this morning, government executive senior correspondent eric katz talks about the federal government hurricane response efforts. then the national energy association mark wolfe on energy prices this winter and assistance for lower income families. "washington journal" starts now. ♪ host: it is the "washington journal" for september 27. a recently washington post/abc poll asked respondents about their interests between another matchup between president biden and former president trump in 2024. most republicans would like to see either the former president or another republican run. most democrats suggested seeing someone else other than president biden running. we want to know what you think about another matchup of the current and former president in

2024. let us know your thoughts this morning. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans , (202) 748-8001. independents, 748-8002. you can text us at (202) 748-8003. you can post on facebook and twitter. you can follow the show on instagram. a poll came out recently asking about rematches in 2024. here is what they found. when asked about the democrats' preference for the nomination of president of the united states, 35% of those responding said they would like president biden to seek another term and get that nomination for another term. 56% of those responding said someone else should be in the position. with the republican preference, 47% showing support for president trump running and

getting the nomination for another term. 46% of those respondents saying that should be someone else. overall vote preference, 48% say that that preference goes to president biden versus 46% for the former president, donald trump. it goes on to say, in the rematch, the poll conducted finds 46%, 48%, essentially tied . and then 46% to 48%, numbers reversed. meanwhile, 52 percent of americans say former president trump should be charged for any matters with the criminal investigations. those are some of the polling numbers. i will show you some more breakdown and analysis. but when it comes to the potential matchup in 2024, if you would like to see that

between president biden and former president trump, let us know your thoughts. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, 748-8002. you can text us at (202) 748-8003. it was in recent days both gentlemen being asked about the possibility of running again for office. it was an interview on "60 minutes" a week ago sunday. president biden asked about potentially another run. here are some of his thoughts in that interview. [video clip] >> are you interested in running again or do certain conditions have to be right? pres. biden: if i were to say to you i were to be running again, suddenly there are things at play, requirements, in terms of election laws. it is too early to make that kind of decision. i am in great respecter of

faith. so i will do my job within the timeframe that makes sense. after this election cycle here, going into next year, i will make a judgment on what to do. >> you say it is much too early to make that decision. i take it the decision has not been made in your own head? pres. biden: my intention is to run again, but that is just an intention. is it a firm decision that i run again? that remains to be seen. >> mr. president, you are the oldest president ever. pres. biden: read shape, hu -- pretty good shape, huh? >> leads to my next question some people ask whether you are fit for the job. when you hear that, i wonder what you think. pres. biden: watch me. honest to god, that is all i think. watch me. if you do not think i have the energy level or mental acuity, then that is one thing. it is another thing to just

watch me keep my schedule, do what i am doing. host: that last point the president made during that interview, some of you responded even this morning, and this one off of twitter saying if these two face-off for the presidency in 2024, i believe the combined age may be highest in the history of the united states for a presidential election race. some of you posting on twitter this morning. you can do that at @cspanwj. phone lines are open, as well. in an interview last week, president trump, on fox news, was asked about another run for the white house. his thoughts on that currently. here is a portion of that interview. [video clip] >> you are not going to answer the question if you are running? fmr. pres. trump: i am not allowed to legally. if i said it -- it is

ridiculous. >> you surprised me one light -- night with an answer. i asked what you would do differently. and you said you would stop fighting with the media because they are corrupt and a waste of my time. did you really mean that? you would stop fighting with the media? fmr. pres. trump: i think i have explained about fake news. if i did not fight, my presidency would have been a failure in the country would have been way down. >> not fighting on policy. fmr. pres. trump: i would love to get along with the media. i respect many people in the media. you a lot. the media got russia, russia, russia totally wrong. >> i got it right. fmr. pres. trump: you and john solomon, sarah, greg jarrett. there are some people that got it right that should be rewarded. but you cannot reward the people that got it wrong. exactly the opposite. >> my question did is -- my

question is, so, when you think that, do you have any regrets? do you wish -- ah, why the hell didn't i do that or that? fmr. pres. trump: you always have regrets. but my biggest regrets are people. when i went to washington, i was only there 17 times -- i told you this, and i did not stay overnight. so i was not into that whole world of the washington, d.c., society. i was from new york and knew everybody in new york. now i know everybody. the good ones, the bad ones, the weak ones. >> you would be better because your team and those around you would be that are and stronger? fmr. pres. trump: i think so. i know so. host: in this idea of a rematch in 2024, give us your thoughts. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, 748-8002. this is carrie in wisconsin,

republican line, asking about a potential matchup in 2024. go ahead. caller: yes, i actually brought this up about a year ago. i brought it up with a number of people and friends, and i do not know their differences of persuasions, but i made a comment that that would be like the for -- like the worst nightmare, because i do not believe either one of them should be president again. it is hard to believe -- i know there are people who love biden, think he is doing a great job, and there are people who loved trump and. he did the job, but he lost me after the election. truly, in our country, we should be able to get a decent person who is also smart and sharp and competent and all that good stuff. so i would hope we could have

two better than former president trump and president biden. host: is there someone that comes to mind? caller: um, someone like an asa hutchinson. i used to be a diehard republican. but again, now we have extremists that refuse to see anything wrong with president trump, and so i have become a really totally moderate republican. i wish we could get a moderate that could get enough money support -- from both sides. i tell you, i could be almost inclined -- cannot believe i am saying this -- to vote for a moderate democrat, which president biden was supposed to be but he has given into extremists on the left side. i wish we could get away from

the extrema get a moderate. host: let's hear from robert in louisiana, democrat line. good morning. caller: good morning. thanks for having me. to the point at hand, while y'all put trump in the game, trump not going to be able to be in the game because he already done disqualified himself for the insurrection. so it is ok for joe biden to run again, but there ain't going to be no trump. and they are hauling all the people there two different states, and look at all the people in florida. god don't like ugly, and god trying to show them something. sending people from one state to another, now look what is happening to florida. host: as far as president biden, would you vote for him again or

would you rather have another democrat? caller: most definitely i would vote for joe biden. old joe doing a real good job. all this stuff about the inflation, the whole world is inflated. joe biden and have nothing to do with that. they keep blaming everything on joe biden. they want to blame, blame, blame, blame, blame, no, no, no, no, no. if joe rent again, i will vote for him. thank you. host: republican line, we will hear from jerry. caller: this is terry. host: i apologize. caller: it is ok. no big deal. i would vote for trump again because he is a lot better than any democrat i have seen. biden should be held responsible for every crime that these

illegals committed, will commit. he want to open the border, show he should be held responsible for it. host: so is president trump your only choice to run again or would you rather see another republican if the president decided not to run, the former president? caller: i would vote for a republican 100%, because i have been watching democrats ever since jimmy carter. and instead of getting better, they have got worse. host: that was terry in cleveland, tennessee, giving his thoughts. some people texting and tweeting. vicki in wichita saying i hate to be a buzz kill for democrats, but republicans have a lot of good candidates. she highlights ron desantis, governor of florida, nikki haley , who also worked in the trump

administration, for 2024. a viewer off of twitter saying, in general, we need younger people in political leadership positions. mary lou culver says i'm very satisfied with president biden. if he chooses to run again, he will have my full support. if he does not choose to run, my first choice would be congressman jason crow. on twitter, it is @cspanwj. text us at (202) 748-8003. an matchup in 2024, rematch between president biden and former president trump, asking if you are interested in possibly seeing that happen again susan in pennsylvania, democrats line, you are next. caller: yes, i would vote for biden again. i do not even know why we are talking about trump with everything going on. i cannot believe that people are discussing that. host: do you think he is not a

factor in 2024 then, as far as another run for the white house? caller: he should not even be available for the white house with everything that has happened, that he is being sued for. i do not even see how people could think of him to run. host: why give president biden another turn in? caller: i think, considering everything he was given when he came into office, i think he has done a pretty good job. host: that was a call from pennsylvania. this is from don in missouri, republican line. caller: hello. i cannot see joe biden running again. he is about to fall down every time you see him walking up to the helicopter. otherwise, donald trump, right now he is sharp as a tack. he is not right on every issue,

but he could run this country and run three more. he has so much vitality. but i want people to listen to the words that are coming out of this candidates' mouths, congressional candidates, all the candidates. study your ballot and listen to the words coming out of their lament -- their mouths. do not listen to what the pundits say , everything that they democrats are coming up with are insane and people. people just need to throw them out with the trash heap of history. host: as far as president trump is concerned, is he the only republican you would vote for? caller: oh, no. the republicans have candidates lined up that are fine. i would prefer ron desantis, and

there is a black man named leo terrel, i would like to see him as vice president. then you got tom cotton. you got them lined up down the street that are great republicans. host: what is it about evan or desantis particularly? caller: he is just smart. he gets to the root of the problem quake. he does not mess around. he has got vision down the road. first day in office, he would straighten up this mess that we are all living in right now. host: that is don in missouri, giving us his thoughts on another rematch in 2020 four. some analysis from the washington post poll saying former president trump used president biden as unfairly taking the presidency from him -- views president biden as unfairly taking the presidency from him.

president biden views former president trump as an existential threat to the country's founding principles and sees himself as uniquely positioned to prevent the former president from regaining power. beating president trump remains one of president biden's proudest accomplishments. the white house returns to a familiar foil. president biden has increasingly had former president trump on his mind or at least on his lips, the only reason i ran was because donald trump was running, he sat at a june 10 fundraiser in los angeles. what do you think about the idea of a possible rematch occurring? let's hear from john in missouri, democrats line. caller: what's up, baby? yeah, donald trump, ok, if he is president again, that would be

funny because i think he will probably be in jail. all of these charges against him and everything like that, he is done. joe biden has done a spectacular job. all the media that goes up against him, i am surprised he has not came out and yelled at them. he -- mitch mcconnell, that was hilarious. but every republican is wrong. there is nothing they can do or say. i would be surprised if any of them win an election. host: when you say any of them, do you mean any republican or any candidate, in general, in the presidential election? caller: i hope none of them. republican puppets and democrat puppets. there might be one. host: instead of president biden, would you rather see someone else running? caller: oh, it would be easy --

if he is the one going against trump --you probably don't want to run against biden. it would be like 85% for biden. it would be easy, comical. host: ok, next up is luanne in indiana, republican line. caller: hi. host: you are going to have to turned on your television real quick so we do not get feedback. caller: ok, no problem. host: folks, while we're waiting at home, if you are waiting on the line, please turned on your television or mute it so there is not a lot of feedback. you will be tempted to listen to the television. luanne, go ahead. caller: oh, yes, i would vote for president trump.

i support him all the way. he would get us out of the mess we are in. host: as far as another rematch between him and president biden, that is something you would want to see? caller: yes. host: what it changes as far as the president not winning last time against president biden? why do you think that would change in 2024 or give the former president the advantage? caller: well, i think that more people are smarter now. and they will vote for president trump. host: when you say smarter, what dma by that? caller: -- what do you mean by that? caller: i mean they will know, because president trump has dealt with everything. president biden has a lot of

stuff behind him. host: that is luanne in indiana on our independent line. independents, you can call, too, by the way, at 748-8002. this is a call from north carolina on our independent line. caller: hey, good morning. yeah, again, i am an independent. i did not vote for any of them this past election. honestly, i don't think either of them should run again. "a," i think we need a new candidate, one that is a little more center. on that lady's point, a previous caller, i think the candidate might be larry hogan, governor from maryland. i think the way he handled covid -- i used to live in maryland before i moved to north carolina , and his handling of covid and the coordination of the state legislature, interactions with the media, i think he would be a very good pick. i am an independent, but i would

vote for him. host: overall, you are looking for some of just more moderate overall? caller: that is fine. i think we are at an inflection point in our country now. situations that are going on, you know, the current economy, all this unstableness in the world, geopolitical tensions, we do not need someone in a competition to be the hardest right or left. host: you brought up larry hogan and describe some of his attributes, but what does it mean to be a moderate to you? caller: so being a moderate, i mean, this whole idea of loyalty to party over country is extremely flawed, in my opinion. a true moderate is not afraid to make unpopular decisions within their own party, whether that be policy-related, economy-related, what have you. and sometimes that means making

a decision and airing on the side of either being physically conservative or maybe voting for a spending package that might be unpopular within that candidate's party but they know it is the right thing to do. to me, that is what being a moderate means. host: that is nick there in north carolina, independent line. independents, you can call in and give your thoughts. he talked about budget spirit one of the things to watch out for in the senate this week is the process of starting a series of votes, looking at what is called a continuing resolution, legislation that would keep the government funded past october 1. you look for that to play out in the senate this week. several things in the house. there are several ways you can keep up with what is going on. we invite you to go to our website, c-span.org, where we

have on the site the things we take in during the course of the day. and there is always our c-span now app, which follows the major events of the day. you can download it to your phone or device. you can follow along with the activities of washington as it plays out, particularly this week. again, a potential matchup in 2024 between the current president and the former president. what do you think of that? mark in philadelphia on our line for democrats, you are next. caller: yes, pedro, to me, this is a no-brainer, biden all the way. i cannot believe that trump will be allowed to run in 20 24. my opinion is if anyone is under criminal indictment anywhere, they should be disallowed from running for any federal office. until that case is educated finally in court, whether you

are convicted or you go through the appeals process. i cannot believe there is not a federal law on that. in fact, you could be a convicted felon and run for federal office. i mean, trump running again for president, it is like jefferson davis running for president again in 1868 after the confederacy. this is totally ridiculous. host: give me why exactly you would give president biden another term. caller: first of all, as a democrat, of course, i think he is doing a great job. i think a lot of what he has been facing, headwinds, are totally and utterly from the republican party that does not want to do anything. all they want to do is make biden look bad. i have no problem with another republican running against president biden, as long as it is not trump.

i tell you the truth, i think ron desantis would stand a much better chance of winning the presidency for the republican party than trump. host: when you see the numbers we showed initially about the democrat preference, 30 5% supporting president biden, but 65% saying someone else. what do you think about that sentiment? caller: well, i do not really agree with it, but i can understand it, especially if the republicans take the house back, which they will. we will have two years of hunter biden's laptop, and they are going to try to tie biden into that. who knows what biden's chances will look like in 2024? host: mark in philadelphia, democrats line, giving us his thoughts. carol next in jonesboro, arkansas, republican line. caller: good morning. i am just sitting here busting out laughing. i cannot believe people.

for one, there does not need to be a remake of biden and president trump. a simple reason, we had it easy, thank god, for president trump. he had everything on the up and up, and we were doing just fine. and then president biden comes in, and he destroys what we had accumulated. now biden is giving everyone free this and free that, and we, ourselves, are struggling, which nobody, to me, really gives a crap. but that is ok, i guess. but president trump cares about the people. and for me, if you have nothing good to say about someone, keep your mouth shut. and the world will be good ok again. thank you. host: carol in jonesboro,

arkansas, her thoughts there. let me show you the poll numbers again from the abc/washington post poll that asked about, amongst other things, 2024 and a potential rematch between the former president and the current one. they specifically asked about democrats preferences for the nomination, 35% showing their support for president biden, 56% showing their support for someone else. republican preference for the nomination, 47% showing that support for former president trump, 46% showing support for someone else. vote preference overall would be 48 percent for president biden and then 46% for former president trump. you can see that poll online at the abc news site. you can factor those things in as you tell us about this idea of a rematch in 2024 between

these two men, what you think of that. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, 748-8002. you can text us at (202) 748-8003. sean and the baltimore, maryland, independent line. good morning. caller: good day to you. i would like to see ron desantis run. i think that he is younger. there are some things i don't like about him, but at the end of the day, if trump is in there, i would vote for him. i am going to vote republican from top to bottom. democrats are crazy. the far leftists have become like a cancer -- no, they are a cancer. they are just crazy, and i want them out of office, by any means necessary. hi guys said, i would -- like i

said, i would like ron desantis. if trump is in there, oh, well, i see that it will take one reticle to get rid of a bunch of other crazy radicals on the democratic side. and biden, he is not healthy. he does not need to be there. host: when it comes to governor desantis, you said you would support him. is it the age factor or experience in office? what is it specifically about ron desantis? caller: all of the above. multiple choice, you can be all of the above. age, experience, and i also like the fact that he doesn't put up with -- he just doesn't put up with things. he is kind of like trump, a more stable trump. that is one thing i really like about him, his drive to not put

up with all this crazy mess. no cancel culture, all this stuff trying to take over here and he doesn't care. host: ok, that is sean in ultima. let's hear from george in canton, ohio, democrats line. hello? caller: hello? host: you are on. caller: ok, yes. all these people talk about trump and how good he was and everything. i don't think he was good. i used to be a republican, and i changed when nixon went into office because it showed me some disinformation, talking about disinformation. and you can see it now, you know, all the disinformation that people are giving about donald trump, spreading this conspiracy.

and i don't believe the american people are so naive that they can believe this. you can just look at the men, listen to him. listen to him real close. host: for the question at hand, as far as these two men possibly meeting up in 2024, what do you think about the possibility of that rematch? caller: i don't believe they're going to be a rematch. i believe donald trump is hanging it out there to make people think he is going to run. host: as far as president biden running for another term, what do you think of that? caller: i believe biden might run for another term and then he might not. you know, just listen to him. host: but i am asking, should he run for another term? caller: yes, i believe he should

run for another term, because he has done everything that he said he was going to do. host: ok, that is george there in ohio. there is a story on the hill looking at possible democratic candidates in the event president biden decides not to run for reelection for 2024. they list some of those potential people that you might see. starts off with the vice president of the united states, kamala harris, adding about approval ratings being up and down, she remains the top non-biden possibility. strategists say would be difficult to convince black women who helped catapult president biden to run for the white house to prevent this one strategist said no one will win the nomination without winning the south. it also highlights these

transportation secretary, pete buttigieg, saying he has been a popular figure since his presidential run. his current role has sent him around the country on popular infrastructure projects, something that can only help him down the road. last month, he appeared in the swing states of florida, new hampshire, nevada, and ohio. voters could have taken a beating with a railway station earlier this month, but after president biden's intervention, it never mounted. and then a democrat of michigan is highlighted, saying she came closer than many realize that being the pick for vice president. now gretchen whitmer is catching the eyes of democrats. she has made it a point to lean

in on abortion rights, in particular. there is more there, seven total. you can go to the hill website for that list of possible democratic candidates. let's hear from joe in tennessee , republican line. caller: good morning. esther united -- he said he was going to unite us, unite -- mr. united, he said he was going to unite us, but he has because we all think he is the worst president in u.s. history. and the corruption with his son hunter, everything they have done with china or any other country, depleting us completely, using all our tax dollars to go to other things. let's help the veterans, let's help the united states, people. host: as far as they rematch is

concerned, what do you think of the possibility of that happening? caller: well, if they would quit sticking in for biden and bring up the 150 red flags for all the corruption he has done, he would be shown as a communist. he should not even be in the white house. he has destroyed this country. host: president trump running for another term, is that something you would support or would you like to see another republican running? caller: if there was another republican other than president trump, i would vote for him. i used to be 100% democrat, but that is over with. they have destroyed this country. if people don't vote, we're going to be communists or it is going to be socialism. we are going down the tubes fast. host: ok. mark in missouri, independent line. caller: thank you for taking my call. as far as a rematch between president biden and trump, i

would welcome it. i really think that -- you played the interview earlier when they asked president biden if he was up to the task, and he said, oh, yeah, just watch me. well, the american people have been watching, and i will tell you, we seen him make several gaffes, several misstatements. he is bumbling around on stage. there is truly something wrong with him as far as his mental acuity goes and everything. so i really don't think that biden is going to run, and i do not think it is because he does not want to run. i do not think the democratic party is going to let him run, simply because of all of his policies and everything he has done to the united states ever since he has gotten to office. host: an president trump? caller: so i welcome -- host: what about president

trump, is he someone you would support them? caller: well, yes, i definitely would. there is no doubt that he has gotten a bad rap from the media. they have attacked him for the last seven years. and there has been nothing that has been able to stick at all, and that just keep going after him. it is just unbelievable. it truly is. and the media totally jumps on that bandwagon, and they totally jump on supporting joe biden. host: so is it president trump himself that you would support or is there another republican you would support, you being an independent? caller: yeah, i would support president trump. i really do like his policies and like what he has done. as far as any other independent -- sorry, any other republican running, you know, i don't know. i would have to hear them out on the campaign trail, would have to hear what they think about

policies and how they answer questions. again, that is something that the president hasn't done. host: ok. james in connecticut, democrats line. caller: yes, good morning. i want biden because if trump gets in, he is practically president of russia. it will be a copy of russia. they want more money, more and more money. host: ok. caller: and biden, if he passes away, she will do a good job because they will teach her. i think she will be a good president. they are trying to make peace around the world. not going around killing them. trump and president putin, they

only care about money. host: that is james in connecticut, democrats line. there was an interview a few weeks ago featuring representative tim ryan, who is running for the senate seat in ohio. he was asked about president biden, asked if the president should make another run in 2024. representative tim ryan, democrat, doing this interview. here is a portion. [video clip] >> agree with biden on infrastructure and some of these things, but disagree on things like not being tough enough on china, not enough on natural gas . i fight him on some of these things, as well and some of the border stuff, i think he has made some big mistake. when i agree, i will agree with him. when i disagree, i disagree. >> do you think he should run again in 2024? >> my hunch is we need new

leadership across the board, democrats and republicans. i think it is time for like a generational move. for leaders on both sides, i think the environment, politically, across the country is poisonous. and people, i think, want some change. it is important for us, both parties, these leaders who have been around for a while, i think it is time for some generational change, which i have been trying to do for a while now. host: that is representative tim ryan. this is from a viewer saying i personally want to see those, but the primary voters will decide. interesting that the majority of democrats did not want president biden. that speaks volume. this is a text from georgia, saying there is nothing president biden has not messed up. legislation will not have any effect on former president

trump. the only one that may be an impediment to former president trump is ron desantis. that is jay from fayetteville, georgia. we have about 20 minutes left for you to give your comments on the idea of a potential matchup between these two men in 2024. you can call, text, post on our facebook page. all of those available. let's hear from christian from phoenix, arizona, republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you so much for taking my call. to be honest, i would run for the fire -- i would run over rocks and glass to vote for president trump again. i mean, just watching everything that has happened over the past few years, i find it baffling -- even just looking at the

democrats' own polls and headlines, they are not happy with biden. they are not happy with the high prices in gas and food. they are not happy with -- i me an, they are not even happy with the way joe biden handled the vaccine mandates and the mask mandates. even by their own strategists, they were trying to move away from any of the policies that joe biden was using as punitive or even threats in order to get the country to do what he wanted to do in terms of a vaccine or wearing the masks. when you ask independents and unaffiliateds, do you think it is appropriate for joe biden to label trump supporters as fascists, 61% say it is an appropriate. 58% of independents say it is gross exaggeration. a majority, 55% of all voters,

are more concerned with the left than they are with maga republicans. the people i talked to on the ground, and i am involved with republican politics, i can tell you, a majority of us, if given a choice between a trump and desantis, a majority of us would still vote for trump. and there would not be a fight over whether it would be trump or desantis. i just think it is very interesting that you have so many people who take interest into whether or not trump is the nominee of the republican party, but they're not looking at biden when it is more democrats who are dissatisfied with biden then republicans dissatisfied with trump. host: robert in mississippi, independent line. caller: good morning. host: morning. go ahead. caller: ok, i could not support

either one of those two. would be just like last election. i could not support biden because of his mental capacity. and i could not support trump because of the way he had handled the pandemic and the january 6 fiasco and all that. so really, i would be better off -- i think the country would be better off if both of them would not run. i think trump should get behind another republican. but i think he is just going to split the republican party if he does run. i would like a more moderate person in there at this time. matter-of-fact, i would probably go to someone like, i have to say it, nikki haley. i know she had some folks that have not supported her in the past totally, but someone like

that with some common spent -- some common sense and speaks like a normal person. host: you said i hate to say this before you brought up nikki haley's name -- why? caller: i just think she may not be known well enough to make a major effort at it. she was a -- if she was a more publicized candidate, and i know she has had some more profile jobs, but i do not know if she could come out of -- with minimal support that she would have right now, i just do not know if she could survive the primaries and all of that type of thing. i really do think she would make a good candidate. host: robert there in mississippi, he brought up the january 6 committee. another hearing expected, one more this week, on wednesday, a continuation, looking at the matter of january 6. the co-chair, liz cheney,

wyoming republican, lost the primary, but she was in austin, texas, this week at the texas tribune, an event hosted by them. she was asked about a lot of thing when it comes about politics, particularly about president trump, his influence on the republican party, and the possibility of him running again in 2024. [video clip] >> so i do not want to say the republicans are solely responsible for where we are politically, and i also do not think that donald trump is part of a continuum. i think that donald trump is -- he is the only president in american history who refused to guarantee a peaceful transition of power. the fact that my party has refused in the months since then to stand up to him, i think it doesn't tell you how sick the party is and how much work -- i

think that does tell you how sick the party is and how much work we have to do. the country has to have a party that believes in the values. and we need a strong democratic party fighting on the other side so that we can have substantive debates. i do think we need to get back to that policy. >> you use the phrase my party just now, and i know you are asked if you would remain a republican if the party nominated donald trump again. i noticed you did not actually answer that. will you remain republican regardless of what happens in the next election? >> i am going to make sure donald trump is not the nominee, and if he is, i will not be a republican. host: facebook also, you can post your thoughts there. kim on facebook saying, nope, neither should run again. rep. pocan:'s could go to --

republicans could go to ron desantis, democrats are a wildcard. i do not think harris is viable either. another one on facebook that says a similar sentiment, saying no to either. maybe that is where you're at, too, thinking about another matchup in 2024. let us know on the phone lines. let's hear from melissa, lafayette, louisiana, democrats line. thanks for waiting. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. i do not think people are should run. i am in old-time democrat. however, the messaging from the democrats is very off. and trump was good for the economy. he was good in a lot of ways. but the rhetoric, and oh, my god, poor mike pence, and january 6, how he was being

threatened and silenced. nothing. ok. and i just really would like to see like a larry hogan, even though i am a registered democrat, but i would love him. biden, no. no for biden. kamala harris needed to stay in the senate. i think she was very good in the senate. larry hogan, nikki haley, like the previous caller stated. tim ryan, he is and moderate. i am not for abortion. there is a lot of things, but the democrat camp is a large camp. not all republicans, and i don't say maga republicans, but the ones that came out of the woodwork's to come and support president trump -- i supported him during "the apprentice."

we had every tv on. if he would have stick to that person, he would have win my vote, probably all of america, if he stuck to that. what he brought in -- ron desantis, i would love if he would run, only against trump though. host: that was melissa in lafayette. david in new york, republican line. caller: yeah, hi, i would love to see the rematch, but i do not think it would be much of a match. if he was asked about domestic policies, i do not think he would be able to win an election unless a lot of dead people vote. host: that is david there in new york. another comment on the recent polls on this matchup was the white house press secretary yesterday. you can see that total press conference when they air and

washington, d.c., on our various networks live and then on our website and app. there is a portion there that you can see, and here is a portion of this discussion yesterday at the white house. [video clip] >> i asked about the new poll out this weekend, 56% of democrats want the party to nominate someone other than biden. is the president concerned by this? how is he digesting the numbers? >> as you know, i have limited on how i can is because any kind of elections. i will reiterate what we have said many times from here, what the president has said many times, even as recently as his "60 minutes" interview, that he intends to run. do not have any more announcements on that. look, the president will say, as i am saying right now, that his focus is not on himself.

his focus is on continuing to deliver for the american people. after taking action, just talked about the inflation reduction act, how important medicare is to negotiate and be able to lower costs for our seniors and how important it is as it relates to energy bills. these are things that the president has done for the past 19 months, making sure that manufacturing is researching. we saw that in the "new york times" article, and we have been able in the first 19 months -- 700,000 manufacturing jobs have been created in this country because of the work this president has done. i said this at the top, we have to and everything that we can. the president has made lowering costs for the american people a priority and made the economy a priority for the american people. and you think about the american rescue plan, the republicans did

not vote for that. inflation reduction act, republicans did not vote for that they put forth an agenda that looked to take away the gains we have made by fighting, by winning against one of the most powerful special interest groups. host: bernie in pennsylvania, independent line. caller: i agree with liz cheney's sentiments there that we should stick with something other than grievance politics, which is something the country has evolved into. i have served on executive committees of the two-party system, republican party and democratic party, at the county level. both parties have left me, and i recently changed to independent. i do not want to see a return of the last election. i think most -- both parties should go out and look for new blood, and i think the country

should strongly think about another party running in the election system. i think the states should all go to an open primary. i think that will do the country best. we can get new blood into the system. because it is just not working for us on many levels. host: we're talking about presidential politics, but the governor's race in pennsylvania, big senate race, where is your mind on those fronts? caller: i am going to stick with josh schapiro. the other one is too far to the right for me. he is not very substantive. he is a very angry person. i have met josh schapiro and i have met mr. federman on the campaign trail. he has been here in pennsylvania 6, 7, 8 times. we kid about him being out here so much, and josh schapiro. as far as picking, i would go with josh schapiro. i think he has a proven track record. i think he works well.

host: another call from pennsylvania, democrats lined hello, debbie. caller: i agree with the last caller. we need new blood in their, and definitely -- we need new blood in there, and definitely not trump after everything he has done to this country. he has allied. he is a con artist. it is unbelievable but trump has done. and biden is trying to do his best, but the republicans love to obstruct everything he tries to do. and he is old, and he does fumble a little bit. but he should never run again. i think kamala harris should run against whoever the republican would be, hopefully it will not be trump. host: you started off by saying you need new blood, and you mentioned the vice president. why her? caller: because we need a woman for a change. we need a woman. i think she is very nice, very

well spoken woman, intelligent. and i think we need a woman in america for a president. it has been taking a long time. if not her, the lady from vermont, elizabeth warren. i like her, because she stick set for the american people. trump always said he was going to stick up for us, and i voted for him the first time. but when i saw that all he did was lie and he made the wealthy wealthier and the middle-class poorer, i gave up on that man. the people saying that biden is mentally ill, mr. trump is mentally ill. host: ok, let's hear from dennis in alabama, republican line. caller: i think that is kind of a ridiculous question. there is no doubt about it, trump, by far. we need to have someone strong

in our -- we need someone strong right now. we need law and order. it seems like we need a strong person in there, not a weak. and all that trump went through, and he is still fighting for our country -- if you look at it, who loves our country more? trump, what damage has he done? seems like the democrats don't want a strong person in there. they would rather have a weaker person, which they have a very weak person now. all that trump went through and he is still fighting, i cannot believe he is so strong. we don't need a wimp in office. i am ok with desantis and trump together. they are so smart, they can get a game plan together and out to

everybody. i like them both. host: one more call. good morning to you and your listeners. the role of the media is to educate and entertain. host: how does that relate to what we are talking about? we are running out of time so let's start there. guest:trump the economy contracted by 3.4%. the american people can find this information. just look at the trump numbers, bidens numbers while in office. you will see everything. host: what about the question at

hand. as far as a rematch in 2024, what do you think? guest: any presidency should be based on performance and if you look at trump's performance or bidens performance, he has been in office and he is the clear winner. that's based on facts. host: philip in california finishing this hour off. we have two guest joining us through the morning. we will be joined first by eric katz of government executive and we will talk about the government response to the hurricanes in puerto rico. later on in the program, mark wolfe the director of national energy assistance directors association. we will talk about the increase in heating prices this winter

and assistance for low income families. all of this is coming up on the "washington journal." >> judy shelton has been appearing on c-span since 1989. her first visit was on footnotes to discuss her book called " the coming soviet crunch". she worked with three presidential candidates including bob dole, ben carson and donald trump. president trump nominated her to serve on the board of the federal reserve. her selection for the fed was controversial and joe biden's administration withdrew her

nomination in february 2021. judy shelton on this episode of footnotes plus. it is available on the c-span now cable cap. app. >> attention high school students it is your time to shine. you are invited to participate in the studentcam documentary series. picture yourself as a newly elected member of congress. he asked this year's competitors what is your top priority and why? make a video showing the importance of your issue with posing and opposing perspectives. be bold, amongst the 100,000 in cash prizes is a $5,000 grand prize. videos must be submitted by january 20, 2023. go to studentcam.org for

competition rules, kids and a step-by-step guide. >> now available at the c-span shop, c-span's 2022 directory. go there to order a copy of the directory. this compact, spiral bound book is your guide to the u.s. government. also, contact information for state governors and the biden administration cabinet. order your copy today at c-span shop.org. every purchase helps support c-span's nonprofit organization. "washington journal," continues. host: this is eric katz from government executive to talk about the response to hurricanes. for people who are not familiar with government executive what

is it? guest: we cover the federal agencies and the workforce. host: one is the actions of fema. can you remind viewers the role fema has at this point as we have hurricanes bearing down on the united states. guest: what fema is doing now is pre-positioning supplies, getting people and materials ready. they are bracing in florida and alabama so they can deploy quickly. that includes things like dry foods, water, generators, things like that. they have thousands and thousands of reservist to deploy and are activated anytime there is an emergency situation and they help people on the ground. they give them good, shelter, water, power individually, help

people through the long-term recovery with financial assistance and flood insurance and things like that. in the immediate term, they focus on the acute needs and make sure they are fed and have shelter. host: how much coordination do they have with state and local governments and how much of a role do they take when they take the lead in these events? guest: they have relationships and emergency responders that the state and local level with governors and things like that. generally, in puerto rico they are taking a support role, they want the local people in charge. they coordinate the federal response, there are lots of agencies that play a part. fema is the one that takes charge. host: when it comes to money,

how much does fema have to's end on these events on the broadside? guest: it can be billions of dollars per event. in 2017, when we saw three major hurricanes in a row, congress had to keep appropriating more emergency funds. tens of billions of dollars they had to appropriate. generally, there is a reserve fund that they can tap into when they need it but occasionally, congress gives them more money when it is really serious. host: you brought up puerto rico, in light of hurricane maria, their power grid and flooding and the like, what did we learn this time around with hurricane fiona with what happened to the island in the response of fema to that? guest: fema officials have said

they were much better positioned this time in part because they had people there already that were working on the response. it is been five years since that happened but they are still just starting to rebuild right now. the advantage that they had, people could pivot to this response. so, they knew how to get those people in the right position quickly and they also had better relationships with people on the ground there and they had more materials prepared and. when maria hit they only had two warehouses of food and now they have five. they knew they were underprepared last time. they were able to send out way more employees, but there were

already 700 fema employees that lived and worked there full-time. that gave them a leg up to respond quickly. host: if they are there full time outside of a disaster situation, what are they doing in the meantime in their day-to-day roles? guest: trying to get the benefits out to the people who were affected by maria. unfortunately, that was most of the island. it took a long time and several years to get the dollars that were appropriated, dispersed throughout the island. there was some controversy to why that was. they are now trying to rebuild. obviously, puerto rico has taken a lot of heat for the state of their grid, their electric supply.

they were just starting to get underway of a more permanent project to improve the situation when fiona hit so that was a major setback. those employees that were there were working on those issues. trying to get the island better position so that they could sustain another disaster without the same sort of catastrophic impact that maria had. unfortunately, that work was not finished yet. so they are still dealing with a crisis situation. host: eric katz our guest from government executive if you want to ask about hurricane relief. it is (202) 748-8000 for eastern and central time zones, (202) 748-8001 for mountain and pacific time zones and (202) 748-8002 for elsewhere.

if you want to texas you can text us at (202) 748-8003. you talk about that money going to puerto rico. how much was slated to the commonwealth and how much made it there? guest: there were tens of billions of dollars that was slated to go. only about a third of that actually made it there in the big chunk of that was at the end of the trump administration. it took a few years to get out there. some of that has been obligated but not necessarily spent. some of the projects were slow to get off the ground. so, there is a lot of money available and one thing that has come up in the emergency response previously,

authorization to repair things as they were before the disaster. this time, they got money to make things better and rebuild in a way that was more sustainable and could allow the island to grow and sustain damage and away that would not knock out the whole system like we saw in maria. unfortunately, that work was not completed yet. there has been a complete shutdown in this case. although, they are slowly restoring power over the last few days. host: majority leader chuck schumer held a press conference talking about these events. one of the things he did talk about was money going to the island. he brought up some concerns and we will get your response. [video clip] >> we were able to deliver $21

billion, $21 billion to our fellow citizens in puerto rico. to deal with housing, health care, water and half of it went to power. $12 billion, this is not a lack of money. let me say this, listen to this, according to gao only 2% of the money has been spent. 2%, when the island was already devastated by maria and laid open to even more devastation by fiona. is that outrageous? while in large part that was due to the trump administration's callousness, and action and intransigence, it is also because of ongoing conflict for which resources should power

the island. half of that funding, more than half to rebuild the grid devastated by maria. while fema is working hard to support that effort, the ongoing conflict between the energy bureaus has stronghold it those efforts. instead of getting power to the people and making a resilient grid and locally based grid, they are busy fighting with each other. it is outrageous. host: let's start about that fighting between the federal government and local authorities. what is the senator referring to? guest: after maria, when they were trying to find the best way to rebuild the grid. a private contractor was brought on to help those efforts. the existing power authority has a role to play in this new private entity has a role to

play. chuck schumer is referring to the clash there in terms of who is in charge of what and how do they allocate the dollars properly and dealing with the puerto rican government on top of that has made it more complicated than intended when they sent these dollars or appropriated these dollars for that cause. host: the senator highlighted actions of the previous administration is the cause, can you elaborate? guest: the previous administration took criticism for being slow to respond when the storm first hit. there were storms happening elsewhere in the country, texas at the time. there was some criticism that they let puerto rico hang in the balance for a while. and they were slow getting those

dollars out the door. there was criticism for that. host: let's hear from jamaal in atlanta, georgia for our guest eric katz. caller: two questions, who makes the decision on what to spend money on? who makes the decision on whether to rebuild or relocate people who are affected by these things, natural disasters? if you look at louisiana and you have people who have been impacted, what is the point of rebuilding rather than relocating? who makes those decisions? host: jamaal there, thank you

jamaal. guest: in terms of where the dollars go, fema works on that with local entities and they also solicit information from the people impacted so they can give them financial assistance and disaster relief grants or small business loans to help them. and of course, there are other elements in the government to help with that. in order of the decision to rebuild or relocate, that is up to the individual. they received assistance for rebuilding or repairs as part of that, it's a complicated process. especially if fema is taking too long or too cumbersome for the individual.

obviously, every individual has to weigh that cost/benefit. they could go through this all again in certain areas, you have to get flood insurance. that is something every individual has to weigh. but the federal government isn't going to forcibly relocate you. host: again it is (202) 748-8000 for the eastern and central time zones, (202) 748-8001 for the mountain and pacific time zones. why is the federal government not dealing with the puerto rican government directly? why are there groups in between? guest: think of how you get your power at home, there is a third party to get power in your home. there's this other entity hired by the utility and all of that has created a complicated

structure and they all work in coordination. i don't want to suggest that it is every man for themselves down there with these entities. in terms of getting the dollars were they need to go and what projects need to be prioritized, it has slowed us down a bit. host: as far as the concerns about the government itself? are they meeting in washington dc or in puerto rico? how much of that is being coordinated there and here? guest: fema tries to be forward, on the ground to coordinate these efforts. they have coordinators for each disaster they respond to. a fema employee that as well experience and other agencies

will report to them. they handle interactions with the local government and figure out the best path forward for whatever accounts they have to tackle. they really do try the local decision-makers lead the charge. host: this is louis from pennsylvania. good morning. caller: hello, how are you guys? host: you are on with our guest. caller: the natural reserve, the gas, what happens if florida needs that? will we be impacted, will the price go back up? that is my question. host: you are asking about gasoline prices in light of hurricane disasters? caller: yes sir, that's it. host: that's louis from pennsylvania, what he think of

that? guest: we saw in 2017, and taxes when the oil refineries got hit. we were impacted by the hurricanes and it had a trickle-down impact on gas prices. in this case, obviously, a lot of the reserve which the caller mentioned was dispersed to deal with high gas prices. there is still reserve, i don't think we are at a risk of a critical gas supply situation because of the hurricanes. as far as i know, they are not on the path to affect that infrastructure. host: so, how did it perform? guest: the entire island had a power outage in the immediate aftermath.

speaking of gasoline, there was a run on that for generators to try to get their power back on in the interim. that cause a gasoline shortage there. the power is coming back more quickly than last time. there was a full week after maria when the island was without power. i think about two thirds of the customers have had their power restored. about half a million witches and extremely large number without power. they are working to repair that and every day has been going down but they are not there yet. host: was the power grid repair to pre-maria standards or improved? guest: the goal was to improve. they are not there yet.

the pre-maria grid, everyone was in agreement that was not a good situation and they had a lot of work to do. they were trying to rebuild it in a way that would be more durable and more sustainable. you heard senator schumer talk about that. the money that was allocated for that has not been spent. the majority of it has not been spent yet. the bickering over who is in charge, how to find the right projects, it is slow going. part of that was the money getting there later. it was slow going, but we can hope that after this, they can restart those projects they were working on to make a more resilient grid. host: this is dave from

lynchburg, virginia. caller: this is such a perfect snapshot at the federal government at work. one of our representatives give the money and then figure out what we will do. we throw money at every problem and then try to figure out what to do. there is so much waste. it goes into the process of trying to figure out how to help anyone at government's expense. why don't they use their money when i do when i put in a requisition to spend money. i think about it, i scrutinize it. i ring my hand so i don't spend too much of the company's money. why don't we do that for the sake of our grandchildren? what is the current debt load right now?

or-year-olds into-year-olds, how much do they owe right now based on what our government has been up until now? host: that was dave there in lynchburg. guest: the government, there is oversight of the spending. there is a government accountability office looking into it. so far, the problem has not been wasteful spending as much as being able to identify the projects to spend the money on. there has been some allegations of some fraud. generally that happens, there's a push to get the money out as quickly as possible. you want to do that without burdening the individuals or small businesses too much. sometimes i can lead to a lack of oversight. there are functions a place to

prevent that. in the case of puerto rico, like we were talking about, a lot of the money has not even been spent yet but they do have oversight in place to make sure that doesn't get carried away. in terms of just throwing money at the problem, things were broken, things were flooded, these wins came in and caused damage that needed to be rebuilt. you need to confront that problem with some funding. host: from twitter, the question of electric and phone lines being above ground. would it make sense to put underground cables in? guest: that is one of the things they may be looking at. i am not an expert and structure utilities. the grid there was antiquated

and patchwork and not designed with a lot of potentiality and how to make it resilient to the storms that they are vulnerable to. there is definitely a lot more thought going into how do we build this back in away that makes more sense and we will be able to sustain this type of damage without having a catastrophic event. people who are smarter than beer making those decisions. host: they asked about disaster of disaster in southern new york. people end up with new vacation homes, why does that continue without the building of infrastructure? let's go back to the oversight. we are putting these funds out there, what kind of oversight comes after the money is dispersed? guest: there is oversight and

terms of fema, they have layers in place. there is a process for that. you have to go through certain steps. dhs has its own inspector general that constantly evaluates every disaster and how to make things better and they deploy immediately to help that process. gao is the government wide and they have a role to play in this. give advice on how to do things more efficiently and how to identify fraud of prevent that from happening. host: we will see congress back in session before they go on break for campaigning. do you get a sense that puerto rico will be on the agenda?

guest: we have heard requests from representatives already. they asked the federal government take on 100% of the rebuilding cost. right now, it is at about 75%. they want the federal government to for all of it. we are coming up on the deadline and the biden administration has requested 6 billion dollars for emergency relief that is attached to the spending bill to keep those agencies funded. there is some wishy-washy about whether that will be included. republicans of said we don't need that or we can use leftover covid funds for that.

maybe now with the way these hurricanes have made landfall, there could be a little more of an appetite to provide those funds. host: one more call from ed, in new york. caller: good morning, quick question. i wanted to ask you a couple of questions. one for myself, i had a fema problem 12 years ago when that big storm came through new york. they were supposed to inspect my home that was destroyed by a local creek that ruined my house. i don't live in it. they were going to send a guy to give me an estimate and he calls me back the day before he shows saying that because it is not your primary residence, i was ineligible. all the rental homes on the jersey shore that were affected,

how come those homes who are not lived in by the owners but rented out for summer vacation and they are covered? ok fine, good question. the other thing about puerto rico, i had three friends of mine on the island during that one big storm that devastated puerto rico. the power grid is inadequate. there were wires out of the hills that look like car speaker wires. the hangers that they stored airplanes in were full of food, diapers, everything for the people. the government of puerto rico was making sure that their friends were getting the stuff first before the people who really needed it. number three, a friend of mine that worked there, he said there was so much crap going on with the government taking the goods.

he sought for himself in the airport on the island. guest: the government has taken some criticism for the way that it responded to maria. in addition to the federal government and how it is taken the money that the federal government has appropriated for it and what it has done without money. we talked about how there is little to show in terms of long-term improvements for the grid and the ability for puerto rico to sustain the type of disaster they went through with maria and we are seeing that now after fiona. there just has not been sufficient improvement and the citizens are feeling that.

generally, there is blame to go around and there is still money sitting there that can be spent. there is still hope that things can eventually get better the next time a storm comes through, we will not have such a devastating impact. host: the work of our guests could be found at government executive.com. we will talk about the likely heating increasing cost and what that will mean for assistance programs. national energy assistance directors association's representative joining us for that conversation. democrats (202) 748-8000, republicans (202) 748-8001, an independents (202) 748-8002. we will take calls and open

forum. "washington journal," continues. >> live sunday on in-depth, author, tv host and abrams media founder dan abrams will be our guest talking about u.s. legal history in the american legal system today. he is the author of several books in his latest book, "alabama versus king." joined in on the conversation with your calls, facebook comments for dan abrams, live, sunday at noon eastern on in-depth. on c-span2. the january 6 committee returns wednesday for another hearing ahead of their release of the

written report expected by the end of the year. you can watch the hearings live beginning at 1:00 p.m. eastern on c-span3, c-span now or anytime on demand at c-span.org. >> c-span's campaign 2022 coverages your front row seat to the midterm elections. watch it as it happens. speeches, meet and greets, debates and other events during this year's senate, house and gubernatorial races. you can take us with you on the go with c-span now our free mobile video app. your website for all your midterm election coverage. charts to track results from every race. c-span campaign 2022, your unfiltered view of politics.

"washington journal," continues. host: if you want to participate and open forum and you want to text you can do that at (202) 748-8003. you can post on various things at http://twitter.com/cspanwj and facebook at facebook.com/cspan. politico reporting that the president is set to travel to the demilitarized zone near korea to meet with service members and receive an operational briefing from u.s. commanders. it aims to reaffirm the united states alliance with south korea , according to the white house. the visit to the dmz will be a symbolic effort. we are working with you and

south korea. again, we will show you some more news as we go throughout the 45 minutes. it is open forum, the lines to call or text. let's start with josh on the democrat line. caller: good morning pedro. i just wanted to point out to the american people that there is the internet and a thing called google. stop listening to fox news and those who lie and lie and lie. simply go into google and type in u.s. oil production. oil production is 500 barrels less than when trump was in office. so, you can debunk the war on energy and oil. the u.s. economy under trump,

u.s. deficit, let's see right here. the deficit under obama was $8.95 trillion. in eight years, and for years, the deficit grew 8.7 8 trillion under trump. let's go to crime, murder by state. the top 10 states. host: apologies for that collar, bless here from illinois on the democrats line. caller: thank you from taking my call. i think our generation, i am 50 years old. our kids generation will have to realize that what is taking

place now is a function of the paralyses of ideas that did not exist in the 40's. there were not that many spigots of information that could allow any tom, dig or hairy together thousands of listeners. there was a betting process of just how informed people were just a few generations ago per four they could get a bigger microphone than their local town square. we have gone coo coo for cocoa puffs. there are people who feel validated for their ignorance because they hear it from a new source or from an information source that just because it is

on the interwebs, they think it is legitimate. we need a paradigm shift in this country to understand that just because you saw it, heard it on the internet, it does not make it so. host: let's hear from ken in arkansas on the independent line. caller: good morning pedro. the crazies running for the gop, we don't have a good candidate. joss hutchins from arkansas seems measured. their state is always in good shape. he may not be running for

president but i think you would make a good president. host: a couple of things to let you know. if you might be interested in watching, at 2:00 the heritage foundation offers what they are offering those supreme court preview. two former solicitor generals, they will look at the october supreme court term. you can see that a 2:00 eastern on c-span. watch on our local app, c-span now if you want to watch it there. later on, the rules committee will mark up the electoral calendar. to ensure that electoral votes tallied by congress accurately reflects the votes. you can see that on c-span now. later on this evening, an

interview at the economic club that will feature the white house economic council director. he will talk about biden's economic agenda, inflation, and the global economy as well. our main network is where you can see that at 8:00 and if you want to go to download the c-span app, you can do that there. scott from illinois on the republican line. caller: can you hear me? host: yes, you are on. caller: pedro, nice tie you have on today. i have three points i want to make here. first one, here in illinois in the last two days they have raised the gas price $.50 a gallon and i would like to know what is going on? it can't be the hurricane because it is to the far left.

secondly, the democrats scream about how the ukrainians are taking advanced to russia. russia has not broken out the big guns yet. they are just lining up to come back again. thirdly, my prediction is before biden exits, china will take taiwan. i appreciate anyone calling in to get their feedback. thank you very much. host: trent in alabama on the democrats line. caller: yes, how are you doing this morning? i have a question, do you think donald trump has a chance of winning the next election? if he does, what do you think the condition of america will be after that? could i get an answer for that? host: we have no guess, it is just me right now. tell me about why you asked the question? caller: i think donald trump did

a good thing for the country when he was in there. he did cause an insurrection. i think they might put him in jail or prison, the january 6 committee. but he said once he gets back in there, he would pardon all the people that took part in the insurrection. they called in the national guard just so biden could get inaugurated. i am just concerned about everyday life, the effects economically, gas prices skyrocketing, food prices skyrocketing. how can we raise our children in the near future? host: that was trent there in alabama. again democrats (202) 748-8000,

republicans (202) 748-8001 and independents (202) 748-8002. one of the things congress has to do is battle inflation in order to keep the federal government running and funded. here to talk about that is savannah berman. good morning, thanks for joining us. guest: thank you for having me. host: can you talk about the next step in keeping the government funded? guest: the senate will meet to vote to begin debate on the legislative vehicle known as the healing resolution which is a bill that would temporarily fund the government until mid-december. congress needs to do this by friday to avoid a government shutdown. that's not something anyone on either side of the aisle wants.

cena, chuck schumer, faces resistance on a reform provision to this spending bill. what happens today is really key for what happens during the rest of the week. host: can you elaborate on senator mansions input on this bill? guest: it was an agreement between him and chuck schumer for him to check off on the inflation act and they have attached reform to the spending bill. what this would do is green nine agencies to be able to go through some of those environmental reviews much quicker. in order to begin these projects. one of these projects would be permitted to move forward is the mountain valley pipeline which is a pipeline that runs from west virginia down into southern

virginia. this has been a positive thing to get republicans on board like west virginia senator. but has caused dire among progressives in the caucus. host: is there a scenario if there is not enough support for that legislation but if they cannot get it funded it will be removed from the legislation? guest: what happens today, if there is no cloture, they do not reach the 60 votes needed. schumer and pelosi have a tough decision to make. they will have to pass a bill without committee reform and that would give the senate time to work through that measure before friday's deadline. schumer could move a revised cr through and mcconnell himself does not want to see the

government shutdown. if the senate votes, the house would have to pass it quickly by friday to avoid that shutdown. i don't see a scenario where it goes easily through the upper chambers. there's too much resistance from both republicans and democrats on that. it will be very curious to see how it works out to make sure the government doesn't shut down. host: if i understand you correctly, the white house wanted to see $50 billion added to fun things like ukraine, covid relief and other matters. is that still part of the package? guest: some of that is still part of that package. there is $12 billion to help ukraine in their war against russia. there is a few million delegated to help europe in general in this fight. there is billions of dollars for

a disaster relief. programs and necessities for across the country and as far as covid funding, my colleague and i reported last week, that is something that would likely be taken out due to president biden's comment a few weeks ago saying the pandemic is over. that is something we will not likely see in the finished product. host: is there a scenario where the senate does pass it, what are the next steps to pass in the house? guest: for passage in the house, it will be hard because a lot of house members don't like reform. but they have to come to some sort of agreement between the chambers possibly pass what is known as a bridge funding bill. there is disagreements between the political parties and in the

chambers. congress needs more time, especially if they will pass congressional reform. host: she will tell us about the pending votes and the steps to keep the government open. thank you for your time today. guest: thank you for having me. host: another story is the budget office taking a look at the student loan cancellation plan, an estimated $400 billion over 30 years according to the congressional budget office. the president announced the plans to forgive 10,000 for borrowers who earn less than 125,000 year or under 250,000 if filing jointly. this adds that the cost of the

pause and student loan payments will cost $20 billion. analysis is done on that $400 billion figure. brenda from pennsylvania on the democrats line, thank you for waiting on this open forum. go ahead. caller: one of your previous cal lers mentioned that donald trump has been floating pardons for the january 6 rioters. this is just another example of how gullible his supporters are. donald trump was president on january 6. he could have issued a blanket pardon to everybody on that day or sometime over the next two weeks before he left office. what i find kind of amusing is that the rioters who built those

gallows, at the end of the day, president trump turned his back on his supporters and he left them hanging on capitol hill. i find that pretty amusing. the second thing is, 2016 donald trump condemned the electoral college and all of his supporters fell in line and demanded that the electoral college be done away with. when trump won by the electoral college, then it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. the same thing with warp speed vaccines. he campaigned for warp speed vaccines and they all said liquid trump is doing for the american people? when he lost, the vaccine became poison. this is how his supporters twist themselves into pretzels to support him. host: that was brenda in pennsylvania. a story about january 6 from the

washington post saying that five members of the extremist group oath keepers including steward rhodes will be charged with seditious conspiracy where they will try to convince jurors that rhodes called for eight armed civil war to keep trump in office. they went on to say that the prosecutor's challenge is to prove that rhodes, one of the biggest figures of the far right movement, intentionally conspired to prevent biden swearingen. the oath keepers ties to other political figures, it was an important step to a wider pro. nelson in san diego california on the democrats line, you are next. caller: good morning, this month is the 100th anniversary where mussolini marched into rome and now his party is in power.

in sweden too, they are trying to do it in france in trump here in america. we are going to authoritarian governments. i was a republican for four decades and am now an independent. i just know that trump will be president again. i worked for homeland, i was in the marine corps, i had security clearance. this is on excusable. the nato exercises we did, the wall with west germany. the level of freedom, people who support trump have this pragmatic view of supporting him. host: that was nelson from san

diego, california. an event in kentucky that was hosted by mitch mcconnell at the mcconnell center at the university of kentucky. the guest speaker kyrsten sinema , highlighting the fact that the mcconnell center was hosted by the minority leader. she did not support ending the filibuster. she also predicted that the democrats would lose the house this fall and this garnered a response from gallego tweeting, you could help our candidates rather than suggesting that dems lose control. they were able to capture her speech from yesterday at the mcconnell center, her statements about the filibuster and her

thoughts on it and here's a portion of that. [video clip] >> he house passes legislation that reflects the passions of the moment. they wanted a body that represented the passions of americans at the moment. they tend to be a little bit overeager. when republicans are in control, they pass their legislation and when democrats are in control they pass crazy legislation. the job of the senate is too cool that passion. there is a saying that the house is a cup of hot tea in the senate is the saucer in which you cool that tp the senate was designed to be a place that move slowly, to cool down those passions, to think more strategically in long-term about the legislation before us. most importantly, it was designed to require comity,

to have people work together. not just the passion of the moment. while it is frustrating as a member of the minority in the united states senate, it is equally frustrating as a member of the majority because you must have 60 votes to move forward. that frustration represents the short term angst of not getting what you want. those of you who are parents know, the best thing you can do for your child does not give them everything they want. that is important to the united states senate as well. we should not get everything we want in the moment because later, upon reflection, you recognize that you have probably gone too far. host: that whole speech is available on our website or on c-span.org, c-span now. lynn on the democrats line. caller: yes, hi.

listen, it feels as if people are not using common sense when it comes to what is happening with our economy. by the time biden got in there everything was going out. what people have to realize, when biden came into this thing campaigning saying that he will make sure that the rich will pay for this and that. here comes the conspiracy, everything was good before he got in there, why didn't not stay good while he was in there? the people who own the food industry, the gas industry, the utility industry, they decided because they are all republican ceos, i do believe some of these republicans in the senate and house. they know the ceos of these

corporations. so what are they due? we will make things look bad for biden so we will go up on everything and everything looks up biden. he does not own these industries? host: let's hear from david in new york on the republican line. caller: yes hello, i'm am calling in response to that caller about the espionage act going against president trump. in 2018, former president obama shipped thousands of boxes of confidential, they say, material, to a warehouse outside of chicago right next to an old furniture store. unsecured, unguarded, and nothing was done. the only thing obama had to do was send a letter to the

national archives stating to send them there. president trump sent them to a secure, gated, place of residence in mar-a-lago where they are secured. i believe there is a two-tiered justice system. host: as far as those claims about president obama, where did you get those from? david, are you there? caller: yes. host: as far as those claims about president obama, where did you pick those up from? caller: it is being reported through newsmax, it is being reported everywhere. another person said you could google stuff. i don't trust google, so i use other sources to search. host: back to david in new york.

we had a previous caller talk about the results of the italian election, garnering a response in "the new york times," the white house is looking at it. they said the near term success of giorgia meloni and the nationalist party, leaving her poised to become the next prime minister, should not hobble the u.s. led effort to unify europe for ukraine in the face of russian conquest. even though ms. maloni has espouse radical nationalist views and key members of her coalition openly suppose the european union and call for

friendlier relations with moscow , as a candidate she expressed support for nato and the defense of ukraine. -- explosive revelations of u.s. intelligence collection that cause massive headaches to the obama administration. they say this hurts national security and puts u.s. agents at risk. russia says the grant came at mr. snowden's request, but was also assigned that mr. putin still has some cards to play in a clash of wills with the west. caller: good morning. i have a couple points i want to make that the media seems to

have forgotten about. first of all, you have republicans on, you had bundy on this morning. they come on and say, we must back the blue, back to blue. how can you say back the blue when republican supporters of trump beat up the police at the capital? they beat up at the cap itol, and want congress to just give them a simple award. it was blocked by the republicans. this theme song we have, back the blue, whenever democrats try to add more money in the budget, put more police on the streets, they block it. the other points i want to make, any time we have a mass shooting, the first thing people say is well, they have some kind of mental problem. they look and sometimes in fact they do.

let me remind your audience that one of the first bills that donald trump passed, i mean signed, was a bill to allow 750,000 people who had been adjudicated, mentally ill, he signed a bill that would allow them to have guns. they were adjudicated. so ill they could not receive social security checks. those are the main two points i want to make. thank you for taking my call. host: don is next on the republican line. go ahead. caller: hi, this is don. i want to point out something very important about "insurrection." in the modern world, there is no such thing as an insurrection. edward blood whack is a political scientist that works for the reagan administration,

and he wrote several books on the subject. he even pointed out on a 3 million person uprising in france. in that uprising, the government was able to sustain itself. so to be able to say that 20 or 30 people that supposedly created an insurrection are capable of taking down the u.s. government it's completely idiotic. for anyone to say the january 6 "insurrection" was taking down the governments, they should read more about modern governments. host: don in florida, republican line. nasa reports his -- or usa today reports its latest

mission success, crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid should asteroid ever threaten humanity. the spacecraft collided with the estimated 11 billion asteroid at 14,000 miles per hour, hitting about 55 feet from the asteroid's center. you can see the full event on our website, c-span.org, but here is the moment it successfully hit the asteroid. >> wow. oh my goodness -- 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 -- oh my gosh. [applause] >> awaiting visual confirmation. >> all right. [applause] >> we've got the signal?

we've got the signal! >> and we have impact. [cheers and applause] >> we have enabled planetary defense. >> fantastic. host: another nasa related story -- because of the hurricane related situation in florida, nasa says it will once again delay the launch of artemis one, which will eventually return astronauts to the moon. this time, because a hurricane was barreling towards the florida coast. they will not be able to attempt another lodge for at least three weeks. another caller, bill in kentucky. independent line. go ahead. caller: yes. i am old enough to remember the church commission. i remember if any -- wonder if anyone else remembers. it was filed by a democratic

senator that looked into the operations of the f ei. you can go back to the days of j edgar hoover, ok? the fbi had been a corrupt organization off and on over the years. not all of the time, but a lot of the time. muller went in there to clean it up because they were falsifying evidence in order to secure convictions. when you have an agency as powerful as the fbi that can get away with this nonsense considerably year after year after year, there is a major problem there and it needs to be corrected. the problem is not democratic or republican, it's a problem of the deep state. the deep state really exists, it really, really does, and people should come to realize that. they need to go back to the church commission. host: let's go to roxanne in spartanburg, south carolina. democrat line. caller: hello, how are you

doing? host: i'm well, and yourself? caller: fine. i wanted to make a comment about donald trump. it amazes me that the people who cater to him and love him, this man, if they see him on the street, he would not even want to be near these people. he is a german folk. how can you love somebody who won't even touch you if you needed to be touched? he is running scam and i am wondering how ordinary people can send a billionaire money? he should be able to pay his own bills, and that's apparently one thing he doesn't like to do. it's like, people, wake up. he is using everybody. you go to his speeches, he says the same thing over and over. you can just look on youtube or the internet if you want to hear the same thing over and over

again. it's astonishing. host: roxanne in south carolina. to her point, you can see the speeches of the former president on c-span.com. you are that she.org. you are welcome to do so. the 49th governor of new jersey was swept out after one term and a wave of anti-tax backlash. he died sunday at the age of 85, and his one term as governor, he pushed some of the consequential policies of the generation. not all of them were popular, including offering a federal superfund site law, overhauling car insurance to lower rates for drivers, and cutting spending and raising taxes, a decision that ended his political career. frank is next, frank in florida. republican line. you are next. caller: good morning.

i would like to mention the abortion issue. that's apparently one of the leading issues in the campaign. the democrats accused the republicans of being extremists on that issue. well, actually, in reality, the democrats are the extremists, because they allow no exception. they advocate abortion right up to the minute before birth. that's extreme. all the pro-life states have exceptions for the life of the mother and most of them also have exceptions for rape and incest. in florida, for example, they have a 15 week band, but with exceptions -- 15 week ban, but with exceptions, for the life of the mother, rape and incest.

the democrats are the extremists on that issue of abortion. host: frank there. let's hear from peter in silver spring, maryland. caller: thank. to respond to the previous caller, i don't know a single democrat who thinks you should have an abortion up-to-the-minute of birth. none of them support that. that this information that's being given out by the conservative media. the real reason i was calling was to talk about the economy. obama spent eight years slowly rebuilding our economy to the point that it was strong, and trump completely benefited. from the eight years that obama spent with my old slow improvement to our economy. trump blew in four years.

biden comes in, he's got the pandemic, which crushes the entire world infrastructure, creates an economic crisis. then you have the war in ukraine , which disturbs every energy system that we have to try to provide energy, all of that shot the price is way up, and it is biden's inheritance of the world situation, not what he did wrong. if it was biden's fault, the united states would be the only country facing an economic crisis, and it's not. the entire world is facing an economic crisis, and we should be working together to solve it, not blaming people who inherited the problem. host: peter in silver spring, maryland. axios reporting a new study done by the study for the national center of exoneration, saying black people are more likely than white people to be falsely convicted of serious crimes and

spend more time in prison before exoneration. black people also represent third -- 13.6% of the population that account for the registry in 2022, in it, black americans r 7.5 times more likely to be convicted of murder then innocent white people. the operations of black defendants were almost 50% more likely to include misconduct by police officers. there is more there and a link to this national registry of exoneration if you want to look at it, a story being reported by axios. derek in shepherdsville, kentucky. republican line. caller: hello? host: hello, you are on. caller: yes, i'm responding to the lady from south carolina. i think president trump is doing a great job, campaigning here to people in different states.

he helped our economy out the last four years, and any other person had not done it. that man did it. he ran our unemployment down lower. you got joe biden there, he messed everything up. he has closed the pipeline and 4000 people lost their jobs. host: ok. go ahead and finish your thought, darrell. caller: ok. i think you ever voted for joe biden, the election was stolen, and rudy giuliani has the proof on videotapes, in eight, that the ballot had been stolen by president trump. host: they take a look at some of the races that will be determining factors in the senate, including changes.

he highlights one senate race shifting towards democrats, arizona senator mark kelly. three house seats shift towards democrats, and one house race shifting toward republicans, oregon's sixth district, which is leaning democratic to tilting democratic. the highlights, people are paying attention to the midterm election. one more call -- miriam in massachusetts. go ahead, you are on. caller: thank you for taking my call. i'm curious, the lady talking about trump not paying taxes, biden knows taxes, he is paying off people's college bills, rich people, people that graduated from college with poor people's money. the supply chain -- the vaccinations that don't work and pelosi making everyone wear our

mask. it's ridiculous. there was a 16-year-old girl in amherst, massachusetts that was a cross-country runner and had a heart attack and died. look at all the people having problems with blood clots and heart attacks. they keep telling people to get this vaccine. it does not work. host: that's the last call for this open forum. thanks 12 or participated. our next guest will talk about what's going to happen when it comes to energy prices, particularly home energy prices and what that means for those on the lower income scale. that's mark wolfe, executive director of the national energy assistance directors association. he will be right back after these words. ♪ >> the up-to-date and latest in publishing with book tv podcasts about books, with current

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and other events throughout the day. catch washington today for a fast-paced report of the stories of the day. listen to c-span any time, just tell your smart speaker, play c-span radio. c-span -- powered by cable. >> 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. >> washington journal continues. host: this is mark wolfe, executive director of the

national energy assistance directors association. can you describe your organization's work? guest: the national energy assistance directors association runs the largest federal program designed to help low income families and will ruto families pay their home energy bills in the winter, as well as other things. host: as far as their demands, what does winter mean as far as paying bills? guest: it is extremely expensive, pedro. paying bills can be extremely expensive, and we have seen that the average cost of home energy this winter will actually be 17% to 20% higher than last year. that means a family using natural gas, for example of a spend over $900 to heat their home.

a family using heating oil will spend over $2000. it's a lot of money over the course of the winter. host: $952 is the average for those using natural gas, that's an increase of 2021 to 2020 two. electricity, $1300, and heating oil, $2100. propane, $1800, and although you'll cost together, at $1200 increase compared to what we saw in 2021. where are those numbers coming from and what is causing them? guest: one of the things causing them was the high cost of cooling last summer. to help cool their homes, they had to draw down supplies of natural gas. during the summer as well as during the winter, the use heat their homes in the winter roads about --50% of homes use

natural gas, and it's very high, higher in the last 12 to 15 years. that's amplified by war in ukraine, because there is not much we can export, but it still adds pressure here. host: if that's the case and there are higher prices, what's the demand on the program and what can they meet during these times? guest: we are extremely worried. we only have enough funding to help one out of six eligible households. but i heard that congress and continuing resolutions added an extra 100 billion dollars, which will help a lot. we have an extra $5 billion, but are not only worried about heating, but other programs. you had two years now a very, very hot temperatures in the summer, but that's the normal.

we don't have enough money to help this weight heating and cooling bills. the long-term concern is that we don't have enough money to help and families are struggling to pay these bills. host: what about those who receive assistance? what determines who gets that? guest: it's not an entitlement, it's a first-come, first-served program. but we have three priorities. families who are elderly, england over the age of 60, or if they have young children. those are high-priority households. we also look at, are they behind on their energy bill, anything that helps keep them connected. although they have enough money to help, these are some of the most vulnerable families. our concern, people who were able to pay their home energy bil last yearl or year before

will not be able to. this is because of inflation across things like food, rent. families are being used. one of the major concerns is the enhanced child tax credit, which provided more payments to low income families. that ended in december, so that is taking away a resource. host: you said 50% of homes heat their homes of natural gas. 50 million plus in the united states when it comes to electricity. 42% of homes, 5 million depending on heating costs, 6 million homes depending on propane. natural gas is the driver as far as the capability of producing natural gas -- what does it compare to those using it to heat homes? >> natural gas production decline during the pandemic.

it's not so much the production, it's because we had such a hot summer. that used up a lot of reserves. the other thing you have to remember, the price of heating that natural gas and electricity depends on where you live. the northeast, its primary natural gas that generates electricity. at last, it's hyper. that doesn't change the price -- it's hydro out west. that doesn't change the price. there are some press releases from utilities in the northeast that talk about 40%, 50% increases, so higher than the national average. across the country, it's potentially a very serious problem now developing. now, it's still september, so prices could change in a few more days. see natural gas rollout of the love from the reserve, but we don't know. part of what we are thinking

congress is, both. as we go forward, the year from this point, all signs look toward very high prices. we need to prepare for that rather than in february, being out of money. that was a concern. some people turned down the heat to low and the price increased, health issues. we don't want to see that happen. host: we have divided the line differently, particularly those who believe this is an economical point of view. call (202) 748-8000 if you make up to 65,000 dollars, and if you make over $65,000, (202) 748-8001. what defines income in this program? guest: states have considerable discretion, but most families

get energy assistance at less than $35,000 a year. host: we saw this as part of the pandemic. how much of it is still in existence? guest: we received an extra $4.5 billion to help families hundred the 3.8 billion in appropriations. that will be used up by the end of this month, so we are concerned that the environment has not really changed that much. the amount of money they have to work with will be considerably lower. host: which will impact the helping of one out of six, i imagine. host: no, we have enough to help one out of six, but applications are going up. people are worried.

host: if you look at other events happening in the united states, we are seeing prices for gasoline go down, and you're still seeing these home heating prices rise. what's with that disparity? guest: natural gas is separate from heating oil. they are different fuels and not priced the same. natural gas skyrocketed primarily because of supply. heating oil, oil supplies have gone up and they track global prices for petroleum where natural gas is more to muster be priced. that's the difference we are seeing. i think the thing people don't often recognize, we are coming off a very, very hot summer. many people have much higher cooling bills than they had last year. some fell behind on payment of bills, on top of all debts,

which utility bills almost doubled in fact, through the pandemic. but we could have is, in some ways, the worst of all worlds. it's close to 16 billion now, and those numbers could go out. that's why we asked congress for more funding. we are looking at a situation that is just unaffordable, because families can't plan worse. the little problems like supply -- you can plan based on what you know. what we know, we had 5, 6, 7 years of very cheap energy and it ended last year. what we are worried about, lower income, even for the link on families, their budgets have been squeezed. we are now going into a winter

with more increases. that's why we asked congress for more funding. as mentioned, we are seeing a lot of work thinking about how the nation can address temperatures and climate conditions. what's the strategy to help families have access to affordable pooling, and in the context of not often making the environment worse? the more temperatures rise, we have a considerable problem there. part of what we do as an organization is think about how to do things in the most energy efficient way possible. that's important, because otherwise you see more in emissions, higher prices, all the things that work to the detriment of families. host: mark wolfe in this

conversation. we will start off hearing from him, the line under $45,000. go ahead. caller: democrats in washington, d.c., they have owned it because of energy and everything, and hopefully with the money and greed and power they want to bear, we can change things since november. thanks for taking my call. guest: well, thanks for your question. one thing that's difficult for democrats and republicans on this issue, the federal government does not control energy prices. even though, for example, the president wanted to push down the price of oil, he has limited tools. in the case of natural gas, the president has no tools. does not control the price of natural gas or propane.

as we go into this winter, the only solution i can see right now, we need additional federal funding to help the most vulnerable families in our country pay these high bills until supply increases, prices come down -- it looks like we are heading towards a recession. whatever it is, we have to help families get through this winter. host: our next caller in florida. hi. caller: hello, pedro. how are you, sir. host: i'm fine, go ahead. caller: mr. wolfe, how are you, sir? guest: i'm fine, go ahead. caller: my question is specifically about natural gas and propane. people were frantic about why it was so high in the summer and how can we sit? to pay in the wintertime of natural gas and propane? how can democrats and republicans fix that kind of

problem so we can afford it? guest: the best solution is efficiency. at the end of the day, the amount of money you spend heating your home with natural gas and electricity depends on the price of the fuel, so there is an effort to increase efficiency homes, especially lower income homes. the inflation reduction act included $900 billion for residential efficiency. at the end of the day, the less energy we use, the less demand there will be for the fuel and the lower the vices. host: this is a viewer on our twitter feed, asking how many homes are truly energy-efficient ? guest: that's a very good

question. i don't have an exact number -- my sense is that it varies across the country. california, massachusetts, new york have active programs where families can retrofit their homes. you see some other states to guarantees, for example, utilities in illinois that provide low-cost and in some cases free audits for families to do thermal imaging. others, improvements. what i think the important thing is, we need a national campaign to do this. we need a systematic roach to look at every home, look at every way people can do cost-effective improvements, and pay for it. that's another way to reduce demand. help people retrofit their homes and reduce energy demand. in the short run, we have these bills that have to be paid. host: from virginia, this is

carrie. you are next. caller: hi, this is the first time i am getting through and calling. i have been watching you since the 1980's. i love your show and thank you for having this question on. i am aware that one of the biggest problems is that a lot of the new energy-efficient techniques, i wouldn't say they are that new, but more modern techniques, like adding solar and wind to areas only lessons the bills by a certain percent. poor people can't do things for their homes or afford these technologies. but if you have a community that's living near a windfarm or a solar area that's available to add into the public, or a

nuclear facility, how much is that going to affect the price of the fuel and cost of energy if those things are affecting this situation? guest: that's a good question. there are long-term solutions and short-term solutions. long-term solutions are making solar more accessible to households, increasing the use of wind. nuclear is a mixed bag because of the cost -- it's very expensive and there are safety issues, but that also applies to large-scale hydro. there are questions about the impact on the environment of creasing the use of hydro -- of increasing the use of hydro facilities. the biggest thing we can do is low-cost improvements.

adding installations to people's homes, looking for leaks in the doors and the windows, turning on the thermostat at night. those are short-term solutions that could help families get through this winter, but the long-term solutions are thinking about shifting away from fossil fuels, which are very volatile on the pricing and it makes it difficult for families to plan for the winter when you don't know what it is going to cost. even when we did our estimates, these were a week ago, and i was looking at the underlying fuel sources, supply and demand, and this is the first year in five or six years that i came up with several options of well, if this happens, this is the price. it's very difficult in this volatile situation for regular families to plan for this winter. host: this is a viewer off of twitter.

lynn saying, in the 1970's and 1980's, it was worse. they called their utilities and were put on budget plans. how much of that is an option? guest: that's still an option. you can spread your bill over the course of 12 months. the problem this year, lots of families fell behind last winter, and then the cooling this summer. budget plans work when prices are predictable and you don't have debts from the previous year. in the 1970's and 1980's, people who used electric and natural gas, about 10% were behind on a bill. now it is 20%. budget billing clearly helps, because you can spread costs around, especially if we have a cold winter. but the problem becomes, if you

have a cold winter on top of a very hot number and the next summer is also hot, the average divided by 12 will still be too high to afford. host: from joe in connecticut, you're next. good morning. guest: mike -- caller: my comment has to do with the spoiled american population. i grew up in a family of 10 in a two bedroom, one bath summer home in the northeast. my parents did not accept anything from the government, but worked hard. we survived and everyone did well. in the winter, you had to wait in the morning to get the stove going just to have heat. it's amazing to me that all of these people that have called now and they want more money from congress -- congress doesn't have any money. that's the american taxpayer. it's the middle class. the superrich are spoiled, even more so.

i will use the water in california example and keeping the heat as high as they need. the problem is the american people are spoiled and our congressmen and politicians don't have a clue as to what's going on. thank you very much. i don't think there is a solution. guest: one of the reason we advocate for more funding for the low income federal assistance program -- we do not advocate as much as we are an educational organization that talked to congress about what the need is. one thing that's different about energy, the amount of energy a family uses does not increase proportionally with their income. a lower income family can spend 15%, 20% of their budget on home energy during the worse of the year. that's an enormous burden, but you can't plan for a war in

ukraine where that could push the amount of money that you spend on energy to 25%. higher income families, because the amount of energy used does not increase, might be using 3% to 4% of their income. we are looking at this as a challenging issue for low income families that, because prices are going up so fast and so high , the federal government has to step in and help them, because you cannot plan for those kinds of increases. host: and most of our viewers know about the strategic petroleum reserve. is there a similar reserve for heating oil? guest: there is in the northeast, but it is not that large. it's designed for short-term supply issues, and heating oil is a refined product, as opposed

to the oil and the reserves. that reserve was designed to address national shortages, problems in the petroleum markets. other countries have it as well, but do not have reserves for heating oil. that's one of the problems as we look towards the winter. because these prices are set globally, they would only be used if there is a short-term supply issue. that could happen because of weather conditions up there. you could have a tough winter, there could be delays and shipments, and that's when they would tap that reserve. host: i asked because others are asking the president to release that. guest: it would not make that much difference. it would help. it would send a psychological message, but it is only september. i don't want to downplay the help it would bring, but it is not a deep reserve. it would not make a huge difference in terms of supply. host: here is mike, in grand

rapids, michigan. caller: i think the biggest problem is, we don't have any additional supply added on. they have lng gas going to europe, which we are guaranteeing double what they would naturally get. we are sending our extra supply over there without increasing our production, and that production, we need to have to support all these electric cars being, you know, being, using data electric -- that electric to keep that running. we have a 100 year supply of natural gas and it is clean and efficient. we just need to get over this time period until we have other ways to produce. thank you. guest: thank you for your question. we have limited capacity to ship natural gas abroad.

in a sense, it's unfortunate, prices in europe right now are double, triple, much higher than they are in the u.s. because they are dependent on supplies from russia and russia has turned off the tap. our supplies are domestic and 90% of them are used in the u.s., which is why our prices are lower. that's a good question going forward. what is the amount of natural gas we are willing to sell and what happens when you have a situation like this, where there is global demand? right now, the answer is it is limited because of the limited number of facilities. host: this is richard, hello. caller: hello. i am in old man, i have been a carpenter for about 60 years. so i was house making in the 1970's, when we had to drive 55

miles per hour. the gentleman who built houses in california, he set out there, we are using our ceiling at 7'6" instead of eight feet. we are saving people a lot on cooling. i have a house and heated and cool it with one air conditioner in the summer. it sounds silly, but most doors are only seven feet. you don't use the space up there , but you know, people see the traffic and think there is an unlimited supply of gas. we better look at our safe stuff. thank you for taking my call. guest: you got a really good

point there. the main issue, it's not just the price, it's the amount you use. every step we can take to reduce demand, reduce the amount of oil and natural gas that we use helps to take pressure off markets and at the same time, helps the environment, obviously, because we are burning less fossil fuels. part of the solution is efficiency. reduce the amount of energy we use to reduce the cost and the impact on the environment. host: this is a view texting us, saying in new york state, we pay some of the highest prices per kilowatt hour for electricity. what part of this does the corporation reap where they are gouging? guest: that's a good question that comes up a lot. the system in place to charge for electricity and natural gas is based on two things.

the delivery system -- you have to get the natural gas, the electricity, to the business that is using it. public commissions, state-level commissions that regulate service utilities, do not allow utilities to pass -- i'm sorry, do not allows utilities to charge profits on the fuel. when natural gas goes up, utilities pass on their cost of natural gas. even though the prices are going up considerably, it's not because of price gouging. it's because of the underlying cost of fuel. host: let's hear from john in virginia. hi. caller: yes, my name is john. i want to know, what part the state taxes play in the increase of gas prices? a couple of years ago, i worked at a gas station. the way we determine -- well,

i'm sorry, how we knew to raise and lower gas prices was because a message came across, saying state taxes either went up or went down. can you explain that more to me about how state taxes affect the rise and fall of gas prices? guest: that's a good question. some states are variable, some have a fixed price on gasoline. the states that have taxes, it is a sales tax, usually. again, when the cost of home energy goes up, there is a small percentage that goes to sales tax. other states do not charge sales tax -- it depends on where you are. host: john in virginia -- from texas, we will hear from thomas. caller: good morning, everybody. get your quilts out, it looks like it is going to be cold. how many new refineries have been built and how many were

closed? guest: i don't follow that issue very closely. the refineries, of course, are for oil. but i don't follow that closely. i am aware of couple have closed or been down for maintenance, and that's the part of has been driving the increase in heating oil, but that's not something i follow closely. host: how do they fight back against it? what's the extreme cases you hear about? guest: what i would do if i was worried about paying my energy bill this winter, first, if you are eligible for the energy assistance program, see if you can sign up. the second thing i would do, take a good look at your house. we offer home energy audits --

representative will come through and go through your house, looking for leaks. they can reduce the loss of heating, but the other is to install a programmable thermostat, to turn down the heat at night. every one degree down gives your home energy bill 2%. if you can turn it down from 70 degrees at night to 65 degrees, you can save 10% on your energy bill. and if you are looking for lobbies for assistance, ask to be put on a budget billing plan and if they have any other suggestions to stay connected through the winter. host: are the concerns broken down between homeowners and renters? guest: renters have less control. you might not be able to make these improvements. you are not responsible for tuning up your furnace and in some cases, the landlord does

not take care of the property. those aren't things you have control over, but you do have control over appliances. and many utilities have requirements that if you are elderly or disabled, or have a pre-existing health condition, you cannot be turned off over the winter. host: our next caller, hi. caller: hello, pedro. i wanted to ask our guest a couple of questions. the first question, to get this assistance program helping me and my mother and father, when you apply for that, how long does it take for you to be, you know, to get the assistance? and how long does it usually take for them to get the assistance?

the second question, do you have to prove that you are united states citizens of get this assistance, or can from people who are here from -- i have neighbors who are going to need it and i can't really say their status, but they tell me they are noncitizens. are noncitizens allowed to apply for this and get it? in erie, pennsylvania, it is terrible. we have horrible winters up here. it seems to me like the gentleman who was talking a little while ago from connecticut about how he was, there's a lot of families that are still growing up like that and keeping the temperature at a decent temperature is just costing more and more. i know up here in erie, pennsylvania -- and i wanted to as pedro a question.

we have not seen any gasoline prices below three dollars, but i heard the president on television yesterday saying there are several states where the price of gasoline is below three dollars. pedro, i'm wondering if you knew those states? i have a lot of friends that drive around here and they say in erie, pennsylvania, it is nudging back up to four dollars a gallon for regular. diesel never came down, it is still around $5.50 for a gallon of diesel. it's just terrible. host: i will stop you there, only because you put a lot out there. i do not know the answer to your question, but we will let our guest pick up the rest. a couple guest: -- guest: a couple of very good questions there. prices vary by region, so as the president said, there are a

number of cases where gasoline is below three dollars. it also depends on how much competition there is in the area. we have seen a lowering of the price, but in variations of how much is being charged, in terms of applying for energy systems -- again, i am generalizing across the country, but it is usually pretty wake. most states do not ask about family assets and savings, which speeds up the process very quickly. 6 million families a year get assistance, but we have to move a lot of people through the program. in the case of pennsylvania, they accept applications and try to move families quickly. one thing to look at is to see when you start seeing applications. it might be the middle of october. people use them in a week,

because we are only asking about income and what your home energy bills are. that tends to speed up the process. the second thing, it asks about citizens -- and most cases, you have to be legally here. if you have a green card, you still qualify. that's the difference. the idea is to make assistance available as quickly as possible to families in need to help them pay these bills. the other thing that i mentioned, if you can't figure out where to apply in your local community, call your local utility. usually they know. host: to answer your question, caller, it's not exhausted by any means, but prices below three dollars, the fox outlet in pennsylvania listing them, and in connecticut, saying gas prices are dropping as well. jeannie in texas, hello. caller: yes, hi.

thank you for taking my call. i live in texas and gas prices are below three dollars a gallon where i live. but an hour from where i live, their housing developments going in. housing development after housing development in each direction. why can't builders be enticed into putting solar panels on each one of those new houses and feeding that power back to the grid for usage when they don't consume as much as they need? i am looking at all these rooftops sitting in the blaring son and i am just thinking, that such a waste of a utilization to help feed our grid, by using the solar panels. there are hundreds and maybe

thousands of homes being built down in texas. maybe you can shed some light on why that is not happening. angst. guest: 1.i can make about your initial comment, part of it is supply and delivery. in texas, you have wells and you drill. the cost of getting gasoline to a consumer, it's lower. in new york, pennsylvania, it has to get to pennsylvania, for example, and there is a cost there. that's why prices are higher there, in addition to competition and other things that helped set the price. part of it is getting the fuel to you. are are differences in prices across the country, partly driven by the cost of getting the natural gas to the consumer. your other points, shouldn't we put solar in our developments? i completely agree, but that either plays to the local building requirements or the economics.

if you put solar on new buildings and new houses, it will increase of the cost -- increase the cost of the house initially. even though it can be extended over 20 years. the builder wants to get that money back, so the market doesn't support it on an involuntary basis. the only way to mandate that is part of building codes. for example, you have to put in a heating system. why not say you have to put in a solar powered cooling system? it's building codes. it's easier for the developer to recoup those costs. host: this is a viewer in ohio, john. good morning. caller: hey, you mentioned a while ago that the president does not have any control over prices of natural gas. i beg to differ. i have been watching the commodity markets for years and

when biden got in office, one of the first things he did was say, no more drilling for oil and gas on federal lands. instantly, the price jumped from between two and three dollars per million db use up to nine dollars. it has come back since then, to $6.77 right now, but that is borderline triple what it was when trump left office. now, if biden said we are going to open up federal lands to natural gas, the price would drop back to where it was. do you agree with that? host: ok. that's john in ohio. guest: that's a good question,

but i don't agree with it. here's the way i am looking at it -- opening up federal lands or increasing drilling is a long-term solution. i think there are clearly pros and cons to that in terms of the environment, what makes sense to do, but it is not a short-term solution. we cannot overnight increase supply. right now, we are looking at tightness in markets largely driven by the high temperatures of last summer, the dwindling domestic supply that pushed up price. same thing happened last year -- the electric industry and the gas industry was not expecting the kind of hot summers we have seen. part of this is planning ahead now. if in fact this is the new normal and we are going to have much hotter summers going forward, we have to start planning how much natural gas the country is going to need. that really is a drilling issue.

how you get that supply? in order to open up the field, it is multi your planning, you have to recoup funds. if you are a gas company, you are looking at, does that make sense in terms of increasing efficiency and the energy economy and the increasing use of solar and renewable energy. we have a couple of questions that need to be thought about, but it's not as simple as increasing drilling. if it was that would be great, but i don't think that's the answer. host: thanks for your time. another addition of washington journal comes your way tomorrow morning. see you then. ♪

>> here is what is coming up live today. at noon eastern, the fema administrator greece reporters on the administration's hurricane ian response efforts. -- starting in october. and at 4 p.m., the senate will committee considers a bill to reform the electoral count act to ensure the electro -- electoral act votes -- we will bring you a conversation on the biden administration policy agenda with white house economic council director. you can watch all of these events live on c-span and you

can see today's white house briefing and the senate rules hearing on c-span now or online at c-span.org. >> the january 6 committee returns wednesday for its night hearing. ahead of their release of the written report. you can watch the hearing live at 1 p.m. eastern on c-span three, c-span now or anytime on demand at c-span.org. >> live sunday on in-depth, author, tv host danny abrams will be our guest talking about u.s. legal history. he is the author of several books including lincoln's last trial and his latest book.

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crashing a small unmanned spacecraft into an asteroid with the attempts to redirect be trajectory. the spacecraft was launched in november and traveled 7 million miles in space to reach the target. the mission is being studied as a possible method of defense against celestial objects that have a threat to earth. >> good evening. i am rough -- i am thrilled to be able to announce the successful conclusion of nasa's double asteroid redirection test. for the first time, humanity is debtor -- the impact of dart into