>> c-span is your area did -- unfiltered view of government. we are sponsored by these public companies. >> charter has invested billions upgrading technology, empowering opportunity in communities big and small. >> charter communications supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> abortion rights activists and supporters held a rally in washington dc in an effort to

prevent a possible supreme court repeal of roe v. wade. watch saturday night on c-span. ♪ 4. borings grow up shortages such as in electricity -- warnings grow of shortages such as in electricity and food. we are asking you if you have been affected by supply shortages? if yes, the number is (202) 748-8000. no, the number is (202) 748-8001 . and if you are a business owner who depends on supplies, you can call (202) 748-8002. also send us a tweet -- a text

at (202) 748-8003. tell us your first name and city and state. we are on social media, facebook.com/c-span, and you can send us a tweet at c-span wj. we will hear from the president as well as senator mitch mcconnell. here is the new york times. the article is titled the baby formula crisis. it goes on to say that a potential bacteria outbreak led to the february shutdown of a michigan factory that makes baby formula and the plant still has not reopened. the article continues quoting several parents who are struggling to feed their infants. here is president biden. he spoke yesterday about what his administration is doing to alleviate that shortage. [video clip]

>> number one, we are releasing guidance today to all the states on possible flexibilities in the wic program, because there are very strict guidelines. if you have wic, you can purchase a certain amount of formula but not more. the problem is packaging issues are becoming a difficulty. we are changing it so that the program -- that with the program, you can buy what is on the shelf. it is the top issue raised with me, so the flexibility in formula stock should not depend on whether you have a packaged in what exactly meets the requirement for that -- for people on the wic program. secondly, the fda just issued a statement. i was on the telephone. by the way, on the wic program,

when i spoke to walmart and major distributors for an hour or so yesterday or the day before, i cannot remember, they wanted this flexibility because they did not want to be violating the law. secondly, the top issue retailers raise -- the fda issued a statement about importation, importation of formula from abroad. the fda has been looking at and will be working with manufacturers to facilitate importation of formula from abroad from places like europe where we can get more product on u.s. shelves. that's underway. in a matter of weeks or less, we will be getting significant formula on shelves. the fda will also import and maintain the same high safety standards. host: that was the president speaking yesterday. now we hear from the senate minority leader, mitch mcconnell, who says the

administration dropped the ball on those baby formula shortages. [video clip] >> parents across the country are struggling to get their hands on the infant formula their babies need. here are just a few of the letters i have received from parents and grandparents in my state. "we have been struggling to give formula for our granddaughter for months now. the situation has turned dire." "my son ezequiel has needed to switch what he uses twice since birth since the -- birth due to the shortages." "we traveled from lexington to washington, d.c., but every place we stopped had empty shelves of baby formula." this situation has been unfolding in slow motion over several months. much of it stems from a recall that resulted in a plant being shut down, but it seems that

while president biden's of ministry should end the fda knew all about this -- president biden's administration and the fda knew about this as it developed, they have failed to get things back online as fast as possible. both republican and democratic senators have asked the white house and fda for answers and gotten very few. the administration has got to be more proactive and forward leaning. i understand yesterday a white house spokeswoman was not even sure if they had a point person for this problem, or if they did, who it might be. even before the acute shortages, soaring costs were already squeezing families. inflation figures show the price of baby food has skyrocketed 13% in just 12 months. overall, food inflation is 9.4% year-over-year, the worst year for food inflation in 41 years. it should not be this hard for

americans to feed their families. parents need president biden and his team to step up to the plate. host: that was senator mitch mcconnell talking about baby formula shortages. those are not the only shortages. look at the wall street journal. it says that "electricity shortage warnings grow across the u.s." the article says that "from california to texas to indiana, grid operators are warning that power generation capacity is struggling to meet demand, a gap that could lead to rolling blackouts during heat waves or other pp. 's as soon as this year." have you been impacted by supply shortages? if yes, you can call (202) 748-8000, no, (202) 748-8001, and if you are a business owner

and depend on supplies, (202) 748-8002. we will start with rob, who says no in new york city, new york. hi, rob. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. i just want to tell you what a great job i think you do. i have just become aware of the recently, in the last couple of months. you are absolutely fantastic. keep on going. keep on trucking. i have been fortunate, not really affected by the shortage situation. and i am a democrat but i don't understand why -- i think there's a thing the president can enact, a national emergency distribution thing -- you probably know what i'm referring to. host: the defense production act. caller: with this baby formula,

i heard on the news yesterday they were talking about -- and i think to myself, i may democrat. i love my president. but this should be a no-brainer. and not to switch gears, the title 42 with the covid, thinking about keeping it, what's to think about? sometimes you cannot be too liberal in this world. i consider myself a liberal but not too liberal. i don't know why -- there's too much thinking on certain common sense issues. if anybody is listening in the government, you know, get it in gear and get it done. that is my message. you are doing great. i hope to see a lot more of you. host: thank you. tony is next in waterbury, connecticut, and you are a business owner. caller: good morning.

i echo the previous caller's remark. great to see a fresh face on c-span. i am a food-service person and businessman and i'm one of those biden supporters with voter's remorse. i don't watch the news too much. i watch more of the financial stations. and this is terrible. you know, bacon went from $20 to $40? i have to deliver my food, my diesel prices for my trucks, it just went up to -- god, it is so high. and i'm watching that baby formula because i have children in grandchildren -- children and grandchildren. you know where you can get baby formula? the southern border. it has cases, pallets of it. that is just unheard of. it is so crazy.

i am watching my 401(k) go down, my expenses go up. host: tony, since you are in the food business, have you seen food shortages, or is it just a matter of the prices going up so high? caller: for a while, there were chicken shortages, barry shortages. shelves are empty. it is crazy. i don't understand why these people are doing what they are doing. they are bringing us into -- it is not going to be a recession. it is going to be stagflation. toward the end, the clip you played, he doesn't know where he's walking. he turned to the left and someone said no, no, turn to the right. my god. see if he has got a cognitive issue here. then again, i don't want harris

either as a president. we are just messed up. i'm sorry. host: tony brings up food issues. here's "the hill." it says that "biden seeks to boost u.s. production to boost u.s. production to deal with food shortage. on wednesday, he announced new actions to boost production on u.s. farms to combat global food insecurity during russia's invasion of ukraine." essentially, ukraine is the world's largest producer of wheat, and it has 20 million tons of grains in silos. biden said the question is whether that will get to the global market given the war. here is his quote. "if those grains do not get to market, an awful lot of people in africa are going to starve to death because they are the sole supplier of a number of african countries." he blames russian warships in the black sea for preventing

ukraine from accessing its ports and shipping product. let's hear from darnell in philadelphia, pennsylvania. you say yes. caller: yes. i have been impacted. very early in the pandemic, i ran out of milk. there was a situation of no milk. i will say, it was not a total surprise to me, because i knew there was a theory out there that was very weak and hanging on a shoestring. the shortage is another example. we live on beliefs that are hanging on a shoestring and always were, the whole supply system scenario hanging on a shoestring. i would also say that i wish we didn't do the shut downs. i wish we didn't do the shut downs. it is a tough time i wish we would have pushed through instead of shutting everything down. and that's the core of how i

think things were. we always were on a shoestring and i regret the shut down. host: all right, darnell. next up is john in pennsylvania. hi, john. you are a business owner. caller: yes, i am. thank you for having me on, mimi. i am a small business owner and i am devastated. host: what kind of supplies do you depend on? caller: everything -- gas, fuel, chemicals. i clean. i do pressure washing, so houses, decks, pools, anything outdoors practically. to give you one example, bleach, which i use a lot because of mold and everything, and i would buy not the clorox but the generic brand. it used to be $.99. it is now over five dollars a gallon. host: are you still able to find

it though, john? caller: oh, you can find it. i couldn't find cap food for a while. now coming once in a while. now sometimes it is there, once in a while the shelves are bare, so it is hit or miss with the cat food. it is one crisis after another. i don't understand how much the american person -- i mean, if you are making 300,000 dollars a year, you might be a little irritated, but if you are making $50,000 a year, you are getting slammed, i am telling you. you cannot save nothing and you are just working to pay fuel and these rising costs at the grocery stores or wherever you get supplies. but, yeah, the other thing i would like to say is this, ok? if donald trump was in there, everybody would be screaming impeachment, get this guy out of

office, even the republicans would. i don't see why people have the outcry -- people don't have the outcry they would if a republican was in office? we have to be consistent here. we cannot walk around with blinders on, oh, i will just go with the party because i am a democrat. i will tell you i have been a democrat since i was 18 years old and i will tell you this is not the democrats. i was warned for decades that all they can do is tax, inflate, spend, and start foreign wars. thank you for letting me start. host: thank you. mark in new york, new york, what kind of issues are you affected by? caller: hello. thanks for not blocking my call. i was going to talk about the same thing. donald trump.

the question is what? host: how have you been impacted by supply shortages? caller: well, i think -- i mean, i'm really not worried too much, but when i look at the supply shortages, not being able to get baby formula, that's pretty bad. host: mark, have you personally been affected by supply shortages? caller: well, i am in harlem, new york. for some reason [indiscernible] i think that, you know, we have that really bad, you know,

president, trump, right? now we are going to have to deal with a democratic [indiscernible] host: all right, mark. let's hear from elise stefanik, republican caucus chair talking about the formula shortage. [video clip] >> people are struggling to feed their babies due to a horrific nationwide shortage. i cannot think of a more harrowing panicked crisis for parents to face than desperately trying to find food and formula for their newborn babies. i have lead on the issue since february and we as house republicans continue to demand answers. unsurprisingly, when i reached out, we received no substantive response. joe biden simply has no plan. in fact, when joe biden's white house was asked about the

shortage, they laughed. shameful. make no mistake, there's nothing laughable or funny about this crisis. as a new mother, i understand personally the severity of this challenge. my son is nine months old. peace formula fed and even in my trip to the grocery store in -- he is formula fed and even in my trip to the grocery store in upstate new york, the shelves are empty. people are having to drive hours to find it. think about the cost of gas for people on a limited income. we are here to push for action from the fda and the biden administration, who should have planned for this months ago. they needed to work directly with manufacturers and hospitals to ensure we have an adequate supply of formula and that parents know where to go if the shelves are empty. host: that is a least a phonic speaking about those baby

formula shortages. we have tweets for you from members of congress. this one from representative davis. she says this. "i'm very concerned about the formula shortage and the stress and fear it is causing kansas parents. the fda and biden administration must do everything in their power to ensure parents can keep their children healthy now and invest in our supply chains to avoid future shortages." here's thomas massie. he says "biden is more concerned with sending billions of dollars to ukraine then about baby formula shortages here in the united states." finally, this was the scene this morning at a local store in granville, michigan this morning. "families are facing shortages," a representative said.

are you being impacted by shortages, not just a baby formula, but others? let's talk to dorothy now in raleigh, north carolina. good morning. caller: this would be funny if it was not so sad. i mean, i am sad about baby formula not being available for the mothers, but it is funny. republicans have always said they wanted the government to stay out of the private sector, so now they want biden to take over the gas companies, the grocery stores, manufacturing, my paycheck, my rent. they want biden to take over every aspect of their lives. that means they are communists because that is what communists do. and i am just amazed at how these republicans get on here and every aspect of their life, they want biden to fix it. the one thing i do notice, do you notice that -- and this is true and i want you to think about it, everybody --

republicans or democrats don't ever call and say the republicans need to do anything. they never say republicans have a plan, they never say we need republicans to do this. they do nothing but complain and they never have answers for anything, and i mean never. so the republicans, who now when the government to do everything, first wanted to drown it in the bathtub. host: bill his next. you say you have been impacted. caller: we have all been impacted. in response to the lady's comments asking leaders in the white house to take on all the problems in the world, i

heard that secretary of defense austen spoke with his russian counterpart, and in that regard, i would hope that the message was weak, the u.s. -- was that we, the u.s., through you and sponsorship, will facilitate the transportation of wheat through the black sea, and the response would be action against the russians in the event they try to stop such free travel of that humanitarian material. that is all i need to say. action from the white house is required. thank you. host: let's talk next to larry in saint stephen, minnesota, a business owner. hi, larry. caller: howdy. host: so what do you think? has your business been impacted? caller: yeah. i'm a farmer.

we have not been able to get our inputs. host: what kind of inputs? caller: we have a vacuum in the white house. this guy, the guy named president biden. we are going to starve all you people. that will get maybe some action out of the vacuum. thank you very much. host: all right. michael is next in brooklyn, new york. you say no, you have not been impacted. caller: yes. good morning, mimi. i have not been impacted. the outrage from republicans, i want to say one thing. you know, when the pandemic came, and a lot of these issues are caused by that pandemic, we had a president who did not acknowledge it and lied to the american people, and we also had a president in joe biden who

wanted to help the people with build back better and every republican said, no, the american people should not have anything. and here we are. thank you. host: all right, michael. take a look. this is from npr about homes. the headline says "there's never been such a severe shortage of homes in the u.s. here's why." so this talks about the housing supply shortage. they talk about a builder who says he's never faced delays like he's now trying to get basic -- delays like now. he's trying to get basic building materials. here is a quote. "i am getting a client a door. it took six months." carol is on the phone, a business owner. caller: yes. i have an accounting and tax services business and i've been

doing taxes for small and medium-sized businesses for about 35 or 40 years, and i don't know how they're managing to even keep it going. it is not just a supply shortage for them, it is also their rents have gone up at incredible -- gone up in incredible amounts, fuel is an issue, which i don't understand since we only get 1% of our oil from russia. the part about the baby formula is basically a plant that was shut down, from what i understand. now they are not even certain that the deaths of those infants were caused by the formula, but how long does it take to clean up a business and get it running again? we seem to be incapable of looking at a situation, figuring out what we have to do and then

doing it. we have to go and ask 1500 people if we are doing the right thing politically. everything has become political, and it makes no sense anymore, because the people that these elected officials are supposed to be representing appear to not even have a voice or any way to input their voice. i think we need to open the polls every once in a while and ask a question, do you agree with what we are doing, yes or no? do you want this law to pass, yes or no? we've completely lost control of anything. they can regulate this, regulate that, but they are not regulating rents, and things like that have gone up to where people cannot even afford to live. host: i wonder how you have been impacted by supply shortages, if at all. caller: actually, yes. when i need supplies, i

used to be able to get them in like a week, and now i cannot get them for two weeks, so there's issues on that front. there's issues with the quality of what i get when i order even basic programs. they come in and i get seven or eight upgrades to fix everything wrong with them. so i don't know how we can address that, but it needs to be addressed. host: let's check in with bernard next, who is in elk grove, california. bernard, good morning. caller: hi. no, i haven't been impacted by this stuff. everybody is out here, you know, eating. they are overweight. as far as the fuel, the gas, everybody is driving. there's traffic everywhere. everybody is raring to go after getting all this free money.

also, we were just in a pandemic. well, we are still in it. and i'm nonpartisan, but you've got these people, these republicans all out there screaming about the baby formula, and, ok, well, you are a senator. go do something about it. get together like you welded on that stoop and go do something about it. you are not a regular person like all of us that has no power. you sound like you don't need to have that job. you are incompetent. you're kidding me. go find out why -- what the problem is, go work with democrats, whoever you work with in congress, and fix the problem. your president is in the middle of trying to help people when a war. these people are childish and incompetent. it is silly. they are jokes. host: all right, bernard. let's hear from rhode island

democrat david cicilline. he spoke on thursday and blames the high prices and grocery stores on corporate monopolies and price gouging amid the pandemic and the war in ukraine. [video clip] >> and grocery stores across america, the cost of food continue to rise -- the costs of food continue to rise, and there's once again a larger systemic problem. in the meatpacking industry, the top four companies are estimated to control up to 85% of the industry, and in industries across the economy, it is the same. three firms control 85% of the baby formula industry, three firms control 90% of the baby food industry, four forms control 75% of the beer industry, three firms control 72% of the serial industry. if history has taught us

anything, this type of market consolidation is bad for quality, competition and worker safety. capitalism without competition is exploitation. as we look to recover from this pandemic in a way that makes an economy that works for everyone in this country, we need to hold these monopolistic giants accountable. host: let's take a text from one of our viewers, russ in california. "no on supply issues. baby formula taking center stage. inflation, gas, food costs and health care are facing many americans as they wake up every morning. gas here is still up to $7.55 a gallon." carol is in groton, massachusetts. and, carol, you say yes. caller: i am in my late 80's and

i've been impacted because i'm finding that, when i order medication or the doctor orders medications for me, there's a delay. i got an order for medication and the pharmacy still does not have it, and i should be taking it right now. also, i am going to have to reduce. i'm trying to find a place where i can better afford the upkeep of where i'm living and due to the housing shortage i'm kind of stuck, and i'm stretching my income, and i am on retirement income to get by. i would like to say i think biden, with build back better, really ended up giving too much money to the american people so now they are not working. they have no desire to work. they are depending on the

government to pay for everything and expect for government to pay for everything and when he cut off the keystone pipeline, it was a big mistake, and i had a ripple effect that affected everything that's happening in the economy and now he comes on television and, well, he has a plan to fix it? he's trying to fix something he created. as far as baby formula is concerned, i think the baby formula, housing shortage, and a lot of our supplies, we are taking care of the immigrants who have flooded into this country. they are getting a lot of these things and not the american people, so i think that there needs to be new leadership in this country because the present leadership has failed. i want to say that i appreciate the truckers even more than i ever dead. when i'm driving, i let them get

ahead of me, and i'm a very safe driver. these men driving these trucks and women driving these trucks are heroes now because they are trying to get the supplies to our stores that we want. so be courteous to truck drivers because they are trying to get the goods to us. a shout out for them, so, thank you very much for listening. host: all right, carol. on the baby formula rules, here's the washington post headline. "house eyes relaxing baby formula rules." the article says "house democrats plan to fast-track a vote on relaxing regulations regarding baby formula in an effort to boost availability as capitol hill moves more urgently to address shortages amid growing concern from parents." nancy pelosi says this, "it is unconscionable and tragic that, right now, families cannot find

safe, affordable baby formula. the bill would grant emergency authority to the wic federal nutrition program to relax some non-safety-related regulations with the goal of easing access to formula." richard is calling us from louisville, kentucky. did i lose richard? ok. i think we lost richard. call back, richard, if i did something by mistake. mark is in long dale, california and, mark, you say no. caller: yeah, i'm not impacted, but i think one of the problems is technical, right? they didn't really -- i haven't seen a lot of articles on what went wrong exactly, like, was it biological? was it chemical? did they forget to clean up? was it automated? was the process automated? host: you are talking about the baby formula, the plant closed,

the baby formula plant? caller: yes, because they basically have to clean the machinery every so often before they get the product out, so how is that process working? why did it break down? was it technical? werther -- werther technicians, engineers involved? what happened? why did it break down? and how did they fix it? visit management or executives making the wrong decision along this process? and how do we intervene and fix it? you know. host: all right, mark. rebecca is next and you say no. you are in south dakota, eureka, south dakota. caller: i say no because at my age -- i am a grandma -- and

hopefully a lot of people will be grateful, take a deep breath, and for people with a baby, don't feed them formula if they don't need it at their age, and i'm sure they can figure that out. in this time we are all going through a lot of anxiety about the way the world is, the war going on in ukraine, and also, please just take a moment, think about what you are doing, how the impact will be on the generations. love your neighbors and also just to do the best you can for them -- also just do the best you can for them. everyone has to go through a hard time. it goes around, and i'm tired of everyone playing politics. host: all right. let's go to murfreesboro, north

carolina, and we talked to joe, good morning. caller: i did not say yes. i have been impacted by what is going on. what is going on is these companies are being -- is this country is being run by corporations, not biden. biden has nothing to do with this. corporations got this tax cut from trump. trump is the phony used -- trump is the phoniest man out there. people in this country are stupid, basically. albert einstein, one of his quotes was, "racism was something created by the whites." and as far as baby formula, what

did they do before it was invented? they took hand milk, mixed it with water, and gave it to their baby. these days, people don't know nothing about how to do anything. what, they are that ignorant? host: all right, joe. let's hear from the president, who spoke during a trip to illinois, and he was talking about the war in ukraine and the impact on food shortages. [video clip] >> ukraine was the world's largest producer of wheat and corn and cooking oil, the fourth-largest. they have 20 million tons of grain in their silos now. 20 million tons. and guess what? if those tons don't get to market, an awful lot of people in africa are going to starve to death, because they are the sole, sole supplier of a number of african countries --

somalia -- i will not go through the mall, but the point is in the black sea rushes preventing access to ukrainian ports to get this grain out. the brutal war launched on ukrainian soil has prevented farmers from planning next year's crop, the next year's harvest, and they are not doing too darn well in russia either. russia is the second largest producer. but we are doing something about it and our farmers are helping on both fronts, reducing the cost of food at home, expanding production and feeding the world in need. host: that was the president talking about food shortages. we are asking you, have you been impacted by supply shortages? next up, in maryland, is judy. good morning, judy. caller: good morning. this is the most laughable thing i have listened to as far as a food shortage. if people stopped eating so much

and only bought what they need, there would no be problem with food. make some soup. pour in a pot and learn how to feed your children like they did in the olden days. they didn't starve. as far as baby formula, women now her downright lazy. your creator gave you the best food in the world for your children and we want to rely on the man to make something to stick on a shelf to feed your baby. host: what if a woman doesn't have enough breastmilk? caller: then she does like what the gentleman on the phone said, use canned milk like they used to. no one has any business calling this station and blaming joe biden for what god gave them. host: all right, judy.

let's talk to doug next in fairfax, south dakota. you have been impacted. caller: yes. i have. cat food. i'm about to go on welfare to feed my cats, and cat food is made in the united states. i think a lot of it has to do with trucks and getting truck drivers to do anything. and i'm a democrat, a never- trumper, and biden, i tend to be a never-bidener, but they are making it too hard to be a truck driver. when i started in 1976, they just told me to get in the truck and start driving. you didn't even need a license. now you have to go through a big process, and now they are making it where you have to go to school to do it, so it is the government getting too much involved. like i said, i am a

never-trumper, but a lot of this has to do with federal people trying to get money to cheap, getting interest rates down, and trump, he was just as guilty. he was always trying to get the fed to lower interest rates, and now it is down so far, i don't know, it is messed up. i am a person and i don't have a party anymore i don't think. they are going nuts and all they can do is point fingers. they don't do any fixing or anything else. another thing is i have an aunt named mimi and she taught me how to ride a bicycle. host: thank you for telling me that. trish is in seattle, washington. you say you have been impacted by supply shortages. caller: yes, everyone has just by the cost of gas. that's impacted everyone. that has impacted me. how much do i go?

i'm very careful about using gas efficiently. i don't go out for one simple thing. i do it all at once. but i also like to comment on these other callers calling in and going, oh, well we used to do it like that back in the day and age. well, you know what? that is not now. this is today. so we have to listen to today's world. wishing for something that's gone by is useless time, and as an american, i have an issue with the corporations. everything the one of them, the food companies, kroger's, walmart, all those people are trying to make more money, and they said, had it recorded just the other day -- i think you guys played it on your show --

saying, we can keep taking -- we can keep hiking prices to see what the consumer threshold is. look at the pay of the ceo of kroger. it is obnoxious. and we are struggling to get out of covid. people do want to work for that lady who says no one does. that isn't true. people want to work but they have to make a living wage, and if wages had kept up with inflation, we wouldn't have homeless people, people starving. as far as baby formula, i called up congress the other day and asked them, why isn't somebody looking out for this? host: you mentioned the price of gas and price gouging. here's house speaker nancy pelosi. she said the house we consider legislation next week and at

addressing price gouging by oil companies. [video clip] >> next week on the floor of the house, we will have another piece of our lowering costs for the american people legislation. house democrats led by congresswoman schreier and congresswoman porter introduced the consumer fuel price gouging prevention act. families are struggling to pay higher prices at the pump while oil and gas companies are reporting record profits with the seven largest oil companies announcing buybacks that could amount to over $41 billion this year alone. again and again, we see gas prices rise when the cost of oil goes down, drops, when the prices drop, and price gouging needs to be stopped. this is a major exploitation of the consumer because this is a

product the consumer must have. again, putin -- the putin tax cut -- tax hike at the pump is a part of this, and you think the oil companies would compensate for that rather than exploit the opportunity, so what this bill does -- price gouging needs to be addressed, including new tools needed at the ftc to address those abuses. it gives the president the ability to make an energy emergency declaration, making it unlawful to increase gas and home energy prices in an exploitative and excessive way, which is part of the business plan of these companies. host: that's the speaker of the house talking about price gouging. we are asking you if you've been impacted by supply shortages. francis is up next in texarkana, texas. you say yes.

caller: i think everybody has been affected by the shortages because everything is more expensive. i went and bought things that are in smaller quantities now. i drove to a car lot and there are like six trucks there now. do used to be packed in so tight that you couldn't get to anything. so i think everything has been affected by it. to listen to that fool say it is a putin tax height just drives me insane because they killed the keystone pipeline, all these environment regulations imposed on these oil companies, trying to wean off gasoline although there's nothing on earth that can produce the energy gas does for us. host: so, francis, let me ask you about supply shortages.

you said that you have been affected, that everything is smaller, smaller quantities. can you give us an example of something you were trying to buy? caller: i went and bought dish liquid yesterday, palmolive what i usually buy, and it went from 28 ounces -- it went to 28 ounces from 32 and got more expensive. and they are trying to blaine trump -- blame trump for everything. he is the "maga king" if people remember what biden wants to call him. if nato had been doing their job, it would not be in such bad shape. he was the one telling germany not to buy gas from russia, that pipeline is a bad idea. now here it is.

it was a bad idea. he told us china is our enemy. by golly, china is our enemy. if we don't wake up, they will take over us before we know it because everything we are buying now is made in china. host: all right. let's talk to tina next in fort worth, texas. good morning. caller: good morning. i will say that while i'm not really impacted by the shortages, i've learned how to budget my money and, you know, by the things that i need, and i'm not really being affected right now, but i also think that the working people are always the ones most affected by things. if they would raise the minimum wage where people didn't have to work three or four jobs and could support their families, that would help. and then also, you know, with the price gouging, we have billionaires that are

controlling everything. they do not have to worry about not having a place to stay because most of them have four or five houses to live in and all the money, so they actually control everything. i'm really tired of people at the top of making all these decisions for people like us, working people, and they don't have to worry about missing a meal or not having anything. as far as shortages on breastmilk -- sorry, on formula, what happened to breastmilk, to feeding your baby naturally when you don't have formula? so that's all i have to say. host: all right, tina. gary is up next in atlanta, georgia. and, gary, you've also -- yes, go ahead. caller: yes. i have been affected by. everybody has been. i wanted to say to the republicans, i remember when they told us it was a joke when

obama came in and deregulated everything the obama administration had done. this is what society looks like when you deregulate. you have things getting contaminated, price gouging, and things go up. the democrats tried to regulate everything good but when -- the democrats tried to regulate everything, and when we have no regulations, everything goes. the soup kitchen had cars all the way around the corner trying to pick up food. people could not give gasaway that she cannot drink gas. people say that gas prices were lower under donald trump. there was covid when donald trump was president. nobody was going on the house. for the republicans, what is the

solution you have? you have no solution for everything. and when they get pack -- they get back in power, they will not do anything. now they can go out in space and waste money, taxpayers money, that would have been used to bring down the deficit. host: let's hear from a republican, house minority web steve scalise -- minority whip steve scalise, speaking yesterday. [video clip] >> the current state of our energy crisis is because we. through the biden administration have shut down energy production in america. in the midst of dramatically high gas prices, present biden -- president biden announced he

is canceling oil and gas lease sales in the gulf of mexico, where there rich reserves, in alaska, where there rich reserves of american energy that can be produced. president biden said no yet again and this is not the first time since he became president. on day one, president biden started attacking american energy, killing not only keystone but the ability to produce any new pipelines to move energy around in our country so we do not have to import it from countries like russia, which president biden made us dependent on russian oil and was begging putin to send us more while canceling our ability to produce our own energy. you see other steps the president has taken throughout his presidency to make it almost impossible to produce american energy, move american energy, export american energy, and with permits sitting on the desk

waiting to be signed for over a year, not a single new export permit to help not just america lower energy prices but our friends around the world, especially europe, not need to get energy from bad actors like putin, and hopefully putin will be pushed to the side in terms of the energy we get. the president continues to turn onto american energy but other dictators, to go to iran, venezuela, while shutting down american energy. host: that his republican steve scalise talking about energy shortages and we are asking you until the top of the hour have you been impacted by supply shortages? next in alexandria, virginia is james. good morning. caller: not directly, but we people must understand that we have an administration that denies and lied about the

pandemic, had no plan and did nothing but steal from the government for four years, so what do you expect the result to be, you know? each time the republicans take power in the country, they leave it to the democrats to clean up their mess. that is what you get. your vote is what is most important and if we continue to allow corporations to run this, we will continue to have supply shortages so they can go be rich and enjoy life while other people suffer. thank you for your time. host: all right. next is richard in nashville, tennessee. have you been impacted? caller: i have been impacted by family members, you know, with some newborn babies we've got, and one of them is pretty picky, you know? i work for a major food chain

and i won't name it but it is one of the top ones. here is what it boils down to. on formula, we were out of formula two years ago, and i will tell you why. we had a shortage, the pandemic started, and then we had to lock it up because people were stealing from it, and it has been locked up ever since. we cannot get rid of the shortages because people are not going back to work. i will give you an example. yesterday, i had a major order come in, and i do almost $2 million a week in my particular store. what happened was they cannot get truck drivers. one, a lot of them were fired because they refused to take the shot. two, i will give you an example. pepsi rolled in my door for hours late. i said to the driver, what is going on in your warehouse? he said, i don't work for

pepsi. i said, you are not? he was a temporary driver working for a temp agency. some people quit because the job is too tough but they make up to $32 an hour on city runs in the nashville area. host: so what do you think is the solution, more people need to get to work? caller: the solution is is that when you live in a congested area and have transit and all these things that can help you get to work. but when you live lest of the -- live west of the mississippi river and in rural areas and drive 50 miles to work, there's no other solution. you have to lower gas prices. host: all right, richard. next in newark, new jersey, james. good morning. caller: hi. thanks for taking my call. in 1977, something happened.

i was living in the beltway, very expensive and everything. i had a condominium on the second floor. and then some neighbors talked about how [indiscernible] crash and die. host: how is this related to supply chain shortages? caller: i walked out. i lived next door to venice beach and i talked to -- the rich don't care about nothing, nobody but themselves. that is why i am against -- that is why they are against biden, because biden wants to raise

taxes. they hate it. trump and paul ryan gave a tax cut. they are continuing that tax cut of 94%. i pay more tax than they do. host: all right, james. that brings us to the top of the hour. we will continue talking about this later in the program. next, we will turn our focus to campaign 2022 with sean mcelwee of the progressive think tank and pulling firm data for progress, and later, more of your calls. we will be right back. ♪ announcer: next week on the c-span networks, the house and senate are in session. they are addressing fuel and energy price gouging in the lack

of infant formula. there is also the $40 billion ukraine a bill. tuesday at 10:00 a.m. eastern live on c-span3, for the first time in decades a subcommittee will hold a hearing on unidentified aerial phenomenon. it comes after a government report released last year citing 144 uap's but only one explanation. and then, the judiciary committee will look at access to abortion services in response to the leaked supreme court dropped opinion suggesting roe v. wade may be overturned. thursday at 10:00 a.m. eez also on c-span3, interior secretary deb haaland will appear before the natural resources committee on 2023 budget requests for her department. watch next we live on the c-span networks or c-span now, our free

mobile video app. click on c-span.org for scheduling information or to stream video live or on-demand anytime. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. announcer: c-span brings you an unfiltered view of government. we recap the day from the hall of congress to daily press briefings to remarks from the president. scan the qr code at the right bottom to lineup for this email and stay up-to-date on everything happening in washington each day. subscribe today using the qr code or visit c-span.org/connect to subscribe anytime. ♪ announcer: at least six presidents recorded conversations while in office. hear many of those on c-span's new podcast.

announcer: the first will focus on lyndon johnson. you will hear about the civil rights act, the 1964 presidential campaign, the gulf of tonkin incident, the march on selma and the war in vietnam. not everyone knew they were being recorded. >> certainly, johnson's secretaries knew because they were tasked with transcribing those conversations. in fact, they made sure the conversations were taped as johnson would signal to them through an open door between his office and theirs. announcer: you will also hear blood talk. >> yes sir? >> i want the number of people that signed to kennedy the day he died and the number assigned to me now. if mine are not less, i want them less right quick. >> yes, sir. >> if i cannot ever go to the bathroom, i will not go. i will not go anywhere. i will stay right here. announcer: presidential recordings, find it on the c-span mobile app or wherever

you get your podcasts. ♪ announcer: only at c-span do you get it straight from the source. no matter where you are from or where you stand on the issues c-span is america's network. unfiltered, unbiased, word for word, what happens here, or here, or here, or anywhere that matters, america is watching on c-span. powered by cable. announcer: washington journal continues. host: welcome back to washington journal. i am joined by sean mcelwee of data for progress, cofounder and executive director. welcome to the program. guest: thank you for having me. host: we will take your calls

for our guest. our lines are democrats, republicans and independentss. democrats can call on (202)-748-8000, republicans (202)-748-8001, an independents (202)-748-8002. let's start by talking about the organization data for progress. can you tell me its mission, where'd do you get your funding? guest: data for progress does polling and analysis. we get resourcing from a wide variety of sources. we tried to conduct polls. we get some foundation support to support the analysis work that we do and we have smaller dollar donors. host: on your twitter handle

essentially you describe data for progress as "a left-leaning but high quality polling outlet." what does that mean? guest: that was a quote the economists wrote about our organization that we kind of liked the sound of. i myself am -- the ability to persuade people accurately and information that informs decision making. unlike other industries we are able to be judged multiple times a year on that and we are always striving to increase accuracy, stand above the pack, because the more accurate we are at the

reality, the more people believe what we are saying about the vision for the country as reliable. host: tell us more about who your customer is for your data and your polling. is it officeholders? is it the public at large? how do they use that data that you produce? guest: sure. we worked with a number of folks who are seeking to hold public office. we did some polling for senate candidate of pennsylvania. we have also worked with a wide variety of different organizations, labor unions, entities like that. we ask a representative sample of voters questions.

we use web panels, we send them test questions, we call them on the phone, we announce them by mail. folks are looking to understand the environment and have a snapshot of the race. other folks are looking to understand what might persuade them at large on issues that matter to them. and other partners are looking to understand where does their issue stand with the public and how can they increase public support for the issues that matter to them? we also work with a lot of work that reflects the media. if there is a piece of legislation moving through, we will do some polling on that and show it to our friends in the media.

we do a wide variety of polling in a wide subset of what folks are doing. but if you are trying to understand public opinion to move a cause forward i think we can do a good job of helping you understand the landscape and what type of messaging you will encounter. host: viewers, if you are like -- if you would like to talk to our guests, can call on the lines democrats (202)-748-8000, republicans (202)-748-8001, independents (202)-748-8002. let's talk about the midterm elections. we are within next months of those elections. how are democrats doing? what is it looking like for those midterm elections? guest: absolutely. mimi, is it? host: yes. guest: in a midterm environment

after a president's first year in office they tend to have less than ideal midterms for the party. every president going back throughout the modern era through the end of world war ii has seen significant losses to congressional majorities. the only exception for a first-term president is george w. bush who gained seats largely due to the 9/11 attacks. what we are going to be seeing most likely is an environment in which the president's party, in this case the democrats, have a pretty uphill battle. there is a couple of reasons in political science for this. one is partisan balancing. when a party has the presidency,

the senate and the house, voters often say, you know what? i think it might be good to have the president have one party and the other party control congress to give the president and check. there are voters who are strategic to balance the government. the second is differential mobilization. what that means is when a president and their party control congress the other side becomes very enthusiastic. they want to turn out the vote and get folks back into power. the president's party, there voters are less enthusiastic because they hold congress. those voters are less mobilized. in the 1930's the fact that

partisan majorities tried to change policies and voters like things as they are. so the president's party, in this case president biden, are going to have to push back against all of those factors. the president also gets blamed for anything about the economic conditions voters are upset at. say, the rising cost of prices. just objectively and based on historical trends, and based on what we are seeing in the biden numbers right now which have been slipping the past several months since this honeymoon period -- which is the first few months in office -- it is fairly likely that his party will lose seats. host: i was going to ask you what your prediction is. do the democrats the senate and the house?

guest: what i was doing was i was setting up the historical factors that are going to predict that. what i was saying was that there is certainly going to be lost seats. the question is how many are they going to lose? i think that is very much to be determined. there are several important factors but the older i have gotten the less confident i feel making large predictions. but i think it is the case that democrats are favored to lose seats in the house, likely the senate, but i can talk through the different factors that are going to affect that. host: let's talk to one of our viewers first.

ed is up first in pennsylvania on the democrats line. caller: hey. the real progressive agenda is no guns, no wars, no military and a guaranteed job and guaranteed place to live for everybody. i don't hear anybody talking about that. host: sean, do you have a comment on that? guest:guest: i would say i think a lot of progressives have felt frustrated by the difficulty in making progress in biden's first term. the reason that is the case is because ultimately the party gained a thin majority. the senate is divided 50-50 and vice president harris casts the deciding vote which means our pivotal senator, the 50th vote,

is senator joe manchin who represents west virginia, a state that trump won. it is going to be difficult for democrats to pass anything anti-gun, pro-choice, given the fact the 50th senator represents a very conservative state. over the last several years the progressive movement has gained members like aoc. they do represent a very progressive view of the country. they have been important in passing things like the american rescue plan. host: what do you think the strategy should be for democrats?

should they focus on swing voters or mobilizing the base? guest: i think that is a great question. in order to be successful democrats are going to have to do both. the reason is because what we have's and the special elections thus far, like the virginia governor race, is voters are mobilized and ready to turn out. the democratic base still is on the sidelines. i would say the roe v. wade decision is correct and will provide an opening for democrats. i do not want to take away from the very lived experiences people are going to have from that decision, i am just going to focus on the political aspects. going back to the first point i made about mobilization, democratic voters feel real loss in something that makes them

engaged in politics and want to turn out to prevent roe from being overturned, or if it is overturned, to get politicians in office that will protect roe or re-entrench abortion rights. democratic voters could become enthusiastic. at the same time i think they will have to persuade voters because we are going to be in an environment where there are going to be a lot of republican voters in the electorate and i think for those voters really focusing on the economic issues is going to be the strongest message. host: let's talk to christian on the democrat line calling from woodbridge, connecticut. good morning. caller: good morning, everybody. thank you for taking my call. i just wanted to say a quick thing about the guests that

c-span has on. i was hoping if we get to the future, they would have a basic understanding of public speaking. the use of um and uh is so irritating for us out here. host: all right, christian. let's go back to sean mcelwee. you mentioned roe v. wade, what is the biggest issue? is that the biggest issue for democrats? should they be focusing on something else? student debt or the economy? what do you think? guest: i think whatever we are doing in the midterm election there is going to be mobilization and i do not think there is an either/or component. we do need to focus on abortion. i think this is going to be an

issue that drives turnout for the democratic party. once again because when a party is losing on the issue of abortion that creates a loss among voters and that will mobilize them. democrats are probably on the right side of public opinion in terms of full abortion bands. -- bans. contraceptive bans in arizona are also far right. we are going to have to see real improvements in the current state of the economy, prices come down and i would recommend a reconciliation package that includes energy, security and independence in investments as well as lowering the cost of prescription jogs and raising taxes on corporations.

i think that would show voters democrats are taking the rising cost seriously. host: but do you think they have that clear narrative for voters? guest: no. i think the lack of reconciliation package is harmful to the democratic chances in the midterms. i don't want to take away from the very and urgent american rescue plan legislation and infrastructure of jobs, but for young voters particularly seeing real action on climate is very important. for seniors, seeing action on prescription drugs is important. we have been promising action on prescription drugs for many years and many elections and had yet to achieve that. now is the time to do it. it would meaningfully benefit older voters and put us on a stronger path. host: how are the democrats

doing with younger voters? what is your polling showing? guest: we have seen a meaningful slip with younger voters. we may took them for granted who were really upset by trump and his office and that mobilized them to vote for democrats. we thought, oh, those are full-time democratic voters. in reality they were anti-trump voters. we need to keep those in our coalition and coalition on climate is the best way to strengthen those voters in addition to bringing costs and prices under control. millennials are getting older. a lot of people still think millennials are in their 20's but many millennials are in their 30's and even early 40's. those people are affected by

rising cost and the shortage of baby formula. i think bringing down those costs and adjusting climate change meaningfully would be very important for winning over those voters in the midterms. host: let's talk to rob in new york on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning, c-span. thank you for taking my call. i do not think the democrats have a no ball's chance --have a snowball's chance. the law enforcement needs to step up. that last election was stolen and the next will be as well. host: what do you think? the last election, is that still playing in voters' minds? guest: there has been real concrete work -- at least working group discussions to

increase voter trust and elections and i would say on the policing issue, the democratic party, there has been investments in policing. i think the idea that democrats are full defund the police is not an accurate reflection of what we have seen lately nor is it what we have seen in elections. when you think about eric adams as mayor of new york he is not for defunding the police and neither is the mayor of washington. in upstate new york we also saw a candidate who is more on the forum to hold police accountable. there has not really been a large number of democratic candidates running on the defund

the police slogan winning elected office. i am a little skeptical that is something where the democrats are meaningfully out of line with where the public stands. host: let's take a look at an ad from republican senator ron johnson. he highlights the rise in crime. [video clip] >> destructive rights in kenosha, record high homicide, from defining our pleas to releasing violent felons with lower or no bail. liberal democrats created the worst crime rate in decades. senator ron johnson is standing with our brave law-enforcement officers to keep wisconsin families safe. he wants to keep violent criminals behind bars where they belong. >> i am ron johnson and i approve this message. host: what do you think of that? how do you think is the best way for democrats to respond to

those kinds of ads? guest: what i would say is that it exaggerates quite a bit to the extent to which crime has increased. it also exaggerates with the democratic party's actual position on police funding has been. the democratic party has not been across the country dramatically slashing police budgets. the democratic party does stand for real accountability for police officers who commit misconduct and voters can understand that is important for restoring public trust in police. i would say it is not really a reflection of reality and it is not an accurate stance on where the democratic party stands on this issue. but in the minds of voters, crime has decreased relative to the importance of economic

issues and that is where it is most important for joe biden and the democratic party to make meaningful gains and progress. host: let's talk to vicki in st. petersburg, florida on the democrats line. caller: hi there and thank you c-span for having this format for people to call in. i am a registered democrat and i wish i would not have listened to the last comments by your guest because crime is up. i have family in chicago and they have lost a loved one. anyone that is affected by crime and has lost loved ones, whether they are still in the hospital or deceased, this is a big issue. what my question was for the guests is, i am a democrat and i do not believe in late-term

abortion. i do not feel that abortion should be at birth. that is murder. my question to your guest is do you just poll for the issue? it seems some of the things you talked about today is that you ask them first if they are democrat or republican and then you get the response. what i would like to know is do you ever poll people just as americans on these issues before asking their political party? i thank you for being on and i will take my answer off air. host: go ahead. guest: best wishes to the family. that is very horrifying. regardless of whether crime is going up or down families suffering is very acute. for them it is going to be a big issue. on the question of survey methodology, we do ask partisan

affiliation but that is so we can have a representative sample of the electorate. and so, when we are conducting the surveys we ask people for statistical services what party they identify with. we give them the option to identify as independent as well and we use that to ensure we have enough democrats and independents and republicans in the in the sample. we also asked those issue questions. we don't bring those issues around partisan identity. we just ask people where they stand on those issues and those happen several questions after the initial party affiliation. host: let's go to robert on the republican line. caller: he is ignoring reality.

joe biden is doing his best impression of jimmy carter. the democrats are on the wrong side of the house loss, five seats in the senate. we have a mayoral race, rick caruso who was a democrat in name only is leaving the field and the two issues in the race are rising crime and how filthy los angeles is, these are not winning issues for liberals. when you have a major city like los angeles, what is the democratic narrative? who are you going to blame, republicans? this is a bad situation for the democrats. for anyone to think that this will be competitive in november

is shouting at the moon. host: sean, comments on that? guest: i think it is likely that there will be fewer losses than that. certainly we could see a pretty bad midterm. as i said, the trend has been in larger cities for larger politicians to be winning. people tend to be able to distinguish municipal elections from who they want to control the government. while they do give a sense of mobilization, i think the midterm election which will be decided in six months, they will be a referendum on the economy. they will be a referendum on

extremist as well. one thing that is going in the democrats favor, is that the republican party has extreme candidates who are on the cusp of winning the nomination. they would make races more competitive. i think there are a lot of factors that are going to be in play here. i would say that the trend in cities is for work mark moderate candidates to be successful. but as the signal for the midterms, it will be where the economy stands. six months out, we don't have a clear picture of where those indicators will be. i wouldn't put so much confidence on a prediction. host: let's talk to tom in new jersey on the independent line.

caller: i was wondering, with the gas shortages and everything. why can't we federalize some of these large companies and force them to produce oil. i believe prior to world war ii, and as far as the midterms, i can't see how the conservative court let the cat out of the bag. i don't think the democrats have anything to worry about because the women are going to come out in droves. and women control households in america. they will definitely have influence on their husbands. and plus, with kevin mccarthy, i

don't think the democrats have anything to worry about. host: a couple of issues there for you. guest: i am not an expert in energy markets, i would not want to comment too much on issues that i don't have expertise in. i will say that there is a reconciliation bill that has key investments in clean energy and manufacturing that would help us move off our dependence on other countries and have more clean energy production. that could be helpful on the clean energy front. on the question of roe v. wade, i would reiterate that this is going to be a big mobilization issue. there are a lot more independent

and moderate women who are more with the republican party on the issue of taxes, but are concerned about religious extreme opinions on reproduction. the reality is voters are taking into account a wide number of issues. i think abortion will be one of the issues that will be salient enough to be a deciding factor. i do think on the whole, it is probably going to be something that will benefit democrats in the midterms. host: next up is ruth in new jersey on the democrats line. caller: i wanted to say, i am wondering why you said that the

police are not being defunding by joe biden. he got them all to quit their jobs. i don't understand how people don't see what is going on. host: what you think, sean? guest: there is not any evidence of large-scale cuts to police budgets. the american rescue plan included large amount of aid to states and localities to deal with coronavirus shortfalls. it is possible that some municipalities received cuts, on the large-scale there has not been any defunding of the police. the idea that joe biden stands for defunding the police, there have not been any public

statements to that effect. host: silver darrell, washington --silverdale, washington. i would like to get some clarity on progressives. caller: since biden was installed as the president, it seems to me that it is a dismantling of america out of the marxist playboy. destroying anybody who disagrees , indoctrination, open doors,

this is all out of the marxist playbook. guest: i would say that i don't think that the progressive movement stands for any of those things. host: let's go to charles in new mexico. caller: i have democratic leanings, i, myself and independent. both of our parties have gone off the rails. they are controlled by extremists. president kennedy said "ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." the progressives say that you can do whatever you want in the government will take care of you.

there has to be limits and responsibilities and i looked into leading figures of the democratic party. we can give you this, we can give you that, we can give you everything. we live in a limited world. the population is at 8 billion people, we have millions of people pouring into the country with a housing shortage. the democrats don't show any inclination to control any of that. it is madness. host: what do you think, are democrats suffering from a messaging problem? their messages are not getting across to voters? guest: what i would say is that at the beginning of joe biden's term, the democratic party had an expansive agenda. from childcare to elder care,

the agenda has been whittled down. many of the things that the listeners are concerned about will not happen. that is not my personal preference. the idea that there is out-of-control spending coming from the democratic party, does not match the reality. most of the spending has been on the coronavirus and infrastructure. they are looking at a reconciliation bill that has investments in clean energy, and deficit reduction. i guess that there is a problem messaging voters but the reality is, the extent to which we are talking about childcare, that is not going to be happening. on the issue of housing, there

are a lot of local elections in cities that are increasingly part of " not in my backyard" to ease the ability to create extra housing. even if you look at the policies that the democratic policy was proposing, like childcare. this was a set of subsidies that may ensure that families don't pay more of a share of their income on any day or any given month. it is not a handout. the child tax credit was means tested, it was phased out.

to have the income to raise your children without assistance. the idea that any of these programs are handouts without restrictions does not reflect the reality that these programs were means tested, they were targeted, they would help people who have an increasing cost when they have children. childcare is an expensive cost. this would be targeted as a percentage of their income to make sure they don't spend an exorbitant amount of their income on this necessity. host: jim is next from west virginia. caller: thank you mr. mcelwee. i feel that what you are speaking of, it is a battle of narratives.

the battle has to be for truth and reality. politics has been a 24/7 noose cycle across america. who is going to win? as opposed to, what would be best. i am listening to these callers and they keep reciting these narratives about democrats referring to the marxist playbook and calling them socialists and defund the police. defund the police was about how black people were mistreated by the police without repercussion. we can't keep throwing more money at police forces and turning them into the military.

maybe we should spin the money in the police area for different things other than swot vehicles. joe biden never said defund the police. and there are 700 people in jail for storming the capital, 100 cops sent to the hospital as a result of january 6. i think people need to listen, people were talking about dinesh desousa. 60 court cases were thrown out with that stuff that president trump was pushing. host: let's get your reaction. guest: i thought those were all

reasonable points. host: we have carl from florida. go ahead and mute your tv. caller: sean just mentioned before about gas prices, we need more windmills. by the time they get that built, gas will be $30 a gallon. they come up with crazy ideas, if they had a timeline that works. host: let's get a response, we are running low on time. guest: i would say, it is true that bringing on new forms of energy will take time.

that is all the more reason to make these investments now, if we made them 10 years ago we wouldn't be in this position. to say that we only use wind or solar is not true. they would help a whole line of cleaner energy come online. it would replace dirty energy like coal. it is not just wind and solar energy. we need to make these investments now so that we can begin taking steps to get this stuff under control. host: sean mcelwee thank you for being on. guest: thank you for having me. host: up next, more of your phone calls. we will ask you about the supply shortages and how you have been

impacted. and then later, we will talk to matt lewis about his podcast matt lewis and the news. we will be right back. >> book tv every sunday on c-span two features leading authors discussing their latest nonfiction books. at 2:00 p.m. eastern, he talks about six presidents, who he says took on the washington swamp after taking office. and on afterwards, steve forbes shares his thoughts on inflation and is interviewed by gina

smiling. you can watch them any time on book tv.org. >> c-span's the weekly podcast brings you more than 40 years of recordings. comparing the events of the past two today. orrin hatch was the longest serving republican, he was a close friend of ted kennedy. on this episode of the weekly, we will explore that side of orrin hatch's legacy. >> i remember when we sat together, we were from opposite poles in a lot of respects. when kennedy and hatch can get together, if they can get together anybody can.

>> you can find the weekly on c-span now. your mobile app, or anywhere where you get podcast. >> next week on the c-span network. on the agenda, the house is working on legislation about price gouging in the infant formula shortage. in the senate, they are expected to work on the ukraine aid bill. tuesday, at 10:00 a.m. eastern. a house intelligence subcommittee will hold a meeting on ufos. it comes after a government report released last year citing 144 signings. the house judiciary committee will look at access to abortion

facilities. and thursday, at 10:00 a.m. eastern. interior secretary deb haaland will appear before the committee. watch next week live on the c-span networks or c-span now, also click on c-span.org for to stream video live or on demand at any time. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. "washington journal," continues. host: i will be taking your calls about the question, have you been impacted by supply chain shortages? our phone lines are divided by yes, no and business owners.

if you say yes, you have been impacted that number is (202) 748-8000. no, (202) 748-8001, and if you are a business owner who depends on supplies that number is (202) 748-8003. you can also contact us on twitter and facebook. i want to show you something from the wall street journal, this came out this morning. the headline says this, we expect exports to put more pressure on global food supplies. india said it would ban wheat imports that would further strain food supplies obstructed by the war in ukraine. india's director of foreign trade said that the food security of india and other vulnerable countries is at risk.

buyers are depending on india for supplies after shipments of the black sea region have dropped since the russian invasion in late february. we wonder how you feel about all of that and how you have been dealing with supply chain shortages. our first caller is going to be angela in virginia. you say no. caller: about the supply chain, have i been affected? i haven't been affected by it personally. i don't have small children and i don't live in an area of the country that has a supply chain issue. it seems to be an issue the planning on where you live in the country. on c-span, whenever things

happen you don't take questions that the majority of the country wants answers to. like the $40 billion, why haven't you asked people what they have thought about that? he never came to us and explained why they are sending $40 billion to ukraine. it is a european problem. we don't have a dog in this fight. host: in fairness, we have asked that question about the war in ukraine and about what the administration is doing and responding. caller: i was talking specifically about the $40 billion they are sending to ukraine. i would like to see what the viewers think about that. the supply chain shortage, it seems like the whole ukraine and russia situation is a wag the

dog to get people to stop talking about of the deplorable situations people find themselves due to this administration. for that guy to say that there are not any problems with crime. women are being shot and killed in milwaukee. host: let's stay on the supply shortages. next up is shirley in pennsylvania. caller: i didn't know whether to punch yes or no but i need to mute my tv. i just did that. well, i think i did. there goes.

what is america's problem and the world's problem? america has so many serious problems that there seems to be no solutions for solving. i believe that most of america has forgotten god. god who made the heavens and the earth. god has all knowledge and loves everyone dearly. god has an enemy, the devil, called satan. host: i appreciate your enthusiasm but we want to stay on the supply shortage. so next we will talk to james in virginia. have you been impacted by supply chain shortages? caller: i am just a regular person. i am retired but i still work.

when you have a supply shortage of gas, i just filled up and paid $76 to fill up my gas tank. i love to grow food and i went out to buy ribs, hamburger meat, they have all tripled in price. so absolutely, i have been impacted by the shortage. host: are you buying less food now? how are you reacting to the impact? caller: i am buying less food. i do have to resort to going to places that i normally would not buy food from, places like walmart. i think i should go to my local grocery store but i am getting priced out of those places and

it is because of the shortage of supplies. host: let's take a look at press secretary jen psaki. she was asked about when infant shortages -- infant formula shortages will be relieved. >> what will be the timeline for parents on when this will no longer be an issue? >> there is a couple of issues at play. it is hard to make an assessment from here. we are seeing that the supply shortages can be regional and sometimes they can rotate. the issue at play is that bigger retailers have a stronger process to stock their shelves. it may just be that there is a delay in stocking their shelves. it is a good sign that there has

been increased production from these other retailers and our hope is that because there will be more flexibility with wic and being able to buy different kinds of formula. also, the states will have this rebate opportunity will provide the incentive to make it more available. we are looking to address, ensure that there is greater supply on the shelves as long as possible. typically, you have one formula that you give your kid. the challenges for parents when they are reliant on one formula and their child has certain needs because they are sensitive to dairy products or other products. the other part of this is trying

to provide these resources so if they need to know what kind of formula they could use as an alternative? there may be imported formulas that are parallel to the ones that people are giving to their children. we are working on many levers to address this to ensure that when mothers go to the grocery stores they will see the shelves stocked. host: that was jen psaki talking about baby formula shortages. we are taking your calls until 9:15, have you been impacted by supply chain shortages? let's talk to jack in warren, ohio. caller: i have been impacted for the gas and everything else, like the caller talking about meat supplies.

it seems like this administration is not paying attention to the american people. they are giving money to everyone except for us. i have a question for you are you there? host: i am here. caller: why haven't you guys talked about black ukrainians? why don't you talk about all that kind of stuff. we are tired of this ukraine stuff, and his people in america, you are not asking the hard questions that we want to know. host: we hear you and appreciate your call. let's go to charleston, south carolina. caller: i have not been affected. i have a budget for times like this. gas is high, but having some

saved away way helps out a lot. host: let's talk to susan in rockville, connecticut. caller: i was affected by the shortages because i could not get cat food. i just wanted to say, my mother-in-law had 14 children and what they used to do is take evaporated milk and add a little bit of sugar. don't ask the wake people. i remember going to the wic office and i was breast-feeding my baby covered up and they made me go in the back.

i don't know why they push the formula why they do. saying to breast-feed is not empathetic to the women who do not have milk. i would recommend looking up the evaporated milk recipe. you would have to check with your doctor. my heart goes out to your women. host: let's take a look at the washington post, ongoing supply chain disruptions have fueled shortages of a wide range of consumer goods. the lack of baby formula worsened in february after abbott issued a recall for products made at a michigan plant and sold after similac labels. for children fell ill and to died. abbott said that the infant

formula made at the facility is unlikely to be the source of the infections. on wednesday, abbott said it could restart production in two weeks. it will take six to eight weeks for product to hit the shelves. we are asking you, have you been impacted by shortages whether it is infant formula or other shortages on the shelves. let's go to james in mississippi. caller: the thing i don't understand is, when president trump was in there we didn't have any problems like this. and now that we have joe biden in there, we are having all kind of problems. i don't understand what the problem could be as far as the

president. joe biden is not doing what he is supposed to be doing. he is doing other things instead of worrying about the american people. the american people should come first, especially families. he is worried about everyone else. i don't agree with what they are doing and how they are running the white house. they are not worrying about the american people, they are worried about other countries. america should come first. host: a couple of callers have recommended homemade baby formula and here is an article in the new york times, it says why doctors don't recommend

homemade baby formula. some parents are making their own recipes but pediatricians advise against it. with the united states in the midst of a baby formula shortage, parents are afraid of how they will feed their children. some are rationing food, others are heading online to look up homemade baby formulas. pediatricians worn that do-it-yourself baby formulas carry significant health risks. here's a quote from a pediatrician, homemade formula is dangerous for parents. regular formula is fda regulated and is held to the standards that we hold medications. let's talk to denise in florida,

you say yes. caller: i heard that you can switch it to canada and canada does not have a supply issue with formula and they will ship it to you. we are in florida and we are short on water. we have hurricane season coming up in three weeks. we are always short on supplies during hurricane season. why isn't joe biden worrying about people at the border and he does not care about his own people. we need to tell him how we feel. whether it be through the media or the news. too many people are standing by it and i think that's what the problem is. host: let's talk to roland in maryland. caller: how are you doing? host: good.

caller: the issue is we are not looking at why there is a shortage in this country? the coronavirus cause this. when assembly line production shuts down, the shortage starts. what happened to joe manchin shutting down everything joe biden wanted to do. everything joe biden put out there, joe manchin kicked it out. we need to look at where the problem is. host: george is next in missouri. george, you say yes.

caller: i think the biggest problem in the united states is price gouging. the white house better do something about this. this is ridiculous. that is all i have to say. thank you. host: elizabeth is next in north carolina. caller: i am affected by the shortage. trying to find medical supplies to wrap wounds. there is very little gauze on the shelves at the medical providers. it is hard to find saline solution, the things you need for wound care.

i am a grandmother, if my grandchildren were tiny babies, i would be standing at the white house. host: let's talk next to russell in oregon. you are a business owner? caller: i have been dealing with shortages starting with toilet paper and that is about it. everybody knows that was two years ago. host: let's go to gilbert in raleigh, north carolina. also a business owner. caller: our staff is facing challenges in paying for a lot of things, everything has gotten

so expensive. they have not been able to get some of the products that they need and that they by. factored into all of that is the gas prices. we reimburse our teams when they go out into the field. that increases our cost when we reimburse them for gas. that affects them, it affects our profit margins. host: in the products that you sell, have you faced any shortages and products? caller: there has been some hardware items on the tech side for computers, we can't sell large systems because we are missing chips. that is affecting our ability to sell. our ability to get more clients.

it will take six months, nine months to sell large systems because we don't have the components in the system to sell them. host: let's talk to bill who is in albany, new york. caller: the supply has affected us. not only with the baby formula, which is needed for the child. also, pharmaceutical, that is the number one thing now. there are certain companies that manufacture pills and they are all made in china. i was told, 97% of the ingredients come from china and we don't manufacture any pharmaceuticals in this area. there are companies that

supplies certain generic drugs that i take that we can get. i just have to wait. we are waiting months for our daily medication. instead of manufacturing it here in america, we are reliant on china. it is affecting us. host: let's go to yvette in south carolina. yvette? let's go to holly in washington dc. caller: thank you for taking my call. other than my husband that had a prescription that was backward,

we don't have anything vital but we are getting used to this from covid. the reason i called is that you read that statement from pediatricians about formula and i am wondering if that is something they came out with because of the shortage or was that a general recommendation from the past? it seems absurd not to tell people to make up their own thing, it is more dangerous not to feed your baby anything at all. host: are you directly impacted by the baby formula thing? do you have an infant that you were feeding now? caller: no, i said no. host: let's go to w. d. in virginia.

all the democrats, do you miss donald trump yet? deal with it, because joe biden is a do nothing president. host: have you been impacted by supply chain shortages? caller: i live in a rural area and it's hard to get a lot of items. i have not had trouble with gas, but i cut back on the gas. certain groceries i can't get, the shelves are always empty when i go. host: let's talk to jackie in denver, north carolina. caller: good morning. i just want to say that this is the liberate, psychological warfare going on.

all of the high prices and violence, it is all intertwined and we are in trouble as a country. it is extremely worrying. that is all i have to say. host: miriam is up next in texas. caller: i haven't been impacted. i have a small car. i don't waste a lot of gas and i have not refilled it. but i do order my food at heb, the other day i ordered it and i was like what? i noticed it this past week.

i guess i feel for all of the people that are low income. i am middle-class, i have not felt it much. i would ask you to ask the people, what do you think the republicans would do for you? all they want to do is raise taxes. people are saying, when trump was here. when trump was here, there were a lot of people dying. now, we are getting out of this mess. there is inflation and stuff but that comes along with the pandemic. the democrats are trying to figure it out, what are the republicans trying to do?

what are the companies doing to help the people to? host: we got your point and we have run out of time. that will be the last call for this segment. up next, and our spotlight on podcast segment, we will talk to matt lewis about his podcast "matt lewis and the news." >> american history tv explores the people and events that tell the american story. the 1973 roe v. wade case is debated nationally. what the current supreme court justices said during their confirmation hearing. >> accords decision reaffirms the upholding of roe v. wade.

that is the precedent that is settled in terms of the court. >> roe v. wade is an porton president of the court. it has been challenged on a number of occasions and i discussed those yesterday. the supreme court has rear formed -- reaffirmed the decision. the chair of the presidential recordings program discusses the centers project and what the recordings reveal. watch american history tv and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online any time at c-span.org/history. c-span is unfiltered coverage of

russia's invasion of ukraine. bringing you the latest from the president, the pentagon as well as congress. we offer international perspectives and statements from foreign leaders. all on the free mobile app or c-span.org/ukraine. you can watch the latest videos on demand and follow tweets from journalist on the ground. at c-span.org/ukraine. >> now available at the c-span shop. go there today to order a copy of the directory. this is your guide to the federal government with contact information to every member of congress. contact information for state governors and the biden administration cabinet. order your copy today at c-span

shop. "washington journal," continues. host: i am joined by matt lewis. he is the host of a podcast called "matt lewis in the news." welcome to the program. guest: thank you for having me. host: tell us some about your podcast. why did you started, when did you started? guest: i am just a fan of podcast. i listened to 20 podcast. hours a day, it is where i get a lot of information. i have started, around 2009, i got tired of waiting for the

phone to ring as someone who was going on television as a commentator. if someone invited me on to talk, it felt like a good day. if someone did not, i felt down in the dumps. this is really silly of me to play defense and let other people determine whether i have had a productive day or not. the iphone became ubiquitous which made listening podcast a lot easier and a lot more widespread. there is a comedian named adam corolla who was fired from his radio gig. he launched his own podcast and that inspired me to do it.

it has been almost a dozen years now. it is the favorite thing that i do of all the things that i do and my journalism career. it makes me the least money but it is the most rewarding. it forces me to talk to people and interview people and read books. it forces me to do this prep work that makes everything else i do much better. host: our viewers can join us if they would like to call in and ask a question of our guest. democrats (202) 748-8000, republicans (202) 748-8001 and independents (202) 748-8002. how would you describe your politics? i see a poster for ronald reagan in the background. guest: i am definitely

conservative. i am center-right, i am pro-life. limited government, low taxes, low national debt. i am a reagan fan which makes me out of touch with the conservative movement in the modern-day republican party. maybe someday my style will come back in vogue. host: let's talk about politics. there are primaries going on in pennsylvania and north carolina. what are you watching and what do you think is going to happen? guest: trump is what i am watching. what will the republican party be? you see here in west virginia, donald trump endorsed candidates

won a primary last week. in nebraska, it went the other way. you saw j.d. vance in ohio. a podcast guest, j.d. vance when he was a never trump conservative. i think in pennsylvania that will be the big question. will it be the trump-endorsed candidate or not? this is the future of the republican party. will trump be leading the party or is it going to be some hybrid of the ronald reagan of the past and the donald trump party? i don't think we will go back to mitt romney and john mccain. we could go forward in a way that is donald trump or something different? host: there have been several

controversies about madison cawthorn. what does it mean if he doesn't have the support of the republican party? guest: i saw that piece in politico yesterday. it is really tragic. this is someone who seems to be going through an emotional crisis before the public. a lot of us go through trials and our lives, difficulties in our lives. usually, it is below the radar. madison cawthorn was in a very bad accident and it seems by reading that column, the goal he said to get himself emotionally and mentally through that time was to be elected to congress. unfortunately, i think this is someone who is struggling with

who he is and what he believes and what is acceptable to some radical, right-wing ideology that maybe he would've been had he not gone through that experience? i don't know if he will win or not? i know senator tillis has endorsed someone else. donald trump has given cost thorne a tacit endorsement. it will be an interesting race to watch. if madison cawthorn survives it is a sign that you can say anything, do anything and the trumpier the better you -- better chance you will get elected. host: here is chuck schumer talking about the senate vote on

roe v. wade. >> protecting the right to choose at this critical moment is one of the most consequential votes we could possibly take. the american people are watching. the public will not forget which side of the vote senators fall on today. they will not forget who protected their freedoms and they will not forget those responsible for the greatest backslide in individual rights back to the stone age. we in the senate must respond. we must respond to radicals who want to ban abortions as early as six weeks, before many women know they are pregnant. we must response to extremist who want to imprison women and doctors for trying to have an abortion.

and even to friends who provide rights to clinics, they could end up in jail. the hard right ideologues who champion restrictions without exceptions for rape or incenst . forced pregnancies, punishment for women and doctors in zero exceptions for rape or incensed. this is not what america wants. host: what do you think of that? democrats are saying that this is going to be a really big issue in the midterm elections. guest: i wrote a column for the daily beast to say that roe v. wade is going to be overturned. at the time, i wrote a piece

saying that this is going to happen and it -- and it is going to completely upset everything we know about the midterms. at the time, everybody assumed that republicans were going to have a great midterm. i said slow down, roe could really overturn the apple card. subsequently, we saw cases like the texas law that senator schumer alluded to there. it got a lot of lay on cable -- a lot of play on in this in bc and -- on msnbc and cable news but then it sort of went away. i think the abortion issue, although very important, is not the hot button cultural issue that it once was. i think issues like the trans debate and critical race theory seem to have supplanted it. democrats are very desperate he -- are very desperately hoping they can change the trajectory of the midterms by

making the election about roe. and theoretically, that would motivate the progressive base to turn on and vote in the midterms and stem the tide. again, a year ago, i thought that probably would have been very effective. i am now skeptical. i think, politically speaking, this probably does help democrats marginally but i don't see it being a game changer in the sense that i still think the smart money is on the republicans having a very good november. host: staying with this briefly, one more thing i want to show you, which is justice thomas was talking about the leak of the draft opinion on roe v. wade. [video clip] >> the institution i am a part of, if someone said one line of one opinion would believed by -- would be leaked by anyone, i

would say, that's impossible. no one would ever do that. there is such a belief in the rule of law, in the court, in what we were doing that that was verboten. it was beyond anyone's understanding, or at least anyone possible imagination, that someone would do that. and look where we are now. now that trust or that belief is gone forever. and when you lose that trust, especially in the institution i that i am in -- institution that i men, it changes the institution fundamentally. you begin to look over your shoulders, like an infidelity. host: that was justice clarence thomas talking about that leak. let's see what our viewers have to say. we will start with kevin. start. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call.

i have two quick questions. first question -- host: go ahead. caller: senator joe manchin voted against the build back better, he said no to that. i also understand part of that had to do with cleaning up coal plants, making it more cleaner for air quality. senator manchin also gets thousands of dollars a year from a coal plant, when he is saying no to build back at her getting money from coal plants? host: matt, do know anything about the conduct of interest possibility. caller: i'm not an expert -- guest: i am not an expert on this. i have seen headlines on this.

one question would be -- did anything change for senator manchin. was he a progressive environmental activist that changed because he might stand to gain money? it seems to me he is voting and behaving in a way that is consistent with his track record and his political philosophy. obviously money is an important thing and we should avoid even the appearance of impropriety. host: you said you had a second point? caller: can you name or state where it is in the state of west virginia that critical race theory is actually being taught? any proof? host: matt? guest: the thing is critical

race theory is by definition something that would be very high-level taught in law schools. if we are going by the strict definition of critical race theory, i don't think it is being taught in schools around america. however, i think we have seen plenty of examples where certain ideas that are now colloquially being referred to as critical race theory are being taught. a lot of parents have objected to that. it really comes down to a matter of semantics. technically speaking by definition, crt is probably not being taught. but i do believe we have seen plenty of examples around america, including in virginia next door to where we are now, about 20 miles from your caller,

where students have been taught things such as being very race conscious. it is opposite of martin luther king's colorblind society, that aspiration, and i think parents have been pushing back. host: let's go to joanne in georgia. caller: you talked about abortion but i wonder how many trump has paid for. we know we had sex with a 13-year-old, you can google it. and other underage girls. why are we punishing women and taxes even if the woman was raped? they say she has to continue to have that child. it is a war on women.

host: anymore comments on that? guest: i cannot speak to the specific allegations, but i would say that i think donald trump is a surprising or ironic as it to have perhaps been the one who nominated the justices who will come it seems, overturn roe v. wade. it is surprising. even though i do not think that donald trump is actually deeply committed to the right for life because, it may well be that his presidency will be decisive in this debate. host: you wrote in the daily beast where you wrote that donald trump is the glue of the democratic coalition. explain that.

caller: actually wrote this before the roe v. wade leak. even before that, we were seeing the democrats decided they really could not win by touching -- by touting's biden -- by touting biden's accompaniments. so they had to make it something else. at the time, that something else was going to be a donald trump. since i wrote that article, we have seen the term ultra-maga. it has been coined and used by biden. i think roe v. wade will give them additional fodder to try to get the base to turnout. may be not preventing the

republicans from winning the midterms but mitigating the downside. the main point is that democrats are not in a position where they feel like they can run on their own record or on biden's accomplishments. they have to make it about something else. trump will be on the ballot in november, whether he is on the ballot or not. host: let's talk to steve in ohio on the democrat line. guest: -- caller: good morning. i am kind of familiar with matt lewis over the years as a talking head. i consider him part of the culture war, a lot of cultural wars stuff for him. i am a reagan democrat, ronald reagan made me a lifelong democrat.

i have heard the dog whistles, all of the stuff. you could see inequality increasing in the 1980's, economic inequality. we got the social inequality, we know that. it started early. some apologists like mr. lewis have helped the republican party develop into what it is today. what i am going to ask is a concrete question, rather than getting into the culture war stuff. does mr. matt lewis think it is rheem -- think it is important to reinstate the child income tax credit? thank you, i will take the answer off the air. guest: i don't have a strong position on that. but i will say since i was accused of being someone part of the cultural war, i want to plug

the podcast. i also do a show every week with a liberal and it is called the dmz. it is a civil conversation between a liberal and a conservative. i have had jen psaki to talk politics, david axelrod, and also people who are not even directly involved in the political debate, writers like tropical storm and, -- like chuck close term and -- even a basketball commentator. as a political columnist, i am obligated to weigh in on the issues of the day and take

sides. one of the things i love about the podcast is a chance to talk to people, often people i disagree with -- [indiscernible] in a longform. you can have a conversation with someone you don't necessarily agree with. that is my shameless self-promotion. host: let's talk to ron in johnstown, pennsylvania. good morning. caller: i think the abortion issue will be a winner for the democrat party. talk about craziness, rick scott, who is a trump-type republican, wants to tax the middle class and give tax cuts

to the wealthy. i guess he is in a -- with mitch mcconnell. why anybody would want to vote for the republican party after this -- in fact, johnstown is still struggling from reaganomics. we suffered two minutes the, over 20,000 steelworkers. the republican party has not been a fan of the middle class. the middle class has become the working poor under republican or ship. -- republican leadership. they think there going to be such a publican turnout in the midterms, i cannot buy it. host: let's get a reaction. go ahead. guest: speaking to governor rick

scott, right now a lot of people do not pay income tax. they do not make enough money to pay income tax. they do pay other taxes, however. rick scott said i think everyone should have skin in the game. everyone should pay something. if you're not making much, the income -- the percentage would be very low. rick scott said we are all in this together, everyone should have skin in the game. it is not a popular idea, mitch mcconnell did not like that idea . even though senator scott has a valid went intellectually, it is a horrible thing to run on politically. not a great winner and certainly not something you would expect from republicans. that is what the caller was referring to.

i think reagan was a great president. i think reagan won the cold war or certainly was the president -- many presidents were involved in winning the cold war but i give him the lion's share of the credit. i think he restored optimism and hope in america. we were going through a time kind of like today with gas lines and malaise and a crisis of confidence. i think reagan did help us -- help restore optimism. he was not perfect, however. some of the things happening were the global economy started to open up, partly because of reagan and partly because times change. we saw subsequent presidents, like phil clinton who i think also embraced neoliberalism and

things like free-trade and ultimately the downside of that, the outsourcing of jobs. recite backlash with people like pat buchanan. i think right now we are saying that backlash in the republican starting with donald trump cash in the republican party -- in the republican party with donald trump. you can say what you want about the republican party team the party of the rich, but with an increasing -- but today there is an increasing amount of working class people looking to the republican party. i think that is paradigm of the republican party being business is a throwback to a bygone area -- bygone era. host: we have news from the hill which says that trump endorses doug casiano for savanna

governor. house democrats have subpoenaed five gop house members, including mccarthy. i want to get your take on that. do you think they should be cooperating with those subpoenas? guest: i think they should. first of all, i think january 6 was horrific. whether you want to call it an insurrection or a riot, whatever terminology you want to call it, i think it is very bad. listen to things that mitch mcconnell and representative mccarthy said right after it.

they were condemning it in the harshest terms. congress refuses to comply with the subpoenas. here we go again, we were talking about the supreme court week -- supreme court leak and how that is corroding the institution of the court and the damage we are seeing to all of our institutions, including congress. it is a dark time. host: let's talk to jerry in mississippi on the democrats' line. caller: i am a proud democrat. i am praying that grandmothers and fathers and mothers would get registered and vote, call

your children and grandchildren, call them and tell them to register and vote. if we don't have young folks voting, we are going to lose. that is my dream, that we are going to lose and all of the things that could stop this, we must get registered and we must start voting, voting, voting. thank you and god bless america. host: matt, what do you think the turnout will be in the midterm election? guest: i think it is going to be high. we keep seeing a lot of percent -- voter participation. that is one area where a few things we can say is going very well. not to score cheap lyrical points here, but a talking point on the left has been that there

are people dissuaded from voting and jim crow and distant transfer -- and disenfranchisement. but we have seen voter turnout at historic rates. i will not disagree with your caller, participation in democracy is a good thing. i hope people take time to learn the issues and also vote. host: let's go to the republican line next in texas, ron is calling. caller: good morning, c-span. i have a couple of things, one is on this formula. in south texas, formula is plenty along the border for people along the border. secondly, i have a question for mr. lewis.

we have got in america the president, democrat or republican, executive order. what have we got a congress for if we have executive order. tell me where in the constitution it says the president writes the laws for america? i watched it, it is terrible. i will take my answer offline. i have been watching all morning. if you stayed on all day, i would probably watch c-span all day. host: thanks. go ahead, matt. two issues there. guest: i will speak to the executive order. i think that is a valid point. there certainly may be examples where legislatures pass things

and a president can direct specifics of how the law is to be enforced. generally speaking, i think our president, and this is a bipartisan problem, has overreached and expanded executive power. it is not good. this is a bipartisan thing. i think bart -- i think part of the problem is congress has allowed the executive branch to become stronger. if not specifically this -- these executive orders, then letting bureaucracies take over and essentially passing rules instead of laws as well as the implementation. i don't know how to stop this other than congress reasserting

itself way president -- itself or president who takes office and does not use everything at his disposal or her disposal. i think there is this temptation that once you get in office, it is now your turn for payback. you either correct all of the wrongs on day one and all of the wrongs the last administration did. there is a temptation for both sides to do that to reward the constituents who elected you. take a lot of self-control -- it takes a lot of self-control for someone to not do that. host: rudy is next in sun city, california on the democrats line. caller: good morning. matt, you're talking about messaging problems for democrats. what about the messaging

problems for republicans? i am an older black man who seen a lot in his life and the republican party does not seem to be inclusive. i have a family that is more diverse than probably most of the callers who speak on this program. i would like for you to address republican talking points and dog whistles. i did vote for reagan because i could not stand monday of -- could not stand the other candidate. host: -- guest: i think the republican party right now is crazy and radical and horrible. they are also getting ready to win. [laughter] politics is like a free market where if a business does not sell things, they have to close shop.

success is rewarded and failure is punished. the republican party has gotten away with saying a lot while things, but they have not suffered for a variety of reasons. one of the reasons i think is that the country is skewed electorally towards rural areas. republicans can win with a minority of the popular vote, as we have seen happen quite a few times in recent decades. for whatever reason, republicans have been allowed to say kind of radical things and laugh all the way to 1600 pennsylvania avenue. they have not been forced to police their ranks and guard their rhetoric and their philosophy. i also think there is another thing at play.

that is that a lot of albums i have with republicans are somewhat esoteric. for example, my concern with donald trump is that i care about liberal democracy and i think he had authoritarian tendencies. i want to preserve this miracle that we have here called the united states of america. i want to preserve liberal democracy and that is esoteric. to the average person, if you could say i don't have an fabey formula and it is joe biden's fault or gas prices are high and it is joe biden's fault, or they are forcing me to use weird pronounce and call somebody z instaed of -- instead of he or there is violent crime rising in my area. the states are understandable.

they are more comprehensible and more immediate for a lot of americans. this is a rant i know i am on, but i think the bottom line is despite all of the republicans' problems and despite the fact that it seems like they're trying to alienate people and turn off voters, they still are much less annoying and much less people in the eyes of a lot of americans around the country, including almost all of my family who is watching today, hopefully. if democrats want to win, i would encourage them to understand this rent -- this rant. host: we got a tweet from zeke miller. the ap is reporting a u.s. senate delegation led by mitch mcconnell met with ukrainian

president volodymyr zelenskyy in keefe. -- in kyiv. i want to know doordash on the war in ukraine. -- i want to know your -- opinion on the war in ukraine. guest: this is an area i want to be positive. i don't agree with everything the administration has done, like we can talk about the disastrous afghanistan withdrawal. ukraine is an area where i think by and large biden has got it right. host: let's go to riverside, california. virginia is calling us. caller: i have a question for matt. i don't know if he will thoroughly answer it. it has been very quiet about supreme court justice, and his wife. i personally think -- supreme

court justice thomas and his wife. i personally think you should be removed. can you tell me who is suppressing all of this? guest: i don't think anybody is suppressing this and i wrote a column about this. it is really bad. i think ginni thomas should not be involved at this level of activism and lobbying the chief of staff to do things based on conspiracy theories when her husband is on the supreme court and when he is ruling on potentially related topics. it is certainly at the minimum and appearance of conflict of interest.

whether it is the justice recusing himself virginia thomas stepping back, one of them ought to do that. host: let's go to the republican line in tulsa, oklahoma. caller: i am glad you got the republican on the show. all of the democrats want to prosecute justice thomas's wife. there have been no discussion of the issues of the democratic control of this country and the inflation, the gasoline prices, five dollars a gallon on diesel.

-- then you are called an insurrectionist. then you have people saying you have to arrest all of the protesters that are maga. whenever you talk about authoritarian, trying to make trump the subject of all of this conversation that has been going on, and we have a government that arrests people without any of the normal rights simply because they were at the capital. host: we are running low on time

so let's get a response from our guest. guest: i think two things can be true. i think what we saw generous sixth was horrible. people were trespassing, they were trying to stop the peaceful transfer of power. in some cases they were yelling to hang mike pence. a lot of those people do deserve to go to jail. it is a case-by-case basis, but there is a lot of video. i think trying to stop the transfer of power is a very big deal. having said that, i think a lot of democratic policies are unhelpful. i don't blame joe biden for all of the problems we face. we inherited some of the proble. he did inherit some of them and he did contribute to some of them.

mentioned -- manchin in west virginia put a stop to some of that. that puts me on the center-right, hated by both sides. host: matt lewis, we are out of time, host of the podcast matt lewis and the news, thank you for being on the program. that is it for today's washington journal. we will be back tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern. have a great saturday. ♪

announcer: c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by this television companies and more, including cox. >> cox is committed to providing eligible families access to affordable internet through the connected compete program. bridging the digital divide one connected and engaged student at a time. cox, bringing us closer. announcer: cox supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. announcer: abortion rights activists and supporters held a rally in washington, d.c. in an effort to prevent the repeal of roe v. wade. watch saturday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span. announcer: c-span has unfiltered coverage of the u.s. response to russia's invasion of ukraine. bringing you the latest from the president and other white house

officials, the pentagon and state department, as well as congress. we also have international perspectives from the united nations and statements from foreign leaders on the c-span networks, the c-span now free mobile app, and c-span.org/ukraine. our web resource page where you can watch the latest videos on demand and follow tweets from journalists on the ground. go to c-span.org/ukraine. ♪ announcer: c-span now is a free mobile app featuring your unfiltered view of what is happening in washington, live and on-demand. keep up with the day's biggest event with live streams of the heroes congress -- u.s. congress, the senate, campaigns and more from the world of politics all at your fingertips. you can also stay current with the latest episodes of washington journal and find scheduling information for c-span's tv network and radio plus a variety of compelling

podcasts. c-span now is available at the apple store and google play. downloaded for free today. c-span now, your front row seat to washington anytime, anywhere. ♪ announcer: treasury secretary janet yellen warned overturning a motion rights would have damaging effects -- abortion-rights would have damaging effects on the u.s. committee. she was also asked about sanctions against russia and rising inflation. this is two and a half hours. [indistinct chatter]