discusstor joins us to how americans should modify their behavior as states continue to lift more restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic. host: good morning. "the hill" newspaper reports tensions flare over senate probe into obama-era officials. democrats dial in at (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. text us with your first name, city, state and share your thoughts at (202) 748-8003 or go andwitter @cspanwj facebook.com/c-span. from "the hill" newspaper they

report tensions flare in the senate as republicans wrap up their investigation into obama era officials amid public and private pressure from donald trump. gop senators are embracing calls to use their congressional power to investigate trump's biggest grievances from the obama administration, including the origins of the russia investigation. foreignt established intelligence surveillance act and hunter biden. the senate judiciary committee will hold a vote they give chairman graham broad subpoena authority to call dozens of officials to testify as part of his investigation into the pfizer court and hurricane. russianstigation into meddling and the 2016 campaign. we will have coverage at that hearing at 10:00 a.m. on c-span, downloadg, and you can the free c-span radio app. the chair of the judiciary

committee lindsey graham, republican from south carolina, spoke to reporters. [video clip] model waspoena used by senator lahey when the judiciary committee was investigating torture abuses in the bush years. this was his model. i will use his model to investigate all things crossfire hurricane and the mueller report. do you see this being political? >> not at all. i want the american people to know about crossfire hurricane. mueller to dobert his investigation without interference. i think crossfire hurricane will be one of the most unethical investigations in the history of the country, and i wont be able to know about it. i have been patiently waiting for robert mueller to do his job . i intend to build on horowitz's

report. there is no reason we can't do this before the election. host: fox news reports graeme's office announced subpoena authorization covers a number of documents, communications, and testimony from witnesses, including james comey, andrew mccabe, former director of national intelligence james clapper, john brennan, sally others.nd a total of 53 names are on the list. listen to the reaction from chuck schumer to the investigations on the senate floor. [video clip] >> the republican chairman of the judiciary committee asked members of his committee to consider subpoenas related to yet another conspiracy theory pushed by president trump. a theory that attempts to rewrite the history of russian interference in the 2016 election to match the fiction in president trump's head. it seems republicans want to

dive into the deepest muck of right-wing conspiracy to invent scapegoats for the president to use in his reelection campaign. the conspiracy, caucus is back. it reared its ugly head in december, and has been on a mmer ever sense. it is boiling over again, shamefully in the middle of a public health crisis and economic disaster that requires all of us to focus on the problems at hand. senate republicans are not drafting legislation to help the unemployed. they are holding sham hearings about the family of the president's political rival. senate republicans are not debating measures to increase testing. they are turning senate committee rooms into the studio of fox and friends. senate republicans are not just ignoring the coronavirus, they are practically sprinting towards a partisan election,

making this chamber part of a reelection campaign, not what it -- intended to be the to be by the founding fathers or anyone else until this fever to bow down to president trump's wild conspiracy theory has overtaken almost every senate republican. here's what chairman graham said about his "investigation." "i want to get all the information out there. i want to do it before the election." there is the republican intention. before the election. host: senator schumer and senator graham. let washington know what you think about the investigations. john a republican, south carolina, good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. down,is so much to break

especially coming from senator schumer when he talks about sham. i wonder what he didn't understand about the discrepancy of public statements of the democrats throughout this and when the transcripts came out and there was a total about-face? host: what are you specifically referring to? were preachedwe at by the democrats ad nauseam about the russian collusion and how there was obvious and whatever, you know, evidence. when the transcripts got marched over to the justice department, we find out everyone said i have no knowledge of any of that. what they are doing is deflecting. you know, because they got caught. they are pointing to the kid

next door to them saying he threw the ball, not me. this is the first time anything like this has ever happened in the united states. you know, years ago they would be hollering treason, go to the gallows, stuff like that. all we are trying to do is get the information out, whether it is democrat or republican. when it comes to lindsey graham going after this, lindsey graham has always been in south carolina we say you are either chicken poop or chicken salad. he has been chicken poop until the supreme court nomination hearings. i think there should be an addition to the subpoena list, that is president obama and biden. we will see if he has the south carolina cojones to put those on the list. host: are you going to be watching the hearing?

caller: no, ma'am. i have to work. i want to work. i am trying to rebuild this country by working. i think they need to let everyone get back to work, because we are going to have to endure this thing one way or another. we can work instead of destroying the economy. host: let me tell you because you have to go to work, i understand, if you miss this hearing, for you and others, you can go to c-span.org after it is over. we mark the key moments of the hearing as they happen. you will see gold stars at the bottom of the video player and will be able to watch an hour -long hearing and hit the key moments if you have time after the fact. 10:00 a.m. eastern is when the hearing happens on c-span, c-span.org, and you can listen with the free c-span radio app. today comes after yesterday from "the new york

times," the headline, subpoena pushed by senate materials related to biden. unsubstantiated claims, they for ansubpoena documents investigation president trump roadster weaponize for his reelection campaign. this is how "the washington times" puts the same story. the senate's primary oversight committee on wednesday voted to issue its first subpoena in the investigation of ukrainian business deals involving hunter biden, the son of presumptive democratic residential nominee joe biden. the government affairs committee gave ron johnson the authority to seek blue power strategies, i.e. subpoena firm that has done work for the ukrainian energy company. mr. johnson said if there is no wrongdoing there is nothing democrats should fear going forward with the prob with

burisma where jo hunter biden landed a lucrative career. about republican probes into the senate of obama-era officials. what do you think ? caller: i think it is a bunch of mess. republican should be ashamed of themselves. they are digging around for hunter biden in a hole, in a crack, when there is donald trump and his whole family and the senate spending our money to campaign for a lying, cheating, unethical, unqualified, unprepared president. ipublicans are what always thought they were. evil. host: josephine in livingston, new jersey. independent. what do you think?

good morning. i am saddened. what do you mean, saddened ? in my life when elections were had we spoke about the issues in the end. someone said earlier, schumer said earlier about the virus and people dying. i heard this morning 92,000 americans have just died. we may hit the unfortunate number of one million, and we are talking about nonsense? people are literally dying. i hear the argument of going to work. i get it. like the invention look a said -- like the evangelicals said, they are pro-life, but when it comes to putting the foot on the pedal, people are going to work knowing they are going to die. they opened 2 ford plants and

they had to close them the next day. host: your argument is that republicans should not be focusing on these instead of the coronavirus pandemic? caller: they set a month ago a guy running for trump running his campaign said they were hitting on biden to distract, because there isn't anything there. they just put the documents out proving they were doing the right thing. let's go with flynn. nnsaw the picture with fly with putin and stein at that dinner. that he got paid $500,000 by turkey to prove the guy in pennsylvania should be shipped back so he could be murdered. we are going to excuse flynn, who committed treason, and hear this nonsense? flynn should be locked up, like he said about someone else. thank you.

"the this is from washington post" on the unmasking that republicans are saying of the former national security advisor. report.kashima has this a republican effort to determine who may have leaked the name of michael flynn in connection with his 2016 contact with the russian ambassador has centered on which obama administration official requested his identity to be unmasked in intelligence documents. the fbi report about communications between the men, flynn's name was never redirected. lindsey graham announced he wants to subpoena witnesses over the unmasking of flynn as part of a larger effort to unearth investigation. he sent a letter to richard aenell asking why declassified list of obama administration officials who made requests that revealed

flynn's name in intelligence documents didn't show a record of who unmasked flynn's identity. the article says the list last week was declassified by grinnell and provided two gop senators who wanted to know who requested the unmasking of identities in the intelligence report in the last month of the obama administration that resulted in flynn being disclosed. unmasking is a routine practice. it is meant to help government officials better understand what they are reading. conservatives have seized on flynn's unmasking to say he was treated unfairly. the risk prepared -- the list prepared at request of the nsa between november 30 20 16 and january 12, 2017, the majority requests occurred before his communications with the russian 29.ssador on the it was the fbi, not the nsa, who calls.apped his

they wouldsaid that like the written answer to his question. it was never unmasked, michael flynn. his name was never masked in the first place according to this article in the washington post. revelation could likely come up at today's meeting when the senate judiciary committee gavels down at 10:00 a.m. eastern. kenny, republican. caller: hi, greta. thank you for taking my call. i think they should have been done a lot sooner. i am not the biggest -- host: jeffrey, beltsville, democratic caller. your opinion next.

caller: this is another scam that the republicans are afraid of. trump thinks he is going to lose the election, so they have to do like they did with hillary clinton. the problem is susan rice put out that there was never unmasked. -- a mask. said earlier you have people dying every day. we need masks, gloves, everything else, and they are putting all this time in to distract people's minds on something else. it isn't going to work. barr said he would not investigate obama or biden because he didn't say anything -- to anything to that. greta, what can i say? this is life. the democrats did what they have

to do and republicans feel like they have to talk about all this witchhunt. look at the russian governments that manifold gave information to. look at mike flynn, what he did. what do we want? no one being investigated if they did anything wrong? it is not right, greta. i'm going to look at it today. i forgot what time you said it came on, but i'm going to watch it. host: 10:00 a.m. caller: thank you. every time i call with you i get through, not with everyone else. host: don't attribute that to me. i have no control about who gets in and who doesn't. that is beyond my control. howard in texas, independent. caller: it is hard to get through to c-span.

i tell you. election year. election year politics have been dirty all the way back to the times of adams and jefferson. all we done now is modernized it and made it more effective. that's my call, ma'am. host: volvo, republican, , republican,bob tennessee. caller: i don't know why they would investigate someone if no there.as it wasn't like the russian collusion delusion. how many times did they get on cnn and lied to the american people for over three years. when they testified under oath date told a different story. this was rigged from the get-go and will go all the way to obama.

will knowan people that he was one of the most corrupt administrations ever. that's my comment. have a nice day. host: mark, philadelphia. your turn. caller: good morning, greta. it's a great topic. what do i think? me, personally, i think it's comical. what i mean by that is you listen to the callers calling in this morning. how many people are going to change their minds over this? i would say the american electorate right now, 99% of the voters know how they are going to vote november 3. this may affect 1% of the electorate. i agree with everyone else, this is a distraction and utter waste of time. host: are you still there?

what do you think this does do if this won't change anyone's mind politically? what does it do politically, in your opinion? caller: politically i think it's an attempt by president trump and his allies to rally up his base. that's what it is. to get his base riled up to make basethis november 3 his gets out to turn out. who else isis base, going to buy into this nonsense they are going to come up with? nobody except his base. host: as you are looking for -- a recent poll was just done with reuters on the president's approval rating, and how he matches against joe biden. this is featured on the spanner page. dgenerally speaking, would you say things are headed in the

right direction or off in the wrong direction? when you look at all registered voters, 58% say wrong direction in red. democratic registered voters, 82% say wrong direction. republicans, 56% say right direction, 30% wrong direction. independents, not the party base, 59% say wrong direction. this is one snapshot right now of the political situation. note the president is running 11 points behind joe biden in a general election matchup. tyrone in michigan. independent. good morning. what do you make of the investigations on capitol hill by senate republicans into former obama administration

officials, the vice president, his son's ties with burisma? aller: i think it is political sham and show for the republicans. i am part of the independents who believe this country is going in the wrong direction. i say that because i'm 72 years old, a vietnam veteran, i fought for this country. i voted for democrats and republicans. right now i don't see any bipartisan iism at all. i would love to see a president get in the white house against theartisan problems in this country and help us make a brighter and better future for our kids and grandkids. i don't see that happening coming in november if trump is reelected. host: listen to this senate republican ron johnson of

wisconsin who leads the homeland security and oversight committee. this is his argument for issuing subpoenas for a pr company that had ties to burisma at the time hunter biden, the son of joe biden, served on that company's board. [video clip] >> we have certainly uncovered corruption the obama administration. my own efforts started with an email scandal, the editing of the exoneration email. the same cast of characters and the fbi who morphed into the whole russian collusion hoax. it was a hoax there was collusion between the trump campaign and russia. end, the corruption of the transition process. known for famously peaceful, cooperative, well wishing presidential transitions into a very difficult job.

what we witnessed here is a corruption of that transition process, a transition designed to sabotage the incoming administration. we can never let this happen again. [inaudible] >> we will get documents and see what. is in the documents subpoenaed, quietly got the documents, and moved on. the democrats are objecting. i think maybe they are protesting too much. it raises my suspicion level. what is to be found out in these documents? republican senator ron johnson. listen to democrats' arguments. gary peters the senator from michigan.he questioned the need for the subpoena. [video clip] >> this is not a serious bipartisan investigation in the tradition of this committee. i believe we should not be going down this dangerous road.

we are the homeland security committee. we have jurisdiction over election interference and should be working together to strengthen our national security and fight against foreign influence. unfortunately, this misguided subpoena risks amplifying efforts of our foreign adversaries to interfere in the 2020 election. this should not be about politics. what we need to be focused on his national security, and we should be acting that way is a committee. i have been requesting since december that members of this committee be briefed by the fbi and intelligence community. we can't allow this committee to be taken advantage of by adversaries who are seeking to subvert our democracy. senatorchigan yesterday during the hearing. if you missed the vote to subpoena blue strategies, the pr firm, you can go to c-span.org

to find the hearing there. you can click on the video player on our website and seek old stars that pop up at the bottom. gold starshe -- see that pop up at the bottom. those are the key moments. related to this in "the washington post," ukraine tapes of biden and poroshenko. recordings released a private phone call several years ago between vice president joe biden and petro poroshenko, then ukraine's president. an independent member of the ukraine parliament who previously aligned with the pro-russian faction said in kiev on tuesday they receive the tapes which consisted of edited

fragments of phone conversations biden and poroshenko had in office from investigative journalists. tos ukrainian passed links russian intelligence according to "the washington post." here is some of the leaked conversation between the former vice president and the then-president of ukraine. [video clip] >> congratulations on getting the new prosecutor general. i know there's more that has to be done, but i really think that's good. working ind you're coming days on additional laws, security imf's. congratulations on installing the new prosecutor general. it will be critical for him to work quickly to repair the done. now that the new prosecutor general is in place we are ready to move forward signing the new $1 million loan guarantee.

i don't know how you want to go about that. getnot going to be able to it to kiev anytime soon. maybe in the next month or so. couldt know whether you sign it with our ambassador, or if you came here we could sign it, or if you want we are inviting grayson here. i am going to be talking to him this morning -- not for that purpose. as to leave it up to you how you want that done and when you want it done. all, thank you very much indeed for support. believe me, it was a very tough challenge and a difficult job. he not only voted for the new prosecutor general, a short

he changed the law. this law presents the new including the general inspection. >> that's brilliant. is yousecond thing should contact your embassy. weould be very pleased if omeld have a second person c to washington. i don't remember his name, of ukrainian origin, american prosecutor. i sent his name. host: that is a little bit of ise seven minutes leaked by th

ukrainian official yesterday in kiev. you can find it on youtube. of phone conversations the former vice president had with the former ukrainian president. mary, welcome to the conversation. what do you think about the investigations into former obama administration officials? caller: well, i'm going to tell you we've been doing three years on president trump. i think in order for the sunlight, or the however you say, to equal it out, if there is something that deserves investigation, republican or democrat, it should be done. i think all you democrats who hollered about trump and russia, i'm going to tell you there have been many presidents before who have worked with russia. you cannot make up your own mind. you're told what to think. people us as americans

need to work together to make this country great again, and i said. so i want to thank the republicans for taking and opening this investigation, because we are on probably the second impeachment of trump. now.alk about wasting time what was the three years before this? that's all i have to say. thank you. host: related to the molar investigation, the front page of "the washington journal," the supreme court blocked congress from receiving grand jury materials from robert mueller's investigation of russian interference in the 2016 election, likely extending review of the case past november's election. the court in a written order wednesday granted an emergency request by the trump administration to keep material secret while it mounts a high court appeal against their release. the justices actions increases

the likelihood information will be shielded through election day unless the court make special accommodations to speed up the case this summer or backtracks from wednesday's order and decides not to give the case its full review. a lower judge had granted the democrat request to see some of this material. the high court deciding yesterday in a written statement to grant this emergency request by the president to keep the material secret. brenda in south carolina, democratic color. -- caller. caller: i hope i have time to say what i want to say. i agree with a lot of the previous callers. i don't agree with this investigation. i think it's a sham. i would like to ask y'all guys, why don't you ever discuss the people that was arrested during that investigation. they think the russian hoax was

a hoax. it almost seems like he was trying to justify what flynn did, that there wasn't nothing wrong. i don't understand that concept. i feel so sad for this country, because of the virus and what is going on. i feel that god did that to bring us closer together, and it seems like we are further apart than before the virus, and the virus is still going on. i'm afraid things will get so much more worse before they get better. this investigation is not going to change anybody's mind who they are going to vote for. it's only going to make people more angry. i'm so sad about lindsey graham. i'm from south carolina. i wish he would focus on the people of south carolina, and work as hard for us as he is for donald trump. i don't understand. his career's over. no one's going to vote for him, he's not doing anything for us. it is tit-for-tat in the other

investigation. god is still in control. whoever he wants to be president is going to be president. what good is it for man to gain the whole world and lose their soul? republicans are not working for us, they are working for trump. it's sad because this virus i think is going to get worse because they aren't focusing on the people. host: jeff, independent, pennsylvania. caller: good morning. how are you? host: doing well. what do you think about the investigations? caller: i think people need to use their own mind and may be some common sense. if these investigations were taken to anybody personally or someone in their family, a coup to prosecute someone, everyone would say that's unfair, that's unjust. someone trying to overthrow the government by the highers up in

different departments, everyone would say that needs to be investigated and wrong. polarizedthing is so people don't even use common sense when they talk about these issues, and often pair it with the mainstream media tells them the mainstream media tells them. people need to use their own minds, general fairness, and decency. host: ed, republican, ohio. caller: i keep hearing the democrats say it's a scam, it's a diversion. before trump was sworn and it was weaponized. james comey has been silent for the last week. he is going to be subpoenaed. they were interviewing a 34-year-old vet, did nothing wrong, was doing his job. obama knew he was going to bring up stuff. host: you are talking about

michael flynn? yes.r: they destroyed him and threatened to put his son in jail. that's the reason he took the plea deal. now you have a judge that will dismiss in. your take on the ukrainian guy, don't forget the investigation. i remember his son, if this would have been trump's son or anyone, on a billion-dollar energy company board. on top of this this guy that got fired is going after flynn. don't forget about the billion-dollar investment deal biden's son got in china. he loves china, which is our real threat. again.st hacked us we have been exposing them in our colleges, our tech labs, kicking them out of this

country. the #metoo movement on top of it. nothing about the accusation on him. i remember cavanaugh, slandered that man. if they have nothing to worry about, they should let it go. if the guy is innocent and his son, fine. for three and a half years it is going on and they are starting another impeachment on trump. even susan rice, let her stuff come out, emails. host: susan rice's emails have been declassified. this is what she wrote on january 20, 2017.she says on january 5 following a briefing by intelligence communication leadership on russian hacking during the 2016 presidential election, president obama had a brief conversation with fbi director james comey and sally yates in the oval

office. vice president biden and i were present. president obama began by ensuring his commitment that every aspect of this investigation was handled by the book. the president stressed he is not acting or initiating or obstructing anything from a law enforcement perspective. our law enforcement team needs to proceed as it normally would buy the book. securitytional perspective president obama wants to ensure that they are engaged with the incoming team, mindful to ascertain if there's any reason we can't share information fully as it relates to russia. james comey ensuring he is proceeding by the book. james comey said he does have nsa concern that incoming flynn is speaking with the russian ambassador. that could be an issue as it relates to sharing sensitive information. president obama he asked james comey if using the nsc should

not pass information related to flynn. james comey replied, potentially, adding he has no indication thus far that flynn has passed information to kislyak, but that the level of communication is unusual. the president asked him to inform him if anything changes in the upcoming week and how we should share information with the oncoming team. james comey said he would. this is january 5. the president weeded out months later well into the fireistration, i had to general flynn because he lied to the vice president and fbi. he pled guilty to those lies. it is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful, there was nothing to hide. the washington post editorial this. writes

she argues obamagate at its most coherent goes like this. high obama officials ask high-level officials unmask the intelligence report. obama officials use this knowledge as an excuse to set up flynn to lie to the fbi so that his lies could be leveraged in turn to coarse his investigation into the broader investigation into the 2016 trump campaign, never mind that unmasking is unusual and flynn could've waited i -- could have avoided in snare met not -- in nsnarement by not lying to the fbi. lied in anhe interview with an fbi agent. we must take their word. in accordance with an archaic and self-serving practice come the agents did not record the interview. they wrote their unverifiable version. although all fbi agents carry capability in their

smartphone. with all that on the table, we will go to ed in ohio. republican. good morning. go.ler: i want to let you when rice put those emails in long after this was started on unmasking, she said herself to cover her butt in case there is an investigation. she did the same thing with benghazi will stop she covered with hillary clinton at the time in the state department. it is unbelievable what they have done to this man, this country, our president. let the sunlight open up. if they are innocent, fine.

it amazes me how they sit here. the media, it's a done deal. they said that a year ago. there has been nothing, never has been, and they still won't leave -- host: i'm going to move on to ben in springfield, massachusetts. caller: thank you for taking my call. i just want to try to calm people down a little bit. thejohnson is part of delegation that went to ukraine, if you recall. theas associated with so-called find information on by then. the idea wasn't to investigate biden. the idea was to announce an investigation on biden. in other words they just wanted to have biden under suspicion.

that's what they are doing now. one thing obama did when he took cabinetas fire positions to republicans at the time. one was james comey, who heads the fbi. he kept him on. he was a republican from the previous administration. he also offered cabinet positions to four individuals publican. one thing i want to say now and have them understand is everything that happened between january 2019 happened on the republicans when they had the white house, senate, and house of representatives. investigation, the special counselor, was hired by

republicans. republicans had control of the united states government at the time he was hired. he was also a republican. he didn't do what they wanted him to do so they went sour on him. the idea of this whole issue is to announce an investigation of biden. that is what the whole ukraine activity was about. they wanted ukraine president to there would be an investigation of biden, and he refused to do it. andould go back to johnson the delegation. that i will remind folks meeting to to -- the

vote on subpoenas to look into hurricane crossfire, the name of the fbi investigation into russian interference in the trump campaign, is happening this morning, 10:00 a.m. eastern.the senate judiciary committee will take that vote on subpoenas for 53 officials according to foxnews. we areire gathering orering, also on c-span.org, you can listen along with the free c-span radio app. york, buffalo, new independent. garbage.hat a bunch of i don't even know where to begin. there is so much garbage going on i can't keep track of it all. the investigation.

if they didn't do anything wrong, they don't have anything to worry about. [indiscernible] it's ok for them to investigate him and everyone he knows and everyone who works for him. you can'trbid, investigate a democrat. no, and especially joe biden. trump is firing him, iwho are loyal to think they are using the wrong word. it's not loyal. it's trustworthy. he wants people who are trustworthy around him. host: san diego, republican. caller: good morning. i have been waiting for this day for a long time.

people need to see chuck schumer's hair on fire about this investigation. even though the flynn issue is a big deal, and so is the hearing from 7:00 a.m. eastern -- host: 7:00 a.m. west coast time. caller: sorry about that. twon't know why we have investigate joe biden. we have him on tape bragging about changing the prosecutor in ukraine and holding back $1 billion until they get it done. the tape was pretty damming. it's almost as good as the video of biden. it is time to start singing turn out the lights, the party's over to joe biden. it is the beginning of the end. host: gary in atlanta, democratic caller. caller: how are you doing? the caller from massachusetts hit the nail on the head.

when donald trump was put under investigation, it was by republicans. they had the congress, senate, and presidency. rob rosenstein was appointed by donald trump. the republicans make it sound like the democrats were investigating donald trump. democrats.t was the obama administration never investigated anyone in the trump administration. flynn did not lie to president obama, he lied to vice president pence. i don't remember obama firing him. the thing that is so funny about it -- another thing is you let the tape play. we don't know if that has been tampered with by the russians, if it's a hoax. this is because donald trump is getting crushed in the polls. not goingan people is

to send that man back to the white house. i want to say in closing to the black voters, when donald trump asks the question, what do you have to lose? now you know, your life. we are dying in great numbers, which could have been avoided. use the same criteria they use to judge president obama during the ebola crisis. people. he lost 12,000 most of those people came from across the water with the virus. he went across the water and stopped it.donald trump and the republicans criticized him and said he was a failure. if barack obama was a failure, what is donald trump with over 100,000 deaths and counting? host: gary and several of you have brought up work on these opposed toons as

congress passing more economic relief for the coronavirus pandemic. "politico" has a story -- threatening to block the senate from going into recess. they are supposed to do so today. "we have an opportunity to perfect their paycheck protection program and help infrastructure," he said. cory gardner threatened to block the senate from leaving for memorial day recess citing the need to pass more coronavirus legislation. you can watch on c-span 2. the new york times the front page story, waiting to lock down costs 36,000 lives. states began imposing social distancing measures one week earlier than

36,000 fewerch, people would have died according to columbia university's disease ers.l hi, michael. ♪ we are going to move on. john. caller: good morning. toa republican, we have had endure a lot. as the previous caller said, it was the republicans who brought in mueller. the mueller probe exonerated president trump. happen,achment didn't because there was nothing to impeach. a bunch ofndure hoaxes and stuff brought on.

i want to remind everyone listening that all this happened of 2016ourth quarter 2017, beforeuary trump was sworn into office. they have all these transcripts. you can't take one piece here and --but when you put them altogether, there was something brewing in the democratic party. stuff, server, all that there was something going on that was hidden. the smashed computers. given to hillary clinton's aides. there was really something going on. the democrats have had their casetunity to prove their

or what they really wanted, but in doing so all this other stuff has come out, and now it is our turn. i think the one lady called in and said we just want to shed light. there.ght on who is president trump came into office saying he would drain the swamp. if anybody thinks that the swamp would go easily, they are crazy. it is like a root down a tree stump. you have the media with the article you read earlier, "the washington post" i guess coming up with a whole different slant. stuff,ve all this disinformation coming out of the media. this information on covid virus on covidormation virus. everyone has a different opinion. host: full you be watching at

10:00? ofler: i try to watch all the major hearings. i am retired, i am 72. i will probably look at this one. what amazes me is when the hearings are done in the media comes out with their snippets, they are all slanted. they will take a sentence here and there. there are 40 or 50 different news media companies on the air, and each one has the play to their base. the whole spectrum from white supremacists to uber liberal is mediaoups, there specifically designed for each one of these segments of our population. host: that is a perfect segue. you can watch the hearing in its entirety and decide for yourself what you believe without

interpretation, interruption, analysis by people with their own opinion and agenda. this is reaction we are getting from texts, tweets, and facebook. talk in new york, the democrats put this country through three years of fabricated conspiracy theories. flynn was trapped, and not by the book. as much.itted let's put all the cards on the table and show our hand. hopefully we won't have to spend $40 million to find out. the gop in search of a made up scandal when the biggest scandal is firing the inspectors general uncovering deception, whistleblowers coming out and depicting and administration of

chaos, confusion, and opportunists looking to profit off misery. we will talk about the role of inspector general in the federal government. she writes a piece in "the washington post" arguing for more protection for these ig's. terry good morning. caller: i have been a volunteer for the biden campaign, and i hope you will be our next president. i wanted to share my understanding of the burisma situation. burisma is an oil and gas company run by an oligarch. he served as the administrator of natural and awarded himself -- the company he himself controlled -- the gas exploration licenses.

he was not persecuted for this prosecutor. by the shulkin was not investigating burisma. it was the obama administration's policy because he was a corrupt prosecutor. the ukrainian allies, the western allies, the international monetary fund, the world bank, were all against shulkin. push silken out. he made an investigation of burisma more likely by hoping a non-corrupt prosecutor would be replacing shulkin. hunter biden, he is just a lawyer qualified to sit on the board of burisma. host: you started saying you are volunteer by the -- for the biden campaign. did you get this information

from the biden campaign in case someone asked you? fromr: i got it online mostly "the washington post." host: what do you do for the biden campaign as a volunteer? caller: calls on the phone. anding different voters discussing the situation biden is in, that he is a good, decent man. trump theg smeared by same way he tried to smear hillary and make her the worst person in the world. host: do you get asked when you make these phone calls by people about his son and burisma? caller: no, i haven't been asked about his son and burisma, but people have a lot of questions uput the things trump brings .

so, specifically, not burisma, but we talk about how the things he has been in his life. he has been a senator. he is not guilty of corruption. shulkin, it with looks bad because he was pushing out a corrupt prosecutor. they make it seem like shulkin was this innocent guy that biden helped to push out. innocent, goodan prosecutor. he was in cahoots with the oligarch. maine, independent, what do you think about the investigations by senate republicans into obama-era officials? caller: it is another smokescreen blown out of trump's tot, pardon my expression,

cover up his ineffective, incompetent presidency. he blames people, it's his game plan. what i would like to remind while flynn was being investigated, they were all lying. contacts, over 140 people contacting russia. when they were asked about it, they lied. that is why there was an investigation. they thought comey was just going to let it go. host: you and others can listen to republican and democratic center -- senators on the judiciary committee today at 10:00 eastern to talk about why they support or oppose voting on investigationthis into hurricane crossfire investigation.

you can watch that right here on c-span. we will get back to your calls later. coming up, we are joined by daniel brandon -- danielle brian to talk about government oversight. we will talk about states reopening with dr. kevin pham. fellow at the heritage foundation. -- yesterday defended the provisions included in the latest coronavirus response bill. aimed at shoring up the u.s. postal service. here's what she had to say. [video clip] >> the post office is in jeopardy. it is a health issue. over one billion packages of medicine last year -- that was before covid. 90% of veterans get medicine through the mail.

20% of the workforce are veterans. for these and other reasons, it is in the interest of veterans health and livelihood. have assential we thriving post office. i think it is important to note thatthe board of governors governs the postal system, 100% of it appointed by president trump. 100% appointed by trump. -- unanimously voted for three things. one, a 25 billion dollar fundson of appropriated funds largely related to covid because of the -- [no audio] there was one in the previous

bill but it had strings which was a pastor what the administration wants, privatization of the post office. bush appointed bipartisan committee, $25 billion no strings on the loan. third, they wanted 20 $5 billion for modernization of the post office because some things are ancient there in terms of infrastructure as well as transportation. that third one we are going to say for infrastructure, which will be coming soon. -- we have the first two recommendations of trump appointed board of governors of the postal system in our legislation and are directly related to the health of the american people, the health of our voting system, the census, so many things happening now.

again, to keep people out of voting lines and voting places by voting in a more healthy way at home. the postal system, they do better than anybody. a 92 cruel rating -- 92 approval rating. there is big support for the postal system. a small price to pay in a $3 trillion bill. announcer: "washington journal continues." danielle brian here talking about the president's decision to fire inspectors general. let's go over the role of the inspector general. why do we have them and when did they begin? after watergate in the church committee hearings, which your viewers who are informed will remember were investigations into overreach

and wrongdoing in the intelligence community. creatingpassed a law these inspectors general in each of the agencies. 78y have expanded to inspectors general across the federal government. they are part of the executive branch but they are unique in that while reporting to the head of the agency, they report directly to congress. what sort of training do they need to have two -- how do you become an inspector general? guest: that is a good question. there is confusion about that. report -- in 2008 reform act, they formalized a system where the inspector general would go through a vetting process that would look at potential report -- in 2008 reform ig's, making sure they had proper evidence of a

law enforcement or legal background. in some cases, an auditing --.ground it also but also an ability to demonstrate they are independent. host: where do they come from? guest: often, an oig will work up through the system. small commissions and agencies of employees, you get skills that way and how to manage to be an ig and then you work your way up through these giant agencies with giant staff. host: what kind of power do you have as ig? guest: in some cases not much. sometimes what you can do is only make recommendations and then law enforcement or congress has to take on those recommendations to fulfill enacting whatever corrections are recommended. host: do you serve at the per

leisure of the president -- do you serve at the pleasure of the president? is it the president's decision about who is ig? guest: yes. -- there is a role to be played in informing congress as to why an ig is needed to be removed. up -- ae a number i number of ig's who should have been removed due to an action. i would never suggest ig's should be unaccountable. the problem is they have a dual hatted role. congress is required to be aware of and having to justify why an ig should be removed. role -- in a co-unusual in an unusual role because their

job is to forget about evidence of wrongdoing. if you're doing your job well, you're not going to be making friends with inc. oig. --t: guest: all of them have some law enforcement powers to look into subpoenas. they have a range of responsibilities. there is a cliche that if you have seen one ig you have only seen one ig. at hhs, a big part of the inspector general's -- the inspector general jobless to do with fathers who have the liquid child payment -- there is a whole range of types of misconduct that ig's have to go through. host: who appoints ig's and what is the difference between a permanent and acting ig? guest: about half are presidentially appointed.

the other half are appointed by the heads of commissions or boards. there are a number of federal boards that have multi-members. those ig's report to those groups. them are appointed by the president. acting takes over where there is a vacancy. if there is not a senate actinged ig, there is an that takes place. if some of them serve at the pleasure of the president, why can't he or she fire that ig? guest: i don't think anyone is suggesting they can't, i think there is a clear requirement in the law that congress be notified so that there be an

investigation into whether there is self-interest. in the cases we have seen it is fairly clear that there are real concerns about why these people have been removed, and congress needs to do a lot more to elevate the concerns we have about why they are being removed. host: i want to talk more about these cases. let's invite our viewers to call in. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independence, (202) 748-8002. start dialing in. let's talk about the state department inspector general. fired int only was he a similar fashion to the other inspector general who was fired where the president gives notice to congress only that he has lost confidence, which is not an explanation, and then

immediately has them leave. love requires a 30 day notice and that was an in violation. -- there was an violation. -- then the number two in charge to become the acting, he is put in place another trump appointee. to add insult to injury, that person is going to retain their job as a political appointee within state department. you have this enormous conflict. are supposedneral to be independent of the agency so they can be receiving whistleblower complaints and looking into misconduct while being able to protect them. now you have a political ofointee who is still part the state department administration acting as an independent inspector general which is a flagrant conflict of interest. host: let's take michael atkinson.

the firstt was that there was a war on whistleblowers. that was the intelligence community inspector general who received allegations from the whistleblower and handled that properly. while there were efforts by the just didn't -- by the justice department in informing congress, he went through his chain of command. they reported it to the congress. clear,pears very retaliation by the president. hasas removed that ign still not given any explanation for it. you right in the washington post it is past time for congress to give inspectors general additional protection.

inspectors general need to be shielded against the president's ability to fire them at will. the administration should be required to demonstrate the office was unwilling to conduct oversight. this would allow inspectors general to conduct dogged reviews without fear of retaliation. why don't they have that protection now? in 2008, the house passed those protections. only be removed for certain causes and we name a couple and that op-ed. -- lost confidence is not a reason. --ing an actual release giving an actual reason congress can evaluate is an essential step. ,ost: before we get to calls how are you funded? guest: we have a contract on

government oversight. our mission is to investigate corruption, wrongdoing and abuse in the government and work to fix the problems we uncover. our funding comes from individuals as well as foundations. any money from anyone who has a financial interest in the investigations we conduct. host: sam in brooklyn. caller: how are you doing? host: good morning. caller: i have a few comments. number one, i think people are starting to confuse opinion from fact. when people call in and they -- they give opinions. they give dates and numbers and keep going on. orn you try to give numbers dates you have to go on fact. you can't give an opinion and

then tell a story. basically you set a lie. republicans [indiscernible] when they call in and say obama did this and that -- if you are so great like you claim trump is you don't have to brag. host: fact and opinion. guest: i think the caller is making an important point that we have to have conversations based on fact, what the law says, and what the evidence is. generaltwo inspectors removed by the president without notification or explanation. we have two acting inspectors general removed. there areases, serious concerns about them

being removed because of political retaliation. host: roland in upper marbella, maryland. are you there? caller: i am here. [indiscernible] why did this ig get fired? the role of an inspector mostal's to be one of the important checks and balances system in our government. right that in this case there were two investigations the state department and -- the state department was conducting. secretary pompeo was misusing federal funds.

more substantively, an -- intoation was whether the state department was advancing an arms sale to saudi arabia by improperly declaring a national emergency. those are bread-and-butter issues for an inspector general to be conducting. that is why we have grave concern about moving him and putting in his place a political appointee. host: here is what mike pompeo said. [video clip] the story where someone was walking my dog to sell arms to my drycleaner. it is crazy stuff. i didn't have access to that information so i could not have

possibly retaliated. i was asked questions, i responded with respect to a particular investigation. that was sometime earlier this year. i responded. i do not know the scope, the nature of that investigation other than what i would have seen from the questions i was presented. i do not know if that investigation is continuing, has been closed. not possible to have been retaliation. here's another thing to think about, this is all coming through the office of senator menendez. i don't get my ethics guidance from a man who was criminally prosecuted. 15 -- 155 new jersey district federal court. saidenate colleague basically he was taking bribes. is that someone i look to for ethics guidance?

i will do the right thing to make sure the state department is served by every employee. i will make sure the state department continues to deliver. host: let's dig into a little bit of what he said about how this investigation was working. know thee does not nature of that investigation because he was that she responded to a series of written questions. explain that more. guest: i can't because it makes no sense. you can't say i knew nothing but i answered questions. it is not a credible response. he has nothing to be concerned about, the last thing he should have done was remove the person. tim in minnesota. roland washought spot on.

i understand the ig is there is supposed to be a type of internal watchdog. to me, transparency is key to democracy. a president has any business appointing them. i think the congressional vetting process is more of a formality sometimes, the president eventually gets his way. this guy has fired four of them. know if he said it actually but obviously he wants people more in line with him. i think that is contrary to democracy. abhor themment is i comment "serves at the pleasure of the president." kingly to me.

i take a little exception to the idea that the senate confirmation process -- well, it shouldn't be a rubberstamp. examples ofeen really good congressional oversight over time. it is an important part of that progress. having an oig presidentially appointed is it -- their status. it elevates your stature so that people are taking your role more seriously. i think it has pluses and minuses. as long as the system is functioning properly and as long as congress is doing its job in upholding the law and requiring the president to explain clearly i still notice why --

think ultimately we have got to change the law and enhance protection so that we don't have these kinds of what appear to be very clearly motivated removals and there is nothing being done about it. in hollywood, florida. republican. caller: i want to say that i am concerned about the fact that there seems to be inspectors and crack oftors in every government. have a president who was duly elected. if it is at his pleasure to let people go, then it'd -- then it is at his pleasure. if you don't like that, vote against him. there seems to be a lot of investigations against him and

not very many against a lot of corrupt democrats. particularly in the house of representatives. your concern about due process, i am concerned about over and a constant knocking against the presidency by people who are against this particular administration. that would include inspector general's. i respect early -- i respectfully disagree, but these -- ictor general's disagree that these inspector general's are somehow neutral when it comes to policy. it seems to me there is too many of them. letting some of them go as part of the process of draining the swamp. host: ok, nelson. say our system is

not a monarchy. we do not believe in absolute power. strongly that absolute power corrupts absolutely. you need to have checks and balances to make sure we do not have corruption. withnly way to do that is these kinds of systems that are protected so that when one finds misconduct they can move forward and it can be -- as i mentioned, an inspector general does not have that much power. all they can do is bring forth evidence and make recommendations. be protected so that the congress and the public can find the facts. host: sterling, virginia. caller: i disagree with that gentleman who just spoke. i was working at the agency, i was on the task force appointed by the inspector general with regards to iran contra.

it was done in a professional to and was done with regard what the judge was doing on the outside on iran contra. on iran contra. i think it is done professionally. [no audio] they need to step back and listen to some of the devoted tols who are keeping our government safe. the only reason trump is removing this people -- these people is he does not want to the truth to come out. the inspector general's that perform a very good duty -- it keeps the government in check. government.ided a lot of people do not seem to realize that.

we are three branches of government and each one should be able to keep the other one in check. host: i would like -- guest: it is important to remember that inspectors general are also human beings that need to be held accountable. not to say they should never be removed but there should be clear explanation and standards and evidence and a process to ensure they are not being removed for the wrong reasons. that is what is so important now. it is important to make sure there are standards of conduct, or there has been no effort any evidence there was wrongdoing in the case of either of the two ig's who were fired. nancy pelosi addressed the firing of the state department inspectors general. this is unfolding, one thing

and another, all that stuff. i am very concerned about public policy. aboutss passed a law sales to saudi arabia. in that department, they declared a fake emergency in order to initiate the sales. that may have been part of the investigation. that is what i'm concerned about. they do something wrong in declaring a fake emergency, they undermined the will of congress. unfolds, justthis like in the last 36 hours we are seeing. far is is we know so scandalous. i think this is exactly

-- more than 24 hours and we don't have any evidence to the contrary. houseimportant that the and senate have begun investigations there are some republicans starting to raise concerns. this has historically been a bipartisan issue. i worry when it becomes politicized and tainted bipartisanship. this is another process of checks and balances. this is not about winning or losing. it is important for republicans they want tohat have confidence that inspectors general have protections to do their jobs as well. it is just as important to remove partisan politics from this conversation. host: he said nothing is being done about the firings, what do you mean? -- the early time

firing of michael atkinson, senator grassley had a bipartisan letter demanding from the president an explanation. portman langford and also sent a letter asking the same. the president has not responded. it has been more than 30 days and they are ignoring them. that is a sign where congress has got to step up and say we gave you your chance, you are not doing what the laws demanding of you. now we need to pass a law that when you want to fireto one that we have recourse. [no audio] guest: giving that inspector

general some rights in the court. who was concerned this was just about trump and obama early int his first term removed an inspector general. at that time there was bipartisan outrage. they took the case the court. the courts ruled he did not have standing. that is the kind of thing that can be resolved in legislation. host: he didn't have standing because there was nothing on the books? guest: that's right. host: gilbert, arizona. caller: i can't believe the last comments. to president has the option fire anyone who works for him. were people he decided to get rid of. it is that simple. obama did it, now president trump did it. it doesn't matter if obama did it first or if trump does it now.

, andch as i respect c-span i respect your mission, you have biased people on here like this lady who is clearly politicizing this. thingscontinue to use like the new york times and washington post that are not credible, c-span is going to be less credible. host: we have people on with opinions. that is part of the conversation. you get to call up and say your opinion to the guests. danielle brian, your response. guest: i wish you were around when we were criticizing obama for the same thing. a case of keeping the executive branch in check. it is not about trump or obama. important part of checks and balances. we have to make sure we are protecting these people we are asking to do a good job.

inspectorsns of general for looking around thinking, if i do my job well, am i going to get fired? this is not just about people who have been removed, but what are we doing to protect those who are still expected to be doing their jobs impartially and with rigor? -- california. republican. caller: i have a question for danielle. i am curious -- i'm curious about her outfit. during her time in this job, did they look at hillary clinton's emails orith her debbie wasserman schultz or pakistan or all the crazy things we don't hear about on tv? inave never heard of calling five major players on a

testimony for hillary clinton and giving them blanket immunity so you can't follow-up. that is insane. i am wondering what your guest an outrageoush thing to happen. i honestly have some regrets that we only learned because of recent information, lawsuits by judicial watch about some of the misconduct while secretary clinton was secretary of state, and what appeared to have been improper dealings with the clinton foundation. i regret we did not know about it earlier. i think it is something that is a real problem. -- as she secretary was being confirmed she promised she was not going to be receiving funds from foreign

governments or entities, and they did. i think it is a problem. host: griffin, georgia next. caller: the only comment i wish trump, is that president why did you fire that inspector general? he says i don't even know the man. mike pompeo told me to fire him so i did. i have the right to. was nothing going on, why would pompeo ask him to fire the man? that doesn't make any sense. -- can't fire him because when the only reason you give is because somebody told you to. that's ridiculous. like firing a detective at a police department because the person he is investigating says i don't want him investigating me. ok, i will just fire him, i don't know anything,

never seen him. i will fire him because you want me to. i think what dottie is pointing to is the problem that all inspectors general face which is they are bringing forward information -- sometimes ofis not rising to the level in agency being concerned, but sometimes it might be something that gets to the point of investigating the head of that agency. the president or the head of the agency to decide we are just going to remove them, we are creating this class of untouchables in the political -- to our system of checks and balances. host: donna is next. knoxville, tennessee. caller: i do think there should be senate oversight on the ig's

being fired. the reason they are there is to find wrongdoing. if the person is finding wrongdoing and can be fired for no reason, that is why we never learn anything. spend millions on investigations and i think that is a problem. so much money is spent on investigations when they're supposed to be there working for the people. which leads to the larger point, and the problem with government today as we have the same people elected over and over again that have been there for 40 years. we need term limits on senators and congressmen so we can get andideas and new people stop going on this hamster wheel of investigating each other.

i supported donald trump because he was not a career politician. i am tired of the same people. joe biden has been in government all his life. enough already. if he is so great, why didn't all of these things he say was going to change happen years ago? i get frustrated with the same people. guest: i don't think term limits are a good idea in the congress. i have seen it takes a long time for members to actually develop skills and knowledge about how government works. many are coming from outside, which is a good thing, but they need to learn about the functioning of government and what to fix. new tofound people congress are less effective. i think there are other things we can do to improve the functioning of congress,

including making sure they do not have to spend all their time raising money. host: richard in colorado. why theream wondering is not some sort of separation of powers act to keep away from this? this president has been nothing but corruption, obstruction and extortion. it is like he is the dictator of the country. this isn't presidential what he does. presidentsame as the -- i wish we could have a truly independent president of the united states. this has been so much nonsense. we are going to get more of the same with whoever is president. this is total dictatorship. guest: we have a law called the constitution.

it does lay out these balances of power. haveower -- the problem we been seeing is that congress has not been acting to its potential as a check of the executive branch. manyis why we have seen so overreaches of the executive branch. host: lisa from georgia. is director of the project on government oversight. the succumb a you have to listen and talk through your phone. i am calling because i want to make a comment on checks and balances. to understand that our government is a democracy, not a dictatorship. checks and balances are important to keep corruption out. fires president

inspectors general because they ,re investigate an official they are investigating an official for corruption, that is a problem. we all have jobs. we all work for corporations. when we go to our jobs and we are fired for doing our job, just fired because of the way we or, you know, just for no toson -- i mean, we have understand this government is a democracy. we cannot allow this to continue. president trump made a statement , -- he lies all the time, but this one statement he made that is very true, he says he could stand in the middle of 5th avenue and shoot somebody and

won't lose a single vote. these people that are protecting donald trump, that is the only true statement that has rolled off the tongue of this man. host: we will leave it there. guest: i think that -- what we aretalking about is -- really important features of democracy. checks and balances, the role of congress and ensuring there is not this executive -- the realize and years for the congress are inspectors general and whistleblowers. those of the classes of people we need to be doing more to protect. host: here a comment from twitter. when a whistleblower reports something that turns out to be false, should the lying whistleblower be protected from adverse action? lisa sends us this tweet, ask

the guest who investigates the investigators. guest: the first one is clear. whistleblower has mostly negative consequences. to be a whistleblower, you are taking tremendous risk. if you are doing something that you know to be wrong, there is nothing to protect you. there is no benefit whatsoever to that. investigators need to be investigated. it is important to hold them accountable. the president needs to be presenting a reason for why they are being removed so that it can be evaluated by congress. host: pleasant valley, new york. republican. caller: good morning. the one email that came in about investigating investigators -- i don't understand. bidens making money

overseas. fired, hea prosecutor has a sexual assault case pending -- congress is doing nothing. they went overboard on the trump administration and the kavanaugh thing. i have watched the stink for five years, this is ridiculous. -- this thing is ridiculous. movement,he #metoo she is claiming there was a problem and nothing is being done. it is being swept under the carpet. i got the himself, prosecutor fired. where are you people? host: did you watch yesterday's hearing? the homeland security affairs andittee voted on ants -- approved a subpoena on the burisma biden story. caller: it is about time.

the tirades need to change. today, the senate judiciary committee is going to subpoenasof -- on 53 into the origins of the russian investigation. your thoughts? guest: i think you made the point clear. there is plenty of investigation into those matters that are ongoing. i do not think there is a concern that those matters are not being looked into. host: pleasantville, new york. caller: i am still here. you just had me. sure that wet make are not all one-sided. this goes all the way back to hillary. she should have never ran for president. this started from the benghazi

days, all of this stuff shoved under the carpet. nothing is being done. host: let's just finish up. what are you watching for next? guest: i am watching for congress to work together to pass protections for inspectors general to make sure there are can beds before an ig removed to ensure watchdogs are protected to do their jobs. host: if you want to learn more about miss brian, you can go to pogo.org. we thank you for your time. guest: thank you. host: coming up, we talk about states reopening with dr. kevin pham. he is a medical doctor and fellow at the heritage foundation. in case you missed it, the senate environmental works, he had an oversight hearing on the epa. here is an exchange between ed markey and andrew wheeler.

>> [indiscernible] >> first, those regulations to not make air quality worse. -- will improve air quality. we will be reducing emissions between now and 2026. obama naxaining the regulation. we are taking public comment on that end have not made a final decision. we took the advice of our clean-air science advisory committee. the career staff were divided. we had multiple recommendations on that. maintained we

should -- the mercury standard does not allow any inquiries -- increase in mercury emissions. the premise is off. >> [indiscernible] should be ashamed of yourself. your job is to protect public health and you are taking actions that will make this crisis worse. [indiscernible] that she should apologize to americans for taking actions that will make the crisis worse. story, --other [indiscernible] there are certainly

environmental justice communities where the air quality is worse. inre are also problems communities that are not brown or black. every american regardless of where they live deserves to breathe clean air. dr. kevin pham, contributor to daily signal, former graduate fellow of policy at the heritage foundation. what is your medical background? graduated medical school in 2017 at university of toledo. i went to business school and got an mba in health care administration. thoughts onre your andcontagion of covid-19 states reopening? is it time to reopen? guest: that depends on the state. each state is in a slightly different place.

some states have decided they are ready, and that is a state-by-state decision. is going to be longer in reopening. places like colorado and georgia have decided they can reopen. frankly, it has not been a disaster. i think they were right to make that choice. about three or four weeks since georgia and colorado opened. that being the case, we have not seen a complete devolution. some states already. u.s.u look at a map of the , there are some states that are almost untouched the virus. it would be simple to do contact tracing to track the double-digit cases there is opposed to trying to track down tens of thousands. host: the washington post has a

headline, "as hotspots are wrapped, researchers warn of second wave in the south." time you relax mitigation strategy you see a possibility for resurgence. that's why we are going to have to be careful. are so many measures we can take but we can't maintain lockdown for a long time. we can't go on forever. it is not because people are impatient it is because people need to get out and continue with activities. this is not a selfish thing. include daily lives essential activities. maintainout and certain social distancing

practices, that will be the best way moving forward without seeing resurgence. host: you also have a background in business. balance economics and health concerns? inmost policymaker's mines, health policy is good economic policy. it reflects the mentality of the heritage foundation, the response to the pandemic is going to be a delicate balance between life and livelihood. those two are not different things. they are the same thing on a continuum. save lives by crushing livelihood, you end up losing both. we are trying to thread needles here. there is no perfect answer, no right answer, just a series of wrong answers and we are trying

to pick the least wrong. we may be not see a spike in cases, but the decline we have seen is going to taper off into a longer tail. we maintainf economic lockdown we are going to start losing people not just to the virus but to economic w oes. host: i want to invite our viewers to call in and share your thoughts. what is it like where you live? . host: eastern central parts, your number is (202) 748-8000. mountain pacific, (202) 748-8001 . we want to hear from medical professionals, (202) 748-8002. i am going to play governor cuomo's -- part of his briefing where he talked about the state gradually opening.

[video clip] >> people ask all the time, what is going to happen? what is going to happen is what we make happen. there is no predestined course. there is nothing preordained. is ais going to happen consequence of our choices and actions. it is that simple. if people are smart and responsible, and if the employers who are opening , ifnesses do it responsibly employees are responsible. if individuals are responsible, then you will see the infection rate stay low. if people get arrogant, cocky, casual, become undisciplined, you would -- you will see the rate go up. been about what

we do. it has never been about what government mandated. government cannot mandate behavior. mandate the cannot behavior of 19 million people. it can give you facts that lead conclusion, and new yorkers have been great about following facts. we are at another pivot point. numbersare reopening, are down, we can increase activity. what is the consequence? it depends on what we do. do your part, wear a mask. host: dr. kevin pham, your thoughts? guest: most of that was right on. you shouldhe said have to be responsible it is

simple -- none of this is simple. it is not quite so simple as just being responsible. a bunch of people have to be in close quarters just by nature of their work. if you work in the kitchen, it is difficult to isolate yourself. wearing masks is going to make a big difference, just being in close proximity to other people, it is difficult to decide how you are being safe. is you areing stratifying risk among different parameters. byber one, doing your part not congregating too much unnecessarily. but people who have to be in close proximity to others, what they are effecting as far as risk is how it pertains to their outcomes --there

most of the mortalities have unfortunately been in people 55 or older. have been over 65 years of age. 45 -- as you get younger, below 45 the mortality rates toomes small until you get 20 where it is almost statistically zero. there is nobody who is invincible, but your risk between the ages of one and 20 is very low. if you're a 20-year-old working in a kitchen, i do not think it is going to be that unsafe. this is about balancing risks. americans are used to assessing risk. i think we can trust them to balance risk and go about their lives. with percussion and a mind ,owards hygienic methods

washing hands, wearing masks. i think we can trust the american people to do this. host: paterson, new jersey. about: you mentioned congregating too soon. memorial day weekend is arising. curiousm jersey, i am as how we keep a spike from happening in jersey that can overflow anywhere else? it is the way we would do that each individual needs to take responsibility for his or her own life and family. -- i is not going to be believe new jersey still has certain lockdown measures. aside from that, if you're going to be out on a picnic, picnic away from another family. you're probably not going to play pickup basketball.

sun with thehe weather hopefully warming, it is more difficult for the virus to transmit. updated guidelines that most transmission has not been by contaminated surfaces. most has been from person to person. if you are outdoors it is more difficult. unless you are spending a lot of time in close proximity, you're probably not going to spread to another stranger. there is probably not going to be a high enough load to infect another person. if we are having picnics outside or having grill outs, i think that is going to be safe. the caveat is that so long as you are not in close proximity with an infected person for a long time -- if someone in your family is infected, you might

see a spike. we have to be careful about that and gauge how we have been exposed and who we have been exposed to. that is going to be difficult. this is about balancing risks. if people are immunocompromised, or older, you may want to stay home. teleconference your memorial day meeting. , but that might be safest way to do it. host: host: what you make of the cdc's new statement, coronavirus does not spread easily by touches services or objects? they say it still may be possible. the center for disease control prevention has always said it could be possible by touching contaminated services or objects. it just does not spread easily in that manner. the agency now says nor by

animals human contact. what do you make of that? guest: that's really good news. contaminated services could be easy to be left behind. you, ite is in front of will probably be fine. those will be there droplets land on the table in front of me and someone else comes by and puts their hand on that table, they may inoculate themselves. if that is an unlikely mode of transmission, that is very good news. that second person touches a doorknob, that has been a major concern of mine. that will significantly reduce the possibility of a transmission. it is always important to remember that because it is -- less likely does not

mean it wont happen. like the transmission outdoors. it is unlikely but it is a function of time. this is all balancing risk. it is a game of percentages and numbers. whatever makes transmission less likely will be better news. does that make wearing a mask more important? yes, in fact it does. on the outset of the pandemic a lot of officials were saying don't wear masks to conserve them for health care workers. that was correct at the time, there was a shortage. the thinking was also that most of the transmission would be by .ouch

now that we know that most transmissions from one person to , it will provide protection as well from receiving the virus. originally it was thought it was transmission. that fact has not changed since the virus has existed. know thetand it so we mask will be a bit more important. i do agree that the doctor has properly put his finger on it. the american people want to get back to work, we have the ability to mitigate risk and be smart about what is important. we are missing the opportunity for folks to continue to see doctors, make sure they are

taking care of other underlying medical issues that may drive up mortality rates areas we haven't anticipated. we will regret the fact that we spent some much time focusing on covid to the detriment of everything else. one of the good -- host: one of the good -- diagnosis could be done by the clinical interview. it does not have to be done by physical exam. -- excuse me. a lot of diagnoses could be made by the clinical interview.

a lot of checkups have to have the physical exam. need toith copd, we listen to your lungs. anyone with a heart condition, we have to listen to it. we cannot detect a murmur or track its progress. to fact that we are not able get the physical exams right now, means we might be missing deterioration, especially with not having to go to work. we have been in lockdown for a relatively short amount of time. hopefully no one has deteriorated past the point of no return.

if we will maintain this lockdown, we will have much larger chance of losing a lot of possible help we have saved right now. this is about balance. we need to pay attention to other pathologies as well. the main focus has been on covid-19, rightfully so. i think it is extremely critical. caller: hello. host: go ahead. you fori want to thank r show.you we appreciate it very much. i got most of my question answered in the last 20 minutes

done onies have been currency in the disease. was the question whether it is transmitted by currency? by the exchange of money? caller: yes. if the transmission is happening less by touch and more -- it will have less of an effect. that is good news. matter, the low chance of transmitting by touch, there is still some chance. it is less than we had thought before. seen hasthat i have tracked the transmission by money or credit card, or by the

credit card reader. covid-19 is not the only virus out there. any time should touch one of these things you should probably wash her hands before touching your face. i think that is one of the practices that stores could do to put sanitizer available at the checkout stand so soon as people are using credit cards and money, after that they could go and wash their hands. host: laura is next. i called because i have a question. if covid-19 is so very in fact , why haven't the homeless .een really, really wiped out

it does not make sense. guest: the who? host: the homeless. that is a continuing question. we see some paradoxes in public health. lower economich -- there are paradox we can explain all the time. it could be luck or system. is aomeless population very diverse population. we are not 100% sure. these could be going unnoticed.

they don't have access to regular resources so they are probably not going in for testing. we are probably missing a lot of homeless people. they also live outdoors. transmission when people outside of the building is a lot more difficult. , anyrt of illustrate that , the viral load might not be enough to infect another person. that would greatly help the situation. those droplets will stay at the center of air for time, possibly long enough for someone to walk through it. the concentration will be much higher.

caller: i work in a grocery store. i'm upset governors are not making the masks mandatory. to me, it is like wearing a seatbelt. why is a seatbelt mandatory but masks are not? half the people that come in the store have masks. half act like nothing is happening. i'm upset it is not mandatory that we wear masks. especially in grocery stores. i compare it to seatbelt. why are they mandatory and masks are not. host: for this worker, he is wearing a mask, is he protecting himself? as far as transmission, the mask will protect reception of the virus. in order to be inoculated, he needs to touch some kind of

services. normally that his nose and mouth. if you get a load of respiratory this.ts it will service the best way to be protected from other people would be is to wear a mask and goggles. i understand that is unrealistic. people should be wearing masks. goes, themandating problem is if you have a mandate it has to be enforced in some ways. to enforce it it has to require some kind of course of effort with the state. public health requires cooperation of people because it is made up of two things. the public and health.

if they don't see it as important to their health they will not comply as much. then you get the natural resistance and protest. that is also detrimental. the main thing that needs to happen is proper public health messaging. wearing a mask will not necessarily be mandated but onessary if we will protect another in the community. we are only in this together if we are moving in the same direction. ed, in melville, new york. go ahead. live -- i live in a metropolitan area in the northeast. we all want to get back to work. how will that be possible when the majority of us take pack commuter trains and subways? guest: that is one of the enduring questions for the pandemic and any future pandemic

or epidemic. the public transit system is a major spreader. i think more than one study has been a source of infection in new york city. pretty muchcity, everyone is dependent on the subway system. -- are we going to do this in the future? that also could be alleviated by hand sanitizer stations at the stations. people need to clean out fans and services as they go on. it will be a difficult question. some things cities that rely on public transit will have to

answer. these are questions for specific planning in the future. i don't have the answer to that right now because it is difficult. people rely on public transit. this is overdone, it is an overreaction. i think it is on purpose. i'm not trying to be a conspiracy theorist but i delivered doordash and i do post mates.

i'm delivering people mcdonald's and starbucks. bagels.is einstein a lot ofis this, people die, there are diseases that kill people. cancer killed 600,000 people year. there is the food that kills. this covid-19 shutdown of the whole economy, government, a cover up. gabriel says this is not real, what do you say? guest: i think you were saying

we are overreacting to the situation. that is going to be a judgment call. i think a lot of these lockdown measures, especially when we have little information and the disease is spreading quickly, i pick some of the lockdown measures were appropriate at the time. it is also the start of relaxing some of these mitigation measures. this pandemic is not false, i don't think he was implying that. point, a verythe bad flu season for us was 2017 2018. i think we lost about 80,000 people. that in lessy over

the normal flu season. we are at 94,000 deaths as of yesterday. we will probably crest over 100,000 ford was done. not just another flu season. not only did it leave the lights, it spreads very quickly based on those antibiotic studies we have seen. that hadn't been said. the mortality has been high so far. and value has been high concentrated in groups. we could focus on the at risk populations. we should focus on protecting them and our senior citizens. the government has been doing a good job of this.

developed,emic has they be admitted this get into nursing homes. think that did a lot to mitigate the spread in florida. it prevented the spike we thought we would see in florida. there are certain things we need to be concerned about we know that we could start get a handle on it. over 90,000 deaths in the united states the speaker of the house and chuck schumer have thaten a letter asking what our country reaches 100,000 that he designate all flags flown at half staff to mourn the

deaths of all of the victims of coronavirus. morning. thank you for discussing this. i live in upstate new york. i was commenting about the mask issue. you i'm aly tell retired military person. has made nosk in new yorkr cases state. cdc has given so many .essages about wearing masks first they weren't to be worn. n95, a you had an

regular surgical mask does not filter anything. wearing a mask is really a feel-good thing. it is not scientific, that is my point. aest: it is not entirely feel-good measure. what it is is it will prevent if you have a sneeze or cough, wearing the mask will prevent that cough or sneeze from and wide in front of you. that will be important indoors. some.l help prevent it will slow down anything that comes at you. there were counties with single digit cases up until this day. a broad measure will not have as much of an impact.

there's not as much of a potential spread. the effect will not show up if you have fewer cases. i don't know what to call it exactly. such measures will not show any differences when there are fewer cases. hasace like japan, which very dense cities and there is much more broad acceptance of mask wearing did not get hit very hard with pandemic. be part of thell masks already. it will be more difficult to see definitively whether they make an impact in your state. abouton what we do know , we areration works pretty certain. we are fairly certain masks work.

jerry is in rogers, minnesota. caller: there is a cure for covid, it is a healthy human immune system. it beats it about 98% 99% of the time? these policies that say lock kids in homes to play video games, does that help them with immune systems? would that improve the system baseball?ing in minnesota, 85% of the deaths have been in nursing homes. why are we shutting down atrybody else that are not risk with healthy immune system? why would we shut them down from going out? i'm imagining having a good job helps your immune system. having money and the job probably helps your immune system.

this, this has really been handled wrong. that was a cheap shot at that guy. the idea that nancy pelosi and chuck schumer's answer is to wave the flag at half mast, what foolishness. what political garbage. thank you. you respond to the caller. 80%, roughly 80% of the been in the cohort of retirement age or older. 20% of a 100,000 is not a small number.

it has been a relatively benign flu season. i shouldn't say benign. 20,000-30,000, that is not a small number. i agree with some of that. keeping kids indoors is not going to be helpful. especially we are seeing that transmission outside is very low. there is one particular study in australia of high schools and , there werechools hundreds of students who had been exposed who are identified later on. no new cases emerged out of that. after the exposure, what they found was one high school student and one primary student

each tested positive for the antibodies. they never showed any symptoms and just recovered from it naturally and never knew about it. our children and younger people, not only have they left us with severe disease. the youngest cohorts above the lowestone are at the risk. going to summer camp would be a pretty smart move. we are not sure if it is connected to covid-19. we are seeing a rise in cases. is is an over activation overe immune system, the

activation of the immune system after a viral infection that does a lot of damage. that is something else we have to be careful for. it is very low compared to the rest of the population. i think that will be appropriate. caller: good morning, doctor. what i would like to know is what is the temperature sensitivity of this virus? how cold does it take to kill the virus and how much heat does it take? an item ist contaminated i put it in my freezer. dryer.use my

does that help? i don't believe that would be necessarily helpful in many cases. so virus could only live long outside. it needs to be inside an organism to survive very long. that has to be an environment that is conducive to maintaining the virus. if you have clothing that has dishwareed or maybe that has been contaminated, certainly running in the dishwasher or washing machine is going to be helpful. itemsur regular household , you want to swipe it with a disinfectant. gun -- aer or heat hairdryer might not be hot enough to kill the virus.

temperature.ained it needs the sustained height to kill it, to activate it in a laboratory setting. a freezer might kill it but i suspect what the freezer is doing is preserving the virus. i don't know if it will kill or denature at the freezing temperatures. it might not. i hope that answers your question. disinfectant is probably the better choice. caller: i've been a nurse for a long time working primarily with the pediatric population, i was wondering has there been any correlation drawn between children that have contracted

with the kawasaki type that have or have not received vaccines in the past? host: let me take that because we are running short on time. are you understanding the question? tost: i think she's trying dry correlation between the development of kawasaki syndrome following covid-19 with that correlated with possible prior vaccination use. i don't think there is any correlation as far as that goes. the main case studies have been in new york city. the vaccination rate will be pretty high in new york city.

interaction with the school system requires that. of thee have 100 cases kawasaki like syndrome. i say only, each one is pretty serious. each one requires careful attention. cases, we would expect to see over 1000 cases in new york city and we are only seeing 100 now. it could likely be associated with covid-19. we cannot try any definitive decisions yet. citystudents in new york will have been vaccinated, there is probably not association with prior vaccination use in the it iski development

probably more dependent on other factors, personal medical history. host: you could read his thoughts if you go to dailysignals.com. he is a contributor there. thank you for your time. next, we returned to our conversation from earlier this morning. on senatehts republicans investigating former obama administration officials including the former vice president. (202) 748-8000, republicans, (202) 748-8001, independence, (202) 748-8002. senator cassidy took to the floor wednesday for the act that would provide additional relief to states. want to show you what he had to say. talked about moody's

predicting loss of revenue. louisiana is projected to lose 45% of its revenue. new jersey, maine, florida, oklahoma michigan, alaska, arizona, illinois all predicted to lose large sums of tax revenue. let me speak specifically about the smart act. reasonable, bipartisan this is how to go forward in both chambers. that is the amount of money moody's predicted state and local governments will lack over the next year and a half. theind of nailed independent agency put the need for our state and local government. there's a lot of concerns this will be used to bailout states. a largeo have used

crude liability. they would use that money to support those pension funds. we specifically don't allow that. has been addressed. what do we do? first, one third of the dollars could go out now. it is based upon population. this recognizes in california, 31 million people and wyoming has 500,000, there needs to be some accommodation for just the population side. inevitably that will implode the total need. the next third will go out at the end of june. based upon how hard a state was hit in terms of health from the coronavirus. if your state was slammed, louisiana was, new jersey was, that is where you get the help. better if yourot state has not been impacted.

it is there to support your state. the last third will go out at the end of this calendar year. that is based upon the financial hit that your state has taken. if your tax base has been decreased by 45%, you would get additional dollars that comes out of the end of the calendar year. "washington journal" continues. on capitolons flare hill over republican investigations into the former obama administration including the vice president. senator lindsey graham's gaveling in the judiciary committee at the top of the hour. we will have coverage of it right here on c-span. for are voting on subpoenas 53 officials related to the hurricane crossfire investigation.

they gave toame the investigation into the trump campaign. you can watch it right here on c-span. you could download the free c-span radio app. lindsey graham was asked by reporters about the timing of this subpoena in the investigation into the orange. here's what he had to say. model was useda by senator lady. the judiciary committee was investigating torture abuses in the bush years. i will use his model to investigate all things crossfire, hurricane and the mueller report. do you see this being political? >> i want the american people to know about crossfire hurricane. mueller to do this investigation without interference.

i think crossfire will be one of the most unethical investigations in the history of the country. i want people to know about it -- i have been patiently waiting for mueller to do his job. there is no reason we can't do this before the election. host: today's meeting comes a day after the homeland security committee led by republican senator ron johnson voted along a pr lines to subpoena firm related to burisma. hunterne company that biden, son of the former vice president joe biden sat on. they stood yesterday to issue those subpoenas. philadelphia, you are up first.

caller: i find this to be an obvious distraction from what we are facing with the pandemic. they decided to mount an offensive against our .ntelligence agencies the mueller report made it clear there were multiple entities working in reaching out to trump and some of the people he hired for his campaign. the lack of judgment and the proximity to these people who were dangerous was clear. there was a giant rehabilitation image for paul manafort, michael flynn, four page. 100,000 americans have almost died and their focus is not addressing that. up trump'sng to prop former officials.

graham has really defaced himself to a level we have not seen before. ofwants to sully the image trump's chief opponent right now who is leading in just about every poll right now, consistently. it is transparent what they are doing. host: on the pandemic from the unemployment numbers are out for last week. claims rise by 2.4 million as states try to open. 38.6 million workers have applied for assistance last nine weeks. james, what is your perspective? caller: i want to clarify. i am anpublican but american first, second, and third. my concern about this constant investigation is playing the

long game for america. i definitely feel there was malfeasance done. there were decisions made in the obama administration that were borderline criminal. at the same time, i will say this. harderetting harder and to find professional educated people who want to serve in government and take time off of private careers for two or three not helpat does america for the long game against other countries like china. every single email, every text message taken out of context years after i sent it or you send it. snippet of the conversation to be blown up into some kind of criminal crime. my biggest concern is with the , i we have 24 hour news

wouldn't call it news i would call it shock value reporting. we are not allowing america, the country to make good medium and long-term decisions. venezuela is still dealing with a lot of issues in south america. covid-19 is allowing china to take over resources all over africa. . we are worried about things that happened a year or two ago. how will we get a professional to work on the african committee for a two or three years. it is the one time he or she makes a note about sending supplies somewhere. host: per year point, james.

it is now becoming a pattern. we have the hearings going on. of what it isocus doing in the here and now. that terrifies me sometimes. trump left alone with his administration to do whatever they want to do note the focus is off of them. what that gentleman said before me nailed it. this is crazy. trump has done this since he got an office. finger point, finger point, finger point. look what has happened in his administration. president trump could be asked if he talks to reporters today about these investigations. here are the headlines from abc.

a floorplan after the state attorney general asked him to wear a mask during the tour. this comes a day after the president threatened to remove ofding for the state michigan over their mail in ballot. follow our coverage of the president as he goes to michigan, go to our website. the minority leader, chuck theser argued against investigations. here's what he had to say. >> the republican chairman has asked members of the committee to consider subpoenas related to yet another conspiracy theory pushed by president trump. a theory that attempts to rewrite the history of russian interference in the 2016 election to mask the fiction in fit -- president trump. it seems republicans want to dive into the deepest muck to invent scapegoats for the

presidency use in his reelection campaign. -- madamdent president, the conspiracy caucus is back. it has been on a simmer ever since. now it is boiling over once again, shamefully in the middle of a public health crisis and economic disaster that requires all of us to focus on the problem at hand. aren'trepublicans addressing legislation to help the unemployed. they are holding sham hearings about the president's political rival. they are debating measures to increase testing, they are turning senate committee rooms into the studio fox news in france. senator republicans are not just ignoring the virus, they are practically' sprinting. making this chamber part of a reelection campaign not what it

was ever intended to be by the founding fathers or anyone else. fever forced them to bow down to president trump's wild conspiracy theory. here's what chairman graham said about his investigation unquote yesterday. i want to get all the information out there. i want to do it before the election. publicanre's the a exemption right there. do before the election. senate judiciary committee role gavel in about 15 minutes for a vote on subpoenas related to the fbi's conduct we will have coverage on c-span. we will bring you inside the room as senators practice social distancing themselves, separated six feet apart.

they will meet to feel like what fox news says. 53 plus people and the subpoena authorization covers documents, testimony from witnesses including james comey, andrew mccabe, james clapper, john brennan, and sally yates and others. how did he beat you to california? the republicans are using this equivalency diversion likectic to make it look trump is a crook. that is ok because biden is a crip too.

what is going on now, the yemenis people are being bombed into the stone age despite the immoral arms sales to saudi arabia. trump gets away with it. gets awayary of state with it and nobody could do anything about it. we have gone so far down the ladder that we cannot seem to get out. is justivalency stuff sickening to listen to all the time. i was appalled by it. rita in newl go to york. caller: good morning. it is about time that some democratic conspiracies be exposed. this nation has to wake up to the fact that our top law enforcement agencies were being

corrupted. they were doing illegal actions. if that doesn't mean anything to a country, then nothing means anything. unless it is the law enforcement , i don'tthat count know what would count. we have to realize the news , it is been since the clinton demonstration that no wrong could do and republicans can do no right. i'm sick and tired of it. i'm 74 years old. i've always been politically

interested. carefully.hed i have seen this happen over and over again. this country has to wake up. host: in about 10 minutes you will hear from senate republicans, senate democrats on the judiciary committee. their arguments for and against moving forward with subpoenas originsto the fbi and of the brush investigation. all of that unfolding here on c-span, uninterrupted, unfiltered coverage of that gavel-to-gavel. you could watch here on our website, c-span.org, and also a little bit of free c-span radio. if you look at the room where senators will be gathering shortly, you could see they are we up to take these votes

could assume it would be a long party line votes as it was yesterday. subpoenas for the biden burisma story. if you missed that you could go to c-span.org and catch up on the key moments on our website. we will have that for this hearing as well when it concludes. in the caldwell, idaho. caller: what is interesting, if you read the scriptures, chapter 23 of acts verse five, paul says you should not be bad mouthing your rulers. that is out the window now. intoschiff will not buy the mueller report that the russians had nothing to do with it. from the perspective of every

one of these people, anybody in the democratic party, they all voted to impeach the man. he is not a graduate from yale, princeton, or harvard. healing qualify because he doesn't have the intelligent level. in reality anyone with any common sense realizes it. when they have the impeachment going, everybody forgets coronavirus was coming along. forget that until everybody got sick. we have reached a point were too many people have too many distractions. look them up on google. they're all million million millionaires. we have to be instructed by the people that got so much money that they could live for 40 years and not make another dime.

tois time for donald trump see that what goes around comes around. that is my opinion. barry in south carolina, republican line. what do you think? caller: i have been on this planet 66 years. was,tter who the president i have always stood behind him because that is what we are supposed to do. calls president fat . trump will lose weight. you have to be so stupid. all this crying democrats in themselves are doing, this is where that's going, stop growing. fix the country and the people and then you could start doing your crybaby stuff. fix this country. hearing thaty's gets underway at 10:00 a.m.

theern time, the meeting of senate judiciary panel likely could be discussed this piece in the washington post. redacted.me not it says the senate judiciary committee chair lindsey graham announced he wants to subpoena witnesses over the unmasking of flynn. on tuesday he sent a letter asking why declassified lists of obama administration officials who made request that revealed flynn's name in intelligence documents did not contain a record showing who unmasked flynn's identity and would like to do a phone call with the russian diplomat. the list prepared by the national security agency covers request made between november 30, 2015 and january 12, 2017. -- he wasty of quests

the fbi, not the nsa that wiretapped and created the transcript. when the fbi circulated the report. it was essential to understanding its significance and a former senior u.s. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said there was therefore no request for unmasking. , anname was never masked aiden said the committee's written answer to the question. democratic caller. conspiracies,ing we began in january, here we are going back to january, 2017. in the meantime we have gone through the mueller report, that is the case. we have gone through the ukrainian investigation.

pulled about 800 subpoenas. adam schiff had about 507i believe. graham, 53 subpoenas. silly.s all we could relate it to the coronavirus. i live in florida. every year we have two or three different issues that come up in my area. nobody has told me to stay home. they told me to swap mosquitoes if they bite me. nobody bothers to look at this percentage of deaths of 80 years of older -- or older. i'm 72 and have emphysema. i have a personal responsibility to myself that my mama taught me. listening,hat is their mothers have taught them, if not their fathers.

if i fear i'm going to get the virus, i'm not going out. i have a son that could go get stuff for me. i could order stuff. this is silly, downright silly. you have a great chance of catching a flu. what is the percentage of the flu deaths. is it equivalent? no. nature needs a balance when 99% of us could go about our business and if we control that 70, what is the big deal? republicans investigating former obama administration officials. karen in california, what do you make of it? caller: i think china has attacked us with this virus. use it as a weapon and we should be angry about it and start fighting back. host: do you think republicans

should be investigating that rather than the hurricane crossfire and burisma? caller: i think we could do both . i think we could multitask. deal with china first because they are big. host: natosha, democratic caller. in regardsas calling to the investigation, when this opped up during election becauseit concerned me whenwas planned republicans and democrats were against each other. a lot of things going on in the

background that we took our eye off the ball four. i think investigations like this will take our eye off the ball with enemies or people we need to watch out for in other countries or things like that. in illinois. there the previous caller mentioned the mueller investigation. the front page of the wall street journal, supreme court blocks congress from receiving grand jury material from robert mueller's investigation with russia's interference. the casetending review they have in's election. good morning. no the right one. they could investigate all of

them because of what happened in the iraqi war. all of them would be on war crimes. they killed a lot of people and soldiers died. they even let bush get away with it. i don't see why obama should be investigated for not punishing .hat group of people this.e man try to fix obama didn't investigate any of those people. herbie in moscow point, mississippi. we are in the senate judiciary room. the chair of the committee, lindsey graham, in the room. looking like he is getting ready to gavel in this hearing. ony are expected to vote authorization related to the

abuse investigation. our coverage here on c-span, also on our website, c-span.org. you could download the free c-span radio app. let's bring you into the hearing room.

>> we are live on capitol hill this morning, where the senate judiciary committee is meeting to consider fisa subpoenas. they are expected to discuss d.c. circuit judge many judge justin walker and justice department inspector general legislation. the committee appears to be running just a little bit behind. live coverage here on c-span.

>> we are live on capitol hill this morning, where the senate judiciary committee is meeting to consider authorization for fisa investigation subpoenas. discuss expected to d.c. circuit judge nominee justin walker and justice department inspector general legislation. this was supposed to get underway at 10:00 eastern but they appeared to be running behind. live coverage on c-span.

[chatter]

]chatter >> we are live on capitol hill this morning, or the senate judiciary committee is meeting to consider authorization for fisa investigation subpoenas. they are expected to discuss d.c. circuit judge nominee justin walker and justice department inspector general legislation. this was supposed to be getting underway at 10:00 eastern but the committee appears to be running behind. live coverage on c-span.

]chatter

]chatter

]chatter

[chatter]

live on capitol hill this morning, where the senate judiciary committee is meeting to consider authorization for fisa investigation subpoenas. they are also expected to d.c. circuit judge nominee justin walker, and justice department inspector general legislation. this was supposed to get underway at 10:00 eastern, but the committee appears to be running behind. live coverage on c-span.

]chatter >> thank you. we have an agenda that will be held over. asked to hold over the authorization for subpoenas relating to crossfire hurricane, the nomination