unfiltered view of government. created by america's take -- cable television company as a public service, and brought to today by your television provider. >> coming up live on thursday, at 9:00 a.m. on c-span, the senate judiciary committee votes on whether to send the supreme court nomination of judge amy coney barrett to the full sun network consideration. democrats havewill boycott the . at 9:00 eastern, the second and final presidential debate from belmont, university in nashville, tennessee. on c-span2 at 10: 45, nancy pelosi holds her weekly briefing with an update on coronavirus negotiations. at 1:00, senate members vote on limiting debate over the nomination of michael newman to be a u.s. district court judge in ohio. coming up, tax foundation president scott hodge discusses the president and -- the

presidential candidate tax plans. at 8:45, pennsylvania senator bob casey on the upcoming senate vote on amy coney barrett's confirmation to the supreme court. ♪ host: good morning. this is the washington journal for october 22. the fbi and the director of national intelligence have accused two countries of attempting to influence this year's election. russia and iran, who according to officials not only gave voter info, but also according to officials sent emails aimed to intimidate voters and damage the president. we'll see what officials have to say and get reaction from capitol hill and get your thoughts on this first hour of the program. here's how you can call us pure (202) 748-8001 if you support

president trump and mike pence. (202) 748-8000 if you support joe biden and kamala harris. if you an undecided voter or support another candidate and want to give your thoughts on this latest, (202) 748-8002. you can text us at (202) 748-8003 and also post on twitter. our facebook page is also available at facebook.com/c-span. to a press conference yesterday with the revelation, politico reporting this morning, saying in their story it was the iranian government behind -- threatening retribution if they did not vote to reelect president trump. the story adding iran and russia obtained voter registration data of some americans, that was the director of national intelligence john ratcliffe jurgen abruptly scheduled evening news conference.

politico has the story. more on our website at c-span.org. here is john ratcliffe, the director of national intelligence, talking about that russian and iranian influence. [video clip] >> we would like to alert the public that we have identified two foreign actors, iran and russia, have taken specific actions to influence public opinion relating to our elections. first, we have confirmed some voter registration information has been obtained by iran and separately by russia. this data can be used by foreign actors to attempt to communicate false information to registered voters that they hope will cause confusion, so chaos come and undermine your confidence in american democracy. to that end, we have already seen iran sending spoofed emails designed to intimidate voters,

incite social unrest, and damage president trump. you may have seen some reporting on this in the last 24 hours, or you may have even been one of the recipients of those emails. additionally, iran is distributing other content to include a video that implies individuals could cast fraudulent ballots, even from overseas. this and any claims about such allegedly fraudulent pallets are not true. these actions are desperate attempts by desperate adversaries. even if the adversaries pursue further attempts to intimidate or attempt to undermine voter confidence, know our election systems are resilient and you can be confident your votes are secure. although we have not seen the same actions from russia, we are

aware they have obtained some voter information just as they did in 2016. rest assured that we are prepared for the possibility of actions by those hostile to democracy. host: politico adding the threatening emails reportedly told -- reportedly from the proud boys set you will vote for trump or we will come after you. let us know if you received our message and will comply. if you go to new york times, they follow-up the story by adding there were no indications that election result tallies were changed or information about who was registered to vote was altered, either of which could affect the outcome of voting that has already begun across our country. officials did not make clear whether either nation hat voter registration systems. in that press conference,

christopher wray talking and adding his input about the investigation. [video clip] >> the fbi is the primary agency responsible for investigating cyber activity, malign foreign influence operations, an election related crimes like voter fraud in voter suppression or intimidation. that is exactly what we have been doing. at the fbi, we are working closely with our intelligence community partners as well as our other federal, state, and local partners to share information, bolster security, and identify and disrupt any threats. we are not going to tolerate foreign interference in our elections or any criminal activity that threatens the sanctity of your vote or undermines public confidence in the outcome of the election. when we see indications of foreign interference or federal election crimes, we will aggressively investigate and work with our partners to quickly take appropriate action.

we are also coordinating with the private sector, both technology and social media companies, to make sure their platforms are not used by foreign adversaries to spread disinformation and propaganda. we have been working for years as a community to build resilience in our election infrastructure, and today that infrastructure remains resilient. you should be confident your vote counts. early, unverified claims to the contrary should be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism. we encourage everyone to seek election and voting information from reliable sources, namely your state election officials, and to be thoughtful, careful, and discerning consumers of information online. if you suspect criminal activity , we ask you report that information to your local fbi field office. host: the new york times adding

in their story that the material obtained by russia and iran is mostly public, and iran was using it as an opposing political campaign might. some voter information including party registration is available in voters names may have been merged with other material like email addresses from other databases. those are the events the fbi and director of national intelligence spoke about so close to election day. we will get your thoughts on it. if you support president trump, (202) 748-8001. if you support joe biden, (202) 748-8002. if you're an undecided candidate, (202) 748-8002. john starts it off. minneapolis. a supporter of president trump. what you think about these actions? caller: it is not surprising iran is trying to destroy trump. i want to say joe biden needs to not only be defeated, but needs

to be ruined. host: for iran, why you think it needs -- why do you think it is not surprising? caller: are you kidding me. iran is the enemy of this country. obviously they would like to ruin trump. what you expect? host: will go to paul in kansas city, missouri, joe biden supporter. caller: is amazing to ludacris the responses we will get on a topic like this. given the history of not just our nation but every nation being involved in elections and spying on other countries where they have government and business interests. host: what you think about the two countries that were specifically mentioned?

russia and iran? caller: considering, and i have to agree with the last caller, why wouldn't you expect iran to do it? of course they are doing it. what people should be aware of his we have known this all along. we have known this since 2016. definitely that other countries are involved. even president trump has been proven to have interfered with getting out the black vote in the last election through emails. this is nothing new. host: four years later after 2016 you surprised this is still happening considering what you said we knew about what was going on in 2016? caller: once again, there is no surprise in what you know is going to happen. they do not change their behavior because you know. host: virginia, a supporter of

president trump, we will hear from john. caller: pedro, do you hear me? usually i do not get up this early. i am a federal employee, i am kind of on furlough right now. this is concerning, referenced outside forces disrupting our election process. you have to realize iran has always been our enemy for the past 40 years. i would like to make two comments if i could. host: when you say iran's involvement, specify what you mean? caller: everything is going onto the computer systems trying to influence the voters as far as disinformation. 50 years ago we did not have computers. we had televisions. people used to watch campaign ads on television. only one third of our country has computers in their homes, two thirds do not. host: are you surprised that even four years later this can

still happen? caller: yes. it will happen in the future since the age of computers. this is something brand-new that we had for years -- china and other countries are doing their best to disrupt our elections even though four years ago -- i switched from being an independent republican. i voted against donald trump because i thought he was going to lose. surprised that he did win. i did vote for him, i did not want hillary for various reasons. i try to explain this to john in may. we were talking about the coronavirus. may i say something very quickly? even though i did not get a second comment in may is they did not have any program for memorial day with regards to that particular holiday, they talked mostly about the coronavirus. i hope when veterans day comes next month, if you could talk your producer, please have a program about veterans on veterans day. host: thank you for the comment.

i did not want to stray too far from the topic. we will go with todd in california, supporter president trump, about these events from yesterday highlighted by officials from the fbi. todd in california. go ahead. caller: i think iran and russia definitely interfered in this election, and they should be sanctioned, and we should actually use cyber warfare to hack and disrupt their networks, and may be when iran was harassing oil tankers in the gulf months ago, if we had missile strikes then maybe they would not be doing this. lastly, i think the democrats are behind a lot of this, like ballot election boxes have been burned, something seems off.

host: as far as the use of u.s. cyber warfare, what you think that accomplishes if we were to use such tools? caller: it a warning shot. it could actually disrupt their plans. for example, i think we used cyber warfare to detonate north korea missile test before it got off the ground. host: that is taught calling us from california on our line to support president trump. interference by both russia and iran. that was part of a press conference from yesterday. you can still find it on c-span2, our c-span website if you want to look at that press conference. a look at capitol hill, this was a release from nancy pelosi and the chair of the house intelligence committee, sing the bedrock of our democracy is every citizen has the right to vote, and have that vote count as cast.

we cannot allow voter intimidation or interference efforts to silence voters voices and take away that right. the next two weeks before the election and the days that follow november 3 will be critical. tomorrow, when we are briefed by intelligence community -- which is today -- we expect to delve further into the reported attacks and the administration strategy to combat and prevent them. in the face of these ongoing attempts to undermine americans confidence in our election it is more important than ever that voters exercise their constitutional right to vote and participate in our democracy. that was the joint statement from speaker pelosi and the chair of the intelligence committee, adam schiff. let's hear from an undecided viewer in florida. you are next. caller: hello, thank you. good morning. i am perplexed about this news

of foreign countries trying to influence our election, which i am undecided, and it is basically because of the garbage that both parties throw out in advertising. social media, it is the number one advertising platform. why doesn't our government officials check out the garbage being spewed out of both parties? host: how does that specifically relate to the actions of iran and russia? caller: how do i relate that? host: how you relate that to the actions of both of those countries? caller: they are just using our social media to throw garbage in the mix, also. if you listen to the biden

advertising, they are throwing racial stuff out there, creating racial problems in america. they are using everything they can to scare people. same with the republican party. they just scare people into voting for them. you have to look through all of that crab -- all of that crap and try to make a decision on who will run the country. host: from what we know for this instance, are you concerned overall about election security or does it change how you view election security matters? caller: not really. if we do not have the intelligence to prevent that, then we deserve it. we have created this social media network, which everybody uses, except me.

i do not have facebook. i do not sit and dwell on that. i go to work, i come home, eat my food, i take a shower and go to bed. that is what most people do to try to make a living. like i say, if you are stuck in the social media, which it is hard not to today because it is what it is, that i try -- i am an independent and i want the best out of both parties. that is hard to choose as far as who to vote for. host: let's hear from dennis in fort myers, florida. supporter of joe biden. you are next. caller: that must be me. i was listening to the reporting on this email, and i am a florida voter and have been for decades. what surprised me is the

language that they used and what they were saying. change your registration -- you had until october 5 to do that. when you walk into the polling booth you vote by mail or you vote early, it does not matter what party you are registered. you get to vote for whoever you want to vote for. it does not matter who is spoofing this. it seems so strange they think they would course of voter. if i would've gotten that in an email most likely it would've shut up in my junk email and been thrown into the delete file

. host: it sounds like this does not heighten whatever concern you may have. caller: i've been voting by mail for over two decades in the state of florida. i checked with my county elections office the other day, and you know what, my ballot was confirmed, it has been processed. all of the hype of the president of the united states, who actually is voting by mail in florida. i am not sure if he puts it into the post office system or pay somebody to bring it here. a very expensive way of voting. i do not think he has the concern for the country and for

people who been voting by mail and voting early. all i say is people, get out and vote. host: let's hear from oregon, a supporter of president trump. caller: how are you today? host: go ahead. caller: i am a supporter of trump because my family and friends, i did a survey, people from oregon are trump people because -- the reason is the democrat we have for governor and the mayor in portland, oregon -- is people are going in the opposite direction because all of the fires and the governor knew there were planes to fly in the state of oregon to put out the fire. host: let me steer you to the topic at hand about iran and russia and what was revealed

yesterday? what you think? caller: i think it is ridiculous. people in oregon are very changed from democrat to republican because he has done a lot for organ in the united states. host: to the iran and russia influence, you are concerned about? caller: i am not too concerned. like i said pure it is bouvier -- like i said. it is bouffet. is a bluff because they know trump will win and they feel -- the american people feel we have an honest president. i am tired of hearing people say they are running for president

and they say he is dishonest. it is not pure it -- it is not. host: the president and joe biden will meet in the final debate in nashville, tennessee. you can watch c-span's election coverage as part of that. the debate coverage starting at 8:00 this evening. follow along on c-span, our website, c-span.org, and if you want to listen you can do so from your smart speaker or from our free c-span radio app. on this announcement about the role of russia and iran in interference from washington, d.c., we'll hear from a joe biden supporter. this is maria. caller: good morning. this is very concerning, but it is not surprising. it is not surprising because, particularly russia, it was

proven that they did this in 2016. if you remember, if you remember fiona hill's testimony during the impeachment hearing, i would recommend everybody to watch that again. she said that russia did it back then and they will do it again. here we are. nothing was done about that. nothing was done about that. they came back stronger with their interference. host: what you think about iran's involvement? caller: it is the same thing. they may not have done anything, but anyone is looking at it and saying someone can get away with it, maybe we can do that, too. there'll be no consequences,

anyway. it would not be concerning if -- here's the thing. we have a responsibility in the sense that instead of just reporting what each person set on one side or the other side, they should be educating people about the process of voting. there are interviews here and there, but i do not think there is enough pure education about -- there is enough. education about the whole process from when you apply for a ballot until your ballot gets there. so people would be reassured by having information and not opinions. host: with all of the discussion on those topics, don't you think people are educated on those issues? particular with mail-in voting and things like that?

caller: those who have done it in the past, maybe. i am not sure people have enough information about the process and everything that goes into it. you know what i am saying? of course when the little information you have is uncertain, you are tend to just believe whatever information you find, or whatever scam email you may receive. host: that is maria in washington, d.c. the "washington post" story has a follow-up looking up at the level of government involved in pushing back against foreign election influence. it says the fbi, something known as the cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency system in the office of the director of national intelligence have briefed candidates, parties, and the intelligence committees on

foreign threats to the election and their systems. the last briefings for the campaigns are expected this week. cisa and the fbi will have command posts on election day to monitor threats and share information across the government. will share information with state and local officials and social media firms and it has launched the rumor control website. the national security council has designated official coordinating. under robert o'brien, the nsc has helped more than 11 -- more than 70 election security meetings since september 2019, several of them at the cabinet secretary level according to officials. more on these prevention efforts. iran and russia interfering with u.s. elections cited by the dni and director of the fbi. a supporter of president trump, syracuse, new york. this israel. -- this is ray.

you're up next. caller: you are not aware of this, but this idea -- i was in the military in iran during the takeover of the embassy. this has been going on forever. this is not news. it is not anything important, anyways. host: before you go on, why is it not important? caller: because every country does it. continuously since they have had the capability. it is normal behavior. it is not anything that is dangerous or has any chance -- it is just flies around your head. it is what they do. it is what people do when they have a beef, one country with another, they do it you're taking things because they do not have the capability of doing

anything serious. that is all this is pure it is nothing -- that is all this is. it is nothing. the reason this story broke is because they knew the breitbart story was about to break. you will hear about that as soon as you reporters get out of bed. this thing about iran, it is nothing. host: considering how much of a deal we made about it after the 2016 election, what you still think it is nothing? caller: you think it was a big deal because it was all over the newspapers, but it amounted to nothing. it had no effect on anyone anywhere on earth, including the u.s. it had nothing to do with our voters or the count. it had nothing to do with anything. it is just misinformation to distract you from other things. like i said, you will be distracted very soon this morning when you see the breitbart story. that is the real story. host: that is rate in syracuse,

new york. iran's communication person stationed at united nation sending out a series of tweets concerning the information shared by the fbi yesterday. it reads unlike the u.s., iran does not interfere in other countries elections. the world has been witnessing the u.s. own public attempts to question the outcome of its own election at the highest level. the following tweet is sent from marco rubio. marco rubio sending a statement, who is on the senate side, saying iran and russia are laying the groundwork to delegitimize our election and a matter who wins, sparked a postelection constitutional crisis that damages america. there is a longer statement by both marco rubio and mark warner of virginia. a supporter of president trump from alaska. go ahead.

caller: my name is dan. a couple of callers ago -- just got up and got some coffee made and turned you on. i just want to remind all of my fellow americans term limits. they are a good thing. if we could -- if we can't get it to pass nationally, do it at the local box office. host: to the topic of iran and russia, what do you think about those revelations yesterday? caller: i just got up and haven't gotten caught up with it yet. mostly, i called to ask all of my fellow americans, term limits. host: ok, we will go to a supporter of joe biden in oregon. this is jim, hello.

caller: good morning. i'm calling in to support joe biden and harris. host: we are talking about the activities of iran and russia. what you think about those activities that were revealed yesterday? caller: i think those are distractions. we know what russia did. they won the election in 2016 and they are trying to win our election in 2020. we already know about this. we have none about this since 2016. it is no surprise. host: but the fbi said while there was interference in 2016, it did not affect the outcome of the election. caller: we don't know that. we know trump lost the election by 3 million people. that is what we really know. host: but he won the electoral college about. caller: but still, he lost the election by 3 million people because of russia.

this time, russia is trying to do it again. what american people need to realize is trump has been one of the worst presidents in history. he is working again with russia. host: so you said it was a distraction initially, but you also said russia swayed so many people in the outcome. how do you square those two things? caller: first of all, we are working with the fact that trump has been sent a failure on this virus. host: but back to the election results itself, how do you square those two things if it is a distraction and then you say russia managed to sway the outcome? caller: the distraction is a fact that trump has failed with this virus. and i russia is trying to get us off of the virus on to voting. people are still going to vote.

you can see people turn out voting. it is not stopping. it is to distract from trump's -- the fact that he has failed america on this virus. host: ok, we will go to an undecided voter in washington, d.c. caller: good morning. i agree in part with the young man who just spoke. it is a distraction. this is their october surprise. if ratliff says anything, he is not to be trusted because he is a puppet for donald trump. he had to put russia in it and he had to push the claim on those awful emails that were being sent out by the white racist to african-americans and minorities. he had to get that off the front page. the biggest thing he had to get off was president obama speaking

and being the key factor in the new cycle last night. i think people should be very wary of what ratliff said, but keep in mind, what christopher wray did not say. he did not say what ratliff said. he said with the policy of the fbi -- he said with a policy of the fbi was -- host: what is the difference between the two? caller: the difference between the two is that christopher wray said we are going to protect the americans, which is what ratliff should have been saying. ratliff has been no more than a puppet for one side versus the other. they had to get obama and they had to get the proud boys, who

are an army for trump, off of the front page. host: we will go to gordon in kansas city, kansas, a supporter of president trump. caller: yes, sir. iran and russia are the two countries are president has been the hardest on. iran's economy is in ruins. he has done exactly what he said he was going to do. if you have got one more minute, can you tell me what they are building behind you? host: this is a common question. i am surprised you can see it through the fog. formally, there was a fountain there. i think there is work being done associated to an underground garage. occasionally, if you watch this program on a regular basis, you can see the crane. with the fog, you may not see it. that has been going on. like any construction project,

it takes some time. that is what is going on. mike in wyoming, an undecided viewer, hello. caller: hi. i don't think iran and russia are really the problem. i think the electoral college is a problem. if this is a government for the people, why doesn't everyone's vote count? the electoral college was put in by slaveowners? host: going back to the topic at hand, if this is an issue in interference, why don't you think that is a problem in itself? caller: i don't think they have any influence on us. host: why not? caller: because they do count the votes as they come in. i don't think -- i don't listen to that stuff. host: ok, let's go to david in

st. petersburg, florida. a supporter of joe biden, good morning. caller: how are you doing this morning? host: fine. caller: listening to these people gives me an understanding of what we are really going through right now and how significant this vote really is. my thing is, the russian and iranians in chinese and all of them have been trying to break our firewalls for years. i think that we need to spend a little bit more money on shoring up our internet grid. the guys over in silicon valley should be able to come up with a sure bet that they won't be able to get in. to me, it is always

after-the-fact. it is like the lock on the cockpit door. we always do it after-the-fact. host: do you think the system can be hardened so much that people would be unable to get this kind of information? caller: it could be shored up. i am into information technology myself. i'm an acquisitions analyst. i have to have a firewall on my stuff and it is impenetrable. i buy apple products, which i'm not trying to plug apple, but if you get something that is subpar, you are going to get that kind of hacking. we have grown to expect russia anaren to -- iran to do this.

it is the responsibility of the fbi to get that out there. i respect him for coming on the last night late in the evening to say that, but all is fair in love and war. i think that i ran, we know they are going to do that. like i said, it is like the lock on the cockpit door. host: do you think americans overall are better educated about these things? caller: i believe so and i believe listening to the last few people talking, i think everybody is just covid -- they have cabin fever or whatever it is. the significance of just listening to people and what they say saying it doesn't matter, it certainly does matter what happens. it matters that these people are doing that. host: ok.

that is david in st. petersburg, florida. from virginia, a supporter of president trump, this is jesse up next. caller: morning. i'm supporting trump because -- i'm sorry. i just want to tell everybody that donald trump won the election in 2016 clean. he won the election very clean because the mueller report is debunked. they don't find no evidence at all that donald trump cold lab -- callab -- collabed with russia. he did when clean in 2016. host: because we are talking about what happened yesterday concerning iran and russia and reports of interference, what do

you think of these revelations? caller: russia, i think it is not the problem. iran is the one who wants biden and obama. this is iran. we need to focus with iran. russia, i think is not the problem may be hunter emails. maybe because hunter has emails, i don't know. iran is the one we have to focus on, not with russia because hillary clinton with russia and all of that. iran is a main problem right now. host: ok. that is jesse and virginia making her thoughts known on these events from yesterday. we will continue on with these calls and topics. a lot of other things happening especially when it comes to this year's election. you saw the debate coverage for c-span will start at 8:00 tonight if you want to watch the

final debate between the president and joe biden. you will get a chance not only to watch the debate uninterrupted, but also attends to it -- to respond by texting and tweeting us about your thoughts tonight and tomorrow morning on the "washington journal." speaking of the election and the previous caller's thoughts, president obama yesterday in a driving rally in philadelphia for joe biden. "the philadelphia inquirer" responding on it. here's a bit from that event yesterday. [video clip] >> this notion of truthfulness and democracy and citizenship and being responsible. these are not republican or democratic principles. they. are american principles. they are what most of us grew up

learning from our parents and grandparents. they are not white or black or latino or asian values. they are american values. human values. we need to reclaim them. we have to get those values back at the center of our public life. [applause] host: again, that whole event from that drive an event in philadelphia yesterday, you can still see it online. the president of the united states, in one of the many rallies he is holding these days, also had a chance to comment on president obama on the campaign trail. here is a bit of that event from yesterday. [video clip] >> did you hear what happened? you know obama is now campaigning, even he refused to support biden. even after biden semi-won, he wouldn't do it. it took forever, but now he is campaigning for him. somebody said sir, maybe

president obama is campaigning for sleepy joe biden. i said, are you saying it is good or bad? there is nobody who campaigned harder for crooked hillary clinton that obama. he was all over the place. he said he will not be our president. but before that, he said he will not run. he didn't know me. then i ran. then he said i will not get the nomination. then i got the nomination. then he said, he will not be our president. and i won. [applause] he only -- the only one more unhappy than crooked hillary that night was barack hussein obama. host: a supporter of president trump from oklahoma, barbara, good morning. caller: i don't think we have so

much to be against around or russia because i don't think they can really interfere that much. i remember when obama was running for president and this was on tv. there was a black panther -- and i don't remember what state it was. he was prancing up and down before the election where they were voting. there was a white man downstairs and he was prancing around on the steps with a billy club intimidating the white voters. i wondered then, and i always will wonder why nobody ever called the police. host: back to the topics of iran and russia, why do you think it is not a big deal? caller: because if anybody has any kind of a strain on them, they know that it is russia or iran. my ex-husband works for --

we were going to go to iraq at one time. that is when iran killed four of our engineers that he worked with. nobody was worried about iran then. as far as i'm concerned, more of a problem is the voting. if people have any sense at all, they know it is russia or iran or some other country. people have already made up their mind, i think, as far as they know who they are going to vote for. throw away their phones. i don't have a phone. i don't have a computer, i don't have anything except atv. -- except a tv. i can make up my own mind about what i want, and i can guarantee russia or iran or nobody else is going to change it. host: barbara in oklahoma giving her thoughts. dennis in montana, a supporter of joe biden, hello.

caller: i don't want to vote for donald trump. but i voted for joe biden. host: two things, you are going to have to turn on -- turn down the television so we don't get a lot of interference from you. go ahead and do that, and we will go to bethesda, maryland. caller:. hello i wanted to say that russia and iran are not really the problem. all they do is expose the problem. the problem is what we all know that people in america are fighting so much with each other, the republicans and democrats, proud boys, african-americans. we are all throwing up our hands in the air, how did this happen, why are these people so stupid, why don't they see, why don't they agree with me? i know exactly why that is happening. i know this is going to sound a little bit crazy, but it is

happening because all of us are getting something for free, which we think is google and facebook. we are getting all of these free services, but in fact, we are not getting them for free. they are feeding us information that will separate us from each other. host: why do the events here in the united states, why do you think that is more of an issue than the actual acts of iran and russia? caller: because iran and russia, the way they are really going to beat as is by keeping us fighting each other, by keeping us all in our own -- one half of the country here and one half there. we are starting to kill each other and call each other the enemy. it is what barack obama was saying. we have to stop thinking it is stupid because they believe something that is not true. the war is not on us, it is on truth. we have to start agreeing on what is really true in this country. i love c-span, but when you separate us, democrats,

republicans, biden supporters, trump supporters, you are doing the same thing. you have to help bring this company -- country together. host: i think the way we do that is by allowing these avenues to allow people to call in on the particular political choice they make, getting a chance to express that and making sure the lines allow that. thank you for the call in the input. many people pointing to this story out of "the daily mail," a publication in the united kingdom concerning hunter biden. a man describes himself as a former business partner says here members hearing he and his father discussing dealings in 2019 and the former vice president was due to receive a share of the profits. he witnessed a statement saying he personally witnessed joe biden discussing dealings with his son hunter. he said "he never talked about hunter and his business.

i have seen firsthand that is not true because it was not just hunter's business. they say he was putting the biden family name on the line." he says hunter biden was using the company as his personal piggy bank by taking money out of it as soon as it came from the chinese. he said he also took steps to. prevent that from happening he also said he was one of the recipients of the imo from one of hunter biden's business partners which involved a deal with a chinese energy firm in may 2017 which promised a 10% cut for a person known as "the big guy." "the daily mail" is where that story is located. phil, undecided, good morning. caller: good morning. i want to agree with the previous caller that i would like to see c-span dropped the democrat line and republican line and just have open lines.

people can still give their views and political views. as far as iran and russia, i believe they are being demonized and this is something that has been going on for decades. as far as iran, there has been fractions within our own government that have been having a war with iran for decades. as far as israel over there in the middle east, iran is an enemy of them and they have a pretty good influence on our government. as far as russia, you have got to have an enemy for the military industry, which we pay trillions of our tax dollars to. you have to have an enemy and the bbc did a wonderful documentary years ago called "the power of my mayors," where we -- "the power of nightmares," where we demonize russia. caller: this stuff about what

russia and iran is doing, the fbi as a bus take care of that. i'm going by a person that is doing right for this country, not me. for this country. host: do you think the fbi is capable of taking care of these issues considering what we heard yesterday? caller: they have been taking care of it for all of these years, ever since i have been in this world. if they have not proved it by now, they won't prove it. host: ok. let's go to lee, our second alaskan calling in this morning. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. my opinion on this is -- donald

trump -- not to get me wrong, but i register as a nonpartisan. i think the interference in u.s. elections is coming from the media. that is how i feel about it. host: why do you think russia and iran in this case were not causes for concern? caller: in 2016, james clapper, the former fbi director james comey and dianne feinstein all said [indiscernible] excuse me, donald trump, as far as russian collusion was concerned. host: ok, lee in alaska.

he brought up the ranking member of the senate judiciary committee, dianne feinstein. that committee meets today. it's next steps to confirm the president's nominee to the supreme court, judge amy coney barrett. at 9:00, that committee is scheduled to meet. we will take you to the room where it is supposed to happen. i say that this morning only because stories siding this morning that democrats plan on not showing up. we will see how that plays out when this program ends and take you to that hearing. we go to a support of job -- supporter of joe biden. caller: i just wanted to say that we have to remember that god sees it all. he knows it all. we just need to stay focused on what is going on as far as the pandemic and the financial problems in the united states. host: the focus today is on iran and russia and their

interference. what do you think about that? caller: i think they are interfering and that we do have a people in place, agencies and place that will address the interference, but we have got to stay focused on getting out there, voting trump out of office. he kind of reminds me of the joker and what he is doing creating havoc and sitting back laughing at us as we destroy each other. host: back to iran and russia for a minute, how much confidence do you have currently in the system considering these events still happen. -- still happen? caller: i don't have a lot of confidence in the system, but i do know there is a lot of good people working in those agencies. they are going to follow their morals and values and they will be looking out for us. host: louise giving us a call this morning. mail-in voting, the topic of many discussions these days leading up to election day.

it was a topic of a story by the washington post. they looked at both mailing systems in certain states across the united states and how long it takes a piece of mail to get from one place to the other. they write that in detroit where democrats are relying on heavy turnout to carry the rest of michigan, only 70.9% of first class mail was on time the weeks that ended october 9 compared with 92.2% at the start of the year in wisconsin, which struggled mightily with vote by mail primary in august. north carolina's green borough district, which includes raleigh under -- and durham, service was lower than january. the story adding that the postal service began the year moving 91.8% of all first class mail on time below its internal goal of

95%, but within the realm of reliable service. clyde in maryland, a supporter of president trump -- i'm sorry, missouri. you are next. caller: russia, a ran, they are not as big a threat as china. they all interfere in elections to the best of their ability. that is not new. they have for years. we interfere in other countries elections. anybody should realize that. joe biden does not want you to wear a mask over your nose or mouth. he wants it over your eyes and ears. keep you stupid. host: we will go to jodey, a supporter of joe biden from california. you are the last call on this topic. caller: thank you for taking my call. i'm not so sure if this is a? , -- if this is a question for

comment. in the general, when you go into vote, you are giving the ballot with all of the parties on it. how would the know when you going to vote -- how would the proud boys no when you're going to vote who you are voting for? there were comments yesterday about iran seeing voter information. you really have to be careful about the words he uses [indiscernible] this information is public knowledge. he really didn't go into detail. that is why i believe that christopher wray had to come in

and clean up after radcliffe. as far as i know, when you vote for primary, you vote your party. in the general, there is all the names on the ballot. i just don't know how the proud boys would know when you walked in, who you are going to vote for. host: that is jodi in california. thank you to all who gave us a call this morning. again, at 9:00, we will go to the senate judiciary committee. for our next segment, we take a look at the tax policy proposals of not only the one running for office, joe biden, also the incumbent also running for the office, president trump. we take a look at their tax proposals, how they differ or how they are similar. we will have a discussion with scott hodge of the tax foundation. he will join us next. ♪

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service and brought to you today by your television provider. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us now is scott hodge, the president of the tax foundation and here to talk about the tax proposals for both president trump and joe biden. good morning. guest: thanks for having me. host: for those who don't know the foundation, how would you describe your mission, and tell us again how you are financially back. guest: we are a nonprofit, think tank. we were born in 1947 by a group of business leaders who felt the american public and needed more data and information and nonpartisan analysis of tax policy not just at the federal level, but we are also doing a lot of work at the state and local level, working with legislators and governors across the state to improve their tax systems. host: our topic for you is the tax policies of both -- let's

start with joe biden and the things he is proposing as far as tax policies. some of the highlights, i will read them and then you can comment on them, raise the rates back, apply a social security tax to earnings above $400,000, also tax capital gains and dividends at ordinary rates of annual incomes of more than $1 million. those proposals, what would they accomplish if they were enacted? guest: it would certainly make the tax code much more progressive than it is today. that is what biden is intending and what he has been very honest about what he is trying to do. when we analyze his overall tax plans, we found that it would raise about $3 trillion over the next decade. however, when you factor in the economic impact of these taxes, and they would slow the economy, according to our model, it would

raise about $2.6 trillion over a decade. we do find it would actually lower the size of the economy by 1.5%. it would perhaps reduce the employment by a little over half a million jobs and reduce wages by about 1%. while it is intended to raise revenues to pay for spending programs, there is an economic consequence according to our models. host: we hear mr. biden say quite frequently those increased taxes are only of concern if you make over 400 thousand dollars. what do you think of that? guest: certainly, from a legal perspective, those are the folks who will write the checks. we economists tend to look at what happens after that and the flow through to the economy from those taxes. that is where we find the economic burden of some of those taxes will fall on lower and middle class americans. in the long term, everyone will see a slight reduction in their

after-tax incomes because of the economic harm or reduction in the size of the economy that will result from those taxes. host: how does that fall to all americans? guest: the corporate tax increases that are in his proposal amount to about half of that $3 trillion tax increase. we estimate about half of that will fall on the backs of workers through lower wages. that is a pretty common assumption among most economists. even though he is proposing to tax corporations with higher tax rates and fewer deductions, we find that the economic consequences of that will actually fall on workers with lower wages. host: you mentioned the corporate taxes. the plan for joe biden has increased that rate to 20% currently from 21%. he would also impose something called a minimum tax for large

companies. guest: part of the motivation for this is the concern that corporations report one thing to the irs in terms of their income and tax liability, but they tell their shareholders a very different story through their financial reports. there is often the concern that they are not paying their fair share because they report in a much lower tax burden versus what they are showing their shareholders or vice versa. by offering this 15% minimum tax on book income, they are essentially forcing companies to look at their tax liability in both ways and pay the higher of the two. that way, they can't gain their financial reports versus their tax returns. host: this last one sounds complicated, so i will just read it to you.

double tax rate on u.s. firms to 21%. guest: the tax cuts in jobs asked, which was enacted in 2017 change the international tax rules that had been governing u.s. companies for decades. it moved to what is called a territorial system, reducing the taxes that companies pay on their foreign income, but we placed a minimum tax on those so that they could not hide some of their products in low tax countries like bermuda or the cayman islands. this was a way to try to avoid or prevent what they call profit shifting or tax avoidance. this minimum tax is set at about 10.5% currently. biden would increase that to 21%, which means companies would face a much higher tax burden on their foreign earnings. host: one more question about the proposals from joe biden.

if i were a person who made much of my money because of stocks or anything like that primarily, what happens to me hypothetically? guest: if you are a millionaire, you would pay much higher taxes on your capital gains and dividends. he is proposing to virtually double the tax rate on capital gains and dividends from 20% today. they would have to pay the personal income tax rate of 39.6% on those capital gains and dividends. it doesn't stop there because there is the obamacare surtax on those earnings. that would increase the rate to 43.4%. that would be the highest rate ever on capitol hill gains and dividends or at least since the carter administration. that is a big change for high income earners. host: our guest joins us to talk about tax proposals. you can ask him questions.

if you support the president and mike pence, one line, if you support joe biden and kamala harris, others, another line. we will start with an unspecified tax cut to boost take-home pay and also an unspecified made in america tax credit. guest: here again, it is difficult to analyze the president's proposals because they are so vague. he has just proposed or at least released a set of talking points or bullet points. it is very difficult for those of us on the outside to try to analyze them or even understand what he is trying to do. i think what he is saying, number one is that in his budget this year, they did propose extending the tax cuts and jobs act at least for individual taxpayers. many of those tax rates and lower tax burdens on middle income people would begin to expire after 2025.

his budget would propose extending those. in terms of some of these other proposals, such as the made in america tax credit, he has been very vague. what is interesting about it to me is that it is kind of a step toward industrial policy where a lot of the proposals are really aimed at trying to incentivize investment here in certain types of industries such as pharma or manufacturing and so forth. it is kind of a departure from traditional or republican orthodoxy, which is just to lower tax rates and broaden the base and let the market work. host: one of those things highlighted is something called 100% expensing for certain industries including pharmaceutical if they bring their manufacturing back. guest: that is a proposal we would recommend be broad-based for all industries. expensing is one of the most powerful economic incentives you can have in a tax system.

we think it encourages only new investment rather than old investment. we think it is very progrowth. the tax foundation economists would disagree to just applying at a certain industries over others. we don't think you should play favorites through the tax code. host: something the president talks quite a bit about particularly when it comes to benefiting the african-american community, opportunity zones. guest: that was another proposal put into the tax cuts and jobs act a few years ago sponsored by senator scott from south carolina. it is aimed at low income communities to try to essentially allow investors to do further capital gains on that investment indefinitely. as they are trying to profit those communities and increase the amount of investment there. we're still waiting to see the impact of those, but the

president has offered to expand that. getting back to the manufacturing issue, i should mention that joe biden also has a made in america tax credit as well. what is interesting is to see both parties kind of move toward this industrial policy through the tax system. it could be because the results of the covid crisis, where there is a lot of concern about supply chains, the fact a lot of pharma manufacturing is done abroad rather than here in the united states. both parties are maybe groping toward different types of tax policies that will incentivize companies to bring back a lot of the manufacturing to the u.s. rather than have it overseas. host: there is a viewer off of twitter asking to explain your models saying that, to all economists agree with your findings on models? guest: our model is fairly mainstream. it is a general equilibrium

model and assumes the u.s. economy is in equilibrium economy where capital can flow back and forth pretty freely. it is considered a fairly mainstream model. if you look at the other groups that have done analysis on the biden plan, in particular, most of the results are fairly similar if you normalize their assumptions. we all find that in some way, the biden plan would reduce the size of the economy, lower the number of jobs in the economy and lower wages as well. host: one of those outliers would be moody's because their analysis says joe biden proposals would produce rebounds and economic growth. guest: i think we have to separate what the models are looking at. some only look at tax policy and try to make estimates on biden's spending plans.

we estimate he would raise $3 trillion for his tax increases. his spending proposals are somewhere in the neighborhood of $5 trillion or even higher. what moody's and others have tried to do is estimate how that spending would impact economic growth. that is something beyond our model. we were not comfortable going in that direction because we don't think there is enough consensus around how different types of spending will impact the economy. the congressional budget office at things like infrastructure spending. while it can have a modest increase in economic growth, it is about half the returns you would find in private investment. i think you have to take some. of this with a grain of salt host: we have called lined up. your first one is from spokane, washington. thanks for waiting. you are with scott hodge. caller: hi, good morning. the reason i call is that i

understand that you people can raise, or the government can raise trillions of dollars. the problem is is that what has happened in the past, a whole lot of people benefit from that, but not the american people. there is less influence, more unrest. trillions and trillions of dollars go out the door and out of paychecks and it does no good for anybody except a lot of people get rich that should not be rich. i kinda feel that way and i have kind of watched it happen that way and i don't mean to put you down, but i believe mr. biden -- well, i just don't see their agenda as being successful in the time he has been there. host: we will leave it there and let our guest respond to that. guest: a lot of people don't

realize how progressive our tax system is. the rich in america, there was an international analysis done, they pay the largest share of the tax burden than do their counterparts in any other industrialized country. the top 1% of taxpayers in the united states pay 40% of all of the income taxes while the poor in america have the lowest tax burden compared to the poor in other countries because we do so much through the tax system with things like the child tax credit, the earned income tax credit, aimed at low income people who work, is also refundable. we do a lot for the tax system to redistribute income from the top of the income scale down to low income people. we do much more than any other country.

to try to redistribute income for the tax code. host: this is mark in virginia on our undecided line. hello. caller: or support others line. good morning. this is a very -- topic for me. like two of the other colors, i feel like this really is a political question because whether it is republican or democrat's, no one has really seen a true tax relief. mr. hodge, i would just like to make a proper, and have you just respond. i think henry ford, who proved to be very rich, he had a really interesting model. his model was, how do you make all of -- i can make all of the model t cars i want to, but if i don't pay the proper wages, i can't have my workers /ambassadors drive the vehicles.

you are talking to someone who grew up in a family of five, whose father worked in the postal service. growing up in the 1970's, up until reagan, civil servants, postal servants could provide for a family of five or six depending on where you lived. the problem is post-reagan, they became a super consolidation of small to medium businesses. it became monopolized. what we are not really talking about is not so much the tax issue, the problem is the henry ford model, which is, i want to maintain my workers as long as i can because i have a higher quality control and i'm willing to pay them well for their services. host: thank you very much. mr. hodge? guest: currently, the issue is

not necessarily the tax burden on the middle class because there has been a lot done recently to lower the tax burden on the middle class. what is necessary is to change the tax system to improve the investment by businesses into tools and technologies that make our workers more efficient, more productive and more productive people earn more. it is really important that we change the tax system to incentivize the sort of private investment or private infrastructure into the tools that will make our workers more productive because ultimately, that will raise living standards across the board. host: when it comes to wages overall, are the general thoughts on what both sides offer? guest: they have not really address to that, or at least, i'm not aware of how they have been trying to address that. both want to do more for the middle class. again, i will reiterate, we have

been a lot for low income people over the last few decades with these various tax credits and even lower rates. the tax burden on the middle class is about as low as it has been in decades. host: anthony from kentucky, a supporter of joe biden. caller: hello. my question is, how can a person pay $750 over a period of 15 years and talk about a tax thing [indiscernible] they ain't got to pay no more. host: mr. hodge? guest: there are a lot of questions about the president past tax returns. i have not seen them, so i can't really comment on them. what i do thinks -- think this

speaks to is the need for tax exemplification. it does raise a lot of questions about the complexity of the code and ability of people to use accountants and lawyers to minimize their tax burden. i would never criticize anybody from trying to use -- we have term member that it is congress that has put all of these provisions in the tax code to begin with. if any congressman is complaining about it, they have an obligation to get rid of those loopholes because after all, they were put there by congress in the first place. you can't complain about their results. i do think this argues for tax simplification, which i think would benefit everybody. host: if joe biden wins the presidency and does decide to raise top-level income tax percentages, what is the likelihood somebody is actually going to pay that percentage? guest: i think that is a very good question.

again, you would see a lot of tax planning going on. i think you would see a lot of behavioral changes. you could see people changing the mix of their income away from wage income to business income, which would be taxed differently. you would see them realize capital gains and dividends. we probably can't even predict a lot of the changes in behavior modifications that would happen, but we know they would happen. it is those kinds of things that reduce the dynamics in the economy because people have changed their behavior to conform to the taxa system rather than to business or personal needs. host: there is a headline, which i've seen about joe biden and the potential for 401(k)s to be effective. what is at stake? guest: he does want to change the way some savings and 401(k)s

are taxed, switching from a current deduction to something where you get a credit. his ideas to try to incentivize for lower income people rather than those he feels benefit executives and higher income people through their pension programs. i do think maybe his intentions are correct. i would prefer something more like a universal savings program. one of the problems we have now as we have 10 different savings vehicles and it is very complicated for people to figure out the rules behind each and every one of them. we really should simplify the savings vehicles in the tax system so that you are not only providing people an incentive to stick -- to save, but providing people with rules so that they know what their benefits will finally be when they retire. host: scott hodge is joining us and serves as the president. we will hear from dean, a

supporter of joe biden. caller: i wanted to know if the president's tax cut has added to the deficit or taken away from the deficit. what kind of gdp we have to have to pay down the deficit so we are not paying so much in interest. guest: the president's plan, which was passed in 2017, the tax cuts and jobs act, it was agreed upon by the congress of the time, that it would increase the deficit by $1.5 trillion over a decade. when we look at that with our tax model, we found it would increase the size of the economy over time. it would not pay for itself, and no one should argue that it would, but our models showed the economic benefits were pretty substantial relative to the

amount of debt that it would add to the government. some of that changes over time. the president has enacted a number of new tariffs, which we found were very harmful for the economy and negated some of the economic benefits from the original tax cut plan. unfortunately, the actual economy may not prove to be as powerful as our models suggested because policies change along the way. it did increase the deficit, there is no doubt about that. host: if the president does win another term, does it give him the space to offer more tax incentives considering what he has already offered? guest: he has certainly indicated he would like to do that, but has not enacted an actual plan. there have been various proposals that seem like they would be positives, but we have not seen any details.

i do think it is important there begin to be a discussion of what kind of tax policies we need once the economy recovers from this covid crisis. after all, we don't want just temporary incentives, which is often the fallback position for lawmakers. we want structural changes to the tax system that will provide a path for a growing, healthy economy, make the united states much more attractive so we see more investment flow into the u.s. and avoid the kind of temporary things that have been done in the past, which offer only temporary results. we think permanent policy is the best path for long-term economic growth. host: we hear from rose. caller: i want you to know i love you and scott hodge is making very pertinent points. i worked for and a count -- an

accounting firm in chicago. this is about biden and i have been trying for four months to tell you this. many years ago, i had a credit card. they gave you two types, one for goods and one for cash. if you did not pay the money that you owe them in 30 days, your interest went up. one day, i was sending my account paid in full, but they said you cannot pay for your goods. you cannot pay for the cash that you owe, you have to pay for the goods that you spent. i said wait a minute, the interest is going to go up. what is going on with this? you know who approved that? joe biden. many years ago, when he was with the other people trying to be president, they asked him a question. if you can't be president, who should be? he said none of them. host: scott, if you want to take something from that, go ahead. guest: i'm not familiar with

that issue. when it comes to credit card issues, i am probably a much likely caller confused as anyone. caller: good morning. i would like a 10% [indiscernible] on everybody. guest: there has been a lot of talk over the years of moving toward something like a flat tax. the idea there is to symbol phi the tax system, get rid of a lot of the deductions and tax credits and move to a low, simple rate everyone would pay. that was very popular back in the 1980's and 1990's. it was originally designed by some stanford economists, proposed by people in congress. unfortunately, it has sort of fallen, it is just not as popular as it used to be.

i do think we need a broader discussion about true tax reform because i think when you poll american people, most people feel the tax system is simply too complicated and they fear making mistakes. it is amazing how many people only fill out a very simple tax form, but pay someone else to do it, whether it is h&r block or something like that. they do that because they are afraid of making mistakes. we need a system in which people are not afraid of. i think the caller's sentiments are right. we need to move toward a simple system with a low rate and allow everyone to pay that rate because that is the fairest way. host: a viewer brings up something called the alternative minimum tax saying it is needed for multi millionaires and billionaires. guest: the alternative minimum tax is kind of a parallel tax system and was designed in 1969 and later expanded in the 1970's because there have been reports

too many millionaires had paid very little in income tax, so they needed this parallel tax system to whittle back some of the deductions that they were using to force them to pay higher taxes. this is one of those cases where congress did not address the real problem in the tax code, and that is the deductions themselves. they created a parallel system which did clawback those deductions. what happened? over time it started hitting the middle class. what you saw was that it was democrats who represent, sort of, middle-class enclaves around new york and chicago and new jersey and california, were the ones who are most vocal about the ones getting rid of the alternative minimum. that was partially fixed. they increased the threshold so that fewer people are impacted by it, but i think you have to be careful about trying to create these alternative parts of the tax system in order to

prevent people from gaming the system. let's fix the tax system as it is, and that way you simplify it. the fewer loopholes you have, the fewer people take advantage of. let's hear from an undecided viewer. this is wayne from chandler, minnesota. caller: yes, i retired in 2001 and was a mathematician and accountant. i thought, studying the history of the tax situation would be a good thing to do to kill the extra time. i went back over the years. i spent about three hours a day for years. what i discovered was that during the reagan years they had what they call the trickle-down economy. if we look at -- if we look back at trickle-down economy, we had

massive inflation. he took the deficit from 987 billion dollars -- $987 billion to -- poppa bush took it up to $4.4 billion. clinton took it up to $5.8 trillion. bush junior, with trickle-down again, we went to 12,000,000,000,900 $9 billion -- $12,909,000,000,000. the deficit in the last year of george bush was $1.87 trillion. in 2015 -- like i said, i have studied economy. i watch the deficit every day. host: i apologize. we are running out of time. what would you like our guest to

address? caller: what i want to address is the fact that trickle-down is boom and bust. our deficit this year, in one year they said it was 3.1. well, it was 4.2. host: we will let our guest respond. guest: the deficit is a problem, that it is a problem of overspending. we have seen changes in the tax code, and on average tax revenues have maintained a level of 17% or 18% of gdp. spending has been around 22% of gdp. as long as you have spending that outpaces revenues, you have a problem. there have been a number of tax increases. reagan clawed back some of his own tax cuts through a tax increase in 1982. both george bush and bill clinton raised taxes, and yet

the deficit continued to grow. i think that argues we need to control spending and not rely so much on tax increases. host: mr. hodge, for all of the tax policy we have talked about, is there anything else to highlight before we finish with you? guest: i think voters have a clear difference in their choices this year between different policies by the candidates. it is up to your own personal values as to which one you would support. that is what makes it so interesting for all of us who analyze these things. to see such stark differences and be able to compare them. host: scott hodge with the tax foundation. he serves as their president. if you want to see more, you can go to tax note -- taxfoundation.org. thank you for your time. in just about half hour, the senate judiciary committee expected to meet to mark up and

vote for the confirmation of judge amy coney barrett. this is the next step before it goes to the full senate for a vote. democrats reportedly not showing up. until then, we want to get your thoughts about this boat today. -- this vote and what you think about the nominee yourself. (202) 748-8000 if you support the nomination. (202) 748-8001 if you oppose it. if you are undecided, (202) 748-8002. we will take those calls when "washington journal" continues. ♪ >> i had a choice to make. do i let my people run it well or badly? if i run a badly they were probably lame him, but more importantly i want to help people. >> has already cost 10 million people their health care because of his recession. >> with less than two weeks

before the 2020 election, watch the second presidential debate between donald trump and joe biden tonight from belmont university in nashville, tennessee. live coverage begins at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. go to c-span.org/debate for live or on-demand streaming of c-span 's debate coverage. ♪ cracks in american history tv on c-span3. exploring the people and events that tell the american story, every weekend. coming up, saturday on the civil war, a look at how historical interpretation has changed at appomattox courthouse historical park. on real america, on the 75th anniversary of the united nations, we will feature four films. san francisco 1945, the united nations, and army in action, the

cobra strikes. the first presidential debate between george h.w. bush, phil clinton, and ross perot. then at 2:00 p.m. eastern, the first presidential debate between bill clinton and bob dole. at 6:00 p.m. eastern, discussion about the jim crow museum of racist mobile you -- memorabilia in michigan and why the artifacts are being used as teaching tools. exploring the american story. watch american history tv this weekend on c-span3. >> "washington journal" continues. host: about 20 minutes until that senate judiciary committee hearing. expected to take place and vote on the nomination of judge amy coney barrett. until that time we will take

your calls and talk to a senator along the way. here is how you can let us know what you think. if you support the nomination, (202) 748-8000. if you oppose the nomination, (202) 748-8001. w are undecided about the nomination. (202) 748-8002 is the number to call. you can also post on our twitter feed and you can also post on facebook and text us at (202) 748-8003. this is npr as of last night, concerning this hearing, saying that senate democrats say they plan to boycott that scheduled vote on the nomination. throughout the hearings last week democrats demonstrated the damage judge barrett would health care, the ability to vote, and other core rights. chuck schumer and democrats on the committee said in a statement, we will not grant this process any further

legitimacy participating in a markup of this nomination, just 12 days away from an election. the story adding that lindsey graham rejected the assertion that at least two minority members were needed to proceed with the nomination. he said, i will move forward. she deserves about. that is last night from npr boarding. there is also a story from the associated press this morning, saying the nominee served for three years on the board of a private christian school that barred admission of children of same-sex parents. gay and lesbian teachers were not welcome. policies that discriminated against lgbtq people were in place for years at trinity schools inc. before. joined the board in 2015. while she served --

which barrett and her husband have been long-time members, and at least three of the couple's children have attended trinity school in south bend, indiana. again, until we take you to that hearing, calls on this topic. you are up first. good morning. caller: good morning. ask for taking my call. the tax foundation liens right. got that out of the way. as far as amy barrett, she is strictly a political pawn. she is being put on the supreme court to undo the aca and destroy roe v. wade. i think it is a sad thing, because i don't think they look very far into the future. host: how did you come to those conclusions about her? caller: just by doing some research on her. it wasn't very difficult to do. host: what kind of research? caller: just stuff online.

you know, once she gets on their we don't know how she is going to rule, but the president said, i'm going to put somebody up there who will do what i want them to do. he even nominate somebody who did not agree to what he said? just a little bit of common sense here, folks. host: the judge was back on capitol hill yesterday, reading with republican senators in expectation of today's action by the committee. her hearings that you saw last week that stretched over several days, you can still find online at our website, c-span.org. stella in gainesville, florida, who opposes this nation. go ahead. caller: good morning. i oppose this nomination because i think her views are absolutely against but most of the american people stand for. i find it ironic how yesterday pope francis declared that civil

union is ok in pichai -- the catholic church. my sun is -- my son is gay, so i understand the lgbt community. i am a single mom, so i oppose this nomination. host: the pope is highlighted in a story in the new york times. the film, which features interviews with the pope, delves into issues francis cares about most. adding that, homosexual people have the right to be in a family. that is in the washington times. a supporter from florida. charlene, you are next. caller: thank you. host: you are on, go ahead. caller: yes, i support the nomination of this charge because of her intellect, because of how she deals with

situations as far as using only the law and not her own opinions . how she votes. she stands for the constitution. she is very intelligent. she stops and thinks about it. she doesn't even have to write down comments or things that they say. she has the intellect to address them and she is very unbiased in her opinions. she doesn't jump into the fight between what she thinks and what they think. host: when you hear comments such that she is going to dismantle the aca and roe v. wade, goes through your mind? caller: i didn't hear her say that. she said, if it is in the constitution she must stand for what the constitution says. i did not hear her say she was going to dismantle either one of

those programs. now, if it was not law, then that would be a different matter. i believe she stands for what the american people say. i believe she stands for family. she has seven children. i believe her interests are to raise up the united states and stand for what the constitution says. host: ok, let's hear from dennis in williamstown, pennsylvania. hello. caller: thanks for taking my call. i oppose the nomination. all of this -- all this is meant to do is overturn roe v. wade and roback health care and labor rights -- rollback health and labor rights. if the court does do these things, he absolutely will

support adding members to the supreme court. mitch mcconnell would not approve judges to the circuit court under obama. held all of those seats open so trump -- basically, trump, a dictator. has nominated 25% of the lower court judges, and now, because mcconnell held back my work garland, trump gets three nominations to the supreme court. host: what would expanding the court accomplish? caller: we would put people on there that are not basically right-wing fruitcakes, which is what trump and mcconnell have appointed to these courts here in pennsylvania. you had a trump nominee say that what our governor did to help protect the people in this state from coronavirus was unconstitutional. of course, it was overturned by

the appeals court, but that is just an example of the kind of people that have been appointed to the courts. host: ok, we will go to john in salem, oregon. a supporter of this nomination. caller: i find it rich that, you know, the liberals have had control of the court for 40 or 50 years now. now that they are finally going to lose control -- they already lost control -- now they are freaking out and having panic attacks. i don't know, it is really hypocritical that they want to start anything they can to stop it. why shouldn't conservatives have a say in the higher courts once in a while? host: that is john in salem, oregon. the committee hearing set to start at 9:00 on the nomination process for amy coney barrett. joining us to talk about this process, ultimately a person who will make a decision on it

himself, senator bob casey. senator, good morning. guest: good morning. host: can we start with the reporting about democrats not showing up for this hearing? what do you think about that? guest: that is a determination the judiciary committee has to make. the nominee has been through a confirmation process. we will see where it ends up with the vote, but i think more and more americans now know a lot more about what is at stake. what is at stake is the most important supreme court case for the next 25 years, and that is the lawsuit that will destroy the patient protection and affordable care act and wipe out all protections for americans who have a pre-existing condition. five .5 million of them are in pennsylvania, for example. it will also wipe out -- this does not get very much attention -- wipe out medicaid expansion,

which drove most of the coverage gains. people were getting health care coverage between the ages of 55 and 64, not eligible yet for medicare. folks who had a substance use issue were getting protection and care. children benefited. so, across-the-board the affordable care act is at risk. i think it is in mortal danger. host: are you convinced that judge barrett going to overturn? if so, how do you come to that conclusion? guest: i'm convinced for a couple of reasons. number one is, she really -- at the origin of this process -- was not chosen by donald trump. he merely ratified the decision made by the federalist society and the heritage foundation, two

right-wing groups that will now have chosen three nominees. i don't think most people in pennsylvania want the federalist society and the heritage foundation -- heritage refers to unions as cartels. they are antiworker and i don't think many people want supreme court chosen by them. they bet these candidates. if you're not on the list, donald trump will not choose you. secondly, years after the 2012 affordable care act case, she criticized the ruling and criticized the reasoning by chief justice roberts. that criticism did take place in real time. it happened years later. we have to be very concerned about the adverse impact on people's lives, because of the decision that would wipe out this law. host: did you have an opportunity to vote on the judge

back in 2017 she was considered poor circuit court? guest: i did, and i voted against her. host: as far as today is concerned, you expect that if the confirmation vote does happen, are there going to be some more plant delays leading up to that vote monday? guest: we are going to make sure that the american people have every opportunity, every minute, every hour to examine her record and examine the potential impact on their lives. look, there was reporting on her nomination up until the very last minute. journalists are still examining her record and examining her views. this is why a rushed process leads to the american people not knowing enough. this is the fastest process we have ever seen. it is the first time in american history someone will have been confirmed, if she is confirmed, this close to an election.

the reason they are rushing her is simple. i think it is two reasons. there is an argument about this affordable care act case on november 10. if she is not therefore the argument, she cannot participate in the decision. that is why they are rushing her. the president made clear he is rushing her because he wants her on the court if his election is litigated all the way up to the supreme court. the president himself said he wants the supreme court to "count the ballots." that is troubling for a lot of reasons, but it gives you a window into the reason that majority leader mcconnell and the president are rushing her nomination. when you rush, you usually make mistakes. host: we have heard people show concern about judge merrick. the influence she may have over roe v. wade. do you stand on that? guest: there is no question that

is a possibility that case could be re-examined. the case that is most urgent -- and it is not a theoretical, hypothetical consideration -- is the patient protection and affordable care act is right in front of the court right now. i think that alone gives people pause. i have concern about working men and women. there was a case just a few years ago, the janis case, which wiped out president, undermining unions. the next case will be the case that will wipe out the right to organize a union. that is where they have wanted to go for the last 50 years as they have built that majority, which is now, and my judgment i think the supreme court already is a corporate court. eight out of 10 cases that there

is a matter between a litigant who is a corporation and someone else, the corporation always wins with this court. with judge merrick, that court would become even more corporate . the right to organize a union could be gone in the next few years. host: before we let you go, a bit of politics. we saw president obama in pennsylvania yesterday. you're going to see the president in erie this week. do you think pennsylvania is at play? guest: it is always a competitive state. when you see polls that pennsylvania is within four points or five points, that is about where it usually is. even less than that, actually. i think joe biden will win the state and we have a lot of work to do to make sure that happens. still a lot of work in the remaining days. i have confidence he will win. mostly because he has answered the two big questions that i

think pennsylvanians are asking. what are you going to do to get this economy out of the ditch, where for most of the last eight months we have had double digit pennsylvania? second question -- maybe there should be the first question -- how are you going to tackle this virus? joe biden has not only answered that, he has a detailed plan to create jobs, build back better, and a seven point plan to do with the virus. donald trump has neither. he is the president who has failed to lead us appropriately to tackle the virus. in fact, he even got the virus himself. joe biden, i think, has answered those questions, provided detailed responses. host: this is senator bob casey, democrat from pennsylvania. one of those people that are going to make that ultimate decision about judge amy coney barrett next week.

thank you for your time. guest: thank you. host: the judiciary committee planning to meet at 9:00 today to take up the nomination. if it passes, expected to pass, and expected to head to the senate floor monday. so, we will let you watch the room for a little while to see the start of the hearing. again, set to start at 9:00.