>> at least six presidents recorded conversations while in office. hear many of those conversations during season two of c-span's podcast, president shall recordings. >> the nixon tapes, part private conversations, part deliberations and 100% unfiltered. >> let me say that the main thing is my heart goes out to those people who with the best of intentions were overzealous but i'm sure you know of. if i could have spent a little more time being a politician last year and less time being president, i would have kicked thereabouts. >> find this on the c-span now mobile app or wherever you get your podcasts. >> "washington journal"

continues. host: we are back, hope -- joined by bill press, host of "the bill press pod." he is also here to discuss campaign 2022 and the political news of the day. it seems like it is 24/7 here in washington. i'll ask you the same question i asked henry earlier. describe the political landscape for democrats going into the 2022 midterm elections. guest: i was driving here and did not hear mr. olsen's answers but i imagine my will be different. i always caution my friends in the media to hold their horses and stop making these bold predictions so early. for the last six months we've heard from most people in the media that this is going to be a wipeout, that joe biden's poll

numbers were so low and everything was going bad for the democrats. donald trump was riding high. that this was going to be a republican tidal wave. suddenly people are pulling back and saying maybe we better rethink that and i think they should. the way i see it now, let's look at the primaries this past week. we saw some very interesting signs, a particularly new york 19, democrat pat ryan up until the day before everybody was saying he was going to lose because this was a swing district. it went for obama and then for trump and then for biden but barely. upper new york state. republicans were going to pick this up and prove they were going to march right into control of the house and control of the senate. it didn't happen that way. pat ryan had a big upset. nobody can downplay it. the big issue for him that he

ran on was the supreme court decision on dobbs and abortion, saying everything -- saying i will do everything i can to negate the impact of that. we saw from that one congressional district, the way i read the primaries today is anything could happen. it's about two months to go, anything could happen. i believe democrats will not only maintain control of the senate but pick up two or three seats in the senate. we can talk about some of those senate seats. the big flood bubble five they are calling it -- flippable five they are calling it. if they lose the house, it will not be as big as some are saying. anything could happen. is not going to be the republican tidal wave that people are predicting. the economy is strong.

joe biden is getting things done and his popularity is going up and i think it is going to be a good year for democrats. host: historically, when we look at midterm elections, the president's party normally suffers heavy losses. when we look at the generic ballot test, they have republicans at 44.2% and democrats at 44%, basically in -- basically neck and neck. guest: i think there were a couple things going on and it is a significant finding. it is meaningless in a sense because elections are about people and districts and candidates. the generic does tell you the mood of the people. another thing we saw this week that you mentioned earlier i thought was interesting.

the nbc news poll. they asked this question and i talked about what this meant. they asked an open question. what do you think the most important problem it facing this country is? open ended, they did not give them a list of things to talk about. the number one issue was threats to do our -- threats to our democracy. that was up over cost of jobs and economy, immigration, crime, abortion, climate change. where did that come from? it came from two places according to the research poll. the january 6 committee hearings have been punching through. people see what happened across the street on january 6 was for real. it was a coup. a lot more people could have been killed.

six police officers were killed. that was all the hands of donald trump. number two a come back to that supreme court decision on dobbs which people see as the supreme court rolling back our rights and threatening our rights as americans. the other thing i thought was democrats may have some good candidates but the energy and the power is on the republican side. the energy gap right now is basically tied. democrats are as outraged or enthusiastic, whichever word you want to use as republicans are. a lot of it is back to that supreme court decision. plus clarence thomas says we got you one abortion and now we will come after you on gay rights and contraception and god knows what else. i think the american people are seeing there was a lot at stake,

and it could be our democracy itself. i think it is, by the way. host: let's look at that nbc news poll because i want to go through some of those topics and see where you think democrats are weak and where they are strong. we just finished talking about threats to democracy. that was the number one issue at 21%. guest: the heart research people pointed out they've never seen anything like this before. this has never happened before in all of their years of polling, decades, when the american people identified threats to democracy is the number one issue facing the country. host: the next three, cost-of-living, jobs and the economy and immigration. do those trend toward republican voters more than democrats, and can democrats turn it around on those categories? guest: it depends on how they play them.

just to hit on number one again for a second. threats to democracy very much plays in the democrats favor because they threats to democracy are coming from donald trump and the maga. -- and the maga party. cost-of-living, i think that helps the democrats. joe biden can say look, we lower the cost of your prescription drugs, we just give you $10,000 in student loan debt relief and if you are low income family, $20,000. look at these new jobs that the infrastructure bill has created. i think that plays in the democrats favor. immigration is always a mix. i don't think anybody wins on immigration. no matter democrat or republican, there are always people coming across the border

and everybody says it is too many. the abortion thing definitely plays -- this was a republican supreme court put in by republicans who took the basic fundamental right of women away to control their own bodies and said in this country for the first time since slavery, we are going to force you. to have a baby. -- force you to have a baby. we are back to forced pregnancies in this country thanks to the republican party. host: let me take a second to remind our viewers they can take part in this conversation. we will open up regular lines. republicans can call (202)-748-8001. democrats, your line is (202)-748-8000. independents, you can call (202)-748-8002. keep in mind you can always text us at (202)-748-8003. we are always reading on social media, on twitter and facebook.

guest: you've got it covered. host: i want to go back to something you said earlier, specifically talking about campaign 2022. you mentioned the flippable five in the senate. what senate seats guest: i am not predicting 100%. but looking at where things are right now, let's start in pennsylvania. john is an incredible candidate. donald trump -- he was on television, he will be a great candidate, i'm going to make him my candidate. the general did a study that showed that over half the stuff that dr. oz talked about on his tv show was fake.

phony cures and medicinal aids. he is greatly new jersey and he should have stuck to new jersey. john fetterman was up 13 points last night. we will get to that in a second. i think wisconsin is flipping. lieutenant governor is a great candidate and ron johnson is a clown. he started out -- democrats in wisconsin, they have some respect for ron johnson. then he became a major trumper and has made a fool of himself since january 6. i think johnson is behind and

will go down. you have north carolina, ted budd. it looks good day. the polls are tied. help me out here. ohio. a very strong candidate. a blue-collar --he is the sherrod brown democrat, a blue-collar democrat. the working-class people of ohio like him. i think he has a good shot against his opponent. which, he is famous, he's going to be a good candidate. no, he is not. you know, i might -- florida is the other one. what a rock star. i think --i would challenge

anybody in florida to tell me anything that little marco has accomplished in 12 years in the u.s. senate. i think it is a tough race there. i think immigrants could win that one as well. i would say three out of the five democrats will win. we started with georgia. playing football, has to be a great candidate. no. it is an embarrassment. but he said about evolution, what he said about the climate change bill or the inflation reduction bill, i am paraphrasing a little bit, but

they think they are helping us, but they are really not because a lot of that money goes to trees. don't we already have enough trees? i can tell you come first of all, he has no --no idea how important those trees are to the health of the planet. we would not even be here if it were not for the trees that we have, that are keeping our oxygen levels up, and he is wanting to cut more down. that is an embarrassment. maggie hassan a new hampshire, this was considered the most vulnerable democratic city and maggie hassan is doing very well. republicans have not decided who they will pick yet, but it looks like they will go for this retired general.

he has so far out there and extreme. it looks like republicans will put up the worst possible candidate. mike kelly -- there was a backpedaling. 100% pro-choice. he took that off his website. he started to backpedal because he knows he is in trouble. nevada, looking very strong. john in colorado, people were saying, this could be a very tight race, the put but the posters are saying, we do not see any sign of that yet.

i do not know that the democrats lose their seats. they could get plus two or three . i will tell you why that is particularly important because among the ones that they have, joe manchin --they cannot always count on. host: we will start with heath calling on the republican line. good morning. caller: hello. thank you for having my call. i would like to talk to mr. bill. he says republicans at -- are against democracy. democrats attacked the police and court houses all of 2020. i would like to mention that he is a racist, a misogynist and a

wife beater, but you do not talk about that and how he supported blm. what about fetterman? that guy does not have a brain cell working, much like you, bill christ. -- bill. guest: i hope you will forgive me for not resorting to personal attacks the way our caller did. i do not think that should be part of politics. i think you give yourself away as a total brain-dead airhead when you talk like that. i will similarly ignore the unfunded attacks on a great man and a great american. i think that you should take a lesson from john mccain. when someone stood up in the 2000 election --the 2008

election and said something negative about barack obama, who was his opponent, john mccain stood up and said no, he is a good man and a good american. we disagree on a few issues, but do not attack him. with that, i will rest my case. host: a call from columbus, ohio on the democrat line. darrell, are you there? i think we lost darrell, so let's go to john, calling from new york on the independent line. caller: good morning and thank you for the call. i appreciate it. they do not i would say it woman is someone who starts a menstrual cycle, which i would call for a child 10, 11, 12

years old. does he think it is ok for a woman, 11, 12, 13-year-old, to make the decision to go into planned parenthood, without a parental guidance and have an abortion without the parent knowing that the child is having an abortion, yet that same child , for them to go to a museum, i would have to get an authorization for them to do so. i'm wondering why, if he can explain what he would identify as being a woman, and able to make the decision for a portion. guest: i am one hundred percent pro-choice. my suggestion is mind your own business. do not try to force your opinion on everyone else in america. and i do not think a 10-year-old

girl is capable of making a choice and to make that twice affecting the rest of her life, not to mention the life of that baby. we saw that in indiana and it was outrageous. just to hear the people defend that decision. i think the basic issues on abortion, most of the american people support roe v. wade. most of the american people oppose the dobbs decision. i would say, live with that. you can, but do not try to force it on everyone else. this is a usually significant and important decision that impacts not just the life of american women but the rights of

all americans. for over 50 years, most women alive today have lived with the knowledge that they, not some gang of white men wearing black robes or whatever color can decide what happens to their body. they have the right to control their body. 50 years, they have lived with that. if you take that right away and you declare to all american women that you are now second-class citizens and we, not you will decide what happens to your body, you can do that if you have enough votes in the supreme court. but i would argue that you cannot do that without having to pay a political price. if the political price is to lose the senate and to lose the house and the white house, you asked for it. host: who were the swing voters in the election this year?

we talked about how the country is basically split and independent learner --voters make the decision for midterms. who are the swing voters? guest: first of all, they are young voters. people who do not normally vote in midterm elections, they are the swing voters. they include swing voters. they are in college, having a good time, whatever. what is going to motivate them? choices. the student loan issue will sway them big time. another group are suburban women. we keep coming back to soccer moms or whatever you call them. these are within -- most women who have abortions are mothers. these women care about their families and they see their rights taken away.

these are women who do not want to stay home again because they have a lot going on. but making a direct attack on my freedom, i'm going to go out to vote. those are really big categories. there are some things that we mentioned, talking about the different poles that we saw. we did talk about the enthusiasm. but that speaks to what will get people enthusiastic enough or mad enough. but those two groups especially. host: do you expect to see a record turnout for election? guest: first of all, i am old-fashioned, meaning that i think turnout is good for america.

i know that does not sound -- i think the more people, the better. that is why i feel so strongly that all of these attempts to tamp down the vote, to make it harder to move --to shorten the early voting period --all of these attempts to suppress the vote are fundamentally anti-american. i believe that our attitude apartment -- across party lines should make it easier for everybody to the. everybody. republican and democrat. so, the more people that vote, they should accept the outcome. host: let's talk to roger. guest: really quickly come on the suburban women, the other thing, we saw this as an

established fact. i keep coming back to the dobbs decision. voter registration went up dramatically among women, not just in blue states, but in red states and independent states. in kansas, voter registration was up 40% among women. in pennsylvania, voter registration was up 12% among women. four out of five women registered as democrats. host: let's go to rogers calling on the republican line. morning. guest: good morning. i agree with you that the threat to democracy is an issue, but i think it is really on the others have defense. it is the democrats that have the more authoritative --let me

finish. the justice department conspired with the biden administration to go out --there have been whistleblowers who have gone and said that they decided to tamp down the hunter biden story and label it russian misinformation. one guy got off, but only because they are 90 8% democrat. then there was this ridiculous raid with an open ended thing about books being late at the archives at the library. going after a former president to continue to paint trump as the worst president. open borders, they do not enforce laws. they let everybody cross the

border. crime is tearing our country apart. we have the worst economy in history and that is on joe biden. we are going to see about joe biden taking kickbacks. i say joe biden is a criminal. not only does he have dementia, but he is a criminal, and that is the way this election is going to stack up. guest: i suggest you do not vote for joe biden next time around. host: let's go to cj calling from falls church, virginia on the democrat line. caller: good morning. do you find it ironic that donald trump pretty much spiked the football every time he can take credit for anything? he is the first guy out there to say i did this, i have done

better for blacks than president lincoln. now, this guy, i do not -- he has been on the stump taking credit for the dobbs decision. it is kind of like, we would rather have this go away. i think that is the whole point of the pro-choice versus the forced birth way of thinking. most people who have had an abortion view it as a moral decision that they had to make. for whatever reason, whether it was rape, incensed, they were 16 years old, whatever. and to have a country standing with a stone in their hand about

to literally stone 14-year-olds going into an abortion clinic in whatever freestate they can get you, it is a pretty sick concept. i would like to have you flesh that out. guest: cj, i do think it is worth pointing out. thank you for doing so, but donald trump does tend to take credit for everything, including the sun coming up. it is remarkably --he has been remarkably silent on the dobbs decision. i want to be careful here, but i do not remember him making any statement at all about the dobbs decision. i certainly do not remember him taking credit for it. i think that is significant. donald trump is not stupid. this is, in a sense for the

republican party, like the case of the car finally catching the dog and not knowing what to do with it. republicans have made a lot and have raised a lot of money. they have rallied the evangelical base behind them, but almost purposely antiabortion. now they have it and they rule and i think a lot of them recognize that this may not be such a great thing. i think they will through the day that samuel bounded up five more votes in the supreme court, again to reinstate in this country the principal of forced pregnancy. we have not done that since african-american women were slaves in this country.

we are right back to that in this country today. host: we talked about the senate and former president trump. do the democrats hold a house or do republicans take it in the midterm? guest: it will be tough because first of all, historically, the incumbent party president -- the president'is party generally gets wiped out in the house. basically, with rare exceptions, that happens. and then, there is the reapportionment that has made it a case where very few seats are --they can go either way. most of them are locked in republican or democrat. there are probably 30 seats at play. and right now, democrats have

the majority of five, i believe. they do not have to lose that many. i would say democrats are probably not going to hold the house. as a democrat, i hope that they do and i think that they can. nancy pelosi, do not count her out. as i said earlier, there is still time for them to turn around. host: if democrats hold the house, should nancy pelosi be speaker again? guest: absolutely. she is the best speaker in the history of this country. flat out. nobody else comes close. i think democrats would rejoice at having her serve another term as speaker.

host: it is up to her. if democrats do not hold, should nancy pelosi be the speaker again or should we move on to somebody else? guest: she has brought them back again, so i would stick with a winner. that is her decision, but i would stick with nancy pelosi. host: there was a house debate on the current house minority leader. kevin mccarthy attacked democrats and president biden's record. here is what he said. >> answer me this question. is america better off today than they were two years ago? is the price of gasoline lower? it is? the price of gasoline is lower today than it was two years ago. i guess you believe in inflation

zero as well. i'm not so sure about your math. are the car prices lower than it was two years ago? are your food prices? i would love an actual debate, right here. why don't we have that? because the american people are having a challenge. one of the most successful businesses in america is walmart. when walmart wants to look at where the economy is in america, they do not go higher. you know what they do? check the data and what they buy. for those who answered yes, you should study it as well. you look at hamburger buns, hot buns, holy and white bread. you know what? if they hamburger sales go down

and the whole-wheat sales go down, but the white bread style sales go up, you are an economic crisis because people no longer can make the decision to make hamburgers with hamburger buns. they have to to put the white bread there. for all of you who said yes, why don't you get out of washington from moment and ask your constituents if they are better off today than they were two years ago because now gas is not lower. it is higher. food prices are high and they are going up each and every day. host: if voters ask themselves that they are better off, where did they go for the midterm election? guest: first of all, we have a country that is back on track. we have a president who has restored order to this country.

we have a president who has brought some home to the country. not crazy tweets night and day from the white house. we have restored dignity to the white house. seriously, fact, democrat or republican, what did donald trump accomplish? a tax cut for the rich and the worst attack on this country since the british burned the capital in 1812. donald trump knew that his supporters were armed. he knew that they had guns. he said either take them down because there --they are not aiming their guns at me, or leave them out there and direct them, and armed raw --bob, directed them to the capital to

undermine our very democracy. the essence of our democracy is we the people. we are in power. we decide who our elected officials are. once that happens, we respect the will of the people and we had a peaceful transition of power. that is what donald trump was against. he is still against it today and he is still going out there today and inciting that mob at every one of his rallies. joe biden has gotten things done. one of the callers down the list with the covid stimulus bill, the infrastructure bill, the chips bill, the prescription drug program, and now the student loan forgiveness. first of all i would point out to kevin mccarthy that what i said about nancy pelosi --i

think kevin mccarthy is the dumbest leader that republicans or democrats have ever had in the house. i say that knowing him pretty well, but i would ask him. let's take a look at the last 80 days straight. gas prices have gone down. what do you say about that? corporate profits today for the second quarter are the highest in this country since they have been since 1950. the economy has just gone along. people are feeling good. i think that they will ignore --you know what kevin mccarthy is trying to do? change the subject. he does not want to talk about january 6. now he says everything donald trump did was fine. they do not talk about january 6. they do not want to talk about

the dobbs decision. no, they do not want to say that we have the party who has made women second class citizens. they do not want to talk about student loans except to say, we are running out of time, so the republican response to the student loan forgiveness program is unbelievable. they are saying it is better for the elites. they like tax cuts for the rich. they never saw a tax cut for the bridge that they did not embrace. but boy, you give a little bit of money to people making less than one hundred $25,000 a year, you give money to poor kids and black kids and they are up in arms about it. they supported it when donald trump proposed it, but he never gave one cent in loan forgiveness to students. not one penny.

and now republicans do not like it. host: calling from havana, illinois on the independent line. the morning. caller: good morning. i have to talk about a car that you chastised earlier in the program. he said he was putting much brain-dead, but i want you to go back because prior to him calling, he said, dr. oz is a joke. you called --he said walker is an embarrassment and then a few minutes ago he said kevin mccarthy is dumb. before you recommend somebody else -- go back and listen to your own words because you are

just as guilty. i think the whole nation is tired of the nastiness and name-calling. so go back and listen to your own words. guest: thank you for your call. i think what i said does not compare to what that caller said. personal, substantiated attacks is what i was responding to. host: unfortunately, we are out of time. thank you for being here to talk about campaign 2022 and the political news of the day. bill, thank you for being here today. coming up next, we will move to our open forum, where viewers can call into talk about your most important political topic of the day. you can see the numbers on the screen. we will get straight to your call right after this break. stick with us and we will be back right after the break. ♪

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