♪ host: good morning. it is saturday march second, 20 24. the two leading candidates in the presidential race both visited the u.s.-mexico border delivering very different messages about immigration. in washington this week, mitch

ongest-serving party leader in the senate, announced he will step down from his leadership role this fall. we want to hear your top news story of the week. republicans can call in at (202) 748-8001. democrats at (202) 748-8000. independents at (202) 748-8002. you can text us. that number is (202) 748-8003. please be sure to include your name and where you are writing from. on social media, it is facebook .com/c-span and on x @cspanwj. details coming out of the funeral of russian dissident alexei navalny. a story from the new york times, thousands of people crowded a neighborhood on moscow's outskirts on friday, some bearing flowers chanting "noto war" as they tried to catch a glimpse for alexei navalny.

the outpouring turned the opposition leader's last rites into -- it took place under tight monitoring from the russian authorities who arrested hundreds of mourners at memorial sites since mr. navalny died. another story is the latest from the tragedy in gaza when many people tried to reach an aid convoy and many people were that process. another new york times story, a wait for food ended in chaos, panic, and death. bloodshed at convoy fuels global fervor. president biden said the united states would begin air dropping aid to gaza to relieve suffering . european leaders condemned israel for the deaths of four hungry palestinians as they surrounded the convoy. israeli troops killed more than 100 people and wounded 700 others in a "massacre" as the

convoy rolled along a dark road. a version of events that israel defeated. yesterday, president biden announced that he would join, the united states would join, jordan in providing air drops of large amounts of humanitarian assistance to gaza. [video clip] pres. biden: today, we will also east and yesterday's tragic and alarming events in north gaza trying to get humanitarian assistance in there. and the loss is heartbreaking. people are so desperate. innocent people got caught in a terrible war unable to feed their families, and you saw the response when they tried to get aid. we need to do more. the united states will do more. in the coming days we will join with our friends in jordan and others providing air drops of additional food and supplies and seek to open other avenues in

ukraine including the possibility of a marine partner with large amounts of humanitarian assistance. in addition to expanding deliveries by land, we will israel facilitate more trucks and more routes to get more and more people the help they need. no excuses. the truth is that aid flowing into gaza is nowhere near enough now, nowhere near enough. on't stand by until we get more aid. we should be getting hundreds of trucks in, not just several. we won't stand by, we won't let up, and we won'' pull out, try to pull out every stop that we can to try to get more assistance in. we have been working and hopefully will know shortly, and i know you have been informed, that we are trying to work out a

deal between israel and hamas about the hostages being returned. and an immediate cease-fire in gaza for at least the next six weeks to allow the surge of aid into the entire gaza strip, not just ahost: we are looking for your top new story of the wtwo of these stories we are following this week includes the biden and trump dueling border visits, that israel is being accused of firing on the civilians in gaza waiting for food. as i mentioned earlier mcconnell stepping down from gop leadership. and the supreme court hearing the trump immunity appeal or announcing that they would hear it. finally the hunter biden deposition in the biden impeachment probe also happened in this busy week. let's go to your calls beginning with sal in new jersey on our republican line. good morning. what is your topic this week?

caller: i would like to bring up the point that i think the number one issue in america today is immigration. i wouldn't even call it immigration i would call it inundation. we are literally being invaded by people who shouldn't be in this country. the other day a woman from egypt and her brother is waiting in line for two or three years. he wants to come to this country legally. he can't come in. we have people who are coming inllegally who shouldn't be in this country in the first place. another observation. one of the falls of the great roman empire was invaded by barbarians who eventually took over the country and changed their culture, their values, changed their whole system. that is what is happening now. we are coming into this country people are coming in who are drug addicts, pedophiles rapists, and murderers.

host: we got your point. moving on to jeffrey in greensboro, north carolina on the democratic line. what is your top story of the week? caller: thank you for taking this call. please, allow me to get this out in response to the caller from new jersey. it is very important -- host: can you turn down the volume on your television and please continue your point? caller: can you hear me better? host: yes, thank you. caller: hello? host: we need you to turn down the volume on your tv because we are getting feedback. caller: i'm sorry. i'm sorry about that. i'm trying to find the remote. oh, my god. host: we will go to another call first and we will see if we can get you back. brad in texas on the republican line. caller: hello, america. the thing is the immigration is a planned event is an invasion

and the democrats are supplying the ngo to help illegals come across the border and they are actually flying them in and are calling them refugees. the democrats have stabbed america in the back. it will come out someday, i just hope it is soon enough. thank you. host: susie in jupiter, florida also on republican line. caller: yes. i am calling also about the immigration system. i don't know why you can't put up on your screen the things that biden has rescinded that were in place when president trump was in office. it's a very simple outline. he just took everything and rescinded it all. i think you should put that up on your screen for people.

they don't know. they think this is just something that happened, and it was all planned. it is george soros. he is the one who is funding most of it. host: i take your point and pivot to some of the comments that former president trump made at the border during his visit. he was criticizing the biden administration for its approach to border security and immigration. that was during his visit to eagle pass, texas. here's ats from thursday. [video clip] mr. trump: the united states is being overrun by the biden migrant crime. we call it biden's migrant crime, but that is long, so we believe it, but every time you hear the term migrant crime you know where that comes from. allowing thousands and

thousands, and actually millions and millions of people to come, could be 15 million, 18 million by the time he gets out of office, because hopefully the biggest risk we have is nine months. that's a long time. a lot of bad things can happen. they always say in speeches and rallies, you takets in the history of our country and you add them all up, all of the problems, all of the lousy jobs they've done come you can add them all up and it is not as bad as this one man, what he has done to our country. he is destroying our country. we were just talking before the general was saying he can't believe, can't believe what is happening, he can't believe it so sad. last year half of all ice arrests were criminal aliens charged with 33,000 assaults, three thousand robberies 6009 hundred burglaries, 7500 weapons crimes -- this is all migrant crime -- 4300 sexkidnappings, 1700 homicides and

murderers. these are the people who are coming into our country. they're coming from jails and they are coming from prisons and they are coming from mental institutions and they are coming from insane asylums and they are terrorists being led into our country and its horrible. host: laterprofeonow we have jeffrey back in greensboro, north carolina where former president trump will be campaigning on our democratic line. jeffrey, let's go ahead again. caller: thank you, good morning god bless you. i have to express on that statement that he gave in texas. that is the most absurd situation. i hope that your american audience is actually hearing this because he is talking about the violence and not taking accountability for what he did january 6. that is just absurd. all of the atrocity and

unfortunately the embarrassment of this country. people are actually gravitating to -- that did not exist. i pray deeply for every person who got to endure, if this falls into place the way that it does, this election, the supreme court must do the right thing. i believe it shouldn't have even went that far with our judicial system works. i want to be fair and respectful. it because people in our society is getting justice every day without a question. now it is questionable, because he has indictments and felonies, and there is nothing that seems to make sense anymore with the justice system, because his name is attached to a documentation of an indictment. it is hurting people.

host: jeffrey, i think we got your idea. let's go to ryan in orange, massachusetts. what is your top new story of the week? caller: my top new story of the week is two, the supreme court going forward. they said about liberals for months that trump wouldn't even be able to have his case heard. that got proven wrong. the fact that he went to the border and he called out bidens horrible border policies. for a long g we heard january 6 was caused by trump. even though he did a speech saying we would march peacefully and patriotically and he offered to send in troops and nancy pelosi denied him. how long will the liberal media deny the fact that trump did not incite the election. the supreme court will hear it and they will rule in his favor and he will be allowed to run and we will see the liberals screaming at the sky and i'm

waiting. host: a little more information about what our caller was discussing. here's a story from axios. the supreme court hands trump a huge win before it even hears his case is the headline. former president trump has won big at the former supreme court even if he ultimately loses. the big picture is that the justices agreed on wednesday to decide if trump enjoys total immunity from prosecution. the timing likely means that the trial over trump's role in january 6 will not begin, much less into, before the election. there is nothing that trump once more in this case and then a delay. if he wins in november and has not been tried before inauguration day, there is a good chance he never will be. this could be game over and election law expert wrote. trump's first brief is due to the high court in three weeks and arguments will be late april. that sets the stage for a ruling in late june at the end of the

court's term. let's hear from tony in melville, new york on our independent line. good morning, tony. caller: good morning, everybody. first off, i want to say from the river to the sea palestine will be free. the new story i want to focus on is the massacre that took place in occupied palestine where i believe over 100 hungry palestinians were shot by the ios. i want to bring up too there are demonstrationscheck out shut it down for palestine dot org defined a protest near you. i want to bring up that we were doing talking on my campus the other day, and the police were intimidating us. they actually threatened to charge us with vandalism, they were trying to get information out of us. i want to say cont fight. we are really pushing to get a

lot more accountability. we are pushing for a free, independent palestine. we are pushing for decolonization, land back, etc. host: let's hear from ron in west chesterfield, new hampshire on the democratic line. caller: good morning. thank you, c-span. listen it is really laughable how republicans try to turn everything around the way it d nd t n co ienlaenit tne their nukes, we should give them their nukes back. host: good morning, vanessa. what is your top new story? caller: thank you for taking my call. i would like to say two things. mitchll is my top news story. that press conference that he called was very touching and moving. it was thanks to him that we

have the supreme court right now. i will always be grateful to him that and wish him well. also, i would like to say i highly recommend it to anyone who has ever considered going. i was there for all four days and it was a fabulous event. host what struck you the most about cpac, vanessa? caller: i learned so much. i spent most of every day in the session. the wealth of knowledge, the speakers that were put together, and i saw trump on the last day. it was the closest i've ever been to trump and that was quite a thr i learned so much from the experts on the panel. i couldn't even process it all. the vendors, i got pamphlets and groups from organizations i'd never heard of, and it will keep

me going for the rest of the year. it was so much. host: thanks for your call. vanessa was talking about the announcement from senate minority leader mitch mcconnell. after his announcement on wednesday, mcconnell took the senate floor to reflect on his career in the senate. ideo clip] sen. mcconnell: my career in the united states senate began amidst the reagan revolution. through this, when i got here, i was just happy anyone 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. it is probably not the most romantic thing to admit but reagan meant a lot to both of us.

for 31 years, elaine has been the love of my life and i am eternally grateful to have her by my side. i think back on my first days in the senate with deep apprecti for the time that helped shape my view of the world. i am unconflicted about the good in our country and the irreplaceable role we play as the leader of the free world. it is why i worked so hard to get the national security package passed earlier this month. believe me, i know the politics within my party at this particular moment in time. i have many faults. politics is not one of them. that said, i believe more

strongly than ever that american global leadership is essential to preserving the shining city on a hill that ronald reagan discussed. as long as i'm drawing breath on this earth, i will defend american exceptionalism. host: another perspective on the announcement from mitch mcconnell comes from vox which has the headline, how mitch mcconnell broke congress. say goodbye to the gop leader, court that is his legacy. the article goes on to say measured by how many bills he successfully ushered into law senate minority leader mitch mcconnell, who announced wednesday he will step down as the senate republican leader in november, was extraordinarily ineffective. he famously failed to deliver on the gop's promise to repeal the affordable care act and hard-line republicans

refused to pass bipartisan legislation supported by mcconnell. during his time as majority leaderon legislative accomplishment is the tax law that former president trump signed his first year in office and not much else. yet, mcconnell is likely to be remembered as one of the most consequential leaders in the senate's history for good reason. mcconnell achieved this outcome in two ways. the first was a dramatic escalation in filibusters and the second is by killing the federal -- filling the federal judiciary with conservatives. his legacy will be lasting. on the filibuster issue here is a chart looking at the rise in number of filibusters that occurred with a marked during senator mcconnell became leader in the senatev in particular. let's hear from charles in rockland georgia on our

republican line. good morning, what is your top news story of the week? caller: good morning. host: good morning, charles. go ahead. caller: i would like to say number one, why are we opening borders? two, there are so many of us homeless veterans. 24 years serving my military, an ied in the leg nobody will help. we are going to help another country at the moment. i would like to get an answer to that. host: have you reached out to the v.a. for benefits to try to help with your housing situation, charles? caller: yes but they keep putting me off to the side and this has been going on for 14 months. yet, we are going to help another country and open our borders up. ithi am not the only veteran who served over 20 years.

and lost everything, because i am considered a hindrance because i'm disabled. so, what is the economy going to do to help us veterans? what is the economy going to do to help the homeless citizens throughout the united states instead of helping another country? because there are so many people living under bridges. i am living in a hotel which is not economical. it is the only thing that i can do in the meantime. that is my question to president biden. what are you going to do? host: thank you charles, for your call. dennis in santa ana, california on the independent line. dennis? are you there? hopefully we can get dennis later. let's hear from patrick in grand

rapids, michigan on the democratic line. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. thank you for the wonderful job that you do facilitating these discussions. briefly, i think that the supreme court decision was the most significant one this week. i am not dismissing the others as important. the reason i'm saying that is the others represent outcomes. the supreme court decision is one that is going to begin to otof new events that will be also seen as outcomes. i'm looking into what will happen in the future more than what has happened. thank you. host: thank you, patrick. a neotesolution. after six months no agreement on a budget? totall wae a civilized conversation with a m itallet's go back to your phonekevin is in blue ridge virginia on our republican line. go ahead kevin. what is your top new story of the week? yes, good morning. i would like to mention the

current invasion on the southern border. i would like to point out that this is not happening by accident. people would just do an internet search this has been planned for decades. what is happening currently to the united states is also taking place in europe. you can to subvert the christian west. host: let's hear from where president biden was in brownsville, texas making comments about the need for congress to pass the bipartisan deal that the senate has already moved. let's hear from president biden. [video clip] pres. biden: this figure of the house needs to put this on the floor picks if you put it on the floor unrestricted it would pass. the majority in both houses support this legislation until someone came along and said don't do that it will benefit

the incumbent. that is a hell of a way to do business in america for such a serious problem. we need to ask. it is time for the speakers and some of my republican friends in congress blocking the bill to show a little spine. bipartisan. conservative leaders supported this. border security bill. ledger member who we work for for god's sake. -- let's remember who we work for, for gods sake. we work for the american people. i understand my predecessor predecessors legal past today. set a polyicy position. join me or i will join you in telling congress to pass this bipartisan border security bill. we can do it together. you and i know it is the toughest most efficient, most effective border security bill this country has ever seen. instead of playing politics with the issue, why don't we get together and get it done.

let's room member who the heck we work for the american people. not the democratic or republican party. we work for the american people. let's remember who we are. we are the united states of america. i mean it. there is nothing, nothing beyond our capacity. nothing when we work together. if all things we should be working together, we should work on this. we have a formula to get it done. host: bobby in niagara falls new york. what is your top story of the week? caller: immigration. the bible says in the beginning this country was settled by convicts over a couple million people from africa and stopping undesirables here sent to australia and they over. 54 million natives died to

disease and killings and put on reservations. we need to take that into account. it doesn't solve the present day problem, but we should be aware that we do the same thing to this country. thank you for taking my call, have a great day. host: kurt in mount union pennsylvania on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to put some things in perspective. earlier, i heard the january 6 riot mentioned. i would like for people to understand that that lasted three hours and nothing really came of it. on the other hand, we had bl in riots for months -- blm riots for months that cost millions of dollars and people were killed. another thing to think about is, remember civilians is where the military comes from. to say innocent civilians, where do you think people's military

comes from? thank you. host: we have derek in virginia on our democratic line. good morning, derek. caller: yes, hello. i feel the southern border is a self-inflicted smokescreen. now, there is an open ended visa in our country that is never talked about. the republican party has always been against immigration and health care. 12 years trying to come up with a plan. lobbying and racism is taking our country down. we keep living in the past. we think we put on a john wayne movie and we are that america. we are not that america anymore. we really need to stop -- stop

being the negative country. god is not going to bless us. we rode with god at one time. no more. host: linda in ellicott city maryland on the republican line. caller: good morning. thank you for having this talk and discussion. my concern is with the southern border. can i hear you? host: yes, go ahead, linda. we can hear you fine. caller: great. i think president biden is, you know, what he is doing is about power. it is not about the american people. we had a current immigration system that allows so many legal immigrants to come in this country.

i think it is one million year. why is that not enough? with this current system of letting these immigrants come in and giving them, you know, money, stipends for food and what have you you know, they are getting benefits that a lot of americans aren't getting. i just think it is about power and votes. i don't think it is really about the american people. he lives in a little fortress. he lives inill do. they are not in our shoes. they don't really have the right perspective. i think we need to help ukraine. i think we need to help israel. we need to put our own mask on first. i've called the white house comment line. i've called the speaker.

i've called all the different congressmen and senators, as many as i can. i've even called governor abbott. i think he should be the time person of the year or newsweek person of the year. that is my number one issue. the other issue is the democrats love to spend. it money for this, money for that. they try to figure out ways to get more money from the taxpayers instead of trying to figure out, do we really need this? maybe we don't need this. so you know, and i want to flip back to immigration. host: i think we got your point on immigration. let's go to christopher in oklahoma on our democratic line. go ahead. caller: good morning. how are you? host: i'm fine, thanks. caller: i think one of the top

stories for me this week was a very surreal moment.listening to donald trump give a strange speech about how unintelligible language is were coming into our country. he sounds verythese languages that he described -- i am paraphrasing -- described as languages that no one in the world can comprehend that these people are speaking these linkages. -- speaking these languages. i know a lot of people think he doesn't read, but there is a famous quote by william f burroughs that norman mailer said was one of the only american authors to be genius.

it is a quote that language is a virus from outer space. maybe he is reading bill burr house -- bil number one, the presidential campaign at the border.number three, congress passing a continuing rman wurt cotrump trdo they have to decide if he has total immunity? gn e d jury would not find him mentally fit to stand trial. you can send us your comments on social media. we at facebook.com/c-span or on x @cspanwj. gilbert in birmingham, alabama. good morning, gilbert. caller: thank you for taking my call. i have two top stories. one that happened in palestine. i find it ironic and hypocritical stance that the united states is taking against the zionist then yahoo! -- zionist benjamin netanyahu.

on one hand you want to support issue. on the other end you want to have an aideu can't put two feet in the same shoe. it is ironic. another point that i want to make is, you said 45% of american citizens attribute it themselves to be an independent and republicans and democrats 27-40 five which equals 100%. most don't aspire to the democratic or republican party either. america brought it on itself. have a good day . host: los angeles, california on the independent line, good morning, leah. caller: good morning. i am really, one of my top stories of the week is this genocide in palestine.

you know, joe biden has supported -- he said he has unending support for israel and ukraine. i have never heard that man have unending support for ending homelessness for veterans assistance, for anything to aid american citizens. he had billions upon billions of our tax dollars without our say going over to israel, ukraine for these political wars. it's like the gentleman said. how can you put two feet in the same shoe? how are we going to use our tax dollars to go over and bomb with the assistance of american dollars to bomb palestine? bomb these people, starve them out?

joe biden, they have the power to stop this any day. he wants to have a temporary truce so he can bide time to get into office. it is despicable what this man is doing. these people are destroying lives. america is going to pay a very valiant price for getting involved in these wars for profit. that is all that this is. i would never vote for joe biden. i wouldn't vote for trump. come on, marion williams. anyone outside of these nut cases is who i'm going to be voting for. host: thank you, leah. leah was speaking about this. this has become a big political issue for president biden. this came up in the michigan primary. here is the story from abc news.

anti-biden uncommitted voters are set to win two delegates in the michigan primary, boosting the protest. that will give the voters a formal voice at the democratic national convention. a protest movement to cast uncommitted votes over president joe biden in the michigan democratic primary is estimated to have won two delegates in the race, gaining traction in the swing states after winning 13% of the total votes compared to biden's 81%. uncommitted voters will have a voice even if a relatively small one, at the democratic national convention in august that will be dominated by biden supporters looking to rally the party against donaldat rashida tilly was outside of the capitol on thursday speaking about the success on that uncommitted movement effort in michigan earlier this week. >> michigan, you can see it is not only making water in human

rights, but with the movement saying don't stay home. use our democracy to say something to the president, as a way to voice your opinion. show them where you are right now in regards to support. you know, we are not going to go into the backyards of other states and tell them what to do. what is beautiful about our country is that every community is different and will decide how to use our democracy. i tell people, you show up for marches and protests. you call members of congress you pass local resolutions. you can use the ballot box to speak that truth. it is important for folks to understand that i am incredibly scared of a second term for trump. emphasize this. now, our democracy is at stake and i'm asking the president and many of us are saying, change course because you are threatening literally our democracy. understand, listen not only to michigan but the majority of americans supporting a cease

fire. this is not something that should be, don't worry about it we will keep going. i think it's very clear. this is better than any polls. anyway to think, what are folks thinking about right now? when i talk to folks who voted this way in our community, we all want to stay home but i felt like i had an option to speak my truth and core values. i think that it's incredibly powerful and i am going tothat we use that ballot box to say something to the people who are in power, including those who represent us. host: back to your calls brooksville, florida, good morning, john. what is your top news story of the week? caller: hello. host: hello. caller: i don't want to complain like everybody else. i am a 100% disabled veteran.

people are moving here to florida. 400,000 per day. it is crazy. food and gas are going up. it is getting crowded. i'm not going to complain about this. just look out your front door. that's all i want to say. know what's going on. host: thank you, john. chris in massachusetts on our independent line. caller: i want to be really quick. come november, it is obvious that the courts have taken something away that should be happening. we have two choices. biden and democracy or trump and putin and no democracy. those are the two choices we will have. thank you. bye. host: james in memphis, tennessee on our democratic

line. caller: good morning. host: good morning, james. caller: i agree with the last caller. what i want to say is, for the past 16 years the republicans have been obstructionists. obstructionists starting with barackcoldbegrbsveatn'rehoo sstohtcountry where i have noy i' another james in nebraska on our republican line. go ahead james. caller: hello. i think the biggest issue of the week isn't even in the news. the continued lack of resources for people struggling in this nation, as has been spoken on. the fentanyl crisis, which is clearly a crisis, an epidemic. when you have a rap star, jellyroll, testifying on capitol hill about how bad the issue is. the resources flowing out of this country on a daily basis and yes, there are arguments to

be made on both sides but with the corrupt politicians that we live with, the fact anyone in this country goes without shelter, without food, without the resources for mental health is an embarrassment. it makes us look as though we are not in any way capable of being the world's policeman, as we like to act so often since the 1950's. i will flip on something i've been waiting to talk, the continued reference to palestine. palestine is not recognized as a country. is a people, but say what you will world war iii has already started in my opinion. will progress very rapidly over the next year. it may be the breaking point of the election. i will flip again real quick. nikki haley not conceding is also probably the biggest news story on the republican side in

my opinion for the fact that her being in the race will keep issues at hand rather than just being trump versus biden. to hear the representative from that she is terrified of a donald trump second term, i am terrified of a biden another day in office. the many senile with no sense of reality. every time that i watch impact someone on the head -- watch him pat someone on the head, i die a little inside. host: indiana on the democratic line. caller: my top news story is the total farce that is the border issue as a whole. because of this. the border has always been a problem. the border has been a problem for decades. decades. so to try to make it a political issue right now is

totally because, if you want to solve the problem, all you got to do is pass a legislation and deal with it. the fact of the matter is, a bill was negotiated from both sides. you are not going to get everything you want in legislation. if you can come to an agreement on something, that is better than nothing. then when a bill was negotiated, of course donald trump gets involved and you have no more movement because people on the far right one this as a continuing issue. they don't want to solve the problem. then they want to use sgo saying criminals are coming in here. you have more crime committed by americans. host: thank you jeff.

greg in south carolina line. caller: yes, ma'am. i would like to comment on all the people who call in and say we can't send money to foreign countries because we need it here for our veterans. well, the veterans get disability. i feel for all the disabled veterans because of endless republican wars, but they get disability and we can do both. the republicans don't have a plan for mental health and social programs for people and veterans and homeless people. if you really want to take care of those problems, the democrats are the ones who have social programs. i am an independent, but the republicans had the house senate and presidency when donald trump was president and they did not pass a thing about the border. donald trump closed the border down using methods that may be

illegal or legal, executive order, but that doesn't solve the problem. we need mental health care in this country. we need to come up with a deal to handle the emigrant problem which they have, but of course trump vetoed. if you want to take careyoroblems, then you will have to vote for a party that has some actual social programs. that -- i am an independent and don't like either party. i would like to vote for nikki haley this year, but apparently the isn't going to have it. host: dave in sacramento california on the republican line. good mor i want to bring up the fact that we had a secure border. biden broke it with a pen. he can fix it with a pen.

it is just a big vendetta about biden and trump. he is going to erase everything trump has in place. d said we have no laws. then he wants congress to pass a deal. why not close down the borders and then figure out what kind of bill you want to instead of having an open floodgate, you know? i know it is a personal ecause that was his first things he was doing when he got into office was to undo all of what trump did. it is a common deal that has been going on for presidencies. it's just a vendetta. host: tracy is in grand rapids

michigan on the democratic line. caller: hi, thank you. i would like to talk about the horrible fires in the texas panhandle. thousands of cattle and horses have perished in the texas panhandle fires along with pets and countless wildlife. they are getting worse and out of control. it is always the animals who are suffering. i think that we have to address climate change. the second thing i want to bring up is this is now the largest fire in texas history. biden has sent federal help, indicating fema will reimburse texas and oklahoma for cost. he did this without statehood and leaders fight him on i think that the border wall is horrible in that it also prevents any kind of animal's

migration. especially something like this with a horrible forest fire. where are these animal supposed to go? thank you. host: tracy brought up the wildfires in texas. here is more information from npr who has the headline, governor abbott says that texas wildfires may have destroyed up to 500 structures. this is reporting from the associated press. wildfires may have destroyed as many as 500 structures in the texas panhandle. republican governor abbott said on friday, describing how the largest blaze in state history scorched everything in its path leaving ashes in its wake. texas officials warn that the threat was not over with higher temperatures and strger when forecasted for saturday, elevating worries that fires in the panhandle could spread beyond the more than 1700 square miles already chewed up this week by fast-moving flames. the largest blaze which began monday has killed at least two

people and left a charred landscape of scorched prairie dead cattle, and burned-out homes peer the csefire remains under investigation although strong wind, dry grass and unseasonably warm weather fed the flames. mike independent line. good morning. caller: yes, i am actually calling from lick skillet, ohio. my top news story is for the rest of my life. that is mitch mcconnell's and leonard leo's stacked supreme court and their decision-making. one other thing. as far as walking peacefully down to the capital on january 6 , if they had stampeded to the capital, what would have happened? plus, south of the border, immigrants, let's go back a ways. re.gf blowback. such as ollie north and the

culvert operation back then running machine guns down to south america and bringing back cocaine. why do you think we have an immigrant problem when we went down south destroying people's lives who didn't have a thing to do with anything? thank you. host: robert in lynchburg, virginia on our independent line. go ahead, robert. caller: yes, i have a couple of things. mine is about mitch mcconnell and those old folks up there. all of them need to step aside and let younger generations take over and get some new thinking in there. also, i would like to address the soldier who retired from the military talking about how he cannot get any disability. i get disability. i'm not homeless.

also, people always talking about trump's call for 10,000 national guard for the january 6. he was the commander-in-chief of the national guard and armed forces. if he wanted 10,000 troops, he could have did it come he is the commander-in-chief. thank you for taking my call. host: frank in staten island, new york on our republican yeah. my family is from italy, came in through ellis island. they came into america the right way. paying taxes for 46 years now. i am being force-fed these criminals. it is a spiteful thing by joe biden. i can't believe i'm even talking about this. the legal way to come to america and illegal to come across the border and rape and kill people.

i can't figure it out. what are we living on? what kind of brains is running this country? america first. i can't wait until trump gets back and straightens it out. host: that is all the time for the top news storyack to that question later in the show. next we will turn our attention to the state of the prison system in this country with michele deitch of the prison and jail innovation lab at the university of texas. waiter later on our spotlight on podcast segment we will feature writer and comedian corrine fisher about her podcast without a country. ♪ >> the famous and influential men and women who occupy those seats will have a lot to say about the society in which we live today

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this is where democracy -- what democracy looks like. c-span, powered by cable. >> washington journal continues. host: welcome back. we are joined by michele deitch a lecturer in prison and jail innovation lab director at the university of texas at austin. good morning. guest: thank you so much for having me. host: can you talk about the prison and jail innovation lab? what you all do and how it came about? guest: the prison and jail innovation lab pjil is that the lbj school of public affairs at the university of texas. we work to improve correctional oversight and ensure the safety, health and dignity of people in custody. we are a bridge between academic research policy, and practice on those kinds of issues.

o pjil.org. host: since were operating from the same linkage can you describe the difference between prison and jail? guest: prisons are state run institutions for people who have been convicted of crimes and sentenced typically for longer than a year. they are operated by the state. they are large facilities. they tend to be in more rural parts of the state. jails are run most typically by local agencies. they include a number of different types of folks. when you hear about people arrested and booked and our pretrial, they are going to jails. people are intended to stay there for a short period of time. a matter of hours or days. usually not more than a year,ces. host: i'm looking at a chart

from the prison policy initiative breaking down the number of people in state prisons versus local jails versus federal prisons and jails. the overwhelming number of incarcerated people being in the state prisons as opposed to local jails. even within the local jails you have a big portion of those folks who are not convicted versus those who are convicted. whereas in the state prisons obviously folks have been convicted with a big chunk being violent offenders versus those with property cases or drug cases or public order. can you talk a little bit about the overall number of people within the u.s. jail and prison system and how thatest of the world? guest: let me make one point about that. although jails have fewer people in them at any given time, because people turn over in jail

all the time you have about 10 million people a year passing to the doors of jails. they are kind of underrecognized as a major part of our system. in fact, the number of people in this country who are locked up --roughly 2 million -- that dwarfs any other country in the world. the u.s. has roughly 25% of the incarcerated population in the world. only about 5% of the overall population. our incarceratiois country is far outpacing any other country. we have roughly 664 people per country -- per 100,000 locked up here. upcountry -- our country relies heavily on incarceration. there are a lot of people everything you year who are

affected by what happens inside our prisons and jails. host: to get a sense of the global comparison here is another chart from the prison policy initiative looking at global incarceration rates. the united states is literally off the charts compared to some of these other countries with the closest being the united people per 100,000 people. the united states over here at 664 people per 100,000 people. what are some of the biggest problems in the state and federal prison systems right now. guest: where to start. an issue that crosses over all institutions is the lack of transparency about what happens inside these places. prisons and jails are some the most opaque institutions in society. we get very little data about what's happening inside them. there is very little opportunity

for effective oversight where an outside party can go in and expect -- inspect and find out what's happening inside and how people are being treated. from the information that does come out we know there are a tremendous number of conditions issues. facilities all over the country are understaffed. that is one way of looking at it. they are too many people for the number of staff that exists. these facilities are also overcrowded. many facilities are operating the staff that are there are working overtime or just simile are not enough staff to supervise everyone adequately. there are people not trained as correctional officers being roped into doing that role to have a warm body in that space. many present agencies are having trouble recruiting. beyond that, and i should mention e understaffing

affects every aspect of life in prisons. it's a huge safety issue. it has affected the delivery of programs and services. deaths and custody is an issue all over the country. people dying from suicide, homicide, overdoses. even natural deaths. sometimes we think those are not preventable but in fact it is for medical care that is deaths. mental health. you cannot talk about jails in this country without talking about health. jails have become the largest institutions for people with mental health simply because those services are not available in our communities. there are environmental issues to think about. how prisons many facilities in the south have extreme heat issues. they are not air-conditioned. there is a lack of clean drinking water in the facilities. many people inside are exposed to toxic chemicals and other hazardous environments and

conditions. -- environmental conditions. solitary confinement is a big issue. they goes by many names but there's a lot of people in restrictive housing. they are locked up 23 hours a day in a space the size of a parking space. maybe getting out up to an hour a day for some kind of exercise or shower. no human contact. host: that is quite a list. i want to focus on one component, the deaths you are referencing. here's an article from nbcabout the bureau of prisons failed to prevent nearly 200 deaths by og fintor general said numerous operational and managerial deficiencies aths sifically at the federal bureau of prisons. the federal prisons, which the department of justice has failed to prevent the deaths of 187 inmates who died by suicide over eight years according to the justice department's watchdog.

the report led by the justice department inspector general michael horowitz found accommodation of recurring licy violations and operational failures contribute to inmate suicides. it is based on a review of 344 deaths from the 2014 to 2021 fiscal years. he said numerous operational and he -- deficiencies crated conditions that contribute to many deaths with proper protocols and resources in place inmate suicides are almost always preventable, experts say. i want to get reaction to that from you in a moment. first i want to hear from collette peters from the federal prison -- bureau of prisons who spoke about this on the deaths and suicides in the federal prison system. here are her comments. [video] >> we worked to combat contraband to reduce homicides

and overdoses. this includes drones, monitoring or terminating cellular can indications, and continually monitoring intelligence and gang activity. to harness all of this intelligence we are creating a new chief inspector position to identify systemwide patterns and problems, including that that would prevent deaths in custody. on a department to level the deputy attorney general has formed a working group of experts to better prevent suicides. i want to be perfectly clear. our everything and fully staffed institutions and well-trained employees save lives. it is no secret our agency is in crisis as a relates to recruitment and retention. we are aggressively recruiting and utilizing incentives to maintain the employees we have. while our efforts over the past year have gleaned results we are still faced with an

h the private sector and other law enforcement agencies. as an example, at a federal prison an hour outside of boston a correctional officer recently quit his job for a better offer with better pay. the better offer, working at the local grocery store. on the law enforcement side, an ad running in the new york city subway is advertising city correctional officers can make around $130,000 after a few years on the job. in the same amount of time our officers after we have implemented the 35% retenon s would be making about $90,000. the story is the same throughout the country. we need resources to carry out our mission, implement our vision, and reach our goals. host: what is your response to that? how much of this is really a staffing issue? guest: staffing is absolutely related to issues of safety inside. she is right about that.

if you don't have enough staff you are not properly supervising people and you may not be observing signs people are at risk. you may not get to them quickly enough if they are attempting suicide. it is not everything. it is not the only explanation. there needs to be appropriate protocols for screening people who come in, making sure people with mental health conditions are not inside prisons or jails more specifically where they don't belong. there are very high risks in those settings. putting people in solitary confinement is a huge risk factor. overuse of that kind of setting is very dangerous. how we treat people once they are identified as at risk of suicide matters. supervision and staffing absolutely are a crisis. something that needs to be dealt with. ately trained.

it is not the only explanation. host: we have special phone lines for the segment today. we are doing regional as well as folks who have experienced the prison system. in the eastern and central time zones, the number is (202) 748-8000. in the mountain or pacific time zones, (202) 748-8001. if you have experience with the prison or jail system and have comments or questions for michele (202) 748-8002. you can reach us on social media or by text. let's start with jean and delroy ohio, who is in the eastern time zone. go ahead jean. caller: i wanted her to maybe comment on a case that happened in the atlanta georgia metro area. a mentally ill man was bitten by bedbugs on a cot with no sheets. you can see the condition

online. he died from his injuries. it was like, i don't know, no big deal. the feeling in our country and the jokes that are made when a younger prisoner or any prisoner is sent to jail, that they will be sexually assaulted regularly. that is part of their punishment. it is a big joke in this country. i would like her to comment on that please. thank you. host: before you respond, a few more details on that case that the caller was referencing. georgia's reached a settlement with the family of the man who died in a bedbug infested cell in the county jail psychiatric ward. august of 2023. he died in september, three months after being booked into the fulton county jail in atlanta. attorney to represent the family say they reached a settlement.

his death gained public at april after harper released photos of his face and body covered in insects. the was department of justice cited thompson's death when announcing an investigation into jail conditions in fulton county . that was back in august of last year. go ahead, michele. guest: thank you for raising that. that incident, the man of the fulton county jail, there is no excuse for anything like that. it was an absolute horror story. i think it is reflective of very deep-seated problems in the fulton county jail. the lack of supervision and frankly the lack of caring. yeah. just horrible. as for the comments people make about sexual assault that is also thoroughly unacceptable under any circumstances. fortunately in this country there is a changing trend where corrections professionals understand this is not except of. we have the prison rape

elimination act standard set applies all over the country. it has sought to really change the way we protect people inside. we identify people who are at risk of being sexually assaulted, those at risk of being perpetrators. there are no protocols on how to deal with that. that said, there is far too much sexual assault going on inside our facilities. one example. federal prison in dublin california has become known as a rape club because of the number of women raped with impunity by staff. the warden, the chaplain, and staff have been convicted of raping the women there. i can't imagine the horrors those women have experienced. host: jack in hawaii, the mountain time zone. go ahead jack. caller: i would like to have two

questions i would like to ask michele. i would like to see c-span set her up wit conditions in el salvador and go on youtube and show a bit of the conditions in el salvador. those people that they rounded up down here are coming up here. we have presidents, not just one. ms 13 people. she knows who they ahost: what is your question for michele related to the prison or jail system specifically? caller: what is her thoughts on what el salvador is doing to round up all those gang members that are coming across the border. host: you have any thoughts on that? guest: i would like to respond

to one piece of this, the reference to country clubs. anyone who has ever spent time in any prison in america would never describe them as a country club. host: anthony in albany georgia, and has some experience with the prison system. can you tell us about your experience and your question for michele? caller: i went to prison back in 1999. the criminal justice system treated me as if i was guilty before it was proven. my only way back home from jail was to plead guilty. i had never been locked up that. i am 58 right now.

the criminal justice system has men. it is more easier to incarcerate them and not rehabilitate them and house them for a lifetime. then you have to worry about them for their whole life. at 20 years later, i look bac and i see president joe biden and the chairman of the judicial committee during 1995 during the clinton administration and he had the agreement with black preachers because of the crack epidem justify what was done to us. i'm so broken. i'm so hurt. we are leaving the world behind worse than we found it.

it is all because of selfishness. i just wanted to make that comment. i'm glad i got the opportunity to call in. i started watching c-span way back in the early 1980's. host: thank you so much for sharing that experience. michele i imagine you have heard stories like that before. guest:there are three pieces of what anthony said that are so important. highlighting the incredible racial disparities in our prison system. they are undeniable. they run very deep. another issue has to do with how people do plead guilty in jails. in large part because the conditions are so awful that anything they can do to get out of those leads to them sometimes pleading guilty even if they are not. the third point is the trauma

that comes to people who have been incarcerated. it has a lifelong epeople and affects every part of their lives even after they get out. host: rhonda in jacksonville, north carolina, and also has experience with the prison rhonda. caller: i just want to say my bachelors isn't criminal justice and a masters in counseling. i took a job at the prison as a secretary and then i got certified as a correctional officer. i wanted to work with the inmates. what i learned -- i worked there for two or three years. what i learned was the respect that i have for the workers in these prison systems. people on the outside have no idea the sacrifice and the long hours and what they do during e day and what they prevent and what they help and what they

counsel and what they help these people who -- i worked in a minimum-security. a lot of these people would go and work every day. they would come back to the facility. we were getting the ready to go out into the world after they were released. i think a lot of them were on the last two or three years. these people are human beings. when you are a correctional officer with education, it helps. the training they give for the correctional officers is really good. they put them through the training. you pass the test. if you can go out there -- i had one of the inmates tell me. he said i have been in prison a long time. he said you were the only officer that's ever treated me like a human being. i said, because you are human being. i'm supposed to treat everybody alike. i am to treat you with respect. i am to treat you to go by the

rules. you don't go by the rules, you get reprimanded. you gewritten up. they respected me for that. i was black-and-white. i was on the books. said. i did not put up with their crap and they learned to respect you. there is a lot of corruption in prisons. if you go when w integrity and you go with character and you go in there with a heart you can help these people. i feel like i turned their lives enke for sharing, rhonda. i want to give michele a chance to respond. guest: i appreciate you so much, rhonda. everything you said is on target. we under appreciate the staff who work in these facilities. i think you have an incredibly hard job and the vast majority are working with integrity and doing what they can under very tough circumstances. realize is how much the interest of the correctional officers and the interests of the incarcerated people align. everyone wants safer facilities.

everyone wants to be treated with respect. and with dignity. we sometimes pose these as somehow in conflict but it doesn't have to be. i think rhonda's experience shows if you treat people like human beings, you will get back that kind of treatment and return. host: weveacen't wardens fired for maintaining unsanitary conditions? guest: wow. part of the problem is we don't know what's going on. these are issues that are -- like i said earlier these are institutions that are opaque. the information does not always come out about how problematic the force is or brutality or poor conditions. when they do come out there is not necessarily the public will to change them, which is a huge mistake. what happens inside these prisons and jails affects all of

us in the community. 95% of people inside our prisons and jails are coming back to our communities. do we want them to be good neighbors when they get out? do we want them to be productive citizens and having worked on the issues? or coming out angry and traumatized and awarehealthwise -- and in worse shape? it has applications or whether they will commit more crimes on the outside. we need to be caring about how to fix these issues on the inside, getting up reformation about what is in fact happening -- getting out more information about what is in fact happening. host: rj in oklahoma. caller: i'm incarcerated right now -- i'm not incarcerated right now. i was a drug addict for years. i fought the system. i got busted in 1994 for credit card fraud. i got two years.

then i got a work release. they did not have it at that time in oklahoma. they sent me to the east sell house block. behind the walls of mcallister. i was with killers and murderers. it was isolated. it was a condemned building. i don't know if this lady has heard about it. we had a big lawsuit. weeding get any money out of it. it was a four-story building. there were 400 of us in there. i was on the bottom floor. you get your laundry and mop buckets once a week. week. there was one shower for the whole room. 100 men for one shower. when they would flush the toilet cell feces would run down the wall inside myself. i was there seven months waiting to go to work release. then they sent me to work release. i had a lot of physical problems. i had mumps coming up on me.

knots. they took me to the doctors over and over. they thought i had malaria. i did not have malaria. i'm one of the lucky ones. that scared me to death. i got up and went back to college and got my masters degree. i was a therapist for 30 years. there are a lot of other things. i gave in. i knew i had to change. a lot of guys get in and they can't do it. they don't want to get educated. they want to chase the high and the easy money. the system is really screwed up. you have tvee system. host: i want to give michele a chance to respond to the points you raised. guest: you are certainly right. education is critical. we have got to be providing education and rehabilitative programs inside the facilities. you also raised environment issues i expressed concerns about earlier. the environmental problems,

whether it is sewage issues, lack of clean drinking water exposure to environment or risks, health hazards are making these places absolutely unlivable. no human being should be exposed to feces running down the wall. host: marvin and redford, michigan. -- in redford michigan, the eastern time zone. caller: good morning. i have never been to prisons. i wanted to comment on the 100,000. it's off the charts. that is baffling to me. i know a lot of people, trends that have been to prison. you can go to the jails. in michigan, they had a mental institute to help people so they would knock at a jail.

it's a vicious cycle. do you know how much taxes we pay in america? one quick comment i want to make about the border. host: marvin, we will keep it focused on prisons for now. will have open forum coming up later. go ahead, michele. guest: yeah. the issues you r aimportant. yeah. i think you said the very well. host: patrick in nashvilleardos,courses, if you are repeat offenders that return to prisons? in other words, what is a model prison? guest: i am not sure there are "model prisons," but there are plenty of places that are trying to do things better. we really need to lift up those initiatives. there are some amazing initiatives going on in the state of maine, for example. they have had a systemwide culture change.

just to give a few examples. they created gardening and food programs. they are treating people very differently. the relationship between staff and incarcerated people is very different from what you see in a typical facility. there are initiatives that are trying to borrow from lessons we learned in europe. in scandinavia, they are getting very different results than us. that has to do with how they treat people who are incarcerated. they try to normalize the environment. they changed the role of the staff as they relate to people who are incarcerated. they are much more rehabilitative. people come out less harmed by the experience. there is a much lower recidivism rate. there are pockets of examples across the country. in washington state, oregon, north dakota just to name a few.

in pennsylvania, there is the little scandinavia unit. there are really good things happening there. we need to study them and expand those lessons to systems across the country. host: lance in fort lauderdale, florida. go ahead. caller: good morning. my question a comment has to do with people who are sentenced to life without parole. people we have deemed so dangerous that many end up in solitary confinement, which is bad enough. they are never going to get out. i have a real problem with this from a human point of vie i believe in this country where we value freedom and view it as our birthright, i think the sentence somebody to life in prison with no chance of ever getting out, putting them in a cell the sizable parking space is a violation of the eighth amendment. i can't think of anything that

the fines -- defines cruel and unusual punishment. we consider them so dangerous that we keep them in solitary. we only let them out an hour a day and tell them this is going to be the existence forever until it cost us a fortune. -- costs us a fortune. i was raised on the idea of justice. people don't like it when people don't get longer sentences and they say they want them to suffer. as far as i'm concerned the point is not to seek revenge but justice. , that far gone that we have to put them in a cage forever and not let them out i think it would be far more merciful and far more human to simply execute them. host: any response to that? guest: one in seven people in this country is serving a -- who

are incarcerated are serving a life without parole sentence. they are going to e in prison. that is increasing dramatically in recent years. as you point out, there is something very inhumane about that. it's also counterproductive. we know people age out of crime. there crime prone years are much younger. we have a very fast-growing elderly population in prison. these are people who are not going to pose a risk to our released. i have been in facilities that have geriatric boards. pc people on dialysis machines or inlimbs or on crutches. these are nursing homes. that is what we have created. they,hre some of the most expensive parts of our prison system. they are a prime target. we want to reduce the number of people incarcerated. we have got to find ways to get the elderly out of prison and back to communities where we are not spending that money on them

and using our very precious resources to lock up people who are not a risk to the community . host: i want to bring up this associated press investigation into the labor coming out of many of the u.s. prisons. it was a big investigation. prisoners in the u.s. are part of a hidden workforce linked to hundreds of popular food brands. as you go in this article it says a hidden path to america's dinner tables begins here at an unlikely source. a former southern slave plantation now the country's largest maximum security prison. intricate, invisible webs link the world's largest food companies and most popular brands to jobs performed by u.s. prisoners nationwide, according to a sweeping ap investigation into prison labor that tied hundreds of millions of dollars worth of agricultural products to goods sold on the open

market. they are among america's most vulnerable laborers. if they refuse to work some can jeopardize their chances of parole or face punishment, like being sent to solitary confinement. they are often excluded from protections guaranteed to almost all other full-time workers even when seriously injured or killed on the job. u talk a bit about labor in the prison systems? guest: their images -- there is so much to say aut that. there is exceptions to the 13th them, probation against slavery -- 13th amendment prohibition against slavery. people who are convicted can be required to work. there are seven states that pay them absolutely zero. the other states pay pennies per hour. the conditions in which dangerous. there are very high rates of injuries and even deaths in these facilities. people with mangled limbs. all sorts of horrific injuries.

as you pointed out in what you read, the osha standards don't apply in prison settings. people who work in these factories and settings don't get trained and how to use the equipment -- in how to use the equipment. if they refuse to work they can be disciplined. they can lose good time, which means they spend more time incarcerated. they don't make parole. they can be placed in solitary confinement. of course there is the fact that people are making a lot of money off their labor. companies and the prisons themselves. host: jess in ohio and has experience with the criminal justice system. caller: good morning. in my opinion from my personal standpoint i would have to say the criminal system is flawed because of lawyers and judges.

the simple fact that people can't get representation or cannot even begin to afford a lawyer to argue their case. in my case i went to prison in 1995. i was drunk at a party. fought another drunk guy at a party. somebody had to win and lose. i got prosecuted. the judge i pulled was a ridiculously hard-core judge known for never giving misdemeanors. brutal to the lawyers. were middle-class. they could afford a lawyer but not really. the lawyer told me with this meta-money you're only going to get this much representation. he also told me that because he had to go before her for future cases he any kind of favors to get me anything special because he might need it in the future. the whole idea that they all had this relationship and that they work these things out behind closed doors and they play this

game just seems to be a bit ridiculous to me given the fact that i was training to be a firefighter at the time. i had never been in trouble before. it was just a fight. the misdemeanor factor was off the table in its entirety. there was no chance. host: michele i want to give you a chance to weigh in. guest: the issues concerning defense are certainly important. we have a real problem with indigent defense in this country. we need to make sure there are lawyers who are available to assist people. the vast majority of folks going to theystem are too poor to afford lawyer -- a lawyer. we need to make sure those systems are in place and effective. host: antoine and harrisburg, pennsylvania at also has experience with the criminal justice system. ladies. i just wanted to share an

incident that happened to me in 2013. i was incarcerated. i was working outside the prison because i had really good custody level. one time coming -- when you go in and out of the jail you have to comment into a real secure room. you have to be strip-searched. we was coming in from lunch and in the middle being strip-searched i had an officer verbally and physically abuse me. i thought with this being a very secure room i was able to beat my case because there was cameras everywhere. it turns out once i put my paperwork in every guard started

-- all the way up to the warden started protecting this guy. all of a sudden the cameras did not work. i ended up being called a liar and was put in the hole because of this. my question or concern would be you were speaking about there being something in place for inmates who are sexually assaulted. i have seen nothing because i have called and written everywhere. philadelphia, washington, new york, chicago. all these places that have -- host: let's allow michele to weigh in. what resources are there available for people who have experiences like antoine? guest: i'm sorry for what you have experienced. that is thoroughly unacceptable

and is far more common than we realize. prisons around the country are supposed to have what is called an prison rape elimination ombudsman. someone that can report sexual assault and investigate these cases. that said, they are not easy to investigate it all. there is a wall of silence. sometimes cameras really don't work. sometimes they are tampered with. it is a very serious concern. host: peter in san antonio texas. what is your question? caller: ms. deitch mentioned the prisons are flooded with mental healthwhat she agree it is because what used to called insane asylums -- i will call the mental institutions -- have enclosed in -- been closed and

jails and prisons are housing far more metal health patients? does she think that building mental institutions and actually sending these people tpo them to be focused on mental health and be treated? if not, they can be housed there. host: this is something you raised earlier. guest: yes. you are correct that back in the 1970's a lot of mental institutions in the country closed down because of horrific conditions inside. the problem was that we did not create a system on the outside in the community to deal with those mental health issues. not everybody needs to be institutionalized. we did not build supports so

there is no surprise people started cycling back into behavior that is disruptive in communities. we started criminalizing that behavior. whether it is homelessness or people who are conduct on the streets. these folks start cycling in and out of jail. most are not dangerous but they are committing the kinds of nuisance level crimes that get them into the jails over and over and over again. what we are not doing is creating the community supports for them. jail and prison are the absolute worst places for people with those kind of issues. do we need to build a new mental health institutions? i know about that. we do need to be investing in community-based services. host: austin, texas. caller: good morning. my question is about alternatives to incarceration. some localities are trying different things with

first-time offenders or nonviolent offenders. then they come up against the charge they are flooding the streets with criminals and making us all unsafe. i would like to hear her comment about trying alternatives to incarceration. guest: let me deal with the last part of your comment, flooding the streets. we have never been safer. the crime rates are pretty much historically low with the exception of a little bit of a blip in the last couple of years. we are actually we are a very sick country. people need to understand that -- a very safe country. people need to understand that. the vast majority of people who commit crimes don't need to be locked up. prison is not a way to deal with those issues. we need to reserve prison spaces for people we are really and truly afraid of. not just people we are angry at. there are so many ways for folks

to get them whatever programs and services and help they need so they are not committing the kinds of crimes that irritate us. host: thank you so much to michele deitch, a lecturer and prison and jail lab director at the university of texas at austin. the prison and jail innovation of texas at austin. thank you for your time this morning. guest: coming up in 30 minutes we hear from politics and culture writer and comedian corinne fisher, the host of the podcast “without a country." first, we willcalls, text, and social media posts on the question we asked from border politics to mitch mcconnell stepping down to republican leadership, to hunter biden on capitol hill this week. what is your top news story of the week? the phone numbers on your screen. you can start calling in now. ♪

>> next week on the c-span networks the house and senate are in. both chambers are voting on the first of two packages of federal spending bills to fund the government before next friday posey midnight deadline. on tuesday, watch our campaign 2024 live coverage of super tuesday with 15 states, including america samoa casting their votes for the nominees for president. ll wil to deliver the fcommittee, then on thursday before the senate banking committee. also on thursday what live coverage as president biden gives the annual state of the union address before a joint session of congress to outline his priorities for the country. watch next week live on the c-span netwo falso for scheduling information, or watch live are on-demand anytime. c-span. your unfiltered view of government.

>> book tv every sunday on at 8:00 p.m. eastern garrett graff looks at research done by government agencies and the scientific immunity and to potential for alien life and his wards, shares attacked love story and looking at her interviewed by financial times global business columnist rhonda for roof are. watch book tv every sunday on c-span2, and find the schedule on your program guide or wa at booktv.org. >> i healthy democracy does not just likely this -- not just look like this. four americans can see democracy at work, where citizens are truly informed our republic thrives. get informed straight from the source on c-span. unfiltered unbiased, word for word. from the nation's capital to

wherever you are. the opinion that matters the most is your own. this is what democracy looks like. c-span, powered by cable. >> washington journal continues. host: welcome back. we are looking for your top news story of the week. some of the stories we are following this we conclude the biden and trump dueling border visits. the news about israel being accused of firing on civilians in gaza who are waiting on food. also, mitch mcconnell is planning to step down from gop leadership. the decision by the supreme court of the united states to hear the appeal on the trump community case. as well as the hunter biden deposition in the biden impeachment probe. speaking of mitch mcconnell specifically, we went back into the archives and found one of his first appearances on c-span

back at the washington press club salute to congress dinner back in january of 1985. here is a clip of that. [video] >> the people of kentucky wanted me to cut out wastful spending and i'm bringing a lot of good ideas to washington. for example, take education. i have introduced a bill to teach driver education and sex education in the same car. [laughter] [applause] i guess you noticed richard bigger plans to ride the space shuttle. they are thinking of making a movie out of it. they will call it "the far right stuff." [laughter] tommy robinson.

we were talking behind the podium before we came up. we knew he would be the first of the six freshmen to make our comedy debuts tonight. just before tommy started speaking he gathered all six of us together. he said in all seriousness, the bombing begins in five minutes. thank you. host: that was mitch mcconnell back in 1985. 's go to your calls and top news stories of the week. beth on the republican line. caller: hello. host:host: go ahead. caller: yes. i'm an 83-year-old white female that grew up in segregated texas. i had a very nice life. i would say thanks. i had someone in the military almost every work, starting with the civil war. my brother-in-law was in the second world war.

a second cousin in world war i. vietnam, koreahad relatives in all those wars. i think it is my opinion that they would be appalled the way secretary austin was treated. he took the blame. he had a plan in place. i don't know why his back it in he took the blame. i grew up in general eisenhower's administration when he was president. my teachers had such respect. they would walk 100 miles to meet the president of the united states. they had such respect for members of the government. but they would be appalled the way secretary austin was treated. host: i would like to provide additional context to the top

news story you are bringing up your, which is that defense secretary lloyd austin was testifying before congress this week about his handling of his recent hospital stay. here is a story from the associated press. lawmakers fault secretary austin for a failure of leadership over his secret hospital stay. defense secretary lloyd austin faced pointed bipartisan criticism at a congressional hearing thursday for his failure to promptly notify president joe biden and other u.s. leaders about his hospital stay last month. republicans demanded to know why no one had been disciplined. members of the house armed services committee condemned the lapse as an embarrassment and failure of its leadership. they said the fact that biden was kept in the dark about austin not being in command for days could have meant confusion or delays in military action even though decision-making authorities had been transferred to the deputy defense secretary. austin insisted there were no

gaps in control of the department or the nation's security because, "at all times either i or the deputy secretary was in a position to conduct the duties of myhe said changes haven't made to the notification process. janet in portsmouth, ohio, democratic line. good morning. caller: my top story is the supreme court. clarence thomas is being paid off the vote -- to vote the way the republicans want him to vote. who can trust the supreme court? plus they have made american

women second-class citizens they can't even go to a doctor when they need help. and you are a second-class citizen sitting there talking to me. i believe the supreme court is now paid off. i don't trust none of them. host: good morning. go ahead. caller: good morning.

my top stories the war that is going on in gaza. the embassy was moved from gaza over to jerusalem by the last president, donald trump. as long as the american embassy was inside of gaza, they were not able to bomb in gaza. my point is that why is donald trump moving the embassy out of gaza over to jerusalem to give net ya who clear rate to eliminate the palestinians in

the way that he is doing now. as long as the american embassy was in gaza, they were protected and safe from 1948 until donald trump transferred power. host: the embassy was moved on may 14 in 2018. the united states open says the move that has delighted israel and infuriated palestinians. this was an initiative driven by president donald trump by recognizing jerusalem as the capital of israel. it was previously in tel aviv, not gaza. caller: that is when the bombing started also, after the embassy

had been changed by donald trump. thank you very much for your time. host: next up is lola in michigan on our democratic line. caller: hi. i want to register my absolute sickness and just discussed with the united states, our new leadership is supporting the war on gaza by israel that we are funding with our money. as they commit for crime after war crime, bombing cities

hospitals, killing their own escape hostages, the hostages thatthere will be a big investigation about that that they are putting under the rug as they are investigating the next time, they just killed 100

people who were starving to death because of this atrocity that we are letting happen, we are supporting happen. i want to read the aaron busch who protested these atrocities that we are allowing dad been. "i am an active duty of the u.sand i will no longer be complicit in genocide in them to extreme act of protest but compared to what people in palestine have been experiencing at the hand of their colonizers, it is not extreme at all. this is what the ruling class has decided will be normal. free palestine. free palestine." >> i want to provide a bit of information on the story you were just bringing up. "the air man who set himself on fire grew up in a religious compound, has an anarchist to. less than two weeks before he walked toward the gates of the embassy, he will be a friend talked about the shared identity about what kind of sacrifices were needed to be effective but

he mentioned nothing self sacrificial." he texted that friend later, "i hope you will understand. this does not evemake sense but i feel like i will miss you." minutes later, he set himself on fire. he posted a video online saying that he did not want to be complicit in genocide. he shouted "free palestine" as he burned. caller: i am calling about the retirement of the senator and i hear a lot of calls come in. manchin was the senator for west virginia. he gave a story about how he was new to the senate and harry reid said you have to vote party lines. if we look at the votes in this house in the senate and the

supreme court the last four or five years, it is republicans that filled the other way. nancy pelosi never did. harry reid never did. it is funny that the democrats vote that way. we have seen nancy pelosi tear donald trump's speech. it is the democrats who always go partyline. manchi was against that. that is what he said. i guess he is retired. he became an independent to. host: good morning, larry. caller: i have a couple of comments to make. host: can you turn down the volume on your tv? then you can continue. larry? caller: the comment i have to

make is presidential immunity why couldn't president biden call team six and have them eliminate president trump with no consequences? the other thing is, any american who voted for president trump for president again is like a chicken voting for colonel sanders. it does not make sense. host: ernest is in georgia on the republican line. good morning. caller: something that has me stirred up this morning is your previous guest who said crime is at an all-time low. i have never been so afraid to go anywhere. there is road rage. there is so much crime that is not reported. i would like to have an advocate

other than a liberal view. the problem is not being in jail for life. the problem is they should be executed. what age will you let them out? she is talking about them having dialysis. the government will pay for it and it will cost them more money. these criminals are not being prosecuted like they should.thank you for taking my call. host: we cannot really know the crime that goes unreported as ernest was just saying. here is some data from usa facts which is a nonprofit. it says in 2022 the violent crime rate fell for the second consecutive year. the poverty rate increased for the first time since 2001, up

6.7%. the increase was due to motor vehicle thefts. as our previous guest was saying, if you look at this chart, you can see that crime rate per 100,000 people has decread significantly over the last 20 to 30 years. in terms of property crimes. violent crimes have decreased to a much lesser rate and this is according to the source for this data was the federal bureau of investigations. now we can go to deborah in marietta, georgia on the democratic line. caller: good morning. with all respect to everyone who called, i will say something starting with our government. we have the worst government

that is running our country. they are putting these laws in that don't know nothing about what they are doing. we have laws, they don't want science, they are just passing things just to make themselves in a position they want to be. we have judges. everybody wants to be on top. we have all chiefs and no indians. just like the guy said about donald trump. it is sad. it is pitiful for people to turn their back on our country the way it did and the way donald trump did. the republican party. anybody who can turn their back on what donald trump and continue to let these things go, it is just pitiful. host: that is your top news story this week? caller: yes, everything thank you. jean is from miami beach

florida on the independent line. caller: i would like to talk about the president's annual medical report. can you hear me? host: yes. caller: i am really dismayed because i am an old lady. i am old people in any way but i could not believe my eyes. the president has deteriorated. theoc him and his wife especially, they are all being like the cortiers where their emperor is not wearing any clothes and the little says, he is not wearing any closethes and they just carry on. i think i am and because i am not being given a choice. come on.

he hasn't got the vigor. i am not saying he doesn't have some memory. vigorous, strong president. i am mad at the democratic national congress for not giving us choices. i feel powerless. i do not have a vote. i do not have a choice in local people. miami-dade is the most corrupt place. we never have any decent democrats. host:ould like to add more information regarding the president's physical. here's a story from cbs news reporting that biden remains fit for duty after the annual physical exam. president biden remains fit for duty and fully effectuate all of his abilities without accommodation.

the president visited walter reed military medical center on wednesday for the exam amid scrutiny of his health coming into the presidential campaign. he is already the oldest president in u.s. history and will be 86 by the end of a second term if he winds. -- winds. the doctors declared him healthy, vigorous and fit. voters are approaching with misgivings about mr. biden's age, having scrutinized his coughing, slow walking and even a tumble off of his bicycle. james is in tennessee on the democratic line. caller: good morning. good morning. caller: my top story is the willis case. i think right now they cannot dismiss or try to make light of why the defendants are really there.

they are there because they were trying to offset an put their thumb on an election. the relationship with someone she worked with, to me it is of non-importance. the parent is getting ready to go somewhere and they tell the oldest child, no company and no parties. they leave. they come back, he has thrown a party and wrecked the house. just to throw the attention off of what he has done, they turned to the youngest sister and say she ate the cake out of the fridge raider. -- refrigerator. host: barbie is calling off of our independent line. caller: my top story is probably

the split screen of the former president at the border. the difference of character was such an astonishing diffit stood out to me as an independent. i always leaned. to keep an open mind, i watch both channels. it showed me that biden has the better character. host: thank you, barbie. dave is in florida on the democratic line. good morning. caller: hi. that lady nailed it on the head. it is not about age. it is not about anything else. the main thing is the character of the individual that is in the white house. we's character makes al capone look like an altar

boy. i think people are finally starting to get sick and tired of all of these gutless puppets in washington, d.c. who are bought and paid for by the israel lobby. s not only gaza and the west bank and the middle east that are occupied by these zionist military colonialists. it is also washington, d.c. that has been occupied by the and controlled by them. when you hear thesekesman coming out and continually concocting these ridiculous excuses about israel having a right to defend itself, when is anybody ever going to mention the palestinian's right to defend themselves? how often do you hear that? you never hear that from these people. they all operate out of the same playbook.

they are hypocrites who claim to be pro-life yet they are all for the unlimited murder of thousands of innocent men, women and children in gaza. there is hardly ever any kind of pushback. this little country that we hand taxpayer money to every year is te do. host: let's hear from wendell in : how are you? host: fine, thank you. caller: i think caller: people have had really good comments regarding the moral character of people and the moral compass of capitol hill but most disturbing to me is the supreme court slow walking the charges against the president. it is an election, democracy, a

lot of things are on the line and it is disappointing to see what we are seeing. my parents were in the military. i did not because of politics. it is unbelievable that nobody really has the moral character or fiber that does the right thing that is reasonable and compromises just partisan bulk wrap -- bull crap. host: that is all the time we have now. we will talk politics with a host of a podcast. that will be part of our weekly spotlight on podcasts. we will be right back. >> next week on the c-span

networks the house and senate are in. they plan to vote on the two packages . on tuesday watch the campaign coverage of super tuesda states casting their votes in primaries for their nominee for president. jerome powell will be on capitol hill to deliver the federal reserve monetary policy report. on wednesday before the house financial services committee. on thursday before the senate banking committee. on thursday watch live coverage as president biden gives the annual state of the union address before aof congress to outline his priorities for the country. watch next week on the c-span now, over to c-span network for scheduling information or to watch on any time. government. >> two years ago democracy faced the greatest threat with the civil war and the bruise to our democracy remains unbroken. >> union address during a joint session of congress to outline

his priorities for the country. watch coverage beginning at eight :00 p.m. eastern with the preview program followed by president biden's speech. then an alabama senator will give the republican response and we will get your reaction by taking your phone calls and social media comments. watch the state of the union address on thursday at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span, the free mobile video app or online at c-span.org. >> nonfiction book lovers c-span has the podcast for you.this into authors and influential interviewers on the podcast. on q&a, conversations with nonfiction authors who are making things happen. weekly conversations regularly feature authors of nonfiction books on a wide variety of topics. the about books podcast takes

you behind-the-scenes on the nonfiction book puis industry with insider interviews, industry updates and bestseller lists. find our father casts by downloading the freeou get your podcasts. or on the website c-span.org/podcasts. >> a healthy democracy does not just look like this. it looks like thi americans can see democracy at work, where citizens are truly informed, the republic thrives. get informed straight fron c-span, unfiltered, unbiased, word for word, from the nation's capital to wherever you are, get the opinion that matters the most, which is your own. this is what democracy looks like. powered by cable. host: who is a writer

and host of the podcast "without a country." guest: thank you for having me? host: why that title? guest: so many people feel politically homeless these days and without apolitical party and a country and that is how that was born. host: what do you talk about on your podcast? guest: it started out the biggest news stories of the week from the perspective of the right and the left using mainstream news sources. we try not to do anything but we just want to find the truth in the middle and that is what it is because there are a lot more similarities between democrats and republicans. people seem to be unaware of journalistic integrity. there are rules that journalists must abide by. telling lies. we look into that. host: who do you talk to? is it just you? guest: had a couple of cohosts. joe derosa when we started the

park asked -- started the podcast. he was for the right. we had shane smith, another comedian. he was from salt lake city. he grew up in a mormon area. he recently converted to catholicism. he was extreme left, the most anarchist. that made me look more conservative. then he moved away and i continued to do the show alone which i really like. i just have to make sure i'm am doing my critical thinking. now i have on different types of guests sometimes. host: where do you land politically? guest: i identify as a liberal gone rogue. except for when i am on fox news, i just stick to liberal. that is how i am. my views are leftist but i do

think that the left needs a lot of work to sell themselves better, make themselves more appealing, more likable, less of an elite attitude. host: what does being an economic bring to your lens on this? guest: less intelligence. [laughter] this podcast was created to be accessible. every i'm finding a word and i go, i don't know what that words mean -- i don't know what that word means. a lot of people have these seemingly highbrow discussions about politics in the office or at the thanksgiving dinner table. in reality, they don't really know that much. i think it is ok. there is value in saying i do not fully understand that concept. i will look into that more. there is a lot of value in that. there is no shame.

host: happening how do you decide what topics you will do? guest: we will do the heavy hitters. there usually is a main story. i look at the things i don't see people discussing a lot. i kind of go through washington post, new york times, fox news the hill. sometimes i will go to info wars. kind of just see what people are talking about. usually on npr there is a topic that is not being discussed and i always offer that as well. host: who would you say the audience is for your podcast? guest: it is definitely a lot of young women. i'm getting older. they are following me. host: we are both young. guest: 25 to 45-year-old women. that is because i have an og podcast that is extremely popular so there was a lot of

leak over from that podcast which was a 25 to 45-year-old female democratic -- demographic. i was on a platform that was notoriously male viewed. it was a misogynistic network but i place my show there on purpose to talk to people that i think would really disagrei don't want to talk in an echo chamber. that is a mistake that a lot of liberals make. host: what do you get from that? guest: people always think it would be a lot of venom but it is not a lot of venom. it is a lot of people interested in having even keel discussions. i have been blown away by how calm the mills are. even if they vehemently disagree with me. we work together over the past four years to have civil conversations. i have learned a lot.

i think the listeners have leaned into critical thinking and not just going along with whatever their political party is telling them to go along with , really seeking the truth. when i say i want you to vote i truly mean if you want to vote for donald trump, vote for donna jump not just joe biden. host: some civil discussions here. guest: i'm excited. nothing like a standup comedian doing this at 9:00 in the morning. host: republicans (. you can text us at (202) 748-8003. also we are on facebook andlet's talk about some of your recent episodes. 213, you said that you cover politics for everyday people who

do not have time to parse the news. say more about that. guest: did i say the word parse? that does not sound like me. host: when it comes to misinformation, how do you handle things like that? guest: when people say something as fake news, we just go through various news sources. even when you read something like from the new york times and compare it to fox news,ry rarely different information. when people say fake news, i feel like they mean that certain newsmething that is a small detail and blow it out of proportion. especially fox. absolutely obsessed with trans people. considering they are 1% of the on, you would think they are 55% of the population based on how often fox news is

covering trans issues. usually in a pretty trans phobic matters. host: heading into an election, how do you imagine yourself helping your audience navigate some of these things? guest: we will do it together. obviously, i don't know. i know of one concern that a lot of people in the news bringing up is social media false information. you can see an excess of memes. maybe some girl made it in her basement. just a lot of political memes charts, graphs. people do not know how easy it is to make a chart or a graph and pop. it on your instagram. . the is no fact-checking on social media. because that is so often we get the start of a new story -- especially on twitter, that started a lot there. elon musk is doing a terrible job of fact-checking.

just anything goes there nowadays. we will just keep following stories until we get more updates. host: you are obviously a vrson. you do it for a living. some of the topics you cover on your podcast are quite serious. your most recent episode talking about the u.s. embassy. guest: i have jokes about anything. please take your sensitive blinders off. i want to talk about things seriously and i don'h a joke. our brains, comedians, they just kind of work inyou see an awful joke in your head surrounding a serious issue, i say it almost to get it out of the way and then we move on with it. we move on.

comedians voice the bad thoughts in your head that you are fighting against constantly.we just say them and we will take the heat for you, i have no problem doing that. host: bob is in eagle river wisconsin on our republican line. caller: i know you have a big following. how come with student loan debt, why don't they do student loans like a mortgage on your house, 20 years, 30 years, 4% 5%? how come nobody ever talks about the democrats and when barack obama took office, the debt was $9 trillion, now, it is $34 trillion. we have had three presidents, trump, biden. host: two topics, let's get to them, student loan debt and national debt. caller: i -- corrine: i like how people call in like i have control over the national debt, i don't.

as far as student loans, why they don't do it like a mortgage? i don't know. people have problems with student loan complete relief. i myself had a really high number of student loans to pay off and i finally did it. i don't really have a ton of thoughts on -- finally didn't. i don't really have a ton of thoughts on that, frankly. cannot agree on anything so we cannot get any movement in this country. that's the answer. host: roberta is in washington, d.c. on our democratic line. caller: yes, thank you. good morning america. i just want to make the african-american society be aware of what's going on around us. host: do you have a question? caller: no, i had a comment. i just want to make people be more aware of what's going on -- host: we are going to stick with questions for right now.

jacob is in new york on our democratic line. go ahead, jacob. caller: hi. host: yes. go ahead. caller: fantastic. my issues about journalists and who pass off as journalism on the news. for them, even c-span, i don't think you guys do a good enough job teasing out conflicts of interest. this is particularly clear in things like reporting on gaza, for instance, where sometimes you know, you have obviously biased people talking about things. host: i am going to pull out your point about who counts as a journalist and bias. you are a comedian and talking about the news. corrine: exactly. i think i reflect to most people i am not a journalist i am very clear about that on every episode. think of me as like a chick in

your office, because that's for the most part when we talk about america, it is just some guy or some woman in your office who is talking about politics, andrmation spreads. everyone thinks they know more than they do. there was a point a couple years ago when i was just like, quite frankly, for an adult, i don't feel like i know enough about what's going on in my country. . i am interested, i care, so i am going to start reading the news every week. why not do it together? we are reading the news together. when you talk about bias, obviously, you are going to lean into things of interest when you are a journalist. but again there are journalistic standards so you cannot just misprint misinformation. you haveiswhen people say there is a bias, like, different news sources have different bias if you are comparing al jazeera to the new york times yeah, there's a different perspective, there is different angles. read multiple sources and you

will get multiple perspectives. host: when you compel your outlook on the road from before you took on this project where you read the news everyday versus now, how do you think you see things differently? corrine: i just think i have a wider view. i was looking at things from this level and now i am looking at them from a muchthere is so many different variables and it's not just a democrat republican, independent. it has to do with your level of education, your income, your religious background, where in the country you grew up. we all. see things so differently i think a comedian is a perfect person to know that because we have been to more states than most people. that is actually our job, we are going state-by-state by state. i was in irvine, california the day trump got elected into presidency. my comedy partner and i went out on stage and she is thking because we are in california that everyone is going to be upset. she is coming out and it's like, a sad day. in my head, i am going this is

irvine california, they are loaded, they are happy trump won. it's not always who you think it's going to be. if you go out with an open perspective and you actually listen to people, you can learn a lot. podcasting has taught me how to listen to people a lot better. host: you are doing a couple shows in d.c. how do you find the crowds here? corrine: what i will say about d.c. crowds is a little easily offended. that being said, smarter than other cities, so they appreciate more challenging jokes. dark humor could use a little work on. host:jim is in boca raton, florida on our republican line. go ahead, jim. caller: yes, good morning corrine. full disclosure, i am a 70-yeaold white protestant christian male. she self identified earlier in the interview as a liberal. host: liberal gone rogue. corrine: thank you.

kimberly is listening. caller: i would like the perspective on feminism specifically. are you familiar with bill maher, if you are, you watch his show. corrine: i have met bill maher i went onto his show, we got into a fight, they didn't air it. i've been to his underground bar. caller: yes, i watch that on the internet as well. bill maher put it out a couple weeks ago that he watched the film "barbie," which i will not watch because i have no interest whatsoever. it's a feminist diatribe, as i can understand it. they rail against the male-dominated culture. and then he goes home and checks the board of directors of matteland it turns out that over 50%

of their board is female. host: what is the question that you have exactly? caller: well, how does feminism today contend that men are running the society, white male specifically, heterosexual white male myself, and also, can she define for me toxic masculinity? host: ok, so those are two get your perspective on. modern feminism and what toxic masculinity is. corrine: right, i expressed that modern feminism is the stance that men are ruining society. that's absolutely not true, that's not the feminist perspective. to me, the feminist perspective is that more so i would explain it as men have a bit of a chokehold on society. those are two very different concepts. there is absolutely no arguing that if you are born specifically straight, white and male that you just have an

easier start. that does not mean that men don't go through challenges. they certainly need to be more in touch with their emotions, i think that would be great. toxic masculinity, to me, it's not listening to women, even see it in comedy a lot. men are unwilling to go and see a female comedian.i am a very successful comedian and you go out into my showroom and it is 90% women. and if you go to see an unknown male comedian, it will be a lo partners are so much more willing to check out the interests of their male partners and men are just unwilling to do that. toxic masculinity that's a pretty large concept that we could talk about for a long time. i don't know that we are going to getak have any comments on why we are stuck with two candidates for president who most americans do not want in the white house? is this how democracy dies? corrine: i absolutely agree.

i absolutely agree with him. i think we need more of a selection. i think if constantly we are going between republican and democrat, we are taking two steps forward and th steps back. democrats and republicans are constantly fighting together issues past. we will get two steps forward with women's reproductive rights and then be like i am going to spend the next four years on doing this. there's no movement -- undoing this. there's no movement. what is the point? it's embarrassing for a first will nation, quite frankly -- first world nation, quite frankly. we should have more options. if you vote independent or for some kind of third-party, it is assumed you are wasting your vote. you kind of cannot deny that right now. we need a stronger third candidate is what we need. host: brenda is in indiana pennsylvania on our democratic line. go ahead, brenda. caller: good morning. i was so glad to hear you use the phrase critical thinking early on in your talking.

i think one of the biggest problems we have in this country is that too many people are willing to grab onto a buzzword and believe that explains the whole issue. i think we need more critical thinking. and second, i was very glad whenever you addressed the topic of transgenders. what i would like to know is the transgender conversation is so one-sided, i would like to know why no one talks about the congenital birth defects of hermaphroditicsm? it is a birth defect, it is researched, it's a condition where a person is born with both male and female body parts both. host: brenda, let's give her a chance to respond. corrine: you know washington, d c i did not know that i was going to be talking about hermaphrodites this early in the morning. host: this is c-span. corrine: in my act last night

somehow during crowd hermaphrodite did come up so i feel like this is kismet. i don't really have a lot of expertise on the area besides that i once read that jamie lee curtis was born with both male and female parts and that's as far as we can go on there. i feel like that's just not my realm. the other thing she was talking about was critical thinking. agree, critical thinking is extremely important, so thank you. it is more just like teaching people to read news and not have simply a line with their political ideology or identity politics when we talk about that. read the story. almost like cover where the story, where it's from, just read the words, and then go, how do i think, how do i feel about that, what d that? it seems almost like a preschool level exercise but i feel like it will help people just know how they feel about something rather than be like how am i supposed to feel about this? how would my friends want me to

feel about this? host: dennis is in hamburg, new york on our republican line. go ahead. caller: yes. we had four years of donald trump and three past years with biden. under pres trump, like it or not there was no wars going on in the world, we had a secure borderattitude, we were more united. under this administration, for some reason, these far lsts are coming up with ideas to divide our country. borders are, open we don't know who's coming in. our economy is not doing goo i go to the grocery stores and i just cannot get over it. i mean, let's be real, people, it's got to be an american first attitude. host: do you have any questions dennis? caller: yes, what is your perspective on these two presidents and the direction this country is going in? host: thank you. corrine: i love how broad these questions are. wow, what is my perspective on?

i mean, number one, i love that call. it felt like a "south park" character in real life. the main thing that stood out from the initial monologue was that we were more united under president trump. i mean, where you living in the same country? no, we were not, we were at each other's throats constantly. news story was absolutely over-the-top and we were fighting each other nonstop. my perspectives on both candidates? i mean, i just cannot see i am completely open to a republican president, but just not donald trump. and as far as joe biden, like, you know, guy really wanted to be president, he finally got his chance. i think he's pretty centrist as far as like a democratic president. we have seen in the news that there is a lot less over-the-top headlines because we have a centrist president. there's a reason why he was able to beat donald trump and it's

because he's not that democratic, he's not that leftist, you know? host: nancy is in westchester pennsylvania on our democratic line. caller: hi. corrine: caller: i am calling because i have had something very disturbing happening to me. corrine: oh. caller: and i was hoping that you could let this be known to the public via your podcast. corrine: ok. caller: so, what it is is i get text messages very often, i have a thread of them that i could forward to you if you wanted, and they say things like "biden is going to use retirement funds to allow more immigration call thisor it will say "biden, breaking

news biden is going to allow illegals to vote." host: if you don't mind, i want to pull a point that you are making and make it a little bit broader, which is that there are so many different messages that people are getting about politics, about what candidates are doing, and are literally hitting them across omit different platforms. text messages, social media podcasts, social how do you wade through all of this and advise people to parse it all? corrine: number one, i would advise that if you get a text message that you described as mysterious, you don't even know where it's coming from and it says something like, you know, biden is "letting illegals vote," which nobody is using that kind of terminology anymore. you should definitely find out first and foremost where those text messages are coming from. maybe they are coming from your uncle. we don't really know where they're coming from.

if you have news and information and you don't even know the source, that's an important part. sometimes we will even go as far as to research the journalist o is doing this story. what kind of stories are they known for covering? how do they self identify? because that can review a lot of bias in the reporting as well and i think that's really been super helpful. start there. what's the source? is it reputable? who wrote the articlewhat kind of viewpoints are they known for having? are they known for reporting in an unbiased manner or do they have some type of agenda? ", "agenda," we all have an agenda, it's life. you have to do work, you cannot just have information coming at you and like i guess that's true. just because something is online or written does not mean it's a fact. even books. anyone can write a book. i wrote a book. should that have been allowed? i'm not sure. host: you mig be cautious

about dialing that number back, you never know when it is a scam. ronnie is insult bill, virginia on our -- is in saltville on our independent line. caller: i was thinking about all of this on the news demonizing the voters. know, it's going to be going back with the candidates and stuff but i think it's too far when the republicans or democrats just demonize people because of who they vote for. i was wondering what you feel about that? corrine: yeah, i mean, i guess when you say demonize you mean republicans find it on acceptable when someone votes democrat and democrats find it unacceptable when someone votes republican. to a certain extent, i agree. when you say something like rock the vote, we should really say i am happy if you are participating in this process. i agree. i think when most people

identify as republican or democrat say that, they mean anything other than vote for who i am voting for. that's a problem. yes, i agree with that. host: grant is in lincoln nebraska on our independent line. go ahead. caller: hello. i was wondering since part of what her show is focusing on how most americans seem to agree with each other more than not it's just theership -- partisanship in d.c. that divides us. if she were in charge of creating a third-par what type of policies do you think would be most effective in getting majority of americans to vote for someone other than the two front runners currently, and honestly, a wet paper bag is more appealing to me than either of the two that are in now. corrine: i think that's a great to put together a platform i would hope i had more than five seconds to think about it. that being said, i think a surprising topic for instance from the past year or so was abortion right, with the

reversal of roe v. wade. i think we thought that many or right-leaning people would be a lot more excited about that, when in reality, it turned out and has turned out to be a huge problem for the republican party. most people want to have the choice to have an abortion or autonomy over their own body. i think starting on something like that, even though int is an extremely hot button issue we can go like all right, what's the solution? it's not reversing roe v. wade. i think it really revealed that we agree so much more on that with extreme topic than we thought place to start. host: jesse is in albuquerque new mexico on our republican line. republicans wake up earlier. caller: good morning. i am telling you i am not a republican, let me tell you that, i am a mccain republican. i come from the old school republicans who actually read

the constitution and follow it. i was just going to say i will say i have to use humor a lot. it's funny, one of my girl students brought in a kanye for president sign and we still have it posted on the wall. i make a a lot of jokes about how i am friends with trump. we joke a lot about that. i was just going to say, have you guys seen "to kill a mockingbird" the classic film? remember little cousin dale, he comes in, he has that little country accent, is from louisiana? i just cannot stop thinking of mike johnson is like a grown-up cousin dale. that's my little humorous caricature on that guy. host: ok. some people say i look like a fatter, less successful sarah michelle gellar, so i hear you.

that he referred to it as one of his girl students and then told a story that had nothing to do with being a girl so that was pretty cool. host: gary is in dayton, ohio on our democratic line, also up early. it's almost 10:00. caller: hi. i just wanted to find out about i really loved our tumor, but you got -- i really love dark humor, but you got to, i love telling dark humor jokes with people i meet but sometimes they just don't get it. i have another thing about donald trump he is so fixated on how, you know, he always likes to say he likes to fire them like a dog. have you ever fired a dog in your life? how do you go about doing that? dear write a letter or memo and say please meet me i 4:00 because we are going to have to let you go? corrine: i love this. we have officially reached the open mic portion of the c-span interview. i have never fired a dog but

i've never employed a dog. i have a dog, i will start their. my note on dark humor would be like, who are you telling these dark humor jokes to? is it people you just met because that can be frightening for people. you cannot just go into it. host: dennis in san francisco california on our independent line. caller: yes. thank you. good morning. i want to talk about money in politics and politics in journalism. first of all, when we think about -- deals with money, for instance, biden is the number one recipient since 1990 of aipac, israel aid lobby money. should journalists be asking questions about the contradiction here? biden received what, over $5 million? host:tion about money in politics? caller: could i just add this to it? what do you think about sort of

contradictions by politicians. biden was -- how do the palestinians know when the food is coming down and when the bombs coming down? host: those are two big topics, money in politics and gaza conflict. corrine: i mean, i don't think our handling of the gaza conflict was good, i agree. benjamin netanyahu's response in general was way too much, just way too much. as far as biden being the biggest recipient of aipac funds, i would have to fact-check that. host: i can look it up. corrine: i don't know the answer to that. i think that's ok. people will just call up with

these really accusatory statements and i go, i mean, i don't know, i got to look that up. if that is true, i would agree that's alarming. host: allen in fayetteville, north carolina, while i look into that, on our democratic line. caller: yes. good morning, ladies. host: good morning. caller: mine is more or less a comment. i don't know if people realize what's going on here. i would appreciate if c-span would give somebody -- get somebody on there to explain the republican's playbook. they've already gotten written off. ádhost: we've had folks in c-span on various forms talking about republican strategies for 2024, but we are talking about corrine's podcast right now so let's go to mike and akron ohio on our independent line. caller: thank you for c-span. i am a libertarian who leans left on most but not all issues. i have voted in every single election since 1972.

i pride myself on having a perfect record of 0-10 from 1972 to 2008. myn third, fourth or fifth place all the time. i finally voted for obama in 2012. i saw how the gop treated him in his first term. my question to you is this, how do you feel about candidates not revealing their tax returns? i personally feel like if you run for public office, especially for president, you should feel o reveal your tax returns. host: let's let her answer. corrine: i would agree. i think if you have nothing to hide, why wouldn't you share your tax returns, you know? the truth doesn't mind been questioned. there you go. host: tim is in college park, maryland on our independent line, last caller for now. caller: hi, ladies. how are you doing? your guest is great.

she mentioned something that i think actually you should give her a megaphone because critical thinking is important. i was just thinking in this day and age of our media, you know, americans love connience know, just because of the advances in which we get news these days it's just so convenient,. use your phone and you see a headline. my question is, how do we keep media accountable for the content that they put out? you know, that is part and parcel of the issue that we have. you know, americans just want to get their news and it seems like you mentioned earlier that, you know, critical thinking is an important part of deciphering what is legitimate and what could be "fake news."

corrine: i think the caller makes a reallyhe talks about convenience specifically because learning the truth is convenient, whether it is an inconvenient truth for you and your beliefs or inconvenient because you have to put in more work than you wanted to to get the information about the topic. so yeah, i think we are all complicit in the news age we live in. we want things faster and easier so even the news iit astounds me how often x is quoted in new york times washington post. when you think surely we could be getting this information from someplace higher borow, but it's just people tweeting things. we are all doing this together. if we were willing to devote more time to learning the truth, we would not have fast news the way we have fast fashion. it's not

corrine fisher's podcasters "without a country." before we go, i want to flag y now, as well as on c-span.org. thanks, everyone, for your calls and perspectives. another edition of "washington journal" his coming up tomorrow at 7:00 eastern. have a great day. >> sunday morning the editor

talks about his new book, "america last." then emma waters discusses the implications of alabama's supreme court decision on in vitro fertilization and the role of reproductive issues in campaign 2024. c-span's "washington journal" live at 7:00 eastern on sunday morning. ldeae and online at c-span.org. nortedri t