host: good morning. it is january 31. the house and senate are both set to return at 10:00 eastern this morning, which means we are

with you for the next three hours. we begin with a new gallup poll showing that more americans identified government leadership as a nation's top problem. two months ago, gallup found more americans were worried about the economy and inflation. this man, we are asking you to answer this often -- what do you think is the most important problem facing this country? . democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can also sent a text to (202) 748-8003. if you send a text, let us know where you are from and your name. otherwise, catch up with us on social media. good tuesday morning. you can start calling in now. this is the headli on that gallup poll released yesterday

-- more site the government as the top u.s. album. conflation ranks second. we will take you to the numbers in that poll. between 1% of respondents found that government and for leadership in this country is the top problem facing this country, up six point since november. inflation, 50% of americans say is the top problem. immigration, the economy in general, just 10% saying that is the top problem, that is done six-point since november. the idea of unifying the country, 6% say that is the top problem. some background on that gallup poll released yesterday -- it it included the four day period. 15 point process in wch republicans ultimately elected kevin mccarthy is the of the house. revelations from -- about

classified documents from 2009 to 2017 at joe biden's home also surface. although mention of the government is the top problem rose this month, job approval ratings for president biden and congress remain flat. biden at 41%, good -- congress at 21%. that is from the gallup poll. we will take you more through that pole today. we want to hear from you. what you think is the top problem facing the u.s.? phone lines as usual. we start on the line for republicans, greg, pennsylvania. caller: the major problem is the mainstream media. i think it is related to the poll results of leadership in government. the problem is the mainstream media has ceased to do what it was given as its main

responsibility in the constitution to be skeptical of everybody -- everybody, not just one site. -- side. what has happened in the last 20 years has been demonizing the republicans and sanitizing everything democratic. that is the problem. i think government and leadership response to the people who vote for them. as long as people are in positions of power and continue those positions without any opposition, they will continue to be what they are doing. that is why the government has gotten out of hand. the mainstream media does not question everybody equally. if it did, tight do not believe government and leadership would be the number one issue. host: two headlines on probes

from the republican house this morning. the department of justice stonewalling congress on biting classified documents. the head of the oversight committee in the house is going to cast a wide net on his probe of the biden family's business dealings. that is the washington times today, there politics page. do you think the media is going to cover those issues and probes by the republicans fairly? caller: no. today on npr -- and i force myself to listen to them and to watch msnbc and cnn maybe 15-20 minutes a day -- do i think that goes items you just quoted will be even referenced? it was not today on npr. i do not expect it to be on

msnbc and cnn, although they are important issues. if donald j. today -- npr is all about donald j. and stormy daniels. that was their story this morning on politics. host: that is greg in pennsylvania. line for democrats, david in las vegas. caller: good morning. i am a first time caller. the biggest problem facing america today has much to do with economic indignity, political disenfranchisement, and i think race has less to do is that on those root problems. the first time in history, we have the ability to do something about it, creating a worldwide middle-class with property that

is properly regulated capitalism working in harmony with social democracy. it is not that difficult if we only could achieve the will to make itself. -- make it so. host: how long have you been watching this program? caller: years. host: why was today the day you called? caller: sometimes it is hard to get through, sometimes the questions are not burning, sometimes i get so angry i have to scroll on. we have got to discover a new vocabulary, a new way of looking at angst. it starts with education, critical thinking and has less to do with vocational training, especially today in our high schools. systemically, it is economic indignity, lack of political enfranchisement.

voting has a lot to do with it. i am a pessimist, but slowly and surely we are moving forward. how do we deal with these murders in memphis with these cox? this was black on black violence. the question begs itself -- is this really about race? port was the scorpion unit contaminated by a deeper socioeconomic bias? host: we will focus on that in our next segment at 8:00 a.m.. we will be joined by val demings, a former police chief in orlando. she worked on police reform in congress. we will focus on that topic. you can call in once every 30 days, as i am sure you know. patrick, florida, independent. caller: good morning.

i am surprised foreign policy did not make the cut. our lousy foreign policy has turned south america -- and we make no effort to clean that up. israel just did a drone strike in iran. you think that is going to lead to anything good? let me talk about iran. saddam hussein was reagan's bff. he gassed the kurds three times because he thought they were fighting on the side of iran. he gassed the iranians three times. when iran went between national human security cancel -- counsel with sanctions against iraq, the reagan administration vetoed that. maybe that is why they want a

nuclear program so they do not get pushed around and gassed without any ramifications. south korea is barely a 30-year-old democracy. we are supposed to fight for them. taiwan, we are supposed to fight for them, but we do not lift a finger in the south america to wipe out the drug gangs and help them get some type of stability. host: the gallup poll was the top problem facing the u.s.. we mentioned the top i've already -- poor leadership, inflation, immigration, the economy, unifying the country, race relations and racism, poverty, hunger, homelessness, crime and violence, and then the ethical and moral decline rounding out the top 10. the government and poor leadership at 21%, up markedly from november and december when it was at just 15%.

north carolina, ray, republican. caller: good morning. i would say number one issue would be the national debt, because we have over $30 trillion in national debt and that affects everybody. does not matter if you are a republican or a democrat. that national debt keeps increasing. i agree with mccarthy for spending cuts. there should be a life of areas in government that could be cut spending if we got the national debt down. -- to get the national debt

down. eventually, that will have to be paid. it is a huge elephant in the room. [indiscernible] --host: if you want to watch the u.s. debt in real-time, it u.s. -- usdebtcolcok.org is where you can see that. the caller was talking about republican calls for spending cuts. yesterday, chuck schumer was calling on republicans to spell out there spending cuts. >> according to some, republicans want significant cuts, but from where? funding our troops -- some say, we do not know. republicans come and show us the plan. it spending for firefighters and first responder safe? republicans, show us the plan. is funding for social security and medicare safe?

with some of that party, particularly in the mga ing cut, show us the plan? the american people have the right to know if they will see crucial services suddenly dry out. if republicans cannot get their way, americans have a right to know whether the hard right gopers are really prepared to leave the house republican congress -- conference and whether the republican house led by mccarthy will follow them over that devastating cliff, sending cough spiking on everything from credit cards to auto loans and mortgages. we have seen how dangerous it is for speaker mccarthy to have empowered the most extreme elements of the gop to set the agenda in the house. the maga wing of the gop, which is that there was on how the

house should run, has left no doubt that under their watch, no form of funding, however necessary, is safe. host: that was chuck schumer yesterday. the senate returns at 10:00 a.m. eastern, same time as the house. you can watch the house on c-span, the senate on c-span two as the sun rises over the u.s. capitol. we ask, what is the top problem facing this country? walter, maryland, democrat. caller: the biggest problem is the education of our constituents. it seems to have fallen off over the last 20 or 30 years. that is why we have this partisan bickering. the hatemongering going on, that is pretty much all i want to say. host: florida, jim, republican.

caller: good morning. i think positive leadership in the area of race is the biggest problem, but one comment -- every time chuck schumer opens his mouth, i blow up. he is talking about a plan? donald trump had a 10 year plan for balancing the budget. democrats, after all of this funding money they passed in congress, they do not know what a balanced budget is. i wish she would shut up about a plan. they do not have any idea what a plan is, but letting main concern is that my main concern is the lack of positive leadership. martin luther king was a positive person. pri said we could get there --

he always said we could get there. today, a voice like that is absent and greatly needed. what is happening with the blast -- black race in the u.s. is that racism is embedded in the minds of young black men and it should not be. for a black man, black people feared saying things are better. they want to hold onto inequality. it is their security blanket. host: that is given florida. this is eric in massachusetts, independent. caller: i think the number one issue is the government. it is so pervasive in everything we do. our taxes, everything you buy, is typically taxed, your home is taxed, your car is taxed.

it goes on and on. immigration is part of that. we are paying for "migrants" -- they like to change the monitor. -- moniker. we send them to other cities and the mayor to a fancy facility that we have set up with tv send phones and hot showers. any mayor of a large city, why are we not taking care of our own homeless? we are bringing people in that we know are going to be homeless . i love people talking about, oh, our credit card bill, the credit card bill, i have to pay 27% of

my income to the federal government for nothing. what are they getting the? nothing. one more thing -- race relations. if you look at the numbers, they talk about police violence against blacks. if you look at the numbers, blacks are less likely to get abused, shot and armed than a white person. i also say this, i have never known a person that complied with orders that got shot by a cop, ever. host: race relations, racism, the number of americans who say that is the top problem in this country, according to that gallup poll from yesterday, that is up to 5%. it was at 3% in november and

december of last year. we ask you this morning, what do you think is the top probably facing this country? this is dan and the badger state, democrat. caller: i -- i think it is in front of us every day. we -- internationally, it will be hard to catch up. if you talk to wall street, they will say, our politics will make us number one worldwide. the facing our white house, donald trump is our number one problem domestically. internationally, we turn back to russia. history repeats itself. we are going to put china on the back burner. we will probably need their goods and nobody wants to work hard anymore in america. russia will have to be our number one goal again. it is back to the cold war.

host: you think donald trump is the biggest problem in this country even though he is not in the white house anymore? caller: by all means. look at how he portrayed us around the world. you asked people about america, why don't you ask wall street how difficult it has been? it has been hard. that is my last word. host: main, rodney, republican -- maine, rodni, republican. caller: i think it is a mixture between the media and the current government. have you heard of hamilton 68? host: what is that? caller: it is a fake website

that over 1000 degrees media outlets use as a source -- news media outlets use as a source for disinformation. i wish you would covered twitter and hamilton 6 8 is atrocious. 1000 different stories were written using that as a source. that is the kind of information we are getting. hamilton 68, look it up. host: a different poll on americans' views about the government and their leaders, this from nbc news, and equal number of americans are concerned about the classified documents found in biden's possession and in trump's

possession wording -- according to a pole sunday. the 67% of respondents said they find the discovery of the biden documents very concerning or somewhat concerning. other numbers from that survey -- 50% of respondents disapprove of biden. 55% of respondents said they believe house republicans expended too much time investigating biden rather than focusing on other priorities when it comes to investigating president biden, james connor's head of oversight and accountability in congress. he was of the national press code yesterday. he talked about the differences he sees in trump and biden document cases. this is some of what he told reporters yesterday. >> when mar-a-lago was rated --

raided, we heard from trump people that they were communicating with national archives. their argument was over whether or not these documents were indeed classified. i do not know if that is true or not. i will try to find out. went the biden center, where they found the first batch, i was not alarmed. i just thought it was ironic that the president was quick to call donald trump responsible for his mishandling of classified documents and he has the same thing happened. -- happen. once we find it is in multiple locations, it takes it to hold different level of concern, with respect to trump, inlet of the media -- i love pam brown -- she

says, why aren't you investigating trump's on documents? there is a special counsel. i am confident that special counsel is looking into everything. >> it sounds like you -- you are not asking questions about trump, what was in them, how they got there? >> type will explain -- i will explain this is best i can. we are investigating biden. we learned that his family has classified documents in multiple locations. our concern is about insolence. >> you also mentioned that this where is the trump family goes, there is also perhaps -- >> wright said this on cnn last night. if someone can bring me evidence that trump was using documents

or has insolence with inside information, we will investigate that, but i believes that donald trump has been investigated for just about everything imaginable. now there is a special counsel, the second special counsel, that is investigating his mishandling of classified documents and probably everything. tight reading the paper they are looking into some of his political action committees. -- i read in the paper that they're looking into his political action committees. donald trump has been investigated and continues to be investigated. host: james comer of the house oversight committee yesterday. he talked about some of the committee's work. his committee will be focused on waste, fraud, and abuse when it comes to pandemic spending. a report in the washington post

-- $5.4 billion in pandemic aid may have gone to firms abusing suspect social security numbers focusing on the paycheck protection program and the economic injury disaster loan program -- two key pandemic programs, billions of dollars moving through those programs. the house oversight and reform hearing on that wednesday. this is ron in new hampshire, independent. caller: how are you? thank you for taking my call. in the past 10 days, more people have died from covid-19 then in the 9/11 attack. don't you think if we had the 9/11 attack every 10 days that somebody would at least mention it? over one million americans have been killed in this pandemic. throughout the pandemic, the cdc

and the white house have made decisions that intensified and prolonged the pandemic. no other country in the world killed one million of their own citizens like that. some countries had zero deaths. we had over one million. i've just found information recently that the cdc made these decisions intentionally, knowing it would intensify and prolong the pandemic. host: we found out yesterday president biden is planning to end the public health emergency declarations when it comes to the covid-19 pandemic in may. that is what he told congress today to try to make that happen sooner. what do you think about ending the public health emergency? caller: you know what else he is doing? if you had an employee that

killed one million of your own citizens, don't you think you would at least fire them? you know what he is doing? the guy heading up the covered response, she is giving him a prominent -- he is giving him a promotion, making him chief of staff. that guy headed out this whole endemic response. he is responsible for killing one million americans and biden is giving him a promotion. let me ask a rhetorical question, why would anyone support a country that kills one million of their own citizens? everybody is fine with that -- biden, the media. nobody in the media is even reporting this. at the beginning of the pandemic, the cdc could have released respirators. that is the most effective way

to stop the virus. if they would have done that, they would've ended the epidemic in the u.s. we would not have had one million people killed, but they courted the respirators in a strategic national stockpile instead. they did not release them. you know why? they said there was a shortage but that was a lie. there were millions and millions of them. if they had released them, they could've ended the epidemic. host: helen, kentucky, democrat. caller: i think the top problem facing the u.s. today is that there is wickedness in the people, a lack of love. the leaders are failing to show respect for each other. they -- if they would love each other a little more, they would

be able to work together and they would be able to do things for people, but it seems like as if they get in office, they start this campaign where they are going for their reelection. they are not working for the good of the people. it seems to be that once we take care of the problem of lack of love and respect and forgiveness for each other, then we will be able to do things like education, health issues, immigration, infrastructure, national debt -- so many things that we can take care of, but we have to start with respect for each other. in the bible, it says, "if my people called by my name will humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways, then will i hear from heaven and heal their land.

i will forgive their sins." if people use that as a guideline, it would be surprised at how fast a lot of the issues in our country would be taken care of. host: that is helen in kentucky. one of the issues she brought up was infrastructure. because by focusing on that yesterday and again today. yesterday, the president focusing on a $4 billion federal infrastructure project that would replace the baltimore and potomac tunnel. that is a source of delays credit 150 years after it was go, the oldest tunnel in the northeast is amtrak's biggest chokepoint. trains call for that tunnel and 30 mph, under west baltimore, creating delays. when a new tunnel is built, trains are expected to reach speeds of 100 mph.

biden is expected in new york today to talk about the tunnel project and other infrastructure projects. ronald, north carolina, republican. caller: i have been watching so long, what is wrong with our country is god has not blessed our country. i heard chuck schumer say that we will do what we do. that put cold in my blood. god will not bless america when like chuck schumer and adam schiff and all these people who lie so much. i do not like turning the news on anymore. host: the clip we showed of

chuck schumer yesterday -- here is a clip of mitch mcconnell in the senate. his remarks on the senate floor yesterday focusing on energy security in this country. >> the biden administration has new dashes frozen new oil explorations on public lands, making it harder to develop natural gas resources. they are driving the u.s. into a climate deal that gives the chinese communist party a pass to keep increasing carbon emissions and blocking the chance to block vladimir putin's latest pipeline for controlling european consumption. it is a nonsensical agenda. it has not taken long for families to feel soaring prices

in their heating and electricity bills. fortunately, millions of working americans were fed up last november and decided that an end on democrats' total control in washington. republicans will stand strong on the site of american energy dominance, on the side of national security, on the second american workers, families and america's future. host: mitch mcconnell yesterday. we will talk more about energy issues coming up. at 8:45 eastern, we will be joined by john curtis, republican of utah, member of the conservative climate caucus. more on that coming up. but in this first hour, we have been asking you what is the top problem facing this country?

we have been asking you to call in on phone lines as usual and have been looking for your tweets and text messages. karen from ohio, the biggest problem is domestic terrorism and mass shootings. frank in oregon, to beat number one problem is government corruption. two party system, special interest groups, and brainwashed college students -- and that is a short list. brad is saying the extreme spike in violent crime, followed by inflation that biden exacerbates. this is from georgia, leaders are the biggest problem. someone else saying it is groomed and frustrated males with ar 15's and the availability of assault weapons. these comments are from social media and text messages. (202) 748-8003 is the number you can send a text on.

caller: good morning. i think one of the biggest problems we have, going back to 2010, when the supreme court approved citizens united. that meant that political action committees could donate an unlimited amount to the political system, which means you've got both politicians on both sides of the aisle going after special interest groups, trying to please groups trying to get that money. that is our biggest problem. it is not really constituents, it is their greed in trying to get that. if that ruling were overruled or repealed, if you can repeal roe

v. wade, you can repeal that. if we put a closer watch on money going in, because they approved that thing in the supreme court, because they said that financial donations are a form of speech. i disagree. host: do you think the court would overturn that decision? caller: if they overturned roe v. wade, i do not know what would hold them back, but i doubt it, because the court has benefited from it. host: this is lupe in the lone star state, democrat. caller: two things -- the general public knows what the media reports. what they report is what we know. the caller forgot to mention fox news.

that is one of our problems. the general public knows what the media reports. in texas, we did not elect ted cruz or the democratic senator in washington, they're just talking about each other, criticizing each other -- democrats versus republicans, republicans versus democrats. congress is doing nothing to address the real issues of this country. they cannot take time for that. host: what would you prefer john cornyn and ted cruz talk about in the senate as representatives of texas? caller: how about texas problems? i know the problems in the nation are the same -- we all have the same problems. inflation.

i buy three bags of groceries, $80. what is going on? cornyn and ted cruz should try to do something. they were elected to take care of their constituents, not to talk about each other and criticize. ted cruz is talking long blah blah, but he does not do anything. mitch mcconnell, i love what he said, but are they going to do anything about it or just talk about it? host: back to that gallup poll bring up, lupe, with high prices persistent, inflation remains the second most problem by americans. 15% of respondents said inflation is the biggest problem.

and legal immigration edged up three pover the past two months. cited by 18% of republicans. the economy in general and race relations trailed the government as the biggest problem among democrats. democrats are more likely to view unifying the country and the environment as top problems. we ask today, what is the biggest problem facing the u.s.? mike, north carolina, republican. caller: where can i start? three things -- first, the demonization of police officers. there are good and bad, but 99% are great. but democrats is the main problem. demonizing police officers.

everybody knows the difference between right and wrong. every time a policeman pulled somebody over, the main thing is do what you're told. but they run. but you do not run unless you are guilty. you know what happened in memphis? that was bad, but the only footage date release is when they got him at the traffic stop. i want to see the footage that preceded that. what made these cops so enraged? host: an opinion from the washington post -- police leaders must reform themselves. the author of that column is val demings, former orlando police chief and former representative of the 10th district of florida in the u.s. house. she ran for senate in florida, lost to marco rubio.

she is running a police reform group and will be here to talk about her efforts. larry, minnesota, independent. caller: howdy. i have been working on a problem since about 1970, when liberals said global cooling. then in the 1980's, they said global warming. in the 1990's, they said climate change. they blame human activity for all three, which are quite dissimilar. a week ago on cnn, there was a guy, not just a guy, he is pretty smart. he let the cat out of the bag as far as what is causing the

weather. the earth has stopped being a generator. the earth is discharging. the planet -- storms cannot move because they are electromagnetically charged. host: you do not think the world is turning anymore? caller: the center of the earth has stopped. when that happens, the earth no longer is a d.c. generator. host: sharon, maryland, democrat. caller: my concern about our country is there is too much hatred and wickedness. gop senators they act like it is

nothing. they should not do that. they have got to go across the aisle and work it out. it is not right. my main concern is it seems like no one cares about the children or family values. this country, we cannot -- because god is a god of truth, not lies. host: you say republicans need to go across the aisle and work it out. are democrats going across the aisle? caller: sinema and manchin do. when i vote, i voted for somebody who is going to represent me and do the right thing for the american people. donald trump cannot make america great. god already made it right, but it is up to us to follow what he

wants us to do to make it better and get rid of racism and stop thinking there is no critical race theory it is critical race. people just do not want to know the truth about slavery. these cops killing that young man was wrong. i do not care who you are, you do not mistreat a human being. we have people who treat animals better than humans. host: this is burt, congas, georgia, republican. caller: the main thing i have is corruption in government from the local government, state government, federal government. you see it all day long -- republicans and democrats. democrats have their corruption and republicans have theirs. they all get elected and do not do a thing about it. they just try to get reelected

again. it is corruption on top of corruption. when you go to the doctor, you have the government telling the doctor what to do, how they can treat you. you've got the education. there is corruption in education. therefore, there are people they have to get rid of. host: is there any institution in this country or in georgia or columbus that you trust? caller: yeah. the religious community. they are pretty honest, especially the evangelistic community. you look at the catholic community and they have their corruption, but you also have it

in religion. not everything -- they take god out of school and everything. when you do that, you do not have anybody to be honest. when you take this situation with people who are not honest and would not believe in god, when you take faith away from people, then people do not have the ability to be honest. host: amy, washington, independent. caller: thank you. i think the biggest problem is the first amendment. the press is not accountable anymore.

they are censoring everything. it was implemented for a good reason -- freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right to assemble and petition. that need to address grievances to your congressman. i think censorship and information control -- we should have consensus, especially with science. host: ok. speaking of being up early, this is john in hawaii, democrat. caller: hi. host: how are things in hawaii this night? caller: it is very early.

i think the biggest problem is there should be term limits. and also stricter qualifications to run for office. term limits should include the supreme court. i also feel that the maga party is, gosh, i do not know where to begin. trump and the maga party and their alternative facts -- that is what i have got to say. host: what term limits would you set for congress? caller: no more than 8. i do not know. just making a suggestion. host: what about the supreme

court? how long should justices serve? caller: probably the same, 8-10. no more than that. they do not represent the whole country. the government does not represent the whole country. there are people all over who need things. everybody sweats their own piece of the pie. it is chaos. nobody gets along anymore. host: to the pelican state, this is roselle, republican. are you there? got to stick by your phone/ sarah in houston, independent. caller: the topic problem is

health care. there are two -- two aspects to that -- the first is related to order -- older adults. i thought biden was going to put funds out for caregivers. that is an outrageous expense. that is one thing. just to make sure that older adults who have special needs are receiving the services they need in the hospital, because not everyone has an advocate. when they do not, there can be some serious consequences. another aspect of health care has to do with oversight and holding the doctors and nurses accountable for wrongdoings. it seems to me that the medical

boards tend to look the other way or just kind of sweet complaints under the rock -- rug. that is what i think is a top concern in the u.s. host: on health care, like on facebook points to that is the top problem, saying ever increasing costs are the top problem. from william in connecticut, the partisan politics goal of dividing the electorate and creating an angry mob on both sides. centrists have common ground. just in massachusetts saying social media and websites that give every knucklehead with an opinion a soapbox often amplifies our worst thoughts of one another. $31 trillion in debt is a national disgrace.

but giving away billions in military aid, acting rich when you are debt ridden. judy saying we are not united -- we are 2 -- we are too divided politically. host: 10 minutes left in this segment. we will return to this question at the end of our program. if you did not get in in this first hour, we will talk about it more towards the end of the program. this is steven, new york, democrat. caller: that five police officers shot an unarmed man is a major problem. someone said he should not have run, but what would you do if you were being beaten? wouldn't you run? responses to this crisis are due to for media coverage. she spent has yet to have policing experts on this show and says happened.

host: in a few minutes, val demings will come on to talk about this issue from about 8:00 to a 45 time. -- 8:45. in terms of coverage, this is from the new york times -- hateful page -- a full page spread taking a look at this video, edited video, but the new york times was able to find 13 minutes, 71 clashing commands, escalating brutality, contradictory direction and that police encounter with tyre nichols. caller: i appreciate that. thank you for having val demings on. to finish what i was saying, they told tyre to get on the ground, he got on the drums. if you think it wastyre's fault

that he was beaten to death, you are the problem. you cannot see him as your son. some believe it is the job of the police, to chase down, beat, subjugate black americans. thank you and thank you for having val demings on. host: joe, republican. caller: i think the biggest problem in the u.s. right now is the lack of morality. i think the moral compass of this country has gone so far left that it does not have a compass anymore. the left not care for people. they care more about special interest -- whether it be climate, crt, whatever you want. they are too beholden to

archaic, silly, stupid -- what would you call them? idiotic programs out there. i would like to see a country move more towards the middle, get away from this vitriol, hyperbole, and start to talk more. if we do not do that, the united states will be the divided states and there will not be a country left. host: taking a look at the responses to that question that's part this conversation, that gallup poll, three times as many republican respondents as democratic respondents said that moral, ethical, family decline is the top problem in this country. 6% of republicans pointing to that as the biggest issue, just

2% of democrats and democratic leaning independents spending that way. does that surprise you? caller: not at all. it seems to have gotten out of whack. i think many people are feeling lost out here. you see so much of what we used to take for granted being steamrolled by the government or threatened by the government. it is sad to find out our kids are being taught nonsense, crt nonsense and being woke. it is not a healthy situation to teach your children to hate this country. until we get away from that philosophy, we are screwed. host: other places where there are large differences between how democrats and republicans

responded to that gallup poll -- 18% on the republican side for bank immigration is the biggest issue, just 5% of democratic respondents said immigration. on race relations, just 2% of republicans and said that is the biggest issue. 9% of democrats saying that. when it comes to the environment, 6% to fight the environment is the biggest problem -- essentially zero on that survey in terms of percentage right on the republican side saying that is the biggest problem facing the country. paul, washington, independent. caller: i agree with the last caller, but i will take it a step further -- i think it is the disintegration of the home and family unit that is the huge problem.

there is no home. that is the root of all the problems. host: that is paul in washington. this is marilyn, a republican. caller: i would like to say, keep things simple and sane. i agree with your last two callers that morality and the drop in churches. they closed churches during covid, of all things when people need the lord more than anything, but it started with -- i felt we had the best president, donald trump, that i can remember, and i have been involved in politics for at least 38 years. from there, we go to joe biden, maybe even worse than jimmy carter. he started out by taking away

our gas production and energy production. we started buying from our enemies. those go up in price. then he starts taking from our strategic oil. this was for an emergency. then we get inflation, then he starts giving money away to these special interest groups, government money, our money, that we worked hard for. we are now extremely more in debt. government spending causing inflation -- causes inflation. until we stop, and he gets out of there, and i do not think kam ala will be any better. she is something herself.

host: host: who was your favorite president before donald trump? caller: ronald reagan. because he was common sense. a lot of government should be common sense. it's not what can you give, like john kennedy said, as not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. people just always want something from the government. i grew up a little bit in poverty. my mother was educated but i grew up in poverty. we never owned our own home but guess what, all of my brothers, my sister and i all owned our own home and i think people get a divorce over nothing these days and the poor kids are traumatized.

i am just so sad about our beautiful wonderful country. we can get it back. republicans are trying to. the democrats want to -- all they care about is buying votes and that's what joe biden is doing, he's buying votes. it's too bad we had to have this happen. we had hardly any inflation on her donald trump. it was like 2% or something like that. host: time for a couple of calls. karen and newburgh, maryland, democrat, go ahead. caller: i think the greatest threat to this country is the allied media working with the swamp in washington. government officials, we need term limits. someone mentioned that earlier and i'm all for it might give us 16 years for members of congress on the senate and give us 25 years for the supreme court and

give us 20 years for anyone working in any federal agency in washington because that's where the real problem is. politicians come and go every four or six years but the people who are in the jobs that do the weedy, cd, dirty details are there forever and there is no way to get rid of them. host: we've talked about caller: you can ask more relevant questions of callers when they spout on these talking points from different parties. i voted for trump because -- i want to punish democrats and republicans alike what they been doing this country. trump was a lesson to teach these people, straighten up or get the hell out of there. goodbye. host: on the issue of term

limits, we've talked about that. the counterargument to argue against term limits is they say the expertise gets lost -- caller: no. guest: host: there are people who work in the government scientists and have that expertise and if you had -- and if you say they have to leave after 20 years, you lose that expertise, that the counterargument to the term limits. caller: what is america producing if there are no more experts? did we run out of experts 20 years ago? are you kidding me? there are experts every day, every year. you cannot play that game with me. there are experts everywhere. give them a chance.

maybe they won't be related to a senator or maybe they weren't a stamper on the hill and maybe they will come from regular america maybe they will have had real jobs. steny hoyer is my congressman and i was born in the mid 60's and i have never been represented by anyone but steny hoyer. steny hoyer? i went through busing, protists, outrageous bull**** from the highest levels of our government and county commissioner and you want to tell me that we have no new experts in 2023 america? what are colleges and universities and high schools and public schools producing? host: that's karen in maryland, kirk, in athens, alabama, your next. caller: good day. i would say it's so many things the problem with this country but we can begin with the basics.

the country is just buried in more depravity. there is sodomy, you go down the road of pedophilia with this agenda in schools. the news media is biased and corrupt. the government is corrupt. there is no more clear case of influence peddling than the current president and his drug addict son. it's been around for five years. there is nothing been done about it. what's wrong with this country? racism, moral depravity, corrupt government and bias in the news media. put it all together and that's what you have. host: our last caller in this first segment of "washington journal," but if you didn't get into the segment, we will come back to this question at the end of the program but up next, we

joined by the former democratic congresswoman and current counsel on policing reforms and race co-chair, val demings, to discuss the new recommendations for improving policing and later, we will be joined by republican congressman john curtis of utah on the energy agenda in the home 118 congress. we will be right back. >> can just about a year, first votes are scheduled to be cast in the 2024 democratic presidential primary and if a proposal supported by joe biden is approved, south carolina would vote first, changing the political environment. in the weekly, we go back to prior joe biden campaigns for present and hear what he said then about the importance of iowa and new hampshire leading up the presidential selection process. you can find it on c-span outcome our free mobile app or wherever you get your pod casts.

>> be up to date with ok 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 it on c-span now, our free mobile app or wherever you get your podcasts. >> the state of the union is strong because you, the american people are strong. >> president biden delivers the annual state of the union address with his priorities of congress on tuesday, february seven, his first since republicans won control of the house and we will see the republican response and take your phone calls texts and tweets beginning at 8 p.m. eastern on c-span, c-span now or online at www.c-span.org.

>> there are a lot of places to get political information but only at c-span do you get it straight from the source. no matter where you are from or where you stand on the issues, c-span is america's network. unfiltered, unbiased, word for word. if it happens here or here or here or anywhere that matters, america is watching on c-span. powered by cable. >> "washington journal" continues. host: the former florida congresswoman val demings joins us for a discussion on race. explain the mission of this project you were working on now and how you got involved. guest: good morning, good morning to your listeners.

it's good to be back with you. this is work through the national police institute that has gone on for two years. we initially thought it would be about three months but we realized that there was so much that we needed to look at and it was research-based which is a good thing and involves law enforcement but also social service representatives and i believe over the last two years, we did some good work. we have some problems. i spent 27 years in law enforcement. i work with some of the bravest, most courageous most compassionate men and women but we have had some foul ups and over the last two or three years since the death of george floyd, the focus has been on police reform. we've been around for about 50 years in the mission has always

been to look at policing and race. the group came together and we looked at policies and procedures and standards. we looked at community-based programs that can certainly help reduce crime and we looked at the safety in a more holistic way and public safety is not just the responsibility of the police, but it takes a community to be involved and keep us all safe. and to build stronger communities. i know that's what we all want. host: congresswoman val demings is joining us on the same day that on the op-ed pages the washington post, you can hear her column where police leaders must reform themselves and she will talk about that this morning with us for about the next 35 minutes or so and the phone lines to call in --

we have all seen the tyre nichols videos with several different videos of what's been released so far. what stands out to you and what's your reaction? guest: as a 27 year law enforcement officer and chief of police, someone who worked as a social worker before becoming a police officer, i saw the video and it was shocking and appalling. i think that every good person, every decent person, every good and decent police officer and police executive should see the video as shocking and appalling i've had an opportunity to

review footage and go back and look at what happened and what was the purpose for the stop and what occurred and what to the person who wished up do to dictate the police. that's what we always did as police. it's the response of police and i have looked and i know the investigation is ongoing but the videos pretty clear and we should not ask anyone to not police. the video was pretty clear that this was a night that went off the rails. i have not been able -- i know the police chief is to looking and reviewing and still trying to find the justification for the stop in the first place. i have not been able to see any justification for the stop. this is a tough subject but we got to get this right. what happened to tyre nichols

and his family and his community, every decent person, we got to come together and put processes and programs in place and legislation that can prevent things like this from happening again. host: the headline we are seeing today is the seventh officer linked to the tyre nichols investigation is relieved of duty and as you talked about, the specialized unit are receiving a lot of attention in the wake of these videos being released. why do we have the specialized policing units, what's their purpose and should departments have these kind of units? guest: i had specialized units in the orlando police department. when i was appointed chief we had an all-time high in the murder rate in orlando. the citizens of orlando wanted

the police to do something about it we had specialized units as well. their purpose was to target the worst of the worst, the gang members, the drug dealers, those who committed gun violence in the worse of the worst and we have a list and we knew who they were. the specialized units target the worst of the worst behavior. it's something that discipline is appreciated because they wanted crime reduced especially violent crimes in their communities. i remember getting calls from our seniors and retirees who lived in certain neighborhoods and said they were tired of going to church and having to go through the drug dealers to get to church. they were tired of seeing their grandchildren walked to the bus stop and being accosted by drug dealers so everyone, regardless of who they are, everyone deserves to live in safe and

secure communities. i had a specialized unit that i had to disband. the departments have a certain mission and certain policies and procedures but we have also seen that within some specialized units, while the department culture is one of safety and service, those specialized units can develop their own toxic culture. i certainly had to disband one of our units. specialized units are for a purpose but for the right reasons. we have to have the most highly trained, highly seasoned officers within those units. you have to be sure you're giving proper supervision. one thing that is important is its high risk and high stress and you have to rotate the men and women within those specialized units on a regular

basis. host: memphis was the so-called scorpion unit. they were created in late 2021 and shut down saturday, day after the police chief there defended it. on calls for reform, a lot of focus on the george floyd justice and policing act that passed the house last congress and did not pass the senate. what does that do in if that had been passed, is there anything in that that would have prevented what happened here? guest: i was disappointed that the george floyd justice in policing act stalled in the u.s. senate. it's not perfect legislation. we all know that. i certainly didn't think it was perfect. there were some areas that i

didn't necessarily agree with. but we needed to do something. legislation seldom protects anyone and with developing national standards, that will help give police departments the tools they need. we have over 18,000 law enforcement agencies in our country. god bless the men and women who do the job right every day. it is a tough job. we have police department's that are 36000 and as few as 10 or less than that. i believe developments of national standards in terms of hiring and training, in terms of the proper use of what meant especially those coming from the federal government are good things. modifying policies -- hiring the brightest and the best. we know we have to have men and women who have the temperament for the job. giving police departments

initial funding or whatever it takes to expand their scope to have -- to hire people that have the right temperament. giving our men and women the training, we know they have different training budgets. the george floyd policing act would have provided a standard minimize -- minimum training and it would've given them the tools to protect themselves but to better be able to protect members of the community. policies like chokeholds and no-knock warrants, we had a policy that said you cannot strike a person above the shoulders unless you were justified in using deadly force. that's because a strike above

the shoulders can cause death or great bodily harm. in memphis, we saw in the video with their own eyes where officers kicked tyre nichols in the head, they punched him in the face, they beat him with the baton and they sprayed him and tased him. modifying those policies and having a national database were one police number dish police officer was fired from one agency, maybe even in another state that they could not with just cause simply cross state lines or go on the other side of town and apply and get hired at another agency. and then increasing accountability. good police officers are not afraid of that. increase accountability. it's a good thing. bad officers know that they are going to be held accountable and

pay the consequences for bad behavior, our hope is that that is this will improve performance and interaction. the george floyd justice in policing act was not perfect that it was a step in the right direction that's why we saw it pass in the house but there is not much of an appetite unfortunately in congress. there is not much of an appetite to protect members of congress who have been threatened. that's what i believe is important for my brothers and sisters in the police to step up and take matters into their own hands. after george floyd, i got on the phone and called several police executives and said you don't want the federal government telling you what to do him a look internally and take action to modify your own policies, many of them did that. many did not and look where we are today. we've got to do something, this

cannot continue to happen. host: our guest is former congresswoman val demings involved in police reform. you can check out police reform.org. we have many calls from you and we will start in illinois, christina, line for democrats. caller: good morning. i have a quick question -- do they ever test these officers? i am blind but i heard what was going on and to me it sounded like a pack of wild cackles. maybe testosterone and the rates from steroids -- and the rage from steroids might be a problem, what do you think of that? guest: thank you for your question. whenever a person of authority

uses authority in a horrific way and certainly when it results in the death of any individual, i would call any of them a while? . i also -- a wilds? . -- a wild jackal. we have to make sure we are hiring the right people to do the job. there are a lot of applications to go through to get 20 get them best people in the ranks. i also believe the recruitment process and hiring process should involve psychological evaluation. we cannot just stop there. i remember one of the first bills i supported in congress was the law and worsen on this act that made sure -- it's a tough job and officers go through a lot so let's make sure

we are doing regular checkups on our officers to make sure we are taking care of their mental issues, their physical issues and their spiritual issues if that be the case. start with hiring and make sure we hire the right desk the brightest and the best. let's also make sure we are doing wellness checks along the way on our officers to make sure they have everything they need to survive but also protect the innocent. host: from your home state of florida, this is nick, line for republicans, good morning. caller: good morning, this word salad we are listening to will do nothing to solve any of this and it has never done anything to solve any of this. the police reform is only half of it. we need people reform. what i mean by that is we need to stop this disrespect we have

in this country for law enforcement. people would be so much that are off and i do this in my personal life i've been pulled over by police and when i get pulled over come i put my hazard lights on, i put down every single window in the car before the approach the car come i put my hands on the steering wheel and i say yes sir, no sir and answer their questions. we need to have respect and it has to start in the home which val demings does not want to talk about. it has to start in the schools which val demings does not want to talk about. people need to be taught in driver education classes instead of talking about transgender bathrooms and all the other idiocy that people like val demings want to talk about -- host: i will let you respond. caller: good morning. let me just say that i grew up in florida in jackson with two

parents in the home and they talked me to be respectful our parents teach their children to be respectful but we -- i heard you dish your earlier segment where you were talking about the general lack of morality and respect. it's not just on the street with police officers. it would be good to get back to respecting each other in our different places and different political parties. the lack of respect which may mean something to different people but nobody deserves to be beaten to death by a police officer. i did the job and doggone it, i know the job. i love the men and women who do

the job we send a message that everybody counts. but everybody is accountable. i'm sure you view the same idiom i did. lord knows, i cannot find anything tyre nichols said or did that showed a level of disrespect to the officers. as a matter of fact, officers are trained -- the escalation is important -- we want to be a national standard so all police departments teach their officers how to de-escalate situations. the only person on the scene listened and watched. the only person on the scene in memphis that night trying to de-escalate the situation was tyre nichols. thank you, nick. host: new york is next, denise,

independent, good morning. caller: good morning, i want to start by saying i run an emergency department and i have an uncle that is a new york state trooper. about 15 years ago, i felt the police did not deserve my support. i was in a snowstorm heading to work at 10:30 p.m. and went through a red light that i didn't see until i was on upon it and then i slid through it. a police officer in amherst stopped and yelled at me that i should be off the road. without even giving me the respect on why you are on the road. there was no respect. another time i had an officer come to a car accident and yell because we had no right calling

for a car accident. i didn't like officers and then i worked in an emergency department and i see the fine work that most of them do even there, i had an officer blow up about waiting too long with the behavioral health patient so he hasn't unstable patient and he's yelling at a busy -- in a busy waiting room. i never had that experience with a state trooper. my point is that we need to see what the state troopers are doing and what they used to recruit people and how they train people because they are always respectful, it's like a different level and it should be. the other thing -- it shouldn't be. host: let's have val demings jump on that aspect. guest: we have a whole policy on

being respectful, not just to each other but certainly to the citizens that we serve. having an entire regulation demonstrates that. [indiscernible] all of the good men and women who put on any uniform who do the job -- when we talk about policing and public safety and this is one of the things that the council looked at, we have to reevaluate safety to not just include police. everybody counts but everybody is accountable which means we all have a responsibility to police our communities but that's a whole another aspect, it's what we call in the report, valid crime prevention. it basically says --

commissioner david brown was now the commissioner in chicago but was the police chief in dallas when he made this statement, he said every time society fails, we call the police to solve it. not enough mental health funding, given to the police, not enough drug treatment addiction, let the police handle it. in florida, we say the rns county jail is the biggest mental health facility and the biggest drug treatment facility in the region. school fails, the commissioner says give it to the police that they will handle it. cheap brown ended with we are asking our cops to do too much. while we are making sure our officers, we have the right ones and getting the best training in the best equipment to make sure they are trained to utilize that a meant and holding them accountable, there are consequences for bad action --

actions, we have to deal with the social ills that cause the problems in communities in the first place. president johnson also said policeman, he said we have to have the best and make sure they have the best training. they looked at this issue. give them the best training and have the best, that's equipment. but then they said we've got to deal with poverty, we got to do with unemployment and low wages. we got to do with substandard education. we've got to deal with homelessness if we are going to build those strong communities we need. that's just what we are doing today. public safety, the police of the frontline of public safety but then it takes the community in a takes that village to get to where we need to be.

we've got to address some of the social ills. host: just about 10 minutes left with congresswoman val demings about police reform. and race. you can find it at council on policing reforms.org, their recommendations for these issues. taking your phone calls on lines for democrats, republicans and democrats, this is janine and vancouver, washington, democrat. caller: good morning. i just love you. i've watched you in congress and i've seen what you done. in my community, our sheriff's department has really changed for the better because they reach out to our teenagers. they reach out in a good way and it de-escalate's the situation where officers are pulling

people over but they are not giving them tickets. if it's something heavy, they let them go. the officer i spoke to said it could be a guy going home from work and he doesn't want to give them a big extravagant ticket and they are thinking that way now. they are not just jumping the gun. they are actually trying to be friends with people in my community and it's working and where i live it's working. my comment is, keep it up because that's what will change. i watched my brother in the late 70's almost get beaten to death. there was nothing i could do because they were for police officers and they were teenagers and they beat him within an inch of his life.

i didn't have a good opinion. i do now and i've changed a lot as i aged. that's all under the bridge but i'm telling you, the community is going to respond when police officers get more talkative, friendlier and not so stern. that's my comment and i think you're awesome. thank you for all you do. guest: janine, thank you so much for your kind comments. part of the work on the council really focuses on the community police aspect of safety and service. the work that we did was research that is evidence-based. i would invite everyone to take a look at the fourth. a major part of it is involve the community.

have regular town halls, form citizens police academy's, give yourself every opportunity to interact with the police. involve them, it's oh k in your decision making. as a police chief we tested body cameras over a decade ago, trying to get ahead and be innovative and proactive. we were told we could not afford them but now, thank god, our municipalities are finding the funding that they need. getting the cameras is just part of the work that needs to be done. developed of policies and how they will be utilized, how long the footage will be stored and how will be used. it can be used to help officers do a better job but it can also be used to help solve citizen complaints. it solves -- it involves

citizens and that process. it increases understanding. it increases [indiscernible] and it helps improve trust between the police and the community. that direction regardless of your party or where you live, your state or the relationship you have with the police, that is the direction that we all need to be moving in. we need to come up with ways to help further develop the trust between the police and the community and also have an attitude of safety and service. host: remind viewers what qualified immunity is. guest: when we think about the george floyd justice in policing act, all of five community is

the legislation that i think led to it stalling in the u.s. senate. qualified community -- immunity does not just extend to law enforcement. people think just police officers are covered and no one else is. it is really extended toward people in certain official positions like mayors or governors were certainly police officers. because police officers have a duty to act, and that is something we have to keep in mind. we hear a lot of people say the police are treated differently. if i had done it, i would be behind bars now. police officers have a duty to act. they cannot just look at a street fight on the honor and say i'm not going over there because i'm white and they are

black and if i go over there, i will be called a racist and i might end up in prison. they have a duty to act. they are obligated and that is a part of the investigation going on in memphis. because of that duty to act, it comes with certain protections. there are provisions where they are not looked at just like any other citizen or person in any other profession who does not have the duty to act. some have said that any effort or discussion about qualified immunity was going to prevent good officers from doing their job, the provisions are not about good officers doing their job. it was about holding bad officers accountable. every police executive and chief

and sheriff and every good officer and citizen should want to do that. host: time for a couple of more phone calls. we are talking about policing reform and the recommendations from her group. lakeland, florida, independent. caller: good morning, ms. val, i must say i love you and i used to call you my political girlfriend. i'm from lakeland down the road from orlando. it's bad when you have people who say they won't go to orlando because they have to ride through lakeland. a friend of mines son is going viral and he is on the ground handcuffed and getting kicked by the police. this kind of thing has been going on forever in my question -- i don't know if it's getting

better or if it's getting worse. it's really about the same from my viewpoint. when we were younger, a friend of mine got hot grease kicked on by the police. a lot of people settle out of court so there is no actual real conviction on these officers. they get moved to different areas. with great power comes great responsibility. i'm wondering -- it seems like all we are doing now is getting the stuff on videotape.we have the video of the thing that went on in memphis and george floyd in all this stuff are these people ever really going to be charged or do time? guest: part of your conversation

and your comments and questions cut out. the bottom line is, is it getting better? police officers patrol every community in our nation. they do a 24 hours per day, seven days a week including holidays. that alone, think about the number of hours in the number of citizen encounters that the men and women in blue have every day, all day long. if we think about that, that statistic alone lets us know that it has gotten better. what happened in memphis, you talk about your relatives being kicked on the round and it's on video and what happened to george floyd, in memphis, what happened with george floyd, it

is brutal, senseless and murder. the person -- the officers involved with george floyd have been held accountable. the officers in memphis were quickly fired, relieved of duty, fired, at least five of seven and the other cases are ongoing. we will see what is forthcoming. they are being held accountable. and that is what we want to see. we have a long way to go. this is not the responsibility of our councils are one person or a police department, it's a community issue. the community is the police and the police is the community. i think we should be encouraged by the swift actions we have seen in the george floyd case

and in the case of tyre nichols. they keep moving forward. in doing that, some people will be upset. it's an emotional issue. police have a tough job. i done it and i edit -- and i get it but we have to put provisions in place to not only protect the citizens we serve but also to protect our police officers. that's why the legislation will help. that's why police executives take responsibility for their own changes. that's what they can do, helped police protect others and protect innocent people. police officers hauled off to prison, no one wants to see that. seeing a young man or woman lose their life unnecessarily and

tragically, no one should want that either. host: val demings, we want to get one more call in from panama city, florida, the line for republicans, go ahead. caller: yes, ma'am. do you believe in no cash bail? why are so many policeman retiring or quitting the job because of the pressure? i will hang up and wait for your answer, thank you. guest: thank you so much for your question. i was in panama city not too long ago. i remember when i was the police chief over a decade ago. a lot of police officers are hired at the same time. we have police academy classes. they could have 50-80 or larger classes and then they retire.

i can remember saying we will have 100 police officers retired next year and i'm hoping and praying the mayor will allow us to hire before they leave. we all just can't be trained and ready to hit the streets. i know there is an effort to single out police officers. there is pressure from the community of them running for the doors but that's not true. the job has always been tough. going to work every day and knowing you could be shot at her not see your family again for god for bid get shot yourself, that's a tough job. the men and women are willing to do it. it has always been a challenge for policing.

is the job getting tougher? it probably is. it's because of gun violence, drug dealers, because of gang activities. it's a tough job. police officers don't have the training that they need to do the job. let's make sure they do. the simple answer to this -- we all want to give our men and women the tools they need today and we should have wanted to give them the tools they need to do the job 50 years ago. let's keep moving in the right direction. we can do this. host: former congresswoman val demings currently with the national policing institute counsel. thanks so much for chatting with us. chat with us again down the road. guest: thank you, take care.

host: up next, republican congressman john curtis, the republican of utah, joins us for a discussion about house republicans energy agenda in the 118th congress. stick around, we will be right back. ♪ >> livsuay on in-depth, author, essayist and journalist lancmorrow will be our guest to talk and take your calls on american culture, politics and history. he is the author of many books including the chief and the sin to be published, the noise of typewriters about his career in journalism and hisakon the profession. join in the conversation with your phone callss, facebook comments, tt d tweets. inepth with lance morrow this sunday at noon eastern on book tv on c-span2.

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for every house and senate member and important information on congressional committees, the president cabinet, federal agencies so preorder your copy today by scanning t qr code on the right. is $29.95 plus shipping and handling and supports our nonprofit operation at c-span shop.org. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us from the cannon house office building is utah republican congressman john curtis, a member of the energy and commerce committee and chair of the climate caucus. what are your priorities for the 118th congress when it comes to energy and climate legislation? >> we don't need to sacrifice energy independence and we don't need to sacrifice affordable prices and we can reduce emissions. we think we have a formula to do that. host: what is that special formula to make that happen? guest: it's not that

complicated. we need every available energy source we have with an emphasis on affordability, reliability and clean and we need to let the marketplace drive those three factors and i am confident the marketplace will take us in a good direction. host: what happens when clean is not always affordable or if the other priorities gets in the way of another one? guest: you can see what happens when you get those three priorities out of alignment. not only did they sacrifice energy dependence, affordability and reliability but they are not clean. they are putting on more greenhouse gas emissions than ever and we want to make sure the u.s. does not going that direction. host: the conservative climate caucus started and you are the chair so why did you start it? guest: one of the largest republican conferences in washington is republicans talking about climate. our point is to get republicans and gays. we feel republicans for too long

have told everybody what we don't like and it's important for us to articulate what we do like. there are very strong conservative principles that are affordable, reliable and clean. host: it might surprise people. guest: historically, republicans have not engaged in the climate conversation. part of that is because they are turned off by the extremism and i think that's been a mistake. host: how do you get republicans to engage now and how do you get democrats to engage with you on these issues? guest: on the second part of your question, i am pleased with my democratic colleagues many of whom have embraced what we are doing and reached out to us and want to work with us and i found a warm reception with my democratic colleagues.as far as getting more republicans engaged, it is helping them understand that they don't need to check their conservative credentials at the door to

engage. most of them realize they are anxious to engage. and be part of the conversation host: do you foresee a day when this country no longer needs fossil fuels? how far away is that day? guest: that's an interesting thing. i don't know a single energy expert anywhere in the world doesn't tell you that fossil fuels will be with us for a very long time. in this debate, people have to decide if you hate fossil fuels or hate emissions. there's a strong role for fossil fuels to reduce emissions and there's no better example than what's happened in the united states. we have reduced dramatic commissions using natural gas which is cleaner than russia. the goal is to reduce emissions, there is a role and fossil fuels can be part of the solution and not the only problem. host: is the role for coal-fired power plants? guest: to get to our energy future, i don't think there's is a single energy source that we won't be using.

can we do it affordably, reliably and clean? there is great technology out there like carbon sequestration and other technologies that likely will play a role. host: congressman john curtis is with us this morning for another 20 or 25 minutes. you can join the conversation, the phone lines are open. john curtis is a member of the energy and commerce committee in the one who 18th congress on a vice chair -- in the 118th congress. what is grid security and why are three things grouped together? guest:guest: as far as climate energy, you cannot separate climate from energy. the two are connected and that's

where that's included. everybody will tell you that if we don't have a secure and reliable read, none of this matters on the energy side and the climate side. we got to have a grid that's for more resilient, far more efficient than what we currently have. host: when it comes to the grid, what is keeping us from being efficient and reliable? guest: it's the same thing that's holding us back on every climate goal and that's the topic in congress this year with republicans and democrats. i don't care what your energy goal is, committee reform is in the way of it and unless we can work that out, we will struggle on the energy and climate side. host: if you're trying to understand the permitting process, how long does it generally take and how many agencies are involved in an energy permitting process? guest: there are many layers and it depends on what you're trying to do.

in my district, we have about 90% federal land. just to permit on federal land in an existing right-of-way roadway could take up to nine years. that has also many layers of complications when the permit is issued and challenges. people will tell you that it takes too long to get an answer and was the answer comes the, there is no certainty because of a process that goes on for many years. tightening that up and not come prop -- compromising environmental standards in getting an answer to her and making that answer more sure is one of the most important things we can do with committee reform. host: talking with congressman john curtis and asking for your lessons on phone or text or email. bobby is up first out of west virginia, the line for democrats. go ahead. caller: yes, congressman. i am a former retired coalminer

in west virginia. there was one of the worst massacres in mind history. we powered this nation through several wars and it hadn't been for west virginia coal, we wouldn't be able to make progress. in world war ii, the men manned the factories and the men fought the war and mined the coal we needed. we know coal is one of the dirtiest fossil fuels that there is it's quite expansive. hillary clinton was running and there was $11 billion to be sent

to these coal operators at these power plants. it was to upgrade them and clean them but we've got future generations and i don't think coal can be a because that first package that the biden administration did when they first went in there had to do with the reconstruction of the highways and bridges. you needmet coal because they haven't done it with any other source of energy because at higher btu and it makes steel. it still necessary to have coal but i don't hear the guys up there talking about -- if you are in the energy business maybe you have a good answer. host: let's let the congressman jump in. guest: first of all, i represent a county utah called carbon

county. it's probably much like west virginia and what they do and how they make their livelihood what i regret the most is the demonization not system coal but of the people who for decades and decades have sacrificed their health and safety. so that we can fight wars and build cars and have our homes at 70 degrees. i regret so much of this conversation demonizes these people. i think the future for coal lies in its ability to do three things -- be affordable, reliable and clean. i think all fuel sources need to take a hard look at that like with carbon sequestration and other techniques, it's possible coal will compete in our future world. can they maintain it at an affordable price and keep the affordability and i think they can i think our future will show

those three factors dictate who is our dominant power source. host: what is the history of carbon county? guest: it is for there is a coal plant in the adjoining county. these are good people, i have watched firsthand how we destroyed their economy, destroyed their way of life. it does not need to be that way, it is unfortunate. host: before becoming the mayor -- guest: it is about an hour and a half away. as the mayor, we were a municipal power city. when i first took over, we were close to 80% coal. we had a little bit of hydro. so i have watched this closely. host: now in his fourth term in

congress, representative of utah's third district, taking your phone calls. this is tom in oregon, a republican. good morning. caller: yes. mr. curtis, i was wanting to ask , do you realize maybe the sun and wind and all these other energy sources might be available in about 40 or 50 or 60 years? so, there is no climate change going on. floods, hurricanes, fires, whatever else -- we have helped it by the industrial age, but it

is natural. we do not need it to be worried or thinking or talking about climate, climate. just get back to nuclear, hydrogen, coal, natural gas. host: got your point. congressman? guest: i think you could join me on this level, that is less pollution is better than more pollution. i think all of us can agree with that. that is why i included clean in my list of what will be important moving forward. the good news is, we do not need to -- historically, you've been told you have to sacrifice energy independence, you have to sacrifice affordable prices. i expect that is why you push back, i would, too. the good news is, we can be smarter than that and be clean at the same time. host: from twitter, how much

u.s. coal is sold to china? guest: i think china -- i cannot tell him the exact number. they get a large percentage of their coal from sources not in the united states. but going back to my carbon county, the power plant their biggest worry. the coal that his mind a few miles away -- is mined a few miles away is four times the price that it was because it is going overseas and being used in europe. host: one other question, how much natural gas is available in the u.s.? how expensive should natural gas be? this is from twitter. guest: i think it is important to point out u.s. natural gas is cleaner than almost all other sources in the world. i understand produced about 40% cleaner than russian natural gas. we should be making an emphasis if we want to reduce emissions around the world on exporting

u.s. natural gas, but we have many blocks in the roadway. here in the united states, natural gas is responsible for us reducing emissions. depends on the exact timeframe. it is a great source of fuel, inexpensive. i think it is an important part of our energy future. host: 10 minutes left with john curtis, this is steve in florida, independent. caller: good morning. the glaciers are all gone from the great lakes, how can you say this is man-made? guest: i do not think anybody has said that this morning, i will pivot back to the point that i made with the previous caller. i suspect you would join me in saying look, i want to leave this earth better than i found it. i have grandkids, you may have

kids and grandkids yourself. i want to leave it better for them then i found it, and i think less pollution is better than more pollution. nobody is talking about man-made, not man-made. what we are talking about is being responsible, using resources wisely and carefully. i do not know anybody that doesn't agree. host: democrat, good morning. caller: hi. there are naysayers, they will not fix the grid and now they have an ice storm. i think someone should tell them there is other sources. guest: i know my good friends from texas love to brag how much they rely and depend on wind and solar as part of their grid, but

they also are kind of an island. they do not connect with the rest of the united states, like most of us do, which means they are very dependent if there is a problem within the grid on solutions coming from within texas. it is a complicated problem, but i know texas loves to brag about how much they actually use all energy sources, including wind and solar. host: do you think they should be connected to the rest of the grid? guest: you know, nobody in texas is asking me that question. the more you have access to energy, the more reliable, affordable you can be. i think texas takes it on the chin a little bit in reliability because of that decision. that is something they have to live with and make decisions themselves if that is how they want to move forward in the future. host: are there other grid islands out there? caller: i am not -- guest: i am not an expert on the

grid. i suspect in some cases, maybe not completely shut off 100%, but throughout the united states we have a problem with the grid not being as extensive as it needs to be, particularly if you look at the goals of the biden administration and elect to find all of our vehicles and things. -- in electrifying all of our vehicles and things. we do not have the grid. if we did have the grid, we do not have the source to put electricity on the grid. host: democrat, good morning. what is your question or comment? caller: i have got to solutions. -- two solutions. [indiscernible]

host: you are going in and out. talking about refinery capacity, when we are talking about pipelines, the chokepoint is capacity of refining the crude oil. guest: i can tell you, if i understand the question -- i had a hard time understanding. if i understand it, one of the bottlenecks in the energy system is pipelines. when i was in houston, texas a number of months ago, i met a contractor who was smiling because he was contracted to truck natural gas through manhattan to long island, because they would not build a pipeline. he runs 80 semi's a day through manhattan because they are unwilling to build a pipeline. clearly putting out for more greenhouse gas emissions as a result. one of the steps we are taking in this country as we are not

going to build pipelines. pipelines could reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it is clear that closing the keystone pipeline increased greenhouse gas emissions in the united states, and we have to rethink that whole approach. host: i want to ask about what you think is going to happen in the fight over the debt ceiling and the push for spending cuts. how does this play out in the weeks and perhaps months to come? guest: the best analogy i can give you is the speaker's race. speaker's race was painful, it went longer than most people wanted, but we got it done. i suspect -- i worry and probably fear this debt ceiling conversation is not going to be a whole lot different than that. there will be some pain, but we will eventually get it done. i agree with my colleagues that say we are spending too much money, we have got to rein it in and be more fiscally responsible.

we talked about the environment for our grandkids, i am equally as worried about the financial environment for grandkids. there has to be some tug-of-war, some arm wrestling in these decisions. the biden administration's position of not being willing to negotiate is not a realistic or practical. let us sit down and talk about it and find a path forward. host: where does the path lead? where the good places to rein in spending in the massive u.s. budget? guest: let us start with putting an end to these trillion plus dollar expenditures that are done on a whim. we are voting in the last two years on bills that are thousands and thousands of pages, we do not have time to read, they spend trillions of dollars. that is a good place to start for me. host: california, about five minutes left with the congressman. independent, things for waiting. caller: in 2012, the government mandated states to clean up

their water. they put gas in the water to clean it. the gas was ammonia, because it was the cheapest way to do it. now, ammonia does not have oxygen in it. it takes oxygen out of the water. could this be contributing -- does it cause the water to warm up, or could this be contributing to global warming of the oceans and everything else, because ammonia is used in our sewage? it all boxers -- washes out to the ocean. the only way it leaves the water is being put into the ground and turned to nitrates. is this a big part of the rivers that they are having and all of that, because the water is warming up? host: is that something you looked into? guest: i am not a scientist, i

cannot really speak to that. want to take this opportunity to make a point. too often a government, we are doing shoot, ready, aim. we are throwing darts, hoping they stick to the wall without understanding what we are doing. we are doing that by putting ev chargers all over the country, we have not analyzed the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions from ev's. the caller makes a good point. sometimes we make a move because it sounds or feels good. really without making sure it is a good move and we are doing the right thing. host: what does the push for hundreds of thousands of more ev charging stations around the country, what does that mean for the grid? guest: i mentioned a little earlier in the program, we do not have the grid to support that. even if we had the grid, we do not have the electricity to support it. even if we had the electricity and grid, no one has done an analysis to say, is that going to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?

the president pose an ev hummer the other day. as you know a gas powered chevy malibu and ev number but at the same lifecycle of greenhouse gas emissions -- put out the same lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions? let us make sure we are spending our dollars in the right place. host: california, republican. good morning. caller: in california, the heating bill to heat our house has doubled. i see congress doing nothing. does to drive cars -- just to drive cars, gas is $4.40. we cannot afford nothing. guest: there are people who suffer worse consequences than climate change to try to avoid climate change. we have got to be more thoughtful about that. in your case, you have state and local officials mandating and

dictating policy that, in my mind, is doing what is happening in europe which is pushing toward unaffordability, no reliability and not cleaner in the end. host: maryland, independent. good morning. caller: hi. i do have a question. in order to export natural gas, it has to be liquefied, which releases more methane, then transported over long distances. my question is, how is natural gas exportation reducing pollution? guest: first of all, we can capture the methane. methane is one of the least talked about elements of climate change and i think it is a very important part of it. to best answer your question, what are we replacing by shipping natural gas overseas? russian natural gas is produced far dirtier than ours, we can do

it cleaner and it can be a less polluting asset. all of those things matter. we have to look at the entire lifecycle cost. in the end, u.s. natural gas can be produced much cleaner than other places around the world. host: in kansas, line for democrats. last call of this segment. caller: i would like to set you straight on the keystone pipeline. you are either lying or ignorant. we are going to find out which one it is. the keystone pipeline is up and running. has been since 2010, it is run by tc energy out of canada. the keystone pipeline just like 14,000 bearers of oil -- barrels of oil and you have the audacity coming on here on c-span and telling all the folks the keystone pipeline shut down. no, it is not shut down. they put 830,000 barrels of oil through it every day.

the one that was shut down is the keystone xl pipeline. i want you to look in that camera and tell the republicans and c-span viewers that the keystone pipeline is up and running, it has been since 2010. host: i will give you the final minute. guest: first of all, we'll talk about keys doing -- keystone is a generic word. we are referring to keystone xl. by shutting the pipeline down, the oil is still coming into the u.s. from other sources, some dirtier. it is being trucked in instead of the pipeline, so we have increased emissions. if he wants to make a point for arguing, fine. the reality is, he knows exactly what i was talking about and that increases greenhouse gas emissions by shutting the pipeline down. host: you have a busy day ahead, including an energy and commerce committing -- committee meeting

at 10:00 a.m. eastern, we will be hearing that on c-span3, c-span.org and on the free c-span video app. i will let you prepare for that. appreciate your time, thanks for stopping by. guest: i am sure it will be riveting, do not miss it. host: we will be there, 10:00 a.m. eastern. next, we return to the question we begin our program with, asking you what the top problem is facing the united states. you can join us on the lines as usual. democrats (202) 748-8000, republicans (202) 748-8001, independents (202) 748-8002. start calling in now, we will get to your calls right after the break. ♪ >> in about a year, chris folks are scheduled to be cast in the 2024 democratic -- first votes

are scheduled to be cast in the 2024 democratic -- south carolina would vote first, changing the political environment. in this episode of the weekly, we go back to prior joe biden campaigns for president and hear what he said about the importance of iowa and new hampshire leading the presidential selection process. you can find the weekly on c-span now or wherever you get podcasts. >> the state of the union is strong because you, the american people are strong. >> president biden delivers the annual state of the union address, outlining priorities to congress on tuesday, february 7. his first state of the union speech since republicans won back control of the house. we will hear the republican response and take your phone calls, texts and tweets. watch live coverage beginning at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span, c-span now or online at c-span.org.

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noon eastern on book tv on c-span2. ♪ >> washington journal continues. >> we're going to end our program how we began our program -- host: we are going to end our program how we began our program, looking at american views on the top problems facing the country. what do you think is the top issue facing the united states? here are some of the numbers from the pe, just released yesterday. 21% of respondents saying the government or poor leadership is the top problem facing the country, that is up six points since november. the number of americans who say inflation is the top problem, 15% of the country. immigration 11%, economy in general 10%. that is down six points since november. american saying unifying the country as the top problem, 6% of respondents.

we will go through the poor a little more -- poll a little more. democrats, (202) 748-8000, republicans (202) 748-8001, independents (202) 748-8002. about 40 minutes until the house comes in at 10:00 a.m. eastern, we will take you there live for gavel-to-gavel coverage at 10:00 a.m. on c-span2, the senate will come in on c-span3. you can head over to the house, energy and commerce committee that begins at 10:00 a.m. eastern. a full plate of offerings this morning from c-span networks, until then, what is the top problem facing this country? michael in new jersey, democrat. you are up first. caller: good morning. am i on? host: yes, sir. caller: i find the biggest problem in the united states today is wall street creeping

into every sector. we know they got into education, now we have got predatory loans. they've gotten into health care, people get older and need more medical care, they go bankrupt. now, they are getting into rentals. they are buying up trailer parks, apartments, causing maintenance fees to go up in condos, making people homeless. they have the lobbyists that got the ear of our politicians and are getting away with it, because you do not hear about a lot on the news is much as we should. host: michael in new jersey. this is paul and south carolina, independent. what is the top problem facing this country? caller: for me, the border crisis. it's been going on and accelerated since biden has been in office.

there is not anything that the republicans or democrats do to support them. i believe the reason why, i believe all these people coming over here for two years is ruining the country. i believe the democrats and republicans want them here and they are getting paid by the cartels to do that. thank you. host: a big difference in the numbers when it comes to democrats and democratic leaning independents and republicans and republican leaning independents who responded to the poll, especially on the issue of immigration. 18% of republicans saying immigration is the top problem facing this country. among democrats, just 5% naming immigration is the top problem facing this country.

another place where there is a difference on race relations as the biggest problem in this country, 2% of republicans naming race relations, 9% of democrats. 6% of democrats saying the environment is the biggest problem, essentially zero when it comes to percentagewise of republicans naming the environment is the top problem. jim, republican. good morning. caller: great show this morning. my opinion is we have a problem with the government. it is not democratic or republican. people come on and complain about democrats if they are republicans, republicans complain about democrats. by the time they get to where they are in office in washington, d.c., they are owned by big political backers, big-money men, both democrats and republicans. they do not care about what they

did to us. the other thing i would have left a gotten on with val demmings being from florida, my opinion of what we have going on with this country with guns and violence is the fact that when a 16 or 15 or 14 or, in the past couple of weeks, a six-year-old takes a gun and shoot somebody, the parents are not held responsible for what has gone on. that is our problem. if some kid gets his hands on a gun when he is not of legal age, the parents are responsible for everything he does. those are the two major things i have. host: can i ask about the first one? you talk about politicians, people hate congress but like their members of congress. they hate politicians or like their politicians. do you like your members of congress and the senate? do you like your governor in florida?

guest: rick scott -- caller: rick scott with the biggest piece in the health care system, he has been the state senator. i do not like him. i do not like any of the house representatives. matt gaetz should not be there. these people, they get this political money, this backing. as far as i'm concerned, i like ron desantis. i think he is a rogue, he's been able to keep the wolves from our doors in florida when it comes to education, when it comes to unionizing. president biden is pushing unions. i was in a union 30, 45 years ago. it was the worst case scenario. i could give you a whole story about the things they did that were illegal and ripped us off. it was a waste of time. i really like ron desantis, i

wish we could get donald trump out of the way. we do not need a split in the republican party. we need somebody who can come in with young, vibrant, educated positioning. i think ron desantis is the proper person for it. those are my answers to your questions. host: to the pine tree state, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. i think the biggest problem facing the united states is concentrated wealth. the golden rule, the one that has the gold rules. it is a downright shame. concentrated wealth. a push to distribute money evenly would be called communism or socialism. i do not know what to do if all they care about is short-term game -- gain and not thinking

about the consequences of what they do. we have to begin to think long term. it might be too late for everything. everything is converging in one big pop. thank you, bye. host: new york, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. the biggest problem we have facing this country's honesty and half-truths by politicians. just because you take the debt limit argument today, they do not mention the fact it is all related to covid. it was primarily passed by the democrats and some republicans. whenever they say things, we get half-truths. nobody is talking about the shortage of gasoline coming up this summer and everything like that. people aren't educating themselves before they vote.

they do not research what is really going on. thank you. host: this is roger in indianapolis, republican. good morning. caller: i think the biggest problem we got is the corruption we have. we have so much corruption. we do not have an inventory, they do not inventory anything. trump tried to bring some sense back into the white house, and they had to get rid of him, about the corruption going on. he knows, because he was involved in the corruption himself. he has seen it all coming down, how the people get tax breaks, give money here and there in tax breaks. the corruption that is going on, still -- stealing all of our

social security money. we have to get rid of the corruption in the white house and get people back into the white house to go to work. not on their phones, not at their houses, but in the white house working like they are supposed to. covid totally got everybody out of the white house, emptied the white house. the president, we do not know where he is at. no idea where his office is. we've never seen him in his office around his staff. it does not make sense. it is not smelling right. the smell tests don't pass with this government. host: the president will be in new york today, talking about infrastructure projects. the hudson tunnel project is what he will be specifically focusing on, but has been on a bit of a tour when it comes to infrastructure projects. yesterday was in baltimore to

tout a $4 billion federal infrastructure plan to replace the baltimore tunnel, a crucial piece of the northeast rail network, a source of delays for the northeast corridor. the tunnel is 150 years old, seen from the front page of the washington post metro section as the president talked about the investment through the bipartisan infrastructure bill. back to new york, staten island. democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. this is the first time every caller, i agree with them on almost everything. i am talking all three parties. i feel pretty good. the sunshine state, i feel as though a lot of the things they said were kind of on point. my concern is the pattern of mass shootings. these people are hired, they are

criminals but they are hired. the right to bear arms, the nra, the connections to putin on what the report said. unfortunately, the doj, bill barr was not helping that held accountable for lying. -- bill barr was not held accountable for lying. who knows? host: are you saying trust in government is your biggest concern? caller: yeah. corruption, the key word. more from an independent standpoint, i feel as though -- the fall out, we knew it was going to happen. it is not backed. too many people have been taken. the christianity movement, i've been catholic all my life.

i feel as though even our own religion has been taken hostage. host: we will continue with your calls in just a second. we've been asking what your top problem is, what you think the top problem is facing the united states today. democrats (202) 748-8000, republicans (202) 748-8001, independents (202) 748-8002. go ahead and keep calling in. as you do that, we are going to chat with a health reporter with bloomberg government, a focus on house republicans and various pandemic response probes and legislation expected to be on the floor this week when it comes to the pandemic. good morning to you. guest: good morning. host: we found out yesterday from president biden that the president expects to formally end the national health emergency when it comes to covid in may. we found that out in response to

legislation that republicans are putting on the floor this week. explain what is happening. guest: so, at the very beginning in early 2020, the trump administration declared a national emergency. it allowed the federal government to have certain powers they are not normally allowed to use, flexibility, regulations and rules. the department of health and human services declared a public health emergency, which gives them a lot of flexibility. it allowed states to put more people on medicaid, the federal government could give them more money. it allowed telehealth flexibility. when none of us were going to the hospital, you could access your doctor online. we did a lot more of remote care . a long host of things that allowed. those have been in place since early 2020 and, early last year, republicans began to press on the question of, when will this end? again, with the new powers is

new spending. the biden administration has been, for quite a while, a little bit cautious about preparing to end it. there's been discussions, at least in the summer from people we spoke to, thinking about when they could wind it down. they are careful not to give it a date until this week. they were sorta forced by the fact republicans are trying to pass a series of bills that will end a lot of these emergency rules, declarations, to really come out and say we will end at may 11 of the last day will keep it. republicans have been touting it as a win, that is what they have been asking for a year now. they have not been getting an answer until now. host: are republicans excepting the date, or are they pushing for to happen sooner? guest: they are going to try to advance the legislation this week.

the house, it looks pretty clear. it is about four bills. not to be too technical -- host: we are happy with technical. guest: there is a national declaration of emergency, which has a broader look, then the hhs public health emergency. there is also a series of telework rules given for federal employees that are still employees, and another thing they want to peel back is the last remaining in place and active vaccine mandate the federal government has. you can remember, there was a series of efforts to try to get certain large employers to mandate covid vaccines. the one that has been most successful is the health care worker mandate. that is what they are trying to roll back. the one that appears to look

like it may have effort in the senate relates to the national emergency around covid. the national emergency act allows congress to pick it up every six months, and congress every six months has a privilege resolution, so it goes right to the floor after a certain amount of days. every six months, they are allowed to say we want to end this emergency. it is a really interesting shift. they keep bringing it up, they voted in march. the senate brought it up in march, again in november. it will come up in the house now and it is sponsored by roger marshall, the senate wants to bring it back quickly. this may be joe biden first veto if they can pass it through the senate. host: as republicans work to move the legislation, you can watch gavel-to-gavel coverage on c-span, the house select subcommittee on the coronavirus pandemic under republican control is ramping up its effort

to explain what is going on with the investigative panel. guest: that panel was started at the beginning of the pandemic. early on to be the congressional connection to the executive branch, ask questions about where the money is going, how the response has been. since its inception, it has been under democratic control and has focused on what democrats care about, their priorities. overseeing financial institutions, looking back at the trump administration's missteps, where their money was spent. republicans in the house have taken power, now that they -- know the majority changed, they want to focus on their priorities. they've been laying those out messing we have not had a chance to look at where states have spent the pandemic money. we want to know about the origins of covid. a lot of republicans are china

hawks and want to turn their attention on china and its role in the covid pandemic. it is going to be a big shift of priorities for that select committee. there is a lot more republicans from new york at the beginning of the pandemic, this epicenter, it got a lot of the pandemic money. look at where they spent money, they are trying to use their congressional powers to turn up the oversight. host: one note on the origins of the pandemic, and op-ed in the pages of the washington post by a best-selling author, he ends his column by saying they have not quite solve the mystery of exactly where the virus came from and how it found its way into humans is a scientific question, best left to scientists.

it is beyond the purview of 12 partisan members of congress and if they are wise, they will leave in expert hands. if you want to read more, it is in the washington post. one other person that wonder how much scrutiny they will get from the panel is anthony fauci. will he be under the microscope with republicans and control of the house committee? -- with republicans in control of the house committee? guest: he will certainly be a favorite punching bag. it is a little uncertain to me now that he is not a federal employee -- i guess they're going to get it out of him. he has said he welcomed the opportunity to come in and answer questions, i have no doubt. he is a very open person when it comes to talking to the press. he has come in front of congress a number of times. they said they want to bring him in and would love to talk to him. it is uncertain when that will

happen, but i would not be surprised if he makes an appearance. he is a favorite punching bag, but he is one that punches back. your member the senate hearing. i do not know how -- you remember the senate hearing. i do know how illuminating it will be, but he will be an interesting target. host: following it all for bloomberg government, you can find him on twitter. always appreciate your time. guest: thank you very much. host: about 20 minutes before the house comes in, continuing with the question we've been asking most of the morning. what is the top problem facing the united states? asking you to respond on phone lines. this is deborah in north carolina, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. i see the biggest problem facing the united states is actually

facing the whole world, that is spiritual starvation. i think one of the causes of that is all of our religious books on the planet have a lot of truth, beauty and goodness in them, but there is also men's opinions that have been flipped, telling us god is a punisher. as long as we believe god punishes, we think it is fine to punish and we will have wars. that is one thing. one other thing is the economic system is set up in a very bad way. it could be set up where people have to pay a penalty if they have money and just sit on it. they should have to circulate it. that would be a big solution. thank you for taking my call. blessings. host: earl in georgia, democrat. go ahead. caller: good morning, how are

you doing, c-span? host: doing well. caller: i have three points i would like to make. my biggest problem with this country, we have forgotten about our first love. our first love was jesus christ. i heard a sister, she quoted scripture this morning. we have got to go back to that. another problem, if people have been misled by a bunch of lies that have been told to us in the bible said money is the root of all evil, once we believe with these politicians are telling us, all these stories, it brings on hate. we have crossed over from 2022

to a new year, but we are still living in 2022 with all of this hate. people have believed that stuff. when we get back to our first love, seriously, praying, seeking god -- i do not seek the president. i seek my heavenly father. host: chris is in texas, republican. good morning. caller: thanks for taking my call. i am glad you brought up the article about covid, that is the biggest problem. republicans, democrats and independents, and the washington journal, we will have to find out the origin of the covid virus so it never happens again. if we do not solve that problem, it will happen again. it's been a disaster. the washington journal needs to look in the mirror.

where is your investigation on the origin of covid? the article by the other guy saying leave it to the scientists, the scientists have had three years and have not done their job. we need to find out so is never a problem again. host: this is carol and ashton, independent. good morning. -- in ashton, independent. good morning. caller: we have a lot of problems, not just one in general. we have covid. nobody wants to really investigate where it came from, but everybody knows and can't say because they will be censored. we have illegal immigration we cannot deal with. it is like everybody is afraid to touch any of the hard subjects. we need to start getting serious about our country. over the years, i have noticed in everything we get involved in, or gullibility and

generosity is what takes us down. we need to start getting tough and budgeting ourselves and telling ourselves no. thank you and have a good day. host: 15 minutes before the house and senate come in for the day on this tuesday morning, january 31. the sun is up over the united states capital, many -- members of congress will be on the floor in about 15 minutes. continuing with your phone calls based off a poll released yesterday. what is the top problem facing the united states? here are responses from social media. from facebook, it is our lack of a southern border. harry in pennsylvania via text message saying the number one problem is the failure of representative government to perform vital functions. part-time congress cannot deal with a fraction of the pressing issues we face. if the hill was busy six days a

week, they will never catch up and they are years behind. there are several items that create the problem, racism is a big item. republicanism, a cast of people spending time trying to investigate instead of trying to solve problems. from larry, corruption from government including the biden family collusion with china that made them wealthy, that is the biggest problem. scott said it is the government,. . -- government, full stop. they are focusing on other countries before us. the number of people saying government or poor leadership is the biggest problem, 21% in the latest poll, up six points from two months ago i can november and december when this was in the field. government and poor leadership the top problems facing this country, according to the poll lease yesterday. eric and california, democrat. good morning.

-- in california, democrat. good morning. caller: i would like to thank you for giving me this moment to speak about this issue. i called in about it before. one of the greatest issues i see is historical. it is christians killing christians. i am not talking about religion, talking about people who call themselves believers in this bible. they want to believe this stuff, they believe in getting payback. that is not the teaching of the word of god. they have turned this world upside down and it is historical. why do we look at the world with the roman empire on top? with the borders and everything. my suggestion is, let us look at the world with south africa on top. it is what nelson mandela used to bring south africa together after a parthian -- apartheid, i

wish obama would speak about it and bring it to america. i'm calling him out, because they know it is division. this teaching that somehow i can use a gun and a weapon to protect my own family, christians doing this. the video we saw was horrible. it is christians killing christians in america. it behooves me, people calling into duck about the bible and we are witnessing this today. stop it, you know who you are. host: joseph in the garden state, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. i think the biggest problem in our country is unethical press teamed up with an unethical government. parts of the government. i think you know what i am talking about.

for for five years, they spied on the president i voted for and he was undermined and nobody was held accountable. nobody is in jail for that. they are getting away with it. we have a guy in the white house that all he does is lie and try to get president trump put in jail. the press does not hold anybody accountable. even c-span was caught being unethical a couple years ago, trying to undermine president trump. nobody is held accountable. i heard somebody say about all the republicans do is investigate. is he kidding me? all they did with trump for four years was investigate and they are still doing it. host: what is the most important investigation you want to see house republicans lead in this congress?

caller: the first one is if our president is a crook. i feel sorry for his son. but he was using my country as a way of making money and his father, i think, was the mastermind. that has to be investigated. and the open borders. host: back to the badger state, good morning. caller: thanks for taking my call. the biggest problem in this country is us. we will research anything, we turn on fox news and believe everything they say, turn on cnn and believe everything they say. we do not look at our local newspapers, we have no idea what is actually happening in this country. tucker carlsen tells us something, we believe it. joe scarborough tells us something and we believe it. the second thing wrong, the

religious people say the christian majority is a minority , one of the reasons for that is conmen like jim baker. he was in jail for five years, should have been there for 50. now, everybody is starting to turn his way again. until we start to realize we are the problem and we can be the solution, we will never get any place. host: florida, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i agree with all of the callers that have called today and all of the issues coming through. however, the elected officials we are putting into office have no restraint on the way they raise campaign money. then, we are indeed helping them feed their own pockets in that first way and not getting the

people, because we do not understand them because they are having to play to their constituents because of money. with the internet being able to get five dollars from everybody, they are dragging everybody through the muddy waters. when reagan came in and made abortion issue from a campaign standpoint, it opened the floodgates. of campaign finance issues, they continue to be there today. our elected officials are no longer working for us, they are working for their positions, and it might be time to think about term limits. there is a separation of religion and government for reason, i appreciate everybody that called in today with a christian moral perspective, but we have to remember that when jesus came, he did not come and try to overthrow the government. i would rather give my money, pay my taxes to have people elected that want to do their

job and see people get involved with their own local government. thanks for taking my call. host: what is a term limit you would set for a member of congress? caller: i think it should be across-the-board, six years for everybody. they can get something done. they can get something done, i understand that is the issue with term limits. at the same time, i want to give them time to get something done. host: this is patrick, democrat. good morning. caller: hello? host: go ahead. caller: my top problem facing the u.s. is the republican party and the people that keep voting them in. that is all have got to say. host: to boston, independent. good morning. caller: good morning, nice to hear your voice.

i haven't talked on the phone for a while. my dad said a long time ago when i was a kid, no matter what the problem is, try to keep it simple and you will get it squared away. this is pretty simple. i think what is going on in my country is we are all angry. everybody is angry at each other. if you kept that simple -- this is a big issue. just in my own town, i used to travel around the country. i would always tell my people be aware of your surroundings and stuff. now, because you do not know whether you are in a good area or a bad area. now i feel that way in my own town and it is sad. i am asking people to try to keep it simple and tried to be kind to each other. host: why are we so angry? guest: you --

caller: you could ask me about any issue and i could give you my reason. i think what has happened is with all the different things going around in the country with politics, here is an example. when i speak to my politicians -- i am an older guy, 78 years old. when i speak to my politicians, whether it is my congressman, state senator, city council, the mayor, they say text me. i have a lot of things going on. i say no, i would rather see you in person. i will get in my car, take the bus to see you. i want to see you face-to-face because they know if you are lying. they would always look at me a little differently. i know some of them are good lies and some are bad lies, but this is how i can tell whether you are being truthful. but you have to be kind to each

other. we are burying ourselves. it is a simple thing of it is raining out, you get to an intersection. stop and let that person cross the street. there is simple thing. -- a very simple thing. slow it down and be kind. we have to be kind, our country is going in the wrong direction and i am afraid of that. host: what type of union were you in? caller: utility union. it was in boston, i did that for 30 years. i was a union officer. not the top job, but i was part of it and i was very proud of that, because i looked at it like my dad told me when i was a kid. you look people in the eye, be honest with them, tell them the truth. whether they agree with you are not, tell them the truth.

if you do not like what i am saying, do not elect me. i got elected for 23 out of may 30 years. -- my 30 years. i am going on because i think the issues of our government, the extremists in our country, we have to start -- i grew up in the street. if you are going to be confronted and have a fight, which i used to call my town a town with a chip on his shoulder. blue-collar town. try to give them a smile, give them something you can calm things down. i really think that is important. biden is my president. i respect that office, so i do not care who the president is. if they are being honest, they're going to be doing a good job. because a lot of people behind

them that help them, you can get good things done. even my kids and make granddaughters now, around the table, keep it simple. give me your opinion and just be open to someone else's opinion, instead of fighting. i voted -- this was pretty tough. i voted for trump back in 2006. we needed a change in government to try to shake up things, get things back. i said one term, let him do what he can do, then move on. i think that is the way people have to look at this stuff. host: did you vote for biden in 2020? caller: yeah. i was kind of reluctant to do that. host: you are 78. as we wait for the house to come

in, it could come in any minute, you are 78 years old. joe biden is 80. do you think you should run for another four years? caller: no, i don't. just what i was just telling you, people would laugh at me when i said one of my favorite presidents was carter. he made a lot of mistakes, but he was being kind and trying to get the country going in the right direction. i think we need someone -- i am looking for a constitutionalist person, someone like mitt romney, who used to be a governor in my state. i dealt with him, he was an honest man. host: we will have to end it there, the house is coming in. we are back tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. eastern. now, live coverage from the florida house of representatives. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2023] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order.