television companies and more including charter communications. >> broadband is a force for empowerment. that's what charter is invested millions building infrastructure, upgrading technology, empowering opportunity in communities big and small. charter is connecting us. >> charter communications support c-span as a public service. along with these other television providers giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> coming up today on c-span, and 1:00 p.m. the deputy director of the centers for medicare and medicaid services on the biden administration's plans and priorities for the health care programs. at six :00 p.m., a former vice president mike pence speaks of the annual lincoln reagan dinner hosted by the hillsboro county republicans in manchester, new hampshire. coming up in one hour, casey

dinges from the american society of civil engineers on the group's report card on the state of the nation's infrastructure. fox news national political reporter paul steinhauser talks about campaign 2024 and previews former vice president mike pence's visit to new hampshire. more about the former vice president ♪ >> many five -- many vice president in recent history had led significant policy initiatives. most recently, mike pence guiding the coronavirus task force and the creation of spaceports. vice president kamala harris has been asked to oversee u.s. response to southern border

emigration influx and protect voting rights and lead an administrative campaign tour on covid vaccination efforts. good morning. it is thursday. we will spend the first hour asking you your thoughts on the vice president's job so far. here is how to take part in the conversation. if you approve so far of the job you are seeing from the president, the line is (202) 748-8000. if you disapprove it is (202) 748-8001. if you are unsure that line is (202) 748-8002. you can send us a text to (202) 748-8003. make sure you include your name and where you are texting from. it is facebook.com/c-span for your thoughts us well. you can possums there. some baseline numbers from real clear politics.

their average of the polls out there on approvals. for the vice president, her job approval so far is 48% approve and 43% disapprove. on the president himself, 53% is his approval rating. disapproval is 42%. let's get specifically to some of the tasks asked of the vice president. this is the reporting of forbes this morning. kamala harris is growing portfolio. they write that joe biden wednesday tapped vice president harris to lead a national vaccination tour as part of the month of action to boost slowing vaccination rates, adding to expanding list of herculean tasks assigned to the vice president. biden said wednesday she will be joined on the tour by her husband, the first lady, and cabinet secretary's. the tour will run through the thousand midwest where biden says we still have millions of people to vaccinate.

from the hill this morning at the hill.com, their headline says this morning that harris gets a new high-stakes role in a voting rights effort. they are writing to vice president harris finds itself at the center of another high-stakes, messy policy fight after biden put her in charge of efforts to protect voting rights in the face of numerous state efforts to restrict access to the ballot. biden announced the major addition just days before harris will travel to guatemala and mexico to meet with other leaders about the causes of migration. the other high-profile issue she is tasked with addressing. hill writes that the competition puts harris in a challenging position, tasked with finding solutions for two major issues across several administrations. it will test her political capital and negotiating skills with a battle brewing over federal voting rights thing out in the senate. i want to point out that her

capitol hill producer greg kaplan points out that the vice president has so far cast the tie-breaking vote in the senate four times. but on immigration and the border influx, she makes a trip this weekend. here is what the vice president had to say one month ago. >> eight years ago, president joe biden addressed this conference. then vice president, he led our nation's diplomatic efforts within the northern triangle and with mexico. recently, he asked me to take the lead. this is a priority for our nation. it is a rola take very seriously. -- it is a role i take very seriously. we all are aware of the immediate situation. the citizens of guatemala, el salvador, and hand duress are leaving their homes at alarming rates. -- on -- and honduras are

leaving homes at an alarming rate. people in the region do not want to leave their homes. they do not want to leave the communities they have known their entire lives. the church they go to every sunday, the park they take their children to, their friends, their family, the community. i do pollutants -- i do believe that they leave only when they feel they must. i am thinking about people whose homes have been washed away by hurricanes, people who are parents who have sons who have been threatened by drug cartels, people who have daughters who have been targeted to human traffickers, people who do not have enough to eat, people who are out of work, people who have lost hope. that is why they leave home. that is why they come to the united states. they are suffering. they are in pain.

many are experiencing unimaginable anguish. we want to help. our administration wants out. we want to pick back up the kind of work president joe biden started when he was vice president. we want to help people find hope at home. and so, we are focused on addressing both the acute factors and the root causes of migration. i believe this is an important distinction. we must focus on both. host: again, the vice president is heading out this week and for a trip to guatemala and mexico. our opening question for you this morning is the approval rating of vice president harris. if you approve of her job so far, (202) 748-8000. if you disapprove, (202) 748-8001. and if you are unsure (202) 748-8002.

this comment says vp harris who rate. bc says, harris is doing a fine job. future president harris doing fantastic. i hear about what harris is doing, -- what harris is going to do, but what -- not what she is going to do -- not what she is doing says mary. let's get your calls. let's hear from glenn in at bernville, texas. good morning. disapprove line. guest: good morning c-span. i think kamala harris is about four months too late on immigration. biden wants to get 11 million immigration people here to pump up the democratic voting rolls. he is placing thousands of illegals in red states to pump

up the democratic voting rolls. i disapprove what she is doing and what joe biden is doing. he needs to be impeached from the presidency. he is ruining the country one step at a time. if you talk to anybody in the oil industry, they will tell you that he has killing the country. -- he is killing the country. he is going to be the worst president we have ever had. host: to ramon in madison heights, michigan. on the approved line. -- the approve line. ramon, madison heights, michigan. you are on the air. ok. if you approve of the job so far that, harris is doing, (202) 748-8000. (202) 748-8001 is a line if you disapprove. thomas in long beach, california. good morning. -- tom is in long beach, california. good morning. guest: i definitely have to

disapprove over the last hundred to 150 days. related to the border crisis, you know, you see there is a lot of ducking and dodging. she is not facing the problem head-on. it seems like they are steering away from it and only through pressure and outcry from the border folks and other politicians do you see any kind of reaction or talk of it starting to come about when day after day we have seen the difference -- different struggles and issues on both sides. people coming across the border, the people protecting the border. host: you think president biden is being pressured to assign a high-profile role like this to

the vice president? guest: without it up. they have -- without a doubt. they have to do something. assigning is one thing. taking action is another. host: today that in seattle, washington. david is on our approve -- to david in seattle, washington. david is on our approve line. guest: she could be the next president. i think she is having a wonderful learning experience. host: do you think she has so far succeeded in the task she has been assigned, or, is it something that in the next few months we will get a better idea of whether she is able to fulfill these roles? caller: so far i think she has succeeded very well. i think she is a quick learner.

she has a lot of common sense. that is what we need. host: it was yesterday at the covid update when the president announced the tour, the vaccination push, and a month of action that they are calling it. this is a headline from the washington times. they write daycare centers will offer drop in daycare, pharmacies will be open into the wee hours friday, and vice president, and vice president kamala harris will launch a national tour as part of a month of action to get more people vaccinated against covid by july fourth. biden set a national goal to get at least one vaccine dose into 70% of u.s. adults before the independence day festivities. the times writes that roughly three -- 63% of adults have received a shot. mr. biden out blind -- outlined a flurry of june efforts as it gets harder to reach people who have not come forward. we are asking you this morning about your thoughts on the job so far by vice president kamala harris.

(202) 748-8000 is a line if you approve. (202) 748-8001 if you different approve -- disapprove. and if you aren't sure, the linus that the line is -- the line is (202) 748-8002. she spoke at the bill signing of the anti-american hate crimes bill. >> this violence did not come from nowhere and none of it is new. in my lived experience, i have seen how hate can pervade our communities. i have served in the justice system, in the legislative branch, and in the executive branch. i have seen how hate can impede our progress. and, i have seen how people uniting against tate -- hate can strengthen our country. those here today are united. this bill brings us one step

closer to stopping hate, not only for asian americans, but for all americans. it will expedite the justice department pulse review of hate -- the justice department's review of hate crimes. it would designate an official at the department to oversee the effort. it will expand efforts to make the reporting of hate crimes more accessible at the local and state levels. but after the president signs this bill today, our work will not be done. here is the truth. racism exists in america. xenophobia exists in america. anti-semitism, islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia. it all exists. the work to address injustice wherever it exists remains the work ahead. host: your thoughts on the vice

president -- the job the vice president is doing so far. if you approve, (202) 748-8000. if you disapprove, (202) 748-8001 if you are unsure, (202) 748-8002. we are joined by bob cubesat, editor and chief of the hill, -- bob q sack, -- bob cusack. editor-in-chief of the hill. biden and top gop negotiator agreed to continue infrastructure talks friday. what did we learn from that conversation yesterday? guest: we learned talks are continuing. but, they still fall apart -- far apart. -- they are still far apart if you think about the overall number, the price tag of what republicans could agree to.

that has gotten closer. but, if you peel back the scene and what is really going on behind the scenes, they are so far apart on the pay for's. joe biden does not want to repurpose old money that has been spent or not been spent in prior covid packages. that is what republicans want to do. joe biden also wants to raise taxes as part of this package. republicans, that is a dealbreaker for them. while they have gotten closer to numbers, joe biden went down $1.7 trillion and republicans have crept closer to $1 trillion. but, they are so far apart on the important part of infrastructure, the pay for's. over the last decade, republicans and democrats agree on infrastructure policy for the most part. it is gotten a little more difficult in recent years with climate change and some democrats pushing for more climate change divisions.

but overall, they do not know how to pay for it. that is why it did not get done in the trump administration. that is why it is likely not going to be a bipartisan deal this year either. host: how did republican senator o get this lead role in being the point person on -- republican leader shelley moore capito get this role in being the point person on infrastructure with the president? guest: you are really going to need buy in from mitch mcconnell. he is not part of this group, but he is heavily involved. it is interesting, bill, when you look at it. both sides are turned to appear bipartisan. it does not mean they don't want to deal. but, it is very hard for them to get a deal. republicans have said that if joe biden wants to struck -- strike a deal on roughly a trillion dollar package and then get more infrastructure that

republicans say is not infrastructure, that is fine, by them. so, they do not want to appear like the party of no or obstructionist. but we are coming across a deadline of monday. it used to be may 31. i do not see it happening. they are so far apart. the clock is ticking. host: not to get too deep in the weeds, but your publication this morning, with the story, the senate part of metairie and, democrats only -- parliamentarian, the democrats only get one more chance. are the democrats getting indication that the parliamentarian and open doors for them to get this procedure across the finish line? guest: yes. the parliamentarian is a referee of the senate. she has ruled that immigrants

can get more than one bite of the apple on reconciliation, passing a bill with the majority instead of needing 60 votes. she has also ruled that the budget committee is going to have to act. there will have to be a budget resolution that will have to pass for subsequent reconciliation packages. so, this is going to be difficult. procedurally, yes, democrats can move forward, as they did on the covid-19 package, and ram a bill home. but, procedurally, republicans can balk at a number of things. they can object. this is not infrastructure, or, this does not affect the deficit, which is a so-called bird rule. then, the parliamentarian would have to rule. procedurally, republicans can takes tabs at what democrats are doing. if you go through reconciliation -- republicans can take stabs at what democrats do. if you take reconciliation, it can be harder procedure wise.

there are pieces on the bill, for example, on minimum wage, the parliamentarian said you cannot put that in the covid bill. host: we are talking to our viewers and listeners this morning about the vice president, asking them their approval waiting period i will not ask you that, but i will ask you about the numerous things the president has put on her plate, from the immigration issue, to voting rights, it is beginning to be a fairly long list for the vice president to handle. guest: it is. that is a very good question. at first, bill, we will wondering come -- we were wondering, what is her portfolio, it was not clear. usually it is more clear at the beginning of administration. now we are seeing tasks piled up. there was a report from cnn that harris's staff wanted to distance the vp from the

immigration planned because that is a thorny issue that will not be fixed until congress acts. reportedly, she asked for the voting rights. that is very important to her. and, this vexing to her, that will focus on the south and midwest -- this vaccine tour that will focus on the thousand midwest. it is a growing portfolio -- that will focus on the south and midwest. it is a growing portfolio. there is speculation she could run if joe biden does not run. or, in eight years she could run. she is involved. she has lunch with the president on a weekly basis. she is expanding her portfolio. host: the editor-in-chief of the hill. it is always great to get your insight. back to your comments on the approval rating for the vice president. let's go to norcross to origin -- norcross, georgia and hear

from harry. good morning. caller: thank you, sir. thank you, c-span. you are the only place anybody listens to me anymore. as far as, harris is concerned, i would have to say this is a very intelligent and capable woman. your guest tried to put a wedge between her and joe biden, it sounded like. i think joe biden is dragging -- dragging us back towards the middle ground. that fdr dwight eisenhower ground that all us pre-fox news people came up in. here is the thing about the triangle. i keep reminding everybody that they have to remember our history.

it was ronald reagan who trained the salvadoran and hondurans and guatemalans. we trained them here in georgia at the school of the americas. i don't know with the caller now. -- what they call it now. all of those national guard troops went down and murdered the archbishop of el salvador, oscar romero. they murdered the mary nuns from cleveland. host: let me ask you about the vice president's job and her trip to guatemala and mexico. did you go down there and say, what help did do need? or did she go down there and say, you need to resolve this. caller: i think her job is the hardest. she has to look them in the eye

and say, you have to fix the mess that we brought to you. we brought this messed you. ronald reagan's administration, if you remember elliott abrams. host: i appreciate your input, harry. we go to thomas in lincoln park, michigan on the disapprove line. caller: i think she is doing a terrible job, honestly. i have not seen her do anything at all yet. there are kids dying at the border almost every day, being raped every day. she does not have the time to go down there? i find that ridiculous. i really do. i think the whole administration is putting a ratched -- a wedge into the american people. he talked about white supremacists. how many people have white supremacists killed in the past seven years? i think there has been a threat yet, but there have been bigger

threats. it is ridiculous. i can but -- i cannot believe he is in there, to be honest. i think they are doing negative numbers. they are driving a wedge in the american people. host: a tweet from garnet who says it has been four months and she is just the vp. her tasks take time. drop, promise -- trump only get tax cuts for the risk -- rich. paul in virginia. i disapprove. she has been all talk and no action. she ran around the country selling domestic agendas. michael in portland says kamala harris is a tremendous asset that currently both underused and miss task. she's thus that she does not need any more on-the-job training.

she will be the next president. in flint, michigan. david. good morning. david is on the proof line. -- the approve line. caller: i think she is doing pretty good. i would like to see her do a little more in -- a little more. i do not know if i want her for the president. i am 68 and i have been voting democrat since i was 18. i have not missed an election, local or national, in all these years. i think she is doing pretty good. but, we love joe biden. i think joe biden is doing a wonderful job. when i go to the suburbs, the surrounding suburbs of flint, which are mostly white, i notice the people are being more friendly than they were one from was in there. i think he is bringing the races back together. they are more understanding and talk to you more. one trump was there, people were really cold to me when i would

go to the suburbs. i could tell there was a lot of hate building up between races. i think joe biden will bring us together. he is doing a great job. as far as immigrants, i think with job wanted signs in every city of the united states from michigan to texas, i think we will need some people to take jobs. jobs are going unfilled. i think we need them. our population is growing old. people are not having that many kids anymore. i think we need them. host: decurtis, also in -- on the approve line -- to curtis, also on the approve line in baltimore, maryland. caller: it is not often i get through to c-span. i want to say that i think the vice president and the president are doing best that they can do. i think anything is better than nothing. i think the real problem is they

need to work on the issues in america, starting with the rise of the confederacy. that is our biggest problem here in america now. we need to look at what is going on in washington, d.c., as far as all of these policies and laws and all of that. they are republicans, which are the democrats of yesterday, trying to pass into law to restrict voter rights and everything else they did. but overall, i think they are doing the best they can do. thank you. host: i am asking you your approval rating for, harris. (202) 748-8000 if you approve. (202) 748-8001 if you disapprove. if you are not sure, the line is, (202) 748-8002. on that line, earnie in lost creek, virginia area caller: it reminds me of the old joke.

how can you tell if a politician or lawyer is lying? their lips are moving. i think she is doing about a good a job as anybody could do. we will have to wait and see. host: this is the opinion piece of gerald baker in the wall street journal. over the weekend,, harris bombs at the naval academy. hers was one of the worst 2021 commencement speeches. the vice president was the first female to address the midshipmen. here's what she had to say. vice president harris, we are now entering -- vice president harris: we are now entering a new age, a new epoch, with its own challenges, and with its own opportunities. the global pandemic has

accelerated what was happening before. it has accelerated our world into a new era. it has forever impacted our world. it has forever influenced our perspective. if we were not clear before, we know now that our world is interconnected. our world is interdependent. our world is fragile. just think, a deadly pandemic can spread throughout the globe in just a matter of months. a gang of hackers can disrupt the fuel supply of the whole seaboard. one

one countries carbon emissions can threaten the sustainability of the whole earth. this, midshipmen, is the era we are in. and it is unlike any era that came before. so the challenge now -- the challenge before us now is how to mount a modern defense to these modern threats. host: responding to our opening question, a text from james and troy, michigan. says this, she has been absent, hiding from anything that lessens her popularity in the future. russ in california, i do not approve of her job at the border. she has accomplished nothing. biden might as will be on a leash. she is being groomed for the

next term. sam from georgia says vice president harris is doing a fantastic job. it has only been a few months since they took office. next up is gary on the disapprove line. caller: good morning. i disapprove of kamala harris. she is not enforcing the laws of the united states, especially pertaining to immigration. now we have the russian hackers. you had the pipeline with gas station's still empty. -- the gas stations still empty. now they are hitting the beef industry. what is she going to tell putin, hey, we want those people extradited to the united states so we can prosecute them under united states law?

or are they just going to let this happen. host: gary commented on the hacking of jbs. jbs said its systems are coming back online after a massive cyberattack threatened to knock out significant pieces of its global meat supply effort, easing worries the breach would usher in shortages and higher beef and pork prices. the "wall street journal" does show that meat prices have risen after the jbs attack. that is their headline. up $5.60. choice meets up $5.43 per 100 pounds, after the cyber hack. cleveland, ohio, approve line. this is jane. caller: thanks for taking my

call. hello, thanks for taking my call. i definitely approve of kamala harris, the truth she is telling. it is so great to hear a person in power telling us the hard truth we need to reckon with regarding latin america and all over the world, about our past history that just is going to come back to bite us unless we take a new route. so it is wonderful to hear her speaking. i really agree with the caller a few calls back who was talking about some of the horrific history with the u.s. in central america, and we have to cope with that now because that has a lot to do with immigration. i am glad to hear that kamala harris is paying attention to that.

so yeah, i definitely approve. host: on that issue, in particular, what do you think the message of the administration is to those countries, to guatemala and mexico, in particular, the countries the vice president will be visiting? caller: well, i think the institute that we still have -- i think it is called winsec now, in atlanta, in georgia, maybe not atlanta, but it is in georgia -- that institute has trained people to massacre populations all around the world, and especially in central america. and we fund and arm that kind of

really immoral destruction of other countries. we have done that for such a long time. specifically, i think about how we translate that into the current political realities that she has to do. i think she is equipped to do that because she has handled herself professionally and knows how to do that, and i think she has good political skills which are needed. it is not like you can just be, you know -- but you need to have the life experience that she has, the familiarity with the history of what has gone on, personally and politically and culturally. so she is not going to be naive and speak off-the-cuff, but i trust her experience, the broad base of her experience, and how

she speaks now. host: appreciate your call. to daniel in oak ridge, tennessee, on the disapprove line. go ahead. caller: thank you. she demonstrated herself to be a liar during the media interrogations, the debates. so going forward, she is a liar. she is basically a propagandist for the party. that is her primary function now. i really wish we would implement a board of voting, people would read the constitution, we would rebalance and focus more on state governments, for example, and actually obeyed laws instead of disregarding them and lying about it and lying about it in telling people what they want to hear. that is her primary skill, telling people, at least roughly half the country, what they want to hear, regardless of whether it is true.

there are even parts where pence just had to say that is not true, like she is flat-out lying. i hope people are fact checking, doing more reading, researching these issues, stop letting people lie to you. so yeah, that is basically it. host: andy is next on the unsure line. andy in maryland. caller: hi, thanks for c-span. i am not sure. i think she could serve us better by imitating dan quayle and al gore. the last three administrations' vice presidents have just been awful. and she could go in the background and play a better role than she will bite being upfront -- by being upfront.

this naval academy speeches one example. you asked the question, what is the role of the u.s. vice president? i think those responses would be interesting. host: great. give us time. we will probably get around to it. good idea. a call from california on the disapprove line. good morning. caller: good morning. hey, i was wondering, gas prices are tremendous here in california. the housing situation -- camps all on the side of the roads and all in the neighborhoods. i am wondering how come we do not get back to the people in charge of the states taking care of the states. why are we running around and screaming at each other and

hate and all this, racial this, racial that? most of the country that i have been around -- i have been to a lot of states --i don't even see that. host: richard, you are calling us from california. the vice president was a senator from your state, attorney general in california. would you approve of the job she did in those roles? caller: if you going off of what california does for the whole country, you are sadly, sadly making a mistake. look, california no different than any other state. i have lived in many, many different states. i am just saying that you got a few people in the white house, in the congress, and a handful

of people in the big scheme of things putting us into all of this confusion and all of this hate. why? host: the vice president was interviewed recently on msnbc and talked about some of the women she mentors. [video clip] vp harris: i eat no for breakfast. have been told many times during my career, things like, oh, you are too young, not your turn, they are not ready for you, no one like you has done it before -- i have heard all of these times over the course of my career. i would encourage anyone who has been told that, whatever their gender, to not listen. again, they will be encumbered by the inability of others to see the potential of who you are.

i mean, i just think it is really important to recognize the limitations that other people have based on their expectations and to not put that on themselves. >> you hear no, and some women take it personally. i love that you eat that with breakfast. i am going to take that with me. vp harris: this is that the core, who has the authority to tell you who you are? no, you do not let people tell you who you are. you tell them who you are. that is how i feel about these things. [video clip] -- guest: from the "washington post" this morning, harris takes on voting rights. vice president harris sat down with members of several civil rights groups to discuss what they saw as an assault on the

right to vote in america. there were rumblings by many in the civil rights community that biden and his administration were not doing enough to thwart what could be the greatest disenfranchised since reconstruction. someone speaking under anonymity said that harris emerge from the meeting with a request for biden , let me spearhead the battle against republican voting restrictions. now nearly a month later during an event marking the centennial of the tulsa race massacre, biden announces harris' new portfolio on voting rights, lacing her squarely in the middle of a pitch partisan battle being fought on multiple levels of government. read more online. our question for you -- it is also a poll on twitter. the approval rate for the vice president. 57% approve. 36% disapprove. unsure, about 6%.

you can call in with your comments. approve, (202) 748-8000. disapprove, (202) 748-8001. unsure, (202) 748-8002. staten island -- st. paul, minnesota, we go to bobby on our disapprove line. hello. caller: i do not really think that she is doing a very good job. i just think it is kind of like -- well, who is in charge, is it the secretary of homeland security or is it vice president harris? i do not think she really wanted to take the time because it is not what you say, it is what you do. we are into almost five months, six months coming up, and it seems like there is no urgency to deal with the crisis, and that is what it has been called, a crisis. and i think the secretary of homeland security, i heard him

speak and he seems to be a denier. we are hearing that the border is closed and no problem, rather than saying, in my opinion, hey, we do have a problem. some areas are secure and some areas are hotspots and we will tie that up. the vice president is going to fly down and meet with the countries, and i do not know what she's going to say. it does not seem like any policies are going on. it is kind of like sticking your head in the sand. let it work itself out. let the crisis work itself out, and we will deal with it as we go along. i do not think she is -- she's not fired up. all you hear are excuses. you cannot go here because of the covid. and then she would fly around the country. the football.

yet, you cannot meet here and cannot meet there. i do not see any news conferences coming up, do not see trips to the border to find out the mechanics of what is going on. i do not really know who is in charge. is she and they charge? is the president in charge? i think they are letting this thing ride itself out. host: next up is rose on the approve line. caller: hi, i think she's doing a wonder woman job. here is something i would like to state. the attorney general hat of kamala harris dug her heels into the may 2019 farm bill trump approved when he was supposed to give money to the small american farmer families. he gave millions of that money to the jbs batista brothers in brazil.

a year later with covid-19, he wants all the jbs american warehouses to be required to go to work, and they are all stuck together like cattle in these warehouses. so we know trump wanted this pandemic to spread. and she said, the trump indictment is open and shut. she had the best cross-examination against william barr. ok, let's put it this way, she is doing an outstanding job. she is following the biden slow and steady wins the race. no one can take on putin like kamala harris. checker record. she is very good, excellent. there is so much and told about the success stories of kamala harris. we have got to look into this may 2019 farm bill with the batista brothers. trump put all this money, and a

year later, it is brazil and america with the covid-19 crisis on their hands. trump wanted this to spread. come on, we all know it. i think she is the best person she has got to put on her attorney general hat, but it is too soon. host: this is from a mid-may article from the atlantic. the headline is, what, harris has learned about being vice president. everyone expects her to run for president again one day, but her job requires her -- her to avoid even the appearance of preparing for her political future. it says that she's working with the man who, after his own time as vice president, is determined to be the boss but might also become the first is a -- first president in decades not to seek a second term. she feels the burden as the first woman and first black in south asia present to be vice president, but she's determine her time in office will be about

more than those facts. by aiming to be involved in everything, she is having a hard time making her migrant anything, he writes, especially because she is careful not to create the impression that biden needs help being sensitive to issues of inclusion and equity. salt lake city, utah, is next, disapprove line. lee, you are on the air. caller: yeah, i am disapproving what she's doing, especially south of the border. she don't respect as latinos. it is because of the trevor martin case, because of her business partners. maxine waters tried to start a racial war, trying to blame as latinos for shooting in the trayvon martin case. that is why she is not going to go south of the border. that is all i have to say. thank you. host: janet in california, go ahead.

if you would make sure that you mute your volume, turn it down, and go ahead. we will go on to eve in grand rapids, michigan, approve line. caller: good morning, c-span. yes, she is doing a tremendous job. i keep hearing people call in talking about the border. people, please, give the border a rest. the border eventually will be safe. just like the young man said earlier, this country is getting old. a lot of people getting old and dying. we had 500,000-something dying through the pandemic. we need to come in and do the job they keep complaining about. i do not hear anybody complaining about the fact that every time you look, trump had

people on the golf court golfing. they did not say anything about that. yes, we will keep our eyes on the old dixiecrats, which called themselves the republicans today, because they did that insurrection at the capitol. mitch mcconnell has to go. it is just preposterous. had that been a democrat that was doing what mitch mcconnell and what's his name -- if it had been one of them doing that, they would be up in arms. host: an article about the supreme court. it is june, and you will be seeing decisions from the court soon. usatoday.com. they write is that after mostly avoiding controversy for the past eight, the supreme court is heading into the final, frenzied few weeks of the term of the docket full of outstanding cases

and rampant speculation about one of its most senior justices. from health-care to voting to a dispute pitting lgbtq rights against religious freedom, they will start churning through blockbuster cases, dropping decisions that will reshape the law and the political landscape. they write, 26 cases, all of which are argued virtually because of the covid-19 pandemic, remain on the docket. decisions still to come down. your comments on the approval of , or disapproval, of vice president harris. also on social media and by text, (202) 748-8003. larry in new jersey says, what matters more than approval or disapproval of the vice president sort short time in office is the fact that the president and vp communicate on a daily basis, most important for continuity of the office. i disapprove of vp harris' job, especially on the border. she hides in the background,

avoids controversial topics, avoids media. she is just waiting for biden to be compared -- declared senile so she can become president. this one says that conservatives forget that real governance takes time, unlike stomping around like a petulant child on the world stage. we are only 100 plus days in. give it time and then judge. carol is in missouri, disapprove line. good morning. caller: good morning. i hate to even talk about this, about kamala harris, to begin with. but you brought it up. i think there are more important things to discuss. i would like to ask the democrats, if she was running for president, why is she the first person to drop out? because she cannot get any backing from them. now they think she is the greatest woman on earth. and i kinda of feel sorry for joe biden because usually the first lady is on the magazines and stuff, but all i ever see is

kamala harris. she has not got time to go do anything for the country because she is too busy running around making statements and getting her picture up on magazine covers, for the beautiful person she is. as far as her doing anything, i have not seen anything she has done. i want somebody to tell me what she has done and what she is doing, because i have not seen anything she is even doing it. host: juanita in south carolina. caller: thank you for taking my call. i always appreciate c-span and try to watch it every day, if i can. i think it is too soon to decide whether or not kamala harris has done a good job. let's give her a chance and find out. i would like to say to all of our viewers, how well did vice president pence do with the

pandemic? if you do not find any room to criticize him, you have no right to criticize someone who has been on the job such a short time and is basically learning as she goes. i think it is too soon to tell. i think her heart is in the right place. i think she is a likable and very attractive woman, which may be why they put her on magazine covers. she has a lot to offer this country. and let's give her a chance. let's find out what she can do with the jobs that are assigned to her. i wish her well, as i wish the country whelp or thank you for taking my call. host: thank you for watching everyday. one of our producer reminds us that vice president kamala harris so far has been the tie-breaking vote in the senate, the 50/50 senate, tie-breaking vote four times so far. four times in a little over four

months. overall, mike pence come over four years, he broke the tie 13 total times. in syracuse, new york, we hear from bill on the approve line. go ahead, syracuse. caller: good morning. i think kamala harris has done a good job in an impossible situation. her job is to, one, work with the senate, because she is a former senator and knows how to work it. she is getting opposition not only from her own party, from republicans, but by a couple of basically republicans masquerading as democrats, joe manchin, people like that. she is doing good there. we are going to possibly reach heard immunity at some point, and she is responsible for that -- we are going to possibly reach herd immunity at some point. she has been working with her

own community, the black and hispanic communities, and that is why she is on the ticket, she has done a good job there, too. reaching herd immunity and finally get rid -- getting rid of these masks, we will have protection, she is doing it. thank you. host: a social media, stephanie in michigan says this, it is refreshing to see people with competence in office with designated tasks. she is up to the task. people expect too much in 100 days. this one says that she's doing fantastic. as a rino, since the republican party dove off into the fantasyland of make and lies with trump and friends. this one says i approve of our new vice president and have great respect for her courage, intelligence, and vision. cori from marilyn says, i

disapprove of the job kamala harris has done so far. she was appointed to handle the illegal immigration crisis at the border, yet she has not made a trip to surveilled the issue. she assumed the role of vice president to make history and not truly accomplish anything substantial. this says, question is, will the white patriarchal power structure allow a man to have a wing woman? listen to the callers, i am going with no. approve line, jay in lexington, south carolina. caller: yes, thank you for taking my call. the only thing i want to implement is i think the question should have been, many democrats approve or disapprove or how many republicans approve or disapprove. because you have a lot of trump supporters who don't like kamala harris. and, of course, you are going to

have that opposition. so i think the question should have been related to democrats or republicans. and thank you so much for taking my call. host: somerset, new jersey, this is joe on the disapprove line. caller: good morning, c-span. thank you for taking my call. i bet syracuse would love to move to north carolina. no more snow. better for them. ms. harris has been a disgrace. she said at the naval academy, she did not know it was memorial day. she is basically a commie. she quotes karl marx and a children's book. she is the biggest disgrace we have ever had in the white house. she will never be president. no matter what she does about the border, going or not going, she does not know anything. president reagan did not take care of central america to stop communism, we would not even be

here right now. so a lot of people calling in are a bunch of nuts out in space and do not know what they are talking about. host: this is a bbc headline, israel opposition parties to form a new unity government. the leader of the centrist party announcing eight faction -- a faction coalition has been formed. the head of the right wing party with service primitive your desk prime minister first before handing it over. that is from the bbc. we will hear from kelly in bluefield, west virginia. caller: hi, yeah, i just think that the biden-harris administration, they are more worried about -- especially with the border and the children or whatever, and here we have got people all over the country in

the united states going hungry, that are living on the streets, and nothing has been done about them. you just take that fort bliss thing when they said they opened up 5000 beds for the immigrants, and here we have got people living on the streets in the united states, and we are not doing anything to help them. i don't think the administration is doing much to help their own people. host: up next, we will hear from casey dinges of the american society of civil engineers to talk about their annual report card on the state of america's infrastructure. later, more about the vice presidency as mike pence heads to new hampshire, ewing speculation about a 2024 run. -- fueling speculation of a 2024 run. we will get a preview from tom. that is ahead.

♪ >> the new deputy administrator for the center for medicare and medicaid services, liz fowler, will talk about the biden administration's plans for health care. live coverage begins today at 1:00 p.m. eastern on c-span, online at c-span.org or listen on the free c-span radio app. >> this evening, former vice president mike pence is the featured speaker at the annual lincoln-reagan dinner. it is hosted by the hillsborough county republicans in manchester, new hampshire. watch live, beginning at 6:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. online, at c-span.org, or listen on the free c-span radio app. >> c-span's landmark cases explores the stories and constitutional drama a hind the

significance of -- behind the significance of supreme court decisions. watch key episodes of our series sunday at 10 a copy him eastern, shank the united states -- v. united states. watch landmark cases, sunday night at 10:00 eastern on c-span, online on c-span.org or listen with the c-span radio app. >> washington journal continues. host: we will talk with casey dinges, the executive advisor with the american society of civil engineers, about that group's report card on america's infrastructure and what may be ahead for what the biden administration is is seeking -- biden administration is seeking to do. good morning. guest: good morning. host: what does the american

society of civil engineers -- what role does the american society of civil engineers have? guest: it has been in existence since 1852, it is the oldest national engineering society in the united states. in the late 1990's, the society and members of the broader public were growing concerned about the infrastructure issue of the 1988 federal report. it seemed like the level of action to address those issues was inadequate. so, the society started to dig into the issue more and started putting out report cards every four years, roughly every four years, beginning in 1998. we have 150,000 members, who work in all aspects of civil

engineering and infrastructure. so, we thought we could bring great credibility to this issue, in trying to get a handle on where we were, -- where we are, where we should be and what is happening to the nation as a result of under investing in the nations infrastructure. it is great to see a robust discussion and dialogue occurring in washington at this point because the stakes for the country are quite high. right now, it is a great opportunity, actually. if we were to just invest one more percentage point of gdp into our infrastructure, we could get these grades, which are averaging a c minus right now, up to a b level. this is a volunteer effort, done by the members of our organization, working together with the staff. host: other than talking about it to the public, what is the main purpose of this report card? guest: the report card is to

educate people about the importance of infrastructure, and to create a resource for policymakers to use, so that they can advance, hopefully in a bipartisan fashion, to address the issue at the local, state and federal level. it has been encouraging over the past few years to see a greater level of activity at the state level. that is one of the reasons why the average grade went up to a c minus, from the previous grade of d+ in 2017. it is good to see that there is improvement. i would hardly be pleased if my child come home -- came home and said look, dad, my rates are up from a d+ to a c minus. i would still be concerned about the issue. host: we have been showing the audience the c minus overall grade. we will get to the specifics on the roads and bridges, etc. in the great coming up from a d+

from the last report, where are the areas that you are seeing improvement in infrastructure across the country? guest: we now have two categories at a b. ports got up to a b minus. rail has been a b. transit is lacking at a d-. out of the 17 categories of infrastructure, this is what we would call traditional infrastructure categories, out of the 17, there are 11 d's, four c's and two b's. i think the thing that -- these are all important issues. if you live near a levy, you are a town that will be most concerned about levees. or water, if you are a farmer. if you are living in the big city, transit and transportation might be the most pressing issue. certainly drinking water, the way we handle polluted water or dirty discharges of water, that

is a concern to everybody. aviation, once we come out of covid and we have a reset and people are back into travel mode, i think some of the woes people are experiencing in airports will continue again. it is hard to say which one is the most important issue. i think where you stand on that depends on where you sit. i often hear most about traffic. that is a visceral issue for people in metropolitan areas. host: certainly the discussion on whether things like adding 5g and bringing additional broadband across the country has become a bit more of a political issue. even a thing like the recent hack of the colonial pipeline showed the effect on infrastructure, that would be the nation's gas supply. it does seem like your organization is tasked, more than ever, with assessing many more categories than you used to. guest: right. but this is very much a volunteer effort by the members.

broadband has an issue that has emerged more in recent years. it is a legitimate issue. people can put any issue they want on the table in this discussion and it will be up to the democratic process to see how far we get to it in the end. but, we are facing a huge economic risk with this issue. there is a hidden tax being paid by every american family, because of the inadequate level of infrastructure investment in this country. it is costing each family $3300 a year, because of the state of play in our infrastructure. when people get very caught up in the discussion about how we are going to pay for this, should we raise user fees? we haven't raised the gas tax since 1993. it has lost half of its purchasing power. we have to be honest about this. we did an economic study called the failure to act.

people can google that and look at the study. we are putting at risk $10 trillion in u.s. gdp, 3 million jobs, $2.5 trillion in exports. so, this hits the pocketbook. this hits home. it is also a safety issue for americans. host: let's bring our viewers and listeners into the conversation on the state of america's infrastructure. (202) 748-8000 is the line to call if you are in the eastern and central time zones. for mountain and pacific, (202) 748-8001. our guest is casey dinges. he is the executive advisor for the american society of civil engineers. let's get into the specifics on the report card itself. particularly on roads, the grade for the roads is a d. give us some of the low lights of that grade. guest: about 40% of the

condition of the roads in this country are fair to mediocre condition. 178 million times a day, people travel over bridges that are structurally deficient and a point of greater focus for engineers, we just saw the closure of the interstate 40 bridge over the mississippi river, connecting tennessee and arkansas. there is a single bridge, causing huge headaches for businesses that are relying on that bridge and citizens. people have to do work around. people feel that and it is a pocketbook issue. the condition of the roads are costing the average motorist close to $1000 a year in added expenses and wasted fuel. the road conditions -- it is a condition of the roads and a

number of metropolitan areas, capacity issues causing congestion. there has been a little bit of relief during covid. it will be interesting to see the reset going forward. host: does your report on roads or any of the other categories, do you look at where the shortfall is in terms of the effort? is it on the state and local level or on the federal level? guest: this is across the board. local, state, and federal. in recent years, the states have been stepping up. in the past decade, over 35 states have raised user fees and gas taxes and other transportation user fees. this has been done on a bipartisan basis. those politicians at the state level are getting reelected after casting those votes. that is a subtle message for members of congress to hear, also. people are willing to pay for it

if they have confidence in the projects that are being invested in. there have been some encouraging signs. i think the federal government needs to step up to be a better partner at this level. the feds have done it before. the creation of the interstate highway system, one of the greatest engineering accomplishments on the planet, was the result of federal leadership, under a republican president, i might add. eisenhower. we can get there. it will take some patience and effort. host: let's take a look at your report on bridges. the report card on bridges and the overall grade being a c. what did you find? guest: the number of bridges having problems has decreased, there are over 600,000 bridges in the united states. at this point, about 7% of them require more dedicated inspections than the others. that is down from, i think the

last report card was 9%. that is an encouraging sign. the average age of bridges is still getting order. it is up to 44 or 45 years now. more than half of the bridges on the system are over 50 years old. 180 million times a day, drivers in the u.s. are going over deficient bridges. there is some risk. again, i identified the i-40 bridge over the mississippi. you see how important and vital even one bridge is. host: a reminder to our viewers and listeners that they can weigh in with how things are in their state and locality in terms of infrastructure. casey dinges is our guest. (202) 748-8000 is the line for the eastern and central time zones. (202) 748-8001 for the mountain and pacific. the headline from usa today, biden, gop senator, describes -- discuss infrastructure. that is joe biden and a west

virginia senator. they are expected to talk again on friday. comparing what has been proposed, the administration's proposal on infrastructure, as of yesterday, was $1.5 trillion. there are reports they could bring the number down, including 135 billion dollars for roads, bridges and safety. $110 billion for drinking water improvements. 85 billion for public transit. 85 billion for passenger and freight. 25 billion dollars for airports. $17 billion for waterways. the republican proposal, as of yesterday, the republican bozo would spend 928 billion dollars, with $98 billion for roads, bridges and major projects. 98 billion for public transport. $72 billion for water systems and $65 billion for broadband. $56 billion for airport. $46 billion for rail.

go back to what you were comforting -- commenting earlier about ports in the u.s. a lot of reports about the delay in getting ships unloaded at ports, particularly like the port of los angeles and long beach. what did your report find out? guest: ports got a b minus on the report cards. one of the better grades. there is considerable investment going on there. ports, they need to hook up to the rail system in the united states. the ports are critical. we have an inland waterway system that is a d, which hooks up to many ports. there is a disconnect there, between the ports being in relatively good shape, even if they are playing catch-up in los angeles for a little while, as a result of covid and other issues that were going on.

so, ports is -- and there is strong, private investments in the port area. that is another aspect of infrastructure. sometimes it is privately owned. sometimes, it is publicly owned. there are different funding mechanisms and concepts that are at play out here. it can be an overwhelming issue to contemplate. as we are looking at proposals to move forward, whether they are from the white house or capitol hill, people should keep in mind that asce looked out for the next 10 years, and we can see the total infrastructure needs are about $5.9 trillion over the next 10 years. we have identified that about $3.3 trillion will be paid for, which leaves a gap of $2.6 trillion over 10 years. that is a big number, you scale

it down to an annual number, $260 billion a year for the united states to get going and move forward in these 17 categories of infrastructure. $260 billion translates to roughly one percentage point of gdp. between the federal government, state and local government and private sector, i submit to you that it is a doable challenge for the united states to work in a partisan way to address this key issue and position the united states for a more safe environment, but also a more robust economy for the next decades going forward. we want to look at $260 billion, new investments every year. it does not all have to come from the federal government. it could. but it is not going to. just to give people some scale of approaching this issue. host: we will get to the calls

momentarily. i want to ask you a quick question about a story we are seeing on usa today. they write that many of the industries needed to complete this work, in terms of infrastructure are struggling to find skilled labor, despite relatively high salaries and good benefits in a nation that has put more emphasis on bachelors degree than vocational education. that will make it difficult to catch up to the boom and demand created by a national infrastructure push that joseph kane. your thought -- thoughts on the shortage of infrastructure workers? guest: it is always a challenge. it is challenging work. you indicated, relatively good paying work. i think -- there are ways the industry can make it even more

attractive. there are efforts to get more women into the industry. people of color. and, so, i think it is a legitimate issue. i am not sure it is as dire as it is being presented there. host: let's hear from jeff in birmingham, alabama. caller: if it were up to me, only civil engineers would be allowed to hold office. i think fdr was the best president because his policies would give offense to rand paul and greta thunberg. libertarians and greens are both the enemy of infrastructure. even if all of our cars were electric, you would need hydrocarbons to pave roads and

sulfur to vulcanized tires. we are going to have to help with hydrocarbon infrastructure. i know it will tick off people on the left, but i think internet should be free. i would like to see money spent on fusion research. to me, i said before, only civil engineers should run for office. environmentalists and businessmen should be kept out. host: jeff in alabama. casey dinges? go ahead. guest: sorry. i didn't know if we were getting to someone else. i am sure my members appreciate your favorable comments about civil engineers being political leaders worried there are only a handful of engineers that are serving in the u.s. congress and several handfuls in state legislatures. herbert hoover, a president, was

a civil engineer. your point, there was a lot to unpack in that common. what resonated with me a little bit was the comment about research and development. that is important. it is one of the things that the president has included in his plan. supporting the research and development tax credit and other support for research agencies and the federal government has traditionally had strong, bipartisan support. that is one of the strengths of the united states, to going out new ways to do things. the next new materials, new processes, infrastructure like other in -- industries, should be open to new ways of doing things. people are going to demand it. people want economic performance and environmental issues at the same time. when we talk about sustainable infrastructure going forward, there are going to be projects that economically have the right

bank for the buck -- bang for the buck and have addressed environmental -- feasible environmental issues. host: we will hear from john in mount union, pennsylvania. guest: good morning. i will keep it simple. [indiscernible] host: what did you say? guest: how old was world trade center at seven? -- caller: how old was world trade center seven? guest: that was one of the buildings that went down. host: bernard, go ahead. caller: yes, i was under the impression that pennsylvania has some of the worst bridges in the country. in philadelphia, too.

how dangerous are these bridges? guest: let me try to reassure people that engineers, there is a national bridge program, there is a bridge inventory. bridges that don't need certain technical ratings get inspected more frequently. if necessary, a bridge will be posted. that means signs are put up to reduce the weights and the amount of traffic going over those bridges. so, it is highly unusual to see a bridge collapse. some people will recall that minneapolis bridge collapse on the i-35 bridge in 2007. but, the bridges will be posted and loads reduced to protect the public. host: a couple of comments on bridges. kevin says roads are terrible in nebraska. they have increased taxes here to do road work but it is like the state government does not

put money into the road. this one says -- the bridge, you may have mentioned this. the bridges across the arkansas river are unusable. it must be a trillion plus dollars. for sure, to update the bridges. in terms of bridge failure, what in general, is the number one cause of bridge failure? just the metal and the bridge it is stressed from so many years of carrying all that weight? guest: yes. an engineer once's used a simple mechanism -- once used a sinful mexican-ism -- a simple mechanism to explain this. he took a paperclip and would bend it back for a few times. it is fine for a while. once you keep bending it, you can crack the paperclip or break it. each time cars go past a bridge, it is like a cycle.

the average age of a bridge in the united states is up to 44 years. the grade slipped a little bit from a c plus to ac. -- to a c. it went from 9% in need of greater attention to 7.5%. there are critical links in the system, roadways cannot go anywhere if the bridges are not working. so, bridges are iconic. how many commercials do you see where there are fabulous new bridges being shown to us? there is an emotional attachment to bridges. we need to be serious about addressing it. it is one of the smaller backlogs in terms of the 2.6 trillion dollars we should be

spending over the next 10 years. that is new money. that is another point of caution for dealers. when you are looking at the legislation on capitol hill, make sure it is new money and not just existing programs that are being cobbled together. i think we have to be straightforward with the american public about existing programs. for example, if we are already spending $15 billion a year on federal highway systems out of washington and we are going to raise to $60 billion, that is only a $10 billion per year increase. that is not $60 billion in new money. i cautioned legislature -- legislators in being upfront with the public on existing programs versus new program expenditures. host: we heard yesterday from the white house press secretary, saying -- announcing a new

administration program on getting access for low income residents to clean drinking water. >> a first of its kind water assistance program that will expand access to affordable water and help low income households affected by the covid-19 pandemic pay their wastewater bills, avoid shutoffs and support household water system re-connections related to nonpayment. 166.6 million, or 15% of our allotted program funding is being made available to grantees. in total, 1.1 million -- $1.1 billion will be available in grants, including $500 million in american rescue plan funding. the president believes having clean and safe water is essential to every buddies well-being. host: what is the most pressing issue on water systems across the country? guest: i would say leaking pipes , looking at the drinking water,

there are two sides of the water issue. there is the drinking water side and what we do with the dirty water and treating that properly before we put it back into our environment. on the drinking water side, there is a water main break, every two minutes in the united states. on a daily basis, we lose 6 billion gallons of treated drinking water every day. so, when i say 6 billion galleons of treated -- gallons of treated drinking water, -- yet, the pipeline system is failing in so may places. so, i want to reassure people that the quality of our drinking water is quite high in the united states. the system we have delivering it need some considerable investment. certainly, it is a legitimate issue to help people at the

lower end of the economic scale have access to clean drinking water. this is a vital issue. drinking clean water is also an issue for certain businesses. it is vital to have. it is not as visceral as being stuck in traffic for the american public that water is vital for all of us. host: let's go to chester, virginia and hear from jerry. caller: hello, everybody. you said that we need five point $9 trillion over 10 years to break -- $5.9 trillion over 10 years to bring our infrastructure to a beat? guest: yes. host: what percentage does the united states spend a year on infrastructure and what increase from gdp would it take to bring that up to an na each year -- an a each year. guest: i'm not sure i can do

that. we are having a hard enough time getting to the b. $260 million a year is approximately one percentage point of gdp. i think the u.s. gdp is about $22 trillion or 23 chile and dollars. -- $23 trillion. $260 billion, pardon the huge numbers we are using, that is about one percentage point of gdp. we are spending 2.5 percent of our infrastructure on gdp right now and we need to get to 3.5% of gdp. that is not all federal money. that is public and private money. we talked about ports, there are some water companies that are private in the water space. so, if you consider how

important these systems are to the foundation of the united states, the functioning of business, everyday health and safety of the american public, one percentage point of gdp or going up to 3.5% of u.s. gdp dedicated to infrastructure investment seems prudent and wise. host: next is jerome in chicago. good morning. caller: good morning. the perfect example, we see in chicago, cost overruns and time delay. we have the interchange in downtown chicago that is behind by hundreds of millions of dollars. we have a system at the airport that has only been extended 1.5 miles in two years and they have spent $81 million bossing people because they can't -- b ussing people because they can't make the system work. we have one lane of the kennedy expressway for one mile that has been five years in the process

of constructing. the other thing i want to talk on is the infrastructure of building electric charging stations. we know that 50,000 gas stations are going to have to close. i am sure -- the thing about it, who makes these charging stations? the automobile industry. let them foot these charging stations. without charging stations, they can't sell these cars. thank you. host: casey dinges, any thoughts on the several issues he talked about there? guest: the movement to electric cars has been relatively slow in the united states. so, i think that might explain a little bit of the president's desire to try to go big in investing in an infrastructure system that can accommodate a quick expansion to the electric

car space. i am not sure -- that is why we have political debates, to figure out how we -- what we invest on and then figure out who pays for what. it is an interesting comment about the auto industry. clearly, society would benefit from a big movement in that direction, in terms of the whole effort to d carbonized the environment going forward. we don't have a position on who should be paying for the electric vehicle charging infrastructure. host: on his point on cost overruns and delays, i remember seeing a few years ago, traveling the chesapeake bay bridge tunnel, which by any stretch, is an engineering marvel that it was completed on time and under budget, is it more often these days that

projects like our caller from chicago mentioned suffer cost overruns? guest: i have seen so many examples of overruns or complex projects that were done ahead of schedule, under budget. one thing i will say is that when we delay things, we are definitely adding cost. if the country is going to continue to delay on addressing the infrastructure issue, the woes we heard about from the chicago area will just continue nationwide. so, sometimes, these projects run into complex technical issues that can be causing the delay. you know, it is a project by project situation, in terms of things being delayed or overrun. many times there are incentives built into these contracts, for

the projects to be done on time, on budget, there are financial incentives for contractors to meet these targets and also to perform these projects safely for the workforce. host: let's hear from sergio in pompano beach, florida. good morning. caller: good morning, bill. how are you today? host: i am fine. caller: my question is, i am from florida. i understand it is $16 billion on public transportation. [indiscernible] it is a her rent is pet. -- her -- horrendous bet.

how can that help to develop that? host: a little hard to hear the call. guest: i thought i heard a reference to transit. host: i'm in the same boat. his call was breaking up. let me ask you a question from another viewer. this is from brad in savannah, georgia. please speak to dams, levees and flood mitigation systems. the lack of cohesive h&h modeling that supports it and how changing rainfall patterns exasperate or -- exacerbates the problem. guest: dams are an important issue, that is another great of d on the report card as our levees. when people think about dams, they may think about the hoover dam or some of these mcniff

hickson -- magnificent structures in the united states. those are well-maintained. there are over 90,000 dams in the united states. a lot of them were originally built to serve agricultural purposes. what has happened over time is that cities and suburban areas have widened out and expanded and encroached into previously rural areas, where these dams are. people may not realize they are near one of the structures. but, they do pose a bit of a safety risk out there. levees are another area where we are just beginning to get a handle on where they all are and how many we have. they do pose safety risks for people. climate change is one of the aspects driving that. host: next up, patrick in laurel, maryland. good morning. caller: good morning.

thank you for accepting my call. this is what concerns me. how can the government make sure that the money that is being appropriated to the state, that is appropriated to the city where the city council, i believe, is responsible for allocating funds to different districts and whatever cities there is, how can the federal government make sure that the money given to the states are appropriately used? guest: the federal government has set appropriate restrictions and oversight. i am not aware of too many problems, at least if i am thinking about the federal transportation dollars that go to states and communities, they go in different ways. in the aviation space, funding

revenues would go directly to the airports. in service transportation, roads and bridges would go to the states. in some cases, directly to cities and counties. i think there is pretty good oversight. the public is keeping a close eye on things. i am not aware of the corruption allegations that are being suggested, at least on a wide scale. we are not investing enough as a nation. that is the real issue here. one percentage point of gdp is what we are talking about. 260 billion dollars a year to address all of these infrastructure categories. do we really want to put at risk $10 trillion of u.s. gdp by the end of the next decade or put at risk $4 million in jobs by the end of the next decade by doing nothing on this issue? it is a huge opportunity to strengthen our international competitiveness and public safety, to make our companies more profitable and to improve

the quality of life in the united states. that is the task at hand. host: we will hear from rory in rancho santa margarita, california. caller: as for the infrastructure, i believe right now, it is going to have to go with the fossil fuels, cars and all that. don't use any of this environmental renewables. make everybody go broke, put them in poverty already. already, there is talk of impeaching biden and harris for putting 300,000 unionized jobs out. what are you going to do with the college education, except go work for the left. so, that is all i am going to say right now. goodbye. host: casey dinges, any

response? guest: i don't really have a comment on that. host: let me ask you a question about smart vehicles. this is a comment on twitter that says mr. dinges, what is the view about civil engineers -- of civil engineers about hardwiring roads for self-driving cars? maybe you can talk about wife when you are -- why when we are tearing up roads, we should bury the utilities? guest: it is a way to protect the utilities. there is a lot of book support for that. the idea about smart cars and high-tech roads, the industry is supportive of that and intrigue. back to a previous comment about research and development, that is one of the strengths of the united states. there is robust support for that. in terms of all of the technology, that will have to work itself out. how much cars are going to

communicate with each other from a safety perspective, how much will they communicate with the road for safety, all of that is going forward right now. there will be changes. there has to be proper signage for some of this technology to work properly. but, those -- we are moving ahead on all of that. it is going to happen. host: the report card on public transit has a d-grade. it has been one year and 14 months of far fewer writers -- riders. what else did you find out in your analysis of public transit? guest: there is a huge backlog of projects. but, it would probably take about $100 million to address the backlog. a doable challenge over a number of years for the united states. transit is important for metropolitan areas.

the roadway systems could be in even worse condition if metropolitan areas did not have a transit option for writers -- riders every day. transit is only available to half the country right now. half the country lives in communities with no access at all to transit. -- we have two challenges. -- covid has been a huge punch in the gut for transit. it relies on daily ridership to be financially viable and the riders have not been there for the pandemic -- during the pandemic. host: let's hear from nelson. caller: thank you for taking my call. mr. dinges, thank you for what

you are talking about. this is very important. i do appreciate the work on behalf of the -- of america's engineers. having said that, i would like to point out that there is infrastructure in europe that was built on roman empire, some of which is still in use today. some of those infrastructures, literally, a couple of thousand years old. we, here in the united states, are concerned about bridges and roads that are less than 50 years old. why is that? that the engineers 50, 60, 70 years ago, which is not very long, get it wrong? guest: i won't say it was getting it wrong. the task, fielding of the interstate highway system and bridges there, i think the task was to design a bridge that

would last for 50 years. typically, the infrastructure will not last forever. you might be referring to some of the arch, stone arch water aqueducts that we find in italy, that the romans built. i guess in the united states, the brooklyn bridge is one of the older components of our infrastructure and it is still there. when we were building up the interstate highway system -- here is a system, the interstate, it is only 4% of the roadways in the united states, yet it carries over 40% of traffic in the u.s. i think the goal was to build facilities that were safe but there was also concerns about how much we are spending. so, there is a trade-off there. typically, infrastructure will not last forever. we do have to maintain it. in some cases, rehab it.

in other cases, completely rebuild it. host: our viewers and listeners can read the report at infrastructure report card.org. casey dinges is the executive advisor of the american society of civil engineers. thank you for being with us this morning. guest: thanks, bill. good to be with everyone. host: still to come, former vice president mike pence is heading to new hampshire today, fueling speculation about a possible 2020 for presidential run. -- 2024 presidential run. we will get a preview with tom, who wrote a book about the vice president and his political career. he covered the vice president too. it is called piety and power, mike pence and the taking over of the white house. ♪ >> tv on c-span two has top

nonfiction books and authors every weekend. saturday at 10:00 p.m. eastern, on afterwards, in her book insanity defense, former democratic california congresswoman and national security insider, jane harman, looks at national pressing security issues. she is interviewed by jenna, a former homeland security secretary during the obama administration. sunday, live at noon eastern on in-depth, a conversation with max hasting on his more than two dozen work -- books on wars in the 20 century, including his soon to be released "operation pedestal." sunday at eight a clock p.m. eastern, in his book really good schools, james talks about private schools in poor countries, elevating their educational standards and setting an example that other countries can learn from. watch book tv this weekend on

c-span two. >> washington journal continues. host: paul steinhauser is a national political reporter for fox news. he is a longtime political reporter for the concord monica -- monitor, joining us to talk about a visitor coming to new hampshire. very well known. he is former vice president, mike pence. guest: great to join you guys again. host: this isn't the first outside trip for the former vice president. he spoke in south carolina. what is the occasion in new hampshire? guest: he will be headlining the hillsborough county gop. it is one of the largest counties in new hampshire and one of the most powerful republican organizations. their annual lincoln-reagan awards dinner and fundraiser, a major fundraiser for the county party.

it is also the first visit of what we consider it one of the potential 2024 republican presidential contenders in person in new hampshire. you could say tonight's event will kick off the 2024 cycle in new hampshire. iowa, which is right before us, they hold the first caucus and we hold the first primary, they have had three visits by potential contenders. mike pompeo, rick scott and tim scott. we are kicking it off tonight with mike pence. host: for those taking -- taking -- ticking off their calendar -- does mike pence have any ground yet in new hampshire or has he established an office yet there? guest: no. that will probably come after the midterm elections.

the republicans we think are flirting with the idea of running in 2024 are making the calls and they are starting to make visits. not for themselves, no. the real reason for tonight's visit for mike pence is to raise money for republicans read they are visiting some of the other states to help republicans running in the midterm elections next year. the friends you make in 2021 and 2022 pay dividends in 2023 and 2024, when you are running for the white house. host: in the wake of the 2020 election, how do republicans in new hampshire view the former vice president? guest: this state obviously gave donald trump his first victory in the race for the white house. in 2016, he crushed the competition in the new hampshire primary. publicans, the trunk -- republicans, the trump supporters are a strong contingent of the republican party.

they view the vice president with admiration, i think. he was the president's wing man for four years. mike pence has this unique ability, if he decides to run for the white house, to marry together the trump wing of the party and the social conservative wing of the party which mike pence has been a member of. that is a unique ability that some of the other can deduce -- contenders can do. host: one of the moves is the state of nevada, passing a bill that would make it the first state to hold a primary in 2024. us out, how does that work for new hampshire? -- help us out, how does that work for new hatchery? guest: that is a problem for new hampshire and iowa. this started in december when harry reid, still influential in democratic party circles,

started making waves that nevada should move to the top of the order, ahead of iowa and new hampshire. which, for years, generations, have faced criticisms that they are not diverse enough and don't have urban centers. the governor has to decide. the democratic national committee will eventually have to figure out whether they will condone this or not. they still control the calendars. we have a law in new hampshire, a law that says new hampshire votes first. they have to have seven days before any other contest. if it comes to it, he will move the date of this primary to go ahead of nevada rate that is a long way down the road. host: the former vice president's world tonight is to raise money for the new hampshire republican party. based on what we heard from him in south carolina, in a similar

role, what are some of the messages that you expect to hear from the former vice president? guest: from what i am hearing, he will talk about the achievements of the trump administration and he will contrast that with what has happened already under the biden administration. you can expect him to take some shots at the current president as he did in the speech in south carolina to a social conservative group there. you will not hear him talk about 2024 but you will hear him talk about republicans and how he can help them win back the house and the senate in 2022 and pick up more governorships. he will talk about the message, the positive, conservative message that he thinks will be the winning ticket for republicans in 2022. i think you can expect all of that tonight. host: on the trail, pins trip kicks off unofficial start of 2024 race in new hampshire. you write in your piece that

neil says the favorite politics and eggs breakfast may be returning live and in person. anything more you can tell us about that? guest: it was sidetracked by the coronavirus pandemic. that is now receding. the summer or this fall, you could expect to see some of these potential contenders for 2024 at that breakfast, which has become a stop for white house hopefuls over the last two decades. i haven't made -- he hasn't made any announcements but that becoming shortly. everybody would like -- that could be coming shortly. everybody would like to resume. we have had plenty of virtual stops in new hampshire by some of these contenders. rick scott has done that. chris christie, the former new jersey governor, has also done

that as well. we are finally getting back into the swing of things with in person visits. host: i want to remind our viewers of the coverage tonight of the lincoln-reagan dinner. that is on c-span, on the c-span radio app and at c-span.org. paul steinhauser, with fox news, a national political reporter. you can see him there and read his reporting at concord monitor.com. as always, good to hear from you. host: thanks -- guest: thanks, bill. host: up next, more about the vice president. we are joined by tom lobiondo. he is now with business insider. welcome to washington journal. guest: thanks for having me. we will pick it up host: with our conversation -- host: we will pick it up with our conversation about the vice

president in new hampshire. what are you expecting to hear? guest: paul steinhauser, incredible, he nailed it. it is very mike pence and the sense of it being more of the same. he is scripted, disciplined and he stays on message. we saw that in south carolina, a little over a month ago. about six weeks ago. that was his first big return to the campaign trail. touting the accomplishments of four years of donald trump, not talking as much about the scandals. he glanced -- i remember from that speech on april 30 at the palmetto family council, he glanced at january 6. that is still a trouble spot for them. he is trying to figure out how they can talk about that, if they can talk about that. mike pence is a politician as, in his career, congress, as

governor, as vice president, steady, methodical. he is pretty good at letting stuff roll off his back great he certainly seems to be doing that with january 6. the question now is how will new hampshire republicans take that? are people still big mike pence fans or are they not? things are still somewhat nebulous on the republican side right now. we are all watching that, really. host: you are with us last year when your book came out, the piety and power, mike pence and the taking of the white house. if you were to write a final chapter, an addendum to your book, what would some of your observations be? guest: i haven't seen this myself, yet. i am intensely curious and maybe mike pence will address this in his own book coming out in a few years. i would like to know what was going on when they rushed him

out of the senate within just seconds of the rioters almost captioning -- capturing him. what was it like in the lockdown? these are the questions that i have in the immediate aftermath of this. when i talked with folks, understandably, mike pence was pretty angry about this. is he still angry? that is a big question. he and his team, especially folks like mark, pretty routinely pumping up pence and working for him, a longtime senior advisor for him, but again, i don't know that you can. we left it off, when we wrote the book, published back in december of 2019, we left it at the november -- end of november of 2018 where trump floats the

question of whether pence will survive on the ticket. that seemed to be, at that moment that seemed to be the most perilous position for pence , i don't think anyone foresaw january 6 happening, let alone a pair of impeachments. i myself have a lot of questions, frankly. one thing from covering pence for a while is he runs a very tight ship. this is the opposite of trump. you can pre-much always have a good idea of what is happening in trump world. pence is a very tight operation, very scripted and disciplined. i have a lot of questions. maybe it is time for another chapter. [laughter] host: you covered the former vice president, governor, and congressman for years. with us this morning to take your comments and questions about mike pence. (202) 748-8001 aligned to call

for republicans, (202) 748-8000 bird democrats, and independents and others, (202) 748-8002. obviously it is very early, 1200 days until the 2024 election, but at this point, is donald trump more of an asset or a roadblock for mike pence's presidential aspirations? tom: we have heard from the folks around pence, and this seems to be the conventional wisdom of the 2020 for field, there is a big caveat that nobody has announced they are running yet. they are making the trips. you don't go to new hampshire, iowa, or fly down to south carolina unless you are setting your ducks in a row for a possible presidential run. as it stands now, the conventional wisdom on the right with republicans is, if trump runs, he is the nominee.

the question of whether he can win a ash big question of whether he can -- big question of whether he can win a general election. i talked with campaign strategist about his previous campaign in 2016, trump world folks, i hear that you see folks like pence, mike pompeo, nikki haley, and others really kind of idling their engines at the starting line. the auspice is for this, and it's a good one, it's very natural politically. this happened in previous cycles, going out there and campaigning hard for midterm candidates for house and senate races. pence or pompeo flies out to ohio to raise money for whoever is running for senate or a good house candidate, house republican. is trump standing in his way? yes.

if trump runs again, he stands in his way. by teasing it, he is still standing in his way. he is standing in everyone's way. this is the dance of is trump in control with the republican -- of the republican party? it certainly looks that way. making targets out of folks like liz cheney and some other republicans that voted for his second impeachment. i don't know if he is the roadblock or the leader, however you want to coin that. he is the defective nominee until he says no. i think everyone is operating under that assumption. host: he is fundraising in new hampshire for the new hampshire republican party. what is his record as a fundraiser? tom: he became very good at fundraising. this is something i explored in the book and it helped me understand him and the primaries

-- the shadows in the primary presidential campaigns, all the major candidates look good. if you rewind back to november of 2008 when john boehner, the house majority leader pulls him into leadership, and one things pence is tasked with is raising money for the house republican conference. he gets very good at it. he goes back to indiana as governor and spends a lot of time doing national fundraising for a potential 2016 white house bid. that never materialized at the top of the ticket. he got very good at it, and i remember when i was talking with folks around him and i was talking with republican donors. what i would hear routinely is that pence is very good at listening to donors, they love that, and he's very good at working a room. this is typical politics. very good retail.

he got very good at it. he has a good network. early on in the trump administration, there was a lot of resentment at the beginning. pence was doing those dinners at the naval observatory in the middle of 2017 and that kind of drew trump's ire at the beginning. a bunch of people got to him and said you hate doing these fundraisers, that's what trump's advisors were telling him. why not let pence do it? they handed it off to pence. he is a good fundraiser, a prolific fundraiser. watching some of these, watching fec reports, watching who is giving and who is active, we will start to answer some of these questions about whether pence is feasible for 2024. that is still an open question right now. host: we have calls. let's go first to ian in

cunningham, pennsylvania on the democrats line. caller: i'm calling to talk about former vice president pence. i have a feeling that if he tries a run for president in 2024 it's going to be overshadowed by president trump's shadow. host: we will hear from matthew in martinville, new york on the republican line. matthew in new york, go ahead. caller: i would like to apologize for that last collar. -- caller, a democrat, right? i have a statement and three questions. i take offense at what you call

the january 6 the riot. it was basically just another day of tourists going to the capital to look at all the beautiful statuary. you are going to have to rescind that. who would possibly want to take money from the poisonous pence tree of money grovers, please explain that. -- money grubbers. tom: number one, having worked inside the capital, that was not a tourism expedition. i've seen a lot of actual tourists. people don't die on the tors. january 6, that was a riot, that was real. i was back up there about two weeks ago, and there is still some smashed windows. it is tough. it wasn't tourism.

i don't know how to whitewash that one, sorry. [laughter] in terms of donors, viability, we are watching for it. pence is still active. this is something i am wondering about myself in terms of viability. where does the republican party go? how does it move? is there a future for the cheney's of the party? she has pointedly refused to leave the party versus, is this going to be more like barstool sports and dave portnoy or tucker carlsen, that style? we are still waiting to see and i think when you watch everyone, pence would not be out there right now. he is a very calculated and measured, disciplined politician

. very methodical. he would not be out there if he and his advisors did not see a possible path. watch their actions. don't listen to the words, watch the actions. host: vanity fair had a piece headlined, the mike pence, donald trump breakup is happening in real time. i don't know if we have ever had this in our history before, where the losing president and vice president still potentially being talked about running again , we have been talking a lot here about mike pence running as president. the potential is still out there that he could run, donald trump could run him on his ticket, correct? tom: yes. if there's anything i've learned covering trump it's that anything is possible. is that likely to happen? probably not. i think that says -- as much

about trump as it is about pence. pence has been waiting. a lot of folks have been waiting. pence in particular. i will tell you something interesting. something i wrote about in the book and i think about often with regards to pence and i got this question as far as will trump dump pence from the ticket. if we can go back to the before time before the lockdown started 15 or 16 months ago, and the take on trump, pence, and the coronavirus task force was that trump would use this to scapegoat pence for the failures of covid and dump him from the ticket. none of that happened, but that used to be kind of the take on things, will he get rid of pence ? for me, and i think something we lose here is that pence is very

mellow and very flat on the surface. he is very calculating. let's go back to access hollywood weekend in october of 2016. there is an effort to seek to possibly replace trump at the top of the ticket. our donors who said they were speaking on behalf of then rnc chairman reince priebus reached out to the pence campaign and said they were willing to place him at the top of the ticket as the nominee on friday, october 7 just a few hours after the access hollywood tape published. they said we are ready to place you at the top of the ticket and pence's advisors says no. there is a reason for that. pence, like many other republicans and like most pundits, reporters, just about everyone expected trump would

lose for 30 days. if and when that happened as assumed, that would potentially catapult pence to the front of the pack for 2020. that was the game back then. pence was starting to line up donors for this. telling people to get on board. i think that is still the case. this is a very roundabout way of getting to the answer of if he would run with trump. people ask if trump would take them, i look at it as would pence join him, and i'm not sure he would. host: tom is next in woodbridge, virginia. on with tom lobianco. host: -- caller: c-span, you guys are a national treasure. were it not for c-span it would be hard to get any information to the american people. thank you for what you do. i was there on january 6, i will

tell you right now, and i work in the intelligence community and have for many years, i'm telling you there were experienced agitators there that took advantage of a great deal of anxiety and passion in the country, and did it on purpose to defame the presidency of donald trump and they were successful. i know that because i stopped a similar event myself in front of the supreme court on january 5 where some of these experienced agitators tried to go after the police there as well. the main thing i want to come on and say is, about the future of donald trump, there are a lot of people out there that hope he is coming back and will win in 2024. the smartest thing he could do is keep the trump movement alive and keep it alive across the

country so we can take our country back. people don't understand this, but the lincoln project was completely organized and run by the campaign of john mccain. john mccain's political elitists worked diligently to destroy the trump presidency out of personal animus. they had nothing based in any kind of -- what was good for the country. it had everything to do with destroying donald trump because of the personal animus many of these people had. host: we will get a response from tom. tom: i don't know how you want to describe the agitators per se, but what we have seen in the court filings that have been coming out and the reporting on these court cases is that a

heavy presence of far-right militants, oath keepers, i don't know how you want to characterize it beyond that, but especially for the listeners and everyone who wants to understand what happened on january 6, this is coming out in the courts. the importance of that in terms of understanding why it's important coming out in the courts, it's coming out under testimony and penalty of perjury. if anybody lies about it or if they are found lying about it, there is more of a weight to the information. as a reporter, what do i give credence to? frankly it reminds me a lot of how we would assess things during the russia investigation, during the impeachment trial, which is that statements not under oath are not as powerful as statements made under oath. there is not that check on it.

for everyone i would encourage, check out w usa nine ndc does a great newsletter -- wusa9 ndc does a great report on the court cases, you can even get a laugh, there are some comments from the lawyers, the qanon shaman lawyer is interesting. january 6 israel, it wasn't a tourist incident. i don't think, -- people don't die in tourist things down here. host: let's hear from mike in white plains, new york. on the democrats line. caller: are you here? my comment is this harriet it's going to be two more years -- my comment is this. it's going to be two more years until 2024. you will have to survive the midterm elections, they are more important area they are the top priority.

democrats are going to have to hope and pray they can control the senate, and they are also going to have to hope and pray that they get enough votes, because they are going to lose the house. host: given his fundraising skills, could you see mike camp -- mike pence out campaigning for congressional candidates? tom: definitely. that's one thing he is doing right now. the other kind of nascent candidates like pompeo, you're seeing them do that. i think, watching this in terms of it, and when i talk with republican strategists and do my check ins, what i hear very often is in terms of trump and what this does for 2024, if the

republicans use or do -- lose or do not meet expectations in 2020 two, the rough expectations seem to be, retaking the house, maybe retaking the senate, but certainly retaking the house. if they perform up to expectations, what i hear is that trump will sweep in and take credit for that and probably launch a bid in 2024, and that more than likely clears out the field. if they don't i would call it an expectation/hope because lord knows there has been a lot of hopeful thinking around what trump will or will not do in terms of what republican set -- tricks strategists have said over the years. it is unclear if trump would actually leave, if he would decide to not run again. it is a benchmark. is it a solid benchmark?

i don't know. hard to tell at this point. the midterms are something huge to watch for. as i mentioned earlier, it's also a great proxy for anybody out there trying to tee up a presidential bid to go out there and meet folks in these early states who they will need as supporters down the road and raise money, get some chips in the bank, and cash them in later if they decide to run. host: tony has this process question on twitter. how does mike pence find a path to the nomination, he is reviled by never trump and pro-trump factions alike? tom: that's a great faction. -- that's a great question. i talked to an advisor about this, i've had this question myself. this person was telling me, there is still a lot of support for pence among social

conservatives, and the evangelical right. you saw that in their selection, there's a christian right group, the palmetto city council, you saw that in a selection to bring him back out. when i watched his speech you could hear him testing messaging a little bit. he had that one joke which i hear was a take on an old dick cheney -- dick cheney joke where he had just gotten his pacemaker installed and he said, the doctor told him his heart was skipping a beat, he said the last time that happened was when he met his wife. you could see him trying to read the crowd and trying to see what works. they are tiptoeing back out there. you would not see that happening if they did not see a possible path. that's the answer. the actions are the answer.

they are not out there trying to get a fox news tv gig. or at least they don't seem to be. i guess that's the backup. host: here's a little bit more of that message testing of the former vice president speaking to republicans in south carolina back in april. vp pence: i came here for two reasons, i came to say thanks. thank you for the privilege of serving as your vice president, and the privilege of serving alongside donald trump. it's the greatest honor of my life. and also to say, after 100 days of open borders, runaway spending, higher taxes, more government, abandoning the right to life, canceling our most cherished liberties, i've had enough.

[applause] after 100 days i think the time has come for americans to vote it -- devoted to faith, family, freedom, and limited government to stand up and unite behind a positive agenda, and win back america. it starts right here and right now in south carolina. [applause] but first, let me reflect on what we accomplish over the last four years. it's incredible. i remember the final day of the republican convention in cleveland in 2016. we climbed into the same car, we were headed to the airport to campaign together. to know donald trump is to know someone that is more of a coach and a general manager. we were still getting to know each other. he starts to give me the

peptalk. he told been the campaign starts now. he said, if you go north i will go south. if you go east i will go west. he says i know you're governor of indiana but whatever time you have despair we are going to work. i said i'm all in. he says we will have to work and go out and campaign and take our message to the american people. i said i had it. then he says we are going to work and work, then he looked at me and hit me in the shoulder and said, then it's going to be great. i have to tell you, it was. it was four years of promises made. caller: a lot bundled into four minutes or so for the former vice president, what did you hear? >> the first thing i heard, the last thing i heard was a classic pence impersonation of trump.

he would do this occasionally in office, not too much, and he has done this throughout his career, he used to do george w. bush impersonations every now and then when he would do fundraisers. what's interesting about that is , i will tell you a story from the 90's and he was on the radio . he used to say that he was like rush limbaugh on decaf. that's how he explained his radio show. typical conservative talk radio call-in show, probably not nearly as fiery as a rush or really anything now. after he came off the air one day, john cliff, he used to be an executive at w ivc in indiana . a network in indiana that used to carry the pence radio show. he asked, pence goes up to him,

and click has been around and is a veteran at this point. pence asked him how he did. quick says, you did great, you're a natural, you do so great with the callers. you are awesome. just one thing, stop talking like rush. pence almost didn't realize he was taking on the rush into nations. when i was doing research for the book, there was an interesting interview he gave to the kokomo tribune back in 1998 where he talked about how he kind of picks up mannerisms. he talked a little bit about how it can be hard to find yourself when you are picking up these other mannerisms from other people, people you admire. and that's a theme. i found that as a theme throughout his career.

it still is a theme now. frankly it's still something that i ask, having covered him for 10 years now, who is this guy? who is mike pence, at his core? i would get that a lot from his friends and former advisers when i was talking with them for the book, who is this guy? , where is, who is he at his core? the rest of the speech, very where the republican party is, where the right now. you heard a lot of old classic lines, hitting your kind of the greatest hits on the right on social conservative issues. all that's not terribly surprising. that anecdote at the end where he kind of slipped soon, he is talking with trump on the last day of the convention and slips into the trump impersonation, that was the most telling part of that. host: let's hear from raymond in

jacksonville, florida on the republican line. you are on the air. caller: i'm sorry to interrupt anything, good morning to both of you. host: good morning. caller: i was there at the time of the riot. it was a riot. people are saying, i've been hearing some people say there was in a riot. i realize, it was. when you do something like that it is. he also sort of -- host: we are going to go to terry in winchester, tennessee on the democrats line. caller: yes, good morning. it really makes me sick to hear these people praise trump like they do. i wonder how much he is paying pence to market him for president again. didn't he watch the riots?

-- the riot? what is wrong with our federal government, our fbi? why is trump not sitting in jail? and being denied bond? there is no question that he incited that riot. he puts out lies out there all the time about biden. biden has done a really good job. host: terry in tennessee. a comment on mike pence and donald trump from steve in ohio. he says pence was loyal to trump, even when trump said and did stupid stuff, he acted very vice presidential through his all four years. i won't vote for him, his political views differ from mine, but he was a stabilizing addition to an otherwise wacky administration. tom: yeah. i think that's correct, right?

to the extent where he would insert himself sometimes, not all the time. i wouldn't call him a forceful presence, but stabilizing is true. you don't remember that the anonymous op-ed where they talked about this way back in october or september of 2018 before the 2018 midterms the new york times anonymous op-ed, that was written by another hoosier, miles taylor. he later identified himself. this idea of the adults in the room. that's a long theme, that was a theme throughout the trump administration you would hear that periodically. something i wrote about in the book which kind of speaks to that is, this would have been back in 2017 when trump was going to meet with kim jong-un and they were going to have the summit.

pence head, he did not have much of a relationship with former senator dickel lugar when they were in congress, but they had developed a bit of a relationship once pence was the vice president. pence sees them at an event and asks him to come over and brief him on disarmament. this is back in may of 2017. he says, lugar is famous for disarmament and the former soviet union back in the 90's, he worked with a former democratic senator from georgia. the vice president asked him to come in. lugar says yes. he brings in sam nunn. they go to meet with the vice president in the west wing in a corner office. they walk in, shake hands with pence, pence gets up, walks them out a side door, straight into the oval office, where there are

two empty chairs sitting in front of trump. he says, mr. president, this is a former senator -- these former senators are here to brief you on disarmament ahead of your meeting. did trump listen? lugar would say later, not really. but pence brought them in. he put them there. that to me is emblematic of the stabilizing effect there. host: one more call, bob is in shelbyville, indiana on the independent line. caller: how are y'all doing this morning? i appreciate c-span and i appreciate the show. i live in indiana and indianapolis and in the zip code that his brother, greg pence is the u.s. representative for us. it is very much a family affair

with the penances. i followed mike pence throughout his radio career and when he was in congress and so on. i feel like he did quite a bit of damage to indiana when he was governor of indiana. i would not vote for him. i do, i was concerned about the role of his brother, greg pence, especially with the capital insurrection on january 6 and the things that happened. his brother, and this kind of went under the radar, but he voted to support not certifying pennsylvania's elections. tom, i appreciate your book and i look forward to seeing it, if he could talk a little about the family connections that mike pence has.

tom: thank you, bob. it came out in paperback last summer. go ahead and grab one. in terms of the pence family, growing up, pence was the only really political one or at least he got active into politics and a serious way. greg pence is his older brother, he is the oldest brother out of four brothers and two sisters. he kind of came into that later. that was interesting, seeing him vote against, first with the impeachment and then with a january 6 commission. when i look at pence and wash what is going on in general in the republican party, pence has always been a good barometer of where the right is in any moment

, or the general feelings. january 6 continues to be a huge problem for him. rightly or wrongly. i still talk with a lot of people who are trump advisors not necessarily pence fans, but who all -- who will always tell you it's unfair what happened to him. i don't hear trump folks go as far as to say that trump was responsible for it, but there is a lot of latent sympathy for pence in how that went down. them -- then seeing his brother vote against the commission, they are going where the party is going, where the right is going. like everyone else they watch the polls. trump still controls the vast majority of the republican base. until that changes i think you will see more of this. host: tom lobianco, has covered

the former vice president for 10 plus years and is the author of "piety & power: mike pence and the taking of the white house" and also a washington correspondent for business insider. thank you for being with us. caller: -- tom: thank you. host: up next we will talk about kamala harris and her approval rating. if you approve of her job so far (202) 748-8000, disapprove, (202) 748-8001 -- disapprove (202) 748-8001, if you are not sure, (202) 748-8002 -- if you are not sure (202) 748-8001. write with your calls. ♪ >> on sunday max hastings will be our guest on in-depth. >> the 1975 fall of saigon inflicted humiliation upon the planets most powerful nation. revolutionaries prevailed over western will, wealth, and hardware.

the stairway and which on the evening of the 29th of april fugitives ascended to a rooftop helicopter, secured a place among the symbolic images of that era. for me, as for all my generation as a war correspondent, the struggle was among the foremost experiences of our careers. i was one of those who flew out of the u.s. embassy on that to mulch it was, terrifying day. >>'s most recent book is "operation pedestal." other books include "chastise: the dam busters story." and "overlord, d-day and the battle for normandy." join with your calls, facebook comments, text, and tweets on sunday on book tv on c-span two. be sure to visit online to get your copies of books from featured authors.

♪ washington journal continues. >> with her first foreign trip planned as vice president, we would like to hear from you on the approval rating for kamala harris, vice president harris. if you approve of the job she's is doing so far. (202) 748-8000, for disapprove

(202) 748-8001, if you are unsure (202) 748-8002. the new york times writing about her latest assignment from the president. assigning -- he has directed vice president, harris to lead democrats in a sweeping legislative effort to protect voting rights, and issue critical to his legacy, but faces increasingly daunting odds in a divided senate. the president was in oklahoma to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the tulsa massacre, when a white mob destroyed a vibrant black business district and killed as many as 300 people. the massacre was one of the worst outbreaks of racist violence in american history, and is largely been ignored by history books. from the hill and their reporting on one of the other key assignments from the president, this is the headline, writing on the voting rights

effort, "harris gets new high-stakes role with voting rights effort." biden announced a major addition to harris's portfolio just days before she will travel to guatemala and mexico to meet with leaders about the root causes of migration, the other high profile issue she is tasked with addressing. the combination puts harris in a challenging position where she is tasked with finding solutions to two major issues that have persisted across several administrations and will test her political capital and negotiating skills as the battle over federal voting rights bill largely plays out in the senate. the vice president is headed to guatemala and mexico this weekend for talks with leaders there. the president himself next week headed to the g7 meetings and will meet with the queen, the royal family tweeting that out. the queen will meet with the president of the u.s. and first lady jill biden at windsor castle on sunday, june 13.

let's get to your calls and comments on vice president kamala harris. the lines are (202) 748-8000 for approve, (202) 748-8001 disapprove. beverly is first up in casper, wyoming. go ahead. beverly, you are on the air. caller: a breath of fresh air. i just love listening to her. she is respectful, she has a lot of intelligence, i'm so glad everything has changed. we have a wonderful president, and a wonderful vice president. i am proud of them. i hope things change for the people. >> we mentioned the vice president heading to guatemala and mexico on the immigration issues and the influx of

migrants at the u.s., mexico border. the vice president spoke about that last month. she was speaking at the conference of the americas. vp harris: eight years ago president joe biden addressed this conference. then vice president, he led our nation's diplomatic efforts within the northern triangle, and with mexico. recently, he asked me to take the lead. this is a priority for our nation, and a role that i take very seriously. we are all well aware of the immediate situation. the citizens of el salvador, guatemala, honduras, are leaving their homes at alarming rates. there is a fundamental truth behind that headline. people in the region do not want to leave their homes. they do not want to leave the communities they have known their entire lives.

the church they go to every sunday. the park they take their children to. their friends, family, community. i do believe they leave only when they feel they must, and i'm thinking about people whose homes have been washed away by hurricanes, people who are parents who have sons that have been threatened by drug cartels. people with daughters who have been targeted by human traffickers. people who do not have enough to eat. people who are out of work. it's people who have lost hope. that is why they leave home. and come to the united states. they are suffering, they are in pain. many are experiencing unimaginable anguish. we want to help. our administration wants to help. we want to pick back up the kind

of work president joe biden started when he was vice president. we want to help people find hope at home. we are focused on addressing the acute factors, and the root causes of migration. i believe this is an important distinction. we must focus on both. it's >> some social media comments on the border crisis. steve says "vice president harris can work within existing laws to solve the border problem in all likelihood. if she discovers that law a treaty must be made, modified, or fully the solution she reports to congress the needs but it is likely she can work within the existing law. jen says, we give aid to those countries, i hope she finds out what they spend it on. quite this one says, you can't manage the border problem from d.c.. the vice president has no authority within u.s. law to do

anything, not signing a bill or initiating an executive order, might be able to advise the president, but that's about it. asking how you would rate kamala harris. (202) 748-8000 if you approve, (202) 748-8001 if you disapprove, and (202) 748-8001 if you are not sure. real clear politics doing an average of the approval rating. the approval for vice president harris, 48 percent, disapprove is 43%. the president himself, his approval rating 53% and it is 42% disapprove according to real clear politics. let's go to georgia next and here, from tyler town, mississippi and hear from, georgia, hang on. we will go to decatur, georgia. this is jaclyn on the approved line, go ahead.

>> my name is jaclyn, and i disapprove of, law. i disapprove of biden. they is wrong about race. i live in the jim crow area, they are lying. the democrat party is the part of the clue clocks clan. i remember that, i grew up in that era. they are both liars and i disapprove of both of them. host: to tyler town, mississippi and georgia. hello there. go ahead. you are on the air. georgia, is this you? (202) 748-8000 is the approved line. (202) 748-8001 is the disapprove line. reporting on the talks yesterday between president biden and west virginia senator republican shelley more o. what biden told her in their

oval office meeting. the playbook from politico says this, a seemingly sleepy post memorial day week turns surprisingly newsy. republicans considering adding another counter off to her after biden and o met. the public read out from the high stakes meeting didn't sound that positive. president joe biden and the senator both issued plain statements and said they would talk more friday. briefing five other republican senators in her negotiating group. according to three people familiar, biden once one trillion in new spending and is sticking to his guns on corporate tax hikes, hikes being part of the pay force. a fourth person familiar tells us the new money that biden wants would be on top of a baseline over 400 billion over five years. the point is its new money. they say republicans were not happy. biden, they have said publicly

told them just a few weeks ago in an oval office meeting that baseline spending, money that would be spent under current policy could be included in the total. in the latest infrastructure proposal, they had put forward only 250 $7 billion in new spending, republicans, while the white house last number was $1.7 trillion. let's hear from jay in massachusetts. there you are, go ahead. caller: i think she is giving a good international flavor to the vice presidency position. she is also supporting the troops very well. i'm not sure what she's doing economically right now, but i feel like she is trying to keep inflation lower. host: fort bragg, california. we hear from jeff, go ahead.

>> good morning, this is jeff on the mendocino coast. i think she is doing a good job. i'm glad she was able to make it through all of the debates and got in at the vice presidential position and has the potential to become the first woman president of our country. noel will on joe biden. i think he is doing a pretty good job especially being in the wake of his predecessor. i don't want to say anything foul on the air. the concern is it's hard to get a hold of her. you see in the phone books and access, you see the president's number, but i don't see the vice presidential number in our books. i'm very interested in what she is doing on the issues that you just mentioned, and i hope that she plays more of a role in getting the rest of the country vaccinated. that leads to the herd immunity

level. host: when you say the phone books, which ones are you talking about? caller: i'm old school, i look at my local phone book and i see local and state legislators and city council, but i don't see the phone number for vice president of the united states. for some reason they look over the vice president and that role has been diminished in the past. i'm glad president biden is putting her in several roles and making her a much more active vice president than i have seen in recent times. i know there have been some folks in that role in the past that have had some active roles. a lot of times the first ladies will be more active than the vice president, or so it seems. >> back to your phone number, that could be the white house

number, the vice president obviously has an office in the white house. that could be the main number they are giving you to the white house to reach the president or vice president. caller: that's a good point, that's not mentioned, maybe you can help clarify, maybe you just have. after i get off the line with you i want to call her, because we are trying to get our local radio stations to put on when there are leftover vaccinations and call it the shot of the day and that is working and i think that would be a wonderful thing for her to also participate in, especially here in california since this is where she is from. >> roslyn that since sharpsburg, georgia, hello there. caller: hi, how are you. i disapprove of both of them. i feel like they are bringing this company -- country down. i'm also a history buff. i don't believe in tearing statues down. if you don't have your history then it repeats itself.

what is going on now is a lot of hate instead of bringing this country together. they are not doing that. i used to be able to call the president of the united states on the telephone, now you are not allowed to even call the office to tell them how you feel about whether you praise them or you are against them. we have a lot of hatred in this country and they are dividing this country big time and it should stop. they are not doing their job at the border. my mother came to this country years ago the right way. it took her five years to become an american citizen. you can't close the borders. you can do it right. they choose not to because it's all about their votes. they do not care about the children coming in this country on both sides. they have to turn that around. excuse me.

>> reporting in the washington post about the president's announcement on expanding vaccination efforts. they write that the president declaring a national month of action and the administration wants to incentivize americans hesitant about getting vaccinated with a variety of works including free food delivery, baseball tickets, x boxes, and chances to win cruise tickets, groceries for a year, and free airline flights. they do point out that the president has tasked the vice president with leading a national tour to highlight ways to get vaccinated. the white house that her focus will be on southern states where vaccinations lag behind the rest of the country. michigan is next and patsy, good morning. caller: good morning and thank you for all you do. i'm sorry i'm not commenting on this, i had to finish the last one. the two ladies before me, to

women before me were wonderful. i agree with them totally. was kamala harris talking about the people that lost their jobs in the pipelines that wanted to live by their churches and stay where they lived to make money? joe biden and kamala harris, when they talk, they walk off the stage, they don't say a thing to the american people. they put their back to us. i agree with both women before us. i pray hard for our country. thank you for all you do, really. >> we hear from lynn next in wichita, kansas. good morning. >>, love was put in charge of immigration and has done nothing. , so i strongly approve of her and biden getting impeached. >> a color earlier had asked about the phone number for the president and vice president. here they are. this is from our congressional

guide which you can buy on our website. the president and vice president share the same phone number. i suspect that is the white house number. 2024561414. i suspect somebody will answer if you call that number. marianne in east stroudsburg, pennsylvania is on our approve line. go ahead. >> good morning. i'd like to say thank you for all you do as well. i only have an opinion, my approval is, i think that biden and kamala have been doing wonderfully. i'm a simple person. i'm not going to say i'm not concerned about the politics or the border, but where it doesn't affect me personally, or my family, it's not our job, but the job of the powers that be. like the president in office and

them. i disagree with the previous callers that are looking for so much to be done in such a short time. i give them an opportunity to get things right. like the previous gentleman from california said, from the administration we have come from there is a lot to fix up and get through. i only hope that the people of america would just chill out and give the admin astray should the opportunity to do what they have to do. it's a job and it goes for years and after that there is someone else to do the job. just stay cool, that's it. live and let live and stop bashing all the politicians and biden and kamala. it's not necessary. that's why we are in the position we're in now. people are too busy bashing everyone else and criticizing the of living their life. host: to paducah, kentucky and

hello to william. william, meet your volume, you will feedback on us and yourself. if the mute button then go ahead with your comment. caller: yes. i disapprove of her because she has not done anything since she has been in office. how is she going to take care of immigration and this other stuff? she don't belong up there, neither does biden. they aren't doing nothing. host: also on the disapprove line is joe in fort myers, florida. caller: i definitely disapprove. i think there should be a consensus idea that it's ridiculous, the biden administration offering alcohol as an incentive to get people vaccinated. if the biden administration can't make a case for vaccination than they have failed to do their job. in terms of the immigration, i know some people who will say we

need to give them more time and all this other stuff. i hope we give the same energy to the previous three presidents as well. when you talk about the immigration policy, he was supposed to come in and fix that issue. there have been elegant -- elevated cases of deportations and elevated cases of kids who are in changes -- in cages, being separated from their families. i'm not here making up democrat or republican arguments. if we can't look at politicians and hold them accountable regardless of if they are called show or kamala then we are selling our stash failing ourselves. stop giving them it's a pass because it's early. he wanted and campaigned for the job. let's hold them accountable to do the job. i hope everybody can understand that. next the headline from cnn politics,, harris to lead the biden administration efforts on voting rights. they quote the vice president

saying, in the days and weeks ahead i will engage the american people and work with voting rights organizations, community organizations, and the private sector to strengthen and uplift efforts on voting rights nationwide and we will work with members of congress to advance these bills. the work ahead is to all american voters and make sure every vote is counted through a free, fair, and transparent process. this is the work of democracy. in albany, new york we hear from cynthia on the approve line. caller: i think that it is true that they have not had a long time in office to get some things done, but some of the things people are looking at i don't think are as important as getting a hold of the pandemic and making sure that people have gotten vaccinated. i'm a nurse so i think that's the priority is the health of our country. that's what they are working on. i think that people are just not giving them a fair shake because

they are trump stirs, that's all i have to say. host: alfred is next in hoffman, north carolina. caller: good morning morning, thank you for taking my call. i disapprove of kamala harris's job performance. she has not lived up to what she said she would do on the campaign trail. she is afraid to go to the border because she knows that a crisis there, even joe biden, he won't admit there's a prices. donald trump had things under control and they have turn things upside down. christ here is where our poll stands on twitter at c-span wj -- -- >> 32% disapproving and the pole so far this morning, and the rest unsure.

larry is in memphis, tennessee. good morning. caller: yes, how are you, thank you for taking my call. everyone talks about the border but no one ever speaks about the root cause of why it's taking place at the border. if you want to address the root cause, there is no need to complain about the dope -- about the border. then you have those who said that they haven't done anything. i can't remember -- on the same token, i believe they just need to give her a chance. she was doing better. have a good day. host: one more here from the disapprove line. from fulsome, pennsylvania. >> i would like the audience to

google judge joe brown. [indiscernible] up late and racist, -- if you want to know the truth, google "judge joe brown": host: that will do it. former vice president mike pence speaking tight at the lincoln reagan dinner tonight in manchester, new hampshire. our live coverage starting tonight at 6:00 p.m. eastern. we hope you are back tomorrow for our washington journal program at 7:00. have a great day. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2021] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪

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will talk about the biden administration's plan for health care. coming up this evening, mike pence is the featured speaker at the lincoln reagan dinner in manchester, new hampshire. that starts at 6:00 p.m. on c-span. you can also find events on c-span.org. >> c-span's landmark cases explores the stories and constitutional drama behind significant supreme court decisions. watch key episodes from our series. sunday at 10:00 on c-span, the 1919 case that allows the government particularly in times of war to limit freedom of speech. the court -- he urged young men to resist the draft during world war i. watch landmark cases sunday