new yorkers, we will. thank you. ♪ announcer: c-span is your unfiltered view of government provided by these television companies and more. >> the world has changed. fast reliable internet connection is something no one can live without. wow is there for our customers. now more than ever, it all starts with great internet. announcer: wow supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> coming up this morning on "washington journal," like administration policies and pandemic concerns. then russell honore talks about

the january 6 select committee investigation. be sure to join the investigation -- just join with your text messages and tweets. "washington journal" is next. books like his father, andrew cuomo was a three term governor of new york state first elected 10 years ago. a scathing attorney general's report alleging governor cuomo harassed nearly a dozen women over the course of his time in office may mark the end of his term. every prominent new york state democrat has called for his resignation. good morning. it is wednesday, august 4, 2021. welcome to "washington journal."

should governor cuomo resigned? if you -- if you say yes, the line is (202) 748-8000. if you say no, it is (202) 748-8001. we welcome your calls from new york state residents too. that line is (202) 748-8002. you can send us a text as well. (202) 748-8003, but tell us your name and where you are texting from. we will look for your posts on facebook and also welcome your thoughts on twitter and instagram. good morning. we will get to your calls momentarily. lots of coverage throughout the state of new york. we will show you some of the headlines. we will not be able to get all of these -- get all of these headlines. including ones in foreign languages as well. we wait for your calls this morning to hear your thoughts on whether governor cuomo should

resign. (202) 748-8000 if you say yes, (202) 748-8001 if you say no. the president's call for governor cuomo to resign. he was the headline at half poked.com. -- huff post. an explosive report that, sexually harassed multiple women. "i think he should resign," biden said at a press conference. new york state attorney general letitia james released a report on promo tuesday, the work of an independent investigation. james said the investigation found, sexually harassed current and former employees engaging in unwelcome touching and making numerous offensive comments of a suggestive and sexual nature that created a hostile work

environment for women. some of yesterday's news conference with letitia james. he is a look. >> over the course of a five-month investigation investigators spoke to 179 individuals. including complainants, current and former members of the executive chamber, state troopers, state employees, and others who interacted regularly with the governor. in addition, it reviewed more than 74,000 pieces of evidence, including documents, emails, texts, audio files, and pictures. these interviews and pieces of evidence reveal a deeply disturbing, yet clear picture. governor, harassed current and

former state employees. the independent investigation found governor cuomo sexually harassed multiple women, many of whom were young women, by engaging in unwanted groping, kisses, hugging, and by making inappropriate comments. further, the governor and his senior team took actions to retaliate against at least one former employee for coming forward with her story. her truth. governor cuomo's -- governor cuomo fostered a hostile workplace where staffers did not feel comfortable coming forward with complaints about sexual harassment due to a climate of fear, and given the power dynamics. we'll play you some of governor

cuomo's response and here your response shortly on "washington journal." we are joined by joseph spector, he is politics editor covering new york state politics. good morning. welcome to "washington journal." guest: good morning. thanks for having me. host: the next step. the assembly has said they will proceed with impeachment proceedings. is that likely to happen before any resignation by governor cuomo? guest: that is the big question here, right? what happens next? this is been a long-awaited report, right? she started in march. even before many lawmakers wanted governor cuomo to resign. as a result of that the assembly started its own impeachment inquiry. they did it with the assembly

judiciary committee. it happened yesterday is that the assembly speaker, who had said throughout this process, let's let the process play out, that's wait for the attorney general's report to come out, he finally said that cuomo had lost the confidence of his conference and he should leave. that means they will move toward an impeachment if the governor does not resign. how long will that take? that could take weeks. if cuomo does not resign then you have an impeachment trial. you have a vote in the assembly, then you go to the senate and members of the state's highest court. this could go on for months if cuomo does not resign. will he resign based on the developments yesterday? president joe biden saying he should do so, nancy pelosi.

these are people who have worked with cuomo for decades, who have been at his events. who have multiple times spoken on his behalf. these are people who go back with cuomo a long way and cut ties with him. host: multiple governors, neighboring states put out a statement yesterday calling for the governor to resign. joseph spector, the makeup of the assembly there, this is controlled by democrats. guest: exactly. these are not people from the opposite side of the political spectrum. rented, cuomo is a moderate democrat he has warred with the legislature on many policies, but this is democrats calling on the democratic governor to resign. next year is a gubernatorial

election in new york. the longer this drags on the longer you talk to people they say, this is not good for democrats if this goes on. if they try to gear up for a gubernatorial race next year but legislative races, and long, drawn out process in public between the legislature and everyone else politically, is not good for democrats. host: who is governor cuomo listening to for advice? guest: he is one who has always kept a close knit, small circle. i mean, this is a place, remember, where governor cuomo has worked in and around for four years. his father, mario cuomo, was a three term governor. he was a close advisor to him. he himself was the attorney general. nobody knows the levers of government in albany like andrew cuomo does, but right now he has

few allies. there were several members of congress who had not come out and called for his resignation, saying they wanted to wait on the report from letitia james. they too came out and said it is time for cuomo to resign. use all those who stood on the sidelines saying it is time for him to go. he doesn't have many people in the legislature he can go to. host: what do you think the next move is on this? guest: it is hard to know. the big question is, will cuomo resign? he has shown that he did not seem to suggest any indication he would do so. so, that doesn't sound like somebody who was ready to pack

it in. additionally, he put out a rebuttal of tisha james's report. he has shown in the past he is willing to fight, and suffer no indication that is not going to be the case here. host: joseph spector covering the statehouse in albany. you can follow his reporting on this on twitter. thanks for the update. guest: thanks so much. host: our opening question for you, should governor cuomo resign? some thoughts on social media, on twitter. robert says yes, cuomo should resign. biden telling him to resign was the this of death. cuomo should have resigned last fall. this means says, how will andrew cuomo's drama play out? it will be curious if any of his supporters --

or just blow past this. let's go to our new york residents line first and hear from and in jamaica, new york. good morning. caller: good morning. i don't think he should resign. i think you should hang in there. nobody carried on about trump. trump did much worse than this. i think if i was him i would stay and see. he has been a good governor. i'm not pleased with exactly all of this stuff, that i think he should really stay. i don't hear the media carry on about trump. host: next up this is fred, who says no, andrew cuomo should not resign. caller: good morning. absolutely not. i think you should leave it up to the voters. this is been going on for a long time. both parties. when it is a republican they are

automatically dismissed. democrats have been getting away with this for long time. the media covers up for them. just like that last color from new york, the voters are goofy. they will keep voting these people in. it is never going to end. it is funny that joe biden, after all of the investigations they covered up, was able to get away from the allegations he was accused of. host: that is fred in maryland. we hear next from antonio. caller: i think the governor should resign. if he had any shame he would resign. but he doesn't have any shame. that is why he is -- he has done the despicable stuff he has done. to the lady that called a few

minutes ago, 11 women. these were not women that were anti-cuomo, who were republicans, these were women worked for him. he molested them and did all kinds of despicable things to them. if the man had any shame he would resign. host: here is the business insider this morning. chris cuomo ignored the bombshell report on his cnn show. he was named in it too. shortly after the report came out yesterday the governor released a 15-minute statement about the accusations. here is part of that. >> i want you to know directly from me that i never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances. i am 63 years old.

i've lived my entire adult life in public view. that is just not who i am. and that is not who i have ever been. there is one complaint that has been made that bothered me most. that was a complaint made by a young woman, charlotte bennett, who worked in my office. it is important to me that you fully understand the situation. charlotte worked in my office last year as an assistant. she was smart, talented, and eager to learn. she identified herself to me as a survivor of sexual assault. she said she came to work in my administration because of all the progress we had made in fighting sexual assault. she talked about the personal trauma she endured and how she was handling it. i could see how it has affected her. i could see her pain.

people now ask me, why was i even talking to this young woman if i knew she was dealing with such issues? why did i even engage with her? that is the obvious and fair question, and one i have thought a lot about. the truth is that her story resonated deeply with me. i had heard the same story before, with the same ugliness, the same injustice. not only had i heard the story before, i had lived with the story before. my own family member is a survivor of sexual assault in high school. i have watched her live and suffer with the trauma. i would do anything to make it go away for her.

but it never really goes away. i spent countless days and nights working through these issues with her and therapists and counselors. i'm governor of the state of new york, but i felt powerless to help. and felt i had failed her. i could not take the pain away. i still can't. and this young woman brought it all back. she is about the same age. i thought i had learned a lot about the issue from my family's experience. i thought i could help her work through a difficult time. i did ask her questions i don't normally ask people. i did ask her how she was doing and how she was feeling, and i did ask questions to try to see if she had positive support --

positive, supportive dating relationships. i know too well the manifestations of trauma and the damage it can do in the aftermath. i was trying to make sure she was working her way through it best she could. host: the new york times front page this morning, more urged to quit after damaging report. dinner andrew cuomo sexually harassed women, including government workers, whose accounts were corroborated in a report released on tuesday by the new york state attorney general. the report prompted multiple calls for mr. promo to resign, including from president biden, a longtime ally, and cast out on mr. cuomo's political future. the speaker of the state assembly said he intended to quicken the pace of a separate impeachment inquiry, adding that mr. cuomo can no longer remain in office.

the investigation included three previously unreported allegations of sexual harassment from woman who accused mr. cuomo of improperly touching them, including a state trooper. it also highlighted far-reaching efforts by the governor, his staff, and associates to disparage one woman who made her allegations public. on that state trooper, the new york times also reporting that groping and fear of retaliation, an inside look at a toxic culture is their headline. the governor placed his finger on the back of the trooper's neck, standing behind her in an elevator, chasing this bath -- the path of her spine. sometimes he asked questions, why didn't she wear a dress? could he kiss her? sometimes he made statements. he remarked that his ideal girlfriend could handle pain. he said the trooper was "too old

for him? he directed her to say nothing of their conversation. the trooper was unsettled after an event in long island in 2019 as she held the door open for him she felt the palm of his hand on her belly button. i fell completely violated, she later told investigators. but, you know, i'm here to do a job. thoughts on social media and on text at (202) 748-8003. in california, rectory says yes, he should step down. impeach the bomb. it is sad they will not investigate him for his order to send covid into nursing homes. we will go to elizabeth in lutherville, maryland. good morning. elizabeth in lutherville, in maryland. good morning.

caller: yes, i live in a small town in maryland. i feel andrew cuomo should resign because anyone who is a public figure of that stature, a governor of any state who commits that kind of assault against women, any number, look at all of the women he has assaulted. he is like bill cosby. you should go to jail and he should be ordered to pay each of those women at least $10 million. he should resign, and if he doesn't he is going to get voted out. president biden wants him to resign. everyone wants him to resign. i am a survival of -- a survivor of sexual abuse. host: peggy says no, do not resign. caller: yeah, i don't think he should resign. i'm a democrat, but i think

democrats sometimes jump the gun a little too quick, just like with al franken. i think he should let the voters decide. thank you. host: this is the peace in the commentary section of the washington times this morning from tammy bruce. she writes that mr. cuomo's response to this scathing report was man's planning -- mansplaini ng. the brut is a lesson in smog arrogance that is shocking. he has been protected for so long he has no grasp of responsibility, she writes. he is whining about the media coverage. he then arrogantly blamed generational and cultural communication issues. tammy bruce writes, the cultural issue may be about his italian heritage, implying that italian men can keep them -- cannot keep their hands to themselves.

jonathan turley noted "i'm italian, and we don't have any problem distinguishing between tactile and criminal conduct." in london, kentucky, brad says andrew cuomo should resign. good morning. caller: morning. andrew cuomo should resign because he killed a couple thousand old people. host: brad, make sure that you move -- you mute your volume. go ahead. caller: sorry. i said governor cuomo should resign because he certainly killed a couple thousand old people after he and the new jersey governor, mission can governor -- michigan governor, and mr. newsom in california were warned that this would be a detrimental policy. then he had those numbers.

he not only did the wrong thing in killing all of the old people, a couple thousand, but they had a cover-up of that information. host: two bath, new york. matt says no, the governor should not resign. good morning. caller: yes, good morning. i don't think he should resign, and the reason is not because i'm a looney voter from new york, that i agree with the usa guy you just had on a little while ago. i think he should stick it out and i think they should have to impeach him, because i think this should be drugged out as much as it can so that it does hurt the democrats in 2022. i also think during the impeachment that his brother, frito cuomo from the cuomo news network, should be subpoenaed and have to testify for his part

. host: here is what new york city and other folks are seeing. it is official, cuomo is a -- their headline -- creep. inside the editorial board of that newspaper it has said, andrew cuomo has to go right now. it is time for governor andrew cuomo to do one honorable thing, step down. if he fuses, lawmakers should remove him pronto. some thoughts from yesterday's briefing with the attorney general. this one of the investigators, and clark, who is an employment attorney and talked about some of the findings yesterday. >> the governor also engaged in a pattern of subjecting women to unwanted hugs and kisses and touching them in ways that made them uncomfortable. conduct that is not just old-fashioned, as he and some of his staff members would have it, but unlawful harassment.

in addition, our investigation found the governor regularly made comments to staff members and state employees that were offensive and gender-based. for example, the governor crossed the line many times in speaking with charlotte and it. -- charlotte bennett. he asked her for the details of her assault. when talking about potential girlfriends, he said he thought he could date women as young as 22, knowing that ms. bennett was 25. he asked if she had ever been with older men. he told her he was lonely and wanted to be touched. he asked her if she was monogamous. he speculated on how her history as an assault survivor might affect her romantic life.

he told her that she looked like daisy duke. he suggested she get a tattoo on her but andt asked if she had piercings anywhere other than her ears. ms. bennett texted to a friend that she was upset and confused, and that she was shaking. host: one of the opinion pieces this morning in the washington post, their headline simply, unfit for office. the report is a roadmap for impeachment. we are asking you this morning, should the new york governor resign? if you say yes, it is (202) 748-8000. if you say no, it is (202) 748-8001. for new york state residents, that line is (202) 748-8002. let's hear from abdur. caller:caller: good morning. no, i don't think he should resign.

you know, we had a former president that did a lot more than he said he did, so, no, i don't think he should resign. if they want to impeach him, let them do that. he's doing a good job. host: to new york next, this is penny, who also says no, the governor should not resign. caller: absolutely not. you know, i look at all of the women that came out and said he did all these things. it is just the timing. as far as the nursing home deaths, is -- if no one cared about trump killing all of the people from covid, certainly this is just nonsense. i don't believe he did it. i don't think he should step down, and he is a good governor. thank you. host: akron, ohio, ed says yes,

the governor should resign. caller: yes, i think he should resign. i think he should be charged for putting old people back in nursing homes and they had covid. i think the number one thing with any epidemic is to isolate it and shut it down. you know, our leaders right now don't even do that. cuomo had access to put those people, you know, in a triage center that was put up and he also had a naval hospital. he could have isolated that thing, you know, like common sense tells people to do. just like wuhan should be responsible for releasing it on the world, cuomo should be responsible for his citizens he gave it to. host: yesterday president biden was asked about his thoughts on the governor's statement and the new york attorney general's

report. here is that encounter this today at the news conference. >> back in march he said if the investigation confirmed the allegations against governor cuomo should resign. will you now: him to resign given the investigators said 11 women were credible? pres. biden: i stand by that statement. >> are you calling on him to resign? pres. biden: yes. >> if he doesn't resign do you believe he should be impeached? >> let's take one thing at a time. he should resign. i understand the state legislature may decide to impeach. i don't know that for a fact. >> he is using a photo of you embracing him in his self-defense, to say these are commonplace embraces he made. do you condone that? pres. biden: look, i'm not going to speculate.

i'm sure there were some in braces were totally innocent, apparently the attorney general decided they were things that were not. host: other news this morning, from politico, cdc announces new eviction ban. the biden administration on tuesday announced a new targeted federal eviction ban to replace the one that expired over the weekend, setting up a potential clash with the supreme court. the cdc's new band will apply to "experiencing high levels of community transition, levels of covid-19, and will last until october 3." president biden said that any call for a moratorium based on the supreme court's recent decision is likely to face obstacles. your comments this morning about governor cuomo. should he resign from office? some thoughts via text, a couple

from new york. this is albert saying, maybe now democrats will realize the tactics they gleefully imposed on their political enemies can easily be turned on them. larry says, unless there are criminal charges brought against cuomo and he is convicted he should not resign. as far as impeachment, it is a political witchhunt by his enemies. doug in oxford, new jersey. either. caller: this is all smoke and mirrors. the real crime is when andrew cuomo put covid patients in nursing homes. that means witmer, murphy, and several others go down. this is all smoke and mirrors and it is disgusting. host: in new york, pennsylvania we hear from and who says the governor should not resign. caller: yes, he should not resign. it is not the american way.

they need to be tried in a court of law where he is able to respond. it's not be used to overturn an election. women are not fragile flowers. i recommend everyone read cuomo's attorney's response explaining all of the allegations. he was clear to me and i don't think he should resign. thank you. host: this is victoria in west bend, wisconsin. good morning. caller: good morning. i think he absolutely should resign. i was sexually harassed at the workplace by a vice president for over a year in my workplace. anyone calling in and saying he should not resign is insulting every woman who had the courage to come forward. it took me a year to come forward and they ended up eliminating his position, but it took me a year and it is a

disservice to these women. he should not be host: in that role. host:in your job did you face any repercussions? did you face any repercussions after that? caller: yes. they created a new position for me because they did not want me to be a direct report to the new person coming in and taking his place, so i ended up leaving the organization. in addition to that, my husband worked there. i felt like i had to keep my mouth shut, because my husband also reported to the same man. he would say things to me like, you should think about having an affair, it might loosen you up. all of the underhanded touching and everything cuomo did to his people was done to me. and it is an insult to these poor women who had the courage to come forward.

it is a scary place to be in. it is frightening, it is terrifying. i don't even have the words to explain what it feels like to be a victim of something like that. because that is your livelihood. host: thanks for calling in, victoria. we will go to jim, pensacola, florida. go ahead. caller: objectively speaking i don't think he should resign but i think you should be voted out. identify with women and their struggles in the workplace. but i do believe it needs to be proven in court. donald trump should have resigned, but he didn't, because he had power and money and he could defend himself with lawyers. i don't think he should resign, but i think you should be impeached or voted out. thank you. host: in the wall street journal, their headline, andrew cuomo sexually harassed multiple women, probe finds. the third term governor defended

his behavior and said he would continue with the work of his office, saying the report mischaracterized personal interactions. the facts are much different than what has been portrayed. he was more the governor's statement yesterday. >> other complaint and's raised -- other complaints raised against me raised questions that have saw to weaponize everyday interactions i have had with any number of new yorkers. the new york times published a front-page picture of me touching a woman's face at a wedding and then kissing her on the cheek. that is not front-page news. i have been making the same gesture in public all my life. i actually learned it from my mother and for my father.

it is meant to convey warmth, nothing more. indeed, there are hundreds, if not thousands of photos of me using the exact same gesture. i do it with everyone, black-and-white, young and old, straight and lgbtq, powerful people, friends, strangers, people who i meet on the street. after the event the woman told the press that she took offense at the gesture. and for that, i apologize. another woman stated that i kissed her on the forehead at our christmas party and that i said caio bella.

i don't remember doing it, but i'm sure i did. i do kiss people on the forehead. i kiss people on the cheeks. i do kiss people on the hand. i do embrace people. i do hug people. men and women. i do, on occasion, say ciao bella on occasion i say. sweetheart or darling or honey. i do answer with people. i do tell jokes. some better than others. i am the same person in public as i am in private. host: part of the governor's statement yesterday. all of that and the attorney general's news conference available at c-span.org. the new york times with a piece they have updated since yesterday's report, what to know about kathy hochul, cuomo's possible successor.

they write that she is a lawyer by training and served briefly -- served briefly as a member of congress. she has won two statewide elections. she has spent much of her time as lieutenant governor away from albany, traveling the state. we will show you some other new york state newspapers as we go back to your calls, asking you, should andrew cuomo resign? surely is next in south carolina. caller: hello, no. i don't think he should resign. i think you should stay there and do his job as he is constantly doing. i lived in new york over 40 years and i know about, and all of that. why don't they let this man do his job? nobody called for trump to be

back in there. he showed his hand. he did not say that about cuomo. i think he should stay. host: to sandra in eastpointe, michigan. caller: there is a big difference in sexual harassment and sexual assault. no, i don't think cuomo should leave. donald trump sexually assaulted 18 women, and there was this woman on tv about six months ago. she had a radio talk show in new york city. donald trump came up to her and asked if she could help find something for his girlfriend. he asked her to try on clothes she said she walked to the room and as she went to shut the

changing room door trump pushed his way in, slammed the door, shoved her into a wall, and raped her. she did not tell the police because she probably would have lost her talkshow, and donald trump is, i mean, why somebody doesn't do something about him? he was at jeffrey epstein's house. this is proven, there was a witness to him raping a 13-year-old girl and threatening her life and threatening the witness's life. no, cuomo should not leave. no. host: this is hiram, georgia. caller: thank you for taking my call. resign for what? he was put into power.

even with what he did after. he is not going to resign. resign for what? what is good for the goose is good for the gander. cuomo, do not resign. democrats, i do not know you are trying to please. you were going to pay for it, because some of us are angry with you. host: much of the congressional delegation from new york lining up, calling for andrew cuomo, the democratic delegation certainly, calling for andrew cuomo to resign. he was the majority leader. >> the reported actions of the governor were profoundly disturbing, inappropriate, and completely unacceptable. today's report from the new york state attorney general substantiated and corroborated the allegations of the brave women who came forward to share their stories.

we commend the women for doing so. the new york state attorney general has conducted an independent, thorough, and professional investigation that found the governor violated state and federal law, had a pattern of sexually harassing current and former employees, retaliated against one of the accusers, at least one of the accusers, and created a hostile work environment. no elected official is above the law. the people of new york deserve better leadership in the governor's office. we continue to believe that the governor should resign. host: house speaker nancy pelosi came out with a statement calling on the governor to resign as well, saying in part that i commend the women who came forward to speak their truth, recognizing his love of new york, and respect for the office he holds i call upon the governor to resign. some comments on social media. libby jane says men of his age

group believe their position of power gives them the right to aggressively flirt and sexually assault. i trust the fdny to investigate and make charges against everyone regardless of political parties and position. the president says he was should resign, you should resign, says grace rogers. this one says, men create an environment where they use their sexuality when convenient. roane woman should be able to handle situations when they encounter an uncomfortable situation. quit acting like fragile children if you want to be taken seriously, says becky in louisiana. jenny is in knoxville. go ahead. caller: hello. i do not think you should resign . all of these women should have said something along time ago when this happened. i say throw it out the window and let's go on with his life with the governor of new york.

i'm for him. host: this is pat in keyport, new jersey, who also says no, the governor should not resign. good morning. caller: morning. no, he should not resign. you should not make it easy for these people to hound him out of office. if leticia james thinks she has cases, get indictments against him and if the democrats in the legislature think this is a serious charge, let them impeach and convict him instead of trying to force him out. i would not be surprised if he won reelection next year. host: again, your thoughts on governor cuomo, the allegations against him and the report yesterday, should the governor resign? (202) 748-8000 if you say yes. (202) 748-8001 if you say no. for those of you who are new york state residents, the line is (202) 748-8002.

this is the reporting of fox news about cnn and their headline "don lemon awkwardly addresses cuomo scandal immediately after friendly handoff with governor's brother." critics call the moment journalistic whiplash. john is in california. john says no, do not resign. good morning. caller: no, i don't think he should resign. the legislature should take up the issue and either impeach him or not. president biden does not run new york. he is only one man and only one vote. if he is guilty of these things he ought to be indicted. one other thing, you let that lady go on about all of these things trump had done that, to be honest with you, i had never heard.

unsubstantiated, unnamed, and she went on for two or three minutes. that is not fair. it is not right. you should have cut her off. trump is not the issue. every democrat, every liberal wants to go donald trump did this, trump is the devil. this is not about trump. it is not even about republicans. it is about democrats and how they conduct themselves and how they react to it. i will say this -- if cuomo or dash were a republican he would be gone already. but the legislature take care of it. let those people stand up that have always supposedly defended the rights of women and women should be believed and all of that. let them stand up and say ok, we are going to not accept this and we are going to take him out of office or we do accept it, because he is a liberal democrat. this idea you call in and continue to bash trump, and that woman, the things she brought up

in the all of the investigations, i have never heard that. the dressing room assault on a woman in new york, i've never heard that. the woman is either nuts or she is just a flat out liar. host: ok, to bradenton, florida we go. carl, your volume, please go ahead with your comment. caller: yes, i think he should resign. host: carl, the volume on the television and continue to talk. carl, one more time. go ahead and make your comment. caller: yes. i think he should resign. he is supposed to hold a standard for all state employees, and he is violating what he stated to the whole nation on national tv.

host: thanks for the call. to the wall street journal's column, cuomo report highlights party shift. he writes that a report on governor andrew cuomo's conduct in office explores deeply important questions involving westerns of sexual harassment and toxic work environments. but on a political level the report shines a light on broader changes within the democratic party. a shifting party power structure, the rise of new priorities, and the difficulty of steering clear of internal warfare, even when in power, a be especially when in power. the cuomo controversy comes as the party is at an inflection point. issues such as gender and racial equality are taking prominence on democrats' list of priorities while a diverse set of leaders is demanding a voice in adjudicating them. in time, even powerful figures

are under pressure to adapt a more progressive agenda. linda is in stone mountain, georgia. hello there, linda. go ahead. caller: yes, hello. this is what i want to say. i don't think he should resign, but i think they should be concentrating on january 6. that is what they should be concentrating on. what trump did on january 6. and leave cuomo alone. host: thank you. we will be talking about that with retired general russel honore on our last segment of this morning's program. ohio, next up, good morning to john. caller: good morning. i think he should resign, even just based on his rebuttal yesterday. honestly the bigger issue today is that you are not keeping people on topic. when they start talking about trump, hang up on them.

that is it. ivanka. talk about your question, should, resign? if they don't answer the question, hang up on them. host: thanks, john, for the advice. we hear from peter in winter park, florida. caller: my statement is not to be construed that i agree with sexual harassment, let me say that we have had two presidents, one pre-presidential and one during his presidency that have been accused. have two supreme court justices at least. these people were approved by the senate, ergo the american people. why cuomo? let the guy do his job. host: some political news this morning out of ohio. this is nbc's reporting. chantel brown wins democratic primary for a house seat in ohio.

chantel brown, whose campaign highlighted her loyalty to biden, won a special election primary in a race that commended national attention, while dividing democrats along ideological lines. brown defeated nina turner, a former state senator, known nationally for her work on similar bernie sanders' presidential campaigns. turner, who conceded, told supporters gathered at a bowling alley, don't leave this place depressed. i want you to leave this celebration more resolute. for months the race had been turner's to lose, given her broader fundraising base and early lead in poland. brown caught up in the final weeks as outside groups helped her close the money gap and both candidates invited national surrogates to campaign in the district.

marcia fudge, who is now the housing secretary, the general election is in november. another special election in ohio, the 15th district, mike carey. mike carey wins in the 15th district. the former president helps republican candidates. here is patrick in anderson, south carolina. go ahead. caller: yes. i don't think governor cuomo should resign. you have some of these women out here, some may be true, but some are not. let him do his job. if the voters don't want him in there, they can vote him out, he could get impeached. i think he is doing a wonderful job. i just don't think he should resign. they should investigate some of these females who are making allegations against him. i think he is doing a terrific job. thank you. host: in south carolina, doug

says that yes, andrew cuomo should resign. caller: i believe he should resign. i think your caller from california is typical of the male response, calling it of the substantiated -- calling it unsubstantiated claims when women come forward. usually they are pretty, and as much as i like cuomo, cuomo was always my favorite governor until all of this garbage happened. i think it is time for him to go. thank you. host: just a bit more here from the governor. andrew cuomo yesterday in his statement after the attorney general's report came out. >> remember where we are. today we are living in a superheated, if not toxic, political environment. that should not be lost on anyone. politics and bias are interwoven

throughout every aspect of this situation. one would be naive to think otherwise. new yorkers are not naive. i understand these dynamics. my father used to say -- god rest his soul -- that politics is an ugly business. as usual, he was right. for my father and for me it is worth it. because despite it all, at the end of the day we get good things done for people. and that is what really matters. and for those who are using this moment to score political points or seek publicity or personal gain, i say they actually discredit the legitimate sexual-harassment victims law was designed to protect. my last point is this.

i say to my daughters all the time that as complicated as life gets is as simple as life is. my job is not about me. my job is about you. what matters to me at the end of the day is getting the most done i can for you. and that is what i do. every day. and i will not be distracted from that job. host: u.s. house is out for their august recess. the senate continues in session, working on the infrastructure bill, in this morning at 10:30 eastern. alexander bolton within update on things at thehill.com. the $1 trillion infrastructure bill, senate action on a bipartisan infrastructure bill has slowed to a crawl as lawmakers handle over 250 proposed amendments. in several instances senators are holding amendments hostage

by objecting to voting on them unless their own priorities are also guaranteed a vote. with nearly 300 amendments filed not everyone is going to get their proposed changes to the legislation on the senate floor, fueling frustrations among senators on both sides of the. coverage today beginning at 10:30. there are boats set already in the senate today. i couple of comments on social media and by text. our opening topic on governor cuomo. winston says he should not resign. women are credible, but we are living in different times. this behavior is no longer acceptable. let's stop behaving in a manner, and move on. women are so fixated on trump the excuse cuomo. is it not possible both are pigs? this one says no, the democrats are out to destroy cuomo because he presents a threat to the biden-harris ticket in 2024.

steve says cuomo is not a progressive, he is a corporateee. , ran his reelection campaign, and never asked about the democratic clubs in new york for help or support. he relied on his big donors and his first act was to attack the teachers unions. in michigan, is dean. either. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. there are a lot of issues that should not be voted on, actually. i said no, because an abstention from saying i don't believe that a woman, she should have her choice if she wants to have a baby or not. i think men and women should do as they wish. i'm not standing in judgment of their sexual conduct. i am staying, thank you. host: new york city is next, richard. welcome. caller: hi, thanks.

i think andrew cuomo is going to be completely humiliated and drummed out of office. assuming that all of this stuff is true and he did break federal law. but he is a low heart. -- a low -- a blowhard. i knew mario cuomo, and mr.,, you are no mario cuomo. host: to valley forge, pennsylvania to hear from pat. caller: good morning. my opinion is no. everyone needs to take a backseat and calm down and let the chips fall as they show. if this person is guilty of this situation, let their people, the administration do their voting

and do what they have to do. let's not jump the gun too fast. thank you very much. host: and we will hear from sam in crystal springs, mississippi, who says yes, the governor should resign. caller: yes, he should resign. i'm disappointed that you should have challenged this lady. this is not about donald trump. this guy is a mafia clown that needs to be impeached, period. host: up next, more of "washington journal." we are going to turn our attention to the state of the economic recovery. we will be joined by mark zandi, talking about president biden, congressional democrats pushing for additional government spending. either we will turn our attention to capital security and the january 6 investigation. russel honore is with us. he recently led a security review of the u.s. capitol. ♪

>> robert gottlieb, the final editor of robert caro's books, wrote an essay. in his opinion, gunther was probably the best reporter america ever had. we wanted to find out more about this publishing success story so he called ken cuthbertson to talk with him about his 1992 book called inside, the biography of john gunther. ♪

c-span shop.org is c-span's online store. browse to see what is new. your purchase will support our nonprofit operations. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us is mark zandi. he is the chief economist with moody's analytics to talk to us about the economic outlook and spending proposals by the biden administration and congress. welcome back to "washington journal." is it too early to do an assessment of where the economy stands in the midst of the surge of the delta variant? guest: it is -- prior to the delta variant, the recovery was

strong, gaining traction. unemployment has been declining. early to see any impact of the variant on the economy just yet, but if you look across states and states in the southern u.s. where the variant is most prevalent and infections and hospitalizations have risen the most, there are indications that economic activity is beginning to weaken. on the margin, we are starting to see some impact. if the variant gets wider spread, a bigger problem in more of the country, it may start to do some damage to the recovery. not yet, but there are some worrying signs. host: most of us were not surprised by the labor departments report, u.s.

consumer prices surge in june by the most since 2008. we have all seen prices go up for some time now. how surprised were you by this and what do you think is ahead in terms of consumer prices? guest: not surprised. the spike in inflation is not a typical coming out of recession's. typically, what happens, demand picks up quickly, demands for goods and services, but it takes some time for businesses to get together to kick in and catch up. econ 101, you do not have quite enough supply and prices rise. this demand-supply imbalance has been more pronounced because of the nature of the pandemic. it has significantly disrupted

global supply chains and did a lot of damage to the job market. a lot of people have been permanently unemployed. the spike in inflation has been more pronounced. my sense is that like in the past, demand will start to moderate and businesses will get it together, factories will turn on the lights, and builders will be able to start to build more and the supply-demand imbalance will write itself -- right itself. it will take some time. as we make our way into next year, inflation will be back down to close to the 2% range the federal reserve has been targeting. host: are there any areas of consumer spending where you think those high prices will be with us for some time and may not go down, as you predicted?

guest: homebuilding area, that may take a bit longer for that to moderate. there is a shortage of homes, particularly affordable homes both to own and to rent. a low to moderate priced home. there are builders who are ramping things up and there are restrictions on their ability to ramp it up quickly. that might be an area where we continue to see strong price gains. as many people are aware, vehicle manufacturers are having difficulty making cars because of a chip shortage. thousands of chips go into these vehicles and they are in short supply.

chip production will take some time. demand for chips across all industries is very, very strong. anything we buy these days has some kind of semi conductor in it. those are two cases where it may be more persistent. host: the senate has continued work on the infrastructure package, continuing today and likely into the weekend. you wrote an analysis recently. talking about the infrastructure package itself and the separate $3.5 trillion budget package. on infrastructure, mark zandi, what do you see that is historic in the size of this package? guest: $550 billion on top of 400 billion dollars already appropriated for infrastructure.

if you add it up, a trillion dollars in infrastructure spending financed by the federal government over the next decade. that will help a lot regards -- in regards to roads and bridges, the water system, mass transit rail, seaports and airports. in the grand, historical scheme of things, it is still pretty small. if you go back to the 1950's, 1960's, and even the 1970's, as a nation, we were investing a lot more into our infrastructure than we are today. it is important. good policy will make a difference. everything one -- everyone will benefit from this. we have done bigger, bolder things in the past. host: when you look back at the spending in the 1960's, the new

deal, were there lingering inflation or deficit issues that continued that bogs down the economy at any point? -- bogged down the economy at any point? guest: the big project was the interstate highway system. hard to imagine. that was a boon to the economy. it created lots of jobs over the country. the economic benefit was very substantial. i do not think it added a deficit. it made our businesses more competitive and it was a positive thing to do economically. in that case, no. guest: do you think -- host: do you think signs of the infrastructure package itself, that the impact will be felt in

every state across the country? give us an example of how that will be felt. guest: policymakers, lawmakers are going to make sure of that, right? for this to work politically, all parts of the country need to benefit. if that were not the case, it would be difficult to get into law. there is a lot of work being done to make sure all corners of the country can benefit. i think all corners of the country need the help. we have been under investing in our infrastructure for so many decades. i could put a map of the u.s. over here on my wall, close my eyes and throw a dart and it lands anywhere and i could draw a circle and i could find a project within the circle with a return that is meaningful.

i think there is a boatload of need. i suspect lawmakers are being very careful to make sure everyone will benefit. host: mark zandi is with us. we welcome your comments and calls. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. the other major push, this $3.5 trillion budget package. tell us about this and why this is an important piece to pass along with the infrastructure plan. guest: this is a very large plan, three $.5 trillion over 10 years -- $3.5 trillion over 10 years. child care, elder care, housing,

health care, things related to climate change, trying to mitigate the fallout from changing the climate, research and development, training, a broad range of things to help -- a broad range of things. to help pay for it, there are tax increases under the plan. very wealth whole -- back in 2018, the tax cuts and jobs act. large multinational corporations would pay a lot more in taxes. their tax rate would also be rolled back, at least partially. it is a very large package, very complex package, a lot of moving parts. in my view, i think it will be a positive for the economy. it will support productivity.

growth in the labor force is will allow people to come into the workforce and to begin to work. the combination means a stronger economy. i think it is a benefit to the economy. the other thing about the plan is that it is designed to help ensure that the benefits of the stronger economic growth go to low, middle, income households -- low and middle income households. it will help out folks who have been left behind the last two or three decades. i think the biggest risk, i would call execution risk, can we get these things done efficiently? that is the biggest risk. i think broadly speaking, it is a very good piece of legislation. host: the 3.5 trillion budget

package seems like a tougher political lift in the senate. guest: lot of bipartisan support for infrastructure. what is not to like about better roads and bridges and seaports and airports in broadband? that is a pretty easy political sell. nothing is easy, but that is certainly easier. social investments, that is more difficult. if it gets into law, that will have to be passed through a reconciliation process which would require only democratic votes in the senate and house. my sense is that the odds that we will get a package -- maybe not $3.5 trillion -- it will be a relatively large package. i think democrats will ultimately get that through. host: the terms hard and soft

infrastructure have been used. the reconciliation package, generally, in your view, soft infrastructure, the social programs and spending you are talking about? guest: that is the way people think about it and describe it. the heart infrastructure is related to -- hard infrastructure is related to traditional infrastructure. related to the transportation system. roads and bridges and dams and transit systems. that is typical infrastructure. soft infrastructure, things i consider to be as important if not more important. investing in research and development, investing in making sure that our supply chains are secure and we are producing

sensitive materials and products here in the u.s. so that if we get into another pandemic, we will not have the same global supply chain problems we have in the future. social investments, things that make -- things that lift the productivity of the workforce -- training, education. it makes it easier for folks to go to work. if they are being helped with their job -- childcare costs and the costs of taking care of their elderly parents, paid family leave, makes it more economical and makes more sense for them to go to work. that is what i would call social investments or soft investments. there are different ways of framing this and discussing it. that is a reasonable way of doing it. host: our guest has written several books.

before i get to calls, a quick question from tony on twitter. increasing the money supply has fueled inflation? guest: no, i do not think there is a link between the money supply and inflation. the money supply has increased because the federal reserve board has been working hard to support the economy through lower interest rates. that has been essential, that effort has been essential in keeping the economy together as well as it has been kept together during the pandemic. i do not think that is the root fundamental because of the recent acceleration in inflation. the economy reopened quickly

coming out of the pandemic earlier this spring and summer and people started buying things. we all started to go to restaurants again and to ballgames and get our hair cut and do the things that we were not doing when we were sheltering in place. the surge in demand, businesses could not reopened quickly enough. they could not hire fast enough and fill their positions. factories could not turn on the lights fast enough. the pandemic is still raging in many parts of the world. you have a lot of demand. that is the reason for the inflation. host: let's get to your calls. diane in ohio. caller: as a young retiree, retired to take care of people are having issues, i want to

understand why inflation is a good thing. i am assuming that it has something to do with that it is a sign of growth. i guess i want to understand a little better. i also have a second question -- i always wondered after the great recession how the rating companies get as bad of a name as banks and others that supposedly caused the housing crisis. if you could answer the questions, i would be appreciative. guest: i am sorry to hear that you've had so much trouble during the pandemic. with regard to your first question, great question about the federal reserve's target.

the federal reserve would like to see inflation as measured by growth in the consumer spending of about 2% over a long period of time. what that means is if inflation is below 2% for an extended period, like it was prior to the pandemic -- it was well below the 2% target. that means there has to be a period of inflation that is a little above 2% so that on average, through the business cycle, it averages out. the reason why the fed wants something around 2% inflation is because that means that most parts of the economy, most businesses are experiencing a little bit of inflation. if it is 2% across the economy,

some businesses are experiencing higher rates of inflation and some lower rates of inflation. it is tough for an industry to operate if places -- if prices are falling. life becomes complicated and more difficult. what do i do with wages for my workers? i have to make a debt payment. i have less revenue to pay that debt. if you have a 2% inflation rate on average, that means almost all businesses are experiencing some sort of inflation and that makes it easier for them to operate and the economy functions well. there is nothing magical about 2%. it could be 2.5, three. 2% is where central banks coalesce over time.

that is the logic behind it. based on experience, that seems to be the sweet spot for inflation. once inflation starts to go to 3% or 4% or 5%, people start to get uncomfortable. the purchasing power, their real income is starting to decline. if you want to see something -- you want to see something around 2%. host: did you want to respond to her question about the ratings companies after the great recession? guest: i am not in the rating agency at moody's. i am in moody's analytics, which is the organization not related to ratings. you know, i do not know if the

rating agencies got off any better or worse than the banks. that is a matter of perception. in the sense that the banks coming out of the crisis did face additional regulatory scrutiny -- in dodd frank, there were some changes related to the rating agencies. i think the key reason here is because it is not clear how to make the system work better. i think everyone agrees that it does not work perfectly. we have mistakes. mistakes are made. it is not clear how you would change the system to make it operate in a way that would be more efficient, safer, provide

better results. i think that is the issue. you may not like what we have got, but what would you do to make it any better? no one has been able to come forward with that or figure that out. in the case of the banks, it was very clear that the banking system coming out of the great recession did not have enough capital. it did not have enough of a cushion just in case things went off the rails for the bank to survive to be able to manage their affairs. a big part of the reforms coming out of the great recession, the requiring of them to hold more capital. the solution was more clear and obvious. in the case of the rating agencies, not so much. host: our wages keeping up with

the inflation -- are wages keeping up with the inflation rate? guest: not at the moment. as of june, at this point in time, the inflation is measured by the consumer price index, and it is somewhere around 5%. you are comparing it to prices back in the teeth of the pandemic when lots of businesses were slashing prices just to survive. airlines, hotels, rental car companies. wage growth is 3.5%. you can do the arithmetic. real wages, wage growth less inflation, is negative. i think that is temporary. if you ask me a year from now, we will see that rage growth --

wage growth is 3.5%. this is a temporary hit to real wages. this is generally what happens coming out of a recession. host: let's go to ohio. john on the democrats sign. caller: good morning. how are you? guest: good morning. caller: why are they watering down the bill to the point to where they are barely giving us enough money to fix the infrastructure? on top of that, wages are stagnant. i mean, jobs are not plentiful. everyone is claiming that sunshine is shining on us and we are all going to be healed. but we are not. host: mark zandi on the bill

being watered down. guest: you know, bill is making an important point. we look at the broader statistics for the economy and the economic data. some of the 350 million americans are doing very, very well, life is good. for others, not so much. the aggregate overall statistics, they look pretty good. there is a record number of open job positions out there. according to the bureau of labor statistics, keeper of the data, 9.5 million open positions. if you go back to prior to the

pandemic, when the job market was tight and labor markets were good, we had 6.5 million open job positions. that gives you context. having said that, there are a lot of things going on underneath. some folks are doing fabulously well. others, not so much. it is a struggle. we need to always take that into account when we look at these overall statistics. the overall statistics, they look pretty good. host: louisiana, republican line. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. i have watched you over the past 10 years i know you are -- and i know you are a well-respected economist. i have a question for you. assuming the 3.5 million,

trillion package is passed, i am a simple man so i would like an explanation. let's say hypothetically, i am making $75,000 a year. with the housing market, i sell my house at $1.2 million. it is my understanding presently that the first $500,000 would be tax-exempt. how would this situation work assuming the $3.5 trillion package passes? guest: that is a great question. i don't think that would change for you. i don't think there will be any change in tax law as part of the 3.5 trillion dollar package that would affect you. there is in the legislation, in

an effort to raise tax revenue to help pay for the $3.5 trillion package, on the real estate exchanges. but these are for investors in real estate. you own a piece of real estate, you sell it, and if you take that money you have earned, the equity, and you put it into another property, you have a tax benefit under current law. in the package being debated in congress, that tax benefit would be significantly reduced or eliminated depending on circumstance. for those investors, the real estate investors, they paid more in tax on those so-called real estate exchanges. i do not think that would affect you as a single-family home owner. i do not think that would change. there is a lot of moving parts

and nothing is on paper yet. congress is putting the broad strokes of this proposal together, the specifics of it have not been nailed down. you need to watch this very carefully to see what it means for you financially. so far, i do not think you would be affected. host: let's hear from dennis in washington on the independent line. caller: i was curious about the banks and low interest rates on savings accounts. it is like we are paying banks to make huge profits and we get nothing in return. used to be that savings accounts were something to teach a kid to save money. what do you think about the banks and their unreasonable low interest rates on saving accounts? guest: you are making a really

good point. the interest banks are providing on all deposits, any kind of deposit you put into a bank, either through a savings account or various types of checking accounts are very low. that goes to the very low interest rate environment that the banks are operating in. the fact that there is a lot of cash out there, a lot of liquidity that has been put into the economy to help support it broadly. the benefit of those low interest rates have been quite significant, very important to helping the economy navigate through the pandemic as well as it has been able to navigate through. one of the negatives is for folks like you, who are saving,

older americans that put a lot of money into various types of deposit accounts, is that interest rates are very low. like any policy, there are some that will benefit enormously from the economy and some hurt, there are folks that are being hurt by those in the form of lower interest rates. i do think that as the economy continues to gain traction, as we create more jobs, the federal reserve will start to normalize monetary policy, starting to raise interest rates. that will not be for another 18-24 months, but when we get there, industries will start to rise and you'll start to see deposit rates start to rise.

you still have another 1.5 years or two years to go before that happens. one of the negative consequences of the environment we are in are these very low rates for depositors under the banking system. host: john in virginia asks how important is the unemployment rate compared to other measures? are some measures or indicators more important than others? guest: i am an economist, so i liked all the statistics. they are all important to me. they all paint a part of the economic picture. unemployment is pretty important, at least for most people. the key thing for most people financially is do i have a job?

if i don't have a job and i am unemployed, that is a pretty tough place to be. i think unemployment matters a lot. i do think that that is a statistic that should be used to evaluate how well the economy is doing and how well the policies are helping or hurting the economy. for context, the unemployment rate was very low prior to the pandemic. 3.5%. it was close to a 50-your low. that is about as good as it gets . it rose to 15% in april of 2020 in the worst of the pandemic. we are now back down to 5.9%. we are moving in the right direction, but 5.9 is a long way from 3.5. i am confident, i feel pretty good about the economy's

prospects. my sense is that a couple years down the road, we will be back to the 3.5%. that is a very good statistic to follow to gauge how things are playing out. host: covid forces bosses to act, talking specifically about tyson foods. it informed its employees across the u.s. they will need to be vaccinated as a condition of employment. we heard the same from companies like mcdonald's, amazon, walmart. what is your impression on how these businesses are acting? guest: i think it is up to the business. they have to make their own decision as to what is appropriate for their employees and customers. i think that depends on each business. they have to make up their own mind and make their own decisions. it varies.

if you are a customer facing business, like a, i get it. your customers -- like a mcdonald's, i get it. they want to make sure that people serving them are vaccinated. other businesses may have a different perspective, and that is ok. i think this is a business decision and should be left up to the businesses to determine exactly what is best for them. host: let's go to susan in sandy springs, south carolina. caller: good morning. host: susan, make sure you mute your television. caller: how do people expect to go back to work when the government is offering them much more money than -- all the

people i speak to, they tell me, why should i go to work? i get much more money sitting at home. host: you are feeding back a little bit. mark zandi, any comment? guest: i think susan is referring to the supplemental unemployment benefits. typically, when you become unemployed, you can apply and get unemployment insurance. during the pandemic, because of the severity of the impact of the pandemic, congress has been providing some additional moneys on top of the typical amount people get in unemployment insurance. as part of the american rescue plan, which was the piece of legislation passed back in march, there was supplemental ui equal to about $300 extra a

week. you get your typical amount of money and it varies depending on your state program and you get $300 additional. the concern has been that in some cases, the unemployment insurance is greater than the amount of money the workers were getting in their job. if that is the case, there is a disincentive for them to go back to work. i think 25 or 26 states across the country have decided that they do not want to provide the supplemental ui, thinking that is dissuading people from going back to work. some states have taken that money and turned into bonuses for going back to work. i think that is on the margin. i think the numbers here are

relatively small. the number of people, probably 20 or 25% of the workforce. even under the american rescue plan, that supplemental ui, the $300, that will expire in about a month. i do not think that is having a large impact right now. there is a lot of debate among political circles and economists. we will get a lot of data to make a good evaluation. 26 states have stopped and that means there are 24 states that have not. we have a natural experiment. we will be able to see how big a deal the supplemental ui was on the labor market. we are starting to get some data already and the evidence suggests the impact, if there is

any impact at all, has been small. we will get more data and that will be useful in designing programs in the future if we get into a situation like we are in today. host: you pointed out that september 6 -- more than 7.5 million people will lose benefits entirely at that time. will we see that affect anything like the unemployment rate or other effects in the economy once those benefits wrap up? guest: it will have some effect, right? for context, there are 150 million people under the workforce. if you look at it economy wide, it will show up and have an impact, but i think it will be relatively small. there are other government

supports that will expire, too. there is a moratorium on foreclosures, forbearance on mortgage payments and student loan payments. a lot of supports the government has put in place to help everyone out during the pandemic. they will start to wind down in the next few months and that may have some negative consequences. hopefully, the economy continues to improve. host: this is joe in pennsylvania -- ohio. caller: i would like to hear a few more words about the productivity effects inflation. before the pandemic, things were

rolling along pretty hot, the price of oil and energy was almost complementary. speak to that, will you, please? guest: sure. productivity growth is critical. we do not talk about it as we should. it is the basis for the living standards in the long run. it is absolutely critical. productivity growth is a decade after the great recession to the pandemic was very weak. it was about 1%. between world war ii and the great recession, productivity growth was double that, about 2%. very sharp slowdown. that is not a good thing because that means wages will not grow as quickly and businesses will

not make as much money. house prices will not grow as quickly. good news is, though, in recent years, productivity growth has improved quite a bit. some of that may be temporary. it feels like something is going on the businesses are incorporating new technologies and there are all kinds of technologies and innovations out there that businesses have been slow to adopt for various reasons, and it feels like we are starting to adopt them. if the improvement in productivity growth continues, that is a pretty good thing. that is a win-win for everybody. we can all get paid for and businesses can make more money, housing values can stay higher.

hopefully, that continues. if you have higher rates of productivity growth, that puts downward pressure on inflation. that is a very good thing. that is something that is very positive that is going on out there. it is a difficult concept for people to get their minds around, but it is a very important development if it continues. host: stephen in baltimore, democrats line. caller: i would like to get back to the 2008 pricing -- housing crisis. that would be in reference to the interest rates. we have been talking about the federal reserve raising rates or normalizing interest rates. they have talked about it for 20

years. we never normalized the interest rates. a lot of people came to the banks about withdrawing their cash. we have yet to raise interest rates nor have we normalized interest rates. we are only putting in 40 billion a month into the economy every month. we were at 80 billion, 100 20 billion, 160 billion. when do you see interest rates normalizing? we never normalized them. how are any of these numbers possible or even matter because when you are propping up the economy with the treasury's money, the people's money, and another example of that would be the treasury bills. the federal reserve had to come in and -- that is a legal

contract where interest rates should have not been frozen. they went from 1.7512 two almost 10% -- to almost 10%. host: thank you for the call. guest: thank you for the question. a lot to unpack. this is a point of fact. the federal reserve is currently buying $120 billion a month in treasury securities and so-called mortgage-backed securities. they have been doing that since the pandemic and they have yet to start to wind that down. there is some discussion that the economy is getting to a place where they will feel comfortable doing that, but they are not there yet. interest rates are very low and you are right that since the

financial crisis, the great recession back in 2008 and 2009, interest rates never got back to what people would consider to be consistent of a well-functioning economy. it has been a long time. i think the hope is that as the economy continues to improve, early 2022, the federal reserve will feel comfortable enough about how the economy is going that they will stop buying as many treasuries and mortgage-backed securities. when the economy is really good and unemployment is back where it was pre-pandemic, 3.5% unemployment, once we are back,

and that is a couple of years down the road, that is when they will start to allow treasury bills start to rise and get back to something normal. this is a long road and a difficult path. even in my optimistic perspective where we are headed, it is not until mid decade, 2025, before we see a world where interest rates are back to something where we all feel comfortable. frankly, you have to take a step back and think about things. our economy has been rocked by some pretty major shocks over the past. go back to 9/11 in 2001 and then you have the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009, and then you have

the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, these are very major events and very destabilizing. host: the chief economist from moody's analytics, mark zandi. thank you for the check in on the economy. guest: good to be with everyone. host: we will open up our phone lines for you in an open forum to hear about the public policy, political issues that you are reading about, talking about. (202) 748-8001, republicans. (202) 748-8000, democrats. (202) 748-8002, independents. your thoughts on the economy or your thoughts on the future of new york governor andrew cuomo. all of that and more is next. >> some of our live coverage for

today. on c-span at 10:00, federal reserve vice chair talks about the u.s. economic outlook and monetary policy. at noon, military leaders and victim advocates talk about sexual assault on in the military and the findings of the independent review commission. at 2:45, the senate intelligence committee holds a hearing on threats to u.s. national security from china. on c-span 2 at 10:30 a.m., the senate continues consideration of the bipartisan infrastructure agreement with debate and votes on amendments. ♪ >> weekends on c-span 2 are an intellectual feast. every saturday, events and people on american history tv.

on sunday, book tv brings you the latest in nonfiction books and authors. his television for serious readers. -- it is television for serious readers. >> "washington journal" continues. host: it is open forum. your thoughts on political stories, public policy issues that you are reading about, items in the news. (202) 748-8001, republicans. (202) 748-8000, democrats. independents and others, (202) 748-8002. a special election in cleveland. chantel brown wins. cuyahoga county councilwoman

brown won the democratic primary. brown led former state senator nina turner by five percentage points with all precincts reporting. that is from the cleveland plain dealer. some news on the vaccine front from the new york times about the pfizer vaccine and approval. fda aims to fully approve pfizer vaccine by next month. the surge of covid-19 infections ripping through much of the u.s. , the fda is accelerating its timetable to fully approve pfizer's coronavirus vaccine. president biden said last week that he expected a fully approved vaccine in early fall. the fda's unofficial deadline is labor day or sooner. the agency said that the leaders recognized and approval might

inspire more public confidence and has taken a all hands on deck approach. giving final approval to the pfizer vaccine rather than relying on the emergency authorization granted late last year by the fda could help increase inoculation rates at a moment when the highly transmissible delta variant is sharply driving up the number of new cases. let's get to your calls and comments. nevada, democrats line. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i just wanted to say that i think the news media has really got it wrong when they are dealing with the former president. i have been watching this guy, and it is all a con.

it is always an act. he never says what he really believes. it is just a game to him. host: indiana, michael on the independent line. caller: hello, sir, thank you for taking my call. i have a question. why should those of us who have been vaccinated have to pay for the hospitalization of those who refuse to or refuse to wear a mask? i do not object to anyone not wearing a mask. it is a free country. i do not think the rest of us should have to pay for the hospitalizations. that could be done through employer insurance. host: what is your experience

with the people in your neighborhood, the people you work with in terms of vaccination? caller: i would say most of the people around me have gotten vaccinated if they were able to. i feel that most of the people who have not have been overly influenced by the media. vaccinations are an ordinary thing. kids cannot go to school unless they get their basic vaccinations. why is this one different? host: james in georgia on the democrats line. go ahead. caller: i would like to say that fox news, newsmax, they always stressed that it is a divided country. yes, it is.

they are helping the country be divided by the stuff they are talking. some people actually believe that crop. -- crap. if they could start talking about unity, this country would be better. host: maryland, marietta. caller: they are making a big mistake by offering the people money and incentive to go get the vaccination. what about given the people who already have had the vaccination incentive? we have done our part. they have not done their part. thank you. host: michigan, we hear from wayne. caller: thank you for taking my call. i have been watching your show for quite a while now. i have come to the conclusion that 99.9 percent of the people

who call in are totally clueless and ignorant about almost everything discussed. the majority of them are republicans. thank you, sir. host: president biden was asked about the administration extending the eviction moratorium. i will show you his comments in just a moment at his briefing at the white house. pres. biden: -- >> this expired on saturday. some are saying it took too long for this to happen. pres. biden: the courts made it clear that the existing moratorium was not constitutional and it would not stand. they made that clear back in july 15 or july 18. in the meantime, what i've been

calling for, we have billions of dollars i have given to states to provide for rent and utilities for those people who cannot afford to stay in their homes because they cannot pay their rent. we are urging them to distribute those funds to the landlords. i believe that would take care of the vast majority to keep people in their apartments now. that is what we are working on. some states have done it. the money is there. we do not have to send it out. it has been sent out to the states and counties, billions of dollars for the express purpose of providing for back rent and rent for people who are in the middle of this crisis. that is what we are pushing now. that is the immediate thing to do. host: politico with a profile on

one of those house members pushing the administration for further action on the eviction moratorium. cori bush steers progressives to win on the eviction crisis. the political neophyte is coming into her own. it forced the eviction crisis to the top of the nation's agenda even after the house left town without taking action on the issue. president joe biden on tuesday afternoon announced a short-term fix to prevent millions of families from losing their homes despite in the news and political issues as open forum. this is from tampa florida. go ahead. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. governor cuomo in new york, he

really -- can you hear me ok? he really feels he is above the law. these people have got to go to civil court. he put his hands on these women and appropriately and all this. but really, he should step down for the good of the state. i used to live there. it was a mess. he messed up. that's it, thank you. host: to south carolina. good morning. caller: good morning. i'm almost 78 years old and i've never gotten on. i haven't heard anyone talking about how biden won the election. i've got two ballots, my sister got three, by neighbor got four.

you can't see who got doubled. you know there -- a lot of people voted three or four times, they had to. that's how he got elected. if they believe in killing babies, i don't see how they will go to heaven. host: to san diego, california. republican line. caller: thank you to c-span for letting americans have a place to vent their opinions. what i would like to say is i don't know how we are ever supposed to separate religion, politics and the way our country is run. every section of congress -- session of congress starts off with the prayer. religion and politics are not supposed to affect each other. i say get god off my money, out of my pledge of allegiance, and for sure out of my politics. thank you for having an open

form to let me vent, have a good day. host: back to the eviction moratorium, this is the reporting of roll call. the headline -- the cdc extends eviction moratorium until october 3. minority leader in the senate mitch mcconnell has asked about that, commented on that and also commented on the status of the infrastructure debate in the u.s. senate. >> [indiscernible] >> obviously i support moving along. i tried to support the bipartisan group in every way we can. like a lot of us, i will see what it looks like at the end. i am in favor of trying to get it out -- a bipartisan infrastructure package appeared the pastor at mr. risch and were unable. the american people need it -- deep to -- the past two

administrations tried and were unable. the american people need it. it looks like the money is there for the eviction moratorium. it is either still in washington or at the state and local government or somewhere in between. it doesn't seem to me to require any additional legislative action. they need to get the money out there that has already been made available so we can solve the problem. host: the u.s. senate back in session this morning at 10:30 eastern to continue debate on the infrastructure deal. a couple weeks ago, we had a discussion on the expression of political expression at the olympics. here is a political expression that resulted in a defection. a lipid dispute makes belarus sprinter -- olympic dispute.

kristina did not set out to be a symbol of oppression in her native belarus. she wanted to run. a 24-year-old sprinter whose specialties the two hundred meter became the center of international scandal after a delegation forcibly try to send her home from the games. she complained and instagram video that her coaches registered her for an event heat she had not trained for -- bet she had not trained for because they failed to conduct a doping test on other athletes. i will not say whether plaudits came into my life in general, because there were no politics. i simply express my dissatisfaction with the coaching staff who entered me in the relay race without asking me about it, she worried that a poor performance could cause injury or trauma. she had no idea how quickly the

situation would escalate, turning a dispute into a major double medic episode that would make her an international consulate and push her toward a new life in a new country. poland has offered to provide her with a safe haven away from belarus and every thing else she knows. next up from wilmington, north carolina. democrat line. caller: thank you for c-span. what i would like to point out with these conversations between donald trump and attorney general were he was saying just say the election was fraudulent and i will take care of it. it came out -- hearing anything like that on fox, it was brief. people still want to say the election was fraudulent and everything else. you also have the recordings were he was talking to officials in georgia saying come on, find

me 11,000 votes so i can win this thing. the only election fraud was coming from donald trump. not from biden. i'm sure you have people call up and say this election was stolen from donald trump, donald trump is my president. it's like, people. you are calling us snowflakes when trump is acting like the biggest -- you guys are acting like the biggest snowflakes now. hypocrites. host: pennsylvania. hi there. caller: apparently where i live at, the police -- it's overwhelming. i'm being attacked every time i step out of my apartment. [indiscernible]

i am a female and disabled. the police should be helping. it doesn't seem like that is what they are doing. host: a story from the washington times about another issue on capitol hill. voting rights. democrats say they are close to a solution on voting rights. senate democrats are close to taking a shot at changing election laws around the country. we are very close to getting a bill done were everyone in the democratic since -- will sign onto. a group of about 150 democratic senators from around the nation converged to call on the senate to pass an election bill that will block changes in voting laws for public and legislatures

are passing around the country. democratic senators as well as state legislators continue to betray the strict -- the state laws as racist. from oklahoma, the democrat line. caller: good morning. longtime viewer, first time caller. host: great. welcome. caller: thank you kindly. we hear a lot of talk about a minimum wage. i don't see why they don't put a maximum wage on all government employees. there is not a reason in the world. another thing. when the government does a raise for employees, it should not

gate -- give a percentage rage -- raise. it should be a dollar figure raise. that is the way the wages get farther and farther apart. the smallest wage, it costs the same amount for a loaf of bread. it shouldn't be done on taxpayer money. thank you for the opportunity to call. longtime viewer. i really appreciate your show. i think it is pretty balanced. i hear all kinds of callers coming in and i am thankful we've got america. and think it to be an american. 82 years old and still very proud of america. host: thanks for taking the time

, longtime viewer. appreciate that. taking the time to call this morning, it's good to hear from you. this is the front page of the washington post. police slain outside the pentagon, this happened yesterday. pentagon police officer was killed tuesday after an attack at a bus platform outside the military headquarters that prompted gunfire, lockdown of the facility in virginia, and a massive police and fire response. the police officers assailant was also killed in the encounter according to to law enforcement officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to comment on the investigation. the officials said there was nothing to indicate terrorism was a motive, but the circumstances of what transpired remain murky. during a news conference, the protectant -- protection agency chief effective reporter questions about what happened. we will go to stafford, virginia

and hear from joseph on the republican line. caller: good morning. it appears it is ok when democrats say the election was stolen. george bush still from al gore. hillary said the election was stolen from her. but the second a republican so's election was stolen -- says the election was stolen, we have these massive investigations going on. my other point is 34% of black people have been vaccinated. this was a poll that came out three days ago. 34% of blacks. that means democrats. these aren't trim supporters that are not vaccinated. all of my friends are vaccinated. -- trump supporters. all of them voted for trump. what is up with the $1 billion for the appellations region --

appalachian regional commission that your wife cochairs? what the heck does the appellation -- appalachian regional commission even do. and your wife cochairs it? she just got a job. is this payola? come on, look into it, people. host: this part of the delta variant. -- the spread of the delta variant. hospitalizations have reached a record in florida as the state battles a surge in brought on by the highly contagious delta variant. there were 11515 confirmed hospitalizations according to data released by human services. the increase has hit a younger population been prior surges while filling hospital beds at a record pace.

in in north carolina, larry is next up. go ahead. caller: yes. i would like to say something. about the riot. all you've got to do is listen to what president trump said. march to the capital and peace come have a peaceful march to the capital. they marched in there peacefully. then he said fight like hell. or you are not going to have a country. that is what they did. they fought like hell. you see what you see, you hear you here. can you believe the eyes and ears? that is all people have to understand. host: mary in north carolina. there is more ahead -- larry in a north carolina. there is more ahead. we talked to retired lt. gen. russel honore about the

investigation on capitol hill. that is coming up. ♪ >> sunday night on q&a, helen andrews, the american conservative magazine senior editor talks about her book, "b oomers: the men and women who promised freedom and deliver disaster." >> one a line that i did not come up with but as brilliant as a generation that sold out but would not admit they sold out. it is a combination of a great deal of idealism in a sense of self -- and a sense of self that is morally noble, liberating humanity. on the other hand, a great deal of selfishness and narcissism. kind of a blindness to the ways their liberationist agenda knocks down a lot of functioning

institutions and left a lot of people worse off. >> sunday night at eight eastern on c-span q&a -- 8:00 eastern on c-span q&a. ♪ >> washington journal continues. host: next we are joined by retired lt. gen. russel honore, who was the lead investigator in

the capitol security review task force shortly after january 6. welcome to washington journal. guest: good morning, it is good to be with you. host: remind our viewers how that task force came about after january 6 and what your role was in it. guest: the task force was formed from the house, speaker pelosi. they requested assistance in providing a security review of the capitol. with the perspective that the more in-depth commission and/or committees would be formed inside the capitol from the house and senate to dig into who did what, when and how. what they wanted was an immediate review of the

operational procedures, training and in operability and security of the capitol. so that immediate steps could be taken to secure the capitol prior to what happened on the sixth to have the capitol open back up to the public. we spent six weeks, myself and 16 others, members of the task force, we call ourselves tax force -- task force 16. we report back to the house in the process of creating that report area we went -- report. we went into dialogue that went into equities for security of the capitol in conjunction with capitol police, which we engaged

all members of capitol police force as well as the capitol police themselves and making our assessment. that report concluded a 12 page exec at of summary that many have seen -- executive summary that many have seen in a more extensive report with all of our recommendations. host: you mentioned an immediate review, and it was immediate. your group started that review while the national guard was still on campus. much of that fencing was still up around the u.s. capitol. guest: absolutely. we arrived, there were so much when he 5000 national guard -- 25,000 national guard.

many of the members we spoke to in committee and through many virtual meetings who were still affected emotionally by what happened on january 6 were all made witness and had their own perspective. but they all were appreciative of the fact the capitol police and the d.c. police held the line, keeping them from getting injured. that being said, they all wanted to know what needed to be done to harden the capitol, training or equipment the capitol police needed. that is what we did over that six week. -- over that six week period. host: in that report is available at c-span.org. the key recommendations that came out of your task force include increasing or having

available mobile fencing, streamlining the decision-making to avoid delays in crisis, to create a mounted police unit at the capitol and asking the national guard to backup capitol police when requested to respond to these types of emergencies and higher hundreds more capitol police officers to fill in the personnel shortfalls. in terms of decision-making, let me focus on that. where were the shortfalls in decision-making on january 6? guest: the significant piece was the assessment. that is where most of the police force operate, threat assessment. that was severely flawed, as we have all seen. the fbi director as well as the capitol police commander who

resigned shortly after and the senate. it was what was seen as intelligence -- as if it may refer to it, would come to the capitol and create violence. there is an assumption they wouldn't as opposed to listening what was happening on chatter. in retrospect, there is a lot of indications they would. a big failure in intelligence, which caused failure for those to be prepared by having additional officers on-site that day. there could have been more from the shift going off into the shift going on, coming early. that did not happen.

as well as the training of capitol police and a civil disturbance and equipment they had was inadequate. properly stored in the proper place for they had access to it. the d.c. metropolitan police coming in and working in support of the capitol police to a mutual agreement, and many people still sorting through is what happened between communications between the capitol police and the d.c. guard, and could that have been done quicker? our assessment and recommendation was that -- on that issue, to give the authority to capitol police to go directly to the pentagon and request assistance as opposed to getting approval from the capitol police.

on that day, it was confusing and that's not help the decision-making -- that did not help the decision-making. as capitol police were tried to get approval, both house and senate was under duress trying to protect their members. we put in that the capitol police chief, when he sees high risk come he can go directly to the pentagon. that would shorten the timeline which would approve the use of the d.c. national guard because they go to the pentagon through executive order to deploy the d.c. national guard. host: retired lt. gen. russel honore is our guest. we welcome your calls, comments and questions. (202) 748-8000 for eastern and

central time zones. (202) 748-8001, mountain and pacific. i want to focus on threat assessment. senator ron johnson wisconsin has been critical of the preparation and knowledge beforehand of the january 6 attack, saying recently that he suggested the fbi knew or has said in terms of before the attack. did you have any indication the fbi had more information prior to the january 6 attack? guest: when we did the intelligence assessment, we do know a reporter came from the field office the day before, indicating the probability of some actions being taken. direct action or civil disturbance as opposed to peaceful demonstration was

possible. we go to the task force in washington dc -- washington, d.c. and it was documented that a member of the capitol police did not receive that report. that report did not get the special handling it should have gotten because it threatened the capitol, both the senate and house. the location where the vice president was going to be. and the president of the united states all within a couple miles of each other outside of the security of the white house. they were going to be exposed by this large group of demonstrators who were going to be on the mall with the intention of moving toward the capitol. that report did not get the attention it should have. in retrospect, everyone we talked to has agreed that

information should have been handled as intelligence as opposed to just chatter. they could have been better prepared, and that did not happen. in our review, we recommended it has been funded through legislation to provide additional intelligence people as well as special equipment to be able to process intelligence. our government did not work that day. the fbi, under their own admission -- he said he did not know about the report to after-the-fact. that was a failure. we all watch this happen -- watched this happen and this has to be fixed.

we need to have measures in place to make sure that doesn't happen again into the additional funding provided by the senate and house will take care of that problem. host: part of this centers around the availability of the national guard to act as backup. your report calls for the capitol police to be backed up by the national guard. who gets to make that call? who requests the national guard, if needed, on capitol hill? guest: that is the response ability of the national guard in each state. the relationship in washington is somewhat different since it operates directly with the pentagon as opposed through a governor. that is the procedure that has worked for a couple hundred years. it did not work that day. the day we needed it most. when the bridge attacked the capitol. it did not work that day -- british attacked the capitol. it did not work that day.

it could've been done quicker. it didn't work. that whole system is being reviewed by the department of defense now and how that will be done in the future. it is unfortunate that the national guard unit d.c. has responded to, over the years, several times a year when called on by the capitol police or other agencies to assist. the d.c. national guard is not a standing force. they are mobilized as required. one of the recommendations we made was have mobilized soldiers available 24/7 at the d.c. armory in support of the capitol area so something happened at 3:00 in the morning, we could have mps that could reinforce. that recommendation was not accepted and was not approved by

the senate review. but i think the procedures are in place to be able to call the d.c. guard -- 80% of them do not live in d.c.. so when you call them up, you have to do that 12 to 18 hours ahead of time. the situation on 16, the d.c. guard that was -- on the sixth -- there is much dialogue in the committee investigating as to what happened and who knew what. i believe it to them to get into the details about that, because that is still being deeply investigated by the house. host: a question from washington. is nancy pelosi responsible for

lack of security on capitol hill on january 6? guest: i wouldn't say that, because nancy pelosi and at the time speaker mcconnell had equal responsibility to supervise. the sergeant and arms that represent the house and senate on the capitol police were to do that. but that is a bumper sticker that many are putting out there. but their job is to secure the floor. the physical security of the capitol is in the hands of the capitol police both of which the speaker and leader of the senate at the time, speaker mcconnell, points the house sergeant at arm in the senate sergeant at arms. he is appointed by the prison of the united states. there is issues with the capitol

police form that we did make some recommendations on how they request assistance and the decision-making process and the frequency of how they communicate. many of those procedures are in place to make sure the lack of communication and misunderstanding -- point-blank, i would say no to that answer of when you look at the scenario that developed on the sixth. the response of the speaker into the leaders to make sure the capitol police have the resources they need to secure the capitol. that is there is possibility. they did the operational by the threat level is, how many police are going to be there. that is the response ability of the capitol police force in capitol police chief. -- was possibility -- rsponsi bility.

-- responsibility. $2.9 billion of the mental -- supplemental that the senate recently reworked and has published just this past week for approval of money to help protect the capitol and provide additional please come additional intelligence assets into the hardening of the capitol -- police, additional intelligence assets and the hardening of the capitol. host: the senate passed the plan and the president signed it. it would include three did million dollars to bolster safeguards to the capitol -- $300 million.

then there is the establishment of the select committee of the house now taking testimony and the first hearing was last week. what is your impression of this review of what caused the january 6 attack? guest: when one of the things i looked at over six weeks -- it was the liberate. -- deliberate. it became obvious from the attempt to create a commission, which was rejected in the senate than the recommendation to create a bipartisan commission -- then the recommendation to greet a bipartisan commission did not work. to develop a commission inside the house, we saw one unfold in the disagreement between the speaker and minority leader and we got what we got.

there will still be grounds for people to come forward and answer the hard questions as well as committees are still doing their investigations. but this house investigation is what we have right now as well as the department of justice continuing who broke the law and when, who is physically involved and what was involved from the just and other aspects. at the end of the day, it is carrying a big stick and what happened that day. guest: in terms of that committee, there are two republican members. as you mentioned, the minority leader pulling five of the republicans. do you think the proceedings will be viewed as legitimate with just the two republican members on there? guest: it is what it is right now. i do think the two republican members have an interest in finding out what happened, who knew what and when, and that

mutual agreement, we will watch unfold live on television. the testimony and people will be able to draw their own conclusion. it is the process we got in it is democracy. host: our guest, retired lt. gen. russel honore. let's go to mary. good morning. caller: hello. my question is, somebody had to organize this event we before -- way before and possibly on social media. do we know anything about who his response before putting it together? -- who is responsible for putting it together? host: thanks, mary. guest: thank you. i think we all share your

observation. but how do we take that intern into fact -- and turn it into fact and were any laws broken? that is the job of the dod -- doj in the house committee will be questioning people about that. we have to go from opinion to what we see in what we hear to fax and what laws were broken -- facts and what laws were broken. if anybody broke laws to enable this to happen and the power they had in the government that were involved in planning, resourcing and the execution of this attack on the capitol. it is up to doj and the house committee determined. host: next is mike calling from florida. go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. if you will dose -- -- just

indulge me. [indiscernible] donald trump is friends with cuomo. the hypocrisy, there are people who still think trump is president and will come back this month to be president. they are willing to put an accused rapist -- inappropriate touching and contact. i just wanted to say i am puzzled as to why he was nominated for this role because it somebody has to come in after disasters to clean up -- [indiscernible]

so if you could say why the speaker of the house nominated him for this role. it didn't seem like a good fit. thank you. host: your thoughts on that question. guest: the leader had the opportunity to bring experts in intelligence and security to the district of washington and capitol police on our team as well as the senate sergeant. along with other members -- sergeant at arms along with other members. i did have experience in the pentagon under joint chiefs of staff of suit -- providing

military support. that was one of the skill sets. the security of the capitol region and the security at the capitol doing a national security event at the capitol during the time as in the pentagon -- i was in the pentagon. i'm sorry -- i hope we didn't do our job. we had the experts -- we did do our job. we had the experts we needed to do it. we provided a report, we talked through multiple committees on the senate and the house side multiple times. the recommendations got great input from both house and senate

committees that are responsible for resourcing and policy. host: it strikes me that there are similarities between your role in overseeing the task force and the one on january 6. to break down civil authority and in both cases there was a certain amount of civil unrest. guest: well, yes. the ability to pull together all of the assets to complete the effectuation -- evacuation insecure the collaboration and the states of louisiana and mississippi in collaboration with local governments. that experience did help and it doing the capitol review to come

up with what the fixes are. many of the fixes we put in were regulations from the people we were talking to. we didn't go make stuff up. everything had to follow some sort of procedure of law, doctrine. as well as meeting the requirements of everybody in the capitol, everyone we talked to to get the capitol back to where it could be open to the public again. that was a demand from everyone. don't make the capitol look like the green zone. we want it opened back up to the public. tell us what we need to do. from the people we talk to, we pulled the recommendation to the house. host: let's hear from new york. go ahead. caller: hi.

after all of your decades of service for this nation, even in your retirement, a straight shooter which is becoming a rare thing these days. you tell it like it is. is not always comfortable hearing the truth. -- it is not always comfortable hearing the truth. i would like to salute each and every one of those capitol police officers. their bravery. we almost went into a dictatorship. it is how close we came. general honore, do you think it is coincidental that on november 7, so she did that joe biden was the -- associated press announced joe biden was the winner of the election and on the ninth since secretary of

defense -- the secretary of defense was fired by trump and was replaced by a gentleman named christopher miller as acting department secretary of defense. he was in charge on january 6. i was like -- i would like to know if he was told to turn his head and not allow [indiscernible] guest: i think that would be opinion and that is the job of the commission right now in the house to get that determined. as well as investigations by the department of justice. we all have perceptions about that, but i best leave that to the investigators to sort that out. we do know command and control, there was a lot of confusion. we all sought unfold on

television, almost life. where's the national guard? where's the national guard? government did not work that day. we did work was the police coming together and holding the line. -- what did work. host: largely former members of the military and law enforcement pegs that number at 50 two in their report. -- 52 in their report. what are your thoughts? guest: i will share with you, if i may, my perception. our veterans are very subject to call to action on internet and

networking and groups. the fact they have served, they are subject to be an influence that the end of the day, the patriotism by their service and skills that they will have to save the nation. that call to duty leaves them subject to repeated requests of let's go save the nation. i think that call to duty their internet networks and through groups -- through internet networks and groups make them vulnerable because people are leaning in on what is perceived as unquestionable patriotism to the country. however, i, like most people, think that is a misplaced use of the patriotism to trained over

the government. host: let's hear from summerville, south carolina. good morning. caller: i just wanted to say to the general, i am so proud of him and his work. i just admire you. that's it. guest: thank you, sir. that is a good change. host: to florida. you are on. caller: yes. i have a question. back in 2020, donald trump was evacuated from the white house because of a black lives are protest. -- matter protest. it seems that during this protest, he was sitting in the white house gleefully watching on television. do you have any response to that? guest: no, sir. i saw groups of that.

i watched that protest on television. but i am not familiar enough with that to give any analysis on what was happening. i'm sorry. host: a question from twitter. in your investigation, do you talk to the capitol police chief or the board for information concerning security? was there a request for more security? i assume he means ahead of time. guest: there is some dispute as to when that happened. that is part of the committee to sort that out. i did not speak to the former capitol police chief because he had resigned by the time we arrived in washington. we didn't have subpoena authority or nothing else to talk to people who were there. but i think information in the hearing, the when he testified

in -- one he testified in. it had been requested and was denied. we will leave that to the committee to sort that out. it was flawed in a not executed the way it should have been. -- and not executed. host: the new chief took over recently. heavy had a chance to speak with them? has he been receptive to recommendations the task force has put forward was to mark -- put forward? guest: congratulations to the new chief. he has awesome responsibility. he did indicate he was studying the recommendations we made to the house and we know for fact some of those recommendations have been viewed and improved in the security of the capitol.

many of them are being worked on now as far as training and equipping of the capitol police and training of the civil disturbance unit. much of that is being done. host: olympia, washington. go ahead. caller: hello. i have a question for general honore as to whether you might ever have an opinion as to the professional action that was done by a certain miller. that is something that was reported on and i have been waiting for months for an answer. that is all, think very much. -- thank you very much. guest: i assume you are talking about the secretary of defense? host: i think. he is off-line now. guest: we have seen miller come

before committee within the last few months. i think he left more questions unanswered than he answered. he can expect to be called back before the committee, i would suspect. but we looked at the process and procedures into did not work the way it should have. i will leave it at that and let the committee sorted out. i think we are all waiting for the total picture of who knew what, when. host: how different was your impression shortly after january 6 and after you had a chance to meet with the task force to do the review? how did your opinion of what had been changed, or did it? guest: it didn't change much for my perspective.

we saw what happened, i have a better understanding of how it happened. as a result of the failures in intelligence, the issues with command and control, using the command system it weight -- the way it should be used, the reception of incoming officers from other districts. that whole process needed to be significantly improved to deal with worst-case scenario like we had. we didn't have the authority to do much work in a sorting out the role the secret service had with security -- was securing the president on the mall and securing the vice president. it appears something could have been done in collaboration between them on what these two groups were doing and where was

the fbi? with that many people on the mall, we expect a lot from the interagency process. that is what we put the joint terrorism task force in washington, d.c. and where was homeland security? by their name, that is their job. to protect the homeland. government did not work that day. but those details were not in our form, that will have to be sorted out through department of justice as well as committed to try and shedding light on who knew what and when. host: you touched on the d.c. national guard earlier. a question from carol in wisconsin may be a little more specific. one is someone calls the pentagon to get help from the national guard for the capitol, does the army have to get permission from the president? guest: that is the way it works. host: simple answer.

take you very much. willie is up next. go ahead. caller: good morning. first, i would like to say, general i am so proud to get to speak to you. i am tickled pink, and i am a man. it sounds like you are dealing with a lot of bureaucracy, one particular agency didn't speak to the other agency into the other agency -- and the other agency -- it sounds -- who knew what -- if you follow the dots, it might go somewhere you don't want it to go.

my other question was, man, i am just so proud to speak to you. i love you, sir. i really do. my name is ricky brown. guest: thank you. you made my day. host: piling on ricky's question. you said in an earlier interview that you saw the white house was complicit in planning the insurrection. has anything changed to change your view? is that still your opinion? guest: i want to make clear that is my personal opinion. watching the whole thing unfold, before the rally started, watching the rally form, watching the meeting in the senate and house -- my

perception, in retrospect and watching what i saw on the news -- there is a whole one-liner you learn in the army. i put that into perspective. my personal opinion is i think the executive branch was complicit in what happened on january 6. host: from the main. -- from maine. caller: i feel very thankful to be able to talk to a national treasure when it comes to issues like this. i just wondered if your particular investigation is going to result or could result in possibly criminal charges concerning those who may or may

not have been complicit in the insurrection, if you will. or if you just want to call it a riot, it got out of control in washington. and whether or not we really can deal with this thing by having some kind of a standing course or should we look at washington as the weight was originally designed, to be a place where people can come and speak freely about what is going on. i will take my answer off the air. thank you, sir. guest: thank you. let me take to your last piece for security of the capitol. the capitol is a target. it was a target on 9/11 that did not get executed for the great work of the citizens that were on that plane. the capitol was targeted repetitively because it is the

seat of our democracy. without the capitol, the democracy does not work. it makes the laws and provides the funds to make those laws work. it approves principal members for the executive branch to execute that through agencies. the capitol is significant to the operation of our democracy. it has to be secured. over time, the security we have been accustomed to was dealing mostly with civil disturbances with the exception in recent history where officers had been killed at the capitol. that being said, -- surprised at what we saw happened on 16 --

january 6. we missed the chatter to be properly prepared. we took action after 9/11 that we were trying to replicate for january 6. but we took after 9/11 was he put in washington, d.c. don't ask me where we are, i won't tell you. we also put f-15s in washington dc in the air force base to protect the air. rmd soldiers are not fully mobilized everything that the capitol is a target for those who want to do harm. not just harm, but the mystic terrorism. it has risen to -- domestic terrorism has risen to the point we need to be able to mobilize immediately. that is a notion in creating a

standing military police unit inside the d.c. guard that will be available 20 47. congress has decided they do not want that. senate decided they do not want that. now they will have to work agreements with other police officers and inherent response ability is hopefully the department of offense -- response ability -- res ponsibility and hopefully the permit of defense. -- department of defense. they can only employ if they are requested by the local. this notion that we can't do nothing until we are asked is bs. they can be repaired, be in position, and if asked -- be prepared, be in position and if asked, read the same report as

everyone else. i hope i answered your question. host: $35 million and that bill that passed, the emergency measures will be earmarked for the mutual aid agreements. let's go to a call or two more, one from connecticut. caller: good morning, general. as we all now know, trump said to top officials, just say the election was fraudulent and i and the republican congress will take care of the rest. this was a horrific crime. will disgraceful trump go to jail? your thoughts. guest: ma'am, i don't know. that is up to the justice department to get that sorted out. it is most unfortunate all that

happened. i think people want answers, and the answers will not come quick. that is going to have to be resolved in the justice department. future elections will determine whether the american people believe that or not. post: general honore, it has been a pleasure having you on. look forward to seeing you again. [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] host: we are back tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. eastern and hope you are, too. live programming will continue next, as we take you to comments from federal reserve vice chair richard clarida, talking about the u.s. economic outlook at the peterson institute for international economics. it has just gotten underway, live here on c-span. >> he taught from 1988 to 2018.