c-span, yourpowered by cable. c-span is your unfiltered view of government funded by these television companies and more, including mediacom. >>■o we believe that what we do heret here or way out in the middle of anywhere, you should haveast, reliable internet. >> mediacom supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. host: on mondays related tae wed in washington.

continue folding of weeks later after the term guilty verdict. hill. what is happenin week? we know that the judiciary chazdir, jim jordan, called alvin bragg where do we stand in theol fallout? guest: jim jordan has been on this case for a long time, sending letters way back last year and now that the verdict has come down, he is stepping up that campaign. one thing that is important to understand is the backdrop of all of this, deep republican concern shared by voters that the justice sysm them and against their likely nominee here. that is a part of what we are going to see jordan pursuing in the ciweek. he has called a hearing with alvin bragg, the district attorney in new york, on this case. that would be for thursday.

alvin bragg has said that he will not appear until after the sentencing later this summer. host: other news last week, continuing into this week, after some back-and-forth, a date is set for benjamin netanyahu to speak on capitolnext week, when he will actually be up here. what are you going to be looking for in that address and in the reaction from congress? guest: one thing that will be interesting to watch is how the decrats and or all o this. -- handle all of this. it will be tricky. we have seen them air broader viewpoints about aid to israel since the attack by hamas on israel and the israeli military response to that. so, i think that some of that is probably latent feelings that are now, now people feel comfortable sharing them. part of it also is that the party is shifting on this.

so this intense military conflict in response to the hamas attack has really sort of created a much brder range of viewpoints to come out into the n the party. there is no greater example of that&■s than senator john fetten , who is very interesting. you know, he was seen as a progressive, someone who wantszy strong on pushing for criminal justice reform, and he's really surprised everybody by coming out so strongly in support of israel. you know, his constituency has a pretty strong jewish component. i think that pennsylvania, philadelphia, pittsburgh, those are two of the cities in the u.s. with the greatest share of population in terms of jewish commy.i think that's part of it. i don't think that's all of it. obviously, we are clear on where he's going to come down on this. for the democratic caucus,

embodies the israeli state and the right wing government that just became more right wing, with the step aside this weekend, it's going to be tough. there is a lot of pressure on them to sup is a longtime friene united states. just like any of us can appreciate in our individual retithat you have had for a long time that i don't really like how you are acting. how do you have that conversation in a way that n't make it seem like they are completely itching the friend? to the point where y■bou can really explore the concerns and talk about them. host: if viewers want to dig into your story, it's on csm onitor.com. what do we ow of capitol

hill? what are you watching from netanyahu when he comes to visit? guest: biden has been in watch on this issue. he came out so strongly in support of israel after the attack. just -- we are going to be there for you, we have yourfocusing or netanyahu. what i heard on th was he's have conversations to try to encourage them not to get into the difficulty that the u.s. got into wh urbawarfare in the middle east, to try to warn israel to be thoughtful about how they approach it so that they wouldn't get a global backlash. and then he went there in person very soon after. i remember senator tim kaine of the democratic party saying that these other conversations you need to have in person, telling someone that we have you back, we need to be careful about how

we do this. we havseen biden evolved. it has happened as we■ see pols in michigan, where there is a strong air voter demographic, that's important for his presidential reection. the disapproval became more and morehe started putting more ande pressure on israel to show more restraint and you know, the whole thing overently, where he sang don't do that, if you do that we will wollitary ws controversial on the hill. some progressives wanted him to go further. they have already crossed a redline, why aren't you doing anything? republican saying that this is ridiculous to tie the hands of one of our closest allies when they are facingopposition. i don't know, it will be interesting to see -- warm guy, will he extend that to netanyahu,r politics become so difficult that it will

be a cold and formal who has the upper hand. host: chr, good person to follow if you're interested in this topic. you have been the editor of the israeli bureau and current senior congressional correspondent. if you want to talk about that topic or any topic coming up this week on capitol hill, now is the time to call in. ■democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. as folks are calling in, lots going on, what else are you watching? host: in the beginning, the -- backlash against the justice department will be really interesting. also related to the topic of justice, democrats are pushing on supreme court, saying look, we really need a better code of ethics.

so, the supreme court finally, despite pressure from conservatives not to cave in on this issue, came out with a of ethics last fall that basically just formalized what they said they had been following anyway. there was immediate criticism because it wasn't enforceable, it didn't have teeth, there was no way to hold them to it. one of the key concerns around that is that 20 supreme court justice refuses themselves from a case, they don't have to explain why. that is one thing democrats would like to see them be more transparent about. coming to a head because of concerns over clarence thomas and a trip that he went on that was paid for by rich donors to the republican party. also, justice alito had flags flying outside hisidence affiliated with the right, seen by some as emblematic of supporting january 6. those things have conversation d the pressure for some sort of

accountability. i think that on tuesday, jamie raskin, one of the impeachment , also a longtime constitutional law professor, will be holding a conversation with alexandria ocasio-cortez. a discussion, he's a ranking member, can't hold a hearing, but they will be

having a conversation about why there is a need for ethics. saying that it's just not right at the highest court in the land has the lowest bar in terms of ethics and federal and state judges have much more formalized code that they need to fw.ig pus week on capitol hill to hold them more accountable. it is interesting to note that the main controversies are alito and thomas, who have been called out for their positions on some of these issues about abortion$# access, said we need toof thomas it's reconsider other key precedents, like griswold, which allows for married couples to use contraceptives. people are like great, we thought this was settled so long ago, just like abortion. that i democrats are really pushing on that this week, it's an interesting thing to watch in

the senate, bringing a number of bills. republicans are calling the messaging bills, but the democrats are in a vulnerable position. it's not clear that they will hold onto power in the■ó senate and they find this to be an issue that voters really care about and there was a poll fr "the wall street journal" finding that suburban see abortion as the number one issue for 31% of them. you are right and they want to put republicans on record, where do you stand. they think it could help the vulnerable members of their party to be able to say i stand -- i'm here to fight for you you want abortion access, you want ivf, we are here fighting for you in the republicans are blocking everything. host: never a dull week. i should note that they are not in today. the house and senate are voted in tomorrow and you can watch it on c-span, gavel-to-gavel coverage.

this is ed, georgia. guest: -- caller: i would like to ask about all the middle-class real americans who are struggling financially while biden has 14 million people come into the country illegally and he doesn't seem to care. one more question, how come the democrats never say that we have to save our r always we have tor democracy and we are not a democracy. host: immigration, georgia, what's happening on that front? guest: thanks for your call. great points. on the immigration issue you are tapping into an issue that has proven to be number one for many voters in the election, so i think it is an important question. biden has tried to reframe this after three years in congress saying that this is something congress should do, so i am

waiting on congress to act. there is a bipartisan biled in s basically dead on arrival a number of republicans said they were also against it, though it was negotiated by one of the most conservative members of the senate, james lankford in oklahoma. so, biden tried to go on offensive and said -- i'm ready to do something on the border, i'm just waiting for congress ne took steps to make executive ordersn his characterization of it, tighten things along the border. republicans are like -- you could have done that on day one instead of reversing all of these executive orders that were there under trump that seemed to be working effectively, because if youumbers if i remember correctly there has been a quadrupling of encounters on the border. that is not the same thing as the number of people who come andimmediately, it counts as

encounter. that is a quadrupling of actual encounters and then of course there are also those got away's, the ones they de but can't get to and then there are in unknown number. so, there is no question that the rate of illegal immigration has dramatically increased under biden and the argument is over who's fault is that and does it have to do with a difference in policies between trump l and bin but biden is realizing that's this is something that voters like you care about their in georgia and it's just is this action that voters will give him credit for this point love the u brought up, why are they always talking about saving america's democracy, we are not a democracy.u are right, it is a republic. ■0there have been various changs

over the years moving toward straight democracy. one example, the senate, senators used to be chosen by legislature but in the early 1900s corruption case in montana, that was changed so that the members of the senate would be elected directly by the people. another example is parties use to choose the'c nominees for the presidential race. now that is directly by the people. in recent years we college, another one of those mechanisms the founders put in place to try to balance the rural and urban interests of the country, bigger states in smaller states. i think you are hitting on a really important difference between have democrats see the country and have republicans see the county that they are tryingo save. host: steve, new jersey, independent line. good morning. caller: hi, yeah, thank you for

taking my call. words are important and for the life of me i can't understand why the word progressive is associated with fanatical islamic fundamentalism. it's anti-gay, homophobic, misogynistic. 's against free speech. i mean, why is that reported as it is related to fanatical muslims? even innocent civilians in gaza tend to be someone who hold hostages. ■or peaceful, we hear peaceful protests. a picture of the protests, we know it's not peaceful. i think that words are important. reporters have done a horrible job in defining things. host: what do you think? guest: i agree that words are

important and i think that if you are speak aboutmyrizing musn general or hamas in specific as progressive, i'm not sure i have heard people call hamas progressive, but there definitely alignment between the progressive movement and stronger advocacy for palestinians. i don't think they are advocating for hamas specifically, but there seems t exactly what hamas stands for and at on, like you said, lgbtq rights and otheissues that progressives care a lot about. having lived over th and being into gaza a number of times, it such a complex situation over there i don't blame people here for not understanding all of the ins and outs, it's complicated on the ground, but even something as basic as where hamas stands on the issprogressives it is rey

important. i think it is a part of■g why there is so much frustration over the support of hamas and a blurring of lines between hamas and the governing entity in gaza and the armed wingst launched these attacks on israel on october 7 and the palestinian people in general. just because some members affiliated with hamas are holding hostages, does that mean that everyone in gaza thinks it's a great idea? remember that they are living under a progressive government that hasn't held elections since 2006 and they are sealed into a tiny territory and it's difficult to get in andyk out, even as a western journalist. so you cannot say that everyone in gazahamas is doing. my colleagues at the christian science monir had a great a few months ago about the people in gaza becoming so frustrated with hamas that they were

starting to speak out. knowing the level of intimidation there, to me that says so much about how things have shifted their. you are absolutely right, words are importt t to recognize what hamas stands for and that this is an incredibly nuanced and complex topic. guest: you touched -- host: you■5 touched on this before, hw big of a deal is it that beneganz retired from the war cabinet? guest: it depends on who you talk to in israel, but from the u.s. perspective, remember, he came to congress on a rogue visit that was not approved by netanyahu and is seen as the more reasonable ofperience in the military. i'm guessing that what he was trying to do was reduce the credibility of the israeli government by removing himself

from it. r+the balance has now tipped moe to the right. that's problematic for u.s. supporters, including the democratic party, who might have felt like with benny gantz there, there's a counterbalance with netanyahu, but now we will hear this call from senator schumer where they are getting rid of netanyahu and its extraordinary foa leader of the senate to say that. i don't know how it will play out. not me who has had incredible staying power in israeli politics and is on his fifth term now. like i said earlier, he has come to embody the israeli state. there is an ialist who is a top commentator who just had an opinion piece recently saying that no one will say it publicly, but in jerusalem everyone is looking over to trump being reelected

because they think it will be better with him in office and there is frustration with biden. because netanyahu stood up to biden, that has revived his political status in israel, because everyone in israel loves someone who stands up to a president that is not fully supporting them. it sounds like he's getting another one of his nine lives. we will see. host: berkeley, go ahead. caller: the lobbyist system has destroyed the free country of it really has. the lobby is everything. all the killing, the murdering by the thousands, now people think as many as 200,000 have

been slaughtered in gaza. israel is now in really bad life . the whole world. by the way. -- by the way, the war in hamas was created by no one else but that yahoo!. what he did on october 7 was stay in office, hold power, and it's shameful. joe biden will go in history as one of the bows -- worst and bloody were criminals for giving , for allowing weapons to go to israel to destroy and commit thousands of kids alone. host: a couple of things there, including a pack. can you -- aipac■á. can you explain it? guest: it's the primary israel lobby here in washington, d.c.,

and has been very powerful over the years. we have started to see other groups like j street, for example, taking a different line . it very strongly in support of a two stateolution. aipac used to be the main group that would take embers of congress on trips to israel. -- members of congss trips to israel. you can take a trip to jerusalem , two different trips and come away with two very different impressions. j street is now bringing new ideas and perspectives. they are also putting pressure on members of congress and people running for congress. host: who is j street versus aipac? guest: j street is another cents believe in democracy, want to support israel but don't want to give it carte blanche.

when they talk about lobbying and having a strong influence, on the israeli front we have seen more to the advocacy efforts. that is one of why there is a greater spectrum of perspectives being voiced publicly by members of the democratic party. especially in gaza specifically. th■áe people killed, will take until after the war to sort it out, it's so difficult to figure out how to count thing exactly accurately in the middle of a war. there is concern that because the gaza health ministries controlled by hamas, the numbers

we are getting out of there may not be accurate. worse they may not be able to get everybody and track everybody down. but there is no question that this has been the biggest and deadliest confli in gaza we have ever seen. i remember talking to someone in the fall who said that this is another knock bought, the word that palestinians use for the catastrophe of 1948, it's so much worse and playing out daily on news channels and social media. the images for sure are just heart wrenching. i think the question is, how do youyou are blaming biden for that because of his support for israel and continuing to send aid there. others like federman, for example, saying over and over that we have to remember the whole reason this is happening is because hamas attacked israel. as with anything in the

israeli-palestinian conflict, you can say -- where did it start? solutions that fell apart that aren't going anywhere, this is their only way of getting attention. but there are different interpretations about who is to blame for the ongoing bloodshed. federman and others have said that if hamas would agretoceased stop right now. host: can i get your thoughts on the raid over the weekend and the freeing of the hostages? and help violent and bloody the raid ended up being? guest: from the israeli perspective, the raid had a huge symbolic effect. one of the hostages released has become the face of all of the hostages because of this video of her with her arms outstretched being taken away on a motorcycle, reaching out to

the fact that they were able to get her back is just huge. the images of her reuniting with her father is poignant and meaningful. the people on the beaches of tel aviv were all cheering. a really poignant moment for the maybe something else that might help netanyahu. it as you said, you know, once again, very disproportionate number of israelis saved. again, it's a question of who do you blame for that? do you blame hamas for not coming to an agreement and taking the hostages in the first place over a cease-fire for the release of hostages? or do you blame israel forroport civilians back? host: running out of time, frank, new york, waiting a while to chat with us. caller: i'm from new york, surrounded by democrats.

these phone calls seem to be democratic. hamas iso's a group just like blm, antifa. seems like when they do violence and damage, they are looked at as if they are persecuted. you know? israel is a country, hamas is a group, a terrorist group. the people in new york who want to stay pro-palestine against jewish people, you know what? pack up your bags and go to gaza and see if you could help. i'll be honest with you, look at hamas, you look at them like they are doing something right? they killed people, you know? they started this whole thing. as far as biden goes, you want to vilify trump? biden, every single thing he has done, afghanistan withdrawal, covid reaction, overturning the trump policies.

it's a no-brainer. host: got your point. there's a lot there, what do you want to pick up on? guest: was frank on the democratic line? host: i don't remember, i think it was the republican mine. guest: i was like, by lost a i think he said he was in new york surrounded by democrats calling on the republican mine. guest: ok, ok. hamas has been running the territory, they are an organization designated by the u.s. as a terrorist organization in there are those who dispute that label, they feel that palestinians have a right to fight for their national sovereignty. they have been wanting a state the area for a long time. they rejected the 47 u.n. partition plans. ever since then, they have been fighting to get back their land and they have been losing more and more of it to israel.

so, it is not a country. is basically half of palestinian government right now, the palestinian authority is running the west bank. some palestinians would say that is the problem, we don't have a country, don't have a government, we are not on equal footing with israel. i don't think that all palestinians by any measure would supportw9 on october 7. but that is what they did. so, you have to weigh both things. the fact that palestinians don't have a state and what path is open to them nonviolent way, mahmoud abbas from the palestinian authority has made zero progress if not backwards progress on that. and then you have to weigh -- if they are not a government, what is the israeli obligation to them? do they need to be treated like

a nationstate or is it like a terrorist group in syria or something? scenes to address? it's a tough topic to cover. host: and i know we are half a world away from the week ahead on capitol hill. what else are you covering this week on capitol hill and what else are you going to beoofor? what did we not get to? guest: i think we covered it. [laughter] all the main things. i also want to thank the for calling in. it's so great to know that there are americans still engaged in the news and have these thoughtful questions. thank you for being with us this morning. host: christa case bryant, aipac announcer: later today a discussion on strengthening the u.s. alliance with south korea with officials from both nations.

>> it's time to play ball. get ready to cheer on your favorite team in the annual congressional baseball team where republican face-off against democrats. want to live play-by-play coverage on wednesday at 7:00 p.m. on c-span, c-span now, or online at c-span.org.