republican strategist adam goodman. and kevin jennings of lambda legal when it comes to protecting members of the lgbtq plus community. join the discussion. "washington journal" is next. ♪ host: as august begins and the midterms drawn they were, the focus on issues in the campaign gets sharper. the president says we are not in a recession. gas prices are falling, but inflation is still strong. congress has days left before the august break and democrats are counting on a measure to bolster their chances this fall, while republicans focus on the economy and the rise in crime.

it is august 1, 2022. welcome to "washington journal." we will start this hour by asking you your biggest midterm issue. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. all others, (202) 748-8002. we are also on twitter @cspanwj. senator joe manchin on the sunday shows yesterday. we will keep track of other news happening on the program, so you can start calling in with your top midterm election issue for 2022. this is the "washington examiner " headline, "inside

manchin's nonstop media tour after secret schumer deal." "the senator completed a virtual version of the full ginsberg by appearing on the five largest we can news programs. the term is named for bill ginsberg, who served as monica lewinsky's attorney during the scandal surrounding her affair with then-president bill clinton. he became the first person to appear on all five shows in one day back in 1998, when the top story that week involved his then client." they write this about joe manchin's appearances. "the moderate democrats stood by

his inflation reduction act, a scaled-back alternative to build back better, a sweeping social spending and green energy bill that the senator killed last year when he objected to its price tag and raised concerns over inflation. the message was simple, this new legislation would decrease inflation and not raise taxes on average americans while tackling parts of democrats' energy, health care, and tax reform agendas." (202) 748-8001 for republicans, (202) 748-8000 for democrats,, (202) 748-8002 for independents and all others. your top issue in the midterms. chuck todd asked him whether or not he wants democrats to stay in control of congress. [video clip] >> do you hope democrats keep control of the house and senate? >> i think people are sick and

tired of politics. i think they are sick and tired of democrats and republicans feuding and holding pieces of legislation hostage. why don't we start doing something for our country? i've always said the best politics is good government. do something good. i am not going to predict what is going to happen. >> i am not asking you to predict. what result do you want? do you want to democrats to keep control of the united states senate and house of representatives? >> you know, i am not making those decisions on that. i am going to work with her whenever i have. i've always said that. i think the democrats have good people and i have a tremendous friendship with my republican colleagues, so i can work on either side very easily. >> you don't care about the outcome this year of the election? >> whatever the voters choose, i can't decide what is going to happen in kansas or california or texas. i really can't.

i have always taken the approach, whoever you send me, that is your representative and i respect that, and i will give it my best to work with to do the best for my country. i don't play the politics that way. i don't like it that way. that's not who i am. host: senator manchin and others from the sunday shows in just a bit. your top election issue. (202) 748-8001 for republicans, (202) 748-8000 for democrats, and independents and others, it is (202) 748-8002. this is from "the washington times," looking at warehouse republicans may be focusing their message in 2022. "republicans tailar america first -- republicans tailor america first inspired message for vote. house minority leader kevin

mccarthy's conference room in the capitol, talking points on rising crime and inflation. kellyanne conway, who served as a senior counselor to former president donald trump, told the gathering that their message has to connect with independents and other rotors outside the base. 'we are not in charge of writing sean hannity's monologue every day. that is not our job. it is not our job to argue with people on twitter because none of the swing voters are there.' conway, who was the first woman to successfully run a presidential campaign when she managed trump's 2016 campaign, said gop candidates should give concrete examples of the crime wave battering u.s. cities and personify the issue by making soft on crime democrat leaders into household names." let's hear from danny first in yuma, arizona. your top election issue. caller: good morning. my top issue is immigration and

what is going on down here. i'm a little upset because the only two news organizations that know what is going on is fox and newsmax. to be clear, some of your viewers are very misinformed on what is going on because they are not getting the information, from cnn and nbc, etc. every morning when i opened up the "yuma sun" paper down here, there's either huge drug busts or illegal dealings. it is really bad. host: compare it to a year ago or two years, before the joe biden presidency. what is the difference in your observation? caller: the difference is that

president trump had to border security. when joe got in, he opened it wide open, and everybody and his brother-in-law was invited to come in. and when he says this border is secure, it is not secure. it is not secured. and now what i am reading is that joe wants to fill in some of the gaps here on the wall, to finish the wall so to speak. this is only my opinion, the only thing i can think of is that he is doing it because of the midterms. i don't know what else to think. host: we will go to raymond next , independent line, falls church, virginia. caller: yes, can you hear me all

right? host: we can hear you just fine. go ahead. caller: well, i am some pathetic with dan in arizona. my big concern is inflation and how it is eating away at the value of my life savings, my 401(k). i am getting close to retirement age, and i need to have a 401(k) to live on. i am also hoping that the 401(k) , some of it could be used to pay off my kids' student loans. so my big concern is inflation, and i know who caused it, ok? inflation was 1.4% at the beginning back in january 2001, before the ukrainian war it was

up to 7%. those aren't my numbers. they came from the head of the fed. ok? host: you're in falls church, virginia, northern virginia. is your area, your congressional district, a competitive district in 2022? you are an independent, so who would you choose? caller: it might be. i don't know. i will have to look at it. the mines keep changing, so i will have to see who it is now. host: all right. to connecticut, we will hear wendy on the democrats line. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i am a democrat, and i feel that the democrats or the democrat party tries harder and cares more about the people, and i don't think the republicans do

as much, and they block everything that the democrats try to do to make life better for american citizens. i believe in the separation of church and state, and i don't like how mitch mcconnell manipulates the supreme court so that it is taken over by the right-wing. host: so have the decisions of the supreme court become more of a political issue in terms of your estimation of how you may vote? caller: definitely in my estimation because i feel that our country is moving backwards right now.

after abortion, i don't really think that was right, because all the justices in their confirmation hearings said that it was settled law for over 50 years, and they are not there to change laws, and then since they got the power, they banned abortion in a lot of the states, and i think it is going to get worse because i heard them saying they think it should be banned in all states, and i am concerned they are going to try to ban gay marriage. i just don't like the way things are going. that doesn't view american to me. host: some half-dozen states or so, including arizona and michigan, have their state primaries tomorrow.

we will talk about that certainly tomorrow. this morning, the top issue, your top campaign issues for the midterms. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. democrats, it is (202) 748-8000. (202) 748-8002 for independents. let's go to the independent line to hear paul from kentucky. caller: i've got several concerns. one, inflation. crime. the border. and corruption, which is not talked about enough. the total, absolute corruption of this government, especially the biden crime family. people never talk about biden's little boy and his laptop computer which proves biden was in on the business dealings, which proves china has something over biden because biden will not do anything with china.

he won't even say the word china hardly. the corruption, the border, there's so many things going on. and let me ask this about democrats. there's onl one right which the democrats believe in, killing babies. they are against the first moment. the second moment -- the first amendment. the second amendment. freedom of speech. but you've got to kill that baby. that's all i have to say. host: this is on speaker pelosi's tour. "the u.s. military is moving assets including aircraft carriers and large planes closer to taiwan ahead of an anticipated unconfirmed visit to the island by house speaker nancy pelosi. the military was initially opposed to the speaker's visit, but now looks to be creating a buffer zone for policies plane in case she decides to go ahead

with the controversial stop. there are some tweets out there, we have not confirmed that she would be going to taiwan. if there is confirmation, we will let you know about that as well. in silver spring, maryland, bill is on the republican line. go ahead. caller: my main concern has to do with the 20 year war that biden got out of. we are saving billions and billions of dollars by being out of that war. the fact that a whole bunch of people wanted to come out of the country is understandable. [indiscernible] the most important thing that got us out of the war, it was

started by president trump and finished by biden. that is a good thing for this country because all the billions of dollars that were sitting there, we aren't having a problem really with them now. in fact, we are over there helping them now, so that should not be a negative thing in any way. the fact that people are crying about there were women and other people, we've got problems having to do with women in government here. it is not a perfect situation over there. it will be resolved in time. it may take a couple more years, but the main thing is we are out of that war. thank you for your time and taking my call. host: one of the lingering issues from the war in afghanistan has been the health effects of the so-called burn pits in that country. many members of the military and contractors were affected by that. legislation called the pact act is pending on capitol hill, but late last week was blocked from

consideration at least temporarily by republican senators. gop senator pat toomey of pennsylvania was asked about that on cnn's "state of the union" yesterday. >> this is the oldest trick in washington. people take a some pathetic group of americans, and it could be children with an illness, it could be victims of crime, it could be veterans who have been exposed to toxic chemicals, craft a bill to address their problems, and then sneak in something completely unrelated that they know could never pass on its own and dare republicans to do anything about it because they know they will unleash their allies in the media and may be a pseudo-celebrity to make up false accusations to try to get them to swallow what should not be there. that is what is happening here, jake. >> but this was in the bill that passed last month. >> and we were promised we would have an opportunity to offer and, meant to change this, and of course that was reneged on,

so people have not had a chance to be socialized on this. let me be clear, republicans are not opposed to any of the substance of the pact act. my democrat colleagues will fully acknowledge that if i get my change, it will not change by one penny any spending on any veterans program. what i am trying to do is change a government accounting methodology designed to allow our democratic colleagues to go on an unrelated $400 billion spending spree that has nothing to do with veterans and that won't be in the veterans space. they could have agreed to this a month ago and this bill would sail through at any point in time. we can resolve this within amendment vote. but some of the democrats don't even want to have an amendment vote. host: just want to update you on the nancy pelosi story. this is the reporting of cnn and has been reported by some asian news outlets. pelosi expected to visit taiwan. house speaker nancy pelosi is expected to visit taiwan as part

of her tour of asia, according to senior government officials and a u.s. official, despite warnings from the biden administration officials who were warned about china's response to such high-profile visits. the stop, the first for a u.s. house speaker in 25 years, is not currently on pelosi's public itinerary and comes at a time when u.s.-china relations are already at a low point. we started the program asking you your top campaign issue for the midterm elections, 2022. the line for republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents and others, (202) 748-8002. on social media, a couple of comments on twitter. adam says "keeping democracy alive in america. my number one issue can be summed up in a quote, 'it's the economy stupid.'"

"interesting that the democrats passed legislation that helps people and the republicans have the city to go back to their districts and claim credit." " the cost of food, gas, and electricity." on our democrats line in texas, gerald. good morning. go ahead. caller: host: -- caller: good morning. my number one issue happens to be domestic tranquility related to guns. in the preamble we are promised domestic tranquility, and it exchange we pay taxes. here in texas we are number one in the united states for these terrible gun assaults, on

schools and churches in malls. nobody in the u.s. beats us, and every time there has been an assault, the texas congress senate has passed rules to allow obtaining these guns easier, and our governor abbott has signed every one of those and made it much easier for such as uvalde to continue. saturday i was at the park and there were hundreds of people out there. the kids playing soccer, and you see the baseball field, and some kids had a pickup game. i looked at all the peacefulness of all the kids smiling and happy and having a good time, and i have a hard time. i look at how they absorb their environment when it is pure and

simple, like we all did growing up, any of us over the age of 21 or so. we think back on our childhood. i think on all the hundreds and hundreds of kids whose blood is on the school floor or church or mall, and adults too. and i just simply think in my heart of hearts, let's abolish the semiautomatic weapons. automatic weapons are supposed to be abolished anyway. do away with them, and let's see where that goes because i just think that we pay taxes, we deserve domestic tranquility, and i think we will get a little bit more of that if we do that. i also agree with the wish -- with the women's issues. i think women have a right to choice. i think it is number one.

i think the guns needs to be upfront and be resolved. host: we will go to henrietta on the republican line from florida. caller: good morning. i just wanted to -- i am a republican. i am a staunch republican. however, this morning i want to congratulate nancy pelosi on her courage to go to taiwan. i want to just say that the republicans, complete coward. we pay him $174,000 a year, but he can't go to taiwan. he has a family event. i mean, are you cutting me? -- are you kidding me? my congressman, i called him on

friday and told him if he gets an invitation, i request he go get i don't know if he got the invitation. i don't know if he's gone. but if he got an invitation and he decided not to go, i am going to vote for his opponent, period. i am sick of republicans -- again, staunch republican -- i am sick of them with their big mouths telling everyone else how much courage they have. host: and by invitation, you mean an invitation to go with the speaker on this asia trip? caller: yes. she actually offered the other side a place on the plane. i'm sick of the men being cowards. you know, i don't like nancy, any of her policies. host: for what it's worth, if my producer could track down and find some information on who is on that trip with the nancy

pelosi, i don't have it in front of me and sometimes it is deeper into an article. sometimes that information is not even made public until after the trip. but if we can find it, we will try to let you know about it, ok? caller: because this is really an american issue. it is not a party issue. host: thanks for weighing in. let's go to david in detroit, democrats line. caller: good morning. i want to say thank you to "washington journal" for the comprehensive show that you guys put on, and you allow people like myself to call in and voice our opinions. i was listening to henrietta, and she basically took away some of the things i had, some confirmed biases i may have had. my concern for the upcoming

election is that we have a properly ran democratic election process, unrestricted by people who may want to intimidate those who want to exercise their franchise. let me say this real quick. i have been a long time caller, definitely a long time listener to c-span. i enjoy it. i wake up looking forward to listening to it. i know that for me to be motivated to burn up my one call a month. [laughter] host: well, thank you for playing by the rules, david. caller: i hope i am not being

taken as ignorant. but i listen to the republican people of that ilk, and we are all americans. we all are patriots. but i am always amazed by the wholesale ignorance of people who call in, like the one gentleman who was talking about hunter biden. i would like for someone to call in and explain to the american people, what is it that hunter biden does to you directly? how does that impact you at your kitchen table? the other thing is this country is supposed to be a christian nation. tell me about the southern border. this country has plenty of land, plenty of food. if we took people in, this could be your social security for tomorrow. these people could come in and work. yes, there will be some people that may be suspicious, but what

does that concern you want a day-to-day basis? thank you very much for "washington journal." host: thank you, david. this is from "the washington post" on their front page, a political piece. "turbulent week reflect bidens challenge. president biden got some unexcited policy wins hours after emerging from his covid isolation last wednesday. democratic senators announced a startling breakthrough on his stalled climate agenda, multibillion-dollar legislation to subset eyes chip manufacturers, and a measure that makes some prescription drugs cheaper gained momentum. but all of that crashed in the news the next day when the economy contracted for a second straight quarter. biden and his top aides arguing that the country is not entering a recession, pointing to strong economic indicators such as job growth and low in employment, but that did not stop

republicans from decrying the biden recession. now the question becomes whether his run of legislative wins, particularly if democrats managed to pass their health care, climate, and teen energy bill, which includes a popular measure to let medicare negotiate the price of some drugs, will be enough for biden to overcome the stubbornly high inflation that has helped sink his approval ratings. on that legislation -- his approval ratings." on that legislation, joe manchin talked about the criticism he received from seeing that the legislation would not cause inflation. [video clip] >> why should americans believe you now when you say this new bill will not exacerbate inflation? >> surely i won't make that mistake again. that is the bottom line. i was anticipating that we could help and that every thing you have said here is correct, and i am not countering that whatsoever. that is why i was extra

cautious. for the eight months i have endured being against build back better and all the different things the democratic colleagues wanted to do i thought was wrong and stopped all that from happening, this is a piece of legislation that has taken 3.5 billion dollars in aspirational spending that my colleagues wanted to do on the democrat side, and we have taken that down to $400 billion investment. we are not sending a check to anybody. you are going to have to produce. you will have to put some capital out there, take some risk and produce. bring manufacturing jobs back to america. building up battery manufacturing and resourcing. i don't want to be dependent on foreign supply chains. that is exactly what has been happening. we are changing that. i am grateful that everyone is coming together. my republican friends, we have done everything to look in this bill. you always want to make sure we are able. you want to pay down debt.

we are doing that. one more manufacturing. we are doing that. we are doing every thing you have asked, and i would hope in normal times this would be a bipartisan bill, but i understand the tax, dusty toxic atmosphere we are in -- the toxic atmosphere we are in. host: news that these be grown the house and her delegation will be visiting taiwan. a caller asked about other member's on that trip. npr reported on the members on the trip yesterday, and it appears the delegation includes u.s. were presented of chea -- representative gregory meeks, the vice chair of the house ways and means committee, a member of the house committee on intelligence and economic and consumer policy of the house committee on oversight, and andy kim, a member of the house on services -- house armed services

and foreign affairs committee, all according the speaker of the house on that trip, which is now reported to visit taiwan. our question for you on the first hour of the program is your top issue in 2022. is --(202) 748-8001 is the line for republicans, (202) 748-8000 for democrats, and for independents and others, (202) 748-8002. . next up in california, we hear from omar. caller: good morning. . a few callers ago, a guy said president trump started the war in afghanistan, and you didn't correct him. i thought that was strange. my main issue is the economy and china. nobody should be taking to china to shoot down planes just because we are america. we've got to be smarter than that.

host: tampa, florida. tony on the democrats line. caller: hi, how are you doing? let me just say, my concern for the midterm is strictly fiscal spending, and by that i mean i would love to see this country go back to the gold standard so that politicians couldn't print money. i would also love to see the stock market based on corporate profits like it used to be rather than stock buybacks, tax cuts, and the like, and to be manipulated again by printing money. and lastly, let's be real, we keep hearing these numbers on employment, reducing the deficit. all i know is we pay out over $800 million in welfare programs.

there's no reason for that in this country. people got to start taking control of their own destiny. if that is in cut, as well as the other things, we are going to keep spending and spending. it is going to affect democrats, republicans, independents, everybody is going to go down the drain. host: in florida, molly. good morning. molly, mute your volume on your television. go ahead with your comments. you are on the air. all right, we are going to go to mark in indiana, and bennett line. -- indiana, independent line. caller: good morning. this is mark. my top issue always used to be

-- but since it has got sent back to the states, i believe that we will have a representative voice on this issue, but my main concern right now is the financial devastation of the lower and middle working class. i've lost my job because the gas price is so high that the rv industry in which i work has become devastated totally. i'm 75 years old. i was working 70 hours a week all the way through covid, and now i am out of a job because bidens policies have cut down the oil supply, and the green

new deal comedy got deniers who don't believe god is in charge of the climate. they don't know who god is and they won't ever change that. i go into the grocery store once every two weeks and we have to combine trips because the fuel is so high and the prices is just beyond reach of retirement. i'm not ready to go back to work again even though i am 75 because it is impossible to make ends meet with the inflation the democrats have caused in this country with all their spending. host: when did you lose your job in the rv industry? caller: the last run i made was in january of this year, and

then the prices just kept coming up and up and up. so it just didn't make economic sense, and also, keystone in the north where i worked at delivering our trailers, they have shut down plants because nobody is buying any rv's hardly anymore. they will park them at a lake. people are not buying them to use cross-country. and the interest rate to even rent them, a dealership in wisconsin, in june they asked them, did you rent any trailers? they said we usually rent 100 trailers. they said, how many have you

rented this month? one. that is just one example of how devastated the industry is. host: appreciate your insight. a number of primaries happening tomorrow, including in missouri. in the hill, "republicans race to stop brightens -- stop greit ens. the republicans look to push out former governor eric brightens -- eric greitens in the primary, fearing that it could put another seat at great risk in november. a super pac is running tv ads highlighting allegations of domestic violence against the disgraced former governor. top republik and donors including pete ricketts, the old troll wealthy ever and are of nebraska, are pouring money into -- the ultra-wealthy governor of nebraska, arc pouring money

into the campaign against grei tens. the former governor has sunk into third place in recent polls and has been replaced at the front of the pack by missouri attorney general eric schmitt. current maryland republican governor larry hogan yesterday was on abc's "this week" and was asked about the role of donald trump in the 2022 campaigns, and whether he would run again in 2024. [video clip] >> do you think he runs in 2024? >> i can't put myself in the mind of donald trump, but i would say it is 50-50. his ego probably can't take another lost. after all, he lost to joe biden, which is hard to do. but he likes to be the center of attention. >> what does it mean for these midterm elections if he announces he is running in the middle of the campaign? >> we had discussions of that at the republican governors association last week, and i think most people are concerned about the damage it does to the party if he announces now.

it may help in very red states or districts, but in competitive places and purple battlefields, it is going to cost us seats if he were to do that. >> is what happened in maryland, it was a loss for you. you are not on the ballot, but it was a loss for you. does this make you more or less likely to run for president? >> it makes me more determined than ever to continue the battle to win over the republican party and take us back to a bigger tent, more reaganesque party. we've got our work cut out for us, but i am not giving up. host: news yesterday and the loss of couple of icons of news and sports. the actress who broke barriers as uhura on "star trek," nish l nichols -- nichelle nichols, who shared the first interracial case on tv, died.

she played chief uhura on "star trek," a position of authority on television when black women were rarely given such roles. a producer told her it was important for the world to see a black woman in command and treated as equal to the other officers. also yesterday, the death of legendary basque ballplayer and civil rights leader in his own right bill russell. this is from usa today. the headline is "a great is gone. nba icon and celtics legend dies at 88. go russell of the boston celtics received the medal of freedom from president obama. the video of that and comments from the porter prep -- from the

former president in a tweet from c-span." barack obama sang, "i hope that children will look up to not only bill russell the player, but bill russell the man." our calls from you and your comments on your top campaign issue in 2022. let's hear from carl on the republican line in her bohne, ohio -- in bana -- in urbana, ohio. caller: yes, my top issue is the supreme court in the last 20 years, three republicans have been put on the supreme court and three democrats have been put on the supreme court, and every democrat says that we publicans packed the court. three of them were put on their because of their race.

in 2020, when the blm tried to hang donald trump, i didn't hear one person on january 6 committee say that was wrong. the congressman sent to hang donald trump should be treason. everyone of these democrats, democrats call in, somebody started the war, they did this. just don't believe a democrat. thank you and have a good day. host: in ohio on the democrats line, this is grace. caller: good morning. i am one of those women that had children and was told not to have them. i want to know what every man in america, whatever you make a

party man is going to raise six, 7, 8 children without the help of his wife now. they've got us barefoot and pregnant back in the kitchen again just because of the power. i had a grandson i got guardianship of, and the judge told me there were 4 million or 5 million children every year that had to be placed. it is so sad. we can't take care of children now. how in the world -- it was a struggle. i had to go to work after the twins and work forever to get those children. i don't know. i wish every man would think about it and every woman would think about it.

it is just not right. i don't like abortion, but there are unwanted children. thank you. host: you can send us a text at (202) 748-8003. jim says that "my top issue is making sure those that tried to overthrow our government on january 6 are held accountable irrespective of their position if our -- position of power or financial resources." "why is ms. pelosi doing an asian tour at taxpayer expense? the issue that will cover my -- that will govern my vote, the safety of the second amendment." "my top election issues are abortion, inflation, and the southern border." this is from "usa today" this

morning, "abortion worries may spurn dens to vote. concern exploded as an election issue over the last month. a poll found as the repercussions of the decision overturning roe v. wade reverberate, 64% of democrats say the action makes them more likely to vote in november, potentially a crucial factor in midterm elections that traditionally have low turnout. that is more than double the 29% of democrats who expressed that view in a survey after the decision was leaked in june." let's hear from harry in georgia. good morning. independent line. caller: good morning, c-span. thanks for taking my call. i have several concerns about the selection, but i worried about the next one, too.

i kept hearing people talk about why joe biden would be one to say it is not a regular recession right now. the reason that you see the economy shrinking a little bit is because when we came out of the pandemic last year, we were having 5.5% gross, and that is the highest we have had since bill clinton. you know, you couldn't keep it that high, so it has to retract a little bit. i would like to see the inflation go down, but that is something happening all around the world. joe biden isn't necessarily doing it. the oil companies quit fracking when the pandemic came around. because that is the most expensive way to produce oil. it is the oil producers really

who don't want to risk their money. i'm afraid it will just happen again. i just hope we have a free and fair election. i worry about the supreme court, too. all these issues. host: how about elections in georgia? your legislation changed some of the voting law in the state over the past year. any concerns about your state? caller: yes, exactly. this is the only state i vote in, so i am really worried about that, but i am worried about a lot of these other states too. georgia made some of the biggest changes of anybody. they took rhett raffensperger, they took the elections away from the secretary of state, for heaven's sake. i tried to warn people they are trying to make it so the legislature, the state

legislatures have power to change the vote. that is insane. i am for one man, one vote. host: d secretary of state, brad raffensperger, is on -- is the secretary of state, brad raffensperger, on the ticket again? caller: yeah, he won the first primary by about 20 points. i think a lot of democrats went and voted for him just as gratitude, you know. host: joe in illinois on the republican line. caller: hi, how are you? host: fine, thanks. caller: my big concern would be school vouchers. . county and all that -- here in cook county and all that, they

pay about $20,000 a year to educate kids, and the public schools don't really educate anybody. it is pretty rare to come out of there and be educated without coming out of what they call a magnet school. these unions that are living the life right now, they would be crushed, and that is a good thing. i think my favorite moment with ronald reagan was when he fired all the airport traffic controllers because they were going to shut down the country. that is exactly what these school unions and government unions are. they want to shut you down. there's no competition. there's nowhere to go. host: doug in south dakota on the democrats line. what is your top campaign issue? caller: good morning. [indiscernible] too far left or too far right.

all politicians do anymore is point fingers. no answers. i think biden's kitchen table must be in the hamptons. people making $300,000 with money to buy electric cars, and you give them $50,000. $150,000. we have problems in my opinion. a lot of old people live on $1000 a month. too much credit nowadays. savings is a thing of history. they can charge higher rates, but they sure don't seem to pay higher rates. low competition. we are all too high on our high horses anymore. we used to make good stuff, tools and shoes, and we now all

buy junk from china. kids used to get one pair of shoes a year. why do you go and spend a fortune for a pair of shoes and you can buy a pair down the road for eight months? biden is too far left. we need someone in the middle. that's what i have to say. host: this is the front page of "the washington times." "failure to prove trump claim hurts gop candidate. a republican who personally takes on president biden's agenda on covid-19 mandates, the order wall, and election laws would seem to be a shoe in for the primary win. instead, the are is only attorney general who has sued the arizona attorney general who has sued divided in adminstration two times instead

trails with zero governing -- trails two candidates with zero governing experience. the reality is you have to have one guy being financed by an out-of-state in air and another guy worth hundreds of millions of dollars investing into buying a senate seat, he told the washington times. that was a reference to peter thiel's support for one candidate.' let's go to ronald from massachusetts, independent caller. caller: this is robert from massachusetts. you should have put a s on that issue. there are so many issues going on right now in washington, d.c. you can't have one issue. you've got to let people pick what issues they want to talk about. host: that's what we are asking you. your top issues.

you can tell us what your top issues. caller: ok. it's a lot of top issues. going back to afghanistan, that wasn't handled right. and then you've got the covid-19, they don't have enough doctors, enough nurses. and what else? i've been around a long time. i was drafted in the military, 1963. i served in south korea for one year and on into the vietnam war was he wondered first airborne division -- with the 101st airborne division. what are you going to do about the monkey disease? host: donald, thanks for weighing in on those issues. he touched on afghanistan. we played the comments of senator pat toomey on the

efforts by republicans to block the bill dealing with the burn pits in afghanistan. one of the prominent supporters of that bill has been for the last above years former talk show host and comedian jon stewart, who appeared on "meet the press" on sunday. here's what he had to say. [video clip] >> anybody can say anything. we can say elvis presley is still alive. but at some point we all have to live in reality. what he is saying is just factually incorrect. the bill that ted cruz voted yes on had the exact same funding provisions as the bill he voted no on. it is the exact same bill. none of this makes any sense. it is a trick. >> have you spoken to any of the other republican senators? is it really due to their being upset about the mansion deal -- the manchin deal? >> honestly i have no idea.

i am watching from the outside, so i don't know why they did it. but i do know this, the explanations they have given thus far are scattershot. they are all over the place and none of them make any sense. the thing that people have to realize is the bill that came out of the senate wasn't the democrat funding gimmick. it came out of the senate veterans affairs committee with jon tester and jerry moran, a democrat and a republican. it came out of that committee unanimously, republicans and democrats. then it went to the floor and the senate approved it 84-14. there's been no funding changes since then. there's been no gimmick inserted by anybody. none of this makes any sense. host: here is the reporting of axios with a little bit more on that burn pit bill, the so-called pact act.

"senate republicans burned a bill that would help veterans. senate republicans blocked a bill wednesday that many saw as a bipartisan slamdunk which aimed to expand certain benefits for veterans due to toxic exposure they experienced while deployed, leaving many veterans and their supporters shocked. the pact act, a bill that would have expanded the to permit a veterans affairs health care for veterans who had exposure to burn pits of sewage, medical waste, and other trash, to be victims of toxic fumes when presented with certain illnesses. the bill would have removed the burden of proof veterans currently need in order to receive assistance. both houses of congress previously passed the bill with the senate voting 84-14 in june in favor, but the bill was forced into another vote after administrative issues were found in its text. after the changes were made it was excited to breeze through congress and be signed law --

and be signed into law. however, republicans flipped their vote and blocked the bill." from texas, a couple more calls on your top election issues, brenda in texas. go ahead on the democrats line. caller: good morning, bill. thank you so much for taking my call. it has been a while since i have called in, february or march of this year. i want to repeat one thing for the democrats to comfort you again. please read matthew 13. i am not going to read it, but it is matthew 13, verses 13 through 15. that will give you an idea as to what christ went through bringing the word of god to the

pharisees, our republicans nowadays. i thought you could not get more uninformed than that first kentucky guy, but ohio came and surpassed him. surprise surprise. in regards to my answer to your question, i think pelosi should go to taiwan. that is not even open for discussion in my opinion. who is china to america? my father's generation, the greatest generation, would be in tears if they saw what america has turned into, all because of the republican that we are viewed as such weaklings now. we are not the same as our fathers of yesteryear.

it is just amazing. you know why china can speak to us the way they think we can -- they can is because of corporate greed. they have -- the world has come to understand exactly what america is now. host: appreciate the call. one more note on twitter, getting the last word, lucienne says top issues, women's health care lowering the cost of prescription drugs, all prescription drugs, not just a chosen few. more ahead on washington journal. we will be joined by veteran republican median -- media strategist talking abut the rise of ron desantis and his profile in the gop and potential run for the presidency in 2024. later, kevin jennings talks about legislative efforts to

protect same-sex marriage and his group's other priorities and it comes to protecting the rights of the lgbtq plus community. ♪ >> this week on the c-span networks, wednesday morning with the upcoming midterm elections the senate judiciary committee hears from the department of justice and cyber security officials on threats to election workers. susan collins and joe manchin testify before the senate rules committee on their viewing election reform. the fbi director goes before the senate judiciary committee.

the house is out this week while the senate remains in session to debate a bill for energy needs, climate change, health care costs and taxes. watch this week live on the c-span networks. head to c-span.org for scheduling information or to stream video live or on-demand any time. >> c-span shop.org is c-span's online store. browse the latest products, apparel and accessories. there is something for every c-span fan. every purchase help support our nonprofit operation. shop now or anytime at c-spansh op.org. >> live sunday on in-depth.

columnist and talkshow host larry elder be our guest to talk about political correctness, the left and racial politics in the united states he is the author of several books including 10 things you can say in america, what's race got to do with it and a memoir about his turbulent relationship with his father braided join in the conversation with phone calls, facebook comments, texts and tweet. in-depth with larry elder live sunday at noon eastern on c-span two. >> washington journal continues. host: we are going to talk about florida governor ron desantis and the future of the republican party. with us is adam good men, a republican strategist, veteran republican media and policy strategist very familiar with what goes on politically in florida. i'll come to the program. we sought -- welcome to the program.

donald trump ron desantis jockey for position at of potential 2024 showdown. you have the two potential leading candidates both in florida. what are the strengths and weaknesses of both as presidential contenders. guest: you start with the former president, the strength is he has been there, done the job. the party base is still very firmly behind and excited about the former president. he now calls florida home. he used to brag that all roads to the white house lead to florida. it may actually be literally that in 24. in terms of the governor, governor desantis i think has the greatest story going, florida story. a sea of calm and positivity in the -- in covid.

he's on his job of managing the state, the recent budget had record amounts for not just education and the environment encoding 500 million dollars for the everglades but also tax relief and $20 billion for the rainy day reserve. his record is really good, but beyond that he is sending a message that the republican base is really liking. a message that shows that the party itself has moved from being a party of big business to america's working class. and you see that in microcosm for the viewers, take a look at miami-dade. in miami-dade, where president biden one by seven points back in 2020, it's been decidedly moving in miami-dade towards their publican party. registration in the state for

the first time ever is majority republican their predictions miami-dade could go for the republican party nominee in 24 and the reason that is significant is that the rule of thumb in florida politics for democrats to win statewide is they have to get big margins in certain places prayed miami-dade is one of them. right now it may be they would be lucky to actually carry that area at all. host: give us a snapshot of his rise, not meteor it may be, he was a backbencher in the u.s. house. what brought him to the governor's chair. host: certainly the -- guest: certainly the courage of his conviction. for some viewers got a taste of that was probably on fox news where he was a frequent cast. but they found that he didn't just talk the game, he walked to the game.

and ran the game. look what happened in terms of you might say the square off between the governor and disney. disney is an american icon, admired around the world for entertainment and when they decided to step into politics, the don't say gay bill which technically allowed for the teaching of sex ed to kindergartners, he took on disney. to show what happened in that confrontation in december of 21, disney's ratings in florida were at 76 percent positive. 76 present floridian set a positive view of disney. six weeks after the engagement was down to 54%. there's something about with the governor is doing which doesn't come out of up a tent -- intentional playbook. host: in that instance in disney's case, was there every fear on the governor's side the taking on disney like that could

result in a drop in tourism in the state. guest: i think there are concerns for people looking on from the outside but the governor takes his own counsel. it's another sign of courage. i can tell you why maybe he's politically viable but should be counted all the way to the end. he does not consult polls to figure out which way he wants to fly. he's very intellectual, harvard educated, veteran, has really good character and class but he is not taking counsel for the normal political advisors. he's going straight forward. and so far, people around america seem to be cheering. host: headline from politicos 22 for intrigue. it seems a most at every turn, a policy wise, politically he is trying to separate himself from the former president in his own

-- with his own stances on things. guest: what the governor is doing, he's kind of retelling the florida story and letting the story itself speaks for itself. and then beyond that what he's done in florida especially with parents of school-age children and how excited and energized they become for the governor. he starting to develop support basis because of what he's done from tallahassee to miami as opposed to the rhetoric of a person seeking office. and i think he's being very careful and should be in focusing first and foremost on his reelection which is this fall and then after that we will see what the world looks like as we will his prospects. host: as applicable strategist, where are his weaknesses? guest: the weakness for the

governor is kind of hard to find other than those who don't like the fact he is straight out tells it like it is and -- like it or not. i think he's ok and taking criticism which is rare for a public leader prayed he's ok to say i don't really buy that. what were finding across florida is floridians are. there's never been a more optimistic point of view i think among most floridians about their economics, their jobs, about the state itself. the governor came into office not talking like you might expect florida governor to talk. the first thing was the environment. very different than you might've expected from someone from that party. host: our guest is adam, republican strategist talking about ron desantis, the future of the republican party. we welcome your calls and comments. 202-748-8001, republican line.

democrats 202-748-8000. others, 202-748-8002. you mentioned this is the reelection year, who is he facing on the democratic side. guest: former governor charlie crist to a lot of floridians are still very fond of from his days when he was not just governor. he's kind of run the gambit there. very skilled and very experienced. but he was a former republican who became a democrat. i think the democrat party is still not maybe 100% sold on charlie in this incarnation as they were in previous runs. and then nikki freed who's the commissioner on the cabinet, done a very good job on the candidate her big push is on abortion and on legalization of marijuana. that tends to be something that could generate in normal years

to build some voter enthusiasm but that is the issue. what they call the enthusiasm gap in florida between republicans and democrats it's become not a gap, but a chasm. host: what's the governor said about the supreme court ruling on abortion and is there likely to be abortion legislation in the florida legislature. guest: abortion legislation is being discussed in states across the country. how far they go i'm not sure. i do know florida still is a center, a right of center state ideologically. i think anything that moves forward on that front and other contentious issues, other than guns. i think that will be done with great discussion. host: you mentioned the florida story. talking about ron desantis in the future of their publican party, however the presidential winner in 2024, what does the future of the party look like

with ron desantis either is the standard bearer, certainly one of the key figures in the republican party. guest: it's a different party. part of this you have to look at how people are voting. there are now 22 million floridians. that's a big gain from 2.5 years ago. people kind of like this brand of government and i think that's what republicans are trying to line up behind more than anything. what should government do or not do. i think they kind of like where the governor is going. friendly they've liked where president trump went, a lot of different. host: we will first go to our florida caller on a democrats line. good morning. caller: good morning. i just have a couple of things, i hope i don't get cut off. i first thing was i'm torn

between governor desantis and former governor crist. i like both of them and i'm an undecided voter. my second thing is i received my absentee ballot in the mail yesterday and on the back of it where you put the stamp on it and mail it, my name is actually written on the back of my ballot which i thought was my civic duty but i thought was also private. i didn't think my name was going to go to the post office and all that. i've never seen a ballot like that. those were my two concerns. i appreciate you talking about this today, thank you. guest: first of all, i really appreciate the attitude.

which is rare when you said you like both governor desantis and charlie crist. thank you for remaining open-minded which i hope most voters across florida and the country will be. in terms of your name being on the ballot, call your election supervisor or call the election supervisor's office and make sure that was not something that was inadvertent or wrong. i'm not really clear on that part of balloting. but in terms of what florida is looking at moving forward, if you have governor desantis and charlie crist who were the last two standing in the governor's race, both of them have experience right now as i said before on the show, the florida story is just awesome. and if nothing else cheer for continued gains of movement in that direction that florida more and more becomes a laboratory of what works in america. host: independent line.

caller: hello? host: you are on the air. go ahead. caller: yes. we have several issues. sadly to say -- for a couple of decades before you get negative feedback. starting with the military. my daughter is a major and i don't want her -- why are veterans starving. i want to know about that computer chip submitted into

congress and legislative. stopping these professor and students from hacking into our computers. host: i think she's talking about some legislation that's been stalled in congress on computer chips. we've been asking our viewers about the top issues of the 2022 campaign. what are the top issues in florida in that governor's race into the down ballot races? guest: the economy. literally when you see the polls, it's the economy, abortion, crime and immigration. those seem to be the top four nationally. in florida it's mostly about prosperity, continuing prosperity and like a lot of america. floridians are concerned about inflation run amok, the u.n. secretary general said four weeks ago that we are facing a

global food crisis. that we may not be able to rectify. we are concerned about that, the price of gas at the pump is still very high. it's not as high as a couple weeks ago but still very high. that's what's really driving this as opposed to other issues in other years. abortion i mentioned is one of the top four issues. a poll came out of the washington post recently that said that even though the majority of americans favor some manner of choice, those voters are 12% less likely to show up this fall as our pro-life voters and the others. it's an issue that could have become more of a comeback trail issue for democrats it doesn't seem to be playing as it may have in the past years. host: it is hurricane season in florida. how is the issue of climate

change, you touched on the environment, how important of an issue is the issue of climate change to governor desantis. guest: increasingly important. as i said, made a major investment in the environment which had to do with water. host: you've got 250,000 new residents in the state and you have to address that. guest: we understand we have to be deliberate about this. and because of insurance, property insurance which is skyrocketing. at a special session addressing just that issue because of things like hurricanes and because of the advance of sealevel rise which concerns not just floridians but everybody. host: what is the state doing about those rates? guest: for the insurance rates they are trying to create a market. the problem is when you have fewer and fewer providers of property insurance, rates tend to go up or in this case, the

state backed guaranteed property insurance starts getting millions of new customers and that's a bill that ultimately goes back to the people. host: political strategist, we are talking about florida, specifically about governor ron desantis in the future of the republican party. 202-748-8001 four republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. for others, 202-748-8002. you must've seen the ad that governor newsom of california ran on television in florida over the july 4 weekend perhaps our viewers haven't. i want to show that and get your reaction to it. [video clip] >> is independence day let's talk about what's going on in america. freedom is under attack in your state. republican leaders are banning books, making it harder to vote,

restricting speech in classrooms , even criminalizing women and doctors. i urge all of you living in florida to join the fight or join us in california where we still believe in freedom. freedom of speech, freedom to choose and the freedom to love. don't let them take your freedom. host: two questions. what do you think the purpose was and how did that play in florida. guest: you see me laughing a little bit. my first response is consider the source. you're getting this from the governor of california talking about freedom and things going well or would be going well if it weren't for the fact florida has certain policies. california is out of control. their budget is out of control. newsom is actually a think auditioning to become a national figure if you ask with the reason was for this. he wants to become more national.

but when you show the classroom of students talking about restrictions on what they could be taught, is talking abut the don't say gay bill that democrats named that allowed for sex ed to kindergartners. if you were to tear this -- if you were to look at it and parse it and one claim after another you say it's clever, disingenuous and coming from a place where people are leaving in droves. you look at all the outmigration of people from california versus the in migration into florida you pretty much have the reviews for the consuming public. host: let's hear from brian up next in michigan on the independent line. host: let's get to the real deal

on this. going back to world war ii and all tie in to santos at the end. we set up the u.n. so that we didn't have to be fighting wars in europe again. we set up nato, we helped to set up the european union. the european union's gdp is that of the united states. we are nothing more than an enabler. we have become the ultimate enabler, i guess it makes us feel better, give me a break. the european union, those fine people are perfectly capable of other threats. they have to step up. i'm an older brother, i would never fight my younger brothers battles and those have happened on playgrounds and such when you are growing up. if the other kid was my brother's age.

if he was older and taking advantage of the situation i would solve it. the same thing at the southern border. we have become the greatest enablers. we are not showing respect, all we are doing is just trying to prop them up a little bit. these are fine people, they need to do it on their own. we need to get off this thing that we are the greatest, the toughest, we are this or that. they have to do it themselves just like we do. guest: let me see if i can distill this point on the southern border into one thing. people right now are looking for certainty, more certainty, control and stability. what are the two real issues paid not what pollsters ask.

the two real issues i would say in america there inflation and instability. the instability, the pillars of society that still seem to be shaking a bit from public schools to the supreme court. if we have a lack -- people are uncertain, they are nervous about everything. we have a border, there is a line in the sand, a real line in the sand it's not some active human cruelty, but of human salvation and national sovereignty which most other countries around the world wouldn't second-guess for a minute. i think that's what people are really looking for and we have to get back to a steadier course to get back there, maybe all things are possible and if there's anything missing right now in america, more and more widespread way, optimism.

people on that proverbial shot in the arm. what can you do moving forward that can make a difference. host: does ron desantis strike you as an optimist? guest: he is a realist. i think the optimism comes from what he's been able to execute as governor of the state, but the realism is good. people want genuine and real in their leaders. they find very little of that these days. i think that plays big for him. the fact he's not an overly charismatic messenger i think actually stands well for him as opposed to some who grade, on performance and say he could be a bit more flashy, i think it doesn't work for the governor that way and people are just fine with that. host: let's hear from nadine in new york on the republican line. caller: good morning. i would just like to state that i am very appreciative of the

state of florida for the legalization of marijuana. i think a lot of patients need that and they also believe abortion rights movement is absurd. i believe every woman has the right to abort or conceive as she wants to or not. i believe the wall should be built immediately. i feel very harassed in the state of new york and when trump was in office i believe he had everything under control. thank you. host: touch on her comments on marijuana. what is the law in the state and how has ron desantis been part of changing that? guest: i appreciate the caller. she got it half right. medical marijuana has been legalized. recreational marijuana is probably headed to the ballot as soon as 2024 and will likely pass. is it trendlines across america. in terms of her talking about the wall, needing to build the

wall again. that goes back to my next comment/comment which is people are looking for a sense of control, stability, certainty. i think the wall or lease the southern border, represents that. host: to buffalo, new york. democrats line. caller: how are you doing. thank you for taking my call. i'm wondering what you think is going to come out of the sentencing this week. doesn't that have a lot to do with the doctor who was pushing medical marijuana and to santos and gates and all the other crooks involved? also what about the republicans running strong candidates against the democrats. isn't there something going on with that with russian money in florida? host: several things in there. guest: i'm not sure where to start.

what you're talking about her ongoing investigations, one having to do with potentially congressman gates and others with mr. greenberg you mentioned having to do with trafficking or paying underage women. that has been under investigation for over a year. the press and media are very much on top of that one. the other one the caller talked about, those candidates once again a lot of the media have been all over that as well. there was an allegation that operatives fielded candidates to help republicans in contested primaries that really weren't anything but those candidates. they were name only. --

thou legations included payment to those individuals to do that. don't know where that is going. florida, if nothing else, is a place a very interesting storylines. the caller -- the ones the caller put his finger on will resolve itself. host: what are the things ron desantis is considering if you were to run for president in 2024? guest: a large bit has to do with whether donald trump chooses to run. first and foremost, ron desantis must win reelection. if you wins reelection, family. i think that a vote of confidence -- that is a vote of confidence for him. he is working on running the state of florida today. after november, all roads are open to him and anyone else as we look forward to 2024. host: let's hear from fort

lauderdale. mike is a republican caller. caller: hi. i am a gay republican who moved from illinois to florida three years ago. and so, during these three years, i have been -- i grew up in illinois. i have been comparing how poorly illinois was run to how well -- i'm so surprised how well florida has been run during these three years that i've been here. and i am all for desantis and this don't say gay bill, which is totally ally that the democrats tried to rename. i, myself, am studying to be a teacher. and i know what they were

pushing for me to be an elementary teacher to start telling kids about gain us -- gayness when you are in first grade. i had a discussion with my present was also gay. i said when i was in first grade, i had no idea what my fellow classmates parents were. why does this have to come up in first grade? it's ridiculous. why attack the kids innocence at such an early age? and i'm gay. it's totally -- you know -- it is totally blown out of proportion. and i like ron desantis because his parents, i believe they were cuban. i know he is an anti-communist. my mother grew up under stalin. i am very educated in what

communists are capable of. i know he has had experiences with congress and he has the experience to run estate. host: i appreciate your comment. guest: thank you very much for that call. the fact that you moved from illinois, that campaign is all over america. i shake my head at how the people of illinois could return one party to power when the massive deficits were so staggering. you are just talking about the children, our children having to pay for them, you're talking about their children's children's children, may be getting the market back to even. you are like so many others who have looked at the map of america and said you know, that place looks right to me. that place being florida. i appreciate your comments on that legislation. it has all been kind of

demonized by rhetoric, as opposed to promoting open-ended conversation about -- in terms of curriculum in schools -- what the appropriate place is for certain things to be taught at what age. that is what the governor put his finger on. democrats called it the don't say gay bill and it is fully disingenuous. it is wrong. the parents of florida stood up and said we like that. we like where the governor is on this and we want to see more of that. that goes back also to why hispanics in particular in the state of florida and across the country basically moved from a more historic allegiance to the democratic party to republican, because they find culture and values that are being espoused by people like the governor of florida are where they are. host: you ran former governor george bush's reelection campaign. how has the republican in

florida change since jeb bush was governor? guest: i advised jeb bush. a great leader. i remember when jeb first came into office. and they started talking about how ultraconservative he was. how out of step he was with the mainstream preheated things, radical things like mandating that there be some kind of measurement in our schools that our children could measure up to so that they could be motivated to be their very best. that was considered heresy. he got a lot of criticism and a lot of pressure for doing that. it turns out he was right. the people in florida now and across the country support his point of view. radical became mainstream. he showed the kind of courage and character that i think we look for in public leadership. in terms of the republican party, it is a different party today. and jeb and the bush family certainly have shown that they

have had difficulty understanding the consistency of being a conservative versus some of the things that are happening within the party itself. host: did he before or will he endorse ron desantis? guest: that is something to ask jeb. good question. host: to boulder, colorado. max's on the democrat line. caller: good morning trade i have two quick questions for you. the first one is how does ron desantis define critical race theory, as he does not want hit taught in schools? and the second question is does ron desantis believe that donald trump actually won the presidency? or does he believe joe biden is a legitimate president -- the legitimate president? those are my two questions.

host: thank you. guest: both very good questions. in terms of critical race theory, i think you will see that, as far as the commons the governor has made, that the legislation in florida, he believes there should be greater restrictions that are born out of responsibility to not just the children but toward parents. and some of the nation -- naysayers said that somehow leads to -- you saw in the ad in california, this will lead to book burning. that is insane. it is giving parents more of a say on what happens in the classroom. in terms of the election, i think the best thing frankly -- i'm glad you brought that up -- the best thing for the country is to move forward. there will always be a debate about 2020. there will always be a debate about 2000. i was in the middle of the 2000

recount. with catherine harris and jeb bush as governor. 537 votes later, that was the final declared margin of victory. i was in the middle of it, trying as best i could and so was the secretary of state, to get whatever the number was how invalidated. we will never know. with 537 votes out of 50 million cast, we will never know for sure. we did our best and counting. -- in counting, with the idea that democracy depends on the confidence in the vote. you say what is the biggest threat to democracy? it is that. host: to north carolina, next up is robert. on the independent line. go ahead. caller: thank you. i would like to ask this gentleman what he thinks about

gates, jordan, meadows, mccarthy, holly, the post office man. secret service, stone, bannon, giuliani. that is the group of people that are surrounded by our ex-president, who is running it just like organized crime. he is the godfather. and the rest of these people who are covering for him, they are his soldiers, lieutenants and captains. there is so much that is bad about all of this. the republican party needs to wake up. because they are becoming authoritarians and they are going to destroy all of us. i just can't understand how this can keep going on. bannon, giuliani. host: all right, robert.

adam goodman, do you think ron desantis finds it politically advantageous to keep his distance from president trump and president trump's supporters, either in congress or elsewhere? host: i don't think he is keeping his distance -- guest: i don't think he is keeping his distance as much as charting his own path. he is doing that every day as governor. i think he assumes he and the former president are on their own road. that is the kind of thing the people can look forward to as we crest beyond the midterms in 2022 which will be, in my eye, a political tsunami for democrats. i think it is unfortunate for the democratic party but also fortunate they learn the lessons quickly. they think this will be a fill in the blank election. it won't be a wave election, it

will be a tsunami. i think the normal turnover in the first midterm is 36 seats. you might be closer to 60 seats. i think it would be enough to wake up the democratic party into doing what they need to do to repair, retool and redirect for the 24 cycle. host: there was a poll a week ago -- a story about polls about trump losing ground to desantis and potential -- in a potential 2024 matchup. you said before the governor is focused on this race, running for reelection. he is not taking any out-of-state donations. but what groups are beginning to form that are interested in ron desantis running for president in 2024? guest: you say what groups are forming? none that i know of formally. there is a groundswell behind his kind of politics, which

makes him a potential contender. it is based on the evidence before people of what florida has become. if you look back, look at all 50 states. which state would you most likely move to ny? i bet top of the list there, if not close to the top of the list, would be floored. the reason starts with the idea of freedom. there is a sense of freedom for people who live there. i know that i spent half my time employee. when i return to florida and i drive a cloth -- across the northern border, just above jacksonville, i feel this wave of relief. i can breathe again. i think a lot of that has been taken away by different kinds of ideologies and government elsewhere. in the state of florida, it is like we welcome everybody with open arms. be who you are.

show america that the future will be bright by the things we are able to do together in what is arguably the biggest melting pot of american politics today. host: residents from other states, new york, has that presented a challenge in terms of the man's on things like infrastructure, roads and housing? guest: it has. we look at the cost of housing in florida, it is spiking. four of the top 10 american cities in terms of migration are in flora. -- florida. one of the things is you look at the transportation budget. over $11 billion was put into the florida transportation budget for that very reason. trying to make sure that infrastructure keeps pace with the immigration of these residents. host: let's hear from texas, miriam is on the democrats line. caller: good morning.

i wanted to ask the person that you are interviewing, how did you feel about the woman that need access to health care and also about education? you guys there in florida are assuming that teachers are teaching little kids about being gay and things like that. we educators don't have time for that. we get our bachelors, we learn about the development of children. why do you assume that we teach that kind of stuff? by the way, that gay guy who called in, he can take a look at alito's opinion where he is

trying to get gay marriages out of the way. you talk about freedom, you're taking all of our freedoms away. please don't give me that garbage about offering freedom to the residence. because the republicans are not for that. host: ok, miriam. maybe, adam, you can speak to the broader education under desantis -- the desantis administration. guest: i appreciate the question. the governor budgeted over $800 million in teacher pay, which has been a big issue in florida for years. it is the biggest increase in a long time, if not a stark increase. the idea of what teachers teach, the only -- the bottom line to the issue that has been widely discussed in teacher legislation

is a more central question. the question is should parents have any input into the curriculum in schools? and i think the answer, resoundingly, not just in florida but in many other places is yes. but that is not a big brother attitude. it is not we are going to come in and tell teachers how to teach. that was never the intention of response to the speech -- piece of legislation. i think teacher are as important in this country as first responders. i believe they do an incredible service to this country in teaching our young. the more tools -- teaching our young for the future. the more tools we can give them, the better. >> next up is michael in boston, on the republican line. caller: i hope my voice is

coming in ok. i am plugged into the wall. can you hear me? host: perfectly. caller: that's fabulous. i don't necessarily disagree with your guest's analysis of the chances of the republicans winning at all. but, i want to make a statement to the united states, my country and the country of my ancestors, that adam goodman mentioned that latinos agree with the values of the republicans. meaning there must be a group of people who don't agree with the values of republicans. that hit me a little bit as race baiting. that is anti-black race baiting. i hear that a lot said about latinos, when we know how many came into the country via amnesties and other means. and i know that my ancestors

don't seem to be happy -- having specific issues dealt within the political infrastructure or the legal infrastructure. that is a complaint that i have. i don't necessarily degree -- disagree with his analysis but i felt that that was race baiting and anti-black race baiting, which we have to stop. so, have a great day. thank you very much for c-span. host: do you want to respond to that? guest: i'm sorry michael heard it that way. i'm just stating the facts in terms of where stanek -- hispanic voters are moving in by registration and by vote. this is a country built on the power of diversity. i'm a big believer that we must empower everybody to have a chance at the proverbial american dream.

that is when government does best, when they allow that. that is when society does best. i'm sorry for that interpretation. i am very proud of the fact that hispanics and african-americans and asian americans and others have really made this country as strong as it is and as diverse as it is and as esteemed as it is around the world. host: florida and dc-based republican strategist, adam goodman. up next, kevin jennings is with us. he will be talking about legislative efforts to protect same-sex marriage and other priorities when it comes to protecting members of the lgbtq+ community. ♪ >> at least six presidents

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host: kevin jennings joins us next. he is a chief executive officer, joining us from new york to talk about marriage equality in the future of lgbtq+ rights. tell us again about the work you do at lando legal. >> it is america's oldest legal rights group for the lgbtq community. what we do is we impact litigation. we bring lawsuits in instances of discrimination, where we hope to win new rights for the lgbtq community. such as the supreme court decision in 2015 which made marriage equality the law of the land. host: -- guest: we have two priorities.

our second priority is to defend the community from attacks. we are starting to see around the country where over 300 lgbt bills have been introduced in state legislatures in 2022. the top decision, which overturned roe v. wade, is very -- dobbs decision, which overturned roe v. wade, is very concerning because it violated the right to privacy. and also, the lawrence versus texas decision, which was the 2000 three decision which decriminalized same-sex relationships. host: i want to ask you, in that decision, justice clarence thomas wrote this. i'm sure you are familiar with this. he said part of what he wrote, anyway. for that reason, in future cases, we should reconsider all of this force substantive due

processes, including griswold, lawrence and over fell, because any due process decision is demonstrably erroneous. we have a duty to correct the error established in these precedents. after overruling these erroneous decisions, the question would remain whether other constitutional provisions guarantee the myriad of rights that our substantive due process cases have generated. what is the justice talking about in terms of this application of due process? guest: he lays out completely clearly. he feels that the doctrines that underlay marriage equality, access to contraception, which is the griswold decision, which dates back to 1965, and even decriminalization of same-sex relationships, he wants to throw them all out. this is a radical court. i think we need to recognize

that, with very little respect for precedent. these are decisions that were decided by clear majorities where it is obvious, in the case of griswold, for almost 60 years, has been upheld numerous times. and the justice is basically saying i don't care about that. i don't care about precedent, i don't care about history. i don't like these things. i'd -- i want to throw them out. this is a political agenda, not a legal agenda. let's be clear. host: were you surprised? guest: absolutely. the deponent -- opponents of equality have had these decisions in their site for years. -- one of his goals is to overturn lawrence versus texas. host: in response, but to

assuage or relieve some fears, justice alito had these comments in his decision in that case. he said we have stated unequivocally that nothing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion. we have explained why that is so. rights regarding contraception and same-sex relationship are inherently different from the right to abortion. because the latter, as we have stressed, uniquely -- therefore a right to an abortion cannot be justified by appeals to a broader right to autonomy. it is hard to see how we could be clearer. does that assuage your fears? guest: we will hold alito to his word. forgive me if my trust is not

that high. virtually all the justices who voted for overturning dobbs said that roe v. wade was a precedent that would stand. and yet when they got the first opportunity to throw it out the window, they did. there is a little bit of a disconnect between the words and the actions of some of these justices. we certainly are going to take the words you just read and we are going to argue them forcefully across america. we have to go back to what i said earlier, where we have a court where some justices are not intent on interpreting and following the law. there is fact about forcing a political agenda. it is hostile to voting rights and reproductive rights. it is fundamentally hospital -- hostile to lgbtq+ rights. i'm afraid legal doctrine may not be enough reduction. host: we are talking to kevin jennings about the future of

lgbtq+ rights and recent supreme court decisions. and we are talking about what is being done in congress. here are the phone lines for republicans. it is (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. and for independents and others, (202) 748-8002. if you are a member of the lgbtq+ community, the line is (202) 748-8003. were you surprised at all that after the abortion decision in particular came down, there was a delayed response from the white house? guest: i really was. i had hoped there would have been an immediate and forceful response, especially given that justice's opinion was leaked several weeks before it was -- justice alito's opinion was leaked several weeks before it was published. they are making up for lost time and doing things more aggressively now.

they are talking about a fundamental human right, which is the right of people who get pregnant to control their own bodies. that to me calls for every use of legislative trick in the book to protect people. host: remind us again, same-sex was legal, correct. >> yes. it was a consolidation of several cases around the issue of marriage equality. it made marriage equality, which was, up until then, if you look at one state, new york, you could be mary. in my home state of north carolina, you cannot. it made it the law of the land in all states. host: the u.s. house quickly moved to take up a measure that would codify that. that is the respect for marriage act, which has passed in the house. it would repeal the current defense of marriage act, which

was passed in 1996. that 1996 act defined marriage as between one man and one woman. the defense of marriage why is it so important to get it codified into law? guest: litigation is responsible for the vast majority of lbgtq+ rights and if occurred, it was founded in 1973. the bad thing is litigation can be overturned. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2022] as we just learned so painfully the dobbs decision. so it is critical that the right to marry be written into the law. so that future courts cannot overturn it. and i'm delighted to say that the congress, at least the house seems to be listening to america. after all, over 70% of americans support marriage equality including 51% of republicans and in honor of that, it seems 47%

republicans voted for the respect for marriage act and it passed by an overwhelming margin. we are very hopeful that there will be action in the senate where it pins right now and if you care about this issue, i urge you to contact your senator right away. because they have a agenda in the senate. we want to make sure this doesn't get lost. but it's absolutely critical that we codify the right to marry into the law so it cannot be overturned by legal law. host: what is your group doing? guest: we are begging for people to get in touch with our senators. this is going to be the voice of people to make the difference. the vast majority of americans do want this legislation, which polling indicates they do, they are going to do the right thing. but if we sit at our hands and hope for the best, nothing is going to advance. host: do you happen to know how many states have codified

same-sex marriage into law? guest: we're talking about the teens. in 2004, 11 banned same-sex marriage and what we're really facing is a patchwork situation where we still have some states that have constitutional bans on the books while we have other states that have marriage equality on the books. and the court could throw us back to a period of incredible confusion because you could be married in new york and drive across the border to pennsylvania and lose your legal status. and we want to avoid that at all cost. host: there was a headline a couple of weeks ago in the "new york times" after the court had finished its session. the headline from the "times" said "afro, republicans sharpened attacks on gay and transgender rights." what's been the reaction of the people that you worked with, the

community, the gay and lbgtq+ community where you are on those sorts of attacks? guest: well, we knew this was coming. the justices are people that used to like lay's potato chips. they can't stop with just one. they reversed voting rights and holder versus shelby county in 2013, they reversed, reproductive rights in the dobbs decision in 2022 and they're coming for our rights next. we know our opponents have cases tee'd up if they want to take it to the supreme court. that would reverse all the gains we've made in the last 49 years. so we're not stupid. we knew this was coming and we are prepared. i think in the community at large, there's a tremendous amount of fear. the lbgtq community was ill legal be gay in 49 states. it was illegal to open a lbgtq person -- employ a lbgtq person

in the government and it was mental illness and this was recent history for our community and people are very aware that the progress we have made is fragile and it can be reversed. so we could be going back in the battle days when we were de facto and criminals in our own country. host: kevin jennings, our guest. we will go to jack from georgia on the independent line. good morning. caller: yes, sir, good morning. i would like to ask mr. jennings on -- i mean, i'm originally from salina, georgia, i'm not gay but i know very fine gay couples that are very highly educated people and very productive people and since he was talking about this abortion issue, the right to life.

what about the gay couples who want to adopt children and i haven't heard any saying on since they've gotten into the abortion issue, how do they stand on even heterosexual couples and gay couples who might want to raise children, instead of a person going in and having an abortion. have they ever thought about maybe, you know, carrying out the pregnancy and then put the child up for adoption for gay couples and heterosexual couples want a family unit and to be able to show them right from wrong from their perspective? host: ok, jeff. kevin jennings. guest: jeff, thank you for your question. this was an area that we've been litigating for many years. unfortunately the right to foster children has been bridged in the rights of same-sex

couples more many, many years in the country. we're litigating a case right now what lesbian couple was denied the right to adopt a child by an adoption agency which was a religious agency and said because a lesbian couple did not mirror the holy family, they were not eligible to have an adoption. i find that offensive. i find that bizarre. in a world in which we do have many, many, many children who do not have a home, we need to make sure that every loving couple can adopt those children if they want to provide them with a loving home. the fact is if you are a teenage foster care child, you have a 3% chance of ever being adopted. why would we prevent people who want to adopt these children, who want to provide them with loving homes, who want to provide them with the home they've never had the right to

adopt? lambda legal believes they should have the right on whether or not they could provide those children with a good home and we are litigating to make sure same-sex couples have an equal opportunity to adopt. host: those are generally state laws that govern how adoption is held is carried out in those states, correct? guest: it's more complicated than that because often the federal government contracts out the adoption services to private providers. for example, in the u.s. conference of catholic bishop received the only contract to foster refugee children in the united states. and we sued in nashville on behalf of kelly easter who was a lesbian and who want todd foster a refugee child because of her sexual orientation.

and we are determined that regardless of who is providing the adoption services, if they're funded with your tax dollars, discrimination should not be used. host: let's hear from morgan next from reading, pennsylvania. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. mr. jennings, i was just wondering are you concerned about how the republican party seem to be embracing nazis and klan. two groups who have historically murdered gay people and how they seem to be embracing them and showing them love and support which started when trump called them good people in charlottesville when they murdered a young woman? is there like any concern and the governor of florida who wanted to stop black lives matter from protesting was

silent when the neo-nazis were protesting which just says he accepted them and had no problem with them. and what they believe in, which is murdering gay people. do you have any concerns about their seemingly growing support of these two groups? guest: absolutely, morgan. great question. in idaho in june, the police had to arrest over 30 members of a far right group who had arrived in town who had been incited to attack a pride celebration. so it is getting very, very dangerous to be a lbgtq+ person. it has always been dangerous and it is getting more so. the same thing is true for people to have color the same thing is true for religious groups such as jews and muslims. so i think that we have to have political leaders who regardless of their ideology conservative,

liberal, progressive, whatever you want to say who make it absolutely clear that hate groups and hate violence simply will not be tolerated. and it is very disturbing to me when i see hate groups being called very fine people by our former president and when i see disparate treatment when extreme right groups are allowed to protest and people on the left hand side of the spectrum are shut down by the authorities. so i think that we have to be very concerned about the rise of extremism on the right and the threat it poses to many different groups in our society and the fact that some political leaders seem to think that that's just fine and embracing it including frankly, our former president. host: your calls for kevin jennings are welcomed. the republican line, 202-748-8001. 202-748-8000 for democrats. independents and others, 202-748-8002. and the lbgtq+ community can

call on 202-748-8003. kevin jennings, did your group, lambda legal have a role in florida in the parents' right bill? the so-called don't say gay bill. do you have a role on that? guest: yes, we filed a legal challenge to the law and we plan to take it down in court. i started my career as a high school teacher for 10 years. and whose parental rights are we defend something it is not the rights of lbgtq+ parents who are now being told whose children are now being told they can't even talk about who their family is in class. it is not the rights of parent who is have lbgtq+ children who are seeing their own children being silenced and discriminated against. so if we're going to talk about parental right, let's talk about all parents.

lbgtq+ parents, there are parents who have lbgtq+ children. there are parent who is have lbgtq+ siblings. and i don't think any of those people want to see children told that they conditional even talk about who's in their family, which is what this law would do. the law is blatant censorship to erase and violence lbgtq+ people. i'm tired of hearing about parents rights when we don't talk about all parents. all parents are not bigots. many parents are lbgtq+ or have lbgtq+ children are family members and they want to see their children learn about the full diversity of america. and these laws are violating them and that's what we're defending. host: nelson from hollywood, florida, republican line.

caller: good morning, mr. jennings. and you radical democrats always talk about something is wrong when it's convenient for you. i'd like to point out, sir, that it was settled that marriage is between one man and one woman. the united states of america has no such thing as settled law that has been proven over the years with things like roe v. wade. i am delighted that roe v. wade has been overturned and i believe the law that protects young children from propaganda by people like yourself, i mean no disrespect, but like people like yourself is a good thing. it only goes up to the third grade. i also think that it is wrong to try to turn little boys into little girls. something that your organization is in favor of.

there are now children who believe that they are of a gender that they are not. and in years to come, those very same children whom you have harmed by your legal processes will come back to haunt you because they will have all kinds of emotional and psychological problems as well as physical problems for the kinds of things that's been going on. host: i'll give you a chance to respond, kevin jennings, to our caller's comments. guest: sure there's really two questions in there. one was talking about lbgtq+ issues in schools and the second was around issues of gender identity and genter affirming care for young people. first of all, i do not consider it propaganda. if a first grader whose parents are two women comes into the school when they draw a picture

of their family and it is themselves and two women. that is not propaganda and that is the truth. the fact is everybody's family deserves respect. the second issue, what about we advocate for is that the law, not discriminate, and that medical professionals follow what is generally accepted medical standards in terms of treating trans youth and they tell us when young person is trans, they are vastly more like throw harm themselves, vastly more likely to engage in a number of other self-destructive behaviors. so what we are arguing is let the doctors decide. leakers should not be deciding whether or not young people

should get health care. and in alabama, they have made it a felony for doctors to provide gender affirming care to young people. host: sounds the same as abortion in this country. guest: yeah. the same people that the government should not interfere the person's right to choose are arguing that people should interfere in the decision that really should be left to family. it seems like we are only pro family whose ideology are lined with conservatives. host: let's go to syna. good morning. caller: i have a quick question and i'm not here to stereotype or make any type of assumption

about what someone's gender may be, but my concern is that i hate that it should be where little kids, little girls, little boys identity that they're growing up and not to know that whether they're supposed to marry a woman or a man. it's just too much confusion. it should almost stayed in the closet. maybe i am just old-fashioned. maybe it should have stayed where it once used to be. and maybe it shouldn't be such psychological and pain and confusion. it has generated a whole mess. thank you. host: joe in austin, texas. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. a comment i would like to make is that as a survivor of violent

crime, violent hate crime, for that matter, these people are decides ingenuous when they say they are caring about anybody in society when they pass these types of laws, you know. they say they go to church. but i fine that hard to believe that they ever -- [indiscernible] who they don't care and respect. i'm 63 and i find it to be just disgusting behavior on their part. and that's all i have to say. thank you. host: ok. kevin jennings, your thoughts. guest: yeah, let me take the first caller's thoughts first. what has caused the pain and the confusion is not the greater open that's the fact that there are lbgtq+ people in the world. we have been here forever. what caused the pain and

confusion was the many years when people had to lie and hide in the closet. we know that when people are unable to be their authentic self, they're much more likely to attempt suicide, much more likely to develop substance abuse problems and harm themselves. the caller is right is there are a lot of pain in the lbgtq+ community but they've out of the wrong source the pain the source of the pain is discriminatory attitudes that force people into a closet and forced people not to be themselves. on the second caller's point, well, my dad was a preacher. so i love to quote the bible and i would agree with him. it says if a man said he loves god and hates his brother, he is a liar. for if he up does not love a brother who he has seen, how can he love a god who he has not

seen? i don't think there were any asterisk in it. i don't think he said something like except for lbgtq+ people, except for muslims, except for ucla. i don't think his commandments offer people an out. you must love all your brothers and sisters and you don't get to opt out of loving somebody just because you don't particularly like them. so i do wish more of these folks would follow in the bible which are the same in many, many religion. the idea that we should love and respect one another is fundamental to virtually all world religions and people who claim to be people of faith and turn around and preach hate are indeed violenting the precipes of organized religion. host: we talked about your group's activity following the ruling on the supreme court and your efforts on the protecting

marriage rights act that has been passed by the house. what about the upcoming supreme court term that begins in october? what cases might come up that your group will be focused on? guest: there are many, many cases but one in particular is called 303 versus -- this is a situation where in colorado, a developer of websites announced that they would not serve lbgtq+ individuals because they didn't agree with them ideology and this is very disturbing because if we're going to start saying that you can discriminate based on your personal beliefs, it reminds me of the 19th century, we have signs that said irish need not apply. are we now going to say lbgtq+ people need to the apply? and that's what's fundamentally at stake in this lawsuit, which is can businesses discriminate in terms of who they serve? can they simply say we don't want to serve lbgtq+ people?

and if the court says that's ok, well, where do you stop? you don't want to serve muslims, people of color, jews? it's a very, very dangerous precedent and so we're very concerned about this case and very hopeful that the court will uphold the fundamental american right to be able to access services without fearing that you will be discriminated against based on some personal characteristic such as your sexual orientation, your race or your religion. host: how is this case different from the case that came up a couple of years ago that dealt with the baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple? guest: that's what we're all concerned about in what's called a masterpiece decision which is the name the bakery who refused to make the couple the cake of the court held that you cannot discriminate in public arena based when your business based on sexual orientation and it is very concerning to us that still recently, that was decided and

yet it is back before the court again. what we're concerned about this by deciding to hear a very similar case very soon after that is some members to the court would like to overturn that precedent. and that's a very dangerous thing as i've said before if we're too young going start allowing people to decide who they serve based on whether or not they approve of what groups they belong to, we get on to a very slippery slope in this country. host: let's go next to carroll in highland, indiana. republican line. caller: good morning, mr. jennings. you know, i have three questions. one is -- one problem i think even good people of this country have is the difference between promoting an idea and accepting it. so i would like to first to speak about where you see the promoting of the gay lifestyle and how you would think of people accepting it as two different ideas. second -- this new monkeypox.

it's coming in and it is specifically starting as we understand it, in gay population. and i would like to speak to disease. but we really don't talk about and finally as a parent as you're raising young children, you could speak to living conditions at home, where does a boy or a girl sleep and what are his suggestions that are appropriate for a gay person at home. and especially with teenagers in second and third graders. is it appropriate to send girls who are gay to sleepovers that are gay? host: a lot of questions there. i wrote them down. acceptance versus promotion. sexual orientation should be seen as a neutral fact. so anyone who is promoting an idea that a certain sexual

orientation is better than another is what many heterosexual do is violating that basic rule. the fact of the matter is this is the diversity the world and it should all be accepted the second question on the monkeypox. i'm very concerned about this the government's response has been slow and inadequate. i liveed to the aids crisis. thankly, it is not fatal, monkeypox, and what we need to be doing is getting the government to get out out there with vaccination and to get ahead with this. when we stereotype a disease as

a gay disease, you create a false sense of security. monkeypox does not discriminate. only human beings discriminate. so eventually monkeypox which right now has really impacted the gay male community very strongly, like h.i.v. will spread the broader population. it is critical that the government be aggressive and get on top of this right now and get people vaccinated. the third part about what parents should do if they have lbgtq+ children in terms of sleepovers and etc., there's no hard and fast rule on this. i think the key here is communication. sit down, talk with your child. understand your child. and they can agree what is acceptable behavior and what is not acceptable behavior. the fact is there is no -- one of the -- there is no handbook. you really have to figure it out as you go along and i think the key to creating a healthy situation for your child is to create an environment where they can talk to you about anything

and you can discuss anything. so in terms of what should be a question of sleepovers, etc., that is for individual families to decide and it should be best decided by clear communication and what is in the best interest the child. anything that teaches a child to be ashamed of themselves, we know it adversely affects their mental health. host: the lead opinion piece in the "new york times" about the monkeypox, critical of the administration's response with recommendations on how the c.d.c. should be dealing with the outbreak here in the u.s. that's at nytimes.com. let's go to daniel inned. caller: hi. thanks for taking my call. i have just two points and then on the other side, mr. jennings can comment. historically, a couple callers

back with that millennium marriage was just for a man or a woman but if you look back culturally in the orient, multiple wives in. the middle east, multiple wives. in africa, a single woman would have multiple husband. so historically, it has not just been between a man and a woman. several unions were allowed and that was more of a governmental determination versus the religious determination that many religions have of a man and a woman now taking a look back at our constitution which is a separation of religion and government. i guess my point is if the supreme court goes ahead and overturns gay marriage, would it be better to just have the

government only recognize several civil unions between everyone and leave it to the religions to recognize marriage and what are the choice they have? guest: excellent question, excellent point. first of all, i did not want get into it with the previous call but in different cultures and historic period, the idea what constitutes an appropriate marriage varies. in medieval europe, there were same-sex weddings. so, you know, the idea that marriage is always a one man, one woman, that's a very narrow view and inaccurate view of history and of cultures. but the point that you made the second one is what's really interesting to me, which is that people need to understand the difference between civil marriage and religious marriage. when there was marriage with equality in the united states, it did not say that say the

catholic church which disagrees with same-sex marriage had to conduct same-sex marriages. it said that government sanctioned marriages had to be equal regardless the gender of the people in them. religious groups can continue to marry whomever they want and they were ones who conducted same-sex weddings. so religious group have retained their right with the rights they want to conduct as they should. but when it comes to government sanctioned marriage, simple marriage is aptly critical that there will be -- including for example, sometimes your access to health insurance. so there should be no discrimination in civil marriage because frankly, it is a government thing. religious marriage, that is a matter for each denomination to decide on their own. host: a couple more calls here.

first up is betty in illinois on the independent line. caller: hi. thanks for c-span. always getting my blood boiling in the morning. i want to just -- first, i want to address the woman who said that people should go back into the closet. i always think of rock hudson. the boomers will understand this and how miserable he was. second thing, adoptions. not always the best idea. because then you have medical issues and, you know, people don't know their background sometimes. and as far as like when like lauren bobert said it's between god and her husband and her. but they get the benefits they get the pensions. they get the social security if they die. they get the health insurance. that's all i wanted to say. host: kevin jennings, final

thought. guest: yeah, what we're talking about here is fundamental rights for people. the right for people to marry the person they love, the right for people to be judged at worth base on whether or not they're doing a good job. the rights for people to form families as they wish, and that's what lambda legal is defending. fundamental rights for people should not be a bridge based on sexual orientation or gender identity. every free american should be able to choose their life as long as they're not hurting anybody else. >> and our guest this c.e.o. of lambda legal. kevin jennings, thank you so much. guest: thank you, bill. host: your chance to weigh in on a broader array of issues as we go to open forum and a chance to call in on political, on policy news that you're following. 202-748-8001 is the line for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. and independents and others, 202-748-8002.

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operation. >> "washington journal" continues. host: and it's open forum after chance to call in on news items that you're following, political issues. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. and for independents, 202-748-8002. there was news this morning from asia. house speaker nancy pelosi is on a congressional delegation trip. currently in singapore. she is expected to visit taiwan because part of her tour to asia. according to an official despite warnings from the biden officials who are worried about china's response to such a high profile visit. the stop, the first for a u.s. house speaker in 25 years is not

currently on pelosi's public itinerary and comes at a time when u.s.-china relations are already at a low point. the tine want these added she is expected to say overnight. this was first reported by taiwan ease sporting this morning. but let's get to your calls here in open forum. and shirley is first up in conyers, georgia. good morning. caller: good morning. thanks for having me on. i have several questions about things going on the world. now, i'm focusing on the election -- [indiscernible] and i'm starting to wondering what is happening to the -- that they

would -- someone like herschel walker and prop him up and know that he did not have the ability to even carry a conversation. he is an embarrassment to the people who saw him as a football hero, as a heisman trophy winner and realizing he's lying about education at the university of georgia and saying he did not graduate from the university of georgia. there's so many things that bothered me that he lies so easily and i don't think he's aware that he is lying. and i think that they're saying to him just follow the script, and you'll be fine and you'll be -- don't go off course and make a fool out of yourself. it's too indecent --

[indiscernible] it is not fair to him. host: and you're talking about the latest polling. the two candidates are herschel walker, a republican candidate for u.s. senate and it is the incumbent senator rafael warnock, the current polling. the real clear average is warnock is up by 4.4% points in the latest polling. next up, jim on the republican line. go ahead. caller: yes. people need to learn by not watching these news. something that's real important popped up. learn how to backtrack on it. and i'd like to give an explanation on the lead-up to january 6. first, you had to impeach trump and according to the ukrainian treaty with the u.s., he had every right to attack. two, he had to baptize -- the

story with -- destroyed with all the property and people's livelihood. that's why so many people were there. and three, you had defunded the law enforcement. and i've done some checking and there's like three state that allowed non-citizens to vote in city and state elections. my question was if they voted for a u.s. president, what -- because they are state registered voters. thank you. host: rich is in kings port, tennessee, on the independent line. go ahead. caller: talking about loving

your neighbor and that being -- he's interpreting that to be just do whatever someone wants to do if someone says a transgender, they want to believe that they're a different gender, then it would be unloving to go along with that. but he ignores the idea that it's not loving for someone to -- if someone sees that their religion says a person will be condemned for turnity to hell, if they're committing some different acts and it would not be loving to accept that and to not warn that person. if you go back far enough, incestous marriages have been accepted in different cultures

and i want to ask him directly would he approve of consensual adults incestous marriages? because every argument he makes in favor of same-sex marriage would apply in that case. and just put him on the spot and see if he's prepared, i'm sure he probably has some dodge for that. the third thing and last thing for the sake of time is talking about not hurting someone and then he brings up the business issue. it's someone thing to have someone sell you a product but when you're talking about same-sex marriages, then you're involving everyone who has to be physical fully present, caters -- caterers, musicians, on down the line, just people who are

directly involved in that ceremony to which they strenuously object and think it's an abomination. it would be like requiring a black business owner to serve at a kk convention and he did not -- k.k.k. convention and he mentioned that only applies to protected classes. someone could refuse to accept us because we wear glasses. there's no law that prohibits that and he would prefer to impose his spruce rather than say let's go down the street to find a business owner who will serve us and we'll gladly take the money and but they would rather force someone out of business or to pay exorbitant fines and i really think that's disingenuous to argue -- i'm sorry -- host: ok, rich. appreciate your call.

give us a call. yesterday, senator joe manchin was on all five of the sunday talk show programs talking about the legislation that formerly build back better is called the inflation reduction act. builds with climate change, tax law and extending health care benefits. this is a headline from "the washington post" from that conversation. manchin won't say whether he will support biden for re-election in 2024. here is part of that conversation with "meet the press," chuck todd. >> do you hope democrats keep the house in the senate? >> i think people are sick and tired of politics, chuck. i really do. they're sick and tired of them fighting and feuding, because they didn't get what they wanted

or someone might get credit for something. why don't we start doing something for our country? i've always said the best politics is good government. do something good, chuck. but i'm not going to predict -- >> i'm not asking you to predict. what result do you want? do you want the democrat to keep control of the united states senate and the house of representatives? >> oh, you know, i'm not making those choices or decisions on that. i'm going to work with whatever i have. i've always said that. i think the democrats have great candidates that are running. and i have a tremendous amount of respect and friendship with my republican colleagues. i can work on either side very easily. >> you don't care about the outcome this year? >> whatever the vote is, i can't decide what's going to happen in kansas or california or texas. i really can't. i've always taken the approach whoever you send me, that's your representative and i respect that. and i respect the state and i give them by best to work with.

i don't play the politics that way. i don't like it that way. that's who i am. host: live coverage coming up today on c-span. includes asa hutchinson will be talking about abortion the republican party and his future in the 2024 presidential cycle here on c-span. and on our free mobile app, c-span now. tonight at 7:30 p.m. eastern. senators rob portman, republican, chris murphy, democrat participate in a debate. that is live beginning at 7:30 eastern also here on c-span, online at c-span.org and watch it on the go at the c-span now mobile app. veronica is next from pennsylvania. caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: let me start by thanking c-span for giving me information that i -- didn't have access to

and i could have used it. i am over 80 years old. i came to pennsylvania when i was 50 and take care of my parents and i never went back. and i knew because i would took care of my aging parents and my father passed at 96 and my mother 10 years later, the ins and outs of medicare. but i never found out and when i had access to medicare, i dill still didn't know. when you saw something fraudulent happening, when a hospital acclaim that they did something for you and you knew they hadn't done it. there's no way to object to it the hospital was claiming tax money, whatever supports

medicare, and yet one day, late june on the 27th, i believe it was. i was watching c-span. and the subcommittee was under the energy and commerce department. and what shocked me was that there is a medical -- medicare -- medical. aspect to the energy and commerce commission. well, for the first time i was learning that i wasn't going about complaining about what happened to me and in an emergency room near where i live. actually, i stay in reading, pennsylvania. that crippled me back in december by what they failed to do. and yet they charge my medicare and by the way, a very expensive co-insurance called medigap for

anesthesia that they did not provide and which had me because i was not an necessarytized screaming in pain. host: sorry about that. glad you were able to get some information from one of those hearings we covered. lawrenceville, georgia, is next on the republican line. jarrett, go ahead. caller: jerod. host: jerod. go ahead. caller: i care about people getting green cars. there are over 100 million people in this nation that can't afford a car but that seems to be extremely ignored. i'm 81 years old and i sure as hell couldn't go buy a car. i got a 15-year-old car that i hope they will take my ashes to the sea or whatever. but they can't get a car. they act like get a green car and it's all over. we can't afford to buy a green

car. i appreciate you letting me talk today. thank you. host: ok. on the independent line next. pat in new mexico. caller: hello. good morning. host: good morning. caller: i'm very concerned about the -- situation in the southwest and all over we build pipelines and cable lines and oil lines and i wonder why we can't do something and pass some of this flooding waters and rain to the drought areas. it's just a thought. host: ok. athens, ohio, on the line is kathleen on our democrats line. go ahead. caller: hi. hey, i so appreciate watching "washington journal" and hearing people's different views. you guys, you're a treasure. anyway, i have two requests after you guys to do two different segments. one, on the preparedness of

school classrooms across the nation. we know we are sending our children, our grandchildren and our teachers back on to the front lines of a country where many people inappropriate people, can access, you know, basically weapons of -- kind of a mass, you know, distinction with these ak47's and ar-47's, i forget them, assault weapons right now. could you guys do a segment on preparedness of school classrooms across the country, as well as i've asked you guys several times if you guys could do a segment on the four reports, international reports, amnesty did a report. human rights watch, and u.n. report where they defined israel as an apartheid state. you guys? have not done any segments on

those reports. so i would ask for you guys do both those segments. host: we hear your suggestions, kathleen. our producers who are listening to the program and appreciate your input on that. debbie is on the republican line. caller: ok. i'm a republican. i'm conservative. i'm christian. but i did -- beaten to death because he was gay. i'm a parent. i believe that's wrong. but i also don't understand -- [indiscernible] i can't condone although it's wrong to beat somebody to death. also, i never, ever thought i would see roe v. wade

overturned. it began at conception. 63 million unborn babies. also, with the violence. there's a lot of rage, a lot of rage, rage, rage is way different than anger. it's on a whole other level. so that is mental health -- [indiscernible] if you're christian, you know that. trump went way over on everything. i am a republican. like i said, i am conservative. but he -- also as to conservative, we star on conservative stations. people -- they --

[indiscernible] host: to michael next up in texarkana, texas. texarkana, arkansas. here we go. michael go ahead. caller: we're 12 miles apart. thank you, bill. i have a comment to make here. i studied medicine in the navy. and central time, if you're going by the penis, you're male. vagina, you're a female. your genitals does not have a brain. your mind determines your sex, not your genital. so, to put some thought into people's minds, your genitalia does not determine your sex. your mind determines that. neither of those areas have a brain to determine your sex. your birth certificate is three or four days after you're born made by a doctor and they do not

look at your brain see what you prefer. i'm marry with two children. i have no problems with gay people. that's their choice given by god and the bible. you christians out there that want to shove your beliefs down on people's throat, god gave man choice. i don't agree with abortion. if a woman decides to have an abortion, that's up to her and her god. let god determine. not you. and the steck thing. i've crossed the southern border at least 12 times. when you drive across the border you drive back. they don't check every vehicle coming through. they check every 10th vehicle. that's how you get it. put the people in a moving van. because it was never checked. that's how things are coming.

they're not coming across the border the way -- through on the back of a wetback's back. excuse my language, but a mexican's back. they come across -- the drug cartels in mexico are smarter than we think. if you build a wall 20 feet back, they will buy 40-foot drone. host: michael, did you drive a truck for a living? is that why you crossed the border so many times? caller: no, i was in the military. i went to el paso, dallas, and san diego to crossing. and every time i cross, coming back, they check every 10th or 12th vehicle. and these illegals in these semi-vans are coming. because every vehicle is not checked. this is not brain science. host: thanks for your call this morning from california. this is a "los angeles times."

two found dead inside cars. mckinney fire grows to become california's largest of the year. in the 20 years they've lived in california, a woman and her husband packed up her car and fleed from fire five times, twice in the last two years. "we haven't ever had to leave. he said as flails burned less than five miles away. the reality hasn't hit me that this one could swallow up our home." the mckinney fire, the largest of this year's fire season in california as ripped through 52,000 achers in the national forest near the border with oregon, trying homes and threatening hundreds more. it was 0% contained says the "l.a. times." on our line for democrats, charlene in the bronx in new york. go ahead. caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: i'm very appreciative of the "washington journal" and so

many viewpoints. but i wanted to speak on what mr. jennings said in the previous segment. he was incorrect when he said the supreme court ruled in favor of the lesbian couple that wanted the wedding cake. it actually was a little bit more nuanced. and the masterpiece bakery won. because c-span had an excellent forum called religious -- versus civil rights where they had a discussion on that very subject. and eventually when the supreme court did its ruling, it was ruled also in favor of the bakery based on the fact that he was saying that this was his civil rights he didn't refuse to sell them any cakes, just not specifically making the cake. and he also did not allow cakes

for divorced people parties or for halloween. so, it was not quite as simple as mr. jennings made it out to be. and the supreme court now is doing even more going in the direction of deciding what they believe will be the path they should take. whether people agree with it or not. host: charlene, i appreciate that clarification. glad you saw the program here on the network. caller: ok. i want to say this to be clear. as far as the supreme court is concerned and roe v. wade. what the supreme court decided is what they should have never decided 49 years ago.

they gave the choice back to the people. the people determined whether borrows is going to be -- abortion is going to be legal in their state and the people will decide. and so that was an important decision that the supreme court did. that was a very powerful thing that they did for the american people was give the choice -- give the power back to the people and back to the state. the federal government is upset about it and a lot of people are upset because they want the federal government to have more control of our lives. the same thing they did with the same-sex marriage. whenever they put the vote to the people in the various states the state and the people of those states decide that. and the supreme court has no business deciding anything close to that. and so i am glad that we have a supreme court that understands that the power should be with the people and not with the

federal government. and i'm glad about that. thank you. host: ok. it's donald in culver, indiana. here on open forum. go ahead. republican line. caller: i'm going to talk about the electric cars they are trying to push on us. i like to drive myself if i go anywhere. if you take an electric car and go from new york to california, it would take you 104 hours. a gas powered would only take you 46 hours driving time. it does not make sense on these electric cars. host: all right, donald. that will wrap it up this morning for "washington journal." we are back tomorrow morning at seven :00 eastern, we hope you wore, too. we will take you next to a discussion with arkansas