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-- guest events --biggest events all at your fingertips with the c-span mobile app. c-span now is available at the apple store. download it for free today. ♪ host: good morning. it is saturday, november 26th, 2022. thanksgiving weekend. republicans will take control of the house in january and are

about to launch several investigations of the biden administration, including the withdraw from afghanistan and hunter biden's dealings and the department of justice. we are asking you, which investigations do you support? give us a call by party affiliation. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can send us the text on (202) 748-8003. send your first name and city, state. we are on social media. welcome to "washington journal." before we get started, i want to show you a list of some of the gop investigations they have suggested they will be launching next year. foreign business dealings of

hunter biden, the department of justice investigation into former president trump, the u.s. withdraw from afghanistan, the origins of the covid-19 virus and the southern border. regarding the southern border, kevin mccarthy is the current gop leader of the house, he was in el paso, texas. he promised an impeachment investigation if he does not resign. >> we have lost operational control of our southern border. including human trafficker. they have fired shots at our national guard. they put ak-47s pointed at us. helicopters. they have burned, hung, raped women and caught them on fire. secretary mayorkas thinks the border is secure.

he has blocked ice and border patrol from enforcing our laws while vilifying them at the same time. do you realize what that has done? in the last 10 days, three border patrol agents have committed suicide, a total of 14 this year. a number we have not seen in decades. he ended the remain in mexico policy and once to end --wants to end title 42. his actions have produced the greatest wave of illegal immigration in recorded history. our country may never recover. secretary mayorkas' dereliction of duty. i am calling on the secretary to resign. he cannot and must not remain in that position. if secretary mayorkas does not

resign, house republicans will investigate every order, every action and every failure will determine determine whether we can begin impeachment inquiry. if secretary mayorkas was in charge of any company, he would have been fired by now for the failures he has caused. the american public deserves more, deserves better and expects more within their government. enough is enough. host: that was kevin mccarthy, who is poised to become the speaker of the house next year. take a look at this from the morning consult. this was a pull from them and from politico. the top priorities for the next congress to investigate. this first column is all voters, and then it is democrats and

republicans. the top one was fentanyl trafficking coming into the u.s. the next is, operations at the u.s. mexican border. the third is the infant formula . we will start taking your calls and hear which investigations you support. the first is steve from san jose, california on the republican line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i want to add my voice to the support of two investigations. however, i firmly believe there is more. one is the hunter biden laptop.

we know for a fact that 51 intelligence officials prior to biden's inauguration stated that they did not believe it was real. they said it was russia disinformation. we know the fbi went to social media and said, basically, stop the story. we also know that biden and the democrats prevented the -- how should we say? -- suspicious activity reports that the banks have to file from ever becoming known. that is suspicious in and of itself.

we also know that had the american public known about what was going on in regard to the laptop, i hear at least 7% would have strongly reconsidered voting for biden. host: the second one, you said there were two. caller: the next one is at the border. it is unconscionable, it is almost criminal that 70,000 people lost their lives in regards to fentanyl. during the whole vietnam conflict, we only lost 55,000, and yet biden does not want to stop the flow of immigrants because he eventually wants to make them democratic voters and that is unconscionable.

he is responsible for those deaths, because if he had not done anything and just left the trump doctrine in regard to the border in place, we would not have this problem and those people would be alive today. host: ann is next in greensboro, north carolina. democrats line. caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: i am not for any of those investigations. first of all, the border, republicans have refused to come together to get a solution for the border. in 2013, president obama, and it was a bipartisan gang of eight, came up with a proposal to

improve and reform the border. the other republicans refused. they have used this -- this is what they use. they have no intention of coming together. they could come together now and pass that will, but they do not want to do that. hunter biden, he is not an employee of the government. there are so many things that can investigate of people who are employees of the government. the origin of the virus, it has been investigated and there is no reason at this point. they claim they are concerned about certain situations with the government, but they have no intention of helping anyone. their whole goal is to try to

stop any kind of help the democrats want to give. they want to cut out medicare and social security. that is their main plan. thank you. host: staying in north carolina, wake forest, steve is on the republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. i can see the media is panicking already. there are a bunch of investigations the media is causing in the downfall and destruction of america. how about the new one, the missouri a.g. deposing joe biden's old press secretary, jen psaki, and others. of course you don't want to talk about any of that. shutting down free speech on the internet, colluded with the fbi, rigging the 2020 election. host: what investigations would you like to see in the house of representatives? caller: i am trying to tell you

but of course you don't want this information getting out there. that is why you cut me off. how about the hunter biden laptop that you worked with the media to shut down. you are trying to tell me that only facebook -- carrie -- host: carrie in grand rapids, mich, good morning. caller: good morning. these people that are lling about the laptop, just because there is a laptop does not mean there is something tre. this is ridiculous. yes, there is a laptop. we told you. oh, my goodness. the republicans packed the court under trump. w, they say the democrats will pack the court. trump is nothing but helter-skelter. this whole republican thing is

unbelievable right now. thank you for your time. host: host: he is likely the next chairman of the house oversight committee. he spoke about plans to investigate the business dealings of the biden family. >> national security interest says to conduct an investigation and we will pursue all avenues. avenues that have long been in for -- ignored. and the benefit of members of the president's family. these include conspiracy or defrauding the united states, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, violation of the foreign agents registration act, violation of the trafficking victims protection act, tax evasion, money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. the biden family's business dealings indicate a wide range of criminality from human trafficking to potential

violations of the constitution. in the 118th congress, this committee will evaluate joe biden's relationships -- and if he is a president who is compromised by influence. i want to be clear. this is an investigation of joe biden. that is where the committee will focus in this next congress. host: we are asking, which of the gop-led investigations of the biden administration do you support? we are taking your calls, texts and tweets. let's check in with twitter. brutus says, i support the investigations of inflation and the price of food and gasoline. here is a text from st. paul, minnesota. how many democrats now will be against any and all investigations, when with trump, they were cheerleading incessant investigations?

also, a text from new jersey. i supported the corrupt fbi investigation into hunter, which has been going on for two years. we need results. the house republicans will investigate hunter. hopefully he will be indicted. a text from marcy in great bend, kansas. while it has been widely reported that most fentanyl comes into our ports of entry, our clueless representatives continue standing at the border as if refugees are the primary problem. they should quit hanging out at the border and do their jobs by improving our immigration system. our representatives of the -- are the problem. they would rather pose for the problem the do constructive work. here is marianne on twitter. she says no, game playing should not be tolerated. investigations need reasonable cause. there is not any. such nonsense.

such a waste of time and money spent on boules who are -- bullies who are incapable of governing and only seek authoritarian revenge. janet says, no, radical right-wing religious conservative maga republicans engaging in revenge politics. this will just convince more americans the republicans are unwilling and unable to govern in a way that benefits the american people. on the phone, lee is in charleston, south carolina, democrats line. hi lee. caller: ok. the way i feel about the investigation is a con. this is a ploy. that they are trying to pull over the indicted states of america -- pullover the united

states of america. i am really sick and tired of listening to these people try to con their way to what is going on. good versus evil. it is a waste of time and money. joe biden is not as corrupt as that knucklehead in florida. we are worried about stupid things like inflation. let's worry about those documents. we could be sitting ducks right now. host: let's go to don in south carolina, independent line. caller: what is the word about the border and having so many problems with the backup at the border? i was at a full of the night -- a football game there the other night. the border is already flooded. they are having a football game

in mexico city. and how do they watch those other people? host: dorothy is in florida, democrats line. caller: hello. host: yes, go ahead, you are on the air. caller: i am on the air? i sit here and i listen to all of these people talking about the democrats. the democrats are not as bad as you think they are. we are for the people. not to show ourselves, people are supposed to show themselves -- approve of what they are doing. he sat there for four years well trump put children in cages. -- while trump put children in

cages. he has an investigation going? he should be ashamed of himself. all of them. how dumb do they think we are? host: john is in huntsville, alabama, independent line. caller: yes, i would like to say i support a hunter biden laptop investigation, for one thing. i think it is important to say why people support these investigations, or it is so much demagoguery. the hunter biden laptop not only had salacious things about hunter, personally, but the more important thing is it had a bunch of stuff about the relationship of hunter with chinese national industries and

even a business coownership of an organization he started in china with the head of chinese security. also, joe biden was apparently the big guy who was taking a big cut of that. there is also a text message turned up to hunter's sister, where he complained about having to pay for the family bills on top of giving 50% to joe. there is that. the border security thing is an anti-american agenda, where they want to mix everybody with a bunch of different nationalities who do not care about true democracy. and in fact, want to make the

u.s. not have a distinctive personality and a tradition of opposing tyranny and be easier to rule. host: i have a question about that. what would you say that people coming across the border are interested in tyranny and do not believe in democracy? caller: mexico is socialist, a lot of them are. some may care. host: most of the people coming across the border are not mexican, actually. caller: ok, but most of the people coming across the border do not know anything about american traditions. one of the big american traditions is to oppose tyranny. host: ok. let's talk to terry next in canton, north carolina,

republican line. caller: good morning. the last guy is right about the border. let's not get that donald trump sent chuck schumer and nancy pelosi down in front of the cameras to do immigration reform. donald trump said this is what democracy looks like. nancy pelosi said no it is not, we have to do the people's business behind closed doors. that is the first thing. as for the investigations, what this will essentially lead to is the chinese buyers who killed 7 million people across the world. yet, we have rich, elitist warmongering democrats calling in the do not care about the country, only about themselves. host: you would supported investigation into the origins of the covid-19 virus? caller: it killed 7 million

people. they are worried about january 6 where the only person murdered was a white woman who was a veteran who was murdered by a white man with a chip on his shoulder. host: california, democrats line. caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: i would like to say that i wish the republicans would do would investigation into steve mnuchin and jared kushner and find out why the saudis paid them $4 billion on their way out of office. what did they get paid for? trump had a lot of secrets down there in mar-a-lago. did they sell some secrets? i would like to know what they got paid $4 billion for. someone should do an staycation -- do an investigation into ivana trump.

they said she fell down the stairs but she had bruises around her abdomen. she was a healthy woman. it sounds to me like someone beat her up, punched her in the stomach and killed her. she was worth $100 million. everyone said trump will not get it, yes, trump will get it. he gets everything he wants. those are a couple investigations i wish the republicans would do, but of course they would never do that because they do not want to find anything out about their idol. host: here is president biden earlier this month. this is just after the midterm elections, responding to reporters' questions about gop-let investigations into him and his family. [video clip] >> what is your message to republicans who are considering investigating your family, in particular your son hunter's business dealings? pres. biden: lots of luck.

i think the american public once us -- wants to move on and get things done. it was reported many times that republicans were saying the former president said how many times are you going to impeach biden? i think the american people will look at all of that for what it is. it is almost comedy. i cannot control what they are going to do. all i can do is continue to try to make life better for the american people. host: that was president biden responding to a question about gop led investigations. we are asking you which gop-led investigations would you support? we are talking to earl next. brookfield, illinois, independent line. caller: hi, there. host: hi. caller: what i am interested in

is any investigation that is legitimately looking for something that has been wrong or done wrong, certainly makes sense. but investigating for the sake of investigating is a waste of time and what it most shows is the people -- the republican situation, they do not want to govern, they want to investigate and complain. the biggest example of that is the border situation, where they have been complaining about that for a dozen years, yet they are refusing to even look at legislation that is in front of them. host: when you say investigations that make sense, what would make sense to you? caller: well, when people die, when people cannot eat, when

people commit obvious crimes. that kind of thing. crimes. but just because you do not like somebody -- because the quality of the political population that we have are so few statesmen, what we have is a bunch of people who get in there for whatever reason and just complained about things. they do not actually do anything for people. it seems like they are there to do things to people so they can gain benefit for themselves. that would be a good place to have an investigation. host: gary is on the republican line in georgia. caller: yes, ma'am. host: hi. caller: i support the hunter

biden investigation but i do not believe they will ever get the justice department to convict him. if they did, the first thing joe biden would do is to pardon him. i see that is a useless thing. i think they should investigate the education system in this country because if there is one thing that stands out above everything else, the american people are flat stupid. host: why do you say that, gary? caller: because they are being manipulated by the democrats and the republicans and they cannot see it. they spend all their time worrying about political ideas and political thoughts that other people have, when they should be worried about their own life, and making better for them and their family.

host: all right. let's hear from troy in edgewood, maryland, democrats line. good morning. caller: good morning, how are you? host: good. caller: it makes no sense that democrats and republicans go back and forth. it makes no sense. the republican-controlled house, they are investigating. what about the american people that need help? they run on policing, crimes, helping american people, food over there to help people over here and what is that country's name? that russia has been fighting? host: ukraine. caller: ukraine. these people run on helping american people, and as soon as they get in, it is about

investigation here, investigation over there, they need to stop. donald trump coming into power. donald trump did not do anything more than a lie to the american people, steal from the american people. you cannot even get a tax return for donald trump. every year, someone owes money to the american government. donald trump never owes. they do not talk about that. paul mccartney jumped in and took a picture with donald trump. he says donald trump cause this problem january 6. donald trump, donald trump, donald trump. but still, they are flip-flopping. they are not real people. what about people who need help? people need housing. this is what they run on. these people run on taking care of american people but as soon a

-- as they get into the seats, they are all for themselves. they are all for investigating each other. host: here on cnn.com, it says here are five investigations house republicans are planning to launch. here is the list. the southern border, the afghanistan withdrawal, the original of the covid-19 pandemic, the department of justice and hunter biden. speaking of that, here is ohio congressman jim jordan. he is expected to chair the house judiciary committee. he spoke last week about the need to investigate the justice department under president biden. [video clip] >> we are focused on how political our justice department has become. it is not a question of if, they -- if they are political, they are. they are making decisions on a political basis. we will look at that.

we are looking at an umbrella of political operations under the justice department all the way back to when the first whistleblower came to us a year ago. about a year ago, i should say, regarding school board issues. we are concerned about anything that is being done in a political fashion at the justice department. you have to step back, the greatest country ever, it is supposed to be equal treatment under the law. when you have a justice department not following that fundamental principle, it sets our country apart from all others, that is a major problem. >> do you think the january 6th insurrectionists have been wrongly imprisoned? >> all i said is we will look at the politics of the justice department based on that we have had more than 14 whistleblowers come talk to us. actually more than 14 right now. that is what we will focus on. host: that was jim jordan talking about the investigations

he plans to launch against the justice department. we are taking your calls, asking you which gop-led investigations you would support. let's take a look at social media. a text from mike in orlando, florida. the gop campaigned on inflation, crime and border security. what is their first order of business? investigations? a complete waste of time and taxpayer money. this will lead to a massive blue wave in 2024. sandy on twitter, i do not support any of these investigations because i can plainly see they are nonsense. republicans are desperate to take attention away from trump's wrongdoings. a text from steven in lexington, kentucky. the gop nonstop talked about inflation and high prices during the midterm and now we get investigations against biden? the gop makes no sense in the -- and they need to read the room. here is a text from joan in

minnesota that says, the dems hounded president trump from the day he was elected and most of it was false. so, yes, the biden family and the doj should be investigated for wrongdoing and their hatred. it is not revenge but finding the true facts. let's hear next from eric in grand isle, vermont, independent line. caller: hi. i do not agree with any of these so far. i think the republican party needs to take a look at themselves and get some integrity back in there. it is pretty sad, the fact that they get offended when donald trump messes up so many times and lies to everyone and now they are like children doing a, "you did this to me so i am going to try to find something to do to you" kind of deal and i do not think most americans want to put up with that.

host: kelly is next in north carolina, republican line. caller: hi. host: hi. caller: i am ready for all of these investigations. when the people find out the truth, they are going to be so shocked. they will not know what to do. our president is compromised by china. this investigation is not into hunter alone, it is into hunter and the president altogether. it has turned into a crime family. the ftx money, a lot of it came from laundering out this money we are sending over to ukraine. it went in and it went through zelenskyy and back into ftx and

and into democrats and the republicans, that they used it to compromise the elections in certain ways. it is all coming out you have to pay people off and this money was used for that. it is all coming out. every single bit of it is coming out. joe biden and his son have been dealing with ukraine and messing around in 50 different countries. they have proof from the laptop that joe biden and hunter biden and his family were dealing behind our country's back. they have the proof. it is not like all the garbage that is said about trump that does not turn out to be true. they have actual -- you can put your hands on it truth. host: deborah in marietta, georgia on the democrats line.

good morning. caller: good morning. thank you. i am listening to all of this foolishness. the capitol was breached. all this for here is tit-for-tat. i have two grandkids. believe you me they have more knowledge than these folks on here talking. i am not just speaking on one, i am speaking on both. these republicans and their reverse psychology, they do all this stuff to the people. worst of all, i cannot say they are worse than trump because trump is the biggest liar ever. i do not believe how these people close their eyes. to the fact we are talking about the united states. it was not done to nobody else. all the damage was done during the republicans and not one of them as of today had enough guts because of control.

it is all about a control factor. all they want is control. they don't care about nothing going on with the people that they lied to to get in. it is sad and pitiful. i wish there was a way that the people could get them out of office because, like i said, they do things, they deliberately do things and turn around and do their reverse psychology to the people who do believe anything you see or hear. host: here is a politico.com, it says investigating the investigators. dem strategists to launch counterpunch at the house gop. the article says a group of top democratic strategists are launching a multimillion dollar hub to counter an expected investigative onslaught by the likely incoming republican majority digging into joe

biden's administration and his son on top of cabinet impeachments. the newly launched project initiative details of which were shared first with politico will include rapid response teams, investigative researchers, pollsters and eventually a paid media campaign to put congressional republicans squarely on the defense, the founder said in an interview. it is designed to serve as the party's leading war room to push back on house republican investigations. he said the project would investigate investigators, expose their political motivations and the money from special interest supporting their work and hold them accountable for ignoring the urgent priorities of all americans in order to smear joe biden and do the political bidding of trump and maga republicans. let's look at new york

congressman, hakeem jeffries who is poised to become the next democratic leader of the house and he spoke about the role of him and his democratic colleagues and the role they will play in those investigations. [video clip] >> we will absolutely defend the biden administration and his track record of success if it comes under assault by people attempting to politicize our governmental responsibilities, without question. i expect we will strongly and vigorously be involved in pushing back against any effort at overreach by the extreme maga republican wing of the house republican conference. at the same time, we will continue to try to find common ground, legislatively, whenever possible. i think the time for politics ends in the immediate aftermath of a campaign and there has to be some space to govern. that is what the american

people, democrats, republicans, independents, people in the north, east, west southwest, want to see happen. democrats are willing to lean into that regard. i am hopeful my republican colleagues will join us. host: congressman hakeem jeffries. we are asking you about your support of gop-led investigations, what would you support? virginia, independent line, good morning. caller: good morning. i think any investigating against the biden crime family should be investigated. it goes all the way back to the cash to iran, supposedly. that should be investigated, too, right there. that is the dnc's way of getting money out of washington and into their pockets and into untraceable bank accounts in the middle east and europe.

i think any investigation that they can come up with for the biden crime family, and may be the ties to the clinton suicides should be investigated, too. host: patrick, canton, georgia, republican line. caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: i support the investigations that the republicans want to do, especially into the doj. it just seems to me that the doj has been weaponized. they really need to investigate. i heard what happened with the durham investigation. intel the agents of the fbi

fought against themselves -- i am talking about the high-ranking members of the fbi. not the regular fbi agents to do the investigations. i do believe the doj has been weaponized. one reason by i said that is because of the dossier. it was used by james comey to get pfizer warrants. it is shown that he lied to the pfizer court, it took him three tries to get it. it seems to me the doj has been weaponized. i would like to say to democrats who have called in and set it is -- said it is all nonsense and the republicans are doing this for political reasons, that is what the democrats did it for. when trump was elected, they

fought against him. the thing about the border, the democrats say there is legislation sitting and waiting , to be passed. yet they have had control of all three branches of government for years, why didn't they do it? it amazes me how democrats can call in and they just want to -- they think republicans play political games and democrats do not. that is not the case. they both play games. host: let's go to the democrats line, earl, are you also in canton, georgia? caller: yes. host: go ahead. caller: the border invasion, the caller: the border invasion, the invasion at the border, kevin mccarthy flatly said enough is enough.

look at what we the people drive. look at what we the people wear. look at what we the people purchase. where does it come from? here lies the invasion. these republicans have herschel walker running for senate. don't hang up. you hung up on me, didn't you? host: i am still here. let's stay with the gop-led investigations. what would you support, if anything? caller: it is ridiculous for the republicans to go on just because trump -- everything trump got, he asked for. he got everything he deserves. he would not continue to run our government in a way, a fashion -- most of his businesses have failed.

i guess that is his plan. just like elon musk. he wants to buy it so he can ruin it. did you hang up? host: no, but i am about to. here is punch bowl news. this is interesting, this is before the election. it says mccarthy dishes on gop's investigation plans for next congress. he says i think the country does ne impeachment used for political purposes at al if anyone ever rises to that occasion, you have to, but i think the country wants to heal and stt see a system that actually works. what we have done in the coitnt to america but we are really focused on the econom crime and the border. voters do not want you to focus on it. we focused on accountability. here is also something, we asked mccarthy if anyone in the

administration has risen to the level he would consider impeachment proceedings -- again, this is in october -- he said i do not see it before me right now. you watch what the democrats did. they all came out and said they would impeach before donald trump was ever sworn in. there was not a purpose for it. if you spent that time arguing against impeachment for political purposes you have to sustain exactly what you said. the article says mccarthy is right in saying there were some democrats who called for trump's impeachment soon after his election but it was not all democrats, and especially not speaker nancy pelosi or their leadership. andrew is next, st. louis, missouri, independent line. hi, andrew. caller: hi. i wanted to bring up a fact that i think we should investigate

financing campaigns or donations, this has been kicked around for a long time. when the supreme court passed the citizens united decision a few years back, basically just threw gas on a fire. we have a uncontrolled bonfire of big money going to congress, whether it is campaign financing or other nefarious means, that is completely out of control. big money is controlling, not 100%, but they have their foot majorly into congress on both sides. common sense will tell you, where do all these hundreds of millions of dollars go? that go into campaign funding. what are they getting for all this money? they are getting influence and affecting the direction of the big decisions the congress is making. no one is really getting to the core and saying, do we want our country run by huge

contributions? that is what is happening. host: tom is in petersburg, virginia, republican line. hi. caller: good morning. how are you today? host: good, thanks. caller: i feel like the country is pretty divided and our politicians like it that way. they want us divided because we need to get together and stand united and do something about a failed government. that is all i have to say. host: all right. georgia in gonzales, louisiana. democratic line. caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: i am calling about all of these people wanting the investigation into nonsense. my bible tells me if you do not see it with your own eyes, you do not talk about it. what you need to be talking about is the food shortage coming and the water that is not

there no more. look at the rivers. go out there and look at every country that does not have no fresh, clean drinking water. we are coming down to something you have never seen before. if you do not see it, you do not talk about it. my thing is you love everybody. and i do mean everybody. it is a crying shame for grown people to sit there and worry about stuff you cannot do anything about. but the food and water, i say get a recall on every last one of them because they campaigned on lies, pure lies. host: let's go to mike next, oak grove, missouri, independent line. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call.

i think you are a nice addition to the staff there. i agree with the investigation into hunter biden. it is the only way to get the republicans from screaming about the laptop. either prove that it is there, or prove that it is not. i think the investigation into the people investigating trump, the doj, i think that investigation is so stupid. a criminal stepped out into the light and made himself president. now they want to investigate the people investigating that criminal. that is a terrible thing. john durham was brought up. let's talk about john durham. all of these investigations, he came up with three

indictments, two of them were kicked out by juries. it is crazy the republicans want to go on a revenge fueled investigation. i believe we should be investigating foreign countries buying up our farmland in republican states, like missouri and arizona. maybe we should investigate donald trump's family members and why they did get billions of dollars from the saudis. maybe that is a good investigation. trey gowdy, remember him? he investigated hillary clinton twice for years and came up with nothing. i think the republicans need to go on and worry about running our country and forget all this investigation garbage. they are trying to investigate on behalf of a criminal, donald trump.

host: reporters were at the white house on tuesday. this was a briefing by dr. anthony fauci. he was asked if he would cooperate with republicans who are investigating -- or who would investigate -- the origins of the covid-19 pandemic. [video clip] dr. fauci: if there are oversight hearings, i absolutely would cooperate and testify. you may not know, but have testified before congress a few hundred times over the last 40 years or so. i have no trouble testifying. we can explain and stand by everything that was said. i have nothing to hide. host: that was anthony fauci, most likely his last white house briefing. he is retiring at the end of this year after 54 years of public service. let's talk next to dan in tampa, florida, republican line.

caller: thank you for taking my call. i want to say the economy was going really strong with trump. i know he has issues but the way the economy is now it is really, really bad. it is tough on families. i wish the fbi would have put this much effort into stopping 9/11 from happening. they go after trump, they did not put this much effort into keeping al qaeda from attacking us but they sure went after trump. that is all i have to say. thank you. host: let's check in with social media and texts. a text from mount lebanon, pennsylvania. he says i agree with senator , cruz. the gop-led investigations should center on joe biden. he is the center of the blackhole that america's problems revolve around. a tweet from stephen said regardless of my opinion, it will happen. as citizens, we need to take congressional investigations for

what they are, grandstanding. if laws are broken, it should be settled in the courts. congressional investigations are typically just noise. here is a text from dan in pennsylvania. payback for extreme democrats spending and straining limits of the law to push an agenda without regard to the u.s. economy. here is pat from california on a text. the disastrous withdraw from afghanistan and leaving millions of dollars of military equipment should be investigated. whoever gave that advice should never again be allowed to advise a president concerning military strategy. let's talk next to steve in wisconsin, democrats line. good morning. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. just a couple of points. as a former student and then teacher's aide and then lecturer at the university of wisconsin,

college of integrated liberal studies, what we were taught was a bit unusual in comparing it to what is happening today. that was define your side, your point of view, and willingly share it, openly and honestly. today, what we are seeing is a media out-of-control. as an example, c-span about 20 minutes ago, you allowed a caller to swear live on air without cutting them off. we are seeing this on both sides of the political spectrum. the truth somehow is there, but we are no longer discussing it dt openly and honestly. host: the question is about the gop-led investigations. what would you support, if anything? caller: if it is fair and balanced, why not support it?

host: like what? caller: we have seen it go back and forth on both sides. host: is there a particular issue you would like to see investigated? caller: both sides have a political stance on what they are doing. if the democrats, which we have done, have politicized debates about donald trump, his family and the republicans want to come back is a rebuttal, that is fair under our political system, don't you agree? host: angie in south carolina, independents line. caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: i am reading a report put out by republicans -- it is called a staff report and president compromised. the second paragraph reads, biden has misused his public

position to further his family's financial interest. these actions have created the potential for president biden to be susceptible to extortion, blackmail down the line by foreign entities, including by the chinese communist party. if they are going to do these investigations, i would like them to do investigations on a ivanka trump and her patents she received from the chinese government since 2017. i know for a fact it is at least 41. i would like to see that investigated. host: a republican in marietta, georgia. good morning. caller: i am listening to people. the investigation has really shifted focus. the documents that trump had

taken and went over there with the prints. he claimed they were golfing. i believe this is where -- documents trump took from the white house. trump said out of his own mouth -- putin had four years when trump was in the office to do whatever he needed to do and the u.s. would docket involved. why would he wait until trump left to go over there and do this to ukraine? i feel in my heart -- i could be wrong -- but i feel in my heart that the republicans will do anything to stay in control. if you listen to the things the

republicans are doing to us in the united states, it is things that putin has done to people. host: you called on the republican line, is that accurate? caller: yes. host: let's go to the democrats line. caller: good morning. i am in agreement that we are playing a game. it is the human condition that is literally thousands of years old. go ahead and do the investigation tit for tat and get it off the table so we can stop spending so much money on this sort of investigation. the law regarding these hearings in a finite way.

i wish they were handled -- i wish these hearings were handled in different ways where federal government. host: that is the last call for this segment. we will have an program. it is small business saturday with shaundell newsome. we will talk about the post-pandemic challenges still facing small businesses. later, martin di caro discusses his podcast. we will be right back. >> live on december 4, peter

baker and susan glasser will be our guests. the husband and wife team have written three books together. join in the conversation with your phone calls, facebook comments, texts and tweets. in-dep with peter baker and susan glasser. >> sunday night on q&a, wall street trader turned photojournalist chris are naughty on his book dignity, about the plight of those living on the margins of society in america. >> it was empty because all the

semi's were gone. immediately, her intelligence came through. we spoke for about an hour. she told me her life, which is a cliche of everything wrong that can happen to somebody. eventually, i asked her, you know, what is one sentence -- how do you want me to describe you? she shot back, i am a prostitute and a child of god. >> sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span's q&a. you can listen to it as a podcast where you get your podcasts. >> american history tv,

exploring the people and events that tell the american story on the 60th anniversary of the cuban missile crisis. experts revisit the confrontation between the u.s. and soviet nuclear powers focusing on crisis leadership and the impact of political and military intelligence. and the first thanksgiving with martin di caro. exploring the american story. watch american history tv every weekend and find a full schedule on your program guide. watch any time c-span.org/history. >> to people who know him well, he is first and foremost an accomplished storyteller. second and not least, he has

been the chief of the library of congress's rare books and special collections division. the library has 850,000 items, including charles dickens walking stick, the first book printed in the united states, and the contents in abraham lincoln's pockets the night he was assassinated. mark has a lot more to add to a conversation about his work. >> a library of congress chief on this episode of book notes. book notes plus is available on the c-span now mobile app or wherever you get your podcasts. washington journal continues. host: welcome back. i've joined by -- i am joined by

shaundell newsome. guest: thank you for having me. host: if you would like to make a call and ask our guest a question or make a comment, you can do so. our phone lines will be by region. in the eastern or central time zone, it is (202) 748-8000. mountain or pacific, it is (202) 748-8001. and we have a line for small business owners. that is (202) 748-8002. tell me about small business for america's future. what is it about and who is in the membership? guest: we have over 80,000 small businesses. small business for america's future is something i have dreamed of, having an advocate

on capitol hill they can make sure small businesses have a seat at the table. corporations have always brought lobbyists to advocate for their interests and concerns. we felt mainstreet needed a voice. we created a small business for america's future, our fellow cochairs, and we have an advisory council, a staff. we go to capitol hill and make sure our voice is heard. host: what are some of the issues you talk to lawmakers about? guest: it runs the gamut. i want to congratulate a lot of small business owners who have endured this pandemic, who have gone through workforce issues, who have braved these past 2.5 years of a very tough situation back and forth, the shutdowns and things like that. one of the biggest issues with

small businesses comes back to not only what is concerning to us as business owners but what impacts our employees, health care, childcare, and affordable health care is a big issue, one of the biggest our employees face. the difference is that as a small business owner, we walk into the same offices as our employees. we hear the different issues. they talk to us. we don't have the luxury of hiding in another city or in an ivory tower. the main issues with our employees or business owners go together. it is a little bit different than a major corporation. host: tell me about the organizations you represent. are they mostly mom-and-pop shops or -- what are they like? how do you define a small business?

guest: you can use the sba definition, which is 500 employees or less, but it goes all the way down to the solo entrepreneurs, micro businesses, usually under 25 employees. most of our membership is made up of very small small businesses. in nevada, 99.2% of the businesses are small. micro businesses are a big fraction of that 99%. we talked for what we call mainstreet, the very small businesses mainly, but also many of the larger small businesses. host: how important is a small saturday to your membership? guest: it is incredible.

it is amazing when you recognize the hard work. during the recent pandemic, but i can go all the way back to the recession, i am recognizing the fact that we are people who put everything we have into our community. we sponsor baseball teams. we are giving the food drives and doing those things. we are on the front line with a lot of our communities. we build businesses to build our communities. that is what it is all about. many small business owners put their life into everything we do. we are not only people who want praise but also think about the fact that, during the recession and this recent pandemic, small businesses are the entity that bring people back to work faster.

we rarely make those large cuts. when you think about the importance of small businesses, it is the lifeblood of our country. host: poll let's talk about -- let's talk about the pandemic. guest: it was devastating to a lot of small businesses. most had to shut their doors permanently. i felt bad for a lot of those business owners. when you think about the impact of -- let's use one of my local restaurants, not far from my office. i felt bad. the owner took everything she had. the challenges, when you have those shutdowns, a lot of the companies really struggled, not just with workforce but with revenues, everything like that. fortunately, we had a lot of relief that came in and helped us come back, but the workforce

part was still tough with what they call the great resignation. a lot of people were coming to work, leaving. some people would do interviews for us and not show up. we have a lot of the same issues as major corporations, but the biggest challenge for us is we have a very small margin for error. small businesses have those issues. those challenges are magnified more than not. we went from one variant to the next. we had a lot of uncertainty as well. it had a devastating impact. my final thing on that is on the mental health and challenges to a lot of small business owners, i know a lot of small business owners who became depressed. that is why we want to have affordable health care for small businesses, not just because we have those pre-existing conditions, but also, we go

through a lot mentally, emotionally, and sometimes we need help. that is what i think it is important. people need to understand this has been the toughest 2.5 years for me personally in my 17 years of business. host: last question before we take calls. back to the support small businesses got. this is the paycheck protection program. tell me about that and the impact that had. guest: guest: that was instrumental in helping us bring back our workforce. going back to the fact that from an ivory tower, you could call up and say we went to lay off 100 people. i have eight employees. i have to go in and actually sit now with them and say, i'm sorry. with the paycheck protection

program, it allowed us to bring those people back to work, gives them their certainty back. when you say layoffs, people don't know if they are going to go back to work. this is personal to me. i have to apologize, but my grandfather got laid off and never went back to work. he became depressed, irrational, and became a bitter old man until he died. i did not want that to happen to my employees. i felt bad when i had to lay them off. the paycheck protection program allowed us to bring them back. it started as a loan. because we did everything and complied with the regulations, we got that forgiven. it did not have an impact on our bottom line but it did have an emotional impact on the team. the uncertainty was the biggest thing.

i wanted to promise them that we would not lay them off again. host: let's take some calls from our viewers. good morning. caller: good morning. i think we need to have more small businesses. i am going to go to the movies and i usually go to amc theaters. back in the day, used to go to smaller cinemas, hothouses, places like that, and those places now are kind of hard to find, so you have to go to the big places. i think it is a good example that when we start off small we eventually get bigger and i think that we also come together. i think it is very important to do that, you know? i think small businesses need to be supported. host: all right, call.

shaundell, comment? guest: i was meant toward at 13 years old by a small business -- i was mentored at 13 years old by a small business. i grew up in bed's die -- in bed-stuy, brooklyn, and it kept us off the streets. you are right. the small businesses have a profound impact. host: dan is a small business owner in woodbridge, virginia. caller: good morning. having a small business now is impossible. i have been in business since 1984. used to have 10 employees. now i am down to two.

one of the first things we used to do work for, the army corps of engineers. the government came in and changed the way everything worked to make it where a small business -- i mean, this is crazy. a small business for the government is considered to have 500 employees. how in the world can you have 500 employees and be a small business? it is insane. it is companies like us with five and 10 employees. ppp was a joke. we could not even get a ppp loan because, might -- by me being a small business, i believe in paying in cash as i go. with that, we had to go with the eidl loan. the difference is we have to pay it back.

all these big companies got these millions of dollars. they don't have to pay it back through ppp. can you explain why does the eidl, with a small loan of $25,000, have to pay back that loan to a company that has $1 million and don't have to pay it back? guest: what is interesting, the paycheck protection program was designed to bring people back to work. my wife, who does the finances in our office, always reminds people that that is what it was designed to do. unfortunately, you have to prove that you are paying people, so i would say, you know, this is just one of the things i have always told people in our chamber, make sure you keep everything on the up and up, so when a disaster like that happens, you can prove the need you have. with the disaster loan, they

amortized it or made it so you don't have to pay back for 30 years, i believe. it was a low interest loan and you can spread it out. $25,000 -- i don't know what that number is, to be honest. it has to be less than a couple hundred dollars. is the government perfect? absolutely not. there's a lot of work that needs to be done, but as a veteran and a person who has been a small business owner for a long time, i can tell you this still is the best country in the world to have a small business, so i would encourage you to get with your local chambers, your local sba, and talk this through with somebody, because there's a lot of people that can help you.

put money back into their local community. we are not trying to make these major investments. we are trying to support our communities. when there are tax advantages, to be honest, those should go to people like the small

businesses. i am not saying the corporations cannot get them. it seems like it is always unfair and not equitable. that is why small business for america's future got into this battle. we saw things were not equitable. the other thing i will tell you is i think health care. health care costs are -- i would love for my employees to have great health care. at the end of the day, that is what americans should have. the other thing i am passionate about is my wife and i raised kids and it is childcare. childcare is important to small business owners. many small business owners we have talked to said they would love childcare assistance to our employees, but also the child care tax credit. i think 26%. it helped out with 46% of the

child poverty. that is important because we as a small business owners are always connected to our communities. some people say we are capitalists with a conscience. we care about the people we deal with in our community. it is a big thing. when you think about tax advantages for small businesses, affordable health care for small businesses and our employees, and childcare. host: we have a tweet from jersey girl, who says my community, lancaster, pennsylvania, does a wonderful job with small business saturday. we have charming shops and quality restaurants. this was another dying city until 25 years ago. evan is in ithaca new -- ithaca, new york. caller: thank you for taking my call.

i wanted to raise a couple points in line with what shaundell is saying. about 50% of our employees are supported by small business and we would like tax advantages. i started working when i was 13 at a restaurant, a family restaurant, eventually, and i valued that experience. going into university study, it seems like we have sequestered ourselves to these areas of the country that are separate. you know, we have given these universities all the restaurants, all the things they need, and charged the conversation toward that end of going into the corporate world, and i think, like our last caller was saying, many of those

funds went to entities that were not really small businesses. that is a real tragedy, i think, that we are constantly overlooking that. it is something i would like to hear more about in the public sphere. host: all right, evan. shaundell? guest: thank you for that. let me tell everybody. i am a big small business advocate. when small business's flourish, the nation flourishes. we account for almost half of the nation's economic activity. two thirds of the new jobs under any administration after the great recession and depression, whatever economic downturn, we get two thirds of the new jobs created. we employ over half of the small businesses. i am in this country. we drive economic growth and job creation.

there was an injustice done when federal-aid first came out because these companies have lawyers and different people who come in and hijack things designed for small businesses. that is the sad part of how things worked out. i will not mention the publication but i interviewed for a national article talking about that. congress tried to make good on that but it was pretty bad. people tried to take advantage of something designed for very small businesses. host: wayne is next, harrisburg, pennsylvania. caller: how are you doing today? it was very hard for me to get a ppp loan. i went to five banks. at the beginning, the banks were

saying they didn't know nothing about it. but i found out that other people were getting those loans. how do i find out who is telling the truth? guest: you know, it is all based on the sources, but the truth is the sba and federal government have to disclose this. that is how we found out that there were problems with some of the larger corporations who were either posing as small businesses or were large or small businesses and got to skip the line. i will tell you one thing about those loans that they did get correct. i have to give them credit. they figured out how to get it not just her banks but -- just threw banks but other lending resources.

i spoke to a lot of our legislators, nevada lawmakers, and those guys went to congress. they did a great job of going back and making sure they dug deep in made sure -- and made sure the small firms got opportunities in the second round. i think they went back to the drawing board and got it right the second time. host: joe is a small business owner in st. clair, michigan. caller: you do a great job on that show. host: thank you. caller: i own a small business that my father started in the 1950's. i took it over in the 1980's. i ran it until 2012 but my children were going in other directions. they were not going to take it over.

so i sold it because i did not want to be 75 and looking for a buyer. but i wanted shaundell to talk about the government regulations and how compliance with those government regulations causes it to be impossible to be a small businessman because you cannot devote enough personnel to government compliance. they basically put you out of business for the sake of big business. and also, ask about the 87,000 new irs agents who will go after all the small businesses and give them a colonoscopy every week. guest: i will tell you there's a couple things. i have been on capitol hill four times this year, and small

business for america's future has been watching this closely. we have some inside information on that. you are right. it has always been tough to be compliant with a lot of government regulations. me and the other cochairs and our organizations have been talking to lawmakers about that, like, how do we make it easier for small businesses? we cannot make it so complex. one of the things we understand, and we will be watching this closely, so if you follow us, you will get to see how we are working it. we will be watching closely on how they roll out this irs deal. from our understanding, it is not designed to be punitive. it is designed to help small businesses be more compliant and provide more resources for small businesses and individuals as well.