coming up this morning, we preview the 2020 washington auto show. ♪ host: it's "washington journal," for january 20. the house is in at 9 a.m., to our program today. president biden defended his administration's actions on several fronts during a nearly two hour press conference with topics ranging from build back better to ukraine and the republican party. for the next hour we will show you portions of the conference and get your comments on his first year in office. here is how you can call us to let us know your thoughts. (202) 748-8000 free democrats.

republicans, -- for democrats. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. if you want to text us, (202) 748-8003. twitter is available to you as well, @cspanwj. that press conference is still available on two platforms. you can watch it in its entirety on c-span.org or you can download and watch it on the c-span video app. a lot of topics being discussed and asked of the president yesterday, including his agenda and voting rights legislation. here's a portion of that speech from yesterday. >> the american people overwhelmingly agree with me on prescription drugs. overwhelmingly agree with me on the costs of education. overwhelmingly agree with me on early education.

on childcare. so, we just have to make the case of what we are for and what the other team is not for. look, we knew all along that a lot of this was going to be an uphill fight and that one of the ways to do it was to make sure that we made the contrast as clear as we could. one of the things we are going to have to do i think is just make the case. there's nothing unrealistic about what we are asking. i'm not asking for castles in the sky. i'm asking for practical things the american people have been asking for for a long time, a long time. and i think we can get it done. >> you are not going to scale down these priorities but so far that strategy hasn't been working. >> i got two real big ones done. bigger than any other president has gotten in the first year. >> but currently you're spending

and voting rights package isn't going anywhere. anything you're confident that you can get signed into law before the midterm elections? >> i'm confident that we can get big chunks of the bill back better law signed in and i'm confident that we can take the case to the american people that the people they should be voting for to oversee whether your elections are legitimate or not should not be those being put up by the republicans to determine that they are going to be able to change the outcome of the election. host: that's just a portion of the topics from the press conference yesterday. two hours in length, still available at c-span.org, you can comment on that and others. republicans, democrats -- emme gratz, -- democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can text us at (202) 748-8003.

he sees support for $500 billion in climate proposals while acknowledging the fact that there is less newsy as him to extend the child tax -- less enthusiasm to extend the child tax credit or for pricey proposals to reduce the costs of community college. if you go to "the new york times, when it comes to the president's comments and thoughts on the republican party, he accused republicans to get -- group -- accuse the republicans of instability around unifying the country and that the gop was far more unwilling to compromise than they had been in previous years, saying i wonder what the republican platform would be, what do you think their position is on taxes and human rights?

ted cruz, republican of texas, saying that joe biden promised to build the economy but he has failed nearly one year into the administration there spending has led to the highest in years. he said responsibility -- apologizing to billion's of americans for a radical bill to federalize elections, adding that securing the border should have been a topic. you can add that to the mix and your other thoughts from yesterday. akron, ohio, democrat line, you are up first. caller: good morning. god bless everyone. i have three main areas of concern. the deming attic party platform was abolition of the death penalty and yet merrick garland

is actively pursuing the death not. despite in his senate testimony saying that he was rethinking his call for a death penalty in the past. his second concern is animal agriculture, being actively deport -- actively promoted by the department of agriculture despite the fact that it is a major cause of human disease, animal agony, and deforestation. my third area of concern is the promotion of the vaccines. 48,000 deaths vet -- last year work caused by the vaccines themselves host:. that said, how would you rate his first year overall?

caller: 50%. host: ok. let's hear from bob. democrats line, go ahead. caller: that was a wonderful speech. he sounded young to me. when they asked about russia, trump is such friends with putin, why don't he go over there and tell him to get his troops off the border. you know, many presidents, ex-president's, have done something for the country. host: as far as the current president and his comments yesterday, what did you take away from what he had to say? caller: well, tell putin, he's so chummy, get the troops off the border, you know?

[laughter] i'm just waiting for him to cry. biden was wonderful. any comment other than that, if he's got anything to ask, you can ask me, otherwise i'll go for next time. host: ok, republican line, hello, rose. caller: thank you for taking my call. in his press conference yesterday. he was pausing, listening to the script said to him through an earpiece. you could hear him say a word, recognize it is the wrong word and say the homonym. he did it several times. host: how are you certain about the script fed into an earpiece portion? caller: like i just said, enormous pauses, listening to something, saying a word and then he would say a different word, a homonym, a similar sounding word to him. host: aside from that, what did

you think of the content caller: yesterday? he's completely off track. we must really stop this in 2022. we have already got bill gates promising future pandemic as if this wasn't bad enough. chamberlain said of the need to crush hitler's, you ask the aim. victory at all costs. victory however long and hard the road may be. victory, no survival. host: gainesville, virginia, democrats line, hello. caller: yesterday, a couple of things. number one, i fully support the biden agenda.

the health care. biden has a 50-50 senate out of which two people are a credit -- 50 -- two people are blocking things. joe manchin, getting paid by some republican group. this country right now for love super rich people, making $15,000 a minute. something on that order. while there are millions making less than $15 an hour working two jobs. they need to fix it. host: what should the biden administration focus on in its second year? caller: they need to reach out tomorrow republicans, like the senator from utah.

mansion, cinema, i don't know what they are doing. host: gainesville, georgia, one of the storylines yesterday, the president talking about voting rights legislation. you can find that on the c-span now app. when it comes to the final vote on passing the voting rights bill, that didn't take place. and a vote to change the rules to get it passed, that didn't take place either. georgia, independent line, hello. caller: they are a ragtag bunch.

20 years? another thing i like that he said, ok, mitch mcconnell and republicans, we know what you don't like, tell us what you like. he said that two or three times. tell us what you like. we know you don't like me. we know you don't like kamala harris. we know you don't like build back better. tell us what you like. you know? don't want the voting, tell us what you want. he kept saying that. i would like to know what republicans want. and i'm independent. host: a sampling of thoughts, taking from the president's press conference yesterday. it's (202) 748-8000 for democrats, republicans are (202) 748-8001, independents (202) 748-8002.

regarding the lack of republican support, the president made comments on that. [video clip] >> mitch has been very clear. he would do anything to prevent biden from being a success. i get on with mitch. i actually like mitch mcconnell. but he had one straightforward objective. make sure that nothing i do makes me look good in his mind with the public at large. that's ok, i'm a big boy. i've been here before. the fact is that i think that i'm happy to debate and have a referendum on how i handle the economy.

i think that the fundamental question is what mitch is four. -- what is mitch for? what is he proposing to make things better? what is he for? dealing with russia? if it's different than what i'm proposing, what are his colleagues supporting? what are they for? everything is a choice. a choice. look, i have laid out this proposal on immigration that if we passed it, we would be in a totally different place right now. we are not there because we don't have a single republican vote. my buddy, john mccain is gone. it's just going to take time. again, i go back to governor sununu's quote.

i know this isn't fair to ask the press a question, i'm not asking you. but think about it. did you ever think that one man out of office could intimidate an entire party -- i had my republic and senators talk to me who told me that they agree with whatever i'm talking about doing . but joe, they say, if i do it, i will be defeated in the primaries. we have got to break that. it has got to change. and i doubt -- sounds like i'm being solicitous.

you are more well-informed than any other group in america. don't any of you think that when you get to a point when not a single republican will diverge on a major issue, not one? host: that theme picked up by andy biggs, mr. biden said what are republicans for? i will name you one thing there or. so much for the president who promised unity. tim scott saying that with approval rates tanking, many on the left are making a last-ditch effort to on -- to force unpopular policies on americans and this is why we need the filibuster, going back to that debate we saw yesterday on the senate floor. henrietta, good morning. caller: it was embarrassing.

the world is watching. actually, are you still here? host: you can comment, go ahead. caller: i don't think any republicans have to do anything to hurt the democratic party and the president. he alone is destroying the democratic party. this guy spent a year and a half in a basement without a real vetting. and we didn't actually elect this man. elections have consequences. stolen elections have catastrophic consequences. host: why at this point do you still contend it was a stolen election? caller: have you read the article in time magazine?

no bastion of right-wing conspiracy. it laid out how they did it in they bragged about it, they shoved it in our face. host: aside from that, talking about the speech yesterday, how would you assess the first year of the presidency? caller: he acts like an angry old man. he doesn't know what he is doing. host: ok, we will go to benny, rockville, maryland. caller: hello. as a democrat that has voted for the president, i'm terribly disappointed in the way the country is being run with inflation. the lack of supplies getting to the families. gas prices increasing in the foreign policies. it's very shameful. whether we like the things that trump did or said, the united states seemed strong in the

world. vladimir putin probably wouldn't have done the things he's doing now because of the threat of what president trump would have done. host: what prompted you to vote for biden in the first place? caller: as a democrat, unfortunately i tend to stay on the democratic side and vote mostly democrat but i realize now it's probably best to vote for the better person rather than by party line. host: and what was it you were disappointed in? caller: a lot of these foreign policy decisions that were made regarding showing weakness where vladimir putin can now do what he wants to do, pulling out of afghanistan. 20 years of war, it's absolutely not right to do. host: ok. republican line, florida. caller: yes, sir, good morning.

[indiscernible] host: you are fading out, can you get closer to your phone or closer to a place we are signal improves, please? caller: the other problem, it's not the government, it's the economy. host: i apologize, you are fading in and out. if you can establish a better signal and want to call back in, please do so. let's hear from the independent line. oklahoma city, oklahoma, jeffrey. caller: bless all the c-span listeners. i did vote for joe biden. i'm a tad bit disappointed in one sense. that is that he did do his very best in trying to reach across

the aisle. even with some of the things that are best for all u.s. citizens in most cases the republicans chose not to cross the aisles and a vote for some of those policies. and when i'm listening to anyone make a comparison of character between joe biden and the previous president, i'm a little disappointed because at the end of the day, as i understand it, i think joe biden has consistently paid his taxes. he showed his tax returns when he ran for president. he has not been given all types of accusations of impropriety and poor behavior. the idea that vladimir putin would be fearful of donald trump

is, i think, farcical. vladimir putin wants donald trump to be president of the united states so that he can run two countries at the same time. host: how do you think the president responded to those issues yesterday? caller: again, i'm a firm believer that a situation like ukraine, we need to have folks on the ground, i'm not a big fan of escalation but we probably need 150,000 of our troops and soldiers, armament and that sort of thing, right there. and then you speak basically from a position of equivalence. you know, russia is right on the border. by the time we could get our military there, russia can be almost completely to the capital.

in that sense i'm a little bit concerned. but you know, the united states is so tired. we basically had the bush wars for 20 years based on a lie. you know, then we had, we got out of those wars, yes. it was not proper or practical the way that we left. so, it's the same type of vietnam thing that the united states citizenry has. host: that's jeffrey there, giving his perspective on ukraine and russia. domestic policy, foreign policy, the things the president addressed yesterday during the press conference. sidebar story, everything from yesterday, prompted by the last caller's comments, "the new york times" this morning has a story take a look at drone use

yesterday, the drone strike that killed 10. just to show you the footage, risk of drone war, nearly declassified surveillance footage provides insights about the final minutes and aftermath of a botched drone strike yet -- last year showing how the military made a life or death decision that was fuzzy and bias. you can look at that on the new york times website. illinois, democratic line, ron, hello. caller: how are you? host: fine, thank you, go ahead. caller: he's doing the best he can. he came in with no help from republicans, trump and the transition bailed him back. he got late start on the pandemic and is still trying to fight it and people don't want to do mask mandates or vaccines, it's a rough time. i think he's doing what he needs

to do. the republicans, kyrsten sinema, joe manchin, they let him down. i think we need to have a national boycott. black folks, brown forks, poor folks getting together, spending money on these holidays in this country. just like king done. host: could the president have done a better job over the concerns around filibuster rules? caller: they are not dummies, they have been in the game. he shouldn't have had to say a word to them. they senators, they know what's going on. what they need, to be ran out of washington? as far as him being weak with vladimir putin? can you say helsinki? donald trump looked like a

little girl up there. i don't think that biden is weak. he doesn't want to get us in a war. he will if they have to but he doesn't want to and that's what he's trying to say the things he's trying to say. host: ron from illinois there, mentioning kyrsten sinema and joe manchin in the voting rights debate there. the votes that took place there, it was senator manchin of west virginia talking about the idea of changing filibuster rules. here are the comments from him yesterday. >> changes are done on the basis of bipartisan consensus, not imposed by raw majority power, no matter who is in power. the majority does not have the power to do that in the senate. now my colleagues propose to sidestep the process and would use the nuclear option to override a rule that we have used ourselves but now seem to

find unacceptable. unacceptable now. break the rules to change the rules. to make up new rules as we go along and invite the future majorities to disregard the rulebook at will. no rule of the senate can disregard a willful majority. not the cloture rule or any other rule. let the change happened in this way and the senate will be a body without rules. there will be no rules. the greatest rule of the senate is the one that's not written. an unwritten rule in the greatest one that we have, the rule of self-restraint, which we have very little of anymore. cloture, when the nuclear option is executed, i cannot be party to that. host: more of that is available on our website. one of the things the president did talk about, you can comment

on that as far as the first year of the presidency is concerned. oxford, ohio, william, democratic line, you are next. good morning, go ahead. caller: all along, all things considered, i think joe biden is doing a good job and it makes me wonder how many people feel the way i do that after this insurrection, first time the confederate flag was carried through the statuary hall, that didn't even happen in 1812. the insurrection, i would be surprised if i ever vote for a republican again in my lifetime. host: back to your -- caller: reincarnation -- host: back to those thoughts on the first year in office, what do you base the good job on?

caller: number one, he got us out of the afghanistan war. it wasn't pretty, but for a year in afghanistan with trump, they already withdrew from all of the country except for that major city. then the republicans, they are acting like marching soldiers in a communist world. i mean, vladimir putin, china. all of their bodies of congress and stuff won't oppose the grand

leader. host: betty, michigan, independent line, good morning. you're on. caller: i would like to say i think the president has done a fairly good job. he could do better but you could say that about anybody. one of the problems the republicans have is that they are so worried about losing their power, they are willing to do anything. whether it is for the good or the poor of the people. the problem that we have on inflation can be laid right on the field of the republican party and president trump. they spent money like it was water in the four years they were in office as they kept their war going until the very end and then they laid it all at the feet of the democrats when the democrats took over. host: good job, what do you base that on? caller: i like what he did for the rivers and the bridges on the roads and getting money to the people that needed it during the virus last year, keeping

them in their homes. i think he has done a great job at getting the job rolling again. a lot of it is a lot of people working together. i'm not a member of either party. i never will be. i vote for who i think is the best for the nation and the best for the people as a whole. host: ok, that is betty in michigan. andy barr saying that as far as president biden goes, he's detached from reality and thinks he is outperforming the historic elation that costs the average family $4500 with illegal migrants released in the u.s. and abandoning americans in afghanistan. mike most on his twitter feed as well, ask president biden what his report card will look like after his first year in office, he said it would look pretty good. the american people are clearly tougher graders than the

president. here are the results of a poll released today showing some of the grades from the pole that you can find online on our political website. for about half an hour we have been taking your comments on the president's first year in office . you can call, you can text, you can post on the facebook page and twitter feed as well. the house coming in at 9:00, we will end our program when the house comes in. brian, huntington station, new york. hello. caller: good morning, i think the president is doing an excellent job. he inherited a lot of problems with the pandemic and it really has affected the economy globally. it's a global issue in that is why we are having a lot of problems with the economy and inflation. the thing about our country is that we are a country of governance and that requires

compromise and the republicans have not provided that in a lot of administrations in terms of helping the come -- helping the country move forward. host: you said excellent job, how do you measure that? caller: look at the pandemic. people are out in restaurants and stadiums. schools are opening. we are feeling more confident about the information coming out about the pandemic. he has also done a great job in getting two major bills passed that are helping the country in a lot of ways. so, i think that a lot of people are looking for instant gratification and instant results, but it takes time and until the republicans decide they want to help govern the country to make it better, we will continue to have opposition and it will continue to hurt the country moving forward. host: from dolores in pennsylvania, republican line,

you are next, good morning. caller: as far as president biden goes, i would rate him at 35% of his job that he has done. the thing that hurts me the most , and i think it really hurts the whole country, is the divisiveness he is allowing in his own party with regards to race. the woke movement. he needs to look at his democratic cities and give us hope there. some of the laws being passed in those cities, especially california, where you have got all these people on the street, tons of people coming in illegally and what's happening there is they are not requiring them to have the same rules as those people who are in the

united states as far as you know the virus and all goes. host: yesterday said the republicans were holding him back because that -- they would not allow victories on certain things. what do you think of those comments? caller: i don't understand why it happened before. what happened to the border wall? why were there pictures -- tell you what, i don't want to belong to any party anymore. to be honest with you. why were there pictures on time magazine? a picture of trump that was fake. with kids, holding them in these cages and all. this has got to stop. host: ok. keith, columbus, ohio, democratic line, good morning. caller: i just heard the lady from pennsylvania talking about the border wall, but we just had a fake president, so what does

she expect? as far as mr. biden, he's doing a good job. one, we don't have a liar in office, alright? he's doing the best he can with what he's got. the biggest problem is we have an undercover republican in our party. that's joe manchin. just like trump talks about other people, they need to talk about him and get him out of west virginia. host: why do you brand him undercover republican? caller: he doesn't do anything for the party to move the agenda further. he doesn't do anything. host: ok. keith there, adding his thoughts on the first year of biden in office. this is "the washington post," the headline, "mr. biden can fix his presidency. in his second year he must tacked to the practical.

mr. manchin offered to support a $1.8 trillion bill back better proposal left him -- last month that would have included hefty climate change provisions. the president should have taken him up then. mr. biden should say yes to him now, salvaging as much of the proposal as he can and directing talks with the west virginia senator, progress could happen soon. mr. biden said he would substantially pare it down to match the preferences with the climate and energy provisions at its core. that is just some of what they write this morning. the editorial, no course correction for joe biden. they write "mr. biden remains hostage to his fantasy narrative on voter suppression, refusing to say that november selections will be legitimate, continuing to say that republicans don't want minorities to vote. americans that work offended by his rhetoric, mr. biden said the

fault is with those who misunderstood what he meant. again, you can read more there on the editorial pages of the journal. anaheim, california, republican line is (202) 748-8001, democratic line is (202) 748-8000, independents, (202) 748-8002. steve, you are next. caller: good morning, pedro. the only thing i didn't understand, i don't know if he was trying to convince me or himself. the only substance i got out of the speech was his criticism of the news media that basically seems to be going tribal or conspiratorial. i mean that's pretty much on point if you listen to those things. they are completely nuts. as far as his bill that has gone

down, the three provisions you read at the beginning of your program are the ones i'm actually for and i believe that they are stripped out of the bill. so, i don't know what direction he is going and that's basically what i got out of the speech. i couldn't figure out, where is the leadership? which direction are you going to go? following that back and forth between the segments in his speech, i was watching at the end where joe manchin and kyrsten sinema didn't vote for changing the scent of -- the filibuster. they don't want to change the rules but they don't want to change it to where you basically have to get out and speak on the filibuster. they want to keep the filibuster secret. how are you supposed to know what issues the country is going through they don't debate them?

host: let's hear from mike in laguna woods. independent line. caller: i would like to point out a quotation from james madison that reflects all of america's founders. no nation could preserve freedom in the midst of continual warfare. second, most people are not aware that the u.s., or are aware that the u.s. spends more than any other country on their military budget. host: how does that relate to the first year of the president? caller: second-place, china spends less than one third of what the u.s. spends. host: how does that relate to the first year of the president? caller: he has totally ignored it, this mount everest of an issue. to the peril of the country. host: from larry in albany,

georgia. democratic line, hello. caller: how are you doing, c-span? look, the president has done an excellent job. i have children between the years of eight and 15. what i tell them is that when president biden became president of the united states, we were in a pandemic and he came in with this pandemic with no vaccine. he started giving vaccine and saving millions of people. not here in the united states, but all over the world. this pandemic is all over the world. host: the vaccines were developed in the last administration and distributed in this one. go ahead. caller: that's true but the vaccine wasn't ready when trump went out of office in the president got those vaccines started in the main thing i tell all the people now is that the

president of the united states is standing for us and he got a good standing over the whole world with us and he also, the vaccines that he has right now is what ari was trying to tell the youth today. don't worry about the testing right now. get the vaccine. once you get the vaccine into your body, if you have symptoms, then you go get tested. but right now the testing is slowing everybody down with labs and labs and the people between the years of 18 who voted for the president of united states -- host: you think president biden should have done more to ramp up testing? >> no, not the testing. he should have done more to encourage the people to get the vaccine. once you get the vaccine in your system and you start having symptoms of covid, you have

something to fight it. talking about a lot of testing, that's why you've got these lines like all this, but you have got to get a vaccine and the president is doing an excellent job. host: that was larry in georgia. sharon, independent line, hello. caller: how are you? host: fine, thank you, go ahead. caller: my opinion on his first year is that it is the same status quo it has always been for many years. people forget. the republicans are playing everybody against the democrats. the democrats are playing everybody against the republicans. and more, as far as joe manchin not wanting to change the filibuster, he forgets that the republicans have changed it to pack the court with their

supreme court judges. host: how would you assess the president's first year specifically? caller: status quo, democrats and republicans in the house and senate fighting each other. host: give me an example of that and how it relates to the president status quo as you deem it. caller: ok, mr. mcconnell wanting to not debate anything that the president wants to put forward, just as the democrats did it to trump, even though i don't think trump was a great president and everybody wants to blame the present president for all the issues where to me it's mainly our house and senate that are constantly battling each other to just stay in power

instead of come together to make changes. everybody thinks the president can do everything and that is not the case. as far as joe manchin -- host: you already commented on that, i will leave it there. speaking of the former president, a couple of stories this morning about president trump. this coming from the supreme court, the times reporting it yesterday as far as the january 6 records are concerned. requesting a stay as the case moved forward with weighty issues, including the circumstances in which a court order can be obtained around disclosure of privilege records and the fate of determination by the incumbent president with an appeals court ruling not turning on the questions because the court of appeals concluded that his claims would have failed even if you were the incumbent his status as a former president made no difference on the court

decision and you can again see more of that at the times website if you want to read that story. to the president's a business dealings coming from the associating press on potential alleged fraud by the former president saying that the trump organization it said to, from new york state, overstated the value of land donations in new york and california to justify several million dollars in tax deductions, misreporting the size of his manhattan penthouse saying it was three times its actual size, a difference in value of $200 million. there is more to that in usa today. julie, northfield, republican line. caller: i don't know if i could really grade biden likef through a.

he's not really sure of himself. i don't believe he's in charge. someone's telling him what to do and how to do it. yesterday was like a miracle, he stayed up for two hours talking but i couldn't understand a lot of what he said. i will say one thing. the whole thing about the insurrection on january 6, how come nobody has been charged with insurrection? and how come the man who shot and killed ashli babbitt was never even interviewed? host: melvin, mount pleasant, democratic line. caller: good morning. i think president biden is doing an excellent job. in spite of all of the complication and kick back that

he has got to go through. i don't understand -- well i hope that this joe manchin guy, that we will all get together and get him out of there. like the brother said earlier, he's a republican, like an undercover republican. after these four years, with the world getting setback again, we get in again, we need to get the goons out of their and you know, we need to try to live. host: back to president biden, you said he didn't excellent job. what do you base that on? caller: how hard he was working and trying to bring the main focus. every time he says something, the pundits get on there and try to break it down some other kind of way. i'm not no expert on this, but i can see that. it was just awful, these little chickens people doing. that mitch mcconnell guy needs to go home.

host: so as far as the president is concerned, what would you list as his accomplishments? caller: i think he's done a wonderful job so far and it's going to get better. host: ok. cedric, saint martinsville, louisiana, hello. caller: yes, i'm one of those that also agrees that the president has done a wonderful job so far. i think he started kind of behind the eight ball of having, of having very little information. trump i think left a lot of holes in things just for getting things done and i think he's done a wonderful job. he did a good job on fighting

for voters rights. i really liked what he did with that. and of course, when i saw senator tester, sometimes people say that it's conservative versus someone who is less conservative. it was an excellent talk about why we should have voting rights. host: do you think the president did a good job on this issue as you saw it play out in the senate? caller: i thought yes. some people can consider him a conservative but he reached across and i don't think that, i think that these three people are what you would consider conservative people and i don't have any intention on thinking

about joe manchin or kyrsten sinema anymore. i would certainly vote for the president again if he ran again. i have a lot of respect for him. caller: ok, that's cedric they're in louisiana, speaking out on the debate on voting rights legislation. rafael warnock of georgia spoke out about the perspective of the state in voting, what he saw as a need for voting rights legislation. [video clip] >> let's be clear. states will continue to administer their elections and states do have rights. we believe that they have a right to discriminate? to suppress? to block access to ballot boxes for so many americans? although we have 50 unique states, we are also united as

one republic. what happens in one state can affect us all. when we elect senators and representatives, we must represent all americans. we need every vote to count to maintain the integrity of our democracy. so, we must do this work. i support reforming the electoral count act. that said, reforming it will do virtually nothing to address the sweeping voter suppression and election subversion efforts taking place in georgia, states and localities nationwide. it doesn't matter if your vote is properly counted if you can't cast your vote in the first place. host: the electoral count act is a topic of tweets from cnn, writing that it changes the

circulation aimed at the ability of a joint session of congress to throw out electoral votes, updating processes for electors and the vice president possible limited role in the ability of lawmakers to challenge results for a summary, adding that king, durban, and klobuchar are among those taking the lead, having had discussions with collins and mansion and others with more talks expected tomorrow and after next week's recess. biden's first year, we are asking for comments. democratic line, event, hello. caller: hello. i wanted to say i voted for president biden and was hoping that things would get better. we had been listening to trump and all the things that were going on in the past administration and we were hoping that things would be

brighter. however here in north carolina, we are suffering a little bit. i know that biden said something about him being open to providing millions of jobs. however in this county where i am in north carolina, the hourly wage has dropped. we are running around like chickens with our heads cut off in the gig economy. so, i'm piecing together hours and money and paychecks to make it, my husband and i. and we just don't understand what's going on. we go into the stores and yes, inflation. there is lots of inflation but it's like an oxymoron. there's a lot of inflation, however how does the hourly wage drop? host: do you think the president has direct control over those things, the things you listed? caller: yes, it comes from the

top. and then i guess the power goes out to the other states and into the counties? so, i'm sure he has made a way of providing money or grants or whatever have you for the counties and of the states. maybe we are not receiving it? we are being told that there are $15, $16 per hour jobs that are seasonal, part-time, on a daily basis. i'm clicking on gig economy jobs from the app so that i can run to make 14 to $15 per hour for that one day. host: ok, evette in north carolina giving her status on where she is on the economy particularly as it relates to the first year for the president. gulf breeze, david, you are

next. caller: thank you for having me here. my comments on the first year of joe biden is that it was a learning curve for him. he seemed to be thinking about the ideas of the 1970's but he has kind of changed a little bit . my main comment was going to be on the issue of with russia in that i think that part of their thing with ukraine is that they are afraid ukraine is going to become a part of nato. and so i think that biden has learned that probably threatening russia is not going to stop anything from happening. one of the suggestions i might make to do something is that he invite russia to become a part of nato. i know it is kind of an odd idea, but if russia and ukraine are a part of nato and nato, part of the nato is speaking with each other, that might help. that's really my comment.

host: when you set ideas of the 1970's, did you particularly mean foreign policy? caller: energy, for one thing. electric cars, these are ideas from the 70's. there are electric cars that were made in the 70's. small companies and things like that. he was thinking of the environment. one of the problems we have with our environment right now, especially out in california, is that they use to make fire breaks all over the place to mitigate the fire damage. right now the fires out west are hurting the whole country. the wind flows across everybody. i have got friends in montana, north dakota and south dakota. they smell the fires that far away.

host: thank you, david. louisiana, republican line, hello. caller: i think that joe biden has done a terrible job. these democrats that think that republicans should roll over and work with him on the demise of the country is a terrible thing. host: when you say he does a terrible job, what do you base that on? caller: open borders. host: meaning what? caller: like everything. host: elaborate, what do you mean when it comes to president biden on that. caller: trump had the border under control to the most extent. he opened it wide open. letting the mexicans and everybody else come through the

country. and they, they just spreading covid, spreading covid throughout the country. people wondering why we are in an epidemic. caller: ok. let's hear from jared in kentucky. caller: yes, when biden was talking about community colleges and free tuition, he never did get around to signing that executive order, you know, saying $10,000 in debt. also wanted to bring up where if he could just get some leases back, canceling several leases on the oil front.

it would ease the price of inflation out there if we could just get more leases going in texas and the surrounding states there that produce the oil. host: we are going to take one more call from adam in kentucky. go ahead. caller: thanks for having me on. to wrap up, i would say this, biting's first year has been -- biden's first year has been pretty lackluster. i give him a d, as far as a grade. he had a super majority and he still could not get anything done. the inability to get his build back better plan because, you know, you try to lump too much stuff together, a lot these plans are probably, independently, pretty successful. but together and in eight 1300, 1400 page document, the message

never gets sold. i'm not a fan of obamacare but obamacare was sold as a one-piece bill, and that's why it got passed, in my opinion. he just focused way too broad. he couldn't bring on mansion and i am in the -- joe manchin and i am in the coal industry so i understand the energy policy that manchin brings to the table and what he's trying to defend industry and that kind of stuff. he's trying to do too much at one time. host: thank you for the thought and we will leave it there. thank you to all who participated. the house come in at 9:00 today. our show will end when the house comes in. before that, we are going to talk about public policy matters as it relates to the auto industry. three guest stars set to join us. from the washington auto show, john o'donnell, met nelson of electrify america, and jennifer said fabian of autos drive

america, which represents international automakers. those conversations coming up on "washington journal." ♪ >> book tv every sunday on c-span two features leading authors discussing their latest nonfiction books. vanderbilt university professor michael eric dyson examines the impact of black culture and politics on the united states with his book. at 10:00 p.m. eastern on afterwards, theoretical physicist talks about his book "emotional, how feelings shape our thinking." he's interviewed by lisa feldman barrett. watch book tv every sunday on c-span2. watch online anytime at book tv.org. ♪

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[fireworks] ♪ >> "washington journal" continues. host: a shot of the u.s. capitol here in washington, d c across washington, lawmakers and public policy officials will gather at the walter washington convention center to talk about issues looking at automobiles. in fact, it is there public policy date at the auto show. joining us to start a series of conversations from the auto show is john o'donnell, president and ceo of the washington area automobile dealers association. thanks for joining us. john: thanks very much for

having me. host: i suspect part of the fun of having an auto show is to look at the new product. because you have public policy days inviting legislators, what is the importance of that? what are you trying to achieve with that? john: so, we are very fortunate to be located in the nation's capital because a lot of the industry has to interact with the regulators, policymakers, so we are the beneficiary. everything you see behind you is the latest and the greatest that the manufacturers have been working on, especially during covid. driverless car's, connected cars, electric vehicles, they've all been developed and continued to be developed to bring it to market. they are showcased here in the nation's capital so that the policymakers and regulators can review them, speak with product specialists, asked questions, learn about the technology, and then our citizens, our

attendees, the consumers, are the beneficiaries. they are seeing the same exact product that was reviewed by the people that decide whether or not that product and be sold in the united states of america. so we are very happy to be able to showcase this. pedro: as someone who represents a new car dealers then, particularly from your perch, what do you think is important for washington to consider, particularly for those represent? john: that's a broad question. there's an awful lot that happens right here when we have some of the senators and congressman and cabinet members. we have had the president and vice president. when they are coming through, they are looking for, what is going to have the right balance for the general public, our climate goals, affordability issues? are you bringing the technology to market in a safe way?

there are other nations that might be a little more aggressive, but we've always protected our consumers in the united states. as dealers, they want to be able to sell the latest and the greatest as quickly as they can. lately, that's been a major problem because of the supply chain and semi conductor shortage. so, dealers currently do not have a lot product on the ground. there's is not a lot of inventory, but consumers certainly are driving demand. we don't know exactly when that is going to level out, but we are taking perhaps six months, it could even be a year for some manufacturers. pedro: some of the discussions on capitol hill included direct investment into the semi conductor industry. is that something that your association is keeping track of? and what do you think of this idea helping that specific industry? rep. peters: we support that

wholeheartedly -- john: we support that wholeheartedly. we think we should have more chip manufacturing here on u.s. soil, where we can control the flow of product. we have some now. we certainly need more and a great number of members of congress are discussing this right now. my understanding is that it takes roughly three years to build a brand-new chip manufacturing plant and several billion dollars, so we better get moving. pedro: because we talk about this program all the time, we talk about the topic of inflation on a lot of different fronts. what does inflation mean for those selling cars? john: that's an interesting question because there's broad-based inflation throughout the united states right now and other parts of the world as well, of course. within the automotive sector, inflation is occurring for a

related but somewhat unique reason. the semi conductors that are used in automobiles these days have grown exponentially. and a lot of that has to do with the safety measures that have been enacted. a lot of these safety measures are going to be building blocks and stepping stones towards connected and driverless cars. as we get closer and closer to what's called level five of autonomous car's, we are going to need more and more chips. this is just a fact of life, which is why we really think we should have more chi manufacturing herep pedro:, you talked about electric vehicles. president biden himself has called for the sale of electric vehicles, at least 50% of sales of those by the year 2030. what do you think of the timetable?

what does it mean for dealers? john: dealers are excited about selling electric vehicles, so we are embracing that wholeheartedly. if you look behind me and throughout this entire convention center in d.c., it's chock-full of electric vehicles. outside, your able to take a ride in and a number of different electric vehicles at our ride and drive. indoors on the lower level of the convention center, we have electric vehicle pavilion that's going to show a whole multitude of electric vehicles in different modalities. so, it might be an electric bus. it might be a motorcycle, and could be a personal mobility device, it could be a car. but there a lot of different electric vehicle types coming out. on road ev's, off road ev's. and the future of this is going to be av's and ev's merging

together, autonomous vehicles and electric vehicles are protected -- predicted to be one and the same several years down the road. mr. biden's goal of 50% of the fleet being electric vehicles by the year 2030i would describe as aggressive, not unachievable, but there would have to be a tremendous amount of infrastructure built out nationwide. right now, you can go to any corner and find a gas station, and that's just not true for charging stations for ev's. you are going to hear from electrify america shortly and they are on it. they are expanding and they are helping the nation with the charging infrastructure. that's just one element of describing the goal as aggressive. i don't know that it will be 50%, but it will certainly be a lot higher than it is today. pedro: one more question.

cnbc has a story, even as of yesterday, talking about because of the things you described, soaring used car prices. if you see that happening in the used car market, what does it mean for the people that do the type of is this that you engage in? john: so, car dealers have seen this dynamic before. when used cars -- i'm sorry, when a new car prices rise, those who could not afford that new price will gravitate towards used vehicles, thus inflating the used car market. so they do typically run in tandem, so there is a correlation. and it is strictly price. of course, everybody would love to have the new vehicle. who wouldn't? if you can't afford one, there's a great number of high-quality used units on the market today. we expect that that will level out. dealers are watching this literally every day.

and as new cars become more available, that will ease pricing pressures on used cars. pedro: john o'donnell, he's the president and ceo of the washington area new automobile dealers association. they put on the autoshow in washington, d.c. thanks for your time today. john: thank you very much. i appreciate you having me on today. pedro: you heard our guest to just talk about the electric vehicle infrastructure. our next guest joining us from the autoshow will talk about not only what's currently available as far as charging stations and the like, the federal government's role, particularly from the infrastructure bill and other related matters. that's matt nelson with electrify america. he will join us next from the autoshow when "washington journal" continues. ♪

as our next guest gets ready to join us, call in, especially if you have questions taking a look at the topic of electric vehicles, particularly the infrastructure involved with that. here's how you can call. if you live in the eastern and tensile time zones, if you live in the mountain and pacific time zones, and particularly for you electric vehicle owners, if you want to ask questions, particularly when it comes to charging stations and availability and the like, you can do so at (202" 748-8002. the washington autoshow takes place most years, last year not so because of covid, but today is that public policy day. among the people expected to speak, including our next guest, they will hear from the epa administrator gina mccarthy, as well as other public policy

legislators expected to join to talk about a wide variety of topics that you heard our guest discuss. the state of automobile vehicles, self-driving car's and autonomous car's and the like, there will probably address those issues concerning ship shortages, all those things a part of a public policy day at the washington autoshow. electric vehicles will be the topic of our next guest. later on in the program, we will also have a chance to talk with a person who represents foreign automakers, and particularly some of the things that they are concerned about when it comes to policy made in washington, d.c., electric vehicles been part of that discussion. we will take those up until 9:00. just to update you on the house today, the house expected to join -- come in at 9:00 to conclude business before they leave. expected to be on break. if you are still interested in yesterday's event concerning the

senate and the state of the voting rights legislation, that debate still available on our website at c-span.org. as far as that debate, taking a look at senators, and you can also see that at c-span now video app. so, that's the status of what we will do as far as the remainder of this hour. up until 9:00. and then, you can go to our c-span.org site if you want to see more of that play out. it is the washington autoshow that takes place in washington, d.c. a live shot for you, particularly of a lot of the vehicles. particularly coming to market, some of them driven but petroleum products. some of them, as you heard our guest reference, talked about as far as electric products, the topic when it comes to electric vehicles, that of infrastructure? matthew nelson is the government relations director of electrify america. joining us from the autoshow. mr. nelson, good morning. matt: good morning.

thanks for having me. pedro: talk a little bit about your organization. what do you do? what is your role in the space, particularly when it comes to electric vehicles. matt: electrify america is the largest provider of public d.c. fast charging, the fastest kind of electric vehicle charging in the united states. we did not exist five years ago so we have grown quickly, symbolic of this, or symbolic of this whole industry growing as quickly as it is. we now have about 800 stations in more than 35 -- and more than 3500 charges that provide what we refer to as ultrafast charging. chargers have 350 kilowatts of power. that equates to about 20 miles of range for every minute of charging. so, it's not quite as fast as consumers are expecting at a gas station, but it's pretty darn

close. you've got the ability to pull into a station, plug-in, get a cup of coffee, maybe use the restroom, come back out and your car is refueled. we think that this move towards the faster, what we call ultrafast charging, is critically important for ev adoption more generally. pedro: how many ev charging stations in the united states? and is that enough to meet demand as far as current and future people buying electric vehicles? matt: it is definitely not. as i mentioned, we have 3500 ultrafast chargers open today, but we are opening a station every, almost every day. we open about four stations per week and each station has usually six to 10 chargers at it. the president has set a very ambitious goal of 500,000 charging stations by 2030. we think that's an achievable

goal with a partnership between the public sector investment and the private sector. congress recently through the bipartisan infrastructure l provided 7.5 billion dollars ofaw billion dollars or $40 billion of total investment. as john, the last guest, pointed out, we need to be as convenient as the gas station model and they've got a 100 year advantage unless. but we are growing as does advantage on us -- advantage on us. pedro: you mentioned the money from the infrastructure lot. i suppose -- infrastructure law. i suppose you hear people talk about, why should the government support ev chargers,

particularly if i don't drive an electric vehicle? matt: is a totally good question. there are two significant reasons why it makes sense for there to be public investment in ev charging stations. the first is that for normal folks, for middle-class folks, we want them to be able to adopt an electric car without it being a sacrifice. and that car needs to do everything in their life. and needs to get them to their favorite national park on summer vacation, and needs to get them to grandma's house on the weekend, and for that to be true, we need infrastructure to support those longer trips along our nation's. corridors the second really important thing that i think gets less attention is that only about half of the cars in the u.s. park overnight where there's electricity. the rest park in the street or in a parking garage or in a rental unit.

for those folks who don't have an ability to park at home and charge at home, the public investment in charging creates the opportunity for that half of america to also drive electric cars. people love electric cars. there fun of the line, they are quiet, they don't shake, they don't vibrate, and this challenge of providing infrastructure, this challenge of providing charging, so all-americans can go electric without it being a sacrifice is critically important. the role of the public sector is two-fold, to provide the travel network, similar to the highway system itself, and the second is to address the equity issue of having half of americans with the easy ability to charge at home, and the other half of americans needing someone else to charge. pedro: joining us from the washington autoshow, matt nelson of electrify america. if you want to call and ask him questions, call.

for you electric vehicle owners, (202), 748-8002. this is peter, cleveland ohio. go ahead with your question or comment. caller: one question, one comment. matt, how are you going to get -- the question is, where are you building your current stations now? are they sort of on the coasts, sort of in the east coast, kind of central, or are they spread around the country sort of more evenly? that's the question. matt: that's a great question, very important question. electrify america has taken a national approach. so, we have stations across 46 states today. we will be growing to the entire contiguous united states by the end of this year. and our approach has been, where

people drive, they need to be served by an electric vehicle charging station. we've focused on primarily corridor charging, on highway corridors and rural routes, what we call regionally significant routes, roads like 395 in california or baltimore-washington parkway, which is in this area. but bottom line, we are across the entire united states. we think it is not correct to focus just on the coasts. americans live in all 50 states and we need to serve them in every part of the country. pedro: carrying in alabama -- karen in alabama, you're up next. hi. caller: good morning. i would like to ask the guest a question first and then proceed with my comment. how much funding does your -- do you receive from the federal government every year for your research and whatever it is you do?

matt: so, electrify america is a private company. we are limited liability, an llc, and we do not receive any funding from the federal government. we have committed a $2 billion investment over 10 years to building out this infrastructure. and over last summer, we actually announced a plan to expand our investment. we did not put a dollar figure on it but we said we were going to double the size of our, actually, almost triple the size of our network up to 10,000 charging stations, 10,000 chargers at more than 1800 stations. we are committed, as a private sector actor, to expanding the infrastructure provided. as john, the last guest, highlighted, there i a need for additional investment beyond what the private sector is currently investing. that's where the public sector investment from the government will be so critical. how the bill is structured, how

congress structures this, the funds flow to the states so the states will decide how and where to invest those resources, much like they do today with highway and transportation projects. we will see what happens with that. we think that we provide a compelling product that some states might think is the right product, but there are lots of other providers of charging services as well and we will see where those investments go at the state level. pedro: mr. nelson, how helpful are, or i guess harmful, are states individually as far as electric vehicle charger adoption? can they pass legislation to help or hinder that? matt: oh, absolutely. one of the most important factors is in whether electric vehicles become widespread in a state has become state policy. states have adopted incentives

of all types. one of the most effective has been access to toll roads and bridges at certain times of day, for example. there are incentives and then there are other policies, such as standards, that have made a significant impact on driving ev adoption. the states that have invested in the charging infrastructure, as i said before, for most americans, there needs to be charging infrastructure in order for ev's to be a viable option for their primary car. so, the states have led the way on charging infrastructure tend to be the states where consumers are choosing electric vehicles at a higher rate. this is a nationwide growth industry right now. there are more than 2.2 million ev's on the road in the u.s. today. last year, sales were through the roof. in fact, for the first half of last year, we sold as many

electric vehicles -- the nation bought as many electric vehicles in the first half of last year as the entire previous year, so it's growing quickly, and it's across all states. it's across the midwest and the south and the east and the west, even significant growth in hawaii. it is a growing industry across the board. pedro: let's hear from david in milwaukee, wisconsin. caller: how are you doing today, everybody? pedro: you are on, david. go ahead with your question or comment for our guest. caller: i have a question. where were you going to get the power from if you are closing all these coal power plants? how are we going to get the power to power stations and at the same time, get the power to power everybody's homes? pedro: thank you, dave. matt: that's a great question. so, we power our stations primarily with renewable energy today. insert parts of the country, it

is 100% renewable. and other parts of the country, we are in the process of going to 100%. will also have built a number of solar canopies above our stations. when you pour into a gas station, you see the canopy, we build those canopies as well but we build them with solar power. so, we are able to generate electricity on site and then for the vast majority of the power, we buy it from renewable energy power plants. that's how we power our stations the renewables industry is growing quickly. we have not found that supplying power to our stations has been a limiting factor on our grid. the utilities have stepped forward, they continue to provide service to our stations. the availability of power has not been a major limiting factor to the growth of the charging industry. a little-known fact, we often

get the question of, well, what about when the power goes out? gas stations don't work when the power goes out either. in many ways, our electric vehicle charging stations are an asset to the grid. we have battery backups at her stations, and they are able to provide what we call it virtual power plant to the grid. charging stations make the grid more reliable. it's a huge benefit to the what folks really want, which is an electric grid that keeps the power on, even in big storms in texas and fires in california. the charging industry and the charging stations themselves are helping with that problem. pedro: mr. nelson, there's a researcher at the university of california davis who talks about electric vehicles, particularly those energy demands. he wrote a piece in which he said, "subsidizing electric vehicles creates unintended consequences that harm the environment. and optimal policy would reduce the number of cars on the road, but ev subsidies do the opposite

by making electric vehicles cheaper while leaving the price of gasoline cars the same. in areas where electricity is generated from fossil fuels, ev subsidies make the wrong signal. drivers respond to these signals in terms of the cars they buy and the amount they drive. the overall goal is to reduce pollution, ev subsidies are not the best way forward." how would you respond to that? matt: university of california davis is a leading institution in transportation research, so the source is an important one. what we have found is that the most up to date research on emissions from electric vehicles pretty clearly shows that electric vehicles lowered emissions -- lower emissions. it does depend on whether power comes from. by powering our stations with renewable energy, we know for a fact that the vehicles that we

fuel have dramatically lower emissions than if they were powered by oil and gas. there's a lot of interesting discussion about how to incentivize ev adoption. and one of the key questions is, how effective incentives are, consumer incentives. most of the research we have seen, the leading research paper that we cite is usually the report by the national association of state energy officials, which found that incentives are the most effective policy at driving ev adoption. and that's because at the end of the day, this technology is 100 years behind, so the gas powered cars have had 100 years to innovate, to bring down the cost of their technology. and right now, it does still cost more to build an electric cart than it does to build a gas powered car. once it gets in the consumer's

hands,, it has way fewer parts it doesn't need oil changes, it has way lower maintenance costs, and the fuel is cheaper. from a consumer perspective, the challenge of an electric vehicle is it's a greater upfront capital cost in order to get the benefits of lower operating costs. incentives play a huge role in leveling the playing field between the cost of the car up front. and overtime, they won't be necessary because the electric vehicles are coming down in cost of production. but right now, it does still cost to produce them, so incentives level that playing field between gas and electric cars. pedro: matt nelson of electrify america joining us for this discussion. we've invited ev owners to call in and give their perspective. this is jim from new york,. newburgh. inks for calling. caller: thank you. good morning. i had an ev and went back to a hybrid. simply because it fits my lifestyle better.

the picture you paint of charging, though, i have to somewhat throw a disagreement in there. some of the charging experiences i had were really annoying. you would get there, the stations were not up, this is not only electrify america. the credit card reader did not work. you to go from machine to machine to try to find one that worked. even in electrify america, one time, the app what not recognize my phone number. next day, would not recognize the phone number. you have to call in support and get something changed. it's not as rosy as you paint it. i am sure we will get better but i guess i fall into the percentage of people who think that hybrids are still more efficient and more consumer friendly, and acceptable than just going fully electric. up here in newburgh, i had choices, places to charge my card.

talking to people, they will ask you, how long does it take to charge? in about 30 minutes, i get 100 miles. they'd go like, nah, i'm not waiting 30 minutes. i know you want to get the charging times up as quickly as possible, but is there an issue with 350 kilowatts stations? what is the profitability of those for your company? pedro: we will let our guest respond to all that. matt: so, the consumer experience is one of the most important factors in creating a incentive for consumers to go electric. and the guest's point that he try electric cars and they were not convenient enough is exactly are core message -- our poor message. in order for regular americans to go electric, we need to charging that is ultrafast,

extremely reliable and using nonproprietary standards so it does not matter what brand of vehicle you choose, you can use the station. those are the three most important criteria for an investment in ev charging that will last, what we call future proof. the point that was just made is the exact point of where we are now versus where we need to go. the stations are not reliable enough today. the number one concern among ev drivers, according to jd power and associates, which is a pretty credible source in the auto industry, they say the number one concern is the reliability of stations. while, one was the last time you thought to yourself on the way to grandma's house while driving a gas powered car, i wonder if the gas station will work this weekend? it's not even a concern. it's a thoughtless enterprise. you just go and when you need gas, you pullover. we need electric charging to be at that standard. is it there today? absolutely not. can it get there?

absolutely. we need to invest in ultrafast charging, we need to provide that 350 kilowatts. as the guest pointed out, the cars have not been able to charge at that speed until recently. the average charging speed of new ev models has gone up three times in the last five model years. it is now up to 150 kilowatts average, which is, for those of you who are not electrical engineers, that's nine miles of range per minute. that's the average. and the vehicles coming to market that can use the full 350 kilowatts, they can provide 20 miles of range permanent. to the final quest -- arrange per minute to -- range per minute. to the final question, i think the guest will find if he buys a new electric vehicle, it is faster, reality -- reliability

has gotten better. he will be able to charge in 15 or 20 minutes. the last point about whether this 350 kilowatt charging station technology exists, we put it at every station we build along highway corridors. we build more than 300 stations today. where the first to deploy this technology. when we deployed for the first time, it had never been done before. it's at more than 350 stations in the u.s.. it is growing rapidly. this is the future, in our view. pedro: one more call from our guests, john, an ev owner in ashland, ohio. caller: thank you for taking my call. i love c-span. here's my problem, reliability and the cost of battery replacement. the battery replacement on our vehicle is $15,700.

the car is only 2.5 years old. people cannot afford that. charging is just ridiculous. i mean, some places work, some places don't. i have to concur with the previous color, he's absolutely right, it's not reliable. we are going to a hybrid vehicle also. pedro: that's john in ashland. matt: well, i will agree with the caller, as i agreed with the last caller, and needs to be more reliable. that's our number one focus as a company, making charging as reliable as possible. it needs to be something you don't have to worry about and think about. we are getting there. reliability is going up industrywide, particularly on our network. but this should be, one the government thinks through how to spend this $7.5 billion, from our perspective, they need to think about charging speed, but they also need to think about

how they make sure they invest in reliable technology. the consumer expects it and deserves it, so it is absolutely the right question to be asking among consumers and also among government officials. pedro: before we let you go, to that last point, what role does the transportation secretary, pete buttigieg, play as far as deployment? matt: a critical role. next month, the department of transportation will issue guidance for the states on how they will issue -- how they will spend the $7.5 billion. and then in may, he will issue standards for how that money is spent. that's an opportunity to really define what is a nationwide network and make sure this is a high quality investment. from our perspective, we think is a no-brainer that that guidance should highlight three major points, charging needs to be fast enough to stay ahead of

the vehicles on the market, needs to be ultrafast, and needs to be reliable, as a last two guests highlighted. and the third is very important, is the stations need to charge all vehicles. all the brands behind me at this autoshow should be able to, the drivers of those vehicles should be able to use the same stations. they shouldn't have to pull in, they should have to look at the sign and decide whether their cars compatible with that station. that's what nonproprietary standards do. those three points are the things that pete buttigieg has the chance to push there in his guidance and we hope he does. pedro: matt nelson with the company electrify america, he is government affairs director here from the washington autoshow. mr. nelson, thanks for your time today. matt: thanks for having me, pedro, it's been a pleasure. pedro: normally, we will show you shots of the capitol building or outside the capitol building but at the washington autoshow, we show you shots of cars, as we talk about public-policy issues that the

various guests will bring. our next guest joining us we'll talk about foreign autos, cars manufactured international, and some of the issues that are particularly of interest for them. jennifer from the group autos drive america, she's there president and ceo, she will join us next for a couple of minutes before the house comes in at 9:00. for that segment, we invite you to call, as our previous guests. if you're a foreign auto owner and you have questions particularly to that market, (202) 748-8002. we will continue on with some of the calls currently coming in. roger in north carolina, our guest is gone. go ahead with your question and,, particularly when it comes to automobiles and the things we have been talking about this morning. caller: yeah. the first thing is, i think these people are ignoring the

elephant in the room, as there is a big lack of lithium to make batteries. how are they going to do all these things? the other thing is that's being somewhat ignored is hydrogen engines. and where do we get hydrogen? from water. we happen to have these two big bodies of water on each coast, you can have that now, we don't have to wait for lithium. i think they should put more emphasis on hydrogen. thank you. pedro: for those comments, may i ask, are you interested in a hybrid vehicle or electric vehicle or something along that line? caller: i'd be interested in hydrogen, not electric, though. pedro: let's hear from scott, an ev owner in seattle, washington. good morning. caller: good morning, pedro. pedro: hi. caller: i was actually, i had driven one of those earlier saturn cars that you could only lease down in california just at a saturn dealership they let me

drive it. but i was kind of nervous because it was a multimillion dollar thing, as with mi eccentric scottisy uncle andrew decided to give it a short drive. i was a little nervous. that was the most expensive car i have driven in my life. they were nice at general motors. they sent me a postcard when the next generation came along and let me drive a pre-production volt in tacoma, washington. but it was just a little course. i could not take it out on the open road. that was in 2008. i bought a volt a couple years later, actually, it was a few years later because they were not widely available. but it's been a good car. i've got a couple hundred thousand miles on it now, and i just, you know, i think that it needed a bigger, it has that complete backup generator engine, so they call it an extended range electric vehicle.

as opposed to like a hybrid which, would be like a pr ius. this has got electric motors driving the wheels. i think that's, what a sweet way to go. i wish it was more like a midsize buick. pedro: gotcha. that is scott in seattle, washington. let's make a quick call with another ev owner, brenda in south carolina. caller: hi. how are you today? in april of this year, i ordered the ford extended version. it came in july. my husband and i built a new house two years prior. in the construction, i knew at some point we were going to eventually the cars were either going to be electric or hybrid, so i had a builder put in the 240 outlet in the garage even two years before i had a car because i knew at some point it

would be easier to just have it than to go back and put it in. i really have only been driving locally, but i did plan a trip about three hours, 3.5 hours from here and it did get canceled. the car, when you put in your gps, it will send you to a station at a time when they think you need to charge and will tell you how long your car will take to charge. if the stations are available. and then, send you where you want to go. pedro: great. thank you. brenda sharing her experience. many of you sharing experiences. we are showing this from the washington autoshow, a variety of cars, domestic and international, after show. particularly for those manufactured international, that's where the next guest's focus is, jennifer of the group autos drive america. she serves as president and ceo.

thanks for joining us. jennifer: thanks for having me. pedro: how do you describe your organization to other people? jennifer: yes, and for that question, because we are relatively new organization. we were founded in 2020. we are a trade association that represents international automakers who have operations throughout the united states. we really focus on and our goal is to make sure that there is growth and success of the u.s. out of industry. in order to do that, we want to make sure there is access to global markets in a vibrant manufacturing platform. we advocate with lawmakers at all levels of government to ensure that their policies promote more jobs, trade and investment here in the u.s., and really for a level playing field for all automakers in the u.s. pedro: to that end, as far as policy decisions that are made in washington, d c, one of the

ones you are watching closely is this idea of offering a tax credit to certain purchasers of ev vehicles. explain what you are watching, and particularly, what's the concern for those you represent? jennifer: sure, absolutely. and that's a good question. i think one of the big things that everybody is talking about these days is electric vehicles. at the autoshow, you know, as the public comes and visits the autoshow, they're going to see a huge variety of electric vehicles and really get a chance to see them up close, and all the options and the choices available to american families. it's unfortunate, but that has taken other bit more time for consumers to kind of get adjusted and accept these new vehicles. we are getting there. we are further behind in the united states than other countries. i think we are maybe at 3% or 4% of purchasing of electric vehicles. that needs to increase. several things to talk about that kind of concern them when

it comes to purchasing an electric vehicle is perhaps range, range of the vehicle. the government has done a lot recently to help that along with the recently passed infrastructure bill. there's $7.5 billion set aside to build more of these charging stations around the country, about 500,000 of them. i think that will help consumers with range anxiety. the other thing is certainly cost. it is something being debated right now in congress under the build back better act. it's a proposal to provide tax incentives for u.s. consumers to help them purchase these electric vehicles. the goal is to get more of these electric vehicles on the roads to help with the environment. if we can help consumers, help with the cost of those electric vehicles, would definitely support that. unfortunately, this proposal as written right now is much more complicated than that. what it does actually is it discriminates against certain

american workers. for those american workers who have chosen not to unionize, the vehicles that they produce in the united states receive $4500 less of a credit. you can get a maximum of $12,5 00 credit for these vehicles but only if you meet an array of restrictions. one of those is making sure that vehicles made by unionized labor. if it is not, the vehicle does not get that full tax credit. we've done the analysis. today, there are over 50 electric vehicle models and options out there for families to choose from. under this proposal, only two of those can get the full tax credit. it's extremely limiting. while we support the tax credit to help consumers purchase these vehicles, we think it needs to be simpler and be supplied to all electric vehicles. pedro: which companies would be

impacted in the way that you described? give us names? jennifer: so, all of my numbers, the international automakers, plus tesla, some of the new entrance into the market. if your workforce is not unionized, then you would be impacted by this proposal. and nobody has shown me how one of these vehicles made by a unionized workforce is actually better for the environment than a vehicle made by a nonunionized workforce. pedro: have you talked to the five administration board members of congress directly about this? and what has been the response? jennifer: we absolutely have been talking to lots of policymakers about this. there certainly is some concern about this proposal out there. senator manchin publicly spoke out about. . it a couple months ago he called it. un-american. it is certainly not a workable solution. that has been some senders who have raised concerns about this. you know, i will also tell you,

you know, beyond just here in d.c., 11 governors have written letters to leadership raising concerns and rejections to the proposal as written. international, a significant opposition has been raised. there was a letter sent to congressional leadership by over 25 ambassadors around the world who have objections to the way this proposal is written. mexico and canada, our closest trading partners and allies, have also raised significant sermons about this proposal and threatened retaliation if it were to go through. there has been significant opposition to the proposal as written. everyone just supports tax credits that apply to all electric vehicles. we think that's the best path forward. pedro: we are waiting until 9:00 when the house comes in. if you a foreign auto owner, (202) 748-8002.

kathy from new york, you are first caller with our guest. caller: good morning to you. i was wondering about the tour this would take on the weakest electric grids in america and around the country. during a blackout, i have no electric, does my battery die? does the drainage on the battery, i don't drive but once a week in the severe winters i have where i live, if there's a blackout, i cannot escape if my battery is not going. just wondering, can emergency services come help me, charge me up? thank you. pedro: go ahead. jennifer: there's not a lot that i can say to this collar with her concerns. it raises something i mentioned earlier, right? consumers who have concern about range and how long their battery will last and that is something i can tell you that my numbers,

the international automakers, that is one of their primary issues. they're making sure they have a longer range to help consumers better understand, you know, the adaptability of these vehicles. pedro: let's hear from bob, a foreign auto owner. go ahead. caller: i have a comment i want to make. my first comment was for the previous guest who talked about electric. pedro: i will stop you there because we are limited on time. if you could focu yours question or comment on our current guest. caller: i am a forrester owner, i just bought one. i was -- around with the rav-4 hybrid. i declined because i was concerned about the battery of the hybrid. charge, recharge, charge,

recharge. my dealer said, why don't you wait for a saltera? i said, dude, 200 mile range does me no good. so, i live in new york, 0, -10 overnight, the car is outside. pedro: ok. caller: i get concerned about battery life. pedro: that's bob from utica. if i make, someone who tweets us this morning, you may have referenced it already but i will ask anyway. how do our electric current initiatives reconcile with nafta. she may mean that usmca actually. are we competing with canada or mexico or working with them on these electric vehicle initiatives? jennifer: usmca obviously, it's a little over a year, a year and a half since it went into force and it's a critical trade

agreement between the three countries, especially for the auto industry and here in the united states. it is important trade agreement. i will tell you that my members have put a lot of investment to ensure that it is successful, that they are able to comply with all the requirements of it. we want it to be successful. we needed to be. our closest trading allies, especially for the auto industry, it's currently important. there are efforts underway to make sure that, you know, when it comes to materials, raw materials needed for batteries, you know, when it comes to just complying with usmca, because significant changes were implemented from nafta, of course, in order for vehicles to be duty-free under the agreement. is a lot of discussions going on . to be honest with you, those are ongoing, right. people are starting to figure out the agreement and making sure they are complying. there's still questions about interpretation. as i mentioned just a little while ago, you know, with

regards to electric vehicles, particularly with this proposal for tax credits worth consumers right, mexico and canada have actually been the loudest voices against this proposal because it would negatively impact the vehicles made in their country. the vehicles have to meet made in america -- be made in america by unionized workers to get that tax credit. they have been very vocal against this proposal and are pushing for a straightforward tax credit that applies to all electric vehicles, whether they are made in canada, mexico or in the u.s. the goal is to get more people driving these vehicles to help the environment overall. pedro: antonio in washington, d.c., go ahead. caller: i just wanted to circle back and comment on the sarcastic thing your guest just said about the preference towards union labor. and just to say that while we are combating -- combating climate change is extremely

important, it's also important to have workers with, you know, decent rights and bargaining power and, you know, say over there working conditions. thank you. jennifer: happy to respond to that. i certainly would not be negative against unionized workforces. i do believe that it is up to the worker to choose whether they want to be unionized. when the government is proposing a legislation that discriminates against those workers who have chosen not to unionize, i don't think that that is right either. my members externally provide excellent jobs that pay competitive wages with excellent benefits, very safe working environment, and their workers have chosen not to unionize, and they should not be penalized for that. pedro: the detroit news reporting that toyota is reporting that they are going to miss their output goals because of supply chain concerns, particularly chip distribution.

how much of a concern is that overall for the people you represent? jennifer: it's been a significant concern. as you know, that was an issue that started early last year at the end of 2020. and really became a significant problem in early 2021 and it has been all last year and has continued into this year. the shortage of chips, the supply chain disruptions have been a significant problem for automakers. it is something that certainly we have been focused on and trying to work through. we do appreciate the biden administration's efforts to try to find some solutions for that. there is certainly a bill in congress right now that passed through the senate to authorize 52 billion dollars of additional funding to help support the new facility to create these ships in the united states. it has been -- chips in the united states. . it has been stalled in congress

but we support additional funding to build more of those facilities. and also more resiliency in the global supply chain is needed to help with shortages. it is something we continue to watch and we thoroughly hope that, you know, that we are able to work through it sooner rather than later. pedro: we have about a minute, less than that, from new jersey, go ahead with your question or comment. caller: thank you so much. i want to talk about something called climate credit regarding with smart meters, personal carbon footprint on smartcards. how is this not big corporate telling us the amount of credit that one has? what's to stop somebody from going to their car and they cannot go into their electrical car because their credit are done for the month? pedro: let me rephrase then, as far as climate concerns from the administration and when they make policy to that, how does it affect the people you represent of international automakers? jennifer: well, listen, certainly, we would like to work in coordination with the administration when it comes to their climate proposals and goals.

listen, we are all in this together and that's why might members have put a lot of investment and have a lot of goals themselves to get more of these electric vehicles out to consumers with lots of different options and range ability, so families have more that they can choose from instead of just, you know a few that the government may choose for them. host: she is the president and ceo of drive america from the washington auto show. thank you very much. caller: thank you for having me. host: we take you now to the house of representatives. >> we would be more willing to go forth, step up and speak your life-giving word into the uncertainty of these times.