about u.s. military involvement in afghanistan, the russia-ukraine conflict, and foreign affairs. join the conversation with your phone calls, texts, facebook messages and tweets. washington journal is next. ♪ host: good morning. it is saturday, september 3, 2022, labor day weekend. the labor department released jobs numbers yesterday. in august, employers added 315,000 jobs and unemployment rose to 3.7%. president biden's primetime speech on thursday warning that democracy was under assault by former president trump and his maga supporters continues to resonate. we are asking you, what is your most important issue for the midterm elections?

give us a call on our lines by party affiliation. democrats, (202) 748-8000, republicans, (202) 748-8001, independents, (202) 748-8002. you can send us a text at (202) 748-8003. feature to send your first name and city/state. we are on facebook. you can send us a tweet at c-span2 -- tweet @cspanwj. from the wall street journal or was a poll that asked what is the most important issue to you for the midterm elections? the economy came out on top at 16% followed by abortion at 13%,

inflation 11%, and democracy or stopping the "far right ideology" also 11%, immigration at 7%. we will talk to a reporter now about those jobs numbers. victoria guida is an economics reporter for politico. welcome to the program. guest: thank you for having me back. host: the economy added 315,000 new jobs, but unemployment went up. why's that? guest: this is basically because the unemployment rate is calculated by looking at the number of people participating in the workforce. there are a lot of people that are not in the workforce, notably retirees, so there are also people taking care of their kids or are not in the labor force for other reasons. this past month, we saw more people come into the labor force and look for work, so the

denominator is larger, so even though the economy added a net 315,000 jobs, the overall unemployment rate went up. this is actually a good thing because labor force participation was higher before the pandemic. it has been stubbornly about 1% below that since the pandemic, over the last, you know, year or so. so basically, this is one of the things that will help with inflation. you know, the fed is trying to raise interest rates to reduce spending, but having more people back in the labor force will help increase supply, the amount of things we can produce. host: i want to ask you about inflation but first compare the numbers between this and last month in july. guest: it was notably slower. last month was actually much faster than people were expecting. the number, 315,000 jobs that we

got, was a slower pace than we've seen in a while, but it is notably above what we were getting in the pre-pandemic era, and that's partially just because, you know, the expansion had been going on for 10, 11 years before the pandemic began. but also, we are still rapidly adding jobs even though we have now surpassed the total number of jobs that we had pre-pandemic. host: victoria, what sectors specifically are adding those jobs? what sectors are still struggling? guest: yeah, so we've seen private sector employment recover entirely. it is the public sector that's struggling. the deficit in hospitality still hasn't fully recovered. we are still seeing healthy job growth in most other sectors. host: what about inflation?

what does this mean to the fed as they are trying to bring down that inflation number? guest: sure, so as i said, basically, to bring down inflation, they need to look at supply and demand. the fed can really only bring down demand by raising interest rates, whereas the supply side of the economy, if you, again, have more workers coming back into the workforce, that's going to help us increase the amount of things we can produce so all the things people want to buy can get made. so hopefully it will help, and the fact that the job market is also slowing also could suggest that the fed's rate hikes are starting to hit, but the job market is still looking resilient. host: wanted to ask you about a quote you had in your politico article from senator warren, who said jerome powell's rhetoric is dangerous and a fed-manufactured

recession is not inevitable. it's a policy choice. explain that. guest: it gets to the dynamic i explained, which is that a lot of people believe, like elizabeth warren, that inflation is caused entirely by supply-side issues. so with the russian invasion of ukraine affecting the price of oil and other commodities. they say it is not spending that is the main part of the problem, it is the fact that we cannot produce to meet that demand. they basically say that, in order to bring demand back in sync with supply, the fed will cause a recession because supply is below where it needs to be, whereas the fed should just sit back and wait for these issues to work themselves out. the fed does not want to do that because they are worried that if they do that inflation will become part of what we expect and make it even harder to kill. host: i know you do not like to

predict the future, but what are we expecting for next month? guest: on inflation? host: on inflation, on jobs, and unemployment. guest: the hope is that inflation has peaked, partially because oil prices have come down so much, and, more recently, that's been a driver of the peak. we had some inflation before that but that's the reason we saw ago quite as high as it was. the hope is inflation will keep going down. the expectation is that we will continue to see the economy and jobs at a slower pace -- economy add jobs at a slower pace. the question is whether the fed will cut into growth enough in terms of interest rates to see job losses. we are far from there but it is a possibility because, again, part of the point is to slow growth, is to slow the economy. host: victoria, we will see what happens. thanks for being on the program. guest: thank you for having me.

host: we are asking you this morning the question, what you are important election issue? before we take your calls, i want to show you a portion of president biden's speech thursday night in philadelphia, where he talked about protecting democracy in the context of those midterm elections. [video clip] >> there are public figures today, yesterday and the day before predicting and all but calling for mass violence and rioting in the streets. this is inflammatory. it is dangerous. it is against the rule of law. and we the people must say, this is not who we are. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, we cannot be pro -- pro-insurrectionist and pro-american. it is incompatible.

we have to reset political violence with all the moral clarity and conviction this nation can muster now. we cannot let the integrity of our elections be undermined. for that is a path to chaos. look, i know politics can be fierce and mean and nasty in america. i get it. i believe in the give and take of politics, in disagreement and debate and dissent. we are a big, complicated country, but democracy indoors only if we the people respect the guardrails of the republic, only if we the people except the results of a and fair elections, only if we the people see politics not as total war but mediation of our differences. democracy cannot survive when

one side believes there are only two outcomes to an election, get a they win or they were cheated -- election, either they win or they were cheated, and that is what the maga republicans are today. they don't understand what every patriotic american knows, you cannot love your country only when you win. host: that was president biden in philadelphia speaking on thursday. also in pennsylvania, but in scranton, was the house gop leader, kevin mccarthy. he talked about president biden's handling of the economy and said essentially that that's why americans should vote republican in the midterm elections. [video clip] >> over the past month alone, i have traveled to more than 20 states, met with over 100 republican candidates and members and thousands of their constituents. so tonight, i want to share with you what i heard from americans

across this country. what is clear to me and clear to you is that washington and the white house aren't listening. they just do not get it. you have never been more worried, more alarmed, by the direction of our country, yet they tell you everything is fine. you worried that your children will have less opportunity than you did, yet they tell you things are looking up. you fear that america is becoming poorer, less safe, less respected, and less free by the day, yet they tell you the border is safe and america is secure. the white house says inflation is transitory. deficits don't matter. at a spike in crime is just a bump in the road -- and a spike in crime is just a bump in the

road. that doesn't add up. that is where we are different. i don't dismiss your fears. i share them. and i, along with every republican running for congress this year, share your unwavering conviction that we must change direction in washington before it is too late. host: we are asking you this morning what's your most important midterm election issue? those are coming up in three months. let's start with andy, calling from sterling, virginia on the democrats line. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you? host: good. caller: first, i want to say president biden's speech the other night was right -- it was incredible -- it was right on. he pointed out what the greatest threat is to this country and it is the maga republicans led by former president trump and his cult of followers.

they and the elected republicans in congress are hell-bent on destroying the country with their autocratic views. if we elect from dogcatcher on any republican going forward we are basically enabling this cult and they will destroy this country. they don't believe in democracy. they don't believe in this republic. they believe in an autocratic, putin-style government. i suggest every american votes democratic from dogcatcher on. if we don't, we have lost this democracy forever, because they will never relinquish that power. they will make sure that this country is not the country we have all grown to love and respect. the fact that they continue to press forward with violence and the fact that they never proposed anything in the way of governing, all they do -- they have no platform to run on.

all they want to do is attack and the alternative view of what's going on in this country, the democrats actually, and president biden, have actually proposed legislation that helps every american. the republicans are great at getting elected but they do nothing to help this country going forward. host: so, andy, you know, i want to ask you. president biden makes a distinction between maga republicans and i guess traditional republicans. do you also make that distinction? caller: i would've gone even further than president biden. i think you have your maga republicans, the ones who are outwardly pro-trump, but then you have republican enablers, who basically say nothing, do nothing, like mcconnell. they have the power to basically stop trump and trumpism but they have chosen not to. i would have gone further and said, you know what?

these people who are not classified as maga republicans are nothing but enablers that allow trump and trumpism to exist. if they had impeached him the first time, if they had impeached him the second time, we would not be in this mess, but we are. host: let's hear from sue next in reno, nevada on the democrats line. caller: good morning. i think my main issue here, i just moved into this state last summer, and my main issue, when we went to sign up to get our, you know, to decide which -- well, to sign up -- excuse me, i'm nervous -- anyway, when you put in what party you wanted to register to vote, everything,

i, my husband, and my two sons, we expressed the party that we wanted. then, when it came around to get our cards, none of them said the parties that we put in. instead, they put that we were -- i cannot think of the word now -- independent. that was not what we put. but they were doing that with everybody here in this state. so we had to get a whole -- get a hold of the parties we were interested in. none of us in fact wanted the same party, but anyway, parties we were interested in to fix that. when we first talked to them, the person that called said, well, yes, did you look at the top of the back of page three, where it said something?

did you also fill that out? you know, i mean, it was ridiculous. they were doing everything. when it came time to vote in the primaries, anybody that was independent couldn't vote. you either had to be a democrat or a republican. if you are an independent, you couldn't vote. host: so voting rights really is a big -- is that your biggest issue for the midterm elections? caller: it is. well, it is in this state. yes we came from the state of washington. it wasn't anything like that. you fill out your card and that's it. host: let's hear from richard in north carolina on the republican line. good morning. caller: i would like to talk about the far right and the threat to our democracy. the far right didn't burn down those cities. the far right didn't threaten cops to fry like bacon.

it's a bunch of communists that are running our country. the right is not trying to take -- the far right is not trying to take your personal right. the left is. the left is trying to put us back in -- they say the right is trying to take us back in time? no, the left is. they are the ones that's taking away our electricity. we will be in the dark ages if we go with solar energy and wind energy. the left is just a bunch of communists and the media's a bunch of communist and you guys are trying to take our rights. we are not trying to take your rights. host: i mean, what rights? i heard you on electricity. you are worried about renewable energy. what other rights are you worried about, richard? caller: free speech, second amendment, everything. they want us to -- they are a bunch of communists. they want us to be like china

and everybody's saying the right is doing this and the right's doing that. the right hasn't done nothing. we didn't lie about no dossier. you know? if you think the election was fair, then give us the routers. let us do a forensic audit on the voting machines. but they won't let us do it. you know, prove to me that it was a free election. but no, no one wants to prove it, they just want to say it is the right. but it is not the right. it is the left and the media. host: texas next, amarillo. justin is on the democrats line. caller: how are you? host: good, thanks. caller: i guess my biggest election issue is the abortion law. i think it's wrong the supreme

court overturned it. and i think we are going to have more illegal abortions now. it should not have been overturned. and i think president biden did a great job on thursday. giving his speech. one of my other issues is that we have to stop trump from becoming president again, because if we do not, this country is going to be in trouble. host: justin, take a look at this. this is in the washington post. the article says this. the v.a. to offer abortions to eligible veterans regardless of state law.

it says the department of veterans affairs, in a historic shift, will provide abortion counseling and abortions in cases of rape, incensed or if the pregnancy threatens the health of the pregnant -- grape -- rape, incest, or if the pregnancy threatens the health of the pregnant veteran. the v.a. previously did not provide abortions of any kind or offer abortion counseling to patients considering the procedure. let's talk next to paul, who is in cornwall, new york, republican. hi, paul. caller: hey, good morning. crime is my major concern for this upcoming election. it seems that the democrats are not doing anything about it. in new york, we have kathy hogle, that has made time

-- we have kathy hogle, that has made times square a gun free zone. it is dangerous. i think the democrats are very asleep at the wheel. there are billions of dollars they will spend to supposedly fix inflation and this is a burden on our children and grandchildren. host: matthew is next in elkin, north carolina, independent. caller: good morning. i was wanting to say joe biden's speech, i thought it was right on cue, and i think a lot of

this stuff is starting to get back on track. and just to touch on one of the previous callers' remarks about taking away people's rights, well, the supreme court has taken away a woman's right to an abortion and that's never happened, so -- host: what is the most important issue to you? caller: trying to get all of us to come back together so that we are not -- so that the republicans are not so -- so

that the republicans are not so out there. host: all right. take a look at this article from abc news. the headline says, biden seeks to reframe midterms into stark choice between democracy and trump-led extremism. it says president joe biden used to steadfastly avoid uttering the name donald trump, but now, bolstered by stronger poll numbers and relatively positive economic news, biden of late has been seeking to make the midterm elections a referendum on the former president and the extreme ideas he says trump's supporters espouse. he says there's no question the republican party is dominated, intimidated and driven by donald trump and maga republicans and that's a threat to this country. we are wondering what you think

is the most important election issue for you for how you will be voting in three months for those congressional seats. let's talk next to oliver, who is in california on the democrats line. caller: good morning. i would like to share my major issue is the threat to democracy and the nation. now, what i find is this. as the nation becomes more and more a minority-majority, those on the far right, mainly european americans, are afraid of this, and we must all remember, if you are african-american, asian american, latin american, native american, no matter what our first name is, our last name is american, and we all must join and unite together to save our

democracy because it was not that in the beginning of the nation but we are here to form a more perfect union and there should be no fear on either side, left, right or middle, that we are all americans. we have fought many wars for our democracy. all of us have died. we must preserve this because, without this, we are not a united states of america. thank you. host: all right. maria is next in westville, new jersey on the independents line. caller: good morning. i'm an independent and i think the main point that i think all of us should front is -- should confront is having honest definitions of government terms. the first is it is referred to as a democracy.

it is not. we are a democratic republic where we have representatives. the problem with the counting of the votes -- a month was given to the chads in florida, but the worst part was president biden's speech, where he said violence is never necessary, when thomas jefferson himself said that the tree of liberty must be watered from time to time by the blood of tyrants and patriots. and also, he had the nerve to quote william butler yeats, the easter, 1916 poem, which was about violence. host: bruce, how are you doing?

caller: good morning. the biggest issue i have -- biden said it with correctness, there is a threat to our democracy because of these maga republicans. i don't know why anybody is even thinking about -- the worst president this country ever had. to me, he made those people come to washington on january 6. he did all that. a political coup and a riotous coup. they should be taken out in front of a firing squad. host: we will be carrying a

rally by former president trump in pennsylvania tonight in support of gop candidates there. live coverage of that that begins at 7 p.m. eastern time on c-span and on the web at c-span.org and on the free c-span now video app. nasa is planning to launch the artemis one mission scheduled for 2:17 p.m. eastern today, but we will have live coverage starting at 1 p.m. on c-span, c-span.org and our video app. let's talk next to jerry, who's in broadway, virginia on the independents line. caller: yes, good morning. can you hear me? host: i can. caller: my biggest issue is all the fake news media outlets refusing to cover the real issues. host: like white, jerry -- like

what, jerry? caller: well, there's been over 4 million illegal immigrants that have crossed our borders since joe biden took office. nobody reports any of that except fox news. they have cameras there every day. you can see them coming across. the border patrol says biden is not giving them any help. do any other media outlets mention this? no. and joe biden's corruption. nobody mentions that. this is the most corrupt president in the history of the entire world, not just america. the entire world. none of the fake news media outlets report any of that. host: michael is next in columbus, georgia on the republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. my biggest concern is that, to the best of what i can find out,

the federal government has borrowed from the social security trust fund in from the disability trust fund, approximately $4.77 trillion with no plan to pay it back. every cycle, you hear about the trust fund running out of money, yet the federal government and my senators, who have refused to comment on this, have no plan to pay it back, yet we can send thousands of billions of dollars to other countries, and some of them just paid us. that is my biggest concern. host: all right. michael mentioned the economy, and here is a gallup that says u.s. economic confidence is improving but still weak. here are the highlights.

the economic confidence index improves from -51 to -39. americans say inflation and the government are the most important u.s. problems and all party groups are more confident now than they were in june. we are asking you what is our most important midterm election -- is your most important midterm election issue. we talk to genes -- to james in kentucky on the democrats line. caller: i was calling about the voting. i watched biden's speech and also watched the kevin mccarthy speech and one thing biden left out was -- that really scares me -- is the way the state governments that are republican-controlled are taking

and they are going to -- they are passing laws. of course, they are suppressing votes in a lot of states, georgia, florida, anywhere where the republican legislatures can do that, texas. and also, they are going to -- you know, they want to get it to a point where your vote don't count, and that really scares me. i live in -- you know, kentucky is considered a red state. we have a democratic governor but a republican-controlled legislature and, you know, another thing on this economy, i also hear a lot about that and, you know, it's really a matter of -- it is a world economy and it is a matter of supply and demand. and we just don't have enough supply.

and that's another thing. so i just worry about -- i hope the democrats are starting to look pretty good now for the election and we really need to get out and vote and try to get as many republicans on our side. and i think a lot of them are joining us. host: is that what you are seeing in your community in kentucky? caller: what, ma'am? host: are you seeing that in your community in kentucky? caller: oh, well, no, not so much here. i mean, it's things i've been picking up just off of the news and the internet and things like that. and i do not just try to watch democratic or what they call

"left-leaning" news. i try to get a picture of everything, you know? host: let's talk to an independent caller next in orange, massachusetts. caller: that's me. host: yes. caller: i'm an independent and i voted originally for barack obama and then i voted for trump. the reason being is what's happening is our manufacturing is getting drawn overseas. that's why i voted for trump. he brought it back. what is going on now, what i saw with biden's speech yesterday, was basically a repeat of hillary's deplorables speech, where he categorizes every trump supporter as violent. i don't support violence. i've actually had liberal supporters try to attack me as an independent supporting trump, so for biden to come out and say

we are such violent people, he's throwing and categorizing a whole array of people to not vote for him. host: to be fair, it seems that he is being very careful to not do that, and say, you know, maga supporters, not all republicans. caller: he's qualifying all trim supporters as violent. that's what they are doing. host: ok. all right. let's talk to diane next in indiana on the democrats line. caller: hi. i'm a registered democrat. locally, i have always been an independent. i am concerned that even at the lowest levels of government, people have to kiss the feet of the golden statue in order to reel in the maga people, because they need them to vote. i think my biggest concern is the threat to democracy and one

of the biggest threats, you know, is the concerted effort to take the right away from their followers. nobody has ever defined fake news. i find that if i am watching a person who is an expert on the subject as part of a broadcast that i can check out if he's an expert and i can see, you know, what he's written on the subject. i have the ability to think about what i have heard, but when i listen to hannity, it's just one statement after another, one fear mongering after another, and there's no way to verify. and i don't think he even pretends to be news. when i was kind of shocked when

i was pulled -- polled if i think yahoo! on what kind of news i want. i was like, i want the news. i want vetted information. fake news is news that's not vetted. and i think that any educated person should know how to check a source, how to figure out what's being said, if it's true or not true. this concept of fake news is keeping people on a certain channel on television, and it's keeping people's mines closed to any outside -- people's minds closed to any outside influence, and jefferson said a democracy depends on an educated populace. if you cannot self educate

because what you are watching is not verifiable, then that's the biggest threat to democracy in my opinion, that -- for this midterm, the biggest threat are these state officers who are maga people who, if given -- if elected, are given the right, because of changes in the state law, to overturn the will of the people by saying, i think there was fraud, so i'm going to throw the votes and i'm going to pick who is the delegate, the delegates late. i think that's deplorable. i also think that, given the same conviction that whites get a lower -- get things more frequently reduced to a misdemeanor, where poor whites and blacks who rely on public

defenders tend to get felonies, so right away, you are eliminating poor rights and blacks from voting in many states now -- poor whites and blacks from voting in many states now. what does that leave? rich white folks. host: laura next in gaithersburg, maryland. sorry. i didn't do that right. if somebody downstairs could help me get laura. caller: hello? host: laura, are you there in gaithersburg? caller: i am. host: go ahead. caller: good morning. the supreme court is not taking away anyone's right to an abortion. they are correcting an error that should have never been made by the court because that power belongs to the states. the problem is the media.

the media keeps putting out these false narratives. they don't speak the truth. they speak the false narrative. that is what fake news is. i don't want anybody venting my news. you can put out your fake news. host: back to what you are saying about abortion. it seems that the majority of americans do want reproductive rights for women. that's what the polls are indicating, so what do you think of that? caller: if you want to kill your baby, go for it. i believe in life. i believe in preserving life. i believe life is precious. i believe you would have to be soulless to murder your own child. who does that? that is barbaric by any means. but that is not the reason i called. the reason i called is i am shocked at biden's speech. i remember another leader, ok, back in the 1930's and 1940's

that demonized a particular sect of society and people bought into it and 12 million people ended up in gas chambers. we don't demonize our fellow citizens. and maga, make america great again? why do you have a problem with that? if you don't want america to be great, something is wrong with you. let's not forget it was the left that rioted for two years, destroyed property, murdered people, assaulted people, looting and theft, and they are going to turn around and say the other side is the evil side? i submit to you that the democratic party is the party of people. they are pure demons. host: you said you are an independent. did something change? caller: i'm a constitutional libertarian. i believe our constitution is the greatest document that's

ever been developed by mankind and it is what catapulted the u.s. into being the greatest nation on the globe. why do you think so many people want to come here? for freedom of -- freedom and opportunity. the two-party system is a joke. we need to have other parties. host: let's go next to richard, calling us from louisville, kentucky on the republican line. richard? are you there? caller: i'm here. can you hear me? host: i can. go ahead. you are on the air. caller: that lady was wonderful, a true independent, one who is not swayed by the left or the right, one who can consider things out for herself, and i so admired that. you know, for 35 years, i was in the union. i'm a retired pipefitter.

i was a union representative, voted democrat. i didn't look outside whatever was bad for the union, i was against. i paid my union dues. and then barack obama came on the scene. i didn't vote for barack obama the first time. i voted for hillary clinton. mind you, i was a union democrat. i was one of the labor leaders here in louisville. then all of a sudden, she lost to barack obama, so i thought, you know, we've got a democrat in their, let's see what happens. and for the next eight years, all that happened in this country was the total starting of destruction. barack obama gave us donald john trump. host: so in what way? explain that a little bit more, richard. caller: because of what he didn't do. he talked about how he was going to help poor people. look at the black folk in the

west end of louisville here. we have democrats running the city here. it's terrible. the crime is through the roof. it is just unbelievable. so long comes donald trump and i thought, i will take a hard look at this guy. this guy was the savior of this country and i honestly believe that he will be back, so those of you who want to call me a god-fearing christian -- me, a god-fearing christian, some kind of terrorist or something like that, i don't care. i know it is right for my country, children, grandchildren and go, donald trump and thank you. host: the previous caller was talking about abortion. take a look at the new york times here. it says, after roe's end, women surged in signing up to vote in some states. so it doesn't seem to be a big

issue for the midterm elections -- it does seem to be a big issue for the midterm elections. we talk next to a caller in ormond beach, florida on the democrats line. caller: to the caller who said go, donald, go, i would like to tell him where to go. i was born in new york. i'm 80 years old. i was there when donald trump was dealing with monsters and gangsters. he was a thug. the people in ukraine being brutalized by food and -- prudent was empowered by trump. he told zelinski in ukraine you will not get what you want -- he tried to shake him down -- and less you help.

these classified documents are all over the place. do you want to know who a good president was, a great president? general do dwight d. eisenhower -- general dwight d eisenhower. he was a five-star general. he actually won the war. he wanted to write his memoirs. he wanted to write a book about his life. he had to go to the military, the department of the military, and they had to bring out, day by day, one sheet at a time. that was painstaking but he did it legally, ok? that's the difference. president eisenhower was a lion. donald trump is a cockroach. host: all right. jack is next in florida on the republican line. jack?

caller: hello. yeah, hello? are you there? host: i'm listening. you are on the air. caller: i just called in to say this is the worst president we've ever had. how he can let thousands of people die from drugs coming in from mexico and not shut down the border is the stupidest thing in the world. this president ought to be shot. host: ok. take a look. gas prices are on the decline. you can take a look at the gas buddy website. it says that gas prices are declining going into labor day. the drop since independence day nears one dollar per gallon. tim is next in tulsa, oklahoma, republican. caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: on the gas prices you just mentioned, actually, they were averaging around two

dollars all during trump's independent foreign control of oil prices. and biden turned that over to opec, so oil prices are still double what they were all under trump. i am a mega trump supporter. i hear violent rhetoric from mainly the democrats trying to create a civil war. and it's awful. i hear a lot of hate from your democrat callers. we have love for this country. we hate to see the border wide open and all the drugs coming in. we hate to see our children indoctrinated into a communist regime from big government.

we support freedom of the individual. we are scared of the fbi and the department of injustice. we are fearful of a socialist state. everybody needs to be concerned about their freedoms under the biden regime. so we do have a reason to why we want to keep this country free and to keep this country so that you can trust your elections. in 2020, i republicans excluded from observing the counting in philadelphia, in atlanta, and there were problems with this election. trump won pennsylvania, leading by 700,000 votes whenever the polls closed at 10:00, and then

votes kept coming in. there was people observed marking their ballots for biden, just biden. they didn't have anybody else. no down ballot. so there were problems in the election. and still, obviously, we are concerned about the midterms and the freedom to trust the election, so there are big problems with this administration and we don't want to be called -- to be told we are here for violence and this kind of thing because that's blm and antifa, the violent arm of the democrat party. host: all right, tim. let's hear from president biden now, who spoke yesterday at the white house. he talked about the job numbers that came out yesterday. [video clip] >> we received more good news. in august, the economy created

315,000 new jobs. the great american jobs machine continues to come back. american workers are back to work earning more, manufacturing more, building an economy from the bottom up and the middle out, but with today's news, we have now created nearly 10 million new jobs since i took office. nearly 10 million jobs, the fastest growth in all of american history. in august, we also saw the share of americans who are working on our -- working in our economy went up. economists call that the labor force participation rate economists call that the labor force participation rate. working age women are employed at an all-time high. yesterday, we got data that showed manufacturing orders are up.

cost increases due to the supply chain are beginning to ease. before that, we got data showing the price increase may be beginning to ease as well. the bottom line is jobs are up, wages are up, people are back to work, and we are seeing some signs that inflation may be -- may be, i will not overpromise -- beginning to ease. gas prices have fallen now for over 80 straight days, the longest decline in over a decade, and a gallon of gas is now $1.2 less than it was at the beginning of the summer. americans have good news going into labor day weekend. host: that was present biden met -- that was president biden at the white house talking about the jobs numbers. caller: kind of depressed about what is going on in the country. has i see it, there is wrong on both sides.

democrats have done some wrong stuff and we need to own up to that. however, the right wing and the trump wing is destroying this country. we do not have to worry about an external enemy. the enemy within is the republican party. they do not -- if they lose an election, they say, ok, we can overturn it. what we need to do is come up with a system where everyone is in agreement with the system, because the system now works fine, but donald trump spread false information. republicans, if you are listening, donald trump lies about everything. how can you believe this man? i will leave it at that. have a good day. host: let's take a look at the new york times article here. it says parties' divergent realities challenge biden's sense of democracy. it says the good news is that deeply divided americans agree

on at least one thing. the bad news is they share the view that there nearly two point five century old democracy is in danger and disagreed -- nearly 2.5 century old democracy is in danger and disagreed drastically about why. caller: good morning. i look at a lot of these maga people whose parents came from europe back in the day, my grandmother and all of them. they keep saying you do not want people to come to this country when your parents came here for a better life. first of all, antifa and black lives matter are not destroying this country. we are not attacking the fbi, we are not going and attacking the capitol. there are bad things they did during these protests and that we asked them to stop, but the one thing i want to say about women too. you keep saying you don't want women to have abortions, but when the babies come out, you

are not taking care of them. you are not giving them things they need to prosper in life, so i don't know what the problem is with a lot of these people talking about they don't want women to have abortions. most of these things come from men. men don't know anything about women's bodies or anything like that. what they need to do is stop and think about the things they are saying because the abortion law is not just about abortion. it is about women's health. and i'm agreeing that we need to have more care for women's health. i'm sorry. and also, i just want to say, people need to stop saying they are christians, because if you are a christian, you love everybody regardless of their from one country or another -- of whether they are from one country to another. if you do not love your neighbor, how do you love jesus? have a great day. host: let's take a look -- rita mentioned abortion. this is from the associated press.

it says gop candidates masked rigid abortion stances after roe ruling. it starts talking about a primary debate in may where iowa republicans were asked to raise their hands whether they thought -- raise their hands if they thought all abortions should be illegal and one candidate's went up. it says he is among more than one dozen strictly antiabortion republicans running in competitive races this fall in minnesota, nevada, kansas, arizona and elsewhere, who are trying to distance themselves from their past statements. in newspaper beds during -- in newspaper op-eds, during interviews. they are at a minimum downplaying those positions and at most backtracking at a time

when abortion rights have complicated republicans focus on the economy heading into the november midterm election. let's talk to robert next, calling from virginia. good morning. caller: good morning. the thing that has me upset, i did 20 years in the military, and i'm looking at the democracy we are losing and one thing i can say, i'm an independent, but i do vote. i voted for reagan. i voted for nixon. and i voted for obama. however, when you look at the republican party today, it's not like reagan and nixon one -- nixon was. they are talking about democrats being communists. what party invited communists to speak at cpac?

down in texas about a month or so ago. you call democrats communists and everything, but you have never seen a democrat invite a communist to cpac to speak or anything like that. therefore -- and like that lady said, if you are a christian, you love everybody. the bible also says -- jesus said this. that is what we are looking at right now. trumpet started all of this. we did not have all of this confusion until he became president. i just pray for our country and pray for the people, thank you very much. host: diane is next from

baldwin, missouri on the republican line. caller: hi, good morning. i have so many things to say. i am just listening. host: we are running low on time so give me your most important midterm election issue. caller: that people believe the lies and they don't really look at the issues. our economy is sinking. you have people that want to teach sex to little kids. this is not coming from the republicans. this is coming from the democrats. it is a shame that people don't open up their eyes and see that so many other things going on with the democrats but they hate trump. it is amazing. i am really sad about it. host: that is our last call for

this first hour of washington journal. thanks to everybody that called in. coming up next, we will talk to about the new covid-19 booster shots that the fda signed off on and what we can expect in the months again with virologists andrew pekosz from johns hopkins university. and later, ryan evans and his podcast "war on the rocks" we will talk about legacy of u.s. military involvement in afghanistan and the russia-ukraine conflict. we will be right back. >> hello everyone and national book festival.

in partnership with the library of congress, but tv has provided coverage of the national book festival. today, but tv returns live and in person to the book festival. all day long you will hear from guests and authors such as carla hayden, writer quinn smith and more. the library of congress national book festival beginning today on c-span2. >> nasa is set to launch the artemis spaceflight today. it was supposed to happen earlier this week but was canceled. watch live at 1:00 p.m. eastern on c-span or c-span now our free mobile app. former president trump holds a

rally in support of pennsylvania's congressional nominee. watch coverage beginning at 7:00 p.m. eastern. also, on our free app c-span now. in 2019, ben raines discovered the remains of claude till the end of swamp outside of alabama. he talks about his book about the history of clotilde. >> with the clotilde we have the whole story. most of those people, millions

and millions of them we know nothing about because those stories were not recorded. so this ship is a proxy for those lost stories and that is what is so unique about it. it is a story of slavery encapsulated in one piece and we know everything about these people in what happened to them and their lives. >> been raines in his book " the last slave ship. " you can listen to q&a on the new app. >> there are a lot of places to get political information but only on c-span do you get it straight from the source. no matter where you are from or where you stand on the issues, c-span is america's network. unfiltered, unbiased, word for word. if it happens here, here, or

anywhere that matters, america is watching on c-span, powered by cable. "washington journal," continues. host: we are here with andrew pekosz he is a johns hopkins university virologists. we will be talking about the new covid booster shot that just got approved by the fda. if you would like to call in, feel free to do that. we are putting our phone lines up by region. if you are in the eastern or central part of the country those numbers are (202) 748-8000 , mountain and pacific that number is (202) 748-8001, if you are a medical professional your number is (202) 748-8002. the new covid booster shot, what

we know about it? guest: it is a bivalent vaccine. we are using two different forms of sars cov-2. it tries to get your immune system to recognize the two strains of the virus going around right now as well as strengthen the previous vaccine. host: who is eligible for this? can everyone go out and get this? guest: everyone 12 and above. any adults irrespective of medical conditions. the recommendation is everyone above the age of 12 get out and get this booster in the fall. it should be available in the next week or so. host: the old booster shot, what if you got that one or got it

recently, should you get this one right away? is there a waiting. ? guest: they suggest waiting two months after your booster before taking this bivalent booster. it can be up to six months afterwards. it is good to space out between those vaccine doses. this will take place of all the other boosters. you should be able to get it anytime this fall. host: is this really going to work with all these new variants? guest: it is hard to predict efficacy but we know that in june, the fda made the recommendation that this particular form of omicron ba.2. 5. as part of this vaccine.

we have the right vaccine component to match the circulating virus. this will be our best shot at having the highest amount of protection in the population. host: the recommendation is also for a flu shot this fall. flu season is going to be upon us pretty soon. is there a recommendation as to -- can you get the flu shot at the same time? guest: there is nothing from keeping you from getting the flu shot and the covid vaccine at the same time. if you have the ability to take both of those vaccines i think it is a good idea. we know from the flu season that happened in australia that flu was very strong down there throughout the winter with a high number of cases,

particularly in younger individuals. we expect to see something similar here. when that overlaps with the covid-19 surge we have this problem with a lot of people feeling respiratory symptoms and we have an issue diagnosing them correctly. host: what do we know about how long immunity lasts? not just from that but from an infection? how long are you protected? guest: the vaccine induces really good responses for about six weeks afterwards and then they reduce over time. similar things are seen with infection. it is important to know that is one part of the immune response is that immediate protection you get. this booster will boost memory responses. that means your body will remember this vaccine and

respond to it faster if you get affected in the future. the most important part of this booster to understand is the immediate protection but it it will also give stronger protection because it is boosting your memory responses. host: let's take some calls from our listeners. our first one is marianne in minnesota who is a medical professional. caller: i am calling to ask the person speaking why they are recommending a booster shot that has only been tested on eight mice and not humans. guest: this vaccine has been tested on more than eight mice. we are relying on the history of these mrna vaccines and their

safety profiles. there was a clinical trial done with the related form of omicron ba.1 and it showed broader protection against omicron and the strengthening of the responses to the vaccine. we do this often. once we know a vaccine is safe, when it comes to a slight change in the sequence of the virus that we are using in it, we tried to jump ahead so that we are keeping up with the virus and not behind with the virus is doing. host: there is a tweet from jj about testing, where can the public find manufacturer and cdc verified independent safety data and adverse events on each version of the vaccines i have heard the testing is been minimal? guest: the testing information

is on the national registry, the national vaccine adverse registry page. you can go there and see all of the information. it is there unobstructed and without any bias. the companies are constantly reporting back to the fda on adverse effects from the clinical trials, the entire set of data from ba.1 bivalent vaccine is available on the fda's website and all the companies are currently continuing to monitor the efficacy and safety of the vaccine. this is not being rolled out without keeping our guard up and monitoring these types of things. this should all be available through the fda's website.

the pharmaceutical company should be reporting back to the fda on these things continuously. host: let's talk to lester from sandy, oregon. caller: good morning, how are you? host: good, thanks. caller: my concern is that i have an immune deficiency and my concern is that the people who are making drugs are not telling people that you have to be careful because your immune system. my doctor says, you should have a shot. i have had it twice. the first time, i did not even have the shot, i got it in january when it first came out.

my wife had it, my son. we never had the shot. nobody knew it was. the problem is, i think one shot is enough. at the same time, you have to watch the safety of the immune and those people who have immune deficiency. host: let's get a response. guest: you hit on an important point. there are segments of the population that are vulnerable to severe covid. immuno compromised as one of them, individuals over 65 and with other medical conditions. those same populations do respond differently to the vaccine and so, there is the

recommendation that the fda has for the general population, people with specialized conditions should seek out information from their medical providers how they should take the vaccines depending on their immuno responses. you may need additional care, pay attention to infection. it is important to reach out to your health care provider if you are in one of these high-risk groups to get more specific advice on how to deal with rooster vaccines. host: here is a tweet from lizzie. what is circulating right now is

nothing but a cold, why push for more and more boosters? guest: omicron is not just a cold. we have 400 people a day dying from covid-19. we don't see that with things like the common cold. we rarely see that with influenza. covid-19 is still a big risk to the population. what you are saying is that more and more people are suffering milder infection because we have had vaccines out there. we have antivirals to treat people and help them not have severe infections that are associated with infections just a year or a year and a half ago. milder cases are a result of the public health interventions that have taken place.

that does not mean we have to forget about covid-19. we have to keep up with these measures so we can maintain that level of protection the population. host: i wanted to ask you, 67% of the country is vaccinated. only 33% have gotten a booster shot. is this idea of herd immunity out the window? guest: when omicron came through it changed the game when looking for herd immunity which is where infections are limited because enough of the population has strong immunity to prevent infections. right now, the focus is on severe illness and limiting that. these boosters are going to have an impact on infections as well. it may not be as great as the 90% we saw initially but omicron

is a very different virus than we initially saw at the beginning of the pandemic. expectations have to be realistic but this vaccine has the potential to reduce cases as well as severe cases and therefore it is moving in that area of a vaccine that people really want. caller: let's speak to ken in oregon. i am an anti-serb. vaxxer. i spent time in the military during the cold war. i went to vietnam a couple of times. during the cold war, i had a top-secret clearance and i read about the files of the thousands of army guys that died from taking experimental vaccines.

the vaccine itself is more dangerous than covid. as far as i'm concerned. i would rather be in a room of people that have covid then take a shot for it. there was a big government cover up going on right now, thousands of people are dying from the shots they are taking. host: let's get a response. guest: think you for your service. i can't speak to your experiences in the military. i can't speak to the covid-19 vaccines. i have spent a lot of my time

going through the information out there. some of it is high quality, some of it is not. what i can clearly say is that the vaccines are safe. thousands of people are not dying from the vaccine. it is true that hundreds of people a day or dying from the infection. if you look at the people who are suffering the most severe disease right now, they are people who are unvaccinated. infection alone is showing not to be as good at protecting from reinfection as vaccination. vaccines are our way out of this pandemic. they are safe and can be used to help us get back to a more normal society that we had pre-pandemic. host: benny is next in stockton, california. caller: good morning.

i would like to say that i trust science. i have had my booster shots and i had my shots. but i also had covid back in march. i did not have any effects, i did not even have to go to the doctor because i had my booster shot. i see that there is a new booster out, how do i go about getting it? do i go to the pharmacist like i got my booster shots? what do i do? and i do trust science and i feel sorry for that gentleman that spoke a few minutes ago. there is nothing wrong with it. i have lost friends. my ex-wife passed because she did not get the shots. she developed pneumonia and she died.

lets everyone get the shots. we can get rid of this virus. thank you very much. host: what do you think andrew? guest: if you have had an infection, you should count that as an explosion to the virus. if you have had one recently, you should count that as a booster. they will be available at pharmacies across the country. there will be no charge for the vaccination. everything about this booster will be exactly the same in terms of availability and lack of having to pay for it. host: the news came out that the

free covid-19 test program halted yesterday. that was due to a lack of funding. the idea of getting free testing kits from the government is over for now. what are your thoughts on that? guest: this is where the economy and budget constraints come into play when it comes to our ability to control this pandemic. it is clear that vaccines, testing and antivirals are the tools that we need to be able to keep down severe cases limit the spread of this virus. what we are starting to see now is that the government has paid for all of these things. we are starting to see that some of this will not be paid by the government and it is important to understand how we will transition to some individuals will have to pay for a portion

of the cost for tests and vaccines and antivirals. it does not diminish the fact that these are the things we need to keep combating the pandemic. it means that it will be more difficult for us to roll this out efficiently if we ask people to pay for these things when they have not done so previously. host: don from ohio. caller: this new virus, will it be another trial? if somebody dies from it we will not be allowed to sue pfizer? host: what is your other question? caller: we had a meeting and we looked at it this way, if fauci they make immigrants take it coming across, how can they tell us to take it? they have to explain to us

before they make us take it. guest: if you have adverse side effects, there are ways to report that. you will get that information with the booster when you take it. to the second point, no one is forcing people to take it. this is a voluntary program in the united states. i do feel that the benefits of vaccination are quite clear. whether you come from a small town or a large town, covid-19 does not care. if it comes in there, people will get sake and people will get severely ill. the vaccine is safe, there is a lot of data out there on it. we will continue monitoring vaccine safety.

host: kimberly is next in live oak, florida. hi kimberly. kimberly, we lost kimberly. let's try rick from texas. caller: hello? i guess i had a different experience. when it first came out, i did not know what it was. it was like having a bad cold for a week. i am 70 now, i was 68 at the time. the doctor wanted to give me a vaccine and i said i had this little cold at the beginning of the year. and i said i want to check to see if i have anybody's. she checked, i had anybody's.

i gave them a steroid tack and antibodies. to make a long story short, over the next two years i got tested for anybody's, i had them for two years and i guess it wore out because when omicron came through i got it. i called my doctor and i said, do i need to get this medicine. and she says, what are your symptoms? and she goes, just take ibuprofen, drink water and stay in bed. like i said, it only lasted three days. i went on the cdc website and started doing research, if you follow the science, if you have

no underlying conditions you don't have to take the shot. my daughter is a nurse and i have relatives that are doctors and none of them got vaccinated. my daughter was on the front lines before they had the vaccines. they were treating people with hydrochloric quinine. lucky for us, and my area, and my county, doctors kept prescribing that. host: there is a lot there, let's talk to andrew about some of those treatments. guest: obviously, i can't give out medical advice. hydroxychloroquine out there. when you look at the good data out there, it does nothing to

prevent infection with sars covid two or prevent symptoms. that is very clear from the data out there. this is multiple studies from across the world. as an individual that is 70 years old, the recommendation for you when it comes to antiviral treatments is that you should get it within five days of coming down with symptoms. anyone over the age of 65 if they have a covid positive test, they should seek out the antiviral medication it is clear that medication is preventing severe disease in those populations. the vaccine is recommended for anyone ages 12 and over. anyone who is eligible for the vaccine should get it.

there is a small risk of counter -- medical conditions that would cause you not to get the vaccine but most people should be able to get it. host: let's talk to mary who is a medical professional and arlington, virginia. caller: i have several questions, how many people were involved in these trials for the bivalent vaccine? do you happen to know how many people who are dying of covid are unvaccinated, vaccinated or this is their second case of covid? guest: in people who are dying from covid-19 the risk of dying is five to eight fold higher if

you are unvaccinated as opposed to being vaccinated. with respect to your other comments about the trial, i don't remember the precise number but there were 300 individuals in the bivalent vaccine testing that went on with the ba.1 component. their endpoints were just antibody levels but those individuals are still being followed so you can get a true sense of vaccine efficacy to see how it protects from infection and severe disease. those people are being followed but i have not seen official numbers on what those efficacy rates are yet. host: i want to ask you about what is happening at the cdc. here is the new york times headlines, wolinsky calls for

reorganization. she delivered a sweeping rebuke of her agency's handling of the coronavirus pandemic saying it failed to respond quickly enough and needed to be overhauled. to be frank, we are responsible for some pretty dramatic mistakes from testing, communication and data. guest: i think the cdc response could have been better. as much as we prepare for a pandemic, there are so many variables that happen during a pandemic that we have to respond to quickly. i do feel that the cdc's communication and messaging could have been much more directed and clear. people were relying on a lot of different sources for their medical advice and it is always

easier when you have one common source that you can use for that. going through a pandemic, the response could have been better than anything we do now to reassess what we did right, wrong and to change those in preparation for the next outbreak is good. i hope this results in more systemic changes that will make the response better. host: angela is next in indianapolis, indiana. caller: thank you for taking my call. i just had a comment. the vaccines themselves, it should be clearly understood that no vaccine prevents you from contracting any kind of virus whether it is blue or covid.

it is not 100% effective. it will not stop you from getting it. the severity of a person getting it depends on each individual person and their immune system. no two people are alike in regards to their health. i am 61 years old and i have been exposed to covid multiple times and have never contracted it, even to present day. and i am not vaccinated i had some other health issues. i would like to see a panel, and

speak about long-term covid and the suffering and the symptoms that people that do come down with covid and now have to live with the long-term effects that have drastically change their lifestyle and the fact the help that they need to now live with something that has drastically change their way of living their health and all of that. and what resources are out there to help those individuals. i know people, loved ones. my grandchildren have contracted covid. guest: we will start with long covid. it is an important issue in this country because millions of people are suffering these long-term effects after covid infection.

there is data suggesting that if you are vaccinated you have a lower rate of acquiring long covid but it is not perfect vaccines are not a hundred percent but they do provide some level of protection against long covid. i think the other point that is important to highlight is, people are different and what is important to understand going forward is to years ago no one had covid and then people started to get infection or vaccination but now people have wide exposures to vaccines and infections. there is a wide variety of exposures that people have had and that is going to make it more difficult for us to, with comments about vaccine efficacy.

we need to continue to do research to make sure the vast majority of people are responding to the right way to vaccines. host: we have a text from j three sf. what is the possibility of new covid strains this winter? guest: right now, it looks like we are seeing some versions of omicron that are emerging. these are the things that viruses do. they mutate, they change. we tried to assess those changes and things that are affecting what the virus does.

right now, there is not anything on the horizon that looks like a major change. there are a lot of small changes occurring in omicron that we are monitoring. so that we can adjust our approach to covid-19 and control it porting lee. host: joe is next in ohio. caller: good morning how are y'all doing today? i have a couple of comments about what you said but i would like to preface by saying that i had the three shots. the original two plus the booster and i also got covid. so i had the anti-bodies. my first comment is the rna the technique the shot is based on

his experimental and when he says that there has been no adverse reactions how does he explain the people that have been reported to have died from heart attacks and heart problems after getting the shot number two he said no one is forced to take the shot how to see explain the 60,000 u.s. military people that were just fired because they did not want to take the shot and there was a third one that hopefully i will remember. you can go ahead and explain that. guest: starting with that last point. the general recommendation is that the vaccine was not mandated for the population. there may be certain portions of the population but they are not required of everyone in the population. when it comes to safety i don't

believe i have ever said there are no adverse effects. it is quite clear that some people are suffering some side effects and most of those are minor. those kind of effects are common with this vaccine and they are common with many vaccines that people take in the technology has been around for 15 years we have two years of experience in terms of using them for covid-19 vaccines and their is a strong safety record there as long as a strong efficacy record there. we do know a lot about these vaccines and their safety profiles and their efficacy. host: let's go to union, new york.

i've got covid now. i thought i was getting better but last night i couldn't sleep very well because i was coughing and i have had the symptoms for the past couple of days. i had beaver, throwing out is a new one today. my sister gave it to me. she was at a reunion from people all over the united states. you still have to be careful if you are around a lot of people. i got it. she had two boosters plus the two regular. she is doing much better than i am she is six years older than me she lives right across the street i would suggest if people can get the boosters and the vaccine that they do it because the side effects from a shot is

much less problematic than getting covid itself. i don't have an appetite. host: i hope you feel better soon. guest: what the caller described as a common scenario. people who are fully vaccinated still get infected and they can last for several days. everything the caller talked about is what you hear about a lot these days. host: jacob is in florida. caller: i have a few comments and questions. question number one, [inaudible]

we have those two questions. host: sorry we are having trouble making out what you are saying? caller: can you see god? and can you see the virus with the naked eye? guest: you can't see the virus with the naked eye, you can't see it with most microscopic. we followed the virus because we know that when we expose cells to it though cells die very quickly afterwards. if you look online there are beautiful pictures you can see

pictures. host: victor is next from alabama. caller: good morning. guest: good morning. caller: i have a question. my sister is over there, how are you doing? host: victor, you have to mute your tv and just talk into your phone. caller: she is in the hospital. she is in the hospital. and she got covid. but i want to go see her but is there a chance that i can get it?

i have my booster and all that, but she had hers? guest: usually, in a hospital setting if someone is covid-19 positive they are restricted in terms of their contact with people. there are some hospitals that have rooms that allow you to see through a glass pane or something. often times, and a hospital setting it is difficult to go see someone who is covid-19 possible because of the risk of transmitting it to visitors. host: betty is calling us from jackson, louisiana. good morning. caller: good morning, i am 78. i got the two shots, i did not get the booster. i have had omicron. i was not very sick. i am worried. i have grandchildren. in all of my years, i have never

seen the medical community act the way it is acted with this. the way they were nixing some drugs and promoting others. you said people were not forced to take it, yes they were. they were threatened with the loss of their job. that to me is unconscionable. they are pushing the vaccine to young children. young children are the least ones that have had any problems whatsoever. that shot can be dangerous. young men have gotten myocardial trouble. these children are not at risk. why are they pushing a vaccine onto these children when it is

not necessary at all? host: let's get a response. guest: just to be clear, the government is not mandating this vaccine. it is sometimes the case that some businesses and organizations asked for that, but i am talking about government mandates. there is no government mandate to have everyone vaccinated. when it comes to children, they are an important population to get vaccinated for a couple of reasons. their rate of severe covid is lower on an average basis but more kids are getting covid than the adult population. the general risk in those kids is high of some sort of adverse effects when you compare to the vaccine, those risks of covid are higher than the vaccination.

everybody is careful about pediatric populations. that is why the vaccines for those under 12 were so late coming out because they wanted to make sure that the safety signature and the benefit/risk ratio were clearly documented, and they are. another thing to think about in terms of kids, children are one of the prime ways covid is introduced into households. vaccinating kids has a tendency to reduce transmission to adults and particularly adults that have medical conditions that make them more vulnerable to disease. protecting kids is important. covid is a risk to kids and vaccines are less of a risk than covid. host: jim is our last call from

chicago, illinois. caller: i have two quick questions. i read two articles that there are two groups of universities that includes uc berkeley and northwestern that are working on a nasal spray that is supposed to be available in 1.5 years that will be a game changer. can he speak to that at all? in the second question is, this current booster, how long is it supposed to last once we take it? thank you. guest: the second question is, you should have strong immune responses for six weeks to up to three months and then it will start to wane after that. the nasal vaccine comment is a great comment. right now, our vaccines generate immunity in the blood and we are asking those antibodies to go

into your nasal track and lungs. they do that but it would be much better if we got the cells within your respiratory tract respond more quickly. nasal vaccines have the potential to do that. they are still experimental, and they are not a short-term solution. if i am being optimistic, in the future we will have some combination of a shot in your arm coupled with the booster that you need to get into your nose to get the maximum amount of protection. host: that is all the time we have together today. andrew pekosz from johns hopkins university. coming up at 9:15 is our weekly spotlight on podcast. it features ryan evans and his podcast "war on the rocks" we will talk about legacy of u.s. military involvement in afghanistan and the russia-ukraine conflict.

but first, it is open forum. your chance to share any public policy issues that are on your mind this morning. democrats (202) 748-8000, republicans (202) 748-8001, an independents (202) 748-8002. we will be right back. >> live sunday on in-depth, uc berkeley scholar will talk about the american conservative movement. he is the author of several books including the age of reagan series. about the scholars who change the course of conservative politics in america. join the conversation with your phone calls, text and tweets. in-depth with steven hayward

live sunday on book tv. high school students, it is your time to shine. you are invited to participate in the documentary series. picture yourself as a newly elected member of congress. what is your top priority and why? make a five to six minute video. don't be afraid to take risks, be bold. up to 100,000 cash prizes. videos must be submitted by january 20, 2023. visit our website for competition rules, tips and resources in a step-by-step guide.

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episodes of washington journal. plus, a variety of compelling podcast. c-span is available at the apple store. c-span, your front row seat to washington. "washington journal," continues. host: welcome back to washington journal. i am taking your calls on whatever public policy issue you would like to discuss. the phone lines are democrats (202) 748-8000, republicans (202) 748-8001 and independen ts (202) 748-8002. i want to show you this from the new york times. courts dismisses trump's request for a special master. the former attorney general who chose not to indict trump says

the justice department was justified in investigating his handling of secure material. he talked about this yesterday about the fbi search of the former president's home in florida. take a look. [video clip] >> i think the driver on this from the beginning was loads of classified information sitting in mar-a-lago. it is unprecedented for a president to take classified information and put it in a country club. how long is a government going to try to get that back? they were deceived on the voluntary actions taken. they went and got a subpoena. they were deceived on that. the facts are starting to show that they were being jerked around. how long do they wait?

host: it is open forum, we are taking your calls. we will start first with dave who was in florida on the democrats line. caller: i said that when they finally drafted the constitution benjamin franklin was asked what kind of government we have by a bystander on the street and he said, we have a republic madam if you can keep it. the thing that benjamin franklin knew the most abundant natural resources america is stupid people. you see that constantly coming in on your republican line. it is a line for the mentally handicapped. all they do is parrot the most

recent lies that they have digested from fox news and the right wing echo chamber. you guys do yourselves no favors by sitting there and staring into the camera like a sphinx when these people parrot and regurgitate all of these lies they have picked up. it is a fraud and it makes you know better than fox news to allow this open sewage line to keep feeding into the delusions and fantasies that these people are laboring under. the entire time that the republicans in the house and senate were doing everything they could to suppress the impeachment efforts on trump. and to overthrow the government which he eventually tried to do,

trump was engaged in the outright theft of top-secret, classified documents in violation of federal law. anybody with half a brain, trump's defeat was no surprise. he went into the election with a 29% approval rating. the only time he cries fraud is when things don't go his way. if you can imagine that we allow a five-year-old to vote, or a five-year-old to run for president. guess who the five-year-olds will vote for? they will vote for the other five-year-old. that is the problem we have with the mentally handicapped in this country and that is how we got trump. host: here is the washington post. it talks about the classified documents of mar-a-lago.

trump makes secret and trivial, top-secret information and magazines found together. he mingled classified and nonclassified materials together and had dozens of empty folders that bore a classification marker. several of the retrieved boxes also contained boxes labeled clothing and gift items. while these are not secret or sensitive items, it raises questions about whether trump followed rules about from foreign governments. sandy is next from seattle, washington. republican. good morning. caller: hi. i was democrat all my life until

they started wanting to kill the babies. this abortion thing is the worst thing that has ever happened and i will tell you it is a punishment from god all these things happening over the map about these tremendous droughts. it is not global warming. god has the power to control the climate and he was able to create the world and he sure could do it. it is punishment like in sodom and gomorrah in the bible, he wiped out the whole town when they would not get enough people to repent from the same-sex marriage thing. back to the abortion thing, it is outright murdering of babies. i do not know -- excuse me -- biden's catholic and is endorsing the murdering of the babies end is coming down the line. it will all hit so i think it will probably be the nuclear thing to explode to take us out of here because god is only gonna stand for so much of this. the women get pregnant and god puts the baby in the stomach and then we turn around and we do not want it so we kill it. don't you think that is going to

be a punishment from god coming from that? that he creates the baby, not us, he orders the tools he uses and then we destroy the baby out of selfishness. host: let's take a look "new york times" is talking about abortion pill providers, experiment with ways to broaden access. it says this, i don't know if you can see it here on the screen, it says these new efforts, which test for legal boundaries, have sprung up since the supreme court overturned roe v. wade and many states restricted abortion. let's talk next to linda in pensacola, florida. democrat. hi, linda. caller: yes, i am just saying the doctor speaking said about the illegals coming over didn't need the vaccine is voluntary but if you don't get vaccinated, you will lose your job here so then you would be out on the street. i do not really watch the news because there is too much stuff.

repeat, repeat, and too many investigations. we should be working on our military and how we can better our whole world and not just be nitpicking at people and everything. i go by with the cost of living is, what my groceries cost, what my gas costs. how the schools are affecting my grandchildren. there is a variety of rings but we really need to get busy and start building up america and building up our military because we are going to be sorry one day if we do not build it up. host: kay is next in anderson, texas. democrat. caller: yes, i am calling today about the very need to get rid of trump and the magazine -- and the magas and i'm calling about getting rid of the republicans that have supported this man

through six years. that is exactly what we need to focus on next is get rid of republicans that have not served us in government, they have set there and taken the money for their salaries and everything and need to get rid of them. thank you. host: programming notes, nasa is set to launch the artemis one rocket. today, we will have live coverage starting at 1:00. the launch is scheduled so far for 2:17 p.m. eastern time. you can see everything here live on c-span, on the web at c-span.org, and our free mobile video app, c-span now. also, while we are talking about programming, we will be covering a trump rally tonight in support of gop candidate on the tickets here, live on c-span, 7:00 p.m.

eastern. you can also see it on the web at c-span.org, and the free video app, c-span now. let's talk to kenneth, next. you are open forum, -- you are on open form, connecticut, hi. caller: good morning. i am laughing at the democrats calling in this morning. they have their nose stuck up in the air. the lady from texas is advocating civil war. that is exactly what she covered , wanting to do. lady, if you want civil war, you may get what you wish for, but what i'm saying, our second president, john adams, i'm quoting, "government is for the people and by the people." but when government goes against the people, those same people must overthrow that government.

-- government." i did not say that, john adams in his papers said that and we are getting close to that went. -- that point. thank you. host: next up is ronald in louisiana. democrat. looks like we lost him. how about donald in culver, indiana, republican? caller: yes. host: hi, donald. caller: hi. these people calling in and trashing from, they ought to be either ignorant or paid to call in. there is nothing wrong with trump. we had a good and going while he was in office. biden is trying to destroy the country. i am all for trump now. host: so, donald, what about the issue of the documents, the classified documents at mar-a-lago? what are your thoughts? caller: i think that was staged. those pictures they took of the

papers on the floor, had to be staged. they are trying to get rid of trump because they are afraid of him. host: you don't think he had any classified documents at all? caller: he did. he can declassify them. host: but the documents that were found, donald, were not declassified. caller: they are doing everything they can to destroy him. host: ok. let's talk to linda next in bloomington, minnesota, independent. hi, linda. caller: good morning. i have a comment. you spoke about -- and i've heard this before -- about the boxes being mixed with classified close, -- clothes, magazines, newspapers, and it does seem like he got what is going on here but what occurred to me is, when the young woman testified and said january 6

hearings, and other people said this too who are close into the office, this was a chaotic mass of a government. the things were never done properly and my feeling, my thought is, perhaps, when he was packing up, i'm sure he was absolutely crazed at the end when he said you are leaving and that is it. the idea all of this stuff was mixed in together, i think that could be just because of the chaos that was raining in the white house at that time. host: you think it could have been an accident? caller: yes. i think he was probably -- have you ever moved? [laughter] just kind of gathering up everything and throwing it in the box. i'm not saying he probably should not have had those top-secret papers on his desk, but i think when you make something of it, i do not think

it was purposeful. it was chaos. host: there was several attempts to get the documents back, though. caller: yes. i am not standing up for him, believe me. i just think about it and i think, how could that happen? then i remember all of the testimony -- the place was just run amok all of the time. so it seems to me that is the way could have happened. host: let's go to texas, independent line. hi, dennis. caller: good morning. i feel that both parties have really pushed things to the limit. i think most americans are sick of both already. maybe it is time to vote everybody out and get new people in so we can actually get our government back in line and being productive, doing the right things for the people. the people of the united states deserve much better from both

parties, and it is sad, the scenario our state has become. host: let's take a tweet now from raybo. he says the department of justice will refuse to answer questions from members of congress in committees and hearings because "there is an ongoing investigation." but they have no problem linking what they feel will influence public opinion in their favor. let's talk to amelia in georgia, democrats. hi, amelia. caller: good morning. i just want to say, sometimes i don't know if i need to cry or laugh. the republicans that have called in here, don't you know that you and i [indiscernible] and you are already condemned. those that call and say they are christians, the bible does not say anything about abortion. as a matter of fact, the verse

where the lord condemned a city, one of the punishments was people ripped the unborn out of the mother's womb. that is in the bible. another thing, you are worshiping this man. he has never done anything for you and in the voice of howard stern, he despises you. it is always somebody else's fault. when are you going to stop allowing the republicans to treat you like fools? these people have no interest. all they do is come on tv or national tv and talk about -- they demonize the democrats and biden, but they are the ones doing the sins, they are the ones committing the crime. it is all about their money. fox news, they fill you with these lies because hannity and

the other guy, they are millionaires. they are protecting their millions area this country will be ignorant, lack of critical thinking skills, and everything you can hear, they repeat everything they hear on fox news. stop it. stop it. you are going to tear this country down because of ignorance. host: let's talk to denise next in pittsburgh, california, on the democrats line. caller: hi. yeah, i was just calling because i wanted to make a comment about the first guy that called. i think his name was dave, he said if you allow a five-year-old to vote, who are they going to vote for? the other five years old. that is what happened with trump and that is why he is an office and that is why they refused to face the reality that this man is ignorant and awful himself. he made trouble for himself. nobody made that trouble for him

by taking those papers. he did not have business doing that. he is a thief and a liar, and yes we do want him removed. thank you. host: tina is on the republican line in phoenix, maryland. good morning. caller: good morning. i guess i don't understand why people want to bash trump so much when our borders are wide open, we are allowing all kinds of slavery to come in, child slavery, diseases. trump at least try to fix the border and make it legal to come to our country. that is all i really want to say. host: let's talk to maury in hamburg, pennsylvania. a democrat. caller: i was just calling -- i hope for the next election people will look at facts. look at bills that are written,

pay attention to congress. witness what they are talking about, go to some meetings, don't take all of your information directly from tv or social media. read the bill yourself. they are hard to understand what you can get a good basis on it. host: all right. let's talk to wanda next in california on the republican line. wanda? caller: yeah, i just heard a lady that called who said we need to get rid of republicans. you didn't ask her what she meant by that. it sounds genocidal to me. also, did you know that, when obama left the white house, he took tons of documents and nobody inspected any of it, nobody cared, it has been on the news. i see a double standard that he is another -- that this is

another trap for donald trump. host: wanda is our last call for this segment of open forum. thank you to everybody that called in. next is our weekly spotlight on podcasts. the segment features ryan evans. his podcast is called "war on the rocks." we will be talking about the legacy of u.s. military involvement in have in the stand -- in afghanistan and the latest in the russia/you -- russia/ukraine conflict. stay with us. >> hello, everyone and welcome to the national book festival. ?" over the past 21 years and a partnership with a partnership with the library of congress, book tv provided uninterrupted coverage of the national book festival, featuring hundreds of nonfiction authors and guests. today, book tv returns live and in-person to the library of congress's national book festival. all day long, you will hear from and interact with guests and authors such as librarian of congress carla hayes and more.

. the library of congress national book festival, live today beginning at 9:30 a.m. eastern on c-span two. >> nasa is said to launch the artemis one mission, an un-crude space -- uncrewed spaceflight today. watch live at 1:00 p.m. eastern on c-span or on c-span now, our free mobile video app. >> former president trump hold a rally in support of its his republican u.s. senate nominee, dr. mammon oz. watch live coverage beginning at 7:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. also on our free mobile video app, c-span now. >> now available to c-span -- at the c-span shop, c-span's 2022 congressional directory. go there to order a copy of the directory.

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news of the day and we will discuss policy issues that impact you. sunday morning, the bipartisan policy center discusses the investigation of the former president after leaving office. then editorial director and publisher of the nation talks about the biden presidency, 2022 midterm elections and political news of the day. watch "washington journal," live at 7:00 eastern sunday morning on c-span or on c-span now, our free mobile video app. join the discussion with your phone calls, facebook comments, text messages, and tweets. >> "washington journal" continues. host: welcome back to "washington journal." i'm joined by ryan evans. he is the host of the podcast called "war on the rocks." welcome. guest: thanks for having me. host: i want to start with afghanistan. it has been a year since the last troops left afghanistan. what is going on there now? what is the thinking of the

u.s.'s pull out now that we have a year since then? guest: there are two separate issues, the retrospective how the pullout could have gone so wrong and the consequences, whatever they may be politically, and there is a commission that congress has not gotten started yet but it is supposed to examine the attire war and the withdrawal. as far as afghanistan now, it is a tragic story. the taliban is trained to solidify control over the country and is ruling the country but it is former elements of the afghan government and the self proclaimed islamic state and this unfolding humanitarian tragedy with shortage of things required for a society to run. host: i understand there are still people trying to get out, as far as those that helped the u.s. effort during the war. what are the chances of them being able to get out? guest: i'm not sure.

a lot of this is happening behind closed doors and a lot of third-party organizations are involved, especially those run by veterans, trying to get out there former interpreters and people who supported us. i know the effort is ongoing but i do not know a lot of details. host: should the u.s. cap some military presence in afghanistan? bagram airbase was handed over. do you think the u.s. should have kept that? guest: i think it is two separate questions. the first is should we have left at all? supporter of withdrawing and remain a supporter. i think it was a good idea. i think the execution of the withdrawal itself how was disastrous. -- how it was planned was disastrous. there is a need for accountability not only from the defense department but from the state department and white house. there is this weird narrative the administration is promoting that because we were able to get so many people out in the final weeks of the evacuation that this is somehow a success but we did not necessarily get the people i we would have gotten out had it would have been a

well-planned effort. host: if you would like to call in with a question or comment, you can do so on our lines by political affiliation. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans can call (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can also send us a tweet @cspanwj. the gop house foreign affairs committee recently released a report on the u.s. withdrawal on afghanistan and, last month on cbs's face the nation, michael mccaul went into details. take a look and that i will ask you to respond. [video clip] >> there was no plan and there was no planned -- even beforehand, i think the state department did not have the resources it needed to area out an evacuation of this size and the normative. they have 36 officers trying to

process hundreds of thousands of people. they were overwhelmed but there were so many mistakes. the biggest one for me having lived through it or being in the class-wide space, listening to the intelligence community of the story about this will be imminent, it will fall sooner rather than later, the military was told the same thing, and then we went to stay and the white house paints a very rosy picture. there is a disconnect between intelligence on the ground and what the white house is doing. this report says it all. there is no way we will evacuate embassy personnel from helicopters like we did in vietnam and we know that happened. >> the criticism of the report would be this was the minority report that is inherently political. that was the republican take, if they win, that this would be a political line of attack. how do you respond? >> i was a federal prosecutor

longer than a member of congress so it has been almost 20 years now. i pride myself as being objective. i think this is a fairly objective report of the failures that were made. you know one of the biggest ones was the taliban city was the special envoy and general mckenzie, the commander, made an offer you can take control over kabul and secure it for purposes of the evacuation. >> you said that is not my assignment. >> that is not with the commander-in-chief told me. they do run into the white house and they get no response. later, jen psaki said they would not have approved that. think about what that would have changed. we had secured the perimeter of that. that led to the chaos in the suicide bomber that led routine service member men and women and injured over hundreds of people. it could have been avoided. host: representative mccall erie it what he says? guest: i'm surprised i agree

with a lot of what he said. i think about 80%. things were i agree are the state department was under resourced. i want to hit again there has been no accountability at the state department for this. some problems for the biden administration's fault and others as he alluded to where the under resourcing of the department consular affairs and special visa programs that got worse under the trump administration. i think the failure to take the television on that offer -- because the taliban did not expect to win as fast as they did, to hold onto couple for a little longer area it will be seen as one of the greatest mistakes of withdrawal. the other mistake was a poor play not well coordinated between the different arms of government. host: let's wish to crane before taking calls from viewers. what is the situation in care sans with the ukrainian counteroffensive launched earlier this week? guest: it has been talked about for weeks, including on our podcast, so most famously with our conversations.

ukraine has launched this long-awaited counteroffensive against the city in the south and it is unfolding. i think too many people are expecting things to happen quickly. it will be a slow operation and it is too early to say how it will go but ukraine has made small gains. their aim is to box in the city and hopefully force a rough -- force a russian withdrawal. host: is this war at an operational standstill as some analysts are saying? guest: not now but i think in the last few weeks it was. i think the russian for settler -- force had largely gotten exhausted and ukraine was using this slower period to train and itself for the counteroffensive and prepare for that, to surge manpower to the southern front. we will see what happened. -- happens. host: there was a reuters post that talked about american support for ukraine. if you take a look at the numbers on the screen, about

53%, about half, support u.s. backing ukraine until all resin worse is withdrawn. 50% are following the russia/ukraine conflict somewhat or very closely, and 53% say it is "worthwhile paying more for fuel and gas due to russia's sanctions." what are your thoughts on american support for the war? guest: i saw that pole. the first thing that occurred to me was, if i was in kiev, i would be worried about that because the margin of support for this ultimate goal of totally driving russian forces from the ukrainian territory, which would include the territory they seized in 2014 and 2015, not just the territory since february of this year, that is a thin read upon which to rest political support. have the president -- we have elections and the president will change at some point and this war will go on for years. this is not something that will be over by the end of the year. if we wan -- if we get up president that doesn't want to

support the ukrainians, there may not be political resistance to face. host: a longtime leader was killed in a u.s. drone attack. does al qaeda and islamic extremism as a whole still pose a threat to americans? guest: yes, although the statistical likelihood of being killed in a terrorist attack launched by al qaeda's i think less than getting struck by lightning. so these still pose a threat, i am troubled as i think a lot of people were by him being resident in kabul where he was killed by a drone strike. i do not know this means al qaeda is reconstituting itself as a global force. they have a leadership succession challenge that they might not be able to overcome but jihadist terrorism is still a thing. host: let's start taking calls. loretta is first in cleveland, ohio, it. caller: good morning -- ohio, democrat. caller: good morning. can you tell us what the trump deal was, made with afghanistan?

and you said you did agree with the pullout when there was actually no pullout because the troops were attack. since when is the president criticized after being attacked? reagan was not attacked after that debacle in lebanon where 290 troops was killed. the first year of trump, at least 20 were killed. where was that criticism? what are you talking about? they were attacked. host: let's get a response. guest: that was a great question. first off, i was in favor of the withdraw and even though it went poorly , i think withdrawing was the widest which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] -- even though it went poorly, i

thing withdrawing was the wisest thing to do. the trump deal was they made a deal with the taliban that u.s. troops would be withdrawn from afghanistan by a certain day and biden decided to uphold that and withdraw u.s. forces on schedule. but that is a deal donald trump as president negotiated. that is an important point. as far as your other historical example, i think some republican reaction to the nature of the withdraw his political of course. there's a lot less attention being paid to the disastrous conduct of the war for 20 years prior than that, which in my mind was the bigger problem. that is why i support withdraw from afghanistan. host: john is next, a democrat. caller: good morning. i think what we did was stand by and let russia destroy that country. what a disgrace. we are supposed to be americans. killing innocent people? what is wrong with our country? what are we doing?

we should be backing them up 100%. they are good people. russia is no good and have been no good for years and years. i cannot understand how the united states government is allowing this man to keep killing innocent people. host: john, what are you suggesting the united states do? caller: what we should do? host: yeah. caller: put pressure on russia ok? the people don't even know what this man is doing. host: all right, john. guest: i get your points. i understand your frustration. war is a horrific thing, one of the most if not the most horrific thing human beings do to each other. i agree with the rest of your argument but i think it should be said the biden administration and u.s. government is backing ukraine with billions and billions of dollars of weaponry, materials, intelligence, targeting support.

the united states and nato allies have drawn the line direct intervening with its own military forces in the conflict against russia, which i think is wise given the fact russia has a large nuclear arsenal. in that situation, they would probably likely to use it when they view an existential war with not just ukraine but the united states and most of europe. host: we have a tweet from buddha rollo who says this, ask him what happened to the kurds. i'm assuming the kurds in arak and syria and maybe turkey as well? guest: there are kurds living in arak. i'm not try understand the question, but there is a debate going on right now about why we still have u.s. forces, which we have a small contingent in syria, and what they are doing. one of the justification often given is to support our kurdish partners in syria who still face the threat from various parties. i'm not sure if that is what the question is being asked. host: daniel is next in texas, republican. good morning. caller: good morning.

guest: morning. caller: i just got a question for you. we have china on one side of us, rush on the others of us. if they attack our eastern borders and western borders at the same time, and right now our southern border is open, we have 180 million illegals that have already came across our border, and we are scattering them all over our country. the thing is, they are going to take over our country without firing a shot. guest: i'm happy to respond to that. i do not agree with your interpretation of that. i do not think it is helped to conflate the issues of the challenges we face on russia with one hand and china on the other with the problem of illegal immigration. it is a problem but i do not see legal immigrants taking over the country as you describe. host: next up is stephen in arizona, independent.

stephen. caller: thank you for having me on. and thank the guest for his expertise. i just wonder why we would leave billions of dollars worth of military equipment behind in afghanistan. that makes no sense to me at all. wouldn't that be a priority if you are going to engage in pulling out? why would you leave that type of equipment for the enemy? that is what my question is. guest: yeah, you know, the taliban as you might have seen had a parade where they celebrated their take over the country and which they shut off that showed off a lot of their military quitman, a lot of which were that was heaved by the afghan security forces, who we trained and equipped. those images are not easy to see it i do not think there was a case to be made at the time for taking the stuff we had given

the afghan security forces, which is the problem. the intelligence community was certainly not unified on the idea the taliban takeover would happen quickly. there were some people saying that but most people in the classified space from what i've been told as well as the open source thought the afghan government would last longer. we wanted to make sure security forces were equipped. as the far -- as far as the stuff we left behind that our military was using, i agree that could have and should have been planned better. host: staying with afghanistan, we have a tweet from mary lou who says the afghans were caught between rampant corruption in the government and the brutal taliban who offered us some degree of justice. what do you think? guest: this is one of the fundamental problems with our mission in afghanistan. the overall point is correct is that we were supporting a government that was extreme liquor up and not just corrupt in way -- extremely corrupt and not just corrupt anyway about government contracts but predatory against their own

population. that is why there was enthusiastic support in the country for the government we help set up after we ousted the taliban in 2001. host: bill on the independent line, good morning. caller: good morning. my question is, when the ukrainian problem arose, the administration says our goal was to blunt the advance. what exactly is our goal today? i listened to all of the sunday shows and everything, but in a sentence, what exactly is our objective? that is my question. host: i think that a biden administration official might say something like our objective is to ensure russia is defeated in ukraine. that could mean any number of things. does that mean russia is driven from all ukrainian territory?

i don't know. the thing i worry about is a lot of our policymakers on size of the aisle do not fully accept or understand and are planning for the eventuality this war could go on for years. and what that means for the global economy, our ability to sustain support to ukraine which is important but might become difficult over time, especially if europe gives into recession which in my do this winter. host: which is the right segway for this wall street journal article i wanted to ask you about. it was not planned. it says russia halts slow from gas pipeline. they indefinitely supplant -- suspended national gas flow hours after the group of seven agreed to an oil price cap for russian crude. two opposing blows exchange between moscow and the west in ne can -- in an economic war running parallel to the conflict in ukraine. what are the implications of that into winter? guest: it is a very serious problem for europe which gets much of his gas from russia.

the ability of the united states to pick up the slack is not something that can happen in the short term because of lack of lng terminals and things like that that i will not get into too much detail. it is not my area of expertise. that is a real problem for this winter, not just for people heating their homes but for the industries and private sectors of europe, especially germany. this could prove to be a massive problem because germany still produces and exports so much. host: let's go to april in rock island, illinois, republican. hi, april. caller: how are you? host: i'm good. caller: i wanted to say a couple of things about where we have been and where we are going. isis was in charge of syria and it took one year to wipe them out. dealing with iran, dealing with now all of a sudden we're dealing with russia, ukraine, it

is china and taiwan. none of this would be happening, i'm sorry. -- i'm sorry, if trump was president. it would not be because afghanistan, that was never ever allowed to happen that way. these taliban, they were supposed to stay in their caves and let the people that have been running the country for 20 years on the country. we have girls that were five when we went over there, and they were raised in country that they were free. now all of a sudden they have to wear burqas again. it is ridiculous. you cannot blame that on trump. host: what do you think, ryan? guest: there's a lot to respond to there. any argument i've heard before, i do not see the evidentiary area basis for the trump not negotiate the withdraw the deal from afghanistan, the war was not going well on his watch either. although the same could be said

for the obama administration and the one before since we first went in 2001 and started to build an afghan state. as far as the middle east, isis was never really in charge of syria. it did control large territory in syria and to a lesser extent iraq and the plan to oust them in the obama administration was continued under the trumpet ministration. i don't understand his argument that none would be happening if trump would be in charge. i do not see the evidence for any of that. host: let's go to iran in michigan. democrats. caller: thank you. if we read in "new york times", about three weeks ago, front page "new york times" sunday edition, they had an interview with one of the top cia agents or whatever in afghanistan. they said there go in russia/ukraine was the afghan is asian -- afghan-isation of russia. that went well with us starting with judy carter. since jimmy carter, not 20 years.

and escape worldwide jihad, never ending. with this war with russia, i'm a vietnam veteran and i see the stinking aroma of golf of tonkin in here, supporting a corrupt public government that we put in place that we are backing up and admission by the cia. we have in there our cia agents, special forces, and special forces from every nato country working with the ukrainians. don't just say it is ukrainians. it is our cia volunteers and white supremacists who fight with the russians alongside the ukrainian white supremacist. when they come back, these veterans, they will bring back their weapons and trophies. they will be bringing back their rpg's and their missile launchers from this war and they are disgruntled veterans going over there and fighting and they will come back here disgruntled. are they going to turn those weapons against our own troops?

this ukrainian afghan thing, it is all cooked up ever since vietnam and we are supposed to believe the cia? this is the good war. we have cia that is recruiting on progressive radio to go join the ukrainian forces. if this is not provocation for war with russia -- and like you said it is not going to be viet cong with ho chi minh sandals. it will be atomic bombs whistling down our chimneys. host: we got it. go i, ryan. guest: i will pass on that one but i -- that one but thank you for your service. host: chris is in ohio on the independent line. caller: hi, yes. hello? host: go ahead. you are on the air. caller: yes, ryan, first i want to say i was flipping through

the channels and saw "war on the rocks," and said i have to call in. i listen to your podcast, very informative on just ukraine and what is going on. i have been one of the 53% following it heavily. i guess my question is do you see an outcome where russia is getting rid of crimea? i have always kind of assumed crimea is existential to russia, that is something they would go to the map for and would not give it up for any reason whatsoever. just kind of wanted to get your insight into the endgame with crimea. guest: first, think for listening to the show. and you can all find "war on the rocks" on your podcast of choice

you asked a good question, how does this end? which we need to start inking about more rigorously. -- start thinking about more rigorously. i do not think ukrainian forces have the capacity to take over after the lapse of the russian military. ukraine is straining itself to sustain this counteroffensive and i think that is what a lot of us are focused on, those watching the war. i think ukraine retaking crimea is unlikely but it is possible. host: speaking of taking other areas by force, to another part of the world is taiwan and here is an article from politico that says the biden administration to ask congress to approve 1.1 billion arms sales in taiwan. fierce -- fears have grown that china is positioning itself to take taiwan by military force. do you think that is true? do you think the arms sales is a good idea? host: taiwan -- guest: taiwan is considered by china to be a renegade province.

china does not recognize taiwan as a country and has expressed the intent to reabsorb it into the people's republic of china under the rule of the chinese communist party. that has long been a goal. i think china would prefer to do that through coercive means but not necessarily through military force. that is china's ideal outcome. i do not see that happening. the time when you state is resilience, a capability military, and that is a lot of what these arms sales are about. i'm not as worried as some of my colleagues are about the near or midterm likelihood of such a war. i think the deterrence regime we have with taiwan in terms of our own support for taiwan is sustainable for the near-term. it is something i'm less worried about but i support these arms sales. host: nancy is next in connecticut on the democrats line. look, nancy. caller: hi. good morning. thank you for your service. everybody knows putin is a war criminal. why doesn't nato get together and have a plan to take him out like they do other leaders and

other countries? i know it is a simple question and probably a lot to it but maybe they are thinking about taking him out and going to have the special services go in and take amount. guest: share. first off i never served in the military, i worked as a civil servant working for the department of the army in afghanistan. but not in uniform. to answer your question, i think that would be a risky thing to do. one, the russian secret services are probably looking out for people try to kill putin. i think that is an understatement to say that is something they try to have under control. two, as i said, russia has a nuclear arsenal, one of the largest in the world. such an operation could risk nuclear destruction. i think that is probably -- as much as i want to see putin go and held accountable for his crimes and he is a war criminal, i think that is probably not the best way to go about it. host: bob is next in fort lauderdale, florida, democrats line. good morning. caller: good morning. i never call in but i had to

after the rant that man was going on about ukraine and that it is all ukraine's fault and not russia's fault. they invaded ukraine. vladimir putin invaded ukraine, not once but twice, in the donbass and crimea and now this more recent invasion. i had to say something about that because this guy was making it seem as if it is like the poor russians are up against these fascist in ukraine. thank you. host: there was not a question there. guest: i agree. this war is ultimately the responsibility of russia. while ukraine is a corrupt country, this russian narrative they are there to beat back fascism is nonsense. that is all i have to say. host: there is the fighting around the ukraine nuclear plant. guest: that's right. host: what are you watching there? guest: i am glad the u.n. is on

the ground at the facility and russia has consented to them staying there. i think it makes it less likely they will be -- there will be some sort of major nuclear disaster. this is not the sort of thing it is one artillery shell going the wrong way and hitting the wrong thing equals a nuclear disaster. obviously fighting around -- this is europe's largest nuclear plant -- is a concern. i'm glad the international community is starting to do something about this but we will see. host: another call from a democrat in florissant, missouri . caller: hi. i just had a statement to make. i noticed in history, why do caucasian people always invade other people's country? they had america when the india is here. they always invade the countries all over the world. guest: i'm going to pass on that one as well but thank you for calling in. host: what are your thoughts --

you talked about how this ends. what is your estimate as to how long this will actually go on? guest: i think we are looking at at least two to three years. but let me hedge a little bit there. war is very contingent. lots of things happened that no one predicted and it could be the war ends tomorrow. unlikely but possible. if the russians -- if the prudent regime collapses, it could end the war quickly i do not think that is likely. i think putin is in charge and it is a stable situation for him, unfortunately. anything can happen but my suspicion in production and estimate is this will go on for at least two to three more years. host: let's go to michigan in clinton township on the independent line. good money, david. caller: good morning. to the caller that said none of this would have happened if trump was still the president. russia did invade crimea and trump said nothing about that at all.

putin was kicked out of the g8, and during the next g8 -- g-7 moving, didn't trump try to let -- try to convince them to let putin back in? correct me if i'm wrong. guest: thanks for calling in. to tackle a couple aspects of that, putin invaded ukraine before trump was president. it was while obama was president. but i think as many -- and i will say this is not a partisan statement, i am an independent and have never been a member of either party. as a lot of the watching -- those watching will remember, president trump, his first impeachment was over the fact that he was withholding military aid to ukraine to get dirt on his political rivals. i think it is hard to say trump was not a reliable supporter of ukraine. host: james is next in fort washington, maryland, democrat.

caller: how are you doing? i just want to make sure that, once this war is over, this conflict is over, that, if ukrainian people do survive this, they are aware that all of america has helped send aid to them and not just one group of people who have sent date to them. i hope that this does not end like the hungarian war did. we supported those people. look what has happened now. it is like their memory has been he raced -- been erased. my main concern is i do not want , as an african-american person, those people to think that only one group or one race of people in this country gave them aid.

i want them to realize, no matter what happened, it was a combined america that did that. thank you very much. guest: i agree with that sentiment. i'm confident ukraine understands that but i share your hope. host: joe is next in fayetteville, north carolina, democrat. caller: yes. i think that a lot of the problems we are having overseas, ukraine or iraq or syria, go back much further than a lot of the callers are saying. i think it goes back to 1912 when woodrow wilson was president. you cannot make the world safe with democracy. you are supposed to deal with congress when you are given money to countries -- giving money to countries and sending troops. the presidents are just doing whatever they want to,

unilaterally. i would like to see what you think about that. guest: it is an interesting statement. i agree the roots of this go back a long time, certainly to world war i when woodrow wilson was the u.s. president and the way that the war ended which led to the revolution which led to the cold war. of course we are skipping over a lot and then the dissolution of the soviet union. i think this is very much rooted in the history of how the soviet union fell apart and russia's paranoia and grievances over the situation. we were reminded to that with putin's reaction to the soviet leader who ended the war. and he did not attend his funeral because he thought ms someone who gave up world power. host: going back to china now, we have a tweet from the reports. he asked, "will china fully absorb and assimilate taiwan into its political and economic structure, or will taiwan

infiltrate and in fact mainland chin with aspirations for multiparty democracy an interesting thought experiment. guest: it is. i do not think the chinese communist party will be with us forever, it is a matter of how this leaves us, when rather than if, and i want to see china, mainland china become a representative democracy. but we will see how long it takes us to get there. it might take many, many years. host: laura is next in troy, michigan. democrat. caller: good morning. i would like to preface my statement by saying that i have a phd in russian history, so i am more knowledgeable than many people to speak on this topic. first of all, in 1954, crew shaw, the president of the

soviet union at that time, he was a ukrainian, decided to give crimea, part of russia, prior to the soviet union, they had palaces there in family vacations there. to give crimea as a gift for a 300 anniversary -- 300th anniversary as the treaty of the union between russia and ukraine. and crimea was seated -- seeded to the ukrainians. i understand some people objected greatly, and there was supposed to be some sort of a vote that did not occur. however at that time, it was all the soviet union so it was not that big of a deal as we are making it now. it is true that in the beginning

of the second world war, the ukrainians did side with the nazis for a short. of time because they believed the nazis would save them from the russians and the war and they found out that was not the case. then they joined with the russians participating in the second world war. what is happening now there is a tragedy because people that know ukrainians and have traveled there extensively, they are like brothers and sisters. they are appalled at what is going on. it is really a tragedy, and i for one as an american feel that we are sort of encouraging the war by spending millions and billions of dollars. though i totally agree putin did

the wrong thing, but it seems to me that the world has never learned you don't solve any problems by going to war. guest: so on the crimea bits, that is of course true but if you go by further, it belonged to turkey and mongolia so everywhere is belong to someone else at some point. he did not say this or maybe this is what you are implying that crimea is legitimately russian. that is not a view i share about setting that aside, if war is not a solution to problems, that applies to russia as much as anyone else. i'm not sure what you're calling for but it sounds like if we were to stop supporting ukraine and the use tinian -- the ukrainian state collapsed and put under the control of this dictatorship, i think that would be a worse outcome. i'm in favor of supporting ukraine to a certain extent, not an unconditional or blank check, defending its territorial integrity. host: on tuesday, we will have live coverage at 3:00 p.m. eastern time, the un security

council will be gathering to discuss civilian nuclear power plants in ukraine that may have been compromised with the war on russia -- with russia. you can watch that live on c-span or c-span now, the free mobile video app on tuesday. let's talk to alexander in baltimore, maryland, republican line. caller: good morning. i was spending a quarter of my life and the soviet union and most of my life in the united states. i have watched all of this unraveling for a long time. i cannot understand it. 1928 -- the soviet union from 1917, the revolution, the condition in the soviet union is continued against the united states and its systemic war that

nuclear using and nuclear using. in 1994, they agreed to a memorandum by which they agreed ukraine gives up its nuclear weapons and their territorial integrity will be prevailed, an agreement signed by russia. after putin came [indiscernible] under president obama, we got total collapse of law and order. he took over crimea and on boss, with nobody responding and allowed to accept this. he occupied a some part of

georgia and all of this went unpunished. today, i guess [indiscernible] what he is doing now is what he is doing to ukraine more against the western world, free world, and democracy because he has far bigger goals and he is using this opportunity, his help from china and even india. host: do you agree with that? guest: thank you for calling in and sharing all of that. i won't comment on all of it but i want to pack about what you said about the budapest memorandum which was important, especially for what the last caller said. this was an agreement signed between the u.k., moscow, washington, and kyiv him a recognizing ukraine's territorial integrity to include crimea. i think that is a settled issue as far as international law is concerned. host: just as we wrap up, tell us about the podcast.

what you have plans next? guest: great. metamorphic media, the company around the owns "war on the rocks," we also produce a great journal with the university of texas at austin called texas national security review which you can find where we publish longer pieces by scholars, strategist, and policymakers. we have a new podcast rolling out this fall about technology trade-offs and defends issues paired we have a new publication launching next year and we are about to overhaul our membership program, which is now really just offering access to a form and a private podcast series, but we are about to offer more private podcasts, premium newsletters for members only and a members only app. we have a lot going on this year and i'm excited. host: ryan evans, host of "war on the rocks" podcast, thank you very much. that is all the time we have for today's "washington journal." we will be back tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. eastern. have a great saturday and happy labor day weekend. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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