in-depth. talk show host larry elder will be our guest to talk about pretty little correctness, the left, and racial politics in the end states. he is an author of several books including ten things you can't say in america, what's race got to do with it? and a lot like me. a memoir about his turbulent relationship with his father. join in the conversation with your phone calls, facebook comments, texts, and tweets. in-depth with larry elder, live sunday august 7th at noon eastern on book tv, c-span two. >> that speech last night was postponed because of some serious weather issues that was messing up the flight schedule on the eastern seaboard, but it is going to be rescheduled. we will show you some of the recent comments by the vice president and tell you about some of the speeches he is

giving today as well as the president event at the america first policy conference that we will cover later today. on the c-span networks. we will also talk about the white house the actions of the vice president during january six that have been a prominent part, of course, in the evidence presented by the january six committee. first note to the reporting a political and their playbook at least less engine than an hour ago, it's trump versus pence in washington. they arrived at all eyes will be on a pair of speech today in washington, one by the former president, one by the former vice president. mike pence, scheduled to speak yesterday at heritage will -- the young americans foundation national conservative foundation conference. -- donald trump speaks at 3 pm at the america first conference summit and we will stream that on the mobile app. because of his trump world writes political, not only is there a much discussed drama of

the trump pence speech drama but another drama over trump's choice of venue. peter navarro is publicly asking trump not to go forward with the event, because he believes that the america first policy institute which is hosted the summit it's insufficiently devoted to trumpism. at least, what's navarro believe trumpism should be. that is in political this morning in their politico playbook and you can read that at politico.com. pena tomorrow, referenced by politico, is published this morning by the americas greatness website, am greatness.com. it is a piece by peter navarro you can read their. a tweet here by politico and some reporting that they are providing this morning, mike pence is trying to put forward a new narrative about the republican party they say it's not convincing. >> here is that piece. mike pence is trying to send a message, headline from the atlantic. godfrey writes that you may

have not predicted that mike pence, a man who once praised donald trump 14 times in a span of three minutes, whatever publicly defy his former boss. but 2022, it seems, is a brave new world in republican politics. in the arizona republican primary for governor, pence is, in essence, campaigning against trump. the former but vice president has endorsed karen taylor robinson, a former deliver and land use consultant his main opponent is the stop the steal candidate harry lake. yesterday, this was after friday, the two men may both made appearances in the grand canyon state. pence praised robson of the small scale events in tucson. trump headlined rally alongside the lake in peskov valley where he went on about his usual array of personal and political grievances before thousands of devotees. here is the former vice president and one of the political events at the arizona summit with what he had to say >> there are some who want to make this election about the

past. democrats in the state won arizona to face the failed socialist policies of the left. of the biden america harris administration. arizonans know that the future belongs to freedom. let me say, when you go and vote for karen taylor rose, the republican team, you can say yes to a future free for arizona. you can say yes to our most cherished values like life. you can see asked of safe borders, safe streets, and great schools. a growing economy and arizona make no mistake about it, when you get out and vote for karen taylor rosen, you can send a deafening message that will be heard all across america that republican party is the party of the future. >> in our opening question for you this morning is the role of mike pence in today's madeleine

party to (202) 748-8000 the party for democrats, (202) 748-8001 for republicans and for others (202) 748-8002. a couple of comments on social media and some texts here, this one from dave in florida. i like mike pence, but what will he do about trump at the crony lie called for his hanging? pence is finished. he established all in the back on january 6th when he didn't and questioned the election fraud. that is james, sending that message in from troy, michigan. this is from cnn politics and they are writing about the speech that mike pence was sent to give out heritage yesterday that was postponed due to the weather, probably causing flight delays last night across the east coast. here's the headline, pence to off a roadmap for conservatives in d.c. speech ahead of nation's capital. they write that former vice president mike pence will sound very much like a white house hopeful looking to lead his

party beyond former president donald trump when he touts his freedom agenda for the republican party in a speech in washington. pence will deliver remarks about a proposed conservative agenda at the heritage foundation. the conservative think tank. the trip, though originally laid to take place monday evening, one day before trump faces her son was to make his first visit to the nation's capital since leaving office in january 2021. was postponed after pence's flight into the washington, d.c. area was diverted because of storms, according to john spokesman for the think taint it will be rescheduled for another day. the freedom agenda provides a clear roadmap for conservative leaders looking to connect deeply with the american people on the top priorities. pence plans to say, according to prepared remarks obtained by cnn. it is built upon the belief that the americans want to create more economic opportunity, restore leadership on the world.

-- cnn writes not his prepared remarks build on the modern building a quote, lasting majority and the need for unified concern of action that -- so many people may choose to focus on the past. pence's planned remarks read, but i believe conservatives must focus on the future. your speech on the former vice president and his role at the republican party. let's go first to kindest in colorado, and hear from gregg on the democrats line. greg, gun us in colorado. >> hi -- it's c-span. >> hello sir. >> thanks hello to c-span. you have the best program on television, in my opinion. yes it's interesting, mike pence is only slightly better than trump. thank god he did his job when trump wanted him to not do his

job at. my opinion is that both of these people just need to go away. they lost the election, fair and square, they divide our country more than any other politician in my opinion that we have ever had. there's always been divisions between republicans and democrats, but not like it's been since trump. i must say, i find it very interesting yesterday with your bum -- the republican only callers calling in, the majority of them did not want to see trump running again. i must agree with that. these two people got lucky now they thought they lost and they

need to go away, please. >> the republican line is next, ryan, good morning. richmond, indiana. >> yes, good morning. my big problem i had with mr. pence is, in light of all of the pile of evidence that is a founding concerning the elections in big democratic states and key -- big democratic cities in key states, they were throwing laws, the list goes on, on, and on. we can't -- the whole election was a big fraud, it's obvious. i wonder that makes mr. pence a fraud, too. that's the only thing i really have to say. >> do you think he could have done anything on january 6th the confirming of the counting of the electoral votes? mike pence said over and over again he outdid his constitutional duty. >> well what he is eaten since then? i haven't heard him come out

and talk against fraud in the elections and all this evidence that some of the courts refused to look at, all of them have to look at it eventually. we are has even through all of this? if he is such a hard-core right-wing republican. >> all right, pamplin planes, new jersey. next up, mary kay on the democratic's line. mike pence and the republican party? >> mary kay, go ahead. >> i agree with the democrats from colorado, i think it was, chris. when i am really upset about is that c-span is giving a voice to the republican party and their former guy in pants. it's really, really making me angry that c-span is amplifying hate, betrayers, and why are you giving them a voice, period. the other topics that are a

heck of a lot more important than what the republicans are doing. there are so many things that biden is doing, so many things that kamala harris is doing, and you've never covered those in the washington journal. i am really, really upset at c-span for highlighting then -- having these trumplicans call in and talk about what mike pence should have done them. joe biden won the election, period. stop amplifying what republicans are saying. trump, pence are saying, and doing. thank you, bill. >> to mary k's point we covered both the president and the white house briefing yesterday, as we do almost every day. we cover politics and political events of all stripes all year long, of course, on the c-span networks. thank you for your comments. mike pence back in february

spoke at the federal society and laid out some of his vision about all the counting of the vote on january 6th. his reflections on that. have a listen to that. >> there are those in our party who believe that, as the presiding officers however the joint. that i possess unilateral authority to reject electoral college votes. i heard this week that president trump said i have the right to overturn the election, president trump is wrong. i had no right to overturn the election, the presidency belongs to the american people and the american people alone. frankly, there is no idea more un-american than the notion that any one person could choose the american president. under the constitution i had no right to change the outcome of that election, kamala harris will have no rights to overturn the election when we beat them

in 2024. >> mike pence in february of this year, we are asking about the role of mike pence in today republican party, more of your calls in just a moment, justin upton our live coverage plans, in addition to the house and senate today, coming up this morning at 10 am eastern a senate hearing on the safety of law enforcement officers, including the impact of assault weapons in gun laws. that is live at ten eastern, here on c-span. at 10:00 the senate health committee health education committee will do an update on the continued rise of overdose is linked to fentanyl, that is it c-span 3 live at 10 am eastern, also at c-span dot org and streaming on the free c-span now app. and, the former president donald trump will speak this afternoon at the america first policy institute summit here in the nation's capital, as we have mentioned, his first trip back to washington since the inauguration of joe biden, that

is coming up this afternoon at 2:15 and we'll be live over on c-span three. back to your calls, john from pennsylvania on the republican line. >> yes, good morning, mike pence's future is jeff like jeff sessions and kinzinger and cheney, they're all never trumpers, he knew, i am in pennsylvania and we saw it, the election was stolen here in pennsylvania, i was here, i saw it on the tv. so, if there was fraud mike pence should have sent it back to the states to be reviewed, i'm telling you this right now, they first caller talking about how donald trump is dividing this country, are you kidding me? joe biden is the worst president ever to sit in the oval office, okay? i have seen nothing but pure

pure devastation to small businesses. letting this corporate giants, how come joe biden did not put out the profits that these companies made in their second quarter? how can we have not seen exxonmobil's profits? tyson, we jp gill or whatever, the food manufacturer. jay bay something. all of these other big corporations, these people are ripping the american people off, joe biden is sitting there watching it happen and you have these 88 democrats calling in and blaming donald trump, saying he is the one who is dividing this country? are you kidding me? are you kidding? >> all right, to los angeles on the democrats line, good morning. >> good morning, thank you for having me on, i think mike pence's role is the role of vladimir putin decided for this

country. that 1% white roll class that we call marxism was more beneficial to society than a merit-based democracy under president obama. who was the most successful president in the history of this country. but, why people did not like him because he was black. we had communists and marxist on the left, bernie sanders has been a communist since he was 19 years old when he took money, his campaign manager was partners with paul manafort in the ukraine, paul manafort was convicted for taking the money, so was michael flynn. jill stein, another marxist feminist not. we have marxist on the left, would not make them our nominee, you guys nominated trump.

the republican party, talking about the media and being co-opted by the 1% who only media. >> and, there, and do you think the republicans will nominate mike pence in 2024? >> now, the republicans will split the vote, half of them will vote for desantis, they are not going to vote for trump, and then the trump nuts are going to vote, they are still rooting for putin so they will not vote for desantis. they will split the vote, joe biden will become president and if joe biden and doesn't make it then you have another black jesus as president. >> we are going to go on to the republican line and texas. >> i can just not hearing what is democrats are saying. everybody in this country, mike pence will never make, it the republicans will not vote for him, he is a nice man, he is a little weak in my view, i am voting for desantis because he

is an honorable man. not like biden, biden and the democrats, the socialist, communist parties. they are destroying this country. they are hurting their own citizens. >> back to your point about mike pence, he said he is a nice man but you will not vote for him, politically, why politically won't you support him? >> i just think he is kind of a rhino, i want someone to fix this country, you have to have strength, you have to be able to talk in common to the people. we have to be able to stop this one the democrats are indecent, it is disturbing. their education, what they are doing to our children by putting sexual everything to our babies one. the whole country is crazy right now. >> kathy, it sounds like in your support of desantis you

are swimming that former president donald trump will not run in 2024. >> i'm not sure what he is going to do, i liked his platform, democrats will always try and stop him because they are socialist communists. they do not want the american dream anymore. they are no longer democrats, a lot of democrats i know are not voting democrat, they are going to vote republican. >> the former president donald trump earlier this year speaking at the faith and freedom conference and talking about his former vice president mike pence. >> but, i never called mike pence a win, i never called him a lamp, mike pence had a chance to be great, he had a chance to be a historic, but just like bill barr and the rest of these week people, mike, and i say it sadly because i like him, mike did not have the courage to act,

bill barr was afraid of certain things and you know what they were? very pleased to not impeach me, do not and ph me, plays, as of what is wrong with being impeached? i got impeached twice and my numbers went up. i do not want to be impeached, sir, i do not want to be impeached, the election was perfect, it was so good, the election was perfect, and the democrats are sitting back and thinking, no way are we going to impeach this guy. it is terrible. mike was afraid of whatever he was a fellow afraid of. but, as you heard a year and a half ago, mike pence had absolutely no choice but to be a human conveyor belt, but human conveyor belt, even if the votes were fauci said he had to send the boats. could not do anything. i said what happens when you have more votes than you have voters? doesn't matter. >> former president trump at

the june faith and freedom conference. if the president, the former president decides to run in 2024, with a story published this morning points out the financial implications of that. when trump declared for 2024, loses control of 103 merit million. they write that as head of the same america political action committee he controls 103 million, making him the republican party kingmaker. once he can declares the run, the from kingmaker to possible can, federal law puts the money behind is which. he has been indicating for once that he will be making and other white house bid. he's made the decision but cannot disclose it until after november's midterm elections, because of those campaign finance restrictions. when he announces, he is limited to taking just 5000 of his leadership backed money for his campaign committee, which would began with a starting balance of zero. at the same time, rights yahoo,

declaring his candidacy might spur the loyal donors to spur the coffers. three weeks after losing the 2020 election he joined the republican national committee to raise 207.5 million, while falsely claiming widespread fraud. that led to his defeat, newer thoughts on the role of mike pence in today's republican party, (202) 748-8000 democrats (202) 748-8001 for republicans, and for others (202) 748-8002. on twitter, kevin says this. they future he is retire and enjoy your pension with mother. if your vision for the gop is a more polite and less relevant office than pence is your guy. let's go to john in johns town, pennsylvania, democrats won the. morning, john. >> good morning, but i am afraid of with pence's if

united states becomes a theocracy, he is also religious and also concerning the biden versus trump mentality, after four years of trump how can anyone criticize biden's mental acuity? the guy who has delusions of grandeur or whatever. and also, pennsylvania, the fellow from pennsylvania called and said he saw the fraud. there was one case of fraud, and it was concerning a republican and his wife and mother and la who voted twice, so that was the only case of fraud they came across in pennsylvania. let me tell you, if you are in pennsylvania there was not fraud. >> okay, john, thank you, sophia is in manhattan, good morning. >> good morning, thank you for taking my call.

i definitely enjoyed and kiss the ground was what mike pence did. they saved our democracy. for him to run as president i do not say, i say kissinger, liz cheney, paul ryan. i know it is a long time, but they need to get back to the republican party. i changed to independent last month, i could not take it anymore. i gave all my funds back because i voted for trump in 2016. i cried the whole four years, when he left i kissed the ground again and at 7:34 am on january 7th on when trump's

band, i put the phone on the ground on my knee, i said thank you, we are going to get back, we will. it is only 25% right now, they will not change their mind, they are going to stick with it. which is their victory. they need trump, they needed a big later, for 30 or 40 years they wanted that. and also, he is, them they use because each other, the only thing i want to say is we are going to be fine, i'm going to go back to being a republican again. >> okay. >> after all of this. >> we will go next their public in line and hear from carey in philadelphia. >> hey, bill, how are you doing

this morning? thank you for taking my call. mike pence may have some role in the governmental party but it will not be a big role, he will not go against trump in a primary, i do not think he would win and only throw his name in the primary would take a lot of votes from governor desantis, i do not believe in he he has a shot at beating president trump in a primary election. when you look at the election results from 2020, president trump got 70 million votes, 70 million people out there is a big number, as far as what is going on in today's world with joe biden, i do not believe that this man knows what day of the week it is, what is going on with the border, what is going on with gas prices. trump had all of that under control. not only that, they respect we are getting from other nations is amazing, germany, for

instance, they are not even giving what they should be given in the ukraine war, when president trump was there this war would have never started and they would be giving their fair share, everything is being put on us and joe biden is destroying his country day in and day out. are used to be a democrat, i changed in the last year to republican. that is all i really have to say, thank you for taking my call. >> okay, next up is and it, democrats line in florida. >> yeah, can you hear me? >> yes i can, go ahead. >> on the issue of mike pence, mike pence basically subject himself to a character assassination, he sucked the character out of him, look at before this, associated with that, he had this. this man is a character

assassin, mike pence does not have a role. he has to rebuild his character, with all of the trump voters, everyone who voted for trump are willfully ignorant. listen to the guy from philadelphia, he is only emotional when he is on record. they love the january 6th committee, it has dutifully presented facts because willfully ignorant people deliberately ignore the facts. donald trump will run, they will not allow him not to. and as far as the last caller talking about respect from other countries, the other country laughed at us. they publicly laughed at us, thank, you sir. >> headline from politico this morning, mike pence's former chief of staff appears before january 6th grand jury, mike

short who served as chief of staff for former president vice president mike pence appeared before a jury last week in investigating matters next to the january six 2020 tax on the capitol. according to a person with the capitol, he is one of the most significant witness is known to face the grand jury questions, he was at pence's side during the chaotic weeks after the 2020 election, helping donald trump's number to fend off pressures from the event then president to single-handedly overturn the results. at last week's hearing the january 6th committee hearing, representative elaine of virginia showed never before seen video footage of vice president pence and his security detail during the attack on the u.s. capitol. >> the president's national security council staff was listening to these developments

and tracking them in realtime. on the screen, you can see excerpts from the chat logs among the presidents national council, national security council staff, at 2:13 the staff learned that the rioters were kicking in the windows at the capitol. three minutes later they staff said, the vice president was being pulled. which means agents evacuated him from the senate floor. at 2:24 they staff noticed the secret surgeons agents at the capitol did not, quote, sound good right now. earlier you heard from a security professional who had been working at the white house complex on january 6th, with access to relevant information and a responsibility to report to national security officials. we asked this person, what was meant by the comment that a secret service agents did not, quote, sound good right now? in the following clip of that testimony, which has been modified to protect the individuals identity, the

professional discusses what they heard from listening to the incoming radio traffic that day. >> that last intrinsic red service, the capital does not sound good right now. >> correct. >> what does that mean? >> members of the detail at this time were with a lot of yelling, a lot of dumb very personal calls over the radio. so, it was disturbing, i do not like talking about it. there were calls to say goodbye to family members, so, on so forth. whatever the reason was on the ground, they thought this was a go to get very ugly. >> did you hear that over the radio? what was the response by the

agents on the radio? >> people kept saying, at that point it was just reassurances. i think there were discussions of reinforcements coming. again, it was chaos. >> obviously it was disturbing, but, what prompted you to put it into an entry? at the capitol. >> they were running out of options and getting nervous. that way came very close to what's happening with legal options, at that point i do not know, is the vice president compromise, we did not know because we did not have visibility, people were screaming and saying things like saying goodbye to family, we are running out of options. >> story this morning in the washington times on the political impact on the republican party of those hearings, the headline hearings

pull trump down but not out of gdp favorite. vision for the u.s.. voir dire writes cracks are showing and support for former president donald trump after eight public hearings by the house january six committee. although he remains the man to before the 2024 nomination, mr. trump's favorable ability ratings have slipped in public polling since the hearings began in june, in april the president was underwater. the difference between voters who like him and those who don't buy 3.5 percentage points in the real politics average of polls, by friday after the eight hearing by the house select committee investigating the pro-trump riot at the u.s. capitol, 2021. mr. trump's favor ability rating was underwater by 10.9 percentage points. some conservative media are also distancing themselves from mr. trump, the weight of testimony that heated little or nothing for more than three hours during the riot while his supporters attacked law enforcement officers and vandalized the capital. your thoughts on the role of mike pence in today's republican party? let's heard from an on the

independent line in annapolis, maryland. >> good morning, i am a first time caller and i was prompted to call based on a woman call or a few calls ago who criticize forgiven republicans a forum to express their opinions on an issue. i thought that was craziness, i could not believe that. that is what made me want to call, i also just want to say that i do not think pence is a strong candidate, i was a trump supporter, if he runs i will vote for him, although i would rather see some new blood, to be honest with you, thank you. >> okay, glad you called in, cathy is in atlanta on the republican line, welcome. kathy, mute your volume on your television and go ahead with your comment. cassie in atlanta, mute your volume on your television or we are going to move on to the next call. or are you there? no, we are going to go to john

in pennsylvania, democrats line, allow. >> hi, how are you doing? you know, america's america. the democrats caught the house, the senate, and the white house. and we have no baby formula for kids in this country, this is what you report. seriously? it is a dereliction of duty for you, they killed 13 people in afghanistan and what do you do? they supreme court. >> that is not sure about afghanistan, don. we have talked a lot about that after all of that, we talked about the baby formula issue as well, we talk about those

issues regularly. joe is next in columbia, south carolina. independent line, go ahead. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> mr. mike pence, i guess he is a good guy for what he has done, he did the right thing, finally, but i do not have much respect for him with because he is a supporter of donald trump, donald trump was not elected president but managed to be the president with the help of vladimir putin, people do not realize that donald trump really is a puppet for vladimir putin. here's the thing, even though they don't want to admit it, it is there, he took pictures with vladimir putin in the white house behind closed doors, withr

television. are you there? caller: yes, i am here. i want to know, when are they going to let the colleges the colleges again? when are they going to stop killing these children? host: al gore declines to call mike pence a hero january 6, certifying the election.

he said that conceding the 2000 election to george w. bush was nothing extraordinary. here is the former vice president, al gore on meet the press. here is the former vice president, al gore, i meet the press. >> vice president pence has been called a hero by some for what he did on january 6th, what's so you? >> well, in the current environment just doing what they law and the constitution requires seems heroic to some. i am glad he made that decision, he was a freshman congressman sitting in the chamber when i counted the electoral votes in early january of 2001. i think that those who have tried to continue promoting

doubt and suspicion about the efficacy of our democracy are really performing in an anti american way. they should be held to account, that committee, i want to gradually benny thompson, liz cheney, every single member of that committee. they are performing a historic service to our nation. >> back to an article this morning in the atlantic with their headline on this profile case, mike pence is trying to send a message. just a bit more from this pace that says they race, the arizona race, not the first time they deviated from the trump script. probably the most noteworthy one, the up to governor candidates represent a larger battle in the gop between establishment types like pence, who want to preserve a ounce of sanity and their party, and trump's cabal of wild eyed election fraud fanatics. by endorsing robinson, pence is

hoping that he -- a robson win in arizona would be a data point in support of that hypothesis, still, those efforts may be a little too late. even after a another high-profile trump and dorsey loses in either primaries or november, the party has been remade in trump's image. an overwhelming number of stop the steal candidates are running for state and local positions on a republican base clamoring to any elect pugnacious culture warriors. no number of robson's or pence is going to change that. quote, you have to separate trump the person an individual from the phenomena. sarah long well, our public and strategist and the public are of a conservative new site. trump phenomenon has wholesale change the republican party. we are asking you the role of mike pence in the republican party today, 20274 8000 for democrats.

two to 7.8 8001 for republicans, and, for independence and others free (202) 748-8002. couple of comments on twitter, this one says the democrats hope pence runs because the republican party will finally realize that he is a human being, not a cartoon character who promises and lies. pence is in a pickle because he is disliked by normal conservatives due to kissing the ring of the former president, also dislike by manga voters due to his announcement of certification of the 2020 electoral vote. looks like he may have to return to talk radio says jack from the scranton, pennsylvania. already there says colors has pence was a rhino who went along with everything 45 wanted except overturning the election, does that mean 45 is a rhino? can she even articulate what it means is that from saying the words that make up that acronym? we will go to someone who is going from charlotte on the democrats line. good morning. >> good morning, it's a span.

first of all the mike pence is not a hero, he was just doing what he was supposed to be doing, yesterday i saw you guys gave republicans a whole hour to call in for their opinion on trump running again, that is a dangerous thing to do with mike pence in the republican party, democrats and independents, yesterday only republicans could call for a whole hour. donald trump affected all of our lives, and then like the caller said earlier, i really believe at this point too much air time is given to people. yesterday pedro let people call talking about stuff about the election was not stolen. donald trump lied. i do not see it is so hard to understand about that. the question is if he should be in jail. he should be in jail, people

protecting other white people, that is what this is. that it all of this is why people predicting other white people. good day. >> all right, so mary lou, mary louise on the independent line in knowing ten, connecticut. mary lou, go ahead. >> yes, hi, good morning. >> good morning. >> i am 90 years old, i want to vote when i was a.d.a., i guess i was 88 during that election, the last election. i went to the polls, i was called three times to take a male invalid, i did not want one. i said no, i am going to the polls. i went to the polls, got in there, handed them my license. they said we do not need that, i said you don't want my license, i have been voting since eisenhower. they said no, we do not need that. i said, do you want to know where i live? i said yes, where do you live.

i told them willard avenue, i live in an eight apartment house, i did not say anything, they did not ask me in my apartment house or anything else. they said okay, we will check that off, go get your ballot, so i went and got a ballot, i made it out, now i want to know did that vote count? i have been voting since i was 21, i voted my first vote for eisenhower. i voted for barack obama, i voted for jackie kennedy. i thought my votes counted, but i did not think my vote counted this time because it was a rigged election. even in the 90% democrat state of connecticut. that is what i have to say, thank you. >> next up is james and macon, georgia. democrats line. >> hello, how are you doing?

you are doing a great job. mike pence is a 40. from the get-go, donald trump had him because he knew he could take advantage of him. to be the vice president, you are supposed to be the guy who can step up when things go bad in the white house. donald trump actually tried to hurt his vice president. there is no way that they were running around, trying to get him somewhere to be safe so that he could come back in there and do his job of the constitution for the electoral votes. we have the committee, they have already been putting things together. that donald trump sent his vote

to stay in office. all we need to do to get the department of justice's start laying the law down and taking names and subpoenas. and getting these guys locked up. because of that had been barack obama trying to do that, there is no way in the world y'all would not have had him in jail, he would have been in jail a long time ago, we have two systems and the justice system, they white justice and the black justice. we should all be the same, we are all americans, it is ridiculous. thank you. >> all right, a piece, an opinion pace at role calm down calm, it is a headline, no, mike pence is not going to be elected president. danny gonzales writes that mike pence is not going to be elected president of the united states, after serving a heartbeat from the presidency, it is natural to regard any

vice president as a strong contender for the top job. it is also dangerous to make definitive electoral projections in uncertain political times, but there is simply not a viable path to the oval office for parents. you would not necessarily know by media coverage, right nathan gonzales. when pence box one candidate and former president donald trump box another, as though there were meaningful battles in the war for leadership of the republican party. the biggest example is earlier this year in georgia, the primary, that is that role called akram, the former vice president in south carolina last week after the supreme court decision on abortion, the dobbs decision, this is what mike pence had to say. >> during my years in congress i was humbled to say that we offered legislation to defund the largest abortion provider in america, with championed the unborn and adoption reform.

but, i must tell you, south carolina, i could not be more grateful to have the privilege to be vice president in the most pro-life merit and ministration in american history. they trump pence administration. every single part went to the sanctity of human life. we saw it firsthand every day. under our administration we reinstated the mexico city policy to ensure that american taxpayer dollars would not be used to provide or promote abortion around the world. we awarded millions of dollars in grants to pro life pregnancy resource centers around the country. coming alongside women in crisis pregnancies. the pastor mentioned that i had the great privilege of being the first vice president to address the march for life in washington, d.c.. but, maybe the greatest honors i have ever had is in the senate. i was there to cast the tie breaking vote that allowed states to cross the country to

defund planned parenthood. [applause] >> back to your calls let's hear from julie in manchester, kentucky, on the republican line. julie, go ahead. julie and kentucky, you are on the air. >> yes, i do not know if pence is strong enough to be the next president, however, i do know the president that we currently have, biden harris needs to be held accountable for not protecting our voters and allowing illegal immigrants into our country. >> all right, independent line in santa clarita, california. roll of mike pence in the republican party. what are your thoughts? >> well, mike pence seems like

a fairly nice guy. but, four years of standing beside donald trump who, if anybody knows anything donald trump is a pathological liar. donald trump is a criminal. donald trump tried to overthrow the united states government team. donald trump should be in jail for conspiracy to destroy democracy in america them. i understand some of the republicans want to support him. i do not know how they can support him or mike pence because mike pence stood by while a criminal tried to destroy democracy in america. i hope america wakes up and realizes the criminality of that man. he was a criminal when he was born, he was a criminal child, he was a criminal now and if we let him back and he will completely destroy democracy in america. wake up, thank you very much. >> here is some comments on twitter. this once has a pence versus

trump candidate debate would make an interesting than with all clubs off. lee says pence was a failed politician, we lost that once a let's go back to calls in rochester, here from rochester, pennsylvania three. hearing from david on the democrats line. go ahead. david, i'm sorry, david in rochester you are on the air. >> yes, that last got got off the air i appreciated everything he said, everything. he cannot have said it better. trump is a criminal, pence is just like him, he see and you have a living restriction republican station. we know that now because you had those same redneck calls every day, all day long. they say the most stupid stuff and you never intervene and say stop it, it is a lie, when it's a lie? >> washington d.c. is next, on the independent line we hear from john. >> good morning, america, first

a lot like say thank you to c-span for allowing the rednecks to call, for allowing the african americans to call, allowing everyday americans to call. of course we don't all see eye to eye on everything. mike pence, i do not think mike pence would be a valuable candidate to be a president. of all of the malfeasance that has taken place, not only with trump, although trump expounded on things. that is in the malfeasance area. how can you consider a man hero for doing his job and following the constitution? if we have gotten mike pence to be that same heroic figure when donald trump was doing all of the things that he was doing, talking about handicapped folks, talking about what he would do two women.

but mike pence was his god fearing man he should've stood up on moral and value. he did a good thing, he did a good job, i pat him on his back. but, in response to him run in the country. he was able to allow donald trump to do the things he did and not sign up on moral values and character, then i do not see him being the president that he did. when it's something new, we need to bring americans back together to again. america is deeply divided. i listen to the republicans and the democrats, that is what made me turn into an independent. because there are some republicans who have good ideas, there are some democrats who have good ideas. as an individual i like to look at all of the facts. america, let's start looking at the facts. i know you love donald trump, republicans, that is fine. i love barack obama, but i don't think barack abounded everything he could have done.

i would like to say america, plays, let's pump the brakes. let's back up. let's listen to everybody, and then let's make some decisions on what we are going to do. the january six committee has a lot to republicans on their, the republicans on their are selling their stories of the story. they're telling america what they know to be fast and we need to listen. >> all right, john in the nation's capital, headline from the new york times this morning from the president, speaking with reporters by a video. biden lashes trump over capitol riot. the president says the police were the heroes that day, and videotape remarks from the white house residence where he is recovering from covid-19. donald trump lacked the courage to act, they brave one and women in blue should never forget to have that. you cannot be pro insurrection and pro cop, you cannot be pro

insurrection and pro america. the president was also asked about his condition recovering from covid, here was his response. >> mister president, how are you feeling with covid? >> i am feeling great, i have had two full nights of sleep all the way through, as a matter of fact my dog had to wake me up this morning. my wife is not here, she initially lets him out in the morning. i felt the nozzle of my dog's nose against my chest in about five minutes to seven. i am feeling good, my voice is still raspy. every morning and every afternoon, and every evening i get a test and everything from temperature, oxygen, in my blood to my pulse. everything. just across the board. so far everything is good,

everything is on a level. i am feeling better every day, i still have a little bit of a sore throat and a little bit of a cough. it is changing significantly, it is now in the upper part of my throughout the. they tell me that is par for the course. i think i am on my way to a total recovery. >> when do you think you will be back to work in person, mister president? >> i hope i am back to work in person by the end of this week. as you know, i have been keeping a full schedule. i have done full for major events today, i did not start today until 9:30. but, i will finish today probably by, what time is it now? i will finish at about 6:30. so i am not keeping the same hours, but i am eating all of my requirements as they come before me. making decisions on a whole

range of other topics as well. >> i feel more of your calls on the role of mike pence on today's republican party. chemist on the republican party on diamond, missouri. >> good morning, c-span, good morning, america. all of these democrats collin, they are social democrats, there are no democrats left in the united states. do not cut me off. biden is a criminal. his whole family has sold us out to china. when we see him stand up there and speak and tell lies, everybody says trump is a liar. biden is just as big of a liar. until everybody realizes that we're going to have nothing but trouble. country is split half between red and blue. those in the red states cannot

stand president biden. and i am hoping when this big red wave comes through in november, the first thing they can do in january 2023 is impeach president biden. especially for hearings on hunter biden and put that criminal in jail. thank you. >> all right, chris, democrats line. >> hey, good morning, thank you for taking my call. i think in regard to your original question regarding pence's role in the party, the party is establishing conventional rubble cans similar to not the answer, he is not the candidate, if you look in 2015 and the public health policies that were skyrocketing, very concerning to think that we would have someone like that in office in

the midst of the pandemic, in regards to some of the other colors that call, we have to take into account in voting that currently, and the united states, we have 130 million americans with a bad literacy rate. that is how you get some of this colors are colin cannot focus on the topic and obviously lack in reading comprehension and critical thinking skills. i think that needs to be brought into account. overall, the party needs to return to its roots and get back to conventional-ism. pence, unfortunately, is not the answer. thank you for taking my call, thank you for your work. and we appreciate all of your calls, the segment. there is more ahead here on the washington journal. up next, retired lieutenant general thomas spore of the heritage foundation will speak about recruitment challenges. later in the program, front line film facing of action. conversation with documentary writing and producer bonnie

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being up politician in less time being president i would have kicked their butts but in no but they were doing. >> season two-person show recordings now on the c-span mobile app or wherever you get your podcasts. >> the washington journal continues, -- >> we're joined next by retired lieutenant general jonathan spore. he is the director of the center of national defense. with us this morning, general spore, to talk about the recruitment challenges that the u.s. military is having. particularly, the u.s. army recruitment of all four branches of the military is down. one is going on? tell us about the scope of the problem for the military. >> thanks, bill, this is the worst year that the military has had in recruiting ever, essentially, since 1973 when the drug daphne draft was done away with. they had some hiccups for some years. this is the year where all the

services are having a hard time and are missing their recruiting goals by tens of thousands of soldiers. the worst, ever. the labor market, as everyone knows it tired or to hire people. that is the underlying factor. there are many other contributing causes, as well. >> we know that the number in the article that the new york times covered on this last week, with fewer able, if you are willing u.s. military can't find recruits. fighting headwinds from the pandemic, the tightly upper market, and demographic shifts, the armed forces may fall further short of enlistment quotas this year than they have been decades. first of all, of course, tell us how the branches set the quotas each year. >> they have models based on their in strength. the size of the service that congress has said they could be. the army, for 2022, that's 480,000 active duty schultz older. the other models to decide how many sodas they need to recruit this year, for the army that was 70,000 soldiers in the set off the start of this year

trying to get to that number. ever since then, they've been struggling. every year they have a revised those goals, successfully downward, because of the protections they would not meet them. >> how did the branches different the way they approached recruiting? >> very different. the army is in kind of a mass model where they have to get many, many soldiers. the marines can be afforded to not take as many, so they can invest a little bit more in it and put more emphasis, in my view, into recruiting. for example the chief recruiter reports directly to the commandant of the marine corps. the other services are slightly different, again, they don't have to make the numbers of the army does. the army had to make 70, 000, the air force maybe 30 or something like that. the navy, a bit more than that. >> are we having the same problems for the enlisted ranks and non-commission ranks as we are in the commission ranks, in terms of recruiting candidates? >> not so much. it has become a little bit more tighter commissioning officers, but not so much. and in the pole of the otc

program, full service of the academies, continue to be strong. these are more candidates than they have openings for. we are okay, the military is, in terms of commissioned officers. >> does the congress -- has the congress, over the years in particular let's say from going back 20 years post tonight in love and has the congress officially supported pay increases, benefits, it's saturday for the military? >> i think arguably, yes. i think the congress has been generous with its pay benefits. we have continued to keep up the private sector. we have revise what we call the gi bill, the post 9/11 gi bill which provides a very generous -- you not only at your tuition paid for, but how housing as well, defend for books. arguably the best education benefit in the united states, in my view. >> you are retired united states general, what was your motivation for and listening or trying to go to the academy here -- why do you want to be a soldier? >> i was actually an rotc. i didn't have any strong crosscut backs at the end of my

college time. i said, let's give this army thing a try. i love my parents, but didn't want to go home. i said, let's give the army a try here. i was a bit uncertain about the whole matter for me, it worked at wonderfully. >> did you, after a while, think i'm going to give this for years or so and then get out? >> yes. i remember being at the kitchen table having this conversation about it every three or four years, should be station, we go, she asked me i'm having fun? >> i saw a great time. so we stayed in. >> we're going to see the sign a phone line for the active and retired military. he's had to get involved in the conversation with active armed forces. democrats is (202) 748-8000 democrats, (202) 748-8001 republicans, (202) 748-8003 for active duty.

>> -- can -- survive a dearth of volunteers. this is a drought. we think of the drought that we're having, literal water drought in the west. that is a tough word for where we are. >> every friend i look at, demographics, qualification standards, know where you're going on unemployment. i don't see any when we're going. this is on the americans to prepare for. how do we recruit in a very difficult environment. what is the -- >> what is your biggest case for an all volunteer force? >> yes. we came in the army and so people have been drafted. we can tell the people came in and didn't want to be there, so any organization here in weather c-span around thing else, it is composed of people that really didn't want to be there you can tell the moment you come in the door. we had kind of a force that was not their first choice and, in

many cases they were not as motivated, not as qualified, and in a draft people can only serve about two years. that is the longest are countries willing to draft somebody. in the force it's always turning over two years, determinants pretty high and it's hard to have a highly trained force. >> where is the army concentrated most of their recruitment? i say the army in particular because that is where the biggest gap is, where the concentrating their? efforts. >> it typically on the most recruits out of the southeastern texas, florida, that kind of we call this mild across the southeastern united states. they are, in this situation,, not a going everywhere. they are doubling down in los angeles, and version, call go, places they typically have not gotten much success. they are not leaving on me rock not turned over. >> you've mentioned the challenge of the labor market, with pay going up as across the board in a number of places, how can the army another branches respond to that?

what can they offer? >> we have things that amazon and starbucks do not have. we give you the chance for travel, the chance to serve your country the chance to do something bigger than yourself. i mean, i'm a don't degrade amazon and starbucks but these are things that are bigger than a person. you will lead leadership learn how to lead a team, gave orders, be respected and respect others. so, you can't equate the experience in the military with really any other job in america, i don't think. >> in your view we had a surgeon recruitment and enlistment volunteers after 9/11. what is the role of patriotism? what role does patriotism play in people volunteering for services? >> it is important. it probably get half the people in the door to the recruiters office. the other half comes for a variety of other reasons, they want to leave the chandler in right now, they want to look for opportunities for a small

family. they're looking for study pay. i get some in the door than many of them stay for different reasons, they like it, they like the patriotism in the idea of serving their country, so i don't worry too much about what gets them in the door. i didn't know much about the army before i came in, when they came in though they are usually taken by it. >> there was a stretch that wherever quarters were, while some colleges, we were prohibited or restricting careers on campus. where does that stand now? >> mostly we are past that right now. i think 9/11 has kind of put, even harvard was on hold out. now we have an rotc program on their campus. it is still a problem. even in high schools, we are recruiters attempt to come in and talk to young people, high schools often but barriers in place for accessed young people. >> it's interesting, this piece in the new york times before start talking about recruiters approaching folks in walmart. they're talking to people where they are. >> i love that story.

i love the fact they are going out and trying to find young people where they are. i think that's what they have to, do nowadays. a nice cool it's very easy to just a note meryl terror nurse multilateral here of it. you have deeper -- i respect idea because a lot of people don't know much about the military, so the more they can educate them on it the better. >> we are going to get to college in just a moment. reminder, the line for active retired military (202) 748-8003. i want to play first the words of the military secretary of the atlanta council in her response to where we are on recruiting this country. particular the army, obviously. >> here's what she had to say. >> we have already started recruiting in different ways than we have before. to the question of where we are recruiting, we targeted two years ago 22 cities across the country in urban areas where you have, say, for example, higher concentrations of african americans or higher concentrations of hispanic

americans. to try to reach demographics communities that we have, and perhaps, reached in the past as successfully. that is where we have set up internships for, again, hispanic american, african american officers. particularly to try to encourage them to come into the combat arms, infantry armor, philip field artillery for example. i think we need to do more of that frankly. we are facing some significant recruiting headwinds right now because the economy is doing so well, everyone -- private sector employer is competing for talent, competing and that too. i think we have to do more to figure out how we can really talk to a wider band of americans about what the value proposition is for them in the army what did you hear there from the army secretary? >> heard a lot of innovation, let's try something different. i think that is warden's knee is needed. the model the glass for 2022 is

not the model going forward from here. we have to think differently about bringing people into the military. >> in the past how important was enlisting somebody, bringing somebody and whose family had a tradition of service? >> we do not rely on that, that is just the way things have happened. over 70% of people who come into the military, the army, have a family member that has served. that has been key for us. that is important, you cannot rely on that for the future. >> let's get to callers for retired lieutenant general thomas on military recruiting, broadly. tony's first on our retired line. texas, go ahead, tony. >> yes, good morning, i appreciate you all letting me join to this very important cause. because, without defenseless country is down the drain. i spent roughly 37 years working with the department of

the army. i'm very proud, it gave me a livelihood, i was a dea civilian. i worked alongside the corps of engineers, the garrison, fort campbell, all of that. fort banning, what i see happening, starting in 1973. iowa quickly. we housing all the military is probably the number one cost when it comes to family. the problem of which the general has already said it is very obvious. we. there are basically three or four things that i would like to show. first of all, riel. first of all, going out on the

world population for the future. right now, the u.s. aging force is right at 300,000 per month we. that is the aging population. i retired last year. the military will see more of that as time goes on. the problem is the world population before the forecast for the age group between 60 through 24 will be in a negative state by 2024. the projection for the world population will go down to 2060. and, that is our biggest problem. >> tony from tennessee, thank you for pointing out some demographic challenges. >> tony, thank you for your service, thank you for your service to the army and congratulations on your retirement. you are exactly right, most of

the countries in the world young people population is stagnant or decreasing. the united states is actually, in that regard, not terribly unfortunate because our young people population, that demographic is staying the same 16 to 24 at about 31 million americans. the only reason it is not going down is because of immigration, frankly. legal immigration, the u.s. fertility rate is at a level of 1.6. even below the replacement rate. we have a demographic problem. in the past we have been able to rely on a growing young person population. now i do not have that, now these young people are being relied upon by an aging america to provide the social security and all the other benefits. >> let's hear from lori in north carolina, also retired military, good morning. >> good morning, some of the issues that i say with the trouble with recurring people to go into the military is they

say a lot of people being forced out. that is due to the vaccine mandate. even recently came out and said that the vaccines are basically a fraud. i also say where the politics of it is actually an interference as well. four years before president biden took over we had witnessed how corrupt ukraine was. now the prospects of going to have to fight a war against russia on behalf of ukraine is not very enticing to new recruits. nobody wants to go fight the russians over in ukraine. it goes beyond housing, and

demographics. there is also political issues that are adversely affecting the military, currently. that is all i would like to say. >> generally you have been saying this trounced well before the invasion of ukraine by russia, right? >> yes, in 2018 the army missed its recruiting goals. they have been missing them ever since and it just recovered. this year the disparity is so big but they have to say there aren't going to miss their goals by tens of thousands of soldiers. no camouflaging this problem anymore. >> all right, let's hear carroll calling in from clarksville, tennessee, on the democrat line. >> good morning. >> good morning, i wanted to say that the net benefit for african americans is in the promotional ranks. i can say from experience, my son had it challenges from moving from in east 6:27, he

had never made an e seven. after 17 years in the service he was always told when he would try and go get the credits, the classes and things they offer to move up and rank that they could start him in his battalion, or in his area. after 17 years in the military of trying to move up, he really listed and was accepted, the next thing you know they were asking him to leave. who is doing the work but he did not ever carry the rank of an e seven, he was doing that and when they sent him i do not think that the promotional system is fair to african americans. >> all right, general? >> thank you for your son's service to the army. i cannot speak to the promotional circumstances he was in. in every other human and denver the army is fallible.

sometimes a promotion system does not work as it should, i cannot speak to what happened in your son's case. again, thank you for that service. >> research has a piece that shows the demographic shifts in military, showing the growing representation of racial and ethnic minorities. this looks at 2004 versus 2007, racial minorities as of 2017 or 43% versus 46% back in 2000 43. quite substantial growth, much of that growth is which the hugh spanish community in the u.s.. we have often seen that service members who are children of immigrants get their citizenship, as they have served today. how much is that a motivation for people to become and join a military force? >> it is a difficult pass, they

stopped the program, you know have to have a green card to enter the military. if you have a green card and enter the military you are on an expedited path to citizenship, you are right that that has always been a path for new immigrants to this country to get a head start on their careers and becoming american citizens. >> let's hear from ed, retired military and jacksonville, florida. good morning. >> good morning, sir, retired army that served in two and a half years in vietnam, afghanistan, and iraq. i take exception to the general's comments about the vietnam people not wanting to be there. the quality of soldier and vietnam was just as much of the quality in my two deployments in iraq and afghanistan. saying that, i think we need to address the retention. i currently have a grandson in the army and talking to him, it seems to be that the motivation

comes from inside the military, it is motivating the people to stay in. that is my question? >> ed, thank you for your service in all of those conflicts, i did not mean to imply the vietnam generation was not a great generation, my battalion executive officers served in the on and i was not the world of that. i was speaking in general terms about when you have people who do not want to be there, typically it is hard to motivate them. i cannot speak to clearly to your question. it is, for me, at least, really about where you are. how are your leaders on the installation of new unit? if they are good, if they are motivated, if they said a good example typically people want to stay in that unit or on that installation. >> the general staying with us on the recruitment, robinson in the republican line and seattle. >> good morning, thank you for

taking my call, i am retired from 22 years in the army. served 16 years as an active duty recruiter. he was in the recruiting command from the state of washington. 32 years, i served as a personal photographer to the lieutenant general down in texas. i also say the army recruiting has a lack of spirit. they fusions and practices of yesterday argon we, things are no longer enforced. you do away with all of our traditions and our history and we will not have anything left. you have to bring back being all we can be by supporting the troops and instilling the

spirit corps. the critical factor in today's army. we have to get back to the basics. it is showing us, really appreciate, look forward to your spots. >> ron, thank you to your service,, i have good news. i spoke to the chief of staff of the army yesterday and they said you're they're bringing back the slogan. you heard it here first on c-span. you are right, was out tradition, was out a core there is nothing but an organization in this army. we have to have those things, motivate people. recruiting duty is a very hard duty. in many cases you are off by yourself, in a strip mall in the middle of nowhere and being told that you have to produce one, two, three, four, five recruits a month. there is no one to turn to for help, there is no partner you have. i respect you free recruiting

duty and i think you are right. >> our less of a nation of joiners than we used to be, not just the military but organizations in general? particularly among the age group that the military branches are targeting for recruitment? >> it is hard to say, the generation z wants to be socially connected but whether not they join things is a different matter. generation z loves their networks and friends, their social contacts, whether or not they get the same feeling that other generations did by being part of a bigger organization is still to be seen. >> you have probably seen over the years the idea of a mandatory national service or a draft keeps coming back up. what are your thoughts on that? >> i've seen it work, i have visited israel a number of times and you can see the sense of pride that the israelis have and their armed forces. it is a common bond they all have together, other countries still have a draft like norway. i do not think it would work in the united states, i think we have moved past that as a country.

it would not be politically acceptable and i do not think we would like the military we would result with if we started a draft again. from north carolinahere is joanne asked noh carolina. welcome. >> yes sir. we do need a draft to be re-put in position. my grandfather was in the first world war, my father uncles are in the second world war. i was drafted. we need to teach our children pride in this country. and we have failed. and no, being drafted does not mean you're going to have less of a soldier. you're gonna have more of a soldier. you have to instill integrity. you go into the army for one thing. and that's to go ahead and eliminate the opposition. we have forgotten that. when i was drafted and put in the service i was told was the purpose of the bayonet. to kill. what's the purpose of your helmet? to kill.

what's the purpose of your training tools to kill. you are there to save this country and save our people. that's all i've got to say. >> okay. >> joe, thanks for your service again. we probably disagree about the draft. i take nothing away from the generations of people that serve their country in uniform whether they volunteer or draft or not. i think it's a country, that model probably doesn't work for us. our needs for military are not that high anymore. so only 1% of americans ever serving the military. even if we institute the draft again, it would be very rare to be picked by it. i think there are other models we should try first before we resort to a draft. >> are there areas in the military where robotics, artificial intelligence are minimizing or lessening the need for personnel? >> they are. so in pilots in our graph, you can easily fly a drone. or even a fighter aircraft by remotely. on the ground, it's much more difficult. so driving a tank robotics, all of a sudden you encounter

unexpected stream or a creek that are something or not physically didn't think was gonna be there. you never run across unexpected things in the air. on the ground, it's much more difficult to delegate your task to aruba. >> let's hear from james in bay bank, texas. james on the -- retired military line. go ahead. >> good morning, general. i want to say you have failed to indicate to all of the listeners that the best trade shop is the military. it doesn't matter what branch you join, if you join and became a driver for instance and four years later, you could get out of the army and get a 200,000 dollar job. same way for engineering, same way for electronics, same way for plumbing, et cetera. the other issue that i would agree with you is we do not need a draft. we do not need a draft. h raft draws people that do not want to be in the military and

they becoming a real problem in the end. number three, you need to get out of the metropolitan areas and getting to get out into the rural areas or the sticks as we would say. because that is where gonna find the hardworking members of the united states that are eligible to join. they do not get in gangs, they do not get in trouble, they did not become criminals and they do not become obese. thank you very much for your time. >> james, thanks for your question and you're exactly right. the military is a great opportunity whether you stay in the military a long time like i did. or whether you just serve one initial tour. when you come out of the military, you're going to be a better citizen. there are studies that show with that veterans vote at a higher rate than people does not serve. they volunteer in the communities at a higher rate. and yes, they leave the military often with skill set and put them right into a new job. even if they don't have a directly applicable skill, they're learning leadership.

they're learning how to work with people. which is a critically important task. >> what are the consequences of the military, stick with the army on. this failing to reach its recruitment goals. >> we're already seeing them. they're shrinking already. next year they're gonna have to cut their and strength, they're authorized size by 12,000 soldiers. if this keeps up, the arm is going to continue to shrink and it's a smaller army is a less means safe america. so they'll have fewer combat units and we think they need. and then when the time comes, they will be ready to defend us. >> how is the typical candidate potential candidate for the army different both in terms of education, physical fitness, emotional ability today versus say 20 years. ago >> obesity is on the right answer now dates, obesity for the age group 18 to 24 about 19% and so we're seeing a heavier population. generally a lasted population. the high school graduate, that's been going up slowly not much. and then the other dilemma

we're seeing is many young people have mental health issues that have required some treatment by professional. maybe a prescription drug. and that complicates matters and they tried to enlist. not to say it's impossible. but it complicates matters. >> geno is next in the back, maine. geno, there you go. you are on democrats line. >> hey, thanks for taking my call. general, i was in the corpse -- my early age, getting at a high school. i wasn't sure what i wanted to do. i chose the coast guard. i thought that i may not follow suit because -- it was the best decision i made. [inaudible] figure out what i wanted to be and then i went to college. i think a lot of kids -- i won't fit in.

>> geno, you're breaking up a little bit there but on a college, he went to college. we are currently doesn't military offer someone who signs up. what does the military say will do in terms of college education? >> we can to do things. we can see the college while you're in the service assuming your service permits it -- you can use a gi bill and will pay for all of it. will pay for your housing. there are a variety of ways for us to get you to college degree either in the service are after you gotten out. >> our most people taking the most recruits taking advantage of that? >> yes. dave -- there is the third way, i should've mentioned. that is you can give a child of yours, your gi bill benefits. they can go to college for free as well. so there is three essentially to do that. >> next up. joan in mayfield, new york. good morning. >> i come from -- good morning, thank you. i come from a military family.

three generations with lifers. i'm wondering we need to teach patriotism to kiss the day but there are not kidding that schools are taught to hate themselves, their colors and just by color. and this is i think a big part of the problem. this woke stuff is not preparing our men and women to fight. what do we do about that? >> we talked about patriotism earlier, do you want to -- >> joan, that's a problem. the american military has kind of under the political sphere went decades ago, it never really was the topic of conversation. but now i'll speak candidly. there's people in the right to believe the american military is woke or being used as a social experiment and there's one thing we love to believe the military is a hotbed of racism or extremism. and neither one of those characterizations is accurate. it's really doing its best to stay in the american neutral

position. which is where it's belongs. i think in terms of schools, teaching civic education. you're right that has been squeezed out i think the pressure in american schools to teach what is on the standardized tests be at math or reading the kind of thing has really squeezed out many of the other topics. used to be taught in american schools including government and some of education. >> sun center florida, joe is on the retired military line. hello. >> yes, good morning. thank you for taking my call. general, i served army 20 years from 74 to 94. and what -- lowered me was the army had a program called stripes for skills. and that might be a tool that you could use today because a lot of people are unemployed or underemployed when they have skills that you could use in the military. and you could bring them in at

a higher reink. when i took my oath, i was immediately promoted to p f c. and after basic, after eight weeks of specialized training on the job, i was promoted to the five. celebrated promotions under this program gives people a chance to use the skills they've already developed in their civilian life and you don't have to retrain them into something else. >> thanks for your comment, joe. general. >> that's a great idea. i think the army in the military generals looking at all kinds of options like that. all kinds of programs. i was talking to again the chief of staff of the army yesterday. he's talking about maybe they'll do some sort of preparatory school some of the people that don't immediately meet the standards -- bring them into the army for 90

days. see if they can work with them on that and then bring them in emily just a kind of bicycle -ification. 's >> want to get your thousands were currently challenges to recruiting in ukraine. there's a story in the new york times that says hazy standards for a military recruiting in ukraine. they said the nationwide campaign is underway in ukraine to recruit register and draft man. predictable response for country at war. that campaign includes fanning out in the streets to find potential soldiers, issuing summonses and ordering them to report to recruiting offices. but the effort, especially this recruiting, it's wrong accusations that it is secretive, arbitrary and violence the government's own rules and that sometimes draft the unwilling well spurning the whaling. >> it's a good question. i don't have knowledge of that program and i know ukraine wants to get as many able-bodied citizens i, think men, into their military as possible. obvious reasons. their country's been invaded. whether or not all their methods to get those people

around the open up i do not know. >> take a worst-case scenario for this country that we were in a war, major war of sums -- go back to world war ii or one point there were drafting 12, 15,000 men a day for the war. how prepared the military to ramp up that sort of mass recruitment or draft effort, if you will? i think those mechanisms are little rusty right now. he'll hear people need to register with the selective service when they turn 18. i don't know that process is well refined, rehearsed or even fully complied with. we do have in the united states however a fairly robust national guard. we have reserve components of our military forces. so in the short term, the active duty can call in these reserve national guard elements to through the ranks. >> to the guard and the reserve, are they having the same challenges on the recruitment side? >> not as much. so they're having a little trouble but that was bad for

the active duty force. in many cases, the states are better recruiters than the active duty forces. they tell you can see in your hometown, you will be with your friends and some of those polls are very persuasive to people thinking about joining. >> foster virginia, c.j., democrat line. >> good morning. gentlemen, it's an honor to speak to you, general. i'd like to get your opinion on for the last six years, including four years of his presidency, our 45th president couldn't go out of his way more to trash the military, to trash the losers like john mccain and the generals that he knew so much better than. all the dumb war as we get in. and i gotta wonder if there is a lag in any kind of recruitment efforts because we have about half the country who actually would follow this guy

down the road to turn over our very democracy here at home. so it's getting very complex with this country even stands for because we've got a bomb thrower like our 45th president, mixing up the whole idea of what it means to be a proper american. or a public citizen. thank you. >> so i think the only message we need out of the white house is that is honorable and virtues to serve your country in the armed forces. i'll be honest, i've not heard a lot of that coming from the white house in the last few administrations, quite honestly. i think that something we need to turn around. that has kind of gone at a lexicon of a president talking about service your country and i think we need to bring that back. >> obviously cover recruitment in your role as the director for the center for national defense and heritage. what's the mission of your group overall? >> we write and we research on

areas of u.s. national defense policy. trying to make sure that america remains the strong power, well defended in a service protected. >> and the things we've been talking about today for the details of what general spores reported on and researched on. improving america's long term military recruiting outlook. it's an october piece from last year but it's available at heritage dot org anthony is on the line retired military from west bloomfield michigan good morning. >> good morning america good morning c-span. general i thank you for your service i spend about ten years on active duty marines and 17 -- my last assignment i was supporting recruiters. i think what the challenges today, young people are, they're more knowledgeable than we were when we went and. and they see the division is

around the country. they see some of the shortcomings and challenges that we've had with recent conflicts. and so the military is not a top choice. so i think that we, the focus would have to be on recruiting incentives that give them different perspectives, different options. i think some of the comments in the colors to talk about wokeness and things of that nature, that kind of reinforce and some of the division that goes on at the country today. i'm an african american, i joined based on being rotc in four years for high school. and i saw options there that and see that are available or not often available in the inner city where i grew up and metropolitan. so i think we need to recognize that we are americans. that are young people that we encourage and support they in and day out need to understand that they are americans.

and all americans of all nationalities, all creeds and genders are americans. thank you. >> anthony, thanks for your service of the marine corps. i think you're exactly right. part of the problem that the military has is information gap and so americans. they get information with the u.s. military for what they see on tv. or in movies. and oftentimes, those messages are not correct. so for example on tv you'll see commercials of veterans coming home and they've been previously wounded and they're having to rely on private charities and some of that is obviously correct but america needs to take rake care of its veterans in many cases they do and i think the messaging that americans get needs to be correct and i think in many cases -- >> in europe variances enters pair care improved last years? >> dramatically. it's really the pass numerous va reforms opening access to private care. reducing the wait lines in va facilities that is really gotten better. >> let's get one more call here

are two key go, keep your harbor michigan. good morning. >> good morning. i'd like to comment on the what i think would help the service quite a bit. they would get away from the college aspect sending people to college. and we need skilled trades but we really need. and they would be really good if they would have them complete their military obligation at the same time that they would to complete a journeyman's card before they got out of service. and that way, they got a job looking in the face when they get outs. and it would help a quite a bit. >> okay, there's certainly some of that going on already. >> there is. so congress has been in place programs that during the last six months of your military -- you can go apprentice with the company. it could be a trades company or could be an i.t. company. but either way, you get six

months alongside a private company that kind of easier transition. back into civilian life. it's a little understood program but the military has. >> retired lieutenant general thomas sport the hardest foundation. the center for defense policy at the heritage foundation. he's the director. thanks for being with us this morning. >> there is more ahead on the program. here on washington journal. just a bit later on, we're going to talk about the new documentary coming out on frontline tonight on pbs documentary writer producer bonnie virtual talk about facing eviction. her new film about evictions during the coronavirus pandemic. up next that will open up our phone lines for our open forum your chance to weigh in with your opinion on any public policy or political issue we've been talking about your following the news. 202748 8000 for democrats, 202-748-8001 for republicans and for independents, 202-748-8002. we will be right back. c-span