♪ host: it is the washington journal for the last day of april. while black not generally abandoning support for giving president biden another term in office, trends show some support going for former president trump or third-party candidate. to shore up support, vice president harris headed to atlanta yesterday. more stops are planned.

we invite black voters to call in and tell us about your presidential choice. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can send us a text at (202) 748-8003. post on facebook at facebook.com/cspan, and on x at @cspanwj. usa today looks at the current standing for president biden among black voters in swing states. mr. biden's support from black voters is experiencing significant attrition and much of it coming from black men who trail donald trump and a handful of battleground states, including georgia. an april survey shows him eight

points down in the swing state where he beat mr. trump four years ago. the economy is their top concern. 29% say the economy is on the right track. that is usa today. wall street journal took a recent poll amongst weak state voters. this is what they found -- among swing state voters. this is what they find black voters. mr. biden is winning 68% of black voters % hispanic voters and 50%e voters under the agef . though support levels are almost identical to the backing he had in the journal's february poll and are far weaker thanhat he won in 2020. nationwide, he carried 91% of black voters and 61% of voters under the age of 30. a large pole of the electorate that year. that shows some of the data but as far as you being a black

voter and tell us your presidential choice, you can call us on the line that best represents you. if you are a republican, (202) 748-8001. a democrat, (202) 748-8000. if you are an independent, (202) 748-8002. texas your thoughts at (202) 748-8003 -- text us your thoughts at (202) 748-8003. you can post on facebook.com/cspan and at @cspanwj on x. to the tour the vice president took yesterday to atlanta, this is from the olanta journal-constitution. kamala harris kicks off the tour with the atlanta visit. the visit by the vice president comes as polls indicate she and president biden have work to do to shore up support among black georgians as they run for a second term. part of that visit, which you can see on our website, c-span.org, the vice president

talking about the administration, the benefits they fought for for black voters in economic matters. they also talked about fighting against discrimination. here are part of her statements from yesterday. [video] >> the work we have a doing is focused on all these areas. also understanding the context in which we exist, which is long-standing disparities. understanding in spite of those in certain parts of our country who want to attack dei, you cannot invest in the strength of our nation if you don't pay attention to diversity, equity and inclusion. [applause] we are paying attention to the fact that an order for any family or individual to have economic well-being, much less the opportunity to create wealth, we need to take into account the history.

for example, the ability of black folks to own a home. let's go far back. we can go further bless go far back enough to member the g.i. bill. that was a promise by her nation to invest in who we called the greatest generation. who fought in that war. there was a policy that said let us reward them for fighting for our nation and all we hold sacred. give them access to loans for homeownership. the reality however, a well-intentioned -- of the well-intentioned plan is it was not well-intentioned for a lot of people. black veteran sinnott receive an equal measure -- black veterans did not receive an equal measure of those loans. public policy was about settling investment on -- certain folks

and black folks in particular, veterans, did not receive the benefits. look at the disparity even created by that. host: a portion from yesterday. you can see it on the website and the app. the atlanta kernel constitution highlighting the visit us her 12 since she took office -- 12th since she took office. this adding the vice president talking to mostly black business leaders and she wanted to ensure the policies were reaching them. shirely in south carolina. caller: my choice for 2024 is joe biden. if i live to see may 19, i will be 90 years old. i have never voted for a republican. i definitely would not vote for

donald trump. i don't see how anybody can vote for donald trump with all this garbage he's got going on. i am keeping it real. host: specifically why give president biden another term? why do you think he deserves it? caller: he is for the poor and less fortunate. the people that can't help themselves. but donald trump ain't for nobody but the rich people. i don't see how anybody can vote for him. especially with all this garbage he's got going on. i'm keeping it real, because what i want to say you will cut me off. host: howard in indiana on the democrats line. caller: good morning. i fully support joe biden. i think he has been an outstanding president. i think we lose sight of the challenge that was before the biden administration coming out

of poorly managed once in a 100 year pandemic. accelerating the vaccination program that put us well ahead and back to a healthy economy, outpacing our peer nations. i'm not sure of the polls that are indicating support for trump are accurate. i'm not sure what the polls are telling us but i certainly support joe biden. i think he is an outstanding president. host: phyllis on the line for independents in brooklyn. caller: i don't know why black people keep voting for democrats. just in the last month we cut our democratic mayor, mayor adams, trying to sneak immigrants into a brand-new apartment building that was vacant for 10 years because the

people that built it went bankrupt. these people live in harlem. they keep manipulating black people. black people can't seem to see past their nose. the other week we had -- every week or every month. what about the palestinians? or the hawaiians? host: we are sticking to the topic at hand. what choices do you have for 2024? let's hear from eric in maryland, democrats line. caller: hi. i just want to all black people listening to your station this morning is that joe biden -- under joe biden's administration we have more black judges than ever before. we have a black supreme court judge.

we have a black vice president. we, you know that he's promoted black -- he's promoted blacks more than any other president ever in the united states of america. for the polls to say what they are saying, i don't know who they are talking to. we have more black representation now that we have ever had before on of the biden administration. i will be voting for joe. host: one of the people who made the case was the former president donald trump. he spoke in south carolina this year at the black conservative federation gala. here is some of his comments from earlier this year. [video] >> joe biden and the radical left have abandoned everything black americans care about. they really have let you down. we all understand it. they have thrown black americans overboard. it has been not a pretty thing to watch. take a look at some of the inner cities.

i and the republican party will fight for the black community like you have never had anybody fight for four. -- fight before. you will never be taken for granted. they always come around about two months before an election and they get your votes and then they go on and four years later they come and say hello or two years depending on what office we are talking about. they come back and do nothing. they do absolutely nothing until it is election time. then they come in and seek your vote. the future we want is one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all and that is what we are doing and that is what we are going to have. host: there is more from earlier this year. when it comes to former president trump speaking at that event, if he is your choice or perhaps president biden is your choice, call and let us know. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8000 for democrats.

independents, (202) 748-8002. johnny in washington, d.c. caller: good morning america. i am voting third party for cornell west. i don't believe in the democratic party. i don't believe in the republican party. i i think they are one head with two different colors. the lobbyists in both -- are in both party's pockets. i don't like the foreign policy of the joe biden administration. he is sending money over to all these foreign wars. this is our taxman money. all the money the american taxpayers are going overseas. they should be going to america.

i totally disagree with everybody on the side of the republicans and democrats. host: if i may ask, what specifically is it about cornell west that you support? caller: i support that he does not want wars. he does not want wars forever. cornell west is a man that i respect. he wants change in america. he does not want america to continue to do the same thing over and over and over again. -- again and expect us to have independence. the american government is saying we have a trillion dollar deficit but billions of dollars are flowing overseas to support these countries. it is unbelievable how our taxpayers money can be flown

overseas and we have a trillion dollar deficit. we need that money in america. host: carmen in missouri, democrats line. caller: hi. i would like to say joe biden is a fantastic president. all the way people that are saying that trump has done more than any president for black people, he hasn't done a thing for black people. as a matter fact, he has not done a thing for white people. he has done everything for rich people and his self. joe biden, he has done so much. i will be voting for him. that independent man, he's voting for cornell west, good luck. host: when it comes to president biden, what specifically has he done that benefits the black community? caller: let's see.

he has given us a black justice. he has created more jobs. we are all getting in on that action. he has put a whole lot of judges in the states and federal courts . he has made a bill so that these black people that were selling weed, they can actually get rid of that and get out of jail for the ones that only went to prison for weed. because white people was not getting -- going to jail for selling drugs. only black people. he has changed all of that. he has created jobs with infrastructure for all people. black people.

donald trump ain't done nothing like that. host: maurice in georgia, good morning. marietta, georgia. democrats line. caller: did you say maurice? good morning. i will definitely be voting for joe biden. donald trump is just gas lighting. everything he does he just grosses it in hyperbole -- in grosses -- engrossed in hyperbole. i cannot stand next to the proud boys and white christian nationalist to support donald trump and all his lies. host: why are you voting for joe biden though? caller: historically democrats have done more for poor people. the bulk of black people are poor. specifically for blacks, like the lady said before me, he has

appointed different judges and infrastructure stuff for americans. the bottom line is, when joe biden took office he had to deal with the pandemic. yes, we saw have a little inflation but he brought us out of that pandemic. donald trump was handed a great economy from obama because of how he handled the pandemic a democrat took us out. obama took us out of the financial crisis when he first got in office. when a republican comes in, they mess it up. a democrat comes in and fixes it. host: ronald in t-storms, new jersey. independent length -- east orange, new jersey, independent line. caller: donald trump and the republicans have been trying to take away all the rights of black people. you better believe me. there is no way i want a

republican in office. host: what rights is he taking way specifically? caller: voting rights. they want to eliminate our jobs. believe me. republicans do not want to do right by black people. host: ronald in new jersey. for black voters for the next time -- several minutes you can call and let us know your thoughts when it comes to your choice in 2024. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. the washington post took the issue of policy when it comes to gaza and talking about how it might impactthe biden administration's f -- impact the biden administration's efforts for reelection. gaza war enters his seventh month, some black ericans say mr. biden's handling of the conflict mak some question whether he

to interviews with nearly twoing dozen voters workina political and moral conundrum and the battleground state of lvania. for somet the conflagration has changed their vote. domestic concerns are the economy, inflation and crime. you can weave that into your thoughts and comments when it comes to your choice of 2020 for. jersey city, new jersey, independently. this -- independent line. this is edward. caller: it will have to be an independent candidate. it will not be a democratic candidate. i don't feel like the democrat party -- to be complete the honest, they are not delivering for black people on the whole. it is not because they are not getting participation or support or compromise with legislation from the republican party, although i feel like locally in

the state the democratic party's are failing us. they benefit from corporatists. minimum wage everywhere is not going to fast enough. housing is an issue everywhere. clean water, clean air. infrastructure. the democratic party is failing us. that is just it. a cornell west-like candidate. he talks about government response ability to the people -- responsibility to the people and the least of us. no to democrats and obviously no to any republican candidates. host: are you saying you will vote for cornell west given the opportunity? caller: if i have the opportunity, yes. if i have the opportunity, yes. host: what sets him apart specifically? caller: because he believes that government has responsibility. for instance, taxing the rich.

right? .taxing the rich public housing -- taxing the rich. public housing. medicare for all. education for all. a different dynamic. a different vision brought to life by our real leader. i am a millennial and i feel like the future can be realized with radical change. host: edward talking about cornell west. dr. west appeared on this program, among other independent candidates we had during the week. if you're interested in seeing those interviews and hearing those thoughts of those candidates, go to c-span.org. the easiest way if you're a cornell west or jill stein fan is to type it in the box at the top of the website. then find those interviews as they took place here. kyle from buffalo, the line for

republicans. black voters only. your choice for 2024. go ahead. caller: brother from new jersey, independent, stole some of my thunder. it is tough because i can't consciously vote for neither one to be honest. the republicans are little too extreme. they're not even republican city more. they are -- republicans anymore. they are mostly dixiecrats from the 1960's. they talk about limited government but it appears they are not limited government. they want more government intervention, especially with a woman's right to choose. biden. black businesses are being hurt. all these illegals coming into the country. they get pushed to the middle and the top. we have been here for a long time. it seems like we get overlooked.

we get no education. we get no -- any type of financial support. people come into the country. new york state comic they are getting $2500 subsidies and rent -- new york state, they are getting $2500 subsidies for rent. i'm sick of this madness. i have to pardon the lady who said trump didn't do anything for black people. he did pass the criminal justice reform that did get a lot of black people out from those type of. charges she's talking about we have to at least tell the truth. we might not like certain things the president has done, biden has wiped away a lot of student loan debt. i'm a teacher. my dad cut forgiven back in october -- debt got forgiven back in october so i appreciate democrats for that. trump talked about wars and how

we should not get involved. democrats seem to be always involved. i wouldn't say democrats. i would say the established government. they seem to like war. cornell west, you know, it is tough. we know in history the third-party just takes away from one candidate. i'm sure i'm like many others out there where we are frustrated because we don't really have good representation for democrats over republicans. host: let's go to eric in washington, d.c. democrats line. caller: how are you doing, sir? i have listened to all the colors. what i got out of it, i don't know where the polls are coming up but i guarantee you he will get less than 1% of the black vote, donald trump. i don't know what's going on with that. i frankly don't care. everyone i know ain't going to

vote for donald trump. host: assuming you're voting for joe biden, why is that? caller: he is the lesser of two evils. a con men, i just cannot vote for. it's obvious. if you truly followed donald trump you would see that is all he is. host: you said the lesser of two evils. elaborate on that. caller: i'm upset about gaza without a doubt. i just can't get myself to vote for donald trump because. of this issue this country has been the way it has been since it existed. it is a capitalist society. money and war is hand-in-hand. people crying about the immigrants. they have been treating black people like this forever. all of a sudden it is a new thing? it ain't no new thing. it is how this country is. host: donovan in richmond,

virginia. caller: thank you for taking my call. have you ever heard the term herding cats? host: sure. caller: that is what the democratic party and joe biden have to deal with, because everybody in the democratic party -- the democratic party is a big tent party. everybody thinks that their little issue is the most important issue. if i don't get what i want, i will take my vote and go home. we can't be like that. we have to put america first. we have to put democracy first. yes, i don't agree with 100% of everything that president biden is doing, but i am an american. i am a democrat. i am going to vote democrat always down the ticket because

the democratic party is the better party for all americans. not just black. not just white. not just hispanic. not just asian. not just gay. not just on female rights. the democratic party is the party for all people, just like the democratic party is it self a big tent party. republicans fall in line and follow that orange fool. we at least have the ability to air our questions. when the election comes we have to come together and vote for joe. no question about it. host: the associated press reporting recently it is the former president trump sankey wants to hold a major campaign event in new york's madison square garden featuring black hip-hop artists and athletes.

mr. trump making appearances in chicago, detroit and atlanta with leaders of color and realigning politics by flipping democratic constituencies five month before the first general election votes are cast. his campaign has little apparent organization to show for its ambitions -- ambitious plans. it has not announced a replacement. the minority average office across the country has been shuttered and replaced by businesses that include a check-cashing store, and i skim shot, sex toy store, and campaign officials acknowledge they are weeks away from rolling out any targeted programs. paul in georgia, the state where the vice president visited yesterday. democrats line. go ahead. caller: good morning. i am calling in support for joe biden and kamala harris. i think they have done an outstanding job given the resistance by conservative republicans who are trying to stop them and everything they are doing. student loan relief,

environmental efforts, producing child party -- party -- poverty. we have some inflation. infrastructure projects. the idea of supporting cornell west or robert kennedy simply does not make any sense. third-party minor candidates only because major party candidates to lose. cornell west is a wonderful public intellectual. i like his work. i like many of the things he says but he will not be elected president. every time african-americans and white liberals have reached further left it has been a disaster. 1968, humphrey was not liberal enough because he was with johnson. you ended up getting nixon. later on, people did not like al

gore. you end up getting george w. bush. both have problems with the clintons. did not support hillary. you ended up a trump. if you look at the combined appointments of george w. and trump, the supreme court would be eight democratic appointments to one republican. most of the things we are talking about in the area of women's rights and affirmative action when not even be an issue. host: with the vice president visiting so many times and the atlanta journal-constitution saying it is to shore up support among black voters, what you make of all that in light of everything you said? caller: there needs to be more outreach from democrats. i think there needs to be more education in the community about

what the biden administration does. i think this has been a -- to consider voting for trump is absolute insanity. here is a man who's administration was made up of people who are white supremacists, were doing nazi salutes after he won. host: who was that? caller: there were videos on c-span. host: if you wanted to clarify that comment. caller: if you go back and look at some of the footage that was on c-span when he first got elected there were people celebrating in some room someplace -- i cannot fact-check for you now but you have your staff. they were doing nazi salutes when trump was elected. host: we will keep going for black voters only in this election year. your choice for 2024. a large variety of people

calling in. you can do the same for the next half-hour. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can also post on our socials. facebook.com/cspan and on x at @cspanwj. the black gala the former president spoke at, here's another portion from that. you can find the whole speech on c-span. here is more from donald trump. [video] >> black conservatives understand better than most some of the greatest evils in our nation history have come from corrupt systems that try to target and subjugate others to deny them their freedom and deny them their rights. you understand that. i think that is why the black people are so much on my side now. they see what's happening to me. it happens to them. does that make sense? i have heard that. when i did the mugshot in atlanta -- that mugshot is number one.

elvis presley is number two in frank sinatra. they had frank sinatra for fighting and elvis for something at a gas station. he tried to hold up a gas station, i don't know. elvis is never too but he was always number one. the mugshot. we have all seen the mugshot. you know who embraced it more than anybody else? the black population. it's incredible. you see black people walking around with my mugshot. they do shirts. they sell them for $19 apiece. millions of these things have been sold. i don't know if i'm proud of it or not proud of it. anytime you can beat elvis, that's ok, right? over the past feet days millions of republicans have woken up to the dangers of weaponized power in our government and our justice system. no one knows about that better than me. when i returned to the white house -- returned to the white house i will restore fair, equal and unbiased and impartial

justice under the constitutional rule of law. that's for everybody in this room and everybody in this country. we share the dream of reverend martin luther king jr. he was great. where is my beautiful -- i want to be able to see you. i wish they would turn up those lights. you are so amazing and we have been friends for so long. we share those dreams. a nation where we are all created equally because we are all created equal with equal rights and equal dignity in the eyes of god and we love god. host: whether your choice is the current president joe biden, whether it's the former president donald trump, may be an independent candidate in the future when it comes to 2024, black voters giving us your input this morning. marietta, georgia. you are next.

caller: the reason some of us black voters are turning away for the democratic party's because we get nothing specifically for our votes. the democratic party only offers us symbolism instead of substance. we want a black agenda where our issues are addressed. we are the descendants of the enslaved and have unique relationship with this government with unique issues. we will not allow our issues to be made invisible and bumped to the people of color wasteland. we want cash reparations for the descendants of the enslaved, which were enslaved in the united states. we went to hate crime law specifically to protect black americans. we want the ending of qualified immunity for law enforcement officers. we went the returning of our land that was taken from us through illegal and deceptive means. we let our political prisoners released and those in prison for

nonviolent crimes also released. we want real opportunities for us. we want this topic of gentrification of our neighborhoods. we want the stopping of deliberately putting illegal aliens in our neighborhoods to drain are already meager social welfare benefits and for schools that are already underfunded. these are specifics that we want. host: who then comes closest to offering that? caller: really no one. really no one. that is why we are going to withhold our vote. we want our issues addressed. we are no longer going to go along with the lesser of two evils. you keep getting the lesser of two evils and that is what you get. a lot of us are voting for the couch. we are not going to let our vote be taken for granted by anyone. if they want our vote, they have to offer us something.

host: the vice president in georgia yesterday. you can see that yvette with her on the website and app. we will hear next from alex. caller: thank you c-span for educating the world. i'm voting for president donald trump. why? after the democratic party disfunded the hbcu's, donald trump restore the funds. why vote republican? barack obama, his last day in office he signed off on a childhood program, reading is fundamental. the democratic party along with barack obama signed off on that childhood program. what a shame. the democrats picking on children. let's talk about joe biden.

everybody knows the history of joe biden. him with the ku klux klan. host: what connection is that? caller: robert c. byrd was a racist. don't play those games. the simple fact is that joe biden called black folks cockroaches. host: we will go to greg in georgia, democrats line. you are next up. caller: how are you this morning? i want to say thank you quickly. you have to move through the calls for your service. i appreciate the way you handle yourself and conduct yourself when you receive calls such as the gentleman just before me from south carolina. it's repugnant, his thoughts. i am a u.s. army veteran.

i am also a current employee with the department of veterans affairs. i say those things to say i am a proud american. i have fought in the first gulf war. i wish more american citizens would have an opportunity to see the way so much of the rest of the world views us. we are divided here at home, but there are other nations who would love nothing more than to just completely wipe america off the face of the planet. we have our strength in numbers but we are so divided here. i wanted to say that if the gentleman just before me is appalled at the history, the past history of joe biden and his connection and associations with parties that stand for the destruction of black americans, how in his good conscious candy vote for donald trump who had --

can he vote for donald trump who had nothing bad to say about the events of charlottesville? that is not past history. that is recent history, sir. host: your support for it -- i'm assuming you're supporting president biden specifically? caller: let me get to it. one caller earlier said he's the lesser of two evils. i hate we are at that place in america today. it is a sad state of affairs that none of us as american voters have better choices than joe biden. yes, i'm a democrat. i said that. we have such poor choices as joe biden and donald trump. donald trump cares only about himself. i can't understand how even members of the black republican party could vote for that gentleman when he stood back and allowed the events of january 6 to occur. pedro, i know you have got to go. host: i appreciate it, greg.

let's hear from olympia in the bronx. caller: i'm from the bronx, new york. host: go ahead please. caller: ok. i am a registered republican. i vote the ticket generally down democrat because i live in an urban area. most of the candidates in the area i'm from our democrats who are progressive and active in making sure they help the constituents. the two candidates -- i did vote for joe biden. i'm from a large union and we did support him. i am not in favor of president biden at this time. it's based on his public standing of what is happening in palestine. that is where i stand with that.

a reflection of foreign policy trickles into the reflection of domestic policy. one speaker said this is a country based on war and capitalism. when we have both we will not see peace in other lands. we will always have an immigration migration issue here. i'm not really concerned about that but i am concerned that even though we have two candidates, one is significantly worse. if an election for him prevails in november then they will be a continued deterioration of this country. i come from an area where people feel a black vote in the latino vote is because he provided us stimulus. not understanding the root of the stimulus was because, you know, he failed to have measures in place to prevent the spread of the pandemic in our country.

we don't know where that might have gone if he does mental some of the institutions that were put in place. host: let's hear from tori, hartford, connecticut. your choice for thank when he for? -- 2024? caller: my choice will be joe biden. there is no way anyone with a conscience who is african-american and knows the history of this country could vote for donald trump. i am very upset that some of the callers have the audacity, african-american voters, to say they would sit out election when our history in this country has been the inability to vote. our ancestors fought for that ability.

within the last 50 years. we still have issues of suppression, voter suppression. that is all from the republicans to sit in office right now. donald trump told the proud boys to stand back and stand by. that is the most recent history of racial terrorism. we can talk about the past and what -- joe biden's association with people in the senate at that time. host: that case has been made but why specifically joe biden? caller: joe biden -- host: i'm asking since -- caller: i will tell you, pedro. the reason i feel president biden is the answer, who helped those folks after the pandemic

with student loans? it was joe biden. i am one of those people. i'm very grateful for that, because the pandemic did destruction in my financial life. these are things -- president biden stood behind president barack obama for eight years. to me that says a lot. host: gladys on the line for republicans. east orange, new jersey. go ahead. caller: good morning. can you hear me? host:host: you are on. caller: i am listening to the callers. i am understanding what they don't understand. there are a lot of people that are simply reading from a script they have been given. there are other individuals that are confused as to what cornell west does.

cornell west is a public intellectual. his job is to go around and talk. he does not know how to run the government. robert kennedy junior does not know how to run the government. if i was going to vote for anyone, i would vote for marianne williamson. i will vote for joe biden. the reason i will vote for joe biden is this. host: even as a republican you will vote for joe biden? caller: when i voted republican it was a while ago. host: are you a current republican now? caller: yes. host: you would identify as such? caller: oh sure. the reason i will vote for joe biden is this -- i voted for him the last time as well that i have voted republican prior to that but i never voted for trump. the reason i'm voting for biden's because he

knows how to run the government. a lot of people don't understand what our country does. we police the world. you might not like it but the job is a job of continuity. the new president does not come in and say i'm going to change everything. you continue with the other did, tweak a little bit and do your best for the people of the country. people talk about little george bush. he so sweet. host: the current president overhauled several changes under the trump administration right off the bat. is that is something you agreed with? caller: biden knows what he's doing . trump did not. i agree with most of what biden does. we need to stop sending arms to israel, but i believe they will stop that. it's against international war law.

i'm mispronouncing the law. war has laws. israel is breaking them. i understand israel is a partner of ours and they tell us secrets we don't know. they are like our eyes and ears in the middle east. host: we are going to move on to another call. you can call in and give your thoughts when it comes to the idea of your choice in 2024, specifically for black voters in the audience. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. independents, (202) 748-8002. social media available as well. that is at facebook at facebook.com/cspan. you can also post on at at @cspanwj. independent line, sue in wisconsin. the caller is gone. maria in atlanta, georgia. caller: good morning pedro and

the c-span family. i'm definitely voting for joe biden. coding for trump would insult my intelligence. i'm ashamed of some african-american people. there are several things biden has done. he has created policies to help the economics of the black people. he helped get education -- higher education for the student loans. he launched efforts to expand federal contracts for small businesses. he also is the process of helping $10 billion estate in small business credits and helping 37,000 distressed farmers and black ranchers. for a lot of people, they don't really know what he has done. they are just running off their mouths.

they need to do their homework. i don't think they know too much about politics. host: there is a concern about george as far support among black voters there. caller: i don't believe polls. i'm 61 years old. my father is 90. nobody in my life has ever been pulled. i don't believe the polls. i don't who does the polling. host: queen in radford, virginia. independent line. caller: good morning. i'm a registered nurse, 86 years old. the one thing obama did was health care . that is enough for me. these young people don't understand is the central park five. do they remember that? after they were cleared trump one of them put in jail and killed.

we need to get civics back in school. to the educator, teach these kids have a bill is made. obama does not make the bills. host: with respect, obama is not the current president. why are you supporting president biden? caller: i know history. i am part of history. i'm 86. host: ok. caller: i did not understand what he was saying. host: that is queen in virginia. go ahead and finish. caller: please vote, young people. learn history. learn how a bill is made and how it is signed. host: mark in connecticut on the republican line. caller: how are you doing? thank you. i want to support donald trump.

the reason is because i can compare apples to apples. we have biden now. biden has not made anything better. not one single metric has he improved. i am voting for trump because i want cheap gas. i want immigration. -- low or immigration. i'm a christian and i don't agree with biden and his gender affirming care and the kind of things where he's giving sex changes to children and that kind of thing. i don't know what christian can support that. i know trump is tough on crime. we had crime out of control. let's get back to locking of criminals and keeping them there with a belong. how about the border? trump is better on all these issues that americans care about. i don't know what these people that are supporting biden -- host: what is it like being a

black voters supporting the former president/ -- president? caller: it's fine. there were a lot of people in the trump first term that bought into it the media was saying. people in my world, coworkers and things, people are now seeing the difference. i can see a lot of people did not like trump before are actually warming up to him now. joe biden has made such a mess of the place. i think if you care about the future of this country, you don't want to continue in the direction we are in. not only in america. look at the wars going on. none of this stuff was happening under trump. everything was better. i don't know why people want this to continue. host: that is mark in connecticut. one of the recent ads aimed at

the topic of the economy. [video] >> as bad as trump was, the economy was worse. black americans felt at the most. tax breaks to the wealthiest and big businesses. he stoked racial violence. if reelected he valves to be a dictator to get revenge. i put money in the pockets of creating millions of new jobs and cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month. there's more to do but we can do it together. i'm joe biden and i approve this message. host: let's hear from shirley in richmond, virginia on the democrats on. caller: good morning. let me put my tv down. host: thank you very much. thank you very much for doing so. caller: it's been a while, pedro. i cast my vote for president biden.

i cast my vote for him because even though everybody makes mistakes, at least when he says something you can believe it. you don't have to worry about your kids watching tv calling people nasty and being the nastiest person you can be. they talk about what he gave about gas and all that. everybody -- everything goes up in the republican areas to keep folks upset. we don't have these problems in democratic states. we don't have problems worried about who will tell us the truth and who's going to lie to us. i am voting for our president. mr. biden. i thank you for your time. what are you going to do? are you going to let your children watch a liar, and adulterer? is this who you want your

children to pattern themselves after? i don't think it's right. host: george in ohio, republican line. caller: good morning c-span. thank you, pedro, for this important topic. i voting for president trump. the reason why is, if you picture america or picture black america as the world trade center, the black family, the black families brought down by design. the picture of the economy. the economy is being brought down by design. president trump is the only one i see that is standing in the way of that. thank you. host: sheldon is next. sheldon is in new york, democrats line. you are next up. caller: good morning pedro. how are you this morning? i am not sure where to begin.

it seems to me to be -- i'm listening to black republicans and independents voting for donald trump. their facts are just wrong. the fbi reported that crime has fallen 49%. you have hot pockets here and there but crime in new york where i live crime is on the decline. donald trump went to the supreme court and argued -- i'm former law school student -- argued the president is literally immune from everything. what president in our lifetime says that? if that was the case to the pardons that nixon accepted would have been nixed. the most liberal justice we ever

had was a former clans member. harry truman was a former klansmember. they don't have the facts. they don't understand how things work. they are in lala land. host: that is the former president. as far as your specific choice, who with debbie? -- who would that be? caller: i have no choice with the vote for joe biden. do i like everything joe biden does? no, but he understands government. i'm from trinidad. i remember president carter opening immigration and that is how my grandmother got me here. joe biden opened of the program with haiti and venezuela and brought family members here. i don't know what these people are talking about and often ball the land not understanding -- off in lala land.

host: cindy in illinois on the independent line. caller: hi. i'm definitely voting for joe biden. i know politics but i have common sense. trump will not get my vote. never has, never will. he's too evangelical. you are voting for someone who is first a liar. ok? and adulterer -- an adulterer. read your bible. host: jay in south carolina, republican. caller: i'm definitely supporting joe biden. very scary with the bleach on the covid. to be fair to mr. trump, i know they can't put him in regular prison populations. they have to put him under house

arrest. he would drive the inmates absolutely nuts. host: let's go back to your support for joe biden. make that case. caller: i'm a part of the exhausted majority. i have listened to this man over and over again. where in the world do you find someone that is never wrong? never takes responsibility? takes responsibility? i can go back further than that because i was drafted around the same time he was. he never showed up. he is not an honest broker. we need an honest broker in the white house. host: the current president got a deferment from the draft as well. caller: well, i guess they both need to be called out on that. but i showed up. the last administrative guy he

made a medical excuse. biden was in a legitimate college, so there is a difference. host: shirley in maryland, democrats line. caller: i am definitely voting for joe biden. it is not because of fox or msnbc. i heard trump and mitch mcconnell on tv talking about getting rid of social security and medicare. according to the census bureau, and about six years the majority of americans will be 65 years old. that has a tremendous impact on this country. they are going to get social

security, which we pay into, then medicare. what are the senior citizens going to do in this country? in addition, i don't like trump because the proud boys, and promise keepers, and others who have been killing black people for years. [indiscernible] that is my reason. host: iv on the republican line from washington, d.c. good morning. caller: good morning. i have been listening to the commenters. i am black, i've been block my entire life. the one thing that i can say referring to the 86-year-old black woman, it is amazing how the average black voter uses

speculation and does not read factually accurate information. first, very briefly, a few things, president biden was a separatist. he is a documented separatist whose mentor was governor george wallace. he has been consistent in his attack on black america. now, his alliances have been with preachers, big preachers who, again, talk to their parishioners and persuade them not to read. i would never vote for joe biden. it is fundamentally grounded in his policies. there is no bill for the eradication of anti-blackness. there are no laws that

fundamentally disprove that he has done anything beneficial for the black community. for the black woman who seems to think obama is still in office, it is a telling tale. too often within the black community if you want to hide something from them, put it in a book, propagandize it. host: that is who you are not supporting. who are you supporting actually? caller: donald trump. we have no alternative, no alternative. if he is the border. policies that have to be implemented so we do not implode as a country. that is the first thing. then everything else will fall into place, in my opinion. host: david in clinton, maryland. caller: good morning. good morning to the american audience. a couple of quick comments and

my rationale about what is going on. my biggest issue right now that biden is in office is palestine and gaza. for him to request money on our behalf to send to the state of israel to kill women and children, and i know that has been repeated but it is a fact. over 35,000. maybe there are some terrorists in that. to do that on my behalf, i cannot vote for him. with black people speaking about reparations, asking for something for free, it is ancestral grave robbing to say that they are owed something for something that happened over 150 years ago. you have folks like al sharpton trying to get them to vote for a certain party, i won't say which one, but they are lap dogs. for joe biden, it is elder

abuse. if you look at the gentleman, he is in bad shape. i am an independent. i don't know if it said it. host: it does, but i wondered if you had a choice of who you will vote for at this point? caller: i believe what biden has done requesting the money -- i believe trump would do what he said. it may not be one day, but he would end that. he would take them to task. right now i'm not willing to say what i would do and that is part of the problem, everyone is going to their corners. host: again, if you have been joining us for a little while, we are asking black voters to give us your choice for 2024 for the next several minutes. if you want to let us know your thoughts, (202) 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8000 for.

independents, (202) 748-8002. the facebook page is facebook.com/c-span. our x feed is @cspanwj. caller: thank you for taking my call. for all of the bloc -- black s in this country by then made a promise to get you medicaid for cheaper, the biggest raise you ever got was from biden, he created jobs repairing the infrastructure. there are many jobs in this country that require a security clearance. how can donald trump pass a security clearance right now? but he can become president and give himself a security clearance. is that what you want?

trump blocked the border bill. some of the things going on he is blocking it. host: in georgia, dottie on our independent line. caller: hi, thank you for taking my call. i am 77 years old and graduated in 1964 when the civil rights bill was passed. my parents had voted republican before and democrat before, as i have. i vote for the person who is going to do the most for me and my community. donald trump is a liar. i voted for george bush because -- the first george bush -- because bill clinton was known to be an adulterer and i -- and immoral man. that is the number one reason i wouldn't vote for donald trump, he is immoral.

if there is a way to keep my grandchildren from seeing him on tv, i will. i respected my leaders, i was taught to respect them my entire life. and i did up until this one. host: if your support were president biden, make that case. caller: i have no evidence that he is an immoral man. as far as i know he cares about people. is he a perfect man? has he done things that are not in the favor of black people? but so have i back when they were doing these crime bills and all of that. i really thought that they would do something. i didn't know that it would be aimed at black people to keep them in jail forever. i did understand that. but people make mistakes. and then you correct them and you do whatever you need to do. he tried to do the child party thing. if democrats over -- if

democrats were still in power in the senate and the house both we would have something for child poverty. donald trump did that think letting people say jews will not replace us. that is a horrible thing. if -- nothing will get better in gaza if donald trump is president. nothing will get better in ukraine. those are just things that are political. host: this is ken in d.c., independent line. caller: good morning, pedro. how are you today? host: i am fine. go ahead. caller: i'm glad to hear that you are in a good mood today. i would never vote for donald trump at all. i'm not sure what he is in court for right now, but that caller from connecticut said something

about biden supporting some sort of surgeries or whatever. you need to get a new spiritual advisor, because being an adulterer and having three times marriages, and a rapist, and a liar. no thank you. host: as far as your choice is concerned, who is it? caller: i only have two choices. it is ironic that the question is for black voters to decide between two white men. it is like moving between one plantation to another. i guess i would have to choose the one that is the least, but that doesn't make it any better. this is who created this questioning -- host: third-party candidate doesn't go in your choices, considering a third-party candidate? caller: absolutely.

it wouldn't stand a chance. the fact that he is there doesn't -- it means that your vote kind of goes away voting for any person of color other than barack obama. it has provided very little. this is a distraction that donald trump is continually doing. he has been consistent. he said, i work on the hill. he said he will release january 6 hostages. it is ironic because he contradicted himself. during his campaign years ago he said that mccain was a fool and he didn't support people who were hostages, even though mr. bone spurs, mr. i can't serve, was discriminating against people of color to move into their residence. host: seesaw in alexandria, virginia, democrats -- cecil in

alexandria, virginia. democrats line. caller: neither party properly represents black interests. so, we have donald trump who we know was involved where he advocated in the new york times -- innocent black children. we know his laundry list of offenses against black folks. we do have problems with biden, the same with the war in gaza, and we know that america will sell its soul to israeli interests. a third-party would only tie us together with the worstest of the two evils, the republican party, which is trying to stifle the ability to vote which is curtailing books about the

history of black folks and a slew of things that are destructive to black folks. republicans are not even a factor among well-thought-out political depth and growth. biden, once he is in power, we need him on the side of the righteous, which is to end the war in palestine and to be more fair and balanced when it comes to palestine and israel and the cause of all americans. host: one more call from mike in maryland, republican line. caller: good morning. we talk about politics all the time. i think that there is a misunderstanding from the black folks who think that we should trust the media all the time one way and then all of a sudden we let it go the other way.

history hasn't proven to be trustful. we should be independent and think for ourselves. with respect to trump not using the media alone to get your information about him. just look at what he did for hsbc -- hbcu, at least give money to those colleges and universities. in respect to giving people a second chance out of prison and rehiring, that was trump again. in relation to the rhetoric that we hear that trump is bad and he doesn't like women, he had three wives. you marry women because you love them. this rhetoric is not necessarily panning out so well in comparison to biden. biden has children that he is still working on developing. trump has children he has developed and they are doing well. if you agree with the rhetoric or not, you can compare those things.

of three children in the car. they can say hi. they listen to you guys talk every day. sometimes i wonder if the wisdom of the elders is there for them. just because you are older it doesn't seem like you are giving wisdom to the children. i want you to be rhetoric-free and independent in your thought pattern and educate us to think freely. it doesn't mean that i am always right for my children, but when you call in, my children are listening and they want you to give them wisdom. yes, i will vote for trump. out of the candidates we have he is the best one. and hopefully the storm that comes wakes everyone up. host: mike in maryland all the republican line along with his children listening along. thank you to all of you who participated this morning. we have a guest to talk about the history of student protests across the united states considering what is going on in the u.s. we will have to postpone that guest for now, but that will

give us a chance to transition into open forum. if you want to continue in the calls we just had on that topic as well. but other matters of politics you can consider as well. in this open forum, (202) 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. independents, (202) 748-8002. if you want to participate in open forum, make those calls and we will take them when "washington journal" continues. ♪ >> c-span has been delivering unfiltered congressional coverage for 45 years. here are highlights of key moments. >> i stand here with my colleagues from the arizona delegation, both senate and house, and with very close friends of congresswoman gabrielle giffords, to remember a tragic event that took place three years ago today.

on january 8, 2011, at 10:10 a.m., in 19.6 seconds, 19 people, including congresswoman giffords and myself, were shot in tucson, arizona. this event was democracy in action. a member of this body, the people's house, was meeting one-on-one with her constituents. six wonderful people died that day. including my friend gabe zimmerman, my go to guy on the staff. >> c-span, powered by cable. >> friday nights, watching c-span's 2024 campaign trail. a weekly roundup of coverage

providing a one-stop shop to discover what the candidates across the country are saying to voters, along with first-hand accounts from political reporters, updated poll numbers, fundraising data, and campaign ads. 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 the podcast at c-span now, our free mobile app, or wherever you get your podcasts. c-span, your unfiltered view of politics. >> 87-year-old joseph epstein, a longtime essayist for the washington journal, has written his autobiography called "never say you've had a lucky life, especially if you've had a lucky life." he spent 20 years as editor of the american scholar and 30 years teaching in the english department at northwestern

university. early in this newest of over 30 books, he writes, "i feel extremely lucky in all these realms in which i had no choice. parents, ethic, country, throw in religion, city, social class." >> author joseph epstein on this episode of book notes plus, available on the c-span now free mobile app or wherever you get your podcasts. >> washington journal continues. host: again, it is open forum. if you want to participate, (202) 748-8001 for republicans. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can text us your thoughts on various political things at (202) 748-8003. this is from the columbia spectator, the student newspaper on the campus of columbia university, with a story that

was posted at 6:30 this morning saying dozens of protesters in hamilton hall in the early hours of tuesday morning barricaded the doors locking entrances with wooden tables and doors and zip tying doors shut. protesters caring barricades entered hamilton through the leftmost door of the building at 12:30. then they broke the window of the rightmost door and dozens formed a human barricade outside the hamilton doors. within minutes protesters sealed hamilton well others flooded the front of the building. around 1:40 this morning protesters inside hamilton unfurled a banner renaming hamilton after the 6-year-old palestinian killed by the israeli military in gaza. nearly two weeks after the university's president authorized the new york police department to sweep the gaza solidarity encampment. this newspaper posting some

pictures.this is a photo by heather chen of what is going on outside hamilton hall on the university. that is part of the daily story taking place on college campuses across the united states.that was one of the points of discussion yesterday at the white house press briefing. when asked about the outreach to columbia during the wake of the protests, here are some of that from yesterday. [video clip] has the president or anyone from the white house spoken to university leadership? is the president satisfied with how they are handling the situation? >> we said this many times, this is nothing new. the president has always been clear that while americans have the right to peacefully protest, that is something that we believe in this administration, he stands squarely against any rhetoric, violent rhetoric, any hate threats and physical intimidation and hate speech,

obviously.we believe and have said that anti-semitism is dangerous, it is hate speech, it is abhorrent, and there is no place for anti-semitism on campuses or anywhere else. it is a painful moment. we get that it is a painful moment americans are dealing with. free expression has to be done within the law. you know, we will continue to be clear about that. we have been very consistent. host: that is from yesterday. the columbia spectator with some other photos of what is going on at hamilton hall. this is from the inside as far as what is going on in the latest. you can comment on that at this time or when it comes to politics. we start off with charles. go ahead. caller: good morning. can you hear me good? host: yeah, you are on. go ahead. caller: in reference to the last segment, he talked about wisdom. i would say critical thinking

for your children. part of critical thinking is looking at what someone has done, look at their actions as opposed to what they have said. donald trump's actions with the central park five is an example of who he is with character, or lack of character. i would suggest that they look at that whole incident from the beginning to the end, what took place with those young gentlemen in new york city. the other thing that i would like to say is, part of critical thinking is donald trump would still be president if he did not lie about the covid vaccine. taking bleach. he took the shot and he didn't tell everyone else to take the shot. chris christie was in the emergency room for days after getting covid because he did not have -- he did not handle it correctly.

he was not honest with the american people, was not honest with himself, not honest with his wives, not honest with his children. his children -- he is a hot mess. host: let's hear from john in kentucky on the independent line. caller: i did the march with martin luther king when he went through. i was 14 or 15 years old. i can't hear you at the moment. host: i am not saying anything. go ahead. caller: we couldn't even go out of town, no colored all owed. donald trump when he came in, obama left $3 trillion and he blew through it. he racked up $13 trillion.

afghanistan, he put out all the troops. joe biden tried to get those people out. then he -- he couldn't even get into the white house. when it came back around again, trump set it up again so biden would get all the blame for no money when he blew up all the money left. biden now is just cleaning up everything. none of them returned the money he gave to try to get people back on their feet. he gave it to everyone. obama did the same thing to help people get back. host: lou in tampa, florida,

republican line. caller: thank you. it is always good to talk to you and america. i am surprised with the cnn poll that says trump is leading in the battleground states. very interesting. i don't understand. everyone must be very confused. inflation is hurting people. in my case i am moving into a studio apartment because the rent here is getting crazy, all right? together thing that i want to say is, i don't remember the year, but getting things under control he had a plan of wage and price controls. maybe we should look into that. god bless america. thank you. host: the wall street journal's

front page highlights the secretary of state's antony blinken's trip to saudi arabia to talk about issues of gaza. blinken pushes for a gaza cease-fire on this trip. the story adds that his goals go far beyond a cease-fire and is also seeking to advance talks with top saudi officials over an ambitious postwar plan that would lead to the establishment of deck of medical relationships between saudi arabia and israel, and laid the groundwork for an air force to stabilize gaza, and a pathway to the creation of a palestinian state. again, there is more from the wall street journal's front page. arnold in new york state. democrats line. caller: hello? host: you are on. caller: yes, good morning. i am just amazed that this morning i heard president trump made the connection to black people with his mugshot.

finding that most black -- implying that most black people are criminals. i am appalled that he equates his mugshot, that we all have mugshots. no one i know has ever been arrested. that is number one. i look at how we covered covid. i wonder how many had relatives that were stored in refrigerated cars because they couldn't put them in the ground because of this man. the information that he put out there. gas prices, let me remind you that gas prices were so low because no one was going to work. they couldn't go to work. that is why gas prices were so low. for the gentleman who had his daughter in the car, this president that we have now, your daughter and children can look up and see our first female vice

president, black vice president, and be proud that we have a gentleman who took the leap to put this woman in office. that is something i'm proud of this man and i will vote for joe biden compared to donald trump. ok, john is in ventura, california. republican line. the head. -- go ahead. caller: good morning, everyone. i have been watching your show this morning. i am really fascinated by it. i think it is really good. the first comment i make is that democrat black leaders are not doing their job, because they support alejandro mayorkas and latino gangs and takes away the black man's jobs. i think the black leaders have failed the black community by

keeping the borders open. number two is that when you go for a job every employer knows that 90% of the black community is democrat. so, an employer is going to say, do i want to hire a democrat? because he already knows who you are. it is 90%. nine out of 10. he can look at that and say, you are not getting hired, not because you are black, it is because you are a democrat. if all the white people voted 90% white, then barack obama would have never have been elected. it is in the black voters' best interest to vote republican to get some black republican voters so that when you go to get a job they don't know what you are as far as democrat or republican. right now every employer knows that the black man or black

woman is a democrat, and they are not going to want a unionized organizer. host: that is john in california. when it comes to immigration both the president and the president of mexico releasing a joint statement vowing action when it comes to illegal immigration. this is in the new york times. in that statement mr. biden and the mexican president said they had ordered their national security aides to work together to implement measures to significantly reduce border crossings while protecting human rights. the statement did not specify any actions under consideration. senior administration official declined to elaborate on what the united states and mexico might immediately implement, but the official said the possibilities included stronger enforcement measures to prevent railways and buses from being used for illegal border crossings, and more flights

taking migrants back to their home countries. we will hear from omar next in new york. independent line. caller: good morning, america. most importantly to me, good morning, black america. i want to give some props to the black media keeping us informed about certain things. we don't have all the information we need. the black media this month is black media appreciation month, and i want to give them their respect and their flowers. i want you all to walk in my shoes in new york city, growing up as a brooklynite. i was at 911. just walk with me for a little bit. and i live my life i have to worry about being killed when i walk outside of my apartment, outside of my building. i have to worry about everybody trying to kill me, ok? that is number one. number two, i have to fight for my ancestors. my ancestors fought for me and

us now, today. and i will not forget the fact that they built this country. i will not forget the fact that the reason why this country is the greatest country in the world, and i will fight to my death for reparations for their sake. that is the reason i'm calling. we need reparations. not education. i have my education. i have a degree in cybersecurity. we need reparations. we need cash, money, just like they have given everybody who has come to this country. they are giving money to people in my city. they are using my tax money to give these people housing, cash. all of this stuff. yet me, i have been in this city all my life. i have a passport. i have been to other countries. all of that stuff. the point is, this is my city. host: let's hear from raymond in kentucky. caller: hi, pedro.

this is the first time i have called and i just have a problem with this governor from, white, south dakota, the killing of her beagle. host: you mean governor kristi noem? caller: yes, thank you very much. i am an animal lover. i have rescued my whole life. i'm 73. i have been rescuing animals my whole life and it really hurt. you know how america loves their animals. everybody i know has either a dog, cat, bird, whatever. host: ok. caller: i'm sorry. i should turned on my tv. i'm nervous, sir. it is disgusting. it hurt my heart. thank you. host: raymond in kentucky. you can call in on this open forum the next several minutes

if you want to participate. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. something to keep you aware of, at 10:00 this morning the education secretary will be on capitol hill to testy on president biden's 2025 budget request. he will likely answer questions about those recent protests on college campuses, the rollout of the student aid form, and issues with that. all of that will be before the senate appropriatis subcommittee on c-span two. our app is c-span now. c-span.org if you want to watch it there. this afternoon at 2:30, hearing concerning digital replicas made to imitate a voice or other likeness through artificial intelligence. that is going to be before the senate judiciary subcommittee on intellectual property this afternoon on c-span. also the app and.org.

-- and the .org. charlene in maryland, democrats line. caller: good morning. this is my first time calling, and him kind of nervous, but morning to america. i just want to express my opinion on what is going on. i am a democrat. i will vote for biden. is he perfect? no. donald trump, he thinks he is god. he thinks no one is better than him. he is always thinking that everything he does is perfect. just like you teach your kids right from wrong, ok? now, all of the stuff he is doing, he calls it on himself. no one asked him to do anything about, you know, what he did about the classified -- he was asked to return it.

he chose not to. now he want everybody to feel sorry for him. he asking for donations. he is a billionaire. he first came out and said mexico is going to pay for the wall. saccone was going to build and pay for the wall. now, he is talking about open border? what did he do when he was in the white house? nothing. he collected money. what happened to the money his son-in-law brought back, the $2 billion? no one is talking about that, but every time you talk about biden, joe has not done this -- he cannot do everything at one time. it takes time and i wish everybody to understand that he is only one man, and he is trying his best to do what he can for everyone. not for the black folks, not for the white folks, but everyone. donald trump is only thinking of

him and his rich friends. host: charlene in maryland giving us a call. another maryland voting bloc up for grabs, the latino voting block. the new york times reporting that the libre initiative, saying they will unveil a voting effort an ad campaign supporting member's of congress who have supported the calls president biden's punitive economic policies. the campaign will include digital ads, public events at hispanic grocery stores and restaurants, and a new spanish-language website to sizing bidenomics. -- website criticizing bidenomics. pennsylvania, republican line. caller: i want to give a shout out to blacks and latinos for maga.

we are going to push for reparations for the african continent, to start giving reparations to blacks, which they overselling you guys. in a report -- they owe for selling you guys. host: alvin in colorado, democrats line. hi. caller: hey, pedro. morning. i wanted to call and tell you that i will be voting for president biden, and i have to tell you i can't support someone who i believe hates this country, hates americans. all you have to do is look at trump's handling of covid. he didn't care enough about the american people in order to be honest with those. lying to us about the vaccines,

lying to us about how things were going to be better. january 6, refusing to leave office, not respecting institutions, not respecting the will of the american people. and then this argument that they made in front of the supreme court, that he should be immune for anything he did because he was president. this man hates us. he hates the country and there is no way i could ever vote for donald trump. host: in florida, this is valerie, republican line. hi. caller: this is probably going to be my last time to call, but i just wanted to throw the word in for governor desantis. i think it has been a misfortune that the people did not decide to vote for this man, because he is the most incredible governor, who has no bad rubbish going on

in his past. all good. but in any case, i will go onto the next thing that has been bothering me. there has been a leak with the abortion leak a while back with the supreme court. nothing has ever been established about that. i want to know the answer, and i have a strong suspicion it was sotomayor that was behind that. and third thing, hunter biden is the worst insult to anybody in the military. people will be calling, saying trump did not get into the service. well, look at hunter, who has been thrown out of the navy, brought drugs into the white house, and was giving money to pornographic things. while trump's kids are donating and working for big charities like saint jude. that is my final thought. host: a story this morning about

hunter biden, saying in a letter obtained by nbc news that he planned legal action against fox news for conspiracy and subsequent actions to defame mr. biden and paint them in a false light. alexis in north carolina, independent line. caller: good morning, thanks for taking my call. the 76th is next month and i think people need to look at the big picture. the republicans are looking at the 2025 project. they don't mean anybody any good unless you have the same greed and interest in power that they do. it is not just trump, it is anybody that stands behind trump , because we will be in for a new hell we have never known if he gets back into power. it means a ban on abortion

nationwide, ban on contraception, it is going to mean people having -- all of these kids out here now protesting in the colleges, there will be none of that. he was ready to bring in -- well, he brought in the national guard when he wanted to raise his buyable -- raise his bible upset down -- upside down and pretend to be religious. he will use power anyway he wants to, and he has people to back him up. we must vote for biden. i don't care how old he is, he tries and he has made some real inroads. host: that is alexis. this is reported out of charlotte, saying monday marked a dark day for charlotte as four officers died and four more were hurt while they were working to keep the city safe. the chief of the department said

that a shootout took place monday while serving a warrant in east charlotte. this event garnered a response from president biden in the white house, which read in part, when a law-enforcement officer heads out the door of their famibers dread the phone call, the very call that came today. it is like losing a piece of your sou to those families, he continues to say, jill and i are here for we must do more to protect our law enforcement officers. that means findingm so they have the resources they do their mes taking action to combatt the scourge of gun violence. leaders in congress need to step up so we assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and pass universal background checks and a national red flag warning enough is enough. god bless these fallen heroes.

one more call. this will be from dana in ohio, independent line. caller: yes, i just wanted all of the colleges and universities , it's going to turn into another can state -- kent state. it's just going to be ugly. they don't make some rules about all the protesters outside the university or something like this. host: dana in ohio finishing off this round of open form. to all of you who participated, thanks for doing so. joining us next, we are going to hear from the former labor secretary marty walsh. he's going to speak about his own journey through addiction and recovery. that conversation coming up on "washington journal." ♪

>> 87-year-old joseph epstein, a longtime essayist for the wall street journal, has written his autobiography, called "never say you had a lucky life, especially if you've had a lucky life mr. epstein spent 20 years as the editor of the scholar. early in this newest of over 30 books he writes, i feel extremely lucky in all of these rounds in which i had no choice. parents, epic. country. and throw in religion, city, and social class. >> joseph epstein on this episode ofook notes plus. the c-span now free mobile app, or wherever you get your podcasts.

>> c-span now is a free mobile app featuring your unfiltered view of what is happening in washington. live and on-demand. keep up with the day's biggest events with live streams of floor proceedings and hearings from the u.s. congress, white house events, the courts, campaigns, and more from the world of politics, all at your fingertips. you can also stay current with the latest episodes of "washington journal," and find scheduling information, plus a variety of compelling podcasts. c-span now is available at the apple store and google play. scan the qr code to downloaded or is it our website, c-span.org/cspannow. your front row seat to washington, anytime, anywhere. >> c-spanshop.org is c-span's online store. browse through our products,

apparel, books, and accessories. there is something for every c-span fan, and every purchase helps support our nonprofit operation. shop now or anytime at c-spanshop.org. >> "washington journal" continues. host: our first guest of the morning served as before -- as the secretary of labor in the biden administration. marty walsh, joining us to talk about other topics this morning. thanks for giving us your time. guest: it is great to be here. my first time. host: the reason we brought you in was to talk about the idea of substance abuse. could you start by telling us your own story? guest: the producer just said to me, your career is interesting. being the head of the hockey union, mayor of boston, labor

secretary. all of that was possible because i got sober. none of that probably would have happened if i did not get sober. my journey of alcoholism, you know, you are out there active, it is the good, the bad, and the ugly, they call it. when you start drinking it is fun. it turns into not much fun. then it turns ugly. i was fortunate enough to get into treatment. when i went to detox i thought my life was basically over, because i'm 28 years old, when am i going to do now? my whole life is at the bottom, social life. you didn't realize that when you are in treatment your life is just beginning. when you get out, if you are fortunate enough to continue on the road to recovery. host: when did you know you had a problem? guest: probably a younger age. knowing that i would go out and stay out all night long,

blackouts, things like that. you don't want to acknowledge it. you know inside udo -- you have an issue. when people started to drop hints. in the labor union, in the office some of my coworkers. you kind of look at it and push it aside and eat up really think about it, but, you know, it is a progression. it is a disease of progression. as you get more and more into it it progresses. the challenges and problems bigger and bigger every time. host: when you said you went to treatment, what brought that on? what type of treatment did you undergo? guest: i went to alcohol treatment, a rehab down the cape. i was there for a week. what brought it on was this series of bad nights, bad days, things you do, regret when you

drink. not realizing you are impacting people around you. and i was doing all that. i remember my first night in there, i did not want to go. i went because i thought i was going to lose my job. to get the heat off of me, whatever it was. there was a lot of heat for my friends and boss. it was a sunday. my first day there they check to make sure you have nothing on you, do an assessment of you, physically. and then you go into groups and you have aa meetings. i've gone to one aa meeting in my life. so, i circled one one night and went to the meeting. i found out years later i got there late, because i sat in the back. the guy next to me had been

drinking and i was listening to the speakers and i thought, their life is pretty incredible. i found out years later i left that what was the break. i didn't hear the message that night. when i went to treatment i first night there a group came in, and i don't remember what the first speaker said. the first speaker gave me hope. you explain your experience of being an active alcoholic. recovery and the hope it brings. when he spoke that night something happened. i just had a different feeling in detox that night. i listened for the week and participated in groups and learned about yes. yes could be kill somebody, kill myself, whatever it might be under the influence of alcohol. learned about the disease, that it is a disease.

and, you know, even though alcoholic synonymous is a spiritual program, it is not a god program. i am a catholic, but it connected me to my higher power. i have a relationship with god, but it is not a spiritual program. i want people to be afraid. it is not a cold. it is unbelievable, what the program has done. i did that. a year and a half later i was running for office. i was running for state representative for my district in dorchester. i get elected state representative and serve 16 years in the house of representatives. one of the big issues i worked on was recovery programs. funding programs, learning about it, understanding all of the different challenges. you know, heroin. i say it was an epidemic in 1997. oxycontin had been running through, hair one had been running through.

i got very active in the recovery community, both personally as an individual, but also supporting programs in and around the greater boston area. it also funding programs. this is where the intersection of government comes into play. host: if you want to ask him questions on the topic of substance addiction and recovery, here is how you can call this morning. (202) 748-8000 for the eastern and central time zones. (202) 748-8001 for the mountain and pacific time zones. if you have experience with addiction, (202) 748-8002. you can waste text us at (202) 748-8003. when you ran for office we you worried that the past would come up with you and there would be a stigma? guest: i didn't think about it. it was one of those things, somebody did say to me at one point, you know, it is unfortunate about the word on the street. i say, what is it?

your drunk driving arrest. i'm like, i have never been arrested for drunk driving. it becomes rumors, but when i ran for rep it was not an issue at all. because it is a local kind of race. it is neighborhood to neighborhood, street to street. when i ran for mayor of boston was different. it is a broader race and it can get nasty. there was a story written about me. a reporter called me up and said, i want to do a story on your recovery. i was torn, because it is like, there is a privacy piece of it. but she ran with the story, and it never came up. in the race no one ever brought it up. most of the people know each other anyway and knew i was in long-term recovery. it never became an issue. even my buddy in the obama

administration, when he was going for his job -- they don't call it the drug czar, but they went after him in congress. i think people understand it is in every home. not every home, but a lot of homes across the world. people look at substance use and alcoholism to a whole different light now. host: if i'm asked, when president biden was considering you as labor secretary, did this topic come up? guest: it did not come up at all and i was very open to people. if somebody is going to criticize me or somebody for admitting and working on being an alcoholic, and shame on them. there is enough stigma around mental health and substance use that we don't need more. the president never brought it up to me. no one in congress ever brought it up to me. if they did how would say, i'm sure your family doesn't have any type of addiction. host: former labor secretary

marty walsh here for this conversation. this is david. david is in georgia, on the line for those who have experienced addiction. go ahead. caller: yeah, i have been sober ever since 1994. i was not able to go through rehab. i could not afford it. i had to white knuckle it, going through aa. it was long, hard road to go through. and i pushed family away, lost friends, and it was just a long, hard road. guest: david, you certainly know the promises of alcoholic anonymous -- alcoholics anonymous. you have been sober a long time. thank you for telling your story. a lot of people don't have the

ability to get into rehab. they don't have the money to pay for rehab, but they are able to get their life back together. i hope you still go to meetings. host: jerry in new jersey. you are next up. good morning. caller: good morning. i have a question for you. i don't want to get into too much, but with the rehabs and all, my concern is, i see people coming out with almost the same problems they are going in white. -- in with. the reality, really, is very difficult. how do you get that kind of help? where do you draw the line with drug addiction and then the reality of life, and how do you help these people deal with that? guest: thank you for the question. part of it is, when you get out of detox or rehab you need to get connected to something. and you cannot just simply come out and all of a sudden you are cured.

it is not like you have a broken arm, you have a cast on, six weeks later the cast comes off and you don't have to go back to the doctor. it is a daily struggle. you work on this daily, every day. i think if you have a loved one in rehab or got out of rehab you want to make sure they are connected to a program. alcoholics anonymous, narcotics anonymous, that they are actively going to meetings. because going to detox is kind of the first step of admitting you are powerless over alcohol and drugs. the second piece of that is working on your life. as the previous caller stated, he lost his friends, his family, he lost everyone. you have to rebuild those relationships and you don't do that by simply going to detox. there is a process. do your research on these rehabs. when you are looking at where to send a loved one, make sure you do your research to make sure they have a proven record. if you were going to send

somebody out-of-state make sure you can check with consumer licensing bureau or somewhere different places to make sure you feel positive. there is a lot of places out there that take advantage of people. same thing with sober homes. making sure they are licensed and properly equipped to handle your loved ones, or if you are struggling yourself, to handle what you need. host: substance abuse and mental health services administration tells us people use illicit drugs in the past year. 48.7 million had substance abuse disorder in the past year. and there is other statistics there. talk about the role the federal government has in helping with substance abuse. guest: when you think about substance use and we think about recovery programs, there is two sides to this. number one, we can't forget what purdue pharma and oxycontin did

to america. they put such a strong foundation for addiction down there that from that point until today it has just compounded. you have kids having kids, people having children who had substance use issues, never really got clean. their families not -- never got the support they needed, and now it is intergenerational. we have to deal with the past as well. we have to figure out, how do we lay down some programming that can get people on a pathway to recovery? i think when i was the secretary of labor we had the mental health. bill, which was -- mental health parity bill. sometimes you need to go 3, 4, five times before you get sober. i think the insurance companies have to loosen the range of little bit here, because you are saving lives. we have to make sure we are investing in recovery programs.

we also have to rethink the way we do prevention. how do we educate young people? i think earlier the better. some people get concerned if we are talking about drugs and alcohol at a young age. some reasons are because people don't want to think about what is happening in their own home. but it is so important for us to lay down that foundation at an early age, what drug does to people. i think alcohol is still the number one killer in taking people's lives, but drugs, also the brain, the body, the family. i think the federal government can do a lot more with investing in it and i think states need to be more consistent as well. we've got to look at a whole bunch of programs. how do we move forward? when i was mayor of boston talking about safe consumption sites. they are in canada. i was against them. when i was the mayor, because i just felt it was -- i thought in

my own brain it was kind of promoting drug use. for some crazy reason. at a meeting i heard somebody talk about a path into recovery. any path into recovery is a good path into recovery. that sparked a little light in my brain. i went up to toronto, montreal, and i visited some of these consumption sites. they were people they are using drugs. it was not on the street. was no needles in back alleys. it was a health center. you walk in you do the drugs, but you also have recovery all around you. i was talking to a guy who is getting ready to do his drugs and i said to him, have you ever thought about getting into recovery? he said, no i haven't. i said, how come? he said, i haven't thought about it. i go, what happens if you want to? he goes, they would help me here. that is a controversial issue,

but it keeps people alive long enough for them hopefully to get into a program. host: do you sense the bipartisan effort? guest: for the most part it is bipartisan. you know, certainly in massachusetts legislature. i work very closely with the republicans and democrats together. the former governor of massachusetts, charlie baker, is active in this. in congress it is the one area you don't hear a lot of back-and-forth about, you know, progressive and conservative. i just wish there was more focus and attention on it. i think there is a lot of bipartisan support there. because, again, almost every family has some type of -- you are not that far removed from somebody who needs help. i would love to see more attention to it. you obviously have a lot going on in the world right now, but i would love to see more effort put into recovery instead of coming to know, locking down our

borders and stopping drugs coming. that is the political talking point. drugs are coming in from mexico. yes. but there is drugs on the streets in the united states. we have to do more about that. host: marty ross us for this conversation. this is from mi in washington, d.c. good morning. caller: thank you so much for sharing your experience. it is really inspiring and cool that you are talking about this publicly, and i'm also in recovery. i'm in a 12 step program called codependents anonymous, for people who have relationship issues. because i had a lot of mental illness and abuse in my family, and the program has helped me so much. it has been great. i was wondering, do you recommend being open about this kind of thing with employers or potential employers?

because that is something i feel nervous about sometimes. guest: i don't think you have to be necessarily open with your employer about it, but i think talking to people, support staff around you, letting other people know. one thing i have found that, obviously my recovery is pretty public. and in every way it is good, because sometimes people will randomly come up to me and talk to me about their issue or talk to me about something that, they will talk about recovery programs. i think that is a good thing. unfortunately not every employer in america is open and understanding as other people should be. but i think for you personally, if you are telling me you have a burning desire inside and need to talk to your employer about it, you should. but take it a day at a time. host: i think they are protected under privacy laws? guest: they are, but sometimes employers will look at somebody who has substance use and say, what is going on their checkup

but they don't understand is, when you have someone going to a still -- going to a 12 step program, they usually become the best employee. because they have taken all of the energy they used for their dependency on whatever it might be, let's say drugs and alcohol, and now they turn it around and become workaholics and focus their attention. whether it is working out or working in the workplace. i would love to say employers don't hold it against people, but unfortunately in some cases they do. host: joanne is in texas. you are next up. caller: hi, good morning to mr. walsh. i want to say congratulations on your sobriety. i want to commend you and your bravery. thank you so much for bringing this topic to the forefront. my comment is that i really do believe that america needs to do better when it comes to providing rehabilitation for

addicts. my husband and i were empty-nesters for a long time, and then, you know, we had to start all over again and start raising my granddaughter because, you know, my son has some issues. and, of course, we are happy to be there and support him, but i really do think this is more common, where grandparents are having to raise their grandchildren because there is addiction in their family. so, thank you so much for bringing this to the forefront, and, again, god bless you. i just want to say to anybody who is facing addiction, if it is either alcohol or drugs, just stay strong and just keep fighting. keep fighting for your life. thank you for taking my call. host: can i ask you a question? caller: absolutely. host: are there support systems for you, who have to deal with

these issues, even though you are dealing with another family member? caller: there are. one support group i am a part of is grandparents raising grandchildren here in texas. it is not a very big support group, but it is there for us to talk about and to get resources, because, unfortunately, the system is broken for these children. so, you know, just using that support system is very important for my husband and i. host: thanks for sharing. guest: you answered a lot there. i think some support is also al-anon, for family members of alcoholics. and al-ateen. one thing joanne said, fund these programs.

at an appropriate funding rate. we think about hospitals and what doctors and nurses make, some nurses in particular are underpaid. some are paid good, but can also be paid more. in these programs people are basically paid minimum wage. you are asking them to help a loved one get to a very difficult period of their life, and you are paying the minimum wage depending on the state. obviously minimum wage is pretty low and these are professionals. we need to pay the folks in this field higher so we can retain the talent there and recruit other talent. i think a lot of other people might want to go to college and become a psychologist and work in the field of mental health or substance use, and they are excited, go to a college, they pay $40,000 a year. they get out and all of a sudden they go to treatment and want to work there, and they are paid a little bit over minimum wage.

they are not able to do it. if we are going to fund the programs, let's fund them as if we are trying to help people. the numbers have gone up. i just finished reading a book about a hockey player who passed away in the 1990's. in that book they were talking about 20% of all people, i think by teenager, tried some substance. that number is probably higher. if more people are trying at that means members of addiction and substance use are going to go higher, and we need to combat that. it is a problem in our country. i think it was one million people last year died of overdoses in america. that is the ones we know of. a lot of times people don't want their loved ones registered as an overdose. that is a million people that if you take the substance out of their body, that is a million strong workers in america we lost last year, and probably

lost the year before. the pandemic made it a bigger issue, but it was a big issue before. host: how has fentanyl changed this? guest: every new drug brought into the mix is a game changer. obviously i think whether it is oxy, custom avenue, fentanyl, it continues to change the game and make it more dangerous for people. host: is there any avenue under the affordable care act that helps people? guest: there is coverage under the affordable care act, it goes back to insurance not dodging this issue. if i am an insurance company i'm going to look at the bottom line and said, i'm sending marty walsh to detox or rehab for five times. if you look at the success, the success of all of the people who went to rehab and never relapsed, and you look at their medical records, they are not showing up in the emergency room, they don't have liver issues, they don't have all of these other issues.

you are fixing the individual, not just mentally, with the addiction, but also helping them physically with the way they appear. they are not going to the hospital every weekend for a fight in a bar or whatever it may be. host: dave joins us from wisconsin. you are on with marty walsh. caller: good morning, marty. congratulations on your recovery. i have been sober for 13 years, or a little over. i am also in recovery. part of me 12 step program -- part of a 12 step program. when i started i had the impression that if i stopped drinking, you know, that would solve all of my problems. come to find out, you know, alcohol is just a symptom of a disease. you know, as i have gone through it i learned a lot about dealing with, just life, and taking life as it comes.

and not thinking that just because i'm not drinking everything is going to be fine, because it isn't. anyway, that is about all i have to say, but congratulations, and it is one day at a time. if you can get through each day, the next day comes, and there you are. guest: thank you. you are absolutely right. you know, it is a constant, daily reminder of working on this, and your life does get better. for me, staying active in the program helps me live my life a day at a time. a good example of that was when the pandemic happened. we did not know when the end was. we didn't know what the end was. i was mayor of boston and i was thinking to myself, i cannot worry about tomorrow. this is life. if people can get in this

mindset, do the best you can today and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow, and when the day comes, just a day at a time. that is how i have left my life in a lot of different ways now. the program has been laid out and i live my life that way. not just by staying away from the drink every day. host: to what degree is it a struggle today versus when you started recovery? guest: you know, i have been blessed. it is just another day, you know what i mean? back when i started i'm like, how my going to do this the rest of my life? that was my mindset. and you realize it is a day at a time. when you get that understanding you don't think about how hard it was or how easy was or what it was. host: how did your family react when you started recovery? guest: it was positive. my mother was happy. we have a lot of recovery in our family.

half of our family is in recovery, the other half might be. when you get into recovery it is just such a relief in the family in some of different ways. what joanne says is hard. you have an active person in your family that you love that cannot see that yet, cannot see that people love him or her, you know, it is sad to watch and you just pray that their loved ones find their way into recovery at some point. host: john is in michigan. go ahead. caller: good morning. i wanted to introduce something different that often times is overlooked. relating to this idea that there is always something wrong with us and we need to go to a formal program to fix us. i discovered a book -- i stopped drinking six years ago. i never really could get into

the idea that there is something inherently wrong, what i knew there was, you know? i found a book that was called "the easy way to stop drinking" by alan carr. it would give somebody another avenue to learn all of the bad things about drinking in a very funny way. he starts out the book by saying, don't stop drinking until you finish this book. that was a hook for me. i just thought i should introduce another consideration. how do you feel? in my mind i don't feel there is something wrong with me. i still play hockey on fridays and i'm out talking with the guys after everybody drinking a lot of beer, and it does not phase me anymore. i have completely eliminated this bad thing from my life. i guess just share with me your life about how others could consider that kind of thinking.

guest: first of all, thank you for sharing that. there is a lot of different pathways into recovery. some people go to detox. one of the callers talked about going to aa. some people might read a book. some people might do different things. i think it is important, whatever the pathway into recovery is. i mentioned about the safe consumption sites. i think everyone is built different. some people don't love going to aa. i particularly liked going to aa. it grounds me and i love that. i suggest everyone who is in recovery give it a chance, because you are surrounded by people who have gone through whatever you're going through at that particular moment. i think that is important. i think that when you stop drinking, you play hockey, you said, and hang out with the guys afterwards.

there are nights when you take off and they might stay there drinking. we don't put ourselves in harm's way. if you are drinking wine, it doesn't bother me. host: it is coffee. [laughter] guest: if i am out and -- i don't want to get uncomfortable, i will just leave. you just don't put yourself in situations, especially in early sobriety, that might harm you. host: patrick is in new hampshire. thanks for calling. caller: hi. i'm 35. i live in new hampshire. i started on the purdue pharmaceuticals, the oxycontin there, when i was 20. i have been eight years sober, and then i started drinking, because that was something that was legal at the time. and i was on probation, so i started drinking. no, my whole family was alcoholics. -3.5 years sober now from

alcohol -- i have been 3.5 years sober now from alcohol. i wanted to say a couple of things. the lady that called that said she should talk about it with her employer, i want some people to take caution, because it is something i am open with. i am open about my addiction and i have no problems sharing it, and she probably doesn't. it seems like she wants to share her story and it is good for her to talk about it. but a lot of people will talk behind your back, use it negatively against you, so be careful about that. the last thing i wanted to say is, go bruins. hopefully they start swayman tonight. i have no insurance right now and it cost me $150 to go see my suboxone doctor. i know there is a lot of people out there struggling with no insurance too, and i just wanted to say you are doing a great job. i am a republican, but you give

me lots of hope and you are something i could support in the future. i like the way you talk about your addiction and how you overcame it. you are a hero to a lot of people. thanks, marty. i appreciate you. guest: i appreciate that. i'm not a hero. the people that came before me, they are our heroes. host: he talked about suboxone, and there is an argument about methadone. guest: again, i have come full circle on that. when i first got sober and got elected to the house of representatives i thought abstinence was the best way. you know, just stop everything and rough it out. suboxone, if it is used the way it is prescribed, methadone is used the way it is prescribed, and you can work through it and you don't pick up heroin, then it works. i am completely full circle on that as well. i think people will find the

methadone clinic and take the picture of the person nodding out. they don't take the picture of the 300 other people who got their prescription, ticket, went to work as lawyers, whatever it might be, in offices. no one is showing that picture in the front page of the newspaper. and i think those medicines can be used in a good way. i would like to see a recovery program with them. the one thing i get concerned about some of this is that they are supposed to be -- there is supposed to be a counselor with this stuff. i'm times there is not enough clinical psychologists to work with the person taking these medicines to get off drugs. but if you are not taking heroin and shooting suboxone, god bless you. guest: host: what do you think about the legalization of marijuana? guest: i get concerned. i think it is a slippery slope. when i was the state rep i had

the same people that legalized marijuana came in my office and wanted to decriminalize marijuana. and i asked them to show me the amount of people in prison for an ounce or less of marijuana. just give me one person. then that passed, and it was, medical marijuana. we are only going to go medical marijuana for these patients who need treatment. even though it was already on the books. now you have some places in the country trying to legalize opiates. i get concerned about that. i get concerned about where we are headed there. host: let's hear from amy. amy joins us from new york, in clifton park. caller: good morning. it's nice to be able to speak with you. i wanted to share my experience a little bit, because i'm actually a therapist and i worked in substance abuse counseling for around five years , shortly after i got my masters

degree. and what i really saw as being a huge barrier to care for people was health insurance. i am a big believer in single-payer health care, and i really think the u.s. desperately needs that, because i saw a lot of people who really did want to get sober and they wanted to do better, and they wanted to do better for themselves, but they were having a hard time because they had plans with unaffordable co-pays, or they could not come in as often as they needed to because they could not afford the co-pay. for some people, they have a very hard time navigating the insurance system. they were not sure what to sign up for, whether or not coverage was available. a lot of times it buried about what they could apply for, what they did -- it varied about what they could apply for, what they did qualify for.

it was frustrating for me to see as well, because there was not much i could do about it. i don't work for insurance companies. but that was the main thing i wanted to say. the other thing i think would be very helpful would be more focus on harm reduction, which includes some things such as safe injection facilities. the one thing i earned early -- learned early on is you cannot force anyone to be sober. you can set consequences for them if they are not sober, but it is up to them to whether or not those consequences matter to them. host: amy in new york. thank you. guest: amy satellite. on the insurance side of it, i'm not sure single-payer fixes the problem. i think it is a bigger issue of mandating insurance companies. when amy talked about harm reduction facilities, i didn't mention, drug courts, if they are done properly. we have a lot of people in

prison because they are alcoholics and addicts. when they would not have committed the crime -- i'm not talking about serious crime, other crime. so, having drug courts with good supervision and programming. we need that. you have all of these programs out there and a judge gives a young person or somebody, you know, you are either going to go to jail or treatment, what you want? nine out of 10 times people are going to take the treatment. if they go and have a bad experience they are not getting what they need. host: james in florida, you are on with marty walsh. morning. caller: i have one thing to bring up. i have a problem with people always saying drugs and alcohol. alcohol is a drug, as far as i'm concerned. it is a case of, you might as well be saying drugs and heroin.

and i think it puts a disconnect there for a lot of people. well, i'm not doing drugs, i'm just drinking or something. and he grabs them. guest: you're right. when i say drugs and alcohol, you think about recovery programs. for the drugs. it is drugs and alcohol. i think alcohol is a drug. alcohol, as i mentioned earlier, i actually don't have the number in front of me, but i think alcohol dance are higher than opioid deaths. host: where are you with the idea of drug manufacturers or alcohol manufacturers, whoever ultimately becomes addicted to these things, paying up as far as recovery goes? guest: we mentioned this company once already, purdue pharma. i remember them having -- i remember having them in my offices as a state rep. it enraged me and lots of people, what they got away with, knowing what they were doing.

you think about advertising for alcohol or marijuana now, when you put -- would you put an advertisement on a train? you are targeting young people. you don't have to put a fancy thing up there for alcohol for a 25-year-old, you are targeting younger people. we have to be sensitive to all of that. in some of these cases these companies who are responsible for the devastation should be paying some money into fix that devastation. host: let's take one more call. this will be from cliff in texas. caller: hello, mr. mayor. i think we have a common friend with dan ray. guest: oh yeah, ok. caller: yes sir. met him through ralph carey. dan is a good friend. i have been a mental health

advocate for 25 years, and i lead a life of addiction, basically. i won the davis cup twice. are there and and i roomed together. when i started to decline, i took up hole and became basically an alcoholic, quit that cold turkey. i guess what i'm saying, and i'm asking, do you think besides drugs, is that a life like i had, high-low. i haven't tied a tennis match yet. i either won or i lost. do you think that can change your brain chemistry and make you more predisposed to seeking some other kind of relief? the other thing, i quit it cold turkey, and then i came down with covid four years ago and you probably know, it doesn't allow to you sleep. it gives you insomnia.

i had been on ambien for 25 years and never abused it, but i started abusing it, and i had to own it. i developed the long haul, i had in bed 18 hours a day. until about a year ago. but i developed an ambien addiction, and i had to own it. i looked at my sister and i said i'm an addict. i guess what i'm saying is, with mental health, you can't help people that have a mental illness unless they're willing to own it and they're willing to seek good help. does your brain reset back to normal if you get into good recovery? host: thank you. guest: i don't know resets into normal, but it certainly gets to normal. i don't know if you're ever fully normal. it helps you think about moving forward. you brought up an interesting point, cliff, when you talked about being an athlete. whether you're military or athlete, your life is structured up until a certain point. when your career is over, whether you're in the military

or you're an athlete, whatever profession you're in, sometimes there's empty space there, and you're too busy or too regimented or too disciplined, and that can be another opportunity that people put their guy down and they pick up drinking, thinking that it turns into alcohol might always have been there, but it comes right out. host: let's take one more feel. virginia, hello. caller: hi, thank you for taking my call. i want to say it takes people, like your guest today, to talk about this issue, and thank you, c-span, for addressing this epidemic that is in our society. and it's a disease. i am a member of naranon, which is a program for people who have a dear one in their life who's struggling with addiction, to narcotics. from there, i have gone to a.c.a.

but anyway, i want to emphasize that this 12-step program don't have any fees. if anyone wants to, it's a wonderful program, not religious, and it's a disease, but it's all kinds of people from different class and gender and backgrounds, it doesn't matter. and the sickness spreads to people who are around the addicts. guest: this is a great commercial, by the way. 12-step program, whether you're looking for help for yourself or loved one, most times people don't know you're new. you walk in, get a cup of coffee, get a water, whatever is there, and you sit down and listen. you don't -- there's no money to it. you know, it's just -- it really is one of those places that you

go for help. a lot of people are intimidated to walk into those doors, and my advice is, every caller that calls in today, when you cross that threshold, your life can be completely changed in the positive. if you're struggling today, and a lot of people do, because they don't know where to turn with loved winds, there's resources for you to understand how to live with your loved one, how to deal with your loved one, but also encourage that person to get help. it's up to the individual. if the individual is not willing, there's always going to be a moment in time where that individual might be willing, even for five minutes. that's when you need to grab them. host: marty walsh served in the biden administration as the former secretary of labor. he's the executive director of the national hockey league players association, joining us for the first time in washington. thank you so much. guest: thank you. this has been great. i appreciate you taking this topic today. i think it's really important. host: thank you very much. we're going finish off with open forum. if you want to call in and participate, 202-748-8001 for

republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. independents, 202-748-8002. we'll take those calls in open forum when "washington journal" continues. >> do you solemnly swear that in the testimony you're about to give it will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you god. >> saturday watch "congress investigates" as we explore jor investigations in our country's history by the u.s. house and senate. each week we'll tell the story. we'll see historic footage from those periods, and we'll examine the impact and legacy of key congressional hearings. this week, the 1975 senate committee hearing led by idaho democratic senator frank church examining alleged abuses within the u.s. intelligence community. watch "congress investigates," saturdays at 7:00 p.m. eastern on c-span2.

>> the house will be in order. >> this year c-span celebrates 45 years of covering congress like no other. since 1979, we've been your primary source for capitol hill, providing balanced, unfiltered coverage of government. taking to you where the policies and debate are decided, all with the support of america's cable companies. c-span, 45 years and counting, powered by cable. >> since 1979, in partnership with the cable industry, c-span has provided complete coverage of the halls of congress, from the house and senate floors, to congressional hearings, party briefings, and committee meetings. c-span gives you a front-row seat to how issues are debated and decided with no commentary, no interruptions, and completely

unfiltered. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. >> if you ever miss any of c-span's coverage, you can find it any time online at cspan.org. videos of key hearings, debates and other events feature markers that guide you to interesting and newsworthy highlights. these point of interest markers appear on the right-hand side of your screen when you hit play on select videos. this timeline tool makes it easy to quickly get an idea of what was debated and decided in washington. scroll through and spend a few minutes on c-span's point of interest. >> "washington journal" continues. host: again, it's open forum. you can participate by calling us at 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8002 for independents. axios reporting this morning that the international criminal

court is being warned by members of congress and both parties that arrest warrants for senior israeli officials will be met with u.s. retaliation and legislation that's already in the works. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has gone so far as to urge president biden to intervene to help prevent the warrants, according to axios. the i.c.c. has been investigating allegations of war crimes against both the israeli military and palestinian militia groups dating back to 2024. this story said mike johnson issued a statement monday, calling the reported warranties "disgraceful and lawless," going on to say if challenged by the biden administration, the i.c.c. could issue arrest warrants against american military personnel. johnson calling for the biden administration to immediately and unequivocally demand that the i.c.c. stand down and use every available tool to prevent such an abomination. that's from axios. you can weave that into the mix

if you want during this open forum. independent line, kendra from richmond, virginia, starts us off. go ahead. caller: hi, pedro. first i would like to say the first segment should have been a question for black voters age 55 and under. second, i would like to read part of a paragraph from an article that says many families, white, black, hispanic and asian, have to give us the pleasure of a leisuring stroll in the park at dusk. that article was part of the ad that donald trump placed about 30 years ago, and it can be found at documentcloud.org/documents/6131 533 if others want to read the entire article. unfortunately, the central park five were deceived into admitting that they raped and almost killed a woman in central park. my family and i, along with most people, thought that they were

guilty because they were recorded describing how they raped and left her, a lady for dead in the park. it wasn't until years later that they were exonerated because someone else admitted to the crime. i'm sorry that they went through serving time for a crime they did not commit, and i'm especially sad for cory wise, who was not even at the park that night, and he served more time than the others. but people need to stop being mad at donald trump for not apologizing about his ad from 30 years ago when we all assumed that they were guilty. and whoever is listening, please remember, the 2024 race isn't really between biden and trump. the race is really between harris and trump. have a blessed day, thank you. host: ok, this is from clyde. clyde is in oklahoma, democrats line. caller: well, if you look at the bible, revelations said donald trump is in the bible.

anybody says he's good, well, you need to read the bible and find out he's not. thank you. host: that's clyde there. again, calling in on open forum. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8002 for independents. axios also reporting this morning that a half dozen conservative senators known as the breakfast club are banding together to try to influence the race for the senate republican leader and how the chamber would run with a republican majority. the g.o.p. has a good chance of winning control of the chamber in the november 5 election, the breakfast club is an unofficial group, but it is close as the senate gets to the house freedom caucus, which has been a persistent thorn in the side of g.o.p. leadership during one of the most chaotic sessions in the history. the group, which includes rick scott of florida, ted cruz of

texas, ron johnson of wisconsin, mike lee of utah, mike braun of indiana, and rand paul of kentucky meets one morning each week t. hopes to add like-minded senators such as j.d. vance, and roger marshall soon. you can find that in axios. let's hear from emma in texas. caller: i just want to say, these people getting on here talking about the mexicans taking blacks' jobs, that's not so. they're here building houses, we didn't do all that. our job was in the plant. they send our jobs overseas. mexicans not taking our jobs. they taking jobs from the white people. we need to stop saying all of that. thank you. host: from frank in poughkeepsie, new york, independent line. you're on, go ahead.

caller: as far as the palestinian crisis is going on, in the bible, in a land doesn't belong to either one of them. we all know who it belongs to. and those stooges inside the halls, they repeating 1969, protests against the war, unjust war. now, i understand hamas went in there and killed a lot of innocent people. but the government of netanyahu went in there and disproportionately killed palestinians. there's no way you can justify

that. i can understand you go in there and get your target. hamas has no qualms with killing innocent people. you supposed to be better than that, but you're not when you supposed to be. host: ok, that's frank there in new york. abc reports on something that took place yesterday, and you may have caught it in the reporting of it, saying that it's ralph pucketh jr., colonel of the united states army retired, a name of honor for now and history. puckett's cremated republican mains lay in the capitol rotunda, one of the nation's highest honors. he died april 8 at 97 in columbus, georgia. this is a privilege reserved for the most distinguished citizens or leaders, including united states presidents and some of the country's most decorated war veterans. only seven citizens, rosa parks and billy graham, and four u.s. capitol police officers, have ever been paid of the tribute. it was during the korean war

that puckett drew enemy fire and exposed himself multiple times to danger to allow his fellow army rangers to find and destroy enemy positions during the multiwave attack, which earned him the medal of honor. one of the people speaking at that ceremony and honoring the gentleman is senate minority leader mitch mcconnell, making those comments about the late colonel puckett yesterday. >> dear god, don't let me get a bunch of good guys killed. that's how the man we honor today, a well trained professional soldier, greeted the task before him as he assumed command of the eighth army ranger company in 1950. with humility, with clear eyes about the horrors of war. by november of that year, the

popular assessment of the conflict on the korean peninsula was highly optimistic. general mcarthur himself thought he could have american g.i.'s home for christmas. but for first lieutenant ralph puckett and the 50 rangers under his command, the path home turned out turned out to be much less rosy. ahead of them was a crucible of staggering odds, along the front lines near the chinese border, u.s. forces in ralph puckett's sector were outnumbered 3-2. but on the hill, 205, where his small company would take a stand more than a mile from the nearest reinforcements, they

were outnumbered 10-1. it's difficult to imagine a starker embodiment of the motto rangers lead the way. perhaps on november 25, 1950, ralph puckett repeated the simple prayer he offered when he took command. don't let me get a bunch of good guys killed. perhaps he asked for the strength, the courage, and the resolve to discharge his duty and lead his men with honor. with the benefit of hindsight, all of us here today know that prayer was granted. ralph puckett wore our nation's highest military decoration, and in the hearts of generations of soldiers to come, the courage

and self-sacrifice to earn that honor will be this great man's eternal legacy. host: more of that program available at our website at cspan.org. you can also see it at our app, c-span now. let's hear from evelyn in baltimore, maryland, democrats line on this open forum. go ahead, please. caller: good morning, pedro. i'm listening to everyone calling in talking about what's going on in gaza, which i think is terrible. but i'm not going to cut off my nose to spite my face when it comes to election time. because if they really think that trump is going to be on their side when it comes to israel and palestine, they sadly mistaken. and the people in not the jews, but the people in israel, like

netanyahu, they're nothing but back in the day nazis. host: ok, we're going to -- caller, watch the language, especially on that front. brian in massachusetts, republican line, good morning. caller: good morning, pedro, sir, thank you very much for letting me talk. i would like to talk to you about your programming very briefly. greta and you had both had guests from defenders of wildlife on. and we never hear -- i have no disparaging remarks about defends of wildlife, but you never have a pro sportsman, hunter, trapper, angler group on to talk about things on earth day or anything like that. thank you very much for listening to me. host: who would you like to hear from on that front? is there a specific group in mind? caller: i'm not sure, for

trappers of america -- fur trappers of america, any group that supports hunting and trapping, licensees that spend a lot of money for wildlife also. host: if i can ask you, and this is in pure interest, what perform do you think they bring to the whole topic when it comes to earth day or conservation or anything? what perspective do they bring? caller: they bring, i guess, it all comes down to money, sir, pedro. they have the duck stamps, conservation stamps, and as i've said previously, maybe i'm repeating myself, licensees and this type of thing. i don't want to waste a whole lot of your time, i just want to bring that idea to you. host: ok, brian there in

massachusetts, thank you for it, with the idea. the pensacola news journal reporting this morning that u.s. representative matt gaetz has drawn a challenger in the republican primary, a former naval aviator to run for florida's first congressional district as a republican. at noon on friday, it marks the qualifying deadline for federal and judicial candidates in florida with the passing of that deadline, it goes on to talk about first judicial circuit, probably not relevant to what our audience mostly pays attention to, but with this story, you can find more at pensacola news journal. let's hear from grant in nebraska, independent line. caller: i wanted to say that i thought trump was right in the beginning when he said that d.c. was a swamp, because it is. but if d.c. is a swamp, that would make wall street where trump comes from a bog. they're both nasty, just different type of flavor, and they feed into each other all the time. you don't trust the bog man to

fix your swamp problem. and that's all i have to say, thanks. host: grant there in nebraska. nbc reporting that five republican-led states have sued the biden administration over its new rules expanding title ix. a federal civil rights law protects students from sex-based discrimination in federally funded schools, to protect transgender students. a handful of republican officials in other states have publicly said that they will not enforce the new rules, but stopped short of filing lawsuits. the texas attorney general, a republican, sued the biden administration monday to block the rules, which will in part prohibit schools from barring trans students and teachers from using the school facilities and pronouns that align with their gender identities among other policies. that's report there from nbc. the secretary of state, antony blinken, when traveling, talking about efforts for a cease-fire, making comments on that front at the world economic forum in saudi arabia. here's part of those comments.

>> we strongly support israel in its effort to ensure that what happened on october 7 never happens again. but at the same time, we are determined to do everything we can to bring an end to the terrible human suffering that we're seeing of single day in gaza among children, women, men who have been caught in a terrible cross fire of hamas' making. and so maximizing protections of civilians, maximizing the support that gets to them. this is very much our focus. now, the quickest way to bring this to an end is to get to a cease-fire and the release of hostages, and as you said, there's been an extraordinary effort that's been made, and i really want to thank profoundly our friends from qatar and egypt who have been playing an instrumental role in trying to get this cease-fire and release of hostages. a major effort has been made over the last couple of months

to get to that cease-fire, to get the hostages out. right now, as you said, hamas has before it a proposal that is extraordinarily, extraordinarily generous on the part of israel. in this moment, the only thing standing between the people of gaza and a cease-fire is hamas. they have to decide. they have to decide quickly. we're looking to that. i'm hopeful that they will make the right decision, and we can have a fundamental change in the dynamic. host: more there at the website and the app, if you want to see the secretary of state's comments from saudi arabia, from the "new york times" this morning, the latest on what's going on in new york university when it comes to protests there. officials will move to discipline students, demonstrators who remain in pro-palestinian encampments. an encampment was erected on

friday, as similar sites spread across the country, following columbia university's lead. the students removed their tents on friday at n.y.u. as n.y.u. demanded, but continued to stay overnight at the encampment. it was sunday night that college officials presented the protesters with two options, overnight stays without consequences or stay and possibly face conduct charges, according to the statement. student leaders extended the dead lean to respond by noon on monday. it was by monday afternoon that students had not responded and remained at the site. john beckham, university spokesman, said accordingly and regrettably, n.y.u. is moving forward with this process. let's hear from dylan in south dakota, hello. caller: hello, i'm a vietnam veteran. this reminds me of woodstock, knees college kids. when i was over there, we came home, we were called baby killers, threw bottles at us.

why don't they just draft them? then they'd have something to gripe about. it's ridiculous. i'm ashamed to be an american nowadays. thank you. host: ok, dylan in south dakota. nbc also reporting the hush money trial in the case of former president trump assuming today. this story just posting today, saying the judge presiding over the former president's hush money case on tuesday held the former president in criminal contempt over a series of posts on truth social that he said violated a gag order barring any attacks on witnesses. the judge ruled trump in contempt for nine violations of the gag order with a fine of $1,000 for each instance. it prohibits the former president from "making or directing others to make public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses concerning their potential participation in the investigation or the criminal proceeding." public statements about any

prospect tv juror. again, that's nbc reporting that. as many cameras being pointed at that courtroom in new york city, it was the former president making comments to the pool of reporters there before entering into the building. here are some of those comments from this morning. >> so we begin again. this is a case that should never have been brought. every single -- every single scholar, the great mark levin, says this is a great disgraceful case. it's a disgrace to the new york city court system. all the cases are, frankly. we probably saw last night that jack smith got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. it was released late last night. it's a big story.

the documents case is a hoax, created by them for election interference purposes. a brilliant judge said the facts. i haven't read what was revealed. it just came out. but the document hoax is a hoax. it's all a hoax. they're all hoaxes, including the civil case. they're controlled by the white house. they're controlled by democrats, prosecutors that were put there specifically. they hate trump. the people just came out, a poll that was just release beside two minutes ago, and i'm leading by a lot of in every swing state and leading in the general election. you saw the cnn poll, they aren't too happy with it, but the cnn poll was fantastic. so we're here.

this is a hoax. this is a judge who's conflicted. badly, badly, badly conflicted. i've never seen a judge so conflicted. and giving us virtually -- i'm even allowed to say advice of counsel, which is new to me. when you have a lawyer, the lawyer does something or advises you on something, you say advice of counsel. he said you don't have to say that. host: again, former president trump from new york city this morning. the house and the senate both in, and one of the things to watch out for at 10:00 starting in just a little bit, if you're interested, it's the education secretary testifying on not only the budget requests for 2025 for the education department, but also made commes and probably answer questions about recent protests on llege campuses, as well as the romeout of that student aid forum, which has seen several issues since its rollout. all thos taking place in a hearing that's just about to

stt in front of the senate appropriations subcommittee. you can see that on c-span2. you can follow along on the app at c-span now, and as well as cspan.org. and then later on, if you're interested, a hearing taking a look at intellectual property, particularly when digital replicas are made using the system of artificial intelligence. that will be for the subcommittee on intellectual property. you can follow that at c-span3. the app is available to you as well. and as always, you can follow at the website at cspan.org. that's it for our program today. it's time to take you to the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. th clerk: the speaker's rooms, washington, d. april 30, 2024.