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your calls on the news of the day. at 8:00 a.m., we're joined by brian craig. then we will talk about affording housing provisions in the infrastructure plan with sunny is intermittent from the council of large public housing authorities. [video clip] pres. biden: they have offered many thoughts and prayers, members of congress, but they have not passed any laws to reduce gun violence. enough prayers, time for some action. host: this is "washington journal" for april 9. president biden is calling for the justice department to propose legislation on red flag laws, allowing for the removal of firearms for those deemed a danger to themselves or the community. he called on congress to act legislatively on the issue.

we will show you more from yesterday's announcement. and for the next hour, we will ask you about these actions issued yesterday and if you support or oppose them. if you support them, (202) 748-8000. if you oppose them, (202) 748-8001. you can also text us at (202) 748-8003. and you can post on our twitter feed at @cspanwj. or you can post on facebook at facebook.com/cspan. here is a rundown of what the president proposed yesterday. it would close the regulatory loophole, stop proliferation of what are known as ghost gun's. also coming yesterday, clarified statutory restrictions on stabilizing braces for high-powered pistols. it would publish a model red flag legislation for states to use. and then it would also provide $1 billion for grant programs in

communities that combat and prevent drug violence. and it would ask the justice department to issue an annual report on firearms trafficking. other things coming out of that event at the rose garden yesterday, but the topic of ghost guns, "usa today" clarifying they are guns without serial numbers that are largely untraceable, do not require typical background checks for purchase, also known as kick guns or 80% guns. there also purchased in a kit that allows the buyer to assemble it at home. you can look at what are known as red flag laws, and some states that carry them. 19 states and the district of columbia have enacted the extreme risk protection order laws that allow those on the front lines, law enforcement, and depending on the jurisdiction, family members, health professionals, and school administrators to ask a court to prevent the person at risk of violence to themselves or others

from purchasing or possessing firearms. to find out more about those states and how they play out those laws, you can go to the johns hopkins university site. we will ask you about these actions issued by the white house yesterday, by the president. if you support them, (202) 748-8000. if you oppose them, (202) 748-8001. and you can text us at (202) 748-8003. with more from yesterday, here is president biden. [video clip] pres. biden: we have got a long way to go, seems like we always have a long way to go. but today we are taking steps to confront not just the gun crisis but what is actually a public health crisis. nothing i am about to recommend in any way impinges on the second amendment. phony arguments suggesting that these are second amendment rights at stake with what we are talking about. but no amendment to the constitution is absolute.

cannot yell fire in a crowded movie theater and call it freedom of speech. in the beginning, you could not own any weapon you wanted to own. in the beginning, certain people were not allowed to have weapons. so the idea is just bizarre to suggest some of the things we are recommending are contrary to the constitution. gun violence in this country is an epidemic. let me say it again. gun violence in this country is an epidemic, and it is an international embarrassment. host: when it comes to legislative measures, the associated press reporting this morning that president biden mentioned day formidable list of priorities he would like to see congress tackle, including passing the violence against women's act, delimiting -- eliminating closet exemptions for gun manufacturers. he called on the senate to take up measures to close background check loopholes, adding that with an evenly divided senate

and any gun-control legislation requiring 60 votes to pass, democrats would have to keep every member of their narrow majority onboard on board while somehow adding 10 republicans. more at the associated press. we are asking your thoughts on these actions issued yesterday on guns. mike in north carolina, who opposes this effort. start us off. caller: good morning. well, as i told the call screener, i am not truly opposed. i am on the fence, really. actually, i am quite pleased. it really was a nothing burger, in my opinion. this does not mean i support gun violence, let's get that out in the open right away. the two main causes of gun violence, to use that term in the united states, or the areas that should be focused on are the inner cities, ok, where gun violence is widespread in very

select communities, and it is handguns, illegal handguns. we know where this is at, and i will not go down the road of using the descriptors to describe it. but it would have been nice to hear that the justice department, under merrick garland, was going to rally either an atf or fbi or u.s. marshals sweep of these cities that are mostly all run by democrats -- host: back to what we talked about yesterday paired why were you ok with them? caller: well, it is a nothing burger. there is nothing in there that will do anything. ghost guns? really? pedro, named the last mass shooting that involved a ghost gun. host: i cannot tell you. caller: exactly. it is a non-issue. he had to come up with something. i am guessing that the real serious anti-gun crowd, you

know, is really disappointed. because the bottom line, too, is there is no appetite for this in the senate. host: ok, mike, in north carolina. to your point -- i could not tell you, but the paper's sake ghost guns have been used in some mass shootings, including one in the 20 santa monica college and the california, one and they fight -- in which five people were killed. one in 2017 northern california in which a gunman killed his wife and four others. one in 2019 at a california high school in which a 16-year-old killed two students and injured three others. more at the "new york times." berry in virginia, a supporter of this effort. no ahead. caller: i hate to say it, but i support with the idea is, because i am paranoid schizophrenic and do not think crazy people should have guns. but this is just more of a

symbol than anything. because i do not think they should ban assault weapons and all that. i think we have a right to bear arms. i am a democrat, but i just feel like they are just trying to do something to distract you from what really needs to be done. host: hold on, then what do you support of yesterday? what did you support yesterday then? since you are calling on the support line. caller: just that they are actually trying to curb violence. i think that is a good idea, but it is a real complicated question, and there is no answer. host: let's hear from john in hawaii on our oppose line. morning. caller: good morning. thank you, c-span. i would like to say i also kind of feel like this almost feels like a nothing burger, because the issue of the matter is we

have this issue of assault weapons. they are here, you know, and we have not been able to get rid of them since their inception. but it is really, like, reducing magazine capacity going to get rid of them? i would say the answer is a solid know, because if i can still buy a 10 round magazine, it does not change what weapon i am going to use. just consider the more effective weapon, like, period. i just do not think that if we reduce magazine capacity, as we have seen in the past, or we outright get rid of them, it will not change anything, because previously the 30-run magazines were grandfathered into the system, so you could still get them. there are tons out there, and people will pay a premium if they want to do this kind of heinous act. host: are you opposed to any federal action on guns? caller: no, not really.

i think that it is probably a good idea that we, you know -- in previous decades, we disallowed automatic weapons, that is great. but we are also kind of pushing the edge of where we draw the line between liberty and what the second amendment says, you know, you can have arms, but at the point where we are saying maybe it is not a good idea to have these kinds of arms metoo well people to have this. but they are still going to be grandfathered in. i doubt they will collect every single one of them. it would be a big task them and i do not think they would be able to do it because of american gun culture. host: ok. the next call is from washington state on our oppose line. caller: yeah, i think it is kind of funny that biden is talking about gun control. him and obama let 2500 guns go

to mexico drug lords to kill mexicans and border agents. host: specifically, what do you oppose about yesterday? caller: well, he is a fool. you really want to stop gun violence? put up anybody who commits a crime with a gun to get automatic 10 years. that don't mean shooting it. that means pointing it at anybody, robbery, on the street, anybody caught, give them 10 years mandatory sentencing. you stop that nonsense. host: to coral in west virginia too -- to carl in west virginia on our oppose line. caller: good morning. you know, when they prosecute joe biden's son hunter for lying

on an application to obtain a handgun, then i will take joe biden seriously. he even sent the secret service to the gun shop to try to collect the paperwork that his son foraged. host: aside from that, since we're talking about the specific actions of yesterday, what do you think about what the president proposed? caller: i know you do not want to talk about hunter biden, but, hey, joe biden, i cannot take that men serious about anything, so i am just not going to -- i live out here in a rural area. it would take law enforcement half hour to get to my house if i had to call. i want something to defend myself with. that is the way i look at it. host: ok, the call from west virginia. we divided the lines. you support the president's actions from yesterday, it (202) 748-8000. if you oppose, as several of you have called in this morning, it is (202) 748-8001.

you can text us at (202) 748-8003. twitter and facebook available, as well. what the president proposed yesterday and what many are talking about in the u.s. and internationally. the royal family putting out a tweet saying her majesty, the queen, has announced the death of her 11 husband, the royal highness, who passed away peacefully this morning at windsor castle. that is a tweet from the royal family's twitter account. when it comes to gun violence to mystically, and the papers this morning, this is from the eagle in bryan, texas, saying one person was killed and five injured during a shooting at a cabinets shot on thursday afternoon. a trooper was shot while pursuing the person believed to have been involved in the brian shooting. the condition is stabilized, according to a dps lieutenant.

a trooper had been taken to a facility for medical care. a paper and south carolina, first came gunshots and 911 calls to a quiet neighborhood on the outskirts of the fifth-largest city in south carolina on april 7. what they found shattered the community, five people slain, prominent doctor, his wife, and two young grandchildren and a worker on the property, and hours later, the suspected gunman was found dead, as will, a former nfl player lived nearby and took his own life. if you go to the pages of the tennessean, or the website, it is reported that tennessee is one of the 19 states were permanent gun carry is the law. takes place on july 1.

in a statement on twitter thursday afternoon, a says the tennessee legislature and the rifle association, thanking them for their work. it says it should not be hard for law abiding tenney to exercise their second amendment rights. thank you to the general assembly and in our ache for helping to get this done. when it comes to what the president proposed yesterday, we showed you the list of efforts, executive actions, president calling on congress to take more actions on this. that list included those ghost guns, which some of you have commented on this morning, this idea of stabilizing braces and becomes high-powered pistols. red flag legislation being proposed, including grant programs to combat gun violence, and it would require the justice department to issue an annual report on firearms tracking. we are asking about what the president proposed yesterday, if you support or oppose it. shirley from myrtle beach,

you're up next. caller: i absolutely support the president and any effort to decrease gun violence in our country is important. i think it is small but probably the least he can do. can you hear me? host: yeah, go ahead. caller: i'm sorry. i definitely support anything to decrease gun violence in our country, any way that we can. eliminate, decrease access to guns. and i think it is important to do so. i think it is sad that so many people think it is ok to just -- everybody walk around with guns and have guns that can cause so much destruction. i do not even understand why anybody thinks that is reasonable. in other countries, it is not like that. you do not see these things going on in canada or in europe, and we are supposed to be sophisticated. i just do not get it. host: you called the president's

actions small, but you are ok with that as far as what he proposed yesterday? caller: i am ok because i know with executive action, you can only do so much. at this point, i will take anything, anything we can get. and i think it will just take some generations before things change. i just think it is absurd that people think it is ok to have guns of mass destruction -- why in the world would anyone need a gun that can kill hundreds of people? for what person -- for what purpose is that weapon except to cause destruction? and i do not see how civilized people can think that way. i think we are not as civilized as we like to think we are. host: ok, that was on our support line. to decatur, georgia, on our oppose line. caller: yes, i kind of oppose the way he commented about guns. ok, the number one use of guns

when they kill is suicide. and democrats and republicans never, never push that. and the other percentage is either a family member or friend . less than 3% of guns are used in self-defense to kill somebody. and the number ones who do suicide is caucasian males. they never push that. host: but specifically, as far as the president's actions yesterday, what do you oppose? caller: i oppose him not mentioning that. he is just spinning wheels. that is the only thing they agree on, guns and war, that is it. host: next to mississippi on our support line. caller: good morning. i was just going to say i support joe. it is good to have a present up there that has empathy and cares about the people, these people

getting killed with these type of weapons and so forth. i agree that he will not be taking people's guns way to protect themselves. that is just -- you know, people making up stuff. anyway -- host: what do you support about what the president proposed yesterday specifically? caller: definitely, you know, the background checks on these guns you can get from the fares and stuff, from the shows. the serial numbers. i kind of agree about all of it. it is pretty simple, pretty easy, to me, everything he said. if you want to have an automatic weapon to protect yourself from a foreign thing, you can be like the minuteman and have guns stockpiled in communities where they can go get them when they need them, but they do not need them at home. host: website highlighting 2019,

the number of murder victims in the united states that year by weapon, handguns coming in at the top of that list, 6300 plus, followed by firearms manatt stated specifically, at 3281. knives comes after that, including other weapons, personal weapons such as hands and fists. it goes down from shotguns, narcotics, his sexy asian, fire, stimulation -- asphyxiation. executive actions when it comes to guns, talking about that from yesterday, getting your thoughts on if you oppose what he talked about or supported what he talked about yesterday. sarasota, florida, on our oppose line. go-ahead. caller: first of all, close the border then stop allowing people

to enter our country that we do not even know where they are coming from. host: we're talking about issues of guns and the executive actions yesterday. caller: yeah, if you do this, then you will not have to worry about the guns. then refund them. we need laws. we need regulations. we do not need our second amendment away from us. host: how are the actions of the president taking away second amendment's rights? caller: because that is how he starts things. we know what his motives are. since he has taken office, and i mean taken office, he has done nothing positive for our country. and i think it is criminal. host: that is virginia in sarasota, florida. one of the efforts stemming out of this announcement yesterday,

reported by npr, saying the president will nominate david shipman, an advisor to a major gun control group, to lead the bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and explosives, an agency that plays a key role in the gun regulation. that announcement wednesday night came as the president announced those things yesterday. the white house putting out a statement saying, as a father, public servant, gun owner, and decorated law enforcement professional, shipment as spent his life serving the public, making our communities safer everyday. that statement coming out on thursday. veteran of the atf, where he spent 25 years as a special agent, currently is a senior policy advisor at an organization that advocates for stricter gun laws, and has led by former representative gabrielle giffords, who was gravely wounded in a mass shooting in 2011, pushing for greater regulations of ghost gun speared that is the president's

nominee for the head of the atf. that came down yesterday. roseville, california, we will hear from julie, a supporter of this effort. hello. julie in roseville, california, hello. caller: julie from california? host: yeah, go ahead. caller: hey. my father, before he died, he left in his will, guns to me and my husband. me and my husband are not together anymore, and thank god for that. you know what my husband did? he went out and bought a gun safe. i said mm-hmm, you ain't having none of those guns. host: aside from your personal story -- sorry, she dropped. charles in nevada, oppose line. caller: hello? host: you are on. caller: yes, sir.

i am opposed to all of it except the part where you have the ghost guns that you cannot track , where the gun came from. as far as -- i do believe the only way you can make gun control right is to remove guns from everybody, whether it be police -- all of the people. only ones with guns of the military. other than that, you will always have an argument because you are forcing a person to trust a person with again as a person without one. you are always going to have that argument. nobody should carry a gun. host: is that realistic? caller: that is what my point is, neither is this argument. it is not realistic. if you are not going to take away guns from everybody, you can make up mental health illness, you can make up criminals, it does not matter. it is ridiculous.

host: you said you opposed everything but the ghost gun issue. why is that? caller: because they don't have serial numbers. if you are allowed to buy a gun, you should have a serial number for tracking. you should be able to track who owns a gun. but telling people you cannot protect themselves but this person is smarter than you and they can, that is kind of frightening. host: one of the things that came out was this idea of red flag laws and also these braces for certain types of high-powered pistol speared why do you support that? or why do you oppose those? caller: the handguns are the problem. too many handguns around. [indiscernible] the guns they are trying to ban, you are not having as many crimes as that. and regardless of what people say, it says guns don't kill people, people kill people, people are actually killing people. the gun ain't got no conscience.

as far as legislation to track who owns the gun and holding people accountable for crimes when they commit them, i agree with that. host: ok. that was charles in nevada giving his viewpoint. this is don in louisiana. caller: i support the president 100%. i wish he could go further. we need to do something about the guns in our country. right here in baton rouge, louisiana, we have had about four babies killed already this year, a four-year-old, two-year-old, i forget the ages of the other babies. and this is just ridiculous. people have guns laying around. there are so many guns, it is ridiculous. the second amendment does not give you the right to bear arms. it was to form a militia. and joe biden needs to go further. i hope he goes further. host: in your mind, what does

going further mean? caller: to ban all assault rifles, all automatic weapons, unless you get a special permit after a background check and sanity check. you have too many people just walking into a store and getting a gun, to show their license, they get a gun. and this is not good. no other country has as many guns as the united states, no other country. you know, we just refuse to do anything about this. we continue to have these mass shootings and what have you. and this is our hope, that president biden will continue to go further. host: ok. next is chris in houston, oppose line. caller: yeah, so i really oppose everything the president has done with the gun control laws

yesterday. so with the pistol, the ar pistol, technically, ok, it is really hard to conceal an ar-15 pistol. if you have ever seen one, compared to an actual pistol, that thing is like, i don't know, 20 inches long, and you have a 30 round mag, right, so it is large and bulky. you cannot hide that thing anywhere. you go anywhere, someone will see you with a rifle fully ready to go, and cops will get called on you. easy as that. owning a firearm is a right every american should have. if you can buy one, you can build one. why can't i build a gun? host: there is this idea of ghost gun's and the ability for them to be unidentifiable. what is wrong with that? caller: well, because they

exist. you are not going to stop them. anyone can go buy a 3d printer, have the files, print out the gun, get the kits. you cannot make little machine parts illegal. you can't. people will machine it and sell it. you will get your hands on those parts. so guns are out there. there is no stopping it. host: ok. chris there in houston, texas. we have been hearing from you about the executive actions. we will continue on with your calls on this. (202) 748-8000 if you support the president's executive actions from yesterday on guns. (202) 748-8001 if you oppose them. and you can text us at (202) 748-8003. one of the people speaking yesterday was the attorney general of the united states, merrick garland, giving his input on the role that the justice department might play. [video clip] mr. garland: we stand here today

not at a moment of tragedy but the -- in the midst of entering tragedy. so far this year, guns have taken the lives of an estimated 11,000 of our neighbors, friends, and fellow americans. as the president explained, gun deaths in our country are occurring at a staggering pace, on the order of about 100 americans killed every day, with hundreds more wounded. i am under no illusions about how hard it is to solve the problem of gun violence. and i know that the department of justice alone cannot solve the problem. it is a problem that we must all work on together in a collective effort to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and save lives. but there is work for the department to do, and we intend to do it. host: a couple of texts.

jennifer from illinois saying we need federal laws to close the loopholes in buying guns. in chicago, we have strict gun laws, but indiana has zero. a 30 minute drive to indiana from chicago. she added that no one is taking your guns. if you are a good citizen, then what is the problem? go to a shooting range. joe in north carolina saying i was brought up with gun culture. i have seen people walking the streets with long guns and seen children use their parents weapons to kill other children. good luck in stopping gun violence. park in maryland think the president made the announcement political and nonscientific by labeling it a public health epidemic. i did not hear anything addressing the daily killings in baltimore or chicago at the crime centers. there is no outrage or similar interest when people are killed by medical errors every year. and then you have the southern border situation. jerry in florida saying that

prior to the 1968 gun control act, one can buy a firearm from a magazine ad, delivered to your door with no background check whatsoever, yet mass shootings were almost nonexistent. so the current epidemic is not tied with unavailability or lack of background checks, but the real answer, we have to look at how society has changed over the past six decades. again, from our texting service, you can do that at (202) 748-8003. brandon in the mississippi on our support line, hi. caller: hi. host: josh in brandon, mississippi, hello. caller: hi, i support it, and we should look at what happened in delaware and the 2019 were hunter biden light on his background check and got a gun illegally and then dumped it in a garbage can next to a school. have a good one. host: from scott in

massachusetts on our oppose line. caller: hi, how are you doing? i oppose the way he is trying to handle it. it is not with the gun laws out there currently right now, the issue is the way the criminals are able to get the guns. it is not that they can go to a gun show and not show an id and buy a gun, it is that they can go over the border into mexico and buy 1000 guns and carried them back into the cities and pass them out to all the friends who want to shoot everybody. that is were major gun crimes happen, in the inner cities. but that is not what he is talking about. he is talking about taking the rights of the everyday citizens who have a gun or long gun or even an extended magazine and turning them into a felon immediately, which i find totally offensive and wrong. go after the criminal. that will stop our gun problem. but he is not going to do that.

host: ok, that it's got in massachusetts at some reaction from governors across the united states on the president's actions yesterday. the north dakota republican governor put out this statement saying we stand united with our congressional delegation and opposition to the executive action threatening the second amendment right to north dakota and's. our state has a culture of deep respect for firearm safety and a rich heritage of hunting. our state constitution declares that the right to keep and bear arms for the defense of yourself, your family, and your property shall not be infringed. we will vigorously oppose any action that would deny that right. that was issued yesterday. and pennsylvania's governor issued a statement, saying this, i applaud president biden for his leadership by signing gun safety executive orders and taking the first of what i hope will be many steps to reduce gun violence across the nation. far too many american lives have been taken by sentence gun violence in communities of every

size. as a nation, we cannot allow this cycle to continue. reform is needed to curb the public health crisis of gun violence. shane in oregon is next on our support line. hello. caller: hi, so i am definitely in support of wanting to help figure out how to solve this. but the thing that i kind of had some disagreement on is i am someone that is disabled. i use a power chair full-time. i feel like owning a gun is the only way to protect myself. and i also have mental health issues. and so -- and most people do not tend to be violent.

my opinion is, like, it was pretty scary, i guess, saying people with mental health issues, my understanding of it, would be barred. i currently do not own a firearm, just because i want to play it safe, but at the same time, if we're going to go out, how am i going to defend myself? so i feel like that is not often spoken about enough. but that is kind of my concern. host: ok. shane giving his input there from oregon on our support line. embers of congress also weighing in yesterday on the decision or the actions by the president. representative jim jordan with a tweet saying first they will not protect your border, now they want to take your guns.

another one saying some of the most violent cities in america have some of the strictest gun control laws. they do not work. democrats want to defund the police and limit rights of law abiding citizens, while republicans want to support our law enforcement and protect the second amendment. this next one says these actions set a model of courage and strength that congress must match, followed by a representative saying these actions will save lives, but we was -- we must do more to prevent further tragedies. common sense legislation to enhance background checks and close the charleston loophole. time to take up this legislation. those are tweets from members of congress concerning the actions yesterday. you can see, again, if you want to see what the president said and merrick garland, you can go to c-span.org to watch that event from yesterday. brad in washington, d.c., on our oppose line. caller: yeah, i do not really

understand how the ghost gun ban he was talking about is going to help anything at all. normally by the time a gun is used in the commission of a crime, people are already dead. so what is the point of tracing where that gun came from or how they got it? for an example, fast and furious, we sent a bunch of guns to mexico and traced it back to the president and eric holder, nothing happened to them. so if we are not going to support the laws we have on the books, why would we make any new laws? which i think it is all just a dog and pony show that biden is putting on. i do not think there is any real substance to what he said. he lost all legitimacy with not addressing the crime his son committed. we could go on and on, but the bottom line is, the second amendment says shall not be

infringed. the infringement is coming in the increments, little by little, saying we are not coming for your guns, not coming for your guns, but now they are saying, well, we will cover some of your guns. it just goes on to be buybacks and then coming for all of your guns. i think there has to come a stand for the pro-gun side that, look, we want reciprocity for carry across state lines, like a driver's license. background checks, that is reasonable. when you get into the mental health and red flag laws, however, you have people -- in crisis intervention, we say if anybody has a trifecta, three things that go really bad in life, it can make the strongest mentally stable person weak. if you are in the middle of filing bankruptcy, you lose your job, and you come home early and find your spouse as a buddy is cheating on you, that could push someone over. so if they have a crisis, does that mean they can never own a gun again, because they went to check himself into a middle

health institution because they're depressed? there is a lot to this. host: ok, thoughts on what was announced yesterday. the center for gun rights and response bloody, the cofounder has an op-ed in the "new york times close quote this morning, talking about this idea of finding common ground on gun issues. here are some of the suggestions he has, saying i spent the past two years spending time with leaders and found that this framing leads us to common ground, pointing to five specific moves that together would have a huge impact. first, vigorously pursue and prosecute the small percentage of gun dealers knowingly contributing to the illegal gun trade identify opportunities to strengthen the back rent check system, adding prohibited purchasers that we all, including 90% of gun owners, agree should not have guns. goes on to say to invest in large-scale education and awareness campaign on the dangers of owning and carrying

guns and what can be done to mitigate those dangers. he says work should be done to expand on the work of violent interrupter's and similar programs to reduce gun violence in cities. finally, clearly defined when a means to be a federally licensed firearm dealer with standards that include sales volume. the op-ed is in the "new york times" this morning from dan gross. a call from new york, a supporter of the president's actions yesterday. caller: hello. yes, i support what he is trying to do. but i have written a letter to the president and have not gotten an answer from him. host: as far as yesterday, what do you support specifically about it? caller: just the ban of ghost

firearms. host: why is that? caller: because the ghost firearms are not registered and are not legal. host: greenwood, south carolina, next, our oppose line. this is ken. hello. ken in greenwood, south carolina? are you there? caller: yes. the biggest problem i have with him trying to take away the guns is saying that the dealers, gun dealers, is the one promoting and sending these out to the people and selling them. that is not the problem. the problem is anybody can go on the streets and buy a gun. like the old saying is, if you

outlaw guns, outlaw is going to kill you with a bullet. so why are they specifically targeting gun dealers? it is not the dealers. it is the people on the streets that are passing these guns. if you are going to get a gun to kill somebody, you ain't going to go in and put your name on them and then go kill somebody. host: is there specifically anything from yesterday that you oppose in the announcement? caller: well, with a fully automatic's, i oppose him taking them off because they should not be on the streets. but as for the local people that need protection, they're stopping a lot of that, and eventually, they're going to put in clauses on the guns because of the take away fully automatic's, they will eventually take away handguns and take all our rights away. host: one of the groups commenting yesterday was the national rifle association.

the "washington post" highlighted some of what they said. they said the nra is mired in multiple legal battles. nra officials on thursday referred to the rose garden event as a circus on their official twitter account or they said these actions could require americans to surrender lawful property, push states to expand confiscation orders, and put a gun control lobbyist to have the atf. it says the president is dismantling the second amendment. that is from the nra, a statement they put out yesterday. from maryland come our support line. caller: i totally support the president. anything you can do to tamp down this craziness with guns, i am for that. i have a general philosophy about guns in that i can understand where a woman would need a gun just to protect herself from us crazy men.

but i really think that real men don't need guns. and these men that are calling in so afraid of losing their guns, i just think, well, aren't you a man? host: but from yesterday, what did you support? caller: everything, everything. i don't think it went far enough. i think you should have liability insurance if you own a gun. you know, be responsible for them. there is a host of things that could be done, but of course it is politically tough when you have these men that, in my estimation, are not real men. they are afraid of everything. i mean, i have never owned a gun. i am old. i have never needed a gun. host: ok.

let's hear from another viewer in new york who opposes this. walt, hello. caller: good morning. how you doing this morning? number one thing is the ghost guns, i do not believe those should be totally illegal -- i agree with that. i live in upstate new york, and we need guns around here to help protect ourselves a little bit from the wild animals and whatever else. the other thing is, they need to do something about the cities. that is where most of the gun problem is. they need to figure out something there. and i do not believe the cities in new york, where the majority of people here that live in the country, and we deserve the right to defend ourselves from the wildlife, as well as people coming into our homes and what have you. one more quick thing is we do not need to go run and drive up

and down the road. i bought myself a nonlethal weapon for that purpose. i have long guns, no handguns, but i did buy this nonlethal weapon. i did run into a couple situations from people in the city that do not like to abide by common sense rules in our country, like parking on both sides and fire trucks cannot get through. host: what exactly is the nonlethal weapon? caller: i will not tell you the name of it, but it shoots teargas and pepper and has a solid ball they can put a heck of a welt on you. it will stop you from progressing into somebody. i am 61 years old and cannot defend myself like i used to. so that is why i went out and got what i got. host: ok. this is from our twitter feed saying, no one is walking into a store gun fare and buying a gun without a permit. i have been to tennessee, north

carolina, and south carolina, and they all required background checks. you have to bring a permit to the pu, as she describes. this one from california says we need to learn to drive. before a person buys a gun, they should demonstrate they have had basic training and should require proficiency tests. this one says i am sick and tired of the brutality of american gun control, and the second amendment does not give the right to own ar-15's. what about my right to be protected under the law? this viewer from kentucky texting us, saying why is it so hard to buy marijuana legally incident states, but you can buy a gun and barely get looked at? it is backwards. you can text or use twitter or facebook to give us a sense of what you think about the

executive actions. several bits of news coming up concerning florida's representative matt gaetz. two late-night venmo transactions in 2018, he sent his friend, sex traffickers $900. then three young women were sent varying sums of money amounting to $900. instead of a blank, gaetz wrote an nickname from. one of the recipients the name is not being shared because of the age of the recipient. the three young women described the money is being for tuition, school, and school. the daily beast has that story. you can go to the pensacola news journal. it says embattled florida congressman matt gaetz's legal

trouble may have gotten worse with federal investigators on his trail, negotiating a plea deal. prosecutors and a defense attorney told the judge in orlando thursday that they are working on a plea deal with the former seminole county tax collector, joel greenberg. he resigned last june after being indicted on multiple charges, which was expended to 33 federal charges last week, including sex trafficking, bribery, fraud, and using his position to create fake id's. investigation has led into investigations into matt gaetz. that is the pensacola news journal. the presidents executive actions on guns, gary in maryland, who supports the actions. go ahead. caller: i support his actions because gun violence in america is just not in the cities but also suburbs. we need to stop talking about how we're using guns to protect when we are actually using them to carry out violence.

whether it be in the city or in the suburbs, white on white, black on black crimes, this is crazy. but i salute the president in what he is doing. host: this is fred, also in maryland, our opposed line. caller: good morning. there are plenty of laws on the books, but they are not being enforced. the democrats have an agenda, trying to stay in power and doing whatever they can to take our liberties away, and we seem to be letting them do it. how stupid are we to allow them to mess with our god-given right to defend ourselves? baltimore city, there is violent black on black violence every day, chicago, detroit, these guns are killing kids, and these are illegal guns. these are not obtained legally. they are on the black market and

are still in. the problem is, these democratic prosecutors refused to prosecute these crimes. they just let them go, and instead of throwing them in jail and getting them up the streets, it is getting worse and worse. it is a giant agenda with the democrats, and there is nothing we can do about it. we are powerless. if they can put in the president of the united states and try and trick people into joe biden who sat in his basement the whole campaign and he comes out 20 million votes better than trump, something is wrong and there's nothing we can do about it. host: we will hear from the president one more time concerning these announcements. [video clip] pres. biden: recognizes cities across the country are experiencing historic spikes in homicides, as law-enforcement can tell you. the violence is hitting black and brown communities the hardest. homicide is the leading cause of death of black boys and men ages 15 to 34, the leading cause of death.

but there are proven strategies that reduce gun violence in urban communities, and there are programs that have demonstrated they can reduce homicides up to 60% in urban communities. but many of these have been badly underfunded or not funded at all of late. gun violence in america, to think of this from an economics standpoint, estimated the cost of $280 billion -- let me say it again, $280 billion a year. you say, how can that be, joe? hospital bills, physical therapy, trauma counseling, legal fees, prison costs, and the loss of productivity. not to mention cyclical damage done to the children who live in these cities, watching this happen, knowing someone it happen to, gun violence in the neighborhood.

it has had a profound impact on our children, even if they are never involved in pulling the trigger or being the victim on the others of a trigger. for a fraction of the cost of gun violence, we can save lives, create safe and healthy communities, and build economies that work for all of us. and save billions of american dollars. in the meantime -- host: william in middletown, connecticut, and traceable guns at fairs, those in 3d printable guns, should be kept out of the hands of violent persons. in illinois, i oppose appeared we have enough laws already on the books. enforce those. congress can make all the laws they want. until we look away the criminals , lou -- new laws will be fruitless. this one from ohio, no law will

deter crazy from killing. you can text us at (202) 748-8003. from tennessee on our support line, sean, go ahead. caller: first of all, i want to say that i am a permit-holding, pro-gun individual, a gun owner. what i support about it is all the extra support going into communities to trace and gather statistics and gather more information on all the gun crimes and attempts to go after the illegally obtained weapons. because as you said the statistics a little while ago, the number one cause -- the number one weapon being used in this gun violence is handguns. i do not think going after the ar-15 is going to do anything.

i think that going after ghost guns, requiring background checks on those, i think that could potentially be a good thing. i also want to say to a lot of people who refer to ar-15's as military machine guns and all that stuff, they are downgraded from military to civilian, and often times they use the same type of ammunition as handguns do. i don't know about many, but i go to the range frequently and can unload 30 rounds from a handgun just as fast as i can with an ar-15. just because a gun looks scary does not make it a military style weapon. host: let me ask you about this story i read concerning your governor signing a bill on thursday that would allow most adults to carry a handgun without a permit. what do you think about that? caller: i support it. i think it is a method of deterrence.

so say someone who is looking to rob a liquor store or something goes in there and happens to look over and see someone that is openly carry a, do you think the guy will try to rub that liquor store while a legal, safe gun owner is sitting there with another gun on his hip? host: so if it is permit list, how do you go around a background come as far as applying for a gun? or maybe i am missing something there. caller: are you talking about being allowed to carry a gun without a permit? host: correct, yes. caller: there is a lot of other stuff in it. if you have ever had a dui, you're not allowed to open carry. there is a list of other stuff in there that prevents certain individuals from open and carry. if you have ever been charged with domestic abuse, of course

felonies, of course. there is a long list that actually strengthens punishment for those who try to illegally obtain weapons or carry weapons illegally. host: ok. to carl in indiana, who opposes this effort. caller: thanks for taking my call. i guess my main question is, when they start passing all these gun laws, who is going to enforce it? everything is so lawless now in this country. i mean, they have opened the borders. they have made the lives of police so measurable that they are just quitting. and they are trying to take everyone's guns so they cannot defend themselves. nobody can comply with any of that. i mean, biden is such a joke. everybody i know thinks he's

just worthless and a joke. host: ok, let's go to ron in pennsylvania, last call on this, support line. caller: hello, my contention is the law-abiding citizens, a lot of them kill people. for example, a gentleman killed his wife playing organ in the church because he thought she was fulling around, and he was a law-abiding citizen before he killed her. [indiscernible] killed nine people in the church. about this open and carry law, people were killed in a supermarket in an open and carry state. can you imagine all those people screaming at somebody with a gun? does not make any sense. the other thing is, the second amendment is not a commandment, it is an amendment and it can

the amendment -- can be amended. host: ron in pennsylvania finishing off this hour of your calls on the president's actions on guns and gun violence. you can see that at c-span.org. we appreciate those of you who had participated. we are continuing on with our series, and you will meet next the florida-based radio show host brian craig. later on the program, we turn our attention to housing affordability and that confirmation -- that conversation with sunia zaterman from the council of large public housing authorities. that is coming up on "washington journal." >> the trial for derek chauvin, the former minneapolis police officer charged in the death of george floyd continues today at

10:00 am eastern. watch online as he spend out listen on the free spit -- free c-span radio app. watch at eight a clock p.m. eastern on c-span2 anytime on demand at c-span.org. >> book tv on c-span2 has top nonfiction books and authors every weekend. saturday at eight a clock p.m. eastern, columbia university law professor jamaal green look at america approach to -- america's approached individual rights, why our abstention with right to steering our america part. then, bowling stage green university professor talks about free speech and the free exchange of ideas in his book why it is ok to speak his mind -- to speak your mind. that is sunday. tammy duckworth talks about her

life and career in the military and in the u.s. senate. she is interviewed by politico's congressional editor alana sure. watch book tv this weekend. be sure to tune into in-depth, sunday, may 2, at noon eastern with author ross dowsick on book tv on c-span2. >> "washington journal" continues. host: throughout the weekend into tomorrow, we have been featuring political podcasters to talk you about issues of the day. joining us is brian craig, the host of the brian craig show podcast out of palm beach florida -- palm beach, florida. thank you for your time. guest: thank you for the opportunity. host: what is the brian craig show podcast all about? guest: it is about conservative politics. i have been on the radio, this is my 30th year on the radio. i cohosted this to kane radio

show, the longest money radio show in florida. i have been at this for many years with the legendary steve kane, and i have been podcasting nine years now. guest: what have you -- host: as far as talking about conservative politics, what do you engage in your viewers in? florida politics? national politics? what is the scope? guest: national politics but florida is becoming a big player in national politics. we are about to become the most populated state, passing california soon, and our great governor, ron desantis, has done a great job pulling us through this pandemic. he is becoming a national person talking about running for president. host: as far as what happened, the 60 minutes story, and how do you interpret that not only on your show but with your viewers? guest: listen, 60 minutes slandered's governor -- slandered governor ron desantis,

accused him of taking a bribe. ron desantis opened up vaccination not to public first -- publix first, they were probably third or fourth. the way ron desantis did the vaccine rollout in florida was brilliant. he started doing it by otis population and said in his announcement 80% of florida's seniors live within three minutes of a publix where they have a pharmacy. so it made sense to do vaccinations at publix. host: as far as the fallout from that, at least from the story, you said it is translating to a political run? guest: the fallout is that it has made ron desantis number two in the maga movement after president trump. they're talking about him running in 20 28th after president trump's second term. host: as far as the governor is concerned that is another choice for a presidential run.

there may be two other people interested in running themselves, senator marco rubio, rick scott, the other senator from florida. as it stands, what are their chances? guest: zero. rick scott was a great governor, a good senator, but he is not a charismatic personality. he is very competent leader, did a great job when he was governor, and marco rubio, people in florida will vote for marco rubio, because we will not vote for a democrat, but a lot of floridians don't care for marco rubio. they have not forgiven him for the way he treated president trump in the 2016 primary. host: elaborate on that. guest: he was talking about president trump's hand size and things like this, and it got petty during the debates. also, marco rubio is an amnesty supporter on the southern border. conservatives in the maga movement, they don't want that. host: as you mention the maga movement as it were,

president trump living in florida, what is his power or pull on the republican party these days? guest: he is the kingmaker. that is the way it is. that is why matt gaetz and ron desantis are being focused in on by the mainstream media, because they are maggot people -- maga people. they are trump loyalists and the republican establishment are trying to bring down ron desantis and matt gaetz because it is part of the maga movement. host: what do you think about the accusations against matt gaetz? guest: i don't believe any of them. you have a jailhouse snitch, sitting in jail, waiting on trial for what is it, sex trafficking? he will say whatever he's got say to shave off time from his sentence. i haven't seen any proof that shows any of these slanders against matt gaetz are true. host: what makes you believe matt skate -- matt gaetz is not

guilty? guest: in america, you are innocent until proven guilty and we presume people are innocent. i have not seen one woman come forward. this investigation they say against matt gaetz went on for over two years. where is this 17-year-old girl he is supposedly sex -- that he supposedly sex trafficked that is 19 now? there is a story the other day that he went to president trump and asked for an advanced pardon and president trump cannot -- came out the same day -- the next day and said that was fake news. host: our guest is brian craig. if you want to talk about national politics, give us a call. republicans are (202) 748-8001. democrats are (202) 748-8000. independents are (202) 748-8002. if you want to text us your questions or comments, do so at (202) 748-8003.

as far as politically, again with matt gaetz, is this a question as far as his ability to serve incompetency? how do you think the story is impacting him? guest: i think it makes him stronger. they are running the same story against matt gaetz as they did with president trump with the fake russian dossier and stormy daniels. slander, nothing backs of these accusations, and ron desantis is up for reelection as governor and matt gaetz could be the next governor of florida after rhonda sources -- ron desantis' second term. host: anything that might suggest he's guilty of the things he is accused of? guest: no. if they come out with evidence -- i will reevaluate, but no, i stand with matt gaetz. they are going after maga. they are trying to stop the trump dynasty from being like the kennedys have been for so long and the dem -- in the

democrat party. it's not going to work. host: you talk about the president's role as head of the republican party. you think there's another run involved or do you think he serves another role, particularly the midterm election and the next presidential election? guest: he will bring us back the house and the midterms and then he will go on and be our nominee in 2024. adding two nonconsecutive terms will be better than two consecutive's, because when president trump wins in 2024, he will have a massive mandate. he won't have to worry about the wall, because it looks like biden said he will finish the wall it looks like. host: again, brian craig, our first call is from herbert in columbia, south carolina, independent line. you are on with brian craig of the brian craig podcast. how do people find your show? guest: they can find me on youtube, brian craig on youtube, and on the steve kane show, which i'm on every morning with steve k, taking live --

kane. . , taking live calls i'm on the radio five days per week. host: what do you talk about and how do you determine your topics? guest: i often look at twitter and see what is trending. on today show, we talk about the ridiculous executive orders of biden yesterday on gun control. host: we talked through that in a bit, but here's herbert first in columbia. you are on with brian craig. caller: good morning. i was calling. you said the ridiculous gun -- whatever about the biden just now. [indiscernible] both sides have both opinions. government is about getting to

the table and expressing both opinions and coming to the center to make laws for both sides to agree on, isn't that right? guest: in theory. caller: you can't have it your way, because that is your opinion. and he got his opinion. guest: that's right. one man, one voice. caller: we vote for you guys, not you, but we vote for the representatives to go there with both opinions and come to the middle, right? because nobody can get 100% of what they want. guest: listen, everybody has an opinion. vice president kamala harris had the opinion during the democrat primary and joe biden proposed the integration of public schools. she said i was that crow wing was opposing bussing. so her opinion was that joe biden was a racist. host: is there some commonplace you think when it comes to the issue of guns? you heard the president -- why not? guest: not at all.

first off, it is not just because our second amendment. it is a guaranteed right given to us by god in our constitution. this last year has been the single largest loss of individual liberty in my lifetime, and maybe most people's lifetime that are alive. people don't trust government anymore. they take away your right to assemble, your right to go to church, which that has happened, they take away your child's right to have a proper public education. people are not going to trust the government to take away any liberties, because we can see they are not so quick to give them back, are they? like the lockdown orders. host: we hear from pierre and washington, d.c. caller: brian, you talk about lack of trust in people and government. what about your maga movement? taking away our right to a free and fair election. you can say it was stolen from trump, but we all know that we saw armed gangs inside of the

capital, trying to commit a coup. as long as the maga movement is the party of coos, we cannot trust you. we cannot trust you. guest: i don't know if you will trust me or not, but i think you should trust and president trump. he didn't organize anything that went on at the capital. those people, hundreds of them are in jail and a lot of them will do long stretches in prison. that was appalling what they did at the capital. president trump does not supported, the maga movement does not supported, i do not support it. host: what you attribute january 6 two? guest: a lot of agitators -- 6 to? guest: a lot of agitators. he got the proud boys, antifa. a lot of those people that when in were maga people, but there were antifa in there that broke down the windows and opened up the doors. it was a joint effort of a lot of different political people. it wasn't just the maga movements, it wasn't just

republicans. a lot of leftists. host: in florida, you next with our guest. good morning. caller: hey, how are you doing? just the publix thing, there is not a publix every three miles in the state of florida because the state i live in it is 15 miles before you get to a publix. on the 60 minute thing, they said publix was going to charge medicare $40 for the vaccination , is that true or is that not true? guest: first off, what governor desantis said is 80% of seniors live within three miles of a publix. caller: that's not true. host: go ahead, mr. craig. guest: as far as charging $40, well yeah. any place you go will charge medicare, charge the government, that is the nature of it. they don't get the vaccination for.

-- for free. of course they charge. 40 bucks, that's nothing. host: janet, do you want to follow? caller: caller: number one, when i got my vaccination, and i got a tear in my small town, it was a church i gave it, and they did not ask for any of my medicare information or anything. guest: ok. caller: i'm not too sure about that, but i thought since -- guest: listen, i have been vaccinated, i have had my first shot and get my second in a couple weeks. president trump did a great job of getting the vaccinations developed with operation warp speed, and governor ron desantis has done a textbook example of perfection in his vaccine rollout in florida. you have it, i have it, we are both in florida and seems like to santos is doing all right. host: what is the status of florida republicans? are they still behind president trump? guest: oh yeah. host: what do you measure that by? guest: on presidents' day, i went up to mar-a-lago, and he

was not in office anymore, it was former president trump on president trump's day. there were tens of thousands of people driving by mar-a-lago, and there was impromptu unplanned rally of tens of thousands of people that went there to be close to the president at mar-a-lago. i've never seen tens of thousands turn out a sitting president on presidents' day, not to mention a former president. host: from brand, democrats line in michigan, hello. caller: hello. your guest is trying to take over the limbaugh bs. guest: that would be awesome. i would be honored. caller: no doubt you would. guest: i would do it for half they pay him. host: craig, let him finish -- mr. craig, let him finish the new can respond -- and then you can respond. caller: did you deny trump paid

millions of dollars to defriend students -- defunded students -- defrauding students? guest: i think catch that -- i did not catch that. caller: did he spend millions of dollars defrauding charities? this is the kind of man that you are defending. he lied to the american people, a serial liar. he said i would do a great job if i had kept the covid bill at 100,000. host: hold on, mr. craig. he is not done yet. caller, finish your statement. caller: how about his guilty to prudence? -- putin?

expend why he never said a bad word about putin. guest: this business about trump university, i wish i had a trump university degree o -- to hang on my wall. president trump is the only president in history, in the modern area, that left office with less money then when he went in. if it was all about money, he would have -- he walked away from 200 million dollars just on the apprentice. he lost millions of dollars being president of the united states. he is about making america great again and keeping it great again, and he will make america great again again when he wins in 2024. host: what convinces you he takes another run at it? guest: he didn't interview and said keep an eye out. people have an indication. he says little things here and there that says he's going to run. host: is the absence of his presence on twitter going to

impact that? guest: that is the best thing that ever happened to president trump on twitter. now, he is starting his own social media network. the great mike window is starting his own social media network, and that would not have happened if he stayed on twitter. twitter did president trump favor knocking him off. host: did twitter do president trump's own favor as far as the things he tweeted that ultimately was that of a setback for him? guest: while he was president, it was spectacular. when have we ever had that kind of connection with a president? i saw a guy on cnn comparing president trump on twitter to kennedy on television. kennedy won because he was the first president to understand how to use television. this is van jones talking. he said donald trump, during the 2016 campaign, understands how to use social media like no other president or presidential candidate ever has. we have never had that kind of -- president trump would comment on what was going on in real time. that is a connection with the

people no president has. host: brian craig of the brian craig show podcast joining us. we go to raleigh, north carolina, a republican line. robert, hello. caller: hello. hi, mr. craig. i would like tax cue two sure questions and i wish i could get an -- ask you two short questions and i would like to get an answer without getting cut off. what you think about the shaaban trial, the police officer that they claimed murdered george floyd. guest: i am mad. that is some of the most disturbing video i have ever seen, with his knee on the neck. the only thing close to horrific as that video with george floyd and that cop are the beheading videos that isis use to put out on the internet. it is disturbing. host: caller, your second question? caller: my second question would be a comment. i think that we have the second

amendment right for free speech, and i hope they never take it away, but it is so sad everybody that has a microphone thinks they can reach out to the public and keep this country divided. i feel they need to take their medication and go somewhere and mind their business. guest: ok. [laughter] host: what you think about that comment? guest: i think it is american. anybody that wants to pick up a microphone in the era of podcasting can be on the air, talking to people in five minutes. on our radio show, we are conservative, liberal, anti-trump, pro-trump, we take calls for everyone -- from everyone because everyone should be heard. the last caller is talking about stop having diverse viewpoints

and should agree with the democrats. host: how do you think it affects dialogue with people that don't -- guest: our greatest president it's abraham lincoln. the country broke out to civil war when he was elected. i'm sorry the democrats don't agree with the maga movement. they don't, that is america. host: this is from iowa, in ottumwa. this is kim. go ahead. caller: sir, i was listening to you about the gun rights, saying they are taking your guns and everything, but the right has taken away rights, abortion rights, transgender rights. you are talking about an issue of everyone's rights being taken away, but the only one you are hollering about his guns, and the democrats and independents are saying that all the other

things matter. guest: i am very pro-life. host: hold on. let the caller finisher thought. caller: you are not the one to give the grades, it is the legislators. all i've seen, the republicans have been fighting against every other rights, but they want to keep the gun rights. i want to know, between all of the other three i have sped out to you like the abortion rights, voting rights, do those matter more than the guns, or do guns matter more than those rights? guest: what matters are the first 10 amendments of our constitution, the bill of rights. the second amendment is the second amendment, and those rights are more them -- most important. as far as republicans wanting to take away abortion rights, we had an evangelical christian president in george w. bush and he did not take away abortion rights. president trump even signed

legislation continuing the funding of planned parenthood. republicans aren't restricting abortion rights. host: when you produce your podcast, your wife is your cohost if i understand it. guest: my wife, cathy. host: how does that work? guest: i met my wife, she listened to me on the radio for many years and that is how she mad. she came to a personal experience and we got together and got married. we have been doing the show together, and sometimes we don't agree on everything, but we agree on most things, like a happy married couple, and we talk for a few minutes before we do the show about the topics, and then we do the show. host: then you have a calling -- call in portion to the show? how do divide the lines and how do you hear from people of other opinions about -- opinions other than yourself? guest: so we take the calls scream this on the air. i don't have a call screener and no one answers the phones until i answer them on the air. i screen called live on air. i don't know what people will

bring up to me. i don't know if they are republican, democrat, love me, or hates me, and i think it makes for more exciting listening for the listener and more exciting me when i do not know what is coming up next. host: what is the breakdown in people who believe in things you do or oppose? guest: talk radio and conservative podcast has always leaned to the right. the majority of our collies -- callers are conservatives and i love to have liberals: and debate them like we are doing on your show. host: laura, you are on, republican line. caller: i'm so glad i was able to get on, because my nephew and the kids just came home from college, phone florida, and they met some fellows they knew fraternity brothers, and these large crowds that are around ex-president are paid.

they got $25 -- they got paid $25 each, and they told him, when you get back up to michigan, there's a number to call, and you can get paid to go out and wave flags or do whatever they assign you to do. so these are paid people that go to the rallies. it's nothing new, because it has been done in other countries and such, but don't think all of these people are so adoring that they go out there for nothing. quite a few, especially i guess 20-30-year-olds, and possibly some more, but anyway, these two boys have paid -- were paid $25 each for two minutes of flag-waving.

and i do have a question in regards to mar-a-lago, because when mr. trump signed some sort of papers with the citizens or i guess the powers that be for that particular area, supposedly are only allowed to stay there 21 days, and i understand they are going to court to do something to keep him from making that a residence. would you ask plane more on that. thank you. guest: president trump -- of president trump is paying people $25 to go to his rallies, he owes me $100. i have gone to four and having got anything. that is ridiculous. when you go to a trump rally or the spontaneous him that -- events at mar-a-lago that happen around the streets, it wasn't paid. florida has been a republican state, in the governor

became governor in 98. it is just people that want to show their love. the reason so many democrats think people are paid to go to trump rallies his back -- because that is what democrats do to fill seats and their sparsely populated events with biden. host: from myrtle beach, this is hillary on the dependent line -- on the democrat line. -- on the independent line. caller: yes, i want to address what he said on president trump leaving office with less money than he came into office with. it's hard for me to believe that, because he got paid -- mar-a-lago got paid every time he went there on vacation, weekend, whatever. as a matter of fact, in one weekend in 2019, the bill was up to $63,000, and not only

that, his businesses overseas said the military was at his hotels and in his golf courses. so saying he left with less money than he went in with -- and look at his children, all of the money they got paid for what they were supposed to be doing. as a matter of fact, his son-in-law could not even get clearance. but he was supposed to be his advisor. let's be for real at that. guest: i'm glad you brought that up. that is interesting, because you must be very upset at president biden. president biden, back to when he was vice president, charged the secret service rent money to stay at his house. this is something that happens. if president trump charged the secret service $63,000 -- it was worth $10 billion when he became -- that's cigar money for president trump. host: we have brian cragg the host of the brian craig show podcast. we have been featuring

podcasters this week. mr. craig, talk a little bit about what shaped you politically. how did you become a conservative and what shaped that's primarily? guest: when i first started on the radio 30 years ago, i was a liberal democrat. i was a member of the young democrats of america. i was on the air and did not make a lot of money. i was a democrat for a number of years. as i started earning more money, i did my taxes one year and i owed money for the first time. i had a refund, and i thought it was a mistake, so i did my taxes again and found out i owed money, $3200. that was the big transformation for me. when i started to wake up and understand there is the producers and the takers, and i do not feel like paying high taxes. i know president biden wants to raise everyone's taxes again, but that is a big turning point for me. host: would you describe it

merely on financial needs or doesn't translate to social need as well? guest: i'm very pro-life. my daughter is adopted, my mother is adopted, and i support the conservative agenda on most things socially too. a lot of people republicans or democrats, liberals when they were kids. it is part of growing up, becoming a conservative. host: we go to chicago, on the line for democrats. good morning. caller: brian, i know you on open borders as the republicans bread-and-butter but it won't work this time. turns out donald trump hires undocumented immigrants and has them on his payroll while he was in the white house. the hypocrisy has been exposed. guest: there were some people

that worked for president trump that had fake documents to gain employment. so yeah, there were people committing some type of fraud. i don't know if it was identity fraud, but they had false identification. as far about arguing against borders, we do not have a border on the southern border. it is complete anarchy down there. president biden put kamal hauer's -- kamala harris in charge, and she has not been down to the border like ted cruz did an jim jordan did in the past couple weeks. so we have them at the southern border as we speak right now. host: one of the things republicans and democrats have done over the years with comprehensive immigration reform is is it possible and would you support it? guest: we already have all of the immigration reform we need. melania trump is an immigrant to the united states who went through a legal immigration process.

it is already on the books. before she was a citizen, or immigration status was about to expire and she went home to europe, reapplied, and came back and did it legally. what you are talking about is not having any type of immigration process, just to everyone's to be here -- i have been in mexico three times in the last couple years on listener cruises we have done the last couple year. i have to have a passport, can't go to mexico without my documents. why did they not need documents to come here? host: from bruce in alabama, republican line, go ahead. caller: hey, brian. i would like to run something by you and see what you like about it. in my lifetime, i'm 53 years old, about to be 54, but the president -- best president i had in my lifetime was ronald reagan, until donald trump. donald trump, i've never seen a man get fought so hard as president. he was strong. he pulled through it all.

i think he needs to run this way. nikki haley needs to be vice president. he needs to bring nikki haley with him. they will run together, and i guarantee we will win. announce it to the world. guest: whoever the running mate is for president trump, i know it will not be mike pence. host: why not? guest: maga doesn't like mike pence. they don't like him. that is the way it is. we will pick someone else. unfortunately, it cannot be governor ron desantis. there's a complication with him being florida residents. host: when you say maga doesn't like mike pence, elaborate why. guest: they feel like people didn't stand -- they feel like pence didn't stand up for president trump. he will not be the nominee with

president trump in 2024. host: mary is next, from wisconsin, independent line. you are on. caller: yes. i would like somebody, some of these podcasters, to look into why we cannot get the senators in congress -- and congresspeople to only be elected for a certain number of years. and why they walk out making so much more then they did when they came in. guest: yeah. so far as term limits, that'll never happen because that would involve congress passing a law to limit their own terms. they will never do that. some of these guys like biden has been there since nixon was president. they never want to leave, so that will never happen. why do they come out richer? they all do except her president trump because they are crooks.

host: this week in the biden administration in the previous week, talking about their infrastructure plan and taxation playing -- paying for it. what you think of the proposals and what do you think i could do as far as florida is concerned? guest: this infrastructure bill is a bunch of nonsense. i thought obama passed an infrastructure bill that fixed all the roads and bridges, and i'm surprised there still needing fixing. what this is all about his president trump was there for four years, and the earmarks were not as funding for as they were prior to president trump. this is a big payback to the donors that all of the members of both houses of congress oh a lot of favors and money to. host: how did you come to that conclusion? guest: because that is what it is. a small percentage of this is going to -- infrastructure to me is building a bridge or repairing a bridge. or repairing a road filled with potholes. and you hear the stories. very little ghost of those kinds

of things. i heard childcare the other day, that is not infrastructure. host: as far as roads and bridges, with that benefit florida? guest: our bridges and roads seem alright to me, but of course building a new bridge creates construction jobs. biden does not seem to like construction jobs. he put tens of thousands of people out of work when he shut down the keystone pipeline construction. that was an infrastructure project and he shut that down. so is he worried about infrastructure or paying back the donors? host: in northport, michigan, this is democrats line, bradley, hello. caller: brian, you seem to have a slob's crush on trump, following him to the end. a sick, sick man. the movement is sick. about the antifa people. they did not invade the capital. you made that up. that is a lie. biden is not going to raise taxes on everyone, he is going to raise them on people that are

over $400,000. and going to the border, ted cruz or any of these people, it doesn't make them a hero. it doesn't do a thing, brian. it is change because you had to pay some taxes. you little puppy. guest: so far, he is only taxing people $400,000 per year or more in income. it lets a biden is telling the truth, a politician telling the truth, they will pass that onto to us, the consumers. because that is the business, corporate class. it is in effect raising taxes on all of us. the last day president trump was in office, i filled my car up on the way to mar-a-lago, it was one dollar 99 since per gallon and now it is three dollars per gallon with biden. biden is hurting working people struggling after a year of a shutdown with the gas prices alone. he might as well raised taxes

with gas prices going up like this. host: i want to revisit something you said and the caller brought up the role of antifa on january 6. to what story do you think they were involved on january 6? host: there was one antifa -- guest: there was one antifa guy that was wearing maga gear that filmed the tragic shooting at the air force veteran as she was climbing through the window. he was antifa, right up in the front with the maga people. i'm not denying that they were mostly maga people but they were not alone. host: i think you said leftist you described were a large part of that. i would like you to clarify. guest: antifa. host: so strickler antifa or were there others involved? guest: i have seen antifa people specifically identified, but no other groups. but antifa is a group that the democrats support. host: so as far as the total crowd, you would say those who supported the president or at least -- guest: most of the people that

went in were no doubt trump supporters, but there were only a small percentage of the maga movement nationwide. that wasn't me, president trump, don jr.. none of us support any of that. that is why they will go to jail. there are hundreds in jail right now, there will be trials, and they will go to prison, and they should. host: thank you. i wanted to clarify. albert in new jersey, a republican line, go ahead. caller: god bless people like brian craig and people who speak about what is going on like him. i would like to say they just showed on television the biden administration, $60 million per week it is costing the american taxpayers at the border. number two, president trump never took a salary. they talk about the money. he never took a paycheck, that is how great he is. number three, pelosi, macconnell, and biden all make

money in china. people better do some research and reading and see what these people are doing to the people in america. thank god for you, brian. they better do research before they talk about what they don't know about with the biden administration doing to our country. guest: thanks. host: the washington post highlights the cost of the young migrants on the border there, $60 million weekly. what you think is a good approach for this administration to take, particularly on the border? guest: finish the great wall of trump on the southern border, close of the gaps, send everyone back. president trump had the mexican army guarding their northern border to keep people on the other side of the border. especially out of the pandemic. i have seen some of these got awful photographs and transparent cells they have

children in. no social distancing going on, and after they go through this process with no social distancing, little covid testing, they moved them around america? this is not the way to do things. shut the border down. host: this is from mary elizabeth in new york, democrats line. go ahead. caller: good morning. you said something very interesting about when you went to mexico, you needed your papers and documents. guest: right on. caller: these people are coming into mexico from honduras, guatemala, el salvador. why aren't the mexicans keeping them out, because they don't have documents? don't you think it is very strange these people are allowed to come here? it is like a very organized -- and it has been that way ever since the trump administration hat the -- had the embassy move

from tel aviv to jerusalem. the only dignitaries there with the guatemalan president, the honduran president, and i believe the president from el salvador. shortly thereafter, the caravans began. people were calling up and saying, people who disagree with you need to read, but i think people who generally agree with you also need to read, and increase their knowledge of history and historical presidents. former president trump did not take a salary, but he has 300 plus companies. so until you do an investigation to determine how many of those companies did or did not get government contracts during his term and how long they will be

in a fact, can you say he left the white house with less money than when he began? host: caller, thank you. mr. crank, go ahead. guest: so far as the -- craig, go ahead. guest: as far as the southern border, no anarchy but as far as the northern border with canada, it is locked down. canadian snowbirds can even come to florida. they can come to florida because of covid. our northern border is locked down. if the northern border is locked down why is the southern border not locked down for the same reason? host: what do you think is an underreported story or may be something you think people should be paying attention to that they are not? guest: i would say the southern border. i saw a story that developed twice this week, terrible video of human smugglers dropping two young children from the top of a 14 foot border wall on the

ground and left them in the desert alone. border patrol pick them up. i hear they are reuniting with her parents in new york. these two parents have two young children that traveled hundreds and hundreds of miles alone and were in the hands of human smugglers, abusing them. i would like to see a story on the parents. where were they? are they neglectful parents? how did their kids end up in another country alone with human smugglers? host: a website for our guest is briancraigshow.com. he is a host of the brian craig show podcast and is part of our week of political podcasters. thank you for your time. guest: thank you. host: coming up on our program, we talk to the issue of housing affordability. running us for that discussion is sunia zaterman, with the council of large public housing authorities. the conversation is coming up on "washington journal." ♪

>> american history tv on c-span3, exploring the people and events that tell the american story, every weekend. saturday at 2:00 p.m. eastern on oral history, leon ellis talks about his time serving in the vietnam war and as a prisoner of war for five years. saturday, at 6:00 p.m. eastern on the civil war, a look at confederate book burners in the mississippi during the last years of the civil war. saturday at 8:00 p.m. eastern on lectures in history, american history professor joseph campbell on the cronkite moments and its effect on public opinion , or the vietnam war, on sunday at 2:00 p.m. eastern on oral history. u.s. army veteran david fass or taylor reflect on his time serving as a clerk during the vietnam war. sunday at 8:00 p.m. eastern on the presidency, a look at newly reelected -- newly elected president's address is to a joint session of congress.

with george w. bush in 2001 and president barack obama in 2009. exploring the american story. watch american history tv, this weekend on c-span3. >> c-span shop -- c-spanshop.org is the new website. go there to get spiral information for every member of congress. also contact information for state governors and the biden administration cabinet. order your copy at c-spanshop.org. every purchase helps support c-span's nonprofit operation. >> "washington journal" continues. host: this is sunia zaterman, the executive director of the council of large public housing authorities. here to talk about issues when it comes to affordable housing initiatives for the biden administration. thank you for your time today.

guest: thank you for having me. host: talk about your organization. what does it do and who backs it? guest: the council of large public housing authorities represents the largest and i would say the most innovative housing authorities in the country. collectively, they operate almost half of the public housing portfolio and substantial numbers of other housing programs. they are often the affordable housing provider in their community and coordinator of services that reach to residents they serve. they play a critical role in serving the most vulnerable households in their communities, through federal assistance and through innovation, other programs they have been able to develop locally. what we do in washington is educate and provide information about the issues that confront and challenge housing

authorities. primarily, what is needed to address the issues of inequality , income inequality, and obviously we are serving the very low and extremely low income households. our job is to represent those fusion washington, and i think today, we will talk about the beginning of a new era in thinking about how we address the issues of housing stability for all americans. host: before we get to that, i was wondering, i'm sure people have perceptions of public health. what is the perception and the reality? guest: the reality is that there is high demand for public housing across the country, because markets do not adequately serve low income households and very low income households in their community. this has been documented across the country. many housing authorities have

undertaken the redevelopment improvement of their public housing across the years. i would be amiss if i did not speak to the early history of public housing, which was intentionally racially segregated, controlled by cost, and also often cited in areas that were least desirable, for environmental or other purposes. from the beginning, i think there were challenges, systematically built into the system. what is in -- what has endured in public housing is that there is a crying need for good and stable housing for low income households, persons with disabilities, and seniors across the country. i think the image, we hope, has changed. if you look at your community, you will not be able to find

what has traditionally been viewed as the 50-year-old image of what public housing was. our job is to fully integrated into the community, neighborhoods, and provide good, stable housing. that job has not changed. the tools have changed, and with it, we have seen impressive successes, but really, fundamentally hampered by the chronic underfunding of public housing. host: our guest is with us until 9:30. you can call and ask her questions. we have divided the lines this way. if you are in the process of looking for a home, (202) 748-8000. perhaps if you live in public housing, (202) 748-8001. all others, you can call us at (202) 748-8002. and you can text us as well at (202) 748-8003. to the biden administration's efforts that were recently announced, starting with $40 billion to improve

infrastructure with him public housing systems, what was the proposal from the administration? guest: it is landmark. it is markable. -- remarkable. over $200 million in the american jobs plan that is focused specifically on preserving, improving, and expanding the supply of affordable housing for low and including middle income households. making housing central in this plan is significant and returns to i would say the origins of public housing and addressing a crying need that has a ripple effects in the economy as well when people cannot afford grants , are unstable he housed, forced to be homeless, and families with children living in

shelters. we know that the impacts, of course, ripple through education outcomes, health impacts for those who do not have stable housing. this is the recognition the administration is making. the other remarkable thing i would say is how central housing is acknowledged through the four priorities of the administration, including racial equity, economic recovery, pandemic recovery, and climate change. housing is central to all of those, where we locate housing, its carbon footprint, whether people who need to work and are working have places to live. so all of these highly important priorities for the administration, i think, are really centered in housing, and

that is the recognition with the dollars in the proposal. specifically with the $40 billion for public housing, just by comparison. in 2009, the stimulus bill that was passed, that at that time was seen as landmark, had $4 billion for capital investment of public housing, which now is estimated to be between $70 billion and 100 billion in terms of -- 100 billion dollars in terms of unmet need, boilers, obsolete footprints, energy upgrades, health upgrades. this year, they are proposing $40 billion, which is 10 times the amount we had seen previously. that in and of itself is remarkable. doesn't meet the full needy? we do not think so, but this is i think the beginning of an era in recognizing how critical this

federal investment is going to be for economic recovery for climate change and for racial equity. host: but for the 200 blessed -- for the 200 billion plus that's going to be invested, will that be put into public housing for people that need it? guest: public housing as part of a large spectrum of housing options which include public housing, the housing choice voucher program, which provides rental assistance through private landlords. there are 2 million housing units owned by nonprofits and for-profits that serve low income households. we have a tax credit program, local and state programs. we have yet to see -- what we have yet to see and will be seeing shortly are more details about this approach that the administration is taking, but

there are many areas that have tremendous unmet needs. certainly the supply of affordable housing across metropolitan areas where we primarily serve is a crime need. so our understanding, from what we have read so far and what we understand from administration officials, that it will be preserving housing that exists, affordable housing. it will improve its carbon footprint, and it will expand the supply through various means. i expect that will be a combination of some form of subsidies, some form of tax credits, perhaps, and other types of capital investment. host: again, our guest, sunia zaterman of the council of large public housing authorities. for our line for all others, jodey in michigan, you are on with our guest. caller: my question is i am a

66-year-old woman with one income, and i have very little choices of where to live. my rent keeps going up, and i live in a community that has -- it is a college town, so they can charge these higher prices. i am just under the property -- just above the poverty line, so i do not qualify, and i know this is something that many other seniors are going through, but i do not know where i'm going to live in a year if i can keep maintaining a mat -- keep maintaining romance. and these projects aren't something that might not happen for years to come. what is available for someone that has a solo income, limited income, yet once housing -- wants housing?

i have called places, done my research, but i need to be in a place that is not like a college rental area. host: jodi, hang on and keep listening and we will let our guest respond. go ahead. guest: sorry to hear your story and that you are feeling the anxiety of not having stable housing. there are so many that share your story, and i think this is really what we have." ." been talking about in?" ?" washington, about needing guest: ?" . host: host: -- this is really what we have been talking about in washington, about the gap for market housing and income. so we have the market and income , they are not matched. that, at various income levels, there is not a supply or availability of housing for

people in those income levels across their communities. we serve households below 80% of median. there are other programs that serve perhaps a sandwich between, but we really do not -- it is fragmented and we need a much more holistic copperheads of approach to meeting seniors like jodi who feel the insecurities and do not see housing opportunities on the rise for them. host: from kent, ohio, next is here she who lives in public housing. caller: hello. thank you for taking my call. i live in senior apartment buildings, i live in a college town. for the most part i am grateful that we have all utilities paid, we are grateful for that. everything is taking care of. recently we have had the

recycling of all of the area, of multifamily housing, they took our recycling away. we have a room where we drop our garbage off and backs. that is getting overloaded. do you know why this area will not recycle multifamily home's anywhere in the area? it is creating a mess. we are throwing more garbage down the whole-- hole. we do not know when it will be resolved. what is happening? i am mostly satisfied. there is a list, nothing is 100%. host: thank you very much. ms. zaterman. guest: i am pleased to hear that

you do not have the anxiety and endless stress that jodi has. that you have a safe place to live. and that you can afford it. your city might be a start, they should beat recycling from all multifamily links. host: when it comes to the building of public housing, how does zoning fit in? does anything the infrastructure -- the administration proposed impact that? guest: there is bipartisan support around the issue of zoning and local restrictions being an obstacle to supply. we see it played out in a lot of ways. there are historic precedents for this. i alluded to it in the history

of the book housing. we now know much more about redlining and the impact of redlining. there are neighborhoods that have been excluded from getting mortgages. neighborhoods that have been places that were dumping grounds for environmental waste. zoning can create pernicious activities. they can also create opportunities. single-family zoning has kept out of any form of other types of housing, that would allow different income households to live there. this is a fragmented housing system. a lot of control regarding zoning resides with cities, counties and states.

the approach the administration will be taking, looks like tariffs to incentivize the ability to do this. for housing authorities this is an issue. they are hard at work at creating opportunities in neighborhood of high opportunity. where there are good schools, employment opportunities. being able to acquire, subsidize, rehabilitate or construct housing in these areas would be a game changer. to have greater opportunities in neighborhoods. host: is it a general sense that places of single home neighborhoods do not want to public housing in those neighborhoods for am i wrong?

guest: there are a number of cities that have looked at this, minneapolis comes to mind. some cities in california, sacramento i believe. i do not think it is just public housing. that might be a way to talk about it. the zoning restrictions often restrict all kinds of activities and people. public housing has been singled out, many low-wage workers live in public housing because they have an affordable grant. they are often working in service industries and businesses that serve these communities but cannot live there.

host: cindy in woodbridge, illinois, a line for others, you are on with our guest. caller: i have one comment that i do not want you to address but i have a question that i want you to. you seem very informed. i do not believe it is the federal responsibility and taxpayer money to support all 50 states when some states do not manage their state well. in illinois, they are using the money they get from marijuana to give reparations to a certain race. would it not be a better use for that money for housing? do you know the percentage of undocumented immigrants in

public housing compared to the percentage of american citizens and their pets? guest: okay. i am go to answer the first part, there is a provision in the proposal to invest in communities that have been this invested in -- disinvested in. we do not know the criteria. that kind of model of investing in communities. in terms of subsidized housing's, they are only based on folks who are documented. they do not go to folks who are not documented. host: your organization gives the distance text, they conclude

that 750,000 people, 16,000 -- there are 280 thousand overly households public housing serves, 51% of those households white, 26% hispanic and latino. the council of large public counsel authorities is our guest, sunia zaterman, she is their executive director. we have a viewer on twitter who says -- i am having trouble with -- pulling up the tweet. i will take the call from john in brooklyn, new york. caller: i live in brooklyn, new york public housing. we have a problem checking on the way money is spent. there is a lot of money being

wasted. i was in public housing for the last three years. they have done the roof the same thing over and over. when the contractors do the roof, nobody comes to inspect it to see if they did it correctly. we have scaffolding they put up around the buildings. they leave it up a years before they do the work, in the meantime they are renting. the rules and regulation for tenants is not --. you do not do this, you do not do that. management do not follow up, nobody checks management. thank you.

guest: thank you, i want to note, i am sorry i cannot speak to any of your specific issues. i want to address the issues around nitra, that is undergoing a plan for transformation. that i think is an example of the underinvestment of public housing. the capital need alone and the largest public housing authority in the country, serving over 170 house -- 170,000 households, are trying to undertake a way to rather than just repair and replacement buildings that are 60 years old -- replace on

buildings that are 60 years old, bring to them with the latest technology in terms of heating and cooling those buildings. so that they can stand for another generation. they need $40 billion to do it, they have creative ways to do it. they house over 400,000 households in new york city. an investment in them is an investment in the size of a city. they are on their way to implementing this. it is going to take time. and patients. -- patience. host: how is rent calculated and public housing? guest: 30% of adjusted gross income, there are some deductions. all households do have an income

calculation. they pay rent based on income. host: we have a viewer from twitter, why shouldn't the solution be to get people off of the need to have public housing? guest: i agree with you, to the extent that would mean that we would need to have people in incomes that can afford market rate rents where we see a big gap. the minimum wage, even if you're working 40, 50, 60 hours per week does not support being able to rent in the private markets. for seniors on fixed incomes there is very little supply that is affordable to them. these are often people who worked all of their lives. they have paid into social security. we have a market dysfunction.

we need more jobs, better access to education, we see health disparities. people in low income areas have lower access to primary health care. that is a larger goal. we have to recognize in public housing and overall that we are serving households that are full of seniors or persons with disabilities. we need housing options for those folks. the market often does not serve them. host: from michigan this is mary. caller: hello. thank you for taking my call. i agree with the gal from illinois. i want to know why you do not reach out to the homeless

military vet heroes and start work with the people that do not want to help themselves. i will hang up. guest: we have some very innovative approaches to serving veterans who are homeless. the park networks between hud and the veterans administration -- it works between hud and the veterans administration, giving them services and counseling through the v.a. most of our members have this type of program and are actively engaged in recruiting and doing outreach. host: a viewer in virginia, texting us, saying starting with

homeownership is the greatest way to grow wealth. are there programs of public housing ownership? guest: yes there is. many housing authorities are including homeownership programs and including a project spectrum of types of housing in redevelopment of sites. there are programs that have rent to lease. absolutely, housing authorities are looking at that. a homeowner needs income that will be able to support the cost of owning a home and for most of our households, income would not permit. for those we are trying to build a ladder in the economic mainstream. host: there are stories we are

seeing about the how to market and it is a seller's market, what is the impact on the availability of housing for the people you serve? guest: shut out. people are shot out. they are on the lowest rung of competition in terms of cost. that is a problem. that is why the $50 billion cumulative and -- in the recovery bills passed by congress on rental assistance indicates -- i think is one indicator of how much this is a crisis. by january, economists were estimating there were $70 billion in arrears by renters. low income renters are much more hit than high income renters.

many economists talk about the k recovery, in upper levels seen the pandemic impact, as opposed to lower income with job loss. illness and the whole set of issues. job loss and income loss accumulated. that shows one indicator of the enormity of the impact on renters. host: from new jersey, carolyn on the line. go ahead. caller: good morning. my concern is the winning list or senior housing. i am a senior, disabled, et two e-readers -- 82 years of age, they say the waiting list is up to 10 years. i have been waiting two years

for an apartment. why does it take so long to receive an apartment? what is the poverty level? i applied for a job, i thought i could find a job. for a senior citizen, retraining , you have to be under the poverty level. i was just a little above. what is the criteria? i think you for your answer -- i think you for your answer -- thank you for your answer. host: thank you. guest: the answer is there is not enough housing. unfortunately you are not alone, the fact that you are a senior

and disabled highlights how alarming this is. we cannot have enough housing to meet the demand for people who are on fixed incomes, we are going to see a demographic tsunami of people aging. they are not positioned to deal with that. i'm not sure i can address the eligibility for your senior program. host: here is a viewer texting us, how does parental control and building restrictions afford -- impact public housing? guest: there are cities that have rent control. there are different views that rent control is essential, some see it as essential to keeping people in cities and close to where they work. who are low income.

i think that is a complicated issue. it is not one or another. host: from melvin in florida, go ahead, you are on the line. nelson in florida? caller: hello. why is it thought the governments, state or federal, has not looked more into prefabricated homes? they are well-made, last a long time, easy to refurbish. they are relatively inexpensive. residents who would occupy such a home should have their rent to go towards the purchase of such a home which would give them equity. i can never understand why low income housing authorities never look for prefab homes.

they are beautiful. they last a lifetime. you can take one that has been used a can be refurbished. they are not that expensive. i am wondering if you might be able to address that. guest: i can only address it generally. there are many housing authorities looking out alternative building technology. but they also have zoning requirements and building code requirements set by locality. that are often not interested in experimentation. they have to get financing, there is another set of acceptability of that use by lenders. they are building for a lifetime.

often the cycles for owners is 20 years. we are looking at 40-60 year ownership and the sustainability of that. there is increasing interest in these technologies to reduce cost and improve agency -- energy efficiency. host: we stopped because of the pandemic, several states put eight rent moratorium in place. how does that impact discussion? guest: the eviction moratorium? host: yes, thank you. guest: it has been critical to keep people housed. that is the whole point of this. we want to keep people housed. it has been extended by the cdc. our view is that it is critical but not sufficient. we need to address arrears.

we need to address, who is in the hole. that is the point of the $50 billion in rental assistance. that cities and states are complying at different rates. the intention is to make landlords whole and not eat this and address the cap that the eviction moratorium is creating. host: richard in verona, mississippi, hello. caller: i am 87 years old. after world war ii, the gis had a house you could buy for the gis. it was a very simple house. you did not have big overhangs parent you spend money on living space. the same weight in the 70's --

way in the 70's. go to the foreman homes association, you get a home. very restrictive on what the size could be. if you owned the lots, you could get the loan or you had enough money to purchase a lot, you could get a loan. savings and loans used to finance houses. now you have to go with the bank. in the 70's we built a lot of houses for around $14,000. people are saying that is crazy. there were not elaborate -- they were not elaborate but the average person could afford it.

if you could save $2000 for a lot, you could get a home. now you were talking about $200,000 homes. host: thanks. guest: the cost is astronomical and first-time homebuyers are shut out. i want to point out the issue of racial equity that often black families and people of color did not have access to finance. this has been documented to great lengths about the wealth disparity gap. part of that is driven by the underlying systemic racism in the housing, financed development system. part of our job here is how do we address those?

host: are there cities that stand out in your mind that do what you are proposing in the right way? are there other issues that take this on in innovative ways -- nations that take this on in innovative ways? guest: other countries do not have the level of housing instability that we do. most of them have social housing or affordability system. most of them have universal health care. in that regard, we do not match up. the point that you are making, often left to localities and increasing states. what we have been trying to say is that the federal government has a responsibility in this. that is why we need these

investments. host: have you been able to talk to secretary marcia fudge about these issues? guest: yes i have. we are delighted to have her as secretary. she comes with vast experience as a mayor and member of congress and advocate for food insecurity. she has spoken a number of times since her confirmation and expressed the centrality of housing, understanding where the gaps are. we are going to work with her to chase large goals. host: call from newcastle come -- new castle, pennsylvania. caller: i am rhonda's mother.

she lived in public housing with her husband, he had problems. i do not know if he was schizophrenic. he would fight with her and messed up the apartment. this was about eight years ago, she left the housing and when she tried to get back in, they will not allow her in. i was wonder, how long it takes before a person can be reinstated after something like this? guest: that is up to each agency. host: as far as what we talked about, as far as the proposals. as far as what you are seeing, what do they need to be done to be fleshed out? guest: we need more details. the process of how they make their way through the

authorization committees and appropriations committees. we expect a detailed plan shortly. they are briefing folks now. as you have heard, there are expectations that they would like to get this done by the end of summer. host: how do you know if this will be successful? guest: first that it is in there. that these elements are in the plan. that is huge, that is our starting point. i would also say that the bills passed in the house, maxine waters, chair of the house financial series -- house financial committee has been huge. there is support on the house

side. when we get to the senate, that is going to be complicated. i am encouraged, because the pandemic has brought eight reckoning and understanding that people must be housed -- a reckoning and understanding that people must be housed. that is what we are going to set about doing. there is an urgent consensus that has to be done. host: miss zaterman is the executive director of the council for large public housing authorities. thank you for your time. guest: thank you. host: for the next half hour until the end of the program we will resume the question we started with this morning as far as the executive actions on gun violence. we will show you some of that and get your comments on that if you support the executive actions (202) 748-8000, if you oppose them (202) 748-8001.

we will take those calls when washington journal continues. ♪ >> sunday on q and a, a conversation on the influence of lady bird johnson on the lbj presidency compared to other first ladies with julia swan, senior research fellow at the lbj school of public affairs at the university of texas austin. >> i see her as the bridge between eleanor roosevelt and hillary clinton. she has the commitment to developing a policy agenda that reinforces and elevates her husband's. she has the public role that is not as broad because she did not have a radio program, column that eleanor did. she was campaigning for her husband and working hand in glove to elevate his presidency.

eleanor was in the white house much longer, icy see lady bird coming in and modernizing the office of the first lady. the first person to do that after world war ii. >> author of lady bird johnson, hiding in plain sight. you can listen to q&a as a podcast, where you get podcasts. >> washington journal continues. host: president biden unveiled a series of executive actions yesterday taking on the issue of gun violence. here are some of the president's statement from yesterday. [video clip] [no audio]

host: if you want to call and comment on what is going on as far as the executive actions and if you support or oppose them. if you support (202) 748-8000, if you oppose (202) 748-8001. you can also post on our texting service at (202) 748-8003. facebook and twitter available as well. michigan on our support line, good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: i support curbing the gun sales in the united states, we have too many guns and military guns should not be sold in this country. host: as far as the specific announcement what do you support? caller: i do not exactly hear his announcement, i saw the issue on the and telecast -- int

elecast. but we have too many weapons. [video clip] pres. biden: cities across the country are expensing historic spikes in homicides. the violence is hitting black and brown communities the hardest. homicide is the leading cause of death of black boys and men, ages 15-34. leading cause of death. there are proven strategies that reduce gun violence in marine communities. there are programs that have demonstrated they can reduce homicides up to 60%. many of these have been underfunded. gun violence in america, those of you from an economic standpoint is estimated to cost the nation $280 billion a year.

how could that be? hospital bills, physical therapy, trauma counseling, legal fees, using costs -- present cost-- porison costs-- prison costs. not to mention children experiencing loss. this gun violence is having an impact on our children, even if they are never involved. in pulling the trigger or being the victim on the others. for a fraction of the cost of gun violence we can save lives, create safe and healthy communities and built economies that work for all of us-- build a countries that work for all of us. and save billions of dollars.

host: the regulations would include closing loopholes on ghost gun's. it would clarify restrictions on stabilizing braces for high-powered pistols, it would publish model red flag legislation for states. $1 billion in grant program to communities to combat and prevent violence and required the justice department to issue a report on firearms trafficking. that is part of the executive actions yesterday. when it comes to these announcements, do you support or oppose? (202) 748-8000 if you support, (202) 748-8001 if you oppose them. the new york times when it comes to the presentation offered this article. saying that the president outlined the actions he was taken in a speech that described

liberals he looked too close. he says if you walk into a store and purchase a gun, you do not have a background check, you can go into a gun show and purchase whatever you want with no back on track. the near times as this was exaggerated, licensed firearms dealers are required to look up potential buyers in a background check system before a sale is approved. private sellers are not required to perform such back on checks and some do sell at gun shows. you can find that online at the near times. lamar supports the announcements from maryland, tell us why. caller: i support them, this is the only country in the world that you have more guns than you almost have people. guns do not kill people, people kill. you have so many people that is

running around using these blue, come to find out they have mental issues, all of these issues. why were they given the right to own a weapon? when i had my weapons i was a resident of the state of virginia and you had to have a background check. you cannot just go in and purchase a weapon. you have to be able to prove that you did not participate in domestic violence, did not have mental issues and all of your weapons had to be registered. host: that is lamar. south dakota, the caller opposes. caller: i think it is going too far. the one thing he did say that i could maybe agree with is the underfunding of the programs we have. if you want to increase

background check system, they have a lot of fixing to do. the system can be very slow and take months. it should not be that way. if you're going to purchase, that should be done within a few days. host: did you read the other elements? caller: i think we have enough -- but there are enough things in place if the procedures were followed that we would not need any more gun laws. there is enough on the books. making it tougher was not decrease crime -- will not decrease crime. host: here is the reaction from house minority leader, democrats passed legislations -- saying democrats passed more legislation that makes it harder to their families. creating a defective national

gun registry and ending the three-day process to sale. these actions are not response to the facts, they are responding to gun-control activist at the expense of law-abiding citizens. the new rules will result in unconstitutional overreach that republicans will strongly oppose to protect the right to keep and bear guns from being infringed by this administration. that was the house minority leader from yesterday. san francisco, california, supporter of this effort. caller: years ago they sold -- i sold advertising. the easiest way to sell advertising was to use paranoia, fear. whether it was to sell it to the person or get the client to purchase ads. when you look at the way advertisement for guns are

going, they are using the same thing. host: how so? caller: the gun industry is targeting paranoids. they are going out of their way to get paranoids to purchase guns. every time this issue comes up, millions of more guns get sold. it would seem to meet there is an issue about the advertiser -- the advertising campaign with guns. whether or not this could be additionally dealt with. host: what do you mean by the advertising of guns, give me the specifics? caller: listen to the advertisements of guns, go to the nra brochures every month. you are going to see that it is targeting towards paranoids, they are coming for you, they are coming for you. it is not an issue if there is a logical reason why a gun would be needed.

the nra does not deal with gun safety. the nonprofit status of the honorary used to be based upon gun safety. there is no longer an issue of that. i would think that those aren't -- i would think that that nonprofit status should be yanked. they do no public goods. host: you made that point. we will go to ken who opposes that effort in south dakota. caller: i think joe biden is the best advertisement for gun sales. him and the democrats have created the high crime rate by defunding police efforts and egg the rioting -- ignoring the writing-- rioting. host: what about yesterday? caller: they have plenty of

rules, his plan is to take guns away. everybody knows that. that is my thoughts. host: we will go to sydney, alexandria, virginia, supporter of this. supporter of this -- supporter of this. caller: he has the right idea. there's something else we can do, go after the bullets. ar-15 without bullets is a club. host: reactions from the members of congress. former police chief, represented from florida on her twitter feed put out this. guns in the wrong hands kill innocent people, the orders are evidence-based and carefully targeted, they will save lives. marcus anje says that somebody

who tried to commit suicide by gun, i've -- who lost a parent to suicide by fire, i've spent years to combat the gun violence epidemic with research. i am proud of the present for taking action and -- i will always stand up for this decadent amendment -- for the second amendment because it is our conscious right to keep and bear arms. these series of gun grab executive orders are unconstitutional and bypass the will of congress on the american people. another congress person says the second amendment must be protected and the executive orders will not curb gun violence and will strip citizens of their ability to protect themselves and their families. that is reaction from members of congress. we are taking your reaction until 10:00. youngstown, ohio, sandy opposes.

caller: biden did a lot of lying. we know he wants to take the guns. democrats want to, just like they are attacking free speech. the reason we have this right is called the constitution. he even said the second amendment is not an absolute right. they are absolute rights. as soon as a killing like this happens, democrats want to take your guns, more gun laws. they do not care about the killings in chicago every weekend. what about antifa? they killed 30 people. how many people were killed at the capitol?

one was murdered. they are letting criminals out of jail and they are defunding the police. although the people supporting this, taking away your rights are going to regard at. host: okay. that is sandy and ohio, we will hear from marjorie in kansas, supporter of this. caller: yes i support it. gun laws will protect the innocent. they will not put the guns in the hands of the mentally ill. host: what about yesterday does that? are you there? let's go to tim, baltic, ohio, opposes this. caller: i do not think we need to take guns away.

we need to control the use of guns in the streets. new york city came up with stop and frisk, cleaned up new york. chicago is out of control, and what is running around with guns. host: what about the targeted effort towards ghost guns? caller: you have to register the receiver part of the gun. the receiver has eight serial number and thought has to be registered. it is not a complete ghost gun. host: more from the president from yesterday. [video clip] pres. biden: we have a long way to go. always seems like we have a long way to go. we are taking steps to not just confront the gun crisis but what is a public health crisis. nothing i am about to recommend anyway impinges on the second amendment.

no amendment to the constitution is absolute, you cannot yell fire in a crowded movie theater, we collect freedom of speech. you could not own any weapon you want to own from the beginning, certain people were not allowed to have weapons. the idea is bizarre to suggest some of the things we are recommending are contrary to the constitution. gun violence in this country is epidemic. let me say that again, gun violence in this country is epidemic. [applause] host: if you go to techcrunch. com there is an article about ghost guns, saying there were eight top -- a hot topic a few years back.

it says gun building kits do represent a significant loophole in regulation which do not require registration or background checks. a person can get 80% of a gun that way, the other 20%, the receiver, qualifies the simile is a fire by printing the weapon with no registration whatsoever. this is from the announcement yesterday. joel in eagle, idaho opposes this. caller: it is amazing the ignorance in this issue. the person who talked about military style -- the m1 carbine was a military weapon there is no resemblance to an ar-15. as far as though the commenting about keeping hands out of the mentally ill -- keeping guns out

of the mentally ill. the atf form, hunter biden is a prime example in the media owes the public to question biden on why his son was able to light involving his gun use. host: let's go back to yesterday. you oppose that, why? caller: hunter biden is part of the problem. what is good for him is not good for me. host: ross's in wisconsin -- ross is in wisconsin, opposes. caller: thanks for taking my call. i agree with the gentleman from

montana who says there is a lot of ignorance going around. i do not believe that anything joe biden proposed yesterday will put a single thing to curb gun violence. host: why not? caller: say again. host: why not? caller: you cannot legislate morality. you are not going to -- changing the appearance of guns, stocks added to short rifles is not going to do birthing to the people who want to act out, have -- is not going to do a thing to people who want to act out. punish the people who commit crimes. there are plenty of laws that address what happens if you use

a gun in a crime. i suggest that you take those people who commit crimes as -- tape those people who commit crimes as visible. they do not get to go through two years of psych eval, think at one appeal on them they are taken out on the town square and eliminated. host: you can make your comments known as far as the next 10 minutes or so. a couple of stories related to the pandemic. the wall street journal highlights the release of the report about the ongoing impact of the pandemic. the study says that the ongoing pandemic marks the most significant global disruption since world war ii with health, economic, political and security implications that will ripple for years. that is from the national intelligence council.

it adds in their global transfer 2040, a rough ride ahead for the planet with exhorting contests over resources, struggling to meet citizen aspirations and decrease fragmentation of communities where people are likely to gravitate to information silos of people who share similar views. more of that report paint story at the wall street journal. when it comes to vaccinations, usaid tete -- usa today reporting a mass vaccination site shutdown after people reported issues from receiving windows dose of the johnson & johnson vaccine. they said that it followed protocols and an abundance of caution made the decision in partnership with the state department operations. janet in new york supports the actions of yesterday. tell us why. [indiscernible] host: hello?

caller: how are you? host: fine, thank you. caller: when children get abused in their childhood, they go to a normal school and do not show up until later on. they show their actions later on and can live a normal life. a childhood investigation is more important to find out what is happening because sometimes i can cover up a lot that has happened. when they get older, it is not resolved. it shows up in their personality. they take revenge. host: as far as the actions from yesterday, why do you support those? caller: i support it because i think people need to get certain evaluations before they get to

purchase guns. host: from missouri, casey supports this effort. caller: how are you? host: i am fine. caller: i think there is too much violence, nobody needs those kinds of guns and their house. host: specifically what do you support? caller: everything that he said. host: okay. on the oppose the line, this is alice, minnesota. hello. caller: hello. i have thought about the gun used for many years. i am now 78. i am thinking of learning how to protect myself with a gun. it ends up that i live in a community in the past, i live in the country away from police.

we had murders in the county. when my husband would go away, he taught me how to have the gun available. if anything happened -- if somebody broke into my house and i was alone, there was no way that police could ever get to me. with the criminals around. now there is so much defund the police, taking away the enforcement of gun laws. already on the books. host: what about yesterday do you oppose? caller: i oppose the fact that

the second amendment is absolute. we cannot stop ordinary people from defending themselves. how do we stop criminals from getting guns? host: allison in minnesota, this is a viewer from georgia who says should be like canada, consulting family, friends, coworkers to let them have a gun. keith in florida sank with the executive action -- k through four that saying with the executive order not preventing sandy hook. criminals do not purchase gun guns -- do not make ghost guns they purchase them off of the street. next call suggest. caller: the gentleman talking about making people have noted,

the lady who just spoke is an example of what he is talking about. advertisement panics people and put people in the mode to say -- they are going to come through the door, window on near. the lady she has taken about his african-american people, those are the only ones who will come into your home. what is amazing how these american people cannot understand, this is the only nation on the face of the earth that has although these killings every year. how can they not understand the problem is guns don't kill people, people kill people. host: because of your background and law enforcement, what do you think the actions will accomplish? caller: it depends on the individuals and healthy free thank fox news, donald trump and the rest of the crazies and the nra, this is about individual thinking. host: one more call, dn atlanta,

maryland opposes this call. hello? one more chance. caller: hello? host: are you there? i can barely hear you, you have a lot of background noise. i apologize for that we will make that the last call. we appreciate all of you who called in. if you want to see the actions from yesterday that the president took you can go to our website at c-span.org and view them there as well as any other topic it comes to the issue of guns. you will see everything we have taken in over the years on the topic. that is it for our program today. another addition of washington journal comes your way tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. ♪

♪ >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. c-span was created by america's cable television company in 1979. today, we are brought to you by these television companies who provide c-span to viewers as a public service. >>, remarks from house majority whip james clyburn of south carolina. also, the covid 19 update. a discussion on some of the legal challenges with unaccompanied minor children at the border.

that starts at noon. and later, look at concerns people have about getting the coronavirus vaccine. watch live coverage at 1:00 p.m. eastern on c-span, online at c-span.org, or listen with the free c-span radio app. >> sunday on q&a, a conversation on the influence of lady bird johnson had on the lbj presidency compared to other first ladies, with julius wine, senior research fellow at the lbj school of public affairs at the university of texas austin. >> i see her as the bridge between eleanor roosevelt and hillary clinton. she has the commitment to developing policy agenda that reinforces and elevates her husband that elinor had. she has the public role, not quite as broad because she didn't have a radio program or a column, but this was a woman who

was out campaigning for her husband and working hand in glove to elevate his presidency. i see lady bird coming in and modernizing the office of the first lady, the first person to do that since after world war ii. >> the author of quote lady bird johnson: hiding in plain sight -- "lady bird johnson: hiding in plain sight." >> next, a conversation with house majority whip james clyburn, some of the topics include involvement in the civil rights movement, he said senate elections in georgia and the senate filibuster. this event was held by video conference and hosted by american university. >>