the reason i say that is because a lot of members of congress have difficulty understanding that as well. >> well, thank you both so much today. thank you, senator jones, for being here, for your career and history and dedication to this issue. thank you, representative brown, for your service, your service in congress and the military and all you're doing to root out extremism in the military more generally. thank you for everyone for participating in today's conversations, in your questions and interests. please continue to follow the cap action website. as well as upcoming events. to rewatch today's event please visit american progress action.org. thank you all so much. be sure to turn off your cameras as we close out this event. >> take care.

host: good morning, it's tuesda ♪ ♪ to mark pearl harbor, flags are half-staff on u.s. federal good morning, it's tuesday . also today, president biden is set to host a high-stakes call with russian president vladimir putin. later this week, the biden administration hosts a summit for democracy, with a role of rallying democratic partners against the forces of authoritarianism. we're spending our first hour talking about foreign policy. give us a call, let us know what you think as america's top foreign policy challenge today.

phone lines split by political parties. republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. you can also send us a text this morning, 202-748-8003. please include your name and where you're from. otherwise on social media, twitter is @cspanwj. on facebook, it's facebook.com/cspan. very good tuesday morning to you on this pearl harbor remembrance day. the senate is in a 10:00 a.m. eastern this morning, the house is in at noon. you can go ahead and start calling in right now on this question of the top foreign policy challenge facing the united states. this is in today's "wall street journal," three potential crises are proceeding in tandem right now, he writes, a potential russian invasion of ukraine, continuing chinese pressure on taiwan, and the potential collapse of the iran nuclear talks. any one of these standoffs has the potential to shape the world

order and produce wider conflict. taken together, they signal that the u.s. and its allies are at a dangerous moment, perhaps more dangerous than many americans realize. president biden seeking to head off one of those challenges with that call, as we noted, a high-stakes call with russian president vladimir pickup town today. the front page of today's "hill" newspaper, up here on capitol hill, biden to offer a warning to vladimir putin. it was yesterday that white house press secretary jen psaki talked about that call and had questions about what president biden would say. >> the focus of the meeting, as was announced when we announced it this weekend, is an opportunity for the president to underscore u.s. concerns with russian military activities on the border with ukraine and reaffirm the united states' support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of ukraine. it's also an opportunity to discuss a range of topics in the

u.s. and russia relationship, including strategic stability, cyber and regional issues. you can certainly expect that our concerns about it the military activities on the border will be a prominent part of the discussion. reporter: should americans be prepared for the likelihood to see american forces on the ground in the region in the event that russia does invade? >> i'm not going to get ahead of the president's conversations with our transatlantic partners, which is going to happen later this afternoon and we'll provide a list of who will be participating in that call as soon as scheduling details are finalized. but i would say that our objective here is conveying diplomatically that this is the moment for russia to pull back their military buildup at the border, that diplomacy is the right path forward here, that we are going to continue to coordinate closely with our partners, our transatlantic partners, on a range of economic sanctions and steps that could

be taken should president putin decide to move forward. >> and how would the white house characterize relations with russia heading into this call? >> i think our objective from the beginning of the president's time in office has not been to escalate the relationship, but has been to move to a more stable footing in the relationship. but certainly that means that we can raise concerns where we have them, specifically about areas like the military buildup we've seen on the border in ukraine. many of us lived through a similar playbook back in 2014, and the president is not going to hold back in conveying his concern and also conveying our conversations and our preparations should they be warranted. we don't know that president putin has made a decision. we don't know that yet, but that's why this is an opportunity to have a conversation. but there's also an opportunity in this call to have a conversation about a range of topics where there can be mutual interest, whether it's iran's

nuclear capabilities as a member of the p-5 plus one talks and what that looks like moving forward and other strategic stability issues where we have worked together in the past. host: that was jen psaki in the white house briefing room yesterday. that call expected to take place later this morning, and we'll, of course, bring you any updates on tomorrow morning's "washington journal" once we hear how that call goes. but that announcement, or the line of questioning about that call came after an announcement from the biden administration yesterday on a different front. u.s. delegation will be sending no official delegates to the beijing winter olympics, the 2022 diplomatic boycott, the united states not sending any u.s. government officials to the winter olympics in february as "the washington post" notes. the protests, china human rights abuses, they're largely symbolic, "the washington post"

notes. it does not affect the ability of american athletes to participate in the games. it will be seen as a major affront by washington's greatest military and economic competitor as china seeks to distract from its increasingly repressive policies at home and its aggression abroad. that from "the washington post," above the fold story this morning. a lot of things going on on the foreign policy front, and again, that also includes that summit for democracy that the biden administration is set to hold this week. we're going to talk about this in the first hour of the "washington journal." want to hear your thoughts on the top foreign policy challenge facing the united states. it's 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. and independents, 202-748-8002. we'll start on that line for democrats. this is portland, oregon, good morning. what's america's top foreign policy challenge?

caller: well, i think as far as the military is concerned, let's deal with all the nuclear weapons we have and what would be the purpose of using them. host: and carl, where do you think the u.s. should come down on that? caller: well, building these things still, what would be the object, to massacre people without any -- people maybe that don't -- that aren't an enemy of america? i don't see why the -- why they're still being produced. host: and funding for the nuclear program and all military programs wrapped up in this discussion about the national defense authorization act, waiting to see what happens with

that yearly authorization bill. it's been held up, and the house and senate expected to continue discussions about it today and through this week, as we continue asking this question. what's the top foreign policy challenge facing the u.s.? jerry wilson, north carolina, what do you think? caller: yes, good morning. i think the foreign policy is losing our democracy. i want to ask you something, c-span, please. is brian lamb still there? do he have anything to do with c-span anymore? host: we see brian lamb quite a bit around here. he's usually here in the mornings and says hello, about the same time we get into this program. caller: ok, the reason i ask, because when he was running the show, it seem like it's different stuff you all talk about now. i noticed the insurrection, we on the verge of losing our democracy. y'all haven't had one show about

that. and i don't understand it, because it's very unlike brian lamb. host: we've had several programs about it, including one of the reporters here in washington, d.c. who's been covering those cases from the january 6 insurrection on capitol hill. he's been following all the trials. we talked about it for an hour on this program. we've had several others. caller: i haven't really seen them, and i think that should be a main thing. it seem like you guys be talking about policies that are really not concerning. we on the verge of losing our democracy. host: jerry, i point you to c-span.org, go back and check out all the programming that we have and all of the segments here on the "washington journal," easy enough to find at c-span.org. temple, texas, good morning, democrat. caller: good morning. russia is trying to attack right now, when the president was

saying that we weren't doing anything while he was trying to get a statement against biden, but like the gentleman who just talked said, we are in deep trouble now. i went to war to fight in vietnam because i had my voting rights given to me in 1965 and i joined the army in 1967. now they're trying to take away our voting rights. my wife's mother is 89 years old, and she walks with one of those walkers because she can't lean over, and she cannot go and stand in no line for eight hours and wait to get a chance to vote. our voting rights are the most important thing for us, and this government has put everything ahead of them. i can understand covid, but the

second thing they should have got on -- because if we can't vote, we're not going to put nobody else there. host: we're talking about foreign policy challenges amid a week in which there's a lot of action on that front. it was senate minority leader mitch mcconnell who took to the floor yesterday to talk about his views on how the biden administration has handled the foreign policy challenges facing the united states. >> today's democratic party does not make the policy decisions of a party that is serious about protecting our country. in may president biden proposed a de facto cut in defense spending. that was before the the president's own super charged inflation further cut the purchasing power of every

defense dollar. in august his afghanistan retreat shattered our allies' trust and delighted the terrorists. in 10 months in office, despite naïve happy talk from the administration, the threats we face are markedly worse. the vacuum they left in afghanistan has goldened terrorists from iran's malicious and iraq, syria and yemen to the highest ranks of the taliban's government. their desperation to return to a failed nuclear deal has given iran the upper hand in negotiations. for four years, my colleagues, the democratic leaders, seem constantly focused on putin and russia, but now we putin applauding his power and russia engaged in attacks, weapons tests and troop buildups, crickets. and for all their talk about

china's threat, we've seen no evidence that democrats in the united states should keep pace with the p.l.a.'s investments in nuclear and higher sonic weapons. we cannot short change our military modernization and have a player of competing with the people's republic of china or even the declining but dangerous russia republic. our colleagues across the aisle have missed one opportunity after another to ride the ship. they have used the reconciliation process to pass trillions in new partisan spending without a cent for defending the nation. and despite the strong bipartisan work of our colleagues on the armed services committee, the democratic leader kept this year's defense authorization bill in limbo, literally for months. host: senator mitch mcconnell on the floor of the senate yesterday. we're talking about the top foreign policy challenge facing the united states.

taking your phone calls, phone lines, as usual, republicans, democrats, and independents. this is carl, an independent out of massachusetts. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. i think the biggest threat to the united states is washington, the pentagon, the international businesses, the arms dealers. you know, i think so what if china does better economically, russia, whatever, we can trade with them. i'm sure we can negotiate with them. the chinese go in, and they invest in these poor countries. sure, they're making money, but they'll fix their infrastructure, and then the people over there welcome that. when we go in, we go in with boots on the ground, with drones, bombs, we're too quick,

we're too quick with our military. were devastated during world war ii, and then with korea, with the korean war and all that, vietnam, the last really, really big bloody conflict we had in america was the civil war. so culturally, we feel immune to that. those countries, they're not going to be so quick to go to war. that's all propaganda. host: in the summit for democracy that the biden administration is putting on later this week, on thursday and friday, i believe we're still waiting to see what's going to be available that we can air on c-span from that, but it's happening on thursday and friday of this week, so check your c-span listings for at least parts of that summit. but in today's "washington post," the treasury secretary, janet yellen, and then samantha power, the administrator of the

agency for international development, wrote this column about that summit that's happening later this week. they write, representatives this week of more than 100 nations will gather virtually for president biden's summit for democracy. the gathering is a recognition that the world's democracies need a new strategy. for the past 15 years, they write, the number of people living under authoritarian regimes has been rising while leaders of many democratic countries have been chipping away at fundamental rights and checks and balances. corruption has made this possible, them say. autocrats use public wealth to maintain their grip on power, while in democracies, corruption rots free society from within. unchecked conflicts of interest and the unequal application of the law erode our trust in common institutions. they say corrupt actors hide their money in the united states all the time. and we can no longer provide them a shadow under which to operate, combating corruption abroad therefore begins at home, and our first step must be to expose the owners of shell companies and other illicit funding. moving forward, the u.s.

government will require many u.s. and foreign companies to report the true owners to the treasury department and to upgrade us when they change hands. and then they go through some of the other aspects that they'll be working on in this summit for democracy. again, it's happening on thursday and friday this week. part of this universe of events this week on the foreign policy front, so we're asking this morning, what's the top foreign policy challenge facing the united states? jerry, virginia, republican, what do you think? caller: yes, good morning. well, i wouldn't expect a whole lot to come out of these talks, because we all know biden family has substantial interest in both russia and in china. so he's not going to say anything to anger either one of them. host: what should we be most worried about on the foreign policy front as a country?

caller: make no mistake about it, china owns joe biden, lock, stock, and bank account. host: jerry in virginia. this is kevin in fort wayne, indiana, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. to this question, i think the anniversary of pearl harbor should bring us to reflect on the dangers and realities of dictators like china and mr. putin in moscow. the rising strength of china's military, the aggressiveness of russia's military should remind us, again here on the anniversary of pearl harbor, that we must minimum taken a strong, vigilant military, and we must be prepared to defend our allies, in this case, to look towards the two aggressive

countries, in the case of russia, european allies, we need to see if they will join with us to strengthen nato in defending countries like ukraine as it tries to maintain its strength and independence. and in the far east, where you look to china, we need to remind them in the strength as possible that taiwan is, again, an independent freedom-loving democracy that needs to be defended. so the essence of which is the two greatest military threats to the united states and the western role, china, russia, and it's reflective of the pearls of 80 years ago, because these countries are being led by ruthless, blood-lusty dictators. period. host: 80 years since the attack on pearl harbor. it's pearl harbor remembrance

day in this country. from our american history tv archives, this is the universal news reel that came out later that week, describing the japanese attack on pearl harbor back in 1941. >> december 7, 1941, a day of infamy. even as japanese diplomats were conferring with the secretary of state on peace measures, planes were sweeping down on pearl harbor. this dictator record includes both u.s. films and pictures made by the enemy as they dropped their load of death on the naval base on wheeler field on civilian homes and schools. 100 japanese planes and a number of submarines took part in the attack. in an hour and five minutes, the battleship arizona was completely destroyed, and four others severely damaged. three other battleships and three cruises suffered damage. nearly 200 planes were

destroyed. that sunday morning, the pacific fleet appeared to be completely immobilized by the sneak attack. nearly 3,000 casualties added to the catastrophe. within hours, the united states declared war. the attack on pearl harbor united americans as never before in history, and the explosions at pearl harbor forge would the will for complete and absolute victory over the forces of evil. in hawaii, civilian and soldier alike turned to the task of caring for the wounded and homeless. at the time, an actual landing by the japanese was expected, and make-shift plans were made to fight the invader on the beaches and in the streets. the japanese lost five midget subs, as well as planes and men. small cost for the damage they

were able to inflict on the u.s. fleet. two carriers had been on patrol and thus missed attack. these two ships led other units in the fleet in the battle of midway less than six months later, the first steps on the long road to complete victory. host: the universal news reel describing the attack on pearl harbor, december 7, 1941. on this pearl harbor remembrance day, it was president biden that released this proclamation on remembrance day that reads in part, a decade ago, i paid my respects at the u.s.f. arizona memorial, where 1,177 crewmen lost their lives on that terrible december day. to this day, the president said beads of oil still rise to the surface of the water, met for cal black teas shed for those lost in the attack. reading those names etched in marble was a reminder of the sacrifices and human cost of protecting our nation, the

ideals this great country represents. our nation remains forever indebted to all those who gave their last full measure of devotion eight decades ago. we will never forget those who perished, the president said, and we will always honor our sacred obligations to care for our service members, veterans, and their families, caregivers, and their survivors. part of president biden's proclamation on national pearl harbor remembrance day, 2021, 80 years after the attack on pearl harbor. back to your phone calls, as we hear from you on the top foreign policy challenge facing the u.s. today. democrat from virginia, good morning. crystal, are you with us? got to stick by your phone. we'll go to jim, fort lauderdale, florida, republican. good morning, jim. caller: hi there. i hope my phone holds up. host: oh, it might not have,

jim, try to give us a call back. brenda, houston, texas, democrat, good morning. caller: yes, good morning, and thanks for taking my call, john. let me complete what i want to say. it's going to be short. whatever challenge america faces is its own doing. with the corporate greed, i lived in the 1970's, and we made more men then than we do now in 2020's. the corporate greed of taking our jobs over there to a foreign country, whether it's slave labor, and then this racism just won't go away, this need for the inept to be important, god is not pleased. and god has destroyed nations before. america is on her way out. any thinking person knows that.

the previous caller expressed concerns about democracy are totally, absolutely correct. we're all sitting around seeing our country melt, just melt in between, like water, trying to hold water in our hands, and it just doesn't appear to be to me the concern that i need to see, to feel comfortable. china have played this very, very smart. white people have always thought that they were the superior race, but it appears to me china is going to win that award. host: brenda in texas. this is richard in minneapolis, minnesota, republican, good morning. caller: good morning. you know, i question the credibility of biden. hunter got this big shopping deal in moscow, and then they got a big deal in china, 150%

went to the big guy -- 10% went to the big guy, which is biden. obama gave russia ukraine. and then china's very oppressive. taliban is a brutal dictatorship. what are we doing here? we're giving everything away. host: this is ray in colorado, independent. what's the biggest foreign policy challenge facing the united states? caller: good morning, thanks for taking my call. how are you this morning, john? host: i'm doing well. go ahead. caller: so, really, for me the big challenge regarding foreign policy is unintended consequences. i think it's kind of coincidence for me to call on the day the u.s. was attacked pearl harbor, something we have looked back at is one of the reasons why we were attacked, and before we were attacked at pearl harbor, there was an oil embargo that was put. it i think a blowback by thomas

johnson, which is a book about cost and consequences of american empire, and we had to think about the unintended consequences of our foreign intervention. so i think that's something we really need to reflect on. host: a lot of concern right now about russian buildup on the border with ukraine and eastern ukraine and russian-backed separatists there and what nato and the west would do if russian invaded ukraine. what do you think would be the right response? caller: well, you're asking a registered libertarian. really, as far as i'm concerned, the best response is neutrality. host: that's ray in colorado. president biden set to, as "the wall street journal" puts it, warn president putin today on

ukraine. that conversation expected to happen around lunch time today. it was yesterday on capitol hill that republican senator marco rubio spoke to reporters on options to counter russian aggression. this is what he had to say. >> there are potentially a number of sanctions that could be put in place that would be triggered by an invasion, someone like putin, i think it's very important for him to know what the costs are of that sort of invasion before he calculates the benefits and wales the benefits against it. i think the other challenge is going to be, not so much congress, but certainly could be supportive, how our allies in europe, who are more conveniently affected by it. this is a potential crisis for nato if an invasion were to happen. it would be a real test of the alliance, given ukraine is not a member. we have a number of alliance members that would react very forcefully, particularly in central europe that see russia as a real immediate danger. and i think it can be a real test on that.

and at the same time, i think you've already seen some of the disinformation work that's being done by putin. we're getting a real clear picture in real time of what this warfare looks like, where you go into a country and you start both on the global scale and inside that country you start creating the pretext for taking military action. ukraine is going to be the ones that are provoking it, that russian-speaking minorities are about to be killed if russia doesn't intervene. you already see some of the informational warfare, and i think that needs to be countered so congress can be help nfl providing the resources for that. host: republican senator marco rubio on capitol hill yesterday. more from that "wall street journal" reporting. this on the kremlin response to the administration, talking about the warnings they'll be giving ahead of this virtual meeting. on monday, the kremlin spokesman told russia's channel one state television that mr. putin was

right to listen to mr. biden's proposals on settling the situation in ukraine, but cautioned against excessive expectations. aside from the situation in ukraine, "the wall street journal" notes mr. biden intends to raise issues of cybersecurity and iran's nuclear program. again, that call happening around lunch time today. paul, virginia, republican, good morning, you're next. caller: good morning, john, thank you for c-span. wonderful benefit to our nation. i think the united states is at the most pivotal point in the last 45 years in regards to international disputes, international challenges, and frankly, potentially war. putin knows muscle and knows cash. i don't know what biden knows. but if you want to check putin, you've got to do something and get in his face a little bit. you can always stand down and step back, but putin only respects people who step to him and put their nose to his nose and say, hey, let's roll, i hate to say it.

and else the same way. he is pushing us at every opportunity, all across the globe. they just opened up -- they're just now negotiating for an atlantic side port, the chinese are, on the atlantic ocean in africa. be the first time the chinese can project their power that way. america's greatest strength habits naval surface warfare capabilities. well, the chinese have now developed technology that neutralized that, much like the french did in the balklands war. the chinese have technology to take our whole platform of carriers, submarines, but take them out of play. we are in a very, very dangerous situation, and it has to be obviously extremely delicately managed. but we are really, really, really there. and i'm hearing crick he says from the -- crickets from the early libertarian caller, kudos to you for saying it, i don't believe what you're saying, stand down, but the europeans

have to step up. you listen to the lit winnians, they're ready to roll. the polish are ready to roll. host: several presidents have dealt with vladimir putin. who's best the best at stepping up and showing that strength that you say is the only thing that he respects? caller: we really haven't had anybody like that, other than president trump who walked it both ways with putin. he figured a route whereby he could sort of placate putin and putin played him like a marionette as well, but they kept everything cool, you know? that was there. but biden looks so weak that i think anybody who has any aspirations for more in the world is going to try putin now, and i actually told my wife, something is going to go down between now and valentine's day, we are going to get into it with the russians. and he's a nut. i mean, he's a nut. he understands money. putin is all about the power. he's done this before.

he has a track record of taking other countries over, and europeans watched it the last time, and he has no indication now to suggest that they will not just stand by and watch it. and that's my fear. why are we having all these co last time,nv and he has no indication now to suggest they will not just stand by and watch it. and that's my fear. why are wend having all these conversations aboutut a conversation tope thwart his advances? what you do is you fire up the 82nd i airborne and show some pictures of fort bragg loading people on air transports.pa that's a message putin understands. >> that's paul in alexandria, virginia. a few comments from twitter. this is party of fear. stronger ties to nato to show russia it is an overwhelming force not to bes toyed with. russia loves to play chess games is party of fear's comment. this isus lynn. whatli scares me the most is th no

matter what joe biden does with foreign policy, i'm afraid republicans are in the iw background trying to tear it down because republicans don't want joe biden to have anyev ki of success. b steven on twitter saying putin and china are bullying ukraine and taiwan have a right to defend s themselves. give them everything they need. and american joe saying the top challengeal is to stop antagonizing the rest of the world just about. a few of your comments from social media and twitter. facebook.com/c-span if you want conversation, or you can do what john did and call in just off the pennsylvania turnpike in breezewood, pennsylvania. democrat, john, good morning. >> caller: good morning. first off, i want to give a shout out to the guy in colorado, the libertarian, what he said wase exceptional. but ile wanted to point out tha the greatest fear that we need to have in international relations is actually controlling the fascists inside

of america today, the corporate construction that took our jobs to china, has made us so weak that we are dependent on china pharmaceuticals. as far as europe goes, they're dependent on russia for their energy needs. russia could just turn off the taph at any time and freeze europe out. they have become so dependent on solar and wind, and now with the winter coming and the high natural gas prices, russia could walk into anywhere simply by buying it or shutting off the natural gas. what is germany going to do if russia turned the gas off? >> john, your shout out at the beginning was to the caller that said that ukraine wasn't our problem, right? >> caller: yeah. weho have no treaty alliance toe them. we went there, i said some of the things he said. >> how would you respond to this on twitter? this viewer writes, hitler took poland and that was also not our

problem until it was. >> that is correct.g unfortunately, europe is not going to do anything. i don't care what the other caller said.to if they turn the natural gas off into europe and they are sitting there freezing, do you honestly think the european people are going to go to t war with their energy supply? ukraine was created by the obama administration, by financing a coup d'etat in ukraine, so we helped create this mess. >> all right, that's john in pa pennsylvania. richard in tallahassee, florida, independent. good lemorning. >> caller: good morning. good morning. i was particularly intrigued by your first caller. my father joined the military in 1945. and he served until 1965. and all that time, he was in the military, he didn'td have the right to vote. so i think our biggest foreign

policy is right here in the united states. have to get our act together because rightht no we'rean dealing with voting isss again. and en people gerrymandering elections so they can stay in su office. and our own former president said ourfo election system is rigged. so hownd can we move about havi a democracy, some had been talking about foreign policy, if our homeland is not in order? >> that's richard in florida. it's a little after 7:30 on the east coast.te we're havingie this conversatio this first hour of the "washington journal." on your top. foreign policy challenge facing the united states. a preview of the schedule today on capitol hill, the senate is in at 10:00 a.m. eastern. the house t is in at noon. but house committees holding hearings already this morning coming up in about two hours, at about 9:30 eastern, a hearing

before the house oversight and reform committee on examining worldwide threats and foreign terroristt organizations, including al qaeda, isis, and others. that available ate' 9:30 easter. you can watch it on c-span.org. and then later this afternoon, 2:00 p.m., we're expecting a white house briefing. jen psaki will brief reporters, may have some information then on how that phone call went with vladimir putin. joe biden's -- president joe biden'ste virtual phone call. and one more hearing, 2:30 p.m. eastern, victoria nuland, the undersecretary of state for political affairs will be before the senate foreign relations committee. that's on c-span3, 2:30 p.m. eastern. you can also watch on c-span.org and all of this available on our free c-span now video app. so plenty of foreign policy conversations throughout the day that youll can watch on the c-sn networks. earl out of indiana, republican.

what do you think the top foreign policy challenge is facing the united states today? >> caller: i think we are in deep trouble because biden has no inkling of what's going on. the vice president, she knows nothing. and what we're headed for, in the last days, people will be blindedve to the truth. we're headed for a global war which is a battle of armageddon and everything centers around israel. people do notod realize what th second world war was about. was earl in indiana. this is mara in salt lake city, utah. democrat, good morning. >> caller: good morning. i want to thank the screeners ford allowing me to speak on t air. ien am of advanced age now, and have been watching c-span since 1979. and it suddenly popped on the

channel lineup. regarding. the top -- i don't know exactly how you put it, but top a foreign policy challenge. thank you. i think it's obvious to me at least that russia and china are our biggest foreign policy -- sorry. i was up all night. i'm usually more articulate than this, butut russia and china ar the problem. and i think they both have nuclearus weapons now. but iee really don't think that they will use them on us because it's a guarantee of mutual destruction. both nations have enough nuclear weapons to blow up the whole planet.

and i think that self-preservation is the most basic instinct that humans have. >> mara, on the nuclear weapons front, one of the three potential global crises that gerald talks about today in his column in the "wall street journal" is the collapse of iran nuclear talks, saying it's one of those issues that's perhaps more dangerous thanim many americans realize. a focus on that by the editorial board of the "washington times" today. they write that the negotiations held in vienna meant to bring iran into compliance with the 2015 nuclear pact came to a screeching halt on friday. when the middle eastern nation demanded that complete economic sanctions relief must precede its agreement to comply with limits on uranium enrichment. the editorial board writing, if the past 40 years have taught anything, it's thathb iran has intention of relinquishing its quest too preserve its own

existence by acquiring the power toer annihilate its neighbors. the united states is left with s. say, defend they its vulnerable allies with wa unblinking vigilance until the long suffering iranian people find the courage to replace bullying masters. until that day, they say further talks are likely to be a nuclear waste ofll time. jesse in florida, republican. good morning. you're next. >> caller: yes, sir. i think that probably the biggest challenge we have in the foreign policy arena is that we don'te realize our limitations. we should use our resources to supportth things that are of vil interest to the united states. ukraine, if ukraine goes under, that doesn'te. really affect th united states. we have no vital interests in ukraine. to limit our resources, especially our military

resources, to things that really matter to the american people. ukraine goes under, it doesn't affect the american people at all. >> so jesse, what would you classify as our vital interests? where are the places you think we need to focus our resources? >> caller: i think we need to focus our resources on our own people. you know, wet have problems he that extend far beyond the military, and certainly, we don't need to be going butting into other people's business and tryinghe to prop up governments that are not even friendly to us. you know, and we do that all the time. >> what about governments that are friendly, jesse? how do you feel about the nato alliance? >> caller: i thinkai the nato alliance needs toor pay more fo their own expenses. i think we need to belong to nato. but certainly, we should not be the majority contributor there. we're not the ones that's most

in danger. i think we need to start using our resources for american priorities. >> that's jesse in florida. in atlanta, georgia. democrat. good morning. >> caller: good morning. i think our top foreign policy challenge is that we are weak. we're not going to i be able to fight russia or china or any other country because we have people in this country who are saying and d they're telling us boldly, they would rather see this country destroyed rather than for us to work together in order to fight any enemy. we have people who are ready to destroy the democracy of this country and turn to people like trump. an authoritarian government. that's whatgo they want.

>> jean, pennsylvania, independent. good morning. >> caller: good morning, dear, and god bless you. >> same to you, jean. >> caller: what i wanted to remind everybody what december 7th really is, a national day oi remembrance from pearl harbor. i haven't heard anyone bring it up, haven't even seen it on my post this w morning. we're thes. greatest nation in e world.d. with the most godly men and women. who since day one have defended us.pl i do not rely on the government to keep me safe. it j is our military, our good people, and people of faith. i can't hear you, honey? >> i'm listening to you, jean. keep going. >> caller: and i just wanted to say, these arere anxious times r people, but when we won a world war and many other things since

through the faith of god and good people who gave their last goodfo measure for us, these politicalow angst back and fort these are mortal men. i trust god. and we know that we are the greatest, freest nation in this world, andnd every day we shoul pray and be thankful. >> that's jean out of pennsylvania. story from today's papers on the 80th anniversary of the attack on pearl harbor. thiser from the metro section o today'sth "washington post." telling the story of the twin brothers, leo and rudolph who were 16 when theyca applied to join the navy. they were so young their father had to go to recruiting office in omaha and give them permission. rudolph wanted aeiof navy caree. leo wanted to learn a trade. 1938, times were hard and the boys lived 7 with their family a two bedroom house in a neighborhood of russianok immigrants in lincoln, brask

brask. they enlisted than may.nd three years later, they were killed when their ship, the uss oklahoma, was sunk during the japanese attack on pearl harbor. for 78 years, they rested among hundreds of the ship's fallen who weree recovered but never identified, buried as unknowned in a cemetery in hawaii. in ng2019, a remarkable pentago forensics project identified them as part of an effort to put names on all of the ship's unknowns. now identifying the remains of the blitz boys and over 400 men over six years, the defense pow-mia is closing down the program. the last of the remains that could not be identified will be reburied in honolulu's national memorial of the pacific, known as the punchen bowl. that story, if you want to read more on that program and those men from today's "washington post," the metro section. jim, halifax, pennsylvania,

republican. good morning. >> caller: good morning. i would like to first off like the lady just said, i would like of the veterans, all the serving military personnel, allin the police officers that keep us safe on a daily basis. there, first off. my second thing is i just heard that joe biden is going to send 18 million gallons of our reserve crude oil o to china. is o mr. biden supplying the oi for the chinese military actions over there in china? i do believe our biggest foreign policy challenge would be mr. biden. mr. biden is a disaster. disaster. look what he's leading us into. >> that's jim in halifax, pennsylvania. perhaps referring to this fox

business story b focusing on president biden's move to releasee some of the u.s. strategice petroleum reserve. fox business saying it's expected to supply chinese and indian oil needs as gas demands have ledd to global shortages. the white house said the energy department announced recently that it would release 50 million barrels of oilav held in the reserve, 18 million of which had been l congressionally approved for sale, china and india have been actively purchasing u.s. crude oil produced inf the gul ofen mexico. sour crude containing that higher level ofnd sulfur. wehe talked about the release o that, an effort by the biden administration to help lower gas prices m and inflation at the pump.ee allen in east chicago, indiana. democrat, good morning. >> caller: good morning. good morning, so nice d to see u today. yes, all praises to the veterans

on this day. god bless them all. i wish we could do a lot more for our, especially the disabled veterans that we have out in this country, i'm worried about. i would also like to say a couple things on foreign policy. and i would like to see if you could have another show order, you have in the past. i think we need to re-evaluate our foreign aid. i would like to see a discussion on our continuing support of israel and the occupation of palestine. i really think that we're on the wrongee side in that, especiall what's happening to the palestinian people. and iho would like to see if we could have a discussion on that some time. i think we should look at that twice. and the second thingfo is, i thk we should leave iran alone. we havee messed with those peope

forin decades. and just given them grief, and they are only reacting to us continuing beatingng them with stick. and i would e like to see an easing up on that. and they are a sovereign state and they do have a right to defend themselves, especially after what we did in iraq. and that's about it. thank you for taking my call. i love watching the journal. best show oni tv. >> thomas, greensboro, north carolina. democrat. good morning, you're next. >> caller: good morning. i am w calling to -- a disabled veteran. we respect the lives of the lost 80am years ago, but nobody is mentioning all the lives lost in vietnam, all the young men, 18, 19 years old are gone. we have been in war for over 20

years, so many years in war. we cannot prosper ifig we contie to fight wars. we havee to think about america. we have to determine that we have to fight for our rights here, and if we do, we will win. we can't keep dividing and we can't keep fighting race agains race in america. we're not together. we're divided. so we t have to come together a stop p this. we can't even protect our schools from killings. we can't pass bills to protect gun. laws. our youth are being destroyed in wars and in our own homeland. let's protect america. >> thomas, i wonder your feelings on the withdrawal from afghanistan and the end of that 20-year war? >> caller: same thing with vietnam. we left l, vietnam in the same situation. in vietnam, we run out of there.

we left things, the same principle they did over there thisis time. we always go in, we leave equipment, we leave people. we leave countries destitute and broke. so it's no difference between then and now. they forget about the vietnam war and what happened. and i was in vietnam. it's no different than it is, this war.ll >> that's thomas in north carolina. mittsy, brandon, florida. republican. good morning.meba a you're next. >> caller: um, i would like to discuss our american bar association and the fact that we have so many lawyers in our government. and then they employ 80,000 lawyers themselves. >> so mittsy, help me understand how that gets to america's biggest foreign policy w challenge. >> caller: well, the fact that -- how can we run our

country when our judicial system is sot corrupt? >> we're focusing -- we're focusing on america's top foreign policy challenge, and only have a new minutes left in this segmentnt to do that and plenty of callers who want to talk about that. subject. republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. this is daniel out of elizabethville, pennsylvania. democrat. good morning. >> caller: hi. good morning. can you hear me? >> yes, sir. >> caller: okay. if i may -- it's a new casualty list. february 17th, the navy department announced a new casualty list today including the names of 21 dead, 30 wounded, and 17 missing, which

brought to 23,282, the total number of navy, marine, and coast guard casualties announced since pearl harbor. the list included my uncle, first class lawrence murphy. and the story i got from my other uncle who actually got a medal and a proclamation from congress, he said that he had gotten locked behind -- locked behind something when he had gone back to rescue someone. and the uncle that told me this, he was in the pacific on a destroyer h at nighttime, and someone had fallen overboard. he jumped in after him.

and then hee told me that it takes 60 miles for the destroyer to turn around. luckily, they found him.m. he got a medal and all that stuff. i asked him, why in god's name would you have done something like that? he said, well, he had red hair, and he was a good guy. andyo i said, well, is that lik some i bizarre tribalism or something? he saida, i guess so. so i thank you for taking myde call. bye. >> that's daniel in pennsylvania. this is anna in clayton, north carolina. independent. good morning. >> caller: good morning. i ams an immigrant from ukraine. and i just want to say that for me, and i'm a historian as well so i studied history of russia and ukraine for a long time. and what i see that like one

callerse before said that ameri has to leave them alone because those countries basically are the sameng people, ukrainian an russian, they have the same language, same culture, same religion. and what's going on, they have problems withon their governmen. it's just the government who wants to fight, start the civil war. and people don't want to fight because they're brothers and re sisters. thank you. >> that'srn anna in north carolina. our last callerr t in this segm of the "washington journal," but stick around. d plenty more to talk about this morning, including up next, we'll continue thises conversatn on foreign policy and military policy wither democratic congressman anthony brown, a veteran, a member of the house armed services committee, and later, former trump omb

director, russ vought joins us to talk about his new group and its role in the parents movement in u.s. schools. stick around. we'll be right back. coming up today on c-span, defense and state department

officials testify about terrorist threatsse facing the u.s.ee we'll join thatt hearing at 10:0 a.m. eastern.on the house is back at noon eastern forns general speeches, legislative business at 2:00. on c-span2, the senate returns at 10:00 a.m. to take up executive nominations. includingg president biden's choice forpr chair of the feder communications commission. also the nominee to head the u.s. customs and border protection agency. at 10:00 a.m. on c-span3, u.s. capitol policeth inspector genel michael bolton testifies on the january 6th attack. then in the afternoon, a hearing on u.s./russia relations from the senate foreign relations committee.o everythingn is also available c-span.org or our free video app, c-span now. >> get c-span on the go. watch the day's biggest political events live or on demand anytime. anywhere.

on our new mobile video app. c-span now. access top-s highlights. listen to c-span radio, and discover new podcasts, all for free. download c-span now today. on "washington journal" continues. >> we're joined now by maryland democratic congressman anthony brown, a member of the house armed services committee, retired u.s. army colonel, in the first houren of our "washington journal" program this morning, we were asking viewers on their view of the top foreign policy challenge facing america right now. how would you answerch that question? would probably say china, china, china, china. but of nacourse, we know that o challenges abroad are not really just limitedos to china, while presents perhaps one of the most compelling challenges we face militarily, economically, and also from sort of a human rights standpoint in projecting values of democracy, freedom, and

liberty around the world. look, what we're seeing recently on the eastern border of ukraine with the soviet build-up, i think it's more important today than ever before that we insure thatra our rely -- relationship with our nato allies are strong. we have to demonstrate support to ukraine, the people of ukraine and europe, so that certainly isco a top priority. and i would also include in that iran. their unwillingness to come back to thehe table to negotiate a dl that would limit if not eliminate their ability to develop nuclear grade warheads and capability which they're already well under way inie doi. soat i would certainly list tho as three of the top priorities, but thehe challenges that we fa are numerous. >> on china, china, china, what is a diplomatic boycott of the winter olympics do? >> i think it does send a strong

signal to china that their human rights violations, particularly against uighur muslims in china, and also although not the main thrust ofan the diplomatic boycott, but also a strong signal that their expansionism, their aggression in the south china sea, along their border india, is intolerable. it's unacceptable. and that the united states will continue to compete with them, but the united states is not going to tolerate that type of behavior. so i fully support the diplomatic boycott. i am pleased that we did not extend that toe a boycott by t athletes. i do believe that the olympic games areen an opportunity to t to at least extend friendship, goodwill, around the world. that's what the games were intended to do f for the last 1r years. so these athletes have trained so very hard, can still be

ambassadorsrt for good will acrs the globe and from the united states. i think the diplomatic boycott is certainly appropriate. >> to one of your other concerns, ukraine. president biden set to hold that high-stakes call with president putin today. what does he need to say?ve >> i think he needs to say that thepa united states is firm in s resolve to insure that russia will not expand further into ukraine, will not violate ukraine'sdy territorial integri more than they have, because we know they already have. and that we will be ready to defend our nato allies, although ukraine is not currently a nato ally, but our nato allies in europe. i think itnv is important that demonstrate that will and i think it's also important that wer convey that we will fully support the ukrainians, whether it'sd advisers, whether it's

equipment. look, nobody wants to go or see war escalated war in ukraine. it would be costly in terms of cost ofvl human lives, the cost of, you know, dollars. bu' i think the sure way to demonstratepp to vladimir putin how costly it would be is to demonstrate theti united states resolve to support ukraine in or against any actionn taken by russia. >> is there a scenario in which you could see u.s. boots on the ground inno ukraine? >> no, that scenario is over the horizon, don't even see that. more importantly, if this were to descend into armed conflict, the most important thing we can do is to provide equipment and supplies to ukraine, which we do right now, mostly defensive type of equipment, but obviously in anwe armed conflict, we would probably have to scale that up to a broader range of equipment

and systems and weapons. i think we would certainly step up our advisory role. but i certainly wunt and i don't believe then. american people would want to see u.s. boots on the ground. that, i believe, would lead to even greater escalation. the key is deterrence. so it begins, it actually started before today. it begins with strong support to ukraine. it certainly includes a clear statement from president biden to vladimir putin today about the u.s. resolve, our commitment, what we will be willing to do, because deterrence is certainly the best way to see this resolve. diplomaticic efforts, that's conversations, demonstrating also to russia it would be a grave mistake. personally, i don't think the russian people havee a stomach for what vladimir putin is

threatening. i don't think the russian people want to go into ukraine and see body p bags coming back to thei homeland as well. >> we have the phone numbers for viewers tos, join the conversatn with anthony brown, democrat of maryland. republicans, de202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. as folks are calling in, the national defense authorization road ahead and what are your biggest priorities in that very big b piece of legislation? >> sure. my priorities o broadly speakin are to makee sure that the men and women of the armed forces as well as their families have all the resources, the training, the leadership, the equipment to do their job, to do it well, to come home safely to their families and the nation that we love. frankly, that's the easier part of the defense authorization. you know, the m debates we have about the n number of f-35s or w

quicklyum we move to whether it a d 355-ship navy or whatever t magic numberur is, whether or n we incorporateog technologies, w we streamline and improve our procurements so we can get the latest technology to the war fighters sooner rather than later, those are difficult issues, but they're not the most difficult issues. i think the difficult issues revolve around how do we take care of our men and women in uniform? you would think that should be the easier issue. what do i t mean? i think this week, we're going to bery debating the extent to which wee are reformed the uniform code ofn military justice, thean military justice system. right now, we know that sexual assaults have been in many ways ignored by too many commanders. they haveng been unwilling to prosecute offenders. we're going to make, i think, meaningfulul steps towards addressing that this week, this year, but one area where i think the military justice system fails our men and women in

uniform is we overprosecute, commanders are overprosecuting black and brown service members. if you're a young airman, you're twoco times more likely to recee punishment, either nonjudicial punishment or court-martial under a the uniform code of military justice, for the same conduct as a white service member or ain white airman. we havewh to address it. theep problem has been document for more than five decades. i think this is an important year where we need to take meaningful steps towards greater equity, fairness, and justice in the uniform code of military justice. >> g let's chat with a few callers. steven is up first, chatsworth, illinois. independent. you're on with congressman anthony brown. >> caller: good morning, r congressman. our first thing, our first country is china. bringing the fentanyl over. and our second threat is mexican

cartelss bringing the fentanyl into our borders. killing over 100,000 americans each s year. it's tragic. we have to stop the flow of fentanyl. we have to stop the cartels. and we have to stop china from bringing this fentanyl. this is a major problem. >> steven, we'll let the congressman address it. >> sure.ng and whether it's illicit or illegal drugs, whether it's undocumented immigration, which during my townn halls i get a lt of questions about that, you know, we need to do more and more to address the flow of both people and products into this country. the best wayse of to do it is we focus on our ports of entry. that's our seaports. i think about baltimore harbor,

a majorr port on the eastern seaboard. i think aboutwh the port at lon beach in los angeles. as well as across the southern border, at our ports of entry. what we need s to do is we needo make surero we're using the bes technologies and that we're properly staffing custom and and patrol at on those ports ofle entry. we need to incorporate more technology. we need tongng fully staff thos people. and we need toay insure that wh they carry out and conduct their job, they're doing it in an appropriate way cthat, one, protects the privacy and the integrity, let's say, of people and products coming across the border. but also arein doing the job an insuring that threats toen our country are not coming forward. the other thing we need to do is we need to address particularly the fentanyl and the opioid crisis at home. and we need to make sure that we are supporting those who for a variety of reasons have been addicted to these particular

drugs and pain killers. ii know in my district, anne arundel county, has taken action against manufacturers of these drugs that have inappropriately marketed them and promoted rampant distribution in our communities. we need to address that. we need toip insure that we hav addiction treatment and counseling programs. and we need to insure our first responders are also well equipped often on the front lines, whether ems, firefighters, police, making sure they havens the training a the supplies to save lives in those crisis situations. there's a lot we need to do, bothpo domestically and the demd as well l as cutting off the supply at the borders and the ports of sentry. >> a couple callers here from the old line state, silver spring, maryland. this is al, democrat. good morning. hi.caller: hi, congressman. my first question is about

ukraine. why is ukraine an american interest? you know, europe has medical care that includes dental, visionge care, and also include hearing aids. wewe cannot get that for medica in our system. why arers you fighting for gu ukraine, which is a european problem? that's theno first question. secondly -- >> al, that's a big question. let's take the question. anthony brown. >> sure, i don't think they're mutually exclusive, incompatible or inconsistent problems we need to address. oneor presents an international challenge, which we were talking about earlier. ukraine is important. maybe one day there will be a nato ally, maybe one day they won't, but regardless, they are on the eastern border of our nato allies in europe, and that is important. if we don't deter russian encroachment in ukraine, then i'm fearful that the baltics are next. so i thinksi it's very importan

that we demonstrate our resolve to prevent a russian encroachment in ukraine. in w terms of medicare, i'm completely onboard with you. i'm supporting the build back better act, whichne passed out the house. i encourage and support senator schumer, who is trying to get that doneik by christmas in the house. we edexpanded medicare to inclu hearing .devices. i would have liked to have seen us expand medicare to include dental t services and vision services. this is a great country with vast resources. we need todi tap into our resources and make sure all americans havein access to affordable quality care, and that includes through medicare. so i'm with you on that. i think we can do both. staying in maryland, we'll bounce over to irene, an independent. good tomorning. >> caller: good morning. i'm basically responding to your next to the last caller that you

had who stated and basically restated a putin's statements tt the ukrainians and the russians are basically one people with one language, one culture, et cetera. using that ridiculous argument, what language are we speaking in country? what culture do we have in this country? using hisht arguments, the uk would have a good reason to invade itus, right? the ukrainians have shown with their blood and a lot of blood it was, and with their votes that they are independent. they are a separate people. and wish to remain so. >> irene, thanks for the call. responding to the last caller from our firstag segment, i believe. anthony brown, anything you wane to add? >> sure, look, language and

culture, traditions, unite people. and often, whenl da people are united, they do that within the same political boundary, called either a nation or a state. but often, they don't. i think about the large continent of south america, where brazil, of course, the predominant language anthere, t official language is portuguese, but the remainder of the continent is spanish speaking. they have shared cultures and traditions, yet, you know, 10, 15, 20s nations make up south america. think it is -- these are factorss that unite people. they don't necessarily -- they're not determining in terms of political lines and divisions, so certainly any argument that vladimir putin is presenting that because they have shared cultures, shared language they should be part of russia, let the people of ukraine make that decision, and

as of today, that's not the decision that they're making. and that decision to be part of russia. >> those last two callers from the old line state, as we said. why do you want to leave this job that you're in right now and run for the job of attorney general of maryland? >> sure, thanks for the question. it's really less of leaving the job but what i'm moving towards, andrn that is attorney general. 16 years ago, i was actually running foror attorney general. i hadar returned from iraq, i w a member of the general assembly, i was looking for an opportunity to make a bigger impact in the lives of marylanders. and then martin o'malley asked me to join him as his lieutenant governor. i accepted that offer with no regrets. we had eight years making developments in thees environme, education, and i see myself in a similar situation today. the work i have been able to do with my team on congress, i'm proud of, whether it's in supporting military families, whether it's the work we're

doingpa in our district office. but with thehe retirement as attorney general, i believe i can make a bigger impact in th maryland. we have greatat laws on the boo, but still too many barriers exist for too many marylanders. whether it's in housing, health care, o policing, the work plac the d criminal justice system, i'm running to be maryland's chief legal officer so i can eliminate or, dismantle those n barriers, try to make government work better than what we have seen under the last eight years. and to fight for the kinds of changes that really will protect, youo know, everyone a empower all communities. >> dot: you expect democrats on capitol hill, democrats i in th house to bee in the minority net congress? >> right now, look, history is not on our side. we know that when an incumbent president, first term president, typically his party loses the majority. we have seen that in all but i think two scenarios in the last 70-plus years. history is not on our side.

i think it's important that we do continue to push an agenda that is supported by the majority of the american people, build back better is a big piece. we have got to be able to communicate on thees benefits tt americans will feel and experience as a result of our investments in infrastructure. we also need to point out where our obstacles are and that republicans have been an obstacle toev voting rights, criminal justice, and police reform. if we bring our message, break it down to what it means in the lives of everyday people, we have an opportunity.ty it's going to be tough. thee odds are against us. but that we will have an opportunity to maintain the majority in the house come november. >> back to the calls. withor about ten minutes left i this segment, ed is in jacksonville, florida. a f republican. good morning. >> caller: good morning. i have got a question for the congressman regarding the policy that the secretary of defense

put out about national guard being able to get additional training and recruiting and retention. the florida guard numbers are down as far as the population goes, andis we're concerned abo our community in the sense that if we have a hurricane or a national disaster, we can't to assist the civilian population. >> andnd ed, what's the policy you're concerned about? >> well, the policy is the way i understand it is, yeah, you know, soldiers won't be able to get bbonuses. they won't be able to get i training, extra school, and plus it will -- the way i understand it, they probably can't join in the sense that if they don't have the vaccine. >> so ed, as i understand what you're talking about, it's the vaccinee issue for florida national guard members orha a funding issue?li >> caller: well, it's a defense issue in the sense that the

secretary of defense came out with a policy regarding the guard andan not being able to, they don't get the vaccine, they can't getki bonuses, they can't get any extra schools -- >> gotcha. just wanted to make sure i understood what you were talking about there, ed. congressman brown. >> sure, look. let mee back up, too, because about a year ago or so, there wass talk on capitol hill to mandate the n vaccine for the m andn women in uniform. i actually was against that. i said, look, i don't think we should mandate the vaccine for our men and women in uniform if we're not going to do that for our civilian federal workforce and other essential workers. we nowee have since mandated th vaccine widely, certainly federal government femployees, federal contractors, the military, and i fully support that. i believe firmly that vaccination is an important step if we're really going to defeat this virus and the ever evolving

variants, if we're going i to g our arms around it and sort of be able to get it to the level of threat as the common flu. i thinkr vaccination is importt and i encourage listeners who have even been vaccinated to make sure they get their boosters. and for men and women in the military, we have for as long as i have been in the army, and i was in for 30 years, and i can't tell you the number of jabs i got in my arm for all sorts of vaccinations and immunizations, and i accepted that as an important part of keeping me safe, keeping me healthy, making sure that, i was deployable on moment's notice to go to far away places around the world, minimizeid my risk to threats t my thealth. and i think that the covid-19 vaccine is part of that regimen of vaccinations and immunizations that men andue won in uniform should be mandated to have. it's a force protection issue. it's a readiness issue, and it's part of the overall effort to

insure that our nation and the world defeats or certainly contains the covid-19 toer a mu more manageable level. so unfortunately, there are some members in not just the guard and the reserveto but active du who will continue to resist vaccination. and i do support the secretary ofof defense who will choose to eithert limit benefits or remo those men and women from service. od and i trust that, and we are seeing thefo numbers moving in e right direction. it's a smaller and smaller percentage of men and women in uniform who are not vaccinated. >> i know it's not your state, not your city, but do you support the move by mayor bill de blasio yesterday to require all private sector in-person employees in new york city to be vaccinated? >> i was in new york city just recently with myew wife, carmen visit a show. broadway is open, and so we enjoyed going back to new york

city. and theit reason why broadway w ables to open is because any place that you go in new york city, whether it's a show, whether it's a theater, other public places, you have to show proof of vaccination. and of course, the mask mandate. so it's an important step that new york city has taken. i support mayor de blasio in making that decision. i get how, you know, for some it's offensive to their notions of liberty and individual freedoms,, but i think this has to beis counterbalanced with th more collective need to eliminate thiss covid-19 virus. >> what show did you end up seeing? >> oh, we saw ain't too proud, the temptations. >> how was it? >> it was great. it's a musical. it showed their life of the group and it was really good. >> a a few more calls for you.

david, ohio. independent. good morning. >> caller: well, top of thehae morning to you, sir. what i would like to talk about is something that you basically addressed a little bit earlier about illegal immigration. there was a new election in hondurasth that basically put a woman in office, i hope that this country basically will support her. and basically, what i mean by is in 2009, zulays, which was the president in honduras, wass taken over by a coup that wasd supported by the american cia, that put hernandez in office, which turned thathe country int a narco state. and the reason we have people coming up from honduras and guatemala and salvador basically is bent on that. there's one thing in congress that i hope you will vote for. and it's the beta carreras human

rights act of honduras which basically stops all of our aid to honduras to support the police andun the elite military whichab have gone on to make hu rights violations with impunity. this is absolutely ridiculous. and the last thing that i really want to bring up is you have in congress right now a budget of $776 t billion for the armed forces. it seemsms to me that we are ou spending the next 11 countries combined. we're not getting our money's worth, sir. thank you very much. >>it sure. two questions there, and i'll take them as briefly as i can. i traveled with speaker pelosi and a number of other members of congress to central america, honduras, el salvador, and

guatemala just before the pandemic, looking at theco caus of migration, what is pushing, what is. compelling people to come. extraditional misconduct and e killings, and threats are certainly a part of it. much of that conducted by officials. definitely have to get after that. we haves to get after the lackf employment and educational opportunities. we have tosi get after, of cour, drugug cartel activities. vice president harris, she's been given that portfolio. she visited the region as well. i thinknd for a small investmen whetheror it's supporting the judiciary, the independentes judiciary, whether it's addressing police corruption, whether it's tnt trying to incu microbusinesses in that region, i think a smalltr investment by the united states will go a long way to improving the quality of life in those countries and to reducingng migration, certainly involuntary migration. let me go to the second part of the efquestion, the large defen

budget. keep in mind that i know often people say the united states spends more on defensese than t next sevenof countries. the united states does what no other country does. we have an expeditionary force that's global, worldwide. we're 5% of the world's population, but we generate anywhere from n?20% to 25% of t commerce and the gdp and economic activity. what does that mean?ty we rely a lot on markets around the world and products around the world to support the quality of life in our country. so we need a navy that keeps the global commons, the oceans and seas open. freedom of navigation. s there's no other nation that can do that. pirates operate off the coast of africa unless the united states navy is cothere. china encroaches in the south china sea andug tries to impede commerce, whichch such a lart percentage off the global commerce goes through the south china sea, unless the u.s. navy is present. and the same can be said for the presence of our air force and

army around thewe world. so it's expensive to have an expeditionary force around the globe. we also do our very best to make sure that our men and women in uniform have good pay, great health care, good military housing, and the same cannot be said for militaries around the world. so there's a reason why we spend what we do on the military, but i do agree with you, we have to make sure that we're transparent, we're accountable, that we're efficient. the dod hasn't passed an audit ever. and they completed their first audit i think it was about three years ago, and we're giving them a number of years to come online. that's a good step. holding the dod accountable for its spending, and that's the responsibility of the members of congress, the house armed servicesod committee, the senat armed services committee, the oversight committees to make sure that thera taxpayers are getting a good return on their defenseic dollars, and quite frankly, all federal dollars

spent. >> down to alabama, this is jamie, republican. good morning.. you're on with congressman brown. >> caller: yeah, i got a comment to mr. tibrown here. i can't understand the separation of the country because he mentioned the black and the brown. tot me, i think the black and e brown is trying to do away with the white people and all y'all are s doing is just discriminating, and you know, you're dividing the united states more and more all the time. and that's all s i got to say t him. >> jamie, thanks for the comment. i think you and i see things differently. i go back to the o founding of this country. this is m a great nation. and it was founded on a document

that treated me as only three fifths of a person. and we were a country that was at civil war because of the difference between black and white and black people's yearning, burning desire to enjoyry the human rights of freedom, free off slavery. we had a civil war that almost tore this country apart. inin many ways, it diz, but we resilient and we're a country wetoday. we went through reconstruction and jim crow laws. so today when you hear black and brown people say, look, we want equity, we wanthi fairness, thas not saying we want to somehow deprive. white people of anything. what we're saying is, for example, and i talked about uniform code of military justice. black and brown service members are 43% of the men and women in uniform. but they represent a much higher percentage of the men and women in uniform who are prosecuted ford crimes.

you know, and so this is what we're talking about. we want equity and fairness in treatment. and i know during the show today, we talked about the uniform code of military justice. the same could be said e aboutae criminal justice system around the ncountry, the labor market, educational disparities, health care disparities. this is not a zero-sum proposition here where improvements and gadvancements for black c and brown people co at the expense of white people. no, thismi is a great country. it's a vast country with ample resources.s. there's not a limited pie in thisis country. there's opportunities for all of useo to enjoy the prosperity an the freedoms, the liberties of thisno country. and as people who have been denied that calleo out for thati would just ask that you view that not as an attack on white people but on a quest for freedom, equity, and equality by black and brown people. >> congressman anthony brown, democrat fromn maryland, member

of y the armed services committ, also a membernk of the transportation and infrastructure committee in congress. alwaysin appreciate yourr time, sir. >> thank you,mp take care. >> up next, this morning, we'll be joined by former president trump omb director russ vought toam talk about the center for h renewing america and later on, big changes coming to the national flood insurance program. we'll take anana closer look wi chad berginnis. stick around. we'll be right back. >> weekends on c-span2 are an intellectual feast. every saturday,un you'll find events and people that explore our nation's past on american history tv. on sundays, book tv brings you thexp latest in nonfiction book andwe authors. it's television for serious

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and stay up to date on the day's political events, from white house events and supreme court oral arguments, even our live interactive program, washington journal. download the app, today. >> washington journal continues. >> a conversation now unrolled that parents children's education guess, please explain what the senator's mission is and how you got involved in this work. >> sure, thank you for having me on. well, it's the center for renewing america. >> forgive me, yes. >> and what we're trying to do is regain a census we think we lost in this country what's been integrated as a country and a nation so the sense is to restore the sense that we're a nation under god with distinct interests that flow from our

people, history institutions and enjoyment of liberty and freedom is in the context of healthy communities and just laws. and each of that is a corrective in some respects based on how we understood ourselves, particularly for those of us on the right, generally think we're too secular, and too individualistic and as a result haven't fought on the foundational issues that are so prevalent so the foundation on our feet has been weak. we look at a situation in virginia where parents say we don't want critical race theory, the type of transgender ideology that's taking over to be taught in our schools and them standing up and saying we want a different result, different type of curriculum and we're here to support efforts like that and have the agenda setting process in washington dc lean into those issues that quite a way, the republic party has not for many

decades. >> america renewing.com is the website for renewing america. russ with us to the top of the hour to talk about the issues, phone lines are split, as usual, democrats 72,748,000, russ, much here is to who determines school curriculums, how much power the veto parents should have over the curriculums. >> i think the right balance is for parents to be incredibly involved to the extent they are able to be responsible for the schooling of their students whether that's a home-school setting, whether that's a private school setting and that same principle should apply in the private school and public school setting so it's important for parents to have a lot of parental involvement and the debate in virginia came down to

that where you had the governor articulating that he didn't want parents involved in the curriculum and that's something we need to change and change across the country ensuring not just transparency but that when there is a difference of opinion, that parents have the ability to weigh in and say these are concepts that we just are not going to either allow the school district to be teaching, or it's not age-appropriate for where they are at a student at that level. >> the usa today headline, it's not just virginia. education and critical race theory are on the ballot in the race in 2022. your thought what this means for the mid-term elections? >> i think it will be a central issue, wokism, critical race theory, as it manifests in schools, parents are increasingly waking up to it. they saw it as they were monitoring the zoom sessions. they see vestiges of it in their own employment, they know it's

there, so they know it will certainly be something that plays into a number of elections across the country and in general, i think cultural issues will continue to dominate because the administration is very aggressive on these issues and state governments are as well. so you see people, you see schoolboards that are resistant to parental involvement in school board meetings and of course that just enflamed people to be more involved in the political system, you have the department of justice that says we'll call and treat these people as domestic terrorism. well, what impact that does, it ensures that people realize number one, they're over the target, and number two, that what they're fighting for is so critical to their kids' education and long-term development, they'll stay the course. >> the administration argued when that issue was brought up, the fbi and justice department's role that they're concerned about threats to educators so how should they treat the issue?

>> i don't know why they should be concerned about threats to educators because these educators have local police departments that are protecting their local populations and there has been no evidence of actual violence against school teachers. when the schoolboard association that sent the letter to the department of justice, they had a long list of evidence that they thought supported their claim and all of it was baseless. none of it was something that a local police officer or a local police department wouldn't handle. so this is really just an effort to scare parents from being a part of the political process and i don't think it will serve the purposes of that which it was intended to. >> what of you on covid mandates when it comes to schools? >> i don't think there should be covid mandates on schools or anywhere else in this country. i commend the governor of florida to ensure covid mandates

are not a part of their system. i hope additional governors take steps along that path. it's critical that our schools remain open, that our kids can go to school and be able to receive the education. you know, we probably lost an entire year and a half of development for an entire generation. you think about that, and for what? no reason, given the fact that covid does not impact kids at that age. and so very troubling. we have a medical establishment that takes great risk on behalf of the people that they are meant to protect, often not relying on the science in making these critical decisions. >> americarenewing.com, the website for the center of renewing america. russ vaught with us to the top of the hour to talk about that, and plenty of you all, plenty of

calls. brad from kentucky up first. good morning. >> i'd just like to second the gentlemen on his notion. the covid mandates anywhere in this country, in fact. but as far as our schools go, there's a bigger problem besides like the crt thing or whatever, which i've yet to determine if it is an issue. i suppose it is. but there's a bigger issue going on right now where we have deflated the teaching spirit of our nation's teachers. if you talk to teachers or know a teacher, these are some of the saddest people you can talk to, because we have ruined the school day for them and we are doing this for the kids likewise with this, with covid. everybody knows that, and we know what's happening, we can

see it happening, but we don't understand the hurt we are doing to our kids. there is an article, a kentucky paper talking for example, this not for kids but goes with what we're talking about, an adult learning center that had to cut back on the days it served the community because of covid. so one of the parents was talking about how that their developmentally disabled adult that they took care of, their child, had regressed that they had once been verbal and because of these days canceled and they weren't attending this learning center or whatever, that the individual regressed from being verbal to nonverbal. okay, that's a really good representation. that hurts to even think of, but we're doing this to our nations'

kids. >> brad in kentucky. mr. vaught. >> yeah, i think covid has had a tremendous impact on our society and we're still reeling from many of the policies put in place that do not encourage people to go out and live their life and take the precautions they need to on an individual and family basis. and to the extent that there are lockdown policies or lockdown-like policy that is are still prevalent, that's a problem. and that's something that, you know, our center exists to push back on these things and encourage people to live their life and take adequate precautions but to be able to push past this and be able to get people back into the work force, back into schools, and bring back the joy of teaching or whatever the particular work that someone does, and bring that back into play. >> kim, california, democrat. good morning.

>> good morning. how are you? >> doing well, you're on with russ vaught. >> i want to first state about the last caller's and your remarks to him. it is not individual liberty to not take the vaccine or go to school during covid, it was a collective act to save us all and i have as much right to be protected, and there's many act that is we do like that to protect each other and come together. and it's part of critical race theory in school -- i am sorry to say, it is not taught in elementary school and not taught in high school. it was a curriculum that was made for specifically law schools to teach their law students about how race and affirmative action and different things are represented by black and brown people, and mostly

black people. just policies for helping move forward to make equality and justice. and any, and yes, i do agree, i live in the bay area and many school boards get lively around discussions how we should teach our kids and what curriculums should but first and foremost, let me explain something to you. the first americans on this land were native americans and the curriculum should be taught in the school of the genocide that happened and yes, i'm sorry if more white and anglosaxan people feel that every time we ask to be represented in a book or have our stories and our histories told and either black or brown people or native people in this country, white people feel offended and can't handle the truth. >> you brought up a lot of issues, let russ take a shot to

respond. >> let me take a shot at the central argument that it's not in the schools. certainly it started in the law schools and that it's embedded in the race theory in the law and the law cannot be color blind because it upholds white supremacy and whiteness and that is a rejection of the civil rights movement which was purportedly moving towards a color blind legal system. that is where it started, but where it has become is a paradigm for teachers to think through and have all their curriculum based on this. so we see this with third graders asked to put themselves on the oppression matrix or high schoolers be asked to rank their privilege, that's what we're opposed to and when we're

opposed to critical race theory, we're not supposing some class replaces social studies called critical race theory. we're opposed to the concept that one race is more superior to the other or more responsible for the ills we see in society or the country itself, which public education is meant to provide a basis for strong civil engagement. the country itself is somehow inherently racist when we know the declaration of independence set broad trajectory of dignity for this country, so that's why we argue this is in the schools, and then we see the department of school system in detroit that says absolutely critical race theory is being used. so look, it's in the schools, parents know it's in the schools, and it has a long, undistinguished history that emanates in legal schools and universities across the country and that's one of the reasons we're trying to make sure it is not taught. >> two views from the online

conversation at on twitter at c-spanwj on this issue of crt saying, i recently took a state class and crt was there, i got a lesson in my own bigotry with intrinsic and extrinsic race theory, no one has the right to tell me to retrain my brain. and demian saying what people are calling crt is just the history of civil rights in our nation, it's not being taught in schools, it's hysteria. >> you can go online or call in. >> good morning. quick comment, are you there? >> yes, sir. >> yes, critical race theory is a made-up issue designed to stir peoples' emotions and challenge their common sense. it's not being taught, per se,

anywhere in grades k-12. as a matter of fact, the state of texas not too long ago had high school history text books that referenced african slaves as guest workers. we need to be teaching history to what actually happened. i'm well past 60 and what i learned in school and found out later on were quite different and we should be teaching what actually happened. >> mr. vaught. >> let me find commonality of what he said, history that teaches what actually preponderance of the evidence happened. when i grew up i learned about civil rights, the history that led to our war, i also learned about our founding documents and what the country was built and intended for and it's the greatest country the world has ever seen because of the freedom it was founded upon.

i'm all for teaching accurate history, showing the curriculum shows the strong points of our country and also where we struggled. so i think that should be part of the curriculum and the bills that have been moving in state legislatures have in fact allowed for that. all they're doing is prohibiting the types of concepts that i mentioned on the previous caller. >> about 10 minutes left with russ vaught if you want to call in on these phone lines. republicans, democrats and independents, lines for each of that. the center for renewing america. as budget director during the trump administration, we saw another resolution passed last week in the wake of a previous continuing resolution. what does this mean from a budgeting perspective from these federal agencies? how are they able to plan for the months and years ahead when they do these things just a

couple months at a time. >> well thanks, john, the budgeting process is completely broken in this country. the congress largely ignores what they send into the hill, the budget committee don't produce documents, the appropriations committee get jammed to the very end and may pass a giant bill that no one has ever read. the continuing resolution, it is hard for agencies to land on but it's a revisions process. my view for crs, the challenge is it has allowed the system to break down in a way we don't have oversight for these agencies that the appropriation bills and process allows with, a lot of amendments, a lot of consideration, a lot of debate on the floor and senate.

none of that exists anymore because they don't want to take tough votes and the leadership wants to protect them from that so it's a real problem, we see it with the on going cr, we sigh it and i don't think it will change until we go back to the way this system was meant to work with budgeting and passing laws under regular order. >> when was the last time a full budget was passed under regular order? >> it's a good question. i don't have a date for you but the it's been several years and, you know, congress says it's a behavior shaping constitution and the challenge is as am members go through congress and are there, they don't have any experience about what an open amendment process is or how big a deal it was to pass your party budget and not just pass a deeming resolution on consent. we're talking about spending a

week on the main budget with alternatives and 10-year spend plans, that's what the process is meant to be on the hill. >> so other than doing it the way it's supposed to be done, what incentive could there be to get members to go back to regular order? >> i do think as inflation continues to be a concern and the fiscal situation of the country is deteriorating, as we get out of covid and had to take significant steps to deal with the pandemic and the shot, i do think there will be efforts as a result of that to focus on ways to get a handle on spending. that's really what the political class always responds to is, you know, what's the bond market doing and what's happening with inflation and that generally leads to bipartisan government to try to take a look at these and that's my hope that we see more of that. >> before we leave the budgeting issues, i just wonder, the u.s. debt according to the u.s. debt

lock. org is currently 79 trillion, and counting, i always ask, how much debt is too much debt. >> the problem is you're always the world reserve currency until you're not. and that's the challenge with all these fiscal matters is we don't have a clear sense of what is that moment in which you create a real crisis, but the warning signs are starting to take off in terms of inflation and, you know, i think that is what should cause serious statesman to take a look and say, you know, do we want to have the type of flexibility to deal with emergencies that we saw? we had significant emergencies like the pandemic and economic shock as a result of it we had to respond to and we're going to have emergencies like that in

the future and it's important to have an economy and a fiscal foundation that is strong when we meet those and is not to the breaking points when we get to those critical situations. >> try to get as many calls as we can in the time left. doug, waiting in florida, line for democrats. >> caller: yes, i'd like to say good morning america and ask mr. vaught a question. actually, two. one, exactly where in america is crt being taught right now? today? and two, we're not going to go back to where we was like 30 years ago when some states were only teaching creationism in school but when those kids got to college and other space, they would learn that, they had never been taught the other theory.

what do you got to say, sir? >> i would say it is being taught, i'll give you an example lauden county, given consultant to develop a curriculum to develop critical race theory, in cupertino, on and on you will find evidence of this and my own neighborhood say i appreciate what you are doing, i see this in our school systems, i hear the way they are being taught about it, and i am opposed to it and i think that's what we reject and i think a ban like that does not mean you can't teach history and like i mentioned to previous callers, teach it accurately and ensure people have both the good and bad in this country. >> kyle, buffalo new york, republican, good morning. >> good morning, so i do agree

with the gentleman for the most part. we call it crii and the point of it is to include different, not really different points of view but different cultural topics within the curriculum especially the african american sidestory, when you're talking about different points of topics it often only comes from the right side and the point is to bring some type of black person into the topic whether it be science, history, industrial revolution, you know, the, let's just bring out the part about the industrial revolution. i'm sure there's plenty of black people that did stuff in that time period that isn't mentioned and that's the whole point. so i don't know what stage they're doing, but it also leads me back to my whole question of

why do we have the federal, you know, department of education if each they can do what they want to. >> that doesn't seem to be logical because if each state has their own rights, then why do we need a department of education? and i'll take your rep response here. >> i would agree with you. i don't know why we need the department of education and i think your question presupposes the problems that a department of education has on our education system. i mean, education should be at local level. parents should be intimately involved to the extent that parents have a hard enough time getting a say in lauden county and expect they're going to have an opportunity to sway the department of education, and what the challenges is ear we're facing now is there is so much federal dollars now flowing, it's almost impossible for the department of education not to have too much of a say in what

local education and curriculums look like and it makes it easier for these types of ideologies, that the american people will broadly reject. we just saw them broadly reject in virginia and i assure you they will be broadly rejected on a national level and when you have a department of education that has intimate ties to many of the critical race theory networks and teachers and theorists, you have a real problem there. so i would, i'm not agreeing with your question, but i would agree with an aspect of your question which is, you know, i think we need to have a significant debate in this country about whether 0 we need a department of education that is pushing critical race theory. >> how much have you learned going back to virginia and the significant numbers and impact it had on the ballot box? >> it certainly had an impact in terms of people voting on the

basis of parental involvement, on whether cultural issues they're seeing in their community is going to be dealt with and done from the governor's level and i think, from my perspective, this was an opportunity where all of the old tools that those who didn't want any types of parental involvement would use to call someone a racist, call someone a bigot, those tools largely did not work because you had these momma bears who knew the ground they stood on and were defending, and love people of all colors and races and those arguments just weren't going to work anymore, so i do believe this is one of the number one issues of the virginia election as opposed to just kind of the over-reaching aspects of what the left has been pushing with their agenda as evidence of what biden administration has been up to. >> time for one more call, this is giguffa i believe out of

missouri, republican. >> caller: i will claim to be an independent, anything, democrat, but what i will say is that all of these things we're talking about have some importance. there is so much divisiveness and so much, in my opinion, just distraction, in the conversations, you know, in the political arena, all based on distraction. the rich against the poor, the black against the white, and meanwhile, the rich are only getting richer. the poor are only getting poorer and too many in the middle are steadily falling to the bottom. if we really want to bring about a change in america, we need to wake up america because right now america is pacified and kept asleep and we need to wake up. >> i largely agree with this sentiment. i believe we have these great divisions in this country. you know, why are our elections

so close? our elections are close because we lost a consensus on a bipartisan basis about what this country is about and why it's so great and that's why we step forward with the senator to regain this consensus so as america we're not as divided because we have shared understanding of what we're trying to do in the public policy space. it's also important to make sure we conduct these public policy debates with respect and dignity and treat people as created individuals and we do that not just in articulating that rereject critical race theory for those reasons but how we treat people in public debate. >> americarenewing.com is the website for the center of america renewing, russ vaught, former omb member. thank you. a little later in our program, we'll talk about big changes to

the national flood insurance program with chad berginnis of association of state flood plain managers. until then, open forum when we turn phone lines over to you, any policy, statd issue, republicans call in at 202-748-a 8001, democrats, independents. we'll get to your calls after the break. ♪

. >> how exactly did america get up to its neck in debt? >> we are striving to prov >> how exactly does america get up to its neck in debt? >> we believe one of the greatest characteristics of being american is we're striving to provide equal opportunities for all citizens. >> c-span's video documentary competition 2022, students giving us the behind the scenes look using the hashtag studentcan. create a five to six minute documentary using c-span video clips that answer the question, how does the federal government impact your life? >> be passionate about what you're discussing to discuss your view, no matter how small

or large you think the audience to receive it will be and know, in the greatest country in the history of the earth, your view does mrtd. >> to all the film makers out there, remember content is king and remember to be as neutral and impartial as possible in portrayal of both sides of an issue. >> $5,000 cash prize grand prize and submissions must be received by january 20, 2022, for competition rules, tutorials or how to get started visit our website at student cam.org. >> time once again to turn the reigns of this program over to you our viewers, it's open

forum. any policy issue, political issues, state issue you want to talk about, phone lines are yours to do so, just an update on the schedule on capitol hill. the house will be in an noon today for morning hour, 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. the senate is in at 10:00 a.m. eastern this morning. we are expecting a briefing from jen saki from the white house today and plenty of hearings for you to watch throughout the day all available to watch at our website c-span.org also go to our websites for the listings through the this morning on capitol hill but i want to hear what issues you want to talk about, lonnie in north caolina, how are you? >> hi, good morning, i want to say a couple words about the crt.

why is white people so scared of crt? >> white people has been villains throughout history. i mean starting with the vikings coming over terrorizing. you have white people put chinese people, asian people in concentration camps. they went to africa and stole black kings and queens. they, look, hitler tried to annihilate another race. white people are scared that people in the world is going to find out how rotten they've been throughout history, they're trying to cover up and make themselves look good. everything that the white race touches is designed to reduce black people -- >> when you say they, do you mean all white people? >> basically. 82% of white people. you know, they silence means

consent. when they don't help equality, you know, they're quiet. look at the senate. the republicans are quiet. that means consent. you know. i don't know. what are they trying to do? white peoples always been just evil, man. >> all right, that's lonnie north carolina. this is sophia in the bronx, good morning. >> caller: good morning. this guy, what he's saying, what are we going to do. anyway, you guys always, it's terrible what he just said. i'm calling, the people, i have voted first time. i did not vote for him second time, president trump. what he said sunday and what he said last night, he came back to god. he find god.

i was, on fox on sunday night, the host ask him what about the question and he said i found, he was interrogating, trying to find out about my presidency. if i did not find him, i wouldn't be sitting here talking to you. that's the truth. >> sophia you said you voted for him in 2016, not in 2020, would you vote for him if he ran in 2024? >> caller: no, baby, no, i can't. but i forgive him. i prayed for him for good things so last night, the news, they were shocked. one of them used to work for him

at the white house, spencer, i forgot his name, short guy -- what they ask him the questions about pains, say, do you still feel? he said, he's a good man, but why he didn't do about the -- the november 4 -- >> all right, that's sophia in the longest. independent. good morning. >> caller: yes, season's greetings. and why do we need a department of education, department of anything? especially defense when its blowing its own budget out of aspects, but the issue of education, the united states it says is ranked 37 out of 199 countries out of education

standards and our children meeting those standards and right there in washington dc, well i look back on the federal acts, you know, everything from the '65 education act to, i mean even back to brown versus topeka board of education, all up through education, and no child left behind, and even the every student succeeds act, these things, but they're not having the outcome for black and brown students. right there in washington dc, our nation's capital, under 60% of high school african americans graduate on time and same for hispanics, las vegas nevada, under 60% of the minority group, if you will, are graduating high school on time and it's a big gap between the asian american

community and the white community and the brown and black community, we talking 25 to 30% difference in graduating high school. and so we have these pockets across america where the education, we have these school shootings, i think they say this is about 28, 29 school shootings so far this year in 2021, not to mention the pandemic and all the things against mandates to fight the pandemic. are we going to hold up the mantra of that education is a gateway to opportunity? and we have to have all of our children having acquirement of skills and knowledge to move into the 21st century. >> we'll end it there, plenty of more calls to go in this half hour of open forum. patricia in temple georgia, democrat, good morning.

>> caller: good morning, yes, i'm sick of this black, brown, it's all the poor to people. and they need to teach the truth in school where white man came and took the land from the indians and they took the black and white people as slavery. i have ancestors that were out there in that cotton field along with the black people picking cotton. it is the poor people that the rich are against. >> to david in denisen, texas, good morning. >> caller: yes, by the way, i want to say that pretty much agree with everything was said just before the last lady said about the education, but i wanted, one or two callers before that said the white folks are responsible for every bad thing that had happened, i would like to remind them that in 1250 or so to 1370, the mongoles of

asia, under gengis khan and his grand sons conquered absolutely all of asia, good part of eastern europe, parts of cicely and italy, if it weren't for the bubonic plague, there's a good chance we would be speaking mongolian. gengis khan was a tremendous leader, had the counsel to argue what the best religion was, something that couldn't happen in any other western society. in any case, the muslims after mohammed died in 620, they spread very quickly, the berbers, up into spain -- >> we'll leave this program here. you can find all our programs on our website to capitol hill,

affairs, about to testify on u.s. policy to russia before the senate of foreign relations committee. live coverage on c-span 3.

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>> senate on foreign relations committee will come to order. thank you for coming to the committee today not just once, but twice this week, to testify before this committee. we appreciate the time that you and assistant secretary holgrum gave us last night in a classified setting. as we meet here today, russia is engaged in one of the most significant troop bill-ups we have seen across ukraine's border.