reporting on the origins of the covid-19 virus and a revised assessment by the energy department. then julia manchester previews the conservative political action conference. washington journal starts now. >> the ccp has found friends on wall street, k street, in the public health community, who are

ready and willing to oppose efforts to push back. this strategy has worked well in the past and the ccp is confident it will work again. our task of this committee is to ensure that it does not. host: that was republican congressman mike gallagher laying out the mission of the new house select committee on china during the panel's first during last night in primetime hearing this morning, we are talking about that hearing and what members described last night as an extensional struggle with the chinese communist party and with the world will look like in the 21st century. we are doing so with phone lines split by palooka party. democrats, -- by political party. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can send us a text. that number, (202) 748-8003.

if you do, please include your name and where you're from. otherwise, catch up with us on social media. on twitter, it is @cspanwj. on facebook, it is facebook.com/cspan. you can start calling in now on the hearing last night by the house select committee on china. did you watch? what did you think? here is the hill's wrap-up of the hearing, saying, tough talk on the threat posed by the chinese communist party. the house select committee on china kicked off his first hearing tuesday evening with fireworks as it laid out the challenge facing the u.s. and catching up and confronting an aggressive foe in beijing. here is more from the panel's chairman, mike gallagher. >> thanks to speaker mccarthy and leader jeffries, we have an excellent group of thoughtful legislators on this committee on both sides. we will be working hand in hand with our teammates on the standing committees,

particularly michael mccaul, who helped set the stage for our work through the 2020 china task force. his leadership produced a number of bipartisan proposals that we must build upon as we investigate and expose the ideological, technological, economic and military threat posed by the chinese communist party. we may call this a strategic competition, but it is not a polite tennis match. this is an existential struggle over what life will look like in the 21st century. in the most fun to mental -- and the most fundamental freedoms are at stake. the ccp -- where human rights are subordinate to the whims of the party. for the time being, it is still up to us to decide if that is the future we want for our children, but it will not be for much longer. time is not on our side.

just because this congress is divided, we cannot afford to waste the next two years lingering in legislative limbo or pandering to the press. we must act with a sense of urgency. i believe our policy over the next 10 years set the stage for the next 100. we cannot allow the ccp's dystopia to prevail. therefore, we must learn from our mistakes. for much of the past half-century, we try to win them over, believing economic engagement would lead to reforms in china, but the party has made the same bet. the only part -- problem is it did not work out. we were wrong. the ccp laughed at our naivete while they took advantage of our good faith. the era of wishful thinking is over. the select committee will not allow the ccp to lull us into complacency or maneuver us into submission. host: mike gallagher, the chairman of that new committee,

the select committee on china. it was a hearing last night held in prime time. we will show you more clips from the hearing through this first hour of the washington journal. we mostly want to hear what you think about the focus of the hearing. did you watch? what did you think about those who testified and the members of congress as well? republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. plenty of measures moving through capitol hill when it comes to the issue of china. one of them is a house committee set to take up legislation that would effectively ban tiktok, but hurdles likely lay ahead for the measure even if it wins preliminary approval. the bill would effectively block u.s. interactions with the popular chinese owned video sharing app, according to a draft version viewed by the wall street journal. the data act was expected to be

taken up by the house foreign affairs committee. the draft calls for the treasury secretary to issue a directive prohibiting u.s. transactions with any entity that may transfer sensitive personal data to an entity controlled or influenced by china. tiktok certainly one of the focuses of last night's hearing. another issue that came up in the hearing last night, competition with china and whether the united states is falling behind. from the other end of pennsylvania avenue to the executive branch and the commerce department, the biden administration unveiled rules yesterday for his chips for america program to build up semi conductor research and manufacturing in the united states, beginning a new rush toward federal funding in that sector. the commerce department has $50 billion to hand out in the form of direct funding, federal loans and loan guarantees. this is one of the largest federal investments in a single industry in decades and highlights the concern in washington about american dependence on foreign ships.

that is the story from the new york times. this is the tweet from the commerce department. we are launching the first chips for america funding opportunity, a chance to unleash the next generation of american innovation and protect our national security and preserve our global economic petted of nests. it was chuck schumer, the senate majority leader, who tweeted about -- retweeting secretary raimondo, calling it a big step toward making the u.s. a world leader in chip production come out competing the ccp, creating tens of thousands of good paying construction and manufacturing jobs. the senate majority leader yesterday. we want to hear if you watched the hearing last night, your thoughts on the competition, the threats posed by china. lines for democrats, republicans, and independents. this is louis out of colorado.

republican. good morning. caller: i think we are at war with china. the invasion of the southern border -- how can 100,000 americans die from fentanyl and not hold china and mexico accountable? it is beyond me, so i think we are already at war. and how it ends is not going to be pretty. so good luck. thank you. host: from colorado to new york. this is moses in brooklyn, democrat. caller: good morning. i have a couple of comments. for starters, it is disheartening to watch that hearing and not a single person mentions mitch mcconnell, who

got a couple million dollars from the ccp. his wife and her family own shipping company that was created and in a heartbeat could be destroyed by -- since it gets all its business from chinese companies, could be destroyed, so mitch mcconnell is just as corrupt as biden. mcconnell and his family have made $500 million from the ccp and no mention of that. host: where did you get the $500 million figure? caller: through investigations. it is at least $300 million maybe $500 million might be the upper end range, but it is at least $300 million. do a cursory investigation.

no one disputes that mcconnell got a $10 million gift from his father-in-law. no one disputes -- gift. no one disputes that his wife has had multiple cabinet positions, that her dad owns a shipping company, that her dad is good friends with leadership of the ccp. no one disputes that, so what is the problem? host: this is mira in washington, line for democrats. caller: this is one of my first times calling you. i was very impressed with all the hearings and the information given by the questioners and people that answered was very clear and concise, so i as a

senior citizen, could understand. i have been really very upset. i have always voted. i am a senior citizen that has been so disgusted with all the turmoil among our congress members, but this looks like a committee that will be willing to work together, and that makes me happy because i was considering just not voting in the next election. i have always voted or just switching over possibly to the independent. so thank you very much. host: we played you that clip of the republican chairman of the new panel. here are some of the opening statements of the democratic ranking member. this is what he had to say. >> it is an honor to serve as the ranking member of the select committee in a bipartisan effort to address the economic security

and technology problems we face from the chinese communist party. i believe three overarching themes will underpin our success as a committee. first, we must always protect american values and interests. second, at our best, this committee can help us as americans to up our game as a people. for example, through investments and technology of the future, workforce improvement, and by fixing weaknesses in our economy such as in our supply chains and legal immigration system. we must practice bipartisanship and avoid anti-chinese or asian stereotyping at all costs. we must recognize the ccp wants us to be fractious, partisan, and prejudiced. the ccp hopes for it. but what they do not get is that the diversity of our viewpoints and backgrounds is not a bug in

america's operating system. it is our defining feature and strength. as nancy pelosi, for whom this room is named, has said, our diversity is our strength and our unity is our power. our unity of purpose, and action -- in action, and as americans. we must some of that unity to safeguard our values and economic way of life going forward. host: the democratic ranking member last night. that was about 12 hours ago that that hearing kicked off, the sun rising on capitol hill this wednesday morning. did you watch last night's hearing? what did you think about their work and what they are focusing on for a little more on that front from the wall street journal? the wrapup of the hearing, the new select committee does not have the authority to draft legislation but has the authority to issue subpoenas,

like the january 6 committee. the china panel here aims to build a narrative in a way that is accessible to the public. witnesses for the hearing last night highlight different aspects of the china challenge, including the former deputy national security advisor to the trump administration, his former boss, h.r. mcmaster is going to discuss the military dimension. a longtime democratic activist focused on human rights. and the alliance for american manufacturing offering a business persptive. if you missed the heang what you can watch it on our website. this is larry in oregon. did you watch last night? caller: yes. with some discussed -- disgust.

china has no threat to the united states, never was. they have no intention of being. in one generation, they have lifted 800 million people out of poverty, twice our population. their middle class is bigger than our country. what disturbs our elite is effectiveness, the success of the chinese. that is the so-called existential threat. i was taught as a child to hate russia. now i am taught to fear china. i studied political economy for over 50 years and i have noticed a huge growth in our military presence around the globe. china has no bases outside of its territory. they are not an aggressive power. the american people are going to buy another bad movie and long regret it. host: it was last night during the testimony of h.r.

mcmaster's, a former white house national security advisor, that protesters interrupted the hearing, calling the hearing in part saber rattling by the u.s. government. here is that two minutes from last night. >> this committee can help the united states catch up in the competition with the ccp. it can do so by holding hearings that reveal the nature of the ccp aggression and what is at stake for americans and citizens of the free world. perhaps most important, the committee can help determine the combinations of policies and legislation necessary to counter ccp aggression and rebuild america's and the free world's competitive energy is. >> pause for a second. you will be given additional time and we will take care of

this. >> there are people in guam and hawaii. [inaudible] >> general mcmaster, you may continue. >> thank you. this committee can help the united states -- >> this is saber rattling this is not about peace. we need cooperation. >> your sign is upside down. >> we need to address that. host: that is in the hearing last night, the house select committee on china. there was another witness on the panel yesterday who at the

beating of his statements ended up speaking to the actions of those protesters. that would be scott paul, president of the alliance for american manufacturing. here's what he had to say. >> i appreciate the opportunity to testify. i think it bears saying that those protesters have a right to an unlimited amount of free speech in the united states and to petition their government for the redress of grievances. they have no such right and china. their voices would be silenced, perhaps permanently. the economic policies of the chinese communist party represent a clear and present danger to the american worker, our innovation-based, and our national security. for decades, the ccp has telegraphed its intentions with five-year plans, the made in china 2025 program commit military civil fusion, and the belton road initiative. its goal, to dominate industry, set global standards, seek opportunity from crisis, and we

can. the ccp has attracted american investment to do this. i now ask to play video. u.s. company investment in china grew tenfold in two decades to $1.3 trillion in total. our indian china group -- r&d in china grew. stealing intellectual property, cyber hacking, piracy. the cost, tens of thousands of factory closures in america, 600 billion dollars in ip losses alone. host: scott paul, the president of the alliance for american manufacturing last night at the hearing. want to show the front page of china daily, the state newspaper , the state-sponsored newspaper by the chinese communist party. this is their english-language edition. we do not subscribe to it.

they drop it off at our front door every day along with other news organizations in this building that houses quite a few news organizations near capitol hill, but picked it up today. this is the front page. they do not mention last night's hearing on the front page or on the inside pages. they have a story on the front page about washington's over lone balloon story, which has lost steam. that is the headline there. on the inside of this morning's china daily, two stories to note focused on u.s. actions. the lead editorial, u.s. continues to spread lies to continue its hegemony. one more editorial, tiktok the target of anti-china paranoia. that is what is in the china daily today. back to her phone calls, it is richard in a new york. good morning. caller: interesting, the

conversation. one of the things i would like to say first, last night i believe one of our children's agencies put out information that the covid virus was manufactured in a lab. i thought that would be something that would be very interesting. host: on that front, it was the energy department that had a new assessment that they believe that is where it was manufactured. the story was broken over the weekend and the wall street journal. one of the reporters on that story was richard strobel. he will join us in about 40 minutes to talk about that story , the lab leak theory, how the u.s. government comes up with these assessments. we are certainly going to talk about that from 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. eastern. caller: thank you so much. i believe christopher wray confirmed that last night. host: we will talk about that as

well. caller: fantastic. one thing i would like to say -- if you felt that way or had that belief, you were censored. your accounts were banned if you said covid came from china and was possibly manufactured in a lab. dr. fauci said it did not happen, it jumped from a bat. another thing i would like to say, mark milley, which i also saw on c-span, and i am not a trump supporter at all, but when trump was president -- he said if trump makes any move on china i will give you a heads up without trump knowing. so you can see how we undermined ourselves. another thing i would like to say -- it was another thing.

it is about joe biden because if it shows the joe biden was compromised, by china, then that is something for national security we should be on the lookout for. i would like to sum up all these things to say the nba -- you could criticize china. if you are a united states citizen -- land in china. it is not allowed. chinese land only goes to chinese people, but they are gobbling up tons of land here. i do not think china necessarily would be a military threat, but how they would do it is i believe they would infiltrate through our culture, through liberal youth. that is their channel, the fact

that we are allowed to criticize them. look at all the major universities. you not allowed to criticize china. in the media, you guys have to do a better job at stopping the censorship of free speech. the way i'm speaking now, i would not be able to speak on c-span a couple years ago. host: this is john in tennessee, democrat. good morning. caller: are you here? host: yes. caller: nobody in congress can render an intelligent assessment of china until they have read henry kissinger's book on china. it is a different culture, different mindset. been around for 4000 years.

so that is required reading to enter any discussion on china at all. and it is worth looking at. thanks. host: john in tennessee. the previous caller talking about chinese real estate purchases in the united states. a story from the you -- from the new york post on that front from last summer met chinese investors the most active buyers of u.s. real estate in 2020 one, spending $6.1 billion on homes mainly in florida and california, according to a report from the national association of realtors. buyers from mainland china and taiwan and hong kong spent an average of just over $1 million per transaction to purchase existing homes, with nearly a third of those deals involving acquisition of property in california. they came in second when it came to chinese purchases of land. investors north of the border

spent 5.5 billion dollars on u.s. residential property, canadian purchases in the united states. buyers from india, mexico, and brazil round out the top five of those living in foreign countries making u.s. land purchases in 2021. that report last year was highlighted by the new york post. this is jesse in florida, republican. >> there are two points i would like to make. i do not understand the one china policy. essentially, we seem to be saying there is one china, including taiwan, because we say taiwan is not an independent country, yet we think we have the right to interfere in china's internal business. i do not understand that. if we really have a one china policy, it ought to ba.1 china policy.

the other thing i would like to emphasize is i do not believe we should allow our high-technology products to go to anybody. i think china is a competitor and we should maintain a competitive advantage everywhere we can. that means if we have to restrict companies from doing high-tech business in china, we restrict them. host: that is jesse in florida. this is charles in leesburg, independent. good morning. caller: i would like to mckay point. we are losing our sense of where we are at in history. we have not yet got over the terrorist attack on our own capital. we lose focus when they bring up the big chinese object like

china and how we should have been handling china from the beginning because the communists , when it comes time to hang democracy, the capitalist will show us the rope. that is what they did to pence in our capital recently and we are still not over that. they are creating a new subject to look at. look over here. we should have been looking over here a long time. let's take care of the terrorists and individuals in this country that seek to overthrow our government. all the trumpets have to be take into account or put in prison and locked up. host: this is jim in new jersey, democrat. >> good morning to you and the listeners. i want to comment on china and

also russia. both of them are trying to dominate the entire world. and in so doing they are using diplomatic means on their intentions to do so. if we do not stop them, that is the entire world, they will dominate the entire world. host: that is jim in new jersey. this is a story from the washington post. as china pushes to distance itself from the perception that it supports russian hostility in ukraine or benefits from economic ties with russia, one of moscow's closest allies was

due to arrive in beijing yesterday for a state visit. he and allies of vladimir putin were set to meet with xi jinping during that visit. that is the story in the washington post if you want to read more on that. this is thomas, still in florida, delray beach, independent. caller: i want to address something in earlier caller said. they said china is not a threat to us because they do not have any international military bases. that is not quite true. china has been building artificial islands in the pacific ocean and south china sea outside of their international jurisdiction. that would count as a military base outside their borders. we have seen the story lately of these secret police stations, these dozens of secret police stations that they have set up in multiple countries around the world, including the united states.

the third point you guys have already covered, all the property they are buying. i believe china is the biggest property owner -- they are certainly one of the biggest property owners in san francisco , i think san jose. i know for a fact london. i would disagree that they pose no threat. it is objectively true that they have international operating stations. host: the story from the national review on the police station issue. a chairman of the house select committee on china, mike gallagher, who you have seen already this morning, blasted the fbi's apparently response to the establishment of chinese police stations in new york city in a letter to fbi director christopher wray. he addressed concerns about the illegal operation of law enforcement in the united states as part of a ccp effort to undermine american security and

extend its reach beyond the prc's border. he added while he welcomes the news that the fbi reportedly raided a secret government outpost last fall, he was concerned that there has been additional stations identified in the u.s.. nationalreview.com with that story about the fbi's late response to chinese stations. this is tyrone, new york city, democrat. caller: forget china eating our lunch. we are giving china our breakfast, lunch, and dinner and for the life of us we cannot figure out why. we ship our manufacturing job over to them, our financial situation, we are even selling them our land and we cannot figure out why we are at a disadvantage. that is what i got from the hearing. most of the people were talking by the fact that we have given

away -- china did not come over here and say, give us your manufacturing jobs were else. we sent them over there because it was cheap labor and because you have major corporations and businesses in this country that refuse to pay people a living wage, health care, other stuff. they sent it overseas because they do not have to worry about unions and health care and pensions. they don't have to worry about that over there and the mother country, so our manufacturers, we continue to give our country away. this is what is going to end up happening. we are going to lose it. we need to bring jobs back. we need to stand up for our country. unless we stand up for where we live, we are going to continue to ship our jobs overseas and give away our country.

we can blame china, but it is on us. it is on us to stand up for where we live. i cannot blame china for doing -- you are going to give us your breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and you think we are not going to eat it? host: continuing with your phone calls, it is just after 7:30. we are talking about the house select committee on china holding their first hearing last night in prime time. d u watch? what did you think about the hearing? is (202) 748-8000 to call. republicans, it is (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. a couple callers this morning bringing up the issue of a military threat from china, how big that threat is. congressman rob wittman from virginia last night asked about, among a panel of witnesses, the

possible conflict between china and taiwan and what that means for the united states. here is some of that exchange. [video clip] >> we have heard within the next year or two is the window the chinese will look to to try to take taiwan. what would be the cost of that conflict for the united states and others around the world? we know a conflict there -- would be of a skill i do not think anyone in this nation realizes. it would be greater than i think world war two because of the massive amount of power between those two nations. can you also tell us what would be the cost if we failed to deter the ccp? >> we are in a difficult position because we have been under invested in modernization for a long time. what has happened is the people's liberation army studied us. they develop countermeasures,

air defense, offensive capabilities, long-range precision fires. what they have done is try to figure out how to take apart what they saw as our differential vantages -- advantages. we need investments and countermeasures to those countermeasures, but we have not been able to pull it off. we also have problems in capacity. what xi jinping sees is a fleeting window opportunity to move while he perceives weakness in the united states. it is worth going back and reading the joint statement between xi jinping and vladimir putin on the eve of the beijing olympics. the message is, united states, you are over. it is time for a new era of international relations and we are in charge now. the other factors that add to this are the sense that -- the frailties and the chinese economy, that they have incurred in the race to surpass us are

really beginning to show cracks in the chinese system. what better way to divert the disappointment of the chinese people than through nationalist sentiment focused largely on taiwan? there is a taiwanese election in 2024. it will not be good from the point of view of xi jinping and our own election, which we tend to be sometimes fractious during elections. he may perceive weakness. our capabilities are not where they should be for capacity. their perception, which i do not think is right, but the party perception of our will makes it a dangerous period. host: that exchange from the hearing last night just about 12 hours ago. if you want to watch it in its entirety, you can do so at our website at c-span.org. we have been asking for your phone calls and social media

comments. this from kevin in connecticut. it is nice to see republicans and democrats working together for the people of america. frank sang the select committee should have investigated how many members of congress and senators are in xi's pockets and how deep. the chinese made sure they have the best congress their money can buy. this saying, this goes beyond tiktok and manufacturing. go to any dollar store in any city and look at where a majority of the cheap products are made. one more from our text messaging service. i am not saying china is right, but who is buying and consuming what they turn out? we have created more pollution thereby being trade partners with them. a few of your comments on social media. we want to hear from you on the

phones as usual. this is james. caller: henry kissinger and nixon opened up china and they just got off to run and start and they have been doing it ever since. these guys got so much money that they have ghost cities in china that they have no intention of putting people in. there are so many things. nixon and kissinger opened up china. they used their game plan to dominate the world economically and they go overboard from everything from -- to see horses

and we have just given it to them. i remember the elder george bush saying we had to get used to being a service economy and that the chinese would be the manufacturing economy. i am dismayed at the -- at what has happened. we should have been bipartisan from a long time ago trying to solve this problem. guest: -- host: misha, arizona, republican. you are next. caller: we are discussing china. the last few weeks, pretty much every thing has been about china. it took a while for anybody to even bring up what has been happening in east palestine.

i am pretty sure that our founding fathers would appreciate that we were not giving any -- sorry. i lost what i was saying. host: do you want to try again? brooklyn, new york, independent. caller: the genie is out of the bottle. the united states has no one to blame but itself because what it is doing over there is the same thing as other countries also in the united states will have a high price to pay and don't blame china. blame yourself because this country is too naive for its own good and greedy. host: brenda, texas, democrat. caller: i am in hog heaven.

i lived through three moving of our jobs from americans and sending them overseas. it is corporate america. they have tapped in on the greed, the ungodly greed. that is what is destroying this country. a lot people are not aware of this. your meds are made by china as well. they can do us in at any time they want. americans, you need to wake up. trumpeters, you need to sit up -- sit down and let people operate this country that have brains. host: more from last night's hearing, a democrat -- a democratic congressman asking the president of the alliance for american manufacturing about u.s. investment in manufacturing and u.s. off shoring of jobs.

[video clip] >> you know china spends 1.7% of his gdp on industrial financing. we are at .39%. you agree that part of what is going to help us industrialize is having some government financing and government purchasing, that the government has to be a partner of the private sector in rebuilding american industry? >> thank you for your observations and appreciate the question. i think there is no doubt that the government has to be a partner in this. in a perfect world, the market would work and settle things out. we are not in that world, as the chinese communist party has demonstrated. we have a market failure and we are starting from behind. if we can have public financing to leverage private investment, we will have more success than the chinese communist party because we have more entrepreneurship, more opportunity, and there is not

state control. there may be state financing come and this makes a difference. we have seen this with the chips act already. a small amount of money has leveraged $200 billion in private investment in the united states. host: that from the hearing last night. this is ron in illinois, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. i have a good example that probably all the american people in this country can identify with. it is the publishers clearinghouse vendetta. it is one of the biggest ponzi scheme's that has ever been known in this country and i along with other people have been naive enough to fall for it. their prizes.

all the prizes you can win, $5,000 a week for life. host: how does this get me to china? caller: the way gets us to china is almost 99% of the merchandise that you purchase from publishers clearinghouse is made in china. publishers clearinghouse knows this. they have taken advantage of the common, ordinary purchasers in the united states, taking advantage of them with false promises. if you look at their material that they send you, they have a small card telling you what your odds are in winning any of these so-called fantastic prizes. host: this is donald in kalamazoo, republican. good morning.

caller: a lot of people are misinformed about the jobs going out of our country. when bill clinton was president, he enacted nafta. for all these years, people have been blaming republicans. do the math. there is no way republicans could have passed it without the help of democrats. read bill clinton's own book and how much he was in favor of it. even carter helped him get it pushed through. i was in mexico and the winter. you could not buy a job in the united states after nafta. mexico, you cannot hardly move without seeing construction. that is where our job is. host: this is marie in

washington. caller: thank you for letting me share an experience i had back in 2001 after 9/11. our family took a panama canal cruise, a christmas cruise from east to west. as we were going through the panama canal, it was pointed out to us that the canal is too narrow for the chinese freighters. they are shipping so much, so they were actually building another canal through panama. then when we were in panama itself taking a bus tour, the

tour guide pointed out this soccer stadium and said, it is so beautiful. the chinese built this soccer stadium for us. i just learned that china has done so much and central america and south america and i think in africa to win over some of those countries, kind of bribe them. i think one of china's methods of becoming a world power is helping the less fortunate countries build and that is where they plant their influence. they are doing that in africa too. host: staying in the evergreen state, this is susan in seattle. good morning.

caller: i am so glad to have this hearing. and educating the american people about china because i think nobody knows about china. america does not know -- they use in the chinese food. all the people are investing in china because they just want to earn more money. they said that in the hearing today, that we are being fooled by the chinese. host: that is susan in seattle. just a reminder to turn your television down when you are making -- waiting on the phone. it makes it easier to hear you. this is harmon in seattle, democrat. caller: good morning. host: what were your thoughts about the hearing?

caller: they need to be having a hearing on what they're going to do about all of these congress persons that was involved in that january 6 business at the capital. going on right now. host: what do you think about the select committee hearing last night and the issues with china they highlighted? caller: they are on the wrong track. why are they letting china by upland over here when we cannot buy land in china? they are letting china take over this country. they are spying on us and everything. i guess it is all right to have some democrats and republicans working together, but we have to look out for this country here. we almost lost our democracy, so

what i say is do not look at the shiny obstacle. i want c-span to do stories on what they're going to do with all of these crooked congressmen, jim jordan and all of them that was involved in planning and plotting on that january 6 business. host: that is harmon in seattle on a chinese spy and in the united states. the topic of the chinese spy balloon came up last night during the hearing. here is some of that exchange. [video clip] >> what message was the chinese communist party sending to the american people with the chinese spy balloon? >> they will take everything they can get. they have been used over time to complacency. the message is that we are intending to continue a broad range of surveillance activities. the balloon is in many ways a

metaphor for the massive effort at espionage. i think you can see from the path the balloon took, and i'm not privy to anything that you are or that our government is at this stage they have maneuvered over strategic locations. when we figure out where previous balloons have gone, we will see the same pattern of trying to get a better look from comedic issues intelligence and imagery of some of our most sensitive sites. when you combine that with the massive buildup of chinese strategic forces, nuclear forces, i think that is a cause for concern. you combine that with xi jinping talking about primitive war, and even greater cause for concern, so i think the balloon is important to look at but placing the balloon in context is perhaps most important. host: that from last night's hearing. the house back in session today

at 9:00 a.m. eastern, so we will take you there a bit earlier than usual today, 9:00 a.m. eastern for morning our legislative business following at 10:00 a.m. eastern hearing that we will show you on c-span. attorney general merrick garland testifying for his first time before the 118th congress. he is a specter to be asked about the recent indictment of a former fbi official and other ongoing justice department investigations. you can watch that on c-span3 and the free c-span now video app. one other note today, at 6:00 p.m. president biden is expected to speak at the house democratic retreat in baltimore. it is one of the reasons the house is coming in early today, democratic members leaving for that retreat. live coverage of the president's remarks to democrats, to house democrats, 6:00 p.m. eastern on

c-span, the free c-span now app and c-span.org. about another five minutes here waiting for your calls online for democrats, republicans, and independence -- independents. this is kim in maryland. caller: what a fabulous show. i think china -- i do not think we have to worry about china. china are kind of screwed. they do not have a lot of population coming up. they are buying land anywhere they can get it. the u.s., our real estate is still looking fantastic. u.s. real estate is the best of the world probably. we are surrounded by mexico and canada. manufacturing -- i am an ironworker. manufacturing is off the hook as far as building new plants and

it is not just manufacturing. construction -- it is insane the money put into construction. host: when members of congress describes the competition against china as an existential struggle over the world and with the world will look like the 21st century, you think that is overblown? caller: i think the same it he its have led us into all the messes we are in now. the other thing we have to worry about -- look at what they are laying down with in russia. when you lay down with -- you get up with covid. they are screwed. we haven't made here. we just keep our act together and there will be so much manufacturing in this country it is ridiculous. they can have that old-school manufacturing they have with their garbage. look at what is going on here with manufacturing with intel. i bet we have done $30 billion into the company to build plants across this country.

host: this is richard in fairfax, virginia, line for democrats. caller: thank you for having this discussion. the last caller about manufacturing, one thing is not being discussed, the transpacific partnership, which was canceled about six years ago or however long under the trump presidency, which was our attempt at trying to counter the chinese economic threat in asia. asia -- china is not the only player here. we have to think about forming stronger ties with countries in southeast asia and that was a way to leverage that. we talk about property here in the united states and buying property in the united states. they are doing the same elsewhere and we have to strengthen ties with government. so people staying on the fence know they have a trustworthy partner in the united states and

not start looking to china for economic security. that was an opportunity that was lost. host: in a few minutes, we will talk about the latest on the covid lab leak theory. a couple callers have brought it up today. that topic came up last night. it was congressman jim banks asking scott paul of the alliance of american manufacturing about it. here is a minute or so that clip. [video clip] >> less than an hour ago, the fbi director confirmed that covid-19 originated in a wuhan lab. do you think there's a chance that they will hung lab was involved in bioweapon's research -- wuhan lab was involved in bioweapon's research? >> we know the chinese military is involved in research into coronaviruses. we know they were experimenting using u.s. technology to work on chimeric viruses, ones that

engineered. we know the chinese military had been involved in trying to develop vaccines for coronaviruses, so i think this is an area there is still a great deal information that has yet to come out that will show there was an enormous amount of interest. there are published articles. >> do you believe china has taken the appropriate steps to make a future lab leak less likely? >> i think the system in place in china does not permit for or prize serious safety. we have seen multiple leaks of dangerous pathogens out of chinese laboratories over the years. we have seen fatal leaks from chinese government labs from their own admission of the original coronavirus, the 2002,

2 thousand three virus. -- 2003 virus. host: that was last night with the former debt national security advisor during the trump administration. time for one more call here in the first hour of the washington journal. angela has been waiting in dumb freeze, virginia, republican. caller: i will try to be brief now. because the chinese population is in the billions, a lot people do not want to realize and recognize the reason they can make so many different products, to include medicine, is because there is a significant number of chinese citizens that just live in absolute slavery. when i say slavery, i mean slavery in the classical sense of slaves. that is the reason why so many people do not mind having a lot

of goods manufactured over there, because it does not cost the chinese people anything. the people are slaves. so they are making money off of the american people getting their goods from slavery. imagine if slavery was never abolished in the united states. would we actually have manufacturing going to china when you could have slaves doing the same thing for free? we need to think about that. the one lady that called and said trumpers need to shut up, it was president trump who brought a lot of attention to what is going on with china as far as trade and this country is concerned. we were having a good discussion -- c-span was having a good discussion because it seems like a lot of people are on the same page until you get the one lady calling hating people because they do not think like her.

later julia manchester joins us to discuss this week's conservative political action coalition conference on g op rates in 2024. stick around. we'll be right back. ♪ >> since 1979 c-span has provided complete coverage of the halls of congress from the house and senate floors to congressional hearings, party briefings, and committee meetings.

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get political information, but only a c-span do you get it straight from the source. no matter your from or where you stand on the issues, c-span is america's network unfiltered unbiased, word for word. if it happens here or here or anywhere that matters, america is watching on c-span. >> "washington journal" continues. host: wall street journal national security reporter warren strobel joins us now. he has been on the trail of covid and plenty of stories in recent days. here is the latest. fbi director says covid pandemic likely caused by covid lab leak. what do you say? guest: whether working the story for three years now.

wray acknowledge fbi division assessment is that the pandemic was caused by a lab leak. i thought it was interesting he decided to do it publicly. up until now the u.s. intelligence committee has given overview but none of individual agencies have acknowledged where they are. host: is it because of the story you published over the weekend about the energy department assessment on the same assessment of a lab leak. guest: there was a direct correlation. the doctor one to get out there and say we think it is true and we thought this before the energy department did have expertise. host: colors have been bringing up your story that you and your colleague wrote this weekend. why would the energy department look into the lab leak? why are they doing an assessment

? i'm send the fbi but why the energy department? guest: looking back my have explained completely in the article. the energy department back in 1960's established that the division -- z division. laboratory studies weapon programs in foreign countries. they do the same with china and iran and over the years have developed specialties not just in nuclear but chemical bio up is as well. have expertise out there. the fbi energy have expertise. host: how many different agencies are looking in the origin of covid? guest: nine.

there are 18 members of the u.s. intelligence community, the latest being space force, of the 18 a lot of them do not have expertise. it is really nine. host: how many of those nights do we know the conclusion so far? guest: the intelligence committee as a whole does not have final conclusions or assessments. anyone who tells you i know where this came from is wrong or making it up. you have four agencies who lean with low confidence towards this came from nature. you have two fbi and imagery who lean -- you have two, fbi and energy, who lead near a lab leak. host: john kirby make in this point from his press conference

on monday. [video clip] >> the intelligence community and the rest of the government is still looking at this. it is not been a definitive conclusion so it is difficult for me to say, nor should i how to defend press reporting about a possible preliminary indication hearing. but the president wants facts. he wants the government to go get those facts and that is what we are doing. we are not there yet. when we are there and if we have something that is ready to be briefed to the american people and congress we are going to do that. host: john kirby on monday. what will it take to get u.s. government there to a certain number of these agencies have to agree? guest: yes to get a consensus within the intelligence committee. lots of expertise.

in the original report, they said to get have an answer we need more answers from china or cooperation or more information. i do not think anybody -- it is still a mystery. it is what we feel is important to keep reporting on this. host: the idea that they assessed with low confidence. what does that mean? guest: low confidence, high confidence and these are structured in political terms in the intelligence community. they do not pick them up it had. low confidence means the information is caught -- incomplete and not conclusive. we do not know the new intelligence as a but it is enough to push the energy saint we do not know to reassess, likely more likely than not it was a lab leak. host: how long have you been looking into the origin of covid? guest: three years.

host: do you have it there relating to? guest: i miss you the agnostic cap. i cover complex issues in the past but have not seen one piece of evidence or another that makes me say that is it. on the other hand, there are some people on capitol hill who say it is a lab leak and scientists it was a we know for sure it was not a lab leak. i do not think we know. host: are there origin stories that can be discarded at this point? guest: in the follow-up and discussions about our story that broke on sunday, i do not think enough attention has been given to what we reported. the original report by the director of national intelligence said reassess -- we assess this is not a engineered biological weapon. in the file -- follow-up report,

reaffirms that consensus more strongly. host: what should we draw from this? where the intelligence community is? they're leaning towards this was a mistake. guest: an accidental lab leak that procedures, shoddy equipment, but again, there is chatter on capitol hill and elsewhere that this was a deliberate created weapon in the intelligence community have businesses they do not believe that is the case. host: we invite callers to join the concession -- the conversation. warren strobel of the wall street journal. how long have you been there? guest: four years. host: to call in, republicans,

202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. he is with us until the bottom of the hour, 8:30 a.m. eastern jeff is uppers in new york. independent. good morning. caller: i would like to point out the origin of covid compared to a lab leak is not clearly delineated people create lab leak with an engineered virus and of course the scientific evidence shows that overwhelmingly it was not concession and not biologically

engineered because there no genetic engineering technology available that can possibly have created sars-cov-2 that creates covid-19 from any of the viruses we know. it is a misnomer and it does an injustice because if we do not continue to find the truth as to why this occurred for not going to be able to prevent the next pandemic. we need to be able to study this. we need to do it securely. we need all the proper safeguards in biotech labs to make sure it is safe. we do need to continue this. if we discontinue it because a falsehood, it would be a tragedy. guest: really good points. we do need to find out how to pandemic started in order to

prevent future once. there's a good opinion piece saying either way we should do both things which is improve our bio security and improve our monitoring of viruses that come from nature because we do not know but we need to stop the next pandemic. in genetic engineering, yes intelligence say there is no signs of engineering. i will add two points, you can leave no trace and others cannot tell you do so. if it was not genetic engineered, it was possible the virus was modified pass through humanized mice. the could have been worked on in the lap without being genetically engineered. host: have you been to china to do reporting? guest: no.

some of my colleagues, once again cap and almost got way to the mind where they will have a lab went to to do fieldwork and collect studies from bats and i think he got stopped near the entrance of the mine. host: has anyone been to the pond lab i guess talk about so often? guest: i do not think. i am pretty sure no reporters have been there. there are american scientists, european scientists who work is setting there before the pandemic. host: tina in alabama. line for republicans. caller: good morning. exactly what you just said. january or february 2020, they came across a department of justice statement that the dean of chemistry from harvard was arrested in december 20 19 for having two chinese nationalism working with them. he had a lab in wuhan since

2014. you can look at the department of justice website to see that arrest. donald trump mentioned that also in february 2020. thank you for doing the research. good luck. guest: thank you for the call. i'm only vaguely remember that case. it was a case i believe was later dismissed. we have to be careful, michael gordon and i prepared to report the story we knew it was set off a fireball and it will be seized on by components of the lab leak to make whatever political point they wanted to and that happened. we also knew and were concerned investigative issue does not become an anti-china to it because i will be bad. -- because that would be bad. host: right in california on the

line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning. i'm curious. i know barack obama left 12 or 15 scientists in wuhan when he left office in the first thing donald trump did was remove them. with that have helped -- would that have helped -- monitor the viruses coming out of china? by moving them, did not do any damage? thank you very much. guest: really good questions this morning. i do not know about the number but it is true that the trump administration came into office ended or curtailed a program which was to monitor deposit -- pathogens around the world.

they also closed down or reorganize an office at the national security office at the white house dealing with national security threats. some officials will say they did not downplay the issue and they put a lot of emphasis on it, but that program was closed down. host: alan in hawaii on the line for independent. good morning. caller: good morning. it's great to speak to you and to warren. i'm having deja vu because back in 2020 of april we had robert on, i spoken to him. he answered in the affirmative that he thought was a high probability that a lab leak could have been an introduction

of the virus in china, that was before anyone understood what the potential scenarios where. my thought would be with all the information coming out again, it's going to be recycled until china is willing to reveal the necessary data to pin it down, is how we work with organizations that also submitting funding to lapse in china. people are concerned about these processes and they need to be considered -- the other part is the intelligence agencies but you're not talking about the cdc epidemic intelligence service which also should have a role in the analysis as well. i will let you discuss that. host: 4/29/2020 robert gallo

director of institute of human biology. guest: also he was the cowinner of the nobel peace prize for identifying the hiv virus. one day that makes it more complicated covering the story as many scientists have stuck with a wagon and said it cannot be a lab leak because of it turned out it raises questions about by security procedures, how much research you can and should do, and scientists want to do as much research as possible and do not want to be limited. we do not get this into article there's not room but it is an issue about what american dollars from u.s. in essence it -- national institutes of health and how it was used.

there are conspiracy theories that people are demonizing, dr. fauci and he said monday through wuhan through third parties to create a bioweapon, that is expert in theory -- is a conspiracy theory. host: what is gain of function research? guest: you take a pathogen, dangerous virus or bacteria and make it more lethal, more infectious to study it, to make a vaccine against it, to understand how it may evolve over time, making something more dances -- more dangerous to protect against that. host: is the u.s. government funding gain of function research? guest: yes. whether it is all in wuhan is another discussion. we know they funded research in china in wuhan lab on

coronaviruses, whether that involves gain of function, i cannot sit here and say that right now. host: good morning, you are on with warren strobel. caller: good morning. i do not think you could trust the country to the -- the country who has concentration camps, destroys evidence which would be necessary to determine whether it came from the lab or not, but regardless they still knew that the virus was how this -- the virus was how contagious, arrested their own doctors, people could not leave to go to other parts of china but they allowed wuhan citizens to travel all of -- all over the world effectively creating a biological bomb. regardless of whether elite or not, they knew it was contagious and they were -- regardless of

whether it leaked or not they knew it was contagious. guest: at think car right in some of the actions you described and what makes this difficult to cover in the aftermath of the virus coming out china took steps to look like a cover of taking information online, arresting or restraining doctors in positions who spoke out. we do not know where they trying to cover up something or a knee-jerk reaction by an authoritarian regime they would have done in any case. the u.s. intelligence community, $90 billion and 18 agencies say we need more help from china to help us figure this out. host: warren strobel on this story for more than three years. what is next steps for you? what do you want to find out next? guest: i do not want to tell my

competitors who may be listening exactly what, but there are several. we would like to know more about what the intelligence was to let the energy to change its position. host: we do not know that? guest: it is classified. this beautiful building behind us, there is going to be a lot of hearings that will hopefully shed a little light and a lot of heat. there's a special committee on covid which will look at a number of things. the origin of covid andy u.s. government response -- the origin of covid and the u.s. government response. it is a very fascinating mystery. i've cover intelligence, national security for a long time and the most interesting issues in intelligence have to do with scientists and they are the origins of covid,

unidentified flying objects, all scientific/intelligence issues which are interesting. host: how did you and michael gordon get on this story? guest: we originally right as the pandemic, we cover intelligence, to look at what committee and how did they perform. the answer to that is not that of all because they were not a posture to cover the report and cover pandemics. from that initial report on how the intelligence community performed, we moved on to how is the community changing and how -- and what we know about the virus. host: the investigation by path you follow that you make about. it is a book in working? guest: we have discussed that

there may be a book here. i think someone should do a book. might as well be us. host: we have booked to be on c-span two. taylor, independent. good morning. caller: to the reporter, can you stop being so vague about what you are doing. if keep saying you do not have a lot of definitions for things. can you tighten up on your definitions. when was the u.s. government notified that about the potential covid-19 and allowed it to spread to the states? if you're concerned about something, focus on how the united states responded and set of where it came from. guest: ouch. i apologize if i. bake. i'm trying to be careful what my -- i apologize if i appear vague

but i'm trying to be careful with what we know and what we do not know pretty -- what we do not know. . i think there's a lot of reporting out there with u.s. whispers -- when the u.s. realize this thing existed and the transference from human to human and they might become a pandemic. i think that it started out pretty well in documents. host: doug in new jersey, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. how come three years ago i knew this was a deliberate act of a bioweapon release on our country to get rid of trump, he was hurting the chinese with his policies. it was meant to hurt our economy. the response by government, we now know they lied about the deaths of covid.

the over exaggerated the deaths and the treatments. other countries used improve work. that was not allowed here. we had to use big pharma. it is a big moneymaking scam. it hurt our country permanently. now we paid the price permanently. we'll have these choque investigations. -- joke investigations. guest: there is no firm evidence that there was a bioweapon deployed to hurt our economy . if it was a bioweapon, it was a stupid bioweapon the chinese because it hurt the chinese and killed a a lot of chinese as well. host: rj in oklahoma, independent. caller: i'm retired psychologist

and this is a joke. you cannot see what china is doing? you're going to get canceled. if you say anything more than you are, you are done. host: on the lab leaked theory and the response to it early on. what you saw from the reporting side as you are asking questions about this, administration officials come what did you experience? guest: i would say with the country experience. president trump, mike pompeo, and their a's at the end --aids push the lab leaked theory. many people who do not like trumpets it has to be bs. let's not touch that. time goes along and michael gordon and i break a story saying there were three sick

researchers at the wuhan lab in october ish between 19. that story landed at the same time every look at the lab look very and against our story that we did on sunday, it is because people to take another look and take a lab leaked theory seriously without saying we know what it is. there has been a change over time and willingness to look at this. host: jimmy in athens, georgia. good morning. caller: good morning. i have two questions. the first is about the chinese journalism investigators. are there chinese journalist doing investigations about this story? my second question is about the nord stream sabotage. you have any reason why should believe or disbelieve that story? guest: as second point first, i

was treated with skepticism. it was a single source and a night on the record by spokespeople of the cia and white house. those agencies are denying on the record and putting their names out there. in chinese journalism, there are no independent journalists in china. there are investigations and discussions and debate on social media that publish very well and get shut down. there are good chinese journalists operating outside of china. host: what is china daily yucca -- what is china daily? guest: it is not run by the communist party. it shows up on our doorstep in the morning and other news organizations around d.c. host: it is the state newspaper. we showed it earlier this morning.

there is a hearing to happen on capitol hill about threats from china. does not get any mention on the front pages of today's china daily. i do have a front page story on the overblown balloon story. guest: that is a part of china's tropicana effort. you cannot stop it. i do not have any problem with them doing that as long as we know what the newspaper is and we consume it and judge in that way. host: warren strobel national security reported with the wall street journal. come back again. of next we are joined by julia manchester focus on the conservative political action conference taken place in washington dc a preview of that begins today. we will be right back. ♪

>> cpac is back in washington dc this week. watch c-span's coverage of the conference featured speakers include former president donald trump, nikki haley, mike pompeo, and members of congress, conservative activists, and media personalities. watch cpac this week on the c-span network. >> the name of america which belongs to you in your national capacity. >> four score and seven years ago. >> asked not what your country can do for you. >> president xi delivered pivotal speeches during inaugurations -- presidents have

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>> "washington journal" continues. host: cpac returns to washington dc today and joining us to talk about this year's lineup julia manchester a political reporter for the hill newspaper. good morning. for those who have not watched c-span act -- who have not watch cpac, what is it? guest: it has changed over the past years. it is a gathering of conservatives figures, lawmakers, and even presidents. used to be a broader trend event. more so, it is a mixture of people coming into this conference that last few days and a location at florida four years ago -- at florida a few

years ago. this year is in washington dc at the national harbor. over the last couple of years has become a trump dominated event. it is cater more towards ultraconservative of the party. it has become a conference, a homage to the former president. host: today through saturday and c-span covering the cpac this year. you can check c-span.org before a scheduled. it is taking place a couple miles marie are in d.c. you mentioned donald trump speaking. when does he speak at the event? guest: it is on saturday and he normally speaks on saturday.

over the past years he has been the closer of this. he is the highlight of cpac and going into 2024 that is important because we know this is a meeting of conservative grassroots. you would see a lot of potential republican contenders for president gathering and trying to court those grassroots donors, voters influencers. easy nikki haley -- nikki haley will be speaking at the event. mike pompeo is considered to be relink a presidential announcement and he will be speaking. ron desantis one not to be there. mike pence, tim scott these other potential figures not in attendance. host: why not ron desantis? guest: it has to do with the fact that this is a trump dominated event. desantis, although he is cut

from the same cloth of trump, he is buying for the same group of voters -- vying for the same group of voters. he has to be careful of how he navigates these waters to appeal to the trump voters by the same time not poking the bear that is president trump. yes become president trump's main target and although he has not announced he's running for president yet. ron desantis is continuing his book tour and built his own national profile. host: -- guest: club for growth is a political action committee or group that is much aimed at bolstering conservative lawmakers, republican candidates. he will be hoarding those members of the club for growth stating his case for them going

into 2024. go see a number of candidates doing that as well. -- we will see a number of canada's doing that as well. florida has become the center of republican universe and it is great for ron desantis. he is a part of the reason why it is a part of the republican universe. and also because donald trump lives at this other end of florida. host: 20 minutes before the house comes in. we will take you there when they do. in that time we talk about cpac 2023 takes place in d.c. kicking off today and goes through saturday. phone calls if you want to join the conversation with julia manchester, political reporter with the hills newspaper. democrats, 202-748-8000. republicans, 202-748-8001. independents, 202-748-8002.

we talk about the trump headline of it on saturday night. who are the thursday and friday night headliners? guest: nikki haley, mike pompeo are the big 2024 announce contenders. we also have kari lake from arizona. that's important because she has said to be near link or considering -- she has said to be considering a senate run in arizona next year. ed something to keep an eye out for. you have a number of house lawmakers on the gop and even foreign figures coming in, brazilian president bolsonaro, it has become, cpac, and international think to appeal to conservatives across the globe. guest: match laughed as the

chairman of cpac. normally he is successful to the media wanting to promote cpac talk about the speakers in the agenda. we do not know what that looks like because there has been sexual misconduct allegations levied against them. we know his wife would be out front tonight hosting a panel however we do not know what his presence will look like. if he is out front he is going to risk questions about this when there are legal issues at play and potentially distracting from the event itself. that is probably the biggest cloud hanging over cpac. host: what is the stylus -- what is the status of the

allegations? matt schlapp and his team are denying the allegations. guest: matt schlapp denying and pushing back and wish to developments pushing soon. host: cpac attendees and cdc may pick up -- in d.c. may pick up the washington post with this topic. faces concerns over culture and leadership as the headline at the newspaper. if you want to talk about cpac this year, julia manchester of "the hill 20 because taking your phone calls. martin is uppers out of louisville, kentucky. good morning. caller: good morning. i grew up in republican household in the 60's and 70's. the problem i got, the old

conservatives, what they said was the reason i am conservative because in social society you have two kinds of people. those that think for them and those who do not. it seems to me today republican party has two kind of people. the true conservative and everybody else. if anybody reject the something like attacking the capital, they get ostracized by the republican party. guest: that is a good point. a lot of people looking in on what the republican party has evolved into hundred trump would have similar observations. lots of this i comes to my mind is the 20 presidential election results. there has been splintering in the republican party. liz cheney is a conservative. she is small government, pro-life, antiabortion.

she is no moderate. brian kemp, the governor of georgia, same thing. what differentiates them from kari lake as they can see and vocal about president biden and 2020 and they went against trump. the issue is for trump and his supporters in the party like kari lake they do not view president biden as legitimate president and use that as a litmus test for determining who is conservative enough or republican enough when really the results of the 2020 election have nothing to do with -- should have nothing to do with how republican or conservative you are. being conservative is about free market principles, for small government. definition of conservative has changed depending on who you talk to. host: what if the see specs

awful? -- what is the cease back -- wha tis the cpac stroffel? guest: it is who should be the leader of the party. president trump has one in the past and he is expected to when it this year. it is taken from members of cpac. host: in the washington times today, a survey of 1060 registered voters. the question republican primary voters of who they picked for the gop nomination. donald trump by 55%. ron desantis 25%. mike pence 8%. nikki haley 5%.

it is one of the many surveys out there on this topic. another want release -- another want really saturday? guest: yes at the conclusion of the event. host: good morning. caller: thank you for having me. host: what is your question or comment? caller: thank you for all the americans who welcomed me. i'm trying hard to pay back what americans gave me. my question is related to that. i am very sad because i see division in our political environment. why do we have this division? i forget his name, he said, why do we see good people divided? everybody is unique.

why don't we have the good people from both aisles work together? guest: congratulations on your citizenship. that is exciting. however to your question, there has been so many books and articles written on this. there are classes at universities about colorization in the united states and i think it could be traced back to the different factors -- polarization in the united states and i think it could be traced back to different factors, when congressional dishes are drawn -- when congressional districts are drawn. we have seen a lot of congressional districts become more homogeneous meaning we have seen congressional districts become really blue or really read. we have seen that trickle up into congress especially the house of representatives. see the house of representatives

is more polarized than the senate even though the senate has a polarization issue. there are others who say trump has to do with a lot of it. i will argue trump is a system of polarization in this country. i do not think he is necessarily the even though he has fielded in recent years -- fueled it in recent years. i talked about the congressional districts. a lot of it has to do with party primaries and our use the republicans as an example. you see republicans primary voters there -- they like it the most conservative members of their party, far right links -- far right wings to represent them and did not work for them.

you saw democrats who elected more mainstream candidates, pennsylvania for example. you are seeing a lot of these primary voters galvanizing around polarizing issues. do not think it is helping the situation. do not think it is helping the situation. host: a two hour show today. 10 minutes left in this show before the house comes in for the day. mike in virginia, democrats. you are on with julia hill -- julia manchester of "the hill newspaper. caller: good morning. i'm a resident of maryland. when i look at this cpac, the

people they are bringing our insurrectionists, the type of people that want to take over the country and turn it around and mess it up. i can understand why people like real conservatives are not coming. in maryland, we have a bunch of races and were waiting for them to come and we are not going to put up with this foolishness. host: mike in maryland. how do you expect the issue of january 6 to play out during cpac? guest: i think it's going to be mentioned. i do not think it is going to be front and center. a related topic, 2020 presidential results and i suppose it election fraud is going to be talked about an election integrity, election security. you will hear candace -- candidates like kari lake, i do not believe she succeeded, she

has made, she is still one that raise in november. you will hear candace like her talk about that going forward. maybe january 6 does come up. i think it's a tricky situation for republican attendees, especially if you are nikki haley who didn't speak out against january 6 after it happened -- who did speak out against january 6 after it happened. you may have very right wing figures, not as well-known, you have a plethora of speakers, maybe you will hear some speakers bring it up, however for the high ones like nikki haley, may be mike pompeo it is going to be tricky for them because there are republican primary voters who say what happened on january 6 it was awful what happened and unacceptable.

host: what is your reading on the republican party after the nikki haley announcement? guest: it was a good announcement. she had a good rollout. i think there is some excitement for her. a lot of republican women have excitement she is running. she has always been a popular figure within the party scene is a rising star. i think the situation on cnn with don lemon questioning and saying she was out in her prime when she just 51 years old is in a way, we know those comments were taking offensively, that is helped bolster her profile. she fundraiser on it and talking about that issue. there is excitement and she has seen uptick in the pole. she's not back in dublin dangerous. it is still trump and desantis

race -- she is not breaking the double digits. it is still a trump and desantis race. caller: good morning c-span. as an independent, in 20 i voted for donald trump but in 2020 i did not and will never vote for that guy or for any of these conspiracy theorists driving independence down. it is not say that i will vote democratic because i may or i may not. i may vote for a third party candidate. the republicans need to wake up. i'm a fiscal conservative and a social liberal which is why i declare myself as an independent. the sooner they get off of this january 6 and all these other conspiracy theories, the need to run away from them.

the democrats do it to. it is not just the republicans. there are lots of things democrats do that i do not like but they got to stop with this extremists views that they come up with and some of these stories that people invent. i do not know where they get it from. i really do not. guest: what you're describing is the frustration that a lot of independence i had in 2022 and i understand you are not necessarily going to vote democratically but there were a lot of independent voters in 2022 in swing states like arizona and pennsylvania and georgia who were tired or express exhaustion at some of what they said where extremist theories whether it was about january 6, donald trump. they were expressing exhaustion and they ended up being driven towards the democratic side of the ticket and voting democratic

or not voting at all. i think it is the frustration that republicans, especially in washington, there is a bit of a divide between republicans in washington and republicans grassroots. michigan recently elected state party chair who is an election denier, however there are other republicans in michigan who are expressing frustration with that because although that might work as the republican primary it is not going to work in a general election. you areyou are describing is woo the detriment of republicans and plain directly into democratic hands. the 2022 primary you saw democrats financially boosting some of these extreme republicans primary candidates because they have and predicted in general election they would fail against democratic candidate.

it was a risk but it worked out. host: a roadmap of what is happening. the house in at 9:00 a.m. to finish debate on a bill that would require either administration to publish inflationary impact of any future executive orders. that is what you will hear on the house floor. it was a head over to c-span 3 at 10:00 a.m. attorney general merrick garland testifying for the 118 congress live congress -- live coverage 10:00 a.m. c-span 3. reminder president biden is expected to speak at the house democratic caucus retreat in baltimore tonight at 6:00 p.m. eastern. you can watch here live on c-span, c-span.org, and c-span now. a full day. get the gavel in about three minutes here. we will try to get in a couple more because as we wait.

julia manchester joining us from the hill newspaper. west from new york, independent. caller: good morning. given the number of truth social post i have noticed about trump continued assistance that the election was stolen, how pervasive would you say among the people that will be attending cpac and is a mental illness, delusion or political? guest: it is hard to say. i'm not been able to get a -- i would imagine there are a good number of attendees that or believe regularities with the election system in the united states and will call for reform or election integrity action to

be taken. in terms of the cause of it, i think trump is a huge figure in republican conservative movement. he has a lot of sway with these voters. a lot of these voters felt a connection to him that started in 2015 and 2016 and are willing to believe a lot of what he has to say even if it is false. we have seen that work to his detriment in the past and the republican party detriment in the past. georgia in 2021, donald trump was running around saying the election was rigged across the country but also in georgia. when two republican senators were running the runoff race we saw lots in public and party voters in the state because they believed election was rigged the system without work it --

believe the election was rate -- rate and stayed home and did not both. there are quite a bit of republicans voters and even some supporters of trump who was say that is nonsense. say that is nonsense. let's move on from that and start on kitchen table issues like the state of the economy, crime rate, even the situation with migrants coming over the southern border. host: julia manchester with the hill newspaper. you plan to be on see spec this year -- cpac this year? guest: yes, i am. host: thank you for the time this morning. that does it for us this morning. we take you live to the house floor. we see you back here tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern for tomorrow's "washington