gleaned. peter: the author is carlos lozada. the book is called "the washington book:politics and po" thank you for spending one hour with us here on c-span. mr. lozada: appreciate it. thank you. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. announcer: all q&a >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. funded by these television companies and more, including charter communications. >> charter is proud to be recognized as one of the best

internet providers and we are just getting started, building 100,000 miles of new infrastructure to reach those who need it most. >> charter communications supports c-span as a public service. along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> coming up on washington journal this morning, we will take your calls and comments live. then, a discussion about the role of climate issues in the presidential campaign and spending by the legal survesho'. we will speak with the senior vice president of campaigns, pete mae smith. and then charlie spangdiscusses.

>> good morning, it is monday, march 25. we will begin with your view of the house gop majority. after passing that 1.2 trillion dollars spending package. and the ousting of mike johnson, we want to know your view of republicans in the house. democrats, dial in at (202) 748-8000b. republicans, (202) 748-8001 doll in (202) 748-8001 -- republicans, dial in at (202) 748-8001. an independents, (202) 748-8002. the washington times, saying cold comfort for mike johnson with the next wave of troubles growing. alex miller notes in his

reporting that mike johnson, after concluding a spending battle for the current fiscal year, anderror in his fractured republican majority, going forward. then there is the washington post this morning. their headline, weekend house gop majority reckons with johnson's leadership. less than six months after a faction of republicans ousted kevin mccarthy, republicans are la the direction and questioning whether the replacement with speaker mike johnson was the right person for the job. wall street editorial defending mike johnson. too many house republicans would prefer to be in the minority. and they write this. marjorie taylors -- marjorie taylor greene's motion to oust mr. johnson poses the deception behind the coup against

mccarthy. after we criticized the coup as destructive and self-serving, matt wrote us a letter, saying that in electing mr. johnson, the gop had a real conservative as the leader. so, what's wrong with mr. johnson now? apparently, because he's not willing to indulge, because he acts like shutting down the government, mr. johnson is a sellout too. marjorie taylor greene, republican of georgia, joined the sunday morning futures to exling a motion to vacate against speaker mike johnson, saying he failed to secure the border. here is what she had to say. >> there's nothing in this bill that's a core -- secures the border. -- that secures the border. it does everything to horrible deadly invasion happening every civil day.

speaker johnson's one chance, his one chance to truly secure the border is with the power of th's in these funding bills. if speaker johnson really wanted to secure the border like he promised all of us he would the american people, he would have told chuck schumer, we will not pass any government funding bills until our border has hr to or the lake and riley -- hr two or the lake and riley -- laken riley act in it. he let chuck schumer pass the bill in the house because speaker johnson forced it on republicans. >> but people -- >> the bill did nothing for the border. it funded horrific trans-woke policies. this was not a republican bill. this was a democrat bill. host: marjorie taylor greene on her motion to vacate, she says

it is a warning to speaker mike johnson or, consider it a pink slip is what she told reporters. we want to know your view of the house republican majority. from the wall street journal's reporting, why mike johnson can't run the house without democrats help. the speaker has needed a bipartisan coalition to pass key bills amid republican infighting . take a look at the graphics they put together here. here is the average share of votes provided by each party on must, must pass spending bills. there have been about six of them in this 118th congress. 37% of the votes to pass these have come from republicans. 63% have come-- democrats. these are the no votes on the key spending bills. 95% of no votes have been

republicans. 5% from democrats. let me break down the republican party in the house. here is the average of how publicans voted on must pass spending bills. in more conservative districts, 47% voted yes. in the more conservative districts, here is the portion that voted no or did not vote. in less conservative districts, they were more likely to vote yes on these must pass spending bills. if you break it down even more as the wall street journal did this morning, the mainstreet caucus, the problem solvers caucus, the republican governance group and republicans who represent swing districts that biden won in 2020, 70% of its members voted yes on average. the governing wing, that includes the gop elected leadership, committee chair, rules committee members,

appropriations, subcommittee chairs, 32 members of that, 60% of the group, would vote yes on these must pass pieces of legislation. the hot, members of the -- hawk, 54% of this■q group voting yes on these must pass groups. and then there is the opposition. the house freedom caucus and republicans who voted to oust kevin mccarthy. one member, 3% of that group, voting to move forward on these must pass spending bills. kevin mccarthy, the former speaker, was on cbs yesterday. this is what he had to say about a motion to vacate the current speaker. >> the difficulty here is when you allow eight republicans to

join all of the democrats to determine who can run the house decide one way, it creates some chaos. we have to move through this, but the country first and then we can move on. speaker johnson is doing the best job he can. it's a difficult situation. the advice i would give to the conference and the speaker's do not be fearful of the motion to vacate. i do not think they can do it again. that was based on matt gaetz trying to stop an ethics complaint. i don't think the democrats would go along with it. focus on the country and focus on the jobs we are supposed to do and actually do it fearlessly. just move forward. host: patrick mchenry, one of your lieutenants, said you can either die a speaker and worry about them taking you out■ó or

worry every day like it's your last. are you suggesting -- >> no, not at all. i don't believe speaker johnson is afraid all. i don't believe the motion will come up. moylor greene put in notice is not privileged. it's not being called up for a vote. last time, he went three weeks without congress being able to act. you can't do anything if you don't have a speaker. i think they have moved past that we have a lot of challenges. we have ukraine funding and a border wide open. those are the issue■s the county is looking on the economy and others. if we focused on the country, i think the petheir own problems. host: the former speaker, kevin mccarthy, talking about this idea of a motion to vacate the

current speaker. he does not fear it and does not think it will happen. what's to come when they■w retun from this two week spring break? the senate is also out on a two week spring break. when they come back, they have to deal with ukraine funding, which speaker johnson said would come to the floor. you heard him talk about pfizer and doing more on the border. your view on house gop majority, michael ss, in a word, chaos. and then you have stephen in miigan, if the republicans wanted to secure the borde ey passed a bipartisan border security bill. the one that was negotiated in the senate was a wish list for republicans. and jim jordan would have been a better consee house speaker is what joann little says. as arvate, i am

disgusted epubcan leadership. theytendo compromise and get nothing in agreement. ending is out of control and the border is wide open. pathetic. what is your view of the house gop majority? you can join us in a text with your first name, city and state, at (202) 748-8003, on facebook.com/c-span and on x at c-span/w j. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8003. chip roy was on cnn. this is what he had to say about the $1.2 trillion spending package. >> i want some sense of sanity on spending. some sense of sanity on the board he.

-- border. some sense of sanity on the issues people care about. we got none of that. we got a doubling down on the thing that the people who sent me to washington and the vast majority of texans and americans are frustrated with. when ington as a staffer 20 years ago, the national debt was 6 trillion dollars. i went back to texas and did a bunch of stuff. i come back to congress and we are at $34.5 trillion. both parties are equally to blame over that time. the entire establishment in washington keeps spending money we don't have, racking up debt tot are undermining their safety and well-being. laken riley died because of mass parole policies. that man against the law and she died. we have hundreds of examples. texans, people all across the country. we do nothing to secure the borderzero. that's the problem the american

people are looking at and they are frustrated by it. you asked what i would've done,. i would have passed a cr that triggered the calves. we would have cut the bureaucracy and then we could have begun trying to negotiate on border security. host: you heard from chip roy on what he would have done if he had control over the house republican majority if key was in leadership. this morning, we are getting your thoughts on house in the house. we want to know your view of them. michael in long island, new york. republican. hey, michael. caller: good morning, how are you? host: good morning. caller: i want to say the 88 republicans that voted yes on this bill, they should just leave and not come back.

they say they are never for abortion. they are always against abortion and then they fund it. host: how would you describe those republicans that voted yes? caller: cowards. cowards. not even a fight. they just ran out of town, voted for abortion that they run on and say we are totally against abortion, no matter what. and then they fund it? disgraceful. host: what do you think about mike johnson? caller: he has to go. horrible. host: you would want another motion to vacate and perhaps another retracted speaker battle on the floor? caller: because theybiden four . they just gave joe biden four more years. i hope that donald trump does 3÷because he can't fix everythig by himself.

these republicans are nothing but cowards. host: who should be speaker for the republicans? caller: that's a good question. i think it should be democrats. to democrat. i've had enough republicans. they don't stick together. they say things they don't mean. i agree with chip roy, totally. host: how could you switch to being a democrat giving your abortion stance? -- given your abortion stance? caller: i might change that too. host: dan is a democratic caller. ority? caller: chip roy on cnn and like these last republicans, you didn't hear one word out of chip y trump, when he had a $.2 trillion to increase the budget.

250,000, over $2 trillion of that cuts to the top 90%. he didn't say one word. the only time this trump colt thinks about the debt is when democrats are in power. they must think of your body whm and trump. everybody ain't stupid. $8.2 trillion. ok? and that's the most of any president and he did it in four years. give trump four more years and it would have been $16 trillion. they come on and say --

a nice reminder, where were you at when donald trump spent $8.2 trillion? and also, what did you say -- what was your reaction? just ask the question, you don't have to take a side. i think that's a legitimate question. host: all right. dan, there. we have asked that quewe have hs on. in other news related to the house majority is this headline in the washington times. house investigators to refer the biden case to the justice department. action is more likely than an impeachment effort. susan and mallory wilson reporting for the washington times. they led an investigation into president biden, saying he is planning to send criminal referrals against present biden

and others to be as it impairs -- appears increasingly unlikely that republicans will vote to impeach him. what's your reaction of that this morning? your view of the house gop majority, increasingly unlikely that they don't move on the impeachment effort. house oversight and committee chair, a republican said criminal referrals would provide greater accountability for mr. biden than impeachment, given the long odds for conviction. >> they say they can have difficulty getting the narrowly led republican house to provide enough votes to impeach the president. he wants to ensure accountability and accountability. he's been pretty clear that at the conclusion of this investigation, the committee is going to issue a report referras and he likely will introduce legislation as well.

your reaction to that news on the front page of the washington times this morning, as it relates to the house republican majority. let's hearrom rich in ohio, republican. caller: we have serious problems in washington. all the presidents of to reagan spent $1 trillion. that's all they spent, all those years up to reagan. we are cracking through $1 trillion every three months. the house is trying to deal with that. what's face it, when we buy a fire truck, we have to pay for a fire truck. we don't have to pay for 80% of abortion things on the fire truck. we build interstate highways a2. we can't survive with that -- into pork and we can't survive with that. the other one is taking people's money to do abortion. you can't take other peoples's

money to buy weapons to do anything on abortion. so far, we have held that for years. the other thing is on the states. host: on the abortion part, that's included in this. the hyde amendment language is in right. but you can't spend other peoples -- that is a complex thing if we are going to have problems with abortion, cut the number of abortions in half. ex for people. it's an important item. all the presidents up to reagan and now every three beyond $1 t. we can't afford this. everstate is not allowed to print money beyond what they have. they would make a budget in

washington and say hospice is they are putting the budget in before they spend the money? here's half $1 trillion, you are going to have to pay. you can't do that. host: in ohio, wt's in this $1.2rillion funding deal? there is more to it. $490 million for 22,000 bord patr $824 billion for defense, an increase over 3%. it restricts funding to the u an agency that provides relief for palestinian refugees. $6 billion for biden's emergency plan for aids relief. $1.65 billion for the global fund. 65 million dollars for election security grants. 0.transportation security administration and $200 million for fbi headquarters.

there is more provisions inthatf some of the provisions. carlton in louisville, kentucky, democratic caller. your view of the house republican majority? caller: i think it's a clown show because they are doing trump business. they already had a deal to secure the border and trump told them to turn it down. like a fool, they turned it down. trumtrump is running for the president. he's not the president of the united states. more or less, the republicans need to do the people's bidding and not trump's bidding. good day to you. >> carlton in louisville, kentucky. sarah. caller: i'm just not sure what people don't understand. thisom the beginning, which was perpetrated on this country and the like, it was done by

your politicians in china, ok? when covid was going on, did you not notice they -- host: we are talking about the house republican majority. do you have thoughts on that? guest: money goes to. then babysitting you and spending all the money on it. publicans are in this. if they weren't in it, they wouldn't be doing it. host: marlene in minnesota, independent. caller: good morning. i would like to say one thing. on the $8.5 trillion that trump spent that everybody seems to co about, i'm wondering if you could tell me was the majority of that money spent for covid? host: marlene, i don't know. what is your view of the house republican majority? caller: i'm disappointed.

we should have closed down the government and done a line by line on the budget. half of the stuff you put on the screen does not tell the whole depth. we are supporting sending money to egypt. we are sending money to jordan to build a wall. why aren't any of those things put up so that people can see exactly what's in that bill. people who don't have a computer. another thing i would like to say is on this last bill that they cast about the border, with everybody complaining that the republicans did not go along with it, it's because nobody knows what else was in that bill. there was a lot of things that should not have been in there. that's why the republicans did not pass it through the house. host: marlene, what do you think

of speaker johnson given everything you just said? should he stay or should they move to vacate? caller: i don't think we should go thrgh another fight like that. i think we need to give him more of a chance but i'm just saying that he's -- he is put into a position where, you know, he's over surmounted with the stuff the democrats want. i said i know you have to give and take. i know that. but i think they should have just shut down the democrats hao barter once in a while instead of always the republicans. we need to get people that have got some strength in our thing. we have way too many rhinos in our senate and in our house. people need to start being aware of when they vote, what kind of people they are voting for.

don'tgo start doing some researn these people because we have way too many rhinos thatmocrats. they say they are republicans and they are independent or whatever. they are not. they are totally rhinos. host: do you not need, in order to have the majority, do you not need a coalition, a big ten of republancaller: absolutely, you. but i want to say one thing, the people that are leading our house of representatives now, like the end of the week, and before the election, i think they are cowards. i really think they are worthless, worthless people. i just -- i get so frustrated with that. i said i can't hardly handle it. host: all right, marlene.

the punch bowl, punch bowl news, the headline is congress leaves town with everyone mad. and they know in their newsletter this morning that things are so bad that members are just quitting congress without even telling party leaders. republicans will be down to a on margin. one-vote is what they note on punch bowl this morning. one member who is leaving congress is kin buff of colorado. he joined abc's panel yesterday to explain his reason why. here's what he had to say. >> i'm happy to move on. a dysfunctional place. >> you must have been intensely frustrated to not only not run again but to leave early. you are not alone, obviously great my calendar said he is leaving -- obviously. mike galanger said he is

leaving too. >> the chiefs of staff, the president, the attorney general, the fbi director in fact did ■uimpeach the director -- secretary of homeland security. serious problems with setting priorities. we have a very tragic circumstance in ukraine. we have spiraling debt, all kinds of out-of-control problems and we focus on messaging bills that get us nowhere. >> you can only afford to lose one number on any given -- the republican majority seems to be evaporating. >> is evaporating. very few votes are decided by one or two members. other than the mayorkas impeachment, i can't think of a votek! that weother. they typically have to be bipartisan at this point. >> the republican of colorado on

why he is leaving congress. you heard the discussion at the end about a one-vote majority. here is axios■■í mike gallagher, saying he would resign from congress on april 19. house republicans willez have a one-vote margin when gallagher leaves, which is set to dwindle even further later in april. a special election to replace brian higgins is set for april 30 and it's likely to send another democrat to congress. gallagher was pinat the end of l session next january. here is what gallagher is saying . after conversationwith my family, i've made the decision to resign my position as a member of the house of representatives, effective april 19. republican leadership on this timeline and his office will continue to provide services for the remainder of

this term. aligarh -- gallagher was seen as a rising star in the party and was pushed unsuccessfully to run against tamm baldwin this cycle. we are getting your view of the house casino majority. llewellyn in bowie, maryland, democratic call. hi, llewellyn. caller: i don't understand. you had a majority and you do nothing. there is so oes quitting for a reason. because they know that nothing is happening. they know that, in november, their party is going to be destroyed. and they forget who they work for. they are so self absorbed with their own need. they don'tass anything

for anybody. they want to fight with -- it should be about this country, and it's not. they don't care. its the reason why a bunch of them are quitting. host: all right. after the house passed that $1.2 trillion spending package, the vote was 286-34. the senate early saturday morning followed suit, passing it 74-24. the president signed it into law . the passage of that bill in the house triggered marjorie taylor greene to offer a motion to vacate. how it would)h work -- she sayst is just a threat at this point, a warning. greene characterized the motion as more of a warning.

timeline for a vote. the soonest her effort could be addressed is after the house returns next month from a two-week recess. the resolution probably will not be considered unless greene introduces it under a privilege. that would force a house vote johnson's future within 48 hours. the house and senate left for a two week recess. punch bowl news says everyone is mad about the action that has been taken in the two chambers here in washington this week. thisorning, we are getting your view of the house gop majority. here is scott on facebook. there was a time f cpromise last year, he writes. t w is a time tstand for what you believe in. reblans need to be firm, with no deals on everything until biden follows on his constitutional duties to protect the border which he can through through exec of action. stephen --f want to protect the

border, they would have passed the bipartisan security bill. you can join us on our social media platforms or in a text. include your first name, city, and state to (202) 748003on fac. and also on twitter with the -- x, i should call it --they handle @cspanwj. rebecca on x says gop majority, questionark? majority in name only. jim, republican caller. what do you think? caller: you. i am a democrat, but i can go right down the middle, i can go a little to the left, little to the right. the trouble in america today is we have got 20, 30 of each party, and they are trying to control it, and they do not understand.

nothing. they are nothing but servants. they work for us. but they do not see it that way. they see it that they work for donald trump, a criminal, an evil person. they think he will die soon and one of them will be the top person. it is a joke. host: andrew in staten island, independent. yourieop majority in the house. caller: good morning, ma'am. my opinion of the house representativess this -- the documents that donald trump removed when he left the white house, he has something on members of the house of representatives. if you can rememberwas given last week -- they stated several members of the house

were in with then president on the january 6 attempt to overthrow the government. there is no doubt about it. it has something to do with the documents that trump removed from the white house when he left. he has something on those people. host: andrew there in staten island, his aunt about the republican majority in the house. marjorie taylor greene has said one action that could trigger herto vacate as a privileged resolution is ukraine funding. the chair of the house foreign affairs committee, mike mccall, republican of texas, said yesterday that he expects speaker mike johnson to ring a ukraine bill -- eight bill to the floor after easter. here's what he had to say. [video clip] >> has speaker johnson

any timeline for a vote on ukraine, given they are running out of ammunition? >> his commitment is to put it on the floor after easter, and we are working on this bill. >> as soon as you all come back april 9? >> i would like to be done with it as soon as possible. the situation in ukraine is dire. the front lines -- if we lose in ukraine, like afghanistan, and loose to, let him take over ukraine, moldova, georgia and abandon our allies, like we did in afghanistan, does not make the united states stronger or weaker? i think weaker. >> why not the sense of urgency on the part of the speaker? >> he understands this. he is in a very difficult spot. this emotion -- this motion to vacate the chair thing, i think he is committed because he understands national security, liens on myself, the chairman of house armed

services. he understands the important. host: saying the ukraine a bill is going to come to the floor. your thoughts about house republicans moving on 82 ukraine -- what is your view of the republicans in the house as they control that chamber? jim in south carolina, republican.rom you. caller: good morning. i've never seen such all or nothing thinking by some of your callers and marjorie taylor greene, whatever her name is, that they get all or nothing. greene only represents, in her constituency, 10% of the house, yet they want to run the whole thing and say my way or the highway. what they do not realize is if they keep messing around and more people keep falling out and the republicans lose the house, she gets no voice. they will have no voice.

what are they going to do then? i do not understand this kind hyperbolic thinking that they have to have everything they want to run everything, when they represent such a small portion of the republican party, of the house, and it is only 1 of 3 -- you have the house, the senate, the presidency. you cannot run every thing like that. it amazes me that people call the moderate republicans, some of your callers, cowards. why? because you are not an all or nothing thinker? how do we run government that way if you do not compromise. i know it is disappointing -- host: if you do not have different factions of the parties, centrists, more conservative leadership, etc., the governing wing -- that is what the washington post calls it this morning -- you cannot have a majority, is what you art

journal editorial board -- honey, we shrunk the majority. caller: yeah, but the democrats stuck together. they are more factors than anybody with all their groups, but somehow, they stick together. this one part of the republican party's going to derail it, and then they will not have a voice at all. what good is their name-calling or anything if they do not have any voice, if the republicans lose the house? ho so compare, then, mike johnson's leadership, or give us your analysis of mike johnson's leadership, given everything you just said. caller: he had to work with chuck schumer, whether greene likes it or not. he has to pass bills. i do not like we are spending $7 trillion. that is crazy. but you have got to negotiate. this is government. again, would you just walk away from the table and not do anything to help the situation at all? then to negotiate at all?

i hope i made my point. host: we heard it. the wall street journal also reporting this in their paper this morning -- high court pulled back into abortion battle. the supreme court come on tuesday, will consider whether■: rollback the availability of the abortion pill known as mifepristone as women increasingly rely on medication to end■# unwanted pregnancies. the case has forced the court back into the abortion thicket after its decision two years ago illuminated federal actions for the procedure. roughly one third of states have since banned many or most abortions, but method for stone is more available than ever, especially by mail, and. nearly two thirds are medication abortions. this has disappointed

antiabortion groups. from the wall street journal this morning, you can watch the supreme court and go to our coverage on c-span.org of this oral argument on tuesday. richard in st. paul, minnesota. you are a democratic caller. your view of the house republican majority. caller: the house republican majority, they have got to learn to get along. they are there to solve the problems. like the border, they had what they want to, and they would not vote for it. this is ridiculous. you have a man on the sideline by the name of trump who is trying to help russia win the war in ukraine. and they are stopping things for no reason. they are not trying to work with our government and get things done. nato is on our side, not russia and china and north korea, who trump backs. this is time for us to get together and do things.

by the way, you had a lady from minnesota earlier, and she was a republican on the democratic line. you keep letting these republican's talk all the time, and they do not know what they are talking about. you let them on the wrong line. c on, let some democrats talk. host: ok. brad. caller: good morning, how are you? host: morning. nice to hear you. the reason i am calling is the only reason the republicans and greene are voting against any is to save it for trump being in office. they want mayhem so when possibly trump gets in oicbid, e made it all happen. it is embarrassing. 1vit is embarrassing to watch tm

on tv. i am not really into polics, but i find myself getting sucked into it because i want to smack sense into these people. they do not make sense. where are their morals? they just want to make a distraction rather than make policy for america. host: all right. brad's thoughts there, and independent in pennsylvania. in other news, cnn's website, new york attorney makes initial steps to prepare to seize trump's assets. there new york attorney general's office has fired the judge in west mr. county, the first indication the state is trying to seize doldrums golf course and private estate north ofpianhattan. state lawyers entered the judgments with the click's office in westminster county march 6, just one week after judge arthur and ron made official his $464 million decision against trump.

the decision against trump and the difficulty of former president is having securing a bond while he secures the verdict affects directly trump's image as a billionaire as he attempts to raise more cash for his legal bills and third run for the white house. asking your view of the house gop majority this morning in our first hour of the "washington journal." lu howard on facebook says, i' got to go by individual representatives. thinkers, problem solvers, andl i consider the quality ofthers. individuals over political p affiliation. if the gop representative is pushing the big lie that donald trump won the last election, i cannot trust anything else this individual says. if they gop representas a trump apologist, again, i cannot trust anything else this individual says.

willy in katy, texas, a republican. your view of the house republican majority. caller: good morning. i want to make sense of -- i am proud of people like marjorie taylorreene. they do not want what is happening to this country to continue. they are trying to put up some kind of roadblock. we understand the democrats are on speed dial with all of their ridiculous policies. these are things have never seen before in this country. we have got a president who constantly, from the day he came down the escalator andlared -- now he is not president. for crying out loud, they have all these lawsuits against him.

particularly the thing where they are trying to seize the man's assets. this is not a critical -- this is not a criminal trial. this is a civil trial. they have to know they are desperate at this time, because they know that in the event he becomes president again, he will pick the right people, and they are going to start pointing out all the ridiculous policies and reversing the ridicule's policies of the democrats. i am not going to say the biden regime, i am going to the democrats, people like obama and the rest of them. this makes total sense as to why. we don't want thz4is country too down in the way it is going down , particularly things like all of these democrats coming out -- we -- ?like all these immigrants comig out. we have a regime that just lets them come in and stacks. we have a man who says rush the border when they were doing the

debates, the democratic debates. ank you for your time. host: debbie in pennsylvania, democratic caller. your view of the house republicans. caller: my view of the house republicans -- they are all hypocrites. they know what trump has done to this country. they have seen the insurrection. and yet they still stand i that man? it is unbelievable. n my lifetime, i would see such a thing happened to this country. the man belongs in jail. are they afraid of their shadows? are they afraid he is going to do something to them if they go along with the democrats just once in their lives? host: in bermuda springs, florida, independent. good morning. what do you say on this question? caller: good morning. i would say the house gop is feckless. they are weak.

they have no ability to control the direction of the house. they are terrible. i will say the same for the democrats. as long as you have a unity party, the democrats and the -- a uniparty, the democrats and the rhinos, you will never have anything done. nothing is getting done for the benefit of this country. 1.1 trillion dollar bill just gets passed, you have got -- i think it was $50 million in there for the people of egypt to send their kids to college in egypt -- not even come to america, just to pay for college in egypt. we are sending money to pakistan, sending money to everybody under the sun. but there are so many people hurting in the united states of america, and nothing is getting done. the uniparty will destroy america. until people start waking up and understand what is happening in this country, they will just be

going down the same hill. i feel like i am in the last days of the roman republic and we are circling the drain here. $1.1 trillion bill, and here we go. as far aan insurrection in this country? please. i do nothing anybody remembers in 1958, when they blew up the senate -- there were in the underground in the senate -- host: all right, we will stick to the question this morning. in other news, this from the new york times. new jersey's first lady, timmy murphy, has ended her campaign for menendez's senate se. she is in a primary battle with andy kim, from south jersey, and she ended her primary bid in that race. ja lou -- i think they are a joke, only it is not funny. we have a two-party system, which is supposed to work together, but the only thing

house republicans do is hold sham hearings and otruct legislation. then you have got leslie -- just the way it is supposed toe. do not bow to whatever is rown thing that ever is.e it in this -- i love the cthat republican congress does not rcin lockstep to do the establishme's bidding. i hate the democrats to march in lockstep to oppose erything good the republicans want. sadly, my congressman supports the dmc rather than my district. -- your view of republicans in the house. sean in upper monro, maryland, democratic -- upper marlboro, maryland, democratic caller. caller: i think this house majority is a joke. they are down to one vote. the good republicans are

leaving, and they do not even realize what a dire is■/is ty are ithey may actually end up lg the house before the november elections. donald trump is going to be bankrupt today, and if he gets elected, he is going to bankrupt this country. he wants to be dictator. that is his agenda. if we do not wake up and stop this guy, that is where we are heading. he wants to be another putin in the united states, which is not going to happen. i do not know why people are all trying to point president biden. he has done a great job. and the muslim majority in detroit, michigan, wherever they are, if they are not going to vote for biden, who are they going to vote for? if they vote for trump, trump is going to block everything and restrict their privileges -- host: all right, let's stick to

the topic. we are talking that the house republicans. ginan mississippi, republican. caller: hi. as i lay in this bed this morning watching this show, i am just sick to my stomach. right now, i am feeling like there is no hope for our country. it is in such a mess. only god above is going to straighten this mess out. the gop have lost their mind. the demts mind. and you democrats out there, i would like to remind you just how many benefits do you think you are going to receive from a bankrupt government? do you know anything about a budget and what happens to people when they go bankrupt? do you even ever think about that? i am fed up with the gop. they are a bunch of cowards.

there's only a few people in there that really care. and democrats, the last thing i am going to say, you need to stop claiming donald j. trump for the mess this country is in. it is your hatred of donald j. trump that has caused this nightmare -- host: ok. sticking to the republicans in the house. you said there's only a few that care. name the few and who do you think should be speaker? caller: listen, i am not going to play your game of you questioning every republican that calls in and makes a bit of sense. i am not going to play that game -- host: ok. lizdemocratic caller. caller: good morning. i've been watching this, and i know there is a big uprise right now because of the fact donald trump is going to have to come up with a lot of money, and they feel that it is politically

biased. i used to live in arizona, and the governor had done something similar, where he was trying to get loans, and this led people -- host: we are talking about the house republicans. what is your view of them? caller: my view right now is the leadership is probably the it is unfortunate. there are a lot of moderates that want to work and get things done, and that have left care that is unfortunate.they realizr than most of us, that they can't even help them anymore because of a few people in there trying to strong-arm people over policy, and it is unfortunate. we should not let them have that much power. host: richard in maryland, republican. your view of republicans in the house. caller: i am going to -- the gop house and senate failed us once again.

i'm so damn sick an this -- host: alright, we go to sue in arizona, democratic caller. sue? sue in arizona, democratic caller. are you there with us? caller: i am here. host: we are listening. go ahead, your view of republicans in the house. caller: well, i was a republican for 36 years. my view of the gop majority in the house is they are a bunch of clowns. they are not republicans. donald trump maga's. they need to be called magas, not republicans. i was a republican for 36 years. i was not crazy. i do not understand this party

at all. i am embarrassed to have been a republican for 36 years and to let maga take over. i am very disappointed in the republican party for letting this happen. host: who would you like to see as leaders of the republican party, given what you just said? is there a better candidate for speaker in your mind? caller: a democrat. host: a democrat, now that you have switched paiei switched bet crazy, and i do not follow crazy, and i don't do crazy. host: all right. caller: i have degrees in political science. i know how this country should be run. i know what the contrary -- what the constitution says. half the people in the republican party did not even know what it says, what anything

says. marjorie taylor greene, i am not of her district -- finally. i just moved out of her district, all the way to arizona. and i can breathe again. host: all right, sue switching parties, moving from georgia to arizona. brent, republican. caller: kudos to your las caller, who does not do crazy. i totally agree with her. i agree with bill mayer that trump is crazy and extubated. but to the lady that said we have got to stop claiming trump, well, trump is the one that has given people license to abandon all civility. -- host: so tie this back to the house republicans. caller: ok, let's talk about

republican marjorie tayl greene of jewish space laser fame, who speaks at nick fuente s' nazi rallies and walked to the podium among cries of "putin, putin, putin," and who is disruptive during the state of the union. let's talk about jim jordan, who was issued a subpoena to testify around january 6 and just gave his finger to the subpoena, but now he issues subpoenas and expect others to honor them. jordan, he is an ex-ohio state student coach and looked the other way when his wrestlers complained about being suaabuse. you can believe his weepy lies and denials or beliefs six

wrestlers whle strauss abused them. these are the kind of people that you have in the republican gop -- host: and you are a republican? caller: no. no, i called in on the democratic line. i agree with the last women. i do not do crazy. host: all right. that is the republican line. gilbert in toledo, ohio, de■c good morning. how are you doing? host: morning. caller: first of all, i want to say i've been watching the republican party for the last 50 some odd years, and for the last 50 some odd years, the republican party is dying. it is dying right now and has been dying for the last 50 some odd years. i have watched republicans run away from their party. it is amazing. i've been basically watching all this -- now the republicans are

turning to the nazi's philosophy of running the government, which is crazy. republicans are, right now, turning into russians. the russian communist party has got a hold of the republican party and it is crazy. i've never seen this in my whole life and i've been watching politics for 12 or 15 years and it is nuts. greg in riverside c, democratic caller. your view of the house republicans majority. caller:thank you for your patie. the amazing thing is the republicans haven't figured out when you are in charge you have to govern and they are good at complaining about what's done e

opportunity to govern they cannot even keep a speaker for three or four months. they should have a new thing where they have the speaker for a week because they have no direction and it is tearing our country apart. woods not we are having a problem with democrats, republicans don't have a plan to help in any capacity to help their people. there thg is to let taxes for everyone but really goes to the top 1% of the country and that's their plan. we get what we have because the republicans the -- the people who keep electing these republicans they want to be superstars like marjorie taylor greene and lauren boebert. they he no plans of thank you for your time. host: we will take a break. when we come back we will be joined by the league of

conservation voters to discuss the role of climate issues in the 2024 campaign and organization spending this election cycle. later the senior political reporter for the daily mail discusses his new book amateur hour. white house. -- kamala harris in the white house. ♪ >> the house will be in order. >> c-span celebrates 45 years of covering congress like no other. since 1979 we've been your primary source for capitoll providing balanced unfiltered coverage of government. taking you to where the policy is debated and decided with the support c-span, 45 years and cog powered by cable.

dorothy and thomas hooper's latest book they open with this introduction. this is a book of love letters. everyone of them involve the president of the united states and we will tell you their stories through the letters they wrote. through this collection of carefully chosen letters we reveal the writers at their most vulnerable providing a personal portrait that is often obscured by the public persona. dorothy and thomas cooper's prer the storm of lovemaking. >> on this episode of book notes plus. it's available on the c-span now free mobile app or wherever you get your podcasts. >> get contact information for members of government right in the palm of your hand when you preorder your copy of c-span's 2024 congressional directory

with contact information for every house and senate member of the 118th congress. on congressional committees, federal agencies and state governors. the congressional directory costs 3290 five plus shipping and handling and every purchase help support our nonprofit operations. scan the code on your right or go to c-spanshop.org tor your copy today for delivery this spring. washington journal continues. host: at our table is peter mae smith. remind our viewers what your group does. caller: -- guest: the league of conservation voters is a national environmental organization working with elected officials to create an champion strong climate change policy. we do grassroots organizing in communities across the country.

we do a lot of election work to make sure pro climate champs are elected to congress -- up and down the ballot. we work with our network all around the country who do work similar to what we do in states around the country. host: president biden spoke about his climate policy while delivering his state of the union address recently. without mentioning his name he talked about and contrasted his record with the former president. here's what he had to say. >> we are making history by confronting the climate crisis not denying it. i don't think any of you think there is no longer climate crisis at least i hope you don't. i am taking the most significant action ever on climate in the history of the world. i'm cutting our carbon emissions in half by 2030 greeting tens of thousands of clean energy jobs building 500,000 electric vehicles.

conserving 30%y 2030. taking action on environmental justice fence line communities smothered by the legacy of pollution. and pattern after the peace corps i launch the climate core. to put 20,000 young peopowork ir clean energy future. i will triple that number in a decade. host: what grade would you give president biden on his climate change agenda? guest: we give him an a on his climate change agenda. he's done more than any president in the history of this country. it's exactly with the moment calls for if you look at legislation like the inflation reduction act, the largest most

ever passed in the united states or anywhere in the world to tackle climate change. it will jumpstart and move us forward on the clean energy revolution and get us off of fossil fuels. it will make our communities healthier and safer and is exactly what we need. there's other pieces of legislation that addresses the lead in water, but it's a huge boost for electric vehicle charging stations and then you look at executive action, just last week clean car standards which will give americans all around the country for cleaner cars, save costs and things like putting a pause on the export terminals of liquefied natural gas, all of these are important taken and that's why he get such a high grade on tackling climate change and being a proenvironment president across the board. >> what do you make of this

washington post from last summer most disapprove of biden's handling of climate change. less than three in 10 americans say they know a good a great deal about the inflation reduction act so many voters in both parties support some of the key climate programs. is there a problem with getting his record out? >> that is the issue. when people know tackling climae solutions transition to clean energy, revitalizing communities people supported in overwhelming numbers. the issue is not enough people know what he is done. they are talking about it. we are that quote from the state of the union which was gresee tt our annual gala dinner last week where again she talked about stunned chocolate -- tackle the climate crisis. we need to make sure the president and vice president continue to dot job to make sue

more people know what this president has done. >> young voters a care about the climate are not as enthused with president biden's record. here is a new york times headline. many -- the willow oil drilling debate, is there a concern on your part the young voters who care about this issue won't be voting for president biden? guest: there is a concern we need to engage young voters on the issue. typically we don't agree with this administration on everything they did. we disagree on that which is in alaskand allowedo;rom oil and gas drilling. but if you look at protecting bristol bay in alaska from that is a step forward. if you look at this most recent action a couple months ago to pause the permitting of

liquefied natural gas export terminals that's standing up to big oil, telling them no yotheyg that, communicating that type of action with young voters in particular is huge and that something we are doing. we will continue to do over the course of the next 225 days. >> republicans critical of actions that you were just talking about. lisa murkowski last month talking about the bederal permir new lng exports. >> they do not have to pause it. this was their determination that in my view, and i think my colleagues would back me up, there is no reason for this other than the politics of the moment. we have a president who is seeking toental community.

because he did the right thing less than a year ago, he followhe law and he approved. the environment of community came unglued. you're supposed to follow the law here. he did and he's having a hard time rightdecision. so how do you get well? let's just put a pause on things. it's not a moratorium. what this has the potential to do is to not only underline the united states economic security, not only impact to the negative our balance of trade, not only to cause greater environmental damage, but to rattle to the core our friends and allies whether they be in europe or asia.

the united states commitment be capped, that's what everybody is wondering right now. and all for a little bit of political capital gain, what a waste. >> steve naismith, respond to the accusations of politics but also the policy here in the argument. >>e respectfi in this incident. putting a pause we are already in a leading export of lng so issue through the war happening because of the russian attack and aggression of ukraine. first off communities that have en overburdened by pollution, where these are built suffer significantly. it's a step forward as we think about communities that have been impacted. it's good for american consumers because it puts more of the product in the global market

then is subject to at the commodity prices are globally and as those rise we pay more here at home. third of all we have to reduce our carbon emissions, we have to get off the fossil fuels■p and leadership are and other leaders have been working to do for the inflation reduction act and other measures. we have to get off the fossil fuels and this is a step towards doing that transition. host: we are talking about climate issues and campaign 2024. how will they impact your vote. join the conversation this morning. republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. you can text us include your first name, city and state, 202-748-8003. or you can join us on

facebook.com/c-span and also this morning on at. how much does the league of conservation voters plan to spend in this election cycle to get president biden reelected? host: for president -- guest: $120 million. that's more than we've ever done if you look back it was only $45 million. i think that increasing number speaks to a couple of things. the urgency of the climate crisis, the fact that we have to tackle it. the climate change becomes more a meshed inner politics in a deeper way is more important for many voters but not limited to young voters and also because of the results tt we've seen with this administration and the inflation reduction act. bringing us back to the pairs climate accord pausing the lng export terminals, clean car

standards. so what that says is people this proenvironment pro climate administration there so much that they want to do, they need to do in the second term and we have to make sure that is the case and there's pro climate majorities in the u.s. senate. and change leadership in the u.s. house is vital. host: where does climate rank for voters in 2024 and has that ranking help in raising more funding you can then turn around and spend on reelecting or getting pro in particular young. voters of color in many incidents -- instances. again if you look back to where we were nearly 20 years ago nearly 10 years ago the issue of

climate changes become more and more important as how voters think about making their choices. primary, joe biden along with other candidates put out aggressive climate change platforms because they knew it was a vote-getter in the primary and then brought that message forward into the general election against their climate change denier, donald trump is called climate change hoax. climate change matters increasingly to voters. >> we will ask that of our viewers this morning. do you agree climate change ranks high for voters and campaign 2024? don you are up first from washington state, independent. caller: i had a particular comment. i think climate change ranks very high. ida particular question i want i

believe it's geothermal engineering in specific there is a concept out there that it's possible to put a layer of gases in the upper atmosphere that are degradable that would actually shield thearth from temperature change. could cool us down two degrees or so. it would buy us time to get rid of fossil fuel issues that wills a long time to get people to buy into and really work on. it would help oil companies not have to fight back quite as much. i can take your answer off-line if you want. host: go ahead. guest: thank you so much, don. i will be in your home state later this week. i think what we need to do urgently is transition off

fossil fuels. we are always looking for new technology that will help in the fight fo climate change and we should continue to do that. what we cannot do his shy away from the core element, the core component of how we will solve the climate crisis and that is moved to a clean energy future it's a job creator, lowers costs overburdened with dirty fossil fuel production, dirty air and water. when we moved to a clean energy future it's a win-win of our economy, for the climate and for local communities. of course big oil was going to fight that tooth and nail. they have for decades. thting all the way back in the 60's or 70's about climate change. they will continue to fight as this transition to clean energy but it doesn't mean we are going to -- it's got to stop.

host: will in wisconsin. caller: i have a question for you. i was wondering why conservatives do not support conservation measures more than they do?conservatives make up ae percentage of people who hunt and fish. of people in rural communities where climate changes having drastic effects. northeast wisconsin more of these huge mega farms are poisoning the waters of the homes. why don't conservative leaning people support conservation voters issues? guest: i'd offer a couple of thoughts on that. i'm a coloradan and to talk

about state affiliates. i ran that for a long time and in that state we worked on numerous conservation measures often in partnership of folks who are more conservative. what's of hunters and people, bh liberal and conservative. to protect our water and open spaces and the beautiful iconic land in colorado. that's that story that's retold all around the country it not unique toso i think some of that commonality, some of the bipartisanship exists at the local level and i think the other thing i would say is as a farmer where you live in northeast wisconsin, whether it's farmers, just folks living anywhere about the impact of climate change. take air pollution, there was a study out last week in the midwest probably very close to right where you live that air

quality in that part of the country degraded last summer ozone. to prevent the wildfires in -- the reason was the wildfires in canada. we saw here on the east coast in new york, philadelphia, certainly in the american west. it can change dramatically with the advent of these mega wildfires. fueled by climate change that impact liberals, moderates and conservatives so translating that into political action is something we are continuing work to do with more conservative folks but i think it's worth realizing at the local level this can be a bipartisan issue. the republic dominated state of south carolina has made significant progress tackling climate change, working with 8nrepublicans in that state because they understand it's good for the economy.

>> ted in cleveland, a republican good morning. i'm just wondering if this gentleman understands where the lithium has to come from. it has to be mined in other countries and they use the oil industry to dig them out. that's can create climate problems over there. and also the oil industry is involved in creating those chargers that are good built all over. so i don't think you quite derstand how much the oil industry is still involved in creating these electronic cars. thank you. guest: tnkto the degree the oily wants to transition and work on and produce the clean energy technology. this is the future of this country, it's the future of the

world and of course it is what oil companies ought to do. whether they are going to is an entirely different question. but we know whether it's battery manufacturing plants or solar plants or electric vehicle manufacturing or electric vehicle charging, the future is in clean energy, that's where jobs are, it's good to lower our costs, clean up our communities so oil companies want to be part of that, that would be terrific. but until then that's where the future is and that's where we will go regardless of what the industry has to say about it. >> on the rule of executive action announced by the biden administration last week to phase out gas powered vehicles. the washingtonxf post called the biggest climate action yet. would you agree? >> it is massively important, it will cut billions of tons of carbon emissions from vehicles and it's exactly what we need to see happen.

interestingly united auto workers and automakers are not the ones that oppose it, again is the oil and gas industry that opposes it. it will give consumers more choices. buy and it will bring costs down and it's exactly what we need to clean up our communities and tackle the crisis. so a very significant executive action we were really excited to see it and it's things like that more in a second term of a biden harris administration that we would need to see and that's why we are so enthusiastic about supporting them in their el dave, independent, what do you say on this issue? caller: i'm an optimist on electric vehicles but my question is■m is he working with the transportation pete buttigieg and so on to the point

of where our and promotions of the locations when you consider an electric vehicle. campgrounds, rest areas, desolate areas and so forth were those positions before i consider buying an electric vehicle and so on, where does the promotion really kick where those locations for this charging stations and so on, where is it. thank you. >> dave, you raise such a great issue. u.s. what secretary buttigieg in the department transportation. one thing that's been so important the joe biden has done is to make tackling climate change and all of government approach. so throughout different agencies in cabinet secretary's including

the department of transportation and interior, environmental protection agency, etc.. let's get to the heart of your question because it's a really good question. as more and more people want to drive and by electric vehicles we need to make sure there is ready access to chargers. i mentioned earlier in the bipartisan infrastructure law there is billions of dollars in there to build out charging infrastructure around this country and to your point, it has to be done in a way and it's starting with more work to be done in a way that works for consumers so folks can go to campsites. you want to be able to drive your electric vehicle there, charge it and then go off to where you are going next. we will see that starting to happen, weyou raise a really imt issue. the good news is that's the

rection this administration is going. host: alexander in brooklyn, democratic caller. >> thank you for taking my call on such an important subject. i agree with every thing you are saying. it's good to be optimistic and i'm glad the you are srting such important cause. i just don't see it. i am up pessimist optimist in the sense i think we are going in the right direction but at the same time were going above 1.5 degrees for the first time. each year is getting warmer than the last year. the assessment just gave a really brutal assessment in this country.

i know you're putting this on the biden administration but we have to get beyond the partisan politics. radicalized in this country. no matter what good intentions you have if you don't educate people. they look at this as a right wing a left-wing operation. you just can't win this battle. if people, if you have 120 degree floor whetherphoenix andg -- in phoenix. people can see the sky new york city, it doesn't mean people in rivers in california and so forth. what are you going to do as time closes in and things get worse.

solutions are going to be enough at that point. what is the long-term agenda? >> long-term agenda. guest: thank you alexander. we should all be worried, we should feel this fierce urgency to act right nowyou are complet. we finished the warmest month in history. the warmest winter in history. the warmest year in history. 10 of the warmest years in recorded history have been over the course of the last decade. you talked about smoke pollution in new york city. i mentioned wildfires. we should be worried but we should not be pessimistic. the reason i am not pessimistic is that public opinion continue to move more and more in favor of taking action on climate change. the data tells us but election

results tell us that. so after the 2016 election when donald trump was in the white house obviously completely impossible to make progress on climate change when there is someone who calls it a hoax in the white house we went back to the states, we worked with states all around the country, elected pro climate governors, pro climate leaders in state legislative chambers. at that point there was a fraction. 1% of the people who lived in this country lived in a state with a commit we are seeing great progress in the states. we have seen the most important climate gi the history of humankind, the inflation reduction act, passed here in washington, d.c. that's having impacts, jobs, lower costs, cleaner communities all around the country and some of this executive action that we talked a little bit about from president biden like the clean

car measure, clean cars measure of last week of the when you put all that together, we are on course to cut our carbon emissions by 50% by 2030, which is what science tells us that we need to do. obviously we need to go beyond that and go to carbon-free future, which we are heading towards. but let's focus on that 50% cut in carbon emissions, carbons ine atmosphere by 2030. it's going to be hard but we are making such good progress, and the next key is winning an election in 225 gase -- days, bringing joe biden, kamala harris back to the white house chuck schumer continuing as the leader of the u.s. senate and maainga republicans can no longer run the u.s.■■c has to go being the speaker of the u.s. house. i am optimistic. we are worried, but that doesn't

mean i am not optimistic, alexander. host: pete maysmith is senior vice president of campaigns for the league of conservation voters. charlie, you are next in massachusetts, republican. caller: good morning. i got to tell you this guy is a i have to ask him if he drives an electric vehicle and what state he lives in. but this climate thing is a religion. it's beyond ridiculous. he says scientists say this, science tells us. not all science says this. he is picking choosing. nobody else in the world is going along with this. it's the united states. who can afford an electric all the major automakers can't sell the cars. they're not going to invest in making them crean more because they're losing money. host: quite a few issues there.

pete maysmith will respond. guest: thanks, charlie. i love driving my electric leaf car so much fun. just a fantastic vehicle to drive. there's more and more models out there on the road that are getting cheaper and cheaper. so that i think is a huge part of what needs to happen and a big step forward. i mentioned earlier that i am a coloradon, i live in washington, d.c. butall over the country are tackling climate change. the reason they're doing that is let's be clear, there is no debate about the science anymore. donald trump calls climate change a hoax, which ist a preposterous thing to say. again, ask a farmer if what they're seeing on their land as they work the land has changed over the last 20, 10, five years. the answer is absolutely yes. the wildfires smoke that we have talked about, the record days in arizona of over 100 degree temperatures that we saw last summer and i am worried we are going to see again this year.

the data tells us this and our lived experiences tell us, climate change is here, it is a huge problem from an economic perspective, from a quality of life, from a humanity perspective and as we think about our kids and our grandkids, what sort of world are we going to leave them? the answer is, by transitioning to clean energy sources and off of fossil fuel, we can lve o a r positioned economically, that is cleaner, and healthier environment and one that is sustainable foall of us moving forward. so the debate is settled. there is no debate. climate change is here. the question is, what are we going to do about it? and i think i've outlined a number of steps that this administration and states have taken and there is a lot more that need to happen for our couy compare to other countries? guest: with the passage of the inflation reduction act, we are doing much better. before that we were frankly more of a laggard than

certainly under donald trump, we were very much a laggard. he pulled us out of the paris climate accords which were the global consensus on what we need to do to cut carbon emissions to try to get ahold of thee rising temperatures. now of course we are obviously back in that with passing the inflation reduction act, what we have said to the world is we are putting our money where our mouth is. we are going to make sure at trr sources of energy, solar, wind, electric vehicles, things we have been talking about today, that they're going to happen and happen quickly because look, this is where the future is going. there is no doubt about that. really the question is how quickly, at whatacn and i think countries now, globally, see the u.s. as far more of a leader. of a leader certainly than they did when donald trump was in the white house. host: mark from california,

caller: good morning. i like your key words about using fear because you said fear early your -- earlier rg but really climate change, everything changes in life. you get old, the earth gets old. he just wants to keep people in fear. that's where from. go back to -- ok. host: respond to that, mark. fear. guest: absolutely. absolutely, mark. i think of the fight against climate change as one of hope and optimism, not fear. i think of the 270,000 good paying jobs that people in this country have now thanks to the inflation reduction act that literally didn't exist when thec law passed. i think of lowering cost so we are paying less for our energy. families can save $1,000 or more if they choose to as they transition to cleaner sources of energy, more energy efficiency. it's cheaper to keep your home

cool in the summer and warm in the winter. i don't think any of that is fear based. that for me is a place of hope when you think about our economy, when you think about clner ■air and cleaner water and healthier communities. that's the direction, that's what this fight we work to tacks crisis, that's what it means is to live in a place of hope and optimism. but we have to do it because the facts are very, very clear. i don't want to be fearful about it. but when we just finished the hottest month, the hottest winter, the hottest year, we know that climate change is here. all the science, all the data and our lived experience is telling us climate change is here. that's not fear, that's reality. so let's be hopeful. let's tackle it in some of these ways i have talked about. host: where does climate rank in your vote in campaign 2024? jay in bronx, new york, democratic caller. hi, jay. caller: goorning.

host: good morning. caller: i had a question, but before that i wanted to say that a lot of people in my opinion have scientists, people using the internet in the last 10, 20 years have done research and there is good information and bad information. but people tend to go to what i guess feelings a lot of times and we get a lot of misinformation. that's how we got this current person that's running for president named donald trump, right? denying, telling people stuff that he doesn't really know that's not accurate thing. now, in regards to climate and human beings, we know that right now before anything that we have been going through a lot of things with pollution and urban communities and the cities and there's also reaching out to suburban areas, where there's factories and things like that, you see high asthma, cancer, and things like that. so i would just say that maybe

we need to do some more research for those that are skeptical, talk to many doctors and scientists w of information. and lastly, my question. i am for new technology and for cleaner technology, but there is a lot of questions and myself as well but a lot of spectators say, well, first of the materials, extracting the stuff for the batteries, is that going to be more pollution as well as the dumping of these batteries? is there recyclable materials? is it going to be more of a carbon stain using the batteries to extract, to create and then to dismantle or to dissolve? thank you. host: all right, jay. guest: thanks, jay. you raise a lot of really great issues. let me tick off a few of them. first off we all know you can find whatever facts you want to find on are ep

tyrell rate -- entirely right. we work on climate change at the league of conservation voters. but we also work on democr clime crisis if we don't have a healthy democracy. voices that have for too long not had full representation in our democracy need to and deserve to be heard. so that's yet another reason that this election sharp contrast between joe biden and donald trump, who continues to deny what happened in the 2020 elections, which is to say he lost, period, full stop. and so that is out there on the internet in terms of everyone can find their own facts. we at l.c.v. and our partners need to stand up and speak truth to those lies undoubtedly. you talked a little bit about hey, wait, as we transition to clean energy technology and the mining and other activity

associated with that, what does that mean from an environmental perspective and that's a really good, important point. a couple things. one, we want to see as much in the united states as possible with strong environmental safeguards around it. again, that's increasingly happening and that is important and that is exciting. and on balance when you measure carbon output of the mining for things like batteries, it absolutely is not even close. moving to a clean energy future is the way and those technologies cut carbon emissions dramatically compared to just burning more fossil fuels. and yes, on recycling. that is again happening increasingly. here is the thing. the caller before talked about fear. i talked about optimism. i am a put our minds to it, in the united states, we can do anything. there's more and more technologi coming online that are getting cheaper and cheaper

that help us tackle the climate crisis in a responsible way that we just talked about and that are job creators and for our communities and they're going to make our planet livable for the next generations to come. host: christian, charleston, south carolina, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. i think it's important that we need to not only switch from gas cars to electric cars but we need to also transform our cities to places that are more walkablend bikable. we did it for cars and we can do it again. it will be good for the national debt. it will get us closer to a utopa communism where we can have fairer conditions for everyone. i think it will be good for the national debt, all sorts of stuff. thank you. guest: thanks, christian. more walkable

and bikable and transit oranted cities. gep that's part of the funding through the■bucture law and the inflation reduction act. so we can have more people that can move and not just be doing it with a vehicle as more and more people choose to bike or take transit or walk or whatever it might be. let's make it easie it safer. we know it's good for people's health and it's good for the planet and so that is a big piece of what this isll about, a more walkable city. all over the country of course. that's something we are excited to do. our our guest has mentioned the inflation reduction act. $10 billion in tax credits to build electricehles and wind $750,000 tax credit rebates for electric car purchases. there is $9 billion in the for

energy efficient home retrofits and to assist farmerand ranchers, $20 billion of the and $30 billion for city-states to transition utilities to clean electricity. brady, income incomes sh -- north carolina, republican. caller: hearing nothing but tree hugging -- scam. put out more carbon in one day than cars do in 300 years and the gases -- every time there is an earthquake the natural gas gets released from the ground. host: we will take those points, brady. guest: north carolina is my second favorite state. i went to school there. you live in beautiful place.

just respectfully disagree. the science tells us something exactly opposite or very different from what you laid out. we know that fossil fuel production consumption and usage is the largest driver of climate climate change is human caused, period, full stop. there is just no debate left about that. given those facts, just the question is what do about it? is the u.s. going to lead? are we going to let foreign competitors like china and others lead when you look at of electric vehicles? no, let's do it here. let's create good paying jobs. let's bring those costs down and let's make sure that again we have less communities, fewer communities, nobody should live in a place that's poisoned withj coal-powered plants spewing smoke in the air and have higher rates of cancer, higher rates of asthma. no one should be drinking dirty water from runoff from coal

fired power plants. so climate change is happening. we are going to tackle it as a global community, you know, globally. the question is, is the u.s. going to lead? i think the answer has to be yes. it sure has been over the course of the last four years that this president has been in office with the leadership of chuck schumer and nancy pelosi when she was speaker of the house. host: you can learn more from you go to lcv.org, league of conservation voters. pete maysmith, thank you for the conversation. appreciate it. guest: tppreciate it. host: up next charlie spiering will join us, political reporter for the daily mail, discusses his new book "amateur hour: kamala harris in tbe right back.

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c-span now is available at the apple store and google play. scan the q.r. code to download it for free today or visit our website. to washington anytime, anywhere. >> "washington journal" continues. host: charlie spiering is here with us, senior political reporter with the daily mail, author of this book, "amateur hour: kamala harris in the white house." write this book? guest: hi, thanks for having me. big part of why i wrote the book is because there's two big reasons. one is that with joe biden's age as we go into this election, the question of whether kamala harris is readyo as vice president is sort of paramount among voters' minds and you certainly see this already in the campaign. you saw nikki haley talk about it a lot. also going to see trump --

former president donald trump bring it up, too of the with the very real possibilityv) that kamala harris could be the 47th president of the united states if president joe biden runs and wins and whether or not he can serve a full term. so that's a big reason why i wrote the book and also because the behind the scenes democrats are very worried about kamala harris. they don't believe she has proved herself ready to lead and a lot of them have made comments behind the scenes criticizing the vice president and don't see her as the best choice for vice president and ready to lead. host: who did you talk to for the book? guest: talked to different sources, some from her office, some donors, certainly a lot of behind the scenes people who work in washington. washington can be very cruel hyped the scenes. that's where they give you their frank and honest assessment of a politician. once you make a few mistakes on a national stage, you are quickly written off.

it's a big part of your reputation as you go forward is a result of these conversations behind the scenes. host: what few mistakes do you think she's made as v.p. in this first term of the biden administration? guest: first of all, she struggles to communicate well. you see it a lot in some of her speeches and her remarks. a lot of conservatives describe them as word salads but even professionals in washington know that she puts too many dependent clauses on her -- in her speeches. she sort of spirals, spends a lot of time talking, defining her terms too often. so you see this on the right criticizing these kind of the ho comedy show about the vice president, they compare her leadership style to that. even on a policy level, she also has struggled, certainly with the immigration issue.

she really struggled to move the needle on that and several other positions as well. host: she was on abc yesterday and she was asked about the southern border. here is what she had to say.atcr video down in el paso and does that send a message to americans that the border is secure? vice president harris: we are very clear and most americans are clear that we have a broken immigration system and we need to fix it. members of the united states senate considered to be very conservative with others came it a bipartisan resolution, but they're refuse tog put it up for a vote and in large part because we know the former president would prefer to run on a problem instead of fix a problem. >> as of right nois that executive action on the border still on the table? could we see that? vice president harris: that does not absolve the real fix is when congress acts. still on the table though.

yeah, for conservation. -- consideration. host: charlie spiering, how did she respond there and what do people say about the border situation and tying it back to kamala harris? guest: in june, biden chose her to take a lead on the immigration issue and she traveled to guatemala and famously gave a press conference telling migrants do not -- if you come, i believe you will be turned back. this is what she said to all thr country and travel to america. but it's very clear at this point that they did not lisp ant take her seriously. she failed to live up to that moment because -- and srnl even in that answ she does not acknowledge the fact that she and■o the president have a big reonbility for everything that's going on at the border today. sort of being unwilling toa loto as the executive branch to

tackle this issue without congress. host: when it comes to the vice president's performance on this issue, those in her office have said she's in charge of the root causes in central america. she's not in charge of -- the president did not put her in charge of dealing with all migration on the southern border. guest: certainly and you s the president certainly saw this as a way, granted, your number one position is on the root causes but you are also expected to be able to speak about this issue in a way that can convince voters that you are handling the issue properly. certainly even the president himself said that kamala was in charge of the immigration issue. she actually corrected the president in front of members oe from this major responsibility, because she was unwilling to tackle this issue. how? guest: by saying i am only in

charge of root causes. do not say i am the immigration czar, as republicans like to host: what -- who did you speak to or did you get any positive critique of the vice president's performance? guest: i did speak to so felt ts improved. most people admit, even her biggest supporters admit that she had a rough first three years with all the problems in her office. a lot of people will say those problems are fixed now as we head into an election. there is a political reason to be saying that, but a lot of her former staffers feel either unwilling to speak on the record in support of her or just ready to move on. host: and why? guest: i think it's a mixture of different reasons. certainly staffers in washington know that if you are working for a politician, either the environment is too toxic to stay or it's not seen as a path to success. i think that a lotice president don't sear her as -- see her as

having a successful vice-presidency that will move forward up into the exeti so i think a lot of them are leaving the office because they are unwilling to take that chance. host: we are talking about kamala harris, new book by charlie spiering, "amateur hour: kamala harris in the white house." we want to get you involved in this conversation. democrats, 1-800-medicare. 202-748-8000. republicans, 202-748-8001. independence, 202-748-8002. you can text us, include your first name, city and state to 202-748-8003. join us on facebook.com/c-span. the rootgela johnson had this to say about your book. while other news outlets have reported on dissension in the v.p.'s office, it's important to not spiering was a politil for the

washington examiner before moving to brightbart wher worked as a white h correspondent. so probably not the biggest fan o the biden h harris administering. as you can possibly imagine, the fox news crowd is ready to pick up everything is -- no matter how you feelncidence

middle of the republican primary season describing the country's first black v.p. female who happe tbe a democratfficult. but to imply tha aormer district attorney who represented california in the united states senate, where she served on the senate select committee on intelligence is not qualified for the job of vice president is laughable. guest: it's certainle not laughable, because it's not just conservatives who have problems with kamala harris. her approval ratings are in the. there is a huge portion of the democrat base that view her as unsuitable for office. i think the daily mail ran a poll in september of last year and she was found to be the most unpopular vice president in the last 40 years. that's not just conservatives that are saying that. that's people on the left and certainly people on the right, but when you have approval ratings that are the lowest in modern history, it's not just a

product of racism and sexism. that's only if people like to dismiss that as i think there is valid criticism from both sides and who have found her wanting in the first three years. host: we want our viewers to engage on that part, valid criticism here of the vice president. here is the disapproval ratings of kamala harris since january, 2022, to current times. disapproval rating hovering around 52.3%. willie in georgia, democratic hi, willie. caller: good morning. how are you today? host: good morning. caller: i don't understand the gentleman's criticism of the vice president. how will he rate the former president of the united states as an amateur or someone on kamala harris' scale? kamala harris, former prosecutor out of california, and now you

criticizing the vice president of the united states? i don't understand the timing of the book and i know everyone writes a book and wants to get on the new york bestsellers list but this is one of the mos disgraceful things that one could have written. the former president of the united states, domed trump --e him as a world leader? some of the things he did. host: got it, got it. guest: thank you, willie. i certainly see -- i can see that your point is correct, that former president of the united states donald trump was an amateur when he came into politics. four years leading the country in a way where his party, even though he was unable to win re-electio to put him back on that platform. i don't think that would happen with kamala harris if she was to run today. i don't necessarily think she would be the number on choice

as the best running mate for the democratic party if biden were s down. i would concede your point but i would say there is enough concerns in the democrat party that are not willing to see her as the future of the party. host: the caller brought up her 10 years district attorney. you write about that in the book. as district attorney, harris' vow to be smart ocrime appeared to be smart on politics as she teaded her narrative to appear competent but progressive. it had mixed results, often giving hand on attention to important su, she typically public attention waned ratheran she appeared better at proposing and promoting new ideas rather than achiengesults. when things wept wrong in her office, she feignedgnorance blaming her staff for not keeping her informed. sheecame an expert at pandering to activists but find burner her

role as a tough law enforcement figure in california as she prepared to further her political career. where does that reporting come from? guest: i think absolutely, when she was a prosecutor, she was -- she focused on branding herself as a top cop and not a progressive prosecutor as we saw. her first district attorney race, she ran against a progressive who was considered the anti-rudy giuliani so a toue center on issues of crime than the more progressive candidate. even as attorney general, i think especially during the protests of black lives matter, the activists wanted her to do so much on these issues to investigate police shootings, to take these issues priority. but she didn't step out of her convenience of her political approval ratings, and really just focused on her own career rather than taking serious risks for reform, issues of reform. host: in that analysis, criticism comes from democrats?

guest: exactly. you saw a lot of this during the campaign especially on social media. they saw her as a police figure, as a top cop, rather than someone that represented change. part of the establishment. so you certainly saw that as a major issue ding the campaign. that's part of the reason why her campaign didn't do so well. her primary campaign in 2020. host: presidential bid. guest: right. host: new jersey, he ward, a republican. -- edward, a republican. caller: yes, how are you? good morning. host: good morning. caller: yeah, i am calling about kamalae nothing for this country. she didn't do nothing at the borders. she's there nothing else. what did she do for this country that's good? host: all right. edward there. charli spiering, you write in the book, in the beginning americans wondered if harris would be secrly controlling biden from hyped thecet

harris was essentially frozen out from the president's inner circle. bidenndis team had achieved their alf winning using harris' identity to make history and inspire voters to pull the aginpridential hopeful across the finish line but when they took office harris was sidelined despite biden's promise to make harris a full partner, harris began the job literally standing behind biden. give us more the f your reporting. what do you mean by sidelined? what did you learn? guest: i think when she first became vice president, they had hers during the pandemic, they had her in the room for multiple speeches standing behind the president masked and silenced being a symbol as the president took the majority of the workload to address issues of the coronavirus and wearing masks and everything and she was sidelined. i think a big part of her mission, they tried to get her on television to encourage commit

vaccine, to wear their masks and i think that was where they saw her strength. host: any other evidence that she's been sidelined? guest: yeah. i think that during important issues, certainly when the afghanistan issue was happening, the withdrawal from afghanistan, she was either unwilling or they were unwilling to step up. she was expected to be in the room for the president's speech about the withdrawal and she eventually decided not to do room.and stayed in i think she went relatively silent when the issue of afghanistan withdrawal went sour really spent time hiding from the cameras that point. host: on the abortion issue, she has done -- she's been out across the cntry talking about the issue from your reporting what did you learn about her role there within the biden administration? guest: i think activists were frustrated when the decision happened in june, and the biden

administration did not have any serious response to the overturning of roe vs. wade. in my book, in some of my reporting i show she was not ready to talk about the issue of abortion. most abortion activists can see she sees the issue going forward into an election and has driven home the point and really made that a central point of her is uncomfortable talking about abortion, certainly kamala harris is comfortable and has done a remarkable job emphasizing that issue and the biden people see that as a strength. host: she's an effective communicator on that issue? guest: she's an effective communicator but as far as getting anything done, there is a lot of activists that are upset with the administration for their failure to wrestle with the issue in a serious way other than just accepting a message we need to elt democrats in order to make change happen. host: we will go to graham, north carolina. luke is -- luka is an independent.úbx caller: hello. thank you for c-span. i appreciate your work.

quite frankly, i am concerned about the way that the book is being played and at the time it's being played. there are plentofce i see with regards to kamala harris is she doesn't look like or is not the same gender of the political leaders we are useto. i have seen incompetent amateurs males lead this country ever since i have been around, and so for you c-span, i am a little concerned because i watch you becausi nonpartisan. but this looks like a partisan hit job, and i want to ask you the question, your decision to even put this book up for review on c-span. thank you very much. host: all right. we are talking to charlie spiering and getting all different perspectives as ■swe always do here on the "washington journal." you may not agree with it, but

we are presenting different perspectives, different reporting, different ideas and then you get the opportunity to call in and question and discuss what the topic is for today. albert in chicago, democratic caller. hi, albert. caller: good morning. host: good morning. caerfar as your guest, mr. spiering, i would like to ask him a question. every republican was onboard with the trump tax cuts, so we are going to set that aside. i would like you, mr. spiering, to name just one accomplishment that mike pence was the vice president. how would you rate his job performance? guest: yeah, i think that mike pence had a lot of executive experience when he was showsen -- chosen as president trump's running mate and he stepped up and really led country during the period of the

coronavirus. that was the number one issue that pence tackled and handled and i think that a majority of especially people in washington felt that he was an effective manager of that situation during the crisis moment when it tooka very difficult, very thorny issue and did a fairly good job. you may not disagree with turning over control of the pandemic to dr. fauci and the way they handled it, but most people saw pence as an communicator on the issue even when he was able to get out there and talk about it. host: lucy in new york, republican. hi, lucy. caller: this is such a light topic and a light book. it's a poor attempt to try to make money. the vice-presidency, they don't do much. they said the same thing about biden when he was vice president to obama and for him to the waye

said should have proved. the correct way to say it should have proven. articulate yourself. host: let's talk about the job of the vice president. the role that they play in any administration. guest: right, the role that a vice president plays is really -- the number one job of a vice president is to support and defend the president. i don't think that anyone would suggest that kamala harris has run forward and taken a lot of the heat off of president biden. there has been multiple attempts where she's steered away from controversial issues, unwilling to be the point person on thorny issues in the administering. and certainly there's been incidents where she refused to goen -- to go on sunday shows, refused to take the heat off joe biden, that is the number one job of a vice president. host: david in cleveland, independent. caller: i just want to say, i have not read the book

obviously, but it appears the title is very appropriate. whether you are talkling about -- talking about immigration or in particular the situation in the mideast, it doesn't appear that she has a good fundamental grasp of international and world affairs. she seems to be very superficial and doesn't possess the deep consideration and insight from a historical perspective whenever she speaks. it appears that she'trying to go for the moment instead of understanding the broad picture especially in international affairs. host: all right, david. let's play a little bit from yesterday's abc interview. you mentioned foreign affairs. here she is suggesting there could be consequences for if it moves ahead with a planned invasion as -- in its pursuit of hamas fighters. take a listen. [video clip] >> netanyahu appears to be flat-out ignoring president

biden's warning of an offensive in rafa health career. is that a red line for administration? vice president harris: we have been clear in multiple conversations and in every that any major military operation in rafah would be a huge mistake. let me tell you something. i have studied the map. they have nowhere for those folks to go. we are looking at about a million people who are there because they were told to go there, most of them. so we have been very clear that it would be a mistake to move into rafah with any type of military operation. >> a mistake but would there be consequences if he does move forward? vice president harris: we are step aa time. we have been clear on whether or not that should happen. >> are you ruling out there would be consequences from the united states? vice presiris: i am ruling out nothing. host: charlie spiering to answer the previous caller's question

after listening there, what did your sources say about command of foreign affairs? guest: right, that she doesn't have very much experience on foreign affairs when called to serve in the■7 messaging role. she struggled in the beginning. i go back to the immigration issue when she was asked if she administration would go to the border. she said we have been to the border. when lester holt said you haven't been to thede and said i haven't been to europe either. while investigating that story, it turns out that she had been -- receedg an answer on tht question, why haven't you been to the border and she apparently forgot or did not want to use the prepared talking points she was given by the administering. she fell flat in that interview. certainly republicans made a great deal of that interview, pointing to her as about the is. host: steve in florida, democratic caller.

steve in florida, democratic caller. you are up. caller: yes, yes, sir. i wanted to make a point of the difference between kamala harris and joe -- donald trump and mike pence. kamala harris is an intellectual elephant and donald trump and mike pence are fleas. host: what about her intellect gut: i think she has plenty of intellect. she's served as attorney general and she did a very good job representing californians in the senate. i think that when it came to running r own presidential campaign in 2020 during the mocrat primary and certainly in the campaign afterwards, i think that a lot of voters were not pleased with ha they saw. that's why she sort of started at the top when she announced her run for president and then ultimately had to withdraw from the race before voting even be iowa.

i think that's a big tell of how if -- that you are not ready for the national platform of the executive branch. host: we will go down to houston, texas. tom is a republican there. good morng, tom. caller: good morning. good morning. thanks for taking my call. i have been a republican, i am 85 years old, been a republican a long time. i am leaning towards voting fore president harris. look, this guy that you are interviewing now, yes -- host: yes, we are listening. you said about this book? caller: i have seen -- host: tom, i am sorry, you are breaking up. we can't hear you. we will go to ohio. gus, independent. caller: i would like to ask charlie here, when he did those

polls on kamala harris, do you ask their party affiliation or do you try to poll 50/50? because that's number one. number two is why don't you write a book about marjorie taylor greene? that would be an interesting book, you know? thank you. idea. maybe i will call her office and see if we can get started. but as far as polling goes, i think most pollsters try to get a representative slice of the country, half democrat, half republican and try to weigh it in a way that makes sense professionally. there are a number of differentt as the most unpopular vice president in modern history. more unpopular than dick cheney, mike p even dan quayle who was ridiculed by the media for her amateurish antics. host: why do democrats you spoke to say her poll numbers are low? guest: a lot of them like to

ascribe it to racism or sexism but others will admit that she's just not ready for the job. i think when president biden chose her, there was hope among the democrat party that she would ultimately become the hare parypt to the party. a big wherein why joe biden is running for re-election is because kamala harris is not ready. the donors and people in control of the party don't view her as ready and are not willing to put her up to face donnal ald trum-- trump. host: are you suggesting that in your reporting, that president joe biden was planning to only serve one term? guest: i certainly think there was a lot of democrat advisors and democratic donors who felt that when he made that speech in i think it was in 2020 in michigan, when he made that speech describing himself as the bridge to the next generation of democratic leaders, i think that a lot of people saw that as soone who would only run for one term. even when he was running for president, there was a lot of

noise made by his advisors and supporters that this was a thinp and open the door to the next generation of democratic leadership. i think a big reason of why he is running again is because kamala harris is not ready. host: bob in raleigh, income -- north carolina, democratic caller. caller: charlie, what was startling to a lot of democratic voters during the primaries was that when the sexual allegations against president biden were brought up, kamala harris said she agreed with them, that and then she ended up getting less than 1% of the primary votson that she was vice president is because of the promise james clyburn made to biden. i really -- i don't understand but when she supported those sexual allegations, i know a lot

of people's ears flapped. host: ok. couple things there, but also this clyburn deal, do you have any reporting on that? guest: certainly with the allegations, when sort of alleging that joe biden was behaving badly, i think kamala harris was one of the candidates who said i believe the accuse irs -- accusers. certainly during the primary debate, kamala harris was also one that attacked then candidate joe biden about the issue of busing and raising questions about his ability to handle racial issues. it was surprising that they ended up selecting harris. there was hesitation even within the bin ld choose somebody who had attacked him on these issues. i think my reporting found out that jill biden, the first lady, famously favored susan rice over hairs -- hairs hair. there were others in his circles

kamala was not the first choice. they went forward with her because the president's advisors and certainly former president barack obama did a lot to defend kamala harris even though he made sure that it was joe biden's choice to make. host: nate in tallahassee, florida, independent. caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: i only seem 0 get on when you are on. i just listened to the young man, to your right there. it seems to me that for some reason c-span is making this program today into an extension of fox news. this man has nothing to say positive. though i will admit i would not support kamala as president if she ran singularly, i believe that this man has a problem with

her and you are this morning it s on fox news for no particular reason except for a political hit job. host: nate, i addressed this before, nate, in that we have all different viewpoints on this program. as a long-time watcher, you know that. charlie spiering, respond to what he had to say. guest: nate, i think that you correctly said that if she does run for president you would not vote for her. but i think that a big reason why i wrote the book -- not every vice president deserves a book examining the first three years. but i think in kamala harris' case, there is ashe could be the 47th president of the united states without running her own election. if it's joe biden winning in november, vors have to be aware of who kamala harris is, who the vice president is and whether or not they're comfortable with her leading the country if the president can't make it through a second term with his advanced age. host: you said at the top that in your reporting you found people who said she has

improved. talk aboutoñx3 that. guest: yeah, as they get into campaign mode, there is a lot less people talking, revealing negative things about her office. th'r on script, letting her go out to some of these safe spaces where she's comfortable campaigning, putting her in places where she's comfortable talking about issues that the president isn't necessarily comfortable talking about. but even as this continues, there are moments of -- there are problems with her peeve -- performance on the campaign trl. you saw in puerto rico on friday where she walked out of the room and started applauding for a group of singers who were protesting her in spanish. it was an embarrassing moment that would probably be featured on an episode of these other times she had difficulty speaking even when she was out talking about solar panels, a

lot of the same convoluted talking points and when she holds the fundraiser with some of the wealthiest businessmen in puerto rico, even as the residents are struggling to keep their electricity on, that's also a tone deaf look for the vice president. host: esther democratic caller. good morning, esther. caller: good morning. my comment is, kamala got where she is because of her qualifications. she didn't startut being unqualified. she started out from the bottom. she moved up to where she is today because of her expertise and because of her qualificen he speaks, he speakse me, every other sentence is uh, uh, the way i am speaking now,

uh.a that's all i have. host: charlie spiering. guest: i am not a politician. i am an author, not a tv figure. put that. also i think that yes, she does sort of struggle to speak during some of her speeches and her recordaks for itself. host: jerry, pittsburgh, texas, republican. caller: yes, thank you for taking my call. i was referring to kamala harris' genealogy. her father was on television and he was proud of the he was half irish and half black. her mother is all indian. so that would make her one half indian, one fourth irish and one fourth black. she's more indian than anything. host: all right. guest: on her race, her father was jamaican american and kamala

harris is indian. so an even split certainly a lot of people talking during the campaign, people who said -- i think it was don lemon on cnn had a big segment on how kamala harris was not an african-american which was controversial in the community. there are a lot of people in the black community who felt she wasn't an of black american life, growing up as a privileged daughter of a university professor in liia. so i think that you did see the debates happening during the campaign, but certainly she is authentically black. host: why you think she did the abc interview yesterday or taped it for abc's sunday show? what is going on behind that? what is the strategy of the biden administration? guest: certainly i think the strategy is to get her out on the sunday shows being more comfortable even though there have been times when she's been unwilling to go on the sunday shows. even during the bigfufl

over the special counsel report, there was reporting she was unwilling to go on the her own separate speech on the issue. host: ray in ohio, democratic caller. hi, ray. caller: good morning. how are you? host: good morning. caller: my question basically is, i was looking at the title, amateur hour, and i guess would the author feel that at this particular time, wouldn't anyone dealing ast it be amateur hour for anyone? i don't think we have ever had this political discourse in the country ever, first off, and ifk at the vice presidents from i would say from bill clinton, al gore, he had someat not.

i would say most of the vice presidents have -- would qualify as■+ being amateur hour for the. i don't think that kamala harris is by herself the only one that you could say would be amateur hour for. host: all right, ray. we will take that point. guest: yeah, ray, there is a certain extent when you join an administration that amateur. certainly when barack obama won for president, he was one of the most -- not unqualified but one of the most unexperienced politicians to take the position as president. so i think even if you are an amateur when you are brought into theuickly pivot and demonstrate that you have the ability to lead and convince voters and enough important issues and handle those issues in a way that inspires voters to ultimately vote and support your

success or failure. host: cathy in georgia, republican. you are up next. ■caller: yes, hi. i wonder in your book, do you talk about how vice president harrisack man, congressman or politician and really that's how she got her start. and what tara reid, who accused president biden of rain? brought up.e is a lot that's a lot of people like to talk about her relationship with a person -- one of the most powerful black politicians in california, willie brown. you will see people talk about this and even some people mistakenly say that kamala harris slept her way to the top. she certainly dated willie brown when he was running for mayor. kamala was 29. willie brown was 60. he was running for mayor at a

time when he needed to prove he could maintain a stable relationship because he was already long estranged from his wife and he was known as something of a playboy. but when he ran for mayor, he had this relationship with kamala harris and his own campaign managers floated that as a way for him to prove to voters that he could maintain a stable relationship as he was running for mayor of california. after willie brown won that race, kamala harris was at the election celebration party, and people were talking about how maybe brown would marry kamala harris but ultimately willie brown broke up with her instead and they went their separate ways. certainly when it came time to the inauguration it was his l wg the bible for the oath of office and kamala harris was brushed aside. host: carl in washington,

pennsylvania, democratic caller. caller: yes. thank you for taking my call. i would just like to remind the author that when bill clinton ran in 1992, he ran against george h.w. bush, who was an old mate was dan quayle. you can't possibly think that if bush had not survived his term that dan quayle was in any way qualified to be president of the united states. at the same time, gaffes cao an. you mentioned about the protesters from puerto rico with kamala harris. how about dan quayle's problem with spelling the word potato? guest: yeah, that's a famous antidote and a lot of people compare kamala harris to dan quayle in that moment. but certainly if i had been alive at the time, i think i would have been among the many people who thought that dan quayle was unqualified.

but certainly george bush did not -- was not -- george bush sr. was not seen as somebody who e to serve another term as president, whereas a lot of people have these questions about president joe biden as he heads into re-election. host: charlie spiering, author of the book "amateur hour: kamala harris in the white house." senior political reporter with theharris in the white house," thank you for the conversation. guest: thank you for having me. host: we will take a break and when we come back, we will be an open forum. any policy or political issue that is undermined, we will have a conversation about it. there are the numbers on your screen. start dialing in. ♪ >> and dorothy and thomas hoover's latest book, the

open with this introduction. this is a book of love letters. every one of them involve a president of the united states, and we will tell you their stories this book. the writers at their most vulnerable, providing a surprisingly intimate and deeply personal portrait that is often obscured by the public persona. dorothy and thomas book is titled, are you prepared for the storm of lovemaking? >> authors dorothy and thomas hoover on this episode of book notes plus, available wherever you get your podcasts. ♪ >> c-span has been delivering unfiltered congressional coverage for 45 years. here is a highlight from a key moment. marvelous program for america to

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or wherever you get your podcasts. >> "washington journal" continues. host: and we are in open forum here for the last 30 minutes of today's "washington journal." here is the washington times this morning. house investigator to refer bite in case the justice department -- the biden case to the justice department. leading an investigation into the president, planning to send criminal referrals against mr. bidenpartment as it appears increasingly unlikely republicans will vote to impeach him. that is today's washington times with that reporting. you also have this headline in usa today. over the weekend, congress passed the $1.2 trillion spending bill.

you can talk about that legislation. it funded six federal agencies, about 70% of the federal government avoided a government shutdown. the house passed it friday, the senate early saturday morning, and the president signed it into law. that is alsost" headline, we can republican house majority reckons with johnson's leadership. passage of the $1.2 trillion spending bill triggered a motion debate case from marjorie taylor greene. she says it is just a warning at this point, that she will not move forward unless the ukraine 80 bill comes to the floor. at then moves her forward for a resolution that would then have to be acted upon within 48 hours. all those topics and more on the table. rob in lakeville, minnesota, democratic caller.

we would hear from you. good morning. caller: good morning. i just wanted to comment more on the mr. mayweather or feather was his name talking about climate change. i feel perhaps more issues that need to be addressed about private jets like taylor swift and elon muskch to pollution being used as well as the lack of public transportation that we have here in the united states. i don't feel electric cars are the sole answeto we absolutely need to very much ramp up our public transportation in the stateto c,

would be ideal. to surpass thatbut yeah, that w. host: all right, rob. the guest we spoke to this mornin was pete maysmith, the senior vice president of campaigns for the league of conservation voters. if you missed the conversation come you can find it on our■2 website. jim in florida, what is on your mind? caller: good morning. i really wanted to get my textr read on pete maysmith's segment because i spent my whole career in the automotive industry and have a few things about cars. first of all, electric cars have to be plugged in and charged. the electricity does not generate itself. 60 electricity is generated from coal. how will roads be funded in the future?

are dv owners going to be charged more for their electricity that they use? orwell fossil fuel people pay more as well? right now, the fuel is taxed through infrastructure. i am in orlando, and i moved here in 1994. when i moved here, there was an event to see a rocket launch. two or three a year was about the most. we used to drive out to the coast just to see these rockets. today you can walk out in your backyard and watch a rocket launch almost every day. what you think that is doing to our atmosphere and climate change? host: gavin, jim -- got it, jim. this debate in the house on spending house over that spending bill. washington times, joh w have to tread carefully as he

faces little room for error in an election year. the republican of gallagher lefo step down later in april, reporting that the majority, their margin goes down to one about. marjorie taylor greene on fox news sunday morning talking about the motion. [video clip] >> there is nothing in the bill that secures the border. the bill tjo passed does everything to keep the biden administration's deadly border invasion going every signal day. house republicans have passed an incredible border security bill likely hr2. speaker johnson's one chance to truly secure the border is with the power of the purse, and that is in the funding bill. to secure the border like he

promised all of us he would and promised the american people, he would have called chuck schumer that she would have told chuck schumer we will not pass any government funding bill unless it has the hr to in it or the lincoln rileysome measures in them, but he didn't. he completely failed in that, and he let chuck schumer pasñ+ this bill announced because speaker johnson forced it on republicans. did nothing for the funded fulln clinics, funded trans policy for children. host: marjorie taylor greene other sunday show for fox yesterday. on representative of texas also spoke about that spending deal, talking about the national debt, the southernuld have done to keg down. [video clip] >> i wanted some sense of sanity

on spending. some sense of sanity on the border. on any of the issues the american people actually care about. we got none of that. we got a doubling down on the very thing the people who send me to washington and i believe the vast majority of texans and americans are frustrated with. when i went to washington as a staffer 20 years ago, the national debt was $6 trillion. i left town, did a bunch of stuff, come back to both parties are equally to blame over that time. both parties. the entire establishment in washington keeps spending money we don't have, racking up debt to advance policies undermining their safety and well-being. wide open borders. we have lincoln riley who dies because of the policies released people in the united states. the law and she dies.ed

we do nothing to secure the border. zero. that is the problem that the american people are looking at and they are frustrated. i would have stuck with the bipartisan caps thge were passed on a majority basis of the house and the senate. i would have passed a cr that would have triggered the caps. we would have cut the bureaucracy and could have negotiated on border security. host: his opposition to the $1.2 trillion speg 286-134 votes. it took democrats to get it over the finish line. the senate passed it 74-24. the president signed into law. in ohio, democratic caller. we are caller: mi on the air? -- am i on the air? host: yes, we are listening to you. caller: i just wonder when

america will get over the idea of a woman being in high office or someone of color being in high office. i think it is a disgraceand it is pro trump to put this book forward before the election. i think it is totally unfair to kamala. thank you. host: david in pennsylvania, republican. ll yes, my problem is with bidenomics. 70 years old, retired, fixed income. i am paying $300 to $40 more a h month just to live under president biden's economic policies. why do we have to support these major companies that are doubling their profits at our expense and the government does not do one thing about it? host: all right, david.

you are echoing a poll taken by pew research at the endamerican, strengthening the economy. a growing share of republicans rate immigration and terrorism as their top priority as well. dan in arizona, independent. hey, dan, we are in open forum. any public-policy or political issue that is on your mind. go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. i actually have three areas of concern. i worked in the government, and i just have a question that i already asked my congressman and senators. they refused to explain it to me. one is the amount of money that we send to isr■ael. i understand it is an ally and so forth but why are we spending billions of dollars tothey haved

free medicine for everybody and college education for everybody and free abortions? at the same time, why are they living better than we are committed we are giving them money for it? i hate to see the tremendous slaughter of the palestinians. there is just no call for it. no all. they are starting them, and they kill them they are starving them, and they kill them. ere is something wrong with the situation. they are using these big powerful 2000 pounds to destroy apartment competences instead of picking up individuals. host: ok, you may be interested in what congresswoman alexandria ocasio-cortez said on cnn &yesterday discussing the israel-hamas war in a speech she made on the house for last week: israel's treatment of gaza a genocide. [video clip] >> so i ask israeli officials about the speech, and they say

we are allowing hundreds of aid trucks into gaza every single day. they are trying to increase those numbers. they have to inspect the cargo to make sure no weapons are getting in. weapons that would be used by hamas against the people of israel. israeli officials also argued this world would end tomorrow if hamas freed the hostages and lay down the arms. ■bdo you disagree? >> i disagree because what we are talking about, fami hamas se tied to weather a three-year-old can eat. the actions of hamas do not justify forcing thousands, hundreds of thousands of people to eat glass out of their bodies, consume themselves. we as the israeli government have the right to go after hamas , but we are talking about millions of innocent palestinians, which is in justifiable.

and the excuses that the israeli government is giving about what they are and are not allowing simply do not square with what the u.k. government is standing, but international aid organizations are stating, and what our own state department officials are stating, which is they are not allowing aid to go through. when they talk about infections, we are tech by aid, the united states aid. i think that if we are to operate as allies, we must operate in good faith to uphold the principles of democracy, which includes respect for human rights andéj■< also proving the value of our democracy, which is we are different than authoritarian and we are different from other types of regimes with no regard for innocent people. host: from cnn's state of yesterday. dan in arizona, independent. caller: yes, ma'am. my question is also regarding

the border. i am quite conce i was really excited when senator lankford, republican from oklahoma i believe, came up with the concept of this bipartisan agreement. at the last minute, republicans said this is what wewait, we ree the problem. we want trump)n to use this as a campaign issue. very sad to hear that. it is crazy, stupid, wrong. and we could have stopped immedg that bipartisan bill. thank you for taking my call. host: dan on immigration there. what is your topic? caller: thanks for taking my call. i think mrs. vice president ought to incarcerate, i don't

know, matt, miss greene, and let the immigrants come in and get registered. thank you for taking my call. host: ok. william in pennsylvania, republican. yeah, i just want to start off by saying haha to ronna mcdaniel at msnbc. she should have to pay back all the money she still from the rnc crap. for all my maga fellows out there, do not vote for the people who signed the omnibus bill. they are rino republicans, only in name. did you hear what robert mcdonald said on msnbc? she said she was a democrat, a liberal. supposed to be representing us

republicans. we have rthis country is a cra. thank you. bye. host: the washington post reporting president biden, former president barack obama, and speaker nancy pelosi appeared in a video released by the biden campaign saturday marking the 14th anniversary of the affordable care act. the joint appearance comes as biden is a that is set to appear at a high-profile fundraiser at new york's city radio musical on thursday. >> as you all know, i thought it was a big deal at the time. it is an even bigger deal today. the consequent as of health-care loss and spending in medicare and medicaid in 1965. >> together, we accomplished a lot, and there is nothing i am more proud of than theit can bee days, but passing it was hard.

health insurance companies were resianrepublicans did not want k with democrats on anything. but for the three of us, giving up was not an option. we met too many people who needed help. that we have a chance to do even more. that only happens if we said joe and kamala white house in november so we have to keep working. >> this election is about two different visions of america. my vision, our vision about the future of our folks have freedom and security of a portable health care from a portable health care, low prescription drug cos more breathing room as my dad would say. now trump says he will terminate the aca. think about what that means. it would be 100 llion americans with pre-existing conditions would lose their health care coverage. it would mean young people would be kicked off of their parents's coverage. tens of millions of americans would lose health-care coverage because of that.

host: the latest campaign video from the b campaign. in florida, an independent. caller: hi. yeah. i think the previous caller stole my thunder, but i am just wondering, i just saw marjorie taylor greene earlier on their being interviewed. the firstr is why they torpedoed the immigration bill. that would have saved a lot of things. it is a bipartisan bill, but she torpedoed it. or she is one of the torpedo people. k s all. host: eve in grand rapids, michigan, open forum this morning. caller: good morning, greta. host: morning. caller: i am about to i guess mimic the people who were just calling. chip roy and marjorie taylor greene, they are on the boat for donald trump because that border

would have beenleent that was bn that was being made. they just turned it down because trump told them to turn it down. i don't understand why they keep on talking about the young lady riley. that is the same tone they had with benghazi. republicans stay on the same thing over and over again with one subject talking about this is what is happening instead of trying to get something done. they need to get something done. host: all right. eve in michigan. happening today in washington, you can watch a discussion on northern eopea security at 10:45 a.m. eastern time. we will have coverage here on c-span on ourré■é free video moe app c-span now, or online at c-span.org.

the chair of the house foreign affairs committeerday. here is what he had to say about what is next for aid to ukraine. [video clip] >> has speaker johnson given to you anytime went for a vote on ukraine aid given they are running out of ammunition? >>'s commitmenton the floor after easter. and we are working on this bill. >> as soon as you all, back all -- all come back april 9? >> i would like it done as soon as possible. situations in ukraine are dire. we cannot lose in ukraine like afghanistan and lose to putin let him take over ukraine and moldova, georgia, and abandon our allies like we did in afghanistan. does that make the united states weaker or stronger? >> why is there not the sense of urgency on the speaker's part? >> he understands us.

he is in a very difficult spot.the motion to locate vacate the chair thing. i believe he is committed. he leads on myself, the chairman of armed services, house intelligence for advice on this, and he knows how important this is. host: ukraine aid expected to come to the house floor after the easter break. the house and senate are in a two-week recess. tony in detroit, democratic caller hi. thank you for taking my call. can you please on your program ha on an espionage and have them compare on one side all the paper documents that president biden and president trump and vice president pence have in their garages or wherever? clinton's use of a private server, iphones,

blackberry phones while she was overseas. thank you very much. host: jeff in pennsylvania, republican. we are in open forum. there. all of this bad talked about maga cultists so what we talk about the democrat is the district america democrat agenda? host: jeff in pennsylvania, republican. the wall street journal headline, high court pulled back into the abortion battle. the high court on tuesday will hear theasn pills. the court has forced the case bk into its ticket after the decision to years ago with dobbs when it eliminated federal protection for the procedure. we will ve l coverage of the oral argument on tuesday. tune in and watch on c-span, our

now, and also online at c-span again, the fda approval of this that is before the supreme court on tuesday. live coverage at 10:00 a.m. eastern time here on c-span. brian caller: hi. i'm brian. they keep talking about the fact that trump and the trump organization regarding the value of the properties where he increased the properties, increase the values get insurance and those kinds of things. but the second part was the same properties were reduced in value when it came time to pay taxes on them. so it is not just the increase for insurance and the like. it was also the same properties were decreased when it came time to pay taxes on them. host: all right, brian.

cnn outside of a courtroom todr broadcasting as trump appeared at a court on the hush money case. there is also this in the usa today. donald trump hits the bond deadline. will letitia james been on his cash and buildings? that is news you.can can watchoder: morning. host: morning. caller: i have two parts to this. i was hoping that we could possibly cull the tree and see it flourish in some other area. host: fred in west palm beach, florida, independent. caller: thank you for taking my call. good morninghost: morning. caller: with regards to israel, i have two points to make that

are not discussed ever. extrapolate the number of people that i killed in israel -- that were killed in israel, some 1400, to the population in america, it would be 7000 americans that lost their lives. i wonder what america would have done if 7000 americakilled. the second point is simply this, whatever your feeling is about israel as it is conducng jews tf the matter, is very simple that if israel did not exist, iran would govern the middle east. so when china and russia. this would be a major international problem for the security of the united stas. thank you. host: we will end on that note today's "washington journal." we will be back tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. eastern time for more conversations with all of you. thanks for watching, and enjoy your week. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute,

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