because he is effective, which his own

party failed to appreciate. he committed considerable energy trying to nominate candidates who could win. mr. mcconnell's most lasting accomplishment was remaking the federal judiciary. the refusal to replace the late anthony scalia ahead of the 2016 election was a political gamble for the ages that took steely nerves and credibility with his colleagues. mr. trump would not have won without that open supreme court seat as the motivation for millions of voters. and 2017, mr. mcconnell helped neil gorsuch win confirmation by

finishing what harry reid started, breaking the filibuster for judicial nominees. wall street journal with high praise for the outgoing republican leader in the senate. do you agree or disagree? fresh meadows, new york, democratic caller. caller: i do agree with them, but i disagree. i think he is a brilliant man. he was very successful in amplifying the republican's cause. i think he won the battles, but i think history will look at him unkindly because i think ultimately, he has lost the war for the republicans. host: in what way? caller: i think he is a catalyst of what we are presently encountering. we battled trump, not being

responsible for his actions. in new york, we know about him. i am 63 years old. i saw what happened in atlantic city. i saw what happened with trump university. i'm grateful that i had no interest in buying trump products. he has failed every business venture he has taken on and i did appreciate him as tabloid. but i believe that if he is not held accountable for his crimes as president of the u.s. and as a former president of the u.s., we can thank mitch mcconnell, but i do not think this tree will be kind to him.

host: mentioning the court decision for the former president trump. there is news on that front this morning in the papers. we will start with the front page of the wall street journal. the supreme court agrees to hear trump's claims of immunity. the supreme court will be considering immunity claims while he will be likely -- while he will likely be in the middle of a criminal trial in new york. a state judge has scheduled the trial to begin march 25. the supreme court justices -- if they reject trump's immunity arguments, a child would not likely take lace until summer, at the earliest. the convention where he will seek his third nomination build in on the 15th.

in new york times, on that case in new york, the court rejects the former president's bid to pause that judgment. if he fails to secure a bond, they could move to seize his bank accounts, that from the new york times this morning. also from the new york times, another headline. the former president removed from state primary ballot. back to our conversation with all of you about the minority leader mitch mcconnell, the leader of the gop in the senate deciding to relinquish that rule in november. robert in oregon, a republican. your reaction. caller: i am pleased to weigh in on this and i appreciate c-span's -- i am a long time

listener and viewer. i am a lifelong republican. i would say that mitch mcconnell, given the different segments of the caucus, along with the presidency of donald trump, through all of that in an effective way, i give him major credit and always have, for a very difficult job. i thought that it was good that we do not have merit garland on the bench. nobody knows what the ultimate

result there be. but it has become politicized in a way that we did not see when dwight eisenhower was president. certainly, that includes nominees proposed by joe biden. as far as sticking to the subject, i feels very strongly that longevity of service, in and of itself suggests that mitch mcconnell certainly did a few things that perpetuated his continued existence in that station. i do not look to him as a shining light that will -- we will forever remember, but as far as his ability to work with both sides, to the extent that he could, it was a very

difficult role of the dice. he deserves significant credit for that. it is time to move on. host: robert, who should replace him? caller: well, that is a great question. i have not thought about that difficultly, but if -- it would be somebody who had the ability to compromise without prostituting themselves to the party's wishes. if i had to pick, as a placeholder, someone like forename would be acceptable, but because there is such longevity there -- that is where i think i would go, not knowing

all the members. i do know that i would want to stay away from somebody he wanted to demagogue every issue like our senators from oregon. that is not the oregon way. we miss people, but that is what i would have to say to you. i need to know more of the people who are offering. host: paul, in his column notes that the fed republicans face a struggle. they talk about john, who is pictured here. a slight edge of record in.

the width makes him a natural successor, according to multiple senior aides. a third of the senate republicans took office after john cornyn, who served as head of senate republicans campaign arm at the end of 2018, but most republicans believe he is short of a clear majority. that would leave about a dozen to 15 republicans up in the air, almost all of whom come from the wing that would vote against extending mcconnell's run after the 2022 election. if they work together, they could back rasco and possibly leave them short of a majority while trying to extract concessions from the top two on

a second ballot. that is what is to come in november with the senate republican elected a new year. mitch mcconnell announcing that he is stepping down from that role. we are getting your reaction this morning. more of your phone calls coming up. first let's hear more from the kentucky republican on the senate floor yesterday. he reflected on his career over the many decades in the senate. [video clip] >> my career began in the reagan revolution. the truth is, when i got here, i was just happy anybody remembered my name. president reagan called me mitch o'donnell. close enough, i thought. my wife, elaine and i, got married on president reagan's

birthday, february 6. probably not the most romantic thing to admit, but reagan meant a lot to both of us. 31 years, elaine has been the love of my life, and i am eternally grateful to have her by my side. i think back to my first days in the senate with deep appreciation. to the time that help to shape my view of the world. de replaceable role that we play as the leader of the free world. it is why i work so hard. believe me, -- i have many

faults. but politics is not one of them. that said, i believe more strongly than ever that leadership is essential to preserving the shining city on the hill that ronald reagan described. as long as i am drawn breath on this earth, i will defend american exceptionalism. host: mitch mcconnell on the floor yesterday announcing that he will no longer serve as republican leader starting in november. he has been in the senate for a number of decades. one of the first times that he appeared on c-span back in 1985. [video clip] >> the people of kentucky wanted me to come to washington and cut out the wasteful spending.

i am bringing a lot of ideas to washington. take education. i introduced a bill to teach driver education and sex education in the same car. [laughter] i guess you noticed that he plans to ride the space shuttle. i think they are making a movie out of it. tommy robinson -- we were talking behind the podium before we came up. we knew he was going to be the first of the six freshman to make our comedy debuts today. before tommy started speaking, he gathered us together and said, in all seriousness, the

bombing begins in five minutes. thank you. host: mitch mcconnell back in 1985, 1 of his first appearances on these been. chicago, color. -- democratic caller. caller: giving up the power. they do not have power. in his waning years. it is coming back to bite him. getting legislation, having that power, this party -- when trump came in, he did not have the guts to stand up to him. he chose.

we are going to let him do whatever he wants because he has the power now. and now this party, every value that they ever stood for. in his waning years, trump has jumped on all of it. so what does he do? nothing. i think he is going out realizing that. in the end, my party is no longer republican. host: thank you. from the kentucky courier journal, mcconnell first took office in 1985 and has served as republican leaders since 2007 when george w. bush was in the white house. mcconnell turned 82 last week. stephen in olympia, washington.

good morning. caller: good morning. mitch mcconnell, the guy has been there for the republicans all this time. just because he decided to step down, a lot of things are in consideration. he is the nemesis for the democrat, all these years he has been there. i do not care if people want to give him salutes. democrat senators or house democrats want to get together, holding hands and kumbaya while he is leaving. he has been the is over everything, whether it be a bill that the senators developed and had to go to the house, or whether the house was bringing a bill to be voted on in the senate, he was always against

the democrats. i have never morse about how i speak like this, but he has always been against the democrats, playing the game. host: what sticks out to you the most about obstacles that he put up? caller: i will tell you like this. like i said earlier, whenever there was a bill that needed to be passed, whether it was reaganomics -- well, reagan is gone. get over it. move forward. that was a different time, in a different era in the history of the u.s. reaganomics does not exist. all the reaganomics politics and policies do not exist. so let's get on with it and move

forward. he needs to get out of the way for the next people. the next people right now, our nemesis right now is trump. i do not even call them republicans anymore. they are big vladimir putin fans. host: we believe it there. out of kentucky, noting that the leader, mitch mcconnell has not said whether he plans to seek reelection in the senate. his current term ending in 2026, and he would be 84 at the time of that election. juanita in pennsylvania. caller: while, i think he will go down -- i do not think he will be remembered as a good

person because this man single-handedly destroyed our country. when he did what he did with the supreme court, holding up that nomination for barack obama, and that he did what he did, given trump another one at the end of his term. it came out that the supreme court is destroying our country. i just have no regard for this man at all because he single-handedly has taken down this country. we are no longer the united states of america. all these people on the republican side are following the russians right now. i do not know what happened to them, but he come this man -- his name will be remembered as the man who took down america. that is about all i have to say because i am really and i wish you would have brought up the

supreme court immunity thing instead of mitch mcconnell because he single-handedly destroyed this country. host: we will get to those topics and we did share the news with you from the front pages of the newspaper. let's go back. here is mitch mcconnell on the senate floor, at the time, talking about former president barack obama's nomination of merrick garland. [video clip] >> let's work together to make our country safe, rather than endlessly debating an issue where we do not agree. as we continue working on issues like, the american people are perfectly capable of having their say on this issue. so let's give them a voice. let's let the american people decide. the senate will appropriately

revisit the matter when they can that the qualifications of the nominee, the next president nominates. whoever that might be. host: mitch mcconnell in 2016 on the nomination of merrick garland. independent, good morning. caller: good morning. i just want to say this is opportunity to speak about mitch mcconnell and what is the other topic? host: mitch mcconnell is the topic, deciding not to continue on as leader. caller: i am hoping and praying that somebody else comes along that joe biden will be able to work with and get some things done. i really believe that donald

trump and mitch mcconnell have done some terrible things to this country. holding up obama's nominees just because he was a black resident. it is a shame. black americans better wake up. if donald trump gets control of the government again, black americans are in trouble. i am a 70-year-old black man who stayed out of trouble and did everything legally, and here i am, the only president -- the only president who raised my rent was donald trump. barack obama and joe biden did not raise it a penny. people better wake up. they mean us no good. they are only there for the rich people. host: the reaction from members

of the caucus reacting to news of mitch mcconnell stepping down . our thoughts are with our democrat colleagues in the senate, the retirement of their co-majority leader, mitch mcconnell. no need to wait until november, senate republicans should immediately elect a republican minority leader. from senator chuck schumer, the majority leader in the senate. mitch mcconnell and i rarely saw i to i when it came to politics or policy preferences, but i'm proud that we came together to lead the senate forward at critical moments when our country needed us, like passing the cares act. finishing our work to certify the election on january 6, and we are working to fund the fight

for ukraine. i wish them the very best. diane, republican. caller: yes, there is a new book out. peter schweizer. this is my mitch mcconnell is retiring because he has really deep ties to china. he has been working with china to kill america for years. everybody needs to read this book. democrats, everybody calls on their it -- it is just crazy. thank you very much. host: louisville, kentucky.

mike from his home state. what did you think? caller: from his hometown. i am a lifelong democrat but i voted republican. i have known mitch mcconnell throughout his career. in louisville, we had a mayor and a county judge. we were split up. he was executive county judge for a long time. eventually, we combined the two. i have to say that he is absolutely unbeatable in kentucky. as democrats cannot find a candidate to even touch him in an election. we always had what we thought was a viable candidate. he would usually win jefferson county, but the rest of the

state -- he is untouchable. host: why do you think that was? caller: it is hard to explain, but you just have to understand kentucky a little bit. we have a few very large counties with a large population , and everyone, our counties were backing mr. mcconnell. as far as the competition does, he is terrific. the democrats wish to have someone of his knowledge and his power on their side. i rarely voted for him, but one thing that i do hope the next leader in the senate, i am hoping it is not rand paul. anybody but rand paul. john thune sounds like a good candidate. i kind of watched him as well. mr. mcconnell is a really nice guy and smiled. there are some different things

that he spoke at, and he is such an unlikely politician. just very nice. i remember one time somebody approached him at a restaurant and started being absolutely horrible to him and all the people in the restaurant went to defend him because he was just sitting there and taking it. a lot of people in the restaurant went over to defend the guy. from this person who decided they were going to go off on mitch mcconnell. a nice guy. good seeing you. love the dress. host: is there a politician in kentucky that you think, if he should choose not to run for reelection in 2026, who do you think will win that seat? caller: that is a tough one, but i believe it will probably be a republican.

mostly, we know about our democrat candidates. but so far, nobody can touch him. i'm sure it will be a republican. host: democratic caller. let's take a look at 2016 when then senate majority leader came onto c-span's program afterwards to talk about his book, the long game, a memoir. he spoke about henry clay and what hired him to get into politics. [video clip] >> your honors thesis was henry clay. that inspired you to want to be a u.s. senator? >> i ran for the president of the student body in high school. it was a very contentious race. i won. i began to follow politics.

i remember at age 14 when the conventions, the coverage of conventions focused on the podium and listened to all the speeches on tv. >> there was a big radio and we would sit there and listen to the whole thing. >> pretty boring. i thought i was the only 14-year-old. maybe you are watching as well, watching those things. again, trying to practice this craft to see if i could get good at it. i ran for president of student council in college, and law school, and clay was the most famous politician in kentucky. >> what about clay inspired you

the most? >> he had become a popular statesman. i wanted to learn more about him, so -- >> he was known for crafting compromises, which is a dirty word today to some people. >> absolutely. the constitution is full of compromises and we do it every single day to make the senate function. so i did my senior thesis on henry clay. and i continue to follow him as many aspiring kentucky politicians do. host: that was back in 2016, talking about what is fired him to get into politics. he was asked in this, why is --

why he is a man of few words. [video clip] >> when i was asked to do this, i thought, how can anybody get mitch mcconnell to talk for an hour. you only speak to the press when it is to your advantage. press when it is to your advantage. you talk about a time when bill gates came to see you and the two of you just sat there and people were uncomfortable waiting for one of you to speak. you were excited over a certain vote and he said, really? how can you tell? >> well i learned a lot more by listening. so i start out by listening and i think about what i want to say before i do it. it is fair to say that i am in the era of trump, probably very

different in my approach to public affairs. host: senate republican leader mitch mcconnell, who has served in that position as republican leaders since 2006 has said that he will no longer have the top post, starting in november. we are getting your reaction to that this warning. new york, democratic caller. caller: good morning, america. mitch mcconnell is a master of the sidestep. his strategy has essentially been, as opposition leader, and obstructionist. he intentionally and openly, not only stacked the courts, as a strategy to push a particular agenda that is more or less

coming from the federal society. in the process of doing that, he has created a separate port that everyone knows, by obstructing obama from putting in a relatively conservative judge, who was more neutral. he did it intentionally with a smile on his face. he mocked it on several occasions. the man is elderly. the subject had never been brought up about him. he does have chinese connections. and his wealth basically comes from that trade. i would say it is business with the chinese, but it is very good business and almost a monopoly on trade to a degree. the man has a history.

many would say you cannot put lipstick on a pig, the old political saying, but i think he gets away with it. in many ways, the supreme court sidestepping the supreme court, which is a decision to allow trump for immunity to prosecution is another obstruction of justice that gets sidestepped by institutional profiling, so to speak, as to what the constitution allows to happen. but it is the lowball approach to doing things. host: ok. and going to leave it there and go to earl. your turn. caller: [indiscernible] this world is so screwed up. host: i apologize.

maybe you can call back on a different line, but we were hearing every other word there. next caller, republican. your turn. you have to mute your television. caller: i was wondering if we were going to have a government shutdown tomorrow by midnight. host: we will bring that to you. this is from usa today, avoiding a government shutdown. they have agreed to a agreement to kick the can down the road to fund the government once again to avoid government shutdown as a struggle to reach a consensus. the extensio referred to as a continuing resolution will fund parts of the government through march 8.

it is to buy leaders more time to come up with an agreement. we will talk about that, coming up on the washington journal. he will get your chance to call in and ask about this. also happening today, dueling appearances on the border. president biden will be there and so will the former president, donald trump. they say they will be going to a spot that is relatively calm. mr. trump will be in eagle pass where the situation is hot and heavy. they placed a floating wall and ordered troops to take over a local part to stop leave of migrants. this will be president biden's

second visit to the border. for coverage, go to c-span.org. larry and california. democratic caller. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. we are still talking about mitch mcconnell. when mitch mcconnell first said let's make barack obama a one term president, that was the turning point to where be in this country saw that the republican party will only be about what they want. it will not be about what the country needs. he was one of the best for the republican party, but he was the worst for the american people. to cm leaving, i am happy to see him go. i cannot lie about that. he was just such a destruction

for the country. and we cannot keep going on like this. someway, somehow, they have to reach a turning point. not even discrediting trump, who is now here and telling the country. he is the divisiveness that is coming from the republican party now. he knows he is leaving in a disgraceful way. he did so many things that turned this country against everything. host: donna, independent. caller: i think he must be doing something right because a lot of democrats and republicans do not

like him. i actually like him. i am a true independent. i have voted democrat and republican. i voted more democrat than republican, but i like him. i think he is great. he gets a lot of stuff, but it was legal. he is a politician. the democrats would have done the same thing. like i said, just in the interview about him seeing senator clay as a mentor, he likes to listen because he learns and compromise is essential. i believe he is a true statesman and i hate to see them leave, but the older people sometimes do need to leave. have a good day. host: more from the floor with mitch mcconnell. remarks following the vote to

acquit former president trump. here is what mitch mcconnell had to say about his actions. [video clip] >> january 6 was a disgrace. american citizens attacked their own government. they used terrorism to stop a specific piece of domestic business that they did not like. so americans beat and bloodied our own police. they stormed the senate floor. they tried to hunt down the speaker of the house. they built a gallows and chanted about murdering the vice president. they did this because they had been fed wild falsehoods by the most powerful man on earth. because he was angry and lost an election.

former president trump's actions were a disgraceful dereliction of duty. the house accuse the former president of incitement. that is a specific term from the criminal law. let me just put that aside for a moment and reiterate something i said weeks ago. there is no question. president trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking, at the end of the day. no question about it. the people believed they were acting on the wishes of their president. having that belief was a

foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of statements, conspiracy theories and reckless hyperbole that the defeated president cap shouting into the largest megaphone on planet earth. host: that was mitch mcconnell on the former president's actions on january 6. mitch mcconnell announced yesterday that he would be ending the longest-serving term as senate leader in november. dave, in lynchburg, virginia. let's hear from you on this news. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. mitch mcconnell is all about mitch mcconnell.

i wonder how much money he had when he went into serve and how much money he has now. i want to know what good she has done at any point in time. there was a story on npr one day that talked all about mitch mcconnell. their assertion was that he is just for whatever works best for him to get more power. i remember a show that kiefer sutherland was in. we could use one of those. the whole government is useless. everybody is in it for themselves. they do not care about the american people, only what they can do for themselves. let's flush the toilet. mitch mcconnell and trump at the same time. let's put some people in.

i want to know. host: state of the union is coming up next thursday. that is when it will take place. ruth in frankfort, kentucky. good morning. caller: the lady from, i believe ohio said frontline did an excellent documentary on mcconnell. i thought it was pretty balanced. i did not vote for him, but i do consider him a formidable legislator that i got -- that a lot of younger politicians could look to as an example as someone who does his work. he is a student of history and a good listener. he is professional.

although i may not agree with a lot of things, he is -- he is the consummate legislative strategist. the congress would be well served by other people to put as much into their job as he does. host: happening today in washington, up on capitol hill, the defense secretary will be testifying about his recent hospitalization. we will have wide coverage of that starting at 10:00 eastern on c-span three, or you can watch online at c-span.org, or download our free mobile app, c-span now. eddie in illinois. caller: good morning, greta.

i want to make a statement, first. this, north america experiment called the united states is feeling the people. i say that because it is an experiment set up by the three branches of the government. i comment on mitch retiring. if you would show -- he already showed his 2016 confirmation of obama's nomination. but if you show him side-by-side, when trump was going out, how he rushed through trump's nomination. if you show that side-by-side, you will see -- mitch mcconnell is his name.

you will see him flip-flop on what he said. it should be left up to the incumbent president. i did not follow mitch mcconnell . i do not know his history, but he spoke of impeachment and did not do anything about it. as a leader, you should be truthful to the people of the united states. we are an experiment, and for the branches of the government to fail us, they are failing the people. host: that brings up the c-span archive. you can find many moment of mitch mcconnell in our c-span archive yourself. you can go to our library and put in his last name.

there will be many videos for you to look at and for yourself, watch his career over the years. president biden in a statement had this to say about mitch mcconnell's announcement that he would not continue on in the leadership post. he is not retiring. american democracy is based on elected representatives coming together to find common ground on behalf of the american people. i'm proud that mitch mcconnell and i have the able to do that for many years, working together many disagreements. during his many years of leadership we could always speak with each other honestly up of the country out of ourselves. that is the statement from president biden on mitch mcconnell's announcement stepping down as gop leader in november. up next, as both the current former president enter the

border today, we will talk to university of texas at austin professor denise gilman about the potential executive action president biden could take to address the recent migration surge. and later, andy ogles that tennessee joins us to talk about the house freedom caucus colleague on board with the new spending deal. since 1979 in partnership with the cable industry, c-span has provided complete coverage of the halls of congress, of the house and senate floors to congressional hearings, party briefings and committee meetings. c-span gives you a front row seat to how issues are debated and decided no commentary, no interruptions and completely unfiltered.

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>> washington journal continues. host: denise gilman, university of texas at austin, professor of law immigration codirector here to talk about president biden and former president heading to the border today. they will both appear in different spots along the southern border. denise gilman, there is an executive action under consideration by president biden. i want to go over those and get your reaction before we get a phone calls here. using a section of the immigration and nationality act to bar migrants in seeking asylum is what he's considering, instituting a trigger mechanism to enforce restrictions after a certain number of illegal crossings, making it harder for migrants to pass initial screenings and quickly deporting others who don't meet those elevated asylum standards. talk about what is under consideration and will that

address the recent surge that we are seeing? guest: it has been pretty clear in numerous studies and just looking at the patterns of migration over the years that these harsh border measures really don't deter migration. migration is motivated by the dangerous situations in home countries and not by whatever policies are being adopted at the border, and that is why you see every time that there is a new harsh policy adopted, even such things as family separation, there were more arrivals at the border of families in the years immediately after the trump family separation policy as compared to the year prior. as to what the measures would do and how they would impact the border, essentially the new asylum ban showing that one

qualifies for asylum would mean that many people who are fleeing really extreme situations of danger would be turned away at the border and returned to their home countries in violation of existing u.s. law that allows people to access the asylum system an international standard that we've adopted into u.s. law, and in terms of the idea that the border could be shut down at certain trigger points, this is really just a reincarnation of several different measures that were adopted during the trump administration that again, didn't stop arrivals at the border, but just meant that people were unfairly and arbitrarily turned away even if they had viable asylum claims. host: and what about legally? are these legal actions they can take? guest: it is extremely doubtful that the court could allow these

actions to be found to be lawful and to be implemented. the government shutdown measure is basically a provision that the trump administration used with muslim ban that were declared unlawful numerous times before finally the particular way that the administration crafted the final version had it go into effect to a certain degree. and they are also similar to the measures that were adopted during covid which the court also found to be unlawful as applied to asylum-seekers. so the biden administration basically can use these same measures even after they've been declared unlawful by numerous courts is really unclear. the administration knows that it won't be successful in the end but hopes to gain some political points with certain sectors by buying into this idea rather

than a simple management problem. > you heard republicans say shut the border down, nobody is crossing. is that possible? guest: it's really not. even the executive measure that is being described as a border shutdown isn't a border shutdown. the border is always going to be open to at least some traffic back and forth, and it is always going to be the case that some people are going to evade border checkpoints and go straight into the country either crossing the river crossing the desert. so what the border shutdown really means is that when people cross and are apprehended, rather than being processed under the law that requires that asylum-seekers be processed rather than simply being turned back without regards to protection needs that they may have under u.s. and international law. host: what role does congress

play in the management and laws of our border? guest: so the regime that is currently in place, the law that says that those who are seeking asylum must be processed in the united states, that is really coming from the refugee act of 1980 that has service pretty well. it is true we are seeing larger numbers of asylum-seekers, but the existing legal framework that was adopted is still there and it doesn't necessarily need to be radically changed. in terms of the shutdown executive measure that were being discussed, it is pretty clear that those violate existing laws, so really the only way that that could change is if congress enacted new laws, which it so far has declined to do, and even if congress were to adopt new border shutdown

measures, we would have to look at whether they violate the constitution or international law obligations that are enacted into u.s. law through the constitution. host: you said more resources are needed. which resources? >> financial resources are a significant part as well as additional staff, additional officials to go down in processed people effectively. there is some discussion of additional funding and agents specifically for border patrol. i would argue that that isn't really the place that resources are needed. really what is needed is officers and humanitarian staff that can help to receive and process asylum-seeking families which is really the main demographic of what we're are seeing currently at the border. host: dorothy in dayton, ohio, independent. you are out first. caller: yes, good morning.

i wanted to ask you a couple of questions. first off, it looks like you have never been to the border because you talk as if this is -- she cut me off. host: we heard you, he said this is a little hiccup. caller: we are talking about 18 million illegals. with all due respect, i get so tired. she just said it. i don't know if she's watching the same footage. i haven't seen a child in months. all i see are strong young men and then she also said she wants resources, money, money money money money money, we need more money. it is simple. they are illegals, they are

crossing the border, not being vetted. they are not vaccinated, it is really scary was probably happening to a lot of the children. so i would appreciate a border gassed instead of some college professor. host: well hang up and turn up your phone now so you can listen to her answer. guest: i have been to the border repeatedly. i'm in texas and i go to the border pretty regularly in connection with my work and also for pleasure because the southern border, the texas- mexico border is actually in the gorgeous location. the beautiful river, wildlife that can be seen nowhere else. and if you do visit, you will see that it is actually quite gorgeous and a mostly peaceful place. there certainly are some challenges presented by large numbers of porter-crossers, and

those are challenges that united states of america can handle if proper resources are put into play. in terms of whether or not we can just understand it simply as being a question of law-breaking, it is actually really more complicated than that. most of all what i would like to emphasize is that u.s. law that has been in place for 40 plus years makes it very clear that person to arrive at the port of entry or cross into the united states seeking asylum and without regard to status have the right to seek asylum under the law. and that is because the united states takes its obligations seriously for that international law that protects refugees and to make sure that we are not turning away people who would be put in danger if they are not allowed to process their asylum claims in the united states. in terms of checking for

vaccinations, histories, backgrounds, active measures are really quite stringent and people undergo quite extensive processing both at the border and once in the united states as they undergo asylum proceedings. in fact if anything, i would actually argue that we need to streamline some of those processes because right now people may undergo three or four different full-day interviews for court proceedings while they are vetted and those resources could be better spent focusing on the cases that do present really serious questions either about danger to the community or the validity of the underlying asylum claim. >> host: 10 asylum claim is being considered, -- once your asylum claim is being considered, what happens to you and what federal benefits if any are given to those in the country how they wait for their silent claim to be vetted?

guest: absolutely no federal benefits in terms of any kind of health, medicaid or food stamps or anything. in fact, under current law, people are not authorized to work until six months after they've filed their asylum application, which means that asylum-seekers who are often also pretty much seeking to support themselves but also to contribute to the economy really are prevented from doing that in some instances, so that might be something that would be beneficial to change. but what happens to asylum-seekers after they are processed at the border is that they are required to appear for their immigration court hearing. multiple studies have been conducted in recent years, multiyear studies and they all show that people appear for their hearings at rates above 95%. they appear for their hearings

and then most of the series are extremely delayed. but we put in additional resources and those hearings to take place quickly, one way or another. host: marianna, georgia, democratic caller. >> i wanted to ask a little more clarification on why you think the biden administration is doing essentially what the trumpet ministration is doing but behind legality. at least that sends the same message. these people are escaping extreme poverty and violence. it feels like we are less interested in the source of that than the symptoms and punishing these people for trying to flee these conditions. both parties seem to have the same mindset, just with different methods. so i just wanted a little more clarification on exactly why you might think that might be. guest: yeah, i agree with the

way you are analyzing this and unfortunately it does seem that the actions are quite similar. this is largely about politics, unfortunately. unfortunately, i think that the entire debate around the border has become one in which every politician, every potentially elected official must show strength and harshness at the border rather than showing leadership and really trying to kind of reframe what is happening at the border. the border is being described in the media and some of the images mentioned as being a really threatening place, a place of crisis. so both parties are rushing to outdo one another rather than

recognizing asylum-seekers that need to be managed in a fair and efficient way. unfortunately, one of the biggest problems with this approach, treating the border as a threat situation, as a crisis situation is that first, as you mentioned, you don't get to the reasons why people are migrating and you don't turn arrivals because you are still in the same place in terms of the number of people at the border. but what you do because is increased violence at the border because what has happened with the increasingly harsh measures at the border is that organized crime cartels on mexico's side of the border are very, very aware of the challenges that these people are trying to reach the united states and seek asylum and so they see this as a huge motive to engage in that

industry, and that does lead to increased incentives for the cartels which leads to increased violence in the border region. so that is actually a cause of the stringent policies which are not actually reacting to a situation, a threat in terms of migration. they are causing that danger by supporting the operations of the cartels that now are needed to help people cross into the united states. host: sandy in youngstown, ohio, independent. question or comment on the border? caller: comment. i don't know why you don't have, like, somebody that works on the border or did work on the border instead of a professor who is from the most liberal city in texas. so that is one point. now, when biden was running for

president, he said i would search the border, which is what they did. and also, he researched on his first day of office all of terms border policies that kept the legals, most of them down to a very small amount. host: sandy, let's take your point and please turn up your television so you can listen to the answer. you sort of touched on this before, professor, but how do the numbers today under the biden administration compared to previous presidents including former president trump? >> good question. first i would like to mention that actually biden didn't reverse trump border policies right away. in fact, -- continued in place

-- 2023. other measures also remain in place for a significant amount of time as well. in terms of porter numbers, the numbers are high right now. i do not want to say that they are not. that was because of essentially a backlog of people waiting at the border that was caused in part by those restrictive border policies that had people turned back to mexico. but title 42 and remained in mexico actually lead to a situation in which you had surveyed backlog of people in northern mexico who were crossing repeatedly. so you saw and you still are continuing to see some of the effects of that repeated crossing that looks like higher numbers when actually it is not

always individual cases of border crossers. so that is kind of the aftereffect of some of those restrictive policies as part of why we are seeing large numbers of people at the border right now. but that is not the only thing. we are also any situation that by all accounts, the united nations and numerous other researchers and those who are looking at the situation acknowledge is that we're any situation of forced displacement across the globe that is only similar in size to the immediate aftermath of world war ii which is what we saw the world's largest global movement of refugees, of people needing to move from their home countries. so obviously we are going to see some of that at the u.s. southern border. we are not the only place that is seeing the large numbers of migrants including latin america. columbia has seen --, which has

much fewer resources than the united states. but this is not because of biden border policies, it is because of worldwide situations. another point i would just have to make is that people often compare the numbers currently to other high points of immigration, for example, around 2000. we are actually slightly above 2000, although not significantly 25 years later. the world population has grown quite significantly in those 25 years and so it is not surprising that we would see larger numbers than we saw than, and right now we also have many, many more border patrol and other authorities at the border whereas in the past, we actually weren't detecting all border crossers, some were just making their way into the united states without protection. now we're are seeing almost

everybody who does cross. it's just not surprising, frankly, that any moment of high displacement around the world and really significant border patrol presence that we are seeing a larger number than we've seen in a really long time. host: new york, republican. caller: yes. i've been watching and i'm wondering where she may be getting her information. i watch the news very often, and from my understanding, it is a little misleading to say biden didn't reverse the policies right away. from my understanding, it was because they effectively couldn't be reversed right away, there was an expiration date on it or something.

i'm wondering if that is a little misleading. so here's another thing, though. we have a crisis right here in america. i would argue that there a lot of asylum-seekers here in america with major problems, -- going on in the big cities, the policies of would like to say democrats. host: i think we will take up those two points. tying migration to crime. guest: all of the studies show that actually in neighborhoods and areas, you can kind of

understand what that might be. a significant factor is that most migrants are fleeing violence, integrating themselves into the united states and seeking a better life here. they have significant reason to want to keep the record clean, so to speak, to ensure that they will be able to gain status in the united states. so what we're are actually seeing is when migrants arrive in the united states, they actually bring primaries terms of biden returning policies, again, it is the case that the policies weren't changed immediately.

they were mostly executive actions, so biden could have engaged in executive actions to overturn those policies. biden started to pull back in the court said that he couldn't. just to get technical, there was a delay that was probably caused by the courts. well into the biden administration most policies were still in place from the trend era and now we are talking about reenacting some of them. and finally i think the caller in connection with migration, i think what he was also saying is that there are some serious situations of poverty and even danger for u.s. citizens living in the united states, and i don't deny that.

i think those are situations that we need to take very, very seriously and try to address. i just don't think halting migration is going to have anything to do with that in fact, statistics show casually migration actually benefit the economy, benefits are social boundaries and lower crime rates . host: what about criminals coming from other countries that are part of gangs? are they getting into the country and are they present in the united states? guest: all i can tell you is what the studies show that indicate crime rates are actually lower in areas where migrants are and migrants undergo over extensive security checks.

based on the arguments of a have criminal history in their home country. in some of those instances i'm not actually sure that we can generally trust the records that are being sent from countries like el salvador or the democratic republic of congo where people are sometimes prosecuted for political reasons rather than for genuine criminal activity. if anything we should probably take a closer look at some of those situations where people are excluded they cite criminal history, but i can assure you that criminal background checks are extensive and that people are removed on those grounds. >> president biden will be on the border today at 4:30 p.m. eastern time. former president donald trump will be delivering remarks from there as well. different location at 2:00 p.m. eastern time. massachusetts, independent.

go ahead. caller: yes, i'd like to ask first from a totally human perspective, most folks are not going to want to leave their country or their home unless they are either being persecuted against or they don't have any economic viability to support their family, support their children. i think the united states along with other countries really needs to address how we help these people -- host: sorry to cut you off but we are running short on time, so we will take that point for the professor. final thoughts? guest: i think that is exactly right. even with local migration and a more global society, only 3%-4% of people are on the move in their home countries. yes, the united states receives more than others because we are a beacon of hope and because we do have laws that protect people, and so what we need to do is take those seriously, but

the resources into it, and we will all benefit migrants will benefit from fair treatment and a fair shot at seeking asylum and our society benefits from the economic and other contributions that migrants bring. host: denise gilman kamala professor and immigration clinic codirector from the university of texas at austin. thank you for the conversation this morning. we will take a break. when we come back, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle talk about debates on capitol hill event border security and foreign aid. first up, a member of the house freedom caucus and -- of connecticut, a member of that ways and means committee. we will be right back. >> at 70 5 p.m. eastern, we

continue with a series titled who protects the worker? at 8:00 p.m. eastern on lectures in history, texas women's university history professor cecily vander talks about the federal government efforts to ask lauren control the american west from the early 1800 through the civil war. and at 9:30 on the presidency, former polish president -- gives a speech marking the 113th anniversary of ronald reagan earth, the former president's legacy and his support of poland and the solidarity movement. also at 10:30 p.m. eastern on historic campaign speeches. first, 2008 campaign speech by democratic candidate hillary clinton at a rally at california state university, followed by a 2016 super tuesday speech by public and presidential candidate in florida senator

marco rubio in miami. watch american history tv saturdays on c-span two and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at c-span.org/history. >> a healthy democracy doesn't just look like this, it looks like this. where americans can see democracy at work. our republic thrives. get informed straight from the source on c-span. unfiltered, unbiased, word for word. from the nation's capital to wherever you are. because the opinion that matters the most is your own. this is what democracy looks like. c-span, powered by cable. host: during this this morning from capitol hill, tennessee

republican congressman andy vogel. let's begin with this tweet from the freedom caucus responding to the news of mitch mcconnell, republican leader of the senate deciding to exit from that leadership post. and the retirement of the co-majority leader mitch mcconnell, don't need to wait until november but a republican should immediately elect a republican minority leader. do you agree with that sentiment? guest: i'm someone who is rather close and endorsed by both terry crews and mike lee so i have a bias that i would like one of those two gentlemen to be the minority leader and future majority leader. republicans are likely to when the senate in 2024, but i thank mitch mcconnell for his service to our country and all that he's done, but it is time for new ideas, new blood. it is a new day in the senate and i think it will be an

interesting issue going forward. there's half a dozen or so candidates here to replace mcconnell and what does that timing look like? is a process by which one person causes 25 individuals to coalesce around them. it is possible that you can see the, step and sooner, but time will tell. host: do you think the former president should play a role in who gets elected the next republican leader? guest: absolutely not. this is after the american people by way of a u.s. senator who the next leader with the republican caucus. again, i think it would be to biden's detriment to try to meddle in that. host: sorry, i meant the former president. president donald trump. guest: trump is going to do what trump does, i'm endorsed by trump and we are friends which makes him great but at the end of the day, the senators are independent thinkers.

they have their own plans and their own strategies. there's a lot of debate, but i think fa look to their future leaders they're going to take those types of things into account. >> in other news, there is now a short-term deal on spending for the government to avoid a shutdown. another continuing resolution. speaker johnson said he would not continue with continuing resolutions, and here we are again. what is your reaction to this latest deal? >> part of this will take us to the eighth and the 22nd. the short-term spending mechanism will allow us to get something more comprehensive in place. so the freedom caucus, we are advocating essentially one that takes us to the end of the year. that one singer in percent cut across the board. it will save the taxpayer some money. not a huge amount but we always

like titanic. it is a big ship that turns slowly. quite frankly there is a collision ahead. this time next year we will be probably superseding or passing $36 trillion in debt, still he got the correct course, finding a way to correct government spending. this could be the first step in retraining washington, d.c. to be fiscally responsible. host: would you then support this latest development on continuing resolutions to push them to march 8 and march 22? guest: i currently am leaning now on the current plan just because it is a continuation of the current spending levels which are ridiculously high, continuing some of the woke agenda has been put in play by the current administration which i am against. host: what grade would you give speaker johnson so far? guest: i'm not a teacher so i'm not going to assign grades.

mike johnson is a friend of mine so i have to be careful here. i've been disappointed in some of the decisions he's made because i wanted to be aggressive. he's got a tough job. it is tough for mike johnson, it would be tough if you are i would doing that but that being said i think there are some opportunities for the speaker to lead as we go forward and i look forward to in doing so. host: larry is up first for texas, republican. caller: hello. host: larry, you got to mute your television please so that we can hear you. caller: just turn it off. host: questioner,? -- question or comment? caller: is a comment about all the border. host: ok. caller: they talk a lot about asylum and they need more money for asylum-seekers. asylum the first country you come to. we shouldn't be giving a silent

anybody aside from mexico. host: will take your point. guest: we have an immigration crisis in this country. you look at the biden regime, we are getting 400,000 people a month coming through illegally. once you step foot across that border illegally, you've committed a crime. so i have a bill that is called the send them back act which is literally anyone coming to this country illegally under the biden administration would be deported and would have to go back to their home country. if they want to come here, it would have to do it legally. i understand that that is complicated but every small town in america is a border community. we seen in georgia and other states where women are being raped by illegals and that has been going on for a while now but now the media is finally reporting it. i've said it once, i will say it again, every murder, every rape,

burglary, mugging, carjacking at the hands of illegals is at the feet of joe biden. if i have to choose between my kids, my wife, my family, your safety vs. -- an going to take my family. we get to decide who comes in and quite frankly we get to decide who has to leave. host: how would your decision impact that caucus? what is legal? guest: under my law, you would be deported back. you could still apply for asylum but you would have to remain in mexico while you did so. host: and why do you think that would help? we learn from the last get that under the stay in mexico policy before, migrants would just continue to try to pass, to

cross multiple times. guest: i was listening to the show and i would argue that some of the information provided by your previous guest was sugarcoated. the reason why there is a flow of people to the southern border is because it is wide open. if the border was shut down, and wouldn't be a demand for those people to come here. it is a ridiculous assertion. if you shut down, if you build a wall, if you build a fence, that flow is going to reverse and that is a fact. >> democratic caller. caller: i am a veteran who served in the marine corps. being outside looking in, i've got to say, wow, job well-done.

the support for israel, there's not a lot of american people -- as well as investigating israel or investigating genocide. we recently said that you were ok if they killed them all. i was wondering if you wanted to address those comments but also, is there any concern for you that your comments would be actually advocating for genocide which is also illegal under international law, or if any of you and your colleagues have had some discussions because of your support in the ongoing genocide is happening? guest: i think you said you served in the marine corps, so thank you for your service, but regarding my comment. let's go back in time to this

last week. a dozen or so people had cameras and they kind of put that in my face and there was this rather long interaction between us. one of my crew was also filming so we have the full transcript of what was said. but what they did was they flipped my comment and made it sound like i was talking about all palestinians. if you play the forklift, i clarify that i'm talking about hamas. we understand that hamas was rap ing and torturing babies, toddlers, they were raping and torturing boys and girls, cutting off the breasts of women while they were being gangraped, cutting off their genitals, when you go back in time and look at the deal in israel, there has been no peace. hamas and their allies have been attacking israel for 20 years. and let me say this. if this had been some rogue

faction on the other set of the world attacking one of our cities, we would -- in 72 hours. israel has a right to defend itself and its people but i will not back down from those comments. they deserve the death penalty. you know what, it is time for the united states of america and europe to get out of the way of israel. if they need to go biblical on their enemies, that is up to israel to make that decision for themselves. host: where can people find the full video that you are referencing? guest:guest: you go to my social media. quite frankly, once we sent out the full video, even msnbc played the forklift, my colleagues from memphis,

congressman cohen got on and defended me because i was clearly talking about hamas. it's out there, there's plenty of copies of it. but that is what the left does, right? when i'm walking to halls of congress, i tend not to have a filter but honestly it gets me in trouble sometimes. what you see is what you get. i mean, a child, sacrosanct, innocent. no one should be doing that. no one should even think that and the fact that there is a group of individuals that were willing and systematically -- they literally had commanders whose job was the charge of rape units. this was an intentional act by terrorists and they need to be punished. host: alabama, republican.

caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. i am happy with doing the job the right time and seem to be a man of the people. thank god, there's not enough good ones out there. i want to comment on the sicko when the senate voted on the bill for the border that same day before the votes. elijah republican senators made speeches on the floor. josh hawley and a couple others. and c-span, i didn't hear any place else after, so i went back and i looked under c-span segment, where they start speaking in their comments come out. and i listened to it and it didn't hear it so i went back about a minute and a half before , and he did in fact say that.

he said there is -- and there's 64 million people have applied for the app which give them employment at the border. you think we got a place is now with 7.2 million? 64 million already signed up on the app, that is going to be in places that are overrun now. where is that going to put the homeless people, where is that going to put -- i thought well, maybe it comes through here a few times. josh hawley said, he says it emphatically. 64 million more coming marching

across our border. guest: you're absolutely right, there is an app that is being used, individuals coming across the border. they will tell them hey, this area of the border is backlogged , facilitating people to come here across the border. a couple of months ago i was out of the southern border, i flew into tucson unannounced, i went down with some former special operators and they had on full kits. i wanted to see what was really happening. as you look down the fence row, it looks like it is continuous.

about every quarter-mile there is gas in the wall that you can freely walk through so i literally walked into mexico, walked around unencumbered, walked back into the united states of america. we continued to head down to where previously there have been issued out amongst cartel members and contractors in the u.s. it was about a 30 foot ravine, the encampment down there. i wanted to see how these people were living, where they were staging before they were coming into this country. you literally had snipers coming up over the hill to see what i was doing. my guys send a drone, but that is the state of the southern border. we have areas of the border that are literally under control of the cartel, where they literally have spotters, they literally have snipers right at the southern border. and what you got to understand

is the average migrant paying somewhere between $2000 and $8,000 to come here. if you are a woman and you can't support your full fare, they will give you birth control and they will sell you along the way. i found a package birth control where a woman and use it to pay her way through the country. regardless of where you were at on immigration, the very fact that roughly 60% of all women in all children that cross the southern border are sexually, we should shut it down for that reason alone because there is a humanitarian crisis taking place. but this administration hasn't done it. they flooded the southern border, flood new mexico, wanted arizona with these migrants. and now what you are seeing is like in the state of tennessee. it cost tennessee roughly $850 million to $1 billion per year to fund illegal immigration you start looking at immigration and food stands and housing. that is real money. that is money that should be

going to have children's textbooks, to the suicide rate among veterans that are still hovering around 22 88. is money that should be going to air veterans. so we got to start prioritizing america first. not america alone, but we got to start taking care of her country, our people before we continue this idea of being the world police and caretakers. host: houston, texas, stephen, democratic caller. caller: thank you. i heard the senator say that he abhors the current administration. well, that is hatred and i wanted to ask the senator where he figures that hatred is appropriate in our politics. guest: to be clear, i'm a congressman, i'm not a senator. we have two great senators in the state of tennessee. that being said, i can of horrid

ministration and the policies. as not hatred, discomfort first amendment, i have a right to my opinion so i wholeheartedly agree with -- disagree few, thank you for your call. host: independent come indiana. caller: hello. i am retired army and they'd had this problem ever since i've been -- i'm 78 and they had this border problem all along. all they've got to do is say by god, if you do it, come across that southern border, if you come across, you consent right back. if they don't accept you, you go to jail. guest: you bring up an important point and i think something that should be addressed from we talk about immigration.

there's really three separate conversations. first off, you said you were 78 and served in the army, thank you again for your service to our country. one is you have the border policy, our current state of the border, who we are living in. i would argue that a sovereign nation, a superpower, there are three key characteristics. a strong military, free, honest, open elections, and secure borders. depending on the conversation and we were talking to some people would say that we are not checking all three boxes. so that is one part of the conversation. the other part of the conversation is what do you do with all of the people that are here? i would argue they've got to start sending people back. we've got to reverse the trend. i understand that is complicated but when you also look at the immigration laws of other countries, whether it is mexico, canada, france, the uae, if i go there illegally they are going

to kick me out. that is the way the rest of the world does it. we can do the same thing. and lastly, as you say, the legal immigration process. look, that system is broken, it takes a long time, it is expensive and there has got to be fixed. but that is three separate conversations that really are unique to address border policy, no and misty in my book, and then you got to fix the progress so that if someone wants to come here illegally, they have a way to do it. host: georgia, independent. go ahead. caller: hi, thank you so much for being here. i just wanted to speak to the republican principles of law and order and pro-life. the last lady who studies the border from texas herself, the border cannot be closed for the

people can come and go freely. it is literally impossible to completely shut the border, but i do think that they have the right under the law to seek asylum like they are supposed to and not be sent back to be killed and their home countries? and also real, thank you so much to the veteran that called earlier, we appreciate people like you for being amazing members of our community and as pro-life citizens, why are we ok with the bonding of children in palestine even if it is so-called collateral damage? children are being maimed, thousands of people are dying over what? hamas is already supposedly killed and raped 1000 people. if you know what google is, just google the new york times article about the rape that is false it is not true, but let's pretend that 2000 people are raped in israel. 30,000 people have been named,

killed, tortured and are continuing to die every day. why is that ok with us? i just want to know under the guise of pro-life. please take it away from here. guest: thank you for your call and i can hear in your voice that there is a true compassion and concern there. but i will tell you that you were knocking good information. i served on one of the national security subcommittees, i've seen the videos, they are not fake and quite frankly there's videos that i wish i hadn't seen because once you've seen them, they can't be unseen. i can tell you what they did to children and babies and women, again, i wish i hadn't seen it. so your informational that is incorrect. it should be noted that hamas is using children, schools, hospitals as human shields to protect and hide behind.

i would commend israel and benjamin netanyahu for trying to be strategic and targeting the members of hamas, trying to spare as much light as possible but they are in a state of war. they are putting children in front of them and using them as shields. what do they do? they look to clear the area of innocent civilians. they find civilians, they find children, they euthanize shields. again, that is unconscionable and quite frankly, this idea that people have a right to come here, we are a sovereign nation of rules and law. we make those laws. we get to determine who comes in because we make those laws and yes, we can close our border. we can shut it down, and we can

turn people away, even if they are seeking asylum. we don't have to take you just because you want to come here and that is the law. >> thank you all for taking my call, i love the washington journal, this is a great program for everyday, ordinary americans to say what they think. i was trying to remember who said that term go biblical because i loved it. thank you for saying that. i just had a few questions. why do you think biden chose to go to brownsville today instead of possibly where -- 54 vs. of the road where trump is going to be? my other question is going to be the thing in athens, georgia hit me really hard because i went to college right up the road. just a woman out on a jog, that

is very scary. do you think that he would be deported, or would we put him in american jail? and my last question, the woman before it was so upset about the children in gaza, if anyone looked into the 80 5000 children that the biden administration has just lost, they don't know where they are, they don't know who has them, sex trafficking, anything. my border, my children, my country, i care about mine more than i care about theirs. guest: you covered a lot of ground. let's talk about the children. someone under this administration is coming into the country. they give any address or destination. we had any situation in nashville where 600 were slated to come. i reached out to homeland

security see where they are. they did not know where they were. you are given an address but that does not mean you necessarily end up at that address. someone could give an address in chicago and they end up in san francisco or any address in san francisco and come to nashville. there are of the 100,000 kids that are just missing, no idea where they are. unaccompanied minors that have come into the country and have vanished. that is a problem, you're talking about innocent lives that are potentially being victimized. why biden is going to one area of the border versus another, i don't know. i have not asked the administration. you have competing press conferences. biden didn't want to trump to steal the show on that issue. i think that is why you are seeing that. as far as israel going biblical,

because of the historical nature of that area, that is why i toast -- chose that phrase. this is a fight that has been going on for a linear. israel has tried to accommodate its enemies and has spent the last 20 years being bumped. -- being bombed. if you look at that fateful day and the text messages from that day, as the bombs and rockets started going off, it was just another day because that is normal in that area. it should not be normal. they should be able to live in peace. their neighbors should have in agreement. , sis unwilling to do so -- hamas has been unwilling to do so. enough is enough. israel has a right to protect its people and its homeland and they have my full support. host: what were your thoughts on the senate bipartisan legislation to address the issue at the border?

guest: there is a lot of garbage put in that bill. in the house of representatives, we passed house bill one which was our energy independence bill. the senate has not taken it up. we passed house bill two which was our border security bill based off of the texas plan. if there is a stage that should know how to handle exporter, it is texas. the senate has not taken it up. we sent over an israel bill, they did not take it up. when you look at the additional $60 billion they are talking about sending to ukraine, i could make an argument for it, i could make an argument against it. we spent $68.3 billion on our marines last year so we are spending more money in ukraine

then we are one of our branches of our military. this is ridiculous. we have got to take care of our military at a time when recruitment across services is down. we need to focus on our military and recruitment and morale and stop the wokeness in the military. if there is a branch that should not be politicized, they have a job to do which is to train. they should be untouchable but this administration has weaponized this woke agenda. and is getting our military that should scare you. it looks like the trends will continue. host: commerce min andy ogles, thank you for the conversation -- congressman andy ogles, think you for the conversation. guest: god bless. host: we will get perspective from the other side of the aisle, we will talk to john larson from connecticut about the key debates happening in washington today. we will be right back.

>> sunday on c-span's "q&a," katie rogers shares her book "american woman" about the evolution of first ladies of the united states and the contributions and impacts of ladies of first parties going back to hillary clinton and their changing roles. >> melania trump highlighted that you don't have to do anything with this role if you don't want to. there have been first ladies who have done -- who did very little compared to heather clinton or eleanor roosevelt. the fact that melania trump was doing this in our times as they are is almost radical. >> katie rogers with her book

"american woman coco -- "american woman," on "q&a." you can listen to q&a and our podcasts on our c-span now cap -- now app. >> ems women who occupy those states have a lot to say about freeman's view of the society we live in today and his solutions. >> saturday at 7:00 p.m., american history tv will air the 10 part series "free to choose," between -- with milton freeman. it first aired in 1980. the friedmans also wrote a companion book of the same name. programs take us to publications important to the u.s. and world economies. the friedmans advocate free-market principles and

limited government intervention in economy and social policy. other topics include welfare, education, consumer and welcome -- -- watch on saturday at 7:00 p.m. on c-span2. >> "washington journal" continues. host: congressman john larson of connecticut, we begin with this continuing resolution that has come about in the last day. it looks like there will be another continuing resolution this time with reports that the government that need to be funded. how would you vote on that? guest: i would vote that we continue to keep government open. it is a travesty we have been operating on continuing resolutions and omnibus bills when as a congress we should get

back to regular order. your viewers and listeners, to understand what we are dealing with, we are focused on the 12 appropriations bills which make up with the budget. though should be taken up in a manner in which there are public forums and debates and votes on the hill. in this current mode of continuing resolution or omnibus bill -- both parties share some blame here. this is what frustrates the american people. what they want is congress to work together to get the job done on their behalf. it stops with -- starts with getting basic things done like the budget that impacts so many people, farmers for example. what is going to have been is essential the agreement is to have a continuing resolution to keep government opened at

current level of funding. instead of shutting down tomorrow on the first, the government will remain open until the eighth at which time six of the appropriations bills will be taken up. that is half of the bill studied to be done. and the remainder by the 22nd. to your question, i am in favor of voting on that come open it up and making sure we continue to fund the government at the levels that are required for the american people. host: if this continues, will conservative republicans get their way in there will be -- that there will be a 1% cut? guest: that is a great question, that is part of their strategy. host: why vote yes?

guest: you want to keep the government open. if you are going to shut down government, how is that aiding or abetting the very concerns we have for the american people to make sure they are going to get the kind of funding -- for example, finding in connecticut, that is 47,000 people -- funding in connecticut, that is 47,000 people impacted by this. i am good to vote on their behalf. the point about your question that i think is salient, why isn't congress working together knowing what is at stake in these budget bills? the answer becomes we are in that season and when you have a former president say don't vote on these issues, we would rather make president bynum look bad for the campaign -- president biden look bad for the campaign rather than do something for the american people so they will be

able to be productive and to get the funding they need. everything from our military to government employees to work recipients. that is why i think it is important. host: let's turn to foreign policy and the israel-gaza war. president biden said he expects a cease fire soon. has president biden done enough? guest: this is why the country should be proud we have someone in the white house who thoroughly understands foreign policy, who has the experience and the expertise and has made appropriate demands. he has struck a course that is supportive of israel, our strongest ally in the area, but not without making sure it is

clear to netanyahu that we expect certain responsible things to come out of that. when you have a president that has been in there that long and is persistent in terms of what he wants and what is in the best interest of the world and of israel and palestine. host: would you feel conditioned on future aid to israel given all that has transpired? guest: i think it depends on how things transpired? host: you have not seen enough? guest: present in netanyahu -- president netanyahu says he does not favor a two state solution. he is more conservative in terms of his projections and even the people in israel are concerned about the positions he has takes

-- positions he takes. it depends on what those conditions are. clearly we stand with the president of the united states and the conditions he has asked for, including a cease fire, but also including making sure that in gaza, we get a better handle on what is happening there and we follow the concerns the president has laid out. host: president biden president trump are headed to the border, having dueling events. is there a vulnerability on president biden and the border issue and his reelection efforts? guest: i don't think there is a vulnerability but the american people can see this for what it is. there is no question that we have a border problem and a border concern. the optimal thing to do this for congress to come together, like

senator murphy did. i commend him for his efforts. we are on the verge of a deal that was struck with conservative republicans and moderate to left-leaning democrats. all of a sudden, it went away. it went away because the former president would rather have it as an issue then solve the problem. where president biden will stand tall in his continued efforts to solve the problem. there is no question the border is an issue. linda sanchez has the most copperheads of immigration reform bill in congress. i support that. i also would have supported senator murphy's compromise that

he worked out. that would resolve issues in a way that demonstrates to the american public that we are listening to them and here is what we are attempting to do in terms of getting our arms around a very difficult issue on the border. immigration in general and how that needs to be performed -- be reformed and continue to address the workforce issues going forward which i hear from a lot of people in new england. all of which are comprehensive. what should be demanded here is that we work together. senator murphy laid it out perfectly to solve a problem in a bipartisan fashion. the issue here is to solve the problem, not to see who gets the

credit, democrat or republican. host: sean in ohio, independent. caller: morning. i have you on speaker on start and i will switch you over. i appreciate you. host: shot -- sean, holland -- hold on. caller: as far as the fiscal negotiations, approximately. when i do a continuing resolution through the end of fiscal year 2024 and congress works on a package for 2025? it will force president biden to get his budget delivered. just do a continuing resolution.

host: congressman, where you able to hear that? guest: yes, i can hear that. host: go ahead and respond. guest: quite frankly, that is where we are headed. i would prefer we respond in regular order. in descendant -- in the senate and the house, this has become the modus operandi of congress dealing with the continuing resolution. when it comes down to a point where if we don't act the government will shut down, in view of that, we pass a continuing resolution to keep the government open and funded at current levels. you are thinking about this in a logical manner, i bet a lot of

americans feel the same way. why don't we operate under a continuing resolution? there are so many things on the agenda that we should be operating in regular order. what do i mean by that? voting. this is something the public should demand of congress and their representatives. voting in regular order first within the committee of cognizance and then on the respective floors of the house and senate. and then going to conference committees where that is needed if a bill needs to be sorted through. the ukraine bill we discussed that the senate passed with, white margins. the house refused to take it up.

that would have been in regular order and the house should have taken it up. if there is disagreement, go to conference and left the conference sorted through and send it on to the president to become law. the problem governing by continuing resolution, you are kicking the can down the road. sean did say he wants to therefore in 2024 after the election to come back in a lame duck and pass whatever is needed or start with any agenda laid out for the american people. that is what campaigns are about. with the presidential campaign this year, we are going to see a lot of campaigning and issues like this come up time and again. that was probably where we are

headed, another continuing resolution. host: in michigan, joe is watching. good morning. independent. caller: good morning. has anybody ever thought of the broader problem, using close military bases to funnel all of these people into the spaces -- these bases, process at the same way they do recruits, use many of these people to refurbish these facilities. use some of them who are bilingual to the interpreters and teachers. open schools and it is facilities and teach those children there? they say there are a lot of

military aged people coming across. recruit some of them to be in the military. host: we will take that idea. guest: thank you, joe. i think that is a great idea. like every good idea as we were discussing earlier, what we need is democrats and republicans to come together, take up ideas such as yours which i think are commonsense and straightforward and see how that fits into the total scheme of existing law and what we need to do to get our arms around the issues on both of our borders. obviously the southern border gets the most emphasis here. i like the way that you are

thinking because you are trying to help resolve problem, not to cast blame on one side or the other, but actually say what is your solution? how are we going to better construct a country like ours that is both receptive to having people come to this country. by the way, we need that. but doing it in and organized manner that has an end game in mind where a person who comes here can become a productive citizen. your concept isn't bad where if that doesn't work out or they have to be deported or they are here and they are not desirable, there is any opportunity for us to find that out and deal with it accordingly.

the american people, that is what they want to see. they want to be assured and instead what they see this contrast. i want to give senator murphy credit hear from my home state of connecticut for working very hard to come up with a solution that we have achieved those goals. host:. hill, texas. steve is watching. you are on with the congressman. guest: this -- caller: this meant here is carrying the water and trying to cover up for item -- for biden. my niece lives near people pass, she broke her leg and they tried to take her to the er unit around people pass. they pay taxes and build that hospital, her and her family.

they could not get my niece in because it was covered up with illegals. the people coming across the border illegally are supposed to get shots from polio, hepatitis a, hepatitis b. they're not doing that. they are allowing these people to come in and get in our schools and around our children. this man here, he is covering up for biden. host: trop is going to eagle pass -- trumpet is going to eagle pass, texas -- trump is going to. . eagle pass guest: guest:, texas. guest: i am not covering up for anybody. i can understand your frustration. more importantly, i hope -- was it your granddaughter that needed the help and assistance for her injury?

was taken care of. we have a problem on the border. the question becomes the resolution to how we resolve that. you may have heard me say that i can -- i commended senator murphy for coming up with a bipartisan solution that would have both sides working together. whether you think i'm a prop for president biden or you disagree with president biden, whether you favor president trump is your right as an american. what is needed by congress is to work together comprehensively in a bipartisan fashion and get this done. i am including with all of those governmental entities, whether they be state or local along the border. whether it is texas or arizona or in mexico -- or new mexico,

whatever the border areas are. then we have to make sure we are working on a collaborative basis to solve the problem. i can only wish your granddaughter well. i feel that the and understand your anger. host: charlotte, north carolina. jay, good morning to you. democratic caller. caller: thank you for your service. my first question is are there any private programs pertaining to character of discard -- discharge with a clear error? is there a website or places the everyday citizen can go for everyday peoples in america covid ago -- everyday peoples in america could go to look for high wage union paying jobs? it is one thing to go out and

look for jobs, but when you do online searches, the company displays but it is not to display what the company stands for pertaining to what the employee -- you cannot look up a company and see how much it pays. you can see how much the job pays but you cannot see the benefits the company gives you for working in lieu of a union. what bills are there that you guys have recently passed in the senate pertaining to smart grids that help upgrade the maximum energy and water efficiency when people get home? host: i am going to have you

listen through your television. guest: i am going to have to have you go back to the pilot. did you have something in mind with a specific pilot? host: he is not on the line but he was talking about veterans. guest: i was trying to get to his point but it was not clear. his notion about a website for a good paying union jobs is an excellent idea. i don't know that that is government's responsibility, but that is a good thing and perhaps this is something the labor department should take up and make sure on this website, they are doing this -- on their website, they are doing this. you can never go wrong with good paying union jobs. one of the virtues of unions in this country of ours is what they have done on behalf of the average citizen and how they have uplifted pay.

we need more of that in this country with the issues being what they are in terms of what people are learning -- people are burning. -- people are earning. his last question was -- host: smart grids, updating the grids. guest: i think that is a noble and good idea and something that should be pursued. host: going back to social security, what did you want to add? guest: here is the deal with social security. i think every american should be upset. we have an enhanced -- we have not enhanced social security in more than 50 years. didn't bob dole and president reagan? yes they did in 1983 some 40 years ago. they extended the solvency of

social security by raising the age. they did not enhance any of the benefits. today we have 10,000 baby boomers a day becoming eligible for social security. we will surpass more than 70 million people who are on social security next year. yet, those benefits that work -- were in place when richard nixon was president have not been changed. people have not received an increase in their social security payments. there are more than 5 million fellow americans who have worked all their lives and get below poverty level payments. there are 23 americans -- pretty 3 million americans paying taxes on social security that should not have to do so. for those that have been prevented through government employees and municipal

employees from getting their benefits, that deserves to be repealed so they are able to get those benefits for close to 40% of the american people, the only pension they will have is social security. on average, that is 18,000 per mail, $14,000 per female. living on that much of money, people are not buying stock options. they are buying the essentials they need to survive and this is why it is critical. this is why this wealth disparity exists. how do we pay for that? we lived the cap people making more than $400,000. every time i go to a town hall

meeting i say raise your hand if you're making more than $400,000. no one has ever raised their hand at any of those. the point being that even wealthy people understand if a person making $135,000 is paying throughout the year in social security, why shouldn't they? bill gates stops paying anna january. millinery stop paying in february -- millionaires stop paying in february. when people understand this will pay for social security, extend its solvency into the future, but provide the benefits people actually need. it is the best economic development plan we could have for the country. where do they spend that money? right back to the district and communities they live in. where do they spend it?

at the grocery store, the pharmacy, the local gas station. etc.. that is the genius of fdr and what he knew was needed in the system of capitalism we operate under. you need to have that balance, that safety net that is paid for by people. it is not an entitlement program. people pay for it and companies pay the other half but they get a tax write off. the individual who has paid for this, especially those 10,000 baby boomers a day are going to be looking at that. wait a minute, this is what i am getting? this hasn't been adjusted in more than 50 years? come on, commerce. host: are you taking action on that in congress? guest: we have bill proposals out there.

we have not been able to get a vote on it. we are hoping viewers and people around the country start saying wait a minute, this has not been adjusted in more than 50 years? this is what people are actually making? for 40% of americans, it is all they have? there are more than 5 million americans who have worked all their lives and to below poverty level checks from the federal government. that is blatantly wrong. it needs to be corrected and the public ought to be demanding congress take action. you have a better idea? put it out there. we have something called social security 2100 that does all those things. across-the-board increase, repeals, make sure the

disability system of social security, more veterans rely on that then they do on the v.a. this is not an entitlement, this is in a earned benefit -- this is an earned benefit. i am -- i went to the school of insurance. they talk about three legs on the stool. those three likes being your personal finances, what you have had, what you have been able to put together, other passes like your home and pension, etc. the third leg is social security. the nation's number one insurance program, number one antipoverty program. until the child tax credit becomes permanent, number one antipoverty program for children. host: congressman john larson, we appreciate the conversation. guest: my pleasure.

host: we will take a break. when we come back, we will be in open forum. any public policy issue you heard this morning from our lawmakers or other conversation or any other political issue. on your mind. start dialing in now. ♪ >> book tv every sunday on c-span2 features leading authors discussing their latest nonfiction books. at 8:00 p.m. eastern, research by government agencies and a scientific community and the potential for alien life in his book "ufo." at 10:00 p.m. on "afterwards," a journalist shares burn book, a

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your copy for delivery this spring. >> friday night, watching c-span>>'s 2024 campaign trail, a round of campaign coverage providing a one-stop shop to discover what the candidates across the country are sink to voters along with first-hand accounts from political reporters, updated poll numbers, fundraising data and campaign ads. watch 2024 campaign trail friday nights at 7:00 p.m. eastern on c-span, online at c-span.org, or download as a podcast on c-span now, our free mobile app, or wherever you get your podcasts. c-span, your unfiltered view of politics. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we are back in open forum for the last 25 minutes of the program. we begin with what is happening on capitol hill this morning.

in about 25 minutes, defense secretary lloyd austin testifying before the house armed services committee on his recent hospitalization and the communication or lack thereof between him and the white house. you can watch that on c-span3 come on c-span now, and also online at c-span.org. he is expected to sit two to three hours before that committee. if you cannot watch it all, go to our website, hit the video player and you will see gold stars that appear and that will give you the highlights of today's hearing. on the youtube, etc., we will make a short take, 10 minutes for less of today's hearing to show you all of the key moments. mike in south dakota. you are up in open form.

caller: the democratic congressman who was on talking about the social security overhaul, we have to close our borders before we confront things like that -- we can fund things like that. the 8 million or so coming across the border is going to cost the government a lot of money over the next 40 years. host: former president trump will be speaking at the border at 2:00 p.m. eastern. president joe biden in a different location will be speaking at 4:30 p.m. go to our website for coverage. in other news, congress has reached a short-term deal to avoid a government shutdown. usa today reporting congress agreed on a short-term spinning agreement to avert a shutdown which we kick the can down the

road to fund the government once again as lawmakers struggle to reach a consensus on a longer-term deal. the extension referred to as a continuing resolution will fund parts of the government through march 8 and remained until march 22. congressional leaders announced it yesterday as a bid to buy leaders more time to come up with a funding agreement for the nation's government. ivan in virginia. do you have a public policy issue or a political one? caller: i have any issue about social security. host: we are listening. caller: i have not heard trumps anything about social security. is it going to cut 20% of social security? i and others of us, there is no way we would make it with what i

am making now. if they cut us 25%, that is going to put a hurt on us. i already had two strokes. if their to do that, i am going to vote for republicans. we are trying to get a list to get down to washington. host: i encourage you to research that claim and look at a neutral website to find out for yourself. axios is reporting that the fed's favorite efficient measure confirms quicker price gains in january. prices rose at a quicker pace in january according to an inflation measure. measure confirms a trend of price increases that defined much of last year came to a halt

last month. a warning that inflation might take -- meeting inflation might take longer than previously thought. will in atlanta, georgia. guest: i happy -- caller: i appreciate you taking my call. in america, we are all to be under god's truth and justice. we are a creedal civil reunion where americans worship the one deity laid out in the decoration of independence. these people coming across the border are all in the same cult. whigs founded america, white and black. all of these catholics --

host: that is will's thoughts. jim in maine, republican. caller: i don't know why we are wasting our time talking about other stuff when we have a crib supreme court trying to steal it election -- still an election. host: front page of the new york times, the court agrees to hear the immunity case. they announced they would meet to decide if don chavez and unit from prosecution on charges plotting to overturn the 2020 election further delaying his criminal trial as it considers the matter. the justices scheduled arguments for the week of april 22 and said proceedings would remain frozen, handing an interim victory to drop. this strategy and the prosecutions against him has consisted in large part of trying to slow things down.

from the front page of the washington times, trump immunity case will speed to high court docket. the court said it would speed the case with oral arguments week of april 22. to decision should be issued by the end of june -- a decision should be issued by the end of june. the justices limited the case to one question, whether and if so, what extent does a former president enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office. jack smith has been pushing for a trial early in march but justices said it would have to wait until after their ruling. they said that should not be read as a statement on the merits of mr. trump or mr. smith's arguments.

daniel in springfield, illinois. we are in open forum. caller: i would like to talk about the border. i have been voting since i was 18, i am 64 now. it has been the same way this whole time. they continued to kick at the can down the road. every time they have a little bit of reform, until there is another so-called crisis, they get to work on something and nothing ever gets passed. america, if you are looking for resolution on the border, it is not going to happen. whether there is a democrat in power, a republican in power, it is not going to happen. the congress does not have the will to pass laws that will help

the immigration system. that is all i have to save. host: go to our coverage of the former president to date. look for details at c-span.org. mitch mcconnell to resign as the gop senate leader. he will relinquish the post in november after nearly two decades, topping of a 17 year tenure in republican leadership. he will be exiting from that role this fall. we asked your reaction to that earlier this morning. be able to take it now in open form -- we will take it now and open forum as well. -- in open forum as well. caller: the american people should force their senators and congress to put tv cameras

inside the supreme court. the second part is as a straight ticket democrat, this is what i would like to see. i voted for kamala harris. when i cast my vote, i would like the democratic party to vote this year. after the inauguration, joe biden stepped down and hand that leadership to younger people. thank you. host: greg in pendleton, indiana. republican. caller: thank you for having me on. mr. larson earlier, i have to say. he is the first democrat, i am republican, but he is the first democrat i have heard that in existence about a long -- i have

heard that makes sense about a long term reform to social security. in the meantime, they need to get more cameras into closed-door meetings and we have to get serious about getting this country back. i will push for the democrats and the republicans, but something needs to be done to make them work together and be a little more mature about it and accept it. there is one reason this country is in the shape it is and we are getting sick and tired of it. i have been on social security for a while and i am having to find extra jobs just to

supplement. there is no reason for that. host: in indiana, republican. wall street journal, president biden is fit for duty his doctor says after a physical. peel this president in u.s. history, president biden completed his examination earlier in the day, marking his third conference of exam as president. the exam camera for a year after his previous checkup cap -- the exam came a year after his previous checkup. his gait has different likely related to age but has not worsened since last year. no treatment was needed beyond ongoing physical therapy. and logical exam finds no findings that indicate a neurological disorder like a stroke or parkinson's. the president exercises five times a week and doesn't drink alcohol or smoke tobacco.

he weighs 178 pounds, the same amount as last year. amanda in virginia. caller: i would like to comment and say donald trump is a communist loving insurrectionist and anyone that supports them is also a communist loving insurrectionist, including my boyfriend. host: we will go to darrell in kentucky, republican. caller: i heard a caller and minutes ago -- a minute ago. the new york times about don trump right there. i think they should drop the charges. jack smith, he doesn't know what he is talking about.

the second one, joe biden's condition and what his doctor says, he forgets. he does not know where he is at come he does not know where he is going. he does not know what is going on in the country today. host: i think we heard you, we will move on to marsha. good morning to you. what state are you in? caller: i am in maine. host: independent. go ahead. caller: my concern is i heard them speak about social security. maine is one of the windfall states. i don't know why president reagan did that because i live on social security and a small pension from working for the state. when you work for the state, you

get what they call a reward letter. you have to know what you growth this year, what your pension is. they say we paid you too much so we are going to take it out of social security on your next check. it is ridiculous. maine is one of the poorest states and i have worked all my life. i had a sick husband and my mom was sick with cancer. i helped raise my grandson so my daughter could go to college. the windfall should be -- should never have been. it is truly a hardship. thank god i am healthy but my thyroid cancer. a lot of my friends have serious medical issues and they have a hard time making the medicine

because they get cut every time we get a raise. they deducted off of your social security. i'm not in favor of nikki haley coming in as president, she scares me. host: hunter biden was behind closed doors testifying. this is james comer, one of the three committee chairs, defending investigation into president biden and his family. [video clip] >> this is about public corruption. the american people do not want their public officials to pedal access to their leaders to the tune of tens of billions of dollars. you may think that is okay but i can assure you the american people do not. i have traveled from -- to

persona. everywhere i go, i hear the same thing. thank you for trying to find out the truth. thank you for trying to stop this industry. the purpose of this investigation, if you go back to the first press conference, was to get the truth to the american people because the american people did not have the truth. the bidens had legitimate businesses, joe biden never talked to any of the people. all of that we have proven is false. we have been effective in getting the truth to the american people. my job as the chairman of the oversight committee is to influence -- event influence peddling from happening in the future. that was the purpose, to create legislation that defines influence peddling and stop it from happening. we need to stop the mendezes and

bidens enriching themselves in our public offices. host: that was congressman,. jamie raskin, the top democrat had this to say to reporters. [video clip] >> the card traditional standard for impeachment is treason, bribery, other high crimes and misdemeanors. we are still waiting for our republican friends to articulate what they think a high crime and misdemeanor is. we have gotten far afield from the constitutional standard. nobody can state what they think joe biden did, even as a private citizen, that would constitute some criminal events -- criminal offense. their recent witness is now in jail being held as a flight risk after being indicted by special

counsel named by donald trump for lying to the fbi and creating a false documentary record. this has been a comedy of errors from the beginning. all of the revolutions in the legal pleadings filed by david weiss give a very strong with of a russian intelligence operation. our colleagues would do best at this point to full of izzard's tent and allow us to focus on something that would be a benefit to a american people. host: open forum here for a few more minutes because -- before the house gavels in in. james, democratic caller. caller: i want to make a statement about social security. if you are watching the news and keeping up with c-span as something other than fox news,

republicans have been trying to get retirement for social security. the same way they have done roe v. wade. they finally got it. kevin mccarthy when he was in power was tracked it is about social security. i am telling you now, if donald trump gets back in, the republicans take over senate and congress, social security will be cut. there is only one thing white americans love about what trump put in. he is a racist and they know he is and the majority if not all of them feel the same he do about people of color.

host: melody in aurora, illinois. independent. caller: i think the border should be closed. there are more people coming over the northern border than the southern border. there should be a united nations forum consisting of all of the countries forming the western hemisphere to find out why all of these people from the southern hemisphere are migrating into the united states. this mig is happening in europe as well. north africans are my grading across the mediterranean sea -- are migrating across the mediterranean sea into spain, italy, and greece. we have to find out why they are leaving their home countries. are they being forced to leave? are they being robbed? our children being kidnapped? our drug lords taking over everywhere -- are drug lords

taking over everywhere? i think these people would rather live in their home country and make a living where they are at. host: the house is about to gavel in for their legislative session. we will take you up to capitol hill. live coverage here on c-span. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order.