>> coming up on "washington journal" this morning, your calls and comments live. then we will talk with georgia republican congressman buddy carter about campaign 2024 and this week's nato summit. also, texas democratic congressman al green joins us to discuss the economy and the divisions in the democratic party over president biden's reelection. "washington journal" starts now. ♪ host: good morning on this tuesday, july 11. top democrats continue to question whether president biden

should seek reelection. this while the president prepares for a high-stakes news conference later today. our coverage of that news conference at 5:30 p.m. eastern time on our free mobile video app or online at c-span.org. this morning, we want to get your thoughts on top democrats question president biden's path to victory. if you are a democrat, dial in at (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can join us in a text. include your first name, city, and state at (202) 748-8003. or on facebook, facebook.com/cspan. you can also post on x with the handle @cspanwj. former speaking nancy pelosi -- former speaker nancy pelosi's remarks on msnbc yesterday made

the front pages of the washington post. pelosi opens doors and calls for replacement. in a 10 minute tv appearance, pelosi, who has a decades longer -- long relationship with the president and demands -- still commands the respect of her colleagues, left her mark on the biggest clinical crisis facing the democratic party in years. let's listen to what the former speaker had to say. >> does he have your support to be the head of the democratic party? >> it is up to the president to decide if he is going to run. we are all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short. i think overwhelming support of the caucus it is not for me to say. i'm not the head of the caucus anymore, but he is beloved and respected and people want him to

make that decision. >> he has said he has made a decision. he has said he is going to run. do you want him to run? >> i want him to do whatever he decides to do and that is the way it is. whatever he decides, we go with. i think it is important to let him deal with this nato conference. this is a big deal. over 30 heads of state are here. he is the host of it and that means not just hosting it. that means orchestrating the discussion and setting the agenda and he is doing so magnificent lay. let's just hold off, whatever you are thinking, tell somebody privately, but you do not have to put that out on the table until we see how we go this week. host: the washington post says, when she said it is up to the president to decide if he is

going to run, in those few sentences on a program that biden is known to watch, pelosi did not directly call for biden to step aside but did significantly reframe a delicate or urgent conversation taking place among capitol hill's lawmakers. your reaction to the former speaker's comments there. axios said that chuck schumer is signaling to donors that he is open to a democratic presidential ticket that is not led by president biden. this according to three people -- three sources for axios. in a statement, the majority leader says, as i have made clear, i support president biden and remain committed to ensuring donald trump is defeated in november. that is what he said publicly to axios. they are reporting privately he is signaling to donors that he is open to this idea.

yesterday, senator welch became the first democratic senator to say that president biden should withdraw for the good of the country. i cannot like folks across the country, and worried about vemb's election thes cannot be higher. we cannot unresident biden's disastrous debate peornce. we cannot ignore or dismiss the valid questions raised since thatight. i understand why presideen wants to run. he saved us from donald trum once and wants to do it again, but he needs to reassess whether he is the best candidate to do so. in my view, he is not. for the good of the country, i'm calling on president biden to withdraw from the race. as many of you heard yesterday, after george clooney also writing in the new york times that president biden should withdraw from his reelection bid.

there are also nine democrats who have publicly called for the president to do so as well. as we get to your calls, let's take a look at those nine. francine in new york, independent, you are up first. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. i realize the democrats are very nervous about this election. it is a serious election, but we have to believe in our president . we have to believe in biden to do what he needs to do and we need to get behind him. democrats are nervous about this. nobody can give you a guarantee, but we need to stand behind our man and focus on trump. he is the one with all the bad

things he wants to do for this country, so let's get behind. get behind biden. host: what about the poll numbers? caller: i never went for poll numbers. we are 116 days away. polls change from day-to-day. we know what biden can do. he has done it. he has been the best president we have had in my lifetime, so let's go with him. you cannot throw him away for 90 minutes. and i bet trump was yelling like crazy during that debate, throwing him off his game. so give him a little grace. host: what about fundraising? if big donors like george clooney decide they are not going to donate a president biden's reelection bid. >> caller: then's they will guarantee trump's -- then they

will guarantee trump's win. host: and you are an independent? caller: i am. host: president biden will hold a solo news conference today at 5:30 p.m. eastern. you can watch that live on our free video mobile app and online at c-span.org. ray, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i disagree with the previous caller. i believe biden has been a disaster from day one. that is just my opinion. as a republican, i back trump. he was an excellent president. we were energy independent. we worse -- we were respected around the world. i believe people are waking up about what is going on,

especially democrats. they are waking up to see what is happening with biden and his health and mental state and cognitive abilities or lack thereof. and they are coming out and seeing it. host: maria in atlanta, what do you say? caller: [indiscernible] anybody else who do not agree with him, they need to shut up and keep their personal opinions to their selves. they would make a problem and may clooney needs to stop acting . they need to keep their personal opinions to themselves and unite. have a good day. host: before you go, what do you

think president biden could do to quell the questioning by these democrats? caller: the same thing he was doing before he had that debate, the same thing he has been doing, trying to help the country. he has been doing good. host: do you think his media appearances help? caller: yes. just continue to do what he was doing and let the others shut up and go to sleep somewhere. that is what he needs to do. host: it was announced yesterday president biden will sit down with lester holt of nbc news. they will air that interview on monday. he holds a high-stakes news conference this afternoon after the nato summit has been taking place in washington, d.c.. he will take multiple questions.

tune in our milapp. download it. that is at 5:30 p.m. eastern. in other news this morning, cnn has this headline. political suicide mission. congressional black caucus member representative richie torres switches on biden. the president met virtually with the congressional black caucus earlier this week and they came out in support and solidarity with president biden staying in the race. torres tweeted this out yesterday. in determining how to proceed as a partythere must be a serious reckoning with the down balt effect of whoever we nominate. what matters is not how weeel but what the numbers tell us. and unsentimental analysis of the cold, hard numbers which have no personal feelings.

garrett in california, good morning. caller: good morning. how are you doing? politics -- there is one guarantee. host: we cannot hear you. we will go to gregory in california, democratic caller. caller: hello. i am calling because i see a very important binary choice between two sets of ideas, two worldviews, and two presidents cut one of whom has already helped considerably to help america win the battle to save the planet upon which everything we do as people depends and with that in mind i would like to propose what i think is a good idea for biden going forward and for the democrats going forward. our president should campaign on

-- in an old-fashioned barn storm, a whistle stop tour. i can see two routes cut two sets about a grant states where the president would campaign with the vice president and with various state governors and senators and members of congress , state members of the legislature and local democrats, laying out hundreds of things -- or thousands really that this president and team democrat have done all over this country in this various places and i hope the vice president would travel, highlighting all of this stuff on the back of an amtrak train. he is amtrak joe, after all. it would be a great media event. it will be days in a row instead of hopping around on airplanes

and parachuting in here and there. not to mention the carbon footprint of campaigning that way. i think this would be a useful way for our president and team democrat because it is a bunch of people who do work with intelligence and integrity on hundreds of things to make this country better. we are talking agriculture, industry, education, environment, and all the stuff that makes us a great country. and i think people would enjoy watching it and it would be fun to watch. it would be a break from normal. that should happen before the democratic convention and i hope the president and his team will consider doing this. i would love to see this happen. host: the front page of the new york times notes there are 35 days between july 18 when mr. trump is set to accept his party's nomination and august 22

when mr. biden is set to accept his party's nomination in chicago. president biden yesterday meeting with afl-cio, called the union his domestic nato as he looks to shore up support. here's a little bit of what he said to the union yesterday. >> when we were going, i said i was going to be the most pro-union president in american history. i am. [applause] >> because to represent the folks i grew up with and where i come from and where the majority of the american people, i come from a household -- we were not poor, but we do not have any leftovers at the end of the month. three-bedroom bedroom house, four kids, grandpa who lived

with us full-time. i look back now wondering how my dad handled it. the point is we gave people a fighting chance. when i got elected, and you guys were with me one back to the 1970's and i was a kid, what we talked about was the idea was to give everybody a shot, no guarantee, just a shot. host: president biden talked with afl-cio members yesterday. the washington post is reporting top democrats in unions say biden must show he can win. calls came as top union leaders expressed grave concerns but more members and -- of commerce and other democrats call on him to step aside and members of his campaign staff began to exchange doubt about his prospects. in a closed-door meeting, some of the union leaders, many of whom are strident backers abided, set american doubts about biden's ability is

damaging his candidacy and asked the biden campaign officials for their plan to defeat trump, according to two people familiar. others spoke on the condition of eminem at he to share private comments. two of the most outspoken leaders with the president of the association of flight attendants and the president of the united auto workers, two of his biggest labor allies. the washington post has that front-page story this morning. as we said cut senator peter welch cut democrat, first of a credit senator to come out and say that the president should withdraw. others have expressed skepticism. senator richard blumenthal of connecticut, senator michael bennet of colorado. you have seen their comments on other networks. today on capitol hill, senate democrats will hold a special caucus lunch to hear from senior

biden advisors and biden campaign chair, according to a person close to senate democratic leadership. they will meet behind closed doors to hear from the biden campaign about the path forward. you get to let washington know what you think on this. mark in pennsylvania, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. please do not cut me off and you can ask any question you want. first, 81 million people voted for this guy. he cannot even hold a crowd of 500 people. if you have to pass a bill to make people think you are doing great -- the infrastructure bill , $7 billion to put in seven

electronic whatever they are. no one is buying these cars. the inflation reduction act, please. give me a break. democrats complain about democracy all the time. they are nothing but dictators. they want power. you can see it. they are all panicking because this is all going to bust. if you have a question, feel free to ask me. host: i am going to move on to michael in new york, republican. caller: how are you today? good morning. i watched the debate last week or the week before and it was like a heavyweight fighting a lightweight here and it was sad. everybody saw it. i do not know how any people did watch it, but everybody saw what his problem is. it is sad that he wanted to stay in. i know what he wants to stay in he should get out and take care

of himself. he is 81 years old. there is nothing to be ashamed about if he gets sick. we all get sick. i wish no harm for him, but for the democrats to have any shot of taking this election he has to get out. i wanted to say that. i wish him no harm at all. host: you are a republican? caller: yes. host: who are you supporting in this race now? caller: i am supporting donald trump. i'm just talking in general that if the democrats think they can take everything back, this man has to leave. because every time he talks you see he is getting worse and worse. he has to take care of himself. his wife has to say it is time for you to go because this is abuse. i just wanted to say that. host: if biden stays in, he

needs to choose a different vp is what audrey writes in, but it would be better if he stepped aside. aging democrats have refused to give up power meeting younger people are not a place to tak, but i would vote for gretchen whitmer enthusiastically. the new york times front page story this morning about the president, angling to make time his best ally. every day that mr. biden defies pressure to step aside, the prospects and logistics of replacing him become more untenable. and the potential of weeks of democratic infighting as the united republican party nominates donald trump may start to look worse than rallying behind mr. biden. no matter the concerns about the 81-year-old president's health

and ability to defeat mr. trump. the new york times this morning says the president's strategy is to run out the clock. karl rove, a republican strategist, writes in the opinion pages of the wall street journal what biden's exit could do for democrats. he says all but 43 of the convention delegates -- the chicago gathering will not be a bunch of bernie brose. it will be mostly normal democrats who want to win the election. if no candidate gets a first ballot majority when the regular delegates vote, the democratic so-called superdelegates can vote. talk about a crew of practical politicos focus on victory. we will be glued to our screens the entire convention. vice president kamala harris would be the favorite, but hardly a sure thing.

her 2020 bid revealed she is a weak candidate. her unfavorable numbers are worse than mr. biden and mr. trump's and she is in charge reporter policy. how has that worked out? if there is a new nominee, that person could keep her as vice president to avoid ditching the first black and asian american female veep. it is true mr. biden's warchest cannot be transferred to any candidate except ms. harris, but it can be transferred to a super pac, according to democratic nominees. karl rove laying out what could happen. nathaniel in mr. bissett -- in mississippi, a republican. caller: i'm a democrat not a republican. good morning. i watched the debate the other week and i do not see what they are -- he did so bad.

-- he always made gaps. he always did. look at trump. what is trump what to look like when he is 81 years old? that don't make no sense. these democrat are turning on biden? it don't make no sense. why do you want to switch a candidate? you do not do that. host: as a democrat, are you worried? let me finish my question. are you worried that he has been politically damaged and cannot recover? caller: one debate -- he made two or three gaffes in one debate. that does not disqualify you for being president. the man can do the job.

a convicted felon? and he is telling you what he is going to do to this country? it don't make no sense. host: will you be watching his news conference today? caller: i am pretty sure i will watch it. trump is going to ruin this country. host: i'm going to getn re calls. you can watch the news conference on c-span now online at c-span.org. axios with another exclusive report on how house oversight has subpoenaed top biden aides over his mental fitness. the gop led house oversight committee subpoenaed three senior white house aides wednesday demanding they sit for depositions regarding the president's health. it signals republican desire to investigate whether some of biden's closest advisers and aides essentially have hidden the 81-year-old president's true

condition and a probe that could drag through the november 5 election. that is the oversight committee chaired by a republican of kentucky. they subpoenaed jill banded's -- jill biden's top aide and a senior advisor to the president. roger, republicans are coming our way starting this weekend into next week. the convention runs monday through thursday. caller: and i'm just so excited. i would like to make a couple points. i would like to paraphrase a quote. people do not believe the truth i tell about myself. but they believe the lies others tell about me. when you look at how well the economy is doing, it is hard to argue with a lot of the figures going up between unemployment

and how the stock market is surging, so i think there needs to be a little temperament there. when it comes to whether it is trump or biden, i summit a column on sub stack entitled vote biden. bite the bullet for four years or bite the bullet with trump and hope it goes off in four days. it is one of those things. you look at the global -- which are president has is the most powerful country. there is no way on a global stage donald trump can do so any procedure on this country whatsoever. his track record is a catastrophic disaster when it comes to morals, integrity and

ethics. they do not exist. and when you get to the lies, they are so obvious and so blatant. as an independent, i find it hard to believe that the mag a groups and allies really can stand for this. let me just briefly -- they think he is a great businessman. there's an adage that the house never loses. now, that is a fact and that is why casinos do fairly well. donald trump had two casinos and put them both out of business. host: we will leave it at that. roger in wisconsin. a swing state this election cycle. in 2016, former president trump won it. in 2020, president biden won it. it is crucial in their

reelection bids and the washington post says an aarp poll released tuesday conducted by pulling firms that work for the biden and trump in wisconsin by six percentage points in a five way contest that included third-party candidates. biden be trump in wisconsin by less than a percentage point in 2020. republicans will hold their convention in milwaukee next week. tune into our coverage here. you can go to our website and our free video mobile epp. -- app. we will begin sunday in milwaukee with a preview of the republican convention. gary in michigan, democratic caller. good morning. >> i am a retired vet.

for me, it is good versus people. trump is a traitor. i remember that press conference with putin in helsinki's where he took putin's side. being retired military, i could never vote for anybody like that. i could not do it. i talked to a lot of vets and they say the same. they cannot vote for anyone like that. do not get me wrong. i was disappointed with the performance that biden had at the debate, but i think it was just a terrible night for him. i think he has done a lot of good for this country and i cannot vote for a man like justn like trump who is morally bankrupt, cruel -- host: what if the president has more appearances like the debate, like the cnn debate? then what?

caller: that would be very concerning to me. very concerning. i have to be realistic. if he has any more performances like that, i think he should drop out. that is my opinion. we can't afford him to have any more terrible performances like that. he needs to get out there and prove to the voters of this country that he can do the job, which i believe he can, but he has to be true to himself and this country. not -- how can i put this. not put his personal goals over this country, because we are at a point in our time, like i said previously, good versus evil. just like world war ii. host: political observers say that this news conference this

afternoon is high-stakes. 5:30 p.m. eastern time. download our mobile apps online or at c-span.org. when we come back, we will speak with to lawmakers about the uncertainties surrounding the president's political future and news of the week as well as the nato summit. first up buddy carter from georgia, and later, democrat al green of texas, a supporter of the president and member of the congressional black caucus. stay with us. ♪ announcer: since 1979, in partnership with the cable industry, c-span has provided complete coverage of the halls of congress from the house and senate floor, party briefings, and committee meetings. c-span gives you a front row seat to how issues are debated and decided with no commentary,

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your front row seat to washington anytime, anywhere. announcer: "washington journal" continues. host: joining us from capitol hill is congressman buddy carter, republican from georgia, member of the budget committee and energy and energy and commerce committee. you in a fox interview earlier this month called on president biden to withdraw from the race. why? guest: obviously, after his performance, not only at the debate but in previous public appearances, it's obvious he is struggling now. let's face it. he's 80 years old. let me say this -- as you know, i am a pharmacist. a health care professional. there are certain people at 80 who function better than other people. i am not a doctor and i'm not his doctor, so i don't know his medical history or medical

condition, but it appears when you look at him and you see the actions he is taking. forgetting names when he is shaking imaginary hands, falling, and his cognitive ability, his mental acuity is not what he needs to be in order to tackle the toughest job in the world. let's face it, the president of the united states is not only the most important job in the world, it is also the toughest job in the world. you have to be physically in belief it -- physically and mentally fit. i am 100 10% behind donald trump and will remain that way. this is bad for the country and i think it's somewhat selfish of he and his family to put himself in his situation above the country. host: you've also called for the president to take a cognitive test. why do you think, as a member of congress, that you, and others,

could call for the president to do so? guest: we have a responsibility to do that. it would be irresponsible for us to set aside, stand aside and ignore what are obvious signs of deteriorating physical and mental abilities of this man. look, joe biden has served this country well. he has had a great career and we thank him for his service, but it is time to step aside. host: the biden campaign has put out videos and others have seen videos, the live, of former president donald trump also appearing to stumble during campaign rallies or say things that are not coherent. should he take a cognitive test? guest: all of us struggle from time to time, but when it is consistent and when you see it reoccurring like you do with joe biden, then you know there is a problem. everyone is saying he had a bad

night. what happens if he has a bad night in europe negotiating with the foreign country? and the whole country suffers. that's bad. president has stumbled. i have stumbled sometimes. even younger people than me stumble sometimes. it happens to all of us. but we need to see that consistent situation where someone is consistently doing this. then you know that this is a problem. we see that with joe biden. host: former president trump is only three years younger. you said as a member of congress that you have the responsibility to ask for a test when someone is wanting a second term, as is former president trump. so, don't you have the responsibility to ask the former president also take a cognitive test? guest: i think president trump has taken a cognitive test. some people age differently from other people.

when i was practicing pharmacy, i consulted pharmacy in nursing homes in geriatrics. some people at 80 have different physical and mental capacity and mental capacity than other people at 80. certainly, it is just not a number. it is more than a number. you have to make sure that the people have the function to do that. i'm sure that donald trump is perfectly willing to take a cognitive test. i'm sure he would do well. i have been around him and i can tell you that he is sharp. host: let's talk about next week in milwaukee. leading up to that news reports are that the former president could announce his vice presidential pick, either before or during the convention. who would you like to see him pick? do you have names or characteristics? guest: my hope is that it would be someone that, god forbid, something were to happen they

could step in and continue to run our country. i'm sure that is what president trump is thinking as well. i'm sure that is part of his calculation. obviously, i would like to see someone who has experienced. i think that the ones who have been listed, all would be excellent candidates. whether it be marco rubio or j.d. vance, tim scott. all of those are excellent, excellent choices. the good news is in the republican party we have a strong, strong bench and he has a lot of good options. you want good options. any of those would be excellent, excellent picks. host: the nato summit happening this week in washington, the washington post headline nato leaders moved to trump-proof the alliance in washington. some expressing concern about the former president getting a second term and what that means

for the alliance. what would you say to those leaders? guest: first of all, they don't -- the media has made up them being concerned and worried. it is somewhat wrong. president trump for four years is our president proved that he was going to support nato, and he will. i am convinced of that. yes, we do want them to do their part. i appreciate president trump making that point. i appreciate him asking them to step up, you know. it wasn't that long ago that we only had 10 nato countries that were paying 10% of their gdp towards defense. now it is up to 23. i would like to think that a lot of that is due to what president trump has emphasized to them. look, you've got to do your part, too. on behalf of all americans, i appreciate him making that point.

president trump understands how important nato is, but at the same time nato has to understand, nato nations have to understand, that they have an important role too. nato is not the united states going to protect everyone. it is all of us protecting each other. host: how have you voted recently on aid to ukraine? guest: i voted for the package last time. i will tell you, look, none of us want putin to be successful. we understand how important this is. but there are a couple of things that concern me and a lot of us in congress. first of all, we need to see a plan. show me how this ends. i need to know how this is resolved. that is important. i am continually throwing money into the abyss. i would like to see president biden allow ukraine to use more

lethal weapons and let's get this over with. i believe that ukraine can defeat russia and turn them back, and i would like to see that. greta, this was interesting to me. something that i haven't experienced a lot. it was somewhat of a generational divide on ukraine. a lot of older people, a lot of people who remember the cold war, remember world war ii, they were adamant that we have to get the money over there. whereas, a lot of younger people were wondering, what are we doing here? why are we sending money to another country to protect their border while we are not protecting our own border? it was a generational divide and i thought that was interesting. host: we will go to calls. mike in stockton, california, independent come up first. caller: good morning. your guest, mr. carter.

the c-span crowd. my question is, you were asking about biden's mental acuity and wanted to give a test. of all of the crazy, nutty stuff donald trump has done, and we have all seen it, why have you never asked about his test? we don't have any choice. it has been too long into this campaign. we switch now to another person, you have automatically lost. i am independent, but biden is the only choice. i would rather vote for somebody that is -- rather than someone off the reservation. we have no choice. all of those people who talk before trump and all of the nasty stuff he said, and then he

happened to be the last one, i'm sorry. you're the one who did it. you started the whole january 6 the riot by doing that. biden is going to win, trump is going to lose, and that is the bottom line. i'm sorry, way too late. host: let's have a response from the congressman. guest: i respectfully disagree. i think donald trump did a great job as president for the four years he was president and i think you will do an even better job this time. he has matured. i think you vault in -- evolved into a true leader. i believe that. i've been around the man. i see the way that he makes decisions. and he does, he is very thoughtful. i'm excited about the fact. obviously, i feel like he is going to win, but because it is difficult to do.

that is to change a candidate midstream. we are in uncharted territory, no question. we have never done something like this before. we always, republican, democrat, or independent, have to put our country first. that is what i am asking the president and his family to do. if he is not up to the toughest job in the world, please step aside and let another candidate. let's consider the policies and make a decision that is best for this country. host: larry in chicago, independent. caller: i was a democrat, but thank you for your program. i am in chicago, a minister, my question i think has something to do with the budget. i apologize, i was trying to get the program prior to that. my question for the congressman is, if we have a budget, i hope he understands whether democrat or republican that the budget

has to be for the people that he serves and not try to make a budget out of something you have taken away from or against someone else. host: are you talking about the former president? if you were to win reelection? caller: the former president? i thought that we were -- maybe i am lost. host: we understand the question. congressman, can you respond to his concerns? guest: i will. i serve on the budget committee, so i am appreciative of this question. it is one that needs to be asked. we have serious problems in this country. the top four line items in our budget now, number one is social security, number three medicaid and medicare, number four is security. number two is the interest on our debt. not paying it down, just the interest is the second-highest

line item in the budget. we cannot sustain that. monetarily, that cannot continue. we have to address the interest on our debt. we have to address this $34.5 trillion debt that we have saddled ourselves with. yes, republicans and democrats. i'm not going to say it has been one side. all of us have spent too much money. we have to tighten our belt. you would not run your home budget like this. i was a small businessman for 32 years and could never have stayed in business for that long if i ran my business like this. we have tough decisions ahead. the key is going to be, in a bipartisan fashion, to address social security. we can do it without impacting those who are on social security or are going to be getting social security soon. we can fix this without inconveniencing people at all. we also have to address medicare and medicaid.

the fastest-growing portion of our budget. an aging population that we have now, we have got to address all those things. both of those things, social security, medicaid, medicare have to be done in a bipartisan way. host: florida, republican. winter park, florida. are you there? caller: can you hear me? host: yes, you are on the air with congressman buddy carter. caller: i really wanted to get in on the previous call. you talked about the news conference that will happen this afternoon. my opinion is, unless it is open with no hidden teleprompters and no hidden notes and the questions asked of the president are not softball questions that he has been given the questions and has been able to tabulate his answers, he needs to be attacked like -- put a picture

of trump in front of his face. lester holt and all these people when trump is on. they are like a pack of dogs. biting at their ankles. when biden comes on everyone's cordial and trying to take it easy on him. no, the country needs to see if this man can handle being the president. host: with so many people observing this news conference this afternoon, it sounds to me like you think the reporters are also under pressure to ask tough questions? caller: i believe -- in all honesty, everyone of these reporters. george stephanopoulos the other day, everything was softball tosses rather than hardball pitches. the man needs to be questioned like he is the president. not like he is an old, feeble man. that is why the democrats in the house have blocked the robert

herr report from being released because that is the thing that we would have seen in the debate. host: jim's thoughts. congressman? guest: i could not agree more with him. greta, to your point about the pressure on the press, i agree. i think there is for sure -- there is pressure on the pressure there's pressure on congress too. as i said earlier, it would be irresponsible for us to stand aside and watch this happen. look at, as i said earlier, i am supporting donald trump 110%. i will work to get him elected president again. for the good of the country, we need to have someone -- if joe biden is elected again, do you think that he can last four years in the toughest job in the world? after what we've seen? not just at the debate, but even

before then? no. i do not think that he can do that. that's just my feeling. host: in other news, "the wall street journal" this morning, drug benefit managers face suit over insulin prices. explain drug benefit managers and why this is the front page of "the wall street journal." guest: as a pharmacist for over 40 years, i started when i was 10, as a pharmacist for over 40 years i witnessed this first hand. the first thing that i did when i got into congress 9.5 years ago was to go to the ftc and ask him to look at the vertical integration in the drug pricing chain where the insurance company, the pbm, pharmacy benefit manager, is the middleman between the insurance company and the drug manufacturer.

supposedly, they are representing the patient. but they are not representing the patient. they are representing the insurance company. 80% of pbm's are controlled by three companies. 80% of prescriptions in this country are controlled by these three companies. that is not competition. pbm's are causing drug prices to remain high and go even higher. after 9.5 years, or 7.5 years, two years ago the ftc agreed to implement a study on the impact of pbm's on health care and independent retail pharmacies. now, they released two days ago there and term report. it is not the final report but is the interim report. that was scratchy, and it showed the egregious practices of pbm's, and how they are causing drug prices to be high and pocketing all this money.

we have got to bust this. no insurance company should own a pbm. no pbm should own a pharmacy. that is the only way that we will be able to resolve this. i know that we live in a capitalistic society and i'm not opposed to anyone making money. i wanted to serve patients, yes, but also wanted to make money in business. at the same time, they are ripping off the public. one of the most significant things about this is, yes, the ftc is going to sue because of insulin prices. there's no reason insulin should be as expensive as it is. they are ripping off the public. pbm's have no value in health care. they are only driving prices up. host: is there bipartisan support to do what you are calling for? guest: there is bipartisan support to do this. look, all of us, republican,

democrat, or independent, one the same thing. accessible, affordable, quality health care. whether you are a republican or democrat, you want that. pbm's are not only impacting accessibility, because we have at least one independent retail pharmacy closing every day in this country. the most successful health care professionals in the country are pharmacists. 95% of americans live within five miles of a pharmacy. if you close these people decrease accessibility. we all want affordable health care. pbm's and insurance companies are causing affordability to go out the window. we are not able to afford -- remember, for 40 years i was the one who had to go to the counter and tell senior citizens how much their prescriptions were. i had to watch them make a decision between buying their

medicine and buying their groceries. i was the one who had to go to the counter and tell the mother how much the antibiotic was for their child and watch her in tears as she tried to figure out how to pay for that. i knew these pbm's were getting these discounts and not passing them on to the patients. that is why i said as my focus when i got to congress to do something about this. thank goodness in a bipartisan fashion we are finally doing something about it. host: if it happens this term of the presidency, will he sign it into law? guest: i hope you will, and he should. again, i don't know the president's medical history, but he is going to be taking medicine if he is not taking quite a bit right now. he will want to be very interested in the price of drugs. host: joe in bedford, maine, independent. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call, c-span.

if buddy carter isn't the perfect example of how people in the republican party have turned the republican party to a toilet with no flusher and no lid. you have lied repeatedly, sir. you are the same buddy carter who said you put 5000 dead people voted in georgia. i was you, right, sir? that was you who came on c-span and said that, right, right? that was you, buddy. number two, you should be apologizing to ashli babbitt's family. the dead person. you know who ashli babbitt is. host: what is your point? caller: he is a liar! host: about what. caller: he came on for years ago and said he had 5000 dead georgia voters who voted for joe biden. you have it on film, c-span. you should have been showing

that before this smiling clown -- host: congressman, care to respond? was that a no? guest: i am not going to respond to that. i don't know what he is talking about. host: ross, westport, california, independent. caller: buddy, it is good to hear from you. i like the sound of your name. it rolls off my lips real good. how do you think the world would look, today, in our time right now, if all the politicians on the planet, especially in america, were really young? you don't have to worry about ageism, being 80, 90, 70. what if they were all teenagers, say from 13 to 19? and they all work for free? you don't pay politicians. you don't have them bought and

paid for. the world would look different because kids that age have a different outlook about not only our future that their future. host: congressman? guest: if i can respond to that, let me be clear. i am not suggesting that an 80-year-old cannot serve as president of the united states. different people age differently. i discovered that in my work in geriatrics. some 80-year-olds are as sharp as a tack. i am 67. i just finished doing 500 push-ups that i do every morning. i keep myself physically fit. different people age differently. it is obvious that joe biden has aged tremendously. if i had been president of the united states for the past four years i'm sure that i would be in a different physical and mental state as well. the toughest job in the world. the question we have to ask now

is can he sustain for four more years? i would submit that based on what we've seen, not only at the debate but in other areas as well, that, no, he is not fit mentally and physically to serve for four more years as the president of the united states. host: republican buddy carter, republican from georgia, thank you for the conversation. we will be joined by democratic congressman al green of texas later on, a supporter of the president and member of the congressional black caucus. after thisreak, we will repeat our conversation from earlier. democrats questioning president biden's path to victory. your reaction coming up on "the washington journal." announcer: american history tv, saturdays on c-span2, exploring the people and events that tell the american story. at 4:15 p.m. eastern, michael

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>> the house will be in order. announcer: c-span celebrates 45 years of covering congress like no other. since 1979, we have been your primary source for capitol hill, providing balanced, unfiltered coverage of government, taking you to where the policy is debated and decided with the support of america's cable company. c-span, 45 years and counting, provided by cable. announcer: "washington journal" continues. host: president biden is preparing for a high-stakes news conference this afternoon as pressure intensifies on him to exit the race. our conversation with you this morning on "the washington journal" is about top democrats, some rank and file have called on him to withdraw his reelection bid. top democrats are questioning the president's path to victory.

we want to get your reaction. a new poll shows most democrats want the president to drop out, but overall the race is static. the poll results contradict biden's claim that only party elites want him to step aside he claims positive reactions on the campaign trail helped him stay in the race after the debate where he trailed off and occasionally appeared confused. the poll finds 56% of democrats say that he should end his candidacy while 42% say he should continue to seek reelection. overall, two in three adults say the president should step aside including seven in 10 independents. biden and president -- and former president trump in a dead heat for the popular result with both candidates receiving 46% support among adjusters voters p that finding is at odds with some other recent public polls across eight other polls tracked

by the post. the former president leads by 3.5 percentage points on average compared to the one point trump age in the same poll before the debate. president biden led trump by between nine points and 11 points in averages of public polls in this point in the campaign for years ago. eed up winning by 4.5 points. dave in buffalo, new york, a democratic caller. dave react specifically before you get to your comments to this washington post/abc poll. caller: i disagree with that poll. i have been a democrat since 1985. i believe that joe biden is fully capable of continuing, despite his age and apparent infirmary.

i am a strong supporter. i have some personal connections. host: our you a -- are you a supporter of the vice president as well? caller: yes, i am. i like her. host: dave in new york, a longtime democrat, says the president should stay in the race. mike, republican. good morning. we are listening. caller: i had a quick question. i thought on the debate they were not supposed to have any notes or things on the podium. i was watching c-span. they had a replay of the debate. they clearly, two or three times, had different camera angles on c-span and clearly showed that joe biden had a tablet and a marker in his hand

and was clearly reading off the notes. if you look at c-span, you will clearly see he had notes and a marker in his hand crossing off certain items. you could tell when he was putting his eyes down that he was reading his crib notes. host: mike, cnn's debate, it was their camera angles to be clear. cnn allowed other networks, like c-span, to simulcast the debate. the candidates were allowed to take notes. what he could have been reading were the notes that he was taking through the debate. they were given a pen and pad. caller: that was my fault. i thought they were not allowed to have any notes. i thought joe was not supposed to have crib notes all the time. that's what i got. host: west virginia, independent. hi, solomon.

solomon? independent, west virginia. caller: yes. hi, america. i am a 70-year-old black woman. i have been voting. i am sick and tired, for 15 years now, 24/7, biden trump, trump, biden. it is annoying to me as an independent. i would want all of the young people, let's vote for kennedy junior, ok? kennedy, kennedy, he is our man. he can make a change, i know he can. host: charles in missouri, republican. caller: yes. so, i have been watching joe biden for four years. i have been watching the news.

he needs to go. he is not mentally capable. he is not physically capable. you can tell that by his walk. i am 64 years old. i know i have trouble getting around, too. he is not capable. what are we going to do? if we get a nuclear threat at 2:00 a.m. in the morning, is he going to get up? his wife? someone in the cabinet going to make the call what to do? he is not capable of doing it anymore. host: former speaker nancy pelosi on msnbc yesterday morning. "the washington post" said that she subtly opened the door and called for a replacement. in the tv appearance on "morning joe" hello c, with a decades long relationship with the president, and still commands the deep respect of her colleagues, left her mark on the biggest political crisis facing the democratic party in years.

here's what she had to say. [video clip] >> does he have your support to be the head of the democratic ticket? rep. pelosi: it is up to the president to decide if he is going to run. we are encouraging him to make that decision, because time is running short. i think the overwhelming support of the caucus is not for me to say. i'm not the head of the caucus anymore, but he is beloved, he is respected, and people want him to make that decision, not me. >> he has said firmly this week, he is going to run. do you want him to run? rep. pelosi: i want him to do whatever he decides to do. whatever he decides, we go with. i think it is important, and i hope everyone would join in, to let him deal with the nato conference. over 30 heads of state are here.

he is the host of it. that means not just hosting, it means orchestrating the discussion and setting the agenda. he is doing so magnificently. i have said, everyone, let's hold off. whatever you are thinking. either tell someone privately, but you don't have to put that out on the table until we see how we go this week. host: the washington post reporting on what the former speaker had to say on msnbc yesterday. they say in those few sentences on a program that biden is known to watch pelosi did not directly call for biden to step aside but she significantly reframed the conversation, reframed an urgent conversation taking place on capitol hill between lawmakers. tampa, florida, democratic caller. tim, what did you make of the former speaker's comments?

caller: i called on the independent line. when it comes to what nancy pelosi said, at the end of the day it depends on how they view joe biden. let say that joe biden blew it when he had his opportunity to put trump in his place. what i don't understand -- i could care less about joe biden or trump. at the end of the day, we are going to have the choice between them to candidates. i was hoping to catch that representative on there, but he's obviously gone. the thing that i don't understand is the media. it is planting seeds in people's minds and people fall in line with the foolishness. i don't understand for a 90 minute conversation or debate, how are people going to say, i will now vote for the republican party? it is not all about trump and

joe biden. it is about what the party stands for. because a 90-minute debate, all of these people who are now going to start voting for the republican party knowing that the republican party and project 2025 is out there, i just don't get it. one thing i hope you will do at c-span is, when people come in, like the person in minnesota who said that we are not going to vote for joe biden, who are you going to vote for? trump? host: seven in 10 independents in the washington post poll said that the president should exit the race. it is independents that could determine the outcome of the presidency in november in swing states, as you've all heard political analysts say. top democrats like senate majority leader chuck schumer, the democrat of new york, is privately signaling to donors

that he is open to a presidential ticket not led by president biden. this is a scoop from axios. why it matters in public that schumer has been insistent that he is for joe and in private is singing a different tune. according to three people familiar with the matter of conversations with the donors. he responded to axios reporting saying that he made clear repeatedly and privately that he supports president biden and ensuring that former president trump is defeated in november. president biden this morning preparing for his news conference at 5:30 p.m. eastern. you can watch it on the free video mobile a, span now, or online at c-span.org. we learned yesterday that president biden will sit down for another one on one interview after his abc interview with george stephanopoulos. he will now sit down with lester holt of nbc news. that will air 9:00 p.m. eastern

on monday. before the abc interview, after the debate, axios had this. biden's media evasion. these are the number of press conferences and media interviews by president. 164 for the current president, serving in his first term. former president trump, 468. former president obama, 570. you can see as it goes down from there. tim in tampa, florida. democratic caller. sorry, we just talk to you. marie in new hampshire, republican. caller: good morning. i personally don't care of donald trump or joe biden is in the election.

in november, or which one, hopefully either one of them will win. nor do i care for, harris -- for kamala harris. my plan is to write in a candidate, nikki haley. i just don't like either candidate. host: what you think about nikki haley releasing her delegates to vote for the former president next week in milwaukee? caller: what was that? host: what do you think of nikki haley releasing her delegates at the convention next week in milwaukee, encouraging them to vote for the former president? caller: i'm sorry, i'm not getting that. host: that is all right. democratic caller, you are next. caller: yes, greta. i am glad to talk to you. i noticed the man who called in and questioned the former

representative, which you were talking to, and asked a direct question, you never answered it, never looked it up, never confirmed it. i think you should. i think it is important that you prove yourself to be a neutral person that asks the question that a caller calls in, especially when it is on your media. please do that in the future. i would appreciate that very much. host: i would encourage you and others to go to our website, c-span.org. look at the appearances from buddy carter and see what he has said. caller: i don't have a computer to do that. host: i understand your point. ron in baltimore, maryland, independent. ron. caller: good morning. before the race, before the debate, you had several prominent republican leaders putting it out there that

president biden will not be running at the end, towards the end. it is happening before our eyes. when you hear that two thirds of americans want him to drop out, i think that the democratic party should listen to the american people. to me, this is actually turning out to be a moment where people were pleading with her to step down while obama was in the white house and she didn't. now the democratic party is regretting it. another thing, your psychiatrist, of which i am one, are sitting back and shaking their heads. there are so many signs and symptoms that president biden is displaying. not just through the debate. look at clips from when he is traveling overseas, or when he does have a news conference. it is really, really evident

that he is definitely suffering from some type of neurological, cognitive deficit. it is pretty evident. i'm sorry if those who support him don't see it. he needs to step down and spend the rest of his life with his family. that is my point. recently, you have had several black speakers on your show. i think smiley, and they are speaking as if they are talking for the cap black americans. they are not. i 100% support trump. i think what we have in place now is destroying the black community. if you look at recent news, as for where illegal immigrants are being placed, they are being placed in predominately black and poor neighborhoods. host: we will leave it at that. top democrats say that biden must show he can win.

this is front page "washington post." they say behind closed doors union leaders are asking biden campaign officials to prove that the president has a path to victory. top campaign aides are going to be on capitol hill today meeting behind closed doors with senate democrats to also talk with them about the way forward for president biden's reelection bid. hi, barry. good morning. caller: in response to your discussion, i guess they are trying to figure out the electoral progress to try to get him across to 270. it is going to be tough and close for both of these candidates.

we are going to go to the same six states as we have for the past four elections, it seems like. i feel -- i am a republican/independent. i split my ticket when i vote. i want to vote for the person who is best not only for what my views are, but for my community, and in this case with the country's goals i believe should be. we represent freedom to the world. we should have someone who understands what freedom is. not someone, and this is going to be countered in my position, not someone who thinks that freedom means forcing someone into the congress to try to impact the count. we need to set the example. we can reference back to the first one i was talking about.

i'm -- i want to vote trump, but i have some issues with trump. i am fighting -- my issues with trump, are they greater than the issues i have with where the current president on day one basically threw anything with trump's name on it out the window. not because it made policy since, but because it was trump attacks. host: other opinion pages have heard the democrat from vermont became the first democratic senator to say that president biden should withdraw, writing his opinion in today's "washington post." that posted online yesterday. many of you her george clooney come the actor and donor who has held fundraisers for the

president and other democratic nominees. i love joe biden, but we need a new nominee. democrats, do not fall sway to a cold personality. we vote for president. he says that the dam has broken and we can put our heads in the sand and pray for miracle in november or speak the truth. kevin in d.c., democratic caller. caller: i agree with clooney. biden is more of a dianne feinstein. comments like his staff will get mad if he talks too much. he makes comments about going to china to invade taiwan, instead of the traditional strategic ambiguity. i think that he hopes the trump

campaign. -- helps the trump campaign. rank-choice voting would see if kamala is the next choice or who the next choice is. there was a comment, joke about it, that kamala would be a good candidate if a meteor struck. the thing about -- c-span has a lot of transparency. there was a show on monday about covid. i have long covid. host: kevin, we are going to stick to the topic this morning. top democrats questioning president biden's path to victory. we are getting your response to that. there have been nine house democrats, rank and file, who

have publicly called on biden to withdraw. let's look at those names, as we hear from dottie in tennessee, independent. caller: good morning. i want to say that, all of the senators, democratic senators and congressmen, should be backing their president. all the way. that anybody who has not read the 2025 program that the republicans have put out is crazy. you need to read that and see what they are going to do. it -- it is a call to where do you want fascism or independence. host: can you focus the electorate on that as long as president biden is in the race?

caller: absolutely. host: you think at some point the biden campaign and democrats can shift their focus? what needs to happen -- what needs to happen to shift the american people's focus? caller: i think it is journalists. one part, they need to start talking to the senators and congressmen. they need to back their democratic president. is what they should be doing. rather than getting on and -- pelosi, for god's sake, saying you should have come out -- and absolutely backed her president. period. host: you're talking about these democratic lawmakers should be backing their president? not journalists? caller: exactly. exactly. host: i'm going to go on to lou

in wyoming, republican. hey, lou. we lost lou. edward, paris, ohio, independent. caller: good morning. i feel really bad for biden. the situation at hand, he is in cognitive thoughts to span tow to toe with donald trump. i want to throw something out there that probably won't be the most favorable thing for democrats, but the way to be donald trump is for joe to pass the baton to kamala harris, for her to pick up liz cheney as her vice president. i think that these two women

beat donald trump. it would be great for the country and show the world we can do. host: edward in ohio calling for a harris/cheney ticket. rockville, maryland, independent. caller: good morning. i wanted to share that i think that this is a very valuable conversation. very supportive towards the republican party. i think that this conversation should be taken by someone who is an independent person. just someone who is unbiased. i feel like you are trying to maneuver the situation as to why biden needs to be removed from the party. from the democratic party. host: in what way? caller: a lot of the facts you are sharing and things that you are saying is towards white people should not vote for him

even though they are the democratic party. i think we are pushing it and just left with candidates that might not be a better fit, but i think a person responsible to have this conversation should be very unbiased. host: sharing information with the audience, polls, what the headlines say in the national polls, you view that as biased? by sharing the information? caller: i want you to think about what are the ones that you are sharing? i haven't heard you share a headline for the republican party and people against the republican party. host: we are focusing our conversation this morning on what is dominating the front page of the national newspaper. it is not an endorsement of them.

it is a conversation happening in the nation's capital and across the country. it is on the front pages of the newspaper. these polls have just come out. political analysts are talking about it. we are having that conversation with our viewers this morning, reflective of what the conversations are like across the country. we have conversations about the republican party on this program as well. don't take today as a snapshot. look at our program overall, and all of the different topics that we caller: when you make a comment, you want to make sure you share the positive and negative, not just the negative. i feel like you haven't really shared what are people saying that are -- besides most recently a conversation like people that are calling are saying hey, support your party no matter what happens. i feel like you should share both comments, not just the

negative ones. host: we showed what chuck schumer had to say in response to the axe -- axios reporting. we are hearing from democratic callers saying president biden should stay in the race. up next on "washington journal" al green who is a democrat from texas, will be joining us and a member of the congressional black caucus and a supporter of president biden. henry in new york, democratic caller. go, henry. caller: good morning. i want to thank you. you know, i get so upset with the democrats because you could say one thing about the republicans. they stick together. you can ask a republican why they like trump. they say you know he is a pedophile, so what? you know he is a rapist? so what. you know who is a convicted felon, so what? he is twice impeached. yeah, so what? but if biden has one bad night,

he got to go. why? that's the failure of the democratic party. and if they remove biden and put somebody else in it and decide they don't like that person, then the democrats got no one to blame but themselves. host: henry, democratic caller there in new york. as we said, we will take a break. when we come back, al green democrat will be joining us, a spore of president biden. stay with us. >> since 1979, 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,

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it it for free today. c-span now, your front row seat to washington anytime, anywhere. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us this morning, congressman al green, democrat of texas. congressman, let's begin with this "washington post" poll that came out. most democrats want the president to drop out is what they have found. i want to read these numbers for you. the poll finds that 56% of democrats say that he should end his candidacy while 42% say he should continue to seek re-election. overall, two in three adults say the president should step aside, including more than seven in 10 independents. does that give you pause? guest: we know that polls are always accurate because hillary clinton became president. all jokes aside, we know that polls are a snapshot in time and that they can be correct today,

possibly, but in a year, not so. then we have about 100 days left before the election. there's plenty of time for the polls to change. again, the polls had hillary far out front but unfortunately on election day, someone else won. host: "the washington post" also adds this analysis. president biden led the former president between nine and 11 points in average of public polls at this point in the campaign four years ago. he ended up winning by 4.5 points. now he is in a statistic dead heat, from this "washington post" poll, but that is at odds with some other recent polls. across eight other national polls tracked by the post, the former president leads by 3.5 points on average. guest: again, polls are not to be depended upon in terms of what we do today.

today's decisions have to be based upon what we have done in the past. we have a president that has done great things for this country. i am siding with biden. i am sticking with biden and i am also going to be riding with harris. these are two people that have done great things. if i may say this, it's important for us to note that president biden inherited a pandemic. he took us through the pandemic. he brought inflation down. it was over 9%. he has cut that in half. he has helped us through this whole notion of you got to take care of the people in the country with health care. he passed a bill that had money in it for the affordable care act. people have health insurance because president biden was president. this is something that people on the other side wanted to eliminate. they still want to eliminate the affordable care act. we cannot give them the power to

so with a president who has said he will eliminate the affordable care agent. i am sticking with mr. biden. if you are listening to al green, stay in the race, mr. president. there is time for things to change. by the way, mr. president, i knew you were old when you ran the first time. it was no surprise to me that you are a senior citizen, anledder statesman. by the way, your opponent is old too. we have two elder -- old persons if i may say so in this race. and i am not moved one bit by a bad debate. i don't expect you to be as glib as daniel webster. daniel webster was an orator. here is what i say to you. i saw a minister interviewed, and he was asked why would you side with president trump when he has all of these problems,

criminality, moral problems, and this minister said because he fulfills my agenda. maybe not in those exact words, but he fulfills my agenda. i learned something from that. president biden may be old but he is effective. as someone who is effective, that's going to take care of the agenda of the american people that are in need is the person that we need in office. host: congressman, what did you win your last election by? guest: large margin. host: would it be fair to say that you have a safe seat for re-election? guest: nobody has a safe seat. i run every day. i am not waiting until november to run. i start the day after an election and i run through to the next election. host: you won by a large margin last time around. richie torres tweets out yesterday in determining how to

proceed as a party there must be serious recning with the down ballot effect of whomever we nominate. what matters is not how we feel, but what the numbers tell us. an unsentimental analysis of the cold hard numbers which have no personal feelings. if the president is going to drag down those that are running below him on the ballot, are you not concerned about that? guest: i don't think the president would drag down the persons lower on the ballot for this reason. i think democrats will support the president, come onboard and support the president, once the president as some democrats are waiting for him to announce but he has done it three times but once the president gives his final announcement. like a church, the preacher gives a closing and then a second closing and then a third closing. we are waiting on the fourth closing, mr. president. host: to say what?

guest: to say he is in the race. it may take going through the convention, but once it's known that he is in the race, there is not one of those persons who will say i will vote for trump. not one of them. every one of them is going to be riding with biden and siding with harris. host: what about the independents who the president needs to win? guest: the independents seem to be coming over after the debate, it's -- the polls have shown this. at that moment in time, it seems like they were coming over to biden's side. host: you discredited the polls when i first mentioned them and now you are citing the polls. guest: i am citing the polls for that moment in time. i am not citing them forever. for that moment in time that seemed to be the case. i said to you, polls if they were correct we would have president hillary clinton. host: what did you make of your former speaker, nancy pelosi, saying what she said on msnbc yesterday? guest: here is what i make of

all all persons have said. i believe they are sincere. i believe they are honorable people, but honorable people can differ. i differ with any and everybody who wants to see the president step aside. by the way, i only speak for myself and everybody who agrees with me. i don't speak for the congressional black caucus. i am a member, and i respect the leadership, but i speak for myself. i am a liberated democrat, unafraid. host: sharon in minnesota, democratic caller. hi, sharon. guest: good morning, greta. good morning, mr. green. always a pleasure to hear your voice. you are so calming and we need you so much now. back in 2016 i called into the program, there was a lot of panic after trump won and you know, everybody felt like we needed to calm everybody down. don't let them beat us.

we are stronger together. and i thought we did a really good job, but you know, the crooked trump and this crooked movement, it was hard and since he started campaigning now, it's all been about joe's age. that and the border. those are the only two things that party has to go on. i just -- i fear right now, i am a little scared because i think that it's broken through a little bit. host: sharon, can i ask you, how do you think democrats change the narrative then? you said it's all about his age and immigration. how does the president change the narrative? caller: we need to listen to joe more than we need to listen to trump. you need to -- not you, greta, personally, but media needs to show trump for who he really is, call him out every single time

for all the crazy, absolutely crazy stuff that he has done. joe has been an excellent president, and we need to go forward with him. ok, so he slipped up. he had a bad night. trump is a convicted rapist and racist and poad file -- pedophile. joe had a bad night. host: all right, sharon. i will have the congressman jump in. guest: thank you for your kind words. i believe that the president had a bad night, but it can happen again. so do not assume that that event is a one-off. it may not be. but the man is effective. he has a good team. he knows how to build a team to get a job done. he is a person that can take almost impossible odds and turn

them into a positive. this man got the infrastructure bill through when president trump tried over his entire administration to get it done and he could not get it done. $1.2 trillion put into the economy. lots of jobs, people got bridges and roads taken care of. he knows how to get things done. there may be some value in having someone who is a senior states person in office. he knows the people. he knows how to get bipartisanship, something that we could not get with president trump for the most part. so i am saying to you, i believe the way for us to win is for democrats to do what democrats do and support the democrat. i don't demean anybody for not doing it. i am just saying that once democrats do what we do and let the republicans are going to do enough to damage your candidate. for those people who think if we can get some new people in, we

will get someone who will be able to beat president trump and won't have the baggage of president biden. friends, i remember when john kerry was nominated. i saw him when he reported for duty. friends, the side is going to slice and dice whomever we select. do not assume that we will have someone who will be free of those persons in a fact free debate. facts are not going to be that meaningful. they're going to do what they've done to speaker pelosi. they're going to do what they did to senator kennedy -- not kennedy, excuse me, clinton when she ran. they're going to cut people up. they spend money against us. they can spend enough money on you so much so that your mother will say i didn't know my child was that way. we have biden. we have harris. they have been vetted. let's stay the course. that's what i am doing. host: excuse me. as we said, president biden will

hold that ws conference today 50 p.m. eastern. watcon our free mobile app and online at sp.org. the president likely to tell thesneeconomic numbers that came out. inflation hit 3% in june, lower than expected. fred in port charlotte, florida, republican. hi, fred. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. representative green, i do appreciate your loyalty to your party. you always have been there and you always will. but what i would like to do is i would like to stop this oh, the president had a bad night. that's all i hear. so to stop that, let's go ahead and release the hur report. let america hear it so we can make our decision and maybe there is a little more than just 90 minutes of what is going on here. thank you so much, sir.

guest: thank you invest. thank you very much. i am of the opinion that that will be sorted out probably through the courts and i will await a decision from the courts. you mentioned the 3% number. would you repeat that? host: inflation hit 3% in june lower than expected is what "the wall street journal" is reporting. guest: in 2022, inflation was at about 9.1%. if my math is correct, three into nine goes three times as we would say when i was in grade school. so that means that it's come down to about 1/3 of what it was in 2022. biden is efficacious. biden makes a difference by getting things done. he surrounds himself with good people. i don't expect him to be glib. i am not voting for a daniel webster. as that minister told me he was not voting for a priest. he said he was voting for someone who would get things

done. he thought trump would get things done. he did. he put justices on the supreme court that were recommended by the federalist society by the way. i out-- he outsources things to other people who already have agendas. he outsourced the judgeships to the federalist society and he is now outsourcing all of the other people that may serve him and honor him as opposed to the constitution to the heritage society and project 2025. he outsources. we want a president who is going to stick with the american people and not let these small groups of people, a subset of society, dictate who will be on the supreme court and dictate who will have loyalty to the president so that he can hire them and fire them as he did comey. host: heading into thursday, "the wall street journal" reports there have been strong signs that the economy has cooled not enough to stir major fears of a recession, but sufficient to spur a change of

tone from federal reserve officials. the federal reserve chair on capitol hill this week. we covered his testimony twice before lawmakers -- you can find it on our website, c-span.org. let's go to william in houston, texas. democratic caller. hi there, william. william in houston, texas. democratic caller. caller: good morning, c-span. host: good morning. caller: reverend -- i mean not reverend, you know, i think we all should think about being in that manner. i wanted to take you back to the conference. the democratic party has figured out a way to suppress the black vote without the help of the republicans and anybody else. we voted for joe biden and i guarantee you this. just like a roach, when you see

one, there's many. a lot of us going to stay at home because of the backstabbing that we consider backstabbing from the street level all the way up. i am fine with a republican or democrat but there are lots of us out here that's really, really just downright depressed that the few in this party turn and run and allow everything. anytime fox news copies cnn, you know they got us by the tail. this is what i am saying to the democratic party. host: all right, william. what do you think, congressman, about what he said? all of this could depress the black vot in -- vote in november. guest: well, not what is happening today, unless we continue. that's why i said democrats have

got to do what democrats do. we support our candidate, our nominee. he is not the nominee now but he is a presumptive nominee. i don't think he will be defeated at the convention. we don't want to go through a convention without a candidate. if we do this, i remember 1968. i am old enough now. age has some benefits, friends. i remember the riots. i remember that hubert humphrey eventually won the nomination, but nixon won the presidency. you open this up and we have no way of controlling what will happen in the final analysis. the know the back room dealers think they can, but i don't think that will happen. there are too many people who can speak to each other too freely by means other than telephones. internet, social media. they are not going to just allow this to become something controlled by the back room dealers. it won't happen. now he mentioned that i was a

minister. let me share this with you. president trump is a minister of mendacity. he is also a maestro of malevolence. he is also a forger of folly. this man should have no place in the white house. 34 felony convictions, 34 felony convictions. republicans discount that. they are quick to point out that president biden had more than a bad night. i admit that he is old but he is effective and that's what we want. host: texas, brian, republican. caller: good morning, congressman green. you are my representative of congress so i am glad i can finally speak to you. i do live there on the west side. i was redistricted into your congressional district a few years ago. i had one question regarding the

congressional black caucus. i am curious to get to know your point. there are four members of congress who are not a part of the congressional black caucus. one of them is from your home, a friend of mine, congressman hunt. congressman owens and congressman -- the one from michigan, i am drawing a blank right now. do you -- would you support them joining the congressional black caucus and having congresswoman beatty the chair formerly extend to them membership into the congressional black caucus? i think they more than qualify. guest: thank you very much. you are right that congresswoman beatty was the chair. she is not the chair now. the congressman from nevada is doing a great job. i celebrate him. he has the authority to do so. i do not. i speak for myself and everybody who agrees with me.

now, with reference to the four persons who are all republicans, we have had a republican member of the congressional black caucus before. it is open for persons to come if they choose to. i have no knowledge as to why they are not members of the caucus, but my answer is yes, i would have them be a part of the congressional black caucus if they choose to. i would not impose membership upon anyone or require membership of anyone. but if they choose to, i would clearly support it. having said that, i do think this. we are at a point where we have to make a decision and go with the decision that's made. we cannot continue to on a daily basis have someone decide that they don't approve of the debate for whatever reason. the debate is behind us. there will be other snafus, but this man is effective.

stay with the person who gets the job done. stay with the person who has put people back to work. stay with the person who has brought inflation down. stay with the person who cares about your health care. in this country, we didn't have health care before obama care. we had well care and sickness care. we now have health care for people. it's not perfect. we can make it better, but we have other people who want to destroy that. stay the course. ride with biden and side with harris. host: should president biden take a cognitive test? guest: if he chooses to. let me tell you what will happen if he does. then there will be a question about who administered the test? was he a democrat? let me see the actual test itself as it was being administered. we are having that now as it relates to a certain circumstance with a certain person that they're trying to get a subpoena -- subpoenaed. i won't go into the details of

that because we open up another can of worms. the point is this. it won't satisfy the other side. it will not. they will find a way if the president gets anything less nan an -- than an a-plus it will mean he is incapable of serving while at the same time they are demeaning the president, supporting a man with 34 felony convictions. impeached twice. a man who has demonstrated that he is an insidious -- let me change that. he is a glorified liar. he is a person who should not be trusted with the presidency. it's about autocrat versus a democrat. host: president biden holds a news conference, 5:30 p.m. people can watch it on our app, online at c-span.org. what does he need to do? guest: he needs to be biden,

just go in, do as best as you can, but know that al green understands that when you are working with your staff, you don't have to be as glib as people expect daniel webster to be if he were a member of congress. you can be the person who understands what is going on and gives directions and gets things done. let him be biden. if he makes a snafu, if he doesn't pronounce every word correctly, i am not going to hold that against him. we don't hold 34 nell knee convictions -- felony convictions against trump. we will realize the other side will stick with trump come heaven or high water. i never use that other word if i can avoid it. we should not allow others to convince us that we have someone incapable of doing a job he has done effectively. he might be old but he is effective. host: what if he appears confused as people -- some

people believe he did at the debate? guest: my assumption is we will say that he appeared to be confused as he did at the debate and then we will say president trump appeared to be confused when he mixed up the name of the person that he ran against. we will say president trump has been confused when he goes off into these mindless places and talks about things unrelated to the topic that he is on. he makes statements that are inproap. we have -- inappropriate. we are two old men. i accept also the fact that one is efficacious and a democrat and the other chooses to be an autocrat. host: what is happening on capitol hill behind closed doors on this? are there meetings scheduled? guest: meetings have taken place and i am sure there will be many more meetings. this is the issue of the day. the press is doing what it does. it covers the news of the day. the press doesn't tell you how

to think. but it does tell you what to think about. as long as the press keeps saying here is what you should think about. you will have more people saying the same things. host: congressman green from texas, thanks for being at our table. guest: thank you for having me. host: the house is gaveling in early this morning for legislative business. we will bring you up to capitol hill. live coverage on c-span.