gendron all, every day taking your calls live on the air and we discussed policy issues that impact you. coming up wednesday morning, we discussed nancy pelosi's trip to taiwan and its effect on the u.s.-china relations with the asian engagement director for defense priorities. then the deputy executive director of priorities usa will talk about her group's efforts in the 2022 midterm election. watch washington journal live at 7:00 eastern wednesday morning on c-span or c-span now, our free mobile app. be sure to join the discussion with your phone calls, facebook comments, text messages, and tweets. ♪ announcer: host: josh kraushaar s to talk about any primaries that are happening today across the country. let's start with arizona. what are you watching for? guest: a lot of big statewide

primaries where donald trump has exerted his influence, endorsing a former tv newscaster turned very mag a republican. she is going up against a businesswoman who is endorsed by the governor. mike pence, this is a classic m aga versus establishment showdowns. there are a lot of other big races in arizona, the senate primary and secretary of state. a lot of these establishment tests on the ballot. host: let's stick with terry lake. how is she looking in a general election? guest: arizona is a swing state. she is very pro-trump, one of the most loyal republicans to the presidents can -- conspiracy

theories of the arizona election results. she is going to have a harder time winning the general election, the favored democrat certified the election for president biden in 2020. arizona is a swing state. it's a good year to be a republican. she's got a decent chance if she wins tonight to win an election in arizona. host: i didn't know if i said that. talk about that. who would he face and a general election? guest: the senate primary features blake masters, a protege of peter teal, the entrepreneur who has funded a lot of republican candidates from -- he endorsed him in that race. there are a few other candidates, the attorney general.

the trump endorsement is looking like it's given masters a lot of momentum. host: how is mark kelly looking? guest: any democrat, senator kelly is a first-term democrat, is going to have a challenging reelection in a swing state. his hope is that some of the more -- if masters is the nominee, some of the more moderate suburban swing voters might vote democratic because they don't want to vote for the more far right trump candidate. arizona is a good example of trump aligned candidates doing well in the primary, but democrats will have a renewed opportunity to win tough races because republican nominees may be too extreme. host: let's talk about the missouri primary. guest: trump likes eric. he was deciding between eric

schmitt and eric greitens, the disgraced former governor who is leading in the polls for quite some time. it looks like schmidt, the attorney general, is the favorite. trump had a lot of close family members who were promoting eric reitan's. he decided not to make a decision. he said he was supporting and eric. it is his way of getting out of a jam, not having to pick between two different groups of supporters. host: if you are in missouri, we want to hear from you. what to do? are people looking for the former president to give them a signal? guest: there are a lot of republicans who couldn't stomach the possibility of eric reitan's , he's accused by his ex-wife of domestic abuse.

he resigned from the governor's office in disgrace a few years ago. they couldn't stomach the possibility of him winning. there is a super pac publicans were donating to to prevent him from winning that nomination. host: what about michigan? guest: that's another wild and crazy republican primary. two of the leading candidates were disqualified earlier this year because they didn't get enough signatures qualify. there was some fraud involved in their signature collection. the leading candidate is dixson, a conservative commentator, someone who is supported by betsy devos, a former education secretary. this should likely seal the deal for her nomination. host: then in michigan, you have

a republican number of congress facing an uphill better. guest: one of the 10 house republicans who voted for president trump's impeachment and may end up facing a big backlash as a result. the opponent of congressman meyer, he is a trump-endorsed candidate. he didn't raise a lot of money on his own. he didn't put together much of a campaign. the democratic congressional campaign committee poured in half $1 million to boost the trump candidate in hopes of taking out one of the more anti-trump republicans. host: let's go to kansas. guest: there is a big referendum on abortion, whether they should codify pro-life provisions into the state constitution.

kansas is a very conservative state. this is one of the first testings of the political issue, how it's going to play, even in a republican state like kansas if a majority of kansans reject this pro-life plank to the constitution, it shows that democrats feel the issue of abortion rights will be a significant one in the midterms. host: what do they hope is the outcome? guest: they are hoping to reap a political backlash. in a year that's going to be tough to be a democrat on swing state ballots, they want to show that if a republican state -- it could have more significant consequences in bluer states. host: we want to get our viewers thoughts on this.

many states are having primaries today. we have divided the line. you can also text us. include your first name, city, and state. you can go to facebook or send a tweet. one more state, washington state. guest: this may be the biggest of all. you've got to republicans who voted for impeachment as well. washington has unique system where all the candidates of all parties are on the same primary ballot. that gives these two anti-trump republicans a chance to win or move on from the primary tonight. trump has had remarkable success ousting republicans who challenged him in 2020. this could be the one outlier in washington state. these are going to be important races to watch. host: one viewer opined that

senator joe manchin agreed in this last-minute dealmaking with senator schumer on a climate change bill because he thinks democrats are going to hold the senate. guest: i think it's very possible democrats could hold the senate. i do think they will gain many seats. they could gain a seat. i think joe manchin wanted to do something with his power while he has it. it's more likely that republicans take the senate or democrats render him less powerful in the next congress. i think he wanted to do something on his terms. he may not have this leverage after november. this was something he felt more comfortable with on his terms.

host: if the democrats can pass this reconciliation deal they are doing, does that give them some headwinds heading into november? guest: it can't hurt. i don't think there is anything that is politically sellable. there are some climate change provisions to help people pay for insulin. some things are in there that democrats can pitch. we spent the last year following the drama between joe manchin and aoc. you don't want to be divided heading into the midterm. at the very least, biden can claim an accomplishment and have his own party on the same team.

host: what is sellable coming out of washington to voters from the democratic president and a democratic congress? guest: they are going to pitch this as a bill that might help get americans health care, insulin is covered if that provision stays in the legislation. the gun-control bill passed congress, that is something democrats might talk about with public safety. with the economy the way it is right now, inflation still looming large, it is hard to pass any bill and get credit for an economy that people feel isn't we well. they feel disillusioned about the state of the country. policy isn't going to change the environment. a better economy, a better sense

of safety in cities, that would move the needle politically. host: those are driving voters this year. are there other drive -- issues? guest: education and covid, there is a lot of scar tissue from the regulations that were in place the last couple of years. we saw -- because of coded policies that were unpopular. the education issue is something to watch for. immigration especially, there is a special election in texas. that hispanic, -- won a democratic house seat. that is a trend to watch the hispanic vote will to write --

move to the right. host: independent, you are upset -- first. caller: i wanted to make a comment about -- there is a litany of issues that people are looking at. i watched news every day from different channels and i am pro facing the environment and i was wondering if you can comment on what people are understanding and caring about and saying about the environment because we are so much -- you don't have time to waste to help the environment because of mistakes that we have made that some of them were on purpose and some

were not and i think we have to be real and responsible. host: your. --sure. guest: one of the big challenges politically is that climate change and those issues don't rank as a top issue. we hear about record heat as -- in the south and 100 degree temperatures in europe. we don't see climate change ranked as a top issue. what democrats are looking to do with this bill, is spend monday -- monday on these issues but these are not dramatic changes that the more progressive democrats want. this is not a green deal. host: birx in -- moderate in

delaware. caller: i want to make it -- i comment on the issue on abortion that is on the ballot on some states. i am just hard with what is going on in congress about abortion. this country is separated based on government and church and they are bringing religious beliefs into the issue. women are going to have abortion regardless of whether it is legal but if they are illegal, many women will die from their own way of aborting a pregnancy. abortion has to be legal. politicians and judges have to keep their noses out of the issue and let that decision be made between the women, the

doctor, her guide and whatever family members she chooses. host: we were talking about this earlier. kansas is the state to watch because of their abortion initiative. guest: kansas is the political test on the issue of abortion and what is interesting is that kansas, its neighboring state, missouri, has more restrictive abortion policies and it is a republican state but because of the different state constitution, missouri has become a pro-life haven whereas kansas where -- that is not -- just as republican -- this will be a very big test. host: some local headlines out of kansas.

it is voters are receiving confusing texas -- text messages about what they are voting on. mike, republican. caller: i was talking about, i know there is a lot of older, independents and democrats that listen to c-span but they say that the republican party is not your parents. the democrats -- your parents go up but we have american conservatives in, we will be up a creek because look at what president biden andy complete democratic control has done in the past 18 months. inflation went from 1.9-29.0.

we have to stop the biden administration. to bring up liz cheney, he will look for atv role on msnbc -- she will look for atv role -- a tv role on msnbc. guest: a desire for check and balances at a time when republicans desire for control. you see the president's party moving in the election. that is fundamental to american politics. we are in a polarized time, the fact that liz cheney, who is one of the most conservative republicans, except not

supporting trump, sat -- that puts her in the democratic camp. her vote is conservative but at this time, she is more popular with democrats. host: -- talking about extreme macro republicans --maga republicans. >> the threat is extreme maga republicans. that is a crisis we confront. extreme naca republicans --maga republicans. extreme on social security.

they want to end it in five years. social security, they want to end it. extreme on democracy and they do not believe in it. they want to leave on a path toward authoritarianism. extreme on guns and medicare. they want to end it in five years. that is the threat. that is why we will put people over projects and make it clear what these republicans are all about. host: does that argument work? guest: it is not fair political observation and it is somewhat true that extreme candidates of any party are less likely to win moderate voters. it is ironic to hear that from congressman jeffrey, how --

house democrats across the board have spent $50 million for voting for these maga republicans to face the other republicans. democrats have had to face uncomfortable questions including congress -- congressman jeffrey sims of -- jeffries himself. host: independent. caller: thanks for having me. i was disappointed in the way are five probably -- our bipolar parties are operating. there is no middle ground and the democratic party, my father was very adamant democrat because he grew up in the depression era and he was a coal miner.

anyone who knows the history knows about the union wars that went on. he was pro-worker rights. what happened to any of that, especially now. corporations tell us how to live. the democratic party has fallen away from anything like that. host: i will have josh jump in. guest: the caller makes an important point that there are hundreds in the general election. these candidates are less valuable -- left valuable --fal liable. start catering to the base, which are getting more extreme. you have general elections between two extremes. the moderates make the difference.

ultimately, it is which party and figure out how to nominate amazing -- mainstream candidates. host: democratic caller. caller: hello. this is the first time i have ever called and i don't want to complain but the way i see things and maybe i am cloudy but i tried to watch on french -- all different channels and i am lucky that i can afford cable and it seems like fox news is so prevalent throughout america in places where there is not a lot of money and it seems like they control the characters because they are so big. they monopolize everything and it is hard to get with -- get away from that, that appearance, whatever they say is to -- is

true. it is scary to think that we are going down that road and their narrative will prevail over democracy. it is a business model to us after president -- two as have the president --to attack you president --the president -- and maybe it is the monopolization not -- lost -- laws but information dissemination is the key to everything. host: bobby division within the republican party. ron desantis -- and former president trump both could run and who else could run? guest: you have mike pence and

nikki haley and anti-trump republicans that are fighting for a small piece of the republican party but i was talking to a republican senators and he put it simply. among trump voters, half of them are the true believers. go to the rally and they are with trump -- they go to the rally mdr with trump and they deny the election. have voted for trump because they like his policies and they may agree with some of the things he says but they want to look for and care about their own economic situation. the policies that will go forward and they are looking someone new -- to someone new.

20% are anti-trump. liz cheney and larry hogan. there is a 60% share of the publican party that would be -- republican party that will be the coalition of ron desantis. that is if the senses once -- ron desantis runs. that is the pathway that the governor will look at. host: he was -- bill young conservative voters group talking about how his message is all about before. guest: it is difficult for the former vice president because he is stuck between a rock and a hard place. democrats taken for serving as a loyal vice president under

former president trump and republicans, at least the maga look at him negative because of forging a different course from donald trump. there is a constituency from that -- for that but it is a smaller party. it will be hard for him to forge a majority. host: michelle in ohio. republican. caller: thank you for taking my call. what got me to call in west the two people from all have, the first people -- lady talked about the environment. i have lived here for three months. it is beautiful and this is one of the richest cities per capita. the other lady from ohio called

about abortion. what is happening in the country, which i believe, we talk about maga. it is real and it will be here in fall. we are voting for -- key things. we are no longer, maga people, are no longer going to lay our children at the abortion officer. god is moving our country in a big way. it is thou shall not kill. people, we need to wake up and we are taking candidates that will do what is right and will take care of the poor and president trump told us that. i lived in flint, michigan,

before i lived here and i never saw so many poor people he brought up the -- be brought up through doing the right thing for people. what we have seen with the shutdown on covid, you learn the government -- we learned the government would not be the answer. we need to dig deep inside. host: what are you hearing from that voter? guest: dr ohio senate race, it will be av test that republican should win. the democrat, tim o'brien, is a moderate democrat but he has not supported any regulations on abortion so you have two polar opposites on the abortion rates. that could drive voters to the polls. host: cap cpac -- you have cpac.

other lawmakers in the former president trump. -- and the former president trump. guest: is donald trump's home grab -- that is donald trump's home crowd. we have seen cpac appeal to certain republicans. it is not a drum part of the party. -- it is now the trump part of the party. host: i want to give the doors on the -- viewers an update on closing trust -- nancy pelosi's trip to taiwan. -- made a loop to the east to the philippines and appears

headed straight for taipei, sources say eta in taiwan for 10:00 p.m. vogelsang. it looks like the speaker is going forward with her trip to taiwan. ryan independent -- independent. >> i was wondering what what you showed. why do you think all these republicans go to an extreme on antigovernment anything when they say they are christian. the previous caller was talking about environmental regulation.

the bible tells us to protect your as well as -- detect -- protect the earth. a lot of republicans don't want to do that because they want to criminalize the lgbtq community. host: any thoughts? guest: we talk about the leading candidate for governor in arizona, sent money to obama. that is one of the things that -- at the base of the democratic party, they care about progressive policy and they want to move the country to the left. host: randy in florida --

democratic caller. caller: i keep hearing about how the democratic party is in charge of everything and running everything but we have a separate -- a senate that started out before then all the way to barack obama when mitch mcconnell, the republican senate was going to make sure he is a one term president. he won again and after that, when joe biden came in, he said the same thing. he would make sure that he would not be -- joe biden will not be successful so it has been evident that the actual republican party has been

against any type of progress as it goes to this president. you have a president -- the company should be led by vip years other people who voted -- ideas of the people who avoid -- voted. if not this one man, doing this. host: let's talk about the president poll numbers. guest: president biden has poll numbers in the high 40's -- high 30's. what is more concerning is that he is losing folks in a party that are dissatisfied with the pace. he hasn't gotten the big problems he made in the administration.

maybe if the joe manchin deal goes through will satiate the democrats. what is keeping democrats up at night, not only people approval for president bynum but the base may not show up -- president biden but the base may not show up. host: i want to show our viewers. >> record gas prices and parents not having a say in education, achieving the american dream is out of grass. we can do better but that requires new leadership and that is why i am asking you to support marion -- always fight for you. host: opportunity matters --

guest: they are never any coincidences in politics. tim scott is one of the candidates possible for the 2020 for presidental race. you can see him being a compelling national figure. he is thinking about it himself. host: host could possibly be running -- who else could possibly be running? guest: the senator in arkansas. mike pompeo. it used to be the party infrastructure -- the dnc would have some role as the gatekeeper. now it is a wrestling match where everyone is fighting with each other.

i don't think trump will clear the field. it will be a open primary and if president biden does not take a second term, the democratic field will be messy. host: democratic caller. there -- are you there? good morning. go ahead. caller: my question -- you're always talking about joe biden and trump. once you know why you say that with a lot of things he have done wrong. host: i will leave it there. let's talk about the democratic field for president.

guest: it depends on president biden will run for the second term. age is the elephant in the room. the majority of democrats don't want president bynum to run. some people think he is too old to be president. if he decides to retire and step aside, it will be a civil war between the moderates and the progressives. some of that has been papered over but the fight between progressives and moderates is just as intense between the points between democrats and republicans it on capitol hill -- republicans on capitol hill. you have aoc who claims to speak on the left.

you have, will harris, whether she is --, let harris -- kamala harris. there is a lot of issues. some democrats would weather have president biden stay in office. host: independent. caller: calling about the presidential election -- i am calling about the presidential election. why do people hate trump so that --bad? they hate the man so bad who did a good job but when president

biden is in the warehouse, they changed the rules. everything goes up. host:? about the hypothetical matchup between former president trump and president biden. guest: it is a mutual dependence. there is a good chance neither president biden or trump or on the balance on 2024 -- are on the balance on 2024. i am not sure that is what was once -- voters want. i know some leads on the republican polls but they made -- where the conservative movement is. president biden told promised

was that he would be a bridge to the new generation of democrats and i think that is likely to happen in 2024. host: john in -- if you quit -- make it quick. caller: we are having the same battle on the left where the centrists are republicans anyway so i feel like we need to get more progressives in office and stop propping up people there are bad -- that are bad. host: we will talk about that. guest: despite the left having momentum, moderate democrats, the centrist democrats, have won a geordie of democratic primaries, do much better in general elections -- and if

democrats want to win the senate , they need the moderate democrats. host: for viewers who are political junkies, follow our guest on announcer: c-span's washington journal, every day taking your calls live on they are on the news of the day and discussing policy issues that impact you. coming up wednesday morning, we will discuss house speaker nancy pelosi's trip to taiwan and its effect on u.s.-china relations with the asia director for defense priorities. then we will talk about efforts on the 2022 midterm election. what washington journal live at 7:00 eastern sunday

morning pair would join the discussion with your phone calls, facebook comments, tex messages -- text messages, and to eat -- tweets. ♪ ♪ announcer: c-span is your unfiltered view of government. funded by these television companies and more, including comcast. >> oh, you think this is just a community center? no, it is way more than that. >> comcast is partnering with 1,000 community centers to create wi-fi enabled listings for students of low income families, to give them the tools they need to get them ready for anything. announcer: comcast supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. ♪ announcer: wednesday, senators testify on the need to perform the 1887 electoral count act in front of a senate committee. that act governs how electoral votes are counted after a presidential election. watch live at 10:30 a.m., also

on our free mobile video app, or online at c-span.org. at least six presidents recorded conversations while in office. you can hear many of those conversations during season two of c-span's podcast, presidential recordings. quick the nixon tapes, their part have a conversations, part liberation and 100% unfiltered. >> the main thing is it will pass. i heart goes out to those people who were overzealous with the best of intentions. if i could have spent a little bit more time being a politician , i would have kicked them out but i did not know they were doing.

>> next, the democratic primary debate for new york's 12 congressional district. this debate is held by spectrum there's and wnyc. suraj: good evening. welcome to the cuny tv studio. i am errol lewis. >> i am bridget bergen, senior political correspondent at the got messed.