invasion of ukraine with new jersey democratic congresswoman cheryl and tom cole. join the conversation with phone calls, facebook comments, text messages, and tweets. washington journal is next. ♪ host: one week into the russia-ukraine war, and one million refugees have been forced to flee ukraine, countries like poland, romania, and slovakia with thousands of arrivals daily. russia has now captured a major ukrainian seaport and closes in on the capital of kyiv. good morning and welcome to washington journal. it is thursday, march 3, 2022. we would like to hear from you this morning on the ongoing

russia-ukraine war and the mounting humanitarian crisis. the lines to use, 202 --(202) 748-8000. for republicans, (202) 748-8001. independence can use (202) 748-8002. text us (202) 748-8003. we are on facebook and we look for your posts on instagram and twitter. we will show you the map in a moment to where the refugees are now going. and the figure now expected, thought to be one million or more as the crisis mounts in ukraine. the front page this morning of the washington times. in the headline, seeking peace in poland. hundreds of thousands of ukrainians make difficult move. over the last week, hundreds of thousands of ukrainians have faced the heartbreaking decision

whether to leave their homes and family members. the russian invasion has created what some fear will be the most expansive mass migration in europe in decades. more than one million people, primarily women and children have fled to bordering countries since russia began its assault according to united nations figures released on tuesday. malan has taken in -- 50,000 more refugees are arriving every day. they say the evidence and stories of human tragedy are mounting. at the trading towns, border checkpoints and poland have been flooded with people fighting in every way possible. your thoughts this morning on the ongoing humanitarian crisis with countries surrounding ukraine, excepting those refugees and that figure as

reported here in the wall street journal. there headline, one million people have fled ukraine since the russian attack. the u.n. refugee agency in just seven days, we have witnessed the exodus of one million refugees from ukraine to neighboring countries. the united nations high commissioner for refugees on wednesday. mr. romney previously estimated 4 million if -- refugees could flee from the country. that country being ukraine, of course. secretary of state antony blinken was critical of russia and their targeting of civilians. >> we have certainly seen in the past that one of russia's methods of war is to be absolutely brutal. in trying to cow the citizenry of a given country. and that includes, at the very

least, indiscriminate targeting and potentially deliberate targeting as well. we are looking very closely at what is happening in ukraine right now, including what is happening to civilians. we are taking account of it. we are documenting it. and we want to ensure, among other things, that there is accountability for it. host: for perspective on where the refugees are fleeing, this is a map. the numbers have gone up since then. from poland to surrounding countries of ukraine, even in belarus where russian troops are, as of tuesday, three hunter 29 reported refugees have gone into belarus. other countries and nearby moldova as well. let's hear from you. the first call, let's go to rick in spokane, washington.

caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. my housekeeper is a ukrainian woman. 29, with three children here. and her sister with seven children is trapped behind the lines in russia. the atrocities she is telling the about, weeping in my home when she comes to work for me, really speaks loudly to what is happening there. and the republicans that i listen, calling in and blaming president biden for this atrocity is really disturbing. i really wish that fox news and sinclair broadcasting would hold back their level of propaganda. host: what, in particular,

bothers you about the coverage and what they are saying about the administration's response? caller: i listen to 590 a.m. which is the local fox affiliate in spokane which broadcasts to a circumference of about 150 miles. and they are calling the president mentally incompetent. they use terminology that he is a traitor. and the vitriol is so over-the-top, this is our local station. it is reinforced by the talking heads and the conservative media sites. this is a very dangerous time for all of us. and i listen to my housekeeper weep because she is concerned for her sister and her seven children. and for the last 24 hours, they've had no way to reach her. host: how long has she been in the u.s.?

caller: she's been here for two years and she come from a family of 14. 12 of them have successfully emigrated. but her brothers and sisters that are still in ukraine, because their husbands or loved ones had critical jobs. suddenly, their world was overturned. and the irony is, they did not believe russia would ever invade ukraine. she held back and said she thought it was being manipulated by the media. and she was listening to the russians -- the russian-speaking stations broadcasting out of the ukraine. we must sit back and recognize the dangers and stop the partisan politicking that is based on manufactured information. host: to indian trail, north carolina.

democrats line. caller: yes, hello. i was calling because i'm so concerned about our situation. i have voted all three parties. i voted for reagan, clinton, bush, you know. i voted independent. i was independent up until a couple years ago when i think it mistakenly says democrat on my drivers license. i still want to be independent. i respect both parties with their ways. what i want is to know how we can get the president who i did not vote for. i did not vote for anybody because i could not make up my mind. but i watched the speech the other night and i thought he was

very strong. i don't think he's weak or mentally disabled. i just want to know why he can't open oil production backup. i don't want those people over there in ukraine to die. and if we are paying putin money for the oil, this is like hitler's. he is killing people left and right. i have watched every historical movie about the holocaust. this is another holocaust. it's going to spread and it's going to start world war iii. and this is how it starts. it's a drop in the bucket. host: oil is on the front page

of the wall street journal. oil tops $110 as global trade is scrambled. $110 a barrel on wednesday as russia's war in ukraine started to scramble the world's oil flows and opec decided it would stick to its plan to boost output only slightly. it reflected an uncertain new order emerging as long-held assumptions about how major players would respond in the event of a supply shop being upended by rapidly shifting geopolitical views on russia. that's the view this morning about the humanitarian crisis. one million refugees have fled the country. next up on the republican line is doug from san jose, california. caller: good morning. i would like to make just a couple points about the previous colors. -- callers.

putin invaded crimea in 2014 when obama was president and now he's invaded the rest of the ukraine and we have biden as president. he was not invading the ukraine when trump was president. oil was a lot cheaper and the economy was a lot stronger. of course, putin was still injecting himself into the middle east and syria. you have to remember that putin is a diabolical, evil, calculating, and probably at this point, paranoid russian leader. and i would agree with the previous caller that we are tiptoeing very close to a nuclear exchange. and we better mind our peas and cues and we better have the best minds available looking at this, listening to this, and strategizing. otherwise, we have world war i in the same area and we're looking at world war iii.

host: let's suppose donald trump was president now. do you think putin would have made his move to ukraine? caller: no. and not because trump was such a brilliant guy. the fact of the matter was, he was unpredictable. he did unpredictable stuff. putin could not figure out exactly what he was going to do or say at any given moment. and that's a good thing. trump, frankly, is a patriot. he cares about the country. and given that situation, he would put his foot down. he would be more decisive. host: following the state of the union address on tuesday, president biden was in wisconsin, yesterday, touting the infrastructure law.

he also spoke about the ongoing war and crisis in ukraine. >> vladimir putin was counting on being able to split up the united states. look. how you feel if you saw crowds storm and break down the doors of the british parliament, kill five cops, injure 145. or the italian parliament. i think you wonder. last year, the rest of the world saw that's not who we are. and now, we are proving, under pressure, that we are not that country. we are united.

and folks, that's how we kept europe united. and the free world united. vote in the united nations to condemn putin. 141 countries voted to do that in the u.n. general assembly. several of stained. -- abstained. china abstained. india abstained. seven countries abstained, i think it was the number. they are alone. and in my view, he thought he could split nato, split europe, and split the united states. no one can split this country. thank you all very much. host: we are talking about the humanitarian crisis, the refugees fleeing ukraine. we are getting comments about

oil. a collar had mentioned the price goes to record highs. rick on twitter says the president of the united states does not control oil prices. oil speculate his control oil prices. america is not energy dependent. it is supply and demand -- he says greedy white men in control of the oil market. democrats stole our energy independence. and rick says, oil has traded on the commodities exchange. he already weighed in. bill says, still think putin will hack off to the river which goes to the middle of ukraine. martial law and pressure from inside the building. not to mention outside pressures he points out. let's go to bill in evans,

georgia. >> i heard the previous caller say that he thought trump would be a better leader at the time. i disagree. i thought that biden gave a great state of the union address. he was forceful, he sounded like he was on top of his game. i believe he is a better president than trump could ever hope to have been as far as being a stable person. clearly he is stable where trump is about as stable as putin was. but i do hope that we don't get involved in a nuclear war. that would be the last thing. we might as well say goodbye world. if putin does touch any nato country, we are treaty bound to come to that country's defense.

as is every other nato country. i was curious about the states which abstained. i heard him mention india. in my opinion, any country that did not vote with us to condemn russia, we should cut off any kind of foreign aid to that country. and that's about all i have to say. host: here is the story from the u.n. vote. you and votes 141-5 demanding russia end the war. they say china must -- was among 35 countries that abstained. there were supporters along with long-time allies china, cuba, and venezuela also abstained. it is the ukrainian ambassador yesterday. >> in kyiv, russian murderers hit the tv tower, killing five.

one of the missiles dropped on the holocaust memorial. a sacred place for juice, ukrainians, and representatives of other groups -- jews, ukrainians, and representatives of other groups killed in world war ii. nazis are being killed for the second time. as the president of ukraine asks, what was the point of repeating the slogan, never again in 80 years? it is already clear the goal of russia is not an occupation only. it is genocide. the international court of

justice will hold public hearings concerning allegations of genocide under the convention and punishment of the crime of genocide. ukraine versus the russian federation. also, the international criminal court has decided to proceed with opening a formal investigation into the situation in ukraine. unprovoked escalation of russian aggression against ukraine is reason to believe these crimes are in the jurisdiction of the icc and continue to be committed on the territory of ukraine. along with the situation in crimea. recent events suggest that troops continue to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity. host: the vote 141-5. we are talking to you about the humanitarian crisis, the now one

million refugees that have fled ukraine. it is a washington post this morning. their headline, eu refugees received more but temporary welcome. the european union, they write, is opening their doors. other rules are expected to be adopted thursday. ukrainian nationals will be eligible for temporary protection within the 27-nation block for up to three years depending partly on conditions in ukraine. those seeking refuge will be able to bypass the normal asylum application process which can leave people in limbo for years as migrants from the middle east and africa have learned. the scene from berlin on wednesday, volunteers and those opening their homes reminiscent of the beginning of the 2015 migration wave when germans greeted asylum-seekers with cheers and food. next up is the democrats line

from indiana, pennsylvania. caller: i have a few points to make. i don't think nato is doing near enough. after 9/11, ukraine prevented tens of thousands of soldiers -- sent tens of thousands of soldiers to afghanistan and iraq to help us fight against terrorism. ukraine sent these tens of thousands of soldiers to afghanistan and iraq, and 9% of our own americans were sitting at home and did not enlist in the military. ukraine sent more people to help us then we sent our own. for the people saying that president biden is weak, these are the same people that don't believe he is president and the first place. these are the same people that don't believe he was the duly elected president. and these are the same people that don't believe we should be

the world's police force. so you say biden isn't doing enough, you don't think he is president and the first place and you don't want us to be the police force of the world. russia has a right to try to take back their sovereign territory, what if the president of mexico sent tanks across our southern border to take back what was their sovereign territory? how would we feel about that? last but not least, to all the trump supporters, i want you to remember that he left you hanging at the capital on january 6. he turned around and walked away and did not issue a blanket pardon to you. so he kind of left you hanging at the capital. thank you. host: next up is terry on the republican line. caller: i will answer your question to why russian -- why

they invade countries when they do. mexico has to sent takes -- tanks over the border for them. another thing, people should not judge presidents on their personality. they should judge them on what their agenda was, how they helped the united states. their allies, and how easy life was. that is what they should judge them on. especially when you have 1000 knives cutting you to death when you're trying to rule a country. why do you think russia tries to invade when they do? let's look at 2008 in georgia. i think there were four of them but i can just think of three right now. 2008, 2014, and 2022.

if you look back, the price of oil per barrel was skyhigh at the time. when the price of oil is low, russia doesn't do that. that is how they make money on oil. and any president that stands there, that we will buy american and make america, yet they buy the oil from russia. host: let's hear from the democrats line in maryland. go ahead. caller: good morning. so i just want to point out what i think is a troubling contradiction in president biden's remarks at the state of the union. he was quite successful in rallying the nation in a bipartisan fashion to support

the ukrainians in this crisis. that's most important. that's what you expect from a leader. then thinking about ukraine and what they were doing to the african citizens and subjects of ukraine, they would not allow them to escape from the city. which is really troubling. it goes to show that it's universal and there is a discussion worthy of itself. in terms of the address and presentation by president biden, thinking about human crises and human disasters, he said, and i quote, that we should not defund the police. african-americans have been suffering in this society. over time, over hundreds of years with police abuse and racial police violence. the fact that he could not even

mention the fact that black lives matter suggest that anti-blackness is not just something that exists overseas, but is something that exists here in the u.s. and it doesn't have to come with the troubling rhetoric of a conservative, racist, xenophobic president. it can come through the polite lips of a democratic president. host: the point about how some africans have been treated, some of those have been residing as students in ukraine. africans report racism and hostility trying to flee ukraine. alexander was among 12 -- thousands of people hoping to flee ukraine under the russian invasion. and he said his friends hoped to get to safety at the polish border quickly but officials would not allow the group of africans to board trains.

i was like, your picking only white people. he and his friends briefly made it to a second train, but were quickly kicked off with officials telling them ukrainians only. i said, ukrainians only? but i don't see you checking passports. the train was not filled before they left. they never picked us. nbc writes that ora biz one of several african citizens living in ukraine that reported racist discrimination and abuse at the borders. videos on social media have shown officials preparing to threaten to shoot groups of african students, a woman shielding an infant from the cold. officials chasing groups of people and people reported to be stranded in ukraine. nigeria, ghana, kenya, and get brown said monday that it was disturbed by the news. victoria is a republican congresswoman from indiana.

and she was born in the former soviet union. yesterday at a news conference along with senator lindsey graham calling for tougher sanctions against vladimir putin, he talked about the experiences she is hearing of ukrainians during the russian invasion. >> i just got it about an hour ago. from some village. france is trying to escape with kids. they have special groups to kill. they are trying to escape. they sent all this footage and honestly, i would not sleep at all. that's from her brother. her brother says, they burned down my house. my wife and kids, barefoot. i don't know if she is alive or

not because they were shooting at us. working around. it belongs to them. the public record, they are killing peaceful people. kids are scared to death. they are just killing us like we are animals. this is criminal. these people cannot get away with that. and i hope to see how the international community will vote today. do they have a backbone to stand up to people that they created? are they going to be cowards? we have a lot of economic reasons, but when the time comes , something that changes the whole world. it's a threat to all of us. have some leadership, backbone,

and step up. we need to see who is willing to stand with democracy and make decisions based on that. host: and back to your calls and comments on the refugees fleeing ukraine. the mounting humanitarian crisis there in the wake of the russian invasion. joe is in stamford, connecticut am on the republican line. caller: good morning. you just played a video of president biden where he stated five police officers got killed on january 6. bill, i know you know that's not true. the only person that got killed at the white house was ashli babbitt, an unarmed woman that got shot. host: in the capital, not the white house. caller: yes. watching c-span now, i ran away

from cnn and msnbc. watching c-span now is like watching the same thing. same thing. have a good day, bill. host: bloomington, indiana, on the democrats line. caller: putin's whole idea is to get rid of nato. all he wants is to disassemble nato. i'm tired of people calling in it saying that this would not have happened if trump were our president. it would not have because he was trying to disassemble nato for pruden. please go back and listen to trump's remarks about nato. i would bet any amount of money that those private conversations between trump and putin were about the plan to disassemble nato. this would not be happening if trump were president because he was doing putin's bidding as far as nato goes.

i have to say that i am from indiana. i am a democrat. i don't agree with victoria spartz on much of anything, but my heart goes out to her right now. i wish we could all come together. there was also annexed indiana university basketball player. he is black and he's been playing ball in ukraine. he was sending out messages that he was stuck there. he finally got out. he probably had some money and was able to pay a private driver. he said the trip should have taken 90 minutes and it took 12 hours. but he did get out and he was going to go back to romania where he also played ball. this is horrible. the refugees, i think he's doing a fantastic job trying to get people out of this horrible situation. but go back and listen to trump's remarks on nato.

>> the u.s. house coming a little bit early this morning, so a bit of a shorter show. the one thing they won't take up today most likely is appropriations for this current fiscal year and more than likely not taking up the package that they are working on for additional humanitarian aid for ukraine. this is the reporting of rollcall. as ukraine burns, washington splits over how to help. during president biden's state of the union address on tuesday night, his remarks on ukraine drew bipartisan applause, but the unity was illusory. republicans pressed the case wednesday that they are more interested in democrats for providing new weapons to ukraine and imposing punishing new sanctions on russia. marco rubio offered legislation that would provide the $6.4 billion supplemental spending plan that the biden administration says it wants for responding to the ukraine

crisis. the proposals appear to spend more on new weapons than the administration privately told lawmakers it wants in the package. lawmakers are calling for the move -- for the bill to move forward. democrats want it included in the fiscal 2022 omnibus spending package that congress hopes to spend -- send to the white house before the law expires march 11. next wednesday. janet on the republican line next in san diego, california. caller: good morning. my heart and my prayers go out to people of ukraine. this is ungodly what is happening to them, but they are some of the bravest people that i have seen. my prayers go out to them. i have been trying to get through.

for whatever reason. anyway, i have been listening to the democrats calling in for days and i have a couple of points i want to make. i met a young lady yesterday in comparison to pedro about not allowing people to call the president names and so forth when i am a witness to all of the names that they have called trump. the next thing i would like to say is that democrats want to talk about how we need to come together and support biden because he is our president. i don't think they wanted it that way when trump was in office. it's just astounding. if biden truly wanted to cripple russia, he would close the pipeline and he would open hours.

why are we paying $110 for a barrel of oil when we were energy independent until he came with a stroke of the pen? all of these conspiracy theories about trump being in cahoots with russia is ridiculous because there is no way in the world russia would be doing this when russia -- when he was still in office. it takes a bully to stop a bully. obviously, these are not working. we are looking at world war iii. there is no doubt about it, my people. democrats need to wake up and stop with the hypocrisy. host: next up is weighing on the independent line.

caller: this whole thing starts off with nato expansion. that's the problem. secondly, it is so funny how the world comes together when there are white people being killed. what happened to people coming together when people were being killed in stereo and all the african countries? we are so quick to say genocide when it is white people being killed, but not when black people get killed. or other minorities. that is the problem. all russia wanted was not have ukraine become part of nato so you don't put missiles in ukraine. that is all i have to say. thank for taking my call. host: this is the l.a. times

edit piece says western press reveals grim bias toward "people like us." the scenes are gravely familiar with the 21st century new cycle. families fleeing on foot, swarming border crossings, and searching through rubble for loved ones. it can't help but compare the military strikes. but a painful double standard quickly emerged inside of those comparisons. this isn't a place, with all due respect, like iraq or afghanistan that has seen conflict waging for decades said charlie daggett on sunday. this is a relatively civilized, relatively european -- i choose those words carefully, too. a city where you wouldn't expect that our hope is going to happen. they write the troubling language in which he seemed to catch himself mid segment pinpointing much of the emerging

bias. the international press corps scrambled in real time to wrap their arms around a fast-moving military campaign. a number of correspondents framed suffering and displacement as acceptable for arabs, afghans, and others over there, but not here in europe where the people have blue eyes and blonde hair and where they "look like us." those are actual quotations from news clips. caller: yes. hello? host: you are on, go ahead. caller: hello? host: go ahead with your comment. caller: can you hear me now? host: one more time, go ahead and make your comment. caller: my comment is that if you have any idea about history in world war ii, that is the

same scenario. if putin does take ukraine, he is still going to be on the borders of the nato -- the nato borders. he is still going to be bordered with nato. the man needs to be stopped right now. another thing i would like to mention is that your boy tucker carlsen said putin didn't bother him so why should we go over there? i don't understand it. trump and his gang got the united states so divided that we can't agree on anything. host: this is usa today this morning. this is our land. citizens under siege.

a ukrainian woman arrives at the border crossing, hundreds of thousands of people fled to russia's offensive. john kirby, the press secretary of the pentagon yesterday, spoke about russia's military setbacks so far in ukraine. >> make no mistake. mr. putin still has at his disposal significant combat power. he hasn't moved all of it into ukraine but he's used a majority of it. it is combined arms. and it is not insignificant. they have faced setbacks and they have faced resistance. you have to hand it to the ukrainians fighting very hard for their country and making an impact, making a dent.

they will learn. we haven't seen any change in what we believe are their desires. they have suffered setbacks. they will try to work through these resistances and work through the challenges. host: this is reporting from the new york times, they are updating. at one million flee ukraine as russia bombards key cities. russian troops are gaining ground in a critical parts of the south and threatening to cut off ukraine's access to the black seat. -- black sea. russian forces on thursday laid siege to urban areas across the

country in a grinding offensive that has pummeled neighborhoods with increasingly heavy artillery and reduced basic services to rubble. the assaults have deepened a humanitarian crisis that has pushed one million people to flee the country and many more to abandon their homes for ukrainian cities further from the fighting. the swift fall of the major city in the south of the country raised fears that other cities could soon fall. they had merely surrounded two strategic cities. potentially cutting off shipment . that is from the new york times. caller: good morning to you.

we want to send more prayers out for the african people that are being denied access. i have not heard anyone on the republican line calling and mentioning that. it is good to see everyone rallying around ukraine. no one has really to wrap some of the african countries. also with marjorie taylor greene yelling out what they yelled, that's disgusting. no one on the republican side has condemned it. they want to talk about gas that president biden has made and is for is how many people died in the white house. it is laughable. no one takes the republican callers seriously. host: next is jeff on the

republican line in clarksville, ohio. caller: i would like to comment on president biden's son that we hear about all the time. when he was in iraq, he was a lawyer. he was in the rear with the gear. he was never near the burn pits. host: and how do we know this? how do you know this? caller: because that's where he was. the boone pits are out in the boonies with the regular soldiers. host: next up is north carolina. caller: good morning. i love c-span. we hear everyone's opinion. i wish there was more fact checking. i wish by -- biden had been more forceful. we need to back nato and we need

to fill-in with stinger missiles and everything we can. i am more concerned about the ukrainians that will fight for their freedoms than forced wars in afghanistan and iraq over lives that they didn't even want us there. who would throw down their guns and run. ukrainians don't run. and these republicans who were in congress -- putin, putin, putin. they thought we were going to have three dictatorships running the whole world. and even multinational corporations. it is so small you can drown it

in a bathtub and going down to the third time. i just don't understand these people that won't face facts. there are things i do like about biden. i am unaffiliated for 12 years now. the democrats don't fight back and they don't have a good strategy. they have caved. i don't like poulos he anymore -- pelosi anymore than the republicans do but probably for different reasons. she caves every time. nothing will change until leadership on both sides have changed. we've had the same leadership since 2003 and both sides are bought by the same corporations. remember when hillary says we don't need a 50-state strategy. we just need to spend our money here. well, that is wrong.

democrats need to unite in the reddest parts of the reddest states. god bless america. host: to orchard park, new york. republican line. caller: good morning. let me play devils advocate for a moment, if i could. the american people are fair people. what is the objective of mr. putin and russia? and the answer is, in my opinion, they want ukraine to remain neutral. as i say, the american people are fair. they understood if we had a canada or mexico on our very border like russia has with ukraine and it turned out to be a very hostile country to us, we

would not want other people to heavily arm a border country. and that is the posture that mr. putin finds himself in. desiring not to control, in my opinion, ukraine, not to permanently occupy, but to have a government in ukraine that would agree to remain neutral. host: let me play devils advocate back with you, to your point. what vladimir putin wants, the mindset that you break it, you pay for it. now that russia has invaded and assuming that they do take control of a considerable part of ukraine, do you think that he has lost that argument in terms of wanting ukraine to be a neutral state? >> i don't quite understand your

point. host: you will have russian forces inside ukraine. how can that be considered a neutral state? caller: no, obviously, russia is not taking a neutral stance now because negotiations have apparently failed. so they are doing it with military might. and i'm totally opposed to any nation violating international law which seems to be happening around the world in many cases. . if i had a magic have it would be that the government of ukraine -- russia is very uneasy because russia is partly surrounded by other nations that have embraced nato.

estonia, latvia, lithuania. and i think the average america would say that if we were in their category of russia, we would feel very uneasy. and i think that is the posture of mr. putin. if the government will change, and it probably won't, with mr. zelinski there. if the government of ukraine would change and say we agree to remain neutral, we will not ever become part of nato, i think the russian forces, in my opinion, would immediately withdraw. host: we will go back to the map , referencing the location we have been talking about all morning. the millions of refugees. this is a bbc map. the numbers have gone out, but the bulk of them are going to poland.

have slovakia, romania, moldova. yesterday on capitol hill at a news conference, senator lindsey graham talked about a proposal that he has drafted. a resolution that, if passed, would call on vladimir putin to be held to account by the international criminal court. senator graham: i think the entire world, those that believe in the rule of law should speak on behalf of this complaint. we are not prejudging the outcome, just saying this is a good thing to be doing. this is a legitimate complaint in our eyes. i want to let the russian generals and the russian pilots know that you follow the orders of putin at your own peril. you can find yourself in the hague if you drop cluster bombs

on civilians. if you have a scorched-earth policy to get the ukrainian people to submit to your will. the world is watching you. not just putin. i will do everything in my power, as long as it takes, to be eight voice for justice for the -- to be a voice for justice for the ukrainian people. to hold the most vicious people on the planet finally accountable. enough of the murder. enough of destruction. and carnage on your behalf. host: some comments on social media and twitter and by text. posing this question, who is representative spartz representing.

marianne says trump would have handed the place to putin. ukrainian -- the ukraine sided with democratic nations and it drives putin nuts. good americans? hardly. would joe pick up an m-16? how many in congress would go to front lines to defend usa in a crisis? the president of ukraine is a true leader. all these people saying that we don't import oil understand that we should -- that we are importing the same amount under trump. prices would immediately increase and it would be worldwide. this is vince. caller: i have been following

this development and i made some notes here. let me grab them. war is terrible. this war in ukraine is terrible. and putin is terrible for coming in. the news is what i have a problem with. it seems like it is designed to get reactions from people rather than informing us of what the issues are so that it could be resolved. host: specifically in this new story, if you will, the russia-ukraine war, the refugees fleeing, what is your point there? caller: well, you know. there again, you're pointing out all the negative things. war is negative, but why art we

learning -- aren't we learning? why is our policy like this? like i'm going to make ukraine neutral or start a war? which one would you pick? what's wrong with ukraine being neutral? it's like common sense. so explain to me why we have to go to war instead of ukraine being neutral? the news feels like propaganda. i feel like i'm being lied to. that's my opinion. last weekend, it was brought up about putin's in the wrong. putin is isolating. i watched dw news. it is amazing the different news you can watch all over the world through your computer.

dw news out of germany, i did not hear them say that at all. host: dw is developed out of germany -- deutsche welle out of germany. what was the emphasis? what did you take away from the german reporting on the war? caller: i think they are doing the same. not to the extent of american media. they are explaining it a little bit better. they are talking about solving it instead of just bad putin, we need to go get him. joe biden san, go get him. what message does that give? it's a message that -- you know. host: i appreciate you calling this morning. this is reporting from the wall street journal.

as the nation widens, options shrink. the u.s. and the nato allies are coming under increasing pressure to do more to help ukraine even as they face diminishing options for doing so. as russia continues its push to capture urban areas, one of the more drastic options discussed publicly has been a no-fly zone which would stop russian aircraft from launching strikes over ukraine, eliminating a key military tactic. but the idea has been dismissed by u.s. and nato countries. they write that creating a continuous effective no-fly zone over ukraine with several nato nations would require several hundred planes not only to uphold the no-fly zone but to support those aircraft maintaining the no-fly zone. in addition, air forces across multiple nations would have to coordinate. and should russia attacked nato member aircraft, that would be seen as an attack on the 30 member alliance.

let's hear from sean calling from d.c. on the independent line. caller: good morning. i do the same thing. i don't watch the mainstream media because they've never been honest about what's going on. they lied about syria and iraq. i watch rt news and dw news. and youtube. as an african-american, i'm sad about what's going on in ukraine. there's no coverage of what is going on in sudan that has been going on for the past 20 years. the black people over there being in slavery by the arabs. and this whole thing has nothing to do with putin. he did not start this. america did. when biden was an office in

2014. there was a coup to get rid of the communist government and they replaced it with a nazi government. they said they were proud it was an arian government. host: sean. ukraine back to the government. you called the government of ukraine a nazi government. president zelensky is jewish. caller: barack obama was black. does that mean there is no racism in america? host: eddie in oklahoma, democrats line. good morning. you are on the air. caller: all the mudslinging between parties when it should be americans first and not even think about the parties. if you want to talk about

something, talk about how we got in this situation. we have american oil companies putting refineries and built up there oil fields. they did the same thing in russia. they are taking proceeds whether they are doing it or not. there are a lot of innocent people being killed over this and i do not really approve of any of that. but with putin with his finger on the button, he will annihilate the whole world if he has an opportunity. i do not want to go to hell. i do not know, it is really sad that the united states cannot come together and get along. remember back when khrushchev was in russia, he made the statement that the united states

would fall without a single shot. we would fall from within and i guess we are in that situation now. i wish somebody had the right answer and it is not me. host: there is more ahead here on "washington journal." in the next hour, different views from members of congress. up next, we will talk to democratic representative mikey cheryl from new jersey. we will talk about the ukraine war and later, a member of the appropriations committee, the republican congressman from oklahoma, tom cole. ♪ >> american history tv saturday

on c-span2, exploring the people and events that tell the american story. at 2:00 p.m. eastern on the presidency in one of our series, first ladies. we will look at the role of the first lady, their time of the white house, and the issues important to them. this week will feature lady johnson. >>c it was too much looking down and i think it was a little too fast. not enough change of pace. >> at 9:00 p.m. eastern as president biden names judge ketanji brown jackson as his nominee for the supreme court, we take a look at senator biden's time on the senate judiciary committee with highlights of his questionings during several confirmation hearings including retiring justice stephen breyer, ruth bader ginsburg, clarence tallman's, and john roberts. watch american history tv saturday on c-span2 and find a

full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at c-span.org/history. ♪ >> "washington journal" continues. host: representative mikie sherrill is from the 11th district in new jersey. she is a member of the house armed services committee, 10

year navy veteran. welcome to "washington journal." guest: thanks for having me. host: that me ask you about the u.s. and nato in the ukraine war. are we doing enough? guest: as you may know, i had the opportunity to go to ukraine a couple of weeks ago with the foreign affairs committee. i sit on the house armed services committee and i have previously been a russian policy author and i was in the navy at the european headquarters. i wanted to go and assess what nato was doing, if we were doing enough. we stopped first in brussels and spoke to our nato allies. under the previous administration, our relationship with our allies had become frayed. i had never seen our partnership stronger. i had been working with our allies for many years now. i have never seen the partnership stronger.

we acted in concert with our european allies and when i went to ukraine and spoke to president zelensky, i brought that message of unity and i was incredibly impressed at the will of the ukrainian people. he told me, as a member of the house armed services committee, i am here to assess if you have what you need to fight the russians. and he said, he talked about what we had provided, what he could use and then he said i do not need troops because we will fight the russians. certainly, the bravery we have seen from the ukrainians, the will to protect their homeland has truly been inspirational. host: you were quoted a week ago, "cheryl says -- sherrill says the u.s.-nato gave putin every opportunity to change

course." guest: he has decided he is going to work to take over ukraine. the invasion has not gone as he had hoped it would go, as his military had hoped it would go. we have seen the convoy and they are not making the headways that they wanted to. they certainly have a tough road ahead, what we have seen some successes, especially in the south from the russian forces. but i think this is a longer proposition, one that putin has been surprised to see the will of the ukrainian people. he thought that there would be a lot of people supportive of russia. there are a lot of russian speakers there but this is not 2014. in 2014 russia invaded and took over areas of ukraine. but i think what that did was to

consolidate the will and the sovereignty of the ukrainian people and part of that national identity is against russia, against russian occupation. one woman said to me she knows what goes on in the areas russia controls. if you post about putin, you get thrown in jail. the ukrainian people know what is at stake and they are willing to fight for it. host: congresswoman mikie sherrill from new jersey with us. we welcome your calls and comments. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents and others, (202) 748-8002. some of your republican colleagues have said about the president in terms of delivery of aid, it has been too slow. what is your view? guest: we were working very hard. our intelligence community has been incredible. the work that they have done,

the professionalism, it really has been jaw-dropping how they have been able to provide that intelligence and what that intelligence has done is to consolidate our allies. we have heard again and again from our allies that they so appreciate the information we are providing them, the information sharing we are doing with them. if you recall, putin wants to divide the world into the u.s., russia, chinese spheres of influence and to critically -- to totally cut out our european allies and the ability to provide that democratic leadership has been so important. we have been working to get the ukrainians the assets they need to fight this battle. we started, certainly once we begin to understand russia was going to invade, we worked

with our european allies and they have provided quite a bit of material. we have also put forces in our nato allies states that surround the region because places like poland and romania are very concerned that putin will just keep going and see moves -- as he moves through ukraine. we have provided a great deal of support and we are providing more. host: should we be surprised by that number now, one million refugees, according to reports? guest: the pictures are so sad, to see what putin has done with this unprovoked war. remember, the united states, before no one had fired a shot, he decided to invade. to see the refugees, it really is heartbreaking. i think that is an area that we

will need to provide support. host: we talked about this before you came on the air with our viewers and the headline, zelensky urges president biden for a no-fly zone. what are your thoughts about a nato no-fly zone? guest: president biden announced a no-fly zone for russians over the united states. many of our european allies have instituted different no-fly zones. i certainly am in favor of putting as many constraints on putin and the russians as possible. host: do you think that should be in military, that you, nato, and american jets enforcing some sort of military no-fly zone over ukraine? guest: i do not see going to that extent right now. remember, what we want to do is protect our nato allies, give

the ukrainian people all the support they can to fight russia , but at the same time, russia is a nuclear power and we do not want to get into a hot war with russia. host: dee ford we get to callers, let me ask you about the money -- before we get to callers, let me ask you about the additional aid to ukraine. $6.4 billion. $3.5 billion from the defense department. $2.9 billion from the state department. where does that stand in terms of getting passed? guest: we are passing our omnibus package now. the president would like to see that in the on the biz. we are working hard. i am not sure if the timetable is going to work, but we are working hard to come to an agreement on how we will provide support for the ukrainians. host: representative mikie

sherrill, a navy veteran and a graduate of the naval academy. she represents the 11th district in new jersey. we will go to shalimar, florida and here from the republican line. caller: good morning. i have been listening to people talk about crimea in 2014 and trying to blame it all on president obama and joe biden. but wasn't paul manafort in ukraine handling the election of putin in 2014 before they invaded crimea? wasn't that an initiative when paul manafort came here and headed up trump campaign, we get a report and bill barr put that down. i cannot say i have read the entire mueller report, but i

read the indictment that came out long before the report did and it is amazing. i wonder if we had listened to what was in the mueller report, would we be here today? as soon as trump got in office, he fired comey on the ninth of may and on the 10th, he had lavrov in his office and we did not find that out from our sources in the u.s.. we found that out from russian tv. and that ended up with the first impeachment and then we had an insurrection. tucker carlson is on fox news and fox news and tucker carlson are on rt. and i am wondering is vladimir putin listening to tucker carlson and getting his own -- host: we will let you go. congresswoman sherrill? guest: certainly pieces of the

mueller report were incredibly disturbing. the russian misinformation campaigns that we saw in our election system tried to sow discord. not in 2016, trying to weigh in on one side. really trying to sow discord, trying to break this country apart, which to me was jaw-dropping in some of the ways they did that. and then the holding up some of the weaponry to ukraine was really upsetting to me. this is one of the things that led to the first impeachment of president trump, as many of your viewers know. ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons with the understanding that it would be protected. we did that by giving them certain pieces of equipment like java lens.

we had given them the javelins and the trump administration withheld those in an attempt to strong-armed the ukrainian government to do its will. that also certainly as we are thinking about enforcing, getting the support the ukrainians need, how important that is in we have seen that over time. i agree, the mueller report and some of the revelations regarding russian interference here, is very concerning. host: based on your experience, how concerned are you with the recent decision by belarus to re-arm with nuclear weapons? guest: i think, like everyone, i take any discussion of nuclear weapons very seriously. i am very opposed to belarus re-arming. i am also concerned it is hard to understand, your previous caller discussed putin's mindset

and i think we are having a difficult time understanding where he thinks this is going to end because it seems from the outside, things have gone very poorly for him. he did not want nato troops on his border. he now has drawn nato troops to his border. he wanted to divide the united states. we are very united. if you watched the state of the union, the whole house, the republicans and democrats alike are incredibly united in support of defendant ukraine against russian aggression. he does not like the transatlantic relationship, the united states relationship with europe, the nato partnership, and that is on more solid footing than i have ever seen it. it is hard to understand his mindset and where he plans to go from here. host: let's hear from sam in new jersey on the democrats line. caller: thanks for taking my

call. just a few things, i would besiege your listeners and all americans just to get a little more educated. i think another caller earlier in new york talked about the lack of information. but it is out there. but the major media outlets are not publishing it. i do not want to take up a lot of time because history goes back. but when the congresswoman said that in 2014 crimea was attacked , what they are not telling you, no one knows, but is in fact, victoria newland made the mistake of not planning the coup correctly by noticing that the

government was separate from crimea. they have their own government and they decided to have a referendum and they all loaded for independence. so you have that. but we spent 5 billion of our taxpayer dollars to overthrow a democratically-elected crook. we overthrew him in the country is a mess. you do not talk about the atrocities, 15,000 people dead in east ukraine, constant bombing, 250 people dead in the last week. already, we are talking women and children, indiscriminate bombing of schools, hospitals. let's have some balance here. host: we will hear from the congresswoman. guest: i think the indiscriminate bombing that we are seeing in certain areas, even targeting areas like

schools and government buildings, is horrific. and again, why putin decided to -- in an unprovoked way, attack ukraine is really upsetting. but i cannot disagree with the ukrainians decision to fight this because there are things that are very precious and liberty and freedom are those things to me. that is what our nation is founded on, this idea that human beings have a right to determine our government, to determine how we are going to live. we have a right to determine what our future looks like. under russian rule, people do not have basic rights that we take for granted. they cannot complain about their government. they go to jail. they are monitored. they cannot live as individual

human beings in a way that we as americans would recognize. these values, while there is no one that hates war more than a veteran because we have seen it firsthand and it is horrible. again, to remind you, this was an unprovoked attack by russia. but i cannot disagree with the ukrainians decision to fight back. host: let's hear from shannon in new jersey on the republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. i am from new jersey. my son is an 82nd airborne specialist stationed in poland to help with the humanitarian crisis going on in ukraine, which is horrific. my decision is that we should not get involved. nato should not get involved. we should not do a no-fly zone because that does put us

directly involved. and to our congresswoman from new jersey, you mentioned president trump and him withholding aid to ukraine. but president trump made no demands that i know of, but you can correct me if i'm wrong. but you failed to mention when biden withheld aid to ukraine and demanded that a prosecutor be fired that was investigating corruption in ukraine where his son, hunter, and the big guy was also referenced. they were profiting from the corruption of ukraine and receiving money, as we all know. this was done openly and publicly by biden, but you do not mention that because biden is a member of the republican party. for previous caller's, this is not a blm issue. i am sorry, but it is not. for us, a lot has been about

blm. this is not a blm issue. we should all be afraid. fearful as a country of how far putin is willing to take this. host: congresswoman sherrill? guest: the prosecutor that was fired was seen as corrupt not just by the united states, but many of our allies and we have been working on democracy programs in ukraine to end some of the corruption. it is known as a very corrupt country. several oligarchs who had served time in jail are now in the parliament. i just met with them. there is a lot of work being done there. the thing that struck me in speaking to u.s. aid and groups there that while we have seen rollbacks in democracy and the

measures that we take to see how democracies are functioning, we have seen some rollbacks in the region even with some of our nato ally countries. ukraine's movement toward a better democracy has either helped in the wake of other countries moving backwards or it has moved forward in the democracy program. this is a country that wants very much to form a better democracy. as we would say in the united states, more perfect union. they are not without deep flaws. it is why they have not been led into nato yet. it is one of the measures. it is how you move toward ending corruption, creating better democratic programs. they are working toward that and to see that is contrary to other

areas, the movement toward democracy, it is even more heartbreaking to see this fledgling democracy that putin is attacking. host: reporting on the weapons coming into the ukraine from the u.s. and nato allies, "the new york times", brussels is proud to be providing military aid but moscow may see it as a dangerous intervention. how concerned are you, congresswoman, that russia could see that as an intervention and try to stop those weapons coming into ukraine? guest: we are working to ensure that that does not happen. before we send anything over, we are working in concert with our nato allies, looking very carefully if in any way we would somehow create a situation where we would be in conflict with russia.

i agree with the previous caller. we do not want to get into a war with russia. making sure that we follow the rules of war and we are not entering into that conflict, that is something that is a value held by not just the united states, but our nato allies. host: the independent line, this is jim in caller: michigan. -- this is jim in michigan. caller: good morning. i am appalled that we have not done anything to stop russia because they will keep marching east. it is reason to stop and play nice because no one is standing up to them. you do not stand up to them, they will keep rolling east. guest: that is a great point from your caller and something that the united states and nato is very concerned about which is

why we have put troops, added troops. the previous caller's son had been sent to poland. we have put troops in other nato countries like romania, lithuania, as have other nato partners moving to the region to ensure that putin cannot continue to march east and he will be met with nato and united states troops at the border. we have been very clear in messaging to the russians that that is the redline, that we do have article five, these are nato countries. we have article five treaty obligations to defend them. an attack on one is an attack on all and that his strength and that messaging and that understanding that that would cross the redline is very

powerful and it is the hopes that that, combined with the troops that are there, will stop russia from any movement further east. host: we will go to kay in new york city, democrats line. caller: good morning. i'm interested in understanding the negotiations we had with putin. from what i understand, biden's position was that we had to keep the door always open for ukraine to be a nato member and putin's position was the opposite, that it could never be a member. i am wondering did we offer putin because you said we gave him every chance, did we offer him the concept of ukraine being a neutrality zone with absolutely no nato, u.s., eu, or russian involvement in ukraine? guest: we did not. that is contrary to our values and the idea of a sovereign

nation deciding its own treaties, its own fate. we were very clear that ukraine had work to do to become a nato partner. that was not going to be happening in the near future. but it really is ukraine as a sovereign nation, the leadership of ukraine's decision whether or not they want to join certain alliances or try to join certain alliances, there are countries in the region who even have in their constitution that they will not join nato and they will remain neutral and that is a decision that ukraine could have made on its own but not one the united states can make for it. host: our guest is in her second term in the u.s. congress representing northern new jersey, the 11th district. congresswoman mikie sherrill, thanks for being on "washington journal" this morning.

the program continues in a moment. the house is in at 9:00 eastern but we will be joined by congressman tom cole, a member of the appropriations committee. we will talk about the appropriations process and more about the u.s. and nato involvement in the ukraine war. ♪ >> i am pleased to nominate judge jackson who will bring extraordinary qualifications, deep experience and intellect, any rigorous record to the court. >> i am truly humbled by the extraordinary honor of this nomination and i am especially grateful for the care that you have taken into charging your constitutional duty in service of our democracy with all that is going on in the world today. >> president biden nominate judge todd you brenda jackson to

the u.s. court of appeals to succeed retiring justice stephen breyer on the supreme court. if confirmed, judge jackson will become the first african-american woman to serve on the nation's highest court. follow this historic process from the announcement all the way to the confirmation process on c-span, c-span.org, or by downloading the free c-span now app. >> book tv every sunday on c-span2 features leading authors discussing their latest books. live at noon eastern, author and journalist with a guest taking calls on immigration issues and the drug epidemic in the united states. his books include "true tales from another mexico,"

"dreamland," and most recently "the least of us." at 10:00 p.m. eastern, kelly wiles reports on the rise of a movement and other conspiracy theories disseminated through online platforms. she is the author of "off the edge" and "why people will believe anything." watch tv every sunday on c-span2 and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at book tv.org. "washington journal" continues. host: congressman tom cole of oklahoma is with us, a key member of the appropriations committee, ranking member of the rules committee. welcome back to "washington journal." guest: great to be with you. host: there seemed like a lot of

unity tuesday night with the state of the union on the issue of the war in ukraine. what is your view on how the u.s. and nato are handling the war? can we be doing more? guest: we can be doing more and i will be happy to talk about that. on a positive note, i have been pleasantly surprised at the unity of nato, the aggressiveness of a number of the countries, particularly germany, which has declared it will file its 2% obligation to nato and has sent weapons, which is a big change in its policies to a country involved with conflict and it is also suspended the nord stream 2 pipeline. those are big steps. i can go on and on with a lot of other countries as well. i think the nato response has been good. i think the american response

has been good. the administration has earned some point and credibility on that. there are a couple of areas i wish they would go further. number one, it is almost incomprehensible to me that we are employing almost 600,000 barrels a day of russian crude and petrol products. that is something we could do without. it will cause a bit of heartburn, but we do not need it. it is basically feeding the beast. we are giving money to the russians and helping in directly to finance their efforts against ukraine. we need to stop that immediately. the president missed an opportunity on this. his original budget that he submitted was far too low in terms of defense. it was a 1.7% increase. both the house and the senate armed services committees

authorize considerably higher numbers than that, i think $25 billion more. those were democratic committees. they disagreed with the president as well. now he should have come out. we need a long and strong commitment on the defense spending front, not only to deal with russia and ukraine, but in the longer term with china and the pacific. those two things would send a very important message to putin and indirectly to president xi of china. host: why do you think the administration has not stopped russian oil exports and what do you think the impact would be on americans? guest: to minimize the pain of confronting russia, i wish they were caught in an inflationary spiral. i would attribute inflation largely to the biden policies.

and i am not alone and that. -- i'm not alone in that. there is a former democratic economist that said the same thing when the american rescue plan was passed. this is going to be inflationary. you will feel it. if we all of a sudden push russian oil products off the market in the united states, you will run the risk of more inflation. i acknowledge that. on the other hand, compared to financing the russian war effort, which you can turn on your television on any station and see the horror of what is going on in ukraine, most americans would say if we have to make a temporary sacrifice, we will do it. we will not on the right the war effort -- we will not underwrite the war effort of the war criminal. host: let me ask you about the white house request for ukraine, the $6.4 billion the white house asked for so far.

$3.5 billion for the defense department. nearly $3 billion for the state department and usaid and this headline says this about that proposal, the aide ukraine throws a ridge into the government funding talks. congressman cole, what can you tell us about that? the short-term funding measure is expiring next friday. guest: i love "the wall street journal" but i disagree with that assessment. i do not see ukraine finding this a problem. it looks like the administration may up the request to $10 million -- 10 million -- $10 billion. i would be very supportive of that. most republicans would be. we are in a conflict and we are not directly involved in terms of being nose to nose with the russian but we have a stay in

the outcome of the struggle. these are people defending their home country against non-provoke aggression. they have not asked us for troops. we have no obligation to send them. but they have asked for moral and material support and we should provide it. i think that is a broad bipartisan position. ukrainian funding is certainly not an obstacle to your budget deal. host: we welcome our viewers and listeners to comments and questions with congressman tom cole. the lines are (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans and (202) 748-8002 for independents and others. you mentioned working with the president on the ukraine aid. is there anything from the state of the union where you see potential for compromise? guest: a couple. i support the president's

efforts on the national institutes of health. he mentioned specifically what is called -- abb special agency connected with our defense operations called barbara, which is the funding of high risk, high reward breakthrough technologies. the president has proposed something similar, i fully support that. we have the amount of money and what have you, but since we are later in the fiscal year than the original proposal, but those are areas i could work with. in other areas, i saw him double down on build back better. he did not use the term, but he tried to resurrect bits and pieces of the policy. we will disagree strongly on that. we just need to get the government funded. that is down to four things.

the defense budget has to go up. most democrats recognize that. the domestic spending proposal has to come down. increase -- to increase domestic spending by 18% and added 40% to the department of education. i could help education, but not 40% increase in a single year. we will have to put the hide protections back in. democrats chose to ship them out. those are pro-life protections that keep taxpayer dollars for underwriting -- some underwriting abortions -- from underwriting abortions. there are a lot of climate change poison pills. if we can pass them through the authorizing committees, that is good enough but we will not put them on appropriations bills and allow democrats to sneak through a lot of things we do not agree with. those are the kinds of issues being ironed out in the negotiations right now. host: we have calls for

congressman tom cole. let's go to joel on the democrats line in michigan. good morning. caller: good morning. i have a difficult time believing republicans and i will backup my statement. in 1999 mitch mcconnell said, i am completely perplexed by those who argue that perjury and obstruction are not high crimes and misdemeanors. trump was charged with the same thing and was guilty of the same thing. in 1998 lindsey graham said a president who does not comply with congressional requests for information is subject to impeachment. trump did the same thing. also, mike pence said that a man who commits adultery must move on. mike, you started working for a

guy who committed adultery. the other thing i would like to say, with all of these voting cages -- changes proposed by republican state, these changes only came because of the fact that trump lost. there was nothing that separated the republicans and democrats that made it biased from one department to the other. the only thing that they did not like was the fact that the republicans -- the democrats took advantage of these changes and was able to vote easier. republicans could have, but they chose not to. host: we will hear from our guest, tom cole. guest: a different point of view than the color. i respect his opinion. basically a partisan overview of everything going back to 9098 or 1999 is just going to put us in

a debate that nothing gets done. in terms of not blaming republicans, i have been a chairman, i am the ranking member of the most contentious domestic spending program which is called labor health and human services. we passed that bill six times in a row. four when i was chairman, two when the current chairman is there. we learned how to work together. we passed it under democratic presidents, republican president. i know how to bargain and work in good faith. i focused on the appropriations process which does fund the entire government of the united states and we are working hard with our democratic colleagues right now to find common ground. we will do that. i will not rehash history or try to respond to what other people said 25 years ago. i can give you a litany of

republican complaints about democrats that can go back to fdr. i do not think it is productive and i am not sure either side is historically very accurate. host: the republican line in akron, ohio, james, go ahead. caller: i have two questions for congressman cole. iq hearing that the keystone pipeline is the reason that the oil prices have increased and i was hearing yesterday that it was due to russia helping to increase the price of oil. the other question was this. on the keystone pipeline, my understanding is that the pipeline was going through the indian reservation and they did not want it and sued and won that case. it has been denied at this

anyway and that is what i am trying to find out because i am hearing three or four different things. it was illegal to go through the indian reservation for the pipeline. we have to reroute the pipeline around oklahoma to get it to texas where we want to go, if that is indeed the case. the other thing i would like to know about, if that is the cost of the increase of oil prices and why can't we go around oklahoma. guest: a couple of things. for your information, i am native american. i am a member of the chickasaw nation from oklahoma. the keystone pipeline in oklahoma was built without any controversy at all in oklahoma. the controversy you are referring to is around what is called standing reservation which is a sioux reservation in the dakotas. you are exactly right.

if indians did not want a pipeline, they have every right to prohibit it. it was not built through the reservation, but it was close. it was a few hundred feet. that needs to be addressed. that needs to be changed. your question about whether or not this is what caused the increase in prices, i would say it is a factor. it is not the main factor. the main factor is number one, the president, when he stopped the keystone, which would deliver over 800,000 barrels a day of canadian oil into the united states, some of which would stay here, some of which would be exported to other markets. let me make the point, canada was very much in favor of doing this and we run a pipeline called the alaska pipeline which brings american crews from alaska down to the lower 48. the canadians have been wonderful friends and partners of ours and stopping the

keystone pipeline was an affront to them and economic damage to them and they did not deserve that. they have been good partners to the united states, firm allies, and firm friends. this was actually a concession not to the native american movement, but the environmental movement. it does not want to use fossil fuel. in terms of driving up price, and the president decided to stop new leasing and expiration on federal lands, there is probably a bigger factor in the short-term. federal lands constitute 20% of the surface area of the united states. in the west, they are extraordinarily mineral rich and full of oil and gas deposits. the president shopped new offshore drilling and exploration. oil and gas prices were going up before russia entered ukraine, going up dramatically.

we can blame the biden administration for that. we had an economy with a 3.5% unemployment rate pre-covid that no one was complaining about the price at the pump because it was over one dollar less than it is today. this is a policy-driven shortage and the president from a more disappointing aspect of his address, he reversed his own policies. these were things he announced on day one, like the most important thing in america was to stop the keystone pipeline, to stop oil and gas exploration on federal lands. those are shortsighted policies and they enhanced the power for putin, of other autocracies like opec, they put america, which was energy independent, at the mercy of foreign suppliers. that is bad energy policy and bad national security policy and you are seeing the consequences play out right now in ukraine and right now the prices you pay

every time you fill up. host: a question on domestic oil production from linda from texas on twitter who asks, "oklahoma is the fifth largest producer, 522,000 barrels of oil. will the state increase their production?" guest: we absolutely will. we are doing everything we can to develop the reserves we have. in texas, we have done that for over 100 years. we are a believer in that. does it need to be done responsibly? yes. can we do it in ways that lower the carbon? natural gas has done more to curtail the carbon output of fossil fuels. we are a big wind power state. we are number two in the country.

over 40% of our electric grid is wind-generated so we believe in renewables. we believe in all the above but we want to do everything we can to contribute to america's energy independence and to make sure that democratic countries all over the world have a secure energy supply and they are not held hostage by putin and the russians who are a considerable energy producer in their own right and a much bigger energy exporter than the united states. host: hear from michael in arkansas, independent line. caller: good morning. i'm independent. i want to say something. i am a disabled veteran that is homebound so i watch c-span. it is boring as all get out. i go to the v.a. for treatment,

which is joke. i can watch my grasp bro -- my grass grow. i have seen you try to cross the aisle and i respect you for that. you are the only republican i have seen in congress. what i ask you to do is extreme from north georgia, they are ridiculous people. put a band-aid on the. do not sit there and blow about how bad the other side is. that is all they say. he is a meronek, he -- he is a moron. example it is my statement and i

appreciate you for taking my call. guest: i appreciate your statement. i think most people prefer when we work together. let me give you an example of where we do and it gets lost in turmoil. in 2020 we had covid. in february, we had all of the disruptions economically in the spring and summer and we were in a very bitterly divisive presidential campaign. yet, congress passed five covid relief bills, $4,000,000,000,000, overwhelming majorities on both sides of the aisle supported it. all of the appropriations bills, $4.5 trillion. right now we are talking about potential government shutdowns. all of it got done within the calendar year. it was overwhelmingly bipartisan. congress on a bipartisan basis

overrode the president trump speech over the national defense authorization act because he wanted to attach something to it, which was both republicans and democrats agreed with on reining in the high-tech companies, reducing their liability deductions. but we did not want to partisan the defense bill and we did that. we rejected the president's veto. congress can work together. i think your point about not vilifying the other side, there are some democrats i disagree with on many issues. i am a republican and conservative for a reason. i try not to vilify anybody personally and quite frankly, there are a lot of folks i disagree with seven or eight times out of 10 but on the ninth or 10th time, we can get something done. my good friend, the chairwoman of the full committee, one

democrat once called us they are couple -- the odd couple. she is theatrical, stylishly dressed and flamboyant. on the other hand, we have passed six of the most contentious bills and we each voted for final passage all six times. we did not agree initially. we marked down our positions, but we worked together and got all six across. we are in that process right now. she is chairwoman of my subcommittee and also chairwoman of the full committee and are ranking republican, they are both fantastic appropriators. tough-minded, but they know how to deal. there is more bipartisanship than you might think. even recently on the house floor, major postal reform bill passed with a big bipartisan

vote. major bill on sexual harassment about providing additional options for the victim and not finding them to arbitration agreement unless they chose to do so, we saw some of the most conservative republicans, some of the most liberal democrats working together to get it passed in a bipartisan pashton. both of those bills are in senate right now and i predict both of them will pass and they are a major piece of legislation. sometimes, what is covered, but when you cover conflict, you do not cover consensus. when you work together, sometimes you do not see it very much. when we are at odds with one another, it is more interesting and gives more coverage. but your basic point about being civil in debate, i could not agree with more. i serve on the rules committee which is by nature a very contentious committee. i am the top republican. my friend james mcgovern from massachusetts is the chairman of

the full committee. we disagree vehemently. if you watch that committee, it is one of the most civil committees in congress because chairman mcgovern set the example for the entire committee and i support that. i think he is right. we can disagree without throwing rocks at one another or denigrating one another. your point about that is important. that attracts attention, when people do it, whether it is on the left are the right. -- left or the right. i'm sorry for that. i do not think it is helpful to the process. most members are quite respectful of the other members on the other side. it probably does not come through as clearly and as obviously as i wish it would to anyone looking at the media. host: just a few minutes left with the house coming in at 9:00 eastern, we will go to van out

of chesterfield, virginia. caller: good morning. we are getting oil from canada, russia, then why are we building the alaskan pipeline? how many barrels are coming from there day? a lot of it goes on the market but you told us it was going to help the prices in the country. nobody talks about that. i heard the gentleman earlier say -- it was you that said the alaskan pipeline but to me it seems like a waste of money because if you are pouring 600,000 barrels a day from russia and canada and we have refineries in texas and louisiana, what was the purpose? not helping the people in this country. the people in alaska get a check every month. where is all of that oil going? host: let you go.

-- we will let you go. guest: first of all, people in alaska are americans. they have treasured -- structured their natural resources the way is important -- appropriate. if you do not think it is important to get oil from alaska, you will see your gas go through the roof. i am very grateful to the people in alaska and what they do to produce gas for the rest of america. in terms of the alaska pipeline, let's thank our friends in canada for letting us run a pipeline the length of their country that contributes to our energy security and keeps prices reasonable in america. and a -- they do not have the same privilege of building a pipeline through our country. most people do not realize president obama went to oklahoma to celebrate the completion of the first leg of the alaska

pipeline from oklahoma all the way down to the gulf in louisiana. it is the critical length going into canadian oil fields that president biden decided to spend and it cost us 10,000 jobs and 800,000 barrels of oil per day. the other thing i would say, where is all this going? look around. americans have the cheapest energy in the world. we all complain about our prices. go buy a gallon of gasoline in france, or israel and you will see how lucky we are. we have the cheapest electricity in the world. by the way, if any of you are looking to locate your business, come to oklahoma because we have the cheapest electricity in america and we are proud of that and we are proud of the men and women that produce the product that let us do it. host: i think you can appreciate it.

we appreciate you talking to our viewers and listeners here on "washington journal." that will do it for the program. we are back tomorrow at 7:00 eastern on "washington journal." up next, the u.s. house into session. live coverage on c-span. aplain kibbun. chaplain kibben: will you pray with me? almighty god who dwell in your place, hear the prayers of those who reside in the torment of these times. in these harrowing days when nations rage and war threatens to upend this fragile world, we call to you with humble hearts that you would speak into our conflicts and bring order to our chaos. may this be a time for our self-reflection. how have we played a part in the instability of the world's