in afghanistan. >> thank you very much. this concludes this press conference. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> today the former u.s. ambassador to afghanistan hosts a discussion at the middle east policy council. it is live and you non-c-span, online on c-span.org, or you can listen on the free c-span radio app. c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television committees and more, including buckeye broadband. ♪ >> buckeye broadband supports c-span as a public service,

along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. visas. this story from fox news from earlier this week, the department of defense and to immediately house thousands of afghan refugees on american military installations around the country, potentially as many as 30,000 on basis including fort mccoy in wisconsin, fort bliss in texas. the fox news story quoting john kirby, the pentagon spokesperson, saying we want the capacity to get several thousand immediately, and the potential for tens of thousands. bliss and mccoy have the capability right now. that is advantageous. the story out of oregon -- a coalition of oregon legislators joined by governor kate brown

yesterday in saying the state will accept refugees fleeing the fall of afghanistan. the letter they sent -- "together we call on the biden administration to lift caps and take other actions that will save lives at this time. as a state we must take the necessary steps to be able to resettle families when they arrive. events in afghanistan echoed the departure of the united states from saigon following the end of the vietnam war." as we talk about the potential resettlement, we are simply asking you, would you welcome afghan refugees in your part of the country? republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000, and the special and for recent refugees,

we want to hear your story, 202-748-8003. bob is up first. ohio. democrat. caller: good morning. listen, i would welcome any of the refugees in this part of ohio, but the biggest thing is with fox news preying on these people every day telling everybody not to let them commune, they should not be helping -- come in, they should not be helping them, it is ridiculous. i wish they would take fox news off the networks. that is the worst tv station i have ever seen. i want even allow it on my tv. host: andrea appeared republican here in washington, d.c. caller: good morning. too wet c-span as well. i believe yes, but due to america literally financing and employing the taliban to push

the russians out of afghanistan, i believe we are responsible for whatever is going on, and absolutely anyone that wants to be over here, they should be vetted and be here. host: when you say vetted, you say they need to go to the immigrant visa process. caller: absolutely. host: we will talk more about how that process works, but as we hear from you, would you welcome refugees in your community, lancaster, ohio, jenny, also on that line for republicans. caller: i have called this for the last eight or nine years and my sweet little brother moved in with me about nine months ago and he was only here for a month and i just got soundtrack -- sidetracked. what i think is sad is the man who just said about fox news doesn't want the refugees brought into our country? they are not saying that.

what i don't understand about people, everyone has their favorite news channel to watch. news should be news. host: what are your feelings on it -- would you want some of these thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, would you want some of them in your community? caller: my god, these women that are taking their babies over a fence so their babies can live, and they know they will never see their babies again -- they are desperate. yes, let them in this country. everybody thinks that republicans don't want any immigrants in here. that is not it we just want them to come in the legal way that would need to be accountable for every american we have, and i just think it is so sad that everyone is attacking everyone for what is going on. host: jenny and ohio. steve. illinois appeared independent. steve, what is your opinion? caller: yes, i will take them

in. i even have a five-bedroom house. if joe biden is going to pass out some biden box, i would be happy to take them in, even in my own house. these people deserve it more than the people from central america that are illegally crossing. as long as they get their covid shots, i am more than happy to even take them into my house, and i watch fox news, so -- you know, i wouldn't mind. and there are all kinds of jobs down here. i mean, there has to be 300 or 400 jobs that need to be filled down here. host: steve out of chatsworth, illinois. a couple of viewers mentioning fox news -- this issue about what to do with afghanistan refugees certainly a topic of fox news, including in segment with former president trump

advisor stephen miller. this was his appearance on fox news from earlier this week. [video clip] stephen: the taliban has all control of the government, so the notion people can show up at it checkpoint and we can have any idea about their background, belief system, where they come from, now that the u.s.-backed government has fallen, it is just an impossibility. those that are advocating mass afghanistan resettlement are doing so for political, not humanitarian regions. it is extorting nearly expensive -- they get free health care, education, housing, free food, cash welfare. for the price you could resettle refugees in america, you could resettle 10 times more, 15 times more in their home region, in this case, primarily in pakistan. host: stephen miller on fox news

this week. taking your phone calls. would you welcome refugees in your community and where you are in the country? this is rory up on the west coast early. good morning. caller: good morning. i would say yes, take them in, but make sure you don't have terrorists among the refugees, and it would be nice if they say they like america, they are pro-american, and also anti-sharia law. a lot of terrorists would have a hard time saying they are anti-sharia. i say this earnestly after seven months of biden, maybe we can start think about impeaching him and harris. he is a complete clux. -- klutz. goodbye. host: baltimore.

would you welcome refugees in baltimore? caller: thank you. thank you for your show. i listen every day. i appreciate what you do. absolutely i would welcome afghan refugees into my community, or into my home. i think that it is what weowe to the -- what we owe to the afghani people after the past 20 years, quite honestly. host: stephen alexander, ohio, independent. how would you answer the question? caller: good morning. i appreciate your show. i would absolutely welcome all well-vetted immigrants. if they are afghanistan, that is great, if they are mexican, that is great. if they are central american, that is great. we are lacking the ability to vet them, and i don't know why the administration is ignoring that fact. it is.

the last administration -- i don't know if they did a better job, but we need to do that as a nation, as a country, as parents, that is what we need to do to come together. host: we are talking about tens of thousands, 60,000 or more that might be eligible for a special immigrant visa from afghanistan. the ability to well that people -- do you think we have the ability to do that with that many people? caller: you know, time. it just takes time, right? bring them, get them out of harm's way, them into the camps, and let's go. take it that way. take that step. reject those that fail, and bring on the ones that don't fail. host: that is stephen alexandra,

ohio. you heard stephen miller on fox news taking a different tone than some. . republican governors in this country the "washington post" story on this, the headline, "rifts emerge in gop handling of afghan refugees." one of the governors that quote is governor spencer coxe of utah saying his willingness to accept refugees. he said history guides our approach to refugees and we are eager to assist that practice and assist with families fleeing afghanistan." perhaps it could be seen in these lead editorials today from the usually conservative editorial boards of both "the washington times," and "washington -- wall street

journal." they read while many are assumed to be aids that assisted u.s. forces, certainly they require proper vetting. without it, mr. biden might be opening the nation's door to another type of immigrant, one who harbors islamist hatred for america. the people must be screened to weed out possible evildoers. mr. biden suggests he like mrs. clinton, has little use for borders. that is the editorial board of "the washington times." compare that with also the usually conservative editorial board of the "wall street journal." they read the priority should be to rescue and escape trapped

americans, but they also have a duty to thousands of afghans that are in moral -- mortal danger. they are rightly trying to evacuate them to a third country where they sit and await visa decisions. the u.s. house passed a bill that allows 8000 additional vetoes. they write gop hostility to these afghans is a mistake. there is a difference between lawlessness and afghans who earn the right to emigrate in lawful program. conservatives claim to believe in american exceptionalism and they once took pride in welcoming exiles from up there -- authoritarian lands."

taking this topic until the top of the hour at 8:00 a.m. eastern, this is mark in new hampshire. good morning. caller: good morning. this is so mixed up. first of all, i think, no, we should not be bringing all of these afghan refugees to the united states. where is the united nations? what have they been doing? they are not a peacekeeping organization like they used to be, why are we paying them? i don't want any of these surrender monkeys coming to our country without being vetted properly, and that takes a long time. the statement earlier about the cost of resettling people -- i am 70 years old on social security, barely making it by, and all of these refugees collect way more money every month than i do. it is not fair to the american public. host: mark in new hampshire.

this is walter in hartford, connecticut, good morning. caller: good morning. i just don't understand. we are a country -- we have immigrants coming from poland, germany, england, czechoslovakia -- all over. these people are mostly -- they work with the military. most of these people work for the military. they are not people they just want to come here and get on the welfare system -- all of that. let's not turn this thing into a , you know, a racist thing. most of us, if you are not a native, you were born from another country. do i support them, sure? i support them --do i support them? sure.

i support them because they work with our military, they were translators, doing work with our military people, so why not bring them here? host: dan. virginia. republican. good morning. caller: i agree with many of the callers -- this is kind of a binary answer, but there are a lot of nuances, vetting. getting into war is sort of like getting married, you are divorced, but then you have kids, you will have to deal with that person. there is a huge tail to this thing. host: can i ask about the vetting issue? a lot of the folks applying are people that worked with the u.s. military in a hostile war zone. when you talk about vetting, the u.s. military trusted them in afghanistan. why is the vetting issue such a concern, do you think, when it comes to living in the united states versus working together in a war zone?

caller: so, i will admit i am in the military, but when you say vetting -- that guy, or the person in the service did not do the vetting. it was some agency other than that person, right? that is the first thing. the second thing is did they earn -- did that person who helped translate earn some rights that go towards becoming a u.s. citizen, or being extracted when this time came, which nobody wanted this to happen --i would say probably yes. i think when the average american sees people standing outside of an airport or running onto a plane, that is not vetting. that is what the public sees. we don't know who that person is that is running onto that plane. your heart aches for that, but

what vetting went there --that is what they meant. where is the credential checked? to say yes, you are not authorized translator or a trusted agent, but is that same credential the same one used to board an aircraft? i don't know. that is the question most people have. just like the vietnam -- vietnamese folks i have met, they are some of the hardest working people i've ever met or known. i give everyone a chance, but i won't get away from the vetting part. that is tied to many of our opinions, i think. host: dan, we will talk more about exactly how that works. we will be joined by sunil varghese, policy director of international refugee assistance at 8:45 a.m. eastern to talk about this process -- what happens when they step off of those planes, where are they, and how much vetting happens when that happens and someone who eventually lives in the

united states. stick around for that discussion. crystal is next out of west palm beach, florida. democrat. go ahead. caller: good morning. i would definitely welcome the refugees in the community, but more than that, i would say that these people are obviously a part of our military, therefore they have a lot of military knowledge of operations, so i would say the country needs this community. i would also say, too, that i looked at some other news networks, not american, and they were saying the border countries surrounding afghanistan were actually ready for this great influx into their countries and it never happened, so these people are being transported to other countries, not just america. and i would say to fox news, i

believe, is america's public enemy number one. host: that is crystal out of west palm beach, florida, taking your phone calls on the issues of other countries accepting refugees from afghanistan. a chart from -- again, these numbers change very rapidly, but this chart showing where the vast majority of refugees from afghanistan and up, and that of course is in the border countries there, pakistan and iran have the lions share of refugees coming out of afghanistan. germany, austria, france, as well, in the tens of thousands. sweden as well. those numbers changing as this exit is of afghan refugees certainly has ramped up in just the past 11 or 12 days, and certainly in the past few in the airlift out of kabul. this is dale out of texas,

independent. good morning. caller: good morning. i would support allowing the refugees come in, putting afghani's that helped the american military at the top of the list. the big question is does joe supported? i haven't heard a word from him out of his mouth saying anything about those people that helped our military over there for the last 20 years. you heard austin, the other day, on his press conference, just addressing the american extraction. they will do it until time runs out or they are out of capabilities. boy, our military had better -- host: you mentioned you have not heard from the president on this. the president is speaking again today. we will carry it at 1:00 p.m. on c-span if you want to watch it in its entirety and uninterrupted. . that is.

happening at 1:00 p.m. it is the morning of -- uninterrupted. that is happening at 1:00 p.m.. it is a morning for pudgy events when it comes to the exodus from afghanistan. we are expected to hear from the u.n. secretary general on c-span, c-span.org, and the free c-span radio aoo, then former u.s. ambassador ronald newman will be discussing events in afghanistan. we will air that i c-span. this topic will be discussed. janet is in san diego. republican. good morning. caller: good morning. i absolutely would except the afghanistan people into our country. as a matter of fact, i think we absolutely owe them, especially

at the top of the list should be the family's who did in fact risking their lives helping our troops. i would like to say that joe biden is a colossal failure, and i would also like to speak to the first caller who wanted to go there speaking on fox. if you don't allow it on your tv, how do you know what they are even saying? as far as not wanting to receive people coming across the border, yet we want to have the afghanistan people come, which i heard another caller speak, i have been listening to you all week -- that is an entirely different issue of what is coming across the border versus what these people are owed because we have such a weak president, that even i would know the first thing you would want to do is get the people out first before you go there and take the military out of the

country where you know you are dealing with these barbarians. the taliban is not a new group on the set out of nowhere -- they have been around for centuries. and joke bite me should have known exactly what to do. host: janet in san diego. we are asking you if you would welcome afghan refugees in your community, and the refugee issue depending on the special immigration visa process -- not the only way, but a main way to get a few gees into the country. it was yesterday at an event hosted by democrat seth moulton from massachusetts, he served in iraq and hosted a discussion about the immigrant process and his concerns about what happens to those refugees trying to get out of afghanistan. this is a bit from that event.

representative moulton: monday will not be focused on changing the visa process, but making sure the visa process gets changed once we get people to safety. the biggest thing we can do is make clear it is not just people who qualify for the special immigrant visa who could get out. there are a lot of people that do not fit into those categories that are not nonetheless under tremendous threat from the taliban including academics who led the charge to let women go to school, who led the charge to liberalize and free deciding afghanistan, and therefore have values that run directly counter to the taliban -- they will be under threat. people associated with u.s. military members. i am in touch with someone who worked for the u.s. military and is deaf lee afraid for his brother because -- death lee afraid for his brother because his brother has been targeted as

an afghan official and the brother of someone that worked with the americans. there are a lot of people that are under dire threat that we need to get out that don't fit into these categories. there is work we can do to do that. the bottom line right now is we just need to get them through the gates. host: congressman seth moulton, if you want to watch the entire event, you can do so at our webpage. c-span.org. search molten. it will be the first event that comes up. i what. would you welcome -- iowa. would you welcome afghan refugees? caller: yes. iowa has always been welcoming. we did it during the vietnam war and we should do it in this one. i would also say i'm a lot more worried about terrorism from domestic terrorists than i am with islamists coming in from

afghanistan. these people will value freedom because they have not headed, and it is unfortunate we have so many people in our own country who do not appreciate our form of government and are not respecting our institutions, and in terms of how bad biden has messed up the evacuation efforts, it was pompeo and trump that negotiated with the taliban, and trump even wanted to bring them to camp david. that is not something i don't think mr. biden would ever entertain. host: stevie is in anaheim, california. republican line. good morning. caller: you answered my question earlier at 4:23 a.m. my time about what other countries are taking people again. the thing i would like to ask your guests coming up, is since they are going to vet these people -- you had a segment on how they are betting these

people that are coming in -- you know, because basically they get on the planes, we can take them to military bases, sort them out, try to find out who is legitimate, who is not legitimate, who is more of a criminal, and who isn't. the other thing, as far as do we have the resources -- well, i don't know. look at the price of housing -- most people cannot afford a house. you have to rely that we are having to pay for their schooling and all of that. our schools are clogged already. we have five people a day die out here of homelessness. that is a question of do we have the resources to take care of them. some of the governors you did not mention, was utah, georgia, and i believe ohio said they would welcome as well, but should we allow these people to come in -- absolutely.

the only thing is what are we going to do about the americans trapped outside of the airport that cannot get through? are we going to have to bribe the taliban because we have a couple of billion dollars in our bank, and as far as the collapse of this, their president is the one that started this by sitting and running even before the negotiations can start. host: let me follow up on a few of your points. as you brought up, the lions share of refugees going to pakistan and iran -- we talked about some of the other countries that have made announcements about accepting afghan refugees. al jazeera what they wrap up of countries that have made some of those announcements. let's focus on two of them. the united kingdom on tuesday announced plans to accept 20,000 afghan refugees in the coming years as part of a settlement program that will prioritize women, girls, religious, and other minorities. british prime minister boris

johnson's government said 5000 people would be resettled in the first year of the program, that has been compared with efforts for syrian refugees. canada said it would resettle more than 20,000 vulnerable afghans. the story from al jazeera noting the "globe and mail" report that they will include human leaders dishman rights leaders, journalists, lgbtq individuals, and those that belong to persecuted was just groups, as well as families of interpreters already resettled into canada, and separately, a separate immigration program will offer relocation -- century to thousands of afghans who worked for canadian officials and forces during their operations in afghanistan. several discussions in the united states about how many will eventually come in, but we are asking you, would you welcome some afghan refugees in your community if that were the case.

rob impaired alabama. independent. what would you say -- robin. alabama. independent. what would you say? robin, are you with us? we go to helena, fullerton, california. caller: i'm a republican. i would welcome them. i would say this upfront. this is a heartless question in light of the media showing people running for their lives to get on a plane to survive the taliban. the timing is poor. secondly, i don't want this politicized. this is nothing to do with publicans and democrats in congress -- this has to do with humanity. it is the right thing to bring these people to our country and do what we can for them, because this is a prime example of flawed u.s. foreign policy in the middle east. if anyone members, the 1980's is when russia invaded afghanistan, and that is when the u.s. went in and said -- decided they

would promote the taliban. there are videos of the taliban -- u.s. military telling the taliban you are god's people, it is your duty to save people from the communist russians. we prompt -- prop them up. then, over time, we turned them into enemies, and now we are persecuting them and fighting them for 20 years. they noted states never won the hearts and minds of afghanistan. the taliban quickly took over kabul in weeks. the people in that region supported them because maybe u.s. foreign policies just aren't that good and maybe they sense this is not a good thing to be like americans -- we are -- did not set a very good example. as far as vetting, my mother is an immigrant. she came over in the 1950's during the height of the cold war, and her and her sister, who

both married american serviceman, they were vetted for years. two or three years they had to show up every year at some government office and be grilled as to whether are you a communist, are you this? , are you that? they check their -- are you this, are you that? they check their face for scars and distinction marks. they were vetted. big deal. host: matt. them a credit. good morning. caller: good morning. -- democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you doing? host: i'm doing well. caller: i think by all means they should come. my faith in humanity has been restored listen to people. i don't think there has been one person that called in saying they shouldn't. thank you. host: what you think about your governor larry hogan saying marilyn should be accepting and

excepting refugees from afghanistan? caller: i agree with him. i think we owe it to them, quite frankly. the bush administration created this whole quagmire. people don't like to mention that, but he is the only one that hasn't been blamed for this . thank you very much. have a good day. host: that is not in bladensburg, maryland. this is marilyn governor larry hogan on the states willingness to accept refugees. governor hogan: the chaotic scene out of afghanistan over the last several days with innocent civilians running for their lives in fear of the taliban is the result of a rushed and irresponsible withdrawal. many of these afghan citizens are allies and bravely risk their lives to provide support to our support staff pay we have a moral obligation to help them. these allies are eligible to

receive special immigrant visas to the united states. maryland already expects to receive at least 180,000 afghan -- 180 citizens. the state office works with a network of providers to aid these interpreters and their families in becoming self-sufficient as quickly as possible. marilyn receives more of these siv's than any other state and we stand ready and willing to do even more. it is the least we can do. host: governor larry hogan. his statement earlier this week. taking your phone calls. we are asking you would you welcome afghan refugees in your state. this is tim from west virginia saying yes, of course. we broke it, we bought it. this from steven green saying a victory should be vaccinated.

becky saying no, don't give them anything. i cannot even get my tax refund. this from marion texas, stop comparing refugees to our ancestors -- they came here and worked. many refugees are here to take only. not a free ride. joe in north carolina -- america always welcomes allies from warfare. no question. joseph. you are next. caller: i would welcome them in my community, i would welcome them in my house, i would adopt a kid if they wanted me to, and unaccompanied child -- most would do that. one thing is kind of sticking in

me -- when we did the iraqi clout in 2014 under obama--- pullout in 2014 under obama-biden, we did not have this kind of chaos. i don't understand why biden pulled out military before he pulled out civilians. i think that was a horrific mistake. he also leaves himself open like china or russia who says they are working with the taliban, we will send a small contingent of troops and guarantee the americans freedom and afghani's that were, we will take care of that and they are not loyal to their people. that would be a kick in the teeth to our foreign policy. host: john is in california. public and. good morning. caller: good morning.

i think all americans are -- republican. good morning. caller: good morning. i think all americans are humanitarian spirit i would do it on one condition, and that would be the joe biden,, harris, nancy pelosi, and chuck schumer all resign. they got us into this mess. they caused this. joe biden says he planned for this chaos, and they need to go. we should not have to fix another big mistake from joe biden. this guy is a mistake. that is all i have to say. joe biden and the democrats have got to go from the leadership of this country because they are ruining this country. the guy that hates fox news, he should watch it more often because you are getting real news on fox news, and that is what i have to say. host: that is john in california this morning. about 20 minutes left for this part of the discussion. we will be turning to the topic

of refugees later in the program. stick around for that. if you want to join the conversation, 202-748-8001 four republicans. 202-748-8000 four democrats. independents, 202-748-8002. we are holding the line open for recent refugees, 202-748-8003. keep calling in. we want to update you on some of the news in a very busy and scary newsday yesterday on capitol hill. the story from "washington times," and you can see the picture alongside it. u.s. capitol police cleared the scene of a bomb threat in the vicinity of the u.s. capitol yesterday evening in day-long ordeal with a man who claimed to have a bomb outside of the library of congress.

certainly scary few hours up here on capital hill and plenty of police response across capitol hill, closures across capitol hill, and evacuations as well. speaking of capitol hill, this news yesterday from the senate side, three vaccinated u.s. senators tested positive for the coronavirus -- senator roger wicker, angus king, john hickenlooper, said thursday they tested positive at into the number of breakthrough cases among lawmakers. the pictures of the senators there. the senate in recess after adjourning last week, leaving it

unclear whether any of them had been in recent contact with other lawmakers. their diagnoses bring to 11 the number of senators that have tested positive so far, and more than 50 members of the house have tested positive over the course of the pandemic. several other vaccinated politicians have recently announced breakthrough cases of their own, including senator lindsey graham of south carolina tested positive after attending a gathering hosted by another senator, joe manchin, of west virginia. that is from "new york times" today. this is rita in jacksonville, alabama. an independent. would you welcome refugees to jacksonville, alabama? caller: might as well. everyone else is coming in. just welcome on in. we will keep them up. but let me ask you all something? who discovered america?

where did he come from? 90% of america is foreign people. immigrants. i am an immigrant. back in the early-1900s, the democrats were the main -- anyway, my demo -- the democrats were conservative. my daddy taught me that. host: where did you live before you came to the united states? you said you were an immigrant? caller: i sure was. my parents and grandparents, out of england, and we have dutch units -- we have all kinds of race in us. host: that is rita in alabama. this is enoch in silver spring. caller: thank you for taking my call. i am an immigrant in silver

spring, maryland. 1.i want to make is we have spent so much amount of dollars in afghanistan we have a lot of human loss over there. there is no way we should have withdrawn our troops from afghanistan. we should have stayed there with hundreds of thousands of u.s. armies to civilize the nation. right now, all of the money and human loss that we have lost -- this should not have happened in america any longer. this is my contribution. thank you. host: kathleen. williamsburg, virginia. good morning. republican line. caller: good i would not welcome them into our country -- good morning. no, i would not welcome them into our country.

i am tired of paying for them. let these people stay where they are, get there ass in gear and start working. they are just living off of everyone else. i am tired of it. i am of listening to it. biden has no brains whatsoever. he should be kicked out of the white house if he won't say ok, i am leaving, then someone needs to go in -- host: roses in north carolina. independent. good morning. caller: good morning morning peter we are occupiers in a foreign nation -- good morning. we are occupiers in foreign nation. that is what happens. set consequence of allowing bankers to dictate foreign policy. the u.n. should be putting their foot forward to help these refugees in muslim-based countries. this is basically a globalist clan well laid out by the world

economic forum to overwhelm the united states with a flood of immigrants from other countries. host: the vast majority of these refugees are going to pakistan and iran, the border countries. they are taking the lion's share here. caller: they really ought to. when they u.n. meets, and this is a proven fact -- when they u.n. meets dave beat up israel and they go ahead and fall meant interest mostly in -- formant interest in muslim countries, time is come for those muslim countries to go ahead and accept their own. host: james, republican. good morning. caller: thank you for having me on your show. i would like to make a comment that most people blame all of the stuff on president trump and he has been out of office for over six months, and i believe we ought to take care of our own

united states citizens that live in tents and are homeless -- i believe you take care of them before you take care of people from foreign countries. that is all i have to say. host: james, do you want to shut down all immigration? we lost james. cindy in englewood, new jersey. democrat. would you welcome afghan refugees in englewood? caller: yes, why not pay we are a country of immigrants. my problem is we are bringing people into this country and we have children at the borden -- at the border. we have the daca kids we do not want to accept. sure, i would bring them here, but we also need to take care of the kids at the border that americans do not want here in this country. have a nice day. host: adam care to tennessee. good morning -- adam. tennessee. good morning. caller: america is known as a

melting pot. publicans think this is a race issue. this is a humanitarian issue. they do not want to bring them in here. it is selfishness. i definitely would welcome them into my community. host: adam, is there an immigrant population in fayetteville, tennessee? do you know? i've never been to fayetteville. caller: we have a lot of asians, mexicans -- we have mexicans working. i think we have a lot of illegal mexicans working around here keeping stuff going. i don't see a problem with it. i would definitely welcome them. host: that is adam in fayetteville, tennessee. hager city, wisconsin is next. randy. good morning. caller: good morning, c-span. nice subject here to see what kind of people are really out there. i, myself, would welcome an

afghan family -- a young family that has been vetted, a wife, a couple of kids. i have a place for them to stay. they must -- and this is number one, they have to know how to speak english, and help them start off -- they have to have the right papers to help them start off in this great country. i think it would be good. they are coming whether we like it or not. let's make the best of it. you cannot keep shipping them all out on the west coast or east coast. we have enough knuckleheads out there already. host: when you talk about learning english, before they get a visa they have to speak english? or before they might eventually become a citizen at some point -- how would you set that up? caller: i would hope for them, and i would help them one way or another to become citizens of the united states and to be good people. these people that are fleeing, i

am sure there are probably some bad apples, and i think they could probably weed them out, but i would be more than willing to take a family here. i have room for them. a job, and i really believe it could do a good job with them getting them settled in this country. host: don. a republican. good morning. caller: good morning how are you doing? host: good. go ahead. caller: the show is great. it is good to get different ideas paradigm know it is weird you have to call in certain line. the last time we let people get here after 9/11 it was a big refugee thing -- or read before 9/11, and then 9/11 happened, so yes, we are going to take people again, but i would rather vaccinate them, that them, and make sure -- vet them, and make

sure they love our country like we did in the years when they came here in the 40's after the war. and taxes -- we have all these illegal people. you pay 20% in the 90's, the 2000's, now you are paying 30%. host: to your comments about 9/11, are you saying taking and refugees was a reason 9/11 happened? caller: where did 17 of the 9/11 attackers come from? afghanistan, sir. host: saudi arabia was the main training grounds. caller: afghanistan, sir. host: the al qaeda training grounds in afghanistan, i was not disagree with you. i was a trend understand the connection you are making. caller: we are taking people

away, but why don't we do with the right way -- if you have to check id to get on a plane, check id to go to disneyland, i am not checking id to come in this country and live for free? host: donald in florida. one other story in today's papers about a high-profile refugee from afghanistan -- the ousted president driven out by the taliban is just the latest leader on the run to turn up in the united arab emirates, joining a club that includes spain's disgraced former king, and two tie prime ministers. --thai prime minister's. -- prime ministers1

if you want to read more on that story, today's "washington times. keith. fargo, north dakota. would you welcome refugees to fargo? sunil varghese i wouldn't -- caller: i wouldn't take them in. they are trying to change them to our ways over there. this is a christian country. i am not going to bow down to them and their ways. i'm sorry. that is my opinion. thank you. host: there is a small group of christian afghans. would you take in christian afghans? host: it is a small -- it is a small community, but several thousand strong. caller: i have heard with the

bosnians -- their ways are just two different than ours. host: we had one caller saying that refugees should speak english before they can live here. would you want immigration based on a religious belief? would you only want christians to be able to immigrant to this -- emigrate to this country? caller: that is another thing could my girlfriend can speak five different language -- another thing, too. my girlfriend can speak five different languages. she is from bosnia. they come over here, give them food stamps, housing -- us people that are on housing, like myself, sorry to say, i had to wait two years to get on housing . they told me the only way to help me -- my mother to help me was to send a letter saying she

was going to put me out into the streets. now, i am an american, and we are paying taxes, yet we are bringing those people over here and putting them on food stamps and housing. . -- come on. get real, you guys. host: new jersey. an independent. would you welcome afghan refugees? caller: i don't want them coming over here at all, period. one of the things i hear is they believe those people that helped out with interpretation for the government -- the guys that went over there --they were paid. so, what, you think they deserve to come over here because they were interpreters? they were paid. they already got their payment. that does not mean they got -- earned their way over here. they were paid participants. host: you read the story this week of the u.s. military

soldiers that have been in contact with former interpreters trying to get them and their families out. what do you make of those stories, the bond that u.s. military members have with these interpreters who went through hostile -- caller: i make bonds with different people. it does not mean i will have them come over to my house. it does not mean they are going to come over here. it is a different thing altogether. they were paid for their services. that doesn't mean you let them come over here. frankly, i am sorry. i don't believe them coming in is going to be kumbaya. i don't trust these people. it is the same thing 20 years later. i am not buying it. host: catherine in new jersey. this is karen in florida. republican. good morning. caller: yes, good morning. i think we should let them come,

train them how to parachute out of a plan, and go get their country back. we could have people with our military get rid of this stinking, rotten taliban. i think they should be in convention hall, not on a military base, and they are fierce fighters. we should do this. we should not let this terrorist group take over afghanistan. it is unbelievable. host: with 20 years of u.s. military intervention and training and arming that at least on paper with 300,000 strong, what would be different? caller: i don't know what we did wrong. ronald reagan did it right with afghanistan. he supplied people with weapons when they drove out the russian army. we cannot go in and rebuild the country or anything else. our hearts go out and we want to help people, but we went too far.

the 20 years has passed. right now we have some good fighters, and we need to get the 80,000 that are coming and get them trained, a little more training -- and go back because it is outrageous that our country is not going over there with a massive army and getting rid of the stinking, rotten taliban, holding our citizens, they are going to rely on them to get american citizens through. they already hostages. they will put them as hostages and they will start >> we will take>> you live shortly to the conversation with the former ambassador to afghanistan. we are waiting for the event from the middle east policy council to get underway. e used, special immigrant

visas. this story from fox news from earlier this week, the department of defense and to immediately house thousands of afghan refugees on american military installations around the country, potentially as many as 30,000 on basis including fort mccoy in wisconsin, fort bliss in texas. the fox news story quoting john kirby, the pentagon spokesperson, saying we want the capacity to get several thousand immediately, and the potential for tens of thousands. bliss and mccoy have the capability right now. that is advantageous. the story out of oregon -- a coalition of oregon legislators joined by governor kate brown yesterday in saying the state will accept refugees fleeing the fall of afghanistan. the letter they sent --

"together we call on the biden administration to lift caps and take other actions that will save lives at this time. as a state we must take the necessary steps to be able to resettle families when they arrive. events in afghanistan echoed the departure of the united states from saigon following the end of the vietnam war." as we talk about the potential resettlement, we are simply asking you, would you welcome afghan refugees in your part of the country? republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000, and the special and for recent refugees, we want to hear your story, 202-748-8003. bob is up first. ohio.

democrat. caller: good morning. listen, i would welcome any of the refugees in this part of ohio, but the biggest thing is with fox news preying on these people every day telling everybody not to let them commune, they should not be helping -- come in, they should not be helping them, it is ridiculous. i wish they would take fox news off the networks. that is the worst tv station i have ever seen. i want even allow it on my tv. host: andrea appeared republican here in washington, d.c. caller: good morning. too wet c-span as well. i believe yes, but due to america literally financing and employing the taliban to push the russians out of afghanistan, i believe we are responsible for whatever is going on, and absolutely anyone that wants to

be over here, they should be vetted and be here. host: when you say vetted, you say they need to go to the immigrant visa process. caller: absolutely. host: we will talk more about how that process works, but as we hear from you, would you welcome refugees in your community, lancaster, ohio, jenny, also on that line for republicans. caller: i have called this for the last eight or nine years and my sweet little brother moved in with me about nine months ago and he was only here for a month and i just got soundtrack -- sidetracked. what i think is sad is the man who just said about fox news doesn't want the refugees brought into our country? they are not saying that. what i don't understand about people, everyone has their favorite news channel to watch. news should be news. host: what are your feelings on

it -- would you want some of these thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, would you want some of them in your community? caller: my god, these women that are taking their babies over a fence so their babies can live, and they know they will never see their babies again -- they are desperate. yes, let them in this country. everybody thinks that republicans don't want any immigrants in here. that is not it we just want them to come in the legal way that would need to be accountable for every american we have, and i just think it is so sad that everyone is attacking everyone for what is going on. host: jenny and ohio. steve. illinois appeared independent. steve, what is your opinion? caller: yes, i will take them in. i even have a five-bedroom house.

if joe biden is going to pass out some biden box, i would be happy to take them in, even in my own house. these people deserve it more than the people from central america that are illegally crossing. as long as they get their covid shots, i am more than happy to even take them into my house, and i watch fox news, so -- you know, i wouldn't mind. and there are all kinds of jobs down here. i mean, there has to be 300 or 400 jobs that need to be filled down here. host: steve out of chatsworth, illinois. a couple of viewers mentioning fox news -- this issue about what to do with afghanistan refugees certainly a topic of fox news, including in segment with former president trump advisor stephen miller. this was his appearance on fox news from earlier this week. [video clip]

stephen: the taliban has all control of the government, so the notion people can show up at it checkpoint and we can have any idea about their background, belief system, where they come from, now that the u.s.-backed government has fallen, it is just an impossibility. those that are advocating mass afghanistan resettlement are doing so for political, not humanitarian regions. it is extorting nearly expensive -- they get free health care, education, housing, free food, cash welfare. for the price you could resettle refugees in america, you could resettle 10 times more, 15 times more in their home region, in this case, primarily in pakistan. host: stephen miller on fox news this week. taking your phone calls. would you welcome refugees in your community and where you are

in the country? this is rory up on the west coast early. good morning. caller: good morning. i would say yes, take them in, but make sure you don't have terrorists among the refugees, and it would be nice if they say they like america, they are pro-american, and also anti-sharia law. a lot of terrorists would have a hard time saying they are anti-sharia. i say this earnestly after seven months of biden, maybe we can start think about impeaching him and harris. he is a complete clux. -- klutz. goodbye. host: baltimore. would you welcome refugees in baltimore? caller: thank you. thank you for your show. i listen every day. i appreciate what you do.

absolutely i would welcome afghan refugees into my community, or into my home. i think that it is what weowe to the -- what we owe to the afghani people after the past 20 years, quite honestly. host: stephen alexander, ohio, independent. how would you answer the question? caller: good morning. i appreciate your show. i would absolutely welcome all well-vetted immigrants. if they are afghanistan, that is great, if they are mexican, that is great. if they are central american, that is great. we are lacking the ability to vet them, and i don't know why the administration is ignoring that fact. it is. the last administration -- i don't know if they did a better job, but we need to do that as a nation, as a country, as

parents, that is what we need to do to come together. host: we are talking about tens of thousands, 60,000 or more that might be eligible for a special immigrant visa from afghanistan. the ability to well that people -- do you think we have the ability to do that with that many people? caller: you know, time. it just takes time, right? bring them, get them out of harm's way, them into the camps, and let's go. take it that way. take that step. reject those that fail, and bring on the ones that don't fail. host: that is stephen alexandra, ohio. you heard stephen miller on fox news taking a different tone than some. . republican governors in this

country the "washington post" story on this, the headline, "rifts emerge in gop handling of afghan refugees." one of the governors that quote is governor spencer coxe of utah saying his willingness to accept refugees. he said history guides our approach to refugees and we are eager to assist that practice and assist with families fleeing afghanistan." perhaps it could be seen in these lead editorials today from the usually conservative editorial boards of both "the washington times," and "washington -- wall street journal." they read while many are assumed to be aids that assisted u.s.

forces, certainly they require proper vetting. without it, mr. biden might be opening the nation's door to another type of immigrant, one who harbors islamist hatred for america. the people must be screened to weed out possible evildoers. mr. biden suggests he like mrs. clinton, has little use for borders. that is the editorial board of "the washington times." compare that with also the usually conservative editorial board of the "wall street journal." they read the priority should be to rescue and escape trapped americans, but they also have a duty to thousands of afghans that are in moral -- mortal danger. they are rightly trying