>> we start with a look at the news intake some of your calls. then, liz goodwin previews the week ahead in congress including tuesday's estate of the union address. later, gene dodaro joins the conversation. washington journal starts now. ♪ host: good morning on this monday, february 6, the eve of

president biden's second state of the union address. this time around, he will speak before a newly divided congress. the president is expected to call for unity, bipartisan effort on legislation. this morning, we want to know which issue should lawmakers compromise and which issues should they stick to their principles? republicans can dial in at (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. text us, include your first name, city and state at (202) 748-8003 or post your comments on facebook.com/cspan or in a tweet @cspanwj. president biden last week called for bipartisanship at the national prayer breakfast, which included an audience of democrats and republican

lawmakers. here is what he had to say [video clip] >> lettuce for member who we are. we are the united states of america -- let us remember who we are. we are the united states of america. we are born out of an idea. no other nation in the world was born from an idea. based on ethnicity, geography and so many other things, but the idea. we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal, endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights. there is nothing beyond our capacity to remember who in god's name we are. we are the united states of america. my prayer for this prayer breakfast is to start to see each other again, look at each other again, travel with each other again, argue like hell

with each other but still go to lunch together. one of the interesting things when i first got to the senate, it was in the days when there was very strong sick gratian in the senate. i could go down the list -- strong segregation in the senate. i could go down the list. i used to watch them argue like hell on the floor, then they would eat together. i do not know how we do that anymore, but we have to. we have to start treating each other much different than we have, in my mumble -- humble opinion. it has been the greatest honor of my life to serve this country. i know i do not look at, but i have done it for a few years. [laughter]

not so good folks, great folks and a lot of folks better than me. let us join hands again, let us start treating each other with respect. that is what kevin and i are going to do, not a joke. we had a good meeting yesterday. we have got to do it across the board. it does not mean we will agree, fight like hell, but let's to reach other with respect. -- treat each other with respect. host: president biden is expected to make a similar call in his state of the union address tomorrow night. this morning, we want to know where do you think lawmakers should compromise and where do you think they need to stick to the principles? a cent poll poll, republicans weary of compromise wh biden. among republicans and republican

leaning, 34% said they should work with biden to accomplish things, even if it disappoints some gop voters. to 4% said stand up to the president on issues important to republican voters, even if it is harder to address critical problems. when they asked democrats the same questions, 58 percent said work with republicans to accomplish things, even if it disappoints their base. 41% said no, stand up to the republicans on issues important to voters. even if it is harder to address this crinkle problems. -- critical problems. where do you want to see compromise and where do you want to see your party stick to principle? tom, republican. good morning, you are first. caller: good morning to c-span.

what republicans need to do in the house of representatives is passed legislation, send it to the senate with their interpretation on appropriation bills, specific outlines on legislation. send it to the senate then force the discussion, force the compromise. anything that is key related to the topics, especially in the regular order of appropriation bills and other legislation. let me also say that as an american, i've never been more disappointed in the president's inability to address the strike on -- the balloon with intel. i do not believe the stories. i believe this was an attack on our sovereignty. the southern border is invaded for the last two years. if you had said six months ago

in a country was flying an intel balloon over our country, it would sound crazy. host: would you like to see the sides come together on how america response to china? caller: there are no promises on compromise. host: on china specifically. caller: they have a committee, thanks to the new speaker of the house because nancy pelosi would not do that. they kept calling for it, they set up a special committee to address issues of this sort. what china did in the past week to our country is incredible, it is a shame what is taking place. why it was not shot down over alaska or the south pacific at the appropriate time is something we still do not understand because they will not talk to us. that is the other problem with

this presidency, i am talking about the presidency. this has been an ugly episode the last two years. there is no communication on anything anymore. how does this president not address the nation when this took place? it is incredible how the media refuses to ask questions and do not engage the media to ask questions. host: this is the wall street journal. china tensions cloud biden address, so he is likely to be addressing the nation on this issue in his state of the union address tomorrow night. which, by the way, our coverage begins at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span, on our website and on the a. 8:00 p.m. eastern is when it will begin. we will ve preview of the speech, then show you the speech

in its entirety, no interruptions, no filters. then, the republican response following president biden, which will be give by sarah huckabee sands aansas. following her remarks, we will open up the phone lines and get your reaction. the issue of the chinese balloon was part of sunday talk shows. senator marco rubio, republican of florida, was on abc this week. here's what he had to say about what the u.s. is likely to glean from shooting down the balloon. [video clip] >> look at the flight path. it is not coincidental. it went over some of the most sensitive military sites and exited the south eastern seaboard of the u.s. into the ocean. there are a lot of questions that need to be answered. why was it not brought down over other areas?

i am open minded about listening to the arguments, but my point, you asked about china's comments. this is what they wanted the world to see, that they could send a balloon at 60,000 feet over u.s. airspace and we would be unable to stop it and, when we shoot it down, they would argue look how they overreact to a weather balloon. >> you are a member of congressional officials that will be briefed first. what do you want to ask? >> i think the intelligence value of it is first and foremost. what do we believe that collected from it, what is the value? it is one of multiple platforms. countries spy on countries, china has satellites, they have embedded software and hardware that could be used for espionage. we have seen them use this platform for a handful of years, but what is the value?

secondarily as an understanding of what we are going to do in the future. i do not believe this is the last time we will see this sort of thing happen. i think they did this on purpose to send a message to the world that they can enter american airspace and do so without us being able or willing to do much about it. >> we have heard there may be more intelligence value than we will glean from this, they hope to recover the payload largely intact. is it possible we may learn some significant and important things about the way the chinese are operating by retrieving the payload? >> potentially, it depends on what we retrieve. it also depends -- the chinese expected this might happen. they flew this thing across the middle of the united states. whoever designed and put it up realized at some point the americans may get their hands on

it. it is possible it was designed where there would not be much value to us. host: florida republican marco rubio on abc this week, talking about the chinese spy balloon. is that an issue where you would like to see lawmakers compromise? this is a headline from recent action in the house, cnbc gop led house creates a new committee to cackle -- to tackle threats from china. it is the speaker's first big bipartisan win. republicans and democrats in the house voted overwhelmingly to establish a new select committee to address the multifaceted threat posed by china. the house speaker promised the panel would be serious, truly bipartisan, saying it was not for somebody to go in and be viral to make some point. do you see an area when it comes to china for lawmakers to compromise and be united on an issue?

here is anthony in detroit, texting us to say the progressive lawmakers like bernie should not compromise on two things. being antiwar and pushing medicare for all. sadly, they have failed in both areas. where do you want to see lawmakers compromise, where do you want to see them sticking to the principles? the new york times this morning with a preview of presiden biden state of the union address. president biden probably will he gets it before congress ton address the n this week, but the ste america union's disunion. you only need to turn around to find a republican hoe speaker seated behind him, determined to blk s every move. mr. biden's message of unity the hard sell already during his first two years in office, may prove even more on tuesday night as he delivers the first state

of the union address of the new era of divided government. leaders have little incentive at the moment to seek common ground with mr. biden to stand up to what they characterized as an administration that has taken the country too far to the left with big spending programs that have fueled inflation and deficits. independent in plessy vania -- pennsylvania, good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to see them compromise for poor people in america and the economy. as far as china goes, i recommend that china proceed with caution. china would not be where they are at today if it was not for america.

where would they be if it was not for us? there will be no more incentive if we cannot get student loan, no more incentive. four more years for mr. biden, thank you. host: francis in oregon, republican. compromise, stick to the principles or both? caller: i do not think they should compromise their principles at all. it think they need to start working to get -- some of the most important issues right now is our border. we need to strengthen our border. we need to set some definite rules about what we can do and

what we cannot do. that is not safe at all. we are having to worry about it here. i am a grandmother, 88 years old i love my country. it is time to quit acting like we are separate races, we are all part of the yellow, white, black, whatever. we should stick together. this is referring to congress also. host: on facebook, a viewer says our government is designed to be a system of compromise. but the full faith of paying the u.s. debt should not be compromised. this is one of the most urgent debates that congress will have in this new 118th congress is whether or not to raise the debt ceiling. should there be compromise on

that or should republicans and democrats stick to their principles on that debate? democratic caller, good morning. caller: good morning. i do not think it is about compromise. i think it is about what should be done and what has been done in the past. there are bills you have to pay, pay them. host: you have got to meet your television. caller: ok. i think what it is, you have a lot of senators so anxious to get in front of the camera to score points, like rubio. there is no reason for him to be in front of their complaining. -- there complaining. i never see any politician come out with a positive attitude toward getting something done. it is all negative, every day, every week.

it is amazing. china is washing this, russia is watching this, north korea is watching this. their attention is somewhere else than their own self motivating, whatever they want to get done to fill their pockets. that is what it is about, money. they are not worried about people trying to take down the government. they are trying to enhance them. host: similar comments from reviewer on twitter, which issues to democrats and republicans usually compromise on? hint, money for the warmest scene -- war machine, making sure the rich getting richer and make sure political power circulates amongst themselves.

george in michigan, independent. good morning. where do you want them to compromise and where do you want them to stick to principles? caller: i am your number one fan, i've been texting you for a long time complementing on your show and the way you host. i am disappointed in the makeup of washington journal, but i want to emphasize that too much. -- will not emphasize that too much. we might as well have another civil war. it does not make sense that we have such a divide between whatever republicans are and whatever democrats are. these guys come all 535 of them, tell us they are a public service. yet, we do not seem to have a country that they are serving.

we might as well draw the mason-dixon line again and go to war and see who comes out on top. why anyone would want to watch the state of the union address is beyond me. it is a show, people stand up and clap, people say things that have no basis of fact. i am disappointed in washington journal because you do not make politicians account for their actions, even though they do not have the option of denying being on your show because we are paying their salary, we are paying for washington journal. every cable person, every subscriber is paying for washington journal.

do not advertise you are totally funded by cable companies. i do not want to get too belligerent. host: i'm going to get in some other calls. an opinion piece in the washington post this morning, please biden. it was all a favor and skip the state of the union speech -- do us all a favor and skip the state of the union speech. the white house hums activity or the santos workshop. what projects keep them so busy? smoother roads, healthier citizens, a more peaceful world? no. the early weeks consumed by a frenzied effort to create another in a long series of dreary, tedious speeches known as the state of the union address. even the most brilliant, james

madison and the other founding fathers had their vision to create the most durable constitutional republic. even they could not foresee the awful spectacle that opportunistic politicians would make of what they intended to be an item of routine business. in this article, the author notes the number of viewers of the state of the union address from 1993 to 2022, he notes in his piece that number has dropped by the millions. you can go to this piece in the state -- on the state of the union address if you go to the washington post website, you can see the amount of people that have stopped watching the state of the union.

usa today, the front page says this is not just any speech. biden is set to lay out a blueprint for his term and whether or not he will hint at whether he runs again in 2024. it is just not another speech. virginia, republican. the president is expected to call for unity. where do you see compromise and where do you see sticking to principles? caller: the greatest man in the air was chuck yeager maggie -- maybe and the lt. col., the fastest man on earth as far as the black bird. host: what are you getting at? caller: we need to realize what

the balloon did and what ed gilding did, he probably saved the united states with the information he got. why would it be thought of that a balloon it 60 something thousand feet flying over sensitive terrain has not acquired information on us they could do things with? host: bring it back to our question. should there be compromise on how the united states response to china, or approaches competitiveness with china? caller: i think china is in a beautiful position, as putin is, we all need to be a birds eye view of realizing that china has us and we are in a lot of trouble and greater negotiations and crater capability to have a birdseye view of where we are going. host: philadelphia, democratic caller. caller: hey, how are you?

good morning. i do not see any compromise but this committee, they cannot compromise with what happened on january 6, they could not compromise on the infrastructure bill. they could not compromise on who should get stimulus checks. they could not compromise on whether they should tax the rich more than the poor. why don't they talk more about the balloon china sent while trump was in office and why did trump shoot it down -- didn't trump shoot it down? there is no compromise because of disinformation spread across our own airways. host: to the viewers watching this morning, you can stick with us for the whole show. in the 9:00 hour, we are going to talk about -- we will have open forum, you could talk about your reaction to the chinese spy

balloon and the approach by the administration and what you are hearing from republicans in the last hour of today's washington journal. in our second hour, we are going to take a look at what congress is expected to do this week, you can expect members of congress will be talking about the chinese spy balloon. you can bring up your comments then. right now, which issues should lawmakers compromise on and which should they stick to their principles? senator cory booker of new jersey highlighted his effort toward police reform in congress and the conversation he's been having with members on both sides of the aisle. here is a little bit of what he had to say on meet the press. [video clip] >> there are a lot of folks across the aisle -- america is seeing more and more because of body cameras and other technology, we are seeing the horror of unarmed people, handcuffed people in the case of

the tragic murder of tyre nichols. we are seeing things that do not go with national standards and expectations. we are a nation that should set the global standard for professionalism in policing and we are falling short to the horror of more and more americans. i know this might not be a divided congress, i am sobered about the reality to get a large, cumbrian seville done. i have been -- comprehensive bill done. i've been in conversations of people on week on both sides of the aisle with national police leaders, union leaders and civil rights activists who all want to get something done that could advance the cause of not just police reform, but raising standards, creating transparency and accountability. i am not giving up and i am having constructive conversations. >> sometimes we let the perfect become the enemy. you guys were close.

there was an agreement on banning chokeholds except in life-threatening situations, an agreement to set federal standards for no-knock warrants and an agreement to limit the transfer of military equipment to local departments. can we pass that, then go back and try to see what is next? are we in that situation where we can do this? there were nine civil rights acts, can we do this in iteration? >> it is exactly the way we approach the gun safety legislation on our side, led by chris murphy. i was happy to be a part of that. get things in the billick community violence intervention. it was not everything we wanted like universal background checks or an assault weapons ban. we are looking at this bill, but it has to meet the standards of raising professional standards, transparency, more accountability. i am sobered about the ability we can get a big, comprehensive

bill done. i believe we can get something done. host: cory booker on meet the press, talking about bipartisan efforts and talks of police reform and gun violence. is that an area where you would like to see compromise? washington state, independent. caller: good morning. first i want to say i hope that c-span covers the state of the union and i hope there will not be anybody like nancy pelosi standing behind donald trump, tearing up his speech. i want to know that there is going to be death penalty for anybody who brings fentanyl into the country. host: would you like to see compromise on the border and drugs coming across? caller: yes.

i want everyone to make the border closed for a brief period , which will make everybody have to go through the legal process, which congress needs to immediately get to something very strong. host: we are covering the sta of the union, we will preview the speech at 8:00 eastern. the lights in the house of reestatives come up to 8:30, that is when we will be quiet at c-spanndet you watch as the pridt and lawmakers take their place in the chamber in the house of representatives chamber and we will let you watch all the interaction, all the pompnd circumstance ou that time. then, we will show you the reblan response to president bide giveny sarah huckabee sanders of arkansas. after the speeches are done, we

will open the phone lines and hear from you. you can watch on c-span, on demand or the free mobile app. maryland, republican. good morning. where do you want to see compromise and lawmakers to to the principles? caller: actually, i was calling to make a comment/observation concerning the gentleman who called from michigan the last hour. i am calling out of baltimore. i want to say basically, what i see is basically the country busting at the seams. we have the border issue, balloons flying in our airspace. we had the number one military, nothing is done. visitation. -- hesitation.

then, on the right side -- people are suffering. you have inflation. the poor continue to get poorer, the rich get rich. then you have all these things with no leadership. it seems to me as though when mr. trump was in office, these things were not taking place. until covid came, then this administration comes in and we have all this chaos again. host: which issues should lawmakers compromise on, and where do you want to see them stick to their principles? there was a poll on this question and more republicans would like their party to focus on issues important to their voters, even if it means they do

not address critical issues by compromising. here is another part of that poll. republicans widely concerned that republicans will focus too much on investigating the biden administration rather than not enou. they said house republicans have promised to use the new majit to pursue several investigations into biden's presidency and his family. 56% of republicans and republican leaning say they are more concerned their priorities representative of congress will not focus enough on investigating the ministration -- administration while -- north carolina, democratic caller. what do you say? caller: good morning. i think they should not -- the democrats should not compromise on democracy.

republicans prefer a more authoritarian form of government . what courses can be taught in college, leaders who are not democratic. i think they should compromise on getting immigration reform. in 2013 under obama, they developed a compromised immigration reform package, then republicans would not support it. that is one of the things they could compromise on, hopefully. host: minnesota, independent.

caller: good morning. i am very concerned about the united states government. there should be compromise all over the place. we need to focus on what matters, we need to stop playing games. i have a friend running for office in 2024. host: in ohio, republican. good morning. caller: i have seen the issues. where should lawmakers compromise or stick to principles? here is my point. stick to principles. conservatives stuck through the beginning until today. our commander in chief never had principles in his career. a young man, 50 years in washington.

change on everything from civil rights. as soon as the speeches over, they are going to lob everything he says. nobody will fact-check him. the last caller said democrats are for democracy. whatever they consider -- accuse conservatives are is what they are. the point is -- directv -- another conservative station with the highest ratings, 26 stations they keep on. free speech, number one in the constitution. they are totally taken -- and the party, not just president biden. compromise this president, our

commander-in-chief is compromising from china 50, 60 million. they better investigate him like the last seven years we have been investigated. they orchestrated a whole january 6, one side with their producers from hollywood. the only person killed was shot in the neck, a vet. no threat. host: all right. on facebook, health. that is a big winter compromise on. and address infrastructure as it is falling apart and drug prices rising at an all-time high -- all-time record. take on the gun law lobbyist to stop the killings we are seeing. democrats should never compromise on any issue. the deals with tax cuts and

taxing the rich and more spending. caller: the last republican caller is a perfect example of why democrats cannot compromised with the republican party. how do you compromise with a group of people who only believe elections count when they win? all respect to foreign policy, they are more appropriate and then the u.s.. you cannot compromised. they believe the insurrectionists, they believe they are more important. if the first week of the house is any indication, it is a clown show.

host: they were -- approved a committee to look at competition with china. caller: we will see what happens, what comes out of it. it looks like they are going to use the committee to try to demonize the biden administration and paint them as weak on china policy. i just do not think they are practical. host: will the speech tomorrow night, the state of the union, give us a glimpse into his plans for 2024? wall street journal notes that after the speech, he will travel

on wednesday to wisconsin to tout union jobs during a visit to madison. thursday, he is scheduled to visit florida, the home of two potential 2024 gop rivals. former president trump in ron desantis, to highlight plans to strengthen social security and medicare. on friday, he will discuss the economic agenda with the nation's governors and meet with the brazilian president. more political news from the wall street journal. south carolina goes first in the new dnc calendar. democratic national committee on saturday approved the most significant changes in the party's presidential nomination process. new hampshire traditionally hosted the first primary

following iowa's first in the nation caucuses. they say they will hold an approved contest, though the dnc has the authority to strip 2024 convention delegates and voter databases from candidates who campaign in unsanctioned elections. we covered the debate in the vote this saturday. if you missed to ny and idea, go to our website. maryland, go ahead. independent. caller: i want to answer to questions from the hour, the last three colors are perfect

examples -- as for the questions, the senate -- appropriation bills. that is what they are therefore. basically and primarily. they have not done that under schumer, we are broke. we are bankrupt. as far as compromise, i have got a compromise no one is talking about, that is raising revenue. if that means finding either income from corporations or rich people, taxing them higher, we have to figure out who is rich and we have to increase taxes a little bit to bring in more income. when we look at deficit spending , there is a cure for that other than cut, cut, cut. that is to bring in more money to cover those expenses. host: you might be injured this new york times piece.

as gop rails against spending, its appetite for earmarks grows. this is what they found. republicans obtained 85% more in spending on earmarks in the december spending bill then in the previous one. democrats increase was 70%. take a look at the graphs they put together over here. those who obtain the most in the senate, through republican senators -- republicans and democrats -- three republican senators who retired last session carried more than 400 million in earmarks in the december spending bill. topping the list richard shelby of alabama, followed by hawaii democratic senator, republican of alaska, democrat of hawaii,

democrat of california, chuck schumer, dianne feinstein, you can see the list. below that, these are the members who secured the largest earmarks in the december spending bill in the house. let us take a look at that list. republican randy weber, michael wolf. follow by two democrats from hawaii, missouri. these members are republicans. take a look at the list, this is how much they secured in the millions in the latest spending bill. this is the new york times if you're interested. tim in michigan, republican. caller: good morning. i was calling to make a statement about the question. the hyperbolic tension that comes from the other side is, i

believe, swayed that way. it is on purpose, just like you were reading out the republican statements of who got money and why. they were majority republicans that you said. that proves right there you are leaning to the left. which is sad. that is creating this hyperbolic tension against democrats and republicans. my suggestion would be for the republicans to just go back to their states, stay in their states and fix their states problems. if they do that, then we will see how the country will be run better. host: the new york times wrote that story. it is a national newspaper,

people are reading across the country. we share with you what people are reading, but also what decision-makers in washington are reading. republicans are talking about spending cuts as part of any deal to raise the debt ceiling, the new york times decided to focus on who is getting the most in earmarks in spending bills, that is the focus of their story. you can read it or not. virginia, democratic caller. caller: how are you today? host: good morning. caller: i have got a couple things. congress is a lame-duck right now. they have the budget they can do anything with to bring leverage. i think the party that thinks it is ok to have george santos, and

openly gay man in drag -- reinforcing trance rights or whatever. host: virginia, republican. caller: good morning. thank you for taking michael. -- my call. i do not think republicans should compromise on anything with the democrats or this president the there is a lot of speculation and legitimate speculation around his legitimacy as president, around his corruption in his families corruption and involvement with our adversaries. there is a lot of speculation and evidence about the democrats and high-profile democrats involvement with big tech and big media and the american people have not gotten to see if

any of these allegations are actually true. we want to see the evidence, we want to see it brought into an investigation and we think the investigation should be open and transparent with the people. if we have a corrupt president, that is the number one problem for the american people. national security, especially as it relates to the southern border, is a big problem. for most republicans, especially once i have talked to, there is not a good thing we can say about what the democrats have touched. they are ruining this country and bringing it backwards so badly, we need to get these high-profile democrats that are doing sketchy things out of office. then needs to be the number one priority.

if they are guilty of foul play, they need to be tried and justice needs to be brought to them swiftly. inc. you. -- thank you. host: new mexico, democratic caller. caller: good morning. it is telling of the pulse of america that the democrats were more willing to work across the aisle than the republicans were. i think the last caller really points that out. i hear a lot on the right say they are concerned that the prices of gas and eggs. yet the focus is nonissues for the american people. bidens laptop and crt, it confuses me.

it really highlights that. host: joe, new jersey, republican. caller: hi. president reagan used to say he would compromise on bills, because he knew if he could not get everything at once, he could perhaps get it at a later time during a congressional session. the thing i am most concerned about is the fentanyl problem. the washington post had an article that said over 107,000 americans died from drug overdoses, two thirds of which were fentanyl. this is an absolute disgrace. i would like to know what congress is going to do. republicans should have had a bill ready to go on this issue on january 3. so far, i have not heard

anything about it. these congressmen and senators, they are more interested in fake issues like joe's sons laptop then they are what they are supposed to be doing, which is serving the american people. host: biden faces big questions in the state of the union address from usa today. our happy days here again? he faces a conundrum, the president wants to claim credit for near record low unemployment and continued economic growth, but risks looking out of touch unless he notes the continued bite of inflation and the prospect of a recession this year. governor sununu of new hampshire was on the sunday show, here is what he had to say about what he expects to hear from president biden on the economy. [video clip] >> i am a free principal

republican, i would love to hear he is focusing on a budget, sending more opportunity back to states, believing in locals and individuals and individual liberty. we are going to hear him take credit for adding more jobs than ever before. after a pandemic, that was not hard. he is going to talk about unemployment coming down and inflation coming down, inflation was at a record high. it could not have gone higher. the president will try to take credit for this stuff. at the end of the day, it does not matter about the speech. it matters talking to people. going into a store and just talk to people in the cereal aisle. what are they feeling? are they confident about this leadership? no. your own pulju showed that. -- poll just showed that. if we do not acknowledge the problems, we cannot fix it. we need to see more of that out of washington. host: what do you want to see

out of washington on the economy? compromise or lawmakers sticking to the principles? that is our conversation this morning. we have got a little less than 10 minutes, keep dialing in. republicans (202) 748-8001, democrats (202) 748-8000, independents (202) 748-8002. you can also text us at (202) 748-8003. include first name, city and state. this is from mac in lexington, kentucky. we need compromise on everything. that is what government is about. there is no point of government if we do not compromise, but neither party seems to understand that. we need to take care of our people, but politicians are only concerned about themselves. as a young person in their 20's, i am terrified. democrat, new york state. caller: thanks for c-span, i

watch every day. revenue, not just focusing on spending. i think employee contribution, social security, income cap should be lifted. there needs to be looking into taxing churches. if you are a mega church and your pastor lives in a multimillion dollar home and has a private jet, you need to be paying taxes. for what somebody a few calls back said about you being liberal, you are very fair and balanced. case in point, you reference often the washington times, which i believe at one point in time was run by the moonies. i think you are balanced, you are all doing an awesome job. host: georgia, independent. caller: i am calling this morning because -- hello?

host: we are listening. caller: i am calling this morning because i am an independent, the republicans are party of destroyed. they want to destroy the country from within. they do not want to compromise. frankly, i do not care about hunter biden's laptop, i care about the price of gas. i care about the price of a dozen eggs. we have a bill that needs to be paid, i have a credit card bill that needs to be paid. i have to pay in a few days, i do not get to compromise on whether or not i pay it or not. i have to pay it, so the government's bills need to be paid. tell republicans to do their job or go home and put their heads under a rock like they always do. for the caller that called in about democrats destroying, no.

it is the republicans destroying this country. thank you for taking my call. host: ohio, democratic caller. caller: years ago, obama tried to compromise [indiscernible] the area i would like to see top of mind is immigration. come together and have an immigration bill.

[indiscernible] host: immigration. tony in new york, independent. caller: can you hear me? host: i can. caller: as far as compromising goes, i think those parties already compromise. i have a quote here, the u.s. is a one-party state, with typical american extravagance, we have two of them. if we talk about compromise, there are a lot of things they should compromise on. the closure of military bases, u.s. imperialism, talking about inflation which is price gouging.

we can talk about criminalizing the rich and expletive practices. immediate things i can think about. abolishing ice, ending the military-industrial complex, etc. host: kathleen in mississippi, democratic caller. good morning. caller: if the federal government set -- sent federal money to state capitals, they do whatever they want -- there is no more money left. what happened to all the money? host: if you tried to call in

and could not make it in, you can join us in the next half-hour. we are talking about the week ahead in congress and you can focus on what you want to see congress do this week. joining us for that conversation is liz goodwin, a washington post reporter. later, gene dodaro, u.s. comptroller general discusses the government's examination of coronavirus spending. fit, the president delivers the state of the union address tomorrow night and our coverage begins at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span, on demand at c-span.org or watch free with c-span now. as the president prepares to deliver the state of t union address tuesday night, we are taking a look at key moments from previous addresses. here is gerald ford from 1975 and ronald reagan from 1986.

[video clip] >> i must say to you that the state of the union is not good. it millions of americans are out of work. prices are two high-end sales are too slow. this year's federal deficit will be $30 billion. next year's probably $35 billion. the national debt will rise to over $500 billion. our productivity is not growing fast enough. we depend on others for essential energy. some question their government's ability to make hard decisions and to make hard decisions and stick with them. they expect washington politics as usual. >> tonight i want to speak

directly to america's younger generation, because you hold the destiny of our nation in your hands. with all of the temptations young people face, it seems that sometimes the permissive society needs a supernatural control to resist. never has there been a more exciting time to be alive, a time of rousing wonder and heroic achievement. as they said in "back to the future," "where we are going, they do not -- we do not need roads." astronomers built a space telescope that can see to the edge of the universe and possibly back to the moment of creation.

this nation remains dedicated to america's space program. we are going forward to build our space station. we are going forward with a new orient express, which could take off from dulles export, accelerate to 25 times the speed of sound and fly to tokyo within 2 hours. >> washington journal continues. host: joining us this morning as liz goodwin here to talk about the week ahead for lawmakers. let's talk about this chinese spy balloon. who has been briefed so far? what do you expect he will hear from lawmakers on this -- you will hear from lawmakers on this? guest: the spy balloon continues to have fallout on the hill.

once top congressional leaders receive that briefing this week, majority leader schumer has called for an all senate briefing to happened that following week so this is not going away anytime soon. republicans have a lot of questions about how the administration handled this threat and they have been determined to get answers in the coming days. host: let's listen to one of those lawmakers, senator tom cotton. he was on fox news yesterday. [video clip] >> shannon, the spy balloon has become a trial balloon testing president biden's strength and resolve and unfortunately the president failed that test. that is dangerous for the american people. the president was paralyzed for an entire week by a balloon. we should never have allowed the

balloon to transit the entire continental united states. there are a lot of open questions the administration needs to answer to congress about why they did not do it. part of it was the presidential reluctance to take any action that would be seen as provocative to the chinese communists. i do believe the administration wanted to salvage the secretary of state's trip. they got through thursday afternoon. civilians in billings blew the whistle on it. it took another 20 four hours for the secretary of state to cancel what was already an ill-advised trip. host: liz goodwin, your reaction? guest: senator cotton is saying what a lot of republican lawmakers are now, which is why

didn't the administration shoot the balloon down earlier? there has been some back and forth in how the administration is choosing to answer that. so far biden has said publicly they did not want to cause any harm to civilians, which has been -- we have reporting in the post that some administration officials are saying anonymously that these balloons have been spotted before in past administrations. they you have trump administration officials saying on the record that is not true. there is a lot of back and forth about how the biden administration handled this, and with them making the case that republicans are blowing it out of proportion essentially, and republicans are saying "no this would have been a scandal if it

had happened under trump,." we will find out what came from shooting down the balloon. were they able to salvage any information about the device and how it works? host: president biden is expected to address this and likely to talk about the debt ceiling. "as debt ceiling talks kickoff, schumer fights to stay at the center." explain. guest: i interviewed chuck schumer about the debt ceiling talks. he has seen a lot of fiscal showdowns, democrats and republicans clashing over these deadlines and trying to use them as leverage. excuse me. host: go ahead, take a drink of water.

i had the same issue this morning. we will have liz goodwin clear her throat there. let me tell you what the phone lines will be. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can text us as well. are the debt talks continuing this week? are the two sides actually talking? guest: this is the plan schumer has been making. he kind of does not like to call it a negotiation, because he thinks until senator mccarthy talks about what they want and delays at his side of the argument that it is not a negotiation.

mccarthy is saying he met with biden in the white house last week. they are negotiating. that is something they are positioning as a win that the democrats are even in the room after biden said no negotiations . he says this is such an important vote, you cannot tie it to anything. you cannot hold it hostage. they are pointing to that on the republican side. they have not set a date for a new meeting, as far as i know, but they have said that they want to meet again. democrats will be pushing that same message of what do actually want, and is there anything you could pass through the house because mccarthy's majority is very narrow, and he has had one member suggested that he would

not vote to lift the limit under any circumstances. there is some questioning of mccarthy's status as a credible negotiator given what is going on in his conference that we will see them continue to bring up. host: to our viewers, we want to hear from you what you want congress to work on this weekend in the coming weeks. we are focusing on legislative work with liz goodwin. liz goodwin, there is also the state of the union address. how will that dominate the week? guest: the state of the union is tomorrow already. as we talked about earlier, the balloon issue will be hanging over that. biden is expected to address that in some way. house republicans have been bandying about the idea of

disapproving of how his administration handled that. that will be one factor for sure tomorrow. another issue is the criminal justice issue. there has been a lot of pressure on biden from democrats to address the tyre nichols situation and push for renewed talks on criminal justice reform on the hill. those broke down a couple of years ago. nothing ended up getting past two addressed any of the police brutality issues people will were raising in the wake of george floyd's death. nichols' parents will be at the state of the union. there is reporting today in politico that cori bush has michael brown's father, another

person who would be pushing for criminal justice reform, and the audience. that is another issue -- in the audience. that is another issue the audience will wait to see if biden is handling. the infrastructure bill, chips, pieces of legislation like that were bipartisan and got through. he will frame that as an investment in america. everyone is wondering when he will officially announce that he is running for president again. in a way, this is a kick off of a potential reelection as well. host: you wrote a piece recently, liz goodwin, along with your colleagues about this police reform talks are backing congress, but you wrote there is little hope for a deal. can you explain that part of it? guest: police reform talks were

completely dead. after the nichols incident, people are talking to each other again. there are some republicans and democrats talking about what can be done, but the tone is not very optimistic. some republicans involved in the talks who died previously like lindsey graham, john cornyn, they say we are in a divided government now. we were not able to do this when it was all democrats who mostly wanted to get police reform done. now with house republicans, it does not seem like it will happen. the combination of the divided government and to some republicans who were interested in making this deal a few years ago sounding down on it has not given people a ton of hope in this moment. senator cory booker and tom

scott are talking again. there is some movement on the hill. host: let's talk about what house republicans are doing since they controlled that house chamber. hunter biden's laptop story -- what do you know about that hearing? guest: this hearing is interesting because it is focusing mostly on the issue of social media and allegedly bias in, even though it does -- in how social media works. it is kind of a backdoor into that issue. the witnesses for the hearing will be former twitter executives. it is focused on twitter and the decision not to run a new york post story about hunter's laptop right before the 2020 election.

this is something that elon musk who recently bought twitter has been talking about nonstop on his platform. he visited the capital and speaker mccarthy recently. they are friends. this is an issue republicans are taking up on his behalf. it has a couple key issues for them. one is supposedly bias in social media. the other is drawing attention to the president's son and potentially unsavory behavior of his. host: let's hear from bob in west salem, ohio. democratic caller. you have to mute your television, ok? caller: i have been watching this every day for years, c-span, and i finally decided to call in. i don't understand what is wrong

with the american people. donald trump is the most disgusting thing that was ever in the white house. why he is not in jail yet, i cannot figure that one out. host: bob, you have to mute your television when you call in the next time. rob in syracuse, new york. caller: i propose that congress address an issue i think everyone can endorse, regardless of their party affiliation. i would like to see congress passed the daca bill, the bill that addresses nationalization of infants, toddler's, and little kids brought to the country illegally and know nothing but the united states as their own nation. put doc on the floor. it will at -- put dhaka on the floor -- put daca on the floor.

host: liz goodwin? guest: the dhaka issue -- the daca issue is one of those albatross issues. there are republicans and democrats who care about it, but it does not get addressed. there was an effort at the end of the very last session when democrats still controlled the house to do something bipartisan on that. senator thom tillis and kyrsten sinema were working on it, but they could not get an agreement. a lot of the issue is republicans want the population that gets legalization to be narrow, just that youngest dreamer group, and they want a lot of order security and exchange. democrats pushed for a bigger population and objected to some of their order reforms and asylum reforms they were

rushing. it did not happen -- they were pushing. it did not happen. kevin mccarthy has made a pledge not to endorse any measure that includes amnesty, which is the word he uses. a lot of immigration advocates have taken that to mean that any legislation that offers a pass for immigrants is out of the question for the next 2 years. that is some thing dampening hopes for a daca solution. host: are talking -- we are talking about the week ahead in congress. we would like to hear what you want congress to deal with this week. marty. on the republican line.

caller: i want to hear about the surveillance balloon. we do not know. we are not protected. host: liz goodwin, are there any committee hearings scheduled on this yet? guest: there are not any scheduled yet, but i would be surprised if there are not some especially in the house soon. i think people are waiting for the briefing where the top -- they can find out more about what happened. the question is basically whether there is enough information that can be made public that it can be discussed in a hearing. sometimes there will be an intel hearing where some of it is classified into some of it is public. host: tony in millville, new

york, independent. caller: hi again. sorry about that. i have been following up on china stuff lately. i want to address a few issues i have noticed with the coverage here in the united states. it will go back to the compromise point, but basically there is nothing that can be derived from a meteorological weather balloon. that is what china has said it was. that is what it would generally support. even the joint chiefs of staff general mark milley has shown that there was no risk to the safety of the people. not to shoot it down basically. even u.s. intelligence has shown that our best assessment right

now is that it does not. it says china has great military surveillance equipment. they could use xi jinping's policy is one of peaceful coexistence, as he has stated himself. u.s. politicians are aiding the side of imperialism. they are escalating conflict. host: let's talk about the weaponization of the federal government. that is the focus of a new-committee under the gop led house. tell us about the committee and what they have planned. guest: the weaponization subcommittee has a hearing planned for this thursday, that they have not released topics or a title for it so it is hard to glean what their opening move is going to be.

the general thrust of the committee in general is the thought that house republicans have been pushing, which is that the fbi has been weaponized to go after president trump. that is why they have " weaponization," in the title, that is something law enforcement agencies themselves and democrats have been saying is not true, and there is a lot of bad feeling around the point of that committee being to lesson trust in -- lessen trust in federal law enforcement. it is unclear if they will start their. will they start with the russian probe in 2017? we will have to wait and see. host: tom is in bloomington,

indiana, republican. caller: a quick question about the censorship on directv. i wonder if they will be doing anything about that. host: liz goodwin, is that on the agenda? guest: i have not heard of that. this week house republicans are voting on some covid measures and some measures dealing with washington, d.c., actually, some policies of the city that they disapprove of. i am actually not familiar with. that issue. host: that is what the house will be voting on. what will the senate be voting on? guest: the senate has had a very slow start so far. they have just been voting on nominations and symbolic measures the past couple of week. there was a national stocking awareness month vote, votes that

are, not normally full votes votes that are usually unanimously accepted. there is a vote that rises to the level of a full vote, appeals court nominations, and aside from that they are chugging along. in an era of divided government, it is slowing down on the senate side. host: justin in california, democratic caller. caller: i wanted to comment about the balloon. there are a few things the administration said i just don't believe. it doesn't pass the smell test. i lived in montana. i did the basic math. it turns out to be 85 acres per person in montana. there is a lot of big space.

they couldn't have shot this thing down because they were afraid of it landing on people? it's just not true. the chinese know we could have shot it down. the only people getting fooled are us. i i'm not saying there is some big conspiracy. i don't know what their reasoning is, the biden administration. why did they want to lead this thing float across the country? host: do you want the president to address the question that the state of the union tomorrow night? caller: he doesn't have to do it at the state of the union, but he should. i don't know if it rises to the level of the state of the union, but yes, maybe he walks into the pressroom room and addresses it and allows questions. i just don't believe they couldn't have shot it down. then they shot it down with a

missile! it was a balloon! you could have put some bullets into it and then it would have been more easily recoverable. they lead it 00 -- it is the dream for what the chinese would like so it is as unrecoverable as possible. host: a lot of questions there. liz goodwin? guest: there was a question and earlier color brought up about how serious a threat -- that is something we will probably be hearing more in the coming days. whatever information a balloon is able to gather, topographical information was not deemed enough of a threat to risk shooting it down overland, even

if it was a rural area. these kind of decisions, i think that is what people want more insight to because it is obviously a very striking image to have a chinese spy balloon flying over the continental united states, but yes it is still an open question of how much of a national security threat its presence really posed. host: donald in indiana, republican. caller: how are you doing? people are not saying anything about it. that balloon was going over and gathering precise locations. forget about that hypersonic missile that we do not have. they have. people are worried about taiwan. they will fly over taiwan and

come straight to america, hypersonic missiles to finish it once and for all. biden just paid his services. host: terry in winterhaven, florida, independent. caller: as far as compromise, liz cheney sums it up for me. the corruption of former president trump and those who tried to corrupt president zelenskyy are outlandish. republicans want to stay in. the santos, -- desantis, green e, boebert. marco rubio paid cash for his mention -- mansion.

governor desantis wants no -- host: we are talking about this week in congress with liz goodwin. after last week's vote to rim move ill hand omar from the foreign affairs -- remove ill hand omar -- remove ilhan omar from the foreign affairs committee -- guest: they had objections to votingguest: omar off. they had process concerns about what if this becomes a situation where every time a republican becomes in charge they kick off members of the other party that they do not like and there is not a fair process.

a lot of the followed of that vote is speaker mccarthy taking steps to streamline that, make there be an actual process that has rules to it so it is a little less subjective in the coming years. part of that is making an official code of conduct for members of congress that is very vague right now what that code of conduct is right now. do not engage in behavior unbecoming of a representative. now there is an effort underway to spell at what that means what conduct is unbecoming of a representative and how that could guide future decisions. host: what are the big issues this week before we let you go that people should be watching for? guest: the biggest event of this week, i would say, is the state of the union.

how does joe biden addressed some of these concerns about the spy balloon that republicans are bringing up? what happens after they gang of eight briefing? how do republicans respond to whatever the pentagon explains when they are able to explain their decision on the spy balloon? what is the next step? is that something that makes the issue go away for republicans or is that something that will merit more investigation hearings, as you brought up. i think the house weaponize asian subcommittee hearing will also be interesting this week just to see how aggressive they are planning --weaponization subcommittee hearing will also be interesting this week just to see how aggressive they are planning to be. host: liz goodwin follows reports on congress, so we appreciate the conversation with you this morning, liz goodwin.

coming up next, gene dodaro, head of government accountability will discuss the government's handling of coronavirus spending. president dedelivers his second state of the union address tomorr nht. our coverage begins at 8:00 p.m. eastern time c-span, c-span. or andg -- c-span.org and on c-span now. here is roosevelt and john kennedy then bill clinton. [video clip] >> we are reaching the most inclusive problem of all, that of unemployment. your past and mine is not ending with the end of the

depression. the people of the united states has made it clear that they expect us to continue our active efforts on behalf of their peaceful advancement. in that spirit of endeavor and service, i greet the 75th congress of the united states at the beginning of this auspicious new year. >> no man entering upon this office, regardless of his party, regardless of his previous service in washington, could fail to be staggered upon learning in even this brief 10 day period the harsh of these of the trials we much -- each day the crises multiply. each day their solution grows more difficult. each day we grow nearer to --

i feel i must inform the congress that our analysis over the last 10 days make it clear that in each of the principal areas of crisis, the tide of events have been running out and time has not been our friend. >> we know and we have worked to give the american people a smaller, less bureaucratic government in washington, and we have to give the american people one that lives within its needs. [applause] >> the era of big government is over. [applause] >> but we cannot go back to the time when our citizens were left to fend for themselves.

[applause] >> washington journal continues. host: we want to welcome back to the program gene dodaro, who is the u.s. comptroller general and head of the government accountability office. when you get involved in holding the government accountable? guest: the gao exists to aiden sure the accountability of the federal government to to benefit the american people. the scope of our responsibilities across the entire breadth of the federal government's responsibilities. we get involved on our own initiative.

wherever there are federal funds or a federal nexus, we also have a number of requirements that congress puts in law or statutory language. we also respond to requests from committee chairs and ranking members. we reach -- treat both the same. we are professional and fact-based. host: mr. todaro has been with gao -- mr. dodaro has been with gao for 45 years. how did the gao get involved with those programs? guest: in the original cares act legislation in 2020, there was a statutory provision for gao to audited the money and look at its effectiveness.

we were asked to provide monthly briefings to senate and congressional committees and to provide bimonthly reports to the congress and the public. that was done through the first year. then we moved to quarterly reports. now we are reporting on a periodic basis. we have issue 10 governmentwide reports. we have issued close to 200 individual reports on selected aspects of the process. we have made over 150 recommendations. we are still reporting and will continue to report as some of the coronavirus money is available to be spent through 2026. host: what has been the take away from all of this investigating and were ports that you have done -- and reports that you have done?

guest: we think the funding help to provide stability to the economy. it helped a lot of small businesses. it helps provide help through unemployment insurance, the paycheck protection program, the economic entering disaster program. there were trillions of dollars provided to individuals, businesses, the private sector, and public-sector organizations. some of the money went to support operation warp speed, which helped to expedite the development of the vaccines, which we have had. the federal response could have been better organized. we have made recommendations for an early testing strategy. we are good for a better vaccine communication distribution plan.

there were supply chain issues, so we made some recommendations about how a stockpile could be better built up. it is across a wide range of areas. we made a number of recommendations on the trade-offs that were made. there was a lot of urgency to get help out to people early on in the process. there were trade-offs made that limited the accountability and transparency objectives of the legislation. there was more fraud than anyone wanted. there were a lot of improper payments that were made. we made a lot of recommendations to agencies about how they can sure up there management practices to better prevent fraud and improper payments so that the money was helpful, but

it could have been even more helpful if so much had not been lost to fraud and improper payments. host: cnn reported on one of your recent reports to congress and to the american people. " benefits fraud likely tops $60 billion." what happened there? guest: several things. on ine the original legislation there were, provisions -- one, in the original legislation there were provisions for self certification. people did not have to provide supporting benefits. states were encouraged to waive the waiting period for unemployment insurance benefits. they waved to some of the documentation requirements -- waived some of the documentation requirements. congress eventually addressed

this in december 2020, but by that point billions of dollars had already been spent. he states that administer the unemployment insurance program, normally states collect taxes from employers and pay unemployment benefits. the government gets involved only to provide some administrative support when there is a recession, or in this case a pandemic. the states, because unemployment had been a record low levels before the pandemic -- staffing was down, they have a lot of i.t. systems -- they were overwhelms the number of claims. almost all sectors of the economy had unemployment problems at the same time so the

combination of relaxed application processes, the huge amount of money that was there, and the states being overwhelmed, that led to the programs being more susceptible to fraud and error than they otherwise would have been. host: we will divide the lines this morning by region. eastern, central part of the country (202) 748-8000. mountain and pacific time zones, (202) 748-8001. you apply for this money thinking, "it is there," but you did not qualify for it, will the federal government ask for it back? guest: yes. the government will prosecute those people who willfully misrepresented their situation

to gain this information. there have been over 1000 people already who have pled guilty or have been convicted. over 600 people are facing charges. the small business ig has 536 active investigations underway. the department of labor inspector general is opening up 100 new cases every week. congress has already extended the statute of limitations for the paycheck protection program from 5 to 10 years and the inspector general has asked congress to do the same thing for unemployment insurance fraud. $60 billion, that is a conservative estimate on the low-end of the fraud. we are currently putting together a much more

comprehensive estimate and the fraud in that particular program is likely to be higher than the $60 billion. host: one of the concerns you had with these improper payments is the lack of controls to detect and recover improper payments. they can get this money back, but do they have the tools to do so? guest: yes. they are getting a lot of tips. this can also include improper payments. the ig of the labor department has received complaints, close to 200,000 that they are tracking down. we have available on their website. -- our website.

there are additional examinations underway. all of that said, greta, the track record on recovering a lot of this stuff historically is difficult. it is what is normally called the pay and chase model. it is not the most efficient way. the most efficient approaches to prevent the fraud and improper payments from happening in the first place. we worked with congress in 2016 to pass the fraud reduction act. that puts a framework of best practices in place. we are making more recommendations. we are making additional efforts to try and get the federal agencies better prepared for

normal program activities as well as to be much more prepared for inevitable emergencies that will occur in the future. host: let's talk about numbers before we get to calls. how much money did congress appropriate in response to the pandemic to the economy and the hills that followed? can you give us an estimate of how much was made in improper payments of that amount? guest: the total amount of money appropriated by the congress was $4.5 trillion in a series of about 6 different pieces of legislation. so far, $4.4 trillion has been appropriated. we do not have a total yet,

because some of the programs did not estimate improper payments yet, including the pandemic unemployment insurance program, which was set up to help self-employed workers, so it was different from the traditional unemployment program. we have some estimates i can share with you. the unemployment insurance area went from improper payments in 2020 of $8 billion to in 2021 $78.1 billion. the rate went from 9% improper payments up to 22% improper payments. the paycheck protection program and the economic injury disaster loan program did not estimate

payments for 2021, but it did for the first time in 2022 and it was over $35 billion. you have quite a few improper payments there. the problem with improper payments was a problem before the pandemic. you have had over $200 billion. the normal -- it has been growing for years before the pandemic. we have been working on that with the agencies, with congress, and we will have to continue to work on it. the pandemic relief systems greatly exacerbated this problem the government has, so it needs to be addressed more forcefully. host: blaine on twitter says, " how many people in this country took covid money and did not

even need it? they should probably pay it all back." nathaniel in irvington, new jersey. let's hear from you. caller: i had one quick question for the guest. i know there has been a lot of talk about oversight, common american people who took benefits during the pandemic. i want to know, will the same oversight be placed on the 1%, the politicians of all these corporations who took a lot of covid relief money? will that same oversight be applied to them? i will hang up and hear the response. thank you so much. guest: thank you, nathaniel. it is a good question. gao and the inspectors general lacrosse government, there is an inspector --generals across

government are pursuing these investigations no matter who the people are. there is some organized crime activities here. i know the secret service is also doing the investigation. i have a great deal of confidence that people who committed wrongdoing will be addressed and investigated no matter who they are. host: gene dodaro is our guest. he is the u.s. comptroller general and head of the government accountability office. we are talking about coronavirus spending and oversight of those dollars. our next caller is from ohio. caller: all of these homeowners who have these large homes, i fear very much what will happen

is what happened in 1929. who is the mystical bank we owe this money to? who do we owe this money to? who is doing all of this ridiculous accounting? who are we in debt to? host: gene dodaro, go ahead. guest: did you want to say something? host: i'm curious about what he had to say, the overall spending as you pointed out, $4.5 trillion over 6 bills. host: that was the largest rescue package in american history. we had a large package during the great recession and the housing downturn that led to the type of problems the color is referring to that -- caller is

referring to that could lead to the same problem now. we were involved in auditing that program at that time as well we are keeping an eye on the housing market. you are right to raise it as an issue. i am very concerned about the housing market because during the global financial crisis in 2008, 2009 the government took conservatorship of freddie mae and fannie mac. the federal government lynch more loads to be federal housing administration, so a lot of the risks -- lent more loans to the federal housing administration.

a lot of that risk ways on the road government -- weighs on the federal government's doorstep. with regards to the debt, right now there is $31 trillion of debt. most of that is owed to the public. these are treasuries people by. a lot of -- people buy. a lot of people buy treasuries. treasuries are considered one, if not the, safest asset for people to hold. there are other countries that purchase are treasuries too. somewhere around one third. his health -- somewhere around one third is held by foreign

entities and other central banks around the world. when there are global concerns about the economy, there are a lot of people around the world who purchase securities because of the safety of the asset investment and the federal government's impeccable record of paying its debts on time. those treasuries are lent through the treasury department. they are the federal government's banker, bookkeeper, along with the federal reserve. the treasury department's responsible for the lending and working with these capital markets that work in the treasury markets. the treasury markets have grown dramatically over the years, almost tripled in size due to the fact that the federal government is borrowing more money.

we at gao have said that the government is on a long-term fiscally unsustainable path. i have called repeatedly over 6 years for the federal government to have a plan in place that can bring us into a more sustainable financial position over a period of years. we will need to deal with all aspects of federal spending that deal with this problem. it has to be a multi-year plan. right now we do not have any targets. the gdp ratio, or any guardrails to protect federal spending. congress is responsible for setting all federal spending under the constitution. the executive branch is charged with executing those laws as congress has put them in place. i have also called repeatedly for a change in the debt ceiling

approach. right now there is a current debate about raising the debt ceiling as well. i think we need a different approach for setting the debt ceiling that brings in-line more of our spending and revenue decisions at the time they are made. right now we are allowing the treasury to borrow the money that congress has already appropriated. that obligate ---those obligations have already been made. host: to our viewers you can call in and talk about this spending. as you heard our guest gene dodaro can also talk about government spending overall. lori in massachusetts, good morning to you. could you mute your television, please? caller: i have two really big problems. first of all, i have done

accounting my whole life, and there is one thing worrying me. social security. all they, have to do with back when i was a child there was something that people called -- they didn't call it welfare. if you are broke, you got help from neighbors. it is so ridiculous. if they would stop this social security benefits, that has nothing to do with the social security fend that people pay over -- fund that people pay over their lives. host: go ahead, gene. guest: congratulations on being 95. that is quite a milestone. i wish you continued good health and prosperity. the social security system needs

to be reformed because when it was started there were maybe 8, 10 people working for everyone retired person in the united states. now it is less than 3 people working for everyone retired person in the united states. it was built on the concept that payroll taxes that people pay that are currently working would be able to generate enough money to pay senior citizens. since people were living a lot longer, as you are and a lot of your peers, there is not enough revenue in the system. it needs to be reformed. i have called for such reformed because if we do not reform the system, projections are by 2034 there will only be about $.77 on the dollar to make payments. many people rely heavily, if not

exclusively, on those social security benefits. the area needs to be addressed, and policy makers becoming increasingly aware. it also applies to the medicare part a. by 2028, it will not have enough to meet 100% of its obligations. it will meet about 90% at that time. both of those programs are critical to the health and safety of our growing elderly population. host: peter in durham, north carolina, welcome to the conversation. caller: good morning. the lady was correct about social security. there is no money. it is all full of iou's there is no money in social security. the 77 cents on the dollar, i

don't understand it. there is no money in it. the annual budget stopped with harry reid. harry reid never submitted a budget. congress should present a budget. no one does it anymore. it doesn't make any sense. how can we have a debt ceiling when they don't present a budget? host: gene dodaro, what are your thoughts on that? guest: peter, the $.77 i referred to our payroll taxes that are being collected. revenue does flow into the social security fund every year however,, it is not enough to pay the benefits, so you are correct in that the incremental difference is set in treasury securities. part of the $31 trillion in federal debt, the government

owns itself. there are from payroll taxes every year, money flowing into the fund. the question is, will it be enough long-term? with regards to the budgeting process, you are correct in the sense that the budgeting process is not operating as originally intended. the president does submit a budget every year. it is due technically in february. congress is supposed to enact 12 appropriation bills to buy up the federal government. the but that process has not worked so fluidly. as a result, and with few exceptions over time, it is

supposed to be done by the beginning of october, october 1, the start of the fiscal year. technically, this appropriations bill most recently has not been ready. so, congress passes and i'm the abyss bill, and they did it in december. that is typically the timeframe. but that omnibus appropriation bill in effect operates as the budget for the federal government. but it has not gone through the private -- through the budget process, nor has there been resolutions as should be passed. your comments there, and a number of observance, including members of congress, no the process needs to be anymore regular order. we will go to california. adam. good morning to you. caller: good morning.

i watched you on the senate hearings or house hearings, and i found you to be incredibly accurate and you did your best to answer the questions. i have a couple questions, if i may. have you done any research on the covid-19 great reset book that was put out by clouse schwab? i think that is an important thing people should pay attention to. the waste, fraud, and abuse in the omnibus, which i call "under the bus," that amount of money that was put out is just an unbelievable amount of waste. it will never be recovered. it is money that has been thrown into the streets. california, for example, had a $125 billion surplus two years ago. today, we have a $25 billion

decrease. one more quick thing. 66 million seniors are on fixed income. we are in a recession. that's all i have to say. thank you. guest: thank you, adam. i appreciate your interest in gao and following our testimonies. i will talk to my team to see if anybody is familiar with what the -- with that covid-19 reset book. we are continuing to do work in this area. i also designated the department of health and human services preparedness, leadership, and coronation for public health emergencies as a high-risk area. i don't think we have clear goals and responsibilities sorted out. there has not been communication with public, a lot of data needed to be collected. the government is supposed to have in place a national

surveillance system since 2008 or 2009, and it is still not in place. there is still a lot of work to be done in order to make sure that we, as a federal government, are better prepared to deal with future public health emergencies. so, we are working on that. we will take a look at this book and see if there are any ideas in there. now, on the omnibus, we audit, along with the inspector general's, that money on a regular basis and we will continue to do that to make sure it is spent properly as well. i have continued to point out these improper payments that were made. the two programs on a regular basis that have the highest improper payments are medicaid and medicare, along with the earned income tax credit. i am trying to work to get reforms in place to bring those

payments down, particularly since medicaid and medicare are two of the fastest-growing programs in the federal government. you are right, there needs to be continuous vigorous oversight over federal spending. thank you, adam. host: amy in florida, good morning to you. caller: hello, good morning. i just wonder what this gentleman had to say about reform. he keeps saying the word "reform." what that really sounds like to me is that he is going to take away from the people. no. i do not agree with this at all. i believe that we should stop with the funding of the pentagon and all these continuous wars and things like this. why can't we have health care, why can't we have things as americans that we pay into? and we can have a nice life. i don't understand why we always suffer. we suffer for war.

i don't get it. guest: well, amy, first of all, one of the most fundamental responsibilities of the federal government is to provide national defense. we see, when things happen in the world, why having a national defense is important, to stop the aggression of one country against another. if we want to have a good life, it starts with having good, strong national defense in place, so that we can live in the democracy we have created, have control over our own destinies within the united states. it's very important that we have a strong defense. when i say reform, i am saying that because if it is not changed, there will be deleterious effects on people. i mentioned social security. unless it is changed, there won't be enough to pay social

security benefits in the future. and i use reform as change. i am not saying that we should take it away from anybody. in fact, to the contrary. i am saying that people have to act to ensure that it is continued into the future and that people can have comfort of mind, peace of mind, and at the assistance the federal government has committed to be provided will absolutely be delivered. we are working, aiming to try to make sure those things happen. in the context of having a sound economy and a good, strong national defense. host: in pennsylvania, they want to know if your office is tracking weapons sent to ukraine. but we can also add to that. overall, just money that congress has approved, are you tracking that? guest: yes, we are. we just received a request to do that in the consolidated

appropriations act that passed in december. we had already started based on requests from some congressional committees peered we have done this in the past. we had teams in the baghdad and iraq war. we had teams in a couple. we were in afghanistan. we are already looking at that and will be tracking funding, equipment, and accountability over that by the defense department, the state department, and the humanitarian assistance that comes from the united states aid for national develop in. we will be auditing all of that in conjunction with the inspectors general for those three departments and agencies. yes, in a word. host: in the "new york times" this morning, there is an article about republicans on thing to cut spending, but they note that their appetite for earmarks has grown. that is their headline this morning.

do you track more money for earmarks is sent to and how the money is sent -- is spent to make sure there is no fraud, waste, abuse there? guest: absolutely. we have been asked by congress to track these congressionally directed projects. one of the bodies and community projects and another, they are formerly known as earmarked. yes. we have already issued reports for the projects that were set up in the 2022 fiscal appropriations act. if people -- people can get those on our website. you can get in touch with our public affairs office there. there are phone numbers or

whatever. if you cannot find them searching on our website, they are fairly prominent. we will be doing that for the most recent round in 2023 as well. the reports we have issued so far says how much money, where it supposed to go, who is going to provide oversight in the federal departments in agencies over that money, and then we will take a sample of these projects. there are hundreds, if not thousands of them. we will go in, edit them -- audit them in depth, make sure they were spent appropriately and go to the intended recipient , and there is fiscal accountability over the money. host: for our viewers, if you want to track the federal government spending and oversight of road by the gao, our guest has said you can go to their website, gao.gov. they are on twitter. let's hear from melissa, in

bloomfield, iowa. is that right? caller: yes, ma'am. host: good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. as a couple of questions and some follow-ups for the gentleman here. first off, you say everybody pays in their whole life to social security and then they get social security, right? well, explain to me how somebody can be here for less than five years and work, pay in for only those five years, that they get full benefits. that makes no sense. guest: i'm not familiar enough, melissa, with the mechanics of the program to give you direction there. if you leave your name with our hosts here at c-span, i will have somebody get in touch with you and answer that specific question. host: is there a contact number or email on your website as well for people? guest: yes.

we have "find an expert" on our website. if you go to that section of the website, you will find our experts on education, income security, and social security would fall under income security. you can contact that person directly with that phone number and email address listed there. host: michael, arkansas, good morning to you. caller: good morning, america. i have been waiting 20 years to ask someone this question. i have read and heard that the administration stole, borrowed, whatever you want to call it, over $1 trillion from the social security fund. has that ever happened? has congress ever appropriated social security funds out of social security? host: did you hear michael? guest: i wasn't clear. host: he had heard that the

johnson administration and i believe he said the reagan administration borrowed money from the social security fund. he wants to know if money has ever been borrowed from that fund to pay for other things. guest: offhand, i cannot recall an instance that that has happened. i would have to go back and check. i have been around in gao for 49 years. but i was not around in the johnson administration. host: [laughter] guest: i would have to go back and do some research on it and i cannot give you a definitive and -- definitive answer right now. guest: that's ok. we will talk with anita in st. louis, missouri. oh, i have to punch the button. there we go, anita. your turn. caller: thank you. i would like to ask the comptroller general if there has been any oversight into the over $150 million that president

trump made off his hotels when he was president, since he did not put his assets into a true buying trust. it, as i said, has cost we the people over $150 million. is there any effort to have accountability for that or retrieve any of that, to get any of that money back? host: ok, anita. guest: anita, early on, we looked at the money that was being spent for travel when president trump traveled to mar-a-lago. we have some reports there which talk about the amount of money that was provided to the secret service for their stays in the amount of money that was spent on those travels. they are available on our website as well, if you search for "presidential travel."

you will find them. i'm sorry, but with regards to the whole $150 million, we have not looked at that. host: thank you very much, [video clip] -- gene dodaro. i want to thank you so much for sitting with us in answering our phone calls about the government spinning. guest: thank you very much, greta. i hope you have a great day, along with all of our viewers. host: same to you. we are going to take a break and when we come back, we will be an open forum. we have divided the lines for republicans, democrats, and independent. we will get to the conversation in just a minute. ♪ >> 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 his priorities to congress on tuesday his first state of the union speech since republicans

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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: where in open forum until the top of the hour this morning. any public policy issue that you would like to discuss, we can begin with what happened in turkey and syria. reuters has the headline that a huge earthquake hit those two countries. many are still trapped this morning. that number was at 500 victims, and now it has risen to 1700, 1800 of those that have passed because of this 7.8 magnitude earthquake in that region. there is also the latest on the

chinese spy balloon, reporting the navy is working to cover -- recover the debris from that suspected spy balloon. the washington times this morning, there headline, "china issues threat over the balloon." the response from their foreign minister was that the u.s. use of force was a clear overreaction and serious violation of international practice. in a statement, he said, "beijing reserves the right to make for the responses if necessary." the "new york times" also talking about that that from china. they say that china's internet, often an echo chamber for nationalists, calls for beijing to stand up to the u.s. for shooting down the balloon. even if president xi and other community leaders can brush off, their own prickly pride may call for a countermeasure to save face. but she bang -- but mr. xi is in

a tit for tat with the biden administration. the government is also trying to defuse a longer-term real estate crisis. the united states tightening restriction on sales of advanced technology to china, especially cutting semiconductors, could hurt chinese companies and mr.xi's innovation plan. the "new york times" from page also noting diplomatic ties are strained over the downing of this bulletin. david singer writes that beyond the made for cable news spectacle, the entire incident also speaks volumes about how little washington and beijing communicate, almost 22 years after the collision of an american spy plane and a chinese fighter lead both sides to valve that they would improve their

crisis management. roger in youngstown, ohio, democratic color. we are in open forum. what you want to talk about? caller: i want to talk about the united states vaccine. i advocate that they should give it to china. host: and that would do what? caller: it would be a diplomatic coup. the virus affects elderly people. in most countries, that elderly people are the most affected. not only will this benefit china, that it would actually cause them to spend more of their money on their economy. host: all right. ray in aurora, caller: colorado. independent. caller:good morning. i am a registered libertarian. i want to talk about colorado bill, the title of which is a

bill considering ballots for primary election spared this legislation will make it hard not just for my party, but the green party, the american constitution party, basically anybody who wants to challenge any incumbent within the state of colorado. i am hopeful that that -- that my state representative and state senator, should this ever come to a your sword no vote, that they would vote no. -- a yes or no vote, that they would vote no. in regards to the liberation -- the libertarian party, last week, and email went out about the upcoming colorado state convention. if you have any interest in liberty, please consider attending the convention. host: in new hampshire, cutler, a democratic caller. good morning to you. caller: good morning, greta. i want to talk about money. in my household, we have a budget. i don't know whether our government has a budget.

they just seem to wing things and spend more money. the last gentleman that was on, i wanted to call in and i missed the call. my feeling is that our priorities are not what they should be. we spend too much on military. i worked for a navy captain who was on the joint chiefs of staff, and he said, "the way it works is the air force wants the best planes, the navy once the biggest, new ship, etc. etc. and they get it." we still have forces in korea, in germany. we are not the world's keeper. we just cannot afford to do this . if we want more income coming in

, we have to take off the caps on social security. whatever you earn, you pay social security, you contribute toward that fund. that's the way to get additional income. host: understood. courtney in california, republican. courtney, what is the public policy issue want to talk about? caller: i would like to talk about that balloon flying over the united states. that balloon did not come from china. that balloon was put up by the united states military to spy on the militia groups going over the united states. period. host: ok. the pages of the "wall street journal" include this from the editorial board. biden and the chinese spy balloon. why did he wait so long to order the intruder shot down?

they write that the balloon entered alaskan airspace days earlier. was there no safe place to down the balloon in that vast and sparsely populated state? let's hope navy divers can recover the balloons and intelligence gathering equipment intact. another question is, when the administration first spot of the balloon crossing into airspace, sensor should have been able to detect an air intruder, people in -- even when flying quietly. we should know about this whole in our defenses. it is bad enough that the people's liberation army launched it to scuttle antony blinken's visit, but it's worse if it was sanctioned by the politico and president xi jinping. in that case, the conclusion has to be that they wanted to test president biden. is the u.s. president so eager to test this that he overlooked that this wasn't detected?

congress will no doubt seek answers. the episode may have a silver lining if it expands the american public's understanding about homeland vulnerability. a majority of americans have awakened to china's aggressive behavior. but isolationists in both parties are selling a fantasy that we can be safe if we withdraw from engagement overseas. there's also this on the front page of the "washington post" this morning. congress is notified of previous balloons. the defense department has notified congress of several previous balloon incursions of u.s. airspace by chinese surveillance balloons, with earlier sightings near texas, florida, hawaii, and guam. as republicans criticize the biden administration for allowing a suspected surveillance balloon to trek across much of the united states over the last week. the "wall street journal" this morning, their friend page says the u.s. is earlier balloons were not detected until later

on. benny in stockton, california, independent. hi, benny, good morning. what do you want to talk about? caller: good morning, greta. my concerns are that there is a genocide of black men and women in this country. i would hope that mr. biden would address that in the state of the union message. i go back to the situation with mr. pelosi, when the police approached the front door. the thug had the hammer and mr. pelosi was trying to control that hammer, and the police stood there with their hands in their pockets, doing nothing. and the guy had a hammer. if it had been a black man, he would be dead, because they would have called the hammer a weapon. thank you and i do hope that mr. biden would address that.

host: on to policing. senator cory booker, a democrat, has been working across the aisle on this issue he talked about those efforts on nbc's "meet the press" yesterday. [video clip] >> i think there are a lot of people across the aisle that sees this is a moral moment. we are seeing more and more because of body cameras and other technology. we are seeing the horror of unarmed people, handcuffed people, in the case of the tragic murder of tyre nichols, we are seeing things that do not comport with our national standards and expectations. we are a nation right now that should set the global standard for professionalism and policing. we are falling short of that, to the horror of more and more americans. i know that this might not be a divided congress. we want to get a large, comprehensive bills done. i have been in conversations all week with people on both sides of the capitol and both sides of

the aisle, with police leaders, national police leaders and union leaders, civil rights activists, who all went to get something done that can advance the cause of not just police reform, but raising standards, crating more transparency, and accountability. i'm not giving up on this work and i'm having constructive conversations with people on the other side of the aisle. >> sometimes, we let the perfect become the enemy of the good. you guys were close. you and tim scott and karen base. there was a ban on chokehold in life-threatening situations. there was a ban on no-knock warrants paired there was a agreement to limit the transfer of military equipment to some departments paid can we just pass that and then go back and try to see what's next? are we in that situation, or we can do this? there were nine civil rights acts. can we do this in iterations? >> it's exactly the way we approached the gun safety legislation on our side, led by

chris murphy, and i was happy to be part of that, and get some things in that bill, like community violence intervention. it's not everything we want to, like universal background checks and an assault weapons ban. but it was a significant step forward. we are looking at this bill or the potential to get legislation through, but has to meet the standards of raising professional standards, transparency, more accountability. again, we are working on things. i am sobered about the belief that we can get a big, copper hansa bill done. but can we get something done? i believe we can and i'm putting all my effort into that right now. host: that was cory booker, democrat of new jersey. the senator was talking about bipartisan efforts on police reform and gun violence. we are in open forum this morning, talking about any public policy issues that are on your mind. joseph in maryland, democratic color. caller: hello, there. i'm at saint ignatius church, or father andrew white landed in 1641 and started the catholic

faith here. he was a police officer. he died on juneteenth, 1999, just as a fact. you have heard of the military-industrial complex. now, some call it the medical industrial complex. is that a term others have heard? i don't know, but it is one i'm using. i am right next to paul nitze's property. he was a famous military guy who wrote a paper in the 1960's that said russia was going to blow us to pieces. turns out, that whole paper was false. he was married to a rockefeller. i am on their property right now. this church, saint ignatius church, or father andrew knight, who they named the white house after, georgetown, all that stuff, there's a ton of love in here. there's a ton of archival information. there is a big tunnel under this whole church that goes to this ancient, ancient place 1000 years old.

it's amazing information. host: got it. linda in michigan, republican. caller: hi, thank you for taking my call. i'm just curious about the balloon situation. i'm just wondering why somebody didn't go up in a plane and put some bullet holes in it so it could have descended slowly to the ground, then nothing would have gotten destroyed. i'm just bringing that up because i don't hear anybody talking about that issue. thank you. host: david ignatius wrote a piece in the "washington post" about the inside story of how the u.s. shut down the chinese bling. the chinese have been dispatching intelligence collecting balloons for your state pentagon official said saturday night that five chinese balloons have circumnavigated the globe and china has conducted 20 30 balloon missions globally over the past decade. ignatius also writes that as far

as speculation that the balloon was scattering smaller spy devices, micro drones that could observe secret targets, officials said there was no evidence of any such dispersion. he also wrote this. from an intelligent stand point pentagon officials believe that the strange weeklong balloon voyage was ultimately of more benefit to the united states than china. by waiting until the balloon was over territorial waters, the biden administration was able to maximize the likelihood that the pod could be recovered, while minimizing the risk that americans would be injured by falling debris. pentagon officials said it weighed as much as two or three buses and could have caused considerable damage if it had hit land. if it had fallen over montana, 2000 people could have been in danger from scattered debris. as a military operation, the shootdown was relatively simple. an f-22 raptor fired and aim nine missile at the balloon and

video cameras showed what happened. pentagon officials stated the key targeting party was to avoid shooting clear through the balloon, which might have left it largely intact and able to travel another 500 to 600 miles east, perhaps out of range of u.s. retrieval. the pentagon weighed whether it would be possible to partially deflate balloon and capture the intelligence pot at lower altitude, but no technology exists that would allow such a butterfly net capture operation. now to the mysteries part. intelligence officials don't know what might have prompted the chinese to launch the mission now, on the eve of the secretary of state antony blinken's visit to china, which has been canceled because of the overflight. now, there is the possibility that the chinese military or leadership may have purposely sabotage the visit.

the final possibility is that this was simply a mistake, a chain of error, something impossible in any intelligence or military operation. sam in illinois, independent. hi, tim, good morning. caller: good morning. some quick notes on everything. on the police reforms, hooker and harris sabotaged that a couple years back. everybody knows that. but the media won't call them out on it. tim scott was the honest broker on that. they could have had a deal, but they didn't want it because trump was president. schumer and pelosi have destroyed the budgetary process in america. we have no appropriations, no regular order. schumer does not believe in budgeting and that was proven

this past deal in december. on the china con balloon, i think all americans should feel a little less secure and less safe after what took place over the last five or six days. to not have that shot down over alaska is truly detrimental and a catastrophe. and it is amazing where the squad is this weekend, this past weekend. you don't hear them unless they can whine and scream over the most petty items in america. defending omar, but when it comes to national security and issues of interest, and the safety of this country, you cannot find them. host: randy in missouri, democratic color. it is your turn. caller: good morning. i'm concerned about the budget. i have a way we could save some money. the people on death or who have been there for years and years, people are paying for food, close, education, everything else.

look, if you are sentenced to death for some craziness you have done, why the world should we take care of you when there are people walking the street who don't have food themselves and have no money -- have no food of thereof. put abel in their head and be done with that. host: republican in texas. go ahead. caller: i want to have president biden charged with insubordination. using the military, the president of the united states has to have permission from congress to use the military. he used the military to shoot down a balloon. that was a military matter and the military knew where that balloon was that all the time. host: f-22 jet missiles were used to strike the balloon. the fighter took the shot soon after the balloon cross the coast, providing a margin for debris to fall, with prevailing winds, landing six miles

offshore, within the 12 mile limit of u.s. territorial waters. high-end surveillance balloons in their payloads can be brought back with the use of onboard parachutes, said industry experts. these are triggered by remote operators. the shootdown of the relatively slow moving target left the debris spread across seven miles of shallow water. the takedown was the first kill for the f-22, the air force's premier air to air fighter. and it is the first time this has been done from such a high altitude. it took off from a joint base langley in virginia and used the call signs franco one and franco two, a spokesman for northern command said. that was a nod to frank lucas junior, the u.s. ace who was awarded the medal of honor for shooting down numerous german observation balloons during world war i. a little bit about that military operation. gary in new york, independent.

hi, gary. caller: good morning, greta. thank you for taking my call. on ronald reagan's 112th birthday, i would like to see congress put into legislation, maybe adding ronald reagan's name to washington and lincoln for presidents' day. i would like to see ronald reagan's name with washington and lincoln for presidents' day. host: ruth, st. louis, missouri. democratic color. what's on your mind? caller: this is what i've was calling about. it is my degree with the other call about police brutality. if that man had been black to attack nancy pelosi's husband, he definitely would have been killed. also, i notice whenever i look at the tv and i see white people when they run from the police,

they are chaste and everything, whenever they catch them, i don't ever see them beating them the way they do our people. they are not shooting them. that's what i wanted to say about police brutality, how racist it is. thank you. host: john, california, republican. hi, john. caller: good morning, greta. i have a pet peeve. people, turn on your tv sets when you come and talk. why do you think you sound intelligent if you cannot turn down your tv? but what i want to call about is the balloon. and i want to call about, this could be the first shot of war three. -- world war iii. let's put two and two together. china has the research and a balloon that traveled through our weather patterns, and could be used for dispersal of a future virus that could main or

kill many millions of americans. i think this is so serious. i think biden is going to blunder into this and we are not taken this seriously enough. host: john, let's listen to senator tom cotton. he was on fox news sunday, talking about the spy balloon and the biden administration's response to it. [video clip] >> shannon, what began as a spy balloon has begun -- has become a problem, tasting president biden's strength and resolve. unfortunately, the president failed that test. that is dangerous for the american people. the president was paralyzed for an entire week by a balloon. we should've shut this balloon down over the aleutian islands. we should never have allowed it to transit the entire continental united states. i think there's a lot of open questions that the

administration needs to answer to congress, on behalf of the american people, about why they did not. i think part of it is the president's election to take action that could be viewed as confrontational tour chinese communists. i think what would be confrontational is sending spy balloon's all across america. but second, i do believe the administration wanted to salvage the secretary of state strip on friday night. they got through thursday afternoon. anklet, civilians in montana identified this balloon and blew the whistle on it. finally, the administration fessed up to the american people, it took another 12 hours, before the secretary of state canceled what was already an ill-advised trip. i think there's a lot of answers for the american administration to provide the people. host: senator cotton on fox news sunday. one of our viewers texted us to write this. "has it not occurred to biden critics that the u.s. was gathering valuable intelligence from the chinese balloon in a classified program that the

administration is not at liberty to discuss?" lewis in oklahoma, a republican. good morning to you. caller: good morning. i have a question about that pact act's with hypertension. i'm a veteran and they are not clarifying what they mean by hypertension, how your blood pressure is to be or not to be on medication. could you clarify that? host: i apologize. i don't know enough about it. but i would encourage you to reach out to veterans groups in your community and the veterans administration, a va hospital as well. riverside, california, independent. hi, ginger. caller: hello. host: good morning to you. we are listening. caller: thank you. i have a question about nebraska, china buying up the farmlands in nebraska. we have silos there. i wondering if these are independent, individual farmers

that are selling, and how did china get a hold of them? are they allowing them to infiltrate? can you answer that question or does anyone have an answer? host: all right, ginger. here is a caller texting us to say there is a four-year-old veteran, it sickens me to hear about defense cuts. folks who advocate this are losing sight of the geopolitical challenges we face. i was born in africa and i see what china is doing there. now, they are south of us. wake up, people. henry in virginia, democratic color. henry, what is the public policy issue want to talk about? caller: i just want to talk about the balloon. i trust my intelligence in the military. they handle everything right. they did not have the willy-nilly thought of blasting everything. people are upset the balloon wasn't posing any threat. they have families and stuff in this country, too.

do you think they want a balloon flying over their families and everything, too? i think people need to pump the brakes and think about stuff, before making wild accusations, these wild talking points. the military has got it. they have billions of dollars to spend. they have this. they know just what was on the balloon and they have good context with her. that's all i need to say. have a wonderful day. host: all right, henry. one newspaper is reporting political news. passing on a senate run. she will retire from senate at the end of this term. victoria spartz, of indiana, announced she will not run for congress in 2024. she is retiring from the house and passing on indiana's open senate seat. "i won a lot of tough battles for the people and will work hard to win more in the next two years. however, being a mom is tough

and i need to spend more time with my girls at home, so i will not run in 2024. -- 2024." many of you also saw her vote during that speaker vote that went on for days at the beginning of the 118th congress. kim in valley center, california. a republican. good morning. oops, i pushed the wrong button. hang on a second. here we go. one more time. kim, are you there in california? caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: i called because i want to talk about our most forgotten minority, the developmentally disabled of this country. people with autism, down syndrome, cerebral palsy. in this country, we continue to

suffer under loaded bureaucracies you cannot solve the pervasive problems of shortages and certain safety and inadequate wages for direct support professionals. what are people in congress doing about this? host: christine in rhode island, democratic color. what is your issue this morning? caller: good morning. there is a lot of topics, but i would like to just say something about the lady that just called in. that is the field i was in for 30-something years. my problem is with the propaganda. i have seen it through covid. i lost five family members. by the way, i know it was a tough time for all the nurses and the direct support workers and the families that had to deal with all of this. but the santos was walking around the house, looking like

he was looking for waldorf or something. that is one of my concerns for but they have pages and pages. they need to get their act together. as far as the investigation on covid, we had a president that we were following as the united states citizens, to listen to a president with just propaganda and letting covid go out of control, along with the republican party. it was just disgraceful. they are worried about air balloons? they could have shot it out anywhere and whatever. but yeah, it is just a lot of propaganda. right now, with russia going on, with ukraine, we have a big concern. they need to get their act together. if not, they need to be voted out and somebody get into do their job. host: christine, i am going to

move on to joe in clearwater, florida. independent. caller: good morning. the media identified this balloon as a spy balloon. how did they know it was a spy balloon? why couldn't it be a weather balloon, as china said it was he? -- was? how are they able to determine it was a spy balloon or is that just big news? host: frank in michigan, republican. hi, frank. caller: it's funny that china runs from us in the past. in south america, several countries, that's what china is doing. they are building naval ports, airbases. in return, they are helping out the countries. but once they get that done, then that's what we have to worry about. they are going to have their navy out there in the ports, the

airbases, and it is just going to be like that "red dawn" movie. we don't have anything by way of defenses, because they will be in africa, south america, and they will have the biggest force in the navy, the air force, you name it. host: frank there in michigan. the "wall street journal" reports on more president biden will head after tomorrow night's state of the union address. he is slated to travel to wisconsin on the 2024 presidential battleground. on thursday, he is scheduled to visit florida, the home of two potential 2024 gop rivals, to highlight plans to strengthen social security and medicare, and reduce health care costs. on friday, he will discuss the economic agenda with governors and meet with brazil's president. in other political news and a story right next to that one,

coke lead network turns page on former president trump. a group funded by billionaire charles koch will work to support a republican presidential nominee other than donald trump, concluding in a strategy memo that "we need to." turn the page on the past." the organization has stayed out of the last two presidential cycles, but has concluded it needs to engage now, as president trump mounts his air to consecutive white house run. it does not mention the former president by name, but it is unambiguous in its purpose. let's hear from andrew in d.c., democratic color. -- caller. caller: hello. how is it going? i just want to say that the chinese are very interesting people. they think in millenniums. they are thinking 1000 years in the future, while we are thinking a few years because of our political system. the hope is that hopefully they

are prudent enough to not to what actually go to kinetic warfare and they're going to be focused on death by 1000 cuts. this balloon is just another one of those cuts to our psyche. like deplete his caller said, they are setting up -- like the previous caller said, there setting up numerous military bases. we have to be very careful about how they are very focused on the entire pie, which is thousands of years. i think maybe there is a but maybe there will. i think americans do need to think a little differently when we are dealing with china. it is not cut and dry, like a five-year plan for them. it is a 1000-your plan peered when you torment for that. host: president biden likely to address the alleged chinese spy balloon, as well a relations with china and other couri, in his statef e union address that he will deliver tomorrow night at 8 m.astern

time. watch coverage here on sp, on demand at c-span.org, or wnad our free mobile video p. we are going to begin with a preview of his speech at 8 p.m. stn time, then we will go to the house and let a oyou watch as the pop and circumstance unfolds, the president enters the chamb, talks with members of congress. you llee supreme court justices, membs hisabet , guests of membs congress, d also the guests of the president will be there as well. he will use them to talk about his agenda. following the president, the republicans will deliver their response. after that, we will open up the phone lines and get reaction to what you heard from the president. tony in florida, and independent. hi, tony. caller: good morning. i have a topic, nothing to do with china. i am more concerned with the

southern border. here, we have a homeless crisis all over this country. but we are still allowing immigrants to come in this country and we cannot even solve our own homeless problem. host: lenny in gilbert, minnesota, republican. what is the public policy issue you want to talk about? caller: yes, good morning. i was calling about the balloon. here, what i would have to say is that it was just a few short months ago that when pelosi, speaker of the house pelosi, went to taiwan, boy, what an uproar was graded by the chinese. military was called out, they threatened to even shoot down her airplane. so, i would consider all those provocative actions by either side heightens attention. now, they are saying, and i don't know if this is fact or

not, there are multiple balloons flown across the united states in previous years. i would think somebody needs to get down to the bottom of this. and also, it decrease the heat between the two sides, because we have a lot trade going on. thank you for your day. host: all right, lenny. donald, michigan, democratic color. caller: yeah, i keep hearing people talk about this balloon. it sounds like they did the right thing, waiting for her to get to the water. it seems like these republican people are just looking for a "gotcha" moment. what did they think biden can do right? i used to ask this questions with obama with the republicans. is he doing anything right? let's talk about some of the things he is doing right, besides trying to get you on the balloon issue. host: in your opinion, what is

he doing right? caller: he is listening to the people, as far as what the people want, instead of these corporations. i think he is doing a lot for the common man, rather than the common corporation, with concerns to the republicans. there's a lot of things he's doing good for the people. that's what he's supposed to be doing, actually working for the people. host: tim, pikeville, tennessee, independent. caller: yes, i was wanting to know if these balloons have been floating for weeks and months and years, why weren't they taken down whenever they come into u.s. airspace? and why did they let them blow across the states, looking at nuclear plants, stuff like that? why were they allowed to come

into u.s. airspace, is what i'm saying? host: brenda, missouri, republican. caller: well, everybody says what biden has done about the balloon and they keep saying that trump had the balloons come across. what did he do? no one ever says what he did. host: on that issue, the "wall street journal" and the "washington post" say congress was notified of previous balloons, but the "wall street journal" says they were not detected. this story written in the "wall street journal," china previously sent balloons over the united states after leaving american airspace. after the pentagon disclosed last week that it was tracking

this balloon, which the air force tried on saturday off the carolina coast, officials said that there had been prior intrusions across the continental u.s., at least three of those during donald trump's presidency, while one previously happened under president biden. those previous balloon flights were much shorter in duration, perhaps explain why some went undetected at the time. one official said that much of the information on the flights was pieced together later. richard in verona, missouri, democratic color. good morning. caller: good morning. i have two things i want to talk about here. has anyone ever heard of francis gary powers? they have been talk -- they've been flying over the countries for years, trying to get information. japan has tried to blow up california. another thing, this lady that

got shot at in the capitol, she is wanting to bring people in. that lady was in the capitol to kill the people up there. the mob that got a hold of them, that guy that shot that lady probably saved the country. host: all right, richard, i'm going to leave it there. that does it for open form today in today's "washington journal." we will be back tomorrow morning , 7 a.m. eastern time. enjoy the rest of your week. ♪ >> start your day with "washington journal", your

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