the new election laws being passed in several states. after that, tom mcclintock joins us to talk about the legislative agenda and today's vote by house republicans to remove representative liz cheney from her leadership position. >> sit back and watch in silence while others lead our party down a path that joins the former president's crusade to undermine our democracy. host: congresswoman liz cheney in a last stand on the house last night before unexpected vote today to ouster from her republican leadership ranks. "the washington post" because it a defined exit and an unmistakable jab at the republican leadership and the continuation of her "once condemnation of former president donald trump." the morning. we will hear from republicans

only this morning. should your party oust the wyoming republican liz cheney from leadership ranks? if you support the idea, (202)-748-8000. if you are opposed, (202)-748-8001. text as with your first name, city and state if you are a republican at (202)-748-8003. or send us a tweet with the handle @cspanwj or join the conversation on facebook.com/c-span. we will get your thoughts in a minute, let's start with the wyoming congresswoman on the house floor before they adjourn for the day. here's what she had to say. [video clip] >> as the party of reagan, republicans have champion democracy, won the cold war and defeated the soviet communists. today, america is on the cusp of another cold war, this time of communist china. attacks against our democratic process and the role of law and

power -- rule of law and our adversaries in feed propaganda that american democracy is a failure. we must speak the truth. our election was not stolen, and america has not failed. i received a message last week from a goldstar father who said standing up for the truth honors all who gave all. we must all strive to be worthy of the sacrifice of those who have died for our freedom. they are the patriots, kathryn lee bates described when she wrote "oh, beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife, who more themselves their country loved and mercy more than life," in "america the beautiful." ultimately, mr. speaker, this is at the heart of what our oath requires, that we love our country more, that we love her

so much that we will stand above politics to defend her. that we will do everything in our power to protect our constitution and our freedom that has been paid for by the blood of so many. we must love america so much that we will never yield in her defense. [end video clip] host: congresswoman liz cheney on the floor last night. this morning, republicans meet behind closed doors for a secret vote on whether or not to remove her as the third republican leader in the house, the conference chair. that begins at 9:00 a.m. eastern time. this morning, republicans only. in the house, kevin mccarthy of california on fox news "sunday futures," talking about why they want to remove liz cheney from the ranks. [video clip] >> what can you tell us about

next week? do you have the votes to oust liz cheney? >> well, maria, everyone in leadership serves at the pleasure of the conference. as you know, there is a lot at stake. democrats are destroying this nation. we have watched the greatest expansion of government in this socialist and liberalist agenda. we have watch them destroy our borders were hundreds of thousands are coming across, not been tested for covid. we are catching people on the terrorist watch list. you have got the destruction of our energy. you have the largest missed jobs report in more than two decades. to defeat nancy pelosi and the socialist agenda, we need to be united. that starts with leadership. that is why we will have a vote next week, and we would like to be united in moving forward. i think that is what will take place. >> is this just an ideology that she is unable to get over being

never trump and hindering her ability to discuss that very message that you just laid out? >> no, any member can take whatever position they believe in. that is what the voters vote on the individuals i make that decision. what we're talking about is a position in leadership. we are in one of our biggest battles in this nation and the direction of weather this next entry will be ours. as conference chair, you have one of the critical jobs of going forward as a messenger. i we talking about with the democrats are doing on the border, the missed jobs report we just had? are we watching joe create inflation we've never seen before? the rising of taxes? the damage of what will be done that we cannot come back for? that is why we need a conference chair that is united and delivering that message day in and day out, and uniting the nation to make sure we are on

the right footing going forward. >> do you support elise stefanik for that job? >> yes, i do. [end video clip] host: minority leader kevin mccarthy from this past sunday, republican of california, he will hold that meeting today at 9:00 a.m. eastern time behind closed doors with the conference. the rank-and-file republicans. the vote is whether or not to remove liz cheney from the number three leadership post. this is the second time she faces a boat like this. fact -- faces a vote like this. back in february, there was another secret vote, and she retained the position. this is the headline, "cheney retains gop house leadership role." the vote was 145-61. 61 of her fellow republicans in the house voted against her that day. news observers this morning believe she will be ousted this morning in a vote, in a second

vote against her. president donald trump, the former president, sending a statement out earlier this week saying the house gop has a massive opportunity to upgrade this week from warmonger liz cheney to gifted communicator elise stefanik. her intelligence -- she has intelligence, an endorsement from american patriot friend injured and national border patrol council, she has an a plus from the nra, and she loves our veterans. we need someone in leadership who has experience living districts from blue to red as we approach the important 2022 midterms and that his police. she knows how to win, which is what we need. she served in the white house under president george w. bush and has a degree from harvard, she is serving her fourth term in congress and has served on the armed forces, education and labor and intelligence committees.

let's go to cindy in ohio, you support removing liz cheney. why? caller: because she's a traitor. because she did not stand by our president, number 45, the best president in my lifetime, donald j. trump. i think she is horrible. she is a rhino. she is a republican in democrats clothing. get her out. host: what about her voting record? caller: i know, i love that. i love that about liz cheney, and i will say that out loud. however, you know, when you stab somebody in the back, it turns tiring after a while. she can go, romney can go, the democrats can have them. host: cindy in ohio. in binghamton, new york, you oppose.

good morning, welcome. caller: i do. i certainly do. host: are you a lifetime republican? caller: i am. what is happening to our party makes me sick. i think liz cheney should run for president because she has the spine and backbone to speak truth. the people replacing god with trump i do not get. host: what do you mean? caller: i mean it is like they worshiped this man. anything he says. they do not care what the facts are, what the proof is, and it is destroying our party. it seems like whenever they say one little thing, they are all attacked and it doesn't matter what the truth is. i do not understand the worship of this man. host: will you give to liz cheney's election campaign? caller: absolutely i would. host: what is your message to

her today as she heads into the boat? -- into the vote? caller: i think she needs to keep on keeping on. she is speaking truth. she is one of the true voices left in the republican party. trump is the man who felt it was ok to grab women, who is going to pay off a hooker in a fight, he constantly lies. he was excellent in health according to him, yet, he had bone spurs. this is a real charmer, somebody i want to lead? i don't think so. host: did you vote for him in 2016? caller: absolutely not. host: who did you vote for? caller: i voted for joe biden because he was a much better choice. host: that was in 2020. caller: was it absolutely what i wanted to see? no, but he actually cares about the american people, and he is trying to tell the truth and

serve all americans, no matter party you are in. host: that was in 2020, what about 2016? caller: oh, 2016? now, i did not vote for him and 2016 because by then there had been so much exposed about him already. -- no, i did not vote for him in 2016 because by then there had been so much exposed about him already. he does not want us to know what his income taxes were, he did not care about the it'll people when he went bankrupt. you know, they say he is a smart businessman because of that. no, he is a failed one because of that. he did not care about the people's businesses and livelihood he wrecked. host: brenda in fort lee, new jersey, you oppose this idea, as well. good morning. caller:. hi, good morning -- hi, good morning. i really do oppose it.

if she is let go and police gets -- and elise gets in, i think change is good and hopefully things will come around and things will get better for the republicans. something has to change. this person just has a one track mind to down president trump, and her way of thinking is just terrible. i need a change. i am hoping for a change. this afternoon will let us know. thank you for listening. host: ok, brenda. this vote taking place behind closed doors at 9:00 a.m. eastern time, a secret vote. she will not know who voted against her or for her. republicans and capitol hill reporters, observers, all will be watching as republicans had behind closed doors. democrats will be, too. from nbc news, here is a quote

from a republican pollster, "removing liz cheney from leadership will give a boat load of ammunition to the gop critics," he says. he warns that outranking liz cheney, the daughter of former vice president dick cheney, could further antagonize suburban voters, particularly college-educated women who picked the party because of her opposition to former president trump. a text was sent to say "absolutely not. representative cheney is onto the rule of facts, hatred in politics is going to expose those unwilling to accept truth. we must protect the border, the economy, free speech and self-governance. trump should be minimized as leader of the party." in mount pleasant, pennsylvania, what do you say about this? what do you tell your fellow republicans in the house today? caller: ok, i support the removal of liz cheney for elise

stefanik. i feel elise stefanik will recruit more congresswomen and also more republican women because she has a lot of favorability, and you cannot move forward without changes. it is bigger than donald trump. [laughter] host: well, what do you think? i mean, why not have a voice within the republican party who represents the people that feel the same way as liz cheney? she has a conservative voting record, she will continue to be a conservative. she only differs on this one. what about the big tent? caller: that makes it the big tent. there are still other fully

conservatives, but you will have the maga people also, and i feel elise stefanik will further the party. you have to keep new blood in there. host: how do you respond to chip roy, the congressman from texas, the republican? scott wong of "the hill" reporting in a tweet that he comes out swinging ann stefanek -- swinging at elise stefanik. this is a quote "elise stefanik, let us compliment -- contemplate the message. gop is rushing to coordinate a folks -- spokesperson whose voting record and bodies much of what led to the 2018 ass-kicking by democrats." he says her voting record isn't as conservative as he would like. caller: a lot of things have changed since 2018.

you can see from just looking at congress, the republican congressman we have, -- congressmen we have, they are not -- they are fully ready to try and further things, you know? if you keep the old guard in there too long, this is what you get, and that is both sides of the aisle. host: is the only criteria that matters support of president trump? caller: well, trump had his good ideas. i mean, you know? but this is even bigger than him. you have to move forward. if you do not move forward, you know, you do not get anywhere. host: jim, cornelius, north carolina. jim, you also want to see the republicans vote to remove liz cheney from conference chair. caller: yes, i do. i believe that cheney has

betrayed the republican party, and it is time vertigo. as well as went romney -- and it is time for her to go. as well as mitt romney. the republican needs to stand united. i feel sorry for the people who believe all the news media that trumpeted this, that trump did that. the fact is -- trump did this and that. the fact is trump put america first. biden has done nothing like that. we have a border crisis, he has opened the borders, he is taking money, getting it to illegal immigrants. and cheney seems to support everything on the democratic platform, so, yes, i do believe she needs to go. host: what does she support? caller: she has not supported -- well, the biggest thing was she did not support trump during that fiasco, which now looks

like a lot of the states are looking at overturning some of those ballots, for my understanding. i just think that the republican party needed to stand united. i am all for securing the borders. i am all for putting americans first. you know, they get -- i heard a caller earlier talk about trump abusing women and all that. what about biden and all the reports about him and young girls? that did not seem to matter. all the personal stuff does not matter. host: let me ask you this, is the only criteria that matters support of president trump? caller: no. all that matters is securing our borders, taking care of americans first.

host: she has voted that way though, her whole time in congress, she has voted that way. she has voted the conservative line on those issues. caller: she is not that supportive of the nra. and, so, like i say, the biggest thing is -- i'm sorry, did i hear you say something? host: nope, i was listening to you. caller: she is not that supportive of the nra. like i say, my biggest thing is americans first, veterans need to be taken care of way before any illegal aliens or immigrants. so, and i do not see her doing that. host: well, look at her endorsement on the issue of abortion.

100% campaign for working families, family research council, national rights to life, national rights life committee, 100%. you can find this all if you go to justfacts.org. you can find the endorsements she has received over the years. she has been endorsed by the national rifle association in previous elections, as well. let's go to dean in louisville, kentucky. you oppose. good morning. caller: i think she has been doing a good job. we are not a dictatorship. she is a traitor because of donald trump. when i was in vietnam,

[indiscernible] certain people talk about patriotism, and he did not pipers country. thank you. host: dean, did you vote for president donald trump -- we lasting. -- we lost dean. we are talking with republicans only. let's go to you, robert. caller: yes, ma'am. good morning. host: morning. caller: i support liz cheney to stay strong and speak truth. i also wanted to make a comment, and i hope you will ask me questions and give me a little time without cutting me off. i like the way you ask questions and facts, not to the last caller, but the one before, you are trying to educate him. there seem to be a lot of people who do not want to be educated. they do not want to hear the truth, and then when you give them the facts, they have a hard time and do not know what to

say. my comment is, please forgive me if this does not sit well with everybody, it is my opinion. host: and you are a republican, robert, right? caller: yes, ma'am. host: go ahead. caller: i want to say babylon is falling. if you look at what is happening in israel, right here in north carolina, my party is on "e" and i cannot get gas. i am not exaggerating. people do not want to hear truth. people are deciding stuff all kin -- people are deciding all kinds of stuff with black lives matter's, and my point is i like the republican party, but it is like we are becoming racist because if somebody says the word black lives matter, we get angry. host: all right, robert, let's stick to the topic. following up on that previous caller saying that liz cheney is

not conservative enough on the second amendment, take a look at the nra's website. they put out an action alert, vote liz cheney for the u.s. house. this is for 2020, the last election cycle, and they gave her an a. solidly pro-good candidate. angela, in virginia. you want to see liz cheney go, why? caller: yes. this is about unifying the republican party. now, look. you asked all these questions to the supporters that she should go. i remember there was a woman in detroit. she was a state representative, and she was on-air, and she thanked -- she was a democrat, black democrat -- and she thanked donald trump for letting the world know about the one medicine, hydroxychloroquine,

that she had taken it when she had gotten covid, and she was thankful to donald trump. she was on-air and thanked him. the democrats attacked her, censored her, and no one on the democratic side or ever supporters -- ever supposed to support anyone on the republican side. and you all sit there and have the audacity to ask us why we went to see liz cheney go? because we need to be just as unified as democrats are. that woman in detroit, they censored her. we have not heard from her since. i would not even be surprised if she was ousted out of that party. no one did any follow-up on that when she thanked president trump un-air during the covid crisis. the democrats are supposed to stay united against everything we stand for, and then when we ask our representative to be in stay the same way, somehow or another we are wrong? liz cheney needs to go, she

needs to go because even if she felt donald trump did not win the election, she knew doggone well that he did not deserve to be impeached. yet, she voted that way she. people and her party are about the results about the election, right or wrong. they are upset about it and she cannot show a united front for the people that voted for her? democrats do the exact same thing, and i don't see you blowing your mouth about that. host: do you think that she should be able to run on the republican ticket for reelection in wyoming? caller: she should, but she should not be in leadership. this is about standing against the democrats. this is what this is about. host: hear from npr.org, the other nine republicans who voted

to impeach president trump, it was not just the congresswoman from wyoming. 10 out of 211 republicans in the house voted to impeach the president, liz cheney come from wyoming's at large district. representative rice representing seven congressional districts in north carolina. in illinois, 16th, as well as anthony gonzalez, to represent the 16th district in ohio, from michigan's sixth district, james upton. pete mir from michigan's third. new york's 24th district, and california's 21st district. those 10 voting to impeach president trump. gabrielle in greensboro, maryland.

you oppose the republicans wanting to oust liz cheney from the leadership ranks. good morning. caller: good morning. thanks for answering my call. yeah, i have -- i am not completely republican. i have republican views. i am pro-life and i have some conservative views and some democratic views. host: you voted republican? caller: no, the last president i voted for was obama. host: we are talking to republicans only this morning. we ask that you play along. we are going to open up this conversation to everybody in our last hour of "washington journal " between 9:00 and 10:00 a.m. eastern time. you can call in, send as text messages, tweets, go to facebook.com during that last hour, but let's just talk to

republicans only this morning while we make her -- while we wait for more calls. we will go to the house floor and the wyoming congresswoman coming to the floor to address her colleagues ahead of today's votes and here's what she had to say. [video clip] >> today, we face a threat america has never seen before, it president -- a president has resumed his aggressive efforts to convince americans the election was stolen from him. he risks inciting further violence. millions of americans have been misled by the former president. they have heard only his words but not the truth as he continues to undermine our democratic process, sowing seeds of doubt about whether democracy really works idle. i am a conservative republican,

and the most conservative of conservative principles is reverence for the rule of law. the electoral college has voted. more than 60 state and federal ports, including multiple judges the president appointed, have rejected his claims. the trump's department of justice investigated the former president's claims of widespread fraud and found no evidence to support them. the election is over. that is the rule of law. that is our constitutional process. those who refuse to accept the rulings of our courts are at war with the constitution. our duty is clear. every one of us who has sworn the oath must act to prevent the unraveling of our democracy. this is not about policy. this is not about partisanship. this is about our duty as americans. remaining silent and ignoring

the lie emboldens the liar. i will not participate in that. i will not sit back and watch in silence while others lead our party down a path that abandons the rule of law and joins the former president's crusade to undermine our democracy. [end video clip] host: liz cheney, the congresswoman from wyoming, the republican conference chair, facing a vote in about 1.5 hours on whether or not she should retain that number three spot in leadership. we are asking you, fellow republicans across the country, to tell your party what you want to do this morning. should they vote to oust her or should they keep her within the republican leadership ranks? adam kinzinger, republican of illinois, who also voted to impeach president trump, responding to her speech last night in a tweet saying "this is

leadership, this is integrity, this is liz cheney, and i am damn proud to support her," he wrote. former senator jeff flake in florida pregnant "the washington post," saying "cheney has proved her fitness, and her adherence to the big lie will cast her out. hold your head high, congresswoman, those of us who believe in objective reality and democracy are grateful you took a stand for truth, self-evident truth, regardless of the consequences." dean from indiana sends as this text this morning, "yes, remove cheney and vote for jim banks from indiana. we need a voice of common sense and good moral values. liz cheney grew up in d.c., we are tired of coastal elites." that was jim banks, the chair of the republican study committee. he was on fox news sunday with chris wallace. here is what he had to say about the vote to remove liz cheney

from leadership. [video clip] >> what is it about liz cheney that is not focusing on this mission? she opposes joe biden's agenda very strongly. >> that has not been seen as much as us in the republican conference would like to see. i am the leader of the largest republican caucus. one of my jobs is to hold my republican leadership accountable for being focused on the republican ideals we stand for and the single mission we have to win back the majority. at this point, the reason you and i are talking about liz cheney on sunday morning is the exact evidence she has failed in her mission as the chief spokesperson of our party. we should not be talking about liz cheney. we should be talking about pushing back against the radical biting agenda. this is a disk -- radical biden distraction. this is a distraction.

we will take it up this week because at this point it is necessary to do so. >> i have asked you two questions, congressman. why are you unwilling to discuss her criticism of president trump? >> i am not. as a rank-and-file member of the house republican conference, we can stay focused on other issues unrelated to us winning back the majority, but the belief i have, that the majority of our congress has, she has lost focus on the single mission we have, pushing back against the radical biden agenda is the reason she needs to be replaced. as a rank-and-file member, and make it clear to all of your viewers, chris, that we are not taking hurt -- not kicking her out of the republican party, but in her leadership post, they don't represent their district but the republican conference members. right now, it is clear she

doesn't represent the views of the majority conference with a focus this has to win back the majority. [end video clip] host: indiana republican jim banks on fox news sunday yesterday. he says he does not know who will replace her. elise stefanik wants to replace her of new york, and she has the endorsement of kevin mccarthy and former president trump. harriet in florida, you are opposing removing liz cheney, why? caller: well, good morning, you sweet little princess, you. host: [laughter] good morning. caller: i got a laugh out of you. i am so happy about that. number one, you have to ask this question. now, where would she be without her bagel sugar daddy? -- her big ole sugar daddy? that is number one, number two, elise stefanik is a real streetfighter. i don't think liz cheney could put a p-i-m-p-l-e on her

b-u-t-t. how do you like that? liz cheney was propped up and put up by her sweet sugar daddy. you sweet little princess, how do you like that? host: harriet in florida, you want to hear from elise stefanik serving in her fourth term as a member of congress, during an interview as a freshman member, this is what she had to say about political advice she received from her parents. [video clip] >> and my mom's advice is always maintain a moral compass. i think that is very good advice for anyone, particularly when an elected official. it is very important to live by the values you espouse. i think sometimes people are very disappointed in what they see in their elected officials,

particularly millennials, do not have a high approval rating of elected officials and people who get involved in politics. i think that is part of the reason they don't. it is important to live by a moral compass. >> you are running for reelection. have you given any thought to what is next or any other glass ceilings you want to break? >> i am excited. i love representing this district. i am working hard to make sure the promises i made on the campaign are kept, and i working on legislation. i think there is a lot i can do in congress on behalf of my district. i am not someone who plans five years, 10 years in advance in terms of if i do this and this, this will open up, that's not who i am.if you asked me three years ago that i would be sitting in my office on behalf of new york residents, i would've thought you were crazy, so it is important to do what you can at the job now, and that is what i'm focused on.

[end video clip] host: elise stefanik, republican of new york, back in 2015 when she was a freshman. according to news reports this morning, she is running for conference chair. she is likely to get the job from her fellow republicans to remove liz cheney from that post. news reports are that she would not stay in that leadership position, that she wants to move on to leadership positions on committees in the house of representatives. we have a text, "is she helping or hurting? she is not leading. none of them agree 100%. one issue taking all of the oxygen. time spent hurting, not helping. none of them are perfect. witness watters, booker, schumer, 2020 summer of violence. look at the white house now. central planning nanny states less freedom. trump got more done than anybody.

must republicans still support trump." john, good morning to you. caller: good morning. appreciate you taking my call. it was quite a long liz cheney filibuster. it went on for nine minutes, 10 minutes. i want to point out the risk of cheney's mostly from her father. he represents a winning from the republican party. number two, there has always been a huge risk in the republican party. ronald reagan brought down a whole bunch of coalitions. i was a young man and campaigned for ronald reagan, and we hated the bush people. if you remember the night of the primary, i mean the convention, ronald reagan went down onto the stage, the first time republican did this, and there was a huge

amount of people. there was a risk to rockefeller republicans versus the conservatives. in this movement and fight for part of the republican party been going on for a long time. the only other thing i can say is that trump never said he was a conservative. he is anti-globalist. cheney is a globalist. she is for the big banks and big corporations. this is a battle for the heart and soul of the republican party. it is not necessarily conservatism or liberals. it is almost more of progressives battling traditional individuals that want to have liberties and freedom. that is why texas and florida are standouts like they are. host: john, you are echoing the lead of "usa today's" front-page

story, house republicans prepared to oust liz cheney that will serve as a bellwether for the state of the party. wyoming representative cheney, whose father was an institution in republican party. that from the front page of "usa today." james, buffalo, kentucky. good morning. caller: good morning, things were taking my call, greta. yeah, the man who just called in kind of stole my thunder. all in all, she is about as two base as the day is long. she is -- two faced as the day is long. she is dripping with sugar, and she needs to go. everyone knows trump did not get a fair election. everybody knows that. there are so much evidence, yet, the courts would not take any of it because most of it was liberal courts.

they just would not take it up. host: what about the conservative judges that also said the evidence was not there? caller: they just did not get into the politics of it. they would not pick it up. all in all, trump won the election, they cheated. she needs to go. she cannot run a fried basket at mcdonald's. that is -- a fry basket at mcdonald's. that is just the way it is. she ran on her daddy's good name. she has no business being in politics. i watched her from the time she came into office and she only wanted that state because she found a loophole to get in. they need to go ahead, and when time comes up, they need to vote her out. i think that is what is going to happen. she has no business. she needs to go, she needs to do anything other than what she is doing because she is bad for society. thank you and have a nice day. host: james, before you go, if

she gets a primary challenger for 2022, which you get that challenger money? caller: oh, yeah, absolutely. you better believe it. i already gave the republican party money across the board. yeah, absolutely. host: do you see this vote this morning as a bellwether of the state of the party, which direction will go? -- which direction it will go? caller: the party is still strong. we just have some nut in there that doesn't know what he is doing. in four months, what has he done? the middle east is unstable. the border is unstable. everything. he has just done a bad job. i cannot believe cnn, nbc, and all of that, oh, everything is fine, running good, oh, boy, look at this! umm, biden, of course, he has

alzheimer's. host: we will leave it there, james. you and others may be interested in "the new york times" reporting that republicans are threatening to split from the party. it says the statement, which is expected to come out this week at former president donald trump 's stranglehold on republicans, which signatories have deemed unconscionable. "when democratic republic forces conspiracy and division and deputies him arrives, it is the responsibility of citizens to react to liberty and justice." it comes as house republicans are expected to oust liz cheney from their ranks. this is a first step says miles taylor, and organizer of the effort and homeland security official, who anonymously wrote a book condemning the trump administration.

he acknowledged he was the author of the book and in a 2018 "new york times" op-ed article. people signing it include state and national officials who were once governors. mr. taylor declined to name names, but it was reported that tim -- tom ridge of pennsylvania and christine whitman of new jersey will sign it, as well as mary peters and former congressman charlie dent of pennsylvania, barbara comstock of virginia, and mickey edwards, of oklahoma. let's go to dan. dan, good morning to you. caller: good morning, how are you? host: i am doing well. what do you say? caller: i think good riddance. i am so tired of politics as a family business. i think big business money is killing america. i am all for term limits, and liz cheney i do not agree with.

i guess on a personal level. you made some points this morning that i was a little surprised. i thought her and the nra were quite a further bit away than that, but i guess on a personal level, i am not a fan. and your previous callers -- [laughter] james and john, i do not necessarily agree with everything james said. i think john made good points. i am not going to be sad to see her go if it happens. host: ok, dan. paul in mandeville, louisiana. you oppose ousting the wyoming congresswoman. good morning. caller: good morning, how are you doing? host: i am doing fine. tell us why you oppose this. caller: ok, i oppose it because she is nothing but part of the swamp. the swamp contains about 95%

democrats, 5% republicans, the cia, fbi, the justice department. whatever happened to hunter biden? our country is in a place right now where the stock market is going to drop like a rock with what this guys doing. let's face it -- host: paul, you want party unity, that is what you want? caller: i want not only unity but honesty. the gentleman before said something about the election. as a reporter, do you not know that none of this stuff has been actually looked into? it has been looked over. how did 290,000 votes from new york city arrived in pennsylvania -- arrive in

pennsylvania no one questions that? host: paul, the justice department under president trump with his attorney general found no evidence. caller: they found no evidence because they looked for no evidence! that is the problem. there is so much evidence, it was unbelievable, but nobody took it up because of the swamp. they are protecting the swamp. these people are people. look at where the country is going right now. aren't you worried as a reporter we have pipelines being shut down, we have inflation about to go through the roof. host: paul, we heard your points. this tweet was sent up this morning, "a senior gop member who has supported cheney told me he has not heard from her ahead of today's vote, underscoring how she has not been whipping her colleagues to stay in the spot.

it is different from february when she worked hard behind the scenes to fend off the push for her ouster." tim in ohio, good morning. caller: good morning. liz cheney needs to go. she is still a part of the bush bunch. the way that trump beat jeb bush in the primaries, don mccain, cheney, mitt romney, they are all part of the bush bunch from back when bush was president, and they did not like the idea that trump beat the bush's so bad. host: do you like elise stefanik, tim? caller: i like that she has got the power in her to stand up. the republican party has a bunch of people who are still, like i said, a part of the bush bunch you are not standing up. they are on their knees all the time. host: she worked in the george

w white house. does that disqualify her, in your opinion? caller: no, i am not saying all the bush people were bad. i am saying the people in leadership right now -- we have the worst leadership in the country the last 50 years right now. anyone supporting nancy pelosi -- supported by nancy pelosi needs to go, period. he is standing up, not on his knees bowing to this craziness of open borders and putting a bunch of money and trying to throw money at stuff. he is willing to stand up. that is what we need. that is what the republican party needs. host: and supporting president trump, as well? caller: trump was probably the best president we had in 50 years as far as getting something done. the rest of them, obama, he just kicked the can down the road, followed it down the road.

trump came in, stood that can up and filled it with jobs. he did not just kick it down the road like obama did. host: ok, elise stefanik, a short video paid for by her campaign, was released recently, touting her support for the former president. [video clip] >> elise stefanik. elise, how is elise doing? new star. come here. an incredible representative. [end video clip] host: elise stefanik in her campaign video with her support of the president. she wants to replace liz cheney as the conference chair, the number three spot in the republican party. the group, the republican accountability project and anti-trump group put out this ad recently supporting liz cheney. [video clip] >> let me get to congresswoman

liz cheney. where were you, what did you see on the house of the four of representatives when you had to be evacuated? >> the president of the united states sending an angry mob to the capitol. we are going to have a lot of work we have to do. people have been lied to. president trump for months leading up to january 6 for the notion the election had been stolen. >> illegal ballots. >> there was a judicial process in place. >> trump has lost more than 60 lawsuits following last year's election. >> we have never seen that kind of an assault by the president of the united states on another branch of the government. this is not something we can look past or move on. all of us, regardless of partisanship, all of us have an obligation to peaceful transition of power and a duty to the constitution. the oath's i have taken have not bent to political pressure prayed we are the party of lincoln, not white supremacy.

we cannot embrace insurrection. president trump provoked an attack on the u.s. capitol, which resulted in five people dying. that person does not have a role as a leader of our party going forward. i will continue to make sure people understand that. we have to make sure this never happens again. [end video clip] host: the republican accountability project with that ad in supported liz cheney. in north carolina, we were text to say "the new gop republican party in america first and no more wars unless we are attacked as americans. she is as good as toast. she needs to be removed. she can stay republican, but she has to leave the leadership. we don't believe in her anymore." mary in michigan, what do you say? caller: hi. i do not mind liz cheney's choice, but, once she becomes in leadership, she is not representing herself. she is not even when she is

representing just wyoming. that is between them and liz cheney. but, now, they put her in a place that now she has to represent the whole gop party. and she did not do it, and she voted as she did. romney would never have been voted in as third-place. now, it is a privilege. she is not allowed just to have it because of her dad's name. she should be ousted, and if she still cannot leave it alone, stepped down totally. i am just so ashamed, and i hope they put somebody else in there, not just because she is a ch ick. i am 65 and i am thinking, here we go, politics. let's get somebody in there in

the third spot that really goes for the constitution. thank you. host: ok, mary in michigan. happening on capitol hill this morning is also a hearing, or today, is a hearing on the capitol january 6 attack. "new york times" with the headlines that the pentagon chief under former president donald trump will testify that he feared, that if he sent the military to the capitol that day, it would have looked like a military coup, ahead of his testimony today. you will be able to watch that hearing on our website, c-span.org. also happening on the other end of pennsylvania avenue, president biden is meeting with the so-called big four. he will meet with the republican minority leaders in the house and senate, kevin mccarthy, mitch mcconnell, and the speaker

of the house, nancy pelosi, and majority leader chuck schumer. that meeting taking place today. you can go to twitter and follow @cspanwj on twitter to get all of the news and details of that meeting happening today. conrad in philadelphia. good morning to you. what do you think? should she stay or should she go? caller: she should stay. the reason i say that, i am a true republican, but for the last six months, what the country has gone through with the coronavirus and the attack on washington, d.c., no president, no one in the united states would have guessed they would have seen six months ago. if they keep donald trump in there, [indiscernible] when i first joined the republican party, there were

values. there were morals and values. all the republican men [indiscernible] if you can stay there and run that party, she is telling the truth. i say [indiscernible] host: all right, conrad. here is kenneth in virginia with the text "liz cheney is the one who ignored the rule of law. you cannot impeach a president no longer in office. dick cheney was nothing but a warmonger for military investment." john, fort washington, maryland. caller: good morning, how are you? host: i'm doing fine, what do you think about this? caller: i think it is a shame. when i say shame, and embarrassment. i am a republican, also, but let me tell you something, this is from the heart.

the people calling in who support what donald trump did, like the caller previously said, donald trump behaved like somebody from a fairytale who is a dictator, who has no regard for law. they calling to support that. liz cheney do have balls, she does have cuts, and her father has nothing to do with who she is. these people calling in and fighting every excuse in the world to overlook what donald trump and the republican party did during his tenure. so you ask yourselves, people, where are your moral standards? you will have to answer to god, all of us, so you better think about what is happening and how the future is going to look for this country. at least she can stand up and tell the truth. kevin mccarthy and the rest of y'all, y'all need to check yourself because your children

are watching you. host: "the hill" reports 50% of republican voters think cheney should lose this leadership position. this vote taking place in about one hour behind closed doors on capitol hill.it will be a secret vote. the republicans will meet the rank-and-file and take this vote, the second one taken this year to oust the congresswoman from her number three spot in leadership. she survived the first vote, 61 of her fellow republicans voted against her during that vote. 145 for her. kim in ottawa, iowa. you oppose. good morning. caller: good morning. i agree with the last gentleman that liz cheney, as a strong woman, is standing up for the truth. the republican party once to support --w wants to support

a lie. she told the truth, so they want to oust her for telling the truth? and the people calling them here is attacking a strong woman standing up to her own party. that is what we are supposed to do. we disagree, we stand up to them. she is one person doing it. all the other ones are complacent. they are supporting this man, trump, for a lie. there are no policies they are arguing about. host: who is the last republican you voted for? caller: well, the last republican i voted for was reagan. host: you stop voting? caller: for republicans.i change my party to independent s. i cannot take it anymore, but i do vote republicans for my state. host: so you voted for your governor? caller: yes. host: kim in iowa.

our last hour from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. eastern time, we will return to this conversation and open it up to democrats and independents and get your thoughts on republicans voting this morning time to keep or ouz cheney the number three spot. according to observers it looks like she will not retain the conference chair post. we will take a break. coming up we will talk with the naacp president to talk about the group's role in voting rights battles in congress and across the states. leader will be joined by tom mcclintock. we will talk about the crisis of the border in today's vote to oust liz cheney, but first republican senator rand paul and dr. anthony fauci yesterday engaged in sharp debate over research on the origins of the virus at a hill on capital belt -- on capitol hill.

>> do you still support funding of the nih funding of the lab in wuhan? >> senator paul with all due respect, you are entirely and completely incorrect that the nih has not ever and does not now fund gain of function research in the wuhan institute. we do not fund -- >> do you fund dr. barrett. >> he was not doing gain of function research and if it is is according to the guidelines and it is being conducted in north carolina, not in china. >> you don't think inserting a bat spike protein into the sars virus's gain of function? at least two other scientists have signed a statement from the cambridge working group saying it is a gain of function. >> while it is not and if you

look at the grant and you look at the progress reports, it is not gain of function, despite the fact that people tweet to that. >> do you support sending money to the wuhan virology institute? >> we do not send money. >> we did under your tutelage, we were sending it through eco-health, a sub agency and a subgrant. do you support the money from nih that flows to the wuhan institute? >> let me explain to you why that was done. the sars-cov-2 on1 originated in batson china. it would have been in responsible -- irresponsible of us if we did not investigate the viruses and the serology to see who might've been -- >> perhaps it would've been possible to send it to the chinese government that we may not be able to trust with this knowledge in this incredibly dangerous virus.

government scientists like yourself favor gain of function research. >> i don't favor gain of function research. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us as derek johnson, the president and chair of the naacp. thank you very much for joining us this morning. want to begin with the debate on capitol hill yesterday on the senate side over voting rights legislation. first, your thoughts on this bill is passed the house. guest: it is important for members of congress to request -- respect our constitution and give access to voting. we are not asking for individuals who are questionable whether or not they should be able to cast a ballot. we are talking about citizens of this nation who pay taxes, who keep our systems running, a workers that allow us to get

through the pandemic. individuals who work in hospitals and hotels who serve our food. individuals who want to participate and we should be operating looking towards a future and not continue to operate based on the past of suppression and marginalization of individuals who may or may not agree with certain politics. host: further people act passed the house yesterday, the senate rules committee debated it. you had the leadership, the majority leader chuck schumer and the minority leader mitch mcconnell show up at the senate rules committee to debate this legislation before it heads to the floor. this is what is in the bill. automatic voter registration, strengthen early and absentee mail voting. protect against flawed purges of voter rolls. free small dollar nonpayment -- nonpublic financing, a call for

a constitutional amendment to overturn the citizens united decision. prohibit coordination between super pac's and candidates, require states to use independent redistricting commissions and enhance resources to stave off foreign threats on election. i want to play the minority leader's argument against this legislation and how do you to -- and how do you respond. @cspanwj --[video clip] >> and 2016, this was presented as a massive overhaul and emergency repair job for a broken democracy, that is what it was back then. last autumn, voters made a decision democrats liked a lot better. suddenly there side stop calling our democracy broken. now, our democracy was beyond reproach.

but curiously enough the democrats still want the exact same sweeping bill just as desperately. the truth is quite simple, our democracy is not in crisis and we are not going to let one party take over our democracy under false pretense. voter turnout last november blue 2016 out of the water. the 2020 election saw the highest turnout in decades. the hysterical attacks of the political left has thrown at the new election law in georgia for example have been thoroughly debunked by fact checkers. african american turnout last fall was twice as high in mississippi as it was in massachusetts. none of the shifting made up rationales for the sweeping set of changes hold any water at all. host: your response to the

minority leader? guest: he is absolutely wrong. the naacp and many civil rights groups have been working hard to open up access to voting for years. 2016 was a wake-up call to recognize that a foreign nation that interfered with our election. that should give us all pause and we should all be concerned with foreign interference. secondly, the notion african americans turned out in large numbers in november somehow makes our democracy ok. we all witnessed what happened on january 6. our democracy is teetering. you have a whole set of individuals who refused to accept the outcome of elections. this is squarely an issue of officials trying to select their voters as opposed to voters selecting elected officials and to change the reality of the political party the minority leader represents is out of step

with the majority of americans. they are trying to do all they can to create a 1950's reality when we are in 2021 looking for 2030 in 2050 and they need to adjust their policy, their outreach and to be more appealing to a majority of americans and not try to shrink our democracy to the point where it's no longer a democracy and it is only about individuals who are sitting in office trying to do the bidding for their high wealth donors as opposed to taking care of our infrastructure, making sure young people have an opportunity providing the necessary support for elders and protecting the right of the disadvantage. that's what we should be fighting for and we should be doing that as an inclusive community around democratic principles that all citizens who are eligible should be allowed to cast a ballot. host: we are talking with derek johnson, the president and ceo

of the naacp about voting rights. we want to join the conversation with your questions and comments. democrats dial in at 202-748-8000, republicans, 202-748-8001. independents, 202-748-8002. text us with your thoughts with your first name, city and state at 202-748-8003. do the democrats in the senate have the votes to pass this legislation? guest: i think the outcome will show whether or not they have the votes. i commend individuals for pushing this. for many in the civil rights community we were really concerned when the supreme court ruling came down on citizens united. we were concerned when the supreme court decision came out with the voting rights act. we must restore our ability to have confidence in our election. in australia, a 90% -- 96% of

the population actually votes. in canada it's around 92%. we talk about a high voter turnout if only 60% of americans vote. that's not a representative democracy. we should be striving towards allowing access to the ballot box, not limiting access and not trying to select voters but allow voters to select elected officials. to really carry out, this should be -- they should not be a win lose proposition, it should be a proposition that we can actually appreciate here in the united states. >> if the democrats do not have the votes in the senate, that sure they limited the filibuster to pass the bill? guest: the filibuster rule is a segregationist rule. regardless of this vote the filibuster was problematic. it was used to slow down

progress. between the filibuster and the rule used by southern members of the senate to pull out any efforts to integrate schools, those are rules that have prevented true progress in this country. think about social security program, when it was adopted, southern senators were able to slow the bill down and say we will only support it if agricultural and domestic workers were exempt from the social security program. 80% of african-americans at the time were agricultural or domestic workers. so for my community we were locked out of a safety net for elders, locking generational opportunity to grow wealth. those rules should be thrown out the window yesterday. for this vote and any future vote.

we want product -- we must progress and not be stalled by a mindset that is not healthy for this country. host: let's go to calls. willie in texas, a republican. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: can i ask an honest question, this gentleman comes on, the naacp is no longer -- i used to think the naacp no longer had the public used to have, but apparently it does now in this cancel culture. the naacp is falling into that lane. why do you let people like this guy spout on about russian interference in the 2016 election when there was none, but the minute someone talks about the 2020 election and talks about the fraud, the evidence of fraud and election

improprieties that was there, you cut them off summarily. you have people like this gentleman who also talks about the filibuster is racist when it absolutely had nothing to do with race. all you have to do is get out of the revisionist history in their minds and view the real history about the filibuster. i would like just a little bit of fairness here because again, i'm a republican, i'm a conservative first. what's going on here when he talks about things like the voting rights act being good, no it has not been. it was voted on by the supreme court there were certain provisions that no longer were applicable to today. host: you have a few issues there, which one do you want him to respond to? caller: i'd like him to respond

to the fact that there was no russian interference, it's been proven, no collusion by the trump administration in the 2016 election and he said that and i would like him to explain why he thinks that so even though the mueller report clearly showed otherwise. guest: well there's been ample support and evidence that have come before congress that there was russian interference. i never mentioned about collusion with trump. i talked about russian interference, there's been ample evidence to show that. secondly, the filibuster rule was used by southern segregationists to block progress. not revisionist history, in lyndon johnson's book, in his biography he talked about when he was one of those segregationists that use to use the rules of the senate to slow or impede progress.

all of those senators from the south used the filibuster rule to impede progress. finally, when you look at the 2020 election, there is been no true -- proof. trump appointed judges reviewed much of the cases that came before them and all of them were summarily dismissed. so let's not try to create a parallel universe where you talk about revisionist history, let's rest on the fact we are a united states of america with citizens who are entitled to the right to participate and we must protect those rights because if we don't protect those rights, we will cease to exist as a nation we have grown to become. host: let's go to michael in georgia, democratic caller. caller: good morning. i would just like to say

especially the republicans don't understand the georgia bill. the georgia law, they took the power away from the secretary of state and gave it to the state representative. they're going -- and use all that stuff going on in arizona, we don't need that here in georgia. host: talk about the georgia law but also what's happening in arizona. guest: what we've seen in georgia in november and in the runoff was not in the hands of the democrat or african-american community, that was a republican elected secretary of state who saw a process -- over process and when it was completed he verified there was no fraud. this wasn't a party against another party, but this was republicans who oversaw the election and that election was carried out.

so let's not go to a place in feed into this conspiracy theory , of the big lie that could undermine this and erode the confidence in our system. the same thing in arizona. what we are witnessing is an atrocity. i look forward to the justice department stepping in to make sure the individuals who are overseeing the count are not allowed to manipulate anything. at the end of the day the election has been certified. and whether or not there something that can change in arizona, we are looking at the administration that won the election. arizona won't change the outcome. let's begin to repair any systems that need repairing, let's open up access to voting and let's become the democratic nation we claim to be around the globe so we can make things the

trust of other nation as we send our young people abroad to fight for our constitution. host: from the wall street journal, the arizona law passed by the legislature and signed into law by the republican governor. would stop ballots automatically being vote -- being mailed if they don't vote in an early ballot in two consecutive cycles. voters would remain registered to vote and would be warned before pulling from the west. guest: the question is why. public policy around voting should take a few things into account. what policies are being put in place to protect the integrity of elections and then what is there to open up access. we are not opening up access or protecting integrity, why? a set of policies seeking a problem grade there were no

problems. if we do have a problem, we have a federal floor to provide access to all voters free from any encumber meant, free from voter suppression and often so that we can know that citizens who are eligible, citizens who are eligible are able to cast an effective ballot. what's the harm they are -- there? the only problem i can see there is policymakers are using the big lie to select voters as opposed to voters having the ability to select the policymakers. host: we will go to barbara next, and independent. caller: good morning. ok. this person you have on their is spouting a bunch of lies. let's get back to he said let's

follow our constitution. hr one that the democrats are proposed is very flawed. in your constitution it says congress can change the time and manner in which they hold their elections but it only applies to representatives and senators. all this other stuff they have in their is unconstitutional. that does not affect local elections, it does not affect state elections and it does not affect the presidential election. as far as all this stuff about the supreme court turning down these cases, they did not even want to hear it. it wasn't of the supreme court said you're wrong, they just did not hear all of the evidence.

we have proof out here the dead people voted, that people that did not live in the district voted. some states even proved that people below 18 years of age voted. host: where do you read about this evidence? caller: where do i read about it? it comes from some of the media, i am no longer on the internet. i listen a lot,oan has had proof after proof of this stuff. this thing that's going on in arizona, it is not to change the elections, it's to prove that we are either right or we are wrong. host: ok. guest: i have no words for that. proof is proof, present it. you have individuals were federal judges who were

appointed by donald trump who have rejected all of the information because there was no evidence. host: powder springs, georgia, republican. caller: i've just been listening to derek johnson. i'm a member of the naacp and i'm also involved with other organizations. i really feel we need to examine the organizations that represent -- supposedly represent both republican and democrat. to make it more balance. and start examining the legislative branch and judicial branch, the executive branch. we need a lens to rebuild a

collective body of thinkers who can come together and eliminate this one sidedness. we need you to start looking at bringing more republicans in the naacp so you can have a balanced view because rejecting your views on the organizational views it seems like we are one-sided. you will republicans were concerned about the community, you will republicans concerned about the process. you really need to do a collective search to balance our organizations individually and obtain collectively as an organization. we need to look at all the systemic issues and take a one by one and revisit our constitution and on the basis of our constitution and moral law and revisit this whole thing because we as a country are

going in the wrong direction. host: i'm going to have derek johnson respond. guest: we are a nonpartisan organization. when i talk about the segregationist era, those were democrats. lyndon johnson is a senator was one of the biggest segregationist. senator russell was a huge segregationist. they were all segregationist and they were democrats. so we opposed them just as vigorously as we are opposed to the republicans because it's not just about party affiliation, it's about access to the ballot box. it's about making sure the constitutional creed that all men and women are created equal and endowed with certain inalienable rights. it's about making sure we as american people are treated equitably and equal across the board. it's not about partisanship. that's the problem with much of the dialogue. we believe the dialogue to make

it about partisanship and we don't realize it's about treating human beings as citizens who are eligible to fully participate in our system. we should move away from the partisan conversation. i do agree with the caller that there has to be some examination of where we are in this moment, how we got here and how we fight to have a different future, but we cannot do that if we settle on a demagogue personality or partisan bickering, we must do that to recognize there should be a form of civility, aspiration of inclusion that we actually create and there should be assurance that assistance -- citizens can fully participate in this democracy with a level of democracy -- respect that we should demand or respect -- expect.

caller: good morning. i've been watching and i'm glad you are on the show. the naacp has to come correct with everybody. with the only one keeping this country together. let me tell you something, in this country they do not want unity. we are the only culture, the black people, fighting to keep this country together. we have to start our own. stop trying to fit in, look what they did to georgia. we've been doing good forever.

let's do like all of them, don't worry about america. everybody come out here and turn against us. all these talk shows on so many tv channels all about hate, that we've never done anything for this country. we've got to stop fighting -- trying to fit in with these people. a lot of people are tired. we are not fitting to see here -- we have problems in our inner cities. host: ok. heard your point. guest: i want to thank the caller for voting because now he's engaged in the process. it is frustrating when we have sacrificed so much as a community, african-americans, to make this democracy work.

whether it's christmas addicts, the first person killed during the revolutionary war, fighting for our freedoms for the nation with the men who went and fought abroad in world war ii who came home and realized the freedom they were fighting for abroad they did not appreciate here. or all those who voted for the first time, it's our responsibility as a community to push for the qualities that we think are important. our tax dollars are paid for this government. we should no longer see ourselves as victims of government, but owners of government and make sure it's for the needs of our community. host: john, in virginia, independent. caller: good morning. just listening to the guy who was talking. he had a lot of great points.

the only thing we are dealing with right now, we are dealing with a group of people who don't mind being lied to. they carry that lie and they will carry that until the day they die. we have to beat them at their own game. if they don't want us to get water in lines of people waiting to vote, let's get about 1000 people handing out water. they don't want us, let's get buses and bring the people to the polls. we have to beat them at their own game. guest: when we fight, we win. all the obstacles put in front of us, we fight so we can win because we believe in this country despite this country not always believing in us or allowing us the opportunity. we will continue to push and fight so i absolutely agree with the caller. it's frustrating to know that so

many people bought into the concept of america, but it's for us to continue to fight for the america we would like to see. i am america despite one other people would try to do. to make this the america that we -- this the america we want for our children. host: you can go to naacp.org and follow them on twitter and also follow their ceo and president derek johnson. mr. johnson, thank you for the conversation this morning. guest: thank you. host: when we come back, we will be joined by republican tom mcclintock, a top member of the judiciary committee. we will talk about the crisis of the border in today's vote to oust liz cheney from the gop leadership team taking place in

about 30 minutes. but first, a president biden met virtually with a bipartisan group of governors to talk about the vaccination rollout across the country. [video clip] >> tell me about what the mobile vaccine unit is like. are you driving around with doctors in a pickup truck? i'm deadly earnest for people, talk to me about if you could each tell me what you're doing. >> i've been with our mobile unit. it's a trailer vehicle. some national guard and fema people, it's a great level of cooperation with the agencies and with the state of maine and

local governments. i've seen people drive up, get out, walk in, sit in their car for 15 minutes and then drive off free and clear of covid. >> mike, how about you? >> all mobile clinics are not alike at least in ohio. a couple of examples. ohio northern university is rolling out into small communities. they announce when they will be there. it allows people in smaller communities to have it in their community and they know when it's coming. we are seeing it in cities, in cincinnati a few days ago and what they are doing is they are using that as a base. the one i saw was in a library, but they use that mobile clinic as the base and to bring the vaccine out.

it's going out, it's trying to be innovating, trying to figure out how do we take a direct to the people. the reality is my wife and i have been to 37 or 38 different vaccine clinics and we always talk to the people getting vaccinated. we talk to those who have hesitated in the past and what you find is sometimes they've been waiting and they've been waiting for an opportunity, something that makes it easier to do. it's not that they are against getting the vaccine, they just haven't gotten around to it. host: joining us this morning is congressman tom mcclintock, of the top republican on the judiciary subcommittee on immigration and citizens. -- citizenship. he is a member of the national resources committee and we will talk about the border crisis in a minute, but let's begin with this vote that's taking place

over leadership in about less than 30 minutes. you will meet behind closed doors with a secret vote. how do you plan to vote on whether or not to oust the wyoming congresswoman liz cheney from the third leadership spot? guest: i've never been a supporter of liz cheney. i was one of the 61 who voted to remove her last month. it comes down to this. people to put their personal interests and biases aside. she's always been unwilling to do that. she speaks very eloquently and passionately for herself and sometimes i agree with her, sometimes i don't. it's always commendable but not as a leader. host: you say she's always been unable to do that, what other instances? guest: she has taken on members, she actually financed a campaign against one of --. using her position to raise

money to put against other republicans. i think that is simply unacceptable as a member of the leadership. host: so what is the vote today about in your own words? guest: i think it's about whether our leaders speak for us or they will attack us. it's not all that complicated. host: what about the role of former president donald trump in today's vote? guest: i think that's largely irrelevant. by the way i happen to agree with cheney that the house had no authority to reject electoral votes submitted to it, so i'm not in disagreement with many of the stances she's taken. but it's not about that, it's about your conduct as a member of the republican leadership. host: do you think president biden was legitimately elected? guest: here is what cannot be

disputed. the short answer is yes. what can be disputed is this is the electoral college that elects the president in voting for joe biden. states elect the electoral calls according to their own and certified all of their elections. we have a process to review the integrity of the elections and that process ran its course. i still believe several states unconstitutionally change the rules of their elections to benefit biden, but the supreme court refused to hear that case. the forensic review of the maricopa county arizona result will shed more light on the question of election integrity. but here's the fine point of it. any election was not only be fair, it has to appear fair and in the selection, some of the most fundamental safeguards against fraud were stripped away so i think it's inevitable that whoever loses his not going to entirely trust the outcome.

host: back to this leadership vote happening in about 20 minutes, do you support the replacement of liz cheney? >> no i don't, i think she's one of the most liberal republicans in congress. i question if she would be a effective spokesperson for the caucus. the vote to replace cheney will not -- host: how will it work? guest: i've just been told it will be decided at a later conference. i have to put that in the realm of rumor. i don't have official news on that. host: who would you like to see step forward instead of the lease and have you been told that that's a possibility? that you could get more than one choice? guest: it is certainly a possibility. i would like to see a solid

conservative. i think he'd be overwhelmingly elected if he did. host: let's talk about the border. you just returned from the southern border. near the top republican on the judiciary subcommittee that oversees immigration and citizenship, what did you find? guest: i found a country without borders. we've made far passed over this is a border crisis, the question is whether we have the border at all and what i've seen now, two trips to the board of the last few months is the answer is no. i have watched hundreds of illegals across our border with impunity. they simply line up at one station, they line up in a disney style line, their basic information is taken and if they're a family group with a young person with them, they are taken right to transportation hubs to be transported at our

expense to the united states even though they have no right to be here. some of them are not even being given notices to appear. meanwhile not a fingers being lifted to try and locate right now we have about 22,000 unaccompanied minors in our custody. nobody is lifting a finger to find out where they came from and get them safely back there. all of the effort is to put them into the united states. one of the border patrol officers told us they are under orders to rapidly process them into the country as quickly as they can. that's the biden policy and it shows. and sent a very powerful message to the third world. just look at the numbers on family units entering the country. the week of the election last year, 100 family units across the border.

by inauguration day, that number swelled to 1100 in a week. by march 24, that number had ballooned to 14,000 in a week. now gallup tells us that according to their surveys in latin america and the caribbean, they estimate there are about 42 million people prepared to come to this country if they can. now they can and now they are. the number we just saw for april almost 180,000 encounters of the border. that's a population the size of bend, oregon. that's close to 300,000 -- very conservatively estimated, but the border patrol could not stop , that's a population larger than jackson, mississippi. host: let's go to catherine in michigan, a republican. you are on the air with the congressman. caller: good morning.

i am so glad that you are on top of this and you are aware of all the things that are happening at the borders. we have children in texas and i really fear for their life. these are desperate people that are coming over the border. they are coming for a better life but i think they really need to do it the right way. i had ancestors who came over and they had to have someone sponsor them, they had to have money when they came over. these people have money. i heard on the news that it's like $7,000. where do they get this money to get these people to come over here? that's my first question to you. also, i'd like to know what your views are on this liz cheney.

is this the republicans first try at weeding out the deadwood in the republican party? host: we will have the congressman respond. guest: i already shared my views on liz cheney. this is certainly the first time i've seen a leader go out of their way to attack fellow members and i'm not just talking about the issue of trump, i will admit trump is an acquired taste. but respective to where they getting all the money for the coyotes, that's a very important question because i think it highlights the tragedy that's going on. nobody crosses the borders without the cartel saying so. it's estimated they're moving half $1 billion a month through the human trafficking which is

been made policy -- made possible by joe biden's policies. we had control over the border and joe biden's policies have created this. the tragedy starts with these desperate people from the northern triangle countries, the amount the coyotes charge for these people is about a year's wages. a lot of them don't have them. so they come here literally as indentured servants in a country that outlawed slavery 150 years ago, we are bringing in a new class of slaves, slaves of the cartels. in fact, one border patrol officer told me encountering a mother with a five-year-old boy from one of the northern triangle countries and she said why would you dream -- bring your son on such a dangerous journey. she said to escape the gangs and get him a better education and better life. the officer said you understand

the gangs you think you are escaping, they are already here and your child will be placed in a place he doesn't speak the language, he won't learn anything, he's going to be isolated and the one place he will turn to protection and acceptance is the very gangs you say you're trying to escape. but with the promise of open borders, a lot of people are taking it and there's a reason because it works, the borders are open and they know that when their family members and friends across the border they get a lot of free stuff, free transportation, wherever you want to go in the united states. they say we are here, we got lots of free stuff. we had a free plane ticket to baltimore and now's the time to come. so that's what's going on. i was in calexico last week. we saw a family taken into

custody who crossed the border from one of the gaps in the wall that was left when biden abandoned the wall. there from romania. we saw another group taken into custody from armenia, russia and cuba. they said they are gaining -- getting an awful lot of cubans and a lot of folks from europe. these are people with means, they are tourist visas to fly to cancun from there to mexicali and from there they illegally cross the border. so this is not just a latin america issue, the borders are open to people from all over the world now. we literally have no borders. and history is screaming that the countries who cannot or will not defend their borders simply aren't around long.

this is the beginning of a mass migration. i don't know of any civilization that has ever survived such a number. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i wanted to ask the congressman or make a point, when the former president was in office, people were not allowed -- the sender or the house was not allowed to even look at borders. to see what was going on inside the places where they were keeping children. and also, when the president lied about -- the former president lied about winning the election, he did not look at nothing about where they took over the hospital, where they

hacked into that. but everything was only about that. he knew about it. as far as getting rid of liz cheney, at least she speaking the truth. kevin mccarthy and mcconnell the other day told the real truth and then went to trump and lied. host: ok. congressman. guest: obviously i have a completely different view of the candidates at which both the administration of dealt with this. the trumpet administration did allow photographs, that's how those photographs came out. the biden administration when we visited these facilities we were specifically told to not take pictures on the inside that the tour would be terminated and we would be thrown out. they kept the press away from

these holding facilities. when i was there in the rio grande valley about a month ago, we saw one cattle pen, that's the only way to describe it of people that was over 500 people packed in there. they had not been tested for covid, you can imagine a more efficient incubator for any kind of virus, there it was. so no, quite the contrary the trump administration was at least very transparent about what was going on. this administration has done everything it could to cover up. i have a very different view of president trump's role on the events of january 6. look at what he actually said, he said i expect people to peacefully and patriotic make your voices heard. that's not incitement. there's a lunatic fringe in every group, but president trump said nothing that could begin to

be construed as incitement. if you want to look at incitement, telling rioters they need to become more confrontational as maxine waters did a few weeks ago. what president trump did i think was ill advised, i think that it was bombastic, but it certainly was not incitement to riot. host: canon arizona -- ken in arizona, republican. caller: i'm a retired federal law-enforcement officer and i worked on the border in the 90's. little had changed on the border up until trump became president and that was probably the first time that we actually saw something that worked. not that that's the answer because i think congress needs to -- we need changes in our

immigration laws and congress needs to make those changes. what we have doesn't really work. we are just holding the flood back. one thing that really disturbs me is watching the stuff on the tv, you can go to fox and they have videos of these people streaming across. the kids that were abandoned on the bank of a river, babies basically. at the same time all turned to the channel to the liberal need media news channels and there will be nothing about the border on there. host: congressman. guest: i think people will start seeing that in their own communities very soon. one of the border patrol officers, the most chilling thing i heard was when he said

remember, the -- our border is your border, every community in america is about to become a border community. when you look at these numbers, every single month, encounters of the size of fairly large cities in the united states are coming in every single month. it's not going to be long before we start seeing classrooms overwhelmed by non-english-speaking students, we will see our local emergency rooms packed with illegals demanding patient care. we are going to see the crime rate as the gangs proliferate throughout this country. and most of all, working families will see it in depressed wages as the labor market is flooded with millions of low-wage illegal laborers. so this is common to all of our communities.

if you're not seeing it yet, you will see it very soon. these numbers are escalating and as i said, according to gallup there are 42 million people waiting to come over. host: barbara in oklahoma city. democratic caller. caller: lord of this guy lies. i can even start, i can't believe you let these people come on here. guest: lincoln had a saying when someone shouted liar at him at one of his debates with stephen douglas his response was you cannot disprove euclidean geometry by calling euclid a liar. caller: ok let me say a factor then. here is a fact. trump hired illegals daily and has for 50 years and twice he has gone to court, while he was

president he went to court and he lost for stealing people's money and he brings them in, he hires them and over and over and he is the one who hires them. host: let's take that point. guest: i don't know whether that's true or not, but whether it is is irrelevant. we do need to enforce the law which already makes it illegal to hire someone who is illegally in this country. that's a law being ignored every day. we desperately need e-verify so every employer will be required to get a bit of legal residency before they make a higher and we need to actually increase the penalties for employees -- employers were breaking federal law and hiring illegal aliens. there we can agree completely. host: i want to go to the gallup

site and the number you keep referencing. 42 million want to migrate to the united states. there are 33 countries in latin america and the caribbean, roughly 450 million adults live in the region. gallup asked them if they would like to move to another country permanently. 27% said yes. this means roughly 120 million would like to migrate somewhere. gallup asked where they would like to go and 42 million or 35% said they want to go to the united states. seekers of citizenship or asylum are watching to determine when and how is the best time to make their move. guest: that's just latin america and the caribbean. as we saw, we are seeing people come in from all over the world, flying in on tourist visas to mexico and then coming across the border illegally. host: bruce in michigan, republican. caller: thanks so much for

speaking up on this border disaster. i ran against john dingell in 1996 and one of my planks was a 20 year moratorium on illegal immigration. then in 1997 they developed the e-verify system that would identify 99.9% accuracy who was here legally or not. i have nothing against illegal immigrants, but, in the wake of this plandemic, we have tens of millions of americans out of work. we cannot afford this. i think they all have to go back. i think the way this gets solved if you want to solve it, you implement immediately e-verify for all employees and get rid of the illegals. you get rid of them when they come to our schools. nothing against the immigrants, but this is going to cause

english as a second language, you can have all these kids who don't speak english, they are going to keep the american kids back who have already been off a year and this is all part of the u.n.'s agenda of open borders. they are doing this on purpose to shut down our economy. we have not done enough to stop it and biden is a globalist. his policy is enforced vaccination, vaccine passports and open borders all -- are all part of this to bring this nation down. guest: there is no doubt in my mind these actions are deliberate and this is not simple incompetence. this is a deliberate policy of essentially rendering our borders meaningless and a country without borders isn't a country at all. it's about international territories in canada and mexico. both of which have immigration

laws that they actually enforce. you make a distinction between legal and him and -- lee illegal immigration. those who are most upset are about -- our legal immigrants who waited patiently, who did everything our country asked them to do and now watch millions and millions of people cutting in line. our immigration laws were not written to keep people out, they were written to ensure as people come to our country conflict -- they have a sincere desire to be americans, to raise their children as americans and to obey our laws. illegal immigration undermines that whole process of legal immigration but makes our country of immigrants possible in the first place. the only way to create one great country from all the countries in the world is through the

process of assimilation. illegal immigration tears that all down and creates we are now starting to see from the left and that is not only a country united around our common principles and beliefs, but rather divided into tribal groups. that's destructive of any society. host: republicans are gathering as we speak right now and i know you've got to go there as well. a meeting taking place behind closed doors in a couple of minutes. to debate and possibly vote on whether or not congresswoman liz cheney should retain the number three post in leadership for your party. you had mentioned you do not support replacing her with new york republican elise stefanik, do you know how many other republican colleagues agree with you that they don't want to see elise stefanik and the number three spot? guest: i can read minds.

in my conversations with colleagues i would say there are quite a few, but i've also seen these elections before whenever the leadership ways in on it they have enough votes to dominate the outcome. so i suspect that she will be elected as conference chairman. i just hope that given her very liberal voting record, i hope she will recognize that in that position, her role is a spokesman for the conference even though she may disagree with host: congressmen, why do you think leadership is endorsing her as well as former president trump? guest: as i said, i cannot read minds.

host: how did these votes typically work? how does it start out? guest: by secret ballot. i suspect they will have an airing of use of any member that wants -- airing of views of any member who wants to speak. host: do you plan to speak up? guest: i've told you what i believe. at the conference, my views are pretty well known. i never supported liz cheney and i was one of the 61 who voted to remove her last month. she has been unwilling to put her personal interests and bias aside and is speaking that would disqualify any leadership. host: congressman tom mcclintic, thank you for -- mcclintock, thank you for the conversation. guest: thank you. host: entering into the

republican meeting, just missed jim jordan, congressman of ohio, more republicans are gathering. liz cheney will know her fate as to whether she is a membership of the rep -- a member of the republican leadership of the house today as they vote in closed doors whether she should retain the post as conference chair. we want to open up that question to all of you. democrats, republicans, independent, we want to hear what your reaction to this republican vote today on the congresswoman. if you are a democrat, (202) 748-8000. republican, (202) 748-8001. independent, (202) 748-8002. casey hunt who covers capitol hill for msnbc tweeting out -- liz cheney has arrived at the conference meeting.

seriously, she says, as a pack of photographers snapped her exit from the ladies room. the congresswoman also came to the floor last night and "the washington post" called it a last stand, a defiant one, and an obvious job at republican leaders. she continued on with her blunt condemnation of president trump. [video clip] >> today, we face a threat america has never seen before, a former president who invoked a violent attack -- provoked a violent attack on this capitol has resumed his efforts to convince americans the effort does election was stolen. he risks inciting further violence. americans have been misled by the former president and have heard only his words, but not

the truth, as he continues to undermine our democratic process, sowing seeds of doubt about whether democracy works at all. i am a conservative republican and the most conservative of conservative principles is reverence for the rule of law. the electoral college has voted. more than 60 state and federal courts, including multiple judges the former president appointed, have rejected his claims. the trump department of justice investigated the former president's claims of widespread fraud and found no evidence to support them. the election is over. that is the rule of law. that is our constitutional process. those who refuse to accept the rulings of our courts are at war with the constitution. our duty is clear. everyone of us who has sworn the oath must act to prevent the

unraveling of our democracy. this is not about policy. this is not about partisanship. this is about our duty as americans. remaining silent and ignoring the lie emboldens the liar. i will not participate in that. i will not sit back and watch in silence while others lead our party down a path that abandons the rule of law and joins the former president's crusade to undermine our democracy. host: wyoming congresswoman speech -- liz cheney from her speech on the house floor. she is inside the conference room, awaiting a vote. according to news reports, on whether her fellow republicans want to keep her in a leadership position. she is in the number three spot, the conference chair. we will be following the news throughout this our, this last our bank of "the wash -- this

last hour of "the washington journal." joining us as scott long to talk about the vote -- wong to talk about the vote. how does it start, what happens next? guest: we have a little practice, because earlier this year, they had such a vote on liz cheney's future. trump loyalists did bring a vote against her to remove her. that vote in february after she voted to impeach the president, failed by a pretty wide margin, 145-61 in favor of liz cheney. we've been through this before. what's going to happen now is house republicans are gathering in a large conference room in the basement of the capitol. it appears there will be some debate about liz cheney.

she may get an opportunity to say herpes, although we did -- say her piece, although we did hear from her last night. a republican of north carolina, the top republican on the education committee, we understand she will make a motion to remove liz cheney from that number three position, the conference chair, which is the chief messenger of the house republican conference. and so, we expect that, unlike last time in february, this meeting should be a relatively quick meeting. republicans told me last night, they want to rip the band-aid off as quickly as possible given the drama surrounding liz cheney, given the fact that any believe that she has been a distraction to the party as they tried to move forward and win back the house majority in 2022. unlike last time, which was a

meeting that stretched on for four plus hours that got very contentious, kevin mccarthy doesn't want the same thing to play out today. they are hoping for a relatively quick meeting and to rip that band-aid off quickly. host: they are all in the same room. how did they conduct a secret vote? guest: i believe it would be a written vote, similar to a leadership election. everyone would get a paper ballot. you are right, it is a secret ballot, so we don't know exactly how certain members will vote, although i expect many of them will issue statements after the vote to say which way they voted. but they will go ahead after these written votes are made, tally these votes, and announce a number like we saw last time.

if these republicans choose not to say how they voted, there is nothing requiring them to, but i assume given the circumstances, given the level of anger and frustration from a lot of activists, conservative activists, pro-trump activists back home, i suspect a number of them to say how they voted. we've seen statements already from many republicans saying they intend to throw cheney out of the number three position. host: what is the question on the ballot? is it to remove her, or who do you vote for in this position? is elise stefanik on the ballot? guest: this is purely a -- on liz cheney and her leadership. kevin mccarthy has said liz cheney can hold any view that she wants to, that the

republican party doesn't quash speech or anything like that, but when people are in leadership positions as liz cheney is, speaking on behalf of the entire 212 member republican conference, they need to ensure that they are all on the same page, that they are marching in the same direction. as we've seen in recent weeks, tim mccarthy and liz cheney have been at odds over this question of president trump's lie about the 2020 election. president trump, as you know, has been saying that the election, with no evidence, was stolen. that has been at the center of this fight over liz cheney's future. the elise stefanik vote we are expecting later this week perhaps on friday. at that point, elise stefanik, she is the only candidate right now declared to replace liz

cheney in that number three position. we expect that will be a separate meeting where house republicans will gather in a closed door setting. they will hear from stefon ike and any -- stefankik -- they will vote to elect the new conference chairperson to serve the remainder of the two year term. host: what does the vote mean for the other nine republicans who voted to impeach president trump? guest: it is unclear. president trump has declared war essentially on these 10 republicans in the house who voted to impeach him earlier this year over his actions on january 6 during the insurrection in the capitol. he has said he will recruit and support and campaign for primary

challengers to not only liz cheney, but those only that other nine. he -- other nine. he is taking aim at seven republicans in the senate who voted to convict him like mitt romney. this is not the end of the road for the battle of the soul of the republican party, if you will. liz cheney has vowed to continue to speak out and call out president trump whenever he lies about widespread election fraud in the 2020 election, when he claims that joe biden is not the legitimate winner of that election. and so in a way, liz cheney will be liberated to speak out, and she certainly has had her national stature elevated in

this ongoing fight with kevin mccarthy and with donald trump and all of his allies. i suspect this is not the last we will hear from liz cheney. in fact, it could be just the beginning. and we certainly are hearing from a number of those other folks who are lining up behind liz cheney like adam kinzinger from illinois who said if the vote was held for kevin mccarthy to be the next speaker of the house, adam kinzinger said he would not support kevin mccarthy. he would support an alternative. these are battles and skirmishes happening all throughout the congress and i expect this will be going on for quite some time. host: to follow all the reporting, you can go to the hill.com and see scott wong's reporting, and follow him on twitter. thank you very much for your time. guest: thank you. host: liz cheney was one of the

10 republicans who voted to impeach president trump. as we go to our first call, take a look at the other republicans who voted to impeach. poughkeepsie, new york, democratic caller. go ahead. caller: good morning. i just want to say i am very proud of the stand that liz cheney is making, although i don't agree on everything that she has voted for. however, i am proud that she is standing up for the democracy of this country and telling the truth rather than standing behind the lies which dismantle our democracy, and the camaraderie of the american people. so i definitely stand behind her 100% on this. host: you and others are looking at the hallway outside the conference room inside the u.s. capitol, where it appears all

the republicans -- there might be some latecomers -- have gathered behind closed doors and as we learned from scott wong, are expected to take a quick vote to oust liz cheney from the conference chair post. teresa in new york, independent. what do you think? caller: number one, i would like to say i want cheney ousted as quickly as possible, even from the house altogether. number two, i agree 1000% with tom mcclintock with regard to the illegals, and they are going to be all over our country. host: let's stick to the topic. bernie and howard beach, new york, democrat. caller: i would like to agree completely with the lady from binghamton describing her position. her position is my position. i am 79 years old and up until

recently, as in 20, never voted for a democrat -- 2016 never voted for a democrat. to my chagrin, i'm ashamed of myself for not considering this being so narrowminded. the evidence is on the wall that this man was unqualified. and the republican party now is a total sham. a total sham. and we need them, we need a second party. host: a second republican party? caller: we need a two-party system. we need two parties. we cannot have a one party system. russia or a communist country, a tierney. we need -- a tierney -- tyr anny.

i am glad they are going to kick her out. why? shine the light on what hypocrites they are, the republicans are. here is an intelligent woman, who speaks truth to power, who sees things and is willing to say things as she sees them, and as i believe, president biden won. that's a fact. and the rest of the country will understand what the republican party is doing. the right for dissent even within the party. host: some reporting already on one is happening in the room. "the new york post" saying

cheney was booed following her opening remarks which called on the party to move on from trump. another tweet from a reporter -- per source familiar, cheney told members she had tremendous admiration for her colleagues. this is a moment when the country needs a strong gop based on truth so they can shape the future. she said the former president could not pull them backwards and unravel democracy which could destroy the country. she will not spread lies, others will, that will be there legacy and she will fight to restore the gop. then she led a prayer. can in davenport, iowa, republican. caller: hello. host: what do you think should happen to liz cheney? should she have a leadership spot? caller: yes, she should. host: a reporter on capitol hill

says it is official already, cheney is out after a speedy voice vote, per sources in the room. this was not a paper ballot, according to this reporting. this was a speedy voice vote. your reaction. caller: they are wrong. anybody that supports a lie should not be in office. period. that goes to mccarthy, scalise, cruz, all of them. that's what they want to do with the republican party, then i will switch parties. that's all i got to say. host: and you would vote for democrats? caller: yes, i would. i'm not going to vote for people who support a lie. host: liz cheney just came to the microphones to the reporters inside the room.

here is adam kinzinger. >> what today -- what happened today is sad. liz has been consistent in telling the truth that the election was not stolen. voters were just outnumbered and it is important for our party to take inventory of that and wean the next election, instead of continuing the big lie. i stand with liz, i'm proud of her. a lot of people are proud of what she has done and a lot of people feel threatened, and that's their decision. i feel she will be a great leader for this country and this party. >> how many supporters did she have in the room? >> she had a lot, but we ended up going by voice vote. ironically, it was to show unity. you walk out, leaders make a decision, and we will have to hold to that. there was no speech is really. it was just kevin standing up

and the vote was taken. definitely not what i expected. basically it is time to move on. you said we have to be unified and continue with this unity theme. look, i'm all for unity. i'm all for unity and truth. truth cannot coexist with lies and falsehoods. you cannot unify that. that is what liz has been saying. it is a sad day. in terms of anybody going forward, i will take that decision. anyone sniffing around this job before liz was out, that's not a great thing. for me, i will vote for someone who will tell the truth to voters because as leaders, your job is not to make it comfortable for the rank-and-file. your job is to make -- tell the truth. for base voters who believe the election was stolen, i do not believe them because their leaders have told them.

i expect people to tell the truth. host: adam kinzinger, republican of illinois who also voted along with liz cheney to impeach president trump, reacting to a voice vote to oust liz cheney, successfully, from the conference chair post. the number three position in republican leadership, it was not a secret ballot. as he told us, the leader of the party said it was time to move on and called for unity and a quick voice vote. chris, mechanicsville, virginia, independent. caller: liz cheney is switching it. liz cheney will go down in history as a profile in courage. i reread -- i looked down into "my open grave" last night by robert kennedy. he wrote the story of edmund g

ross. she did a brave thing. she did the right thing. this party, which i use to advocate. i cast my first ballot for richard nixon. i can no longer call myself a republican. a party cannot be built on lies. our country cannot survive built on lies. host: how did you vote in 2016? caller: i voted for hillary. host: that was the first time you voted for a democrat? caller: with one exception, i voted for dukakis. host: an 2020 you voted for? caller: yes, i voted for joe biden. host: you voted for republicans along the way and you call yourself a republican? caller: every election, not just the presidential election.

i vote down ballot most of the time, 90% of the time. i have voted republican. i have given money to republican candidates. i can't support this. this is wrong. this is fundamentally wrong. host: let's go back to the microphone. >> i have had the conference meeting. i am absolutely committed, as i said last night, as i said just now to my colleagues, that we must go forward based on truth. we cannot both embrace the big lie and embrace the constitution . going forward, the nation needs it. the nation needs a strong republican party. the nation needs a party based on fundamental principles of conservatism. i am committed and dedicated to ensuring that that's how this party goes forward, and i plan to lead the fight. [indiscernible]

i will do everything i can to ensure that the former president never again gets anywhere near the oval office. we have seen the danger that he continues to provoke with his language. we have seen his lack of commitment and dedication to the constitution, and i think it's important that we make sure whomever we elect is somebody who will be faithful to the constitution. >> do you feel betrayed by today's vote? >> i do not. it is an indication of where the republican party is and it is in a place where we have to bring it back from and get back to a position where we are a party who can fight for conservative principles and substance. we cannot be dragged backwards by the very dangerous lies of a former president. thank you. >> mr. kinsinger is up next.

host: that was liz cheney moments ago after her fellow republicans overwhelmingly by voice vote ousted her from the conference chair post, the communications post for the republican party in the house. you heard her say she will fight to make sure the former president never gets near the oval office again, her words. she also says she doesn't feel betrayed by her republican colleagues. your reaction to what you just saw and heard from the house republicans. julie in northport, florida, democratic caller. caller: thank you so much for taking my call. i am a democrat now. i was a republican since 1976. i support liz cheney 100%. i am proud of her for speaking truth to power. republicans always stood for telling the truth and i'm very upset that they do not stand for

that any longer. i'm very disappointed with kevin mccarthy and mitch mcconnell for supporting the lies that donald trump has told over multiple years. president biden is our president and i hope that everyone will support him for the good of the usa. and i'm very embarrassed that republicans would do anybody. that is the behavior of donald trump. that is not what republicans stand for. and i'm praying for this nation today. host: when did you decide to leave the party? caller: i left the party -- i voted for trump the first time and during the four years that he was president, i was very embarrassed by what our party began to stand for. and i voted for president biden in 2020. and i'm very upset that people are trying to take away our

vote. this was a legal election. i left the party in 2020. i'm still a very conservative person. i would actually be registered as an independent but i need to be able to vote in primaries. i need to be able to speak my word and now i am on the democratic party and will fight with everything i have to keep donald trump out of our white house. we need to revote -- vote publicans out that are still supporting him. i'm worried that our republican party is no longer existing. and we need two good parties. host: so let me ask you, julie, because there are some prominent republicans, former governors, etc., who are going to release a letter this week saying that they are leaving the republican party. or that the republican party

should split. what do you think? caller: i am so upset about the split. if we are going to have three parties, i think it's going to be even harder to have people unify. this is the beautiful usa. can't we all come together and become the two parties that we've always known and loved? i've never had anything against democrats or republicans, and i've always stood on principles. i've primarily voted republican, but i simply cannot support the party the way it is now. i will say, i am very proud of any republicans that are standing up for liz cheney and her telling the truth to power. host: julie in florida. former republican, voted for

president trump in 2016, against him in 2020. elise stefanik, the republican of new york he wants to replace liz cheney as conference chair tweeting this out at 9:17 -- read why i am running for congress republican house chair. unify the gop conference, weaned the majority, and fight on behalf of the american people to save our country. you can read why she wants -- why she is fighting. let me show you her voting record and endorsements. the american conservative union in 2019 gave her a 59% ranking. fiscally conservative growth -- national right to life committee, 88% on abortion. criminal justice, national

organization -- association of police organizations, 60%, 100% approval on guns. citizens against government waste, 38%. let's go to bob in old fort tennessee, republican. what -- your reaction to republicans removing liz cheney. caller: she needed to go. let me tell you, donald trump didn't tell me the election was rigged. two reasons, i got the proof. we sat here on national tv and watched atlanta run the poll watchers out and start bringing suitcases with ballots in them. that's illegal. as far as i know, ballots come in boxes. in pennsylvania, they need to read the constitution of elections. if no single judge has the power

to change their laws and they've done it, pandemic or a bomb goes off or whatever, you don't excuse -- that's right there rigged election. you don't change the rules in the middle of a campaign and election going on. donald trump didn't tell me nothing. you guys don't want to see the truth because what i just said is the truth. host: bob, where do you see the video that you are talking about? caller: on channel nine news in chattanooga. don't hang up, let me tell you real quick. the poll watchers, because they said a water broke up the street so they had to -- host: we are listening. caller: ok -- host: sorry, i thought you were done. nick reynolds, the state

politics and policy reporter from wild file.com to talk about this outcome. how do you think this plays in wyoming? she's out as the number three leadership. guest: i think the immediate effect is wyoming just lost influence in congress. as you know, we only have three representatives in congress, two in the senate and one in the house. everyone counts and there is a long-standing legacy of getting leaders to pretty influential positions. liz cheney, daughter of dick cheney, advanced to a very advanced position. obviously a big blow. on the other hand, there has been a pretty large group wanting cheney out ever since her vote after january 6.

there are some who were upset about her statement on january 6 condemning the president's involvement in what happened. there is one side of people who are quite disappointed, a republican lawmaker from cheyenne was tweeting his disappointment about basically saying that weekends the party --weakens the party and the party is bigger than one man. host: how much support does she have with voters, republican voters in the state? guest: it's really tough to tell . she hasn't faced a credible challenge in her career. in 2016, it was a wild race and she finished with about 40% of the vote. there were a couple of credible challengers who combined for more than half the vote, one of whom, darren smith, is running against her this year.

it will be difficult to tell how this is going to affect her because we don't have a lot of great information. that's not to say a primary challenge is impossible. inexpensive advertising and resources are needed to build up a coalition. we've seen in the past that vote splitting has played a huge role. if there is a credible conservative candidate who can compete with her warchest, there might be a chance. the last governors race in wyoming, our winner finished with about one third of the vote. his two closest challengers, combined for about 47% of the vote, showing that if you could consolidate, maybe possibly depending on how the chips fall, you could possibly mount a credible challenge. host: explain how voting works

in wyoming. guest: it is pretty complicated, primaries. it is more that we have a history of bringing a bunch of different challengers into the fold at one point. we saw i think nine different challengers in the governors race, and now we are up to seven confirmed in the congressional race running against cheney. we have several more currently in the wings so we are waiting to see who ultimately comes out. you have to consider how races are run. the state as a whole has less population than about three dozen cities in the united states, so we are talking about spreading that population across a land area that is 20 times the size. when we are talking about campaigning, it is not just about television ads or campaign promises, because frankly, everybody here is conservative so you will always be running on

a conservative platform. you need to be in chambers of commerce and going to community barbecues in towns of 20 people to get every vote you can. that's really what it comes down to. people in wyoming have pretty unusual level of access to their elected leaders. it is kind of an expectation that you are meeting with them on the campaign trail. host: what is the state of her warchest? is she in good shape? guest: in quarter one, she had her best ever fundraising quarter, and the past couple of years, she has not faced a serious challenge, or she has been able to put away quite a bit of money over that time. another interesting point is while she was a strong fundraiser, a lot of the money went to the rnc to support candidates around the country while she was in leadership. some of the money that she could be spending for this campaign

has been siphoned out the last couple of years to support republicans in competitive races. in quarter one, we are seeing the influence of some of these challengers in the anti-cheney movement. one of the most credible candidates is a state senator from shea and who is -- cheyenne who is known for combative campaign tactics. he was the first to declare a really broad social media campaign and generated about 400,000 donations -- $400,000 in donations in states appearing on the right-wing media and guerilla marketing. the second leading fundraiser is chuck gray who has raised six figures and will be using his own money. it is not too much of a fundraising challenge.

it remains to be seen how much new competitors will. we have a couple of smaller town candidates, a small town mayor from fremont county. we have a paralegal. we have also had two candidates declare last week and it will be interesting to see how much they can raise. one of those is darren smith, ran in 2016, mostly a husband and wife can test campaign. -- campaign. we have an intriguing challenge or arise the other day. he is a career military man of california, but his brother is a state legislator. his family homesteaded here in the 19 century so it will be interesting to see how much support he can gather. there are people in the national picture waiting to see who will run so they can donate. there are pacs that support

former president donald trump that are waiting on candidates to come out of the fold that will be endorsed by them and get a windfall that campaign. another pac has been weighing support for different candidates and secretary of state ed buchanan into the fold, they are pulling for him, but it is unclear if he will run. host: you can follow all the latest on liz cheney and her reelection bid if you go to wy ofile.com. back to your reaction republican ousting republican liz cheney from leadership. steve from port lucy, -- port st. lucie, florida, independent. caller: i don't think liz cheney

will be able to get elected dog catcher because she gets her money from the corporate lobbyists. that's what the republicans are trying to get rid of, the globalists and the corporat ists. i don't know about rubio down here. whoever trump decides to run against rubio will win so rubio is in trouble in florida because of the corporatists. we believe the communist chinese are the big winners of last election because xi jinping has declared himself world leader. we want open bibles, not open borders. host: steve and florida, independent. -- in florida, independent. 10 buck says he -- ken byck expects the vote to replace liz

cheney on friday but will not support liz -- elise stefanik. president trump put out a statement in support of liz cheney. we can show you that here in a minute. what the president had to say. he said back on may 10, monday, the house gop has a massive opportunity to upgrade this week from warmonger liz cheney to elise stefanik. she is a patriot. she ran an from the nra and loves our veterans. we need someone from leadership experienced flipping districts from blue to red as we approach the 2022 midterms. she got the endorsement of the president this week and kevin mccarthy, the leader of the republicans in the house.

larry in wyoming, democratic caller. what does this mean? caller: it is a happy day for this wyomingite. i went to fight in the iraq war in good faith, learning later about bush-cheney lies. the truth is, liz cheney has neglected wyoming and the u.s. military. for example, liz cheney voted for the ndaa. the ndaa did not properly fund military commissaries. the commissary shelf in cheyenne, wyoming contained little food and high prices. now liz, listen to us. serve us. make us the priority. find more money in the ndaa. she could learn a lesson from u.s. senator cynthia lummis from wyoming.

i will be supporting someone like colin simpson used to be the former wyoming house speaker . liz cheney, resign. host: what about her record? take a look at her endorsements, american conservative union, 79% endorsement for conservative values. but club for growth, 65%. on the issue of abortion, 100% endorsement from the national right to life committee. on immigration, numbers usa gave her 86%. national association of police organizations on criminal justice, 60%, 92% rating from the nra and 72% rating from the citizens against government waste. a conservative organization, 100%. caller: i encourage you to go to

the air force base. you go out and look at the mess and tell me if that is what liz cheney should be doing for the state of wyoming. it is terrible at the air force base. go to the commissaries and exchanges and ask yourself if this is what the military fought for. liz cheney is not taking care of the military. she can spew all the things she wants. liz is not working for us. host: we will go to republican, veronica, cold spring, new york. what's your reaction? good morning. caller: i'm glad she was voted out. i think we need somebody that's going to unify the republican party, and i certainly don't support her. i think back to the election time when hillary clinton came out and said, he -- meaning trump -- he is not going to lead

the white house, i knew our elections were in trouble because whenever the clintons get their hands in something, something is up. i watched the elections and like one caller said, i watched how things were done in pennsylvania, how they were done in georgia, how the laws were being changed, the election laws , as the election was going on. and i knew that the outcome, we watched the election all into the night and suddenly trump was up and suddenly he was down. they wouldn't let the republican people watch what was going on. and i do feel that even though it was certified by the electoral board and biden is now the president, that was the worst election that i have ever voted in. i was a democrat for most of my life. when the clintons came in, i changed my party because i know

they are the ones -- they are toxic and they are the ones that have polluted the democratic party. host: new statement by former president donald trump -- liz cheney is a better horrible human being -- just coming out moments ago -- i watched her yesterday and realized how bad she is for the republican party. she has no personality and nothing good for our country. she is a talking point for democrats, whether that means the border, the gas lines, she is a warmonger whose family pushed us into the stupid middle east disaster. i look forward to soon watching her, a paid contributor on cnn or ms dnb's -- dnc. we just watched the destruction of the republican party as we need it.

they will follow her to the ballot box in 2022, 2024, trump is dumb -- done, he writes. go to facebook.com/c-span so we can read those comments. joining us now is edward mckinley, the state capital bureau reporter for the albany times union here to talk about elise stefanik. we heard from the congresswoman that she is in, she's running, and the vote will take place friday. what can you tell us about her? guest: good question. i guess the first thing to say would be i don't think anyone is surprised to see her say she is officially running. for all intents and purposes, she has been running the last two weeks. the most defining characteristic i would used to describe elise stefanik's ambition.

she really wants to achieve a lot and she has demonstrated that she is highly dedicated to examining what she needs to do to achieve those things, and orient herself to achieve them. when she came up, it was mostly in albanese. she been -- albany. she has portrayed herself as a rural person. earlier, she grew up in the city, went to harvard, was close with this famous friendship with a top aide to the governor, democrat. she came up as a moderate republican, bush republican, supported by karl rove's super pac. she touted herself as bipartisan and then she recognized the winds in the party are shifting. she made a clear shift. she was on the intelligence committee and dedicated herself to defending president trump during the first impeachment.

she has demonstrated the way the republican party has shifted as she has shifted along with it to put herself in position to advance now. host: was this the ultimate goal, to get into republican leadership? what's next? guest: obviously, i don't have the specifics, but the way she's behaved has not necessarily been to advance to any one particular position. it seems like she's been trying to maximize her options. earlier this year, she really ramped up her criticism of governor cuomo. there was a lot of talk about her as a potential gubernatorial candidate in new york. she was raising a lot of money. calling him the worst governor in america. there was a lot of speculation among republicans that she was gearing up for a statewide run, but then it seems like an opportunity opened up here and she zeroed in on house leadership. for a wild, people have

identified a statewide run or house leadership as two potential opportunities. host: how is this leadership race viewed in the district? guest: i think in the district in the state, republicans see it as, this is great. anyone in her it as great. i was speaking with a republican who was saying having another new yorker in party leadership, whichever party, is good for us, because it sets it's up for more resources -- sets us up for more resources. chuck schumer sets up the ark for being -- forgetting -- chuck schumer sets up new york forgetting more resources. host: what should viewers know about her district, is it moderate? guest: historically, it has been more moderate. it is a good example of the kind of district that turned towards donald trump in terms of these

exorbitant small towns, rural district, where the social issues have been grabbed onto by the former president and have taken hold. one thing i want to highlight as there has been some reporting that she said, i will only serve in leadership through 2022. she said when she first ran for congress, i will only serve out five terms. that is a big thing she said. she is currently serving in her fourth and the end of her next term would be the end of her time in congress, if she stays with that promise. host: our viewers can watch and follow the reporting on elise stefanik at timesunion.com or follow ed mckinley on twitter. he is the state capital bureau reporter for "the albany times union." guest: thank you.

host: melissa, wallingford, connecticut, independent. your reaction to republicans, just in this last hour, voting out liz cheney. caller: i am absolutely thrilled that they voted out the warmongering liz cheney and that she is done. the era of corporate funded, endless war conservativism is coming to an end. good riddance to liz cheney and quite frankly, the republican party be better off without the betrayers kevin mccarthy and mitch mcconnell as well. liz cheney was never concerned about serving the american people or speaking the so-called truth. she is the big lie pushing the big lie. she is more concerned about auditioning for cnn. let's look at the facts of what's going on in this country. the world was a safer place with donald trump in the white house.

that is indisputable. only intellectually lazy people believe the lies that were pushed about donald trump. they did not do their due diligence, did not do their research. everything that was being said about him turned out to be factually inaccurate. biden and his puppet masters are waging an economic warfare on the american people in the name of things like climate change. what is going on in this world that people are being manipulated? i urge everybody, do your research. host: msnbc tweeting out -- a four liz cheney was ousted from gop leadership in this last hour for refusing to back trump's lies, she voted -- she quoted spix -- scripture -- ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.

jonathan martin for the united -- the times, how fast was the vote? a handful missed it because they were just meeting when it broke up. democratic caller, good morning to you. what's your reaction? caller: first thing i want to say is i want to bless the police officers that got assassinated overnight, two in california and two in texas. you won't report it because they didn't kill no black people, that's number one. i was a democrat. i ain't no more. this guy in the white house is a racist. you remind me of cnn. host: what about liz cheney? caller: the stuff you talk about trump, you are garbage, you know it? host: you called in to say that? caller: yeah.

when did you ever put a democrat on your tv like swalwell? it is all about the republicans. that's all you do every day, downgrade them. host: don in pennsylvania. matt gaetz, a vocal critic of liz cheney under the investigation, tweeted out moments ago -- the republican conference made the right decision to remove liz cheney as chair. melissa and bloomfield, iowa, republican. caller: thanks for taking my call. i think it's great liz cheney is getting out. this government will finally realize that we the people run the government. the government does not run this country. we decide. and we are sick and tired of all these other countries coming first for we do. the other melissa that called in

from connecticut, she was absolutely correct. it is about time we have people in this government that is for america first. and leaving everybody else out of this country second. we had it right when donald trump was here. nobody tried to fire rockets. nobody was, you know, all of this stuff going on between palestine and israel. it is great for the warmongers. that's the cheneys. we don't want that. we want our country to come first and we are sick and tired of the government saying we don't have a say. host: senior reporter for "the hill," scott long tweeting out -- wong tweeting out -- voted in support of liz cheney. others who reportedly shouted

out support for cheney during the vote were kinsinger and tom reed, who is retiring, according to lawmakers who were in the room. reporting leading up to the vote was that this would be a secret ballot and it was understood that this would be a vote taken like other votes have been in the past, paper ballots, to remove liz cheney from her position. instead, it was a quick voice vote with the leader, kevin mccarthy, according to adam kinzinger telling reporters that he said it was time to move on and called for unity for the party and quickly asked for the vote. liz cheney nope longer part -- no longer part of the house leadership -- republican leadership and will no longer be the house chair. a viewer -- i support liz cheney 100%. it was hard to believe she was penalized for telling the truth. too bad for liz cheney.

hope she runs for president in 2024. allen of wisconsin, she can work for nancy and chuck and bring her hate with her. brian murphy covering capitol hill tweets out -- "the virginia -- virginia foxx "as the old saying goes, she who thinks she leads but has no followers is only taking a walk." liz, i'm afraid you are a woman who is only taking a walk now. you have lost your followers. sandra, new bedford, massachusetts, democratic caller. caller: thank you for taking my call. i just wanted to say about the thing that's being said, being a democrat my whole life, look, i found horrible the unsolicited

ballot. i think a lot of us didn't like that and i think that's what kind of changed the election. i don't know if you can answer this so i got ballots and everybody in my family got ballots but we still went in person and voted. so let's say we didn't vote for trump but you got the ballots and you sent them in and you went and voted in person. was there any checks and balances to make sure that people didn't send their ballots in and vote in person? can you answer that? host: sandra, i cannot. we are at the end of today's program as well. the house is about to come in to their business that we will end the conversation now. live coverage of the house here on c-span.

[captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's room, washington, d.c., may 12, 2021. i hereby appoint the honorable luis j. correa to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, nancy pelosi, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 4, 2021, the chair