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we are united. ukraine, america, and the entire free world. ♪ host: do ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy's whirlwind washington visit concluded with last night's address to congress and returns to ukraine with a new missile-defense system and pledges of more aid, but also with more uncertainty on the level of that support, both from the new congress and broader american public. good morning and welcome to caller." -- and welcome to "washington journal." it is december 22, 2022. should u.s. continue aiding the ukrainian war effort? here are the lines to use for the opening question. if you say yes, the line is (202)-748-8000. if you say no, the line is (202)-748-8001. you can send us a text at

(202)-748-8003. tell us your name and where you are texting from. we are on facebook and twitter at --@cspanwj. we will show you more of the press conference with president zelenskyy and president biden at the white house, and some members of congress on the continued aid to ukraine. for a frame of reference how much aid the u.s. has given so far, the total is $68 billion. in march, $13.6 billion, after the invasion by russia. in may, $40 billion. in september, $13.7 billion. the faith of ukraine aid is wrapped up in the omnibus, the measure before the u.s. senate this morning when the galilean at 8:00 eastern -- gavel in at 8:00 eastern.

do ukrainian aid piece, including defense is about $45 billion total, including $12 billion to replenish u.s. weapon stocks, $9 billion to train and support do ukrainian military. $7 billion to u.s. european command support. $300 million for nuclear reactors and fuel. $2.5 billion in humanitarian aid. $2.5 billion to resettle ukrainian arrivals and refugees in the u.s., and $13 billion in economic support. that is the proposed legislation, from $48 billion that has yet to be approved by congress. do you support continued funding for the ukraine war effort? (202)-748-8000 is the line to call if you say yes. (202)-748-8001 if you say no. this is from "the washington

times" this morning -- "biden vows to aid ukraine for long how , america will back ukrainians with financial aid until russian failure." the leaders are projecting unity and seeking to hold together an international coalition and frame u.s. congress. the white house meeting with mark mr. zelenskyy's first trip outside of ukraine since the war began, and offer them a rare face-to-face conversation. president biden said he saw that mr. zelenskyy is who he says he is, and also on the front page, they have a piece on what the ukrainian president got at, part of what he got out of the meeting. ukraine to get a long coveted missile system that the biden

administration ascending to key is as much a symbol of washington's commitment to defend ukraine against drone and missile attacks, as it is to a boost of the country's air boost capability. the president was asked about that and made that announcement about the defense package in the news conference yesterday. here's president biden. we will get -- we will go first to our call from athens, alabama, and you say no, we should not continue more u.s. support for ukraine. go ahead, kirk, in alabama. guest: thank you for take -- caller: thank you for taking my call. if it comes to the point where how and how much money we should provide and weapons we should provide to any country in the world that may rise up against this government, and to be a

democracy, we really need to look at our own democracy and protect her own country. i do not think we should be in the business of conducting proxy wars, particularly against major adversaries because it would be too easy to trip into a major, major problem by always supporting countries with individuals in it that do not like the system, and they might rise up and say here comes america and america's tax dollars to support them. meanwhile, our country is falling apart, economical, political, and the corruption of the media and election system. we are too busy caring for the world that we are going to lose

our own world. too busy financing wars around the world and then seem surprised when we get dragged into them and then they last for decades. no, i don't think we should continue. what we have given them so far as plenty. if you go back to the previous administration, not the trump but the obama administration, he took a quic pro quote -- quick pro quote bribe from them and the investigation into his son was concluded, so you start with the count of the money we had given ukraine, and start with the vice president's son. host: let's go to windham, connecticut, stephen, go ahead. caller: you can hear that stirring of isolationism in the last caller. it has been here since the founding of the country, and i have no issue with that, but

this is absolutely pennies on the dollar to degrade the russian empire and their army that, historically, has, you know, defined itself through imperialism and what they have done to the people of belarus and ukraine. i just took a history course at yale. what the russian army and empire did to the people of ukraine the last seven years is shocking, horrible, cruel, sinister. somebody on the planet earth deserves our financial support and it is the people of ukraine. with a couple of people on bikes, these guys stood up to a major army. they really deserve our support.

host: let's go to richard in lynchburg, virginia. should the u.s. continue the aiding ukraine in the war? go ahead, richard. caller: good morning, sir. i don't think they should keep on doing it. we owe china how much money, and that is going to be a bad decision. we are trying to get inflation down, and we cannot keep doing this, sir. host: "the wall street journal" this morning with their headline -- "u.s. to give keith patriot air defense system president biden spoke about that system at yesterday's air conference. [video clip] pres. biden: today, i am announcing our security system to ukraine, $1.85 billion package of security systems that includes direct transfers of equipment to ukrainian needs, as

well as contracts to supply ammunition that ukraine will need in the months it has had for its utility, tanks, and rocket launchers. in addition to these new capabilities, like precision aerial munition, the package will include patriot missile battery, which we will turn ukrainian forces to operate as part of the ongoing effort to bolster ukraine's air defense. this could take some time to complete the necessary training, but the patriot will be another critical asset for ukraine to defend itself against russian aggression. altogether, today's new security system with humanitarian funding amounts to $2.2 billion in additional support for the ukrainian people. we should be clear about what russia is doing. it is purposely attacking ukraine's critical infrastructure, destroying the system that provides heat and light to the ukrainian people

during the coldest, darkest part of the year. russia is using winter as a weapon, freezing people, starving people, cutting them off from one another. it is the latest example of the outrageous atrocities the russian forces are committing against innocent ukrainian civilians, children, and their families. the united states is working together with allies and partners to provide critical equipment to help ukraine make emergency repairs to their power transmission systems and strengthen the stability of ukraine's grid in the face of russia's targeted attacks. we are also working to hold russia accountable, including efforts in congress to only get easier to seek justice for russia's war crimes in ukraine. [end video clip] host: should the u.s. continue aiding the ukrainian war effort? that is our first question this morning on "washington journal."

comments on social media, this one is absolutely yes. oliver north said it best last night. it is money well spent to help the freedom fighters defeat russia. not supporting ukraine would be a disaster for the u.s. and the rest of the world, says mike, in orlando. steve on twitter, of course the aid should continue, fdr stood alone in helping england in 1940 against hitler hitler's. fight off that savage monster. fortunately, he is not standing alone. marianne says, if ukraine fails, which country will putin invade next, poland? lawrence on facebook said, i would say yes, but our support has to be proportional to what european countries have put into the war. we do not need to send in billion's of dollars to fight a proxy war with the russians. european countries need to step up because it is in their backyard. let's hear from don in a moment

but this is robert in greenville, texas, go ahead. caller: good morning. i think this has been an ongoing battle with russia since probably the beginning of the 20th century, ever since the onslaught of communism has rocked europe. we can fight war after war with them, and people talk about how much money we are giving to them. just kind of do the calculation in your head, over 100 years of fighting communism. all the trillions and trillions of dollars we have spent on trying to defeat this ideology, so keep that in mind. host: now tohost: -- host: now to don in south bend, indiana. caller: i believe we should still help them out. we don't care that the last administration put a trillion dollars of debt, no one from the

republican party says anything about that. of course, they are used to that because they always put it on the debt and then we always take it off. if we get $1 trillion in tax cuts and 86% going to the 1% and nothing but to buy back their stocks, and the 14% gets but tkiss, those are not permanent but ours are. so if you are throwing money out the window like this, giving those guys something we never get back in return, what about us? when will we get our permanent tax cut? when you are giving money to everybody, all the work, although manufacturing companies back in the 1970's and 1980's left because they wanted cheap labor. they opened up the border, 11 million mexicans had, state and reagan's days, they wanted cheap

labor. they still want cheap labor. and now it is going awry, you can find labor, and other want to cry and moan about bringing manufacturing back to the united states -- and they want to cry and moan about bringing manufacturing back to the united states. if the republicans want to learn something, learn their own history. thanks a lot. host: rhonda says no. caller: yes, thank you for taking my call. i am a no. i listen to the gentleman from alabama, and i just want to follow him on every word he has said. right now, we are getting ready to go into a recession. for the first time, i agree with mccarthy, and even though he is a representative of my estate, for the first -- of my estate, for the first time i am in agreement with him. we should not have a blank check. we are in such crisis here, homelessness.

we have no one able to buy homes. our prices at the grocery store are astronomical. here in california, our gas prices are still very much near four dollars a gallon. i think right now, we are paying close to $3.69. this is ridiculous. as much further as i saw biden talk about ukraine, i would like to see that same energy put onto the problems that we are having here in our country. no. no blank check should be written. enough is enough. i want to hear him talk about us. the people here. thank you, c-span, thank you, "washington journal." happy holidays in california. host: thank you. this is a recent poll that came out in early december from the chicago council, reported in "the washington post co. supports looking for indefinite aid to ukraine, writing that a

majority of americans continue to support sending economic aid to ukraine. but as the conflict drives into winter, americans are divided over whether washington should push ukraine to reach a negotiating peace as soon as possible, with support among the american public for assistance to that remains robust, republican backing for a to ukraine has slipped since the spring with 55% of republicans saying the support sending the terry aid, compared with 68% in july and 80% in march. half of republicans favored providing economic assistance last month, compared to roughly three quarters in march according to the chicago council's findings. we had some reaction from the speech last night for you this is from "politico," -- "republicans praise zelinski but balk at future aid." one of those supporting additional aid to ukraine is the senate republican leader mitch

mcconnell, who spoke about that yesterday on the floor. [video clip] >> the money is tied to strong oversight requirements to make sure american investments reach only the intended targets. there has been meaningful oversight over our ukraine assistance all along the way. including about three separate inspector general's and a government accountability office r. on top of that, last week's ndaa will put in place even further expansions and oversight and stricter reporting requirements. and, mr. president, the oversight will not stop there. just as senate ranking members want to maximize the impact of our assistance, the incoming republican majority will be able

to keep a closer eye on ukraine aid and make sure the biden administration is doing everything possible to rebuild our defense industrial base. [end video clip] host: that is mitch mcconnell from yesterday on the senate floor. they are back at 8:00 a.m. eastern nestor were from the $1.7 trillion omnibus bill, -- eastern as they work on the $1.7 trillion omnibus bill. the house is back this morning at 9:00 a.m. eastern, while awaiting the omnibus from the senate. members will debate those requiring the annual irs audit on the president's tax return after the committee voted to release trump's tax return and designating national heritage areas, but mainly waiting for that omnibus to be finished in the senate, and as craig mentioned, they gaveling at 9:00 eastern, so a shorter program on "washington journal."

should the u.s. continue aiding the ukraine war effort? doug is in maryland on the yes line. caller: hello? host: good morning, doug. you are on the air. caller: i say yes. i would like to remind people that what we are trying to do is stop the soviet union from lying again. if you doubt that, look at what russia is doing in venezuela and nicaragua. they are trying to bring back the soviet union, and they are attacking democracy around the world, and, eventually, they will attack our republic. so, republicans, remember ronald reagan, do not let the soviet union come back. i would like to add that sometimes i hear people on c-span, and i wonder, if they are russian propagandists. i don't know what you do to

filter to make sure real americans are on the call. i heard a man call with a russian accent, talking about how the u.s. could have stopped the war in ukraine with a piece of paper. he had an accent. host: people call this program with accents all the time. it does not mean they are russians, it does not mean anything of the sort, that is their accent. it may not mean anything at all. caller: he was talking russian propaganda, using the same talking points i have heard with the russian government. host: my point is, people call of all accents, etc., it does not mean anything particularly related to russia. south bend, indiana, and mary is on the -- annmarie is on the . caller: yes, i don't think we should send more money. there are people starving. they cannot even pay for the

conflict no more. you mean to tell me you have money to send overseas, but you ain't got no money to pay for the people here? so, you telling me you have got money to send over there, but people over here -- and i am a democrat. we need to get biden out of there. you trade that men for a basketball star and putin immediately back on the battlefield, and you are going to get let all those weapons over there? we need to getbiden's butt out of there. thank you. host: in a news conference yesterday, the ukrainian president, volodymyr zelenskyy, was asked if he had a message for the russian president, vladimir putin. [video clip] >> i am standing here in the united states with president biden on the same podium because

i respect him as a person, as a president, and for his position. and for me, this is an historic moment. i can send messages to president biden. for example, if it starts here, you said, what is going to have ppen after patriot? after that, we will send another signal to president biden that we would like to get more patriots. [laughter] we are in war, i am sorry, i am really sorry. that is my appreciation. as to president putin, in 2019, we had a normandy meeting. in 2019, i became the president

of ukraine, and we were sending maximum messages to president putin, telling him there should not be a full-scale invasion to stop aggression to renew our territory integrity to find diplomatic solution or god forbid we should not have a full-scale war. at that time, we said, it won't happen. he was lying. so what kind of message can i sent him after he destroyed our lives? [end video clip] host: you can send us your thoughts by text, (202)-748-8003 . a couple of comments but mike in woodbury, minnesota, for those complaining, the europeans are not giving an update to ukraine, please know there are seven european nations contributing more than the u.s. as a percentage of their gdp. this one from lisa in lexington

park, yes, absolutely. 2% of the dod budget. we are supporting our democracy, borders, mothers, fathers, and our children. in new jersey, they say, it is a conundrum. the ukrainian and russian situation is more complex than the american people can understand. what do support ukraine, but on the other hand, we have to know how far putin is willing to push his objectives. it is a chess game with human lives at stake. jean from jacksonville, florida, no, he has enough of our money. there something fishy going on. biden and zelenskyy give me the creeps, birds of a feather flock together. it is all about corruption. christine, good morning. caller: good morning. listen, i was born and raised in the united states, and i had my kids, and my son worked almost 30 years on his job, he has no wife, no kids, but i am his mother, but i am not entitled to his social security and you are taking care of these other

people? i am 78 years old, and i am struggling. i do not think that is fair. host: we are focusing on aid to ukraine. jill in woodward, iowa, good morning. caller: good morning. i hope you have a great christmas. host: thank you. caller: i just wanted to call in and wholeheartedly say that we should be supporting ukraine. this is a moral question. it is not a financial question. i mean it broke my heart with what happened in syria, we cannot go and support those people, but that was a civil war, and it is a lot harder when it is a civil disagreement to come in and participate, but this is not a civil war. this was an attack on ukraine's sovereignty, and that is what you need to continue to focus on. this is also democracy over authoritarianism, a fight

against tyrants, people who make war against other armed women and children. there were crimes are just cannot be ignored and cannot put a financial value on that. if the republicans are worried about money, howell said they find all that -- how else did they find all the money for the rich? if we don't have enough money, we can get rid of that. host: next, kathy, on the line for no. good morning, new york. caller: good morning. i am calling because i really feel it is important that we have some accountability for this money that has been sent, and how it was spent. it is obvious that biden owes zelenskyy. before sending anymore, we should push that there be a little more investigation about

why zielinski fired the prosecutor -- zelenskyy fired the prosecutor that was after hunter biden for illegal doings he had. it is all interconnected, and they are leading us out of it. i think it is important we know it is going on. look what happened with karzai. he took off. host: we lost our caller. from "the hill," some republican reaction. zielinski address -- zelenskyy address meets divided address. foreshadowing a bumpier road that his country will face securing usaid once the gop takes control of the house in a few weeks -- u.s. aid once the gop takes control of the house in a few weeks. brian fitzpatrick of pennsylvania said that zelenskyy had "overwhelming support in the chamber and will continue to have that."

michael mccaul of texas, who was set to board the chair committee next year, says it will push more aggressive focus from the u.s. on military assistance, but critics of ukraine aid showed little openness to changing their minds because of the speech, walking into the address, warren davidson of ohio said he did not think zelenskyy should be speaking from the house floor. "we should be focused on trying to contain the work, not expand the war. this kind of sends the message we are kind of ok with expanding the war." a group of republicans in november called for auditing are spending in ukraine. here are some of that news conference with republican members. [video clip] >> we are talking about billions, not millions. i have been fact checked, so don't bother fact checking it now, it survived the fact check. we have spent more in ukraine, the u.s. congress has, than we spent on all of our roads and bridges in an entire year.

the entire infrastructure of this country, the roads and bridges, the real infrastructure. we don't spend as much on that here as we spent on ukraine in nine months. i think that is despicable. our priorities are all out of whack. i will finish with this. we are trying to get the documents here to find out where the money went. what we really need is a full audit. hopefully when we take the majority we will get a full audit. we need at inspector general. in afghanistan, we were spending $50 billion a year,5-0 billion dollars a year, we had a special inspector general of afghan reconstruction because they call it reconstructive money, military money, just like ukraine, it is a big pool of money, and the waste, fraud and abuse in afghanistan was epic. every report he put out showed that armani was being wasted -- that are money was being wasted

and going to fraud. they know if they get an inspector general who has the credentials of someone like that inspector general in afghanistan, we are going to fight something like in afghanistan. do not send another penny to ukraine and start auditing where the money went. [end video clip] host: some republican members from november, some reaction to last night's speech, including jim mcgovern in a tweet this morning. "president zelenskyy eloquently reminded americans in the world tonight he is defending not just his homeland were people, but the very idea that democracy is worth fighting for. congress and the american people will continue to stand up for freedom and stand with ukraine." another congressman says, "we are behind you in this fight, thank you for addressing us tonight and safe travels back to ukraine." your words tonight, just like your bravery will not soon be forgotten and a congressman from texas, "i appreciate the

gratitude zelenskyy expressed, however, i cannot celebrate using billions of taxpayer dollars to help another country while politicians allow our own nation to burn to the ground. just a reminder -- to the ground." just a reminder, the total amount of aid so far is 68 billion dollars, 13.6 billion in march, $40 billion in may, $13.7 billion in september with the potential of another $45 billion awaiting passage in the omnibus spending bill that the senate except this morning, and the house will, as well, today. let's hear from argus in annapolis, -- from our guest in annapolis, maryland. caller: absolutely. i am 71 years of age. i firmly believe there is an old saying, those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it.

if people think that russia would stop at just taking over ukraine, they are absolutely mistaken. for the people that are here, calling in, talking about, well, i am on social security, we are all on social security. but if russia takes over ukraine and controls the black sea, you think inflation is going to stop? democracy is the only form of government that we know in this country. to try to allow the authoritarian type of government to be taking over this country i think is ludicrous, and for our former president, i firmly believe that we have a problem in this country, and it goes deeper than whether we are going to spend money. like the previous caller said, if you want to go ahead and try

to save money, why don't we take back some of that 1% that the superrich has gotten over the years? thank you. i really appreciate you allowing me to speak. host: terry calling from rogers, minnesota. caller: good morning. host: morning. caller: i think what happened here is the constant feeling of biden administration and democrats in general. he could have put in far less money into weapons, and they never would have invaded. but joe soft peddled, and now we are at where we are at and people died because of this decision. there is no forethought into what will happen. in afghanistan, he made that you advised retreat without planning. what happened to our gas prices and inflation? he taxed the oil industry and what happens?

we have inflation, crushing inflation. he doesn't handle the border, now what happens? it is a democratic weakness. that is what it is. just like the people generally coming and calling from the democratic line, what do they want? free stuff. they love government control because it is free. they don't have to work to get it, so they think it is great. but the problem is when you don't work, it makes your life harder because you do not have a purpose and commitment. you know what? overall, that is the problem. in the real problem with the biden administration is they don't -- they have no forethought to anything. they are like little boys playing checkers against chessmaster's on the world stage. you know what? this will never end because they will always be a step behind and send a weapon that is way more expensive. thank you. host: this is front page of "the

wall street journal." "biden vows to by zelenskyy," showing the two upon the ukrainian president's arrival of the white house yesterday. sophia is a manhattan, new york, on the yes line. caller: good morning. i was extremely happy with joy when i hear his speech, zelenskyy. out of the 25% calling in and supporting, you do not know what democracy is. i have traveled around the world and lived in vietnam, saigon, there are a few who have been in the military, and i am very proud of this president, and we should continue doing it when

people come around the world to america, it is democracy. democracy is the key. when the package passed, the majority of americans here, they were sleeping [indiscernible] it is opium, it is alcohol. this is what we need to fight for our country. john f. kennedy said, it is not what your government can do for you, it is what you can do for your country. host: we appreciate the call. this is from jamie depree about last night speech on twitter, "invoking saratoga, the battle of the bulge, fdr and american freedom, ukraine's president appealed for more support to fight off russian invasion.

it was an historic night in the capital," he says. here is part of the speech. [video clip] >> the russian tactic is primitive. they burned down and destroy everything they see. they send sons to the front lines and convicts to the war. they do everything similar to the other tyranny, which is in the battle of the bulge. through everything it had against the free world, just like great american soldiers, which fought during the christmas of 1944, brave ukrainian soldiers are doing the same to putin's forces this christmas. [applause] ukraine holds its lines and will never surrender.

[applause] [end video clip] host: we want to remind you, too, that you can find that speech at c-span.org. you will also find it now on our free mobile app that c-span now. download the free c-span now mobile app. should the u.s. continue aiding ukraine were efforts? if you say yes, it is (202)-748-8000. the no line is (202)-748-8001. jim in arizona, morning. caller: good morning. can you hear me? host: yes, we can. caller: i would like to say, no, we should not give ukraine any more money. this has been completely a biden and democrat led conspiracy over there. they have had bio labs over there, they have been funneling money to the government over

there nonstop. that is why zelenskyy keeps basically extorting biden for money. every time he comes, billions of dollars go over there. we have border issues here ourselves. we are not concerned with that at all. i guess we should be more concerned with russia, but, the fact is, no, we should not give them any more money, not one dime. if you could audit them right now, you would find the majority of that money has been spent. -- misspent. they're trying to cover up for joe biden, and when this thing started, obama's official said, yes, we had bioweapon labs over there, but they were not for military purposes, but they were worried that russia could come in and get them, and use them

for a bioweapon. if they were not trying to use it for military purposes, russia could not come in and use them for bio weapons at all, but through the pentagon, they said we have over 48 bio weapons there. we have money laundering that the democrats are going over there. we do not need to give them any more money. we need to keep it here at home, and that is all i have to say. thank you. host: hagerstown, maryland, next. michael, hello. caller: hey, how are you? this war is right on europe's doorstep. the united states keeps enabling europe, and we have been for the last 75 years. the war we do, the less europe does. i do not have a problem giving aid if it matches what europe does. i believe they are -- we are

probably doing 10 times what the moneys or goods and services they are doing. we keep hearing they are doing stuff, but we never hear exactly how much. i think we should have a team of advisors over there made up of, you know, both sides of the aisle, some military, but any money we give has got to funnel through them, and the european group they would meet with, and then go to ukraine, not direct payments from us to ukraine. we have got to refocus on china. that is by far our biggest threat, and we also have this huge crisis, 5 million people, coming across our border in two years. what are we doing? put the focus on europe, and just keep forcing them to look at the world there doorstep. it is an issue, but, thank you. host: to our previous callers

mentioning the problems along the u.s. southern border, particularly in el paso, this is a report of "the new york times," along the southern border, waiting anxiously for the pandemic era ruling up and down the southern border, officials of the u.s. watched as thousands of migrants and mexico waited. wednesday had been the day that a public health policy allowing for the rapid explosion of migrants during the coronavirus pandemic known as title 42 was set to lift by order of the federal court. the supreme court in its own order this week delay the policy for several more days, but the expectation remained that a surge of arrivals, unlike any scene of the border in years, would soon take place. so a tense and unaided limo invaded both sides on wednesday. migrants hoped once again to claim asylum were held back,

while others forged ahead, waiting across the rio grande with children lofted above the water, clambering through heavy brush to avoid detection. from the hilltop outside eagle pass, national guard members sent to the border by the state of texas surveyed the rio grande next to personnel carriers, permission to be visible from mexico as determined, and a popular crossing point north of town. and in el paso, an area of thousands of migrants recently crossed. in michigan, on the line is bob, on the yes line. go ahead. caller: hi. yes. i think we should support ukraine as we have supported other countries and other conflicts. my point is when president

zelenskyy made the point of saying that iran, who is supporting and helping russia and russia themselves are terrorists, and i believe this is true. i believe most of us would agree with that, and all of congress stood up to applaud the. my point is, then why are we supporting iran? by the obama administration to begin the $1 billion in cash? why are we purchasing oil from russia? and under the biden administration, he doubled imports from them in his first year, so i would like to stop those things and stop contributing to terrorist countries. host: next is tim in wellton, iowa. good morning. caller: hello? host: morning, you are on the air. caller: yeah, i just think that

it seems like if you go back to obama, nobody was one team to send a whole bunch of bombs and stuff then. i think we just sent some blankets over there then, but since everybody has got the democrats on this rush to russia, so they are all hawkish now. go back to the iraq war, the democrats was not wanting it so bad. biden did vote for it, i believe, but it was not as crazy as they are no. i don't know. i cannot really understand it.

we have not paid anything for any of these wars since carter was in there around $31 trillion now i think. host: let me see if i understand. you are saying the democrats support in congress for the ukraine aid, in your view, out of character to how democrats have not supported u.s. military efforts in the past? caller: yes. well, there were some negative against russia before. hey, i want to mention one thing on that border real quick. host: go ahead. caller: everybody can remember a few years ago, when we had the

recession, you cannot even buy a job then, so you have to remember, it is going to be really bad whenever we have another recession with all these others coming in. anyway, i will let you go. host: appreciate your call. providence, rhode island, jim is on the line. hello. caller: hello, can you hear me? host: we can, go ahead. caller: i think we absolutely need to defend ukraine. you have an evil man thinking of sodom again, and where do you think you will go next if you let him walk right in there? this is not something you should be talking about, it just has to be done. that is what i have to say about that. host: willie is on the line from hope mills, carolina, hello. go ahead and make sure you mute your volume and go ahead with your comment. caller: i am 100% opposed to

continuing to send money to ukraine. first and foremost, this is not the fact of the united states. look at our finances and our own situation. i agree with previous callers that have spoken. look at the border, these are real issues. the fact of the matter is, if my enemy moves next-door with my neighbor, don't you think i am going to protect myself? at the end of the day, people keep talking about at the end of world war ii. at the end of world war ii, there were certain spheres of influence put in place, and america is flexing its muscles to russia like backup. when zelenskyy and other people in eastern europe begin to say, hey, let's expand nato, how do

you think a cornered person is going to act? host: 10 more minutes of your comments and calls, should the u.s. continue aiding the ukraine war effort? if you say yes, it is (202)-748-8000. no, (202)-748-8001. a shorter program this morning. the house is coming in at 9:00 eastern. the u.s. senate will be in at 10:00 eastern, so 10 minutes from now over on c-span2. the reporting from earlier this morning at rollcall.com, schumer, senate closing in on omnibus and them and steal. senate majority leader chuck schumer took to the floor at 2:00 a.m. this morning to say an agreement was near to speed up passage of the massive physical omnibus spending bill, after wednesday, wrangling behind the scenes. it was over pandemic era asylum restrictions that the biden

administration would like to lift, a move that some republicans and democrats they would exacerbate chaos at the border. senator mike lee utah has an amended to bar the administration from ending the so-called title 42 policy. authorities want a threshold for adoption and democrats want to raise the bar to 60 votes. "it is my expectation will be able to lock in an agreement on the omnibus tomorrow morning," said senator schumer, "we are very close but we are not there yet. -- yet." they will bring everybody there to get final agreement and move forward. you can follow senate coverage over on c-span2 beginning at 8:00 eastern. and that news conference at the white house yesterday, president biden was asked by ukrainian reporter why the united states had not given ukraine everything it wants in its fight against russia. [video clip] pres. biden: we have given ukraine what they needed when they needed to defend themselves.

the invasion has resulted in more than $20 billion in terms of security systems. yesterday, i approved another $1.8 billion in additional assistance to ukraine for her to succeed on the battlefield. we are focused on working with allies and partners to generate capability in four key areas, air defense, as you know today, the patriot is the best of that, secondly, and we are looking to do more, we provided hundreds of advanced artillery systems and dozens -- from dozens of countries. thirdly, we work with partners to get ukraine tanks and other armored vehicles, and, fourthly, we have announced today another 200,000 rounds of additional ammunition. you say, why don't we just get ukraine everything there is to give? for two reasons, one, there is an entire alliance that is critical to stay with ukraine, and the idea that we would give

ukraine material that is fundamentally different than is already going there would have a prospect of breaking up nato and breaking of the european union and the rest of the world. we are going to give ukraine what it needs to be able to defend itself, to succeed on the battlefield. [end video clip] host: remarks and comments on social media and via text, ukrainians history is well known. absolutely no more tax dollars while our border is being overrun. august says, why wouldn't we? they are our ally, a democracy. if ukraine loses, poland is next. we assist our friends and fight off evil. jersey grosses, i am not in love with the cost, i doubt anyone is, but isn't this what we invest huge sums of money in the military for? what is it for if not to defend democracies, aspirational democracies, allies, and aspiring allies?

chris in sussex, new jersey, says, help ukraine. isolationism never worked. plus, u.s. isolationism is a myth, getting with the marines in tripoli. putin is a bully, the international community needs to stop him or he will continue to threaten peace in the international order. in indiana, randy is up next. caller: yes, i agree 100% with sending money over there. if we don't, our adversaries are all watching what is going on right now. if we stop here, any at all, we are in dire straits. people don't realize that america is the policeman of the world. we are in dire straits with the border, and the deficits, but we cannot let this reside but any

other way through victory through ukraine. that is all i have to say, thank you. host: next is chris in florida. chris, you are on the air. hi. caller: yeah, i say no, but only because i think people don't have the full picture of what is going on in ukraine. i am surprised c-span has not informed its viewers of what is going on. during obama's administration, ukraine lost crimea, am i correct? host: you are right, 2014, correct. caller: so why did putin take that? because there is a port there. russia is a landlocked country. they don't have a port, and if you know where the other part is that, they will never give that port up. secondly, after they took that we did not really do anything about it, now he is over there doing what?

when bided was talking with zelenskyy -- biden was talking with zelenskyy yesterday at the news conference, he said he won't take all of ukraine. that is what biden said, he will not take all of ukraine. of course he will because all he wants is the land bridge. it is all about the port. that is the only reason i say no. i am not against ukraine. i am pro-american, i love my country, and i am disappointed we are not hearing proper information with our citizens. there is a port there. bad guy, good guide, indifference -- good guy, indifference. understand that before you just go up saying things about stuff. it has never been said. i have not heard it talked about in the organization, but there is a port there.

obama could have settled this instantly by giving that port to russia. host: we have talked about that at the time, as well, but thanks for your points. from "the new york times," u.s. predicts an impasse as the war in ukraine endures. as it enters its second year, ukrainian troops will find it more challenging to reclaim territory from russian forces who are focused on defending remaining land gains rather than making a deeper portion to the country, american officials say. over the course of the first 10 months of the war, the ukrainian military as outmaneuvered company russian literary, brought it to a standstill, and retaken hundreds of square miles, and the only regional capital that russia captured. despite relentless russian attacks on civilian power supplies, ukraine has still kept up the momentum on the front lines since september, but the tide of the war is likely to change in the coming months,

they write, as russia improves its defenses and pushes more soldiers to the front lines, making it more difficult for ukraine to retake huge swaths of territory it lost this year, according to u.s. government assessments. all of these factors make the most likely scenario going into the second year of the war a stalemate, in which neither army can take much land, despite intense fighting. "i do think it is far easier for ukraine to defend territory than to go on the offensive and recapture territory," says a former senior pentagon official in russia expert. "we need to be providing ukrainians with the necessary equipment and training to do that." charles is in fort collins, colorado, on the yes line. caller: i agree wholeheartedly to put everything we can behind ukraine. when putin decided to roll over ukraine in three days, and now already assuming a complete

bonding of europe, america, the u.n., nato, finland, sweden now in nato, and for my christmas wish, i just hope all these sanctions against putin and they swore -- this war, i disagree with that article, russia is not sending troops that are trained troops to the front of the border. they are sending people that have not been trained in guns, and if you listen to the reports of russian soldiers, they are suffering, russia is suffering, and for christmas, if putin would stop, think about how that would change the hold world war? and now he is against a formidable enemy, not just as, but nato. he is never going to invade in article five country. he is running out of munitions. that would be my dream, that he is gone out of there, and, hopefully, somebody will step up

. and then we would have a democratic russia. can you imagine a world with a democratic russia? they are going to kick crimea over. nobody -- there is no endgame for putin in this. host: charles, appreciate all your calls this segment. there is more ahead here on "washington journal." , we are talking with "politico's" kyle cheney on >> since elon musk purchased water, a lot of people including politicians have a lot to say about it. on this week on the weekly, we hear from democrats and republicans and other politicians before he bought the social media company. >> i rise today to recognize the

extraordinary achievements of elon musk and spacex of the launch of the rocket. the world's most powerful operational rocket from cape canaveral on tuesday february 6 2018. >> you can find the weekly on c-span now. >> middle and high school students, it is time to get out your phones and start recording for your chance to win $100,000 in total cash prizes for the grand prize of $5,000 by entering c-span's “student cam video documentary contest.” r this year's competition, we are asking students to picture yourself as a newly elected member of congress and tell us what your top priority would be and why. create a 5 minute to 6 minute video showing the importance of your issue from opposing and supporting points of view. be bold with your documentary. don't be afraid to take risks. there is still time to get

started. the deadline for entries is january 20, 2023. for competition rules and tips howo get started, visit our website at studentcam.org. >> "washington journal" continues. host: kyle cheney is politico senior legal affair reporter following the work of the january 6 committee and the release of his final report. that report was supposed to be out yesterday. what delayed the publication till today? guest: the report was about -- supposed to be out in april. the fact we are having this discussion around the holidays as an indication of the evidence they have obtained. it was supposed to be released

yesterday but the combination of president zelensky visiting congress and negotiations on the spending bill overshadow the report and they wanted it to have his own new cycle. host: you had a chance to see some appendices. guest: the transcripts have been release and executive report. host: run the report comes out, how are you -- what are you most interested in finding out? guest: from what we know of what the report will look like, chapters will try closely with the public hearing. my instinct is to look for what is new, what goes beyond what we have seen in the hearing. the actual transcripts themselves will be quite illuminating. expands on the key moments in the hearing. cassidy hutchinson and her interactions with senior white

house officials. helping donald trump in the postelection. -- period and i would like to learn more about those conversations she had with republicans who are a part of the effort. host: we know from the hearing the other night, the committee is making referrals to the justice department on the conduct of the former president. why the referrals are we expecting out of the report? guest: the other ones they previewed were against john eastman, the lawyer who helped and strategize the january succession to overturn the election -- session to overturn the election. i do not know any other referrals beyond those but they point to concerns of people not being honest and other type of referrals like campaign finance matters or ethics committee. host: let's talk about the

ethics committee. those referrals, things will be addressed in 118 congress, that this committee is the one bipartisan committee because it is split even, have we had any indication that the ethics committee and 118 congress would take the january 6 recommendation? guest: we do not but my understanding is any single member can lodge those concerns and the new congress trigger an ethics committee reviewed. bipartisan typically means these clinically explosive referrals do not go anywhere. the question will be for the newer members and again, but do not know how the committee will be constituted and when they will get on the ground there's a lot of question marks before we

get to that point. host: our guest is kyle cheney. we welcome your calls and comments. republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. as we started the conversation, kyle is checking his phone because news of the report could come at any moment. what other things might we see at the report that we do not see in the public hearing that may have not been made public earlier? guest: the chapter i am most eager for is the eight chapter which we learned the attached analysis. the committee poured over surveillance footage and court records, interviewed people inside the capital, and breaking down how the breach occurred. who were the individuals of the

mob that calls, there broke through the police lines, how did it play out in real time? i am interested to see a fuller picture. prosecutors have been prosecuting individuals but in small groups. this is going to be a holistic look at the entirety of the mob and how they managed to get inside the capital and a lot that will be new focus on extremist groups. there is limited discussion of that during the hearings. host: does the report look at the breakdown of security on capitol hill that day? guest: we reported yesterday that two of the appendices will focus on capital security, capitol police preparedness, which has been publicly scrutinized, and the national guard, the issue of getting the

national guard to the capital quickly. the executive summary suggested they believe there was sinister reasons the guard did not get there faster, but it was more about miscommunication than cumbersome process. there'll be more detail on that. host: on reflection, it seems like looking at the issue, the chain of command in terms of who is responsible for the national guard in d.c. was part of the issue. guest: that to me is one of the most substantive policy recommendations we will see out of the committee, streamlining the process, because sure it is not take five approvals. in these major events, we have the guard at the ready. that would be a big component of reform that comes out of the process. host: we have cause waiting.

burst from francis in new jersey on the republican line. caller: there is a whole lot of evidence that does not seem to be shown. there is a whole lot of tradecraft going on. last night the report came out that nancy pelosi has known back inks -- in december she was breached -- breach of the security at the capital. it is going to come out. this new guy, he has been overruled on the exculpatory evidence.

they're going to have interesting things there and you are going to see a whole lot more come out. host: it is more evidence expected to come out? guest: yes. the republican rebuttal report of the security issues at the capital and i read that report and it suggests report and it suggests that the speaker's office was included on the intelligence briefings. a lot of that has been known and has been dispute about how, what the intelligence was that reached the speaker's office and the top of violence expected on january 6. there was an expectation of violence with groups like antifa clashing with the proud boys. no one envisioned or if they did in vision and never bubbled up to the leadership with the concern on -- of attack on the

capital. host: in new york on the democrats line. caller: hello. the thing that bothers me with my fellow democrats is, we have the platform, but they are paying -- playing us a bit and that makes us only to focus on what is happening with trump. i do not believe it is a good idea to put political enemies in jail. that is not the way we do things. we have due process. i was wondering, with the new congress in their and more people on the line with what they're going to do, is it

possible to get antitrust vote -- anti-trump vote through the house? if we cannot, can we shut up about it. host: go ahead. guest: i'm not sure what you mean by an anti-trump vote but i hear your point, the committee making criminal referrals. congress is a political body at the core and it is not their job to tell prosecutors what to do. they felt like they wanted a voice on what they believe the evidence shows but at the end of the day, if possibly evidence. whatever special counsel jack smith uncovers an it justifies a criminal charge against donald trump, the evidence is all that matters. the referrals were a moment for the committee but a sideshow to the actual evidence that still has not come out. the transcripts and full report

that detail what donald trump did can be tested and scrutinized. host: attorney jack smith was brought on board by merrick garland in mid-november, is there evidence he has been cap closely of rest of the january 6 -- a breast closely the january 6 committee or separate? guest: the doj has been frustrated of the inability to get the transcripts the select committee had been collecting. we now know as of this month, the select committee has started sharing those transcripts. jack smith made a request on december 5 in a letter, reported yesterday a few key transcripts have gone over to jack smith and

his team at the special counsel. i think we are going to start to see more of that show up in what doj is doing. host: house speaker 118th congress congress, kevin mccarthy told the chairman bennie thompson to retain records. what do you think is next in terms of what leader mccarthy might have planned or oversight committee might have planned in 118 congress? guest: love that appears in the air because mccarthy makes it through the speaker vote, he may not have the majority he was expecting but there is a post january 6 review, i expect the focus on capital security failures and the contention that missteps and prepared by capitol police fueled by democrats and

their concerns about the optics of an overbearing security presence contributed to january 6. they have done that review without subpoena power, without the ability to compel testimony from key witnesses. i'll be interested to see if they want to revisit that once they have a gavel. they have talked about rebuilding conditions of bc jail -- d.c. jail. whether they go after the investigators in january 6 committee, it is something more trump line members call for not sure if the leadership has the appetite for that. host: sandra, independent line. caller: the january 6 committee was totally anti-trump. there is an representative from texas and others who have put out a book showing nancy pelosi

herself is the one who would not let the national guard come in. they had warnings that there is going to be groups mixed in with the peaceful supporters to cause trouble. host: going back to the chain of command, in terms of national guard, who made the call on january 6? what if the committee find out? guest: we will see the total evidence when they release the report but what we know so far in other reviews, the speaker herself has said, i do not have a role in day-to-day security decisions. i delegate that to my professionals. the three of them together have meetings and discussions about what kind of security presence

to have a january 6. we now know there was some intelligence suggesting violence to congress and concerns that it was not taken seriously enough but at the time they relied on other evidence suggesting street clashes. kind of like what they saw in november and december their previous approach ok protests. they were viewing it as a repeat of those protests where the capital was not under threat. that was a big recalculation -- speculation -- miscalculation. host: kyle cheney is with us, politico senior legal affair reporter. john in maryland. caller: good morning. i am interested about looking at things in context in comparison and when you look at what the

charges are against trump's administration, look at the context of what has happened under previous presidents. you have presidents that are complicit in war crimes, barack obama bomb syria for eight years, kill civilians with drone strikes. you have bush and all of his weapons of mass destruction which we knew did not exist, how many thousands of innocent lives were lost. there are all complicit in war crimes. nancy pelosi sat in, she was involved in the briefings at the white house about enhanced interrogation procedures where they were going to waterboard these people. let's not pendant badges -- pin badges on one group and try to demonize what trump has done.

that is the worst thing that he has done, to tell his people to voice their opinions about due process then i have no problem with it. lives were lost because the process was corrupt. host: any response? guest: sure. it is hard to compare things like america's foreign policy to what happened in post 2020 election. it is not an apples to apples being. i hear those arguments about former presidents and their moral responsibility and legal responsibility for their choices about overseas actions and enhance interrogation and torture. i think the committee will contend and the evidence shows that was not just him getting people to go to the capital, it was a month by month effort to

overturn the election he knew he lost. that is something that is unprecedented in american history. in the context of the transfer of power with a country that is most vulnerable in a cycle to use that the state in power knowing you loss with no evidence to suggest otherwise, and that was a different offense the american constitutional structure and order. host: in the transcripts last night, what are your -- one of your tweets about the transcript and january 6 lawyers saying, do you think government officials are people's who deserves to die traders that to which his lawyer responded, i say that before every mets game.

one thing you report also is the amount of times the fifth amendment was claimed by people interviewed in that setting. did that surprise you? guest: no. the committee said that over 30 witnesses had pleaded the fifth. in the grand scheme of things, it things, it is not a huge number. we did not know until yesterday it was the identity of those witnesses. we knew psalm, mike flynn, roger stone. -- some, mike flynn, roger stone. julie fancelli, republican areas to help finance the january 6

rally. you are seeing the questions the committee got to ask the witness who they did not want to answer and seeing the evidence the committee had that we did not know they had until reading the transcripts. host: in pennsylvania on the independent line. caller: hello. can you tell me and the public who ray epps is, the gentleman who was standing out in front of the capital waving and telling everybody to go into the capital? nothing has been said about ray epps. guest: happy to get into that. he interviewed with the select committee on two occasions. i'm looking forward to reading his transcripts when it gets released.

he is someone alive trump allies view as a foil -- a lot of trump allies view as a foil the select committee has made. he was seen telling people you have to go into the capital and he quickly said peacefully. a few people in the crowd said he sells a k-fed, a plant -- like a fed, a plant but there is no evidence of that whatsoever. he told the committee he has no relation to any government agencies. according to what we have learned about it, he is someone who was at the capital on january 6, did not cross the police line. defendants who were there said he tried to calm tensions before the breach occurred. the fbi did not pursue charges because he did not go to the capital and he called them when

he realized they were looking into him. he fueled the conspiracy theories about the breach and whether he was there in a government role and there is nothing to back that up. host: his transcript should be among the ones released today with the entire report? guest: i do not know if all the transcripts come out with a report that they should be released in the next 10 days. host: eric on the democrats line in pennsylvania. caller: good morning. i think the committee made the referrals to the doj means they are not going to play ball. it is a shall committee for the democrats. the democratic committee wants to call for c-span -- newspaper workers are on site crushing his workers from bargaining a contract. host: linda in arkansas on the republican line. caller: i want to know exactly

what part the fbi played in this. the records are out now that they liked -- of interference and it was reported they have 50 ages in the crowd they never testified to a yes or no. i am curious of what their role was and who investigated it. host: did evidence reveal the fbi agents were on the ground? guest: yeah. limited president has come out in criminal cases. in performance with the proud boys, not undercover agents cooperating and performance, witnesses -- informants, witnesses telling what the, oath keepers were up to leading up to january 6. there were failures related to that because there was evidence

that the oath keepers plan to have a big presence on the january 6 and maybe plan for violence on january 6. the same with the proud boys. there were not able to prevent what ultimately occurred. there is evidence of the intelligence around january 6 was not taken seriously enough in terms of threats to the capital. there are cases where people are calling in tips to the fbi in december saying i am concerned that this person is going to attack government officials if you do not do something. nothing happened until january 6 when that person was seen at the capital participating in the mop and may in the violence -- mob and maybe the violence. it is no surprise the monitor -- fbi monitors these groups but they do not monitor them closely enough to prevent them from doing what they did on january 6. host: on the national guard, a

viewer says this, when talking about the slow response in the national guard, trump fired the top brass in december after he lost. no looking call in the national guard except the president. any response? guest: the committee's evidence i am looking forward to, we know in readings there is nothing nefarious around -- about the slow arrival of the national guard. but we have learned is the acting defense secretary believe he had the authority to do whatever he had to do to call the national guard. everything else that happened below him is conflicting and competing issues and the cumbersome processes. so, in hindsight they wish they had been more streamline and hopefully in the future that will be reformed.

host: patty from new jersey. caller: good morning. i am listening and it is sad and depressing to hear people calling in with conspiracy theories and i do not know where people's minds are what i would like for you to send a message to congressman defending january 6 as if it was a political calm discourse. not every maga person is gay a. i find it un-american for congressman to be supporting this type of person when the united states follow a world war to rid us of the spurge of nazi-ism and weiser frisbees --

white supremacy. the republican -- congressman to go down these conspiracy theories do not deserve to be in congress. i would like you to send a message come there un-american. we fought a war to rid the war of nazi-ism, why are they supporting it? guest: you made that play clearly. in a related note, i am curious to see the transcript of nick, the white supremacist who dined with donald trump recently in mar-a-lago generated controversy. he was at the capital january 6 but did not go inside.

i am interested in the evidence of his supporters who were also there and did go in. one of them is now in prison. a lot of others were there the committee will look at his role in motivating people to go to the capital and possibly fueling those who were there. host: you have been covering the january 6 committee for some time and his whole presentation was different than anything we have seen before in a congressional committee. do you think this model, the use of video in the hearings, staged hearings may become more frequent in committees ahead? guest: i think the answer is probably. the thing about the select committee, it took a lot of unusual circumstances to even exist and to function the way it did.

it probably functions as well as it does because it has no authority. they're all allied on their purpose and mission with both committees, select committees have a minority. they do not allow unanimous agreement on how certain hearings should run. while i think a lot of committees are envious this committee has been able to operate in a nonstandard way which is led to more effective hearings, were -- more productive work, i did not take you will see it replicated unless you see it replicated in the decisions who participate in the future. host: tom in florida. caller: good morning. i question if it is ok to put your political enemies in jail.

i wonder if the political impact this might have on the 2024 presidential race. i hope there is always in alan removed from c-span's board of directors. his workers are on strike and he refuses to negotiate a fair contract. host: the first part of that question, political enemies and the impact of the january 6 committee. guest: the answer is obviously no. the question again will always be on the evidence. west evidence here that the -- what is the evidence here that a crime was committed? it is up to prosecutors to decide if they agree or does evidence support that or other potential crimes or not. it always comes down to what is the hard evidence show not the congressional committee think the evidence shows.

as for the political impact, they were operating during the midterm cycle and they believe they played a role in convincing americans about the threat to democracy that helped lead to the defeat of donald trump hand-picked candidates. they felt that america got the existential threat. in this case, democracy and survival of the play a bigger role than they expected. host: bill on the democrats line in cincinnati. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. i think the committee has handled themselves with grace. i am proud to be an american today. i will be more proud -- host:

that's a corporate matter with c-span, we are on the editorial side. kyle jenny thank you for joining us this morning -- kyla cheney thank you for joining us this morning. guest: thank you for having me. host: we have the u.s. house coming up at 9:00 eastern. we will open our phones for you to weigh in on issues you would like to talk about. republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. ♪ >> with great confidence in our caucus, i would not seek

reelection to democratic leadership in next congress. >> in november house speaker announced she was stepping down after two decades of leadership. on sunday, christmas day we talk to journalist susan page who wrote a biography on speaker pelosi. we discussed the most memorable moments as speaker. >> by electing me speaker, you have brought me closer -- us closer to the quality which is america's hope and heritage. i think the leaders for acknowledging it. it is a historic moment for the congress, and for the women of america. >> watch our conversation on speaker of the house nancy pelosi's career sunday 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span and online at c-span.org.

>> pre-order your copy of the congressional directory of 118th congress. it is your access to the federal government with bio and contact information for every house and senate member. important information for congressional committee, the president's cabinet, federal agencies and state governors. scan the code at the right to pre-order your copy today. it95lus shipping and handling. every purchase helps support our nonprofit operations at c-spanshop.org. >> "washington journal" continues. host: the u.s. house getting to work early this morning. they have a deadline for the spending bill. descendant came in this morning at 8:00 a.m. eastern -- the senate came in this morning at 8:00 eastern. an effort led by mike lee to maintain title 42, as threatening efforts to pass a sweeping gun -- funding bill.

negotiators on both side say the biggest hold up as ongoing negotiations to decide with the voting threshold would be to pass an amendment. it is open for them here on washington journal until 9:00 eastern and our house coverage. republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. any news or policy issue you are following will go to neil in florida. caller: good morning. i called in to make a comment so kyle cheney, the point i wanted to make, i notice acquittals in democrat cities federal courts.

however, the committee is sending four charges to the doj for what they feel they have uncovered in their hearings. i think the hearings perpetuated mainstream media, especially msnbc. morning joe cannot get trump, they cannot get his name out of their maths -- mouse. -- mouths. they continue to inflate the

insurrection. host: you do not see it as that? you see it as will happen at the capital, what is your view? caller: there were a lot of paste all people that went there. they showed up in halloween costumes. whether section of protesters that had -- where there sections or processors that had omissions, it is possible. but when you look at the the video of the event, how many people were in the capital oppose the people who were viewed what was going on? host: lee in kansas on the democrats line. caller: hello.

i would like to push back on president biden shutting down the oil fields. i keep hearing this narrative. i like all our viewers to go to the eia.gov. a table shows the production of oil in u.s. by week going back to 1983. the united states in number one producer of oil in the world. we are currently producing 12 million barrels of oil per day. that is more than any time in our history save two years under trump. next year, united states will produce almost 13 million barrels of oil every day. that is more than any time in our history. look it up. energy information administration.gov you will see it.

see all of the oil joe biden is producing. host: frank in new york on the republican line. caller: good morning, america. merry christmas. happy hanukkah. i want to talk about the washington journal. i love your show, here is why. i get up early in the morning, i watched fox news, msnbc, cnn. i watch the talking heads. i get tired of it. they are coming at me from one way, the other agencies from right to left. open forum, my favorite segment of the show. i wish you would -- four recommendation, make it longer. it seems to be short.

i enjoy hearing people talk with the southern accents. it is hilarious, some of the callers that call in with her off the hook. i find it entertaining and i get to hear what people think. i am part of the audience now. i do not want to get political in any way. i would like to -- the show to be better but i find myself can wait for 7:00 a.m. so the show comes in because i am sick after an hour of the other news agencies. i really like open form aspect. host: we glad we are part of your morning. we appreciate that and glad to have you call in this morning. from the wall street journal,

u.s. life expectancy falls to the lowest level since 1996. life expectancy fell again last year. after covid-19 and opioid overdose is about the number of deaths. covid-19 was the third leading cause of death for a second consecutive year. cdc said thursday. a number -- rising number of drug overdose deaths drove down life expectancy. they write the death rate for u.s. population increase by 5%, cutting life excitedly at birth to 76.4 years in 2021 from 77 years in 22 -- 2020. before the pandemic in 2019, life expectancy at birth in u.s. 78.8 years. the decline in 2020 was the largest since world war ii.

mike in pennsylvania, good morning. caller: hi. i am a republican now, i was a former democrat. i worked down the street from the white house, labor union. i wanted to sit there and say, you had a guest on earlier from politico. given the january 6, the form they have their is a committee that was hand selected and they did not allow republicans that were slated to be on their, on their. you can stack anything. i ran a couple different organizations. if i want to stack the vote and

make things look one way, it was easy to do. this is what they have done. it is not a trial. there is a lot of innocent people in jail there were not at the capital variety, yet they are still -- rioting yet they are still in jail. how do we let criminals out the next day after hitting someone in the back of a head with a bat? i am so disappointed right now in the way things are going. our borders on the south are open yet we are putting money into other countries to lockdown their borders. i'm not talking about ukraine. where putting a ton of money

into ukraine without any type of outcome. we cannot protect our own borders but we are trying to help them. i am kind of glad to do but it would be nice to sit here and say we will have an outcome favorable to the world. that is it. host: thanks for the call. dorothy on the democrats line. caller: thank you for letting me speak and i appreciate your show. i enjoy waking up in the morning watching your show. please do not cut me off. this is something that has been bothering my heart. i consider myself as a christian. they got so many people out there dying. i do not understand how you can call state you are a christian, i'm not trying to criticize

anybody, but you let people die. those people are dying on the border. we need to get that fixed, they are dying down there. it is cold. it is going to get colder outside. babies out there. just like ukraine. they got people dying over there because of what putin did. they do not have food, electricity. what can we do? how can you get up and say i am a christian? what bible are you reading from? i am not reading from the same bible you are reading from. god told us we are supposed to look after the poor. i am not trying to criticize no president, trump, biden, nobody. we need to put a stop to some of this stuff going on.

these people do not believe nothing. you do not listen to what somebody else says. you think for yourself. host: in massachusetts on the independent line, good morning. caller: i want to bring a question, why wasn't nancy pelosi brought in front of the insurrection board to hear her side of why if she was the head of security, things are coming in that there might be unrest, why wasn't she questioned about why she did not do anything about it? i think any time someone does not do their job, there should be follow-through. host: this is from the washington post this morning, they had line on the article spending bill good find summer school assistant, $1.7 trillion

message -- measure. the spending bill debated in the senate on wednesday comes at a price. the measure would give millions of children easier access to healthy food during the summer months but to pay for the new benefits congress would reduce pandemic investments into food as assistance -- and assistant programs. the bill must pass to avert a government shutdown is one of many trade-offs they made as a couple of the in a narrowly divided congress. in alabama, todd is on the republican line. caller: good morning. i am wondering how the fight for

the speaker of the house will impact the committee's work. i also think it calls for c-span to get rid of -- host: that is a corporate measure not one we deal with on the editorial side. to the in florida. -- dave in florida. host: -- caller: when i look at problems we have in our two-party system is one party is operating out of a parallel universe in erotic fantasy. -- you take these calls from republican line and 90% of them are in a complete fantasy world and they spewed these lies that they pick up from fox news and radical rights that have

websites. the moderator on c-span have resources. they could contribute to something that is meaningful and at least contribute to some foundation. if you are mathematician, how are you going to debate someone a mathematical theory when the other side believes two plus two equals 29. it is impossible to establish mutual bylaws. that is the main killer of gop political strategy. it has been that way for 30 years. they get into power, they screw everything up 110% and democrats come in and try to clean up the crate -- train wreck file republicans do nothing -- while republicans do nothing but lie and cheat trying to make the democrats take the rap for the disaster.

it is the same cycle. recently in 2008 that the war criminal bush left the economy in ruin. the democrats get back into office for the next eight years they try to clean up the train wreck while republicans scream and wind like children and tried to block every effort to save the country from going over the ad -- age. -- age. chum comes into office and becomes -- show eight -- trump comes into office and tries to overthrow the government. the economy in the toilet again just provided to take -- in time for president biden to take the cap for that.

host: newly elected congressman scrutinize overestimate. democrats call for an investigation into leprosy in biography -- discrepancies in his biography. some sank he should not be seated. he said that he graduated from college in manhattan, worked at goldman sachs and citigroup inc. before making a bid for congress in 2020. they found no match with graduation date. i was from goldman sachs and citigroup say they have no report of employment there. the wall street journal writes chris -- democrat says discrepancies and his finances should be look at for he is

seated saying quote there are so many red flags. while many in washington have been silent on the matter including house minority leader kevin mccarthy, at least one republican has said mr. santos who should address the matter. the discrepancies were serious and every party -- person deserves the opportunity to clear their name in the face of accusations. dennis on the independent line. caller: good morning. this is a follow-up to an earlier caller who asked your guess about ray epps. i do not feel he answer the question which who is this guy?

he was notice on the fifth of january saying we need to go into the capital and then he was there on the six but did not go inside. i thought it was an evasive answer when you compare that to any number of individuals there is detailed information on who they were and political stance they had and whether they remember the proud boys or oath keepers or this or that. i am pointing that out. hopefully, there is some way c-span. host: i think he also said he was waiting for the january 6 committee transcripts, interviews including the interview with ray epps to come out. that material should be really

subsequent to the january 6 committee. robert skeen of carolina on the republican line. caller: thanks for c-span. i call in once a month and i want to take this opportunity to say i hope everyone has a thanksgiving and wish everybody a merry christmas and a happy new year whether you are black, white, republican, democrat, hispanic, here legally, legal -- illegally. i love you. support one another. we are all brothers and sisters no matter what our religion is. i love you all and in spite of our differences let's try to

love and listen to one another and find peace. god bless you all. thank you for taking my call. host: thank you for that message. steve in oklahoma. caller: good morning. i am wondering if you think joe biden has said enough about the committee and if you think he could have use his veto to build trust in this effort. when you look at it, it calls for ellen block -- host: we moved to texas and billy on the democrat line. caller: i want to say america is still the strongest nation on this planet and we are helping people in ukraine and everywhere. we have a great president. we have a lot of crazy people

here in america and some of them are racist trying to go against the system but america will always be strong because we have people of all races and religion. god has america. c-span alliance people to speak and tell the truth in america will continue to run the world as long as we keep our faith in god. host: the hill today, he writes speaker pelosi is ending her long leadership tenure with an historic flourish. putting a remarkable cap on the landmark era. this week alone house democrats have release tax records of former president trump following a years long battle. wrap up there investigation until last year's capital attack complete with criminal referrals for trump in the pass a massive

$1.7 trillion spending bill full of democratic priorities including legislation designed to ensure peaceful transfer of power between presidents, a place that came in response to the rampage of january 6. those were the expected developments. on wednesday congress played host to a history making address by ukraine's president president zelensky after a surprise visit to washington. let's hear from jeff in nebraska on the republican line. host: go ahead jeff. make your comments quick. caller: i'm calling about the caller from florida that said c-span needs to correct the republicans that are saying misinformation. it is kind of hard for c-span to correct them when c-span is lying to the people on tv as bad

as the fake news. thanks. host: that will wrap it up for our program this morning. we are back tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern and we hope you are as well. the house is coming up next taking up a measure related to the lease -- release of presidential tax returns. likely later today, $1.7 trillion spending measure has a friday -- as a friday deadline looms. live coverage is next.