cases to come. that is also on c-span and the free c-span now video app. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more, including mediacom. >> the world changed in an instant, but mediacom was ready. schools and businesses when virtual, and we powered a new reality. we are built to keep you ahead. >> mediacom supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> coming up this morning, georgia republican representative buddy carter talks about the economy and his proposed legislation to undo the biden administration's proportion that to pharmacies.

also, democratic jim himes of connecticut is with us to discuss the various investigations involving former president donald trump. later, john wood, jr., national ambassador to braver angels, talks about his organization's efforts to reduce political polarization. ♪ host: it is -- since the start of the year, the governors of texas, arizona, and florida have sent migrants from the u.s.-mexico border north to new york city, washington, d.c., and on martha's vineyard. is it a political stunt or practical solution? some 10,000 migrants have been moved thousands of miles to places that have scrambled to accommodate them. good morning, and welcome to "washington journal" for friday, september 16, 2022. what is your view on the

governor's actions and the broader situation with the border? (202) 748-8000 for democrats, (202) 748-8001 for republicans, and for independents and others, (202) 748-8002. you can text us at (202) 748-8003. we're also on facebook, twitter, and instagram, @cspanwj. for just the first half-hour, we're talking about this, and we will hear from governor ron desantis of florida, and we will hear president biden's comments from last night, and we would like to hear from you. so get dialing. this is from "the washington examiner, texas since two ups loads of migrants outside the home of kamala harris. two busloads dropped off near her residence in the naval

observatory during the brisk early morning hours on thursday. texas governor greg abbott's administration approved the drop off following her assertions that the southern border is secure during a recent interview. the surprise to harris was intended to belie her claim and bring the problem she is ignoring to her doorstop. a source said, our suppose it borders are, vice president, harris has yet to even visit the border to see the impact of the open border policies she has helped implement, abbott said, texas will continue sending migrants to sanctuary cities like washington, d.c., until president biden and border czar harris do their jobs. the vice president in a recent interview this past weekend. this is npr plus reporting on

martha's vineyard, migrants on martha's vineyard's, they were told they were going to boston. about 50 migrants arrived by plane to martha's vineyard wednesday on flights paid by florida governor ron desantis, that originated in san antonio, texas. they touched down around 3:15 local time. later wednesday, a spokesperson for ron desantis sent a statement confirming the migrants were transported by florida under a state program funded by the legislature earlier this year. the statement reads, in part, states like massachusetts, new york, and california will better facilitate the care of these individuals they have invited into our country by incentivizing illegal immigration. npr writes that flight tracker shows flights to go from san antonio around 8:00 a.m. local time wednesday, and a number of migrants told npr their flight originated in san antonio and that they were being transported to boston, not martha's

vineyard. your thoughts on the actions of governor ron desantis and governor greg abbott, in particular. (202) 748-8000 for democrats, (202) 748-8001 for republicans, and all others (202) 748-8002. your calls next. first, let's hear from a news conference yesterday with florida governor ron desantis. [video clip] >> we take what is happening at the southern border very seriously, unlike some and unlike the president of the united states who has refused to lift a finger to secure that border. and you have millions and millions of people pouring across illegally, record amount of fentanyl coming into our country, absolutely killing americans in record numbers. you have criminal aliens. but just the sheer number of people, it is not the way you run a country. unfortunately, there's a lot of folks that come across -- where do they want to end up? a lot want to come to -- because everyone wants to come to florida. so we have worked on an event of

ways to be able to protect the state of florida from the impact of biden's border policies. that has involved a number of things, different operations in the panhandle where we have stopped human smugglers, criminal charges brought, drugs seized, a bunch of things. but yes, if you have folks that are inclined to think florida is a good place, our message to them as we are not a sanctuary state and it is better to be able to go to a century jurisdiction. yes, we will help facilitate that transport for you to be able to go to greener pastures. host: this was the reaction by tweet of a massachusetts representative, saying this, massachusetts will warmly accept migrants who need shelter, beds, a warm meal, and child support. we will treat them with dignity and respect, not cruelty like desantis. he has become the face of a party that is not only selfish and mean but morally bankrupt. congressman mike johnson,

republican, of louisiana sang hundreds of thousands of illegal migrant support across our southern border month after month before being shipped all over the country by the biden administration without a peep from democrats. your calls next. jim is at first in central islip, new york, republican line. caller: yeah, hi. i hope i don't get hung up on. your show, it is to inform and educate the public, so this is like a border area where i am here. i have got 16 years of notes on calling the police. our school marquees are in spanish. the houses are overcrowded. there parked on the sidewalks. you call the police. the police say call the town, town says called the police. it is like one-way streets now. you cannot get down the streets, there are so many cars.

a couple things going on that are putting businesses at a disadvantage. they use their property for commercial reasons. there are code enforcement's to that, but the code enforcement has to put in an appearance ticket, which they don't do. they just give them a ticket and then go away. so you have all the construction equipment and sheds and all the like and people fixing cars on their property, and it is a mess. host: so you are penning all of this on immigrants in this country in your area? caller: this whole town -- look, i go to the meetings. i am involved. i am not just here complaining, which a lot of people are doing when the call this channel. i have been going to the meeting since probably around 2010, because another problem is -- you will probably see this as just a minor complaint, but it

is not, because you cannot imagine appeared they have these parties every weekend around here, and they are allowed. you can hear things more than a mile from the house. host: two a democrat next from wake forest, north carolina. this is christopher. caller: yes the immigrants -- you know, america is a nation of immigrants. we were built on immigrants for 250 years, at least, you know. the economic structure is based on giving immigrants, them being part of society and producing peer we need people. we need workers paired we have low an opponent rate and have so many jobs open and need immigrants to fill the jobs. that is why they are coming here, because they want an opportunity. host: don is also on our

democrats line. caller: hey come america. how you doing? this show finally, finally is covering the border. tell people, 980 people died at the border this year drowning. how is your antifa buddies? host: all right, let's hear from texas, a border state, obviously come on the republican line, from san antonio. gloria, what are your thoughts about what your governor is doing in the terms of transporting the migrants northward? caller: i think it is a shameful act. he is treating these people like they are animals. they are not animals, they are human beings. what they need to do is turn these people back to mexico to go back to their own countries. but they do not need to be doing this. this is a political ploy, and it is shameful. it is horrendous what he and desantis are doing.

they do not deserve to be governors. this is horrible. you do not treat people like that. host: reporting from abc news, new york city near breaking point as republican governors continue to send asylum-seekers the city. new york city is reassessing long-standing procedures that stem from a law requiring the city to shelter on domicile people. an influx of more than 11,000 asylum-seekers who have been blessed from texas, the chief counsel said thursday, after touring differs asylum-seeker resource center, sangria reassessing the cities practices with respect to the right of shelter. it is important because we do not exist in a vacuum. to reconsider the practices the city developed that flow from the right to shelter. president biden at a dinner last night in washington speaking about the actions of the florida governor, the texas governor, here is what he said. [video clip]

pres. biden: instead of working with us on solutions, republicans are playing politics with human beings, using them as props. it is wrong and reckless we have a process in place to manage migrants at the border. we are working to make sure it is safe, orderly, and humane. republican officials should not interfere with that process by waging these political stunts. it is long overdue for republicans to come to the table to find a pathway for citizenry for dreamers, those with temporary status, farm workers, and essential workers paired we need to modernize our laws so business can get workers they needs and families do not have to wait decades to be brought back together. time to get it done. host: from the hill this morning, thehill.com, desantis migrant flights underscore his national ambitions, citing his decision to fight dozens of migrants to martha's vineyard mark the latest and one of the most rheumatic efforts by the florida governor, as he

positions himself for a 2024 presidential run. (202) 748-8000 for democrats, (202) 748-8001 for republicans, and independents and others (202) 748-8002. patrick on the democrats line, your thoughts on what the governors are doing? caller: yeah, i am a democrat, but i will be working very hard to get desantis into the oval office. this democratic party has gone down a soviet-style dystopian past. the president had the audacity to use the word "controlled and managed." there was one border guard for thousands of immigrants. this is a -- what we are witnessing is nothing short of a takedown of our democracy. we have 100,000 homeless, hungry

people in california, and we are sending $50 billion over to the most corrupt government in the history of the european union. so when you look at where we are now, if you have 2 million -- million people -- that is more than 100 football fields filled with illegal immigrants, with criminals, with terrorists, they wanted -- i am telling you this right now, these people want a terrorist attack in the country. if you are going to allow an army of 2 million people to cross into our country illegally , i can guarantee you this is going to end very badly for the nation. host: we will go to diane in connecticut, independent line. what are your thoughts? caller: yes, i feel as though these illegal immigrants are taking advantage of america.

if they want to come here, they should come here illegally like most people do. also, a lot of them are criminals -- i remember seeing a mexican standing in front of me in line and i could tell he was a totally criminal. and it is very dangerous to have people come here that -- host: how could you tell he was a criminal? caller: he acted like one. he looked like one. host: how did he look like one? caller: the way he was acting. host: all right. to rhode island next, republican line. it is william. good morning. caller: hi, how are you today? host: fine, thanks. caller: yeah, i agree with the governors and stuff like that, because of the way the democrats are running the country, bringing us down. they got a bunch of socialists

that are running the country and putting out a lot of money and stuff. host: for those governors, do you think that is a long-term solution to their issue of the migrants coming into their states and the broader issue of the numbers coming across the u.s.-mexico border? caller: i think they should secure the border or start rebuilding the wall again. host: we will go to rocklin, california, on the democrats line. this is linda. caller: hi, i just have a couple of things. these people are human beings. they have escaped from horrible, horrific places, and they have taken a really tough, hard trip to get here, and these people

were here -- i do not believe illegally, because they had appointments with judges. it was known where they were. so to slide them off and drop them like so much baggage on somebody's doorstep is the most cruel thing i have heard in ages. and republicans love to say that democrats are not doing anything about the border. well, how about if we get some good immigration laws passed? democrats have been trying to pass them for years, and republicans keep taking the whole process down. they would rather put it on the doorstep of the democrats than do anything about it. i think these people deserve a lot better than they are getting, and they are being vilified by republicans, too.

i just think that is so cruel. host: jim on twitter says, putting folks on the bus is treating people like animals? i don't think so. rick says, immigrants north brought to you by the same people who cage children. do you sense a pattern? new jersey girl says it sounds like the people of martha's vineyard really stepped up, and we will be sure to put you in the pro human trafficking column. "new york times" headline, migrants sent to martha's vineyard as a message to my writing that immigration lawyers rushed to reach a quaint red church turned shelters, and high school students went to translate, others donating. this shows just how unprepared the vacation retreat of martha's vineyard was for the arrival on wednesday, this one says, as nearly 50 venezuelan migrants on planes from texas, "we had no inkling of what was going on,"

said the director of the massachusetts island's tiny airport on thursday. the decision by governor ron desantis to send two plane loads of people to martha's vineyard and by governor greg abbott of texas to send two vessels to vice president, harris' residence thursday, the most conspicuous attempts yet to promote -- provoke outrage. while the transfers of migrants were called out by democrats as political stunts, they also served as vivid reminders of how ill-prepared heavily democratic parts of the northeast are to handle influxes of poor migrants, even though they have long been immigration strongholds where many people are eager to help. underwood, washington state, we hear from stephen on the republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. i just wanted to say that i really wish that -- if people

want to be considered serious about the subject, that they talk in numbers per we hear a lot of glittering generalities about immigration. but if people would just talk numbers, talking about how many numbers of people do you want to cross the border every year, how many people are there in the world that would come here tomorrow if they could get here, probably a couple billion people . how many people would qualify to apply for amnesty if they came to the united states? well, it is billions from around the world, and there is no way we could possibly accommodate that many people. so people have got to get realistic about the numbers involved, so they should speak in the actual numbers. the second thing i wanted to say was that what is going on here isn't immigration, it is land reform. these people, some people, want to return the land to the people they believe it was stolen from,

people from central and south america and mexico, the descendants of the natives that were here when the settlers, when the european settlers came here. so i believe that that is the ultimate goal, that people want to take the land away from the people that stole it, the immigrants that did not intermarry with the local natives, they kept to themselves, the europeans, and return them to the natives that they stole from. host: do you think it is the individual motivation for these people crossing the border -- you think that they are thinking that as i come across? are they there because they think they can get better jobs and make more money in the united states? caller: i am sure there's as many ideas about why to come here as there are people. that is human. of course. and it is all understandable. what i'm talking about is the motivation of the people facilitating it, the u.s.

government now, the biden administration. they have this postmodernist kind of future society idea that, you know, you have to rectify all these past ills of society and end up with this new evolution of what society is. it is beyond capitalism and property ownership and that. yeah, they're idealistic. it is not the people coming here, it is the people letting it happen here they are making it happen, encouraging it. host: talking numbers, this is from the "wall street journal." 11,000 asylum-seekers have arrived in new york city since may. we move over, they say, since the bussing efforts started earlier this year, arizona sent about 1800 migrants on 50 buses to washington at a cost of $4 million. texas has spent about $13 million to drive about 8000 migrants to washington and new york.

a call from cleveland, tennessee. good morning. republican line. caller: first up, i believe everybody needs a chance, yet, they need to come legally. if they don't, ship them back. if they don't want to go but, ship them to biden and all the democrat states and let them more about them. we are done here in tennessee. host: when you say you are overrun, what does that mean? the town of cleveland cannot handle the number of migrants there? they are taking jobs away from locals? what do you mean specifically? caller: well, it is more here than you can shake a stick at. i mean, they study coming in. you cannot lay nothing down, cant leave nothing on your porch. you have to lock your cars up, like hold a gun everywhere -- host: an crime is up because of

immigration there or what? caller: yes, and biden's get out of jail free stuff. host: let's hear from walt on the democrats line in pittsburgh, pennsylvania. caller: hello, i am a democrat and have been calling in for nearly four years. martha's vineyard, all these liberal multimillionaires are crying, they are the same people -- believing we are all racists. martha's vineyard has 50 people, and there is a town in texas with 40,000 in population -- [indiscernible] all these mayors, lightfoot, it is against god. biden in a meeting, they want to prosecute these republicans. he should be in jail. in this current guy in new york

city crying about it. i hear democrats calling and saying the same thing. but some don't pay attention to nothing. host: ok, democrats on, stephen in ulster park, new york. caller: yes, good morning. this has nothing to do with politics. these people have no souls., to use real human beings, men, women, and children for a political stunt, to get publicity, to gain power, is inhumane. it is really fascist. it reminds me of the nazi training, taking jews out of european cities. it is now time to say either you are for this horror formally known as the republican party or you are against it. god is not on the side of this,

whatever the name of your god is, god's children are the ones receiving these desperate people into their homes, feeding them, giving them clothing and food, not for shipping them. that is fascism. thank you. host: arlington, virginia, john on the republican line. what do you think about the governor's actions on this? caller: yeah, it was a bit of a stunt. but you know, 50 people in martha's vineyard gets hot news going on your show, headlines on all the other shows, and thousands come across over the past few months into texas and nobody paid attention to it -- well, fox does, but the rest of you guys hardly paid any attention to it. so was it a stunt? yeah. did he get the attention they wanted? absolutely. i actually think with the governor of texas is doing is a little more rational. they tell these guys, you want to go to new york, yeah, we want to go to new york. they send them there. these are sanctuary cities that

say they do not want to cooperate with the immigration authorities and have said that all along. now it is a test to see if they mean what they say. is it the best solution? not really. they do have to get something done. but just remember, just a people understand the history of this thing, back in the middle 1980's when reagan made that immigration deal, there were 3.5 million undocumented people in this country, and the deal was, all right, we will give them amnesty essentially and we will close the border. they did not close the border. maybe 12 million or more now. so unless they can guarantee that there will be real regulation at the border, it is difficult to see how we will ever get a decent deal for the rest of these guys that are here. host: another view from virginia, this time in arlington, cecil on the democrats line. caller: i think we are caught in

a vast web of illusions. of course, we can ask the native people about the measure we took with mexico, which was part of arizona, california. in addition, if you look at a latino, that is offspring of native people, african native people. talk about the banana company, which was trying to form a union among the latinos. and they have the marines or the school of america, where we primarily train different military people to take over latino countries. we also have america and the latino countries lapping up the luxury of life there. but we -- it is mainly the power of a few people in this nation

well the rest of us languish on the edge of life. host: lieutenant governor of florida says migrants will be sent to delaware, but does that include cubans? responding to a question about an upsurge of cuban migration on a recent interview on a south florida spanish-language radio station, the lieutenant governor said the administration of governor ron desantis will send migrants who arrive to florida illegally to delaware. for comments on wurn's strong reviews from democrats seeking to oust desantis. here is a news conference from yesterday. [video clip] >> biden would fly people in the middle of the night, dump them all across the country -- no warning on any of this. they are doing it, and they are farming people out all around. they are also doing things -- we have had people write on the border helping, working. they will dump in san antonio.

these people are basically just there, and a lot of them end up migrating to different parts, but it is harder for us to stop a onesie, twosie coming into florida because i do not know if you are just driving a normal car and you have people illegal in it. but you can if they are large movements or caravans or buses, but we have not had that, partially because governor abbott is bussing to new york city and d.c. and all of those people in d.c. and new york were beating their chests when trump was president, saying they were so proud to be century jurisdictions, saying how bad it was to have a secure border. the minute even a small fraction of what those border towns deal with everyday is brought to their front door, they all of a set and go berserk and are so upset that this is happening. and it just shows you their virtual --their virtue signal is a fraud. host: some reaction from members

of congress. florida democrat saying this, florida governor desantis is using deception, coercion, and $12 million in taxpayer funds to target and prey upon multiple migrants, tracking them to massachusetts, it is all too depraved gop and the doj should investigate. senator cursing saying it is disgraceful for governor abbott to send buses was invulnerable migrants to d.c., texans who are thought to be warm and welcoming, not cruel, these are people escaping desperate situation spewed governor, they are not political chips. still morehead here on "washington journal." coming up next, we will be joined by two lawmakers. first up will be congressman buddy carter of georgia, a member of the budget and energy and commerce committee's. after that, democratic

congressman jim himes of connecticut, and member of the select intelligence and financial services committees. ♪ >> there are a lot of places to get political information, but only at c-span do you get it straight from the source. no matter where you are from or where you stand on the issues, c-span is america's network. unfiltered, unbiased, word for word, if it happens here or here or here or anywhere that matters, america is watching on c-span, powered by cable. >> now available at the c-span shop, the 2022 congressional directory. go there today to order a copy, a spiral-bound book, your guide to the federal government with contact information for every member of congress, including

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find a full schedule on your program guide her watch online anytime at c-span.org/history. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we are joined next by representative buddy carter, who has served georgia's first congressional district along the atlantic coast there since 2005. congressman carter, welcome to "washington journal." by training and profession, you're a pharmacist. you and a number of your republic and hidden colleagues have introduced a bill in the house, the pharmacist conscience protection act, which would give pharmacists more free reign in dispensing medication they suspect to be used to terminate a pregnancy. can you tell us more about what is in this legislation and your motivation for introducing it? guest: first of all, the motivation is simple, just because you wear a white coat does not mean that you do not have first amendment rights. you do.

look, we're trained us pharmacists to protect patients, to do no harm. whenever i was practicing pharmacy and whenever i practice pharmacy, if i have a patient come in who is pregnant, than i am treating two patients, that mother and that child. and that is extremely important. you know, to think that we would be forced to dispense a prescription that we knew was going to harm that child, that goes against everything that we are trained against. that is simply -- to force someone to do that against their moral or their conscious objections, that is what we are trying to prohibit here. it is simply wrong for the government to be involved in health care like this. health care should be between the patient and the doctor, not the federal government. host: what would the leaguer --

what are the legal measures your proposed legislation would do to allow pharmacists to defer, resist dispensing that have medication? guest: it would say that hhs, who has promulgated these rules and is trying to enforce these rules, would not have the right to do that. essentially, it would say that pharmacists have the ability to morally or consciously object to filling a prescription that they know is going to harm a patient. and listen, a baby is a patient. a baby in the womb is a patient to us. that is the way we're trained, and that is the way that we approach our jobs. it is to protect both the patient and the baby. you know, we are constantly warning mothers, if you are pregnant, you should not be taking this because it could harm your fetus. that is the way we're trained. and to think the government is

going to force us to dispense a prescription that we know is going to harm that child, that goes against everything that we believe in. host: with that legislation also allow pharmacists to resist, to turn down people's prescriptions for contraceptive dedication? guest: no, no. look, i have dismissed -- i cannot imagine, i am sure it is in the millions, of birth control pills throughout my career. what we're talking about here is something that would purposely cause the patient to abort a child. and listen, as a pharmacist, i knew there were certain drugs, if i got this drug and it was written for a quantity of one, i knew what it was going to be used for and i refused to dispense it spewed when i was a member of the georgia state legislature and state senate my sponsored legislation and pass legislation that said that a

pharmacist cannot be fired from a job because they refused to fill a prescription then he was going to be used for an abortion. host: can you think of another, since your professional life -- can you think of another in your professional life or arm assists you know that have been faced with this moral decision not to prescribe a medication, outside of the realm of abortion medication? guest: we face it every day. back when we had the big problem with opioids, and we still have a big problem with opioids, with prescribing of opioids -- we pretty much have it under control now, but i can remember a time when we had pill mills, physicians out there that were doing nothing more than writing illegitimate prescriptions, and when we would get those, we would refuse to fill them if we knew. and you knew that was what they were going to be used for.

we called it the holy trinity of drug abuse, when you would get three prescriptions, one for xanax, one for oxycontin, and then the other for soma. when we would get this prescriptions and get them in quantities of like 180 and they would be from one of these pill mills, and i can remember specifically that i was working one president's day and i was in the georgia state legislature -- we were not in session that day and i was working, and i had a patient come in who had three of those prescriptions and they were from a physician down in florida. she presented them to me and then presented me with her kentucky drivers license, and here i am in georgia. i refused because i knew those strikes were going to be abused. host: representative buddy carter is with us until 8:00 eastern. we welcome your phone calls. (202) 748-8000 for democrats, (202) 748-8001 for republicans, and independents and others (202) 748-8002.

we will get to your cosmo motel early -- your calls momentarily. the american medical association and other medical groups have come out opposed to the legislation, concerned about it. headline here, ama pharmacists like patient access to care and medication abortion. they say the language of your bill is vague, unclear whether it prohibits certain medications only when prescribed to induce abortions or whether medication is prohibited entirely, it has the potential to induce abortion regardless of the condition for which it was prescribed. our members and patients report that this uncertainty is disrupting care. patients who rely on these occasions for reasons unrelated to pregnancy termination report new challenges in accessing these and other medications, and it is placing our patients' health at risk, according to

this statement from the ama and others. guest: that is not a surprise it is coming from the ama. they are as liberal as they can be. i am member of the republican doctors caucus in congress, and we are talking about the fact, consistently, frequently talking about the fact of how woke the ama has been. nothing could be further from the truth. if you need that occasion for arthritis, for stomach ulcers, you are still going to be able to get that medication. but when i see a prescription from one side effect, i know what it will be used for and will not dispense it. and that is my right as a pharmacist. that is what we're talking about here. to essentially try to fear monger and say, oh, you're not going to be able to get legitimate prescriptions, ama knows that is not true and know it is not hindering anyone from

getting medications that they need. you will still be able to get those medications, and pharmacists have a responsibility and they accept that responsibility and make sure they dispenses medications. host: another quick question before calls, on inflation, the inflation rate in august climbing to 8.3%. inflation remains stubbornly high in august, rattling consumers and investors. if the republicans take the house for the 118th congress and the upcoming midterm election, what is the biggest thing that house republicans can do to stem inflation, in your view? guest: stop the spending. do no harm. look, the democrats just do not get it you would think they would learn their lessons from the american rescue plan, which economists tell us, a lot of them say that it added four percentage points to our inflation rate. now they have come out with this inflation reduction act, which i

referred to as the inflation acceleration act, and that has nothing but pouring fuel on the fire. when you talk about inflation being an over 8%, you're talking about the average person losing a month's pay a year. can you imagine going without a month paycheck? i do not know that many of us can afford to do that, and that is what inflation is doing, nothing more than taxation. it hurts the working class. it hurts the lower class. and those are the ones who sofa -- who suffer the most, those on fixed incomes who can ill-afford to pay more for goods if they are not getting an increase, or if they are, it is not keeping up with the rate of inflation. those are the ones who are hurt. host: let's hear from our viewers and listeners. first is stephen in pennsylvania on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. good morning, america.

good morning, representative carter. the reason i am calling is i take issue with your statement that health care care is between a doctor, a pharmacist, and a patient. i do not know how you inserted yourself into the equation and why you wish to make moral judgments based on your religion for dispensing medications prescribed by a doctor. there is no confidentiality agreement between myself and my pharmacist. he is there to do a job. and if you are worried that a pill might give someone an abortion, well, that is your problem. i wish you would wish more about the unwanted children that are born every year. i was raised unwanted.

i felt unwanted and loved all my life. i would not wish that on anyone, and you're promoting it. what are you going to do with the one million unwanted children that are going to be born every year? host: we will get a response. guest: first of all, i could not disagree more with the caller. i do believe that health care is a private thing between the patient and physician and the pharmacist, whenever we're talking about dispensing medications, and yes, i believe that pharmacist do have the right to morally object to dispensing a prescription that they know is going to harm a child. we are praying -- we are trained to do the opposite, trained to warn patients that this will have an adverse effect on your child. that is the way that we are trained. we are trained to do no harm

here that is the way physicians are trained. and the federal government should not be inserted into that equation. that is what this is all about. host: fort lauderdale, barry on the democrats line. caller: yes, good morning. what i do not understand is i am sure that carter is a good christian and a good man, probably evangelical, but what right does he have to insert religious feelings to myself, who is a jew, who has absolutely no problems with abortion? what happened to separation of church and state? i think he is the biggest hypocrite god ever created. host: i will let you respond, but let me ask you, what do you think of the efforts of senator lindsey graham of carolina, a federal ban on abortion after 15 weeks? guest: as far as that

legislation, i have not seen it yet. i have not had the opportunity to review it. but on the surface, i will tell you the supreme court has made a decision and that is at the federal government is not involved in it goes back to the state. it should be up to the states now to make those decisions related to abortion. i make no qualms about the fact that i am pro-life. i do believe that life is sacred. i believe that life is precious and should be protected. and i believe that we are all created in the image of god. so have very strong beliefs on that. but i have to say that i disagree with the caller. i don't think that i should be forced as a pharmacist to do something that i know is going to harm a patient when i am trained and when pharmacists are trained to do no harm. i think that goes against everything. just because we put on a white coat does not mean that we lose our first amendment rights.

host: here is deborah and south bend, indiana, republican line. caller: hi, dr. carter. yes, i want to ask you, i'm a great grandmother and i have access to my great-grandchildren , as well as the neighborhood children. and what is alarming to me and what i am concerned about is the sentinel -- fit no -- the fentanyl candy around. i saw these little candies laying around, and so i was

tempted to pick one up. i thought, what a minute, i got to educate my community and the young people. we got to teach our children that candy -- if you are serious now -- i had a conversation over labor day with my neighbor, and i said, look, we have got to do something different now. because we have got to tell our kids, our kids are not going to be able to take candy. candy is a bad thing now. host: we will let you go there. anything to add to that? guest: what a great call. she is spot on. what they doing now with fit no, and this is what we need to secure our southern border, and you think just want to keep people from coming over here,

inhumane -- no, we are talking about the flow of drugs across the border and it is infesting all our communities and killing our children, killing our population here. fentanyl can kill every american seven times over. last year, we lost 107,000 people due to overdose. we lose over 300 people every day from fentanyl poisoning, and many of this is being masked as candy. our children are the ones who need to be educated and need to understand that this is dangerous. host: bill in tampa, florida, independent line. caller: good morning, representative. i don't understand how people like you will sit around and say,, we want to do this, protect the unborn, this and

that -- how many kids have you adopted out of foster care? how much money comes from your personal budget to support kids in foster care? how can you, representative -- you got no problem trying to protect the unborn, but what do you personally do to protect the born, especially unarmed black people that the police will shoot on the spot and say, oh, i saved my life -- how many people have you adopted of color out of foster care out of your personal budget? host: congressman carter? guest: i do not really know how to respond to that except to tell you that i do support different charities that help with this type of thing. of course, in congress, we support programs that help foster children. i understand that that is a concern and certainly something that we need to be helping with.

it is part of our outreach, part of the outreach of the church, and of our faith. it is called upon us to make sure we are helping these people. i participate in that. look, i am not going to be apologizing for the way i feel about a child and about abortion. i am pro-life, proudly pro-life. we're not talking about -- when you talk about a six week old, we're not talking about a glob of cells here or just tissue, at six weeks, a child, a fetus, you can see they have developed eyesockets and eyebrows, and they suck their thumb. at 12 weeks, they can feel excruciating pain. this is a real child, a baby. and we need to be protecting

that. host: the deadline you and your colleagues face two weeks from today with the end of the fiscal year, a headline, lawmakers are eyeing a stopgap spending measure to avoid a shutdown through mid-december, so passed the midterm elections. what are your thoughts on what might be in that continuing resolution, the short-term spending measure? guest: well, not being in the majority, of course we do not have a lot of control over that. i do not know what democrats have in mind. first of all, we need to get this done we do not need a government shutdown. that is not good for anyone, republicans, democrats, especially not for taxpayers. we need to continue on, as you indicate, at the end of this month, we will have to have something done. i hope it is a clean cr i hope. there's not a lot of things added to it. if we have to do a cr and

we're going to have to, i hope it is clean. it will kick the can down the road into after the midterm election, first of december, then we will come back in and there are a lot of thoughts about what will happen during the lame-duck session, but as of yet, i don't know. host: stephen in wilmington, illinois, democrats line. caller: yeah, you are a good example of the arrogance of the white male christian in this country, and if you don't want to dispense these medications, maybe you should not be a pharmacist. you say this law is not going to go any further, what you just pointed out, but you have three judges on the supreme court who lied to get on the bench. so why should we trust you on this? and i would just like to say that i always felt sherman did not do enough in georgia. goodbye. host: we will move to tony in arkansas, republican line. caller: yes, i tell you what the first thing i would do, i would

send 100,000 expeditionary force marines down into mexico to kill the cartel. i would put 50,000 people on the border. i was shocked all that down. and we will decide what we're going to do with that and the other people, because we have got to take care of the people bringing fentanyl into the united states, poisoning our water system and could kill williams of people within one week. we have got to do something about this, people are thank you. host: your thoughts? guest: i could not agree more about the fact that we have to do something about fentanyl. it is affecting every community. i think a lot of people think of this at the border as being just a problem at border states, texas, arizona, new mexico, and california. no, these drugs are coming across that border and affecting every state, even in my district, in the rural areas of south georgia, i have had some county sheriff's tell me they have gangs that are influenced

by the drug cartels, right here in south georgia. don't think for one minute that this is not infesting every community in america. it is. and we have got to stop this. how the vice president can sit there and say that we have got a secure border is beyond me. i have been to the border five times since i have been a member of congress and the last eight years, and the president at the united states come as a senator and vice president and president has never been to the border. it is ridiculous what is going on at the border right now. a country without borders is not a country at all. host: in maryland next, audie, good morning democrats line. caller: i have been listening to this whole conversation, and it is amazing how we continue to hear republicans try to impose their beliefs on the rest of the country. you have every right to never

want to take medication from a pharmacy or whatever that is, but now you go as far as saying, pharmacists, you have a right to object to fill out prescriptions . how far will you go with this? you are forcing your beliefs on the rest of us. when are you going to stop playing god? let god be god. i do not know what you are so concerned about. please focus on what is important. the thing you guys should be worried about, that is ok, but get out of this business of abortion. host: congressman carter, on your proposed legislation on giving pharmacists that right to refuse to dispense that medication, have you heard from colleagues in that business, in your profession, that they would like to have this as an option? guest: absolutely.

look, we are not saying -- if a pharmacist chooses to dispense that medication, certainly they have that right. we are saying we should not be forced to do it, and that is what the federal government wants to do. these callers are saying you should not be making that decision, but you are telling me that someone else is going to make the decision to force me to do it? that is what is wrong here. if a pharmacist wants to dispense medication that they know is going to harm a child, that is up to the pharmacist. i disagree with it and do not think they should be doing it, but i am not telling them they cannot do it. but the federal government wants to tell me that i must do it. that is the problem. host: you mentioned earlier, the example of refusing that prescription. the woman from kentucky, you are in georgia. looking at the opioid crisis in the country, do you think pharmacist overall should have been more vocal about what was going on with opioid

prescriptions across this country? guest: we were vocal. and we were hollering. we were baking the dea -- we were begging the dea. they drag their feet and did not do anything quick enough. they have done it now and it has helped. the changes that have been made, the dispensing of prescriptions of dangerous medications and of opioids for illegitimate uses has decreased significantly and almost to the point where it has decreased too much and that we are hurting people who need that medication. sometimes you can swing that pendulum too far. in a lot of cases, we have done that, and we need to get it back to those who truly need the medication. however, if i look back into the late 2005 to 2012 when all this was going on in the pill mills

are coming, i was introducing legislation in the georgia state legislature to do away with pill mills and address this. so to blame pharmacists or this is wrong. physicians were participating in the spirit some of them are still practicing now, and that is wrong. host: a couple more calls. julius in chicago heights, illinois, independent line. caller: mr. carter, you, as a pharmacist, would deny a pregnant woman prescriptions prescribed by her doctor which might save her life, and if she don't survive, the baby can't survive. you sound like you got about as much sense as trump. i would like you to respond to that. guest: i am not sure what i am supposed to respond to, that i have as much sense as trump or dispensing a prescription that i know is going to harm a child.

look, i do not care how many laws you pass, i am not doing it. that is all there is to it. i'm trying to protect arm assists and give them the right to make that moral objection -- i am to. for the federal government to force a pharmacist to give an abortion would be the same thing as the federal government going into tele dr. " you're going -- tell a doctor " you are going to perform an abortion." what is a successful abortion? when only one person dies? if the pharmacist conscientiously objects to that -- host: our next caller is from north carolina on the democrat'' line. caller: mr. carter, you really sound like a hypocrite.

i cannot understand what you are saying because on the one hand, you're saying you want to protect the child. that is understandable. on the other hand, once the child is here, i do not hear republicans talking about how to protect life once it has gotten here. guest: there are programs out there. there are centers out there that help patients and are there to assist parents and mothers who need it. we have a number in our district here in the state of georgia. they are here to help in just that situation there. we want to help people.

we understand there are unwanted pregnancies and that is why we have programs and centers designed to serve those people and help those people. i would submit to you that there are programs out there people are night using that would help them. -- are not using that would help them. host: more ahead on the program. next we will be joined by congressman jim himes. you will be talking about the economy. we will -- he will be talking about the economy. later on, john wood junior will be with us. you will be talking about his group, braver angels, efforts to bridge the political divide in this country. ♪

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goodbye to its longest-serving monarch as the state general for queen elizabeth ii is held at westminster abbey. you can watch the ceremony live on c-span, c-span now or online at c-span.org. >> washington journal continues. host: joining us here is jim himes of connecticut who serves on the select intelligence community and financial services. good morning. we will pick it up where we left with what he carter on the issue of inflation. i asked him how republicans would handle rising inflation. how do you think of the inflation reduction act will work in reducing inflation in the country. guest: let's be clear -- it will work in the longer run .

the center of that bell was about reducing prescription drug cost -- bill was about reducing prescription drug costs. that was a victory. it will reduce the out-of-pocket costs for seniors. the cap is $2000 a year. that is going to be a powerful thing for senior citizens. it is not kicking in tomorrow. it is not kicking in next week. it will have the effect of alleviating pressure for seniors. host: would you say inflation is the number one topic in your town halls? guest: inflation is out there. it is serious. there are signs it is moderating. we are dealing with a global phenomenon. our inflation is a lot lower

than it is in the united kingdom. hopefully, it will moderate over time. host: buddy carter and others say " the problem starts with all of the spending that has happened under the democratic congress." guest: it is not true. the united kingdom has higher inflation then we do. japan has a high inflation. the u.k. is run by their conservative party. is it their fault? is buddy 100% wrong? no. we did a lot of spending to keep people from starving to death. did we in the face of a 100 year storm get it precisely right? we can debate that. libby not.

--may be not. to say it is the democrats' fault is precisely what it looks like -- an election-year statement that does not have a lot of root in reality. host: what is the job left undone by this congress in terms of the economy and helping out the american worker? guest: the speaker asked me to chair a select committee on economic disparity. right now inflation, whatever you think of government spending, there will not be anymore pandemic relief. that is in the hands of the federal reserve. the federal reserve's job -- that is in the hands of the federal reserve. the federal reserve is in charge of reducing inflation.

your question is a super interesting one. if you are really honest about what the american people need, let me throw a couple of ideas out there -- housing. you cannot pay rent! try renting a house in san francisco, chicago, boston, or even austin. better training and apprenticeships. our educational system in this country is designed for the 20th, maybe even the 19th century. we live in a world where -- you are men american with skills, they will do amazing things -- you arm an american with skills, they will do amazing things. host: apartment -- guest: the clear answer to that

question is the federal government has enriched onset both for the construction of 2 million affordable units, and enormously successful program that has created affordable housing all over the country. we need to put that housing near transit hubs, so maybe someone does not need a car to get to their job because they are lower income. my republican friends are rightly concerned by the burdens of regulation. nimby-ism is preventing the building of affordable housing. we can incentivize it. part of this is education. if you show people what affordable housing looks like today, it is really additive to our communities.

using incentives to get communities to do more inclusionary zoning can move the needle. host: congressman jim himes is with us. we welcome your questions and comments. (202) 748-8000 is the line for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. and for all others, i. -- and for all others, (202) 748-8002. you mentioned the federal reserve will be meeting soon and probably raise interest rates another three quarters of a percent. is that about the right amount or do they need to be more proactive? guest: my answer is never ever listen to a member of congress about where interest rates are going! if i knew that i would be making more money right now. having seen the inflation numbers moderate a little bit,

but not a lot, i think the federal reserve will continue to raise rates in an effort to stamp out that inflation. host: what is your view on -- obviously the stock market is in a really difficult place. in terms of the mood of the country when they see the stock market like that, you have been in the investment world. what is your reaction to that? guest: number one, members of congress are not in the business of giving investment advice. the stock market is a risky place. when you get a situation like we have had for the last 12 years or so and the market only moves in one direction, people get complacent. what is important is a minority of americans are invested in the stock market, because a minority

of americans can afford to invest in the stock market. i look at the job numbers. we have startlingly high employment numbers. the fact that we have been adding jobs every month, that is what makes a difference for people in america. we all like it better when the stock market is rising, but it is a fairly small number of americans who are exposed to the stock market. host: on the select intelligence committee, your view of the doj investigations, the two investigations, the one into the mar-a-lago documents that were seized, and two into the former president's actions prior to january 6. guest: that resulted in his

impeachment in the house of representatives. -- that resulted in his impeachment in the house of representatives. he urged on the violent attackers at the capitol on january 6. it was not just the president. it was rudy giuliani, sidney powell, john eastman -- there was a whole cabal of people around the president who made a serious plan, involving serious lawyers, not saying serious things, but to try and stop the peaceful transition of power in this country. i sit on the intelligence committee, so every day i take my watch off, i take my phone out of my pocket. when i look at classified information, it has the markings that all of america got to see

all of america got to see. s out of that -- if i take those documents out of the sicf, -- scif, i will get in trouble. the idea that there was highly sensitive documents sitting on a carpet -- that is absolutely mind blowing. host: the former president told hugh hewitt he ahad -- he has absolute right to declassify arguments. guest: your viewers can decide whether trump is a paragon of truth like george washington, but his lawyers are not making that argument.

there is no doubt in my mind, given that his lawyers are not making that argument, that, that probably did not happen, host: we go to new jersey, carol is on the democrats' line. caller: my first comment is we need to be very careful about electing business people. that is the reason why most people have not gotten a brazen 40 years. i am a union person. i am definitely for training. i was a recipient in the 60's. i went into a company. the way it was set up, another employee trained me. i made a third of what they made, and then after a year and a half, i was bumped up to their salary. now the way companies do it, you have to go through a county

college in order to learn the same skills but it was less better during that time because you are on the job, learning from someone who knew the job, and with hands-on experience. it was a much better way of learning. today people cannot afford the funding to go to college, so i do not understand why companies do not take on apprenticeship programs. guest: great observation from carol. . she is right people -- she is right. people think about labor unions negotiating for pay raises. unions are training young people for the jobs they need. electrical workers run apprenticeship programs where they take people from connecticut, and teach them how to wire commercial buildings.

very dangerous work, and it is wonderful. carol also mentioned community colleges. they are doing heroic work, training people to be nurses, training people who may have lost a job in an industry that shot down to do data entry -- shut down to do data entry. host: bill is calling from north carolina on the republican line. guest: -- caller: i'm calling in reference to president trump. they are investigating people like trump. i think one of your colleagues, eric swalwell, wasn't he supposedly sleeping with a chinese spy? i do not hear anything about an investigation into this gentleman.

he is still on the investigation community. i was in the military for 22 years. i am a republican, but i try to be fair when making decisions. you got hillary clinton who destroys her laptop, things like back. she did not have the privilege of declassify -- like that. she did not have the privilege of declassify and information. if you are going to do things, do it fairly. i would like to see an investigation on eric swalwell . host: congressman himes? guest: let me say two things to fill. he makes -- to bill. he makes the classic " what

about" argument. as a parent, you dismiss it out of hand. when one of my daughters come to me and says " i had me," it is not ok because -- "i hit her because she hit me," it is not ok. we should not get into the business of saying " terrible behavior is ok, because other people do it too." lady justice has a blindfold on. it should not matter who is doing it. hillary clinton's use of emails during the trump administration was investigated by a director of the fbi who was a republican, and the investigation, the conclusion of the fbi's

investigation was that there was no chargeable crime there. the director of the fbi at the time says it was irresponsible behavior. if in america the defense that works for you is " the other folks do it too," we are done. host:, here is lee innton new jersey on the independent line. caller: good morning. my comment is about housing. in new jersey, there is a program called the mountain laurel program. every development that goes up in new jersey has to be for low and moderate income people. i have one too. i do not know if you have it in your state, and connecticut but -- in connecticut, but i think it is a great program.

when you own your home instead of renting, you have a lot more -- do you think it can go nationwide to get bowl homes they can own? -- get people homes they can own? guest: i am familiar with the mountain laurel decision. it was an important decision in the 80's that required communities in new jersey to build more affordable housing. the question was do we have that in connecticut? every city has a slightly different program. connecticut has something called 830g. it is a law that says if a town does not have enough affordable housing, a developer can override zoning rules. that creates a lot of controversy, particularly in a place like connecticut where

towns have a lot of authority. that creates a lot of controversy. what i would like to point to is there are a lot of cities doing good work. new york, in particular, gives developers additional rights. a developers can build more unit so long as they builds -- more units so long as they build more affordable units. this comes back to the notion, if you go back to new york, and you look at those developments that include more affordable housing, they are beautiful. the reason i keep saying that is because people have this notion that affordable housing is a 10 story brick structure. there has been a lot of success with projects along the lines of mountain laurel, where developers are encouraged to

build portable housing. host: you sit on the financial services committee. you introduced legislation this summer -- " himes proposes central bank cryptocurrency." what would this do? guest: anyone who has been watching bitcoin has noticed that anyone -- people have made a lot of money on bitcoin and lost it. the important thing to remember about wayne and cryptocurrencies is -- bitcoin and cryptocurrencies is that they are not what you used to buy your coffee down at the wawa.

it is a massively risky investment. to get your question, a lot of countries are looking at the idea of a digital currency that is backed by the government. instead of being bitcoin, which is backed by nobody, you would have a digital presentation of a dollar. this isn't exotic. people are using apple pay today . that is an example of electronic currency. this would be backed like the dollar bill in my pocket. the theory is that would give people more confidence, particularly at a time when all of these cryptocurrencies have been hugely volatile, would give them more confidence that it is a stable store of value. there is certainly not consensus the. there is a good -- consensus though. there is an argument, should the

government do it or should the private sector do it? it does not have to be either or. we have dollar bills that are guaranteed by the government, and credit cards that are not guaranteed by the government. there is a lot of support, but there is not agreement we should move forward with a central bank guaranteed to currency. host: our next caller is on the independent line. caller: the budget is going -- are you guys going to be able to pass a budget on time this year, and if not, why? the comment i have to make is you told a gentleman earlier using the analogy of kids that if another person does something -- the man is not a child, and yesterday legitimate question,

and it is a legitimate gripe. people are doing things they should not be doing, and getting away with it. that is not a child asking why another child has to do it and they do not. he is a concern voter, and he would like to have an answer to that question. if you are not going to reprimand guys were not doing right, then who will do it? guest: i am going to stand by what i said, which is that we cannot decide that it is ok for donald trump to do something because hillary clinton did it too. it is not ok for joe biden to do something just because donald trump does it. if that is the way we start thinking, we will start killing each other because the other guy did it. to the question, hillary clinton's use of a private email

server was fully investigated by the fbi. he raised the swalwell example. that allegedly happened well before swalwell was a member of congress. whatever entity has those facts look at it to see if there was anything chargeable. people need to be held accountable. hillary clinton was investigated for using a private server. hillary clinton went through 9 hearings on the whole benghazi thing. donald trump, because his son invited the russians to give dirt to their campaign, he got investigated. it is not accurate to say hillary clinton got away with murder. both were investigated for allegedly wrongdoing. the budget is due on september 30. the question is will we pass something that avoids a government shutdown. it may be a continuing

resolution, but there is not a risk of a shutdown. host: has the budgeting process gotten better over? guest: it has never been easy. course, the federal budget is approaching $4 trillion. it is a staggering number. where i would tell you it really failed was when we had government shutdowns. some senator just decides " i do not want this budget, so i went to the federal government to shut down." stop the federal government from doing what it does, doing national weather reports through the national weather service, you name it and it erodes people's confidence in the reliability of the federal government. we are not going that path this week. host: let's hear from helen on the democrats line in virginia.

caller: talking about the economy and inflation, my husband died in july, and talking about social security they want to go by my age to find out his benefits, which will cut $400 a month out of his check. i will not be able to draw on my social security. my husband worked 50 years. he was retirement age, and i do not see why they can change the law when you are over the age of 60. they do not go by your husband's age so they are going by my age. that $400 a month -- they get to keep my social security. host: we will hear from the congressman. social -- our social security questions one of the most common questions you that i can your

office -- get back in your office? guest: they are. helen, i am sorry for the loss of your husband. i want to be a little careful, everyone's situation is a little different. to your broader question, as ellen articulated -- helen articulated, social security is critical for americans. we did not see inflation for a period of many years. we got to work very hard to protect it. rick scott, the senator from florida -- he is the chairman of the republican senatorial committee -- rick scott said let's d authorized social security every 5 years and

reauthorize it in the congress. host: in other words they would have to start from scratch? guest: congress would have to come together and say " we like this program." even though an and norma's amount has been accomplished sometimes -- the fact that they senatorial republicans floated the idea that we de-authorize social security every 5 years stopped my heart. i that helen would agree with me, de-authorizing it and putting it at risk is a terrible idea. host: congressman jim himes, thank you for being with us this morning. moorehead on the program. up next we are -- more ahead on the program. up next we are joined by john

wood junior of river angels. ♪ >> middle and high school students, it is your time to shine. it are invited to participate in this year's c-span studentcam competition. feature yourself as a newly elected member of congress. we ask participants this year what is your most important issue and why? do not be afraid to take risks with your documentary. be bold! videos must be submitted by january 20, 2021. visit -- january 20, 2021. visit c-span.org/studentcam for

a step-by-step guide. ♪ >> american history tv, saturdays on c-span two exploring the people and events that told the american story. historians discuss how historic sites like the presidential homes of monticello and highland tell the histories of enslaved americans on those virginian plantations. the dedication of a statue millionaire earl hart -- amelia earhart joins dwight eisenhower in the capitol's statuary hall collection. find a full schedule on your program guide or much online at any time on c-span.org/history. ♪ >> sunday on q and a, johns

hopkins university professor how brand shares his book " danger zone," where he talks about china's goal to achieve global dominance and what the u.s. and other global powers are doing or should be doing to stop it. >> the idea that china will emerge as the superpower of the century does not strike us as possible. china will be poised to challenge the u.s. and its allies in certain areas. we are driving to have geographic advantages because they are close and we are far, or to carve out a spirit technological influence encompassing most of the world. china''s incentive to operate in a more risk prone session will continue as xi jinping finds out

-- realizes that they do not have all the time in the world to achieve this. >> you can listen to q and a and all of our podcasts on c-span now. >> washington journal continues. host: up next on washington journal, we will talk about efforts to reduce political polarization in the united states. we are joined by john wood junior he is a national ambassador for the group braver angels. guest: it is great to be on with you. host: tell us about your organization. what is its goal? guest: river angels is america's biggest grassroots bipartisan organization, dedicated to the work of political polarization -- depolarization. what we are really dedicated to his the restoration of the

communal fabric of american society. we do a wide range of things in a wide range of areas. we have programs running from the u.s. congress to local communities, local school boards, and local municipalities. we have worked on college campuses across america, working with partner organizations like bridge usa, which is a fantastic bridge building organization, the american council for alumni and trustees. we work in the content creation. braver angels media network -- myself and a cohost lead the braver angels podcast. fundamentally, we are a grassroots organization. we have 11,000 dues paying

members across the country. while we do a great many things, our work fosters relationships based in patriotism between folks on the left and the right. our original workshop is one modeled off of principles of family counseling. you take small groups of democrats and republicans, put them in a shared physical space -- technology has become more prominent. we put folks together, not to argue or debate politics right off the bat, although we do have a popular debate program, but in this program we bring people together to speak from the vantage point of their own lived experiences, to give people a window into why they see politics the way they do. it is the application of marriage counseling techniques

to the relationship between republicans and democrats, which is an appropriate tactic! host: you bring people together at the grassroots level, not to find each other's politics, but to find each other as citizens. what do you mean by that? guest:it is possible that can be an outgrowth of some of the work that we do. we very much welcome centrists and independent. the point is not about political moderation in terms of policy compromise. not that we do not believe in the values of compromise, but even more fundamental to the health of our democracy is our ability to trust one another as well intentioned human beings so

we can live alongside of each other as neighbors and as families, part of this great american family. that is the focus of our work, building out the quantity of trust and society between left and right, between the american people in each other, and restoring trust and credibility in our institutions by making them more trustworthy. trust is really the focused. in a healthy democracy, compromise relies on trust, but that is where it has to begin. host: you come to this with a political background. was this founded as a result of the election of president donald trump in 2016 ? -- in 2016? host: you asked me what my role

is in the organization. i have a lot to do in the organization, different functions and i like to think that some of those skills were honed on the campaign trail. i was nominated for congress back in 2014. i ran against maxine waters later on. i was vice chairman of the republican party in los angeles county, but before that i worked for president obama's campaign. i have worked with people on both sides of the aisle. to answer your direct question, the 2016 election, the most polarizing election in american history up until the one that would follow four years later. the founders of braver angels -- it was originally " better

angels," as in " better angels of our nature," the quote from abraham lincoln in this speech where he was trying to avert the civil war -- david blankenhorn, professor at the university of minnesota was the architect as most of our workshop programming courses, and david lapp of ohio brought together about an even number of folks who had just voted for hillary clinton and who had just voted for donald trump in ohio, a place that had split evenly between the two candidates to see if they can still find common ground together because the bitterness was so pronounced. the people coming into this workshop that was crafted specifically for this occasion did not believe they could

emerge with common ground. powerful friendships came out of our three day immersive experience braced in these principles of family therapy, including a famous friendship -- based on these principles of family therapy, including a famous friendship between 2 friends of mine. they came away, praising the group and each other. they brought special amendment. kuyar committed to participating in a service at greg's church and greg committed to participating in a service at kuyar's mosque.

npr got a hold of that story, the word spread. the original crew hopped on a bus and started working as first responders and areas of the country experiencing polarization. we would train people to reproduce those workshops after they had left the station. that became the first wave of braver angels members and volunteers, way back now in the spring or summer of 2017. it is fair to say that the 2016 election was the thing that prompted the initial experience that led to the evolution of river angels as an organization, but for someone like myself polarization has in an issue of

central concern to us. as long as i have had an interest in politics, that goes back to well before my adult hood. host: john wood junior is with us. he is the national ambassador with the group braver angels. we want to hear from you about efforts to bridge the political divide in this country to reduce political polarization. our lines are (202) 748-8001. that is the democrats' line. (202) 748-8001 republicans. independents and all others, (202) 748-8002. your group --there are a out there. your group obviously. andrew yang recently announced his forward party. the bipartisan policy center is

holding what they are calling an "unconventio," looking at this -- "unconvention," looking at this. host: -- guest: i will be speaking at the unconvention in philadelphia, i am very excited about it! this movement is real. you can see it in the work of the groups you mentioned. you can see it in coalitions and incredible works like -- groups like more in common. there has been a flourishing of activity in the philanthropic space. you also see andrew yang and his

forward party. what is so inspiring about that is their focus on noxious electoral reforms but human dignity across the spectrum, a centerpiece of their approach to politics. i think that where we find common ground across-the-board is our desire to realize a republic rooted in a mutual appreciation of one another and goodwill animating us. i want to say that -- you see it in philanthropy and grassroots organizations, and in braver angels, which i would like to think of as leading the charge in this way -- but the thing

about american polarization is we have difference in our political language, differences in our political experience exacerbated by the technological culture that seems to fracture us and business models in the media and political parties -- c-span accepted -- c-span excepted -- that thrives on our fears. that is on top of the natural complexity of american democracy . it is more diverse in many ways. we are engaged in a unique project of seeking to build a common civic language with each other again. we define the same terms so many

different ways. terms from racism to fascism and so forth. you have polarization over whether we are a democracy or a republic. the question -- the answer to that question is both, but it depends on how we define those terms. i referred to what braver angels often refers to as " patriotic empathy." our love for our country is demonstrated in our concern for our fellow american. we have to undertake a deep understanding of what one anothers'experiences = -- one another's experiences to understand how differences in language can arise from differences of experience that bind us in humanity.

we all have experiences in different ways of feeling marginalized and isolated. some of us have had advantages that others have not. we find ourselves existing alongside each other in the fabric of the american ask your hands and we cannot work together unless we understand the validity of this experience. host: we have a lot of calls waiting to speak with you we have a lot of calls waiting to speak with you. on the independent line -- you will start with brian in albuquerque first on the independent line. caller: everybody has rights, but we do not have responsibilities. we need an american bill of rights bonds ability. too many americans live this irresponsible life and they hand the bill to the government. " i can do whatever i want, and

when things do not turn out well, i look to the government to take care of me." that is wrong -- that is wrong. our 2 major parties are the problem. they are run by extremists. it is a zero-sum game, into they are always working to undermine the other party, and they are always working to snuff out any potential third or fourth parties from gaining any power in this country. i would like you to comment on that, please. guest: i agree with the spirit of brian's observation about responsibility. i do not think we need a bill of responsibilities, per se, but i get the point. you go back to the early settling of the colonies, and

one of the things i read about is the relationship to work and socialization. you had folks who worked all day long, and i am talking about 14, 15 hour days. you had people carrying lumber together, building houses, out cultivating the fields. you had men singing songs together, talking and laughing together because that is when you had time to socialize, when you were working. you had women setting up picnics and talking to each other. everyone would come together at the end of the day, eat together, and work in relationship. i mention that simply to say, a culture of responsibility is one that has to be reinforced by community, by a community that takes care of itself because the people in that community take care of each other.

we have to pass down examples of taking responsibility in neighborhoods and communities. does the government have a role for helping people when they fall down? i think it does. i share that concern about outsourcing our dependency to bureaucracy, but at the same time it is not something that comes about -- and i am not faulting the color --but it is not something that comes about by lecturing each other. as members of community and family, we live a lifestyle of civic responsibility, that is the best example of that culture. host: let's hear from gerald in richardson, texas. good morning, democrats' line. caller: john, i want to

compliment you. you are really a very intelligent, well-rounded guy. i think that the polarization we look at, you see republicans getting heavy at times and democrats get heavy at times, and what you find is that the people who drive and change that force, those guys like the guy who just called in our independent, moderate democrats, they're the ones who drive the elections. i think we have a great system. i think it is going to work good, not only today but in the future. we have seen it in the past. i really worry about pac money more than anything else, controlling our political climate combined with people

like cnn and fox especially. i realigned my cable-tv and i took out fox and i took out cnn because i am tired of a cycle of nothing but talkshows and opinionated people getting out there, and they are not really talking to the moderates and the independents. you do not see them getting out on the street and talking to those folks. i think in texas here, i have joined the beto campaign to see if we can maybe make a change here, and i am proud to see the people i am getting to know their, they are moderate -- there, there are moderates. a lot of moderate republicans have come in. i think we are going to see a lot of change, but i appreciate your perspective. i do not really have a question.

the pac money is the big thing that concerns me. guest: thank you very much, gerald. i very much appreciate your sentiments. i think that the incentive problem in the way in which are predominating organizations institution-- -- institutions is an issue. a diverse place like the u.s., it is something that brings the problem to the level of catastrophe.

gerald talked about the great number of some moderate send independents, democrats and republicans who are available to compromise. but the political parties themselves cannot cater to that, what some people refer to as the exhausted majority of americans. it is very clear, we have this archetypal view of what a liberal democrat or a conservative republican is. a democrat is someone who believes in universal health care, eliminating student debt, pro-choice, etc., etc. a republican is pro-life, lower taxes, everything. you discover that only about 8%

or 10 percent of democrats or republicans on either side lineup with -- or 10% of democrats or republicans on either side lineup with those issues. the view of who and what a democrat or a republican is that you get from msnbc or fox news, or any of the progressive digital media networks or any talk radio or are mine conservative -- you would think most americans lined up and down these issues. again, you have to give some credit to a guy like andrew yang for trying to speak to that cross-section of americans. there is a plurality eight us who -- of us who do not feel strongly tied to either party.

host: a question for you on twitter from jay sanders who makes this comment -- " the test for effective political d e-polarization is how people will address issues in a common matter." guest: i agree with that. the truth is, we can talk about building goodwill and trust between the american people in the abstract. we can also demonstrate our capacity to do that in programs and activities, such as what we are committing to do in braver angels. we need to come to a point where we have real into serious debate on real and issued -- errand

serious debate -- and serious debates on real and serious issues. the test of our efforts is our ability to lose with greatness, to experience defeat in an electoral or legislative congress and say " the debate continues. we will learn from each other. we will marshal our but in the meantime we'll work between elections and every election, you know, before and after every election to ensure the larger integrity of the democratic process and our civic culture, to make sure the relationships that support democracy stay intact. those are the relationships that exist between you and me bill and everyone calling in and listening right now. the future of our republic is not hinged on one bill or another or upon one election or another. it hinges upon our ability to

believe in one another and we want the best for each other day-to-day in american life, right? that is our ability to win and lose with grace. host: let's hear from sharon, caller from gaithersburg, maryland. caller: thank you. god bless you for taking my call. number one, i just want to say i am so happy god bless you not to wake up to a tweet or a twat anymore. number two, i understand that you are a republican and you are trying to bring us together. but i just don't understand how a republican can follow someone constantly and know that they're wrong. i know you're a black republican. god bless you. we need somebody in everything,

but not to stand up when somebody, a president, is making fun of a handicap person or making up names for people in -- i'm so sick of that. and it's so refreshing that we have a president that doesn't go on national tv making up names for republicans. so you as a black republican, trying to bring everybody together, why don't you call a steak a steak? host: all right, sharon. we'll hear from john wood. guest: well, thank you, sharon. sharon, i don't know if you're familiar with me prior to my appearance here with you this morning. but i consider myself to be sharply critical of the behavior you're describing, including from -- i know you're specifically referencing our

previous president. i find criticisms of president biden. i don't say that to sort of both sides of the issue. i mean, i do think that, again, the 2016 election, the outcome of that election, i do think represented a race to the bottom in terms of our civic culture and the way in which we treat each other in politics. i ran for congress, you know, prior to that in part because -- in a very central way. because i was concerned about the dehumanization in context of a political environment driven the punditry of radio and tv. i was inspired by president obama's vision of america where we're not red states or blue states but the united states of america. i'm grossly disturbed and to put it mildly the behavior you're

talking about. i also have criticisms of the way in which, you know, we are now shifting sort of the language in a moment when we should be bringing the american people together as much as we can to also sort of make it easier -- easy for people to stereotype magga republicans, if you will, as semi fascist. and things that don't necessarily speak to the complexity of their experiences. there's guilt and blame to go around. i do think that donald trump took us down a pathway of disrespect in american politics more willfully than any politician i've ever seen. and i can't apologize for that statement. but i do believe in the humanity and the dignity of president trump's supporters, of conservatives and americans in my own family. i may have disagreements with them even as a republican in terms of how i see our politics and who i want to see lead the republican party but in terms of our commitment to each other and

the context of american society, hope for the beloved community that martin luther king jr. spoke to when we do not look at our opponents as enemies but people who want to convert to being part of a community of truth and love with us, you know, we can't do this without doing it with each other. so i can't cast out the supporters of any particular politician, but i am happy to hold particular politicians to account, including joe biden, and include donald trump. host: john, you raised some of those issues in an opinion piece in "usa today" way was to headline, to destroy trump, is it ok to break the rules? you will pay a high price in order to do so. pundits and ordinary citizens have been effective apologists and de-neyers as of the -- denyers. the fact that we think this way something vital is lost in our culture. that is something that needs to be regained. guest: yes.

i stand by those words, bill. i mean, i think that when we talk about the behavior of certain politicians or, you know, political parties or whatnot, sometimes we can identify something that somebody does or says and it's clearly -- to someone that's a supporter of that politician or party. and it can clearly be something that you think would be contrary to those person's values and oftentimes the person's is like, yeah, look at what the other side did. and when we get locked into that cycle, that tit for tat, what i do is justified by what you did yesterday, you know, and i am not as bad as you because of x, y, and z, then we are justifying our own abandonment of virtue and moral principles, right? and of the bedrocks of integrity upon which we have to build a democratic society. we always have to be willing to be the bigger and better man, so to speak. but to also, again, be gracious

and understanding of the fact our fellow americans and our elected officials are inevitably going to be flawed but we don't embrace those flaws as things to be celebrated. we identify them for what they are and ask for better and demand better from the people we elect and from ourselves. i'm just worried about a situation in which we are always making excuses for our own society because of the flaws we perceive as being the case for the other side. that's what you describe a race to the bottom. and that's not a place we want to be. host: let's hear from baltimore. jonathan, good morning. on the independent line. caller: good morning. this is the first i've heard of braver angels and i think it sounds like a wonderful organization. i can be very encouraged. i hope he continue to do good work. one area i wonder about is college campuses. what -- i am not going to characterize them but i'm

guessing -- i just have a feeling that they are a little more impenetratable and they're producing, you know, our tomorrows leaders. wonder what comment or really what you have to say about that whole aspect. host: ok. guest: yeah. i can definitely speak to that. here i'd like to take an opportunity to really sort of applaud the work of my colleague and friend, april cornfield. april lawson cornfield who's the director of our debates and public discourse work at braver angels and the architect of the braver angels debates program which is wildly popular in local communities, zoom, and particularly college campuses as we work alongside groups, in particular bridge u.s.a., led by an incredible leader by the name

of anu mill as well as other incredible works. on college campuses, with respect to campus culture in america it used to be universities and college campuses were the place that plagued hopes to healthy, civic, intellectual and philosophical life and it set the standard for everybody else. these days it oftentimes it is langer and -- ranker and vitriol and just sheer -- just sheer name-calling can be the name that characterizes the democratic discourse on campus as much as it does anywhere else if not more so. but our work on college campuses has been incredibly inspiring. in our debate program, we bring americans and students to debate a certain issue. could be a matter of culture. could be a matter of policy. very oftentimes the subjects will revolve around issues

around social justice and free speech. really on college campuses, that's sort of the more fundamental divide. and increasingly it's like that for the country. at least a perceived country toward leaning to liberal values, traditional liberal values and freedom of speech that pit students against each other. of course, there's an intrinsic value placed on freedom of speech because we're dealing with people trying to speak freely. there is work on the justice and dignity that every human being in this country ought to be afforded. so the question becomes, how do we reconcile any tension between these two things? we found when you set the framework right, when we set the environment up in the right way and you don't sort of, you know, make it a contest of egos and don't make it a zero some victory between one political point but rather cultivate the debate experience around the

shared pursuit of truth and one that allows for people to bring their own life experiences into the mix of the means of better understanding one another that that becomes a formula for deep democratic discussions but also, again, the building of interpersonal trust, the building of relationships, the building of friendships across the divide. i actually think it's going to be this generation of college students that are going to in a way not dissimilar from perhaps was the case in the civil rights movement in the 1960's, we'll go towards more clarity, in terms of how we can move forward more stronger and unified than we are today and that may seem to be in contradiction to the oppression we get at present but as this work evolves i think you'll see that example, their example, the best of their example shine through. host: next up is doug, wilmington, north carolina, on the democrats line. caller: good morning. john, appreciate you.

just started watching about halfway through so hopefully i might not be repeating something you already said. the polarization, i know a lot of people say both sides do it. and i'm 62 years old. i'm pretty much a rogue warrior salesman, on the road all the time. i tell you i think this all started back in the mid-1980's with rush limbaugh. he kind of jokingly -- he was a professional. i used to like rush limbaugh until he came out to be pretty much a true hypocrite. now i can go in any market right now, turn on to an a.m. program somewhere and it will be somebody a host on there saying democrats are evil. as a matter of fact, there is one guy in our network in wilmington, out of washington, d.c. used to be on cnn. i don't want to give his name out. he says, democrats are for terrorists. democrats are communists. democrats are this. democrats are that. you just see it all the time.

the sean hannitys. they'll say democrats do it too. i can't turn on any radio station saying republicans are kr, republicans -- are this, republicans are that. i think this polarization started with a.m. radio and still goes on now, unfortunately. host: well, john, you touched on the media earlier. not specifically radio. what are your thoughts on what the caller said? guest: well, you know, i think the advent of conservative talk radio was one very significant sort of landmark in the longer -- yeah, it has been a multi-decade journey, really. it didn't start with 2016, as i said earlier. it sort of -- it's come to a certain culmination point now. but certainly the advent of conservative talk radio help polarize the larger discourse. look, there's ups and downs on that because many conservatives will tell you even during the glory days of walter cronkite -- we think of the three major

broadcast networks and so forth, but many in conservative america even felt at that time they didn't have major voices sort of in american media that were truly representing the conservative point of view. the idea that the mainstream media is biased to the left, it goes all the way back to the 1960's and just became more sort of pronounced over the course of time. rush limbaugh emerged and maybe that was after the elimination of the fairness doctrine. but rush limbaugh sort of emerged and answered to that. i think the good thing you can say about partisan media in general. it's worthwhile to give people sort of a vehicle to express or to hear, you know, their own views and perspectives expressed in a way that lets other people know they're here and part of the conversation. but the problem is that the business model, you know, of talk radio but then also, again,

i would have to say cable news, media, so forth, and now our digital media is dependent on this polarization and, therefore, committed to sort of reinforcing it. because frankly that's how you get ratings and that's how you get paid. it's not saying that rush limbaugh didn't believe some of the things he said. it's very difficult to see a man see something other than how he sees it when he's getting paid to see it a certain way and you get social reinforcement around that. now, are conservatives worse than liberals on this score? well, liberals dominate talk radio. i get a sense that the caller listens to the radio a lot. for reasons we go into, conservatives dominate there. go on -- go on to social media, you know, go online, go to the right youtube channels, check out those that have a very compelling program and so forth, hang out with lawrence o'donnell on msnbc. read the right folks on the left

and you'll get just as much vitriol and animosity coming from them. host: here's virginia in orlando. democrats line. go ahead. caller: yes. good morning. john, i was born and raised in birmingham, alabama. i have marched with dr. king. he demonstrated with him. we were egged. shot at and everything else. and come to lisa rice's father taught me world history. i just want to let you know that that was a time that black people did support the republican party. but whenever f.d.r. came on the scene and president kennedy came, was running for office, we knew to support him. but my -- i want to ask you a question. how can you support a party and

a leader of that party that is a habitual liar? that's number one. i was taught you don't follow liars. and i'm concerned about you because of the fact that we have other black people, young black people that do not know the history of our race. they haven't studied black history as i did when we were in high school and in school. and you are telling them to cater to a party that this man -- before you were born -- he and his father -- and i should say his father wouldn't allow a black person to even work in the building. host: virginia, we'll let you go there. john, you can response. we have a few minutes left. what are your thoughts? caller: i very much appreciate the caller's sharing her own personal history. that's very compelling to me.

she may not have heard my earlier remarks. i'm a registered republican. i don't mind saying i have not been -- i have never been a supporter of donald trump politically. i'm somebody who was critical of him well before he ran for president. when i say that, i don't want to, you know -- i never want to just sort of come out -- like i feel like i need to say that in order to inoculate myself from criticism. it's the truth, i am not a political supporter of donald trump. i am deeply a supporter of his supporters. without drawing a comparison. it's consistent with the examples set by martin luther king jr. martin luther king jr. died trying to unite poor white people in the south with poor african-americans and folks who were suffering from the ravages of segregation. the people who donald trump appeals to politically in many

respects today are people whose fathers and grandparents, martin luther king was trying to bring together with people who sought to make this a better country. i don't see why we can't seek to replicate that example today. whatever you think of donald trump. whatever you think of joe biden. that's not the most important point. the most important point is we live up to the moral examples of people who sought to truly live a christian life or people who sought to tried to live out because they knew the american experiment recognizing the dignity of one another, that's the thing that matters most. i do think we need to hold our elected officials to a standard that approaches that. it's more important we hold ourselves to that standard. host: let's get one more quick call here. mike is in somerville, massachusetts. go ahead. caller: go ahead. did you just say -- it sounded like -- like you're implying that we need to work as a nation to move towards christian

ideals? caller: well, what i mean by that in particular is the kenyan sense of that. dr. king lived by a philosophy of nonviolence in the beginning and that was inspired in great measure, of course, by the example of gandhi in india and so forth. in the beginning of the civil rights movement he said it was christian love. he meant by that we love our neighbors, we love ourselves. what i'm not saying just to be clear we all hammer the 10 commandments. it doesn't matter if you're-due, muslim, christian. because christianity is so important part of our cultural history anding part what motivated martin luther king jr., the part of that is central to me is this idea that love be the animating value by which we sacrifice for one another and build community together. so that to to me is the best of the christian tradition. of course, it's applicable to those who are christian or not. because the caller a moment ago mentioned she marched with

dr. king and she may be coming from that tradition herself. and obviously many trump supporters, most trump supporters would identify themselves as being christian in a similar way. i would like to think what can bind us, what transcends, right, is our ability to love one another as we love ourselves. that should be the true test of our faith as well as our commitment to the american -- to the american experiment, right? so love of the -- at the end of the day and goodwill is what animates, i think, my vision for a better america tomorrow. host: we're about to wrap up here. you mentioned this a couple times. folks may not have heard you earlier this phase patriotic empathy. 30 seconds or so, john. what do you mean by that -- by patriotic empathy? guest: thank you. by patriotic empathy is our nation is concerned for our fellow americans.

i guess to get biblical again for just a second. folks, forgive me. it's like the verse in scripture who says he who says he loves god but hates his fellow man is a liar. i am not trying to call anybody a liar here. i'm just trying to say we can't love america the be a tract without loving the people who we share america with. love doesn't mean approving of or agreeing with everything that anybody else does. it simply means recognizing the human dignity of one another and meaning well towards our neighbor. host: john wood jr. is national ambassador, the group is braver angels. thanks for sharing time with us this morning, john wood. guest: thank you very much, bill. host: we got more of the program ahead. we'll open up our phone lines for your thoughts on the latest that you're following in the news and public policy and politics and more. it's open forum next. democrats, it's 202-748-8000. republicans, 202-748-8001. and independents and others, 202-748-8002. we'll be right back.

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continues. host: it is open forum so go ahead and start calling in if you have thoughts on items in the news, public policy issues, political debates and issues. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. for independents and others, 202-748-8002. couple news items before we get to your call. this one from "the washington post." deery named as special master to review trump's mar-a-lago documents. a federal judge has appointed raymond j. deery, a federal judge in new york, to sort more than the 11,000 documents, including classified materials that f.b.i. agents seized from former president donald trump's florida residence this month to see if any should be shielded from criminal investigators because of attorney/client or executive privileges. the post says it could significantly -- could significantly slow a

high-profile investigation of the former president, one prosecutors say has already been paused by the judge's skepticism that justice department has treated trump fairly. and on the -- on the settlement of the rail strike, here's the headline from "usa today," tentative deal averts railway deal. a shock to the economy. a widespread economic crisis was temporarily averted yesterday when president joe biden talked about a tentative deal between those that threatened to strike. here's president biden yesterday making that announcement. [video clip] president trump: it struck down any crisis. everything you rely on -- and it's hard to realize this -- everything from clean water to food to gas to every day -- i mean, liquefied natural gas, to everything -- every good that

you need on a rail getting it delivered to where it needs to go. with unemployment still near record lows and signs of progress of lowering costs, this agreement is rebuilding america with an economy that truly works for the american people. today is a win, and i sincerely mean it, a win for america. host: let's get to your calls during open forum. we'll go to windsor, colorado, first, and hear from richard. richard is on the independent line. go ahead. richard in windsor, colorado, go ahead. caller: hi. can you hear me? host: sure can. yeah. caller: hey, i just wanted everybody to know, first of all, i sure hope you give me enough time to speak. host: it's a little noisy there, richard. but go ahead. if it gets too noisy, we'll let you go. caller: i hope -- well, the only thing letting go is your little d.c. confine you have -- i want

to put this out there for every republican. everything this guy is doing is illegitimate. you guys were involved in the cover-up and the lie in the fake election. this guy gave all of our oil reserves to china. that's illegal. the student loan is illegal. nancy pelosi already said that. and opening the border and helping with trafficking and certainly everything else. republicans on day number one, you better have 15 articles of impeachment ready to go. host: we'll go to vanessa in parkland, florida. republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. and the gentleman that you just had on the show, the black republican, i'm a black republican. i'm a total supporter of donald trump. he neglectly didn't mention how the democrats call us semi-fascist. they call us racists even though how i can be a black racist.

owning to the fact i am black myself. you know, you never called him on that and allowed him to go on and on and on about how, you know, democrats are supposed to be -- how democrats don't say anything negative against republicans. it's republicans who are always saying negative -- negative epithets against democrats. i just want to say exactly what the guy before me said. republicans have to go out there and vote. there's a lot of us black republicans out here, especially in florida. and we will take back the senate and the house because of us minorities who are trump supporters and who will not ever be voting democrat again. thank you. host: next up is democrats' line in hebron, indiana. gene -- gene is on the line. go ahead. caller: yeah. i just have a comment to make.

they're busing these people and flying to the northern states from texas, florida. and i suggest that what they do is take the federal funding that goes to them states and divert that money to where they're sending these migrants. and hit them in the pocketbook. maybe they'll pay attention. that's all i have to say. host: the funeral services for queen elizabeth are set for monday. president biden reportedly will be attending. this is from "politico" this morning. liz trust meet biden ahead of queen's funeral. liz truss, the u.k. prime minister, will meet u.s. president joe biden this weekend as the pair prepare for the funeral of queen elizabeth ii in london. the u.s. president one of numerous heads of state descending on london for the global event.

was booked some one-on-one time with the new u.k. prime minister. pennsylvania, we'll hear from don on the democrats' line. good morning. caller: good morning. my name is don. i will be 75 in november. i've been watching this stuff go on and on and on. first of all, i think trump is setting new patterns and new patterns that's going to be followed for years and years to come. i don't know where it's going to end. but right now i tell you what, i've seen the democrats do it to republicans and republicans, there's no way these people are ever going to straighten out. and draining the swamp, we can do it. if every -- i guarantee you, if every incumbent on both sides was voted out this election, i guarantee you there will be -- they will be back slapping and loving each other. there will be 12-page amendments that are -- [no audio] host: all right.

to rihanna on the independent line in wilmington, north carolina. go ahead. caller: good morning. thank you for letting me call. i have two statements. one about "washington journal"'s practices as far as the call-in service. and it is a service. a lot of people would never be heard if it wasn't for you. so i'm very grateful because i feel compelled to get my word out. but i don't know how to get back in your good graces. i can't call in without my phone number being shut down immediately. i guess the line, just like i got it this morning, within 10 minutes. i don't know what it is. host: did you -- rihanna, did you want to comment on a news

item or something else? caller: yes, very much so. abortion is all in the news and, of course, it's coming up in 2022. but i wonder if people that are pro-life have thought about the life that's produced from an unwanted person -- they start off behind the gate post. they're not loved. they're not wanted. and it just gets worse. the orphanags are filled. people are found in dumpsters. it's not right. if they're able to make their own decisions, you know, i think a lot of kids would enjoy life a lot better. thank you very much for letting me say that. you have a great day. host: here's a headline from "the hill" this morning.

democrats cede over migrant political stunt at martha's vineyard. he writes that senate democrats are seething what they say -- what they say was a political stunt by florida governor ron desantis and texas governor greg abbott who sent plane loads and bus loads of venezuelan migrants to marsha's vineyard and washington, d.c. they've become increasingly -- from transferring the migrants to the metropolitans of washington, d.c., new york, and chicago in an effort to pressure the biden administration to pay more attention to illegal immigration. fort worth, texas, is next up on the democrats' line. larry, go ahead. caller: yes. i'm a 70-year-old democrat and i've been a democrat all my life. and i've never -- this is to the black republicans -- i've never seen no president call a black

woman a dog, call black men s.o.b.'s or tell black american citizens to go back where they came from. in is what -- this is what you vote for, then happy -- so help you god. i'm out of here. host: north holmstead, ohio, is next. linda on the republican line. caller: good morning, sir. i'm sorry you have to hear all bad news but you're going to get something from me. i like the way you talk and what you understand. i want everybody in the white house to be impeached. they're carrying this on too long. president trump did the best thing and biden and his wife and their cronies are killing it. get them all out of the white house. put them in prison because we don't need any more honkies up there. president trump has been the best one. everybody get out and vote. forget about the democrats.

they're useless. tell biden to wear a black coat for crying out loud for the queen, not a beige one. host: we'll go to fremont, ohio. democrats' line, don, good morning. caller: good morning. host: don, make sure you mute your volume there and go ahead with your comment. caller: all right. what people don't know about the republican party is that they have the history that they always fought against the middle class. democrats are the ones that put social security, medicare, affordable insurance to help the american people. the republicans concentrate on the border and then that's it. they don't offer anything else for the american people. thank you. host: it is open forum here on "washington journal."

202-748-8000, the line for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. and for independents and others, 202-748-8002. this is from "the washington post" with congress having wrapped up their work for the week. senate delays vote on codifying same-sex marriage until after the mid-terms. leon caldwell writing the senate will delay voting on a measure to protect same-sex marriage until after november's mid-term election after republicans' support is -- to hold off on a vote came after weeks of bipartisan negotiations for a small group of senators have been working to alleviate the concerns of republican senators in an attempt to persuade them to back the legislation. still, negotiators were optimistic about the bill's final passage. quote, i think we're in very good shape and this bill is going to pass, senator susan collins, republican of maine, told reporters. in portland, oregon, we'll hear

from maryland on the independent line. you're on air. go ahead. caller: hi. i am just replying to the man and i forget which state that said that the federal dollars should be diverted to the states where the illegals are being transported to because that would hit them in the pocketbook and show florida and texas. well, what does he think has been happening in florida and texas? they've been hit in the pocketbook for a good two years. who does he thinks supports and takes care of all those people? nobody comes in from the federal government and helps them out. i can't believe how narrow-minded people somehow are. and as far as that young man that you had on talking about the different things, he's right. we should learn to be more supportive of each other.

but being more supportive of each other does not mean that you're just allowing your country to be overrun any more than you would allow 50 people to camp in your yard. if you left your door unlocked, come in. you need to have boundaries. everybody needs boundaries. and maybe -- maybe they are going about it the wrong way. i don't know. but they couldn't get any action any other way. and why shouldn't those states have a little bit of the taste and feel of what's happening daily on the border states? host: we are talking a lot about texas and the efforts of governor greg abbott in sending those migrants to washington, d.c. and elsewhere. this is what is leading the news in dallas. "the dallas morning news." dallasnews.com. record breaking texas drought results in over $2 billion in losses to the cotton crop.

that's only the beginning for cotton farmers who are seeing hits from demands from rising prices and high inflation. garden grove, california, is next. nancy is on the republican line. go ahead. caller: hello. thank you for taking my call. the one thing i am so discouraged about is that americans are divided by parties. what is wrong with us? we are americans first. and ask yourself this question -- joe biden always had the lowest salary before he became vice president. and the corruption in that family, how do they come out of it being millionaires? he didn't write a book. i'm just so disappointed in the schools with the transgender teaching to kids in elementary school. america, wake up. look at what's going on in our

country. we should be teaching our kids math, science, history. i am totally against the division. and everybody should watch 2,000 meals to figure out how the election was stolen with the drop boxes. thank you. host: safety harbor, florida, bill is on the independent line. go ahead. caller: yes. i think the president is way off base because of the unions. nothing's going to happen but a negative situation, number one. the unions in washington, the municipal unions are killing us. they will not cooperate with any republican because of the change. number two, i've seen at the local level where their productivity in the small towns, it takes them half an hour to cut a blade of grass. that's one of the major problems in the country is productivity. watch the independent small

businesses going out of business because of mr. biden. he has no touch of what's going on. money is flowing out like it's made daily. but the unions are going to be the downfall of the country. that's our main reason. look at the automobile. they drove it right out. they couldn't get anybody on the production line monday or friday mornings. that's going to be our problem, people. the municipal unions in your small towns, they have the power. that's who's running country. but china and russia are going to squeeze this country like we've never known it before. and that's the way it's going. and we better pay attention to our military. host: couple of stories about political polls. this is leading "the new york times" this morning. democrats show strength and fight for congress. according to a "times" sienna poll. fall falling gas prices.

and president trump breaking through legislative gridlock. that's one story. percentagea, the growth in virginia voters who thinks the united states is on the right track. again, this is a new york times-sienna college poll. 27% in july. 50% of democrats on the right track as of september. according to the latest poll. one more poll, too, to show you from. the ohio senate race. this is from the washington examiners. j.d. vance grows lead over tim ryan, says an ohio senate poll. they report that j.d. vance has expanded his lead over tim ryan in the ohio senate race positioning himself with a lead of four percentage points less than two months before the election day. roughly 44% of the voters say they back vance in the election compared to just 40% for ryan, according to a new poll from emerson college and the hill, giving a sign of hope to republicans in a high-profile race that's likely to determine

which party will control the senate for the next two years. another 13% said they were still undecided and 3% said they'd vote for someone else. in oklahoma city, we go next to michael on our democrats' line. caller: good morning, bill. host: good morning. caller: you know, the big elephant in the room is -- comes up on every caller and it's one word and it's "trust." and i would recommend buttigieg's book which is "trust." correlate trust is truth. and we're living in a post-truth society. i think it's the conservative movement that for years have been telling us not to trust news sources. don't trust college professors. don't trust scientists. don't trust the government.

and they created an information silo that is just impervious to the truth. i really would like to see that on a booknotes because he also describes the solution which is trying to build trust. that's the only thing you can do after it's been destroyed seasoned to try to -- is to try to build it back. and what they've tried to do is produce something which biden has been incredibly successful at doing. any question, bill? is that really an -- host: thank you for that, michael. an article -- i didn't bring up with john wood jr., our guest in the previous segment. this is an opinion piece in the "usa today" this morning by jon than gruber -- jonathan gruber. fight loneliness to help society. reports of loneliness throughout the pandemic, he writes in this extensive piece in "usa today"

an opinion piece, when loneliness is widespread, a kul ralph pluralism is -- cultural of pluralism is stunted. they don't have curiosity, empathy, respect and cooperation that are essential for bridging divides, a healthy democracy, he writes, is people talk to each other in good faith across their differences. that's true from the kitchen table to the halls of congress. you can read that at usatoday.com. in newark, new jersey, james on the independent line. caller: hi. i've been an independent, moderate, quote-unquote, since 1956. very simple. attorney general, his team -- [indiscernible] take it to the 11th circuit. thank you.

host: on to albuquerque. we'll hear from diana on the democrats' line. good morning. caller: good morning. good morning, america. i have been a democrat all my life. i'm 60 years old. i've always really truly believed in the party. since biden has been in office, i'm really wondering what's going on. it really scares me how borders are being left open. i do not -- i think it was the right thing they sent them to martha's vineyard in washington so people in washington can get a taste of what the border states are having to deal with. it really, really scares me when i read this morning that someone can get raided at a drive-in at a hardy's. i think america should really open their eyes and see what's really going on in this country. i really wish that the democrat party would go back to what they were back in the days when they believed in the people and really took care of us. i feel like they're more worried

about the immigrants. and i think we as an american really need to open our eyes and vote republican from now on. thank you, america. host: all right. to napa, california. ray, also on the democrats' line. ray, go ahead. ray in napa, california, are you there? all right. we'll move to braidington, florida, then and hear from sidney. sidney in braydenton. go ahead. caller: yes, good morning. trying to get in with the young man earlier. when he talked about the divisiveness that's going on, and this has been happening -- the problem that i'm looking at is that we have these groups when it started, mitch mcconnell, i believe, was the one who started saying we are not -- we're going to make sure

that the president's agenda is that it's a one term. so he set out and grouped his forces together the people who are elected officials who just grouped up together and decided to support that initiative to make sure there's no successful representation coming up out of there for the people simply because they didn't want that group to be successful. and they carried that on for eight years. and then thought it changed because they put the foot on the -- that meant to go to the people. they squashed a lot of initiatives that have been done for people. and so now it's starting to come back to that now, but there's been so much damage and so much vitriol that is going on and

what's happening is the parents are parenting what they're hearing from these individuals who represent that republican party. and they're children -- and their children are parenting a lot of it. so we have younger people with that type of mentality. and a lot of them don't even have a real understanding why. they're parenting what they're hearing from their parents and from some of the republican people that are in office who are really outside of truth. they're parenting this whole thing about stolen elections and what happened is they have really gotten rid of a lot of oversight, a lot of people who were civil servants who were watching the previous administration was saying this is not proper. they went through the proper

channels to report it. and they got fired. and people that took their place were just almost just cronies of the person that wanted to support and he took everybody into that hole including the attorney general who supported it. the impeachment that went down twice. all of the republicans, the party, except for two people, didn't want to hold their individual accountable. so it's going on and on. and there's no accountability for the person who is really -- in a matter of time that he was there had really kind of wrecked this whole demonstration of the government portion that should be really up and functioning and holding back everything -- putting people in place to

purposely slow down, hold up, wash, not allow stuff, even sabotaging programs so the -- i'm not confused about it. i'm 70 years old. i've seen how this thing progresses. host: all right. sidney from florida, appreciate the call. this is an international story from "the wall street journal." floods further imperil pakistan economy. recent catastrophic flood will wipe out economic growth and cause acute food shortages. pakistan officials threaten, reeling a country into default. pakistan was looking to an international monetary fund bailout it security in august in a package of global loan rollovers and investments to help restore finances hit hard by price shocks caused by the ukraine war. regaining financial health has been up-ended by monsoon rains that hammered the normally arid

southern regions of the country with five times more rain than they typically see wiping out houses, bridges, roads, and crops. some 1,500 people have died in the country of pakistan because of those floods. missouri on the line is vicky calling from missouri on the democrats' line. good morning. caller: good morning. i would just like to say that we just really need to get back to the basics and put us back into perspective about what really matters in this world. loving one another could be a great start. i worry about what we are doing to our children. i have a 12-year-old that's biracial that is growing up in this polarized world. it is a nightmare when he goes to school, and it's a nightmare for his friends at school because they are hearing stuff from their parents and then they bring it to school and they

employee project it on the -- and they project it on the other students in the classroom. and i just worry about what kind of society are we creating for our children when they can't even go to school because of something that they have heard from their parents in a negative way against people that do not look like them. host: so you're hearing this from your child in school -- that's in school? caller: yes. my son has -- has had a wrath of bullying this year in the school district in missouri. it's been a nightmare. he's on his third middle school. this year. host: this year? caller: yeah, this year, third middle school. host: is it politically based. is it racially based. what is it? caller: it's racially based because of the color of his skin. kids can't figure out exactly what nationality he is so they

call him the mixed up black and white kid at school or they call him the n-word at school and i have taken it to the school board here in missouri, in ballwin, missouri, to be exact. and they tried to explain to me that the n-word is a cultural word. host: the board said this to you? caller: yes. in ballwin, missouri, had tried to explain to me that the n-word is now a cultural word that came from my son's principal at his last middle school. it came from the lady sitting on the equity board at the parkway school district here in my town. trying to explain to me, a white woman -- and both of these women that are saying this are both african-american women trying to explain to me how the n-word is a cultural word.

whether it have an er at the end of the year or igga at the end of the word. i'm appalled because my family, we just don't agree with that. and how do you get past that when your kid is being bullied at school because of the color of his skin? host: and the most recent school, doing better, is it a better situation there? caller: it is better at this point in time. we'll see how long it lasts. i -- you know, this has been going on for two years. last year was just equally as bad. but i just don't understand why parents want to project so much hate and then their kids come to school and project that hate. host: vicky, thanks for calling in this morning. this is a headline from "the hill" this morning about action happening in the u.s. house yesterday. house passes a bill seeking to protect federal service employees -- civil service employees from -- employees from trump. the house on thursday passed a

bill that seeks to protect federal service employees from a schedule f, an executive order from former president trump signed that would make it easier for the white house to replace federal workers with loyalists. the legislation titled preventing a patronage system act passed 225-204. six republicans joined all voting democrats in supporting the measure. a group of democratic senators introduced the bill in the upper chamber under the same name. legislation would need to win the backing of at least 10 republican senators to get past a senate filibuster. "the hill" writes trump in october, 2020, roughly two weeks before the election signed an executive order creating schedule f in the excepted service making it easier for him to hire and fire civil servants that work on policy. let's hear from bill from florida. bill, good morning. caller: good morning. how are you this morning? i thank you.

i was wondering, so many of these ladies that are out there on the protesting lines, i wonder if any of them ever thought i'm certainly glad my mother didn't abort me. isn't that a thought? host: all right, bill. let's hear from diane in trenton, new jersey. democrats' line. caller: yes. good morning, beautiful people. good morning, everybody. this is what i wanted to say. i have this old saying, charity begins at home and then spreads abroad. it's all right to help someone, and that's what america is all about. and you know what, every time i hear somebody on the line blaming this one, blaming that one, you are not in their shoes and you're not in their seat. so the way i feel is this. let's quit blaming people and start having answers and pray

for people. because i'm going to tell you something. wisdom rules our nation. so far all i see is blaming this one and blaming that one but what i wanted to see is that i don't care how many laws we make in the united states -- and it's temporary, because you forgot about the real law that holds us up as a nation and that was god. nobody wants to talk about that anymore because you know what, everybody feels like it's all about me and nobody else. but you know what i learned, i learned in this cooperation that we call a nation, everybody's blood is red. i don't care what color you are. i don't care whether you're a minority or not. you made the united states what it is. we have problems. i'm going to tell you something, we've been having problems in

every state, every city. everybody wants to say bad people, murderers. we already had that in the united states. host: all right, appreciate the call. thanks for all your calls this morning. we are back tomorrow, saturday morning at 7:00 eastern. hope you are, too. meanwhile, have a great weekend. we'll see you tomorrow. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2022] >> here's what's coming up live today on c-span. this morning, deputy secretary of state wendy sherman and iranian american journalist jason rezaian will talk about wrongful detentions of americans

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