inside congress. >> absolutely. thank you so much for being here with us today. anybody in our audience that he didn't get to your question i'm sorry we're justof about out of time. i'm sure you can go to his website and look up specific information about the bills he is trying to get across the finish line. and thank you very much. keep in touch. >> what a pleasure. you, too. stay cool. >> the use senate returns from its summer recess later today at 3 p.m. eastern. debate continues on mora president biden's u.s. court of appeals nominees. senators will first consider district court judge john lee to the seventh circuit court. if confirmed judge lee would be the first asian-american to serve on that court. watch live coverage of the senate on c-span2, online at c-span.org, or on our free c-span now video app. >> coming up tonight a conversation on the abraham accords which was signed two

years ago to normalize relations between the u.s., israel and the united arab emirates. former secretary of state mike pompeo, former ambassador robert o'brien and others will join the nixon foundation live at 18 eastern on our free video app c-span now. >> we're joined next by kirk bado, the managing editor of of the hotline, the "national journal" newsletter focusing on politics. kirk bado welcome to "washington journal." >> happy to be a spur it is a sprint now as you as a sn day. it's really nine weeks from tomorrow. what ise your take on where the electoral landscape stands for let's just talk particularly about the house races. house races has narrowed significantly from the beginning of the summer until knepper that's in thanks in part to the dobbs decision that overturned the production to an roe v. wade andnd jimmy carter feel empowered. their bases in her judge. theyei cut a string of victories in a few special elections recently and they are fired up.

the field is much more narrow in the red wave a lot of people were predicting even sms just a few months ago now is looking come has been downgraded significantly tilled a bit more of a a tropical depression right now for republicans. >> host: what do the numbers for the republicans to take control of house, how many seats to the have two in? >> guest: after the special election in alaska weree democrats pulled a big upset, five seats. even if it's as tropical depression were talking but here that could be enough just because the house is so narrow right now thanks to little redistricting as well. there is a newly energized democratic face. republicans gaining just the seats needed. host: you mentioned the supreme court decision. what other elements are there for democrats using in election

schedule publicans? guest: they are really into abortion right now and fighting for abortion access. but the republicans are more extreme. i think you saw that really threw president biden's speech thursday night in philadelphia, when he talked about the mecca republicans as a threat to democracy. with the u.s. house races, you actually have republicans on capitol hill during the insurrection. they did not go into the capital, but were at the rally. democrats are really trying to paint him as too extreme for the democracy and a threat to the republic. host: the tone of that speech from the president, could that be a threat to those very types -- tight house races? guest: it could be. there are those in districts that former president trump carried that would rather not talk about president -- former president trump right now. they are focused more on defending abortion access,

economic issues, and comments delivered in the past months. host: there was one on stage with president biden on thursday in wilkes-barre. guest: he was. he would rather not talk so much about threats to democracy and more about how the infrastructure bill will help. host: it is a race by race thing in this peerless time about the senate and something i want to highlight. the key ones he may be looking at, arizona, pennsylvania, ohio, georgia, nevada, and the ron johnson race, the incumbent republican against mandela barnes. any of those you want to talk

about? guest: in a 50-50 senate, every race matters here. what is important is the field of gop candidates running against vulnerable democrats, particularly arizona and pennsylvania, where there has been a lot of hammering on the republican side over candidate quality. you'll get arizona for example. like masters has been outraged by mark kelly by about 14-1 right now. about $50 million in getting masters across the line in the primary, but has turned off the spigot now in the general election that has minority leader mitch mcconnell and others sweating bullets right now. host: tell us a little bit more about that. there is reporting that there is real tension between senator mcconnell in the head of the senate campaign committee, and obviously the leader of the senate from -- for republicans.

they should be on the same page. guest: they want to get that magic 51 seats here. the way they are going about it has different intentions. the chairman of the nrc has stayed out of republican primaries, much to the chagrin of edge mcconnell and other republicans, who worry that because they let the voters and others dominate those races without a guiding hand from the national party, they have nominated some less than savory candidates. during the primary process for former president trump, who endorses these candidates, and competitive races, trump endorsement is good for about 33% or 30 per six -- 36% of the vote. that is enough to get them across the line. host: with president trump's endorsements, has he been more successful in senate candidates and -- than house candidates? caller: he has -- guest: he has

been. the only place he has had a bit of a stumble and block is governor races. he tried that out in georgia, he tried it with idaho as well. he did have a recent big victory in arizona host: what about the fundraising for republicans? there are reports that mitch mcconnell, his fundraising has come and helped out in some senate races. guest: absolutely. it was reported last week by the "new york times" that the nrc -- an rsc. raised $101 million and they have already spent 90% of that. mitch mcconnell has had to come in and use unaligned super pac to help boost candidates. with a been investing the money

in is a lot of digital advertising, building up digital infrastructure. they will tell you that they are trying to invest in the future, that it will be good for future chairman and committees, but right now it is all about who will profile rick scott, at the expense of their candidates in the senate. host: where should they be focusing their ads and other spending dollars? what are they focusing on? guest: democrats are focusing handling -- focusing heavily on nevada and arizona as the most vulnerable members in those states. they only have a few offense of opportunities here. you'll see that in pennsylvania and wisconsin. host: what is the latest in terms of the polls and on the race in nevada between the incumbent and the secretary of state? guest: it will be a tiebreak there. the latest poll had single

digits, but below 50. that is not where you want to be if you are in, right now. and that is before all the money comes in with republican ad buying in the full. host: on our phone lines, we have our guest kirk bado. we are talking campaign 2022. it is (202) 748-8000 for republicans, -- for (202) 748-8000 republicans -- (202) 748-8000 democrats, (202) 748-8001 republicans, (202) 748-8002 independents. president biden today will be back in pittsburgh.

here's the headline from the weekend. gop mounts rescue efforts in pennsylvania, particularly focusing here on the two, the senate candidates. guest: pennsylvania's ground zero right now for midterms. it almost feels like a flashback to 2020, with this split screen of trump and biden doing dueling rallies and speeches. pennsylvania is a winnable state, a battleground state. it could slip to their fingers right now. met matt oz has not done well. federman has painted him as an outsider. the gubernatorial candidate, doug master,, there are a lot of publicans right now who will adopt the language of conspiracy theories. to get three primary election,

that his harder than the general election. mastery anna says the election was raked -- read --rigged. republicans see that as a massive liability. they want to flip the governor's mansion. host: they spoke in wilkes-barre later on that night. want to show you the comments of donald at that movement. [video clip] >> he thinks making america great again as a threat to our country. now, making america great again is great for our country. [applause] there is only one party that is

waging war on american democracy by censoring free speech, criminalizing dissent -- you see that happening. disarming law-abiding citizens, issuing wallace mandates and unconstitutional orders, imprisoning political protesters. that is what they are doing, rigging elections, weaponizing the justice department and the fbi like never, ever before. [booing] rating and breaking into the homes of their political opponents. i wonder who that could be. republicans in the mag a movement are not the ones trying to undermine our democracy. we are the ones trying to save our democracy. [applause] very simple.

the danger to democracy comes from the radical left, not from the right. host: on the hotline, the "washington post" reports we could be hearing much more of that from president trump, as he is expected to be out on the road or doing robo coast -- wearable calls -- robles -- guest: is coming up in october. i think democrats will look at that. there is a choice between the extremism of the republican party and the practical solutions of the democrats. usually, the midterms are a referendum on the party in power. immigrants are trying to -- democrats are trying to flip the script. host: you say democrat leaders would be happy with that. what about most republican candidates were running? do they

want the president stepping in on their racy? guest: it all depends on the race. that was a speech and rally in support of awes and -- oz and mastriano. there are some i don't believe would appreciate a rally like this. tiffany smiley up in washington, i believe she said in that article that there has been no contact with the trump campaign right now. for some races, it is all about choosing that republican turnout, because the enthusiasm is kind of flipped right now, with democrats much more enthusiastic than republicans to come vote for the midterms right now. in places like georgia, it is a little bit more about turning out republicans. host: let's get to calls. we are with kirk bado. let's go to stephen on our

democrats line in virginia. good morning. caller: my question is sort of along the georgia thing. i think we can take maga for the progressive agenda. there were two incumbent senators in georgia. trump got all messed up about the election and his people failed, and we ended up with two democratic senators that allowed biden to do all of this. why's is that election going to be different when we have already beaten the incumbent republican? i really appreciate warnock and everything they are doing. i appreciate trump giving away the progressive agenda. but why is that -- wise warnock even worried? going through that whole thing where you have a former president declaring the current president as anemone -- enemy of the state, but any republicans,

if you did that to the republican leader, they would be in jail. but trump can go in shoot his mouth off like that all the time. back to the georgia thing, that is why we have all this and biden got things accomplished. trump gave us georgia in the first place. host: referring to the wind in the special election in 2020. guest: the whole reason we have that is because the democrats flipped those two georgia senate races. three then warnock is so concerned about this right now is it's a geopolitical add. you are either running or running unopposed. it seems like every other day, there is a news story about some scandal or something he said that might not have been the best way to phrase things. but he is herschel walker and this is georgia. herschel walker is a legend in georgia. he has a good amount of money, a skyhigh name id.

he is a serious threat to warnock. host: how do you use poles of the hotline? guest: wheeze a lot of caveats of those right now. [laughter] we try to look at those in aggregate right now. we do not pay attention to ones that we think will be outliers. but there are some that have the race between about 10 points in favor of warnock to about four or five points right now. we try to average those out, look at the quality. when it comes to 2024, polling, hypotheticals like that, we try to do as little as possible. people are just talking about them because they are important, looking ahead a little bit. but we try not to base a whole story or anything on a 2024 pole that is so far off. let's focus on the next 63 days. host: kirk bado is the managing

editor of the national journal hotline. (202) 748-8000 for democrats, (202) 748-8001 for republicans, (202) 748-8002 for independents. elizabeth on the independent line. good morning. caller: i just have a question for the gentleman on television. ken trump run again? a lot of people think he can't, but some people think he can. if you get into that for me, i would really appreciate it. guest: the short answer is yes, he can run again. he is at least 35 years old, a citizen of the country, he meets all of those qualifications. what you might be referring to is the effort among some legal groups to kick republicans off the ballot who might have been allegedly involved in planning the insurrection or the rally, planning the protesters that got into the capital on january 6. so far, all of those have been defeated in court.

all of those have kind of been dismissed right now. trump is in a lot of legal peril right now. we will have to see how that plays out. if he wants to file papers to run for president, there's nothing to stop him. host: as much as a former president is a boost to republican candidates, is the current president a drag on current democratic candidates? guest: that is something there try to figure out right now. we have a slight uptick in numbers are now, but it depends on what rates we look at. there are vulnerable house members who have run talking about how they have spoken with the biden administration, who have worked with republicans and don't support some of biden's policies here. it all depends on the race and the candidate. host: let's hear from stamford, connecticut. bob is on their publican line. caller: good morning.

how are you guys doing today? happy liberty. guest: happy labor day. caller: i'm not sure where you are getting your pulling information, because when you look at your news, you see what is going on in the economy with fuel prices, open borders, all of these policies that have failed from joe biden, i don't understand how anyone can think there is anything less than a red wave that can come to this country, and they are still hung up on trump. i think the mar-a-lago thing is actually a wake-up call to patriotic americans that this is no different from nazi germany at some point. they are using the same tactics hitler's did. thank you. host: kirk bado, any thoughts? guest: looking at this right now, this is a very favorable senate for democrats. that is why we are talking right

now about only a handful. this is most favorable for democrats and a few cycles here. house democrats are not talking's much about a roadway. there aren't of so many facets going into play. yes, these are still some top priorities for voters. abortion has risen up, threat to democracy has risen up as a concern for voters. fuel is much narrower than the last time. there is more redistricting and bipartisanship. host: do you think the economy is less of an issue? do you think it is still the number one issue for voters? guest: i definitely think so. we just have other issues that are activating voters who might have stayed home. host: but tear from james in georgia.

go ahead, you are on the air, democrats line. caller: good morning and happy labor day. there is no way in the world we are going to put herschel walker to represent georgia with the baggage that he has. as far as the economy, the gas prices, and everything else that joe biden has already pushed for his agenda, we are not changing that. we are going forward. donald trump, we welcome him. we want him to be a part of what he is trying to do, because we are running on him. as long as he is around, stealing documents, classified, all kinds of papers, we are supposed to break the law and let him get away with that? the average person would be in jail right now. this is ridiculous. as for the gop, they have shown

their colors. they are the right wing. they are trying to destroy this country and we are going to stop them. host: i have to ask, what do you think of herschel walker as a candidate? caller: let me say this, herschel walker was a great football player. that's all that is. that has nothing to do with politics. the man abused his wife, he has lied about being in fbi agent, he has lied about other things, and you think that we have to say because he is black, we are going to vote for him? no. guest: i think that reaction herschel walker is the trend we are looking at in georgia. while i do think herschel walker is one of the stronger of the week -- weaker republican candidates, if that makes sense, you have a difference between

the senate and the governor races. you can see a split with more independent voters who might support governor than senate. host: an they have another governor race, right? guest: yes. there is still a single digit lead, still within five points right now. but stacey abrams comes in with a bigger badge. she is a national figure, easier to polarize and politicize, unlike other candidates right now. with the independents in georgia right now, we could see a split. host: do you think he could take georgia because he split with

the president in 2020, gave more independent democratic support there because of his actions during that election? guest: i can't speak to how much democrats put in. the end of the day, he is a republican and he talks like a republican, and he is republican. but he disagreed with trump on that one key area, the election. he could have made himself more appealing to democrats and independents. think it was a smart move for him and for democracy as well. host: we have jimbo in bakersfield. could you comment on the congressional district between the incumbent in the state simply men, who voted to impeach trump and made the district more democratic? guest: i'm glad you brought that up. this is one of the races we're going to be watching right now. there are 10 house republicans

who voted to her -- two impeach trump. eight of them are not coming back. four of them retired, four of them are primary. because of the house primer, he was able to defeat a more maga -aligned republican. he is not guaranteed that street -- that see right now because of how that redistricting was drawn. they've been trying to get him for years to run and that see right now. i think he is the underdog in that race and we could very well have one republican who voted two impeach trump left in congress. host: and that would be the republican from -- guest: new house. host: texas, democrats line. good morning. caller: i have a question about texas.

heidi see the governorship coming out -- how do you see the governorship coming out? my last one is about district 34. thank you/ host: i hope you got all those spiritual and quickly. -- i hope you got all those because she went very quickly. guest: none of this is a done deal right now. we have a lead in the polls of 10 point or better. o'rourke had a nice moment there right after the volte shooting. he really seized on that opportunity to give voice to the victims there, to criticize greg abbott's response. there is national attention there, but it hasn't translated into the polls quite yet.

this is a really interesting race paired we have a lot of quirky house races in the cycle because of redistricting. maia florez won the race after another representative resigned to go to a lobbying firm. this is the old texas 34 and it has since been redrawn. gonzalez jumped from his district into this one to run in this new seat. host: and he will face my florez. guest: he will. i haven't seen any polling from this race yet. i know national opponents are really excited about maia florez. she is more conservative leaning , like hispanic voters have trended toward publicans in recent races. i think there will be a lot of national buy-in in this race. without the district was

redrawn, with the incumbent advantage, i think that gives a slight edge right now. host: she the first republican hispanic woman to be elected in texas? guest: she has. in the central and south of texas, we have seen a lot of hispanic voters unless two cycles who drift a little bit more toward republicans, going into this whole idea that democrats are becoming more of the party of the college-educated, more liberal-leaning, kinda forgetting about their working class roots. that is essentially with the drift is about but i think the real test of that will be texas 34 in november. host: next is clearance in cleveland, ohio. good morning on the republican line. caller: good morning. i was calling about what you're talking about with the election. is this a return to the same

things like 2016, 2020? i am 64 years old. host: clarence, do us a favor. your feedback from the tv, if you could mute your television, then go ahead with your comment, then we will be able to hear you a little better. though ahead. -- go ahead. caller: i was saying i am 64 years old. i have been around a while. i am wondering, how can you guys understand that we keep going through this over and over again, the same stuff? all we're doing is the same thing again. we need to keep a row close i -- a real close eye on things. [indiscernible] i guess it's just what we do.

thank you for letting me have my time. host: kirk bado, a comment on twitter says that as a nation, we pay way too much attention to the horse race and nowhere near enough to holding these people accountable after elections. guest: i think that's why we have seen a lot of frustration with voters right now. a research study over the summer showed that crime rates near washington are at all-time highs. people are really upset with their elected officials right now. i think our job as media is to hold them more accountable. we are a little bit more horserace coverage, but we try to tell our audience who these people are. we are focused on campaigns, but we want to make sure that people know, that our audience and the voters know who these people are who are going to be your next elected officials. host: let's hear from susan in

south carolina, republican line. good morning. caller: good morning and happy labor day. host: thank you. guest: happy labor day. caller: i'm just concerned about the 2 million immigrants coming in. they are putting our lives at risk with all the fentanyl coming in and i believe joe biden is letting all the immigrants in and he is going to try to use them to vote for him or the democratic party. and i am sad about their abortion policy, that i just wonder if people realize that they are wanting the right to

abort a baby up to the time of birth. host: ok, susan. kirk bado, we get so many calls about this, the issue of immigration in this country, still about the number immigrants oppressing the border. is it as big of a campaign issue? guest: it is, especially those races along the border in summer streets -- in southern states. you see those a lot, not just as republicans, but people are talking about this crisis at the border from democrats as well. even the senator from new hampshire over the summer took a trip down to the border. i'm not talking bout the canadian border. she went down to the u.s.-mexico border to talk about immigration down there. i think that kind of speaks to the frustration that we talked about previously, about how there is no real movement on immigration policy in the past 15 years almost.

there might have been a pathway for dreamers and copperheads of immigration reform, but because the two parties have just done so much in word and made this a bipartisan issue, a redmeat issue, it leads voters to get frustrated. host: let's go back to what you touched on earlier, in maine. the incumbent, he is facing a familiar opponent. tells more about that. guest: he is facing the former representative hugh he defeated in, i believe, 2018 in his first run. we talk a lot about candidate quality and individualized profiles for the district. they have done that to a t. he is a former marine. he is not in a suit like you are right now. he is in short sleeves, showing off tattoos and everything. he is a really -- a real working

guy and everything. he sit at the diner, cracking open lobster and talking about his support for the lobster men and everything. i think maine is one of the only places where you can get away with saying lobster is a symbol of the working class up there. it tends to be a real challenge. the district is still one that trump carried by probably six or seven points right now. he is a known entity in the district. it is going to be a really tough challenge and going to be one of the key house races where watching. host: let's hear from tennessee on the democrat line. caller: yes, yes. my deal is, i can't understand why anybody to support them in an election. he only lied 33,000 times and

about four or five years. if i was a republican that was going to run, the only thing trump successfully did was divide the republican party and half, because you have seen republicans shy away from him. the only gutless ones are in washington, d.c., which is mitch mcconnell, cruz, mccarthy. there is a whole wagon full of them. the deal about the border, i used to live in texas. in houston. they used to have immigrant round up about twice a year. whatever happened to the governors taking care of their borders? why did they rely on the

president to take care of their borders? is there deal. i agree the president has the last say so, but that is my deal right there. thank you. host: philip mentioned splitting the republican party and have. doesn't look that way to you or does it look like most candidates out there are really aligning themselves with the former president? guest: it seems like everybody is what aligning the insults with the former president. there was a recent poll that said 72% of republican voters would vote for trump again if you ran in 2024. if you look at anyone who is really sticking out a claim against him, like liz cheney, adam kinzinger, they are not long for elected office now. there is no appetite in the republican party for an anti-trump boat right now -- vote right now. host: our lines are (202) 748-8000 democrats, (202)

748-8001 republicans, (202) 748-8002 independents and others. from south carolina, independent line. caller: i want to say two things. number one, the immigrants are coming here because of the jobs. as you all know, people employ immigrants with low wages. number two, i think trump and joe biden both are too old to run again in 2024. we have got to have someone else out there younger and talented that can run the country. host: we have been focusing on 2022. kirk bado, your thoughts about her comments on the age of the former and current presidency? guest: they would be the oldest living inaugurated president, and joe biden is the oldest

living president right now. there are some big legislative winds that in july and early june, there are those stories hammering democrats over bidens age, whether or not he is going to run into 24 right now. i think the democrats writ large have this meritocracy problem, where their leaders are in their 70's and 80's. nancy pelosi said she might or might not retire, could hold onto power a little bit longer, until there is this big leadership gap as this older generation hold onto power longer. the question here for democrats is, and what biden is putting out is, is trump running again? he is the only one who's proven he can beat trump. guest: -- host: we have seen unusual campaign spending this year. in the gop primary in new hampshire, a group aired a

pro-trump candidate had, a picture there. a democrat from washington was on "state of the union" yesterday. i want to play that common. [video clip] >> as a democratic leader, a national leader as well, are you ok with democrats helping election deniers in republican primaries like new hampshire? >> i believe what democratic supporters are doing is working to make sure we have a democratic majority in the united states senate and congress, so we can restore the rights of women to make their own health care choices, so that we can continue to fight climate change, so that we can work to continue to put in place the policies that allow this economy to work for the men and women across the state and across the nation. >> ok, that's out of like a yet. -- like a yes. host: kirk bado on the line.

that happened there and other places, like the maryland given tori a race. -- pictorial race -- gubernatorial race. guest: you have an election deniers getting across the line, peter myers, a more moderate republican. the line with democrats, especially in the house, it doesn't matter who the republican is. but we are still in a more favorable environment for republicans right now. that half-million dollars and that michigan race helps election deniers conspiracy theorists at one step closer into congress right now. i think that is something they are really going to have to grapple with come november.

the republicans could really be on the hook for putting election deniers and congress. host: we haven't talked much about that race in alaska, putting a democrat in that seat. don young one in a special election. but that was just a primary win. guest: she won the special election. she will be a member for about four months now. hope she is still coming down here, making that long trip and everything. but now, we will have a general election here in november. she will face sarah palin, the former governor and vice presidential candidate, and the grandson of the last our credit to hold that seat in 1972. he ran as a republican in the

primary. democrats firmly see this as in play. they're going to put money into that seat. democrats are going to have to be forced to spend on that seat i think it speaks to where the abortion issue is right now. mary just released the first general election add and it is all about her defending alaskan rights to abortion. that is an animated issue up there. the democrat waiting for the first time since 1972, this is a real issue. host: i understand this inspiring choice. how many votes did she win the special election by? guest: i think she was 3%. she had 51% and sarah palin ended with about 40%. host: we will hear from kathy in delaware on the republican line. though ahead. caller: good morning. i think it is interesting that

abc, cbs, and nbc did not carry bidens political message this week. i felt like when i understood him to say, it felt like he was speaking to me, that i was not a true american, that i was not worthy of this country. let me tell you, there are tens of millions of us who are incredibly offended by the way he spoke about us. i don't think, as far as this midterm goes, i think it is certain state-specific issues that will lean more democratic. but in general, i think that the people who have witnessed the behavior of the fbi -- and i'm not talking about rank-and-file, i'm talking about the higher ups. the overall food costs, gas costs, the feeling that we were cheated for the 2020 election,

and those issues, i think, are going to push the republican vote. by the way, those 10 people that voted against donald trump, most of them didn't even bother to run again. what does that tell you about the power of x president donald trump? host: kirk bado, final thought? guest: i thought it was really interesting that the networks did not carry it. i have yet to hear and explain about why "young sheldon" outranked president biden speaking. it kind of spoke to the gamble of that speech. president biden tried very hard to have a nuance in that speech about how it is not every republican, only the maga republicans who wanted to overturn the election. but that was obviously lost,

especially when you see the staging pictures with the red background and everything. republicans are kind of feeding on that right now, as a way to see that democrats and biden are demonizing them right now it writ large. the think she touched on with the fbi search of mar-a-lago, where trump and republicans, there defense initially was that if they could do this to a former president, think about what they can do to you. trying to make it less about the particulars of the case, the particulars of the allegations, and more about the element of the movement right now. the community, the collective spirit of the republican party around donald trump, it has really kept his string a hold on the parity strong for so long and many people thought it would dissipate. host: kirk bado >> host: kirk bado, hopefully we can get you back in the next 63 days as a late election draws near near. he's a managing editor. thanks for being here. >> guest: