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host: good morning. it is saturday, march 16, 2024. the house passed a bill this week that has the potential to band tiktok in the united states, but the legislation faces a tougher time in the senate. increasing tensions between top u.s. democrats and israel's leadership first into the open with a speech from chuck schumer calling for a change in leadership amid the ongoing conflict in gaza. we want to hear your top new story of the week. 202) 748-8000. republicans on (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. if you would like to text us that number is (202) 748-8003. please be sure to include ynd where you are writing from. on social media facebook.com/c-span or on x @cspanwj.

that tiktok legislation passed with bipartisan support in the house. republican mike gallagher who cosponsored the bill to regulate the app and is the chair of the flex committee on the u.s.-china competition defended the legislation on the house floor. >> tiktok is a threat to our national security, because it is owned by bytedance which does the bidding of the party in china. we know this because chinese law requires it. this bill forces tiktok to break party. it does not apply to american companies. it only applies to companies subject to the control of foreign adversaries defined by congress. it says nothing about election interference and cannot be turned against any american social media platform. it does not impact websites in general. the only impacted sites are those associated with foreign

adversary apps, like tiktok. it can never be used to penalize individuals. the text prohibits that. it cannot be used to censor speech. it takes no position at all on the content of speech. only foreign adversary control. foreign adversary control of what is becoming the dominant news platform for americans under 30. this is a commonsense measure to protect our national security. i urge my colleagues to support this critical bipartisan legislation. host: that bipartisan legislation did indeed pass the house and awaits the senate. the bill would either require tiktok to be divested from its parent company, bytedance, or be removed from u.s. app stores. some of the other top news stories that we are including the tommy willis news that she will not be disqualified in the trump case p

also special cou hill talking about his investigationbiden's retention of documents. as we mentioned earlier, the tensions between president biden and israeli prime minister benjamin schumer speech on the floor in the senate. the ongoing unrest in haiti. another story that broke yesterday comes from the national association of realtors, which agreed to slash commissions to settle ongoing lawsuits. the national association of realtors will pay $418 million in damages several rules that housing experts say will drive down housing costs. american homeowners could see a significant drop in selling their homes after the real estate trade group agreed to a landmark deal that will eliminate a bedrock of the industry the standard 6% sales commission. the national association of realtors, a powerful organization that has set the

guidelines for home sales for decades, has agreed to settle a series of lawsuits by paying 418 million dollars in damages and eliminating its rules on commissions. legal counsel for nar approve the agreement friday morning. the new york times obtained a copy of the signed document. the deal, which lawyers anticipate will be filed within weeks and still needs the federal court's approval, within a multitude of legal claims from home w rules forced them to pay excessive fees. let's start with your calls. iris in michigan on our independent line. iris, what is your top new story of the week? caller: i think that the biggest story of the week is our government has talked about what is going on in the rest of the world while we see the united states of america declining with so many people on the streets and so much confusion of children knowing what their place is and interfering in the

business of other countries while ours seems to be further apart. people are getting further from one another, they don't talk to one another. there is confusion about what our government is even about. and this whole thing with the election is throwing everything here into such chaos. people are not even speaking to one another, and it's really sad to watch our country fall apart. and not knowing what direction we are taking. it's very depressing. thank you. host: thank you for your call. we are looking for your top new story this morning. the numbers, for democrats (202) 748-8000. republicans at (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. another one of those top new stories that we were following this week on c-span was e x-special counsel robert hurt

testifying before the house judicial committee. he conducted the year-long probe and president joe biden handling classified documents that ultimately absolve the president of legal culpability. he faced questions on tuesday from the house judiciary committee. he was previously nominated by then-president donald trump as the u.s. district of maryland. he wrote last month that he wouldn't recommend charges against president biden despite uncovering evidence that by then willfully retained classified material. he said that a potential jury would likely find joe biden to be a sympathetic well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory. we have clips of him defending his decision to include

questions about president biden's memory and mental acuity in the court. [video clip] >> let me say a few words about that. my task was to determine if the president disclosed national defense information willfully. i could not make that determination without assessing the president's state of mind. for that reason i had to consider the president's memory and mental state and how a jury would likely perceive his memory and mental state in a criminal trial. these are the types of issues that the prosecutors analyze every day. because these issues were important to my ultimate decision i had to include a discussion of them in my report to the attorney general. the evidence and the president himself put his memory squarely at issue. we interviewed p ask him about his recorded

statement. "i just found all the classified stuff downstairs." he told't remember saying that to his ghostwriter. he said he didn't remember finding any classified material after his vice presidency in his home. he didn't remember anything about how classified documents about afghanistan made their way into his garage. my assessment in the report about the relevance of the president's memory was necessary and accurate and fair. most importantly, what i wrote is what i believe the evidence shows and what i expect jurors would perceive and believe. i did not sanitize my explanation, nor did i disparage the president unfairly. i explained to the attorney general my decisions and the reasonor that is what i was required to do. host: we will hear from bernard in harker heights, texas. go ahead, bernard. caller: hello, kimberly. thank you for taking my call. i think my number one new story

of the week is how president trump has no support from any of his former leadership team or cabinet members in his first administration. he has literally no support from any of them. yesterday he said he would not endorse president trump for president. even his own former vice president would not endorse president trump for president. that is a telling sign of his candidacy and how he lacks support from any of his former leadership team or cabinet members. that is my number one new story. host: what bernard was mentioning from cnbc that former vice president mike pence will not endorse trump in 2024.

saying former vice president mike pence said friday he wouldn't endorse his former boss for president in the 2020 four election. he revealed the decision d an interview on fox news. "i will not be endorsing donald trump this year." the announcement came assecured enough delegates this week to clinch the nomination. trump is securing and articulating an agenda at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on in our four years, said mike pence. as i watched his candidacy unfold i've seen him walking away from our commitment to confront the national debt. i have seen him shy away from a commitment to the sanctity of human life. next up worcester massachusetts on our independent line. what is your top new story? caller: good morning, c-span. my topic is haiti. ever since i was a young kid growing up in new york, i had a lot of haitian friends. the problem with haiti they

don't have natural resources. 40 years ago 90% of haiti was covered with trees. now less than 2% because people have to cut down trees to sell and they have mudslides. only 50% of the haitian people can read and write. we talk about people coming to america and making money and sending it back to their country. there are 130,000 haitians in south florida. you go to florida, the treasure coast, the west coast, the haitians are doing good. in fort lauderdale, they have businesses. 140,000 haitians in the new york /new jersey area. massachusetts has haitians. why is the country poor? i want to see them raise the minimum wage. the minimum wage in haiti is six dollars per day, 10 hours per

day. that is a day. there are the people -- every time someone comes by and tries to do the right thing for haiti, outside forces intervene and make matters worse. a guy wrote a book called -- talks, outside forces have to do why haiti is suffering. weind our business as a country and let people find their own solutions. host: i would like to give our audience more information about what is going on in haiti so everyone can be on the same page. this is from nbc news. in haiti, a police officer turned gangster is trying to seize control of the country. his forces have laid siege to spailbrea is nhe insists it is because his mom operated a fried chicken stand in port-au-prince but critics say it's a moniker that he

earned after multiple massacres in the nation's capital in 2018-2020, that according to the united nations, left does instead many of whom were burned alive when their homes were deliberately torched. moving on, his forces have laid siege to haiti's main international airport and traded fire with troops and sparked a jailbreak from the national penitentiary area in port-au-prince and freed almost 4000 gang members. a team of marines have been dispatched to shore up security at the u.s. embassy. from secretary of state antony blinken, speaking to reporters on wednesday on u.s. and regional efforts to stabilize haiti. [video clip] sec. blinken: on haiti, you know that this has been a long unfolding story. the heart of the story is the suffering of the haitian people.

we want to see that brought to an end. that requires a few things. it requires a more stable political system so that the country can function and function democratically. we need to see a transition toelections, to a clear return to a democratic path. we need humanitarian assistance, development assistance so the economy can be built up and people can have an opportunity. fundamentally, we need to see security because it's rd to do either of the first two things in an environment that you have right now in haiti. profound insecurity that is being driven largely by the action of gangs who control big parts of the capital city and critical infrastructure, etc. we have been working on all of these fronts, as you know.

the united nations endorsed some months ago a multinational security support mission to help the haitian police regain control of security. as we are putting that together, and kenya stepped up to say that it would lead the mission we brought together other countries that will contribute to the mission. we ourselves are contributing significant resources. in parallel, we have been trying with caribbean countries, other interested countries, to help patients get back on a better political path. host: harold is in livingston, tennessee on our line for democrats. what is your top new story of the week? me d more about legislation ouei t aulsobowe as hi lcan conversation on what is being proposed up there with both sides. host: thank you harold. paul in franklinville, new jersey on our line for democrats. what is your top new story? caller: well, originally i was going to speak about the soviet union.

i guess i have some personal history of concern for ukraine and the war that's being fought on the borders there and our need to assist. it's personal for me because i was an officer in vietnam with another border. we were on the border with cambodia. prior to my being wounded there -- i was wounded by a russian weapon. an rpg seven blew through my left side the day before. host: what is your top new story this week? caller: russian weapons. it dates all the way back to vietnam in that an officer i knew whose body i found of the day before was also hit by a russian rpg 7 that was

identified carried by the north vietnamese. predominantly -- host: you would probably be interested that shortly we will be hearing from someone who will be talking about the ongoing russian election that's happening this weekend. stay tuned for that. that's go to david in northfield, new jersey on our independent line. good morning, david. caller: good morning. excellent show today. host: great. what is your top new story? caller: my top new story is if you take the different news stories on all of the different news stations and social media you will find that there is a lot of division in this country. i think that that is a news story in itself, if you compile them together. i think that too many people are arguing. there is too much partisanship. we need more bipartisanship. host: thank you, david.

hager's bill wisconsin on our republican line. good morning, randy. caller: thank you for taking my call. president biden taking documents out of the skiff. when he was a senator. he had a right mind then. host: are you still there? caller: yes, ma'am. host: sorry, we lost you for a moment. caller: president biden outside of the skiff when he was a senator. and hid them. [indiscernible] -- i don't think he knew how much he had. [ernible] host: randy it seems we can't

g up. i want to bring back some tape. the top democrats on the oversight committee, raskin from maryland was in the special counsel with hur detailing the differences between biden's mishandling of documents compared to that of former president trump. [video clip] >> special counsel hur emphasizes that president biden's conduct contrasts sharply with that of former president trump. hur observes unlike president biden, the allegations set forth in the indictment against mr. trump if proven would clearly establish willfulness and serious aggravating factors. he sets forth these details. most notably after being given multiple chances to return classified documents and avoid prosecution, trump allegedly did the opposite. according to indictments he not only refused to return the

documents for months but obstructed justice by enlisting others to destroy evidence and lie about it. he returned only a portion of subpoenaed documents and deliberately withheld biden trump did not alert the national archives or doj of the documents, nor did he turn over all of the classified materials in his possession.. he didn't sit down for a voluntary interview with the special counsel and never consented to a search of his home. on the contrary, trump suggested that his attorney hide or destroy evidence requested by the fbi and grand jury. trump instructed his aide to move boxes of classified documents to hide them from the fbi. trump tried to delete incriminating security tapes footage from mar-a-lago. he got his attorney to provide a false certification saying that he had produced all the documents in his possession. he did not. given that this report is so

damming and the contrast between biden and trump, it's hard for me to see why our colleagues think that this hearing advances their flailing and embarrassing quest to impeach the president of the united states. host: cassie from hanover massachusetts on the line for democrats. what is your top new story? caller: so, it came out yesterday. good morning. jared kushner's real estate firm is closing three real estate deals that could be valued or worth more than $1 billion. two pieces of land are government-owned in albania and the balkans, i believe. they were, at least in part, a result of relation to the during the prior administration when he was in a government role. again, hunter biden was never in government. it is quite a different story.

that's the top new story for me this whost: thank you, kathy. john in dearborn heights michigan on the line for independents. good morning john. caller: all these wars going on. not the least of which gaza palestine, terrible famine, genocide, death, destruction and we are paying for it. a lot of corporate interests go into that, but i don't think it could happen, all of these wars, ukraine too, without the media really pushing the state department lying and not really doing good investigation. even the new york times is having a complete scandal over their reporting of october 7. yeah, it's terrible. host: thank you john. paul in franklinville, new jeey on the line for democrats. caller: yes, i think that i was knocked off but i was listening

to someone speak about haiti. a lot of people -- i think that he was mentioning the fact that so many americans don't have an awareness or history. i recall that the haitians were responsible at one time for saving america from an attack of napoleon's brother. he was planning to attack after they whooped the haitians, planning to attack new orleans. unfortunately for him, he didn't defeat the haitians. the haitians defeatedsaving america perhaps, from losing our democracy during the jefferson administration. i guess, the same i think today in terms of ukraine.

again, i was an officer in vietnam. one of the weapons the most devastating weapons that we faced, was the rpg 7. an anti-tank weapon that was used to knock off leaders in the jungle of american forces. host: thank you. let's hear from walt and indiana on our republican line. good morning. caller: i would say the number one issue is the ongoing tragedy in gaza. at this point over 30,000 palestinians have been killed, civilians, and the number is probably higher. 2/3 have been women and children. something that the american media doesn't cover but is obvious, japan, germany britain

is the planes that are used to drop the bombs are american. the bombs that are dropping ares should think about that in terms of future consequences. especially that we have a southern border that is wide open. if anyone thinks that anti-american terrorists are not aware of this, well, they g very naive. in any case, something needs to be done to stop this war. the only way to do it is supplying the israelis with weapons. host: annette in alabama on our independent line. caller: good morning. yes, seven years ago biden knew he had classified information because he told his ghostwriter. it has been proven. at that time he ha

why did he not turn them over to the fbi immediately? because he knew it was wrong and they were classified. now, he concealed it seven years ago from the fbi. is that not intentional? we had clinton, biden, trump petraeus taking classified papers whatever. something is wrong with the system. i think that is what needs to be changed as of now because they all did wrong, shouldn't have done it. clinton, they smashed him with a hammer you know the whole story. i think trump is being the fall guy. this has been done way too many times and it's time to change the system as far as classified. host: and that mentioned the ghostwriter that president biden

was working with. there is more from that exchange in the hearing with the former special counsel hur. in the exchange, speculating on the potential motives of president biden who was then a private citizen to withhold private documents. [video clip] >> mr. hur, why did joe biden willfully disclose classified material? he knew the law. he's been in office for like 50 years. five decades in the united states senate, chairman of the senate, foreign relations committee, eight years as vice president. he got briefed every day as vice president. he has been in the situation room. in fact, you know he kne you said so on page two 26. president biden was deeply familiar with the measures taken to safeguard classified documents. us he knew the rules. mr. armstrong said this earlier.

joe biden was deeply familiar with it. you are right. he told us. what date it was in the documents that could compromise sources and methods? it's irresponsible. joe biden knew the rules. you know he knew the rules. joe biden told us that he knew the rules. why did he break them? mr. hur: the conclusion as to exactly why the president did what he did is not one that we explicitly addressed in the report. the report explains my decision to the attorney general that no criminal charges were warranted in this matter. >> i think you did tell us, mr. hur. on page 22 one you said president biden had strong motivation, a keyword. we are getting to motive. president biden had strong to eat nor the proper procedures for safeguarding classified information in his notebooks. why did he have strong motivations?

because he decided months before leaving office to write a book. to write a book was his motives. he broke them because he was writing a book. he began meeting with the ghostwriter while he was still vice president. there is the motive. how much did president biden get paid for his book? mr. hur: off the top of mym not sure if that information appears in the report. rep. jordan: there is a dollar amount. do you remember? mr. hur: $8 million? rep. jordan: $8 million. host: what is your top new story? caller: my top story with the prosecution of donald trump. number one, i'm tired of the republicans defending him. he is an insurrectionist i have seen

new stations online with people involved in the january 6 the riot being arrested and prosecuted. yet, donald trump is walking around free as a bird. he could potentially be getting away with all this stuff. doesn't this bother the american people? that he caused an insurrection that killed four capitol police officers and totally ruined the capitol? it is mind-boggling how he can get away with all this stuff. host: paul in alexandria rginia. what is your top new story? caller: i have a topic, but first i have a question. the portion from the congressman from maryland that you quoted, was that -- was he quoting from the report?

it seems to me he was giving his own opinion. host: jim jordan, the republican from ohio on the house judiciary committee? caller: no, jamie raskin from maryland. host: i'm not exactly sure if he was quoting from the report. caller: the impression that you gave when the man on the phone -- when the phone was breaking up, and he was asking why biden when he was in his right mind as a senator was taking the documents. why that wasn't an issue. you began -- i have another story, but this is a clarification that i want to make. it seems to me that the man had a point. when you broadcast jamie raskin,

it would seem to me you would know if that was jamie raskin speaking for himself or if he was quoting from the report. you seemed to indicate that he was quoting from the report, but i don't think so. host: i'm looking back. jamie raskin was highlighting a portion of the report appeared in the clip that you are referencing he was quoting directly from the special counsel's report. apologies for not clarifying. go ahead. what is your top new story? caller: the main story continues to be the story that is not being told regarding our relationship with iran and iran contributing to hamas. it highlighted -- it's highlighted in the speech that the senator from brooklyn senator schumer gave -- an

insurrectionist speech. whenever someone from another country tells us what to do we say, mind your own business. we have had many tales, some of which have been far-fetched about russian intervention in elections and russian collusion with presidential candidates. when schumer starts talking about getting rid of a president during wartime -- they are at war. this is a war that is going on. they have been very restrained. the israelis have been very rest bombing in terms of sending out information to the population as best they can, delaying attacks for three days. why is it that the neighboring

nations, that are anaerobes also don't take their area but brethren in? because those era but brethren have been troublemakers. they tried to assassinate the king of jordan. host: i would like to give everyone more information on the speech from chuck schumer. an article in politico with biden's response to the speech that called for a new israeli government. president biden saying that he thought schumer made a good speech. saying, i think he expressed a serious concern shared only by him but by many americans. praising the senate majority leader chuck schumer for israeli elections and his sharp criticism of that nation's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu. schumer is the highest-ranking jewish official in history reviewing that yahoo! on the senate floor on thursday declaring the prime minister's

management of the war in gaza showed that he "lost his way." here is president biden on friday answering aout senator schumer's speech. here is that exchange. [video clip] >> senator schumer's speech yesterday? pres. biden: senator schumer contacted my senior staff that he was going to make that speech. i am not going to elaborate on his speech. he made a good speech. i think that he expressed a serious concern shared not only by him but by many americans. host: now, that did not land so well in other parts of washington. here's the story from the hill saying republicans -- over the call for israeli elections. schumer made a serious political misstep for his call for new elections in israel to replace prime minister netanyahu. they wasted no time going after schumer's address with a number

of visibly frustrated gop senators arguing the 45 minute speech was a major miscalculation. now he is meddling in the elections in israel, thom tillis told the hill about schumer's call, using the name of israel's parliament. if we go to the jerusalem post to get response from israel, the headline is, israel is not a banana republic. saying israel expects the u.s. senate majority leader chuck schumer to "refrain from undermining the israeli government." netanyahu's faction said on thursday, reacting to schumer's speech in which he accused netanyahu of holding a piece in the middle east and calling for elections in israel, writing israel is not a banana republic but a democracy proud of its choice in prime minister netanyahu.

next, we will hear from james in florida on our democratic line. caller: good morning. host: good morning, james. caller: let's talk about illegal and classified documents. resident mike pence had documents at his house. so did president joe biden. they returned the documents as soon as they found out that they had it. it was a mistake. trump refused to return all the documents. trump said, these are my documents. the fact is, they are not his. they are america's documents. unfortunately, if he had turned in all of the documents like he had a chance to a couple of years ago, he would not have to

go to court now for it. it amazes me that, that a major person like trump would think that he can get away with this. i'm surprised that the law does handle everyone differently. it's amazing. if this was an average joe or mary who had these documents they would have been slammed into jail right away. host: donald in michigan on our line for democrats. what is your top new story? caller: i would say fanny williams being cleared to continue prosecuting the case of trump in georgia. it amazes me how jim jordan can get on the public stage and

criticize anybody. a person who refused a subpoena from congress. so, he should be in prison. republicans who keep supporting donald trump after time and time again of proof that he is a criminal, a crook and a disgrace to this country is amazing. netanyahu is a war criminal, and should be arrested. god bless america. thank you. host: donald mentioned the case in georgia against former president trump and the prosecutor fani willis. fani willis can stay on the trump georgia case as wade resigns. the judge overseeing the georgia election interference case against former president trump

and his allies ruled that the fulton county dist ans but only if nathan wade, the lead prosecutor that she appointed and had a romantic relationship with, exited the case. wade resigned hours later citing his commitment to democracy and making sure that the case moves forward as quickly as possible. in a 20 three page ruling on friday the fulton county superior court judge wrote that the defendants failed to meet their burden in proving that willis'along with allegations that she was financially enriched by the trip that the two took together was enough of a conflict of interest to warrant her but they found a significant appearance of impropriety that affects the current structure of the prosecution team and said either willis and/or her office would fully leave the case or wade must withdraw. on facebook, hearing more republican speaking out against the former president and the

spineless house republicans still not getting much done in the house is janet's top new story. joe is in georgia. good morning. caller: hello, c-span. i have been calling your great network for over 30 years. our big news, we had valerie staples speak in georgia. she is a big trump republican. she is the head of the georgia freedom caucus and we would love to see four more years of trump and eight years of mallory as president. she is a great taxpayer champion and you will hear a lot about valerie staples. i love c-span. yodo an incredible job. i've been calling for 30 years and i hope to call for another 30. host: another comment over text message from tony in florida my top story of the week is the underreported story about the

rise in diseases, measles and tuberculosis. the rise has been attributed to a lack of proper medical screening of people crossing the southern border. rfnext is judy in morville mississippi on our independent line. good morning, judy. caller: hello. i don't know if it has been recorded in the news, but the gop paid $600,000 to the guy who is in jail now for the impeachment, trying to do that with joe biden and hunter biden. they paid him $600,000 i reckon to go in there and live. he is in jail. also the group that trump has on the gop. i am former republican. i never voted democrat or nothing. the grip that he has on them, i don't know if it will ever be over. i mean, and i don't know if i would ever go back to the republican party. host: do you plan to vote in the

upcoming election? caller: oh, yeah. i always vote. host: have you decided who you will vote for? caller: i will vote for biden against trump. host: thank you for your call. on facebook, john says that his top news story is mike pence refusing to endorse trump. this never happens. a present has to be awful to have his own former vice president refused to endorse him. he has joined the many former members of trump's administration that have even condemned to the notion that trump might become president again. james is in greenville mississippi on our line for democrats. caller: good morning. my top news story is the supreme court just made a ruling that overruled a court decision to remove ballot.

i don't understand. is there any committee or institution that can hold congress accountable for not doing their job? the ruling was, the only way that a president, a person, can be removed from the ballot is for congress to do that. since the states were not allowed to do it, according to that ruling congress should take their job seriously and actually remove former president trump from the ballot, because he was the sitting president that actually incited an insurrection . and being the top military person at that time, he was negligent in his job when he didn't do anything about the insurrection at that time. host: thank you, james.

william is in michigan on our independent line. how do you pronounce the namur town? caller: how do i what? host: pronounce thewilliam. caller: ypsilanti, michigan. host: what is your top new story? caller: i just want to say that trump should be, like arrested. and i wanted to see something about the gazawhy didn't they -- they have 400 miles worth of tunnels. why didn't they just put a smoke

thing and a big fan to blow the smoke in the host: jackson, mississippi on our independent line. what is your top new story? caller: it is actually jackson, michigan. i am near where your previous colors from. -- previous caller is from. black americans abandoning the democratic plantation. i am independent who historically voted democrat, however, i would not vote democrat for three things. i will be brief. reparations for black americans anti-black american hate bills and stop illegal economic aliens here illegally.

my last point, real quick i would ask listeners to please stop referring to black americans descendants of slaves, as african-americans. we are not afr. people were already in this land prior to slavery. i will take my comments off the air. host robert in lancaster kentucky on our republican line. what is your top new story robert? caller: i would like to comment on people saying who previously called about president trump not returning the documents. well, it's just he came down the golden escalator even before he came president. people were out to get him. he was really the first person

to be attacked to return the documents. jamie raskin said all the democrats, like obama and biden they didn't return their documents. or, they returned their documents right away. they were not the first ones to be approached. president trump was the first one to be approached. i am a vietnam vet and i'm sorry, i will vote for trump because he is not a politician. everything that he has done has been for the good of the country. there has been so much reverse prejudice that goes out. all of my grandchildren are mixed. i am certainly not a prejudice person. i can see right through this. just a big game that. -- big game.

god bless president trump. i hope that he becomes our president again. host: thanksor your call. dennis in fayetteville, north carolina on our line for democrats. what is your top new story? caller: good morning. i would like to talk about the israeli-palestinian war. there is a lot of criticism coming out on chuck schumer for the statement that he made about replacing netanyahu. why not? we have been the most faithful friend for israelis. we have provided billions of dollars in aid. if he is not listening to what we have to suggest, why not call for his replacement? secondly, when you are fighting a war, of course there will be private citizens who get killed. but when it is not the enemy that is being killed, and it is more women and children who are not the enemy, then something is

wrong with that. when you are fighting a war, you go after your enemy, which is hamas. i have no objections for the israelis to go against hamas. but it is mostly women and children who are killed who are not your enemy. then something is definitely wrong with that. so, i support schumer and biden calling for his replacement. host: thank you for your call. robert in huntington, west virginia on our independent line. what is your top new story? caller: good morning. i am disappointed in the major news networks and digital media. no one has mentioned much about the four to five americans that have been busted for espionage for china and russia, our

enemies. when he was caught they put out his mo. his city, his political affiliation, everything. we haven't heard much about these guys. gaza, i agree with the initial response from netanyahu. now, it is becoming redundant of women and kids being killed. everybody, the whole world should be glad -- was not in office when hamas did this. the strip would be flattened by now. everything would be flattened and all of them would be dead. thank you carol in appleton, wisconsin on our democratic line. what is your top new story?

caller: yes, i think that it's the demise of the national republican party. i think it's a very scary. donald trump, jr. said that it's no longer the republican party it's the maga party. they replaced the rnc with trump supporters and election deniers. they have completely done away with the structure of the rnc. there is no longer an outreach for veterans. there is no longer an outreach for minorities. i think all of you should look into project 2025. it is ex-president trump now building an infrastructure. he is going to do away with all of our cabinet. he is going to take over the

power and put in people he wants to have in there. look at the heritage foundation. they are lining up so everyone in every cabinet will only support president trump. all our military leaders will support president trump. he has told us he wants to have a country like hungary and he is busy getting ready, so that when he is elected we will have a e line for independents. caller: a first time caller. host: thanks for calling in. caller:9! i don't know as much about politics as the rest of your callers but i keep listening about the stolen classified documents from

republicans and democrats. i think that the whole thing is a joke. a regular citizen, if they break the law they are sent to jail. in the government, republican or democrat they can break the law and get away with it? i don't think it should be a separate thing for them. break the law and go to jail. the other thing so tired of hearing republicans and immigrants battling each other. -- and democrats battling each other. if biden or trump gets in, we are the responsible ones for voting whoever. nothing gets accomplished in this country whichever gets voted in -- sorry, i'm nervous. all they do is battle each the democrats want all their way, the republicans want all their way. what happened to compromise and meet in the middle? that is what is going to get america back.

it is not the battling. host: thank you, stacy for your first time call. hopefully you will call again soon. that is all the time that we have for our top new story of the week. next we will hear from the wilson cente -- our guest from the wilson said her he will talk about the election in russia with vladimir putin set to win a fifth term in power. and we will hear from our guest who will discuss his proposal to overhaul political primaries in the u.s., which he says is fueling political extremism in the country. we will be right back. ♪

>> next week on the c-span network, the house and senate are in session on tuesday with both chambers focusing on passing the six remaining 2024 spending bills by midnight on friday to avoid a partial government shutdown. the former of the u.s. central command and the former chair of the joint chiefs of staff testify before the house foreign affairs committee on the blinded administration's withdrawal of u.s. forces from afghanistan in 2021. the house oversight committee continues to investigate possible abuses of public office by president biden. on wednesday, jerome powell has his fist conference. janet yellen and the office of management and budget testified before the house appropriations subcommittee onices into general government.

watch next week live on c-span now. head over to c-span.org for scheduling information or to watch live or on-demand anytime. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. >> american history tv exploring the people and events that tell the american story. we continue with the series "free to choose" made by martin friedman at his wife rose friedman. this episode is entitled how to stay free. university of california law professor david ziegler looks at the history of abortion and contraception laws in the u.s.. on "the presidency," they share little-known parts about the presidency.

exploring the american story watch amicweekend and friday. on your program guide or watch online anytime at c-span.org/history. >> a healthy democracy doesn't just look like this, it looks like this, where americans can see democracy at work when . citizens are truly informed, our republic thrives. get informed straight from the source on c-span. unfiltered, unbiased word for word. from the nation's capitol, to wherever you are. the opinion that matters the most is your own. this is what democracy looks like. c-span, powered by cable. ♪ >> "washington journal" continues. host: here to talk to us about the russian presidential election happening this weekend is william pomeranz who is the

director at the wilson center. tell us about the cannon institute. -- guest: the institute is celebrating its 50th anniversary and we have that with a lot of changes. we were founded when the soviet union existed but we don't cover all of the post-soviet space -- but we cover all of the post-soviet space. we approach it from a scholarly standpoint and trying to understand the reasoning in a troubling topic. host: russians are voting for president. give us the basics of this race even though we know the outcome. guest: it isn't really a race. there are no real opposition candidates. president putin has deemed he would get 80% of the vote. i appreciate his supporters --

i'm pretty sure his supporters will make sure he gets 80%. it is not really a mandate, it is his fifth presidential election. yet, there is no suspense, there is no attempt to him -- to bump him to change his policy. there are rumors he will change his cabinet, but we will have to wait and see who becomes part of the cabinet and whether a new generation comes into power. host: why hold the election at all if it is a forgot conclusion? putin likes to do election speakers -- elections because he likes to be seen as a democratic leader and the only way he can do it is by having these false elections and he has continued to do so throughout his time in office.

i think it is just because he wants to try to obtain legitimacy and he will use this election to do so. i don't think anyone will recognize that it is a free and fair election. i am sure -- not sure whether he will get a lot o sick from this fresh -- up tick for this election. they were in ukraine and a struggling economy will be there after he is elected. host: who is eligible to vote in these elections and what does valid look like? are there other elections or candidates? guest: they allow for three days of voting. we have only been to the first day of the election.-- through the first day of the election. anyone who is a russian citizen

is other people to vote. polls but there is no question as to if putin will win this election but it will enhance his legitimacy tomorrow the world and e question is if you will continue to advance his mandate. guest: are there any local elections -- host: are there any other local elections? guest: no, it is simply the presidential election. host: how much do policies matter in terms of voter turnout even if there is not much opportunity to weigh in on other candidates? do issues like the war in ukraine factor into whether people are showed up to the polls? guest: we will find out when we get the analysis of who actually voted. the rapid is already of people spoiling -- there have been

cases already of people spoiling their balance -- ballots and they have been whisked away. i don't think it is good to be a mandate -- it is going to be a mandate. putin did give his state of the union address and he included a lot of promises for the russian people, increased standards of living technology, tourism, big national projects, etc. whether putin has the resources and the money to government these projects is the question. host: if you have questions, you can call us. democrats, 202-748-8000. republicans, 202-748-8001. independents 202-748-8003.

you said already this will be his fifth term but technically the president is only supposed to serve two terms. guest: putin has inserted himself into politics and exceeded the term limits. in the most recent amendment, he basically got a null and void for his previous term. he is now potential he able to run for another two terms. even though they have term limits theoretically putin has been able to get around them and there is nobody, either legislature or court that will oppose putin and his desire to be elected for multiple terms. host: alexei navalny who was

seen as putin's biggest opposition died in a prison must month. can your mind our audience how powerful he was or not in russia and what has happened to his supporters? guest: he had a strong backing in russia. basically the russian government repressed him and trumped up charges against him and when he returned back to russia, he was immediately arrested. there were terms added to his prison sentencecause he had been arrested before. the most important thing to remember about alexei navalny is he always encouraged people to be politically engaged even in russia. his death leaves a vacuum as to who the main opposition candidate or people are in russia. there are others who can take his place theoretically, but

alexei navalny was a unique character, a unique politician who were to engage in politics en when he was poisoned and so forth, and returned to russia where he was immediately imprisoned. host: is anyone else challenging putin? guest: no. host: the other candidates who might appear on the ballot, who do they represent? guest: they are actually supporting putin in this election. there are no real opposition candidates and their simply towing the line and giving the image of some sort opposition even though the russian people know they're not opponents toputin represent a party. host: what do the russian people think about the fact that they

are being called to vote and show up with no meaningful choice? guest: russia has experience in these types of elections. there is pressure to show up and vote in the workplace. there are means by which russia realizes that the lesser of two evils is to show up and votebe part of the process. it is hard to understand the mindset of russians leading into these elections because there are no polls that identify the russian people and of the russian people are wary of this polls and they know what to answer if they are asked what they are thinking or who they are good to vote f. there is any understanding in russia that they are required to

vote, most of them will vote. there is no chance to really express opposition to putin. host: let's hear from bo in georgia. caller: i want to ask your guest , the russian history has been a history of autocracy and the way that russia set up, you're talking about a land-based power where they seek to control territories around it, spheres of influence and the like. given their history, putin typical autocrat. i appreciate you revisiting this school can because he's were the best diplomats we had. i believe what he said is very relevant about their impulses and how they relate to other countries. guest: vladimir is part of a centuries long authoritarian

system. he has basically revived empire for the russian federation. he has engaged in foreign ventures and for the history of russia he has expanded the territory of the russian federation during his reign. from this standpoint and russian history, that is what makes a successful leader. he has followed a long tradition. we thought maybe russian diminish in the aftermath of the cold war, but vladimir putin has revived all of these injured at all traditions and has -- all of these ancient at all traditions and has established any authoritarian -- an authoritarian system. host: have they tried to

approach ukrainian voters again to coerce them into voting for putin? can you give us back story about efforts to win approval for the russian government? guest: they have tried to but russia has been engaged in a two euro war -- two year war. cranes are not rushing to vote in the russian presidential election -- ukrainians are not rushing to vote in the russian presidential election. even if you tried to gain support for the ukrainians, that they even have pouring places in ukraine. maybe the russian embassy if it is still open would allow for voting in ukraine. i don't think ukrainians are being engaged in the presidential election with the

exception of the new territories of russia. they are voting and they will vote in this election because they are now russian citizens and their territories are part of the russian federation. host: do you have any sense of what the support -- is? guest: it is hard to say. there are no opinion polls. russia has problems with his army and maintaining the troops on the ground and there has been no wave of recruitment for russians. they are not drifting to their local draft board to engage in this war. russia has gone overseas to find new recruits, including in nepal

and other places because they have real manpower problems. there is no active open opposition. if the war continues to go as badly as it is going come at some point there may be protests. they will be heavily monitored by the security services and any protesters will be arrested almost immediately. there is not a possibility for russians to protest against this war and vladimir putin has defined it as the major confrontation not with ukraine but with the west that will be going on from his perspective for years to come. host: donald is in ozark, missouri. what is youruestion?

caller: i would like you to compare the russian government and their election to the democratic party and our current election. guest: i will not opine on all of american politics for this conversation. clearly russia is watching the american presidential election. according to putin, he thought biden would be a more stable person in the white house. no one knows really what he thinks and clearly he had a with donald trump as well. russians are clearly monitoring our election. there you amazing -- they're using for his types of methods to interfere with our election. i don't think you can compare the american presidential

election with the election of vladimir putin for his fifth term. host: we have another question on x asking you to talk about the fires and people pouring ink into the voting boxes. guest: there have been isolated incidences of people throwing inc. -- during -- throwing ink into the ballot boxes and one instance of a man letting fire to a polling place. this is how opposition and protest exists in russia. both people engaged in this activity were arrested immediately. host: we have video of that. guest: there are cameras in every polling place. this is what would stand as protest in the election. these are very brave people who are these activities.

they will be caught and most likely will get severe prison sentences. this is the only means by which to protest this election. host: ken is in spokane washington. caller: up t alexei navalny is in today's category is a freedom fighter. they put him in the category as the siberian seven as being a freedom fighter. guest: i think alexei navalny will be remembered for a long time and he is he is a freedom fighter and a person who fought for democracy and against corruption.

he has a lasting legacy in the russian federation and he turnout for his funeral was simply remarkable in light of the fact that it was monitored at all stages by the security services. host: brad is also on our land for republicans. go ahead. caller: we are talking about the russian interference, he was talking about. good at interfering in elections throughout the world. you can see it right now with chuck schumer in israel. it wasn't so many years back that obama sent paula go over to israel to get netanyahu ousted. the democrats are good at interfering in our elections and now we are trying to point our

finger and say it is russia. no, it is the americans. the democratic party has always interfered in elections and now they are hoping for the ballot boxes. now they're going to start talking about the women and abortion rights. it is the same old same old with these people. when we start putting our fingers at the russians, we should start worrying about ourselves instead of worrying about the world. host: do you have a question for william pomeranz? caller: yeah, what does he think? guest: putin and the russians have been emphasizing this issue for obligated services -- for propaganda services and saying the u.s. is doing what the russians are allegedly doing. i think putin is playing this

card and that russia is facing the same problems as the u.s. and i don't think it is the same. yes there is a history in the u.s. of occasional interfering in foreign elections, i will not deny that. but i think putin is using the u.s. as a foil and saying you are interfering with the russian elections. there is no real evidence that the u.s. is interfering with russia. host: iis article which highlights research from academics who do interesting articles about putin. the headline is that putin has no successor, no revival stage no rivals, and why his deathff a vicious power struggle. two things are certain

concerning vladimir putin, he will be reelected as president. second, he is not immortal. is like betadine office rather than retire willingly. the world might want to consider the power struggle that will commence the day after putin departs. can you talk about who is around putin and what any kind of succession might look like? guest: he doesn't have a vice president by design. he has been in power for decades now. he has no obvious successor. yes, power will be on the t when he proves himself mortal. he has basically tried to advance certain immunities for former presidents that will hopefully save him against the

wrath of the russian people if that happens. he has residential immunity, but also in the new constitutional amendment has a part -- has a possibility to become part of the federation council and get additional immunity. i think putin is looking over his shoulder. in the case of the president who was president -- basically was whisked away from power in a few weeks, i think putin has taken that example to heart. i don't know what will save putin if indeed there is opposition or the war goes south. there are people who could take his place. it is a question mark.

the prime minister doesn't really have a political base that he has been incompetent buaucrats. the mayor of moscow. he is a very popular mayor. he would be any obvious would at least put his hat in the ring. but i am pretty sure the security services will have their i want to bet against any presidential transition. host: rick is on our line for republicans. caller: you see any paralls in between what was going on decades ago in russia that led them to this point? what seems to be forming here in the u.s. leading up to the presidential election?

thank you for your expertise. host: -- guest: if you go back to the last sovietders, the parallels over the last two or three communist party secretaries, they all were 75 and 80 years old and quite frankly in poor health. the parallel if you're looking for one is where is the next generation of russian leaders? how in the u.s. do we bring new politics? russia and the soviet union were confronted with the era of stagnation and whether the u.s. now is contemplating an era of stagnation even though there is

clearly a lot of politics in the u.s. that i think is the parallel between the soviet period and today. host: let's go to les in newark, new jersey on our line for republicans. caller: i am calling about putin. [indiscernible] including the president who ran against him. host: i thi question. if i'm not mistaken, you're asking about war crimes vladimir

putin has been accused of, in ukraine and killing his opponents and how he is still able to control the country despite all of this. host: the killings are deliberate and that is part of his power, that he is not compromised with anybody but will go and make sure he limits any potential opponents. in terms of war crimes, this is a very important issue. whether vladimir putin's president after this war or still alive when the war ends there will be attempts to bring him to justice and hold mersch accountable for his actions -- hold russia accountable for his actions. talks about reviving the mayor brooks charge of crimes against

peace or against dashboard of oppression -- or of oppression. the europeans are preparing for how to hold russia accountable. the important thing to remember is at the end of the cold war russia got a free pass to a lot of international and european institutions. i do not expect russia to get a free pass at the end of this war. i think russia has a degree of isolation long after vladimir putin has left the scene. host: when can be expected to know the results of the russian presidential election? guest: there are two days left to cast ballots. i'm sure that at the end of the

period we will have the results and a stunning victory for vladimir putin. host: last caller we will hear from joanna on our democratic line. caller: i am glad you have the subject on. i read a lot of russian history over time and i would like the guest to comment on a couple of things. one of the things i've noticed is two things about the russian psychology. one is they have always been expansionist. two, they have always been very paranoid. another thing i would like to hear him comment on is the fact that they're not just any autocracy but a hegemony. they have always been that. i wanted to let him know that putin has in a news conference endorsed on trunk -- endorsed donald trump. i think he thinks of him as a useful idiot. trump already said he will cut off money to ukraine and hand

ukraine to putin. guest: the color has a good grasp of russian history. he is also taurean -- authoritarian. he has a broad -- and his goals as the russian president. i think putin exhibits a lot of the historical. this is of the russian federation -- historical prejudices of the russian federation. having lived through the 1990's and try to change russia despite alexei navalny and others who were optimistic about the ability of russia to chae, putin has tapped into this historical narrative that clearly has lasting power and

simply will not go away. host: what about this question of progressive versus hegemony? guest: there is a question of autocracy and hegemony wanting to rule over people's. the answer is that russia has always been an empire. it has been a centralized state that can keep russia together. whether it is czars, secretaries, or presidents. there is a feeling that the only way to krucountry is to have any aggressive state and state power. attribute, that the state has power and hegemony over the empire. that is what vladimir putin as

emphasized. host: liamcanon director at staples center. -- at the wilson center. guest: my pleasure. host: will be joined by nick troiano of unite america who will political primaries in the u.s. which he says are fueling extremism. first we are going to have open forum. the numbers are on your screen to call in with your issues you would like to discuss. you can start calling in now. we will be right back. ♪ >> american history tv exploring the people and events that tell the american story. we continue with "free to choose," coproduced by milton

friedm rose in 1980. this episode is titled "how to stay free." on "lectures in history," professor mary ziegler on the history of abortion and contraception laws in the u.s.. on "the presidency," dorothy and thomas sure signs of our chief executives through presidential love letters with their book "are you prepared for the storm of lovemaking?" exploring the american story. watch american history tv every weekend and find a full schedule under program guide. watch online anytime at c-span.org/history. >> sunday on q&a, bob henderson talks about growing up in the u.s. foster care system, what he

learned about class division in america as a result. >> i lived in seven homes shy of five years. there is this question of why does the system work this way. if the child is in one place too long it can create issues of attachment and loyalty. for foster child is with one family for six months or a year and maybe becomes comfortable and devoted to this family and then suddenly develop member returns -- and then suddenly the family member returns, the foster child does not want to leave. the system has that with this by placing a child and differentre no issues with loyalty or devotion or conflict between foster families and birth relatives. maybe it sounds nice in the abstract but often it introduces a lot of instability and difficulty. >> henderson with his book

"trouble," sunday night on q&a. you can listen to q&a and our podcasts on our free c-span now app. >> next week on these hispanic networks, the house and senate are in session on tuesday. both chambers will focus on passing the six remaining 2024 spending bills before midnight to avoid a partial government shutdown. on tuesday, the former head of command and the former chair of the joint chiefs mark milley testify before the house foreign affairs committee on the biden administration's withdrawal of forces in afghanistan. on wednesday, the house oversight committee continues to investigate possible abuses of public office by president biden. hunter biden was invited to attend but declined. jerome powell holds his quarterly press conference following the federal open market committee meeting. on thursday, janet yellen and

shalonda young testify before the house appropriations subcommittee on financial services and general government on president biden's 2025 proposed budget. watch live next week. head over to c-span.org for scheduling information or to watch live or on-demand anytime. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. >> a healthy democracy doesn't just look like this. it looks like this. where americans can see democracy at work. when citizens are truly informed, our republic thrives. get informed straight from the source on c-span. unfiltered, unbiased word for word. from the nation's capitol, to wherever you are. the opinion that matters the most is your own. this is what democracy looks like. c-span, powered by cable. ♪

>> "washington journal" continues. host: we are ready to take your calls in open forum. start with louise in fredericksburg, virginia. caller: i would like to point out that in the 90's -- the 1990's a dragon -- gave everything away. these oligarchs, the money was seized at the end of 1999. putin seized their stolen gains, they fled tou.s., england. these people came in and tried to steal the natural resources

of russia. putin stopped them and that is what he said his country because es kleptocratic from all over -- these kleptocrats came from all over and tried to steal the russian people's resources. that is what this is all about. host: you think putin has been good for russia and the russian people? caller:i don't think he would have gone into ukraine. he tried to get the autonomous zones in ukraine just like in iraq. they said no, he is going to come in and take everything. rope. these people from the wilson center and the miller center and all of these other corrupt

organizations should be kicked out of the country. i am a supporter of vladimir putin i wish him the best. host: next up we have mike in spring, texas on our independent line. caller: i have a comment about u.s. policy under the middle east and israel and the war against palestine as well as about biden'sin terms of the u.s. policy, it is a well-known fact that the israeli government had a policy of arming hamas and building them up so that they have a reason to not make peace. they have a target and a terrorist enemy and a reason to not make peace and not allow for a palestinian state. it looks like your call dropped.

-- host: it looks like your call dropped. let's hear from velma in ashland, kentucky. caller: i think i have heard it all. those first two calls are absolutely -- i don't know what to say. there is a concern about anything and everything except for our american people, what is going on in our border. i watched biden's state of the union speech and he did not stumble over his words. he read everything very fast. it was a shame the way he talked about stand up for your families and so on when families in our democracy are threatened by just

about everything biden is doing. he is the greatest lawbreaker of all time. he is going on about trump's crimes and all of that but biden wbreaker of all time. he has broken our law at least 8 million or 9 million times. november it will be 10 or 12 million times. we have lawlessness in our country, high prices for everything. that is the state of our union. this situation in israel, you heard about the e state solution for ever which is a myth. nobody honestly believes that is the solution. the palestinians don't want a two state solution. they want a one state solution and we know what that means. i think in the past israel has considered it and been open to discussion. why not now?

why should they? the palestinians don't want a two state solution. most of the palestinian publishing voted -- posting in population voted hamas in. they have stated over and over again that they will have many more october 7ths when they can. host: with you from glenn in madison, illinois on our democratic line. caller: let's start with the house, the speaker of the house. he don't want to do anything. we need that bill for ukraine get some ammunition for them. you are going to have putin walking all over nato. get the bill passed, get arms

going. israel has tanks. host: larry is in saint stephen, minnesota on line for independents. caller: i got some opinions on the people who live in this country who try to manipulate this country to help a foreign nation. get the hell out of my country. host: let's keep the language clean. did you have any other comments? caller: another country you want to help, do it. leave us alone. host: a previous caller did mention mike johnson and whether or not he would take up the legislation on ukraine.

here is an article in politico saying johnson says he expects to take up ukraine aid with democratic votes. he added that splitting ukraine and israel aid into two separate bills is under consideration. this story coming out two days ago. mike johnson told politico he expects to pass the bill witrsistent resistance to aid in the gop. johnson said in a thursday interview that aided to ukraine and israel could come up as one or even two separate bills. he anticipates it will have been using the suspension calendar which she has used often in recent days to overcome pushback from his party. next we have david from birmingham, alabama on our line for democrats. caller: good morning. i am calling for a couple of things. the only regret i have against

trump is the virus situation and the insurrection in washington d.c. the republican party had not yet gotten over obama winning. i mean white votes. they had not gotten over obama winning twice. if obama had won the first him and lost the second time, they would be okay. this is why they are tracked so hard to put trump back in the white house so they can undo what he had done. in alabama, they're talking about biden's age. we had george wallace in wheelchair in alabama. as a black person, we got more done in alabama under the george wallace administrn. biden has really done an

excellent job. ing thing i would like to see him do is move voting age to 16 years old sodo the john lewis act and other civil rights bills need to get past. in alabama, we need people like trump running because we get more done when we have people pushing back. biden has done an excellent job. a few things and is to improve on and he will be getting my vote in the next election. host: jerry is in fort river, new jersey on our line for republicans. caller: i was wondering if you can tell me a little more about the hundreds of thousands of illegal patients -- haitians biden flew into the country. i don't understandthat, flying in

illegals and letting them into the country. hundreds of thousands including the haitians, i have nothing against them, but we have the highest illegals crossing our border, the highest overdoses men playing in women's sports, three wars simultaneously and now he is flying in hundreds of thousands of illegals and letting them into the country. can you tell me about the flying of those illegals into the country? host: we are looking into that. i am not sure about the flying into the country but i have any article about border patrol bracing for haitianviolence in haiti. customs and border patrol officials are telling agents to prepare for an uptick in the number of haitian migrants tried

to flee violence. it comes after rent gang violence in the country. the united nations estimates heavily armed gangs controlled a percent of port-au-prince forcing thousands of haitians to flee their home. it is unclear how many things violence will attempt to make their way to the u.s.. i am looking for more information for you there on what you are referencing and here is a fact check from the washington post. claims that biden are secretly flying migrants into the country are unfounded. former president donald trump elevated false information that had gone viral on social media claiming the biden administration sick really flew hundreds of thousands of migrants into the u.s.. many posts refers to a report by the center of immigration studies group that advocates for immigration restrictions.

it said they refused to list airports were people arrived under a biden parole program that allowed cubans, patients and nicaraguans to stay in the u.s.. the u.s. customs and border patrol publishes -- this information is available on its website and in press releases. it does not list arriving reports. trump said today it was announced people were flown in from parts unknown. migrants were flown in an airplane. it was unbelievable. i set the must be a mistake they flew 325,000 migrants into our country. migrants are not being flown into the u.s. randomly. under a biden policy in effect since january 2023, up to 30,000 people from cuba, haiti

nicaragua and venezuela can enter the country monthly if they apply online with a financial sponsor. biden exercised his parole authority which under a 1952 law allowed him to admit people only on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or public benefits. the claim -- effects show this is not the case -- the facts show this is not the case. the agency reported on january 26 the program is not secretive. the center for immigration studies say they approved these flights setting -- citing an exemption.they came to 43 airports but the government refused to divulge which ones. people have -- people coming into the country have no path to

citizenship and the claim from the washington post is that these claims are unfounded. that is also the story from the associated press. i know that was a lot of information there. are you still caller: i saw the reporter who took the pictures of all of them getting off of the plane. i know you say it is parole but 320,000? biden parole 320,000 -- parole d 320,000? how could he parole 320 thousand in less than a six month period? i know they should demand that you braved that a young girl, he was on parole. i don't understand. host: we have several segments

we have done on immigration here on "washington journal." i encourage you to go to our website. we havhad interesting conversations on that. you can find that on our website, c-span.org. thanks for bearing with me while i went through that fact checking. let's go to eugene in boston massachusetts. caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: very nice to see you. take you for c-span -- thank you for c-span. i would like to comment on the conflict with israel. the way i view it is that america was essentially was a land -- land theft. so was the situation in israel and what you have is land thieves backing land thieves.

that is why these young people inc: colleges and schools are protesting. they're not stupid, the most informed generation america has ever had. these people calling in complaining about inflation, the first two things donald trump did when he became president was to cut taxes for the rich and raised tariffs. if you record your history, it was the raising of tariffs that created the great depression. he knew raising tariffs with that of inflation and that is why these prices are out of control. who do you think is going to pay that price? the consultant. people need to take their head from out of their butts and understand history. do research on the great depression. trump knows it with the raising of tariffs that created the

great depression. he took those top-secret documents and nuclear secrets down to and putin got his hold on them from there. that is what we have the war in ukraine. it is no quit instead putin has been meeting with hamas -- an acquaintance that putin has been meeting with hamas and hezbollah. the american people need to wake up. host: stephanie is in new jersey. good morning. caller: good morning. i just want to say that people keep complaining about the border situation. chubb -- trump told michael johnson not to vote on it, not to let it go through.

i don't understand why people can't understand that. trump is causing all of the chaos and he's not even in office. i cannot understand what he is allowed to control a party. he is not the speaker of the house or the president. i don't get it. host: john is in pennsylvania on outline for republicans -- powerline -- our line for publicans. caller: january 6, mike pence was in congress andspoke about arizona electoral college disputes. whatever happened with that? it never finished, can you show

the clip? thank you. host: i am not sure we will be able to get to tank you for bringing up that point. if others want to find it, that clip can probably be found on c-span.org. to david in cincinnati, ohio. go ahead. caller: these in the united states have to get over their xenophobia. montana, wyoming alaska, and nebraska together. you don't have 6 million people in the states altogether. and they are crying about the border. the population was going down and we always need immigrants. you have people crying about

their cap enough people for the jobs that need to be done. they have to get over this. it is silly. host: mike is in houston, texas on our line for publicans. caller: i feel like i am going to fall out of my shirt. we have immigration not controlled, your people coming in who don't speak the language, who are not educated. there might be good people and love their families as much as we love ours, but for don't have the education to become astronauts. we don't know if they have criminal records. these are things we deserve to know. our company -- our countries were defending and if people don't think we have terrorists coming across the border, they are mistaken. there is a person who testified named cassidy hutchinson for jim risch sixth and she testified not as a witness but she

testified trump longed for the stream will touch the steering wheel -- longed for the steering wheel. it's never happened. the driver was a super service driver -- a secret service t. his testimony was expunged. they had person they were attacking. they were out to get him, and they did. they delivered the goods. show me the man, i will find you the crime. that's what they were doing. joe biden, he is called an inflation machine. joe biden is responsible for the inflation. it was 2.3% when trump left office. 2.3% the year before covid. he is destroying the purchasing power of every american. tax cuts, tax cuts, you give tax cuts to people who pay taxes. the people who pay taxes are the people who get tax cuts.

the bottom 50% of the taxes pay 3% of the income tax, a cold hard facts straight from the irs. you can't give tax cuts to people not paying taxes. they will someday, many of them but the tax code is a problem. if we want to complain, and i agree the tax code is a problem reform it and make it transparent. have a transparent tax code. it is 30,000 or 40,000 pages. who does their own taxes after making $200,000 a year? i don't think they would. we need a transparent tax code to people on the left and right can agree what the tax codes can be and they can see it for themselves. have a tax code written by people in congress and people like joe biden who have never been held responsible for anything because he is a career politician. he never feels the pain come he never feels the pain of his bad ideas. host: ralph and augustine georgia on the line for

democrats. -- augusta georgia on the line for democrats. caller: that guy i wonder ifthe government texted those people before he sent them to new york. that is not wine calling -- why i'm calling. i hear people talk about when trump came downave him a chance then. do you remember when obama was first -- on inaugurationn n ight, the republicans, mccarthy and others, had a meeting with franklin's. the book is about charles draper support biden and the obama administration on anything that he wanted to do. then mitch mcconnell, who wasn't

at the meeting, but stated my job is to make sure he is a one-term president. these democrats before,r to republicans once president johnson approved the civil rights bill. ever since then, you have had the republicans, their intention was to turn everything back. roe v. wade. they have been waiting on their messiah, who was donald trump. who came in, and leading republicans were not going to vote with donald trump until he met with them privately. then mcconnell and all the other people said that they were going to support this guy and made an agreement. one last point that i will make.

barr says that he is not going to vote for donald trump. these people need to make that point clear to the people on fox news and other news, because if they keep preaching to the choir nothing is going to change. i ot more to say, but those are the points that i want to get out. host: on that last point, ralph former vice president pence was on fox news when he announced that he will not endorse former president trump for the 2024 election. he revealed that decision during an interview on fox news. this came just after super tuesday. in that interview, pence said trump is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we covered on in our four years. that is an article from cnbc

quoting the interview that was on fox news. gary is in connors villa, indiana on our independent line -- connorsville, indiana on our independent line. caller: i want to commend mike from houston, texas. you deserve a pat on the back, brother, for all of the things that you said. there are some things that i have to say now. i am dog sick and tired of campaign speeches that sound good, so you decide, i will take a chance and vote for this guy. and it is like he is laughing at you. i brought you into my sucker trap. you helped me get my power and now i will screw you over and give you higher taxes and all of the things that you thought you were going to get from me, you ain't going to get nothing. tough crap on you.

that is the way they all are. they say that they have your best interests at heart. no they don't. don't buy into that line. i've heard more truth from the national enquirer than from these campaign speeches. they want your support to get their power to have their way with you, not to help you out. i will lay it out. host: if you're skeptical of pretty much all of the politicians, what you plan to do when it comes to voting in november? caller: who says i'm going to vote? i'm not saying don't vote, but if you don't i don't blame you. what good does it do? and the well-being of individuals in this country mean nothing to politicians. it is all of scandal-r idden whatever you want to call it. it is for the sake of their best interests, and your best

interests don't mean bees to them. host: is there a difference voting in your local elections versus federal elections? caller: no. connorsville, indiana is ninth in the state. our police force doesn't care. we are a microcosm of america, i think. you look at us and detroit -- by the way, we used to be called little detroit. there's a good reason today because both cities were known for making cars, they had good paying jobs, good for all people. w, you see a decline in deterioration with both cities as far as the job market and the overall economy and everything. look up connorsville, indiana. it is in the southeastern part,

60 miles between us and indianapolis on one side. host: i appreciate your comments. let's hear from jeff in spring hill, florida on the democratic line. 'caller: i wanted to say three things. first of all, for me, they can make all their stories up and the rest of this about how bad biden is. the truth of the matter is that he is a proven traitor to america. if you vote for a traitor, that is what it makes you too. host: are you saying that of biden or of trump? caller: trump. what the hell. [laughtehe did the same thing that bin laden did and we killed him. the other thing that i wanted to say was, the washington journal

the next time that they have democrats on, congressmen senators, whoever, why the democratic party has not put constitutional amendments that require them to appearsubpoena. trump proved that america's constitution has no teeth. you can flip them the bird if you get a from congress. host: thank you, jeff. north dakota on our line for democrats. good morning sal. how are you today? caller: good morning. thank you very much for taking my call. great comment. great show. i applaud cnn as usual. for the record, let's get something straight. donald trump's moral compass is

so backwards so screwed up that i don't agree with them, i won't vote for him. i am native american. let's hope leonard peltier gets out of prison and back to his family. again, like i said, i'm native american. i believe in the government, but only to a certain point. number one my native american people were not treated very good by the government, with the they would not let us talk our own language, they cut our hair. we are here. we will be here. we are not going nowhere. we are native american. how would i say this? we werhe long nybody else. that's all i wanted to say. thank you very much for taking my call. i appreciate all of your viewers. remember one thing, free leonard

peltier. let him go back to his family this year. host: jesse california on our line for independents. good morning. caller: hearing all of these colors, you definitely see how americans are very distrustful of the government. it plays into robert f. kennedy jr. who campaigned waste off of government mistrust. you hear the people talking about how congress isn't doing anything. often it is one side that complains. we need to hold both sides accountable. you can't say that the other side is at fault. i'm glad that we have someone like kennedy who is willing to stand up. i am a big supporter of free speech. they may disagree with him, but i'm glad that they have someone who is an independent who is able to go out there and say, what do you want and not even

care. you see the democrats. i don't know that the republicans can see it, but democrats recently had this task force -- i don't know what it's called. task force trying to stopkennedy. the billboard in michigan connecting him with trump donors. the democrats what's coming. they know that kennedy is a possible challenger. he may have some conservative views but at heart he is a progressive. this is my first year voting and i'm probably going to vote for kennedy. i'm going to vote democrat everything else, because i want to send the white house and congress and message that the people are fed up, they want new leadership, and we are not going to take a rematch. thank you. host: thank you jesse. last up for now maria in land o lakes, florida on the line for democrats. caller: good morning.

thank you for taking my call. there many things to talk about. this country is in trouble. i wanted to specifically address a call that you received regarding the parole immigrants program. with all due respect secret, but it is true that it exists and it doesn't say much about it. how i know this is because on one of my visits to walmart i ran into a gentleman who was an attendant at walmart. he could not speak english. imagine that. so, i switched to spanish because i'm an immigrant myself. i have been in america for 50 years in october. thanks to this country i was able to come here legally. this gentleman, i said where did you come through?

did you come through the border, which many of theencounter do come through the border. he said no, there is a special program that's a parole program. many people have been flown to america through it. he couldn't tell me anymore because we were both busy but this program exists and many people don't know about it. it's not spoken with. the problem with immigrants in this country is not even a problem if you think about it. first off, america has always been extremely generous to immigrants. from time immemorial. from the time of ellis island. presidents encountered situations that required actions. i was from spain but lived in cuba during my childhood and early adulthood. i couldn't come to this country

because i had no one to claim me. so, i went back to my original country of spain where i still had citizenship, which was cuban. while there, -- host: maria, i have to cut you off because we need to get to our next guest but i appreciate your call and your story. that is all the time that we have for open forum. after the break we will come back and we will hear from nick troiano of unite america. he says that the political primary system is broken and he has some solutions. will hear from him. we will be right back. ♪ >> next week on the c-span network, the house and senate are in session on tuesday. both chambers will focus on passing the six remaining 2024 spending bills before midnight on friday to avoid a partial government shutdown. on tuesday, the former commander of u.s. central command and the former chair of the joint chiefs

of staff mark milley testify before the house mourn affairs committee on the biden administration's withdrawal of forces from afghanistan in 2021. on wednesday the house oversight committee investigates possible abuses of public office by president biden. hunter biden was invited to attend the hearing but declined. also wednesday, reserve chair jerome powell holds his quarterly press conference. on thursday, treasury secretary janet yellen and the director of management and budget testify before the house appropriations subcommittee on financial services and general government on president biden's 2020 five proposed budget. watch next week live on the c-span network or on c-span now our free mobile video app. also go to c-span.org for scheduling information. to watch live or in demand any time c-span, your unfiltered view of government.

>> book tv, every sunday on c-span two discussing their latest nonfiction books. at 5:00 p.m. eastern books on education, beginning with the author of school mom, which looks at the rise in parent activism and the attempt to gain control over public schools at the local level. and then at 6:00 p.m. eastern the plan for an alternative to the u.s. education system with the book, getting education right. n on afterwords the author of selling the dream discusses how multilevel marketing businesses make their profit. she is interviewed by a business insider senior correspondent. watch book tv every sunday on c-span2 and find a full schedule or program guide anytime on booktv.org. >> a healthy democracy doesn't

just look like this, it looks like this. where americans can see democracy at work, where citizens are truly informed a republic thrives. get informed straight from the source on c-span. unfiltered, unbiased, word for word. from the nation's wherever you are because the opinion that matters the most is your own. this is what democracy looks like. >> washington journal continues. host: welcome back. we are joined by nick troiano the executive director of unite america and author of the book the primary solution, rescuing our democracy from the fringes. guest: thanks for having me. host: can you tell me about unite america and what your mission is? guest: unite america is a nonpartisan organization working

to advance election reform at the state level across the country. our mission a more representative, functional government capable of solving some of the big challenges facing our country. host: who do you work with? how is your group funded? guest: we work with state-level campaigns around the country and over a dozen national organizations as partners in this movement. we raise our resources from individuals and institutions who on specific policies, but do agree that our democracy should represent and be responsive to a majority of voters. we are grateful for their support and excited about this year being a big year for election reform with campaigns to help improve and protect our democracy in states from coast-to-coast. host: why this year in particular you think is a good year for election reform? caller: i've been list i have been listening to some of the callers and there's a lot of frustration with our

governments, our elections, and that creates demand for a better way of electing our leaders. and more desire to see our institutions be accountable to voters. that is really what these reforms are intended to deliver for voters. to give them more choice, more voice, more power. we are willing to the presidential primary cycle, even though both of the major candidates have already crossed the threshold for what they probably need to be their party's nominees. how do we get to the party primary system that we use today? guest: it certainly wasn't designed by our founders or written into the constitution. they didn't prescribe party primaries because they didn't desire or anticipate political parties to begin with. they feared them and warned us against them. nevertheless, parties developed and they had to develop a way of choosing who the standardbearer with be in general elections. for the first 100 years of our

public the party bosses in the proverbial smoke-filled rooms gilded age when a lot of corruption existed in these political machines, reformers demanded a better system and the parties were as the population grew, the old caucus system was not so functional. in 1904, it was the first year that wisconsin became the first state to use a direct primary. that means that voters would have a direct role play to help parties choose who their nominee would be. that is a system that we've used ever since. it was created a little over a as our whole election system has evolved over time as well. that system has worked pretty well through the 20th century, but today it is not. it is failing the country, the political partners, and the voters and it's time wrove it.

host: i would like to read an excerpt from your book, the primary solution. many americans throw up their hands and call our system dysfunctional, but it's actually functioning exactly as we should expect because our elections reward this kind of the biggest tragedy in our politics today is not that the american people are divided on many issues, it is that our congress won't act even when we agree. a major reason for the disconnect between the politicians and we the people is the partisan primary. primaries have become a leading weapon used by activists, extremists and special interest groups to punish politicians who care more about national interests than feeding the other side. they have become an obstacle to governance and a threat to democracy itself. can you explain more about what you mean? why partisan primaries are such an issue for american politics? guest: i believe party primaries are the biggest solvable problem in our politics today. on one hand, they sorts of division

and dysfunction. they're disenfranchising voters. here's what i mean about the primary problem. right now, 83% of our congressional seats are considered locked for one party or another. these are overwhelmingly democratic or republican districts. some got there because they have been gerrymandered but most because we sorted geographically where democrats are more dominant in cities and republicans in rural areas. that means it's over before it begins and it is only the dominant party's primary in chooses who will represent those voters. the second problem is that in those primaries very few voters participate. one reason is because most states discriminate against who is even allowed to participate in those primaries. 15 states don't allow independents to vote in those primaries.

of those who can vote, very few do. those who do are typically those who i fans who show up at the tailgate before the game. the most passionate in our politics. they wind up deciding and have overwhelming influence and have overwhelming influence in who gets elected. that is how we end up in november with an election between candidates that don't represent the mainstream who many voters perceive as having to choose between the lessers of two evils. 2022 according to research our organization dead, only 20% of americans cast ballots in the primaries that effectively determined 83% of our leaders in congress. 8% electing 83%. if you ever wonder why congress doesn't seem to be representing what the majority of americans want, is because the majority of americans don't elect our congress and party primaries are the reason why. host: i'll read another excerpt from your book about that point

in particular. when democratic leaning districts nominate far left and republican districts nominate leaders far right of the median voter, the result is a congress that is much more polarized than the american people. such an outcome is not an aberration. it's a logical outcome of elevating the voting power of the fringes while effectively disenfranchising tens of millions of voters. this dysfunctional outcome further drives the polarization, discontent, and cynicism of the american people in a vicious downward spiral. is there any appetite to change the system? guest: there is. i call it the biggest solvable problem with emphasis on solvable becausething that we can do about this. our constitution gives every state the power to set the time, place, and manner of their el that states can experiment with how to run primaries. what we are seeing now is that

many states are moving away from party primaries altogether to replace them with nonpartisan primaries in which every eligible voter can support any candidate regardless of party in every election. in the general election, whoever earns majority support wins. these an overwhelming number of democrats, republicans, and independents support. you have states like alaska, most recently in 2020, that cast a ballot initiative to implement the first top four primary system in the country. we are seeing the success of that with more voters empowered to cast more meaningful ballots in their elections and produce elected leaders to a majority of their voters, not just the eight of their party base. -- 8% of their party base. host: can you talk about other ways to choose candidates besides partisan primaries that we have seen working well?

guest: what i argue for in the book is disentangling the process. that the parties should used to recruit and endorse the candidates that they want. separate from that from the system of taxpayer-funded government-run elections that should decide how to best determine which candidate represents the majority of voters. the parties and private organizations have their process. voters should have their own. in states that have moved in that direction, thecj have become a winnowing process. taking a potentially large field of candidates and narrowing it to a options in the general election. that allows voters to be able to determine who they want to represent them. by the way, a lot of voters want to make nuanced decisions on their ballot, not just supporting all republicans or all democrats. they should have the freedom to

choose between those candidates at every level. host: taking your calls for our guest. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents on (202) 748-8002. with mary grace in williamsburg virginia on our line for democrats. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. thank you nick, for explaining these different obstacles. but, what i've noticed with congress that has become the maga party, so you don't have true republicans that fight for the john lewis act whichch mcconnell didn't support that. for years, he did. electing a supreme court that the mitch mcconnell stacked. we the people, we have no choice

in this sometimes. i am very frustrated and i feel sad for america. we have mr. trump that is doing things that are unconstitutional , but he's getting away with it. i don't understand where the justice is. help. also in that process i haven't read your book, but i'm sure that you have good intentions and your organization wants to do something about this, i want a trial. many of us want to see a trial host: that is a little aside from the primary system, but do you want to respond? guest: i think that there is obvious frustration with candidates and elected officials in the system. some people see the problem as trump, some see the problem as biden. i write in the book that members of congress sometimes get

outsized attention on the left or right, whether that is representative alex io consort has -- representative aoc or marjorie taylor greene. they get less than 10% support in their first party primary. that contributes to so much of the dysfunction. we spent most of our time focused on and arguing about the individual politicians and ignoring how they got there. how they got there ultimately determines the incentives that influence the way they behave, talk vote. the reason that i wrote this book that we focus on that system and incentive that it produces if we want to change these outcomes that we are so upset about. host: rick is in hardin kentucky. caller: as a blue dog and

retired democrat i have had a lot of time to pay attention to what's going on. in 2019, there was a case filed that recently came to court based on dr. hillman's report. thursday of last week, there was a court case filed in the supreme court versus the secretary of arizona that is not in their docket yet but has to do with the voting machines too. we have selections, not elections. do you agree? guest: ily agree that our elections have become an illusion of choice. most of our elections are decided well before november. we are here now in march of

2024, and nearly a quarter of congress has effectively already been elected because the party primaries have already determined the winners in the state's districts. mississippi just held its primaries last week, and it is four congressional districts. all four will elect a republican no matter what. in three of uncontested . only one had more than one candidate on the ballot. i don't know if you can call that an election when voters don't have a choice. if you look at congress with less than 20% approval but 90 plus percent of the members getting reelected, you have to realize that we are missing a system of accountability. that is because our elections have been devoid of competition, devoid choice. if we want change, we have to change the structure of them. host: mark in fort lauderdale, florida on the line for democrats.

caller: hello, good morning. thank you for c-span, and thank you for o your guest. i know that you cannot like this very much, and i am a democrat -- strangely, you've had four or five democrats in a row but you will have to explain that. you are absolutely wrong in this pursuit of yours. country's political problems with the primary system and the fact that they are closed primaries shows you haven't learned much in the 10 or 15 years you have been hanging around politics since you lost your pr a republican. we have a lot of problems in the electoral system, but it's not the primary system. it is the fact that you have tiny states with a couple hundred thousand people that only have two senators. yes, it is the gerrymandering. when something is gerrymandered,

opening the primaries is not going to give a democrat a chance to win in a republican gerrymandered district or republican in a democrat gerrymandered district. isn't what america was founded for and by. changing the primary system isn't going to moderate politics. i could go on and on. host: let's nick respond. he ran for the u.s. house of representatives in 2014 from pennsylvania's 10th district. at the time, i believe that you were the youngest candidate and most successful independent of that cycle? guest: yes. i did not run in a republican primary. i was republican at the time but left the party because of how dysfunctional congress was getting. i cared about the country's fiscal situation and saw both parties were not serious about working together to address it. i ranrt

to hold at the time of the republican congressman accountable for that. i wrote about in the book is not only an academic exercise, but my experience running for office and meeting people across the political spectrum that can find a lot of common ground and shared a frustration that our leaders are not responsive to us . the issue of money in politics gerrymandering etc. it became clear to me by the end of my campaign that the problem that i was trying to address wasn't only my congressman, who i saw as part of that problem but the incentives he was responding to weren't in pennsylvania. there was partisan gerrymandering so was running and was designed to produce a republican no matter what. and then one million independent voters, including my parents at ching this now, cannot participate in the elections that they fund. it is unconscionable. with that produces fact that when my congressman was first elected, he was elected in

a three-way race with 41%. a little over 50,000 people in a district of close to one million. that is not the way that our representative democracy is supposed to fun, by giving outsized and disproportionate influence to the base of both party's voters. the way to change that is to address the primary system like we have in the past. i mentioned that we invented this a little over a century ago and states are experimenting with howove it today. it's not a panacea if we do this, but it is the most impactful, most viable reform at our fingertips right now if we want to address a lot of the dysfunction that we see in washington. host: susan in massachusetts on the line for independents. caller: good morning. good morning to you. i 100% endorse what you are

promoting, and your activism. i 100% support. i live in a one-party highly gerrymandered state. rates in non-general elections, even in general, are very low. longtime incumbents often run unopposed. independents can vote, but you have to choose either a republican or democratic ballot. any of us are very nuanced. we may support someone who is more right of center on one issue but left of center on the other. they want completely partisan line primaries. the other thing is, i have close ties to canada. i think in this parliamentary multiparty democracy, i think

they are more noble and get things done in a way that america no longer does. i see also people now, instead of going to the voting booth and amending reforms like you have, they want to do democracy by twitter. host: you are raising a lot of really good points. let's i think that the caller gives a good example. in the last midterm elections in massachusetts all nine of the congressional seats were decided in the primary. there was only one the ballot for each of those seats. how do you call that an election? the flipside was true in oklahoma. every seat was decid republican primary. independents were denied the right to dissipate. this is the reality in most of our states a elections.

when we see reform implemented, as we did in the last election in alaska, we see a diversity of outcomes. voters in alaska statewide reelected a conservative governor moderate senator moderate for the house. it is about empowering voters to choose. what is empowering about this is that you get to choose who you want to represent you at every level of office on your ballot. that is what election systems should be about. we are unique in the world and our country, the only democracy in the world that even has direct primaries that voters participate. i think that it goes to show that we still have a lot to do to experiment with a better way of electing our leaders. host: quite a few people with questions for you. let's hear from steve in shannon, illinois on the independent line. caller: hello, good morning.

the previous caller touched on something that has always bothered me. there's so much money in politics. it seems like whoever has the most money wins. for ads and such. why don't they model something like canada where they all have an equal amount of airtime? that way a bus driver can run for congress, and so on? there is so much corrupt money in this that i think it would be a lot better off if they thought about that a little bit and get the money out of this stuff. host: ok. guest: certainly agree. there is a lot of money in politics. our leaders spend a long time raising money. the reforms i'm talking about today are designed to ensure that the money being spent in our politics is at least going towards to try to convince a majority of voters to support this candidate, or that, this policy or that one. special interest groups which can spend relatively little sums

of money can have outsized influence when they are just trying to influence a small number of vo party primaries. in the book, i rise about the rise of the phenomenon around when primary went from being a noun to a verb. the primary someone means to challenge an incumbent because they have not towed the party line. two races in the early 2000 swear were that was true. i married from the right as a republican senator in pennsylvania in 2004 and joe lieberman from the left as a democrat in two thousand six. the groups that were behind this were two groups that raise a lot of money to spend in these primaries because they found it to be an impactful strategy of not only influencing one race but sending a signal to the of congress that you could be next if you don't adhere to their ideological purity tests. money and politics becomes exacerbated in our current system of primaries. host: a question from text

message from doug, an independent voter in toronto ohio. do you think most people even really care about the process? do you believe most voters are informed on the candidates? do you think those most vocal are generally voicing their grievances? guest: book, and united america is working at this every day, because i think right now thssbelow the radar. that most of our time and attention is like a business that is examining the final product off of the assembly line but totally ignoring the assembly line itself. i think that we need to refocus our attention if we are unhappy with the results that we are getting. that is what is happening now. why i am optimistic is in close to a half dozen states citizens are rising up this year to sign petitions for ballot initiatives to get them on the ballot to win these

reforms. we see them in denver, colorado. colorado will work on this to follow alaska's lead in advocating for a top four nonpartisan primary. we see this in nevada, oregon, montana, south dakota, arizona. states leveraging the power that they have to create a more representative democracy. more and more people are going to be waking up that this is the path forward to fix our politics. host: florida on the line for republicans. good morning. caller: good morning, mr. troiano. and this is probably the first time i've ever called in. i may sound a little nervous but bear with me. many of the things i've heard you say this morning i kind of agree with. that number of 83%, maybe even er. a lot of the rules and

regulations about our elections is probably beyond my pay grade. to me income of the simple fix is term limits. i think term limits will solve a lot of the problems that we have . we have congressman in office today that have been there for 40, 50 years. some generational. when republicans are in charge, the democrats want term limits. when the democrats are in charge, the republicans want term limits. to me, we need term limits. the only people against it are the existing congressmen who have been there for the past 80 years. host: weigh in on the idea of term limits. how does that factor into reform, particularly in terms of the primary process? guest: what is especially true that the colors talking about is that we have a congress that is steadily getting older.

also, a congress of people these positions of representation into careers and are staying there longer. the question is, what do we do about that? how do we get a congress with fresh perspectives that remains responsive to the people? term limits blunt instrument to deal with that problem. one unintended consequence taken to itsnies voters choice to say that you can no longer reelect your member if you think that they are doing a good job. i support term limits but i don't think that they are a silver bullet in the situation. the more effective way of getting to the same goal having more influence over who is electing us in congress is to have more competition in our elections. this was raised by a caller before, changing the primary process, doesn't matter if districts are so lopsideit does, because

under the reforms i'm talking about we get to elections that are not only a binary choice in november between one democrat or one . if you advance four candidates to the general election, you can have a choice between several candidates from both at all. perhaps from a third-party. when you have the option of breaking them according to preference and using an instant runoff, voters are liberated to vote for the candidate that they most support rather than being afraid of wasting their vote or spoiling the election. ultimately, that is going to be a stronger and more effective lever to pull if we want ton have greater say over who represents us and get out the problem that folks are going to washington and staying there without any accountability after their first election. host: lancaster, california on the line for democrats. caller: good morning, c-span. nick, there are three ideas. one is to create a digital po box for every american citizen.

the post office originally was created so that politicians can communicate with their constituents. it's one of the uses. if we create a digital po box for every citizen and politicians can communicate with people through that instead of the entertainment inter which has become totally out of control where in many cases one candidate is slandering the other candidate, that could help. the other is reverse citizens united and implement rank-choice voting. host: what do you think of 1, 2 and three? digital po box reverse citizens united, rank-choice voting? guest: rank-choice voting, we haven't talked about that too much. the combination of reform that alaska adopted is a top four primary and to use rank-choice voting in

the general election. when you have four candidates on your ballot you want to make sure that someone wins not only with paralyses support more vote anyone else, but with majority support. the way to do that is rank-choice voting where on your ballot you have the option of not only selecting one but raking candidates according to preference, which is what we do when we are faced with multiple choices and every other aspect of our lives. if no candidate receives a majority of first-place votes, what happens is that there is an instant runoff. the candidate with the least support gets dropped out and you look to their voters' second choice and redistribute those balance and run the tabulation again. if someone has a majority, the election is over. if not, the process continues. it happens instantly, it is an instant runoff, and it is designed to surface the candidate with the broadest support of the electorate.

the other advantage of rank-choice voting that i believe in, as someone who ran as independent for congress, is that it allows more choice on your ballot allowing voters the freedom of supporting nontraditional candidates that they may otherwise on or spoiling the election, as i said before. this is very important and levant in the context of this year's presidential election, for example, where we have two broadly unpopular candidates getting nominated from the democrat and republican party. and several candidates already running as third parties. there is a lot of debate and discussion about whether that's a good thing or bad thing and with the unintended consequences would be. if we had rank-choice voting for president this year, we could be having a much different debate. not if someone should run or not, but what they believe and what is their case for support in allowing people to truly express the full spectrum of their preference.

that is what several states have adopted. the first state to adopt rank-choice voting was in 2018. oregon is looking at it this year and over 50 minutes of polities are doing it. it is one of the more popular reforms out there right now. the key part of fixing our republican primaries as well. host: david. caller: yes sir. thanks c-span for taking my call. mr. troiano i agree with a lot of what you're saying. there are a couple of states in the general election, i think maine and kansas, where delegates are assigned by whoever wins that district as opposed to winner take all. i think that that would help in electing representatives. two, in louisiana when i lived there we had instant runoff.

if you have three or four people running, the top two vote would have an instant runoff so you would end up with the majority. third, they had it right about having elections on saturday. less people work on a saturday. you would not have to worry about shutting down schools when people use the school system for polling places. those are my three comments. guest: i appreciate you raising louisiana. they have one of the more unique election systems in the country. in the 1970's they got rid of their party primaries altogether. instead, there is a general elec can be listed on the ballot. if no candidate gets the majority there is a runoff election held a few weeks later. that is a runoff election. not instant. instant runoff would be if you were to rank your candidates and

in one fell swoop you can get someone elected in a single round election. what we are seeing in louisiana the impact of the reform over the past four years has produced a state legislature that is theized in the country. you see a democrat holding some committee chairmanships. you saw in the last eight years until he was turned limited, a moderate democrat get elected governor because he was able to take positions that were broadly supportive of voters in the e. even if they were not the type of positions that would get him through a democratic primary in any other state. that is what led louisiana to become the only deep south state to expand medicaid to hundreds of thousands of its citizens. we have seen a positive impact of louisiana's election system. unfortunately, we often see a new governor there that is trying to roll that back. we are seeing forces around the country trying to take our

primary process and the other direction and make it more close to so that party leaders at insiders even greater influence and weaponize these primaries to advance their own partisan agenda. not only do we have to be on offense to reform primaries but to protect against reforms have made in the past. host: good morning, debbie. caller: good morning. i am only calling on the mail-in ballots. we received hours, my husband and i. i am obviously in massachusetts a small town of approtei'm not exact on the population. we received them. my husband voted for biden in 2016 and i voted for trump. i am republican. we had whatever choice we wanted, not by any party.

mine came with all, whatever i wanted. his came in only democrat. he wants trump to be president so i crossed it off and i put republican donald trump. i got a call from the town hall telling me that i could not do that. that was against the law. that he has to unregistered to vote and register again. why did i have all four choices and he had just democrat? two people called this show and said they had vote democrat on the card. i don't believe that is fair. that is already unfair. you should look into that yourself because that is your job, or whatever you're doing right now. i would like a dancer answer on that -- an answer on that. guest: i cannot speak to your exact experience, but why are we

getting different ballots depending on our party registrations? we should be able to register to vote and identify with whatever party we want, but for taxpayer-funded elections the government is running we should all be able to vote in the same way. which is to pick any candidate that we want for every office. in some states when you are an independent, for example, you can choose which party's primary. in some states with a nonpartisan primaries you get a full flavor of candidates on your ballot. why this is so important is if we want our governing institutions represent a true majority of voters we have to have a system that's able to who the majority supports. this issue is pretty foundational when you consider it. it is and if government has the consent of the governed. we fought a revolution to establish that principle. when a percent of americans are electing 83% of congress -- 8%

of americans are electing 83% of congress they don't have our consent which is why reform is critical. host: our line for democrats, go ahead, thomas. caller: good morning, c-span. i would like to ask the gentleman, he was talking about political parties and how pacs influence elections. i would like to know, is his organization a fringe organization and does he pay taxes? the smaller places that you named, like alaska, these are small population places, not huge places. if you look at the percentage of people who vote, there is nothing wrong with their election process. the problem is people don't vote. we have to admit it. i would like free you to answer my three questions.

host: the three questions were: do you consider your group a organization, does your group a taxes, but i missed the last one. guest: is rescuing our democracy from the fringes so we don't consider ourselves to be a fringe group. second, we are a nonprofit organization. folks contributing to the organization are paying taxes but the organization is tax exempt. the third question, i did talk about alaska, but the other states include california, which is the most populous state in the country that adopted these reforms in 2010. it was a republican state legislator who leveraged his influence in the legislature to ensure a b the voters. governor schwarzenegger put his support behind it.

democrats, republicans and voters endorsed it. a decade later the system is in use. in the primary we californian cast a meaningful ballot because they were able to choose between any candidate for office. these reforms are used in red ue states, small states, large states. the goal is to get them used in more states. if we can adopt nonpartisan primaries in six more states by 2026, which is our goal, we will effectively liberate a dozen more u.s. senators and dozens of representatives. liberate them from the problem party primaries to govern in the public interest to put country over party and work together to solve issues that we care about. climate, immigration, health care, and so forth. the biggest barrier is not that the party bosses are posing us in some states, it is our own ability to reclaim the agency that we have,use the tools

that our democracy gives us to fix what's wrong with our democracy today. host: troiano is executive director of unite america and author of the book the primary solutions: rescuing our democracy from the fringes. thank you to everyone who called in with your questions and commentss that is it for us today. there will be another addition of washington journal at 7:00 tomorrow. we hope to see you there. ♪

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