>> if you missed any of this hearing on afghanistan reconstruction, you can find it our website at c-span.org. he house is back in session today. coming up in about 10 minutes or so at noon eastern, members will be debating a resolution for of protesters in iran. also begin work on a measure from congresswoman barbara lee repeal the 2002 congressional authorization for the use of force on iraq and a for re from ro khanna blocking military action against iran without congressional action. work on will finish

the iran and iraq measures later on in the week. the house back at noon eastern. we will have live coverage here on c-span. continues. host: c-span's campaign 2020 coverage continues. we are joined from des moines, iowa by democratic presidential candidate tom steyer. mr. steyer, good morning and welcome to "washington journal." guest: good morning. how are you? host: doing very well. let's start with, why do you want to be president? guest: there are two big things that have to happen. one is i believe we have a broken government that has been purchased by corporations. job one is to get the government back off, by and for the people. as somebody for spend 10 years fighting and beating those corporations, i know that we can do it, and we need to d.c., including having 12 year term limits for congresspeople and senators. secondly, we absolutely have to deal with our climate crisis.

i have said it is my number one priority and i declared a state of emergency on day one. do it from the standpoint of environmental justice. create millions and millions of , but weing union jobs have to do it come we have to get on it on day one. if we do those two things, take back our government so we can get the progressive policies that americans want, and control our climate crisis, then i think we will be in a great position. if we don't, we will be in a lot trouble. host: focusing on the first point of euros on fighting corporate corruption in particular how do you think your background as an investor as an entrepreneur helps you do that best? guest: let me say this, bill, just so you know, i spent 10 years putting together coalitions of american citizens to take on unchecked corporate power, to take on oil companies over clean energy, make tobacco

companies pay their fair share of medical costs, force utilities to move to clean energy. for 10 years i have been doing this and we have never lost. so i believe my background as an organizer, is a grassroots person fighting these corporations successfully for 10 years is the first part. as an investor, i understand the economy and what drives his corporations in ways that nobody else was running for president does, and i believe that fact,a, will let me beat mr. trump because he is running on the economy and i think he is a fake. somebody has to go into detail and show that he is a fake and a failure as an economic president. but also, as president, i have the experience and the expertise to understand what is driving these companies, to know that we need a vibrant, competitive, innovative private sector, but these corporations can't control the government, they can't write the rules under which they are going to operate.

host: joining us from des moines the caucus is six days away. what do you see as your path to the nomination. guest: -- guest: there is a poll out this morning about the 4 early primary states, which are iowa, new hampshire, nevada and south carolina. in the poll, it has me at 17%, in third place. so my task is to do well in the 4 early primary states to build momentum, because those numbers have gone up virtually every day since i got into this race in july, to build that momentum into super tuesday. so this is really just a question of doing what i have been doing for the last seven months, which is seeing as many people as possible, making my case, letting them see who i am, then riding that momentum. host: we will give you a chance

to hear from some of our callers. we will open up our phone lines for your input. 202-748-8000 is the line for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8002.ts, you can send us a text you have a question or comment for mr. 202-748-8003, but include your name and where you are texting from. we have been talking about the senate impeachment trial. obviously, you may not get a chance to watch the trial itself, but what are your impressions so far, and how much is this coming up from people on the campaign trail? guest: let me just take you back a little bit, bill i am the person who started the need to impeach movement. over 8.5 million americans signed the petition that i thosed, and in addition, people called and wrote and emailed their congresspeople

saying, please do the right thing and hold this corrupt president accountable. i believe those eight and a half million people are really what dragged washington, d.c. interceding this was a matter of right and wrong, not politically expediency or partisanship, but about protecting the country. so what i have said for over two years is what i want, what i believe those 8.5 million people are demanded, is televised hearings with the administration officials under oath in front of the american people, explaining what happened so that we can make up our own minds. to me, what matters here is the court of public opinion, what the american people think. so i believe this will be a farce and a cover-up unless the administration officials like john bolton get in front of the tv cameras and let the american people here exactly what happened so that we can decide exactly how corrupt this

president is. host: tom steyer, our guest until 9:30 eastern. we welcome your comments. laid in new york, on the republican line. go ahead. caller: sorry. because to me, the process of impeachment has been, at first glance, the american people, we actually don't know enough about tha legal issues. and we are so swayed about the emotion of it, the political, republican business of it. but in the last three days, to hear and learn more about the law, more about what the constitution says, more about the seriousness of removing somebody from office, the office of the presidency, i am telling you, i am almost happy that nancy pelosi and the congress jumped the gun with their anger

-- let's admit it, the whole nation is polarized -- the fact that they rushed ahead and held it, then it got confusing to the i really can't say in the last few days, especially ken starr, and frankly even seeing the chief justice sitting there, that we are in a court. we are not in the political arena. it is not the senate or the house. they are sitting there as if they are the court, and they have put a seriousness in it. i believe the right thing will happen. and i am not sure that this reaches the level of impeachment. host: tom steyer, a very different view of impeachment than yours. guest: actually, i thought that was the responsible point. i think she was saying that she understands how serious this is.

this isn't about partisanship, this is about a quart, where senators and the thief justice have sworn an oa to uphold the coast edition. and i think she and i agree with -- uphold the constitution. i think she and i agree with, let the american people see the truth and make up our mind in this absolutely serious proceeding, to hold the president accountable just the way every other american citizen is held accountable. this is exactly what the founders wanted. what the people who wrote the constitution wanted, to let the american people make up our minds about our deepest values when they are under threat. in my mind, it is a foregone conclusion that mr. trump has done something wrong. but i know the court matters tolynn and the citizens of the

united states, and i want them to see for themselves what happens when we make up our minds. host: what do you make of some republicans argument saying that the decision should be made by the voters in november this year? guest: if mr. trump isn't removed from office, then that will definitely happen. but there is something else going on here, which is, the founders gave us impeachment and removal as a way of dealing with a corrupt president. i deeply believe we have a very corrupt president. ist this ukraine incident part of a pattern of behavior that he has engaged in since his first day in office, and this is a different statement about protecting the law, protecting the constitution and standing up for the system, for democracy itself, that says no one is above the law. no one gets to break the law on his behalf in this case, and to disadvantage the people of the united states.

there is a right and wrong here that we have to stand up for. if the rich and powerful aren't subject to the law, then we don't have the law. that is exactly what this is about. did the president have to obey the law, or can he do whatever he wants the way a king would? that is as simple as this. host: whether you are in iowa or south carolina on the campaign trail, what is the top issue coming up? is it impeachment or other issues? guest: i think the real issue in this campaign that i think is -- that i think i'm the guards almost everything is this question about, does the government serve the people of the united states or does it serve the biggest corporations and the richest people? i think that goes >> watch the rest of this "washington journal" segment on our website, c-span.org. and right now here on c-span, we'll take you to the u.s. house, which today is measures dealing wi