host: good morning pan a three

hour good morning. a three hour washington journal had. the issue of immigration as the year comes to close. experiencing an influx of migrants. some in congress think it could opt for -- offer an opportunity for a new deal. what reform would you support? democrats, (202) 748-8000. special line for border state residents is (202) 748-8003. that is also the line you can send us a text on.

a very good tuesday morning to you. we could hear from the supreme court and a final word on the pandemic era border policy as soon as today, but we will begin the program this morning. friday, it was kevin mccarthy speaking about the crisis at the border and what republicans plan to do about it in the next congress. >> since taking office and having one party rule, the democrats and biden's policy have caused the worst crisis in american history. you can try to ignore it, but 11 more days -- if you do not show up for work here, you will not have that opportunity. we will take our work to the border. all you have to do is open your eyes and you will see what you

created and the disaster that has become of your legacy. on this administration's watch, record numbers of illegal border crossings, deadly drugs and even terror suspects have come into our country. i remember almost two years ago on a tour of the border, speaking to the border agents, you learn a lot, if you are willing to do that. never before had they seen so many people coming across the border. i went to a press conference after and told the american public what we had learned. i would assume everybody, especially mr. speaker would be concerned.

that they would want to rally together to protect america. no, i was called a liar. he said he has much clearance as i did, mr. speaker. that this could not be true. but lo and behold, even the dhs came out and said -- tried to deny the fact, but now we know it is a record-setting number. how many people coming into this country is too much for you? host: leader kevin mccarthy -- they are set to take over the house when the congress convenes next week. next week in the senate, efforts there to get an amendment and that spending bill that would have extended that pandemic era border patrol policy. it was the majority leader in

the senate talking about title 42 and saying a more comprehensive solution was needed when it came to the border. >> i think the biden administration realizes that it has to come up with a real plan for the border. title 42 has no consequences. you cross the border and the same people cross over and over again. so the biden administration is coming up with one, and they will be constructive with the border instead of using it for political purposes. they did it in the 2018 election as well. the anti-immigration sentiment is not with the american people. i have never seen it work politically. host: chuck schumer, that was

last thursday. the are expecting to hear about title 42 as early as today. last week indicating that they expect to have a final decision soon on this issue of what to do with pandemic era border patrol policies. several states stepping in and asking the supreme court to block that action. we are asking you what reform you support. invest more times -- more time and resources and patrick saying, quit treating noncitizens like citizens. build the wall. they are not refugees, they are invaders. looking for your comments on social media.

again, a special line in the first hour for border state residents. we want to hear from you especially. stephanie is up first out of brooklyn. good morning. caller: happy, everyone. i am very concerned about what is going on at the border. i think that the republicans refused to work with the democrats to come up with a plan to stop what is going on at the border. they want the chaos. they will not do anything, and it is a shame how they are treating these people at the border as if they are pieces or slabs of meat. how can these republicans --

they just do not care anymore. they are supposed to be the party of compassion, the party that believes in the bible, but what happened to these people? what is going on with the republican party? they need to work with the democrats and come up with a plan. everybody that came into this country was an immigrant at some point in time. now, they need to stop this. enough is enough. host: for republicans. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. i disagree with the previous caller because we are not -- republicans are not anti-immigration. they are pro-legal integration. and the policies are not

working. they need to build the wall. yes, we need to take care of people, but we need to do it legally and we need to have common sense. host: what about asylum-seekers as a legal avenue to get into this country? what are your thoughts on those who come to the border? caller: if they are seeking asylum, for all means. i am all for legal immigration. but we do have those across the border -- it is a plain fact that we have people coming across the border who do not

care less about our laws and our constitution. mccarthy stated that there have been terrorists who have crossed the border. but we just need to be very careful. host: let'put the latest numbers on the board. some unique border encounters with custom and border protection officials just in the month of november. 35 percent of those encounters in november where migrants from cuba, nicaragua, countries bear it is very hard to send people back to. only 29% of total encounters were processed under title 42.

it is that pandemic policy that makes it easier to immediately send somebody back, if they are crossing illegally. it is that title 42 policy that the biden administration has asked to end. it was a policy put in place during the trump administration. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. open borders has not walked -- worked and neither has building a wall. after five use of completing that process, they would be eligible for citizenship.

to appeal to the conservatives, concerned about finances, there would be no social programs for people coming into the country. you are expected to support yourself. i would hope that the moderates could find a common ground that will help us offer these people will an opportunity without turning us into a welfare state. but that would be an opportunity. host: you offer your compromise that you think people could come around. why do you think it is so hard to get a compromise on this issue specifically, over the years? caller: i'm not sure that the sides are interested in a compromise. they are not looking to solve a problem but to stake out a position.

another open avenue is joining the u.s. armed forces, if you get a discharge, what would come with it is discharge papers. host: two members of the senate offering a compromise. it was kyrsten sinema who spoke about that bipartisan effort, urging colleagues to take some action in the new congress. >> many have not taken the time see our border up close. it can be easy to rely on

talking points instead of focusing on realistic solutions. we come back to congress in january, one of the first things that i will do is convene a bipartisan group of senators, who are willing and committed to getting something done. we will bring them to the border. a crisis this big should not and cannot be ignored. in arizona, we cannot afford for this crisis to continue much longer. over the past four years, i have been privileged to work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle. through honesty and collaboration, we have shown america that there is so much more that unites them then divides them. we have shown america what is

possible when we listen to one another. to understand. there is no challenge more intractable, more difficult to bridge, and more dire for us to solve than our border and immigration crisis. i believe that we can come together and earnestly solve this challenge. kyrsten sinema -- host: kyrsten sinema. that was last week. looking ahead to the 218th congress, if some sort of calm from eyes -- compromise comes together, what he went to hear about? we have a special line for border state residents. we are also looking for your tweets and text messages.

there were three busloads of people dropped off in front of the vice president's house on christmas eve in freezing temperatures without giving d.c. any advance notice. 110 to 130 people were dropped outside of the residence on saturday. the temperatures were about 15 degrees in washington dc. why drop -- the governor of texas started sending buses to drop off asylum-seekers outside the naval observatory. they started sending buses after harris said in an interview that the border was securing. that is usa today. there is a picture that focuses

on the migrant families there, boarding a bus that was in washington. david and birmingham, alabama. good morning. caller: i want to make a conversation about nancy pelosi. host: can we talk about it in the context of immigration so we can stay on topic? i -- caller: i saw the drop off and i think that was inhumane to drop off people and those kind of temperatures.

hello? host: go ahead and finish a comment. you are still with us. caller: that motivates in terms of getting out to vote because they could have easily taken those immigrants back across the border. especially with the temperatures that it was. let me say a little bit about nancy. host: let's focus on the issue of immigration. he said it was inhumane to drop them off in front of the vice president's house. this was the white house spokesperson saying governor greg abbott abandoned children in below freezing temperatures without any local authorities.

it accomplished nothing and almost put lives in danger. white house put that statement out after christmas eve. south carolina, republican. good morning. >> i hope you and your family had a merry christmas and are not suffering too much from this crazy weather. there are people all over this country suffering from the cold and not just those who are dropped off at kamala harris's office. a well-known celebrity who is a guest on fox -- you know who i am talking about, made up that comment about the christian attitude about dropping those people off. there is a lot to be said. first, we need to enforce the law. a couple callers have spoken to a few things, so i will not repeat that, but one thing that we need to do is get very

specific about what asylum should really be. of course, people want to escape cuba and venezuela. that is really the asylum. but there are so many other people. i have some democrat friends. nobody is again legal immigration. this infuriates people who immigrate legally and did it the right way. i have asked my friends to give me a shut the gate number. 20 million? 50 million? nobody has a number. at some point, these people came here at the invitation of the president. with all due respect to chuck schumer, the number of immigrants is going to outnumber . host: what is your shut the gate number? caller: i do not have one, but

the government needs to have one. at some point, they will have to say, there are no jobs left. they are going to expect help because they came here at the invitation of our government. it will impact our schools in a negative way. people are going to say they were invited. there might be jobs right now. host: i appreciate that you called and stuck around for a couple questions. why are republican owned farms working the fields and livestock? caller: you are absolutely right and spot on.

people have to stop taking advantage of that system. you know what it is going to be? it will drive up the prices of goods and stories. it is a terrible situation. we got into a decades ago. we have immigrants who used to come then, and they still do but we are stuck. this does not seem to be a good way out. host: i always appreciate talking to you. i hope you have a good new year's. patty is next. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i have been working in the

immigration field for a long time. it is not simple. i do not know anybody who advocates for open borders. the question is, and doing that, do you want to break the law or follow the law? people are fleeing because they believe they are being persecuted in their home country. everybody gets a chance to have their day in court. you need to give them an opportunity. it is complicated. there are people not able to survive. their lives are in danger every day. the u.s. cannot save everyone, but when it is not a problem only of the u.s., it is a worldwide problem.

there is no way that they will be kept in a place where they cannot survive if they have a way to go at a survive. the solutions that have to be created have to be not just from the u.s. but from the world, and different parts of the world come in europe and in central america. it is a worldwide problem. they need to provide the opportunity to see their families. nobody wants to leave their country, their language, their family, for just an adventure, very few. many are coming for survival. they could actually benefit from that productivity. that is one way to remain where they are.

host: what line of work are you in? caller: i am an immigration attorney. host: for those who do not know a lot about the process, what does that mean? caller: my role is to help individuals who can legally live in this country and bring their family members to stay. those who cannot, cannot. nobody wants individuals to break the law, who should not be here. but following the laws set by immigration does not mean that you have somebody without a lot of experience. you have to check their case. it has gotten complicated. part of the reason is that there was a backup, previously. there was a lot of chaos. and then covid is complicated.

congress has not done its job to also address the needs of this country. you have a vast need for immigrants. so the laws have to indent to meet the law -- meet the needs of this country. if this problem could be addressed both in your home country, which i think -- there has to be an extension to allow people to remain where they are. host: one more question, if you do not mind. a lot of these people come to this country with very little. how did they pay for an attorney? how did they get an immigration attorney? caller: i am in the nonprofit world. it makes it very difficult for them if they cannot afford representation.

that is the way it is. when immigrants come, even if you get a green card, you are not able to get any benefits. there is a myth out there that immigrants are taking all the benefits. they are not able, for five years, they are nate -- they are not able to get any benefits, even if they are here legally. citizenship is a privilege that they need to meet requirements, language and knowledge. the other point i want to make is that part of the reason that there is this myth out there that more anglicans are coming is the open borders myth. that is on the republican side. talking point is that the less is now giving open borders. that is sending a message out to other countries that yes, it is open borders. i do not hear within the

immigration world and he mentioned about open borders. the u.s. cannot allow everybody a, that currently, it needs to follow its laws to determine who is able to stay here legally and who cannot. it is not a simple problem. host: i got your point. thank you for chatting about what you do. texas is next. caller: hello. i just want to warn all the other state that may not be a border state like i am. but it is coming your way. and the problem is, even though you go to apply for a job, it

says, must be bilingual because they need the spanish people's business as well. so, every ad that you look at, every job posting, at least in texas. a lot of the spanish people are making their way east. it will probably be the same for that. host: that is jesse and texas. this is seymour. caller: good morning. i like to compare the current situation to a 100 year bud. how come we can have an army corps of engineers help new orleans through these problems but over the last 50 plus years, we have never really had a good

solution to the problem of people going across the border. i remember visiting with friends and watching all of the people will walk across the river as people in border positions looking the other way. people have always been coming into the country and forever -- host: what immigration reforms would you support? what is a fair compromise? what are some points that they could build that bill around? caller: they have to let as many people in because we need the people. they are not wiling to do that. they have never been willing to do that, so as long as we have

hundred year floods, we will have a problem world. host: going to arizona. this is terry, a republican. caller: good morning, c-span. a couple different points. first, i thought the biden administration was hired to take care of american citizen first. second, i can remember donald trump sending nancy pelosi and chuck schumer down in the oval, in front of the american people come in front of cameras and said let's do immigration reform right here, right now. nancy pelosi said, no. we have to do it behind closed doors. the biden administration, during the debates said that he was all

in for open borders, and when he was elected, people came across that border wearing biden and harris shirts. we should shut the border down right now until we can take care of the american citizen in this country. i agree. i think every single one that has come into this country, even over the last 2.5 years should be deported back to the country that they came from. when you have veterans sleeping on the street because this administration refuses to take care of them -- black america. they should be more offended than anybody else. they claim that they do not get a fair shot in this country, yet here we are.

10 million, close to 10 million and two half years. it is a travesty. host: it is just after 7:30 on the east coast. our question is, what immigration reforms would use of her? if you are from a border state of a we want to hear from you specific the. keep calling in. this was senator langford reflecting last week on the challenges that have prevented congress from passing immigration reform legislation in the past couple of years. this is what he had to say. >> everybody sees the problem on immigration. the issue is, how do we actually solve a? we need to get to a resolution

and solve it. there is no deadline. congress functions best on a deadline. what is happening on the floor today, you'll see suddenly there is a deadline happening. immigration, there is no deadline. congress got busy and started negotiating, talking about how to resolve this. none of them got 60 votes. we are about to go and resolve differences. the court pulled away and said, we want to look at dock. we knew -- we now have a new deadline now. we have a new deadline and i think it will push congress on both sides of the hill to talk about, what are we going to do and how will be resolve all these issues? i hope that we have serious, substantive dialogue about these issues rather than being floated

at different times and saying, here is the solution. there is no preparation that has been done for. this cannot continue. i think they believe that it will just magically go away. they are finding out that it is just getting worse and it is unresolved. host: joe is in indiana. in morning. you are next. caller: good morning. so nice to see you there because you are so patient with people. i am 74 years old. i am an immigrant. my grandparents came here at the turn-of-the-century from hungry -- hungary.

i know a little bit about immigration. my view on the thing with the border right now is that president biden, i hope you are listening. i wish he would watch the morning journal every day and you could learn something. also, republicans, senator langford about the border situation -- i wish he would be as honest about what he thought should be done as the republicans from north carolina who just called and that what should be done. president biden, you should have closed the border. we have so many problems. let's do it temporarily. we want to honor the statue of liberty, the gift from france, who would have our huddling

masses come to the shore. immigration is a story of people who want a better way of life, and they think america is the place to go. all of a sudden, you realize that you are not prepared to have them come here because there are a few things you have to take care of. so that is my message. i watched the journal every morning and you could learn a lot about what people think this country. thank you. host: the guidance that the press received, traveling to the virgin islands, where they will be celebrating the new year. departing from andrews today. perhaps he will make a statement to the press. we are waiting on the supreme court final decision, the

pandemic era order patrol policy. several states suing to keep it from ending. the supreme court to keep that policy in place until they make a final decision. chief justice john roberts said they want to make that decision quickly, so that decision could come as early as today. good morning. caller: first of all, they are not immigrants, they are americans. they just happen to not be in this location. america needs to own up, ok? they are not immigrants. they are americans, most of

them. caller: the first thing we need to do is get control of the border. as fine as whether or not the biden administration should have an open border policy, that was my impression from watching the debates, but let's say the border was closed. everyone knows that he is lying through his teeth. 1 million and a half people with that case is to be heard in the backlog before biting came in. the immigration attorney was talking about how people are

supposed apply for asylum. you have people flying in from all over the world. passing through 50 countries before they get here. they are not following procedure. many have their claims denied. you have a scenario where global warming is nothing in this country. you have hundred of sanctuary cities run by democrats. all the blue states are a sanctuary states. as far as the idea came, i agree with you. i agree that we need a lot of immigration but the u.s. has multiple immigrants come here illegally, much more than any other country on the planet. on average, kennedy transformed the bill in the senate. a completely transform the way

that immigration works. but the western countries, countries on the higher economic side -- virtually every country on the planet has a birth rate below sustainability. we need more people, no question about it. the problem is, how many do we need? host: 1.6 million would be the highest on record. caller: that cannot be true. it was approaching 1.5 million. the statistics coming out of the biden administration are ridiculous. he has been claiming that he has added one billion new jobs in

the second quarter of the year. it has been reported rather widely that it was a complete falsehood. it was based on bad information. you had negative growth. how do you have a million additional jobs? the actual number was 10,000. they have delayed and delayed. i have studied numbers always back to the 1990's. they would give the statistics near the end of the month. the biden administration, who knows? they just announced the number for november as being a new record. statistically, that is not -- the migration principally comes between march and july.

after july, it starts tapering down. you have to look at it month on month and year on year. smashing records unbelievably. biting comes in and the ngo's go down and tell people how to get in. it takes years. most of them do not show up to hearing. it gives them the right to get on an airplane without a license or in id. i worked in the hotel industry for years. you ask somebody about employers, especially hiring people. the hotel industry hired probably the second most. the housekeeping staff was all hispanic. i wrote the manuals on it, but

we talked about how to check documentation. it was impossible. they did not get cooperation. there were a couple of u.s. agencies. they can compare the numbers and you can solve that problem easily, but they do not want to. host: independent, you are next. caller: happy new year. i figured i would tune in and i am glad that i did. i want to speak on to to be things. in the 1980's, i graduated from the miami area and the last few years of my high school education, i got nothing because i did not understand half of it because most of it was in spanish. we have an open border and dividing administration, the

upper echelon fails to realize that what they are doing to not only the middle-class but the lower, urban areas. they are inundating us, with taxes. a dozen of eggs should not cost six dollars. they are working and that immigration attorney is lying to you because i was a case manager for years. they do get cash. they get housing and transportation. they get with the american citizen cannot get. host: where did you work? caller: in florida. host: what was your job? caller: i was a case manager for welfare work first date. -- for the state. and they do to get benefits. we need to stop this republican

and democrat. i dropped my affiliation. i am an independent. i am an american wanting to take care of our american sin. there are so many single moms out there working two jobs who cannot get those benefits, but the minute they come across without an id, they could be wanted for multiple thing in different countries, and they are coming here, bringing that trash here. we need to close the border and then we need to impeach every single one of them has failed to protect our country because we are being invaded. host: back to texas. the morning. caller: i am sick and tired of democrats blaming republicans and republicans blaming democrats. they did have limitations on the amount of people who could enter the country. if you know there is a backlog,

provide the financing that you can send enough judges down there to resolve the backlog. this lack of action and talking points, as everyone can see, it is not working. i support what the gentleman from michigan said with his solutions about the military and other things. i like this previous caller from pennsylvania. i also like with the previous caller from michigan stated as well, pertaining to what laws can be implemented and what actions can be taken. this lack of action by both parties, we cannot go on like this. i firmly believe that we have to have term limits for these politicians. so that they work for other people instead of working to get reelected. host: waiting on a final say on

title 42. it would make it easier to send migrants back across the border during the covid era, citing health protections. a democrat from texas was on this program last week to talk about title 42 and why he believes it is no longer needed. caller: the law allows us to do this in case of a pandemic, but when the pandemic is over, it does not allow for us to continue to use that law to block people from our country. now, the pandemic, as the president has said, is over. we may have some residuals that we have to deal with and there might be a need to do this, but i do not see a need for us to ban people.

i would add that if we are truly a country of law, we should change the law. if we do not want people to come and follow the law as it relates to asylum, change the law. if we believe that there are too many people coming for some reason, do what you can to have laws that reflect those views. i believe that people fleeing a mediterranean crisis, fleeing to jordan, and we are paying the money to receive them, i think that was the right thing to do. i believe that those who are being persecuted and coming to this country -- i think we should receive them. we are the country who has the statue of liberty. we are asking for your poor, your hungry, your masses

yearning to be free. why not let people to have -- why not let people have that opportunity to prove that they are truly asylum-seekers? if they are, we will allow them to start the process. if they are not, they will have to return to their home country or some other place. there should be a way to follow the law and not let us become a country of men who will use any law to impose our will upon others. host: a statement from the attorney general who took the lead when it came to the state stepping in to keep title 42 in place. this was the statement after the supreme court kept it in place until they make a decision. mark saying in a statement that it has to happen. saying, it will needlessly endanger more american's.

adding that unlawful crossings are likely to surge to as many as 18,000 per day. the numbers that are being reported i officials out of the el paso area are something around 1500 crossings a day. one of the key areas is getting a lot of focus at this time of year. claudia is in north carolina. thank you for waiting. >> hello. i have been listening and a lot of good points are being paid about immigration, but i think the two things that keep coming to my mind our that this immigration issue is not just about people coming across the border, it is about the cartel,

the drugs coming into america, the children being used for immoral purposes. we have a vice president who said that when she had not been to the border, that she had not been to europe either. i feel like people in the border states like arizona and texas must feel totally abandoned by this government. actually, they are being abandoned. my final point is, i believe in sovereignty of a nation very much. every other nation is wanting sovereignty. many nations have border walls. mexico has a border wall between mexico and the next state, i cannot recall.

but that is not a new thing for a country to want to maintain sovereignty and to expect people to assimilate to the definition of that country. americans still go to other countries and say, you need to be americans. we assimilate to whatever that culture is. my final point -- this is such a big issue -- immigrants coming into this country are unfortunately having to pay cartels thousands of dollars, is what is being reported. if they did not have to pay that , they could afford an attorney. i just think that it is not a democrat or republican party. it is a problem of not following the laws that we have and people

-- i think we need to look at the whole issue, but thank you for your time. host: back in arizona, bullhead city, arizona. jerry, where about in arizona? caller: when you talk about immigration reform, i do not think it is a problem with immigration. the problem is with illegal immigration. the problem is that there is no interior enforcement. when it was passed, it became illegal to work without authorization. the employment laws are not being enforced. joe biden created his presidential campaign on, if you get into the country and do not commit a felony, i will not

deport you, so why are people coming in because they want to get a job. and if they do not commit a crime they will probably not get deported. the bar has been lowered, such that if you say i am a victim of gang violence or domestic abuse, you are allowed into the country. it does not make any sense. host: that is jerry ada bullhead city, arizona. this is freddie in denver, colorado. you are next. caller: i just want to say that i think that the greatest immigration reform would be to remove the hyperbole and hysteria from it. i feel that a great amount of all of this concern is based on

this concept of replacement theory that several callers say over the past several weeks that joe biden is letting all of these immigrants and because they will vote democrat. they do not understand the basic concept that to vote in this country, you must be a citizen. blankets lost. a purest segment of hysteria, worrying that people are going to replace us or take over. even if that were true, why wouldn't you come as a republican party, tried to engage those soon-to-be voters? why would you attack them, demonize them -- why would you do that? it does not work. i think when you take the nonsense out of it, i think we need to take a clear and

wide-eyed examination of what is going on. this country is founded on immigration. no single person ever, in this country, just showed up and there are no natives here. this country was stolen from people who were already here. to deny access to a quote city on the hill like reagan said is just ridiculous. host: jack is in iowa on the line for democrats. caller: good morning. i have a two-part plan. part one is to create a cool off period varies -- where we temporarily suspend the asylum program for two years. part two, we need to get immigration reform forced upon the senate. here is how you do it.

the constitution says the federal government must protect the states from invasion. republicans can vote to impeach both biotin and harris for failing to protect the states from invasion. that will create a hothouse environment that will force the senate to decide to do something about the migration laws. host: you think going to an impeachment vote will force compromise? caller: yes. force both sides in the house and the senate to have to do something. host: that is jack and isla. this is sheila in california. republican. caller: good morning.

first of all, we need to follow the laws and finish the wall. at this stage in the game, all the population in the world will be here and i will be able to pick what country i want to immigrate to. ok? have a great day. host: michael, independent. good morning. caller: overlooked in all the discussion in the years of migration is, if you paid for her, living wages to the people serving us south of the border, we would not have this problem of people escaping the poverty our rich corporations are causing down there. we are not --

building walls are costing us billions as taxpayers. do you think the rich corporations could explain to people in the south of the border are paying anything? no. i would like some comments on that. host: this is christina in the land ofgood morning -- caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i have a question. did not the former administration get rid of a lot of immigration judges? and have they been replaced yet? it is hard to go through the cycle in the courts without the judge is in place. if anyone would know any more on that i would love to hear from them. thank you. host: from that cnn story on

asylum cases, nearly 1.6 million asylum applications are pending, and the largest number of pending asylum cases on record, according to an analysis by one of the records at syracuse university. they have seen over a sevenfold increase in asylum cases from fiscal year 2012, where there one 100,000 cases. at the end of fiscal year 2022 the backlog grew to over 750,000. since then in just the first two months of fiscal year 2023 the asylum backlog jumped by over 30,000 new cases. it now totals 787,000 asylum-seekers are from 219 different countries, speak 418 different languages. about three out of 10 are children under the age of 18.

the leading countries of origin include guatemala, venezuela, cuba, and brazil. overall average wait time for an asylum hearing is about 4.3 years. next out of brooksville, florida, republican. good morning. caller: yes, good morning. i've heard a lot of things this morning, but i haven't heard what i think is the problem. i think the democrats are perpetuating the biggest case of voter fraud ever. they are importing future voters for the democratic party. naturally they think biden brought them here, they are going to vote for the democratic party. to me that is unbelievable, that soon the democrats -- we will be a one-party nation. host: what did you think of that previous caller who was saying even if that was true -- he

disagreed that it was true -- he said, should republicans be reaching out to that segment of population? should republicans being able to win over potential future voters? caller: yeah. that is what the democrats are doing. they want future voters. this is how they're going to get them. even schumacher said that. the illegals will get citizenship, and of course voting rights. that is what is going to happen, and nobody seems to say this. to me it is obvious. host: this is dave in fresno, california. democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. i'm a conservative democrat. and what i just heard, this business about mexican folks coming here and voting democratic, as we both know, it

is just not true. they have very conservative values and do not subscribe to a lot of liberal politics. however, what i believe we need to do is, we need to keep title 42 in place until we get the new congress in. and work it out from there. but we cannot handle migration at these numbers, with the fed raising the rates every time we turn around and the economic period we are living in right now, we cannot afford safety net programs that it would take to immediately address the issues with immigration. host: last call in this segment. this is spread out of maryland, republican. go ahead. caller: to my democrat friends out there, we are living in your world. you voted for all of this. i remember in 2017, joe biden

stated that he wanted to see a steady flood of immigrants to the country. he wanted to change the minority system in this country. he cut off before i could hear how he explained how it was going to benefit everybody. let me talk a little bit about voting. i live in maryland. jamie raskin is allowing illegal immigrants since the obama administration, flown an overnight, he gives them id cards at the dmv. they have no way to prove who they are. the democrats are geniuses when it comes to, you know -- host: where did you read that with jamie raskin? that is not something i've heard. caller: you are not going to hear it because the media is on his side. this is what has been going on

in the state of maryland. the man said he had all this evidence. same thing here. just smoke screen, look the other way. host: that is spread in maryland. our last caller in this segment of "washington journal." veteran white house correspondent april ryan will join us next to discuss her book "lack women will save the world." we will be right back. ♪ >> the new 100 18th congress convenes on tuesday, january 3 at noon eastern for the first time in two years. he will return to washington as a divided government. the republicans will control the house of representatives, all democrats retrain -- retain the senate by a minority --

new congress will also be more diverse, with a record number of women serving, including more women of caller. the 118 congress gaveled into session, hold elections for speakers of the house, and a new congress, new leaders. watch the opening day of the one hundred 18th congress, tuesday, january 3 at noon eastern, live on c-span and c-span2, on c-span now, our free mobile video a or online at c-span.org. ♪ >> mittleman high schools -- middle and high school students, it is time to start recording. for your chance to win $100,000 in cash prizesy entering c-span's studentc dumentary contest. 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 five to six minute video showing the importance of your issue. be bold with your documentary. don't be afraid to take risks. there is still time to get started. the deadline ijanuary 20, 2023. for competition rules and tips on how to get started, our website. ♪ >> be up-to-date in the latest in publishing with book tv's podcast about books. with current nonfiction book releases, plus bestseller lists, as well as industry news and trends through insider interviews. you can find about books on c-span now, or wherever you get your podcast. >> there are a lot of places to

get political information. but only at c-span do you get it straight from the source. no matter where you're from or where you stand on the issues, c-span is america's network. unfiltered, unbiased, word for word. if it happens here, or here, or here, or anywhere that matters, america is watching on c-span. powered by cable. >> "washington journal" continues. host: april ryan, a no stranger to c-span viewers. with well over 100 videos in the c-span library and the author of her latest book "lack women will save the world: an anthem." it opens with judge ketanji brown jackson's nomination to the supreme court. why start this book there? guest: why start this book there? because exactly what the title

signifies. black women are saving the world, and we are now in purchase that no one has ever imagined. shirley chisholm says being -- being a black woman is a double whammy. we have seen that over the centuries. look at where black women are stationed in this nation. and the united states supreme court, something that eluded us for centuries, we are now there. it is a historic moment for a woman who shows up, truly as a black woman, from her speech, her hair, just who she is. she is not late supreme court justice thurgood marshall, but she is ketanji brown jackson, whose opinions people are viewing, watching, and even taking note of. in the first few months she just

stepped on the court and wore a robe october 1, and we are listening to her decisions, her opinions, and they are making news. she is significant to history, she is significant to the nation. why start with her? that is why. host: you mentioned shirley chisholm. remind viewers who she was and where black women were in her time. guest: shirley chisholm was the first black woman to run for president in 1972. she was a congresswoman for brooklyn, the borough of brooklyn and the city of new york. that historic seat, now who has that seat? kim jeffries, who is the minority leader in the house. shirley chisholm ran in 1972,

defied the odds. she broke the mold. she was a feminist. she was ahead of her time. she was about lgbtq+ rights. she was about so much to uplift women, uplift the community, and at the end of the day she made a mark. before there was kamala harris, there was shirley chisholm. her words for -- words reverberate. i love using this quote because she has such a profound person, not just politician, who understood humanity. she said, if you don't have a seat at the table, ring a folding chair. black woman perpetually had a folding chair for so long, but now since 1972, since she said those words, black people, particularly black women, not only have that perpetual seat, what they are also sitting people at the table, convening

the tables, and bringing permanent seats for others. she made such a ripple in this nation, for people to remember her. host: the book is "black woman will save the world." it is april's fourth book. she is joining us to talk about it. phone lines, as usual, democrats, republicans, and independents. you write that it is time to bring black women into american folklore. what does that mean? guest: you, we are left out. we just really started embracing who harriet tubman was, understanding that, you know, our history books may have given a paragraph or two, to understand who she was and this black woman who did not have a place, a slave in this nation, and she kept coming back to free

black people who were enslaved, particularly does -- particularly the descendants of africans. understanding there was freedom in something better. she kept going back, taking the profits off the land. that is one of the many stories. let's talk about the black panther party, which is vilified today, but we salute them because they talked about community and love of her community, uplifting the community. they talked about sickle-cell, which they were still looking for a cure for, but it was a push that made people aware of it. also, the black panther party talked about the issue of free breakfast for our children. the government now is funding free breakfast and lunches for our kids. and also clinics in the community for health care. i bring up the black panther party because the depiction, the optics of it were black men.

70% of that party were women. and they did it out of love for the community. they pushed because of love for the community. it is time for black women to get their due. we have been listening and serving for a long time. people really don't know the truth and understand what it takes to lead like this. they have not really heard the stories of who black women have been, who they are, and who they will be in the future in this nation. host: what is an anthem and why is this an anthem? guest: if you are in the black church you know what an anthem is. you're going to say this over and over again. black women will save the world. we haven't just said we are going to save the world, we have been. it is intrinsic to our nature.

and talking to a friend, cornell belcher, he said when black women serve, when black women go to serve it is about love for community uplift versus our mail counterpoints. a lot of times it is about power and ego. just this last election cycle over 500 black woman were on the ballot in 44 states across this nation. unheard of, right? black women are finding their voice. they are saving the world, they have saved the world. let's sit back and celebrated and not ignore it, because black woman welcome everyone. we celebrate everyone. we never take time to reflect and say, let's celebrate us. i'm giving us that pause to say, look, you are historic, you have done some mighty work, and let's look at this moment. because we've never been here

before. host: no surprise that when april is on the phone lines light up quickly. this is a democrat from west virginia. morning. caller: good morning. thank you for having me. i would like to pose a question to all listeners. where the native americans invaded by europeans? do we continue that? is that something that poses a question there? guest: most definitely. there is this pervasive thought right now, particularly among our young people who are learning the truth about this nation. you know, there is a shift in christopher columbus discovered america. how can you discover someplace that was already inhabited? yes, we do talk about native

americans, but i'm writing a book right now and i show up, but i want to see that book. i celebrate our native americans and their accomplishments and hope for them to do more. but at the end of the day the nation has to realize -- not just me, because i understand it -- the nation has to understand who native americans are to this nation. and what has been done to the native american community in this nation. that is the piece that needs to be dealt with. you are absolutely right. i'm writing this book because this is who i am, a black woman in america who was watching a rise of black women, something we never thought we would see before. i thank you for that question. native americans should be on the front page of the newspaper right now, because they are a community that is still suffering. host: in understanding black

women in this country, you end of the book on the issue of vulnerability. why don't you think that black women are allowed to show vulnerability? guest: we are not allowed because the nation thinks we are strong. we are strong. we are strong because we had to be strong from the moment that we were stolen from our country and brought to this nation. we were strong because, you know, our men were ripped from us when we were slaves, and we had to stand strong. because of that generational strength people don't see us as vulnerable. you know, we are always moving to uplift the community, up the church. nobody sees us as vulnerable. no one also sees us as a standard of beauty, and we are. that is one of the reasons i love this cover, because it shows strength, it shows giving women their flour, it also shows vulnerability. the problem is we are so strong,

and have had to be strong because of what was placed on us for centuries. people don't our vulnerability. we heard, we bleed, and we are vulnerable. host: to baltimore. this is carolyn. morning, you are on with april ryan. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span, and thank you, ms. ryan. i love the narrative you are getting out there. i am a black woman, and we are always painted as angry black women. when you go back in history we were the ones that took care of the babies. we were the ones that -- even in slavery we took care of the families. we want to be -- yet we are painted as angry. we are hurt, because we are the ones carrying the burden. we're the ones that get put down. and i need people to understand that we are the ones who have

been taught to forgive, we have been taught to hold the family together even when we have been beat down. we appreciate the narrative you are doing. i will definitely get your book, and thank you, and please continue. march on, sister. guest: thank you, caroline, from baltimore, my home. you are absolutely right. when i first started this book tours someone read the book -- i did an interview with someone and they said, why are you so angry? why are you so angry about children? i said, first of all, i'm not going to play into the narrative and stereotype of angry black men. i have every right to be angry, but i'm not. i'm overly concerned about the station of children. making black girls particularly more mature and older before their years.

other kids have a chance to grow and have a child, but we are not angry, we are very concerned. we are going to lead, and other people take the glory for it. if we were angry, we had a right to be angry. we have the highest number of negatives in almost every category. when you see the fight change that on the front lines, particularly it is a black woman. if it is not a black woman, it is a black woman supporting a black man to help move for the better. host: what is the degree? -- guest: thegrio is a mighty new organization owned by billionaire byron allen. thegrio focuses on blackness. it focuses on sports, entertainment, and politics. i opened up the political arm about two years ago, and we are

everywhere. thegrio is now on television. thegrio is on your internet. thegrio.com. thegrio comes from the old storyteller, from africa. that is spelled griot. we took a little license with that, a little artistic license, and took the t off. but we are still storytellers. that is where that comes from. i am honored to be part of this magnificent team. we are doing groundbreaking work, breaking stories. go to thegrio.com. i am proud to be part of this organization. it is black-owned media and black media. unapologetically giving news to black americans, other networks, and newspapers. host: you talk about your book,

you write about black journalists. we say, our activism is rooted in serving the underserved. you say, he used to push against the description of my work as accurate -- as activism, because that was delegitimizing my work. but over time i have come to accept and embrace that description. take me through accepting and embracing that description. guest: let me tell you something. for 25 years i have considered myself a journalist. i don't care what people say. be it democrat or republican. democrats used to say i was a republican. republicans used to say i was a bleeding heart democrat. i must be doing my job well. but when you happen to be black and you are reporting about an underserved community, the first thing people want to lop at you, you are an activist namely that -- activist. not. i'm not that person walking down

the street fighting for power, i'm not out there marching. i'm writing about the march. i'm writing stories other people want talk about. a lot of people like to use the word activist or activism as a pejorative. i don't understand that. but at the end of the day i had a talk with myself, and then i talked with some other people, like melanie campbell of the black women's roundtable. she said, you are an activist. she said, you are an activist in a different way. what you do creates momentum. i said, oh, ok. so in that context i guess so. i'm not writing to make people move, i'm writing to tell the stories that have not been told. the truth. then i talked to my great friend nicole hannah jones, who said, you are able to stand and write something and be an expert in

that field. you are able to defend it or go against it. to talk about the issue. she said, that is accurate -- she said, that is activism. i said, ok, i'm an activist. it can't hurt me with that word anymore. at the end of the day when i do is inform people. inform people with information that they can use to change their lives, with news that helps their lives. if i am an activist, so be it. host: in this book you also tell your own story. one incident you write about took in november 2018. it was then-president trump's press conference today after the midterm elections. i want to play that clip from the c-span archives and have you talk about why this moment stuck with you. >> mr. president -- mr.

president, if it is unfair to the country and costing millions of dollars, why don't you just -- >> i have answered the question. i will give you voter suppression. you just have to -- sit down, please. i didn't call you. i didn't call you. i will give you voter suppression. take a look at the cnn polls, how inaccurate they were. that is called voter suppression. black thank you mr. -- thank you, mr. president. >> i'm not responding. excuse me, i'm not responding to you. i'm talking to this gentleman. excuse me. excuse me. would you please sit down? go ahead. >> thank you, mr. president. host: april ryan, you write, in a few words t psident attempted to take away my voice and negate my history. i wish i could say that was a unique incident, but that played out over the course of that

administration with him and a parade of press secretaries. guest: i will be very honest, i hate listening -- hate is a strong word, but i hate listening to that. because -- and i'm so glad you played it in its entirety. i said, mr. president, i was two or three rows in. he heard me, he responded. when a president responds out of respect for the office -- and i did that. he responded. and he proceeded to tell me to sit down. and he was screaming voter fraud and voter suppression. i kept asking him about the irony of all of this, right? then four years later -- i don't even think joe biden even knew, but four years later my first question in the white house press conference with this president happened to be four years from the moment. it was surreal.

it was a lot for me in that moment. to see what happens four years ago opposed to what happened a few weeks ago. but it was a horrible moment for me, and for the nation. and for that president. he and i will always be remembered for that. that is not what you want to think of when you think of an american president during or the press. he had a stain for me, he answered my question. i give him respect by standing up. to tell a black woman who is a mother, who people listen to, to sit down, it was insulting. i'm not going to sit down because he responded. it showed who he was in that moment it showed a lot.

host: here in washington, d.c., this is marty next. independent. you are on with april ryan. caller: good morning. how are you this morning? guest: i'm fine. happy holidays. caller: the same to you. i saw you at the mahogany book event, and i just needed to tell you, i wanted to thank you for your 25-plus years of service. your voice is needed. i'm going to ask you to continue, in spite of all of the criticism you receive. continue to do the work you do, continue to represent, and as a black man i am proud to see you wherever you show up. keep doing what you are doing. don't stop. thank you. guest: thank you, marty. you know, it's wonderful when

men are showing up at these events. that was powerful, marty, thank you. men are leaning in. they sit on the edge of their seats and they are listening to this. because they love us and they want to know how to love us and they want to support us, because they know we are carrying a burden. thank you, marty. that is it. host: to that point you just made, if you could be sure that one person would read your book today, who you wrote this for, would you want that one person today to be a black woman, a black man? a white man? if you had one person to read your book, who would you want it to be? guest: want the person who reads the book to understand this is about community that loves the

community. i don't care who it is. i love every community that reads this book. blackman, white, jewish man. black women, white women, asian women. i have had so many people show up. i just want people to understand who we are as people in this nation. what we have contributed to this nation. what we continue to contribute to this nation. and for the reader, i want you to understand this is a love letter to america about black women. it is not putting anybody down. it is to give understanding of who we are. marty got me all upset. host: we don't have the mahogany book event that marty mentioned we saw you at -- guest: yeah, you do. you were there. host: i was trying to pull that

one up and couldn't grab it, that i could grab your miami book fair coverage, where you were one of the featured speakers there. that was on november 20, available on book tv and in our c-span archives. i'm going to find the other one as you talk to danny in maryland. republican. good morning. guest: hi, danny. caller: good morning. congratulations on your fourth book. i wish i could write a book. guest: you can, go ahead. try. [laughter] caller: thanks. i see it totally different than what you are saying. guest: ok. caller: i hate to be the naysayer, but when you look at the inner cities, the criminals and the victims are mostly young black men. and what are they the product of? single black mothers. i see single black moms as creating chaos and destruction, because of their lifestyle. guest: their lifestyle?

caller: until the culture changes there is not going to be a change. and that is not just for single black women. single white women too, with kids. that is a problem and we have to change the culture. that is a reality. you can look at the statistics in baltimore, chicago, all of these, you know? host: danny, let me give april ryan a chance to respond. guest: danny, i'm from baltimore and i am a single black mother. i'm raising two young black women. one in college, and one in high school. production, contributing members of society. so, i take offense to that. i am a single black woman. i'm divorced. getting married in 2023, but i've been single for a long time. and i'm black. and also in the baltimore area.

i am the stereotype. that is one reason why i wrote the book. what you just said smears a whole swath of women, a whole swath of people. you talk about white women. i think you need to go back and really look at the stats. black woman as head of households, black women are rising in number as the breadwinner. why? because for generations our men have been taken from us. from the time we were ripped from our homeland, africa, and women have been objectified, they have been the wetnurse in the workforce and everything. we are also the person who is underemployed, working several jobs to keep the home together. and sometimes things slip through the cracks.

you are not allowing for all of that in your darts you threw at black women. i want you to look at the fact that black women were taken from africa, and they were chosen to come from africa to this nation to breed the workers, right? they were chosen because of the firmness of their breasts. they wanted the meat to produce strength for free labor that this nation benefited from. black women had to stand alone, because of a black man stood up, they would be beaten or killed. you had to stand for generation after generation. you want to know why they say we

are strong? my mother was strong, like her mother for her. want to know where that came from? it came from enslavement of africans in this nation. for you to paint that broadbrush picture, i'm so sad, because i want you to go look at the stats. you to say that like single woman -- i am a black single woman, and i am not in that box. you cannot paint that picture. in every community there are issues we can work on, you cannot paint that rod brush picture like that. i respectfully accept your question, but i reject this -- it with this answer. host: your home town of baltimore showing up on the phone line today. this is melissa, line free democrats. good morning. caller: i have been a fan for years -- decades. i also wanted.

the previous segment was about immigration. i come as a black woman who majored in history and is an attorney, i just think american has a love affair with slavery. just that it manifests now in terms of depressed wages that have to be supplemented by the rest of us taxpayers so that corporations can keep profits up. but the black women labor has been super-exploited, and i inc. the backlash we get now is because black women are choosing not to labor for free. i would like to hear what you think about that issue. thank you. guest: thank you. black women should not labor for free. you should know our value, but when we show up, we show up for

more. what it takes other communities to help us get more. let's get to the immigration issue. it broken? it has been broken for a long time. don't expect after it has been broken for decades that this is going to happen. it is not just about crossing the border. you have a lot of people -- and this is the piece that bothers me -- the border is one issue, but there is another. you have a lot of people that overstay their visas. people are not forcing that issue. for the people looking for better, it is a problem. one of the things that really bothers me with immigration, who is allowed to come and who is pushed back. and, you know, talk about political asylum. what is happening to our haitian brothers and sisters who are terrorized by gangs, cannot even hold democratic elections? the president was assassinated. not only that, they still have

not rebounded from -- is it, 2010 earthquake? when they come to our shores or find a way to -- i get in trouble for this -- they take the r -- reigns and use them as webs. it is humanity. he needs to be fixed. but what happens to that old adage, the ellis island issue, and bring me your tired, your hungry, the statute of liberty -- statue of liberty, you know? we have to understand our system is broken and be real about it and fix it, instead of, well, i want to walk. well, i need money. this is about humanity and people were looking for refuge and better.

what do you do to fix the border? what do you do to push out those who are also here who have overstay their visas? it is not one over the other, and it is not one race over the other. i speak from the heart. after 25 years i have seen politics -- not as politics, not as party, but as people, as humanity. that is where i come from. as a black person who is the descendant of slaves, and has been listening to this back-and-forth, we want a chance with lady liberty in the harbor. we were on the bottoms of ships. this reminds me of the hypocrisy, it reminds me of the lack of humanity and who gets in and who doesn't. it needs to be fixed. that is it. host: take you to brooklyn.

this is an independent. good morning. caller: good morning. i'm watching the program with ms. ryan. ms. ryan? host: what is your question or comment? caller: i do not believe what she is saying about black women. like people have to help both the male and female. we have to put emphasis on the blackmail, on the black female, because when we only put emphasis on the black female only all of the other races help the male and female. to me, we are becoming more divided. the black man was also suffering. he was imprisoned, he was hanged. also the horrible things done by a black man. but nobody tried to address their problem. nobody tried to lift them up.

if the black women lift up alone, it is our disaster. with no husbands, with no family, and no race could prosper without the family. the family is the basis, ok? host: i think we get your point. guest: we do. she is absolutely right, the family is the basis, that show up as a black woman and i am celebrating black women. i celebrate black man. i do. i celebrate black men all the time. i tell their stories on the greer -- the grillo -- the grio. i celebrate everyone, but this moment when we have a supreme court justice who looks like me, when we have a vice president that looks like me, when i'm in that briefing room and raise my hand to a woman that looks like me, when i see black ceos who

are women who look like me rising up in a space we were never meant to be, i'm going to celebrate. maybe you can write that book about black men. and i think you should. i celebrate black men. black men have been hurt. they have been pushed down by this society. from the time we were brought here. as a black woman -- i'm sorry you don't want to celebrate yourself -- but at the end of the day i celebrate you. i am celebrating all of us. there should be a book about black man, you know? tallahassee codes -- tanahasi cotes wrote a book. there are so many black men writing books about black men. to say that i should, i disagree. i show up as a black woman, i wrote a book about black women. i am marrying a great black man

this year who happens to be a retired naval officer. i celebrate black men. i am the daughter of a black man. i am the sister of a black name. i am the cousin of black men. i'm sorry. but, thank you. host: come back to the white house briefing room and when you raise your hand behind the podium there is a black woman. what does that mean for you professionally and personally? guest: ok, so, i sometimes have to separate because, you know -- let's do it a couple of ways. i'm going to answer this a couple of ways. there is humanity, and then there is journalism. when barack obama became president how was shocked. because i am a child who was born in 1967. in my parents regaled me about the civil rights movement.

they never expected that, because they never expected to see a black president. they witnessed brothers being assassinated for wanting to move the country forward. at the end of the day, when bobby kennedy and king were killed within a six-week period, the nation -- i mean, if you remember that time the nation was like, what? it felt like armageddon. then black people never thought it would happen. then it happened. for me it was like, ok, my mother passed for she got a chance to see the first black president i'll never forget asking her mom, what do you think about barack obama? she says, we did see it. i didn't cry, i was in shock when he became president. but i cried when he left. i cried when barack obama left

because i witnessed history that so many people thought we would never see. then, when joe biden put kamala harris on the ticket i was like, a woman who identifies as black. yes, she is mixed-race. she identifies as black, takes a concerted effort to identify as black. for her to be in that white house, to be a vice president, whether you like not, she is there. to be in that briefing room, to see mostly white men on that podium, then, you know, i was there for some white fema press secretaries. i will never forget being in the briefing room with veteran white house correspondent, retired correspondent of abc. when women were in the front row

she said, look at the numbers of women. it was a big thing to salute women who were in the room or at the podium in the front row, getting questions. but to see a woman who looks like me show up in that room, after all these years, not only does she look like me, she is also in another community, the lgbtq+ community. and, you know, the humanity in the is like, times are changing. and i've witnessed the history. times are changing. but there is still also pushed back. and we hear it every day. but then the journalist in me, karine i need an answer.

there is humanity, but also journalism. the humanity in me is like, wow. see, again, former president of the united states, a black man, to see the current vice president of the united states, a black woman, to see the white house press secretary, of haitian descent, lgbtq+ black woman, it is showing me that times are changing. and i'm here to witness it i'm here, writing the history that my ancestors never imagined. so, the humanity pieces profound. the journalistic peace is mixed. [laughter] host: just about 10 minutes left with april ryan. the book, again "black women will save the world: an anthem." taking your phone calls. republican line, burlington, north carolina.

good morning. guest: hey, brady. caller: you like to mislead people, don't you? guest: you know, brady, my family is from north carolina. caller: you sold them to the white man. guest: you know what? let me say this to you. there were some africans that participated, whose ships took us over to the new world? colonizers. so i'm not misleading. you need to read your history, sir. my family, i am proud to be a north carolinian. i worked in tobacco fields and stuff. thank you. host: to ohio. worse, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. in ohio we have nina turner. she is famous for being campaign manager for bernie sanders. and most recently ran for congress in ohio. she was way ahead in the polls.

in my perspective -- i'm a democrat, but i think the democratic establishment ganged up on her because they are afraid of her message. her campaign hooked up with colonel west and fangs like that. i know you don't have a crystal ball, but i wonder what you think her future might be and how you see her influence on american politics. guest: she had an influence on american politics. she has an influence on american politics. people listen to her. she is powerful. for a lot of these people that run for these high offices, it is not over. she is still a young woman. she is about service and politics. going back to barack obama, he tried to run against congressman bobby rush in chicago, and he

lost. but then he became what? a u.s. senator. then he became what? present of the united states. politicians, and they move, it builds momentum. i'm thinking about christians in arkansas, a black man who ran against sarah huckabee sanders, who is now the governor-elect. you know, michael steele, the former head of the rnc. people would think his numbers would be further apart. sarah had maybe a 10-point lead over him. and she would not debate him doing but people are saying because he showed up so well he has a chance for higher office the next time around. it is not over. i don't believe it is over unless she wanted to be over. i think she can write her own course. this was the groundwork for more. host: you talk about seeing

yourself in the highest ranks of politics, at the supreme court and the vice presidency. the podium at the press briefing room. are you seeing yourself in corporate america today? guest: am i seeing myself in corporate america? yes. we have black women ceos. we have middle-management, it is not enough. the late vernon jordan brought a lot of black woman to the table, and he helped them ultimately propel. but we need more. the diversity of america is important because if we see different people there it gives a different texture to what is going on. in some instances it changes the dynamic. and at the end of the day, we are contributing to this nation. like biola davis says, opportunity. just give us the opportunity.

we will show you who we are. we have supported so many. we have supported so many who get the recognition for our work. now it is time for us to see our work and others to see our work. host: william, coaldale, pennsylvania, republican line. good morning. caller: yes. i have three quick things. number one, i saw the conference with you and trump. he did not take your question because you were being ignorant, like the cnn host. second, do you think it is racist to have black television shows? can white people have white television shows? or would that be called racism? one more thing -- guest: i've got to remember all of this. host: go ahead with the questions you have. guest: do you think it is racist to have a black television show? do you think it is racist to have majority white networks?

we have white people working for us. if you say it is racism for us to have a black network, what about the white networks out here that do not have that many blacks? and we are in a space, telling the stories that other accent not telling. the black community has some of the highest numbers of negatives in almost every category. it is not conjecture read the facts. a lot of these stories are not covered. therefore, thegrio is important. it is not racist. it is giving you an understanding of community do not hear about in the mainstream white networks, so that is not racism. thank you. what is your last question, sir? host: i think we lost the caller. his other question was about the press conference. i don't know if there is anything more you wanted to add. guest: he said i was ignorant. that trump did not answer me. yes, he did. i just believe there is --

anyway, sir, you heard it. you choose not to believe what i'm saying because you are aware, but thank you. host: sacramento, california. this is the democrats line. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you doing? april, i'm glad to talk to you today. i've been following you. i like everything about you. you know, you are pretty and on top of that, but at the same time you are educated and letting these white folks know just how educated you are by the way you speak. the reason i called, though, was to correct that white guy there called in and said that black people sold black people. that is not the truth. if you read your bible, your bible will tell you that the slave cages that were full of black jews, ok, white black

africans were selling black jews. they were not selling africans. we are a people from israel. we are the real jews. we need to be emphasizing on that so that these people will know that we are not know negros and all of that type of crab. we are god's holy people. native american people are the real people of god. these white folks is one to be forever prejudiced against us, because they know this, and they don't want us to come up, because they know if we all knew it there would be no more of them. host: april ryan, i will lay -- i will let you jump in. guest: i will address the issue about slavery. the importunate piece is, slavery israel. you don't want to acknowledge it, for whatever reason. we were ripped for our night --

from our nation. there were black people that participated in it. who set up the slave trade? who had the ships? when we came to this country who had the slave houses? who had the auction blocks? let's get real about this. and not try to pretend -- because of your personal angst. knowledge is power. and unfortunately some of the people who believe -- who choose not to believe the truth, you are deluding yourself, because when you do, there is a problem. we are here because of the slave trade. how did -- africans were not traveling over to europe. it was the colonizers who came with their ships and figured it out, made deals with the africans to make this happen. so, let's be very clear as to

slavery. slavery israel, even though you don't want to believe it. you can believe in critical race theory, but the truth will set you three. -- you free. also acknowledge that there was a lot of -- and this is a piece a lot of people don't want to believe -- a lot of the masters mingled with a lot of the slaves. and i will leave it there. host: we have about a minute left. the book, again, is "black women will save the world: an anthem." april ryan is the author. it is her fourth book. you have an idea of what your facebook will be? [laughter] guest: well, i'm not supposed to say it, but, yeah. it is along the lines -- it is going to keep with what i do. but, yes, there will be a fifth book. i'm not supposed to talk about it. host: is this a fifth book we

might see in 2023, or beyond that? [laughter] guest: we are trying to figure it out. this book did so well. there is going to be another one. just stand by. it is going to make a lot of people who call today more upset, but it is the truth. that is one thing i do. i write about the truth. host: you can find out about it when she can talk about it. [laughter] follow her on twitter, see her work from the white house briefing room. again, the book "black women will save the world: an anthem." thank you for your time. guest: thanks for having me, happy holidays. this was fantastic.

democrats, republicans and independents, thank you. host: up next this morning in the final hour, we do what we often do on this program. we will let you lead the discussion, open forum. any public policy or state issue you want to talk about, you can do so. phone lines are on the screen. start calling in now, we will get to your calls after the break. ♪ >> then 118 congress convenes tuesday, january 3 at noon eastern for the first time in two years, they return to washington as a divided government. republicans control the house while democrats retain control of the senate by a slim majority. the new incoming members are younger with an average age of 47, compared to 58 in the previous session. it will be more diverse with a record number of women serving, including more women of color.

follow along as they gavel into session, hold election for speaker of the house and new members take the oath of office. new congress, new leaders. watch the opening day tuesday, january 3 at noon eastern, live on c-span 2 c-span and and on c-span now, the free mobile video app or online at c-span.org. >> since elon musk purchased twitter, a lot of people have had a lot to say about him. on this episode of the weekly, we take a look back and see what members of congress and other politicians have to say about him before he bought the social media company. >> i rise to recognize the extraordinary achievement of elon musk and spacex for the spectacular and historic launch of the falcon heavy rocket. now, the world's most powerful operational rocket from cape

canaveral on tuesday, february 6, 2018. >> you can find the weekly on c-span now, or wherever you get podcasts. >> the opening of the 118th congress is january 3, with many new members swearing in. get to know your representative or senator by pre-ordering your copy of the congressional directory. it is your access to federal government with bio and contact information for every house and senate member, important information on committees, the president's cabinet, federal agencies and state governors. scan the code at the right to preorder your copy today. it is $29 $.95, plus shipping and handling. every support -- purchase supports nonprofit operations. ♪ >> live sunday on in-depth, author and pulitzer prize winning journalisthr hedges

will be our guest to talk about political revolutio and incarceration in america. the presbyterian minister's books include america, hourglass and most recently, the greatest evil is war. join the conversation with your phone call. in-depth, with cisedges live sunday at noon eastern on book tv on c-span two. >> washington journal continues. host: open forum, any public policy issue, political issue you want to talk about. it is your time to lead the discussion. republicans (202) 748-8001, democrats (202) 748-8000 and independents (202) 748-8002. one story, keeping an eye on,

continuing to try to dig out. the story from the new york times, four days after snow studded falling, the buffalo area is crippled by the devastating blizzard, leaving 28 dead. the worst winter storm in more than 50 years. many roads in western new york are impassable, thousands are without power. more snow is expected to fall through the end of the night. officials said conditions remain dangerous and they are expected to see the death toll rise monday night. president biden approved an emergency disaster declaration from the state. this is new york governor kathy hochul with a press conference yesterday from buffalo asking people to continue to stay off the roads. [video clip] >> as much as we can see this guys now, the storm is coming back. we expect another six to 12 inches. in the south towns, south of here, they had 30 to 40 inches of snow overnight.

anyone who declares victory and says it is over, it is way too early to say this is the completion of the severity is downplaying, it is not as bad as it had been the last couple days. it is still a dangerous situation to be out. that is why the driving bans, the mayors can address what is going on in their is the polities. the driving bans at the state level, close from the pennsylvania border all the way to henrietta, near rochester. we still have scores and scores of vehicles that were abandoned when people left during the storm. in a ditch, they cannot get out. we have had snowplows, major snowplows and rescue vehicles. i saw them myself, they were buried in snow. they are still difficult, we need roads open to plowing -- continue plowing insulting and removing vehicles. host: yesterday at her news

conference was the picture on the front page of the wall street journal, one of those plows trying to clear the roads in buffalo yesterday. below that picture, from the roads to the skies, a story on flight travel in this country. a lot of people have flights delayed and canceled. southwest airlines canceled more than two thirds of the flight yesterday and plans to slash the schedule today and wednesday and with the wall street journal describes as a meltdown that stranded thousands of customers. southwest more than 2000 scrap flights yesterday came as the dallas-based airline proved unable to stabilize operations amid the storms. between thursday and monday, the airline canceled about 8000 flights, according to flightaware. the transportation department called the rate of cancellations at southwest disproportionate and unacceptable, and said it would examine whether the cancellations were controllable

and whether the airline is complying with customer service plans. that story from the wall street journal. your calls an open forum, having open forum today until the end of the program. wesley is first, republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. i wanted to talk about the fentanyl use across the country and letting immigrants over the borders and more than likely, a lot of drugs coming this way. it is hard for me to talk about, i lost my son in january, my only son. i am a single parent. he died, 18 years old, fat overdosed. -- fentanyl overdose. host: i am sorry. caller: thank you. i feel the biden administration and the democratic nation has

completely dropped the ball here to all of our kids. this is something that should be bipartisan on all means. it is all of our children, many african-american kids are dying, too. this has no reason not to be on both party lines. their number one problem over every other country and wars -- i love to help them, but we have our own problems, too. we are spending a lot of money, but not in the right places to protect our nation. that is what a president does, that is what honor is. i feel that biden completely failed me and many of my sons friends, three of them died. three. that i know about. i saved two other kids and put them in a program in new york,

upstate new york. near buffalo, were the storms are. they are getting rehab. my son only started messing with this stuff, within four months he was dead. i had no idea, he hid it from us. it is in the weed, my cousin was affected by it. she is 45 years old, i am 46. she was smoking weed and it was in the weed, she had to get serious help to get cleared. she is starting to come back now. i think our biggest problem is, what are we really looking at here? our nation is falling apart with fentanyl and they are making headlines about quality. i want equality, but i do not think our nation is asking for

equality. what equality is is what is best for everyone. host: thanks for sharing your story. joseph from california, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning, america. i would like to thank you january 6 committee for the work they did in investigating january 6. it behooves me that the republicans that participated in this -- i am before the justice department -- behorred the justice department to move on behalf of the american people who knew beforehand the workings of this event, that they persecute to the full six and of the law. the members that participated in the event. will watch the conspiracy of

donald trump on america. -- full extent of the law. we also -- all saw that he manipulated people to commit this great crime against the united states, that they should all understand that when they knew beforehand when they do this is going to happen. host: have you read the final report from the select committee, or are you going to read it? caller: i pretty much watched the whole from january 6, 2020, watch the whole process. anybody -- with the way election laws are set up, if me and my brother sat there and made a deal to do any type of thing like this, we would have been arrested. you know, to people -- two people. this man used the courts and everything.

to manipulate the system, it was a lie. host: catherine in illinois, independent. good morning. caller: hi, good morning. i just wanted to talk about colonizers and slavery. i do not know, 90% of people in america, their great-grandparents are very poor when they came to this country. i think it is kind of offensive, because most people appear not rich. on the east coast in the 16, 1700s, we did not own slaves. we have nothing to do with anything. to say white people are colonizers, if you're going to say white people are colonizers, you should say instead of that, rich people who own slaves. 90% of america had nothing to do

with most people that came here, me included. our families are very poor, never had a history of having slaves or anything to do with it. it is really offensive. to say white people are colonizers. collis a whitey if you are going to do that. i think april ryan should understand that white people, colonizers, that is very prejudicial. you have to specify it. to color makes no sense. before you talk about white people or colonizers, you should think about how offensive it is. host: jim, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. just a comment on the earlier part of your show, when you had the immigration attorney on. host: the caller who said she

had been working for about 20 years? caller: yes, she talked and talked. the more she talked, the more i thought she should be on the others of the border. host: what do you mean by that? caller: she seems to represent the people coming across the border, regardless of intent. the first thing that has to be done is the flow has to stop. then, you might have a chance at helping. if you keep coming at the rate they are, there are more people than live in montana, wyoming, north and south dakota already. there's been over 5 million people. one other comment before i go,

on critical race theory. and slavery. we all know there were slaves, like the other caller said, 90% of us have nothing to do with it . if they are going to talk that, why don't they talk all of it until the people most of the slaveowners were democrats? seems simple to me, they always leave that part out. thanks for your patience, i am enjoying your show. host: johnny in georgia, democrat. good morning. johnny, are you with us? we will go to the independent line. caller: i would like to comment on the last guest. seems to me she would rather have an incompetent physician, as long as they are black and

female and better yet if they are a lesbian. that makes no sense. jean-pierre is probably the most incompetent spokeswoman i've ever seen. she goes through her little binder and comes up to the wrong page, she just reads what it says anyway, even if it has nothing to do with the question that had just been asked. kamala, all she can do is cackle about things and make no sense when she talks. but they are black women, so that is great. host: who do you think was the best it has press secretary you have seen behind the podium in your lifetime? caller: hm. i think huckabee's daughter was pretty good. she did not get rattled, she stood up for herself. host: to virginia, republican.

good morning. caller: i appreciate you taking my call. that border situation, we are being invaded down there. i can think of three ways that could fix it. the first is turned over to the supreme court, let them make the judgment. they seem to be making good judgments, turn it over to them. they could fix it. or, we could reelect trump, he had it fixed. biden is the one that turned all the sluice on us. we reelect him, or we could wait until jesus returns, because when he returns, he will fix it. we have to wait on jesus because satan comes first. host: this trump area policy

allows migrants to be turned away at the border could expire as early as tuesday after months of legal back and forth. the supreme court said last week we could see action as soon as today, waiting for word from the supreme court. they are acting on their own timetable. this is carol, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. i wanted to speak to the issues brought up today, april ryan was really instrumental in part of the white house briefing, she brings a different type of knowledge to the whole program. additionally, i wanted to say we need a lesson in the continent of africa.

when people refer to africa, they talk about it as though it is a country, not recognizing it is a continent with more than 50 countries in it. we need to refer to the countries of africa, just like we do here with the states for our 50 states. we need more emphasis on that. the last thing in regards to the book man's -- bans, we need to have an effort made -- i am trying to start one, we will pull back the books that have been banned because they are mainly about people of color. we definitely need those books so our history is not skewed, as it has been. i looked at a seventh grade history book, there is a paragraph given to

african-americans and people of color in the whole book. this is important to us, as citizens of the united states. host: is there one specific book ban that got you involved in this issue? or a specific book you are thinking of when you bring this up? caller: to kill a mockingbird is very limited, although it is a book that speaks to a lot of issues that affect us today. we need to keep books such as that in our library. i would like to see a program are all the books that have been banned, that we band together to bring those books back into our communities. so we do not have a skewed history for our children and our children's children. host: back to north carolina,

jeff, independent. good morning. jeff, turned the tv down. -- turn the tv down. go ahead. caller: i just want to say, none of this would be happening if donald trump was still president of the united states. my beautiful 36 year old daughter is dead because of fentanyl poisoning that joe biden let flow over the border like water. if you vote for obama twice and biden, you are ignorant. this country is in big trouble. host: this is keith in indiana, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. i agree with the last caller and a few calls back about fentanyl.

this president we have, he, to me, is unbelievable. all the harm that he is bringing to our country, nothing makes no sense, what he is doing. every move he makes is against our country, but for every other country. all my friends are dead from fentanyl. i don't know if they got hocus-pocus on us where we are not doing nothing about it, or what is going on. but someone that could do something needs to figure out what this guy is up to. he scares me to death. that is my comment. i'm sorry for all the other people that lost family and friends, all my buddies are gone, too.

you all have a good day, god bless us all. host: south dakota, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. i want to take us to russia. the prisoner exchange, it is good they brought the best of all player home. but a man has been there for one point five years, a history teacher. -- 1.5 years. he was charged for the same thing. on pbs newshour, there is a story on july 29 i think about him. i do not understand why they brought her home, it is like they jumped in line in actuality. on the war in ukraine, i think it's about time for putin to be told what is going on instead of putin telling us what is going on. they need to give ukraine

long-range missiles to into russia. the way it is right now, there is going to be another afghanistan and putin is going to walk away in free hands and we will go in and rebuild ukraine for them. putin will get away with nothing, i suppose. i think it is time to give them the long-range missiles and go in and get the people to change putin's mind. the sanctions do not seem to be working. people are backing putin, they need to bring the hurt to putin. host: what was your thoughts on the additional 40 $5 billion in emergency assistance to ukraine? it was included as part of the omnibus spending bill passed by the house and senate. we are waiting for president biden to sign it, he has until the end of the week to avoid a government shutdown. caller: i think it is good.

give them all they need to whip putin's butt, he will continue and walk away with nothing. down the line, he will do some stupid thing again. putin's people need to change his mind or get rid of him or something. it is going to go on like afghanistan, i believe. i hope santa claus treated you all well, have a good weekend. host: texas, independent. good morning. caller: i've got to say, you are rocking a great tide. that thing is awesome. --tie. a couple points, i sought interview with morgan freeman a wild back. he was asked about race. his thoughts were the main reason we continually have a race issue is because we keep talking about it. i understand what he is saying with that.

second thing, it is a fact that dutch traders took slaves from african people and brought them to the americas, you cannot refute that. one thing about the gentleman talking about sanctions on russia, i read it in the journal of couple days ago that because of the sanctions, putin is talking about reducing the amount of oil production. it seems like the sanctions are backfiring, i guess in order to compensate for the barrels he will not produce to sell to us, we will have to go to strategic oil to keep prices down. i do not think it is going to happen. i think after the first of the year, we will see gas prices go back up. by the summer, we will be in a recession. thanks for taking my call. i hope everyone has a great new year, love everybody. take care. host: illinois, republican. you are next.

caller: good morning, thanks for having me. i've been listening to everybody's comments here. we all might to stop and think about we have several problems nobody talks about. we have more violence in our schools than ever before, more drugs in schools than ever before. for the first time, your children want to kill each other . that is a very big problem. i am a grandma, worried to death. i do not understand, i guess i would like to see someone try to explain more what is the long-term goal? what are people wanting our country to be? what is the young generation calling for a quality that she quality -- i did -- equality, i do not know what they are asking for. i am curious as they tried to redo history and take monuments

and block things, what is the outcome? what do they want our country to be? host: what do you want this country to be? caller: i do not know, i am not sure i have an answer for it. we seem to be arguing about things -- for god sakes, if we could quit talking about hillary's emails. [laughter] we need to start talking about the reality of things that are happening. my children go to high school, the police are there five to six times a day, because children are beating each other to death. the violence in your country is crazy. you have children going to school wearing dog ears and tails because they identify with being a dog. i guess i am very confused and worried. host: stephen in florida,

democrats. good morning. caller: yes sir, since it is open forum, one thing i would like to see is i tend starts in jacksonville, florida and dead ends in los angeles. we could build over i 10 and build east-west, west east monorail, high-speed, 500 miles an hour up in the air, water pipe on the top. solar panels, they could feed the rest of america. look at the jobs it would create. the airport, who wants to fly when you could go on a high-speed rail? go to france, they've got them there. a quick one, the lady earlier on the show speaking about race relations, we need to remember

we all stole the land from the indigenous folks that were here. yes, white people, that is what they do. look at corporate america. all white men. things need to change, i am glad to see change. that is what america is about. for those that don't like it, i'm sorry. florida gets 1000 people a day coming here. i do not want to hear the governor of texas whining about 2500 people and trafficking human beings, what a moral cripple the governor is. we have one in florida, he is a moral cripple. that is my comments, god bless. have a safe christmas and work together, let us build the monorail. host: 9:30 on the east coast, half an hour left in our program. ending our show and open forum, where we let you lead the discussion. phone lines as usual.

two stories on different republican members of congress from the pages of today's new york times. the first on the front page, ending a weeks long silence, the representative elect george santos admitted yesterday to a sizable list of falsehoods about his professional background in education, business experience, property ownership. he said he was determined to take the oath of office january 3 and join the house majority. he was a new york republican elected in november to represent parts of northern long island and northeast queens confirmed the key findings of new york times reporting earlier this month. my sins, he said, are embellishing my resume. that was in an interview, one of two he gave monday. he lied about graduating from college and making misleading claims he worked for citigroup and goldman sachs. he said he had a family owned real estate portfolio of 13 properties.

monday, he admitted he was not a landlord. he's the first openly gay republican to win a house eat as a nonincumbent -- seat as a nonincumbent and owns thousands and unpaid rent and a year-long marriage never disclosed. inside, a story on one of the senate's last big spenders. they focus on senator richard selby -- richard shelby from alabama, retiring at age 88. one of the legends managing to flow many to his estate, even as anti-spending forever ripped the republican party during the rise of the tea party movement. his deep knowledge of the arcane and secretive congressional spending progress, richard shelby single-handedly transformed the landscape of his home state, harnessing billions

of federal dollars to conjure the expansion of university buildings, research programs, airports, seaports and military and space facilities. the unapologetically followed in the footsteps -- he unapologetically followed in the footsteps of his predecessors like republican ted stevens of alaska, robert byrd of west virginia. they saw their primary task in congress as securing as much money as they could for their state, which they saw neglected in favor of more populous ones and those states with more influence. that story from the new york times if you want to read more. maryland, independent. good morning. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. i enjoyed listening to your previous guests. there was one area she mentioned that i found to not be true, it

certainly did not help with relations in our country. she mentioned, with regard to haitians at the border and border agents using things as whips, that was investigated. a photographer taking pictures reached out to the white house prior to the president making the statement at a press conference that that was not what was happening at all. the pictures -- it did not really show what was happening. it had been clarified, debunked. i feel like with all that the poor border agents have to go through, it does not help for that false information to be put out there. it does not help with relations in our country. i was hoping you would have taken the opportunity to clarify that statement with her. thank you so much for letting me

share my thoughts. host: this is a story from politico back in june -- sorry, july, after the investigation. the jewel agents on horseback did not whip migrants, they used forts -- patrol agents on horseback to not whip migrants, they used force and inappropriate language. one admitted to twirling horse rains as a distraction tactic -- reins as a distraction tactic that led to the viral picture. politico from july of 2022. anything more you want to add? no, -- caller: no, just that they were not being beaten, though it was pretrade that way. host: north carolina, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. host: what is on your mind? caller: i want to tell america the best thing we could do is impeach joe biden and get trump back in.

he is the only one that got our country on track. they shamed him behind his back, that is wrong. get on our feet, get trump back in. host: before you go, headline from the washington times about ron desantis, republicans see desantis as a potential next leader of the party as a republican. what are your feelings on ron desantis? caller: if a republican is going to run, i'm going to vote for him. host: you would pick trump over desantis? caller: yes. host: jonathan in the silver state, democrat. good morning. jonathan, are you with us? we will go to the natural state,

independent. caller: yeah, good morning. i am nervous, i'd like to say something. i keep hearing fentanyl, they are letting fentanyl in. it is killing all of our children. drug addiction is killing people. if they were not addicted to the drugs, they would not get the drugs laced with fentanyl. maybe the country needs to legalize drugs so there is a safe source for people to get drugs, or people have a choice. it is common knowledge the next trick you take may be laced -- drug you take may be laced with fentanyl, yet people are making that choice. i feel for the man who lost his son, i lost a son also. i know it is painful. not to fentanyl. the problem is deeper and more

complicated. it is just -- death by fentanyl is just a symptom of the greater problem, which is drug addiction. host: i do not believe marijuana is legal in arkansas, or medical use? caller: it is legal for medical use, yes. host: do you think recreational use should be legal in arkansas for marijuana? caller: yes, i do. host: why is that? caller: because it can be abused, like alcohol. they have a safe source, people are using it. they are not going to stop it. it is still widely used, people ruin their lives because they get arrested for experimenting.

i'm nervous. host: that is ok, thanks for the call. i was pulling up a map from business insider, the latest on where marijuana is legal in this country. where it is legal for recreational use is the green states, in the northeast and out west. where it is legal for medical marijuana use, that is the blue states. then the states where it continues to be illegal, gray on the map we had -- map. insider map from november. this is richard in georgia, good morning. caller: good morning. i hate to be a part of the club, i lost my 37-year-old son to fentanyl this year. he was on pain pills, they took

away the pain pills from brain surgery and he could not get them. he went to the street and died. that broke my heart. host: can i? ask you about that we have had -- can i ask you about that? we have had several callers this form saying they lost a child to fentanyl. has it been surprising how many of those calls we have gotten today, or not surprising? caller: no, i am not surprised. it is a heartbreaker when it is a child. but it is fentanyl being placed into what looked like legal drugs, children can go on the internet today. they might be buying adderall or something, it just has a droplet of fennel in it and they die -- fentanyl in and they die. this could be a child that never

had drugs, just maybe in college and wanted to stay up the night on adderall or some other and they die. it is all over the united states right now. just a study on the innocent children dying, 18 years old, 19, 25. it is sad, a heartbreaker. i think we need to investigate that, because we are losing so many children. i also wanted to say i really want washington journal to do a show on the clear files, they have not done anything on mainstream media. i think the government used their power to influence twitter andmeta to influence elections and possibly the covid-19, so i would appreciate that. host: it is likely something

will talk about again, i point out that back december 9 after the story broke, we had joseph clark, a capitol hill reporter for the washington times, come and take calls and go through what was released. if you missed it, it is available at c-span.org. you can just type in joseph clark and watch the segment from a couple weeks ago. caller: thank you very much. i want to wish you a great new year, everybody else a great new year. let us stop the race. the two women we were talking about earlier with the vice president in jackson, they are married to white men. let us all love one another. host: this is arlington, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning, how are you? host: doing well. caller: outstanding.

i had a chance to listen to april ryan, she is clearly on point. i know a lot of people out here in the u.s. are upset that a black woman would come out and write a book talking about how powerful black women are. as a black man raised -- i come from a two-parent home. but the women in my family my grandmothers, great-grandmothers, where the strongest of all. they had to endure a lot, as apel said. a lot of black men early in life -- as a young man out of detroit , back in the early 80's, i was born in 62. during that timeframe, there were a lot of young black men incarcerated for marijuana and given felonies, which prohibit them from being successful in life as far as education, getting jobs, housing. that took a lot of black men out

of the house, going back to what april said. when they separated black men from the families and used black women to create more kids so they could add to stop, as they say. that had an impact for hundreds of years. when people get upset about april ryan writing a book in regards to how black women had to endure what their families and husbands had to undergo, it is amazing to me people are pushing back. i served 37 years in the u.s. military. i went through a lot of presidents. he is the most embarrassing person who ever stepped in the white house, he was a traitor from day one. i know a lot of people love him and support him, but you have to ask yourself, you must look at yourself and say, are you supporting this man because he

is white and trying to promote ideas, or are you supporting him because he is the best guy for the country? there is no way in hell-- host: before you finish, i want to ask on the marijuana sentencing disparity you brought up earlier. it is not marijuana, is a different substance. there was a piece of legislation called the equal act that did not make it in the omnibus spending bill. for folks who do not know, that was legislation to it -- federal sentencing for crack cocaine versus powder cocaine, it did not make the final cut if the bill -- in the bill. it would have established the same quantity threshold and criminal offenses and penalties for both crack cocaine and powder cocaine. since you brought up sentencing disparities, i am wondering if

you had any thoughts on that legislation? caller: i do, i am glad you brought that up. back in the early 80's, corrected the streets and it devastated my neighborhood -- crack hit the streets and it devastated my neighborhood. yet the same amount of cocaine -- we all know crack was the easier drip to produce. it was readily -- drug to produce. it was readily available. yes, there is a very large sentence disparity, separation between crack cocaine as far as prison terms and cocaine -- most cocaine -- i should not say most cocaine, but cocaine is often used by people who are well-to-do, i.e. trump junior. do not know for sure, i will put

that on the table. you are right. love your program. america, we can do this. you've got to take a look in the mirror. i love you, have a great holiday. peace be on to you. host: about 10 minutes or so left in this program, it is open forum. any policy issue, political issue you want to talk about. back to the natural state come independent. good morning. caller: good morning. i hope the previous caller is still listening. i am calling to ask president trump -- i've been calling different political figures, representatives, pleading. i want others to call and do the same so he will hear us asking him to accept the speakership of the house in 10 days.

that would resolve so many issues. this position biden is in, the vice president, the likelihood of them having trouble in office , he would be positioned to be restored to office that, again, was wrongfully decided. i tell you that as someone -- i know your ceo was a news guy back 50 years ago, i was looking him up when he started. i was news director 50 plus years ago, so i did not take positions and make statements on things i cannot be certain about. when you look at the election, the issue --, which i do not understand why you guys are more focused on -- is the issue that

was being appealed that morning january 6 was whether or not judges could make changes in election law. rather than state legislature. that was the issue they were resolving. not the vote count. everybody keeps talking about they've recounted the votes, votes are the same. the legal issue was whether or not the voting procedures could be changed by judges. host: one of the legal issues the house and senate resolved, because they included it in the omnibus spending bill that was passed, president biden is expected to sign it into law, included is the electoral count act. it was the center of the former president's efforts on january 6, 2020.

among the piece of legislation included in the sweeping bill, the effort would try to prevent a repeat of how the usa today describes the chaos that engulfed the electoral college tabulation. it would send appeals directly to the u.s. supreme court and make clear the vice president's role in overseeing the count is solely ceremonial. i wonder your thoughts on the electoral count act. caller: let me just remind you, president trump got 75 million votes. that is eight or 10 million more than obama got, 15 to 20 to 30 million more than bush and bill clinton got. it was a stunning number of votes they received for public support. if you look at the total count votes around the country, if you take california out of the total, president trump won the

popular vote of the other 49 states. in three states, they were decided by 10,000 votes. here they are in the legislature in washington, about to decide whether or not they are going to count votes that were changed by judges, when legislatures are required to do that. i've been so amazed you guys have not replayed the morning of hearing. i've watched every single morning, i've looked at your online searches to find the replay of the hearings that morning. replay those. replay those for everybody. the hearings that were taking place to review the count of the vote. trump not want the interrupted. he wanted the legal count to determine whether or not judges

could change the vote totals, or whether or not state legislatures could. that is the issue. host: this is jimmy in georgia. good morning, you are next. caller: good morning, usa, good morning c-span. thank you for taking my call. thank you for democracy, thank you for the great republic we live in. the reason americans complain more about their government than people in any other country is because the first amendment gives us that right. the last caller, he has every right to say those things. but i hope in the next year, i do not have to hear the name donald trump at all. there are four things i brought up that people love to complain about, i do not want to hear complaints about them anymore. the two-party system, the filibuster, gerrymandering into the electoral college. what of those four things have in common? they are all american inventions

and america is a good thing. when those four things began, america was a barely united collection of 13 colonies. partly due to the two-party system, the filibuster, gerrymandering and electoral college, america grew into the most powerful country this world has ever seen. that is my positive message for today. not complain about those things. this guy named robert zimmerman, george santos' opponent, robert zimmerman was the real name of the great singer bob dylan before he changed it. but this robert zimmerman, he did not do his opposition research, it seems. he failed america. i think he deserves to be called out more than he has been. happy new year, i will talk to you next year.

host: from new york, line for democrats. good morning. are you with us? i'm going to try one more time, cheryl. are you there? i am pretty sure you're there, go ahead. caller: yes, i am here. i just wanted to say that, as far as some of the comments being made -- i am here, are you there? host: stop listening to the tv, talk through your phone. what do you want to talk about? caller: i just want to mention about some of the comments that have been made about what has been happening, as far as the last caller goes about gerrymandering, the two-party system. i think he needs to read what george washington said about the two-party system and how it

would be better if we had more than two parties. i wanted to mention the fact the guy wanted to put a rail from florida to wherever, high-speed rail with solar panels. people talk about climate change. i think people need to talk about the environment, not climate change. the climate always changes, it is going to continue to change. we do not influence it nearly that much. the environment is what needs to be protected. we can do that easily, just being responsible individuals. the last thing i wanted to point out is, i do hope things get better in 2023. the last two years have been the worst -- the last three years have been the worst in american history in a long time. host: linda in texas,

independent. good morning. caller: good morning, thanks for taking the call. two inputs. first, the most recent neurological research shows, unlike what marijuana users like to tell themselves is the truth, recent neurological research in several nations, including canada, marijuana does damage the developing adolescent brain in permanent ways. let us remember, ladies, it is the men, the males who developed not only polio but birth-control, which gives us a great deal more freedom. host: that is linda. this is marcy, good morning. caller: good morning. i wanted to talk about the subject on christmas day, the

washington journal did the most disgraceful attack on christianity. the question was, does religion unite or divide? on christmas day. the true body of christ was either at a christmas breakfast or getting ready for church. on christmas day, the second most important day for christians, maybe you should have talked about what christmas means to me, or how do you celebrate christmas? how has the relationship with christ made you a better person? out of all of the colors, there may have been 3 -- callers, there may have been three that knew what a relationship with christ meant. one man wanted to quote three verses and was cut off at the second. christmas day and scripture was not allowed. we all have a worldview and we all have a religion. to blame the division on christianity is wrong and an assault on our values.

washington journal owes the body of christ an apology. it was a disgraceful, intended attack on christianity. you would never do that to another religion. the division is a division of right and wrong. the true body is the most tolerant of all people. we extend grace to those who do not believe like we do. it is time for washington journal to have a day where people are given an opportunity to share how they are making a difference, instead of blaming other people how they are acting. what we do to make a difference in this world. believe me, you do not want to live in a country where christianity is not allowed. host: last caller today from indiana, line for democrats. good morning. caller: yes, i enjoyed all of the callers, happy holidays, merry christmas.

i am worried about the dark money senator whitehouse is talked about. coming in, senators and representatives are getting dark money, and that is what is causing a lot of the problems in our system right now. the other thing is, we need to keep with ukraine. we need to help them. pretend needs to be removed -- putin needs to be removed completely. i see him as a very, very important person to remove, because he is causing the war. it is him. they need to stop him. we are part of this now, because

we want democracy in our country . we do not want dictatorship. host: you talk about senator shown white house, have you checked out his book in which he talked about dark money in the supreme court? caller: i haven't yet but i am going to. host: you can also check it out. we recently covered the book on our tv program and you can watch that online at c-span.org. thanks the call this morning. we will be back tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern . in the meantime, have a good day. ♪

>> this week, watch "washington journal's special authors week, featuring settings with a new writer. senior fellow at the manhattan institute and contribute in editor discusses his book homelessness in america, history and tragedy of an intractable social problem. watch "washington journal" live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span, or on c-span now, our free video mobile app. >> the new 118th congress continues on tuesday, january 3 at eastern for the first time in two years, returning divided.