announcer: fridays, c-span brings you -- from a program where nonfiction authors are interviewed by journalists and others on their latest work. this week, a critical look at the immigration issues at the southern border of the u.s. and how joe biden unleashed the greatest border crisis in u.s. history. investigative immigration reporter --. watch afterwards on c-span. since 1979, his partnership with the cable industry, c-span has can bite -- provide a complete coverage. from the house and senate floors to congressional hearings, party briefings and committee

meetings, c-span gives you a front row seat to how issues are debated with no commentary, no interruptions, and completely unfiltered. c-span: your unfiltered view of government. host: the government response to disasters, what is your trust level? we will show that to you. some data was done in the wake of the east palestine spill, the train derailment nearly three weeks ago. below -- also hear from some of those who have been on site including donald trump, transportation secretary pete buttigieg expected to be in the ohio area today for that train derailment. we showed you some of the video at the top with the ohio governor and -- drinking water.

the washington times making some -- this morning and the editorial cartoon. the trusting the government. everybody else is raising a glass of bottled water for trusting the government. that is this morning in the washington times, but that data i mentionedmp was donec by a group called civic science. they are pulling on how disaster response was done. here's what the headline says. most americans have low trust in government leaders to respond to incidents like the east palestine stranger ailment. earlier in the month, they will write a freight train is carrying a number of rail chemicals in ohio. and the subsequent days, residents will be evacuated from their homes, and crews will conduct a controlled-release and burn. other chemicals as well. the evacuation order has since

been lifted, but some residents are not convinced. the list of known chemicals that is being traded keeps expanding. i want to throw in a good deal of national media attention. it was a common refrain. it hasn't ceased from pain -- like other major events. how closely america is following. there also is a pull on the east and chemical omission east palestine ohio. how much trust would you have in your state and federal leaders to respond to a similar incident. here are their findings. of the ones who were pulled, i trust them a lot -- 19% said that. i trust them a little -- 40%. i don't trust them at all -- 41%. this morning, your trust level

of government during disaster. (202) 748-8000 for eastern and central time zones. (202) 748-8001 for mountain and pacific. here's the headline in the hill. pete buttigieg travel to east palestine thursday amid criticism that the biden administration is not doing enough. he was on cbs earlier this week. >> there are several things we're working on, even while we continue to respect the work of the independent ntsb. the national transportation safety board which is independent from my department. it is leading the safety investigation. it will take a while for the report to come through, but we don't have to wait for that report in order to take certain steps we are calling for and taking right now. but today, we are pushing a three-part drive a real safety. things we're doing is an agency. things we are asking congress to support us. as we are saying need to change of the rail industry.

i will give you a couple examples bread we are continuing to drive forward on a roll that will require minimum staffing on trains and a time where the rail industry is being pushed for one person. trains can run longer. there needs to be a minimum of two, that is something we are working on in the regulatory process. i have directed the federal rail administration to step up and focus on an inspection program for routes that have hazardous materials. we are calling congress into raise cap on fun so we can better hold rail companies accountable when they are in violation. host: the transportation secretary is expected in east palestine today. it is the first time in the past since the disaster three weeks ago. our opening question is asking you about your trust in government disaster response. (202) 748-8000 is the line to

use for eastern and central time zones. (202) 748-8001 for mountain and pacific. you can text us at (202) 748-8003. tell us your name and where you are texting from. members of congress are out this week, but they are weighing in on issues related to the spill in ohio. the derailment in ohio. this is for make congressman in michigan saying in his response to east palestine, secretary pete buttigieg has been too little too late. needs to take this disaster seriously. actually do his job. frankly, get ahead of these issues in the future. this is congresswoman susan wild of pennsylvania. she is saying good, norfolk southern created this method -- mess and they should be ruth -- financially responsible for cleaning the set. ross in california texted us.

disaster response -- biting didn't show up in ohio. trump was there yesterday. she can still has bad water. all of politicians going back to obama failed to correct that. this is from nbc. the pennsylvania governor. josh shapiro says that he is working with the ohio governor. shapiro says his office made a criminal referral in the ohio stranger ailment. the governor said on tuesday, it is a criminal referral in response to the stranger ailment. josh shapiro, the governor shared information out of east palestine. with mike dewine of ohio. the epa administrator and other officials who reportedly asked what actions the governor might take such as penalizing norfolk southern. a quote stated that we have made a criminal referral to pennsylvania to review.

we can speak to that beyond those comments. president donald trump was in ohio yesterday. this is a report yesterday from the washington times. an ohio town with the political nature of this. an early salvo of 20 24th race. the wall street journal headline. they write that residents of the small town in the ohio and pennsylvania border are recovering from a trained or ailment that is now an environmental cleanup site. also, becoming teacher players in one of the first political skirmishes of the 2024 presidential campaign. president biden was briefed on conditions in east palestine while he was rallying europe to ukraine's aid in poland. the former president visited the disaster area on wednesday afternoon. mr. trump is running for president again. mr. biden is expected to announce a reelection bid soon. over the past few weeks, the

community has shown tough and resilient hearts of america may fire station after surveying the area and getting a briefing. he accused by demonstration of indifference and betrayal. the wall street journal echoes the comments earlier that transportation secretary pete to judge, a presidential candidate, widely seen as a future ambitious player, has received criticism for not addressing the crisis. he will visit on thursday, and saying that he could have spoken sooner by how strongly i felt about the incident. let's hear what president trump had to say yesterday and his visit in ohio. >> biden in fema said they would not send federal aid to east palestine under any circumstances. they will not send any. it is a strange statement because i've been working with fema for a long time. for years, and they were great with us with the tornadoes, the

hurricanes, and things like this. it was a strange statement and come out. they were doing nothing for you. they were intending to do apsley nothing. jd and i spoke and they said they are not coming. they're not going to come. it is very strange. specifically, this doesn't meet the criteria. it's horrible. somebody has to do something for those people. i said back, when i was coming, they changed it. it was an amazing phenomenon. the mayor and i were discussing that. it was quite amazing what happened. they said we can't let this happen. it was a big change. have you ever seen a change like that. it was a rapid change. we can't let this happen. we will be there. we open up the dam, and we got them to move, and they all came in, and now they are pouring you with help. i have a great relationship with

fema. i found them to be incredible. amazing in every way. we had tremendous luck with the tornadoes and all of the hurricanes and everything else we have had. they were fantastic, and now they are fantastic here. it could have been a few -- two weeks earlier. at least a week earlier. they decided to do it this way. it came from the top. host: the former president in east palestine, ohio, after the jarrell meant, the chemical spill there. (202) 748-8000 for eastern and central time zones. (202) 748-8001 for mountain and pacific. we are talking about your feelings on the government's response during disaster -- federal and state response during the disasters. a local disaster which has had national implications. as is the case here in east palestine ohio.

those are the phone lines. (202) 748-8000 for eastern and central time zones. (202) 748-8001 for mountain and pacific. you can text us as well. (202) 748-8003. we are at c-span wj on twitter. a couple of comments on tax. trust in government. wide does the trumpet ministration in 2018 relaxed the rules on transporting hazardous materials on trains. why did the department of transportation, governor of ohio, allow these hazardous trains to run through their state. it is all about the money. that is mike in orlando florida. jan in salem says we constantly hear about state power. the governor's response was limited. it was all safe. now president biden is getting blamed for limited response. let's look at trump who decreased safety standards for rail inspections and brake upgrades for trains, hauling toxic materials.

richard in las vegas said this is the first disaster response i've seen where the government officials seem completely on compassion, as if they don't care about the people affected. let's go to your calls. charlotte is first in munro township, new jersey. welcome. caller: good morning. donald trump is not the president. why is he going out there. the epa did go. if anyone needs to be responsible, it is the rail line that sent the trains out there and caused the disruption of the trains. host: david in madison heights, michigan. good morning. caller: thank you, c-span for taking my call. i can't believe you wouldn't cover our president's visit to ukraine and poland.

but you cover trump disrupting ohio. it is a failed to governor. it is a failed republican. that is the problem. you guys are so right. it's pathetic. thank you very much. host: from ohio, it's patrick. lady lake, florida. i am sorry. caller: i googled how many trains or ailments from 1990 to 2020, there were 56,000, but 1700 three omits a year. you didn't mention that. that is kind of pathetic. host: patrick? caller: all of these pro-lifers that are worried about children safety don't seem to care how many chemicals there are in the

food, the water. i've called four times about wall street journal articles on pesticides causing autism. everyone and their brothers is suing round up. other chemicals in our food. you just kind of ignore that. it is pathetic. host: this is a story in politico about transportation secretary pete buttigieg. the train jarrell meant puts a harsh spotlight on pete peter j. the small ohio village is putting pressure on him like never before, leaving him scrambling to contain a crisis. only partially under his purview well absorbing the brunt of attacks from the bind administration adversaries. publicly and privately, signs are growing that the transportation secretary's usual eagle scout patients is giving way to frustration. he has gotten into twitter spats with u.s. senators. his current brushoff of a daily caller reporter who ambushed him during a walk turned into a

viral video that has drawn more than 3 million views since tuesday night. on wednesday, pete buttigieg's allies were complaining that he is taking an unfair pounding over the disaster. all because of a perceived ambition as a one time in future presidential hopeful. pete buttigieg has taken a lot of bullets for the president on this. one democrat said on wednesday. assisting on anonymity to talk about the crisis. he is not authorized to discuss, but still, and a cbs interview, he could have spoken out sooner about how strongly i felt about this incident. that is a lesson learned from me. we are talking about the government response to disasters, particularly the train wreck, but more broadly, other disasters that require federal response. (202) 748-8000 the line for eastern and central time zones. (202) 748-8001 for mountain and specific.

we'll go to james in new jersey. good morning. caller: yeah. thank you for taking my call. now, government [indiscernible] army corps of engineering [indiscernible] that should be done. host: what do you think should be done? caller: [indiscernible] army corps of engineering [indiscernible] go back in time [indiscernible] trustworthy. caller: [indiscernible]

host: we are going to massachusetts next. bill. good morning. caller: this is all about -- if this had happened -- in new york or washington or california, they would have been there like a day or two after it happened. this is all about the deplorable's that are no good. we want to get rid of them. it is definitely political. we've got this freak that is the head of the transportation who makes up that it didn't even happen. number three, they burned the chemicals that were supposed to be vacuumed up so that caused a giant black cloud that destroyed -- it is in lake erie. this is going to be like maybe trillions hundreds of billions of dollars worth of damage.

this clown of a president is giving trillions of dollars to ukraine. people in america that were told to go back to the house and the public are going to die. all of the water has to be replaced. once again, we've got a piece of crab in the white house. host: president biden strip overseas is the focus of this article. it started with a surprise as it to ukraine. it bolsters ties with eastern european nations. they write that president biden met with the leaders of europe's eastern flank on wednesday. it demonstrated his administration's renewed focus on the great power competition with both russia and china. the meeting with the so-called bucharest nine emphasizes a central role on the periphery of the european union and the nato

bread it now plays a role in the geopolitical landscape following a war. the nato secretary also attended the meeting. mr. biden praised the country as the frontline of western defenses, saying they were aware of what is at stake in the conflict. not just for ukraine, but for the freedom of democracy around europe and around the world. back here in the united states, the mayor of east palestine is trent conway. he spoke to reporters at a news conference with the epa administrators. some of his brief comments are here. >> we've had amazing media response to this, and they are all over our town. townspeople -- please don't take this wrong, but they are sick of seeing you in town. they want to get back. we want to get back. we are a quiet little town, and that is where we want to go. i really hope something good can come out of this. i know that sounds odd with what

is transpiring in the last few weeks, but our goal is to come out better. without the help of the epa and state and local governments. at some point. >> the mayor of east palestine, trent conway on tuesday. this is a headline from vice this morning. politicians are drinking the water. they are proving it is safe. we showed you some of that video from the media event on tuesday. we are asking this morning your trust in government disaster response. the lines are (202) 748-8000 for eastern and central time zones. (202) 748-8001 for mountain and specific. and you can send a text to [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, to (202) 748-8003.

a couple of those texts here from chesapeake virginia. big business uses us as an inconvenient truth. jerry in florida. under republican rule, they are enjoying the epa regulations. people come last. here is a result rate corporate greed reign supreme. here's one from steve. he sends a text. i guess it depends on the disaster. we are always prepared for hurricanes. here in charleston, are -- on automatic major chemical spill is another story. i'm not sure how that response effort will go. back to your calls in san diego. thomas. good morning. caller: dustin observation. i was hoping maybe you can help me understand, when the binding mr. risch and took office, he was able to use executive orders to affect government printouts wondering if he could have used an executive order to reat