♪ host: "washington journal," april 2. according to kaiser family foundation, the average cost for health insurance for a familiar last year was over -- family last year was over $23,000. it also showed in a recent survey u.s. adults said it was difficult to afford health care costs even with insurance. notable share of adults worry

about paying for unexpected bills, drugs, and unexpected costs. tell us about your experience with health care costs and what you think washington should do about it. different lines today. private insurance, 202-748-8000. insurance under the affordable care act, 202-748-8001. no insurance, 202-848-8002. medicare, 202-848-8003. text us at 202-848-7003. post on facebook and post on x and c-span wj. it was kaiser that looked at the cost for health insurance last year in 2023. here's some of the breakdowns you can find online saying that average premium for single coverage in 2023, $8,035. that average premium per family coverage, that average,

$23,968,000 per year. that's from keyser. also asking looking at the infacial of costs over time saying that average premium for single coverage has grown 22% since 2018. the same as growth in the average premium per family coverage. that $23,968 family premium in 2023. 22% higher. in 2028, 47% higher than the average premium in 2013. and this adds that the average family premiums for covered workers, small firms and large firms have grown at similar rates since 2018. 26% of small firms, 21%, large firms. adding that for smaller firms the average family premium rose from $18,739 in 2018. to $23,621 in 2023. kizer adding to that, saying it

was about half of the adults saying it was difficult for them for health care costs. some of them also saying the cost of health care can lead some to put off needed care. one in four adults saying that in the past 12 months they have skipped or postponed getting health care they needed because of the costs. notably six in 10 insured -- uninsured adults, 61%, said they went without needed care because of costs. maybe that fits into one of your categories when it comes to paying for health care and the cost of health care. tell us about that experience on the lines this morning if you want to share that with us. 202-748-8000. those with private insurance. if you have insurance under the affordable care act, 202-748-8001. if you have no insurance, it's 202-748-8002. recipient of medicare, call us at 202-748-8003. text us at 202-748-8003.

some posting on facebook this morning when it comes to some of the responses. john from facebook saying he's part of a union. he has great insurance. then he says i wonder why more companies don't unionize. bob saying my health care is through the v.a. my wife pays $500 a month for medicare and supplemental for her. it's good coverage but on a fixed income it's a burden. steve saying the health care system was collapsing when the a.c.a. passed. the a.c.a. stopped the free fall and saved t is it perfect? no, but much better than before, yes. thanking former president obama and all the courageous democrats who passed it. they knew the political risk. they did the right thing. unlike republicans who have no idea but, quote, whatever trump wants. amanda adding to the mix on facebook saying i'm always drowning in medical debt it's $650 a month for families with premiums. my deductible is $5,000 and

change. then she adds, yeah, obamacare is great. they may be amongst your sentiment when it comes to health care costs. call the line, post on facebook, x available as well. "washington post" reports this week when it comes to health care cost that is will be a focus of the biden administration, particularly as president biden campaigns for another term in office. an event wednesday expected to focus on health care costs. it was at a recent stop in north carolina that former -- president biden appeared to talk about, amongst other things, the passage of the affordable care act and his role in it. here's some of those comments from last month. president biden: the laws i wrote and signed the american rescue plan and inflation reduction act, both of which not a single solitary republican in the congress voted for. i enacted tax credits to save an average of $800 per person, per year retkaougs health care premiums for millions of working families under the affordable care act. those tax credits expire next

year. i'm calling on congress to make that $800 expanded affordable health care tax credit permanent. [applause] otherwise, many americans with that coverage could lose their coverage. folks, it's because they are making the a.c.a. stronger, more affordable, a.c.a. is breaking records. today everyone can get affordable coverage through the a.c.a. 80%, 80% of the folks on a.c.a. plan that can get a plan for $10 a month. $10 a month. 21 million people covered under a.c.a. 75% increase assistance since we came into office that. includes over 100 million folks right here in north carolina. [applause] on top of that more americans have health care today than any other -- than under any other

president. it's saving american taxpayers money. it saves money. talk about overspending. it saves the taxpayers money. it's cheaptory pay for preventive mammogram than to treat a cancer. today 100 million americans will no longer be denied health insurance because of pre-existing conditions. nearly 25 million low-income adults have gained medicaid coverage because of a.c.a., including as i said 400,000 right here in north carolina because of roy cooper. [applause] and kamala and i are making health care more affordable and accessible in other ways as well. americans pay more for prescription drugs than anywhere else in the world. i could get you on air force one you tell me if you have a prescription to fill out here in north carolina, i can fly to toronto, to berlin, to london, to rome and i can get you that

same prescription from that same company somewhere between 40% and 60% less than you pay for it here. through the inflation reduction act, again, not a single republican voted for t. we finally beat big pharma. finally. [applause] host: that was the president last month. he's expected to make more comments about health care on wednesday for private insurance holders, 202-748-8000. if you have insurance under the a.c.a., 202-748-8001. no insurance, 202-748-8002. and if you receive insurance under medicare, 202-748-8003. your experience with health care costs n virginia, a holder of private insurance, ted, starts us off. good morning. caller: good morning, pedro. thank you for the show. i have private insurance. i work at a private school, which is a fairly small group. our rates just keep going up.

consistent with what you mentioned earlier. i also consistently -- family of four, and consistently getting extra bills, and just all -- i have a health savings account, which i just keep paying every month. that just goes away really quickly. that seems to have really gone up over the last couple years. and also i have delayed some things myself just because i know there will be another bill coming down the road. i keep myself really healthy, i worry about something unexpected coming up. host: how much monthly, if you want to share, do you pay for health care? caller: actually, it's over $400 per pay. and that's two pays a month.

and then i put money into my health savings account. the interconstitution i work for gave us $1,000 in the health savings account, up front. which is nice. it you put in dental, medical, vision, all that stuff i think it's almost -- over probably $500 -- $500 per pay. host: ted in arlington, virginia. giving us his costs. he talks about some of the unexpected bills. it was one of those things the keyser bowl said the notable share of adults three in four saying they are very or somewhat worried about being able to pay for unexpected medical bills. or the cost of health care service, 73% for themselves and their families. additionally about half of those adults said they wouldn't be able to pay an unexpected medical bill of $500 in full

without going into debt. another holder of private insurance, france with a in-francois in maryland. good morning. caller: can you hear me? yeah. i have private insurance. i'm insured through kaiser. i work for the federal government. for years it has been great. i have no issue paying my premium. but this year there was a national association of the dental insurance i pay to, my preyum on top of the dental insurance that i used to have. so i end up having two coverages for my dental. the new one is called liberty. i went to do a root canal.

it was about $1,300. they only covered $300. so out of pocket has to be around $900 -- close to $1,000 for me. i don't know where this idea come from to ad libert to my coverage. and i -- liberty to my coverage. i tried to it. i haveet in a -- i have aetna. i have been penalized for being with k aiser because i have to pay more than i used to pay with aetna. it's no good for anyone. that's my statement. host: when you tried to call the company as far as to fight the bill, what was the response from them? did they yield anything? did they give you anything?

i know ultimately you had to pay for it. what was their response? caller: now they are fighting among themself who need to be the primary and who need tonight secondary. but i have to pay out of pocket close to $1,000 to have the service i needed. i don't believe i have to do that. when i call aetna they were suddenly -- if i go solely through them, my bell would be less than $800. my bill would be less than $800. i don't know what's going ofpblt they need to figure that out. host: ok. caller: it is not good for the end customer to be suffering after having two different coverages and has to pay that much. host: maryland talking about the dental aspects. maybe you want to throw that in the mix for the numbers. if you want to call the line. again we have heard from private insurance company holders. 202-748-8000.

but perhaps you have insurance under the a.c.a., that's 202-748-8001. if you don't have insurance, 202-748-8002. and for those under medicare, 202-748-8003. how you call. from facebook, bob says when it comes to insurance costs it's outrageous. he describes it. the worst part is on purpose the portion to buy into the upon stkeu scheme for insurance. they can get kick backs. jason said, obamacare sent them through the roof. it should be repealed and not replaced. it would allow the markets to compete to keep costs low and innovation high. from x a viewer says it's simply unaffordable for families. it's more than the mortgage, they add. then this is rich from facebook saying, my wife just had back surgery. went in the morning, home before supper, $178,000 the cost. and the operation was 2 1/2

hours. other ways you can reach out as well. facebook and on x. send us a text if you want. 202-748-8003. when it comes to the affordable care act, it was at a recent event sponsored by the american enterprise institute where paragon health intuit's president brian -- institute's president talked about the issues he has with it. >> the a.c.a. in 2024 is largely the law that the health care industry would have written. it just took time to get to it. the main components that the industry liked, the large new subsidies through the exchanges, through medicaid expansion, through 340-b are all growing. health insurers have reaped windfalls and enjoying their physician now regulated utilities. the main component that the industry disliked have disappeared. the cadillac tax, gone. the health insurance tax, gone.

the medical device tax, gone. the independent payment advisory board, gone. and all in big bipartisan votes. looking back the conversations in the board rooms of the health industry were probably to support enactment to get all the stuff that they wanted and then to work to eliminate what they didn't like. that's how it's played out. in a way that substantially increased federal deficits. in retrospect president obama's guaranteed the a.c.a. would not increase deficits appears only to have been made to get the law passed. one key example, the classroom, significantly contributed to the law's purported deficit reduction. that's because collections needed to come in for five years before any payments were made. just one year after the a.c.a. was enacted, h.h.s. secretary said the program had serious underlying problems and the

administration would not implement it. one year later it was repealed. and although it's out of my lane, i don't think that the student loan redesign which was used as an a.c.a. pay-for is working out as a favor for the government. the core central planning aspect of the a.c.a. has failed. most notably, i don't believe gabe's paper addresses this, the centers for medicare and medicaid innovation is increasing deficits having failed to develop models that either improve health care or lower costs. and the experiment was a failure, harming many policyholders with coverage that collapsed. the first seven years of implementation of the a.c.a. occurred within accommodating administration. they took many extra legal actions to ease political opposition for the law. most famously, president obama admitted in the fall of 2013 that his promise that people could like plans, keep plans if

they liked them, was not true. that led to the administration to create a new set of plans, grandmother plans, that could avoid the a.c.a.'s cost increasing regulations. host: a variety of ways you can reach out this morning. call and let us know about your health care costs. depending on type of insurance or no insurance. if that's the case. cindy who gets insurance under medicare in maryland. next up about your costs. good morning. thanks for calling. caller: hi, good morning. thanks for taking my call. let me start out saying i'm a nurse. i have worked in the insurance industry. but i have also been all over the health care arena from managed care. i was a certified case manager, which was a component that was necessary with managed care khopling out in the -- coming out in the late 1990's. i would like to say that overall, if you look at the big picture, looking at the big picture, managed kerrigan in the

late 199 -- managed care began in the late 1990's. if you go back several decades with legislation coming into effect decades prior, this whole approach to managing care has brought to us where we are today. i don't think this is all about the a.c.a. it's about managed care, period. and this country still hasn't gotten it right. i don't know that there is a right, but i do know that as long as insurance companies are a for-profit company, are you not going to get good health care. it's going to be based on the cost of care. and having worked on that side of the fence, i have worked for patients trying to advocate for them as well as being paid by my employer and needing to push them out of the hospital. because they didn't meet the criteria. as long as this for-profit

institution, which is why i work for a nonprofit now because i am so tired of the greediness of corporate health care and big pharma making all the decisions. i don't know if i have anything to say that you were hoping to hear. host: it's your experience. caller: yeah. i am a recipient of medicare today. i am now covered. i just got my card in the mail with a private insurance company through my employer. i'm not sure how that's going to go. the caller who just spoke in front of me talking about dental coverage and vision coverage. those carve outs, it's horrific that people are paying more than their mortgage, their car payments for health care. i travel every year and when i got health care in india, it cost me $1.50 to get an x-ray.

that was the highest cost service that i got. host: ok. cindy there giving us her experience. beau in delaware, holder of private insurance, good morning. thanks for calling. caller: good morning, pedro. this topic always gets me fired up. i have done a lot of research on this. it seems like everything started going downhill, i think it was nixon that kind of treated the program -- created the program where your health insurance is coupled to your employment t seems like nobody ever talks about what it would take to decouple your health insurance from employment. when you think about -- everything you pay every month. i probably pay $3,500 a year, my employer supposedly pays $25,000 a year for my coverage. i still have a $5,000 deductible. the corporation i'm sure is getting a huge tax break from that. if they did away with all the tax breaks to all these

corporations, i think that would make the whole universal health care more possible, but nobody ever talks about it. host: ok. beau giving us his thoughts. hear from tim in tulsa, holder of insurance under the a.c.a., go ahead. caller: yeah. the real concern i have is, we just got a report national news that biden has flown in 382,000 illegal immigrants and put them on our health care program. how is that health care program going to take away from us recipients as citizens? nobody's talking about 20 million illegals getting free health care from the biden administration? can't we do something about

that. host: aside from that, what's been the experience of you under the a.c.a. when it comes to insurance. caller: it's a big certain because my whole thing is i don't see how we can afford -- he's wanting to get these democrat voters in. and i know that. but it's a high cost to buy democrat votes. under that program for the illegals. they get free health care. we are concerned about that because we are dependent on the government to take care of the citizens. host: ok. middleton in west srarbgs, medicare recipients. go ahead. caller: good morning, pedro. people complain about the insurance. i have to say i got aetna gold and it only costs me $25 a

month. i get a card every three months for $100, like a credit card, to spend on my money for when i go see a specialist. i also get $105 every three months to buy stuff over the counter. i also get -- i got $3,000 dental that they pay. $500 for my glasses. these people are complaining all the time, they just need to look who they got the insurance with. you know that? host: ok. that's middleton in west virginia. axios reports that the biden administration monday followed through on a proposal to cut next year's base payments to medicare advantage plans. that's an average of 0.16%, despite pressure from insurers

and allies in congress, saying while the plans will line up seeing a net increase once payments are risk adjusted to account for the health of the customer, the new share to united health, cbs health, humanna falling amid predictions of financial pressure. the pace decrease continues from the fades-in from controversial changes to the risk adjustment coding system. the biden administration started last year, to make these payments more accurate. insurers get more money if their enrollees have more documented health issues, and the policy changes aimed to stop abuses of the system. but the health planes maintain that's akin to cutting the benefits. $a 16 billion increase in payments once risk scores are factored in. according for the centers for medicare and medicaid services. if you want to find out more that's axios. tell us about your experience with health care costs. the categories for insurance are on our line. if you have private insurance

it's 202-748-8000. if you have a.c.a. insurance, 202-748-8001. no insurance, 202-748-8002. if you receive medicare 748-8003. those all start with a 202 area code. connecticut, webster, medicare recipient. go ahead. caller: good morning. i was wondering -- i'm a retired person. and i got medicare. i heard a gentleman say a few minutes ago he had two insurances when he was working. so did i. and i don't understand how everybody is saying the a.c.a. is the cause of all this high price for the insurance costs. which is not the problem. the problem is for people naturally i was fortunate, my wife and i we always had these good insurances where when i went to a doctor the insurance took care of it.

i just don't buy into the fact that everybody's blaming the insurance companies. yes, they charge a lot. but you have to look at the stuff we get in this country. how can it be fixed? make it universal. host: as far as the experience on the medicare, what's that been like for you? caller: it's been a good experience for me as far as like when i go and get my prescriptions. i go to doctors. and i have -- i'm a veteran, too. that helps a lot. my wife and i on my policy. naturally that helps. host: another medicare recipient, mark in florida. go ahead. caller: i'm a doctor. i have parkinson's. i was in the hospital for four days. i have three insurances, medicare, private backup, and

i'm a veteran so i have the v.a. was in the hospital four days ,no surgery. just i.v.'s and was discharged. the bill was $22,000 and change. the insurance paid $21,000 and change. they build me for $295. i told them to suck grapes. and sent it to -- send it the bill to the v.a., which they haven't done. it's a horrible system. host: can i ask from a doctor's perspective, what do you think about the insurance system overall? caller: it's horrible. i feel very bad. for example, i feel very bad for people who are swallowing this

medicare advantage. like the previous patient outlining $100 for take-home groceries, etc. he got $3,000 dental benefit. $3,000 in a dental office will get you to sit in the chair. that's it. that's useless. as is most of the so-called benefits. he thinks -- wait until he tries to use that. host: as a doctor yourself, are there ways to lower health care cost from the doctor side of it or the hospital side of it? caller: yes. take the profit margin out of it. host: do you think that will make -- caller: yes. we can make it sustainable if we want to make it sustainable. there is no reason in the world that a patient should not be

able to go to a hospital and pay the minimum amount, and i mean $100 or $500 and the government pick up the rest of the care like the rest of the world. it's not going -- i'm 83. it's not going to happen in my lifetime. maybe yours. host: let's hear from colorado, a holder of private insurance, this is marvin, hello. caller: this is marvin. i have federal blue cross and blue shield. we retired from the united states postal service in 198 o 0. we only worked 10 years on a medical. and was covered -- we take a big loss in pay but they kept us on insurance. we had it for the loss 40 years. we have had a lot of medical problems over the last -- almost seen every specialist. have excellent coverage.

the problem is locally i live in a mountain town and there is only one hospital. two months ago they went what they call off nonnetwork, or nonpreferred. when the network goes to -- when a health care providers goes to unpreferred there is a huge difference. i live all my life and have -- can no longer afford to go there. i have to go to the surrounding communities for care. it's hard to get to travel. i guess the problem with what the insurance for some reason after 40 years they did that. i can no longer -- it's the only

health care facility here so i have to go to surrounding towns to get medical care. they are all preferred providers. it's very interesting because hospital original founded by the sisters of charity. and back when i was 7 years old we didn't have any health insurance at all. my mom was on social security. didn't have any money at all. the old family doctor took me to the hospital. he said marvin is not going to make it to the hospital. i was in the hospital for a month and we hardly paid anything with no insurance. now we have a brand new hospital i can't afford to go. it's very, very discouraging. a medical facility does that and there is nothing you can do about t it's been very traumatic because i have to travel to other towns. host: ok. marvin there. when it comes to health care he talks about access and the ability to access a hospital. that maybe your case, too.

202-748-8000 forks holders of private insurance. if you have insurance under the a.c.a., 202-748-8001. no insurance, 202-748-8002. and then for those medicare recipients, 202-748-8003. speaking of the a.c.a., it was president biden, former president barack obama, and former speaker nancy pelosi appearing in a video talking about accomplishments the a.c.a. here's that video. >> as you all know i thought it was a big deal at the time. >> it's an even bigger deal today. the most consequential health care law since medicare, medicaid since 1965. >> together we accomplished a lot. there is nothing i'm more proud of than the a.c.a. it can be easy to forget these days, for passing the a.c.a. was hard. health insurance companies were resistant to change. most republicans didn't want to work with democrats on anything.

but for the three of us giving up wasn't an option. because we had met too many people who needed help. now we have a chance to do even more. but that only happens if we send joe and kamala back to the white house in november. so, we got to keep working. president biden: this election is about two different visions of americans. my vision, our vision about the future where folks have the freedom and security of affordable health care, low prescription drug costs, and more beating room as my dad says. my trump tells us he's going to terminate the a.c.a. think about what that means. it would mean 100 million americans with pre-existing conditions would lose their health care coverage. it would mean young people would be picked off coverage. host: one more call on this topic. this will be from terry. in maryland. holder of the private insurance. hi. caller: hi, thank you so much for taking the call.

having this conversation. my concern is -- i am holder of private insurance. i have also -- i also have been unemployed, laid off. and had to use my -- i forgot the name of the insurance that's the bridge. with private insurance i am a single gen-x-er. not only is it expense but so is the co-pays. i believe that the fix for this health care challenge that we are facing is what the doctor before me had stated and others. i believe that you need to take the profit out of it. and then you change the structure. so i believe that the affordable care act had very good intentions in attempting to cover. i have heard that -- some of

your other callers were talking about illegal people and all these other things. people who are covered upped the affordable care act. under the affordable care act. i think if you don't have this type of situation, we had so many people who were going uncovered, and they were just suffering. i think that if we do not agree to force our representatives to address this issue that big pharma will continue to lobby and continue to lobby against the people of the country. and we'll continue to suffer while they continue to profit. those are my comments. thank you. host: finishing off the round, this portion of the first hour. taking a look at those health care costs. thanks for participating all who called in. can you still continue on if you wish and talk about health care costs or talk about other things as well.

on open forum if you wish. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000, for democrats. 202-748-8002 for independents. you can talk about the health care cost it is you wish or other matters of politics. domestic or international. or international events as well such as happened in syria yesterday. the associated press reporting that an israeli air strike that demolished iran's in syria, killed two iranian generals and five offices. the strike appeared to signify an escalation of israel targeting of military officials from iran which supports military groups fighting in israel and gaza. the story saying since the war in gaza began nearly six months ago, slashes increase between israel and iran backed hezbollah militants based in lebanon.

israel which acknowledges the strikes against iranian targets said it had no comments on the latest attack in syria. a military spokesman blamed iran for a joint against a naval base in southern israel. if you are interested in interarbl relations after this program at 10:00 we'll give awe live event at 10:00 at the u.s. institute of peace. it will feature a look at u.s.-lebanon relations with former ambassador david hale. he joins the institutes of peace for that discussion how past u.s. engagement can offer valuable lessons for diplomacy in the middle east beyond. several ways you can watch at 10:00 right after this program. you can also catch it on the app at c-span now, as always take a look on our website at c-span.org. open forum, 202-748-8001 for

republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. and independents, 202-748-8002. a couple stories in recent days concerning former president trump. the former president posted $175 million bond. that was yesterday. to stop the collection of a half billion dollar judgment in the civil fraud case against him preventing state authorities from seizing his assets. his posting of the bond comes after a panel of appellate judges last week ruled he could post that bond in a significantly smaller amount, $454 million that he owns as a result of the verdict, the decision came after mr. trump's lawyers said he lacked the cash to cover the full amount of the penalty. that was yesterday. also yesterday concerning the former president and his truth social site, saying that it was yesterday that his social media company, trump media and technology group, saw stock price route yesterday.

shares for trump media fell by as much as 26% after it reported a net loss of $58 million last year. and revenue of just $4.1 million per an s.e.c. filing. the stocks decline also meant his network -- net worth on paper is down more than $1 billion. this business insider story. throw that in the mix if you want. georgia in pennsylvania, democrats line, go ahead. caller: yeah. good morning. i want to talk about the health insurance again. i believe this is open forum. host: yep. caller: my insurance costs me $2,400 a month. i have a private insurance because i'm a contractor. it's just for me. $2,400 a month. it's p.p.o. gold plan blue cross. it's really like a poker game. it's the kind of insurance you don't want to have to use because there a's $7,000 out of

pocket expense. they kind of prorate that throughout the year. in the beginning of your term they take a lot of out-of-pocket expense from you for regular doctor visits, as you get to the end of it, it lessens and lessens because once you have exceeded that $7,000, then they pay everything. it's really designed for big serious operations o. stay in a hospital for a long time. i still have to pay the $2,500 a month. and then everything else would be included. i'm paying like possible like $30,000 a year. the other thing i want to say about this health care is that the old adage used to be that get to the doctor soon. so that you can be proactive. every time i ever went late as a kid, irresponsible, they said if you would have came sooner we could have treated you better. now it's horrendous.

some of these places don't even answer phones during covid they want you to walk into a contaminated office and you are already sick. now everything is stretched out. what happened to get to the doctor sooner than later? now your appointments are stretched out two, three, four, even six months so you can see some of these doctors. i want to say one more thing about that. they got everybody kind of like, you should be happy you can pay for this mentality. pay us what we want. live with that. that's the mentality. it's really not health care. it's not preventive. they need to fix our food. host: george there. dewy in west virginia. democrats line. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i want to talk about my son. during covid there had he to quit work. while he was off he developed some illnesses.

i would rather not go into. he had no insurance at all. he worked for wal-mart. had no insurances at all. we finally got hooked up on medicaid. and since then his condition has improved drastically. he's still seeing doctors and stuff. so far it hasn't cost us a dime. i want to give a big, big shout out to obamacare t wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for obamacare. he's really made a difference in my son's life. that's all i've got to say. host: west virginia. you can continue on from the previous subject and add that or talk about other things in this open forum if you want. illinois, bob, democrats line, hi. caller: how you doing, sir. the a.c.a., it is a good thing. and the way you make it work is you get all insurance company out of it and it will cost

people that are rich more money than the people that are not rich. they pay less. and then you will make the doctors and the people in the hospital have to charge people less. that's the way that works. that's why -- rich people still want to pay for insurance like maybe $1,000 a month. and then their medical costs be $10,000 or $11,000. that's why they say i want to get rid of a.c.a. no. let the rich pay what's necessary how much they make. just get rid of the five cars you got. or the eight houses you got.

and pay your insurance. and let the poor or the not making that much money pay, you know, $200 or $300 or whatever. that's their way to do it -- fair way to do it. that way the insurance -- i don't know exactly how it works, but if you do the a.c.a. just like i said, it will work. and then the costs will go down. and i can't blame that woman that called in and said she's from india, it only cost $1.50 for her to get -- it costs more but it would be a lot less. host: hear from cynthia in kentucky, independent line, hi. caller: hi. my name is cindy. host: you are on, go ahead. caller: i got into deep debt because i was paying my insurance on my credit card. finally i got out of debt

because my mom passed. and left me a little bit of money and got out of that. now, i'm disabled and i am'll elderly. i'm 68 -- i'm elderly. i'm 68. i am on medicare and medicaid. and last year i went through chemo. and radiation for cancer. i'm now cancer free. yeah. yay. host: good for you. caller: absolutely good for me. if it weren't for medicare and medicaid i don't know where i'd be. host: how much do you think those services -- do you have an estimate how much they cost and how much medicare and medicaid picked up? caller: oh, many thousands of dollars.

host: ok. cynthia there in kentucky talking about her experiences. now that she's doing well. again, can you add that to the mix, too, during the remaining time. marvin in michigan, democrats line, hi. caller: good morning. talk about the health care, the medicare. is that the subject for today? host: it's open forum. throw anything into the mix. caller: medicare, kind of great for me. i paid into it 30 years. and i retired after working 30 years through the union. through the local union in detroit, great local. our insurance and everything is great with us. and medicare -- i have got approved -- it took me five months to get approved for medicare. the lady who called me from the social security office told me that mr. johnson, we looked at your work history, and i worked 33 years.

and i look at some young guys right now. you have to go try to work and make a living for yourself. it's something you can provide for your family through the union and stuff. you see a lot of young guys that don't want to work. i have no problem with the immigrants. people come here, as long as they come legally, they come here and work. and they contribute to the system. that's good for the country. everybody around. they can have families, cars, bought homes. and still make a better place for yourself. thank you. host: marvin in michigan. for this open forum it's republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. and independents, 202-748-8002. look at international issues it was the world central kitchen reporting on tuesday it was immediately halting its operations in gaza after seven of its workers were killed in an israeli strike. an incident that triggered

widespread international condemnation. the food aid nonprofit, prominently involved in gaza relief efforts, said the statement those killed killed a u.s.-canadian dual national. palestinian worker. individuals from australia, poland, anti-united kingdom. the world kitchen c.e.o. described the strike on the convoy as targeted attacks by israeli defense forces unforgivable. it was aware of the reports about the i.n.s. pent and was conducting, quote, a thorough review at the highest level. that reporting coming out of th" this morning. cliff in tulsa, independent line, hi. caller: i'm on medicare myself. i was on the obamacare for years. i think they should rewrite it. this whole bill was written for insurance. it's real simple. go to the no lobbyists, no p.a.c. groups, and free

enterprise system again with our health care and $30 pills and see if we can make america great again by making it free enterprise not monopoly. that's what we have now. we have a medicare monopoly. host: what's the experience been like on medicare now versus the a.c.a. when you had it? caller: i know that i don't have the $1,200 a month payment. i got a subsidy because i'm a senior citizen. i just turned 65. so far the advantage plan is the worst thing that's ever invented in america. i have had friends that just got the free groceries and free -- $5,000. like you said it doesn't go very far. they get hospitalized and they won't pay anything. i think they should outlaw advantage plans immediately. host: cliff there in tulsa. connie in ohio, republican line. hi. caller: hi. tkpwaoplt, everybody. i just want to say i am on

medicare. and i don't understand why we have a budgeting problem with supporting medicare when we are funding the ukrainian firefighters' retirement fund. i think we need to get rid of all of that. host: you are still on, go ahead. caller: am i? host: you are still on. you are listening to the television. go ahead with your comment. caller: all right. like i said i'm tired of us carrying all the people with social security. obviously we have a problem with funding that. it couldn't be too bad when we are funding ukraine. funding a port in gaza. all these people. host: connie in ohio giving us a call on the open forum. a story yesterday by axios saying democrats growning at a plan floated by the house speaker mike johnson to pass aid to ukraine, including some key moderates, with an aid bill likely required a 2/3 majority.

a vast majority of democrats will likely need to support the package for it to pass. democratic votes would likely be needed to save speaker johnson from being ousted. a motion to veterans day gate that -- vacate that some g.o.p. members have threatened as retaliation for ukrainian aid vote. appearance onson speaker johnson floated important innovation that is would be included in the aid package. that includes the repo act bill supported by some democrats to confiscate frozen russian assets in the u.s. they could be used to help fund aid to ukraine. he raised the idea of structuring the aid packages alone, reversing the president biden's pause of liquefied, none of which have significant buy in from democrats. tennessee, hello. caller: yes, i'm tired of -- i'm sick of donald trump and his followers. his cult. if they want to watch the 10

commandsments, that's what they need do -- to do. that's last if a pheu. have a good day. host: dan up next, kentucky, republican line. caller: thank you. i tell you, i thought we were going to get through one day without all the trump haters. i think connie's right about all the money we are sending all over the world. we should take care of our own people here. we wouldn't have any problem with health care. i went to the dentist two years ago and i had medicaid. it's been so watered-down they wouldn't take it. so it cost me $2,000 to get my teeth worked on. now i got medicare now. aim going to try today to see if can i find a dentist that takes one of the two. i have a $6,000 plan on my medicare now.

but it don't matter how much you got on the plan if know place is going to take it. host: do you expect a lot of difficulty in trying to find a dentist who takes medicare and medicaid, or medicare in your case? caller: i checked with this one place they sent me down the road to another place. i'll have to check somewhere else. they are trying to affiliate with them. you all won't take it but you won't send me over here to your sister company or something. i'm not going through these hoops and stuff. and have to fight and everything else. i'll just look around for something else. somebody else. it's been so watered-down. someplaces just won't take it. are you kidding me? i got $6,000 plan. i got to have a $20,000 plan, what good is it if you can't use it? host: shirley from facebook on the tpepbtal tkropbt, adding, dental and health and vision health care costs are

prohibited. too many private plans are also prohibited. medicare for all to cover these health care needs would be welcomed by most. let's hear from h*erb in virginia -- herb in virginia. caller: the first thing we need to do with our health care plan is to decouple it from the employer. i have had bad insurance before. and i was unable to do anything about it because the only client, whenever the employer's paying for it, is the decisionmaker at the employer. they really don't care too much about the individual patient at that point. they just want to keep selling that plan to the employer and they become great buddies with the people who make those decisions. all insurances should be free enterprise except for verifiably

disabled people. we got too many people riding the wagon on this insurance thing. you had a person on earlier who liked his insurance because he had a welfare plan. these plans like these aetna plans where you are paying $10 a month or $25 a month. they are nothing but a welfare plan. that person is on medicaid. and they call it something different just as a euphemism. it's really welfare. we have all these people riding the system. they aren't paying. this also includes the people coming across the border. it's a terrible thing that we bring people in here and give them free health care and various other benefits and then don't take care of our citizens. that's wrong. we need to stop that. host: mark is next in maryland.

democrats line, hi. caller: hello. host: you're on. caller: i'm a retired federal employee. i have medicare. my daughter is disabled. so she's covered under my plan. and under medicaid. and i found medicare to be very nice. i still carry my federal plan. if medicare doesn't cover me, my blue cross blue shield fix it up. picks it up. we did switch for a while to one of these advantage plans. my wife didn't like it because it cut back on our availability of doctors. so we switched back again. one thing that's been very disturbing to me is the loss of

general practitioners. they have got this new idea, i can't recall the term that they use, but the doctors now are taking less clients so that they can provide more care, or better care to a certain group of people. but they want to pay an additional fee. so you kind of like it's a country club kind of thing. my general practitioner did this, he said you can keep seeing me, i can give you some special treatment. not hospital treatment. but special care. you can come in, sit with me for half an hour. and we'll be nice and relaxed rather than -- to get this -- into this program with him i had to spend another $2,000.

host: apologies, mark. that's mark's experience. linda in virginia. independent line. caller: hi. good morning. like the gentleman who just called i am former fed. i was able to take my insurance into retirement. i also have medicare. and my insurance operates like medicare supplement would operate like. what i would hope is that you guys would bring on somebody who can explain to some of these folks who are calling in, like the gentleman who was so dissatisfied with medicare, dominion is the worst. he signed up for medicare part c advantage plan. so his regular medicare, which they call original medicare, parts a and b, are going to be delivered through private insurance.

medicare becoming privatized. which means when you sign up for medicare part c, while you're going to see all these wonderful advertisements on tv about how great their program is and call, it's a free call, we'll help you decide what's best for you, ok. they are offering these benefits like dental and grocery money and all that thing, you are signing up private insurance. you are going to be getting your care through this private company. so you are going to be subject to networks to be subject to networks and doctors and availability of services and you're going to be subject to certain limitations. preapproval and they can deny care. then you have to appeal it. the smarter way to go -- i am blessed. i have been 37 years in the federal government. i loved working in the government. i had a lot of opportunity.

i have been blessed. you are breaking -- host: you are breaking up a little bit so i will end there. thank you for calling. starting this week you will meet several candidates who are part of the presidential election cycle. up first you will have the chance to talk with marion williamson. i talked to her about her campaign, her platform, her policy objectives and how she defines success. later on in the program cornell west on his platform and his views on u.s. politics today. both of those coming up on "washington journal."

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>> friday nights, watch c-span's 2024 campaign trail. a weekend roundup of c-span's campaign coverage, providing a one-stop shop for what candidates are saying to voters along with first-hand accounts from political reporters, poll numbers, fundraising data come in campaign ads. watch c-span's 2024 campaign trail friday night on c-span, online at c-span.org, or download as a podcast at c-span now. c-span. your unfiltered view of politics. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we are joined by author, activist, and democratic presidential candidate marianne williamson. you are out of the race and you are back in the race. what motivated that.

guest: i had done very poorly on electoral basis. what you do is you say i am out. then i realize there is bigger than the horse race, and that is the conversation the american people need to be having with ourselves. it is not just about the political establishment in their power games, it is where america is today and the american people having a serious conversation about where we need to go. the political establishment is not the conduit for the deepest conversations. i jumped back in because i knew the conversation was not over. host: what question should the american people be asking ourselves? guest: who is running the country. we are not a government of the people, by the people, for the people. he said that the people who had died at gettysburg so that the government would not perish from the earth. it is the government perishing now.

we are a government by the corporations. most political conversations among the establishment does more to obvious gate that fact than to provide solutions. that is a conversation i think the american people not only want to have but are ready to have and there's a lot of disgust for what is going on in this town. in some cases for a good reason. i have found the conversation continuing since president biden has already got the delegates. it is like there are two worlds. there is the political media industrial complex and then there is the world of the american voter and i think the world of the american voter is one in which you see a lot of decency, a lot of intelligence, a lot of interest in having a deeper conversation, and then there is this other establishment, and i think a lot of people in washington underestimate the level of discussed and i think that

discussed -- i think that disgust will be expressed on election day. host: you've heard from people who save president biden does have the delegates why not support him and go that way. guest: i am talking about the things i believe the democratic party needs to stand for in order to win. president franklin roosevelt said we would not have to worry about a fascist takeover in this country as long as democracy delivers on its promises. the democrats will not win in 2024. they will not win by scaring people about donald trump. this will be more about 2016 than 2020. we need to stand for the traditional pillars of the democratic party, which is advocacy for the working people of the united states. that would meet universal health care. don't tell me you believe in

health care as a right and not just a privilege when you have 75 billion -- subsidized childcare, tuition free collagen textbooks, all of which is considered -- tuition free college and textbooks come all of which are considered moderate in other countries. the president wants to ameliorate the stress of people. democratic establishment leadership will only go so far. they will not go past the line at which they challenge the underlying goals of insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, chemical companies. agricultural companies. the democrats will take on the done lobby. defense contractors. that is the corruption of washington and people know it. host: you have a chance to

express these thoughts directly to the president, his advisors, the democratic committee. guest: they clearly know i am saying them or they would not have worked so hard to suppress my candidacy. host: how so? guest: there is a political media industrial complex. i appreciate that you have beyond. i was completely blocked this year on cnn, on an msnbc, kicked off ballots. if you are qualified candidate and you are running and you are never on cnn are on msnbc, people do not know they're out there. i'm not saying they do that and republicans don't, but that is how washington works. host: marianne williamson is with us for this conversation. if you want to ask her questions, (202) 748-8001, (202) 748-8000 free democrats.

if you want to text us your thoughts come it is (202) 748-8003. there are a host of poles about people still wondering if they will support -- there are a host of polls about people still wondering if they will support joe biden. guest: i would say the message is to the president. offer more. you will win by offering people a way to materially improve their lives. we have 39 percent of americans who regularly skip meals in order to pay their rent. we have half of all bankruptcies are medical bankruptcies. we have a level of economic despair that neither party is addressing. the real danger for democrats is donald trump pretends to. we have to offer people more. that is why i have an economic bill of rights with free college and textbooks, guaranteed living

wage. we've not even raise the minimum wage. wen yu department of children and youth. we need to make -- we need an apartment of children and youth. we need an adjustment from a dirty economy to a clean economy. i think it is time to end america's war on drugs. we need the political establishment to realize the democratic party is bleeding voters. we are bleeding young voters, black voters, asian voters. in some cases latino voters. the democrats will not win by closing our eyes and crossing our fingers and raising money for tv ads. we will win offering the american people the policies that will actually improve their lives. host: is there way for this current president to sell that message before november? guest: sure there is if he decides those of the policies he

wants to support. if he wants to support different policies he needs to say so. right now there's not really campaigning, that is just fundraising. that is a strategy. i do not fear as a democrat votes for trump. i fear people staying home. that is the risk to democrats. i also believe third-party candidacies, particularly robert kennedy, will be much more of a factor than the elite might be thinking right now. they have to get busy and offer the american people a lot more. host: why is that on rfk junior? guest: i think the elite in this town underestimate the normandy of a vote that expresses the hell with both of them. there is valid rage out there. 70% of the american people say they live with chronic economic -- chronic economic anxiety.

a majority of americans cannot afford to absorb a $1000 unexpected expenditure. what we have in this country is 20% of americans for whom the economy is working fine and that is to be celebrated. 20%, that is like all of the blood in the body being in your right arm. money has to circulate. economic opportunity has to circulate, just like blood has to circulate in the body. there is a failure to recognize the level of suffering going on. when you have 40% of your people giving meals, you know the big thing in poor neighborhoods in america today? selling your blood plasma in order to survive. we have over one million people, 1.3 million people who ration their insulin. i have spoken to people who are fighting -- you are deciding between their insulin and their rent. i have had people tell me -- one woman was saying if i spend

money on the insulin, we will lose the apartment. we will live in the car but my kids will still have a mother. what is going on? there are so many people in l.a., in new york, in washington, they need to get out more. unfortunately donald trump taps into a lot of the rage that is out there. host: abided administration has touted lowering the cost of insulin. guest: a lot of that started with trump. there are people under 65 who are rationing their insulin. to say to people over 65 -- it should be free or almost free. how much the pharmaceutical companies actually pay? this is what happens with an economic system that sees human despair as more than a prophet sentiment.

for millions of americans $35 a month is still a lot. also a lot of people under 65 have diabetes as well. host: our first call comes from maryland. this is mag to on the democratic line. caller: thank you for taking my call. speaking of disgust the way money is flowing, i am disgusted with president biden's approach the conflict in israel and gaza and i would like to hear comments in regards to that because it is turning me into a single issue voter and i cannot condone the way the president has handled the conflict therefore i cannot vote for him but neither can i vote for trump. guest: neither of the major candidates -- trump on israel is get it over with quickly and robert kennedy as well. president biden did show

meaningful oral clarity on october 7. on october 8 is where the problem occurred. he said i would meet with jewish-american leaders, and i remember thinking in the afternoon you should meet with with palestinian leaders. it is very clear to the president that he needs to act on it. we need a cease fire. your one of millions of americans for whom this is important. we need a cease fire, we need a release of the hostages, we need a plan for a two state solution. the president, there is some inability in that administration to say no to benjamin netanyahu in the way that no needs to be said. some people say they are a sovereign nation, but what we can say no to is a shipment of more arms or money. i am sure the president realizes the american people are not happy about this.

the options for the general election -- there is no major candidate at this point other than myself, although the president already has his votes. i think the pressure needs to be staying on and it is not just people in the united states but people around the world for whom the situation is intolerable. host: renee is next in florida. democratic line. caller: i had a question. thank you for everything you do, for c-span. marianne, i would like to know, who is funding your campaign, and don't say small money people. there is somebody big donating to your campaign just like robert f kennedy, jr., because

to be a spoiler, you're in here to be a spoiler when we are all fighting for our democracy. i feel the same way about palestine. my heart is aching for those people and something needs to be done. there are certain ways to go about it. who is funding this campaign? guest: you say don't say small donors but that is the truth and all you have to do is check the fec filings. robert kennedy has a super pac, those guys have super pac's, talk about big donor funding look at joe biden's campaign. there are no super pac's, there are no super donations. i myself went my campaign quite a bit -- i myself lent my campaign quite a bit. the truth is small donations and my own donations. i do not know few missed seventh

grade or what, but this is a primary. you cannot be a spoiler in a primary. the concocted narrative issues a spoiler. host: what goes through your mind when you hear spoiler? guest: the d&c is good at pr? -- the dnc is good at pr. you cannot be a spoiler and a primary. it goes along with we are not having a primary because you do not have a primary with a sitting president. i remember lyndon johnson was primary by eugene mccarthy and bobby kennedy. in my day we did not call that weird, we call that democracy. i think the democrats and the president himself would be a far better situation today had they not suppressed a robust primary. we have all of these republicans talking about their ideas there

was just quiet in the field apart from myself, dean phillips, and others. a primary is an important thing in a primary candidate is not a spoiler. host: this is steve for marianne williamson in pennsylvania. caller: i disagree wholeheartedly on the cease-fire. there are two ways to end the war. either hamas can surrender or they should be eradicated. a cease fire will only continue to aggravate israel and innocent people that live in israel along with the innocent arabs that live in israel. the democrats have to stop the cease-fire and dividing this country. thank you. host: steve in pennsylvania. guest: i honor your belief, needs to be eradicated. the issue is how you go about doing something like this.

the humanitarian crisis is intolerable. the back they cannot get food, the fact they are on the brink of starvation, what is happening to these children. i am jewish and i am a supporter of israel. the united states. our mission statement is all men are created equal. that is not just been americans. our house -- our highest ally should be america itself. for every hamas person they kill they are creating 10 more. we need to move on to a consortium led by arab powers for the architect of the two state solution. this is not working and on a humanitarian level this is unacceptable. i understand the fury but that does not mean i agree with the policy. host: there are groups that label you as a cease fire candidate. what you think about that distinction? guest: i am a cease fire

candidate. i believe a cease fire is necessary with the release of the hostages and with the architecture for a two state solution which is everything the president says he supports. we just need to go there faster. you cannot go faster if you're continuing to support the policy as it now exists. i agree with senator schumer in his speech who said benjamin netanyahu is a problematic figure and we should not be supporting him. host: there is reporting in new york times that in new jersey there is an effort in their primary to put an uncommitted vote on the ballot. is this a long-term problem? guest: when the uncommitted project began in michigan and i had a lot of suspect -- i had a lot of respect for it in michigan because michigan has a large muslim population. i thought it was an exercise in democracy in a state like michigan, but in some of the states i do not see what it is

doing. if you have a cease fire candidate and you support someone who could pick up the phone and say to benjamin netanyahu no more, -- host: charles is in tennessee. caller: my name is charles in memphis. i would like to ask her -- there is no republican that will vote for you or independent. you're only going to get democrats. you're going to take away from joe biden. that is what you are doing. you are an undercover republican. thank you and goodbye. guest: i do not know what to say. president biden has won the nomination. i will not be on the ballot. when i'm talking about are the things i believe would help this president win. the democrats used to say the republicans had to fall in love

-- the republicans fell in line and the democrats fall in love. today is the reverse. the republicans fall in love and the democrats fall in line. how dare you suggest anything other than what the establishment said we are going to do. do not shoot the messenger. you are right, nobody will vote for me because i will not be on the ballot in november. host: how do you gauge success for what you're trying to do? guest: having an honest conversation about what is real and what is happening. you have a lot of this anticorporate conversation on the right as well as on the left. you have josh hawley who says we need to repeal citizens united. we have j.d. vance joining the white house in getting rid of some of these corporate tax cuts. people are figuring it out. the real dichotomy is not between the left on the right. it is between the powerful and

the powerless, between those who have access to capital versus those who are struggling to get by. in giving this message, i am giving the message is a traditional democrat message. i believe it is the one that would win for the democrats in 2024. i think in his heart the president would understand that. host: to achieve those changes, how would you change the funding side of the federal budget? guest: right now they are planning $1.5 trillion defense budget. we have the 2017 tax cuts, president trump's tax cuts, the crown jewel of his economic policy. $2 trillion whenever paper itself. $.83 of every dollar went to the highest earners and richest corporations. that should be repealed. the democrat should have repealed it. put back in the middle tax class -- the middle-class tax cuts.

these corporate subsidies to companies already making billions of dollars in profit, that we should have fair taxation and get rid of those, and i think we should have a wealth tax. if someone has $50 million in the bank and you say we would like an additional 2%, they will not even feel it. if you say to those who want $1 billion, you want an additional million dollars, their great-grandchildren will not feel it -- you want an additional 1%, their great-grandchildren will not even feel it. why do we protect the rich and make it so hard for the average person to survive. host: you said you're not on the ballot. the caller said no independents or republicans will vote for you. who is supporting you? guest: when i show up, i was in new york and connecticut last week, chicago, arizona, will be in oregon, i will be in maryland, i will be in new

mexico. i start by saying i'm not delusional. the president has the delegates. this is a conversation. when you have a conversation in the middle of a presidential campaign it is a platform like no other. when people vote for me, i've got about 400,000 primary votes. that is tiny if you are about winning the nomination, but it is not tiny if you are talking about a close election in november. i hope somebody will hear what i am having to say. we need to stand up for the economic needs of the average americans in a way we currently are not. we need an economic u-turn in this country, we need an economic bill of rights, we need a department of peace, we need to wage peace as much as we wage war. president roosevelt said we need to do more than end war, we need

to end the beginnings of wars. right now we play wargames. we should play peace games. we should have an army of peace builders like we have armies of military personnel. people understand that and the risk to america's children. we should have a department of children and youth. to have the america we want in 20 years will need to move way more resources into the lives of our children. i have meant elementary school principals who tell me they have children in their schools on suicide watch. we have public schools where they have trauma rooms. why is childhood itself such a trauma for so many american children? these are the deeper conversations. we need to end the war on drugs which would also help us at the southern border. we need to treat root causes. we need to ask ourselves why we

have a higher level of chronic illness in this country than other advanced democracies. why do we have carcinogens in our foods? chemicals in our pesticides? live so many of our agencies been captured by corporate forces? these are the deeper conversations the american people are ready to have it i'm grateful for the opportunity to be having. host: when it comes to drugs are you talking about declassification or legalization or decriminalization? guest: you start with decriminalization. in oregon they decriminalized but they did not do it wisely. then they ended up re-criminalizing. it needs to be all of these changes done wisely and responsibly. president richard nixon initiated the war on drugs in 1971. he did so same drugs were america's public enemy number one. he knew they were not. we have spent $1 trillion.

the drug addiction problem in the united states has not been solved, it has been exacerbated. when i was in college there were 300,000 people in prison in the united states. today it is 2.3 million. 46% of federal prisoners are nonviolent drug offenders. we still spent $100 billion a year for a fraction of that we could be funding awe should tren like they do in portugal, like a health issue, help people get sober. we need a recovery. this will also help us at the southern border which will put a serious dent into the power of the cartels. they thrive on the black market and it will allow us to have more resources for the drugs that we need to worry about, which is fentanyl. host: this is zach in baltimore. independent line.

caller: good morning. i did not skip civics in seventh grade so i am thrilled to have primary challengers against the incumbent who is i think, a genocide supporter and has lost a lot of my support. i would encourage you to revise your stance on israel. i think saying that release the hostages is equivalent to saying all lives matter in response to saying black lives matter. guest: i understand that you think that. but i think to say to black people all lives matter is a minimizing of their movement. i do not see that in terms of releasing the hostages at all. someone told me they heard their minister say whose tears am i supposed to ignore? he has rarely people are not netanyahu anymore than the palestinian people are not hamas. any conversation on this issue

which absolves the right of one people at the a set -- at the expense of the other is -- that is not a stance that leads to a sustainable future for the israelis or palestinians. host: we have a viewer saying you have grand ideas how to fix america unfortunately she cannot do these things unilaterally. with the stagnation in congress how can these things -- these ideas going to get done? guest: the president does not have a magic wand and we do not want him to have one. anytime anybody is running for president they are saying this is my grand vision. the most important job of the presidency is not administrative but moral leadership. i do not care who you are, if you are donald trump or joe biden or marianne williamson or anyone, if you become president you hope that your party will have the house and the senate. if they do that is more that you

can do. and if you do not you seek to negotiate. president biden, given the stances of kyrsten sinema and joe manchin and even with other democrats in power. no matter he the present to the president is you will have to deal with the congress and supreme court that you have. host: john, illinois. democrats line. you are up. caller: as far as who still supports marianne, my girlfriend and i were proud to vote for you in the illinois primary so i just wanted to say that. but we agree with everything that you've said policy wise. but as far as zach i think, your stance on israel could use a little tweaking. i have the belief that just getting rid of netanyahu is not enough. it is like changing the leadership is like trying to find a good slaveowner, the

whole system is kind of bad. i do not see how the two sides, i think it would be better off without that. guest: people talk about a one state solution, who runs a? you're going to have israeli leaders next to hamas, what are we talking about? people on the far right and left say one state. the far left our deal of -- delegitimizing the people for israel and the people on the writer saying that we will run everything. host: one of the issues that both candidates have talked about is border security, what is your approach? guest: i agree with president biden that the bipartisan they bill of $8 billion was a good one, it was a compromise. it would have allowed for more judges and the things that we

need. as we know, the republicans were happy until donald trump said do not do it. the reason he said kill the bill is that he knew it would work and he did not want to give joe biden a win on election -- on an election year. host: john from new york. hello. caller: marianne williamson, you have called for freeing of the hostages, can you be clear, are you calling for freeing of all 2 million hostages? guest: negotiations are going on as you and i are speaking. qatar and the united states, and various deals have been turned down. and one of them was the hostages for hundreds of israeli prisoners. and they are saying anyone who

is a prisoner in an israeli jail is a hostage. i want justice for all. i think that the united states policy should be equally robust commitment to the peace and the security on -- and the sovereignty of both people. host: from john, another john in pennsylvania. the publican line. caller: i am a republican and marine veteran. i am sick of my party and i do not like the democratic party. money and the powerful run this country. so all of the great ideals will not go anywhere because the powerful and the special interests on the country. on the one hand you agree with

me and then a majority of republicans and democrats want medicare for all. the majority want tuition free college and tech school. i am sure that the abolitionist thought it was all locked up and it will never happen in the early labor organizers said it will never happen. and i am sure that they were people working for civil rights in the desegregation of the american south who said it would never happen. what we are experiencing is the latest iteration of the kind of struggle that we have had from the very beginning. between those who really do wish to see an enlargement of the franchise of genuine democracy and rebirth as lincoln would call it versus those who put their property interests and

rights before human rights and social justice and real democracy. you die, i think like a majority of americans, they realize that this is a struggle. we cannot afford to be cynical. cynicism becomes an excuse for not helping. and people spiral down into nihilism, anger and cynicism which is a danger in this country. justice will prevail as will democracy if we stay on this and we keep pushing. other generations rose to the challenge when anti-democratic forces were suppressing real democracy and the people of the united states. other generations rose to the challenge and prevailed and i agree that -- and i think we will too. host: one of the things that is attached to you is a spiritual advisor or spiritualist. guest: i write books about

universal spiritual themes, pretty traditional themes. a spiritualist is someone who has the table knocking up and down and all that kind of stuff. it is kind of like self-help author, just words that are married just made up narratives to diminish what i have to say. host: there is a perception and on the reality, what is the difference? guest: a.m. -- i am a woman who has had a serious career for years with the selling books. they are not self-help. i have two who are political books and the other one, "the politics of love" was the best campaign book someone had ever read. so i founded many nonprofit organizations and an organization that has served 16 million meals with homebound people with aids and other critical illnesses. i have funded nonprofits and the

politics of personal destruction and the false narratives and the smears, unfortunately the political media industrial complex of ours works. host: what has changed you the strongest politically as far as people who have shaped you or things that have shaped, how would you describe that? guest: martin luther king and mahatma gandhi. gandhi articulated political nonviolence, the idea that there is an inner light within every man, woman and child and he got that in many ways from the quakers in the united states and he said there is something within us that can heal all economic and social relationships as well as personal relationships. we have a political system stuck in the 1990's somewhere. it is a 20th century mindset, the world is a machine and if

you do not like the pieces of the machine you tweak them. you are always looking at sit -- symptoms but not ruth -- root cause. the 20th century is more holistic. young people, and not even 20th century people they do not think in those terms. i talk about root causes and in every other aspect of american life we get that now. it is the 21st century. it is only the political system that stayed in the 20th. it is causing a kind of unsustainable rumbling because there is too much suffering and it is going to blow. it is going to blow either in the direction of greater democracy and justice or a great rebirth of the united states for i fear that it will blow in the direction of authoritarianism and chaos. so those on the side of the broadening of the democratic franchise are the ones that will carry the day. host: david, new york.

independent line. caller: hello. i am an independent and the reason i am is because i believe that people need to not toe the line and follow what particular political party controls them. and they say this is a truth and everyone needs to follow. one of the things that puzzles me and i have been really trying to understand this is january 6. one of the big things about january 6 is that donald trump was the one that caused it. he incited the riots. the insurrection. and the one question that i have is i cannot get past why and what was his motive, why would he do this? what happened with january 6, they were going to have a

senator and congressman that would contest the election. so, why would donald trump want to stop that? and i cannot get anyone to explain to me why he would want to do that beside saying his ego? he has a huge ego. and that is why he did it. host: david in new york. do you want to elaborate on that. guest: trump's ego, he did not want to give it up. he promulgated a terrible live. you know, we had government officials including republican government officials all over this country who kept saying over and over again we have checked, the election was fair. and president trump tries the big lie technique and you just say something over and over again. that is what makes him such a dangerous man. host: dave, virginia. independent line.

you are next up. caller: thank you for taking my call. the biggest problem in this country is a lack of civic education. standing on the january 6 thing. the people that were so engler -- angry that they want to storm the capital, they should go to their elective representatives and harass them until they listen to what you have to say. if they are not giving you satisfaction, put up a campaign against them and get people to air their grievances to a larger crowd and get the guy thrown out and if not, you have to advocate for your position. that is a representative system, do not just overthrow something. and i would like to know your feelings about the balanced budget amendment and what we can do to that point. we cannot spend more than we taycan. nobody can. nobody can run a household that way or sustain a business that way. how can we sustain a country

that way? what are our grandchildren supposed to do with this? guest: two different things in the first one has to do with the fact we are a nation of laws and we cannot agree with you more. i also understand that this is in no way to excuse happen on january 6 and i do understand that there is a lot of frustration and anger in the united states. regarding being told just pressure your elected representatives. first of all i will give you an example in running for president. the system is rigged in such a way on the presidential level, only those with access to huge amounts of money can get anywhere near the pinnacle of power. the party elite, the corporate elite does so much even down to the congressional level to suppress what are really just off and the voices of the people, that people feel like i have tried electorally, and look what they do and look what they did to bernie.

certainly i understand. so the political system as well needs to stop being a place where so many times in policy after policy our elected representatives do more to serve the profit-making goals of their donors than they do the safety, health and well-being of their own constituents. these corporate forces and power have turned washington into a system of legalized bribery. violence is not the answer and january 6 is not the answer and we must remain loyal to the idea that we have a system of laws and we need to simply make it better. as far as the balanced-budget amendment i do not agree with that. there are many situations where deficit spending is not a problem and austerity turns out to be a problem. host: there was a viewer, robert douglas who posted this on twitter saying the last time you are on the show i was able to call and ask if you would work

to eliminate political parties in the u.s., you remember the call. you said it was the job of congress but i think as president you would have significant influence in that effort. guest: first of all if we would have a parliament parliamentarian system it would be different. let us go back to the beginning. george washington warned about political parties who said it would be factions and then more loyal to their party than country. john adams said that they would become the biggest want to democracy. traditionally third party voices were important. abolition came from an abolitionist party. there was an unholy alliance in response to the increasing power of george wallace between the democrats and the republicans making it difficult for third party voices to be heard.

that has not been good for america although we are at a point where everybody understands the conundrum in terms of what it help. what i find being out on the campaign trail is that americans are thinking about all of this. some people think that americans are apathetic but i do not think that. i think a lot of americans that i encounter cannot even believe that this is happening and that it has gotten to this point. i think we are in the middle of this deep inquiry with people i have talked to and we have a lot of months left before november. and i pray like many americans that we will find our way. and i think we will. host: do you think you will end up at the nominating convention? guest: so far i have not been treated like a welcome guest which i do not understand.

as i said, i think a robust primary would have been good for the party and good for president biden. as if he was the eventual nominee. shaming someone for primarying a president is not the way. republicans have to get back the soul of their party, democrats need to get back the soul of theirs. host: if you wanted check out her views, thank you for giving her time. coming up in a little while we will hear from cornel west about his use, platform and what he hopes to accomplish in the election cycle. before that, open for them. if you want to participate. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. independents, 202-748-8002. we will take those calls in just

a minute. >> do you solemnly swear that in the testimony that you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god? >> saturdays watch congress investigates as we explore major investigations by the u.s. house and senate in our country's history. each week authors and historians tell the stories and we see historic footage from the period , and examine the impact and legacy of key congressional hearings. this week a committee led by harry truman in the 1940's examine the national defense program and whether there was corruption, waste and inefficiency in military contracting. the work is said to have saved money, lives and maybe even shorten world war ii. watch congress investigates saturdays at 7:00 p.m. eastern on c-span two.

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an idea of what is debated and decided in washington. scroll through and spend a few minutes on the points of interest. >> washington journal continues. host: this is open forum and if you want to call and participate, 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. independents, 202-748-8002. you should know that the house is set to come into 9:00 -- in a 9:00 for a short pro forma session. it will take a few minutes. once that is done we will come back and continue with open forum. if you are on the line and on hold stay there. you can keep calling in as well but the house will come in and we will take that and we will resume calls. stephen in connecticut, republican line. go ahead. caller: i was hoping to speak to ms. williams. she mentioned the big lie.

it is that the -- it is that biden overturned all the laws for the border. if you would just turn those back it would cost the taxpayers zero dollars. the bill that they wanted to pass what of course cost trillions of dollars to the taxpayer. the other big lie is that donald trump said it was a bad deal. he never said to tell congress not to pass the rule or law. it is a bad deal, it is terrible because it is costing us more money. on top of which the big lie is the illegals coming into our country cost every taxpayer approximately $150,000 a year to clothes them, give them food, and housing. those are millions of people and i want people to do the calculation. millions of people times $150,000 a year. in addition to that, we need more laws for the election. i am sorry -- we do not need

laws, we need more protection. elections need to be done on paper, show up in person and their need to be people watching everything at all times. they just keep passing the big lie and it is not that is he is saying a big lie, it is that they will not overturn the laws in place for the border already there at no charge. host: daniel in illinois. democrat line. go ahead. caller: good morning, i would like to say that i do not believe any of you, every single news person. every single person that did not get on this tv and tout that donald trump is a traitor. he has compromised more cia operations across the world, cause more deaths of our cia operatives and citizens who are

protecting us. in the past 12 years there been more agents killed in this world and nobody talks about it. the man is a traitor. host: exactly how did he do that? caller: the man is a traitor. host: how did he accomplish all of the deaths. caller: we have proved that donald trump was alluding with the russians -- calluding with the russians and they squashed that story. the democrats and republicans both squashed the story. host: ok. joe. north carolina. republican line, go ahead. caller: good morning. my concern is about the 2024 election. i hope we do not have the same election that we had in 2020 where everybody received billions of dollars, hello? host: go ahead. caller: i saw -- i received

eight dollars or nine dollars at my home and it would take years to analyze every signature on those ballots, every person who moved away, every person who passed away, and every illegal who voted in 2020. and i hope -- i have to say that biden ran two or three times for president before. and he never won everything. he got a little more than 2% of the vote. he came back when he was almost 80 and won 80 million votes. to top it off, he had 15 million more votes in 2020 than president obama. does anybody believe that? host: let us hear from elaine,

and missouri. democrats line. caller: thank you. i am so expired -- excited about c-span. i am overjoyed to be able to get this information from a bona fide impartial agency. and i love the way that you had marianne williamson on this morning. i mean, she was so powerful. and i believe that if we enlarge the system of primaries, like she said we would really get some viable candidates. i was a voter for her in the march primary in st. louis. and i really support her. but, i want to really say, c-span, it is one of the most powerful programs.

all day, all three channels. and i just wish there was a way to make it mandatory that voters, no matter what age do more studying. or, are more prepared to be voters. my number one issue is ridding us of that debilitating electoral college. host: that is elaine with her thoughts on a lot of things including our network and thank you for the kind words. by the way it is a good opportunity to thank the viewership. remember two weeks ago that on the 45th anniversary that the co-ceo talked about c-span's past and future and talked about the founder's day fundraising campaign. we surpassed our $35,000 goal

and we reached $52,000 because of you. and we thank you so much for your generosity. many compliments and sentiments akin to what the viewer had said about what we do as far as bringing washington to you. you have the ability to participate in the program as well. you can do that by going to the website, c-span.org/donate. you can find more about donating and participating. thank you, the viewer for being part of c-span. the houses is just about to come in. let us hear from avery in georgia, the independent line. go ahead. caller: i want to talk about housing. what we have is an overpopulation problem. there needs to be context. when the u.s. was settled by the english, england was overpopulated. when the west was settled after the civil war, the east coast

was overpopulated. so you can dismiss people who say we need a larger population has people who want cheap labor or they want to use children for pets. we need to sterilize felons and have a one child policy in areas with mass housing. host: i have to leave it there, the house was -- is going to go through a pro forma session where they just n. if you are currently on the line please stay on hold. if i want to call in. the do -- the numbers are 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 for republicans. independents, 202-748-8002. we take you to the house.

love the other side, grant us both the will and the desire to reveal your grace by our actions. open our minds and our eyes to what is wrong and hateful if. we abhor anything, let it be the

evil that's found its way into our discourse. and which seems to have taken charge of our lives. casting that aside, may we not just appreciate but cling to what is good. may every fiber of our being yearn for the goodness of your design. may we hold tightly to the evidence of your integrity and hold fast to your perfect righteousness. we give thanks to you, o lord, for you are good. your mercy and yours forever. and so it is in your merciful name we pray. amen. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to section 3hz of house resolution 5 the journal of the last day's proceedings is approved. the chair will lead the house in the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

pursuant to section 3-z of house resolution 5, the house stands adjourned until 9:00 a.m. on friday, april 5, 2024. the new york soccer puncher has

been arrested they arrested the guys have been times and he is out on bail so maybe they should refund the court system or something and they wonder why people take matters into their own hands. i hope he doesn't come over to wisconsin and punch my sister, mother or daughter. host: we will continue on and you could call the lines if you wish and post all -- online if you wish. the annual easter egg role and also a time where president ayden made some comments yesterday publicly. [video clip] welcome to what is expected to be the biggest easter egg role

ever. i want to think the white house historical association. answer the board, they have done a great job thank you for making this possible. it began in 1878 because they wanted to have an on the park grounds. so they said let's have it on the white house rounds they can stop that. . easter reminds us of hope and renewal. and mainly, love and grace. it is time to pray for one

another and cherish the blessings and possibilities we have as americans. that is what i see and our country. we are a great nation because we are good people. our values are solid and the rest of the world looks for us and were determined to keep up that banner and because of you, the american people, i mean this sincerely i have never been more optimistic about americans that today. we have anonymous opportunities we have to remember who we are. we are the united states of america and there is nothing beyond our capacity. host: that was at the white house yesterday. janice in louisiana on the democrat side. caller: i want to support joe

biden. i think he has done a good job and will continue to do a good job. i need to know more about ms. williamson but i don't have a computer. respecting care towards all people is the answer. stop having children you can't support. stability is so important. thank you. host: janice in louisiana. you can always view this if you have a phone or a device at c-span. now and the website is assessable by your phone as well and watch it online. from axios, the house is

updating its phone system to make it easier to track down threatening calls after joining after the strike. they have described heightened security after the january 6 attack, the capitol switchboard system will identify the number of collars and greatly enhance their ability to identify and investigate individuals who make threatening interesting calls. the data will not be available for callers who blocked their numbers but it will make them track down no caller id callers

more quickly. on the independent line, how are you doing there? caller: i wanted to ask marion williamson about the supreme court. trump has three entities and their and a couple of them should not of been and if he gets in there again your can get five. i was wondering about term limits for the supreme court and everything else. i wanted to talk to her about it. host: leland in syracuse, new york. the wall street journal has story if president trump who his next treasury secretary will be. according to his allies they discussed the former top trade

advisor, jay clinton and jamie diamond. it is the premier policymaking bureau, control sanctions and economic diplomacy. from carol in bayonne, new jersey. carol in new jersey. caller: i just want to make a comment. i think our government is all paid a play, power and greed and does that matter who they are. nobody cares about human life and we are really out of it. it is power and greed and pay to play life doesn't matter. host: one more call from gary in

new york on the democrats line. caller: hey, great show. i want to call to my union brothers i've been iv w member and i want to make sure you have voted for joe biden he is only president to fight for union rights. trump is there to hurt workers, unions and osha and it's important to stand up together. host: new york finishing this round of open forum. you will meet another one of those candidates running for the white house, dr. cornell west and independent candidate up next to discuss platforms and views on u.s. politics. the conversation coming up on

the washington journal. >> c-span has been delivering coverage for 45 years. the chair would like to ask my colleague if he would take the chair. >> i'm happy to guilt. >> what the gentleman please take the chair? [applause].

the house will be in order. c-span, powered by cable. this c-span podcast feed makes it easy to listen to all of the podcasts that featured not action books each week we make it convenient for you to listen to multiple episodes discussing history, biographies, current events and culture. listen to c-span's bookshelf podcast feed and all of our podcast on the free mobile video app or wherever you get our podcast.

c-span.org/podcast. "washington journal," continues. dr. cornell west is a professor at the seminary and an independent presidential candidate talking about his candidacy. guest: bless you and thank you for having me. hope you're doing well. host: if you had to boil down your candidacy to a few sentences what would you tell people? guest: it's based on martin luther king and fannie lou hammer and try to talk about truth, justice and love in the contest where it seems to have any moment of substantive morality. politics has become legalized corruption, normalize bribery

where they will say anything to stay in office and there is no genuine concern for people let alone poor people, working people, people have been subjugated and degraded. we give up on serious commitment to public life and citizens being human beings. the american project as we have understood it will be over and i want to raise my voice to mobilize people and get people to see that trump is leading us toward second civil war and biden is leading us to a third world war. host: if you were president what would cornell west's

administration to change the plight of poor people? guest: biden authorized 200,000,000,004 fighters. we could abolish poverty without 200 billion. i spent time with my brothers and sisters at the east side cafe there is no housing. i went to skidrow in los angeles how can we be the richest nation and have so many poor people and homeless people? we have organize greed when it comes to housing and organize greed with health care. this is what happens when you have unleashed on the society

with little accountability in the most vulnerable are the ones most affected there has to be a moral compass when you talk about leadership in the country. you know that is true when it comes to the genocide and pride tied conditions in gaza. that is a litmus test. we watch it take place and enable billions of dollars to allow the military equipment to go to killing and maiming children? 13,000 precious palestinian children and we act like we can do nothing? this is a spiritual sickness and that's true for any people. that's true for any people. in this case is palestinian and i see it in new york, l.a.,

chicago and we want to congratulate ourselves that the economy is doing well. we are in a spiritual and political crisis of profound proportion and we need to get beyond the lies, revenge and hatred and talk about truth, justice and love. host: if you want to ask our guest questions (202) 748-8000 (202) 748-8001, for democrats (202) 748-8000, for independents (202) 748-8002. host: do you have a political background? guest: we need new people.

i have been working for poor people for 55 years in the number of candidates. sometimes they were within the democratic party and more and more they have been outside the democratic party. they have been captured by the pentagon on one end and wall street on the other and the republican party has been captured by big money. people say you have never been an elected official. i have been an active citizen trying to ensure that truth and justice can procure a place in american politics and that is very much what i would do as president. i would send it completely different tone, a completely different vibe coming from the

white house. working people you are at the center of public policy. not wall street, the stock market but mainstreet and access to health care, education, safe communities, access to housing as a human right just like health care is a human right. we have to push back these predators that have been pushing out so many poor and working people. host: on your website one of the things you advocate for is a wealth tax, $20 minimum wage and basic income commission. as far as the wealth tax president biden has called for increase taxes but what is your definition of a wealth tax? guest: it's difficult to

enforce. as much as i would put it on paper we note the wealthy are so clever with their lawyers and create loopholes. i am much more concerned about this investing from the military. we have 800 military units around the world and special operations and 130 countries. we have to cut back on military and goes directly into universal basic income. we agreed there should be a basic universal income's it's easier to reinvest directly into satisfying basic social needs

because we can have some of the most marvelous wealth taxes on paper and you can't execute it because these loopholes are still there and tax evasion in the cayman islands. in terms of actually gaining resources for poor and working people rather than supporting that strong minimum wage and strong wing of the trade union as well as the fight for benefits and contribute to a robust public life. we have to engage in satisfying basic social needs. i go to schools all the time and policeman in elementary schools

more than nurses and counselors. can you imagine if that was the case when we went to schools? the students in the barrios, the hoods, poor whites, what kind of future are we talking about with that militarized context? the militarization of the police in any security officers because as society decays we appealed to the military and and with more and more mass shootings in militaristic ways of dealing with conflict that is the sign of a country going under. we have to fight back and countervailing forces against organized greed and institutionalized hatred and indifference to the most vulnerable.

i believe that is the least of these the 25th chapter of matthew what you do to prisoners, poor, the orphans, the widows. that is the criteria. host: we have a call lined up for you. let's start with joan in new york. caller: hello. host: you are on, go ahead. caller: i'm on? host:? ahead. caller: why the president i think after 80 years old they should get out. they are old and senile and nancy below see and chuck schumer at 80 years old they

should get out. guest: i agree with my sisters citizen joan. we have to have a rotation on one of the reasons they don't rotate as soon as they get in there they get so comfortable and well-adjusted to the status quo that they want to reposition themselves is no accident that they get richer and richer as the country gets into deeper crisis. host: from j on the democrats line in washington dc. caller: hi dr. west i'm calling from the stolen lands in washington dc think you for your comments on dropping the military-industrial complex.

i have a two-part question if you would. i worked for the bernie sanders campaign and i also know that humanity needs than a free palestine. where they are free to drink clean water. one lesson we learned from bernie sanders in the presidential arena and how can we get anywhere closer to liberating palestine? guest: i appreciated brother j. i did two campaigns with my brother bernie sanders. one of the lessons i think we can learn is the democratic party is beyond redemption when

it comes towards working people in america in dealing with precious palestinians in gaza. it is windowdressing in terms of acting as if they have a deep commitment to people. overall biden has been in the back pocket of wall street. and when it comes to gaza you see crime against humanity, work . quit lying we are seeing these crimes against humanity every

day. and then respond only when arab and muslim voters vote against the democratic policy. we want someone with the moral backbone. what are you going to do? create appear that it takes two months when you have an escalation? the motto of mlk you don't use as a slogan to enable genocide. you are a war criminal for enabling those actions.

we have to create a context in which the palace to and equality we don't want genocide of the people but we have to be honest and recognize jewish security predicated on palestinian occupation and domination. how do jews and palestinians learn to live together in a context that is where you have to had.

it is a maras, a subterfuge. it power and is really super receipt you reproduce the same domination in a different way. i amateur rumor. i believe a precious palestinian baby has the same value as a jewish baby. that's what it is to be a palestinian jew named jesus. host: what should the united states or israel do with the mosque ultimately? guest: you have to pull the rug of any effort that would engage

in any kind of response. hamas is a counterterrorism organization. and if you pull the rug out you in the occupation that hamas would have no reason to engage in any kind of attack against innocent people. if there are fights between combatants, israeli soldiers and hamas soldiers there is war. i don't believe in killing any innocent babies i don't care who they are. hamas is a counter terrorist organization we can even get corporate media to talk about israeli terrorism.

they are engaged in terrorist acts. you have to tell the truth. that's not anti-semitic at all. jews are like anyone else they have the capacity for love and care and terrorizing kill and we are seeing a timbre killing and the fear against killing you just don't talk about hamas you have to talk about the idf and it goes back 75 years with the ethnic cleansing to 1948, occupation and apartheid bike conditions. that meant dell's side were in some ways worse than south african apartheid. anti-jewish hatred is wrong, vicious no doubt about that. but it will not silence any of

us who have a moral commitment to any group that is being occupied, dominated and having to deal with genocidal attacks. a lot of democrats one event have this dialogue even brother schumer gave his historic talk he didn't say a word about palestinian suffering it was about the internal dynamics of jews. it lacks any serious moral content. it reminds me of the confessing church that opposed hitler's because hitler's was making the christian accommodating the gospel to him it did not say a word about jews. : offers said christians have no right to use gregorian chance because they applied to jews.

they can't say a word about palestinian suffering because it's too tied to the narrow view and the money coming in enabling the policy that by then, harris and rfk junior is worse than the other two. host: i apologize for interrupting. as related to what you brought up on because of your background as a christian professor. if i vote for you which you serve the 14th amendment to keep churches state separate. guest: there is no doubt about it.

when you are in a public space, atheists, agnostics, christians and jews missouri asters any religious practice -- and zoroaster. also under the right to express yourself but when you enter the public space all of us should be willing to acknowledge what informs our perception of what it means to be human and now we think about the world. i entered the space as a christian. but i believe in a strong separation of church and state and state and temple and state and mosque. you can have a certain educational institution shaped

by the state and that could become authoritarian so i'm very libertarian for people to express themselves religiously and politically in defending the right of people who have been wronged. you have the right to be wrong in debate in public spaces. host: on the independent mind you're on with the tax. caller: i've left the democratic party with their obsession of daca. and now is these landlords and abolishing private mortgage insurance for housing is an unnecessary burden

that has burden people financially. you can get rid of private mortgage insurance once you have 25% equity. any independent platform should educate the american people about the creation of a moss 39 years -- hamas, i also believe dr. west should have a decent vice president who has strong labor ties, working-class ties who will respect the union labor laws and work with the eeoc to strengthen their case law and emptied their backlogs because it will make it irrelevant to have a civil right division.

host: well start with the vp candidate, do you have one? guest: we are getting very close. but my brother has the right sensibility and sentiment. my vice presidential nominee will have history and working-class movements in looking at the world from the bottom up and being open to learn and listen. part of the challenge these days is that no one of us should be so self-righteous that we are not willing to learn and listen to other people and learn to be so critical. assign of maturity is humility

and that something that is very scarce these days. not just in politics but in a country that is so polarized and gangsterized. i appreciate that you are looking through the lens of working and poor people. host: on the republican mind we have isaac. caller: i have been a and i read a lot of your books and i read your lectures. what are you running as a green party candidate when you know this is the only way to win the presidency? guest: i appreciate the question. i appreciate those kind words. i am running as an independent i was only with the green party many months ago but i am an

independent now. i see the republican and democratic parties that are tied to big money and don't have the concerns of poor and working people and those around the world to our subjugated by imperial policies. those policies that would support other states oppressed people. -- that suppress people. we are in uncharted territory. we don't know how long trump will stay out of jail or how long biden will hold on he may have to pull back and both of them go to there be teams and we have to see what the be teams look like. you have the rest of us still fighting.

i am trying to be constant, consistent the way fannie lou hamer which is to tell the truth. the nature of truth is to seek justice which is what love looks like in public. host: lc from north carolina. caller: mr. west. i thought you and your twin tavis smiley had disappeared. you have a snowballs chance in hell but you could get to our neighborhoods and stop the young men from killing each other. the biggest mistake we ever made was given up on our schools. if we followed martin luther king on the dead-end road. i was a part of that march when

we give up our schools we gave up our kids. you and tavis smiley. both of you should find a cliff and jump off. guest: jump off a cliff? is that what you have to say to people who have been out here for 50 years. i have taught in prison for 41 years and brothers dealing with gun violence? you don't know what you're talking about my brother. shame on you. you don't know who you are talking to. you're talking about jumping off a cliff and tavis smiley jump enough a cliff? i don't want you jumping off a cliff.

let's fight for the schools, what are you talking about other? god bless you and your family. host: independent presidential candidate dr. west one step to codify abortion rights and nationalize the health care industry. why do you think that is necessary? guest: we have to have a fundamental commitment to women having control over their bodies. there was a big conversation over a of men were the only ones who gave birth there would be a very different conversation. let's be honest about the discussion over abortion. it is the difficult and delicate issue but we have to have a

sensitivity to the woman and the child. i am firmly committed to women having control over the reproductive rights is taking the greed out of our health system. i don't know why we can't have the same health care system that the congress has in the military has they call that socialist because those are the offices tied to national security. i believe that health care like poverty and the human right to housing those are issues of national security two. these pharmaceutical companies and medical systems have been obsessed with profits and makes it difficult to satisfy the basic needs of the most vulnerable and that is why i am committed to ensuring that every

citizen has access to quality health care, quality education, safe neighborhoods and communities having oversight over the police that are still out of control when it comes to brutality. we just had a police officer down in mississippi where we had accountability with the police if they violate the laws of citizens especially black folks the police have to be accountable. there has to be public power. private power to any public life. thus a fundamental issue we have to come to terms with because private power is out of control. there is a viewer who asked

about rfk. he says i am an independent in the two-party system is broken. guest: saying israel has any right to level another nation if they are attacked. i don't know what he is talking about. he is much further right then biden. i think it would surprises blessed and beloved father. he is calling for independent voices and candidates. auntie does acknowledge the way in which corporate domination are leading towards a moral bankruptcy.

but when it comes to gaza he's on the opposite line of the spectrum and when it comes to any serious talk about what it means to engage in the empowerment of poor people he sees it through the market and i see it through the government and the market. he and i are very different, no doubt. and he has a preoccupation with vaccines and i believe pharmaceutical companies have been too influential in dictating vaccine policy but i think they can be desirable under the right condition. he has a sense that the vaccine is a source of evil and i think

that is hyperbolic and i think i can be dangerous when it comes to misleading people but there is too much corruption in the dictation regarding vaccine. as we proceed in the months ahead people will see who the more genuine independent voices are in this move towards the white house. host: have you had any chance to have a discussion about your thoughts to president biden for the democratic party? host: from washington dc on the independent line. caller: thank you dr. west for speaking the truth about palestine.

the only candidate who speaks to someone like me who was an immigrant. only having a republican that immigrants are poison. you have biden who is giving money to bomb civilians. my question to you, how much does it cost because you are running against powerful lobbies and denying opportunities and how much will it cost you financially? thank you for speaking for the truth. how do they sleep at night?

guest: that is a powerful point. how do you deal with lies, crime when you engage in it? massive murder, maiming and famine. they want to ask like it doesn't exist or it is something else. it's not just in gaza but right here in the united states. you could go to mississippi and see massive poverty and decrepit schools and inadequate housing and so forth. all of the schools in poor communities are so impoverished that opposed to wealthy communities.

you try to the best of your ability to have some moral compass or spiritual content because i come from a great bl ack people who have been traumatized for 400 years but outer best we have lovers and healers and joy spreaders. in a variety of communities to muslims, new immigrants and people who have been here, it's moral and spiritual we need more of these voices. my campaign is nothing that a moment and movement. you have to have people who are organized and on the move in the campaign is nothing but a voice of a candidate routing in the

suffering and resistance of people who are having their backs pushed against the wall. host: how much ballot access to you have? guest: we began with alaska and then moved to the united citizens party in south carolina that brother cliburn helped to found in the 60's and 70's. i always applaud his early years in that party endorsed him on the ballot in utah. on the ballot in oregon with the progressive party we are on the move. we have low hanging fruits in terms of states.

we are very much on the move and trying to make sure that truth justice and love has a place in a moment overwhelming barbarity. host: joseph in new york city on the democrats line. guest: i have a question in the comment. i am a veteran that 75. and i want to thank professor west i don't know how to put it, my issue is that of homelessness. basic income and i like that professor west. we will be waiting for you to come to new york.

what can you say more on what your policy will be around basic income? i live month-to-month and i get some money from my retirement. what can you say on that? guest: i appreciate rather joseph it is very hard very powerful. 2% of our citizens live paycheck-to-paycheck and you were prepared to pay the ultimate price and you live paycheck-to-paycheck is a veteran. you ought to be ashamed of yourself to treat a veteran in that way.

when i talk about the abolition of poverty in the abolition of homelessness i am just making sure we have priorities such the resources are available so that no one has to be homeless. i told my beloved wife, when i went i don't even want to go into the white house until everyone has a house. i don't want to be in public housing which is what the white house is if there is no decent housing for the public, the fellow citizens. a president has to set an example. that's also what it means to follow a palestinian jew named jesus. not because he hated the rich but he hated greed.

he hated working people being exploited in women being violated and that is a moral and spiritual stands. you can be secular and agree with that. we just need that kind of moral and spiritual awakening if we are not going to go under. every empire goes under with the corruption of the elites, citizens feeling hopeless, powerless, impotent and then here comes the pied piper who was a tyrant, a fascist and the strong man to lead them out. right now the level of spiritual decay and moral decadence, the increasing lies and revenge.

we have to get beyond that. where is the decency and generosity in the openness to each other. that is the great contribution of the black freedom movement. rabbi hassell understood it, dorothy day understood it, it is a human thing. where is our common humanity and how do we pass it on? i have been blessed to teach in prisons as well as harvard, yale and princeton because those are context in which our young people can flower and flourish. the move towards maturity to have love and courage to tell the truth.

i do it with joy and a certain kind of style because i am a blues and jazz man and you go through smiling with the great joy even with overwhelming catastrophe. host: who is your favorite bluesman? guest: muddy waters, sarah vaughn. host: let's hear from martin in chicago on the independent line. caller: he went on a tirade with joe biden and never said a word about bibi netanyahu. he is a right wing extremist from philadelphia. joe biden's administration has

been saying you are not going to take land from palestine and pushing back against israel. but you will notice said. he went on to say democrats are doing anything for working people i am a local ironworker and the only one supporting me are the democrats. obama got health care care for the people. getting pushed back by all these conservatives. guest: quit line on me brother. i don't get a penny from conservatives and i am not supporting trumper the

conservatives in the united states has vetoed a cease-fire. he has not inspired israel behind-the-scenes only millions of dollars for more military might. i am not supporting republicans and tell the truth about bottom. host: tom in ohio. on the republican mind. caller: i'm kind of impressed listening to you. i am curious about one thing in particular. everyone is down on the rich man guest: poor people have never been solely dependent on rich people. rich people have been dependent

on working people. the rich themselves couldn't get rich without their workers producing the products. i just want to make sure that there are no poor people. i want to make sure working people are able to live lives with decency and dignity and that means they've got access to health care. it's not when the health industry decides to extend to a few million. i want all working people to have health care. i want all working people to have a right to housing and so forth. we look at the world solely through the lens of the rich, then you say without the rich, than the poor people wouldn't have jobs. look at the world through the lens of a system that ensures that working people are treated well and are not exploited by the rich. that's a different perspective, my brother. that's what i'm putting forward this morning. host: rich joins us from new york estate, independent line for cornell west. caller: how are you doing?

what an honor to get on with brother west. i'd like to speak about brother would eat that a slam for you and me, woody guthrie. that's right, i wondered if you are familiar with the connection with him and the trumps. i actually found out about this googling it and the song lindbergh which is basically a history lesson and the song, i was listening to the song and i was going through some of the other sites and saw one that said woody hates his racist landlord. underneath, it said old man trump in bold letters. the story goes that woody, after world war ii came back to brooklyn living in an apartment complex called beach haven. when he had some of his black musician friends over to play,

the landlord fred trump caught wind of it and gave him an eviction notice because not only did fred trump not want white tenants come he didn't want his white tenants to have black friends. guest: he's telling the truth. you can see that in the history texts of donald trump. his father came straight from germany and he was also arrested at a ku klux klan gathering where he brought young donald. the talk about lindbergh is very important because he was the most visible member of the america first committee that was founded by roger stewart of the class of 1937 at princeton. the other most visible member was henry ford. henry ford and charles lindbergh received the eagles award from hitler's in 1938.

they were explicit in their nazi sympathies and affiliations. that doesn't mean necessarily that america first is always a slogan of nazis but historically, the american first committee with charles lindbergh and henry ford were connected directly with hitler's. hitler's had a picture of henry ford in his office. ford was the only american who lived favorably in hitler's book, mein kampf. you can see it in the text. woody guthrie professed his love of poor people, working people and anti-restasis and always in solidarity with black people. he will be against lindbergh, against henry ford and certainly against any form of nazi-ism and fascism. he's one of the grand fixtures in the history of this nation as

an artist. the artist always plays a crucial role in the sense in which they are vanguards of the species like this powerful picture of rembrandt. the prodigal son, one of the greatest portraits in the history of europe. prodigal son is about profound love of giving and it's the highest form of giving. the highest form of love. that's what woody guthrie, that's what martin king, that's what dorothy, that's what this campaign is about, let's see if you have a snowball in hell chance, they said that to the slaves. they said that to women, they broke baxa patriarchs. they said that to workers only broke the back of bosses to allow workers to gain access to their rights. it looks like a snowball in hell but sometimes, the impossible becomes inevitable if you have enough moral courage and organization to follow through.

we shall see. host: the website forever guest is cornell west 2024.com. he is a philosophy and professor and independent presidential candidate. thank you for your time. guest: thank you so much, stay strong, my brother. host: that's it for our program today and a lot of the one will come your way at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. in a few minutes from now, an event at the u.s. institute of peace taking a look at u.s. lebanon relations. the former ambassador david hale is expected to be part of that event and you can watch that and follow along on this network. that's it for today, we will see you tomorrow. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024]

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