♪ host: good morning. it is wednesday, april 3. we begin with the biden administration's push to sell a

team billion dollars in military equipment to israel. the effort comes as some members of congress wanted ministries and to put conditions on the arms transfers to israel amid the ongoing war in gaza. we want to know what you think. do you support or oppose selling u.s. weaponry to israel? if you support the number to call is (202) 748-8000. if you oppose, (202) 748-8001. you can send us a text. the number is (202) 748-8003. if you do, please include your name and where you are from. catch up with us on social media. onx and -- on x and facebook. a good wednesday morning. we will get to those calls in just a second. a little more on that new effort to sell weapons to israel. we are joined by laura seligman.

she broke the story on the arms sale. what kind of weapons are we talking about here? guest: the was government is close to approving this massive aid package that includes $18 million for fighter jets and 30 amrams and jdm guided kits which turns down bombs into smart weapons. they are moving up in the process. state department notification means the administration is ready to move forward with the sale and all that is left is for them to be green lit by the congressional committees. it is pretty close. however, it could be stalled because of this israeli airstrike that killed seven workers on monday at the world

central kitchen. that has sparked a lot of debate and conversation in the public. the sales combined with the airstrike is expected to spark debate in congress as democrats already are against selling arms to israel and are putting pressure on president biden to condition some of that aid to get israel to stop bombing and take more care of the civilians. host: $18 billion is what the package is, jets and missiles. israel says it needs these weapons now in its war against hamas. why does it need these weapons? guest: they are for longer-term modernization of the israeli military. the bombs and weapons israel is using now they had in their stocks for some time. the u.s. provides billions of dollars of aid to israel every year for the last decades.

when october 7 happened, they rushed additional weapons from our stockpile, including summit for you -- some government for ukraine. they want actually arrive in israel for many years, three to five years for these jets. host: talk to the difference between an aid package for israel and this type of weapons sale. is the aid package used to make these purchases? guest: the eight package a lot of viewers are familiar with, the eight packages to ukraine, that is something where the u.s. government is paying for those weapons with money appropriated from congress and some from the u.s. dod stockpiles to ukraine or israel or whatever it is. this is a foreign military sale

by the department of defense and the department of state and by congress. typically much greater value in terms of dollar amounts. this is $18 billion worth of f-15s. it's a weapons sale that israel paid for. much of that is paid for by the united states through a vehicle called for in military finance where the u.s. gives israel money for weapons. the u.s. is funding much of the israeli military. host: for members of congress who want to put conditions on this or want to stop additional military weapons to israel, what tools do they have in their toolbox? guest: there is a set of legal amendments that would restrict he was funding to a country or unit in the israeli military

or any military they have found committed gross violation of human rights. the issue is that the wording is vague. it does not explain what executive violation looks like. it is difficult to use this law. it needs someone to bring it up and object to the sale to put conditions on any military aid to israel. the administration has said that is not going to happen. they will not treat israel any different than other countries. they continue to say israel has the right to defend itself and it is targeting military targets and not intending to kill civilians as hamas is, which is a key distinction. host: in terms of when this might happen you mentioned it was noted to congress informally earlier this year. we found out about it because of your story earlier this week.

how much time might members of congress have if they want to put some sort of stop to this? guest: they have a lot of time. it does not need to go through eminently. it could go through quickly and our sources were expecting the sale to go through in the couple of weeks because notification means seed administration is ready to move on -- the administration is ready to move on. the congressional committees had already approved. they had approved the sale. now that the strike happened on monday that killed the world kitchen workers, that has become a real hot item of debate and sparked questions over whether we should be spending -- selling additional arms to israel. you could see, although it is rare to object at this point in the process, we could see some

kind of opposition and the sale might not go through for some time. host: questions some of your colleagues brought up to secretary of state antony blinken yesterday about this sales package. we will show viewers that clip and just a little bit here. what was your sense of state department response and his response there? guest: i certainly think the administration is in a tough spot here. they have been defending israel all along but this strike, they are condemning it. we saw john kirby say it was alarming. my sources at dod say it was clearly a mistake. this was not meant to happen. however, there are indicators -- there are questions about intentionality, including the fact it was a drone strike that hit each truck in the convoy one at a time. as well as the fact the world central kitchen did share their

route ahead of time. that raises a lot of questions about whether israel hit the convoy. this is resonating so much in washington, d.c. now, more so than other previous strikes because the founder of world central kitchen is a d.c. chef. he has multiple popular restaurants in d.c. because he's a celebrity everyone has heard about it. wait a minute, maybe we should be looking into this. host: politico.com if you want to see her work. thank you for your time this morning on the washington journal. guest: thanks for having me. host: following up on some reaction from members of congress to that strike on the world central kitchen convoy that killed seven aid workers, a sense of some of the tweets from members of congress yesterday

and their reaction. jim mcgovern, seniocratic congressman from massachusetts calling it devastating. "workers heroes. i'artbroken to learn of their loss. also angry. in netanyahu needs to stop bombing civilians and weaponizing food. release the hostages. peace." peter welch writis week, "jose driy briefed me and other senators on the don's a -- the daunting challenges they face in gaza. this ily missile strike an attackkilled seven world kitchen workersre tragic evidence the way that netanyahu's government is conducting the war is terribly wrong." we will go through more reaction for you. we are asking you whether you support or oppose additional u.s. military weapons to israel. (202) 748-8000 if you say you

support. (202) 748-8001 if you say you oppose. we mentioned secretary of state antony blinken was asked about this yesterday, these $18 billion in new sales and other military transfers in the past. this is about two minutes of his back and forth with reporters yesterday. [video] >> this is true with other countries, there are a number of open cases, open requests of previously notified cases which has not been fully fulfilled or completed. in the case of israel, for example, there are many requests that were made and were notified to congress and agreed back a decade or more. it takes time often to reduce the material or weapons in

question, the parts, etc. these complex systems can take years to actually allow us to fulfill the request in agreement. -- and agreement. many of the cases you occasionally report on now under congressional review -- were under congressional review years ago, years before the conflict in gaza started. reporter: [inaudible] >> let me come to that. all this context is important. we, of course, also go out of our way to make sure that we are actually going above and beyond the law and what is required in briefing congress. we go to the relevant oversight committees. we make sure they are aware of ongoing transfers above the

statutory threshold. even once they have approved a long time ago. -- ones they have approved a long time ago and there's no requirement of additional notice or additional approval of any kind. now we have been focused on making sure october 7 can never happen again. having said that, the relationship with israel is not just about gaza, hamas, october 7. it is also about the threats posed to israel by hezbollah, by iran, by various other actors in the region. each one of which has about one way or another to try to destroy israel. the weapons, the systems israel has sought to acquire have been contracted in many cases over many, many years. they go to self-defense.

they go to deterrence to avoid more conflicts. host: antony blinken talking about weapon sales, a separate process than the aid package that we often talk about here in recent weeks and months. israel one of the largest recipients of usaid over the years. here is a chart looking at the numbers from recent decades in the past 10 years or so. israel has averaged about 3.6 billion dollars a year from the united states in terms of military aid, also economic aid and missile-defense aid. you can see how the numbers have spiked over the years. the biden administration pushing for more than $10 billion in additional aid to israel. that process still playing out on capitol hill. amid that process we are asking about this story about weapons sales to israel. do you support or oppose additional military weapons to israel? we have phone numbers for both

answers. we will put those numbers on the screen as we hear from mike in massachusetts. you are a first. caller: good morning. it's been a while. some time ago the leader of iran made a statement to the world. he said we are going to wipe israel off the face of the map. we see what israel has been up against since the end of world war ii. i'm for the sale of the weapons to israel. also look at the economic aspect of it. billions and billions of dollars in arms sales to israel, especially in jet aircraft translates into hundreds of thousands of good paying jobs here at home. that's about what i wanted to say.

israel, no matter how critical we can be of israel, our number one ally in the world. they are our staunchest supporter. that is basically all i have to say. host: you mentioned since the end of world war ii, a separate chart going back to usaid, economic -- u.s. aid, economic and military. the largest recipient of u.s. aid. it's not even close. 300 billion dollars over that time from 1946 to the year 2023. the closest is egypt and afghanistan and then south vietnam. that accounts during the vietnam war. back to your phone calls. marvin in philadelphia. you are next. caller: i'm against it. the guy before me was talking

about world war ii. it was agreed that israel would have its own state and we would defend that. right now they are killing civilians. they have 70,000 civilians killed. they should go for peace. we should not give them no more arms, because the government is running rogue right now. it's not about protecting israel . it's about killing people. that's all it got. host: that was marvin in philadelphia. this is steve, san jose. caller: thanks for taking my call. let's not forget three things that make all the difference in the world. number one, palestinians voted hamas into power. number two, palestinians have taught their children from day one to hate the jews.

number three, after the war started hamas stated, and this is the leadership of a mosque, that they would do it again and again and again. three agains. they must be destroyed. completely. host: it brings up another topic of the potential -- likely at this point invasion of the city of rafa in southern gaza. benjamin netanyahu saying that is the final holdout of the hamas fighters that are still constituting a significant force in the fight. united states fearing another humanitarian or continue to expanded humanitarian disaster in rafa.

have you been following that decision? caller: i have been following it very closely. israel has stated they believe they are for battalions in that city and if the united states, blinken and biden have a better way of doing it, if they have any suggestions, tell israel and make it public. they keep complaining but they have no suggestions. host: that is steve and san jose. the picture from the washington post of smoke billowing over rafah after an israeli bombardment. the story noting it is home to about 1.4 million people, the last refuge of those displaced from other parts of gaza. the washington post speaking with three israeli security officials and american officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the looming

fight for rafah. if you want to read that story, and it gets into what the caller was talking about, the expectations for how many fighters for hamas are expected to be in the city. this is brooke in newark, new jersey. caller: good morning. god bless america. i oppose this. i don't understand why some people just can't get out of this war mindset. why do we have to keep being at war? i don't care if israel's money goes to our country. it also brings enemies to our country. the fact that our border is on the top and bottom is wide open, it's ridiculous for people to keep inciting these problems. we have so many problems in this

world that we need to address. war is only making things worse. i'm tired of seeing the bodies of dead children. we need to start moving to other issues around the world that need help, because, you know, this is too much. it is just too much. i don't know why we keep doing the same thing and expecting different results. it's a little insanity at this point. i'm a young black man -- i'm sorry. host: what is the way to get different results here in israel -palestine, decades of decades of conflict? what are different things to do to get different results? caller: first of all, people need to stop repeating what people say. i heard the gentle men talk about, oh, hamas said they would do this over and over again. they don't have the capabilities to attack israel how they did

before. the fact there is so much surveillance on it now, it is not going to happen again. that's ridiculous. it's completely ridiculous that people keep saying that. yeah, they said it out of anger. you can take anybody out of context when they are anger -- angry and they will say mean things. the best way to get to peace is to actually allow people to have prosperity. period. equal prosperity. what's happening in the west bank, it's easy for people to only talk about gaza. they'll talk of the stuff going on in the west bank. they compartmentalize where they want to have their anger. we need peace. people are dying. people need help and we need to move onto to the other conflicts and other issues that need to be addressed, period, netanyahu has got to go. hamas has got to go. put the palestinian authority that can be trusted and create a buffer zone with international

people to keep everybody safe, period. host: we are asking you this morning do you support or oppose additional u.s. military weapons sales to israel? it's a question to members of congress are looking into now. the question that played out on the sunday shows this past weekend. from senator chris van hollen, the democrat from maryland, he was asked about it on abc news on sunday's this week. this is what he said. [video] >> i think we need to better use our leverage. one of them is sending more offense of weapons -- offensive weapons. president biden needs to be serious about ensuring humanitarian assistance into gaza as netanyahu has been making his demands. we have a situation where the netanyahu government continues to rebuff the president of the united states time and time again.

ignores reasonable requests. what do we do? we say we will send more bombs. my view is that a partnership needs to be a two-way street, not a one-way blank check with american taxpayer dollars. this is not about saying we are going to provide anymore weapons. it's about saying, hey, we have requests. don't let people starve to death. in other words, yes. support israel's right to defend itself. i'm all in on that. i have been all in from the beginning, but reasonable requests like preventing people from starving. 2 million palestinians who had nothing to do with hamas. the president needs to back up his no excuses language with real action and just providing a blank check, providing more bombs without getting assurances now about rafah and not making the humanitarian disaster worse

and doing simple things right now to help people who are starving to death and gaza, those seem to be simple requests. we have a situation where netanyahu continues to essentially give the finger to the president of the united states. we are sending more bombs. that does not make sense. host: senator chris van hollen of maryland on the sunday shows. one more from the sunday shows. fox news sunday, republican senator rick scott of florida. this is what he said when it came to additional weapons and aid for israel. [video] >> they need american support. number one, they need and deserve american support. they have to go into rafah to destroy hamas. number two, qatar needs to get the hostages out. number three, iran needs to be held accountable. we all have to do everything we can to support them. i will work hard to get the hostages home.

i think the biden administration and democrats need to change their tune. they did not -- america did not stand up for israel at the you win the u.n. resolution. -- u.n. with the u.n. resolution. >> there are numerous reports out there that aliens more in weapons, bombs, fighter jets are flowing to israel from the biden administration. is this a matter of in your estimation publicly talking tough but privately the u.s. is getting israel would it needs despite pressure from the left? >> this is a long fight. they will be a time when they will need more weapons. there has been prior weapons packages that have given israel eight but there needs to be more given to destroy hamas. by the way, we have got to focus on destroying hamas and focus on what are we doing with the

hostages. why isn't the biden administration doing anything to hold qatar accountable for what's going on over there? host: senator rick scott of florida. this is the headline from the wall street journal. joe biden's mideast stance angers both sides. asking you whether you would support or oppose additional military weapons to israel. jack in virginia, what do you think? caller: good morning everyone. my position on this is absolutely zero, zero, zero support for israel. the way i have been looking at this, your caller before head that had excellent point. -- your caller before had excellent points. this is what we call information operations. if you don't believe for one second the israeli ultraconservative government has not taken a part in october 7, you are plain stupid.

this is something that we help to enable. we pivoted to asia. because we did that we lost our eye on the middle east. israel, there is no need for israel or palestine. they don't sell or do anything we necessarily need in the united states. they need to billions of dollars we give them and there needs to be a justification for it. you are watching that justification now. we have left and held harmless the ultraconservatives. we have held harmless the fact they themselves sent those people to the desert. when they kill those people -- why are we asking that? host: are you saying this is a false flag operation? you don't believe what happened on october 7 happened? caller: what i am saying is october 7 absolutely happened, but for you to believe it is just hamas, he could not have

happened with the ultraconservative israeli government, you were foolish. yes. i believe this is a false flag. it is to pivot us back to the middle east and what you are watching is part of that. host: that is jacket virginia. naomi out of baltimore, maryland. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i could not agree more wholeheartedly with the previous caller. i made a call to c-span very early on after the october 7 attack and expressed i thought that netanyahu's little group there of ultraconservatives had allowed -- definitely allowed the october 7, which i absolutely condemn, to occur. host: why would they want that

to happen with hundreds of hostages and 1500 people killed? caller: it allows them to meet their goal, which is to get rid of palestine. netanyahu now does not want to consider a two state solution. i believe that has been his goal from the beginning to allow this to happen to think that israel had no knowledge, no foreknowledge of this attack is a little bit naive. host: you think benjamin netanyahu will leave office when the conflict is over? caller: i think he's going to be forced out because i think a lot of israelis see this probably the way i do and the way the previous caller does. they believe in a two state solution. they believe every human deserves a place, deserves to live in freedom, not caged in

and they just want the palestinians gone. the fact that more aid workers have been killed in this conflict since october 7 than i don't know how long but a long, long time. this is a high rate of kill of aid workers. they are not allowing aid in. that's a war crime. they are starving and entire populace of people intentionally. that's a war crime. bombing aid workers is a war crime, intentionally. i do believe that is what is going on. it was a three drone attack on mark's cars when they had -- marked cars when they had foreknowledge of what they were there for. it's obvious it was intentional. host: you mentioned a war crime.

this was talked about -- lauren talked about this when we were talking about members of congress who may want to step in when it comes to additional arms sales to israel. the lahey low, named dr. patrick leahy -- the lahey law prohibits u.s. government from using funds for assistance to units of foreign security forces where there is credible information implicating the unit in the commission of gross violations of human rights. if numbers of congress do feel like those gross violations of human rights, if the definition is met when it comes to this that is something they can use to prevent additional sales of weapons. we will see if that bears any momentum in the days and weeks to come. patrick in pittsburgh, good morning.

patrick, are you with us? caller: i'm here. host: go ahead. caller: it is stunning when you listen to the previous callers, they even begin to understand how accurate they are about the israeli direct participation in this exercise. the new york times made a report. the report was very telling that israel was providing absolutely meticulous intelligence about the october 7 event. what this says is, this opens the pandora's box of questions. if i'm your neighbor and i know your house is going to be blown up with a weapon and i tell you about it and i give you meticulous information about the conspirators are going to do it and you do nothing about it, you wanted it to happen. this is exactly what took place

on october 7. look at who was annihilated. you had all these metaphysical spiritual peaceful peace makers. they were the first to die. these were the individuals who were walking out into these enclaves. all of a sudden they see these winged individuals flying over top of them. they are the first to be killed with machine guns. here is a perfect example. if netanyahu, part of the most surveilled people in history of the world, the most surveilled people in the world had no idea, and i don't care whether the new york times came up with this report are not, the previous callers hit the nail on the head. there is absolutely no way in

hell the israeli government did not know and they did not allow it to happen. host: that is patrick. this is john in penns grove, new jersey. good morning. caller: yes. i think we need to have immigration for all the palestinians to come here. then we can make gaza with casinos in apartments and hotels and everything and sell them plenty of concrete trucks. host: robert in richmond, maine. good morning. caller: there are a lot of mind readers out there. i'm conflicted on this. i don't want to see anybody die. i'm german-american heritage. world war ii. 350,000 to 500,000 german civilians were killed but nobody was complaining about that. i think that was the right thing to do. we had to get rid of the enemy

until he could not fight anymore. that is why i'm conflicted. i see this as a answer that israel has to fight for the existence. host: when we talk back to the looming invasion of rafah, and that is where israel said hamas is, the majority of the remainder of their forces, that is where they believe the hostages are. the u.s. fearing a disaster rafah. i humanitarian disaster. you are saying they need the ability to go in and despite what is likely to be an increased disaster, let them do that? caller: yeah. it's not a matter of letting it. it is for their survival. they don't have a lot of options as far as i can see. i don't want to see anybody die

unjustified but they don't really have an option as far as i can see. they have to do something. we are not offering any solutions for them. all we have is a lot of people because of the internet. we did not have the internet in world war ii so maybe it would have been the same in world war ii. it does not sound like there is a lot of opposition to it. host: when it comes to opposition, growing opposition to provide additional military aid to israel or put some conditions on that as a way to reign them in, that is not something united states should be doing? caller: hi dona. i don't have -- i don't know. i don't have an answer. host: here is more from the council on foreign relations on the issue of the lahey law or with the united states can or has done in the past when it comes to these military sales to

foreign countries. a refresh of what the law does. the u.s. can operate ask purity assistance to foreign countries or groups that -- the administration in february of 2023 said it would not provide arms to recipients deemed likely to commit serious human rights violations. some scholars and critics allege the data states has not applied the lahey law regarding israel as it has with other middle eastern countries. any military aid unite states provides would only be used according to the agreed-upon terms and conditions. it is incumbent on the u.s. government to monitor the and use of the equipment it provides. the ronald reagan administration band transfers of cluster munitions to israel for several years back in the 1980's after determined israel had used them on civilian targets during its invasion of lebanon. the biden administration withheld upland shipment of

assault rifles to israel in december of 2023 due to concerns the weapons would end up in the hands of extremist israeli settlers in the west bank. israel agreed to use the weapons only in self-defense. administration officials said they will not place further constraints on how israel uses u.s. weapons. the council on foreign relations, their chart from back in the beginning of this year amid a couple of months into the war in gaza on u.s. aid to israel. cfr.org is where you can find that. richard out of louisville, kentucky. caller: is that council on foreign relations -- is that the muscle group? -- muslim group? host: the cfr, the council on foreign relations.

caller: as we all know, for most of us, cair are members of the muslim brotherhood who are terrorists. yes, give israel everything it needs to totally wipe out hamas, or there will be people today. yes. hamas will you civilians. they will hold them up and they will say here, you have to kill them first before you get to us. it's going to happen. here's the kicker for me after listening to six or seven of your callers. they actually believe the mainstream media, and they kept bringing up the new york times, who in world war ii denied the holocaust until finally eisenhower released the videos of those poor jews over there coming out of auschwitz and the

other concentration camps. naked women running around being totally -- it was terrible. but now the new york times was to say netanyahu did this. he let it happen. you are telling me we are supposed to believe that the new york times -- that netanyahu and the israelis killed their own people? that is what c-span has allowed to come on air. that is what joe biden is pushing so he can get reelected. israel is the bad person for having all those babies beheaded, putting ovens, pregnant women slaughtered. now israel is the bad guy. give them everything they need and wipe out hamas completely. host: that is richard in louisville, kentucky. mike out of fairbanks, alaska. you are next. caller: good morning.

there are so many variables here that people need to realize. according to a couple of reputable news agencies, netanyahu had seven hours warning on this. we are finding iraq and their proxies, has below, hamas -- has below, hamas. host: are you talking about iraq? -- iran? caller: yes. investigate united nations for assisting hamas on the rate. why is that not being talked about? the mainstream media not get any truth on tv or newspapers. they are all controlled now. do some deep research.

flyer the three battalions there? since israel is 98% faxed with the deaf? , they are making terrible decisions. vicious decisions. host: dennis and hudson, indiana. caller: all these people that want to say what happened to these aid workers is a war crime, whatever going to prosecute biden for the war crime in afghanistan? the drone strike that killed the aid worker and his family in afghanistan. let's see joseph biden face jail time and then we will talk about israel. host: that is dennis in hudson, indiana. the strike earlier this week getting a lot of attention. the strike on the world aid kitchen workers, jose and

re's group. antony blinken answered questions about that when he faced reporters. [video] >> first, i can only say so many of us extend our condolences to the loved ones, to the families, friends, colleagues of those who lost their lives as well as those who were injured. i spoke to hunsaker -- to jose andre a week ago about the efforts world central kitchen is engaged in in gaza and other conflict around the world, including ukraine. they haven't doing extraordinary brave work day in, day out, and critical work to try to make sure people in need get what they need, starting with the most basic thing of all. food to survive.

the victims of yesterday's strike join a record number of humanitarian workers killed in this conflict. these people are heroes. they run into the fire, not away from it. they show the best of what humanity has to offer when the going really gets tough. they have to be protected. we should not have a situation where people who are simply trying to fellow -- help fellow human beings are themselves at great risk. we have spoken directly to the israeli government about this particular incident. we have urged swift and thorough and impartial investigation to understand exactly what happened. as we have throughout this conflict we have pressed upon

the israelis the imperative of doing more to protect anniston civilian lives, be they palestinian children, women, men or aid workers. as well as to get more humanitarian assistance to more people more effectively. host: secretary of state antony blinken yesterday. about 15 minutes here in the first segment of the washington journal, asking you do you support or oppose additional u.s. military weapons to israel? a major weapons sale has been alerted to congress. some $18 billion for fighter jets and missiles and bombs. it might not arrive for years before it is completed in its entirety. amid criticism of help israel conducted this war in gaza, asking if you support or oppose u.s. the terry weapons to israel -- military weapons israel.

robin in schenectady, new york. caller: good morning. that's a strange group of people to put me after. hi find it funny that they put their logos on top of the vans and they keep bombing them. they did that to a red cross bus back in 2006. i think that is real strange. anyway, i don't think we should be continuing to give them money at all. it is disgusting what you see in international publications. our news certainly will not report what's going on over there. i don't know what biden thinks will happen if he keeps diverting away from the people. clearly people are disgusted with this and so on my. -- so am i. what is his game? host: what do you mean when you

don't think our news is reporting was going on over there? between the five or six different national papers i went through this morning there is plenty of stories. what do you mean the news is not reporting what is going on over there? caller: quick report more on people like antony blinken and our press secretary's beauty -- secretary spewing absolute lies. it is surprising to me there are nuggets of truth coming out. when you look at international publications they have been more honest and more open with the situation that has been going on there. host: where do you go? caller: i follow ap. i follow al jazeera, which israel is trying to kick out. we should go around and look for that news. they have killed something like 130 journalists over there.

they are trying to kick al jazeera out. i follow couple of people on twitter as well. i'm struggling term, the other publication at the moment. -- to remember the other publication at the moment. it's ridiculous i have to go outside the country to hear what's going on. the fact our country took so long to actually get truth out is staggering and i find that --they are running cover for biden most of the time. the fact they are sneaking this underneath is crazy to me. i don't understand what he thinks he's going to get out of this. how does he think that will benefit him? he's practically throwing the election away at this point. host: this is stella out of oregon. good morning. the west coast. caller: those guys are starving.

they should push hamas out but they're not. they still won't give them up. the same thing over there in ukraine. what are they going to start talking peace? it is crazy was going on here and our own country and we stick our nose everywhere else. thank you. host: joe in new jersey, you are next. joe, are you with us? caller: yes, i am. i appreciate you taking my call. 20 years retired united states military, u.s. coast guard from 1997 to 2016. i lost a cousin in vietnam. now vietnam is a delivery port for the u.s. navy -- a live report for the u.s. navy. why war? this thing with israel --netanyahu was about to face a major setback.

he was going to change their version of the constitution. the young people, 20 and 30 somethings were about to protest. if you're telling me with his intelligence he left the border open on purpose, i believe he did. i believe you knew what the consequences were. furthermore, without america israel does not have a gross thomistic product. they get the guns of dollars are ready. to sell the weapons. i'm also a veteran. i remember two weeks before the attack i was stationed in new york. a few weeks before the attack the palestinian police headquarters was rocketed by a cobra gunship that we make here. 25 years ago there was a massacre of women and children in gaza. do you win -- the u.n. does not find anything wrong. host: a protest in israel is

continuing to happen. the bbc story from earlier this week, benjamin netanyahu protest puts political divide in israel back on display. israel's deep political divisions are back and open to the public. you see the picture there of the israeli flag and netanyahu's face on it. caller: are you saying -- i missed the first part of what you're saying. that's a pro palestinian rally. host: this is in israel, israelis protesting benjamin netanyahu. caller: that's goodcaller:. they should. i have a son with type one juvenile diabetes. my brother headed 50 years. $18 billion in weapons and we can't cure one autoimmune disease? we put a man on the moon with

the technology of a timex watch and we can't cure diseases? i agree with your caller who said why war. tony bennett did not sing his way through world war ii. he was a combat infantry soldier. he liberated a concentration camp. he's a pacifist. he says violence is the lowest form of human behavior, and he should know. he had a front seat and held for 18 months -- in hell for 18 months. my mother-in-law was born in captivity in germany. nobody gave them a country of their own. they had a choice, brazil, argentina, or the united states. it was on was seven years after the war was over that they got to fly here. to create a country -- the whole thing is wrong. host: that is joe in new jersey.

mike in lawrence, new york. you are next. caller: thank you. i would like to make three points. number one, you posted a chart a while ago indicating the eight the united states israel from 1946. i think it's important to remember that 1947 the u.s. secretary of state for commercial -- george marshall told ben gary and -- gurion united states would boycott that state. and that's exactly what the united states did. the united states did not supply a single weapon israel until after the 1967 war. the six-day war was used and succeeded with french aircraft and with weapons received from other places in the world. zero from the united states,

number one. number two, the $3.8 billion of aid israel receives from the united states is very well appreciated by israel and it's a fantastic investment by the united states. the data states receives intelligence and information worth multiple $3.8 billion. check with lockheed martin and see how the f-35, their most advanced fighter is tested and significantly improved by israel , providing billions of dollars of value. the $3.8 billion israel receives from the u.s. is spent in the united states. providing thousands of jobs in the united states. israel's gdp is $565 billion.

the $3.8 billion israel receives from the u.s. represents well under 1% of israel's gdp. israel is grateful for your support and the united states should be grateful to have an ally as faithful and strong as israel. thank you. host: steve out of anaheim, california. just a couple of missed left of the first segment of the washington journal. caller: i will make this short. you asked earlier what we should do to prevent the war in palestine and israel. instead of spending billions of dollars on planes, grow a conscience and put it in front of the u.n. the original agreement was a two state solution. that is what we should get back to. if you want to get rid of hamas,

take the power from beneath them by allowing palestinians to take their place before the u.n., have the court -- the world court make a judgment on what we are supposed to do and follow that instead of spending tons of money on killing women and children and blowing of hospitals which has nothing to do with hamas. they found no evidence of it whatsoever. i'm not going to get sidetracked on that. that is away i look at it. i'm worried about after this wars over who's going to have to pay for the reconstruction of palestine. we will be on the hook fort because we are the dumbassses that put this war weapons in the hands of israel. i don't believe a single word benjamin netanyahu is saying. host: the last call in the first segment, mitchell, florida.

good morning. are you with us? caller: yes, i'm with you. thanks for making my call. i support israel 100%. one of the oldest history books of the world, the bible, that land was given to -- the promised land was given to israel by god. i support israel 100% and god bless israel. host: mitchell in florida, our last caller in this first segment of the washington journal. stick around. more today after the break. we will talk with democratic president of candidate jason palmer. later we will talk with wade miller from citizens for renewing america. we will talk abut his group and election 2024. stick around. we will be right back. ♪

>> will you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you god watch? as we explore major investigations >> historians will tell the story and you will seek historical footage from that period and the impact of key congressional hearings. a committee led by harry truman in the 1940's examine the national defense program and whether there was corruption and inefficiency in military contracting. it is said to save money and even shorten world war ii. watch on c-span two.

here is a highlight from a key moment. >> i would like to ask my distinguished republican colleague if you would take the chair. will the gentlemen please take the chair. [applause]

>> house will be in order. >> c-span, powered by cable. >> washington" continues. -- "washington journal" continues. >> we welcome jason palmer. you are described as the guy who beat joe biden in american samoa, back on super tuesday. what should viewers know about you? guest: viewers should know i'm in the race because i believe in ideas. if you go to my websites you will see we are talking about conscious capitalism,

modernizing government. i am a technology entrepreneur and investor by background and we really need to pass the torch to the next generation of people who are entrepreneurs and move our country into the 21st century. host: what is conscious capitalism? guest: i have been working in a movement for the last 20 years and it is people who create businesses for good and invest in businesses for basically socially improving purposes. think of a company like i've invested in called origin that educates people in prisons. and another that is creating digital certificates, sales force administrator, certifications, amazon web services. there are 600 credentials you can earn in less than a year where you can get upscaled to

the middle class, like the new color jobs of our century. you don't even have to go to college. you can get yourself into the middle class and beyond with the certificates and credentials. host: we probably hers heard from you in the super tuesday. when did you start to decide to run? guest: very late. all of my friends who have been involved in politics and it is way too late and you headed to start two years ago. but at that point i felt like there was nobody talking about the ideas. we are getting mired in foreign conflicts. the republican party had a scream fest on the debates. and i said to my ceos, if somebody like me got into the race would it be positive and they said yes and we talked to investors and other people and got unanimous support that i

should get into the race and talk about ideas and try to move the country towards an ideas-based election. host: why we are so popular with the samoa? guest: it was mostly because i did basic campaigning. i think the other candidates did not campaign. i did multiple zoom town meetings and hired people locally. i also think not enough people take american samoa seriously. i care about them. host: how do you keep them from being the high watermark of your run? guest: i introduce my new organization called "together! " and some democrats and some

republicans that bring the country back to the center. we need to come back together. that is been my biggest message so far. take our government back from the crazies. host: in congress? guest: we will mostly focus in congress. this is something i did in 2018 as a private citizen who invested in women who were running for congress. later the bloomberg team picked it up and amplified it. 16 of the 20 got elected. and in 2019 it was a freshman class of women elected. this time we want to elect people who are purple candidates who want to work across the aisle, people who come from an entrepreneurial tech background like myself. in the next week or two we are getting close to announcing which five people we will

nominate as the first five and then all the way to 20. if all goes well we will have 16 of those 20 elected to congress or have helped done that. goes to my background as an investor and picker of people who are little-known, like myself. host: you live in baltimore, maryland? guest: i do. host: why not run there and why set your sights on president? guest: i have a favorite candidate. my state has a senate race and also my congressman decided to design and there is a new congress race going on. i like the candidates for mayor, senate and congress in maryland and will support all three of them. it was a timing thing. there is not a focus on congressional races back when i decided to get into the race. and if you run for one of the 435 congress seats, people don't

notice your message. host: you like your local and state officials do you not like joe biden? guest: i do like him but we agree on 90% of things but a couple key things we differ. the federal government is running a massive deficit for years. we need to get the federal deficit into balance, which i have a plan to do over five years. i am a quaker by background and have been speaking out on gaza since october since last year that we need to have a cease fire and work towards a two state solution. the yet -- netanyahu government has been a terrible partner for the u.s. for many years. the gaza policy has been changing. i noticed the fighting administration changing it. i know marianne williamson was on yesterday and i agree with her on a lot of things and i have met her on the campaign trail and admire her position on gaza. host: jason palmer with us,

taking your phone calls. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. republicans can call in at (202) 748-8001. independents, it's (202) 748-8002. you talked about your tech investment career. take us through your career and how you got to that. guest: i went to the university of virginia, like you. i was a government professor. i thought i would go into government my whole life. my fourth year i started a business called "the corner meal plan." a way for students to eat at restaurants around the campus. i have been a computer science diet since the beginning. that led to starting a company in silicon valley and starting a company and graduating from business school.

so those two companies and failed with one. i have worked for bill gates twice. i have multiple technologies and patents and invested in 30 companies. host: what did you do for bill gates? guest: i was at the bill and melinda gates foundation and worked on higher education. as you know, higher education is too expensive and that is why we have been finding these alternative pathways where you can learn for six or 12 months and get a credential and go straight to the middle class. host: for you one of the kids that wanted to grow up and be president? guest: yes, i was. i have on my website a book report i did on abraham lincoln, george washington. i am here to say to all the kids who watch for the parents needs to want to be president that you can get involved. you can't run for office. not everyone wants to run for

president that people can find different ways to run for your small town. but if you want to get big ideas out there, the president is the way to run. host: does it take a lot of self funding? guest: it has. we need to move to a system of public funding so this is not something just relatively rich people can do. rachel maddow compared me to michael bloomberg. i laughed. i am much less well off than that. we have invested 500,000 dollars in our campaign and taken $50,000 in donations. this is run on a shoestring. you are supposed to have a billion dollars to run for president. that is crazy. host: what is the path forward? what happens at the democratic national committee? guest: we are negotiating the

details but my goal is to give the people of the american samoa voice on stage to share more about their culture and issues they care about. there are many territories that don't get enough attention. puerto rico is one of them. they are overdue for statehood, guam, virgin islands. many areas don't get enough air time and people don't know that we have these colonies that are now territories all over the world. host: how many times have you been to american samoa? guest: i have never been there. that is probably one of the biggest surprises. i did for zoom town halls and spoke to a class of the school children, hired three people on the ground who did a fantastic job. i basically took the people

there seriously and i think we should take all people seriously from disadvantaged backgrounds. host: again, (202) 748-8000 for democrats to call in. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. independent, it is (202) 748-8002. jason palmer is our guest. this is jordan, california, independent. caller: good morning. i haven't gotten a chance to look at your campaign website. i did want to just right off the bat ask if you are in favor of an immediate cease-fire in gaza and hope shipments of any weapons, bombs, plans to israel. guest: that is an easy question.

i have been in favor of an immediate cease-fire permanent cease-fire in gaza since november of last year. the netanyahu government is corrupt. we can no longer be providing arms to them. part of that comes of my quaker background. i'm always looking for the most peaceful solution with the least loss of life. this is a core important position for me. host: what are your views on the war in ukraine? guest: that is a little different. the parallels between when vladimir putin invaded ukraine to hitler's invaded czechoslovakia and poland are all too similar. putin has written a long document posted online about how he wants to restore a greater russia. i watched the interview with him and tucker carlson. it is clear he wants to establish greater russia and

bring ukraine, belarus, the former republics into a greater russia. he is an expansionist dictator and it is super important that we impose him and continue to oppose him -- we impose him and continue to -- we oppose him and continue to oppose him. there has been so much difficulty in congress getting something passed. we need to communicate to volodymyr zelenskyy and his team that they need to sue for peace. ukraine may end up looking a little different the southeastern parts of the country are predominantly russian speaking and predominantly have voted for different presidents in elections. if we want to minimize the loss of life in ukraine, we need to help behind the scenes convey to the ukrainians that this money is the last money in and there is a need to get a.

host: this is aaron, democrat, alexandria, virginia. caller: i would like to start off with the good stuff first. i like a lot of what you are talking about. i want to say or give you a question first. what public office have you held before and in what capacity. what i would also like to let you know, i hear a lot of things that you're sing and like. ideas and look where you stand on a lot of topics. but if donald trump becomes the nominee for the republican party, this may be a timing issue but i don't think it is the right time for us as democrats or independents to split the vote because we cannot allow him back in the white house. that is where i stand.

guest: i appreciate all of that. i agree with you that donald trump is a cancer on our democracy and stopping him is job number one. if i go back to when i entered the race in november, part of the reason why was it because i looked and biden had no competitors there was really not going to be anybody who was going to get him on the campaign trail. you probably heard that ezra klein was recommended that biden pass the torch and many people along the way of saying biden needs to get out there in campaign more vigorously. that is part of why iran was to make sure he campaigned more vigorously. back to the question you asked, public office. i worked for senator daniel patrick moynihan of new york for a summer. not a whole lot of experience working in congress but it was very instrumental for me. i served on the board of the smithsonian and the university

of virginia for 12 years at the bill and melinda gates foundation we worked on public policy with the administration on financial aid, innovation in higher education. many meetings at the white house. you can think of me as washington and adjacent. some say i should be campaigning strictly as an outsider but i am not completely an outsider. i understand how government works and a third of my friends have worked in government at one time or another. i know what it is like trying to run the machinery of the federal government. host: some on twitter saying one thing what people don't need is a bunch of capitalists running. we rejected mitt romney already. guest: i am not a venture capitalist but it is a fair comment. i am an impact investor. that is someone who invests in companies that are trying to do good for the world and trying to use the profit motive to do

good. the prophet -- the company i mentioned that educates people in jail. we have certificate and credential programs. mitt romney is a very different person than me. he is a billionaire. i actually do want to say that i admire mitt romney as well. it is important to have people in washington work across the aisle and he is one of the few people who voted to impeach donald trump from the republican side of the aisle. he has spoken out numerous times about the insurrection on january 6. if i ever get a chance to meet mitt romney i will tell him, good job. that doesn't mean i necessarily supported him in the election of 2012 but i recognize when someone puts america pursed and mitt romney puts america first. host: you are not a billionaire? guest: i am not a billionaire.

host: are you a millionaire? guest: i am. host: what would you tell people who ask about your finances? guest: my net worth is between 1 million and $10 million. a lot of it is invested in start up companies or in venture capital funds. and i am a general part it -- partner in investing in companies that do good. part of what makes america great is you can become a millionaire in so many different ways. there are small businesses creating 70% of jobs and create the most millionaires. sometimes the small businesses grow into really big companies like bloomberg's or the companies that mitt romney works with. some of these companies do really good things for america. i wish more democrats were honest about that capitalism is the best system but does need a few tweaks to make it equitable. host: jason palmer, democratic

presidential candidate. moses is in lakewood, florida, independent. caller: thank you for taking my call. i have a question for jason palmer. considering the issue that we have on the border, the crisis on the border, and the democrats saying the bipartisan bill hasn't been pushed. can you tell me exactly why we fronted a part part -- bipartisan bill that secures our border. can you tell me specifically the difference between hr to? -- hr2. guest: i published a 10 page

white paper on how i would reform immigration. the main difference between the bills are cosmetic and that either of those bills should be passed right now. i agree with the biden administration's goal to get some bill passed. but it's really were also around how we treat people who come to the united states from abroad because they are fearing for their lives or fearing persecution. the biden administration has a more open vision and the bill is supposed to more societies -- asylum-seekers. it has not been updated since the 1980's for that part and there are four major reforms and they are outlined in the 10 page paper which i spent a month on because it is such an important thing to debate and i care about the ideas. host: back to baltimore, milton,

democrat. caller: i first have to, and then a question. i think you come straight out of a comic book because if you consider yourself to be a person of quicker persuasion, what would you do to stop netanyahu to do what he wants to do? he has an elected official. we have no right to tell him what to do. we have a political affiliation party who is all for what he does and it would be just one branch of the government trying to stop them from doing what they are going to do. guest: i don't know if you heard the previous caller, but i have been advocating for a cease-fire in gaza since october or november, a permanent

cease-fire. the united states can do a lot here. we provide $5 billion in military aid to israel even during good times and that has gone up since then. we could halt all military aides so our bomb and weapons are not being used to kill and displays millions of gazans. that will have an influence on the netanyahu administration. we can also support the people rallying in the streets against that government. netanyahu only has 30% support in israel and i agree with chuck schumer when he stood up and said netanyahu has to go. the united states should not often get involved in recommending a change in administration around the world this is a one world since israel is an important ally of the united states we need to stand up and say different leaders are needed both in israel and in palestine. host: new jersey, pamela, independent. caller: good morning, mr.

palmer. my concern is about section 230. do you think there needs to do anything to change their? there are a lot of americans' data being used for the benefits of not just tech companies but a lot of big companies across the world. their data is being leveraged. you can get anything about anyone and extend out to their families. do you think anything needs to change their? guest: another example where laws have not been updated and in this case 30 years, all of our laws should be revisited on a five or 10 year basis. i have been recommending this on the campaign trail. every time a law is passed we should set impact metrics and we should check back. this was intended to alleviate poverty, how has it done?

section 230, people's data should belong to themselves. this is a position shared by 80% of americans and companies should have to go through more hoops to get you to share your data and actually agree and understand how your data is being used. section 230 hasn't been updated in years. i would convene a bipartisan panel with a number of experts to come together and propose an upgrade to that law. i don't have one waiting -- waiting in the wings, but it is overdue for upgrading. we need a department of innovation and technology at the same level of the department of education, agriculture, commerce. it is amazing we are in the 21st century and we don't have this department so that things like section 230 can be regularly updated in terms of interpretation or with mark zuckerberg and others testifying by internet -- about internet

and children safety. we could update the regulations on a regular basis if we had an executive branch department whose job was to focus on these things and do that. host: impact metrics, what are one or two laws you think would do very well in those metrics from the past 10 or 20 years and what are one or two you think that it was a failure? guest: that is a great question i have never had before. i would've focus on poverty. i am a fan of these were on poverty that we implemented in the 1960's and have been upgrading since but we haven't been asked about whether it has worked or not. our food stamps actually working? there are research projects that are brought up my academic ranges of various colleges and universities but is it generating the return on investment we need? right now we have 40 antipoverty

programs that are larger than $20 million a year. which ones are working better and let's invest more in those working well's pull down those that are not working. we need to bring a business part metrics technology to government. host: one on twitter wants to know when are you going to debate joe biden? guest: i have offered but he is the presumptive nominee. it is different to balance. i want to be in favor of the democratic nominee but i do fold out the 1% chance that joe biden may pass the torch to the next generation. that is still talked about but it is 99% likely that i am all -- going to be all about encouraging joe biden and helping him win. i feel like we are on a point where i can talk about where i differ, the 10% of places where

i differ but 90% of the time i agree with joe biden. host: republican caller, iv in fairfax, california. caller: i would like to know what this candidate thinks about rubber haitians for black people. i feel like the walls of the company were built with slave labor and that is obvious to most people. and he seems to have well thought out programs, but what about the black people in california and the majority of people living in tents and going to shelters seem to be black. and of course the white poor people need help also. i wonder if he has a well thought out program where we can give $30,000 to each black person for the slave labor that

went on for 400 years. guest: i appreciate that question. if you go to my website you will see that i have a whole section on liberation. i do believe united states should have an convene a panel of experts on slavery like the truth and reconciliation commission used in south africa after mandela got out of prison to walk through and reexplain to the american people about how slavery was a key part of our founding. i am a fan of the 1619 projects and other books. and i have said publicly many times before that there needs to be a conversation happening for all of these people worried about critical race theory in

the schools. we were founded on slavery. it is the original sin of american democracy. and just giving african-americans $30,000 is not enough. there needs to be a major program, 25 years in length and lots of things to help them build more businesses in their communities, help them go to college and other credential programs. it needs to be a moment of national healing and reconciliation. host: you mentioned your quicker background. two presidents in the history of quakers. guest: i know richard nixon was a quaker. i'm curious about the other. host: according to history, herbert hoover was a quaker. do you have a favorite president? guest: abraham lincoln is pretty hard to beat so i would have to go with abraham lincoln.

i look back and a lot of presidents who served two terms like dwight eisenhower was a republican who i admire when i look back and understand the history of the 50's. he railed against the military industrial complex. i think we should have a different size investment in military. the clinton -- bill clinton oversaw the beginnings of the internet and got us back to balance. he is somebody i admire. host: jason palmer is the democratic presidential candidate. appreciate the time. coming up in about 25 minutes, we will chat with wade miller, citizens for renewal in america about his organization and election 2024. until then, it is our open forum . any political issue you want to talk about. the phone lines are yours.

start calling in. the numbers are on your screen it. we will get to your calls right after the break. ♪ >> american history tv, saturdays on c-span 2, exploring the events that tell the american story. how american history congress investigates looking at investigations that led to changes in policy and law. truman committee examine the national defense program during world war ii and whether there was a waste and corruption in defense contracting. on lectures in history, a writing professor brandon irby on the legacy of may meet toby -- till -- it may me till -- maime till.

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>> c-spanshop.org is c-span's store, browse our products, apparel. home to core and a sensory. there is something for everyone. shop now or anytime at c-spanshop.org. >> "washington journal" continues. host: time for our open forum. any political issue you want to talk about, now is your time to call in. i do want to note our coverage options, if you join us later, at:00 p.m. eastern time, the federal reserve vice chairman,

michael barr, will be the keynote speaker at an event. you can watch on c-span and c-span.org and the free c-span now app. at 3:00 p.m. today, a discussion about bipartisan proposals to help working families with young children. the brookings institution hosting that. now your phone calls, you are leading the discussion. we will have another segment of open forum later in our program. this is glance out of fort lauderdale, florida, democrat. caller: good morning. i am calling to express my utter consternation at those people who call up and ask for a cease-fire. i will preface my remarks by

saying war is hell. the reason we try to avoid war is because it is such a hellish thing and terrible things happen in war, but the company -- but a country like israel who has been viciously attacked and trying to protect itself has its enemy cornered that any aid we send in will be stolen by them as before. i ask people to listen and think about what would have happened if after three years of horrible bloody civil war in this country that grant had finally cornered me in richmond and laid the keys to the city, if after the first week or two when people started to starve and conditions were horrible and richmond, grant had suggested we send food into them .

this would have prolonged the conflict and more would have died people -- died. the people in palestine are not innocent. i feel for them as for any group with lots of lives but they elected hamas. all signs show if there weren't free elections in the west bank hamas would win their and like they did in world war ii and in every war, the weight you convince people to change their ways is unfortunately they must see the consequences of their actions. the idea that we are telling people that those dying in palestine is the fault of israel is erroneous. those people are dying because hamas has decided their lives mean nothing and they are perfectly willing to sacrifice them for their insane idea of wiping people off of the face of the earth. host: this is andy in texas, republican. caller: my thing is, i am a

pro-choice mail. i said if because i am rare. the reason i do this is the bible says every human being has free agency. the agency is choice. you cannot tell women they don't have a free agency. the bible says they do. so tell people they don't have the right for that if they lived by the bible. host: what do you make of the supreme court decisions in florida on the six-week abortion man going into effect in may and also abortion in the ballot as a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right for abortion? caller: i think that is a move

in the right direction. host: that is andy in texas. this is randy, louisiana, independent. caller: thank you for taking my call. the man you just had on, a quaker, palmer, he has really got it wrong. i am sorry about this preparation stuff. i might be wrong. i believe their own people sold him into slavery. it began in africa. that is not our -- all our fault. there are people over there that should be giving reparations. i don't know what they sold them for. host: these past two days on the

"washington journal we have featured presidential candidates other than joe biden and donald trump. one more of those candidates are joining us via phone to chat with us about his campaign. his name literally anything else. thanks for calling in. we will work on getting literally anybody else on the phone with us here. having some phone issues. we will chat with him and talk about his campaign. he is a teacher from texas who changed his name to literally anybody else and is running for president. this is colin in new york, democrat. caller: good morning. my topic is about the

immigration problem. we have all these people coming in and different people coming in from different countries and they don't know english or anything and want to use up resources. we see especially in new york them attacking people, robbing people, and now we have a problem where people out on the streets don't have were to go. i am someone who has been homeless on the streets for the last 10 or 11 years and i just recently got off the streets. i am looking at the situation and they are getting more stuff than the americans that live in this country get. housing, money, cars, clothes, free cell phones, free everything. when the american people are going to be put first instead of everybody else? when are we going to be put first? when are we going to be taken care of. in the future, they don't

english, how do i know they aren't going to attack me or decide that we are going to take over this country for do whatever? anything can happen. host: david is in pennsylvania, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you. my statement is about the transportation secretary buttigieg. he needs to resign. we saw a massive increase in train derailment backed by the palestinian disaster with a poisoned the air and the water of the people over there. then at last year we had the plain problems, blow out on doors, fires -- tires falling off, panels falling off the wings. now we have a cargo ship, a major seaport, in the people

were undermanned. supposedly they had a crew that should have had individuals on that ship. why was that allowed to happen? he should be held accountable. it is just another part of the biden's debacle with america. if it is not from the failed immigration plan they have to the interest rate, to the doubling of the mortgages. this administration has to be held accountable, each and every one starting with buttigieg. in november, donald trump could be the answer to all of our problems. host: we will stay on the presidency for a second we will try to chat with literally anybody else who is running for president, a teacher. do we have you on the phone? caller: how is it going? host: it is going well.

take us through how you became "literally anybody else" and why you decided to throw your hat in the ring and change your name and enter the race. caller: it was one of those things where it felt somebody had to. after the last two presidential elections it had one of the highest dissatisfaction rates, which is the choice of candidates. the first time it was kind of expected and the second time, you are frustrated even more. now we are on for round three, completely undesirable choices. with that in mind, it wasn't an immediate thing. it is my identity and something very serious. so as it progressed and got worse and worse, once it reached

the peak i felt somebody had to do something. host: formerly justin evi, what is your background? what qualifies you to run as president? caller: i don't have any history in politics. i didn't ensure -- internship while at tcu. my hands on experience with politics is not really there but that is something about american government is that you don't have to have history required. the government is meant to be a government of representatives, why don't people represent us anymore? why don't the president represent the majority of the people? it doesn't make any sense. as a teacher and a veteran, i

can connect with far more people and relate to far more problems than they ever could. do you think donald trump is ever worried about having to make rent or pay his house will? i have asked nash house bill -- house bill? i have experienced that. how in touch can you be with your constituents if you have never lived with their problems in the past. host: you are an army veteran. when and where did you serve? guest: i served in what was called fort bragg. the 82nd. just 460 years. host: what do you teach and what grade level do you teach? caller: right now i teach seventh grade math 212 and 13-year-olds. host: what do they think about you changing your name to literally anybody else and 24 president? caller: they -- and running for

president? caller: they didn't find out to -- until a few days ago. i want to keep the sensationally -- sensationalism out of the classroom. i want to fulfill my responsibilities i had first before going into this. this was important enough to pursue. host: is this sensationalism, changing your name and running for president? caller: getting the attention is the sensationalism. but running for president, that right there is activism for change. what happens if we keep going on the route we are going? before the last election we had riots and then we had january 6. i don't want to keep finding out how much worse it can get. this is a push on the needle to go back to normalcy, sanity. that is what this country needs.

we need unity and we need to stop approaching topics in such a divisive way that demonizes the other side. that is what i hope to offer on my ticket as a candidate. the name "literally anybody else" brings people together under a sentiment, not something you get with any other candidate. if i had ran as justin eby, i would have had to sell myself. that idea it resonates you, i got you, i have your attention. host: will viewers be able to see your line on their ballot? how close are you to getting on a ballot in november? caller: my team and i have scheduled to more specific in june and july. being a political outsider, i would feel very hesitant to just

have any ideas that i have as they are. i wouldn't want industry experts. i am a teacher and a veteran and have a decent opinion regarding military and education, but as far as the financial world, stock market, economics, i have ideas but i would want industry experts to go through them and hammer out any kinks and iron out wrinkles. i want to make this right the first time because america deserves something good, at least something average. we are just not getting it. host: literally anybody else is in army veteran and math teacher in texas and a presidential candidate. i appreciate your time on the phone. are you heading back to the classroom? caller: i am watching my daughter put on her shoes. host: i appreciate you taking the time. caller: for anybody out there

interested in getting -- involved in setting the needle back to center, sign up on the website, literallyanybodyelse.com. host: thanks so much. we will have more open form at the end of our program today. this is jim out of can edit -- connecticut. what are your thoughts on literally anybody else? caller: i wanted to call in for something that could be an issue, and that is the possible end of our election process. today, someone claimed his political opponent was trying to rig the next election.

in just as it was said for the election in 2016. we need republican senators and congressman to come forward. they can't afford to be silent. democracy is important to them to. republican senators and congressmen should be telling us what they know about the integrity of our elections. the claims of rigged 2020 election have grown, not diminished. those forcing conspiracy and not naming what they did and calling into question our pulling volunteers claiming there were no whistleblowers because i guess the claim was because they were all corrupt. the last time we ended up with january 6. what will be different if someone raises the cry of a another rigged election. once the election process is

pronounced obsolete, americans will no longer choose their leaders or their stance on issues and that is it. host: that is jim in connecticut. we will have more open form at the end of the program. coming up in a minute or two we will be joined by wade miller, citizens for renewing america. we will talk about the election 2024. stick around for that discussion. we will be right back.. ♪ >> friday night, watching c-span's 2024 campaign trail, a weekly round up of c-span's campaign coverage, providing a one-stop shop or what the candidates across the country are saying to voters, along with first-hand accounts from political reporters, updated phone numbers, fundraising data.

watch c-span's 2024 campaign trail, friday night at 7:30 p.m. eastern on c-span, online at c-span.org or download as a podcast on c-span now, our free mobile app, or wherever you get your podcasts. at c-span, your unfiltered view of politics. >> celebrating the 20th anniversary of our annual studentcam documentary contest. this year c-span asked students across the country to look forward while considering the past. participants were given the option to look 20 years in the future or 20 years into the past and in response we received documentaries from over 3200 students across 42 states. a top award of $5,000 for a grand prize goes to 10th graders at weston high school in connecticut. her compelling documentary, innocence held hostage,

navigating past and future conflicts with iran. >> it is evident that the america must have stricter policies. the united states will no longer have to participate in negotiations with iran. >> congratulations to our winners, and be sure to watch the top documentaries this month starting at 6:50 am or online at studentcam.org. >> if you ever miss any of c-span's coverage, you can find it anytime online at c-span.org, videos of key hearings, debates and other events, featured markers that guide you to interesting and newsworthy highlights. these markers appear on the right-hand side of your screen when you hit play on select videos. the timeline toll makes it easy to quickly get an idea what was debated and decided in

washington. scroll through and send -- spend time on c-span's points of interest. >> "washington journal" continues. host: wade miller joins us for the first time on the washington journal, the executive director of citizens for renewing america. for folks who haven't heard of your group, what is it and what is your mission? guest: the center for renewing american distance and citizens is the active arm of the c3 which is a traditional think tank. it was started by russ vote, the director for president trump and created a mission statement for god, country, community. it is really to carry on the policy visions of an america first agenda and to make sure those ideas continue to be developed, discussed, debated and they are in the lexicon of

public policy of formulation and we bury that up with the c4 which is to educate grassroots people so they can support congressman and influence them in whatever way the activists do to vote certain ways. so it is a critical part of our structure. host: what are the key components of an america first agenda? guest: there has been what people say a unity party consensus. there is domestic and foreign policy and part of the america first division is that we have been way too involved in foreign entanglements. i am a marine veteran and served in iraq three times in combat. looking back, i wonder was that the wisest expenditure of our human life and treasure and our way too entangled in foreign affairs? do we need to think more

methodically about when we decide to engage in foreign conflicts and when we decide to apply military power. we think that is the case and we need to focus on the interior of the united states. this is isolationism. we are saying to ignore the world. there are times we will need to be active. on the domestic front is prioritizing the american priorities first. whether it is the border, securing the border because of all of the spillover effects, additional crime, drugs, cartel activity. it is also fair to ask, is this what is best for the american labor market? if you're are an american citizen or here illegally that you should have first dibs on the jobs. it will help american workers and those here illegally to make sure their interests are -- here legally to make sure their

interests are prioritized. and whether it is trade. what does trade policy look like on the right if you are thinking in terms of what is in the best interest of american manufacturing, and not by -- might be slightly different than traditional responses to free-market. we don't really believe in free-market absolution is him. there are logical limits. if china is stripping the wealth of america, should we not have policies that safeguard? america first is at its core about interest for the american people, whether republican, democrat. we want policies that help americans. host: the first hour of our program we put a question to our viewers because we found out this week that the u.s. is considering $18 billion in additional arm sales for israel fighters and other weapons and

munitions. do you support that? is that part of the america first agenda? guest: it is certainly a debate where the to have it. i think it is in our interest that israel come out on top. there are israel's interests in the united states interests. i think it is our interest that israel wrap up the war it is in, defeat, and dish soap in a way that doesn't risk serious escalation. i do not think it is in the united states interest to be drawn into the conflict there when we are seeing an aggressive chinese regime expanding in various ways. i think it is in our interest to minimally assist and provide and hope they can win and wrap this up in a timely manner so we can refocus our attention to other issues in the world. host: what about russia's invasion of ukraine?

guest: a very complicated issue. the short version is i don't think we should be as involved in the ukrainian situation as we have been. i don't think either country is naturalized. both had some of the most corrupt regimes in the world. i think the original containment strategy was to create -- they created nato and then they had the concept of a buffer states. the whole idea of containment was we need to make it politically possible for russia to bepossible for russia to be isolated. i think with what we have seen over the last decade is the n eo-con and foreign intervention list left encouraging encroachment towards washup -- russia's borders and is is to not cast blame on ukraine. it is that we have helped provide political conditions in

the interior of russia that putin would have needed to facilitate an invasion and sustain it. i think those are mistakes already made. what do we do. host: what actions did we help to do to provide that environment? guest: we were involved transitioning from a pro-russian ukrainian government to a more western one. some applications potentially in our best interests and i do not know if that was, especially in a regime that had previously been hostile to american interests you know, and that provides putin the interior political will and support for him to then have an incursion. all of the discussion about expanding nato into ukraine, that did not help at all. nato to the degree that we are involved in it and i think we should be ratcheting it down

somewhat. in the original form was something we should have a spot -- we should aspire to. that also provided putin the interior arguments that he needed. i hope putin loses and i would like ukraine to prevail. i do not think it is in our interest to be involved. i have been in combat and i have seen how bad it is. i do not have any ill will towards the ukrainian people and i feel for them. i do not think it is in the american people's interest. i do not think we on the precipice of putin with an island hopping campaign across europe. i do not think he has the intent or capability. the fact that he has been bogged down in ukraine for so long, he will not stand a chance against a european nato style military force, so i think that fear mongering of we have to stop putin or else he will invade europe, i do not think that is accurate. host: when and where did you

serve? guest: marine corps 2022 through 2027 and then we served in iraq three times. once in the southern part of iraq, once outside of baghdad and then the last deployment was outside of a little area. host: how did you get from there to here? guest: the new g.i. bill had kicked in and the -- and i moved to texas and i started going to school and working and then i got an internship that led me to washington, d.c. and that is where i first met russ hope, and i was fascinated by the way he straight -- he thinks about policy. and then i went on to become a political director for a current united states senator and then i was a chief of staff and then shipped basically kind of pushed me over to go help run this organization. host: that current united states

senator? guest: ted cruz. host: wed -- wade miller taking your phone calls and questions. democrats, 202-748-8000. republicans, 202-748-8001. the independents, 202-748-8002. though ahead and start calling in. it is the citizens for renewing america. what is the specific role that the group will play, the months leading up to november, the 2024 election? ms. prelogar: -- guest: we want to impact the discussion of public policy. we are not a pack. but anyway those conversations elevate paradigms or public policy itself, we want to be impactful and mindful that we are not trampling into the space of campaigns, necessarily. but you cannot avoid talking about public policy in the six

months prior to a general election. host: what will be the key issue this november? immigration or foreign policy? guest: both. i think that the border will be -- there is a little bit of a lull with numbers historically join or miss. after -- in the warmer months you will see a flow of humans to the north and you will see a step up in cartel activity along the border. they effectively have operational control and there are issues with inflation to contend with and talks about what are we going to do to improve the labor situation, the job situation and domestic manufacturing. i think those will all be big issue topics that need to be discussed in the general election period. host: in the papers there is a lot of discussion about the impact of the supreme court abortion ruling and how that could affect the already

precarious landscape in a lot -- election 2024. abortion as an issue in 2024? guest: absolutely. i think the left is going to try and focus on that issue. i think that, you know, life is paramount. it matters. we cannot retreat from the concept of conserving and saving all human life and treating all life with human dignity. we will have to confront that issue and convince voters that that issue matters and all babies matter and that all babies should be taken care of. and not just during the nine months that they are in the womb but afterwards. we need to make sure that there is a education opportunities, robust opportunities to get advance education as they get older. that parenting is done right. so either way, education will play a key role in a lot of the

state races. so i think that the topics of critical race theory, diversity, equity, and inclusion, pornography in schools, those will be big talking points although there is a little bit less of a federal nexus. primarily people think of these issues are state or local base. i do think we need to nationalize it and we need more federal action. currently most of the action you see when you are talking about the subset of conversations under woke ideology, people think local and state. host: this is independent line, good morning. go ahead. caller: thank you. i was calling to ask if they still have jeff clark on their board or as their litigation specialists? guest: we absolutely do.

a great man and i am proud to work with him and i think he has one of the top legal minds in the united states of america and we look forward to continue to working with him for the season -- the foreseeable future? caller: isn't he the one that was taken out in his pjs by the police? guest: yes. he is currently -- it is my opinion and i think there is strong evidence to support it, that the justice system is being weaponized against him because he dared to provide legal opinions to a sitting president in his capacity under the doj, i think that is the job of lawyers. people can debate whether legal opinions are correct or not. i think it was correct and i think time will demonstrate that. i think what is currently happening to jeff is a threat to democracy showing that you can use the justice system basically

politically target opponents, trying to get them put in jail because they did their job. essentially what he did is he was asked are there issues with elections and what are the options? he provided counsel on that, draft memos. some were never submitted. just gave various options. sometimes lawyers were wrong and i do not think he was. being wrong is not a crime or grounds on which to disbar or put people in jail. host: you're talking in the weeks and months after the 2020 election? guest: he was tasked with seeking should we investigate this and what claims are being made. this claim is spurious and this claim might be worth investigating. he was having advisory opinions on things like that and then writing memos on options at the president might have. as i would say that any lawyer who worked in any white house

would be tasked to do. host: do you think the 2020 election was a fair election? guest: i do not. i do not know -- there is a difference between being certain and was it conducted fairly and was the outcome exactly correct? i think that if you look at a number of issues whether it be mail-in ballot product, problems, clean ballot roles, i do not think that the elections that we have are optimized to be as accurate as they could be. and so, it is impossible to determine any election until we have substantial reforms to election law that those outcomes are substantially accurate. and i think what we have seen in the last four years are a number of states who have taken steps to do that. and in light of 2016 was a close election and 20/20 was a close election.

i think we need people to go to the booth and then on election night and the morning after they need to look at the results and know that we lost or won and i am substantially confident of that results. i do not think we are there that yet. host: and you do not think we will be there by november 2024? guest: i do not. i have not focused on this in the last month and i know that there are some good maps giving grades on this but i do not think georgia's election laws are fully up to speed. i do not think that texas has done everything that it could. there is more work to be done in florida. but there is not a state that has all of the systems and processes and laws in place, i think we have a lot of work to do. heritage action put out a scorecard that had some really good information on it. we looked at like for instance, i looked at north carolina and did a deep dive, do not need to

demonstrate that you are a nut united states citizen to sign up to vote. if you do not have a number of the state database will not detect you. you could be an illegal alien in the united states, registered to vote in north carolina and be undetectable when they tried to audit the voter rolls because the same database only picks up a-number. host: what is that number? guest: if you encounter a federal agent you will be assigned a number. if you do not have that you will not be in the system. if you are not needed to provide any form of proof of citizenship on the voter registration process and you are on the voter rolls then they will not find you and remove you. that is one small thing. the problem is, that could be zero problems, or it could be 500,000 problems. do i think it is 500,000?

i do not. do i think it is zero? i do not. that leaves a lot of americans to ask are our election safe. i think there are technical laws that states need to consider in implements and until then i think there will always be a little bit of a question. i have not encountered an election where i've been able to look at it and say in any state these are the two numbers and the outcome, i know that both of those are 100%. host: you felt that way before 2020? guest: in my lifetime i have always seen the need for increased integrity laws. if the difference is 2 million votes to one million votes, they are pretty certain that the outcome was accurate. if the difference is 1000 votes do not know. there is a declared winner and the person will be certified and will assume office but i do not know if that was correct. and i think until mobile -- more voters can look at the outcome and say i know it is correct

that i think we will always have this suspicion over any election outcomes, and that is something that elected officials and voters need to take seriously on both sides. this affects both ways. if the voter rolls are not clean and you are in a democrat state in a purple district and a republican wins, it is perfectly reasonable for democrats to ask did we do everything that we could possibly do to make this election and this out, certain to be correct. and i think republicans have plenty of opportunities and instances where they can look at them election and say i do not know and whether that be georgia or arizona last time. i think that is on the table and i do not think it is unreasonable for people to posit the question was that election decided accurately. host: carl, charlston. south carolina. independent. good morning.

caller: yes. i am an old retired veteran and everything, and i talked to a lot of people through the masonic order and veterans associations and stuff. and i know a lot of black veterans mostly, and i heard -- i never heard anyone talk about critical race theory. and i always thought that black people just meant stay aware of your surroundings and what was going on in the world and everything. but now i hear it and i am just confused. where does this stuff come from? critical race theory was on with brian kelly and the crew on the fox channel. and they were talking about it for a long time. but even they do not talk about

it anymore. can you explain to us what critical race theory is and what woke is aside from being aware of your surroundings? because that is what black people think. guest: this is a great question and thank you for your service. i love talking to fellow veterans. by the way this is what i love about the military. and i was in the military did not have the stuff going on. one of my best friends to this day a fellow marine who was my roommate, joshua dulles. i was attacked -- texting with another buddy, we would watch football and none of these issues that we see as divisive in america were problems. we would hang out and watch football and have a good time. you are right. the original iteration of woke coming out of the 1930's was just being aware of racial injustice or social injustice around you. if that is all it meant today, i would largely agree.

i think it is -- i think at the time period that it came out it was a valid l yellow and term to you -- ideology and a term to use because that was pervasive racial and sexual discrimination and i think that the term was properly applied. what you saw on the 70's and 80's were self-admitted marxists that had determined that class-based marxism was not working in the united states oh they moved towards identitarian which were to use immutable characteristics as dividing factors in political debate and to use identity area arian issues to drive wedges between people. they admit this. so woke adopted over time this identitarian mindset.

and most of the left and academia embrace this change. out of that came a different ideologies. you have critical race theory which started as a legal concept in law schools to discuss if i am a black woman and discriminated against is it because i am black, woman, or a black woman. and the concept of civil rights law and litigation and lawsuits in unemployment law, how does that differentiate between just being discriminated against because you are black or a woman. in that identiarian biology was infused as well. they talk about this in the 1980's and people came up with this legalist concept of we need to ensure -- infuse the praxis. during the entire debate, and schools, the argument was my kid

is in eighth grade there is no critical race theory. it was never about a course but the idea and the ideology of infusing it. that is why you go to academia.edu you can do a google search of critical race theory k-12 and it will return 840,000 results. and this is a collection of academic papers and research papers and thesis is. so roughly one million pieces of literature have been written on critical race theory in k-12 education. in k-12 and they instruct this stuff. there are all sorts of books and you can look at critical race theory in education. just type that into amazon and google and there are books written on this. they teach teachers how to infuse the concepts into k-12. this teaches that america is systemically and irredeemably

racist, sexist and blah, blah ,blah and most white people are irredeemably racist and encourages children to see themselves as different categories between wedges -- to drive wedges between one another. we oppose that. that is different than saying race does not exist and the children on your right and left are your brothers and sisters in christ or fellow humans. they should not be judged on the basis of skin or sex, or any other immutable trait certainly. treat everyone with respect and you can certainly teach that slavery is terrible. there are ways to teach about everything without using the cultural marxist ideas into k-12 education and beyond and we are seeing other iterations of dei in corporate america, antiracism which can actually be defined as

racial discrimination is for the purposes of equity is antiracism. so, he is arguing that racism is antiracism if it elevates equity in society. he has also famously quoted as saying the solution to past discrimination is present discrimination and the solution to present discrimination is future discrimination. we oppose racism but i oppose the ideology of antiracism because it is inherently supported -- supportive of a newer form of systemic racism. one last thing i will add, there are people who have historically been disadvantaged. it is fine to acknowledge that and think how do we help those communities out of the historical hole that they have been put in and the answer is better schools, better education options, a stronger economy so when people have an education they have a job.

there are a lot of peoples that did a good education and they do not have a good job opportunity and that is something that president trump should be talking about, how will he fix the jobs market and provide opportunity. host: i have plenty of calls waiting. so taking you through your thoughts on affirmative action. guest: as the supreme court itself said if you are in a systemically racist system then affirmative action as a corrective against institutions of america being used to actually be systemically discriminatory than affirmative action is justified until the systemic racism is gone. now there is a difference between racism and systemic racism. i do not think anybody can look at the united states government and most state and local governments and say these are institutions of systemic racism. you can certainly say this

individual is racist or maybe they said something racist. do not elect them. but they are not all encompassing a power. i do not think george bush was systemically racist. i do not think that donald trump was systemically racist. i think that they actually sought to uplift all-americans and make sure that everyone had an opportunity. i think that if the left wants to argue that joe biden is systemically racist, i do not think that is the case. i think he is wrong on embracing a lot of the woke ideologies and being friendly to that that i do not think he wakes up and thanks how can we disadvantage communities that have been historically disadvantaged. and he has the most powerful elected official in the country. affirmative action no longer applies and is no longer legally tenable because it is saying we will positively benefit you over someone else on the basis of

race and sex. that does not work when the united states government is no longer systemically racist. we no longer have laws that affirmatively identify certain individuals and say they are going to be disadvantaged. that does not occur so we do not have a systemicly racial system. they pointed it out when they originally approved affirmative action and we have long been passed that point. host: getting back to calls. susan, pennsylvania. democrat, thank you for waiting. caller: thank you for taking my call. my questions have been answered listening to my desk to the guest and my first question was is is project involved in 2025. but the caller already talked about jesse clark and then asked about him. so my first question still stands and my second would be just a comment on the comment on systemic racism. it still exists.

just look at the banking industry. people of color do not get the same type of loans or mortgages or get lower valuations on their homes. there is still systemic racism in the country and you cannot deny that. guest: thank you for the question and i would disagree. if you are talking about bank loans, those decisions are being made on the basis of economic conditions and if you are a disadvantaged community, that will impact you more. the banks are not saying this loan applicant is asian or hispanic or black, and therefore i will not give them a loan. that occurred at one point and that is not occurring today. i do not think there is any major bank of america especially those who have dei programs who would agree with you either, not that i am a huge fan of the financial industry. i think they need reforms. the question about project 2025,

i view that as every presidential -- every single cycle we have a presidential election there are going to be entities that prepare for if their side wins. project 2025 is that. they do not speak for the president or the campaign, but they are people who have been in the nexis and the sphere of donald trump. they have an idea of the types of policies that he likes and would approve of. it is not a perfect science. there will be some things that you cannot do and does not want to do and things that he will. i think this is probably one of the best transitions, i would refer to it more as preparation because the candidate himself will do his own transition. there are people coming up with ideas, policies and rules and executive orders and whenever

the president gets to that point and says i want to do something on the border what do you guys have these are part of the thing submitted and it will be up to the president and those around to make decisions. host: are you a part of that effort? guest: a rough vote is part of that and we have another staff on our team working on that. they are involved. they are coming up on -- coming up with and submitting ideas. so, yes to a certain degree we are involved. host: beverly, idaho. republican. thank you for waiting. caller: hello, i have a couple of questions. on the integrity of the ballot, the only question should be whether biden one or trump won are the things on the ballot are the things that you vote for and then those came into question so that does not make sense for me. the second part is you think congress should pass the border

bill because it is their responsibility. and they will -- and anything the president does is temporary. the third thing is that donald trump instead of pushing off these court cases why can't he be a man and go ahead and go to court. if he is innocent like you say, which he is not, why can't he be judged by federal courts like anyone else and take his punishment? thank you and goodbye. guest: on the first question, every state ballot is different even in federal elections dates might have ballot propositions. i do not know what your ballot looked like so i cannot answer your question. on your second question i think that congress should pass the border bill. it is a comprehensive border bill and probably the best one i have seen. the house passed that and it has been sitting in the senate for months. the senate had what i consider a not very well written bill. it had a lot of magnets which would increase the flow north.

it has fake caps so that enough people would say it would allow the president to shut down the border. cartels are not, this is a $1 billion operation, they will meter the caps and then send the flow elsewhere. if you got away or undetected you would have not counted. my assessment of the other border bill is that it actually would have increased illegal immigration north and you would have more legal crossings and it would have made the border less secure. i think the president himself was right to reject that bill. i think the senate should take up hr two and it is the best security bill written. if the senate decides not to then president trump, should he when will take on a lot of those initiatives and he will take decisive action on the border and quickly secure it. on the last point i have not yet

seen a case where i think that donald trump needs to apologize for anything. i think he is innocent of everything he has been charged with. you know, it is not illegal to have an opinion about the outcome of an election. i think that no one can with a straight face say that from a legalistic standard that the president incited insurrection. he gave a speech about his viewpoints and encourage people to protest peacefully. by its very nature you cannot pass a legal distinction of insurrection if you are encouraging protesters to be peaceful in their protest. that is a first amendment protected free speech. i think it is completely understandable that americans would disagree with the president on his viewpoints on the election. we cannot weaponize courts to then target political opposition

because they have different viewpoints on an election outcome than we do. i think it is a grave threat to democracy what is currently unfolding and happening to people like president trump, jeff clark, john eastman and a whole slew of other people. you can disagree with the legal conclusions of others without wanting or needing to weaponize the judicial system to destroyer opposition. i think that is a dangerous precedent being set right now. and i think it should be talked about more in the press. i think joe biden should have to answer for this that the courts are being used for de facto run interference operations against the top political opposition for the next presidential election. that is a huge story that i do not think it is getting fairly covered. host: one more time. mark has been waiting for a while in florida. no ahead, you are on. caller: good morning, you've

have contradicted donald trump at least twice since i have been listening to you. donald trump was quoted as saying there is systemic racism in the united states, and i -- guest: you are absolutely right and i did contradict. let me correct this. donald trump is right there is systemic racism and it is being implemented through dei and other left-wing ideologies and it being used to systemically discriminate against both men and then also white men and women. it is being used to discriminate against asian americans in the united states. and i do think it is systemic and that the government has processes in writing and governmental institutions and it is making decisions on promotions, hirings and admissions on the basis of race and sex and if it is governmental it is a violation

of title vi. if it is in corporate america it is a violation of corporation seven. and it could be a violation of title ix and these are all systemic in nature happening in america. in that vein, donald trump is absolutely right. host: finisher question. caller: yes. didn't trump bring over 60 cases challenging the election? i would like to know the answer to two questions. was job island -- joe biden duly elected because you said the last two elections were close and donald trump called his win in 2016 a landslide. and also, why was donald trump at the rally on january 6? what was he there for and what was the purpose of the rally if he had already lost? guest: i will start with the last one.

i do not think any american needs to apologize for protesting in public and making their voice heard. i do not think donald trump needs to answer why he was publicly speaking in a public square about a public issue such as an election. i do not know how many cases were brought, i did not follow that closely. i know that a lot of them were never advanced. some of them lacked standing, not dismissed on the merits but they were not filed before the election occurred and various outcome so i cannot answer questions on that. and i apologize but i think there was a third one. host: was joe biden duly elected? guest: the process was followed through. the process that we had to appoint a president was followed. the electoral college met, congress certified them and the president was sworn into office. i think he was duly elected but the question is was the outcome

correct and fair. and i cannot state with certainty either way. i have serious concerns that the outcomes that we saw in a number of states and potentially all states that some of them were decided by such a difference that did not matter. in the close states i feel like there are serious questions of whether it was right or not. i cannot say yes or no but i can say i know that whatever the numbers are not accurate. if they were the outcome might have been the same or it might not have been. it was a long road to get there but there were a lot of different forms of issues that occurred. i do not think anyone can say yes, that outcome in the numbers that we saw were accurate because i do not think that logic and facts dictate that. the question is if corrected the outcome would be the same? and that is up for a lot of debate and we are seeing it. this was happening in the trial that jeff was having.

they have a lot of witnesses that said signature verification never occurred. it was an expert witness contrary to the state law. if that does not occur and i am -- and hundreds of things do not occur can anyone say that this outcome is determinedly and factually, can we say that the outcome was what it was. i do not think anyone can say yes to that. host: wade miller is the executive director for citizens renewing america. it is citizensrenewingamerica.com. and @amrencitizen if that is the twitter handle. we appreciate your time. guest: thank you for having me. host: back to the open forum taking the phone calls in the final 25 minutes. no ahead and start calling now and we will put the numbers on the screen and get your calls after the break. ♪

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helps support our nonprofit operations. scan the code on the right or go to c-spanshop.org to preorder your copy today this spring. >> washington journal continues. host: about 20 minutes left in the program ending it in open forums letting you lead the discussion. 202-748-8000, democrats. republicans, 202-748-8001. s independent -- independents, 202-748-8002. any public policy issue or state issue on your mind, it is your turn. here is an obituary from today's "new york times," lou conter, the last survivor of a ship sunk in pearl harbor died at his home at 102 years old. "he held the rank of

quartermaster, a position assisting navigation on his ship shortly after 8:00 a.m. sunday december 11, 1941 when a japanese armor piercing bomb penetrated five steel decks and blew up more than one million pounds of gunpowder and 1000 rounds of ammunition stored in the hull. mr. conter tended to survivors who are blinded and badly burned when the order to abandon ship came. a lifeboat took him ashore and he helped in the recovery of bodies and putting out fires. only 93 of those aboard the ship lab. 242 other crewmembers were lost. he is considered to be the last survivor of the uss arizona and he died this week at age 102." back to your calls and are open forum. this is lee out of michigan. republican. what is on your mind.

caller: two things. i saw on the news that we are across the street from a middle school they arrested eight migrants for guns, cocaine and then they let them go. that is the one comment. so, good luck to america. host: where did you see the story and i will try to pull it up. caller: fox news. the second one is if you remember during world war ii, we were the only country that ever use nuclear weapons. we bombed them to stop a war. now what israel is doing is far from what we have done as a country. and we have to stop war by however means that you can. especially when it comes to terrorists. if we had not dropped bombs would be speak japanese now? that is all i have to say. i appreciate your time and you guys have a great week. host: this is stephen in

illinois. democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. i have about four or five points. host: could you make it one or two? caller: the one is that all of these maga folks and trumped arrangement line, it is maga amazement. we watch them just like your previous guests spent all of these things and we cannot believe that any organization can take a sexual predator and make them a victim. that is a colts. it is not just a sexual predator he has an economic predator. what he did in the civil and criminal suits. he has a predator and yet these folks make him a victim. that is a cold. and then the hoaxes, again, they know that guy and that guy that they just arrested, there was russian disinformation on the laptop. those 50 security analysts said this is russian misinformation

and these guys are right on the market and they call in about the 50 security guys, they are right, there was misinformation and the russian hoax, they did not tie directly to trump. but the senate, the republicans and the congress have reports out there saying that russia colluded to throw the election in 2016 and 2020 and they will do it in 2024. it is not trump arrangement it is amazement that we are amazed at the hypocrisy of the evangelicals and all of these folks. host: jan out of columbus, georgia. independent. morning. caller: just a couple of quick statements about the state of georgia which seems to be in play and everything with politics. we did three audits in georgia over the election. of 2020, actually. the last one was a hand count

where they went back and hand counted all of the ballots. they found out in looking at the ballots that some of the republicans that they had, people voted down ballot all republican. and left the presidential check mark off. they do figure that donald trump probably would have won georgia if those republicans decided to vote for him but they did not. the thing to say in that 2015 donald trump told you that if he did not win the election it was rigged. so, prior to that there did not seem to be a problem with elections until now. and again there were over 60 lawsuits that had been trying to figure out if there was any cheating or rigging and nothing needs to be -- and there was nothing to be found. people need to look at january 6 and know that this man sat there first wee hours and watch our capital get attacked and did

nothing. yes, i have a problem with the idea that he has just been innocent of anything that he has ever done. thank you. host: the state of georgia likely being targeted again this year. "the wall street journal" out with a series of polls of various states in georgia, donald trump reading joe biden by the latest poll from the wall street journal by just one point, a spread of as many as five points in arizona, tied in wisconsin, but you can see that in a majority of the polls donald trump is slightly ahead. "the wall street journal" notes in its wrapup that it considers voters who backed third party candidates to be potentially persuadable and open to backing trump or biden on election day combined with the undecided voters who -- or folks who say they are likely but not

definitely backing donald trump or joe biden. there is a substantial bloc of -- of potential voters, nearly one third of the battleground state electorate, larger than the 28% that the journal found in its februar poll of voters" from earlier this year. that is part of their new battery of polls. curtis, south carolina. republican. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. i agree with the lady who called earlier from georgia. i am a republican and i always vote republican. but when trump started denying the election it turned me off from him. i just want to say we have to look ahead and do what we have got to do. and if he is not our man he is not our man. host: who is your man or woman? caller: it is not going to be trump but i think i will go with biden. host: curtis in south carolina. this is beverly in wyoming.

line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning, i agree with the last caller. one thing is i do not get is that everybody keeps counting that trump is the president, that is one thing i do not get. so, for years -- he is already the president to everybody so he is going on 12 years if he wins. it is awful. awful that the deception that everybody plays. and then the man that you had on the newscast, he is saying president trump, president trump. so, all of these people are thinking that president trump is still running because they are delusional. and so his eight years is almost up. host: this is brian, crystal

river, florida. independent. caller: i would like to say to all of the outstanding americans in tv land on both sides, like i said i was an independent would like you all to think about and consider writing the name of jesus christ on the ballot this year and getting down on your knees and asking for repentance because if america does not ask for repentance and forgiveness for the way that we have been, then the lord would have to do us like he did sought amended more -- sodom and gomorrah and i do not think that will happen. host: anthony. caller: it is obviously they repeat from cnbc. i was told to do research years ago and that is what i do. a lot of stuff they are saying about trump is not true. if there was only bad things they would have got him already. they have no evidence.

in 2016 when have the devil -- the democrat shuns the inauguration and they were writing two blocks away that was not denying the election and they were trying to get electoral votes pulled. kinda funny how these people forget. donald trump, i am from jersey so i know donald trump. he exaggerates sometimes but what person would say their life is better now than when he was president. name one thing that is better because i cannot think of one. host: joe in michigan. good morning. caller: yes, did he not say that the election was the most accurate election that we ever had? and did -- and the john lewis voting rights bill, why did they vote for that, hr2 and then sr1 to the senate.

that is all i have to say. host: sunny. illinois, independent. caller: i do not understand how people can vote by going what trump this or democrat that. look at all the policies that the democrats are pushing forward with and ruining our morals in this whole country. just sit back and it is just a person, let us say if you were from another country and look at the things that they are promoting. look at the states that the democrats run, california and all of those cities and states that the democrats are running right now. and go by the policies of what they are promoting. that is what you should vote on, the right policies that these guys are using. host: does a state of illinois

have the right policies? caller: does it? no. this governor and the mayors of the city, chicago and durban and duckworth, they are all ruining the morals of this state. and the cities are dangerous. more than they have ever been. you hear about more crime than i have ever heard. i lived in chicago for 60 years. host: that is sonny in the land of lincoln. about 10 minutes left in washington journal. a reminder that there is plenty to catch up on throughout e day today on the c-span networks includinfederal reserve vice chairman for supervision michael barr will be the keynote speaker at an economic conference hosted by the national community reinvestment coalition taking

place in d.c.. live coverage beginning at 1:00 p.m. eastern on c-span, c-span.org and the free c-span now mobile app. and then at 3:00 p.m. eastern a discussion about bipartisan proposals to help working families with young children. that is live from the brookings institution today at 3:00 p.m. eastern, c-span, c-span.org and the free c-span now app. until we end our program it is open for them. any public policy or political issue that you want to talk about. paul in anaheim, california. democrat. caller: good morning, i would like to say thank you for your program. very interesting format, but my thoughts about some of the guests that were on. there perspective of reality is 360, so if we take it at its

worst, how do we take anything seriously? they espouse a belief in their leader and in america we are led by a democracy, not one person. so when this happens at any country and anywhere in the world, it dissolves freedom bit by bit and little by little. our democracy is being attacked on every front by so many -- i do not -- i do not know who they are but they are out there. they are changing the way we live and i grew up back in the day in the 50's, but i have seen so much change in the world and most recently in the last few years that it has got me to

question the sanity that people used for reason. host: is america better in 2024 than 1954? caller: it is different. i cannot say better or not. it has changed so much that we have to adapt to so many things. and i believe that people in general like your callers are expressing that they have reached the point where it is a tipping point where we cannot absorb any more of this i call it nonsense. it is not practical. it is not in the realm of human endeavor. our lives are based on our happiness. and when someone starts attacking our happiness, then we need to voice out. and that is what i think -- we all have freedom to speak what we feel. but being able to articulate that freedom has become so

sideways that people -- i do not feel expressing that expressing to your heart or mind. host: rudy, california, san diego. good morning. caller: good morning, i just want to say that the people of america, you have to open your eyes and look up to reality. i am going to vote for biden. biden is struggling to do the best that he could. if we put trump back in the house, and back as president, we are going to go downhill. we know that he has lied and he has done so many things. and we know that he is guilty.

so, open your eyes everybody and look at the reality and do not close your eyes and say that i will vote for trump knowing the reality. host: i have got you calling in republican line. are you a republican? caller: i am an independent and i've been trying to get through on the lines. host: it does work better if folks stick to the lines that best suit their political ideology. it helps us rotate through the lines easier. so i asked that you do that. this is todd, ohio. republican line. go ahead. caller: actually, yes. todd from west virginia, republican. i have to say i am god and country, but i do not think a lot of people believe. the big bad wolf has been around for 30 or 40 years but you all hobnob with everything -- with

everybody who hates his guts. everybody who hated his guts, they were all friends. like i said it is like high school all over again. everybody is twisting up. they are twisting up their hearts and minds. this guy was in office four years ago and like i said, everything they said that he would do, he did not do. we are still here, breathing and i am talking. it is really sad that we as americans and i do not understand for 51 years, it is sad to know that even if we had a republican and democrats every year we had an election and we might have different views or opinions and we might have had some dirty things to say to each other, but after the day was done and the election was done, we were all americans again.

and that is really sad to see that the deceit and hate is driving this country. host: todd in the mountaineer state and we are ending in the buckeye state. robert in ohio. go ahead. caller: mr. miller, he did not know what he was talking about because there is still racism in the united states. it is not as prevalent as when it was -- what it was 25 or 40 years ago. i am an 80-year-old man and i saw a racism when i went into the marine corps. i saw when i was trying to buy a home. i saw when i was trying to get a job and it went on and on. so he does not know what he is talking about. if anybody will have to trade praises -- places with an american black man in the country he would know that there is still racism. host: robert in ohio, the last

caller in washington journal. but we will be back tomorrow morning. it is 7:00 a.m. eastern, 4:00 a.m. pacific. the meantime i hope you have a great wednesday. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪ >> today on c-span, federal reserve vice chair for super vision, michael br, speaks at an economic conferenceosted by the national community reinvestment coalition. live coverage begins at 1 p.m. eastern. then later, a discussion on bipartisan policy proposals to help working families with young children. that's live from the brookings institution at 3 p.m. eastern. also on c-span. c-span now, our free mobile video app.

and online, at c-span.org. >> all this week we are showing ce supreme court cases at the high court is expected to rule on by the end of this term. we'll talk with reporters about some of the legal issues involved. it begins each night at 9: eastern on c-span. tonight's oral argument is garland v.cargala legality on the 2018 ban on bump stocks. tkwaoess that can tern a rifle into an assault-sty wpon. watch the supreme court case tonight antotr recent oral arguments all thisee at 9:30 p.m. eastern on c-span. find all of our supreme court coverage on our website c-span.org/supreme court. >> do you solemnly swear that in the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you god.

>> saturday, watch american history tv's congress investigates. as we explore major investigations by the.s. house and senate in our country's history. each week authors and historians will tell these stories. see historic footage from those periods. and examine the impacts and legacy of key congressional hearings this. week a committee led by senator and future president harry truman, in the 1940's, examine the national defense program and whether there was corruption, waste, and inefficiency in military contracting. the committee's work is said to have saved money, lives, and may have even shortened world war ii. watch congress investigates, saturdays, at 7 p.m. eastern. on c-span2. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more. including buckeye broadband.

♪ >> buckeye broadband supports c-span. as a public service. along with these other television providers. giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> up next, a discussion on the potential impact of artificial intelligence in elections. featuring former secretary of state hillary clinton, and google c.e.o. eric schmidt from the aspen institute in khropl columbia university's institute of global politics. this is nearly 30 minutes. >> first, we are so delighted to have eric schmidt with us. especially because he is, as you just heard, one of our carnegie distinguished fellows at the institute of global politics. and he has been m