today, irs commissioner charles rettig testifies on the tax filing season before a house subcommittee. live coverage begins at 2:00 p.m. eastern on c-span3, online, or listen live with the free c-span radio app. >> a very good thursday morning to you. you can call in now. here is just some of the headlines stemming from that late tuesday shooting in and around atlanta. this is the front page of "usa today." tan fear of hate," although it notes that investigators are not calling it a hate crime. the atlanta journal with this headline "in washington calls for increase for gun control and hate crime laws."

it was president biden that spoke out about the issue from the white house yesterday. here's what the president had to say. [video clip] >> i am concerned, because i have been speaking about this for the last couple of months. i think it is very troubling, and while there may be no connection on the motivation of the killer, we will get an answer from that as the investigation proceeds from the f pi and from the just -- from the fbi and the justice department. so, i will have more to say when the investigation is complete. [end video clip] host: down to capitol hill, this is judy chu the chair of the congressional asian-american pacific caucus said that it was clear that asian-american women were targeted during the attacks. [video clip] >> six of the eight victims were

asian-american women. it appears that the shooter, aged 21, a white male went to a spa called young's asian massage. the fact that he went to that one with that title gives you a clue as to what he was thinking. this is one of the more violent tragedies in a string of about 3800 hate incidents and crimes against asian americans. 68% of them, women. it is clear that the individuals were targeted because they are amongst the most vulnerable in our country. immigrant, asian women. the community has been living in fear of verbal and physical attacks and now, we are experiencing increasingly deadly tragedies of racism and violence. we call on georgia officials to ensure that the families are well supported and our followers to support local

efforts that provide community protection and victim support. we express our deepest condolences to the friends and families of these victims. the aapi community tells us that they have been living in a steady state of tension this entire pandemic. yesterday's crimes are beyond terrifying, and it just brings home to so many asian americans that they are fearful of their lives and circumstances where as they would otherwise feel safe in their homes and jobs. and, not only that they are risking infection while going to work in places like a spot and nail salon, and now they are risking increased violence. [end video clip] host: democrat judy chu of california. also from california, from the other side of the aisle, a

republican sent from california, but from the other side of the aisle, the republican sent out this video on twitter. happens and the motivations behind the shooting. however, the shooting comes at a time when hate crimes against the asian-american pacific islander community are on the rise. i am rallying with the aapi community today and always. let me be clear, they hate we have seen against the asian american communities is unacceptable and must stop. no group in our country is responsible for covid-19. asian americans are americans, and are contributing to communities across the nation every day. while my colleagues and i introduce a resolution in the house to condemn these crimes, we cannot legislate hate out of our hearts and minds. this has been a hard year for everyone, but the only way that

we will get through this pandemic is by working together, not tearing each other apart. i hope we can come together as a country in the coming months and years as we work to safely reopen our communities. this is congresswoman juncker in -- young kim. my heart breaks to hear about the recent events and i am praying for the victims as well as their loved ones. [end video clip] host: plenty more twitter reactions >> congresswoman young kim on twitter yesterday. plenty more twitter reaction, including speaker of the house nancy pelosi, all americans are praying for the victims of the brutal shootings in georgia and we grieve with their families and loved ones. these shootings are a vile act that compound the fear that asian-americans face every day. and then the democratic congressman saying, an attack on asian-american women is about racism and shows how u.s.

demonization fuels violence at home. we can win the 21st century without replicating paradigms of division and hate. marco rubio, the senator from florida, saying the increase in violence is alarming, vile, and un-american. congresswoman michelle steele saying this is senseless and tragic. hate crimes against asian-americans must stop. i'm praying for these victims and families and our pacific islander community. just some of the reaction on capitol hill, highlights this issue, the rise in anti-asian attacks. regional lines, if you're on the eastern or the different time zones, and that special line for asian-american and pacific islanders, 202-748-8002. with that, your thoughts.

james in new york, good morning. >> caller: good morning. my thoughts and prayers are with my asian brothers and sisters. i'm a 74-year-old black man, a vietnam vet. history doesn't always repeat itself, but a lot of times it rhymes. what's going on right now is the racism in this country. and it's screaming, not just donald trump, his followers. the republican people that are talking this crazy stuff, and here we are still fighting for voting rights. let me just say this to my brothers and sisters in this country, whether you like it or not. it's all about racism.

it's all about the change in the population from the majority getting ready to go to the minority. that's it in a nutshell. >> that's james in new york. this is bob in pittsburgh. good morning. >> caller: good morning. last weekend, we were talking about this asian racism. i thought boy, i never heard of that. i went on youtube. in chinatown, in california basically, 85% of the vicious attacks on asians are by black people. the 15% that's left over -- >> bob, where do you go on youtube for these stats? >> caller: go on youtube, you'll find it. >> youtube is pretty big. where, bob? >> caller: just go on there and put it asian attacks or something. it's all over there. so anybody that -- they showed them on tv, and the ones i've

seen were all vicious attacks. >> that's bob in pittsburgh. this is harold out of topeka, kansas. good morning, you're next. >> caller: you know, a lot of people have hatred in their heart, that's terrible. but slavery is a long time ago, and they're upset about something a long time ago. i'm not upset, but some people are. i personally had my uncle, who i'm named after, burned alive by the japanese in world war ii. i could feel terrible. i don't. but i'm just saying some people hold long-term grudges. >> bring us to america in 2021 in a time of pandemic and if a time where a rise in asian-american -- attacks on asian-americans is documented by multiple organizations, where

are we today? >> caller: it's terrible place. i think that people are on their own accord, have decided to attack asian-americans. i don't think it's because of anything that one man said, like the narrative suggests. it was all you know who's fault. i don't believe that. i believe people are doing it on their own accord for their own reasons. the example i gave was just an example of my own, blm does their thing from a long time ago. other people have their hatred of people from a long time ago. >> that's harold from topeka, kansas. one of those groups that's been documenting this rise in attacks on asian-americans in this country, the group stop aapi hate out of san francisco state university. russell jones, history professor there, running that group. their stats have been cited in a number of reports on this. this is the report they put out. the report covering only 3,795

incidents received this their reporting center from march of last year to february 28th of this year. the number of hate incidents reported to the center, only a fraction of the number of hate incidents that occur including 68% of the icidents included verbal harassments and asian-american women reported hate incidents 2.3 times more than men, that from the group stop aapi hate. another study released this month by the center of hate and extremism revealed that hate crimes targeting asians rose nearly 150% in the year 2020, going from 49 to 122 on the ones that they documented. they note a country of 330 million people, the asian-american community, close to 20 million people in this

country. jim, grand forks, north dakota. you're next. >> caller: hey, john. well, heading off to work in 15 minutes, but i had to call again, because once again we begin to lose the narrative. bob from pittsburgh is right. it's interesting the way you almost began to grill him, like where did you findis, where did you find it? you can go to any -- >> i just said youtube is a big place. >> caller: well, the thing is, i used to go to things like colin flaherty, who used to simply attacks by blacks against different groups for years. of course, he's been banned. you can't see it any more, because the narrative is created, first of all, let's go back to president trump. somehow words, the china flu, triggers people and they rise up and they go after asians. well, what about the german measles? i mean, are they going after german people? >> would you agree with scott,

today's washington times, he says that there is a narrative here that's trying to be pushed. the attacks he notes are taking place in cities, not historically known as bastions of conservatism, much less trump-fueled, hate-fueled trumpism, that report we noted, stop aapi hate noted that the states where these attacks are mostly occurring, the top two states, california and new york for their reported attacks. he goes on to say that the left sees the rise in attacks against asian-americans as an opportunity to reframe president trump's tough stance on the chinese communist party as being somehow anti-chinese or anti-american in this country. >> caller: well, go back to -- i grew up in philadelphia before i went west. i had a vietnamese girlfriend for eight years. i know all about the hatred that asian immigrants arrived, especially dark-skinned asians. west philadelphia schools, i

called about this ten years ago when there was a spike of attacks where black kids were going from classroom to classroom, they beat and put in the hospital 30 asian kids in one day. the asian parents boycotted and pulled their kids off, and they had to come up with an orientation thing. that's from philadelphia to l.a., the tension between blacks and asians, we go back to the l.a. riots. one of the first militias formed were the koreans fighting back the blacks. s that just their hatred turned back on them because of the jealousy blacks have on asians. >> that's jim out of north dakota. to tim in alabama. good morning, you're next. >> caller: good morning. i hear all of these racist white people get on your show and talk about black people and their

hate for the asians. i'm a black man. black people have no hate for the asians. if you look at the history of what's going on today with the asians, these attacks are not by black people. they are by white males. and if you look at the history of slavery, it was by white people. look at the history with the american indians. it was by white people. so these racist white people are the biggest racists that has taken place in this country today. and that's all i have to say. thank you. >> leon, wilmington, delaware. you're next. >> caller: thank you for c-span, and it seems like all the intelligent people are up early talking this morning. i take exception with my friend from new york that called the shooter a trump supporter. how does he know that?

just like harris came out yesterday and immediately, immediately goes to the race card. that's got to stop in this country, okay? you can't just change the narrative to fit what you want to put on the air. let's give this time to play out. the guy's own words said he has a sex addiction problem. he didn't say anything about hating asians. that's all i've got. thank you, c-span. >> you mention vice president kamala harris. this was her remarks yesterday. >> it is tragic. our country, the president and i and all of us, we grieve for the loss. our prayers are extended to the families of those who have been killed, and it speaks to a larger issue which is the issue of violence in our country and what we must do to never tolerate it and to always speak out against it. the investigation is ongoing. we don't yet know. we're not yet clear about the

motive, but i do want to say to our asian-american community that we stand with you and understand how this has frightened and shocked and outraged all people, but knowing the increasing level of hate crime against our asian-american brothers and sisters, we also want to speak out in solidarity with them and acknowledge that none of us should ever be silent in the face of any form of hate. >> vice president harris yesterday speaking of the vice president, a scary story out of washington, d.c., cnbc with the headline, man wanted by police arrested near the residence of the vice president with gun and ammo found in car. a texas man wanted by police, stopped by u.s. secret service. arrested on wednesday afternoon near the residence of the vice president in d.c. police said they found rifle, ammunition, the car parked some distance away in a garage downtown. paul murray, 31 of san antonio

stopped by secret service officers just after noon in the northwest section of washington on massachusetts avenue right outside the naval observatory. that -- the observatory contains the vice president's residence. taking your phone calls. in the first hour, if you are in the eastern or central time zones, 202-748-8000. mountain or pacific time zones 202-748-8001. special line for asian-americans 202-748-8002. omar is next out of brooklyn. good morning. >> good morning, john. good morning. i have been wanting to call for a while. i called before about economic stuff, what have you. but i want to call today and speak to the black americans. and i want to point out to how the united states is going to react to asian attacks and whatnot. i want you to pay attention, black america. i dwroupt pay attention to how

the biden administration has stiffed over the promises they gave, that they wanted us to vote for the democratic party in the election. they're going to skip over that now. now they're going to focus on asian-americans, which i have no problem with. i just want to point out the fact that i do -- my grandfather, as a black american, my grandfather was an asian-american but the point of fact that they are going to skip over all the promises that they are trying to do for black americans. i'm not worried about asian-americans. nobody is worried about them. but they're going to just skip over us and get to all the -- everybody else. >> omar -- >> caller: everybody else. >> this week, why would you say nobody is worried about them? >> caller: well, i'm saying it because -- i'm saying it because i don't want to make it seem as if we're not like black people are just like trying to like assault asian-americans.

this person wasn't african-american. this person was asian -- was a white male. this is the narrative that happens every time. the first thing they say is, oh, what about black lives matter? nobody cares about black lives matter. that's not the point. the point is this white kid went in and killed x amount of people and it just so happened the majority of them were asians. >> it was eight people. six of them asian women. and concern on capitol hill could propel a new anti-hate crime bill. that's the headline from the "usa today" this morning. congress set to debate the issue this week today. a house panel will be holding a hearing addressing the rise in anti-asian hate and discrimination. its first on that issue since 1987. the story from "usa today" noting that there will be testimony from advocates, including congresswoman judy

chew. you saw her earlier. the head of the congressional asian pacific american congress. that happening today. the house coming in at noon, but that happening on capitol hill today. the senate is in at 10:00 a.m. today. another busy day on capitol hill as congress tries to finish its work before breaking for the easter and passover recess. back to your phone calls. tracy, eagle point, oregon. you're next. >> caller: hi. thank you for taking my call. i am worried about the uptick in the violence against asian-americans, but i have a feeling it's because this new administration isn't really dealing with the issue of china, and everybody knows that biden is a buddy of china. so i think because of this

administration's lack of clarity on the subject is causing a lot of people to live in fear, to live in anger and taking it out on one another. and it's not just this issue. there's a lot of issues where that's happening. >> what should president biden and what should vice president harris be saying? what do you want to hear from them, tracy? >> caller: i want to hear that they're coming down hard on china for what happened. i mean, they basically declared war on the world because we were finally rising up.

made sure that everybody went down but them. and that's just wrong no matter how you look at it. i myself worry now. i mean, even though i'm white, and, of course, everybody hates white people now, so that's a worry. but when i was younger, i did some work at the v.a. because i used to go down there because my kids and stepdad worked there. and one of the first things when i walked in there, and i'm really white. but i do have brown eyes. and the very first thing they said is, you got wonky eyes. and they fought enough in the war to recognize that. i'm adopted. i have no idea what nationality i am. >> that's tracy in oregon this morning.

one headline on some of the issues you bring up from today's "washington post." asian-american leaders fear that the conflict with china will fan a racist backlash. the story noting that asian-american leaders acknowledging the need for the united states to develop a tougher strategy to counter the chinese communist party's influence campaign across the globe. the question they say is how the federal government and elected officials speak publicly about that challenge and how far they will go to counter it. david is next out of l.a. good morning. >> caller: yes, good morning. for starters, i would like to say to you that i was intimately involved with the 1991, 1992 uprising. i was one who was part of the justice committee. and i would like to say that the

la tasha hall justice committee was not a committee set up against the korean people. but against those who murdered la tasha hall. for the fool who said he was recounting the events during the uprising where you had koreans up on the building -- >> talking about james from north dakota? >> caller: yes, sir. shooting down at black people. he needs to go get some of the footage of that period to see who was actually involved. black people were not in that vicinity, okay? and so let's make it perfectly clear that i, as one who was intimately involved with the suffering of the latasha harlins family, that didn't translate

over into hating a whole group of asians or specifically koreans. this is something that, as you let your white audience call in, they reveal themselves as to this collective bigotry and group lumping that seems to be some kind of weird psychological defect in unfortunately caucasian people here in the united states, right? so i would like to say, as you permit me in conclusion -- >> david, do you think it's all caucasian people? >> i think -- like, say, for example, when i was doing work with the -- trying to build black korean alliance and get understanding, and for the so-called newly arrived koreans, you know, we would question

them, where do they get their understanding of black people, right? and then to the person, they would say through media, right? from information and propaganda that's propagated against the character of black people by white people. and so they come over here, some of them do, with a notion that -- which has been formed by caucasian people about black people. >> that's david out of l.a. this is robert out of worcester, mass. good morning. >> caller: yes, good morning. the first thing we must do is pass house h-1, the voting rights bill. if that bill does not get passed, we would be doomed as a nation. i remember when i grew up in the '50s and the '60s.

we as black americans, we fought for civil rights, voting rights, and we died for them. everybody else enjoyed the rights but us is remarkable. everybody. black people had 20% of all the jobs because we were being discriminated to work. they got rid of that bill. lbj got more rights. latinos got more rights. everybody got more rights than us and we died for that. and another thing, mrs. harris, vice president. she's asian-american. she's not a black american. you understand what i'm saying? >> all right. that's robert out of massachusetts. a couple of pieces of legislation that's getting another look this week as these

concerns about the rise in anti-asian attacks has increased in the wake of tuesday. don buyer and senator blumenthal with their no-hate act legislation to improve reporting and expand assistance for victims of hate crimes. that's one that's been talked about on capitol hill. another one is senator mazie hirono's covid-19 hate crimes act, that specifically looking at the rise in crimes of violence of asians and pacific islanders. it would expedite the review of covid related hate crimes and provide support for state and local law enforcement agencies to respond specifically to those kind of hate crimes. those, the press release is from the two members' websites. this is mark out of dearborn, michigan. good morning. >> caller: good morning. what a pleasure to be on your show. i would like to talk -- let me

turn my mute down, please. i'd like to talk about the '67 detroit riots. i'd like to talk about kent state when the national guard was pulled in. i was drafted for vietnam. and i have seen this racism firsthand. dearborn had the lockest term mayor, mayor hubbard. i was brought up a racist. but when i saw the color of the guy in the hole next to me, it didn't matter. he was my brother. and i cannot take this baloney that's being passed in the senate when they're trying to pass a bill to protect women that all they can do is talk about the migration that trump started and biden inherited. what is wrong with these people, and they still don't wear masks, and i'm just totally frustrated

at all the lying and the ignorance. you know what they say. ignorant people are ignorant because they know nothing. and intelligent people are intelligent because they know they know nothing. so listen and learn. >> that's mark out of dearborn, michigan. you talk about the issue of immigration. that front and center on capitol hill yesterday and will be again today when the house debates two immigration bills. but it was yesterday that homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas testified for the first time before a house committee after his confirmation. he was asked by congressman clay higgins about the biden's immigration policies when it comes to covid testing of migrants at the southern border. >> what i would like you to do is just tell us, i have several questions. are we testing these illegal immigrants that are being released into our nation? are we testing them before or after they're processed? you said they're being tested. do you have a plan in place?

>> we most certainly do. there are four ways in which we accomplish the testing. >> okay. you're welcome to submit that in writing. i'm reclaiming my time. to me, i think american people are witnessing a question dodged. bottom line is, illegal immigrants are being processed at the border and released into our nation that have either not been tested or tested positive for covid. i don't think i'm going to get a straight answer from you. i have another simple question. do you believe that the policies initiated by president biden, since his inauguration, have impacted the issues on the southern border and increased illegal crossings? do you believe the cartels were paying attention all last year when then-candidate biden was messaging, he was going to

weaken the law enforcement mission, provide some kind of a path towards amnesty or citizenship and process the illegal crossings in a manner that was more conducive to their reception in the united states? he messaged that again and again and again. do you think the cartels heard that? do you think that maybe had something to do with what we're dealing with right now? >> congressman, i -- >> good morning and welcome. i call to order the subcommittee on oversight. i thank everyone for being here. we're holding this hybrid hearing in compliance with the house resolution number 8. i am joined by members here in the hearing room, as well as members on the remote platform. before we turn to today's important topic, i want to remind members of a few procedures to help you navigate this hearing. first, consistent with regulations, the committee will keep microphones muted to limit