host: good morning. it's sunday, march 5, 2023. this past week saw the first hearing from the new select

committee on china, with lawmakers laying out for a primetime audience the myriad economic and national security threats china's communist party represents globally and here at home. this morning we want to hear from you. do you consider china an economic and national security threat? what aspects of china's influence concerns you most? and how does washington respond? we want democrats to call us at 202-748-8000. if you're a rep, call us at new zealand 202-748-8001. independents, your line is 202-748-8002. you can also send us a text message, 202-748-8003. when you text us, please include your name and where you live. there's also facebook.com/cspan

where you can find us. on twitter, @cspanwj. and on instagram, @cspanwj. again, we're talking about china, the economic and political threats that china may pose to the u.s. and what your thoughts on it and what you think washington should do about it. i want to start by bringing u the associated press recently reported on a poll it conducted about china, china's global influence worries u.s. majority. and i want to show on the screen a little bit about that poll. that poll shows 40% of americans approve of how president biden is handling relio with china. 61% of the people polled are extremely or very concerned

about the threat china's globa influence poses to the u.s. again, that's a recent poll of 1,247 adults conducted by the associated press a couple of weeks ago. we also have an article from "the wall street journal." the title of this article is u.s. to expand troop presence in taiwan for training against china threats. i'm going to read just the first couple of paragraphs. it says the u.s. is markedly increasing the number of troops deployed to taiwan, more than dude resuming the current number to bolster a training program for the island's military amid a rising threat from china. the u.s. plans to deploy between 100 and 200 troops to the island in the coming months, up from roughly 30 there a year ago, according to u.s. officials. the larger force will expand the

training program. the pentagon has taken pains not to publicize it appears the u.s. works to provide taipei with the capabilities it needs to defend itself without provoking beijing. again, that's an article from "the wall street journal." there's also another article that i want to bring up. this one is from cnbc. it's regarding a recent meeting. the house select committee on the strategic competition between the united states and the chinese communist party held its first committee meetings, but they're already pushing several bills related to china in the u.s. house with that new replayout. so let me bring up a list of some of these china-related bills that have already been approved by the house financial

services committee. one is called the taiwan conflict die terence act. there's another one called preventing the financing of ilgal synthetic drugs act. the taiwan nondiscrimination act, the chinese currency accountability act, the chinese exchange rate transparency act, the protect taiwan act, and the china financial threat mitigation act. so, again, that's showing all of this legislation that the u.s. house is already moving forward with in relation to the u.s. relationship with china. so we mentioned that new select committee on china that held its first meeting in primetime last week. let's bring up some video. this is the chair of that committee, representative mike gallagher, and it's part of his opening statement regarding the threat china poses to the u.s.

let's watch. >> thanks to speaker cart cart and leader jeffries, we have complaint group of thoughtful legislators on this committee on both sides. we'll be working hand in hand with our teammates on the standing committee, particularly my friend, house foreign affairs chairman michael mccall, 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's not a polite tennis match. this is an existential struggle over what life will look like in the 21st century. and the most fundamental freedoms are at stake. we're laser-focused on its vision for the future, a world crowded with techno totalitarian

surveillance state where human rights are subordinate to the when i ams of the parties. for the time being, it's still up to us to decide if that's the future we want for our children, but it won't 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 will set the stage for the next 100. we cannot allow our tech power distaupe i can't to prevail. , we must learn from our mistakes. for much of the past half century, we tried to win them over with honey, with engagement, believing that economic engagement in particular would lead to reforms in china. the only problem is it didn't work out. we were wrong. they laughed at our naiveté while they took advantage of our

good faith. naught era of wishful thinking is over. the select committee will not allow them to lull us into complacency or maneuver us into submission. host: that was mike gallagher, a republican from wisconsin, the chair of that new select committee on china. but we want to hear from you this morning. the question is, do you consider china an economic and national security threat? what aspects of china's influence concerns you most? and how should washington respond? rust to remind use of the numbers. democrats, 202-748-8000. republicans, 202-748-8001. independents, 202-748-8002. we're going to the phone lines right now. leo in nashua, new hampshire, on the republican line. how would you answer this question?

caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. just looking at that video of representative gallagher, it's all smoke and mirrors. it's the same drivel i've heard during the up vacation of iraq when bush was president. he's accusing china of the very infractions that the united states has been guilty of, the patriot act was signed into congress. we are the federal government subordinates. we are their good little financial servitude slaves. it's laughable that the united states is going to try to take the moral high route to try to pin everything that we are guilty of on china. and that is a known political strategy. i believe it was roger stone that said it, to accuse your enemies behalf you yourself are guilty of. but to get back to the main question at hand, i do absolutely consider china a threat across the board, but more so -- it's more about analyzing how big of a threat it

is rather than a paper tigeresque capacity. i've been following china the past decade or so. i don't consider myself a political analyst or such, but they've been lowering the standards in order to enlist in the military, because the interest rates in doing so internationally outside that have a con script program where you have made the service. worldwide, more and more people within my general age group, between the ages of 21 and 29, aren't interested. so, of course, sign it in order to bolster their numbers. they lower the requirements. if you have poor eyesight, you can still join. if you're oversight, you can still join, so on and so forth. if you have arms and legs, you can enlist in the chinese army now, which is kind of laughable. i don't consider that a threat whatsoever. but one thing that i've noticed here on the homeland that i've been reading about in news stories is that china is buying up rural farmland next to air force bases, army bases marks reason bases, which is pretty

interesting. and ey have pretty whim. they own the property. they can do whatever with it, construct cell towers. another big thing is the real estate in general, how they're buying up property all across the country for what purpose. i understand this is the united states land of opportunity, cash, nonsense, i get it. but at the same time, it's at an alarming rate where you have people that are buying property, 10%, 15% over asking price, cash, mind you, so that's very lucrative to those that are trying to sell properties. host: we appreciate it. you made some salient points there about the chinese military, as well as about concerns about property buying in america by chinese interest. let's go now to ellis. ellis is in georgia on the democratic line. ellis, what are your thoughts about china?

ellis, are you with me? ok, i think we might not have ellis. let's move on. let's try mike. mike is calling from marina delray, california, on the independent line. mike, what are your thoughts this morning? caller: well, this country has been enabling china since the days of nixon. american corporations have basically created a monster through cheap labor. companies like apple, who pay, you know, slave wages to build, iphones, and never really realizing the threat of china. and this is all coming to a head. the partitioning of hong kong to

china, and now the inability of the united states to suspend taiwan, just complicates things further. it's the reason why the russians are seeking china's help, because china wants the russians to be successful in ukraine, so they can do the same in taiwan. there's really nothing we can do about it. so it's really corporate and american greed, ironically, that's created a situation we have today in china. fast last call is concerned about who's going to be enlisted in the army, they don't really care about those people. they can lose millions of casualties in a war, and they can still win. it's the reason why korea was a stalemate. neither political party has an answer for it. caller: that was mike in california. let's go to missouri now, john on the democratic line.

you're on, john. caller: hi, nice to talk to you. i believe the biggest problem with cunha is that key move -- with china is that key move app. do you really think you're going to get that stuff? host: i think we lost john. we'll have to come back to john. mike, mike is in wisconsin on the independent line. mike, go ahead. caller: yeah, thank you. real interesting program. i think the biggest thing that china looked at recently is president biden going to ukraine. because that is a very clear action.

they've listened to the words, but i think that the actions that our leaders take present the clearest evidence to the chinese people. and also, we're very reluctant to criticize both sides, democrats and republicans, because of our economic ties. i can think of henry kissinger, who's still active today in what he writes. he never says a negative word at all about china. and i just wonder if there isn't anybody that has clarity in our leadership, just so you can tell them, way, if you do this, we're going to do that, especially with taiwan. i'm very cautious when i see all this stuff, and i think the

chinese are looking to take us seriously by our actions. so it's a confusing thing, but i look at the former secretary of defense, which served eight presidents or something like that. he just doesn't trust the foreign decisions that president biden makes. he made that comment. that's why your show is so interesting this morning, because i don't trust biden's decision making either on foreign policy, but i do compliment him on certain decisions. i'm really model of the road on that. that's all i have. i'd love to hear your comments on it. host: let's bring it up now. this is the ranking democratic

member, representative the opening statement on the danger china possesses. >> it's not the ranking member, and to join the chairman and my colleagues in a bipartisan effort to address the economic, security, and technology challenges our country faces from the chinese communist party, also known as the c.c.p. inning three overarching themes will underpin our success as a committee. first, we must always, 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 in technologies of the future, workforce improvement, and by fixing weaknesses in our economy, such as in our supply chains and even our legal immigration system. third, we must practice bipartisanship and avoid anti-chinese or asian

stereotyping at all costs. we must recognize the c.c.p. wants us to be partisan and prejudiced. in fact, the c.c.p. hopes for it. but what they don't get is 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 has named, has said our diversity is our strength and our unity is our power. our unity of purpose, our unity in action, and our unity as americans. we must summon that unity if we're going to safeguard our values and our economic way of life going forward. host: that was the democratic ranking member on that china select committee. that was part of his opening statement for that meeting on tuesday. i want to bring up one more

video. this is rep rob whitman, the asking a former trump national security advisor and retired army general h.r. mcmaster about potential china-taiwan conflicts and u.s. policy. >> most recently we've heard the window the chinese would look to to try to take taiwan. first of all, what would be the cost of that conflict for united states and others around the world? we know, too, that a conflict there would be able to scale that, i don't think anybody in this nation realizes. it would be of the scale even greater than i think world war ii, because of the massive amount of power between those two nations. can you also tell us what will be the cost if we failed to deter the c.c.p.? >> thank you for that question. we are in a difficult position,

because we have been underinvested in modernization for quite a long amount of time. what has happened is the people's liberation army studied us. instead of trying to re-create some of our capabilities, they developed counter measures. offensive cybercapabilities, counter satellite capabilities, long-ring precision fires. so what they have done is try to figure out how to take apart what they say as advantages. we've needed for some time investments in counter measures to those counter measures. but we haven't been able to pull it off. we also have problems in capacity at the same time. so i think what xi sees is a fleeting window of opportunity, an opportunity to move while he perceives weakness in the united states, it's worth going back and reading the joint statement between xi ping and vladimir putin on the eve of the beijing olympics. the message is, hey, united states, west, free world, you're over. it's a time for a new era of

international relations, and we're in charge now. the other factors that add impetus to this is really the sense that the frailties in the chinese economy, that they have incured in the race to surpass us are really beginning to show cracks in the chinese system. what better convey to divert the disappointments of the people than national sentiment focused largely on taiwan. there's a taiwan ease election in 2024. it's not going to be good. i think from the view of xi. and then our own elections, which we tend to be fraction during within election. if we think of this as capability times will, our capabilities are not where they should be and capacity, and their perception, which i don't think is right, but the party's perception of our will i think makes it a dangerous period. host: all right, back to the phone lines.

again, we want to hear from you about what you perceived ads the biggest threat and what you think washington should do about it. as a reminder, democrats, 202-748-8000. republicans, 202-748-8001. independents, 202-748-8002. our next caller is mack in somerville, south carolina, on the democratic line. you're on. caller: it seems almost like a blame game to me at this point. and when you look at it from a historical perspective, ronald reagan borrowed more money from the chinese than any president ever did, and as we continue to let -- host: did he go?

all against china. host: i think you're going in and out a little bit. caller: well, can you hear me now? host: yeah, keep going, finish your thought. caller: right, basically i was saying that we have to look at it from a historical perspective, because ronald reagan was the president that borrowed more -- host: i'm sorry, mack, you're going in and out. we're going to have to let you call us back. let's go to ben. ben is calling from maryland on the independent line. what's your thoughts this morning, ben? caller: good morning from one of my favorite journalists. i think that we have to -- we're in the united states, even europe, have to con seat to the fact that china, the landscape as far as economic power is leaning more towards asia and

china. we have to find a way to live with that and work around it. we have to take not an aggressive posture to china, because militarily we don't have the capability or the will to engage in a war with a country of that -- a military of that magnitude. i think the united states from this point forward, we're so tied to china's economy, and they are such an advantage with some of the software of things and other things we depend on and look for, that we're going to have to find a way to be ok with not being the number one superpower in the world and still find a way to get along and avoid military conflict. host: all right, thank you, ben, from maryland. our next caller is keith in

california on the republican line. what are your thoughts this morning, keith? caller: well, i think china is a great threat due to the enemy within, i call the enemy within, with college professors who are keeping and have kept the american people so ignorant, since the late 1960's until now, something ignorant about human freedom, it's too bees i because them don't teach the power of the human intellect, which would give us free choice and free thought. i've never seen such treason against democracy, against human freedom before in my life here in the united states. as i have in the last 6 0e years of my life because of such

ignorance of human freedom by the american people. you know, president trump is so great because he explains our position, and he's so confident at doing it. he explains human freedom as well as some of my i feel very fortunate because i have a couple people who could, colonel nash from, you know, one of the colleges i went to was in vietnam, and my philosophy professor from france, who understood what the power of the human intellect are that give us human freedom and democracy here in the united states. but yeah, i see our greatest threat as coming from within the united states because of poor human education in our education system here in the united

states. host: all right, appreciate that call, keith. let's move on to our next caller now. frank in alabama on the democratic line. caller: yes, good morning. host: good morning. caller: yes, it is a threat, but it's a threat that we created ourselves, the united states. when i was in the areason corps and president nixon going to china, and after that the gates opened wide open. we sent all our businesses for lower income here in america now. it's the boomerang effect. have a good day. host: ok, thank you. that's frank from selma,

alabama. mike is calling from alexandria, virginia, on the republican line. you're on, mike. caller: good day. china is not a threat. america is always looking for an enemy. china holds over a trillion dollars of the united states debt. if you take china and vietnam, which are communist countries, if you stop tde with them, america would walk around butter ball naked. the blouse you have on, if you look at the back, i bet you it's from china or vietnam. there's no threat. and have you seen china's air force? they have an air force second to ne. thank you. have a good day. host: all right, that was mike calling from virginia. let's go now to bradenton, florida. barney, what are your thoughts this morning?

caller: china is not the greatest threat to america. china was inside the capitol waving confederate flags. the republican party is the greatest threat to america today. all this about china is nothing but a smoke screen. you got the same guy who called the insurrection running for president. people, we need to wake up. all this stuff about china, china ain't bothering us. independents the people inside the republican party. the china that stormed the capitol. about china take over the capitol? no. this is a bunch of foolishness. all of it is just a smoke screen, so donald trump can run for president again. this is so ridiculous. you looking for a boogeyman again, right? somebody we can go and fight. we need to fight these people inside america, the middle party. just like the the people saying,

the republican party is the greatest threat to america today. all this other stuff is nothing but a smoke screen. host: all right, that was barney in florida. let's go to the republican line now, dave is in needham, massachusetts. you're on, dave. caller: hi, hello, i'm glad i 's able to follow him there. would be one understand especially republicans, i'm asked that we refer to any kind of threat as the ccp and not china. it's not from the one billion chinese people from the less than 1% of the ccp and especially republicans are can they get hammered with accusations of racism. all of what he said, th's what's coming at any republican

or conservatives. we he to start cleaning up our language and refraining to th ccp, not china. i've been to china. i'mur everyone here knows chinese people, they are fine ople. just le the japanese back in the 1930's and the germans of the 1930's, they are a threat. they are a potential threat and we have to keep them a potential threat, not an actual threat. i hope our policymakers understand that e real name of the game just li idomestic politics, the name of the game is to stay in the game. the chinese communist party, they are kind of built on -- not necessarily strong foundations. they make up a minority of the people and their biggest concern is to stay in power.

if three to him -- and freedom is an insidious thing. there's a larger percentage of people who just don't care, who want to live a good life. sometimes their policies when were pushing freedom aware doing is scaring people like putin and xi jinping and all of their supporters. they just want to stay in power and not get overthrown. again america let's reframe this and think of it is our only opponent is the ccp, hopefully xi jinping doesn't take over taiwan and another guy will take over. that won't be as adversarial if we go back to being good friends. it doesn't seem that's the trend right now. >> dave in massachusetts, let's go to chicago illinois on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning.

i view china as a security threat especially to taiwan. a long time ago i was an air force weather forecaster in taiwan responding to -- helping an american squadron trained. we need to counter them but not alienate them. we also need a nuclear treaty with them but maybe we need to get organized with taiwan. it's not easy to take over taiwan but it's easy for them to blockade taiwan because they need fuel and parts for what they manufacture. we keep getting drawn back to europe in the middle east and the ukraine war and other things. we need to have a strategy ready

first to help protect taiwan which may occur soon. taiwan's more important to america than in ukraine is as a matter of fact. host: let's bring up a little bit more of that video from that select china committee hearing last week. this is the president of the alliance for american manufacturing. he is discussing the impact china is having on u.s. industry. [video clip] >> i think it's worth bearing 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 would have no such right in china. their voices would be silenced perhaps permanently. the economic policies of the chinese communist party represent a clear and present danger from the american worker. international security. the ccp has telegraphed its

intentions with five-year plans, of the made in china 2025 program. and the belden road initiative. its goals, to dominate key industries, set global standards, seek opportunity from crisis and weaken competitors. the ccp has attracted american investment to do this and i now ask consent to play video. u.s. investment in china, one $.3 trillion in total. our indian china grew nearly three times the domestic rate. stealing electoral property, cyber hacking, piracy. the cost, tens of thousands of factory closures in america, a 600 billion dollars in ip losses alone. host: that was the president of the alliance for american

manufacturing. a quick program note, if you want to hear from him about not just the u.s. investment of manufacturing in china but manufacturing in general he will be on this program on tuesday morning march 7 during the 8:00 a.m. hour. but we are going to go back to your calls. do you consider an economic and national security threat what aspect of chinese influence concerns you most and how should washington respond heard those are questions for you this morning. it -- going back to the phone lines now, on the line from georgia, ramona is on the democrat line. >> good morning. i'm so glad were having this conversation. i'm a black woman, a little bit of educated but i always

wondered how did we get sold out like this. i believe we were sold out by corporations and the government. they allowed china, they dealt with china for money for a greedy reason. they know, they had to contemplate the circumstances and the repercussions of selling out to china, letting all of our jobs go. they knew americans with a no lose jobs, they knew to come here and take over economics. they're saying rick desha selling real estate every day to the chinese people. they're buying up houses every day to chinese people. they know this. it's all because of greed. they're selling us out, they have to know. they had to know in the government, the corporations.

did they care about america, they cared about that mighty dollar. china's economic threat, they knew. and i'm so glad we had this conversation. are they the enemy or are they not. if they're the enemy how are they coming over in our neighborhood. that the new minority now taking over our neighborhood. but there the enemy. i don't understand that. something's wrong somewhere. thank you. host: ramona in georgia. let's go to michigan now. bill is on the dependent independent line. -- independent line. caller: they can outnumber us, we are free people. you see however react ashley reacted when our national government and state government and local government tried to take our freedoms away.

in we were just angry, we yelled, you yelled. we a coup -- accused you. we are free people mike. we stand strong. our biggest enemy i think is our news media. our own people through abc news nationally put a firecracker in a chevrolet pickup trucks gas tank just to destroy autoworkers and our auto industry. here in detroit i'm one of those white guys working the street every day. i don't want to stop working. i tell these people how to get into it. some of them just laugh at me like it's such a far-fetched thing and i tell them i'm uneducated, i got my ged -- ged

before my children knew i wasn't educated. we have to stand and god bless the people in the streets of detroit who are a free people doing what they want to do because there's nothing focusing them. thank you. >> bill in michigan. up next we have liz in south carolina on the republican line. >> good morning. my father who was a world war ii veteran always told us we better watch out for china. and of course we ignored that as children, but now it's coming true. one of the past callers said that china is buying up as much real estate in this country as they can. and that is true. i know -- my brother-in-law is in real estate. and every day he's making big

money selling expensive homes, businesses, anything they can get their hands on, they are doing it. they're buying out big plots of land in the bahamas and eventually i think they're going to be within our school systems, colleges, etc. and i like to tell people out there try to tear down one of their statues. try to spray paint one of their statues and see where you end up. mr. president who is supposedly serving our country right now is turning his head to them and letting them do this thank you. >> appreciate your call. our next caller is susan in new york on the democratic line.

>> caller: i'm calling because my problem with china is the drug situation. i'd like to know who sent -- drug company center drugs to be made in china when you think about it if they suddenly stopped producing the drugs we need in this country we couldn't build factories fast enough to keep people alive. and we would lose thousands of people. i would like to know whose idea was it to have drugs for people, for children and adults sent to a foreign country and made by someone who does not like us very well, has no interest in keeping us alive and it just doesn't make sense to me. and i'd like to know who got the payoff but there's no way a normal person, just an average person could find out. it just seems that our government does not have a brain

, they didn't think before they let the people send their factories there. and our people in the united states are capable of making anything they want to make. if our government backs them up. i just don't understand it. if someone could answer that question i would appreciate it. the drugs may be cheaper but they're bringing in fentanyl and it's killing millions of our children. it's just a sad situation and i think that's the worst thing they've done to us. >> that was susan in new york. next up we had carrie calling from hamilton ohio on the independent line. what are your thoughts this morning? sorry about that. you are on now. carrie?

all right -- go ahead. caller: how are you? host: good. caller:, i on? host: yes you are on. caller: first of all i heard a news broadcast today that said the housing market is up and the reporter had said experts say it's up because wages are going up. i've been in the business of property restoration, commercial and residential for over 20 years and i can tell you the mortgages going up and housing is going up because we are foreign investors buying up homes and commercial buildings. as far as the economic security. it's the fault of politicians. can you hear me? host: you might want to turn your tv down a little bit.

keep on with your thought. i think we lost gary. so i'm going to bring up peter. peter is in pennsylvania on the republican line. what are your thoughts this morning? >> i used to have a -- the hsbc bank bought them out. and they got that in buffalo with hsbc on the side of it. >> all right that was peter in pennsylvania. our next caller is nolan. nolan is calling on the democratic line he's in san antonio texas. go ahead nolan. >> good morning. >> i was sitting back thinking

to myself they keep -- we always have to find a bogeyman to go after. every morning i wake up and look into the mirror and ask myself who created my problems. that's what everyone in this country should look at and see and ask themselves who are we to be blaming china for what's keeping americans -- bore asking for. we want cheap products. we go all around the world getting these cheap products made for us. and look into the mirror and ask yourself these people that were voting for creating these problems. corporations, everybody says they're talking about china buying up everything. we as poor people -- wake up and stop pointing your finger at china. china isn't creating our problems.

we're creating our own problems over here. we end the politicians and the big corporations. thank you. >> nolan in san antonio working to go to another caller now. in alexander's city alabama. timmy is calling on the independent line. >> this is jimmy. the way i see it, god bless america and our country, we need to quit fooling with china. that would be the best thing. it is just quit fooling with china and quit selling anything. to china. host: all right. appreciate your comments this

morning. calling from asheville, north carolina. alan is on the republican line. you are on. caller: good morning. is china a threat, absolutely. the biggest problem is our government. republican and democrat. we need to change the rules where they don't get all of this money and power. we need to take the country back. get down to the basics that we had years ago and make people go to work. it's a whole system that we all have to do. so i think that's the two biggest problems that america has today. host: let's go back to that pairing -- hearing earlier. this is that how select committee. here is the chair again this time asking matthew pottinger is the former advisor under

president trump. he's asking about the social media app tiktok. >> a few issues have received as much bipartisan attention as tiktok. july bring on your concerns in terms of espionage, control over the algorithm as well as potential precedent and mitigation agreement could set when it comes to tiktok and other technology companies operating in the united states? >> mr. chairman thank you. certainly the data privacy issues which have gotten a lot of attention are a real problem for the privacy of of americans but also for our national security already the chinese parent company that controls tiktok is confirmed as having used the app to surveilled u.s. journalists in order to try to identify sources and to

retaliate against their sources. that's just one small example of the universe of potential abuse but would be in the offhand. there's nothing in chinese law that suggests chinese communist party would back off of its legislative privilege to access all of the data produced by social media platforms and other chinese apps. i simply don't think it's possible to mitigate in a credible way against that threat. but the bigger coup for the chinese communist party if tiktok is permitted to continue operating in the united states and if we chat and other platforms are left to continue to operate is that it gives the chinese communist party the ability to manipulate our social discourse. the news, to censor and suppress

or to amplify what tens of millions of americans see and read and experience and here. through the social media app. tiktok is already one of the most powerful media companies in media history and it's still growing. it's not just dances and kids stuff. it's becoming a major source of news for a generation of americans. >> again that was the former trump national security adviser -- deputy national security advisor matthew pottinger talking about the chinese social media app tiktok. we are taking your calls about threats that china may pose in america and we are going to go back to the phone lines. image and 8 -- imogen is on the democrat line. >> a lady called earlier and asked about who made the decision to let our medication leave -- be made in china.

i'm just calling back because it goes back even further than that. under ronald reagan. ronald reagan took an attack against the unions in the united states for political reasons. the unions supported democratic party when ronald reagan got elected bit by bit he allowed manufacturing all types of manufacturing. he and the republican party in the democratic party later on. they allowed these companies to take their manufacturing offshore and they bring the product back into the united states tariff free to be sold but the main reason it was was to destroy the conglomerate of the unions that the plight of the democratic party. so they can take a political base course. they got a down that it's like

you don't make anything in the united states. it affects everybody. i have a card -- a car that's been in the shop six weeks and they tell me the part won't be in until the end of march. just to fix a car. a fender the goes on a car. everything that like a lot of the country to be made. then they'd have it made in the country. thank you. host: our next caller is robert in kentucky on the republican line. >> good morning. two other callers, one said we need to make sure that it's the ccp that is the enemy not the inese people. another one said have you seen their air force. yes i have, cosmeticallthey

look at our air -- they look like o airplanesut what's important is what go in them. democrats say democratic is the pronoun. why are you using a pronoun for democrat because i hope all three lines are democratic leaning. thank you. host: frank is in west virginia on the independent line. are you with us? >> good morning. i feel that china is a huge threat to the united states and the fact that their economic espionage is really an unprecedented event. stealing technology. you hear all the time chinese hacking, classified information. really abhorrent we can allow

the fact were so divided here in this country we really need to sit down and have a discussion and come together. were not as different as politicians make it seem. it's really ridiculous because love one another and we've got a conquer this threat. they're going through their population issues from their one child policy is really hurting them so they will be in a hurry to get things done. we have to step our game up. thank you very much. >> let's hear from henry. henry is calling from springfield, georgia on the democratic line. what are your thoughts this morning? caller: thanks for giving me the opportunity. china is not a threat and will never be a threat. we gave products and industries to the chinese because of the low cost labor. china has brought 800 million

people out of poverty. china will always be ahead of us because they think of what they are going to do next. they just don't do things next. china is not involved in trying to take over cuba, china did not create its economy on the backs of people. -- stolen people. thank you. host: that's henry in georgia. our next caller is going to be frank in new york on the independent line. >> good morning america. this is a very complicated talk. i've listened to viewpoints ranging from all over the place and it's very convoluted. host: so what are your thoughts,

frank? caller: how far do you want to go back in history? you could go back to when richard nixon tried to get the pows out of vietnam. i heard one veteran call in and he was right to a degree. he did it by working with the chinese and gave them free trade stats -- preferred trade status. you could go to that point, you could go closer and you could say well do ukraine and russian situation. or let's go to afghanistan where in afghanistan we left and showed weakness or we could go back to the obama administration who provides mr ease for the ukrainians, we could jump all over. i guess what i want to say is what we do now?

at this point? i don't know the answer really. i know everyone that's calling in with viewpoints in one way or another. host: we appreciate that call. frank in new york. cecil will be up next. in alexandria, virginia on the democrat line. what are your thoughts? >> i want to make mention to one point and then circle back around. the lady indicated about removal of statues. those who were probably -- primarily insurrectionist against the united states at the time. and she's concerned about removing statues. but regarding the chinese issue.

when african slaves were picking cotton, that would go back to the mother of america england which would make garments and then ship those to india force -- forcing her to buy their clothes and pay with cocaine. that was then shipped to china where they plunge their people into a condition of severe damage. china and the united states primarily have a unified voice with the top of their leadership in the communist party so they speak with one voice. america divided primarily and the power of chinese is rising immensely where united states power is waning. so to talk about going to war

with china would probably not be in the good interest of the united states. >> in our final caller from this segment will be daniel from california on the independent line. >> good morning. thank you c-span for being there. i want to say god bless america we have our faults but this is the best thing going and as far as what we can do right now. the ccp, it's not the chinese people. but the communist party there, you have a communist party in north korea and iran they have a

very authoritarian system also. anyways. my take -- yes? host: i think we lost daniel so we will have to speak with him another time. we will take a quick break. up next a look at the week back in politics and what's ahead for campaign 2024. we will talk to two political strategists. later, allison of the organization iraq and ghanistan veterans of america will be discussing with veterans and policy priorities for congress. we will be right back. ♪

>> tonight on q and a. in the book, tv and radio broadcaster talks about the green book, an annual travel guide used by many african-americans from 1936 to 1967 during the jim crow era that lifted safe hotels, restaurants, gas stations and other businesses. to learn more about the books history and lasting impact he visited those sites. >> it helped african-american survive a difficult time. it also enabled them to negotiate between safe harbors,

unknown territories in america where you did not have -- you did not know what was going to happen. it also was an act of resistance saying we are not going to take this anymore. for the resilient -- see what we can do. as people and as americans to credit brighter future to make our lives livable and enjoyable. >> tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span's q. you can listen to q and day and all of our podcasts on our free app. >> the united states of america was originally built on two important documents. first the declaration of independence signed by 56 men in the middle of 1776. second the constitution was signed by 39 men in september of

1787. six of those men put their john hancock on both documents. they've written short background stories about 95 of the signers into books sign their lives away and signing the rights away the constitution. >> authors on these episode of book notes plus. book notes plus is available on the c-span now app or wherever yoyour podcast. >> since 1979, in partnership with the cable industry c-span is provided complete coverage to the halls of congress 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

and decided with no commentary, interruption and completely unfiltered. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. >> washington journal continues. >> welcome back to washington journal. we are here with lauren baird and republican strategist mike ricci, they will be discussing politics in campaign 2024. >> good morning morning to you. >> let's start with the cpac conference which of the conservative. it happened just this weekend here in the washington dc area. i'm reading from a fox news article. it says trump received 60% of support while to santos came in at 20% in the conservative conferences straw poll.

we scroll down a little bit, it says trump 162% support in the paul -- trump won 62% in the poll. florida governor ron desantis came in at second choice with 20% support. the third-place pick at 5% was longshot gop candidate terry johnson, businessman said to run for governor in michigan but was blocked from participating in the republican primary. kari lake received the most support for vice presidential candidate with 20%. desantis received 14% support for the vice presidential nominee in the cpac paul over 2000 attendees completed the paul organizers said. it's not a bad sample size of conservative advocates and we

know this is a pretty trumpy crowd. the question is how significant is it if this is supposed to be trumps people is it a good thing or bad thing that his support level in the straw poll was 60% for trump. >> i think it's with the team was going for to show some strength here. perfectly encapsulates what republicans are grappling with even though it's become less important there quite a few empty seats for this speech. there's a small but stubborn group of people who aren't just forever trump basically. i think it shows you he's can have this hold on this 30% or so of republican electorate and how we grapple with that is a big question for republicans going forward. i think it's what they were looking to achieve. host: of course we will be talking with mike and lauren all

our -- all hour so we want you to call in for -- with questions or share any comments you have about the political news of the week. just remind you of the numbers. democrats, 202-748-8000. republicans 202-748-8001, and independents 202-748-8002. we want to go ahead and start calling in. there is a yahoo! news poll that says 62% of voters think biden is too old for another term. that right now, he is expected to run for reelection even though he hasn't formally announced but what are you hearing about how age may play a factor if president biden does run for another term? >> biden's age is what it is.

we knewhat when we elected him in 2020. what i will say is i think the biden camp and democrats in general are feeling pretty good about the president's record and what that means for reelection prospects. we are seeing some of the lowest unemployment in history. some of the highest job growth in history. inflation coming down now for more than six months running and republicans really in disarray on the others. as mike mentioned with cpac you at a room full of empty seats that was pandering to an extremist wing of the republican party and so if i were looking ahead acknowledging that we are still many months away from the 2024 election i would choose biden's record at his age and experience over the alternative any time. host: i want to stick with you.

you contributed to an article that was pulled up on campaigns and elections where you talked about how democrats will need to staff up and there's kind of a staffing shortage so to speak. i want to read a little bit, talk about what you said. we consider this probably the most critical moment in our work because this is where were trying to capture talented work on a previous cycle and ensure we can retain and leverage that talent. we do this because we know there's massive attrition problems and it comes to staffing. to put that into perspective more than 18,500 campaign staff to fully and adequately staff campaigns for president biden's into soup aided reelect to state legislative races in 2023-2024. you called a silver lining in

the democratic house primaries. can you explain why it's a silver lining that there may not be a competitive presidential primary on the democrat side in 2024. >> first of all the want to subject provide some context those numbers. what i was speaking about is the fact it doesn't take just incredible candidates to win elections it takes teams to do the work of organizing, to knock doors, to make phone calls and reach voters. were recognizing it takes tens of thousands of individuals if you're going to have victories in the presidential level all the way down to the state legislative level. that's the work my organization does. we recruit, we train, we place individuals who will be working on campaigns up and down the ballots. what i was talking about with the silver lining of not being a democrat primary is what that means on the left we will be

able to take some of that top campaign talent and instead of having it compete against one another in a primary we will be able to devote it to down ballot races which we recognize are so important. his critical races in 2024, critical senate and house races in 2024. we know state legislators are stashed slight legislators are so important. on an everyday basis in their lives. what i want to also mention here that's really promising for democrats is the amount of enthusiasm that we are seeing. a good barometer of how democrats are feeling going into 2024 might be how many people are raising their hands and saying i would like to work on an election. my organization did its earliest training ever in an off cycle

year and saw the most candidates -- applicants we've seen coming off a midterm election. what it shows his enthusiasm for electing our candidates and making 2020 for a great year for democrats. host: mike i want to bring it back to you -- before we go back to mike we go back to mike we should note president biden technically does have a primary, author marianne williamson announcer primary challenge to president biden just yesterday but she is considered a long shot. there is at least one announced democrat in that marianne williamson is running for president next year. on the republican side we expected to be much more competitive and i have a yahoo! news article that says 2024 poll, desantis slides as trump surges to first in head-to-head lead in months. the fort -- the florida

governor's lead over the former president has evaporated with trump leading desantis 47% to 39%. do you agree that trump is the front runner in the republican primary, a why not? >> i think so, i think any road to the nomination leads through him. we have to see with those numbers look like after desantis, if and when he announces and it does a campaign rollout. i think they are the two big beasts in the race. you see the other candidates sort of circling them to be the number three and number four, even number five choice. i think the two of them are the title card, definitely get to be what people watch and those numbers will go back and forth in different people will make of it what they want. we really won't know how things stand until after desantis

actually gets in and shows he's a real candidate. >> we are going to be going to the phone line shortly. democrats, 202-748-8000, republicans 202-748-8001. independents 202-748-8002. before we go to the phone lines, quickly is there any scenario where trump and desantis share a ticket. i think a lot of people, a lot of conservatives that's an ideal kind of outcome for them. >> i think president trump for his part seems -- you mentioned kari lake and i know some people at cpac were talking about marjorie taylor greene as a vice presidential choice. i don't see it happening. i think president trump will want someone who's a loyal

follower of his, not someone who could possibly outshine him in any way as governor desantis might. >> let's hear from some of our callers. north carolina on the democratic line what's your question or comment? caller: i love president biden. he's a mature man, he knows what's going on. president trump he was never my president, they were so afraid of him when he was in the president role that they were wanting him to get out of the chair and that was a republican also. this man is not right. he wants to run the united states as he said like russia. why would we want a person like

that to run the united states of america. there can it do what they want to do. not follow rules but do what they want to do and we don't need that either. we need a person is going to follow the rules, know what the rules are and know how life is supposed to run. not keep it just for republicans but for everybody. and then i'd like that, they just want to have their own republicans run. >> we appreciate your call. i want to let mike respond. how does trump build a coalition , a winning coalition? >> i think for him he will try to simply try to bring back what he did in 2016 but then again unsuccessfully in 2020 he'll try to go back to working-class

voters, try to play excesses of the left, what people call wokeness and different people have different definitions of what that is. it will be a heavy dose of grievance politics. we saw that in his visit after the train derailment. i think for him it will go through the midwest and through working-class voters. host: let's go to christian in phoenix, arizona. republican line. caller: good morning, thanks for taking my call. i want to say that when you're looking at this poll you need to basically just add those two numbers together. and then you get the number that trump is at as far as a straw poll or a poll is concerned. let's just say that 80% of the republican party is going to be behind a maga candidate.

that should send a message to republicans in name only want to drag us back into the years of bush and cheney and romney and adam kinzinger and all the folks who are against america first. you are knocking to have this party. -- not going to have this party. i find it interesting when democrats talk about trump violating the law, joe biden issued the most to ran a call unconstitutional executive order the united states history was to coerce u.s. citizens into taking a vaccine, coerce u.s. citizens into wearing masks. i think it's absolutely ridiculous went they say trump violated the law or anything like that. joe biden issued the most unconstitutional executive order and violation of law that we've seen in our nations history.

and lastly i will say that all of the america firsters and those of you who are trump supporters and you believe in mag, you you need to find your voice. you cannot allow these republicans in name only to have our platform. we are the only ones who truly believe in a secure border. the only ones who believe in election integrity. with the only ones who believe in truly first amendment rights. so hold onto that because these people are co-opting our platform. we are the only ones who truly believe in the platform on the right and we will poll strong -- hold strong to these principles. you have to find your voice. do not allow these republicans in name only to have it. >> christian in arizona. i want to ask you to respond. that was a very maga caller. how do democrats address the

concerns raised by those voters or do you think democrats already count them out? >> i think the caller is right about one thing which is that the republican is currently the party of extremism. it's the party of trump criminality. and willingness to foam and an insurrection. if you look at the choices presently in a republican primary between criminals who would potentially be indicted and between a want to be authoritarian in ron desantis between a political shape shifter in nikki haley. what you have on the table is individuals who would return our country to a state of chaos and dysfunction. i think when you look at what the majority of americans want for the other caller who spoke before him, it's a return to normalcy.

it's a return to governing. it's having someone in the white house who is interested in delivering for the american people. not delivering for their own ego or for an extremist base. what i would say actually is the broadest swath of americans as was shown in the 2020 election reject that kind of extremism which is at the core of republican party activism right now. the way i read that is very bad news for republicans when it comes to 2024 not only at the top of the ticket but all the way down. >> i think one thing about the previous caller is interesting is what's a lot of republicans hear back home it's not just about zmaga -- about maga it's in america first. i think that folks at home

should listen to a christian was saying and that's a lot of people are hearing is that message evolving to america first. i also think i guess you could say trump and desantis is maga and saying he's not a legitimate heir to his ideology and his movement. how much that will have an impact is one of the things we should be looking for in a republican primary. >> if i might jump in here on the ukraine point which i think is important. it needs to be unquestioned -- it used to be unquestioned amongst americans that we supported democracy worldwide. that we thought it was critically important that the american way of life and governance by the will of the people was something that we protected and promoted not only at home but also abroad.

i think it's fundamentally very frightening that you're seeing republicans from president trump to tucker carlsen all the way down lining up in support of vladimir putin over the people of ukraine. if ukraine falls, democracy falls. this is a fundamental question when it comes to the safety and security of our country. so i think that willingness to say that somehow promoting america requires turning our back to democracy promotion around the world is a very scary and frightening position. that ultimately does not put america first. it puts america last and all of us at risk. host: we will go back to the phone lines now. talking this morning with democratic strategist lauren baird and republican strategist mike lychee. we are talking about political news of the day. we want to know your questions or comments. democrats your number is 202-748-8000.

republicans 202-748-8001. independents 202-748-8002. our next caller is bernie in raleigh, north carolina on the independent line. caller: hello. host: go ahead. caller: i just wanted to say there so many red flags, strikes against him that it's close to being insane that this guy could get 400,000 feet from the white house without being assaulted and arrested. it goes back to the 50's, the 60's when he was a kid, his parents said don't sell anything to blacks. from there it got worse and worse. but then january 6, come on.

how could legally be that this guy continues running to be president once again when he was solely responsible for injuries, even deaths, telling his schools i want you to get out there and don't be weak and forget about saying they have weapons they can come in. coming with their weapons and defend me. it's been proven that that was all bs and it was all lies. and how could republicans with a good conscience, jesus ethical saying i deftly want this guy again. they should split up and say this is called the trump party but this is the good old republican party where we may

disagree on issues but we are not crazy insane people. i don't understand how we could even be legally allowed to run. has to be a team to slowly and quietly take him aside and put them away. i know this is america and that sounds harsh but look at january 6. january 6 has to stand in history as bad if not worse than 9/11 and hitler's and the jews. it was a horrible shocking day. liz cheney should be president. host: you've made your point. i want to let mike respond. not just january sixth but there are several investigations that president trump faces. how do you think that might factor? >> president trump himself said it is legal problems and even being under the possibility of indictments improves his numbers

and consolidates his base. he said numbers are up when he's indicted. he might not be wrong. it might have an effect over time that we saw last summer with documents in mar-a-lago. one of the best weeks he had in a while. people on the hill came to his defense. i'm with bernie on some of this but i just think one of those things that helps him, it brings his people closer to him. that he's being -- that it's a witchhunt and it sells with his base. >> let's go back to the phone lines. up next is bernard. he's in howard beach new york on the democrat line. >> good morning. i'd like to make a statement and ask a question. the statement with what the young lady said about backing the ukraine. if you have any idea of what

happens in the 20th century especially with regards to europe through 45. you know the best thing to do is they come back to an and state that some aggressor. if we don't stop them now we are going to lose a lot of american lives in the future. my question with respect to president biden, i included at this point this isn't about having him run. however, i'd like to know if there are any questioners or statistics about how the democrats feel if trump wins. does that change the equation. if trump wins the nomination, i want biden to run.

the rest of the democratic party feel? host: lauren? guest: i think there is nothing they would like to see better than a joe biden-donald trump rematch. he confidently beat donald trump in 2020 and i'm confident he would in 2024. bernie on the independent line spoke for so many folks in america who don't have a strong party affiliation but have negative feelings toward donald trump because of his corruption, his criminality, his willingness to encourage an insurrection against the united states of america. his voters across the country are given the choice once again to return to that kind of criminality, to put american democracy in threat, or to have the governing and sage wisdom of

joe biden, they will choose vote -- joe biden again. this is about the republican party not having good options because they have been fully captured by donald trump extremism. host: let's go back to the phone lines. up next is john in spring hill, florida, on the republican line. caller: i just have a few things to say with more statistics and what she is saying, that president biden has helped this country and we've had the lowest statistics as far as unemployment is concerned. i think she's totally wrong about that. i think it has risen and he hasn't really done much for the country. as far as helping the middle class at all. just like in ukraine, we are

spending millions if not billions of dollars in a country we don't belong in. you are saying about democracy, but they are not even in the united nations and we are spending all this money while we have our own people in the streets with no money, that have served in the war, and yet they can say that they have done good things for america, and i don't see what they have done. gas prices are still up. she is saying we have the best economy and i don't know. i'm a middle-class person. i pay a lot of taxes and i feel that the american people are not getting what they are supposed to get if somebody served in the war, they shouldn't be out in the street, yet we give billions of dollars to other countries when we should be taking care of our own. that's hard for me to understand. host: let's let lauren respond.

guest: the first thing i want to say is facts are facts. unemployment is at an all-time low. job growth is at an all-time high. gas prices are declining. inflation has declined for the last six months in a row. the caller makes a very good point, that americans are still hurting. i think the message democrats would have to folks in the middle-class who might see things getting better but they are still not good enough, is which party actually has a plan that will improve life for you? if you look back to republicans, now that they control the house they are not legislating. what their ideas are for legislation's massive tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy and policies that would fundamentally harm the middle-class. i would really take issue with the idea that they have the best interest of everyday americans

at heart. they really like to divert your attention from the fact that their policies are for the older wealthy and for corporations, and not for folks like our caller and so many other americans who are really trying to make ends meet. that's the first thing i would say. the second thing i would say is that we can deliver for the american people at the same time as we can protect the fundamental ideals of democracy around the world. it is not a good thing for america to give vladimir putin full license to invade and take over a neighboring country without cause. and to do so with the assistance of china. that is ceding power to one of our greatest adversaries which is ultimately bad for americans and the american way of life.

we both need to keep ourselves safe abroad, make the world stronger for democracy, and deliver for people at home. i think the biden administration statistically has a really strong track record on those things. host: let's hear from john in lasalle, illinois, calling on the independent line. caller: thanks for taking my call. c-span is such a wonderful station. i really like the format where you have people from both sides of what's going on in this country so you can hear democrat, republican, whatever. number one, i'm independent. if this country is going to be helped, it will not be by either major party. they are totally corrupt, controlled by corporate interests and bought and paid for by rich people and corporations. i wanted to especially speak -- there's a hunger for middle-class. i'm 63 years old and i can't

even believe -- i don't even recognize what our country is now compared to 20 or 30 years ago. there is a huge hunger among a lot of people like me who want our country to be taken care of and want things to get better. i want to address the lady who supports the democratic party talking about if ukraine falls, democracy dies. i've never heard of anything so crazy. people listening to the show, please do some reading. the united states and cia has been pushing, encroaching on russia's border since 2014 when the cia worked to overthrow the government in ukraine. it's like our country, corporations, all over the world we go into countries, try to overthrow the leadership like iran, latin america, steal their resources, and then we send troops into get our way when nothing else works, and we say it is for freedom.

it is not for freedom. it is to make a few small people rich. i can't even believe. people, please do some reading because democracy in ukraine is not what it's about. host: -- guest: let me cut in. i want to let mike respond because within the republican party there is a debate on whether the u.s. should continue supporting ukraine in its war with russia, or pull out and take a more isolationist position. can you explain how that may play out in the presidential race? guest: i think we have to separate, there are people who are just concerned about where the focus of the pentagon and by and large the administration should be. why is the president more focused on ukraine instead of our own borders here at home? there is those kinds of concerns

and there are concerns we hear, and lauren mentioned what tucker carlsen has been saying, a strand of thought about ukraine being potentially corrupt. i think it is important to separate those two things. sometimes they get conflated. i did see it play out on capitol hill with debates about pentagon spending and priorities. i think that will leak into the larger primary debate. but more and more, and we've heard a few callers this morning, there are an increasing bloc of republican electorate that is concerned about an open-ended commitment to ukraine. you keep hearing about a blank check, it will keep being an issue. guest: i would like to jump in and say that the blank check republicans want to write is a blank check to vladimir putin to expand his authoritarianism and his corruption throughout

europe. it used to be noncontroversial in this country on both the left and the right that we stood up to russia as one of our greatest adversaries. it's fundamentally frightening, and i don't believe it in any way shows us putting america first two cede that kind of power to putin and say, we will do everything we can in conjunction with our nato allies to ensure that we preserve democracy on the border of europe and ensure that vladimir putin is put in his place. that's the most fundamentally american thing you can do. our government can walk and chew gum at the same time. we can protect our interests abroad and deliver policies that are good for the american people. the current republican seems to want to do neither. host: let's bring up, this is a

clip of some of the comments former president trump said during his speech at the cpac conference last night. he was attacking bush era republicans and other members of the party in his remarks. [video clip] >> when we started this journey, a journey like there has never been before, there's never been anything like this, we had a republican party that was ruled by freaks, globalists, open borders zealots, and fools -- [laughter] we are never going back to the party of karl rove, and jeb bush. [applause] >> we are not going back to people who want to destroy our great social security system.

even some in our own party. i wonder who that might be, that want to raise the minimum age of social security to 70, 75, or even 80, and that are out to cut medicare to a level that it will no longer be recognizable. and when that was their original thoughts, that's what they always come back to. you have to remember that. we are never going to be a country ruled by entrenched political dynasties in both parties, rotten special interests, china loving politicians of west -- of which there are many. are you listening to this, mitch mcconnell? [cheers and applause] host: that was former president trump who is running for reelection. that was a portion of his speech which was nearly two hours, at the cpac conference last night. he's creating some clearly,

distancing himself with the more establishment of wing of the republican party. can you talk a little bit more, mike, about what you think -- what are your thoughts about the remarks, and where do you think trump goes as far as winning a primary? what is a winning message in 2024? guest: i thought it was all pretty low-energy myself. he was just criticizing people who have been criticizing him in recent weeks. i think it's interesting to hear him talk about freaks. one of his buddies as the pillow guy -- is the pillow guy with conspiracy theories. i thought that was petulant. this speaks to the fact that this is the kind of material that he will continue to feed to his base. whether, again, it might be

enough to win the nomination but can he win the presidency with a small bloc of loyalists to him, is the bigger question. i think he's clearly feeling insecure about his loosening grip on the party. again, i think we have to take it seriously and the nomination still has to go through him in some form or another. host: he name checked paul ryan in that speech. that might be because paul ryan was speaking to fox news and here is something he said. this was a couple weeks ago. "i'm backing the person not named donald trump we are going to lose a it is just that clear. we lost in 2018, 2020, and 2022. he will cost us another election so i'm just excited about somebody not named trump." the question for me, starting

with you, mike, if the person is not named trump, let's say desantis, politically there's not a whole lot of difference between trump and desantis. in a general election, how much do you think it will matter if some of the conservative messaging, like you said the america first, will that resonate with the general electorate even if it is not trump saying it? guest: that's what we need to see play out but what speaker ryan said is what you are hearing a lot of donors, there was a big donor gathering in florida at the club for growth. any time you are out of the white house, you want to win. the party wants a win and more people see desantis, just coming off his big victory in florida and the mandate he clearly won,

and talking about making america florida, i think more people see a winning message. can he successfully -- can somebody else other than trump, will trump support that person? will he give his full force square backing? i don't think we should count on that. i think that people want to win. i think people will be ready to move on when the time comes. host: lauren, the fact that there is a perception that trump is losing or that trump is losing support among some republicans, they want to move on, and that desantis seems to be that main alternative to trump for now. but again, santos is saying's -- desantis is saying some of the same things trump is saying. what does it mean that desantis could be more palatable, but the

same still very hard right politics? guest: the first thing i would question is whether trump is really losing ground within the republican party because the overwhelming majority of republicans are still unwilling to stand up to him, to take him on, to say it doesn't represent our party. if you go back to his cpac speech, they say there is no longer room for rational republicans in the party. i'm old enough to remember a time when democrats and republicans disagreed on matters of policy, but as a fundamental matter, all agreed in the idea of american democracy, that they believed people went to congress to govern and make laws. that's not trump's vision for the party or the country, so i

think it is ultimately pretty bad news for republicans that he is rejecting that kind of rationalism. i also don't think that ron desantis is fundamentally a more compelling alternative. ron desantis is a wannabe authoritarian who has spent most of his time governing my home state of florida by conjuring up bogeymen, by trying to ban books from schools and restrict academic freedom in florida's great public universities by creating laws that encourage more people to carry semi automatic weapons freely on the street. that's not a vision of governing that's going to lively so -- widely cell and that's why he's afraid to talk on any news outlet that isn't fox news.

some republicans would like to believe he is a viable and better alternative to trump because he is a little more polished, a little less vulgar. but i think when you ultimately put that on the national stage, it's going to become transparent that it is just trumpism in a different guise. as paul ryan said, the american people have rejected that multiple times and will again. host: back to the phone lines, richard in rural hall, north carolina, on the republican line. what are your thoughts or questions? caller: first one is, i like facts too. is it true that the doj and fbi lied about the dossier? hello? host: go ahead, richard. caller: i asked.

i'm wanting to know, is it true the ci -- fbi and doj lied about the dossier? host: do you want to take that, mike? i think we are going to move on. that's something you will have to google and see what the fbi and doj have said about the dossier which is pretty well documented. doug is in alaska on the independent line. caller: good morning. the fbi did lie. the truth is just not being spoken here by your guests or commentators. there's nothing more vulgar than a liar. and we have a known liar for 40 years who is president. i'm an independent voter and i think that as crude as trump can

be, i also see that in that four-year period that he was president that a lot did get done. a lot of the shoring up of the southern border, the independence on oil, where our energy independence was more solid, not perfect but solid. host: lauren, i wanted to ask you to respond. what can biden do to win over those independent voters in the middle that he will need in battleground states? caller: the first thing i want to call your attention to is the number of republicans calling in peddling conspiracy theories. what it says about donald trump in particular, but the republican party in general, that their strategy for winning

voters is convincing them that american institutions aren't working in their best interest, that there's something going on behind the scenes that they don't really know. the reason they do that is because ultimately they don't have a plan for governing. they don't have a plan for delivering. when i think about independent voters, individuals who don't identify as highly partisan, these are americans who just want to see the best for themselves and their families. they want to see enough food on the table. they want to ensure they have health care. they want to make sure their kids are safe when they send them to school or to the mall or to the movies. they want to make sure they have a secure retirement. each of those metrics, the republican plan is to actually make things worse for everyday middle-class americans. it is to cater to the wealthiest among us and big corporations.

it is to cut health care and diminish their benefits. so i ultimately believe that when independents are voting, if they are faced with a choice of a second biden administration or donald trump or some version of trumpism, they will choose the democratic route because they want to see our government actually governed. the republican party has just shown a total unwillingness to do that since donald trump stepped onto the national stage. host: mike? guest: i also noticed, including the last independent caller, the number of people questioning facts or the information they get from the government. we saw this play out this week with "the wall street journal" report that the coronavirus may have emanated from the lab in wuhan. obviously, that's something our intelligence community is still

revealing so there's no final judgments. we clearly do have issue with misinformation or just a lack of trust in what people are hearing from the government. it's just something i certainly have noticed that's been reflected this morning. host: let's go to another one of those callers on the line from pittsburgh, pennsylvania, devonne on the democratic line. caller: thanks for taking my call. as a like-minded democrat, i wanted to take exception to some of the things the strategist said this morning, and i hope that jamie harris is not listening. he's the one that decided we should give money to republican candidates that we thought would be good to run against. i'm sorry? the problem here is that, no, we democrats do not want donald trump on the ticket. we want donald trump in jail. a lot of us democrats don't want

to keep hemorrhaging money into ukraine because just like, it is eerie how the talking point is exactly the same. the dominoes fall if vietnam falls, the dominoes fall if ukraine falls. it's just not true. it's an excuse to spend our hard earned tax dollars on defense contractors who are filthy rich and wallowing in money. the dependent -- the democrats would like to see a candidate who is all about what we are about, taxing the uber wealthy, restoring the right to a safe and legal abortion, which is taking our country forward in a meaningful way that doesn't have anything to do with making war and other countries. instead of making weapons, and we are the largest weapons exporter on the planet, so instead of making these weapons

and a lot of these weapons are made at u.s. army bases so it is u.s. army owned land in which private contractors like atk, makes weapons that are sold to saudi arabia or given to ukraine. it is a huge moneymaking industry and the democrats, unfortunately, including mark warner and jean king in virginia which has so much defense money, and refusing to take care of people. we need national health care. we should've had at least a $15 minimum wage a decade ago. so stop talking about these games. democrats in d.c., don't listen to this woman. she doesn't represent us. she doesn't understand the democrats. host: you've made your point, and lauren, do you want to respond? guest: this is the first thing i want to make incredibly clear, democrats don't want to see donald trump win the presidency.

the point i was trying to convey is that if democrats had a choice of who was on the ticket on the republican side, certainly choosing donald trump who joe biden has already beaten and will beat again is the surest and easiest path to victory for democrats. the second thing i want to point out is that no one, republicans or democrats, wants to see war i would think. the biden administration did absolutely everything possible to try to prevent vladimir putin from invading ukraine. but when he did, we saw it fundamentally important to stand up to pruden and stand up for democracy. and that is not preventing us from delivering legislation at home. i think that caller outlines perfectly what certain democratic policy priorities are, and increased minimum wage, better health care for

americans, better environmental policies, and the roadblock is in aid to ukraine. it is republicans in congress who refuse to pass bipartisan legislation, or even looking back to when republicans and democrats had control of the house and senate, a refusal to eliminate the filibuster so we can get an up-down vote on legislation that would deliver for the people. the grievances are real but the anger is perhaps misplaced. it should be squarely on the party that is obstructing our efforts to legislate and deliver for the american people. host: let's hear from marshall calling from brooksville, florida, on the republican line. caller: good morning. i'm a vietnam veteran and i'm going to tell you, i don't know what lauren or the other one are saying, but i see a lot of veterans out on the road,

sleeping on the road, helpless with no food, but yet we are going to send $350 million to help the illegal immigrants be bussed, transported, and fed and places to live of our hard earned tax dollar money. i've fought for this country and i'm sure lauren has never seen military life, or maybe the other guy either, i don't know. i am fed up the way this administration is treating number one, the retired people, number two, how they can go with his transgender thing for kids in school i will never know. she said something about desantis banning books. he did ban books. i don't want poor and in my schools so the kids can go and read about it. this lady, and she said

something about the unemployment rate being so low, let me tell you about this. you need to open up your eyes. the unemployment rate is so high that all you are doing is trying to pass the buck so everyone will vote democrat. i'm not for trump 100% and i'm definitely not for biden but i can tell you one thing is trump dawn so much more for -- trump done so much more for this country then biden ever done. i would like you to tell me personally how and what has biden done so good for this country besides break us, get our military so low it terrible? host: i am going to cut in. we will let lauren answer your question. guest: i want to thank you for your service. our country exists because veterans like you who have thought in wars dating decades back, have worked to defend our

country and our way of life. it's important that we treat you well. that we provide benefits to ensure that not only veterans but all solid working class americans can live a good life, can retire comfortably in old age, can have health care, can have the safety and security their family needs. what i find really scary is that the republican party has somehow managed to convince a great swath of americans that the biden doing the exact opposite. what the biden administration is doing is passing historic legislation to put money in the pockets of everyday working americans to expand health care, to protect our environment, to ensure that veterans, those who have suffered from toxic burn pits are getting the care and benefits that they need.

those are the simple facts. that needs to be communicate -- communicated to folks. if you look at the republican parties agenda written out by leaders, it's a plan to roback medicare so security. it's a plan to decrease taxes for the ultra-wealthy. it is policies that will make it harder for everyday working americans in favor of corporate and special interests. that's why it's not going to make life better for people like you. host: we have to ended there. lauren baer, mike ricci, thank you so much for joining us this morng. we are going to take a quick break. coming up, allison just low of the organization iran and afghanistan veterans of america

will talk about issues facing veterans, but first it is open forum. please start calling in now. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans (202) 748-8001. independents (202) 748-8002. we will take your calls in just a moment. ♪ >> book tv every weekend on c-span 2 features leading authors discussing nonfiction books. from the tucson fest terrible of books -- festival o books, taking your calls. coverage continues with author talks and interviews including author of "they want to kill americans," and "the fight for his life." mike pompeo shares his book

where he talks about spearheading foreign policy for president trump, and interactions with america's enemies and allies. on afterwords, "africatown" on a community established by the last slaves wrought to the u.s. he is interviewed by catherine flowers. watch book tv ev weekend and fiull schedule on your program guide, or watch anytime online at book tv.org. c-span has coverage of the u.s. response to russia's invasion of ukraine, ringing the latest from the president, white house officials, the pentagon and state department, as well as international perspectives from the united nations, all on the c-span networks, the c-span now mobile app, and c-span

now.org/ukraine. our webpage where you can watch the te videos online or on-demand, and follow tweets from journalists on the ground. c-span shop.org is c-span's online store. browse our collection of c-span products, apparel, books, the core, and x -- decor, and accessories. every purchase helps support our nonprofit operations. shop now at c-spanshop.org. >> "washington journal," continues. host: we are back for open forum, your chance to talk about any hot political issue or news of the day. we are going to go right to your phone calls.

nisi is calling from southfield, michigan, on the democratic line. what would you like to talk about? caller: good morning. i look at the cpac all three days, no policies should help the people. no substance as to how they're going to make the policy work for everybody. it was jones -- just a bunch of garbage. if they think about it, the first three letters of conservative is con. the republican has several members that play, 143 people played the role in the insurrection on january 6, and the republican party had an opportunity to put people on their that was wanting the truth.

they chose to put people on the january 6 committee who played a role in the insurrection. they are not working for the people, and who would go for someone who is willing to take away their wife? have a blessed day. host: let's go next to stratton ville, pennsylvania, glenn on the republican line. caller: how are you guys doing today? i want to call in overall but first about ukraine, the united states for years has been the one to foot all the money for wars like this overseas. i don't understand why. i want to comment on the show you just went off with your strategists. they are both so out of touch with america. when trump was president -- trump runs his mouth, granted -- but when he was president the

country was in good shape. when i see these strategists lie the way they lie and not tell the truth, this is why america is where it's at today. we can't have people on tv like this lying through their teeth. they talk about trump or biden. we need to get with the program because america is in the toilet, and that is a fact. host: ok. let's go to another caller now, mike is in rockford, illinois, calling on the independent line. what's your thoughts you want to share? caller: good morning. my thoughts is the justice department, one third of our government to address the other two thirds. they might be failing the american people. in our constitution, it says we can reform.

i'm hoping the supreme court can listen to my list of problems and hopefully address them, and let the other two branches know they are not doing us justice. one of the things they could do is the fed hikes, interest rates . 7% with one president, 2% with the next. can they do anything about the fed? number two, the tariffs we are paying to the trump taxes that he passed, 25% of everything that comes into our country is being tariffed. why and where is that money going? the other problem is the fbi and cia are working on the borders for one long, section 127 e is allowing them to do this. is there any way the supreme court can stop that? the other thing is to audit the

archives so we can find out what we are missing. here is oil on a corvette oil change. another thing is the special counsel being handed out, the special investigation council being handed out instead of a grand jury being seated is another thing that could be addressed. what about these chinese police stations that are supposedly in our country? host: we got to a bunch of your list. we are going to move on, robert in massachusetts. the democratic line. caller: you did that right. about the ukraine, those poor people, in the 1930's it was

stalin who starved and killed them, and now we've got putin trying to get back because that's a breadbasket of the u.s., and he did not want to lose that. he's a communist at heart. and now we've got to clean up this mess. i feel we should support the ukrainian people wholeheartedly because who knows, we may be at the other end of that stick when the chinese try to get us. don't mind me. that's how i feel. god plus america and god save our children -- god bless america and god save our children. host: marianne is in illinois on the republican line. what would you like to share? caller: thank you for c-span. i do enjoy watching you, though i agree with one caller that sometimes your guests are very frustrating. this woman, the democrat this

morning says that social security and medicare were going to be attacked by republicans. i don't inc. it's fair for people to make those statements without -- think it's fair for people to make those statements without elaborating factually what they mean. i to am concerned about social security because we have too many people on social security. i have a nephew who's never worked a day in his life and he gets as much money as my 85-year-old mother who worked her entire life and raised five children. it's very confusing. i myself live right outside of chicago. you would think in this sanctuary state of people that people complain about -- and we are totally democratic run, democratic everything here. i've been here since i was 18. i'm 58 years old. and we are giving medical cards

to every poor illegal who is coming into our state. but do you know a 58-year-old white american woman living outside of chicago who has been here and paid taxes, my claim was denied. people thinking your country is in good shape, this is crazy. this is just crazy. here 40 years and i raised five children as a single mother here in king county, illinois. for the first time in 40 years, i had to apply for food stamps. so the idea that a democrat state, a sanctuary state that are doing things to help people is a fallacy. that is not true. it needs to be told. so many other things. ukraine, that's craziness.

it's like vietnam, iraq, korea, a never-ending war. host: that's marianne in illinois. let's go to wilson, north carolina, kenny on the independent line. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. if y'all go back, it would do a good service to people if you go back and show when russia first invaded ukraine. every one of your republican callers was calling in saying biden was weak, he should do something and now that he's doing something, they are changing their mind. you know, ma'am, i served in the military. and most of my life. if we went to war now -- and i was very proud -- but if we went to war now i would be afraid if they knew my political party, who would be shooting at me. so it's really bad now.

the other thing i want to say is that the trade with china, ok, nobody touched on that good. it started with reagan with the most favorite nation trade status, who was a republican. you go up, george bush's father came up with the new world order but said we will be a service economy, and that we wanted free-trade and all of this, and give our companies the ok to go -- they even paid some of them to go overseas and open up these companies in china. this was all done by the republicans except for bill clinton. bill clinton did go along with it, but he went along with it to bipartisanship, you want to say, to what to they call it, when you compromise with the republicans? that's what he did.

he had the monica lewinsky thing so he went along with it, but it was a republican idea. all this stuff, if you look at the money that we are in debt now, you look at the war in afghanistan, iraq, you are probably looking at $10 billion when you add up all the people that got to pay the rest of their lives, all the money it cost and everything. that started we had a balanced budget under clinton. host: got your point. we are going to move onto one more caller, cheryl in new york on the democratic line. share your thoughts with us. caller: i kind of agree with the lady from chicago a little bit there because i think our government has gotten way too big. i'm a democrat and i think it's pretty hard to figure out what

to do. but i do think if you ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do, get a job. we don't need to pay off people's student loans. they need to get jobs. why is it i needed to work for, 5, 6, 7 jobs to pay off my loans? it's fair. you sign on the dotted line and then we bring those common sense things back. as far as the war in ukraine, we should not be bothered with all that. it's not our business. we are partially to blame for part of it. as sars goes, someone said we might need help when china invades us. they have. they own farmland here. as far as the other person, that lady, your guest speakers were very annoying, both of them. it's not misinformation, it is not disinformation, it is

information. the information could be best served if facts came out versus everybody standing by their political party. host: we are going to have to leave it there, cheryl. we will take a quick break and coming up next, allison jaslow with the organization iraq and afghanistan veterans of america, talking about policy priorities for congress to address, right after the break. ♪ >> this week on the c-span network, the house and senate are in session. the senate will work on judicial nominations for district court and the house pset -- acting speech. tirone powellil testify -- jerome powell will testify at two hearings before the senate banking committee and theou finance committee.

the heads of the u.s. intelligencegeies will testify on the threats facing the u.s. before the senate intelligence committee and the house intelligence committee. also thursday, u.s. senators from ohio and pennsylvania, federal and local epa agencies, and the cpa -- cbo of norfolk southern railroad will testify on how to protect the public and environment the train derailment in east palestine, ohio. watch live on the c-span networks or c-span now, our free mobile video app. head to c-span.org for scheduling information, live stream video anytime. your unfiltered view of government. >> listening to programs on c-span through c-span radio just got easier. tell your smart speaker, "play c-span radio," to listen to

"washington journal" at 7:00 a.m. eastern, congressional events throughout the day, and catch "washington today," for a fast-paced report ofhe stories of the day. watch c-span anytime. c-span, powered by cable. c-span now is a free mobile app featuring your unfiltered view of what's happening in washington, live and on-demand. keep up with the biggest events with the floor hearings from the congress, white house events, the courts, and campaigns and more from the world of politics. it helps to say -- stay current with "washington journal" and find scheduling information, plus a variety of compelling podcasts. c-span now is available at the apple store and google play.

your front row seat to washington, anytime, anywhere. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us now is iraq army veteran and incoming ceo of iraq and afghanistan veterans of america, allisonjaslow, good morning. guest: thank you for having me. host: thank you for joining us. we will discuss how your organization is supporting veterans of the afghan and iraqi wars, and issues facing veterans. i want to start by giving the phone lines because it is a little bit different. we want veterans to call us at (202) 748-8000. everyone else can call us at (202) 748-8001. we would like to get to your calls and questions.

if you are a veteran or anyone else, and we will get to some of those calls in just a moment. allison, start out by reminding us, what does your organization iraq and afghanistan veterans of america, what does it do, how many members does it have, and how is it funded? guest: iraq and afghanistan veterans of america is the leading post 9/11 organization in the country. since its founding in 2004, we have been a leader in the media and capitol hill advocating for the generation of veterans i belong to. outside of iraq and afghanistan, terror has taken up in a variety of other countries. we are a powerful voice for all those who served post 9/11. when it comes to funding, we are a national nonprofit so we rely on the generosity of foundations, individual donors

to be able to do the work we do. we have been very effective punching way above our weight class for the history of the organization. have been extraordinarily successful in leading to the passage of the g.i. bill, raising awareness around the unique needs of women veterans. we were the only leading veterans organization willing to make women a priority and we have seen great gains that there is still work to be done. i'm excited to be stepping into this role as we approach our 20th anniversary, and i'm really excited to be here with you this morning, especially somebody who spent my entire career fighting for change and better public policy and being a very engaged

citizen, i appreciate the c-span viewers because i feel like they are the most engaged citizens. host: can you tell us a little bit about -- and we appreciate you joining us -- tell us about that military background and how it led to this role you will be assuming and a couple of weeks. guest: so little personal peace i guess about me, i am the only cash success story i know of. i took a trip to fort meyer. i was told to go there but everything about the place swept me off my feet. it is how i fell in love with our country and found service as military service. a scholarship, it was my dream from that point on to serve i thought at the time would be a

-- military. this is pre-9/11 so the fall of my sophomore year everything changed. at the time, i thought i would be headed to afghanistan at some point. the next year, we got ourselves into the iraq war so i'm pretty sure that no matter what we were going to go to war at some point after graduating. i graduated in 2004, went into the army. by thanksgiving 2004, i was in iraq. i was there for a year. i was a logistics officer. things changed and my soldiers' jobs were contracted out so most of my platoon did force protection in iraq or around logistic convoys. they became a gun truck platoon if you will. it was our agile vehicles

between the petroleum tankers, the flatbed trucks with the big guns, and making sure those convoys were protected as they went around the country. came home for a year to fort carson where i was stationed home side and deployed in january 2007. within i think about 60 days of us being there, we were going to search troops in iraq too so i ended up spending 15 months in country during that deployment. i decided to essentially let go of my childhood dream of serving in the army for life. i thought perhaps i could make a bigger impact outside of the army, on our country and my fellow countrymen, my fellow servicemembers. i got into the world of politics and spent time on capitol hill and the white house and campaigned across the country. it has really been an honor to bring that skill set to an

organization like iava to advocate on behalf of of the generation of veterans i belong to. host: let's go to the phone lines. i want to remind our listeners, the number for veterans is (202) 748-8000. everyone else, (202) 748-8001. our first caller is a vietnam veteran, john in alamo, california, what's your question or comment? caller: i've had this experience where i have a very good health insurance but i do go use the vietnam benefits, and they've been very good. i strongly recommend that to other veterans. i also use it for a posttraumatic stress issue with some of the things that happened

in vietnam. the reason i'm calling in is, i have again, it is a very good insurance plan. i thought it was interesting that i sort of gravitated more into the v.a. program. when i checked with my health insurance, i don't get the same kind of documentation that my wife gets, who uses our health plan. when i finally asked them to send me the last year of records of payment that my health plan pays for the v.a. treatment, none of that is in there. my conclusion is v.a. gives me this quality health insurance but my health insurance plan, which is $1000 a month, it doesn't pay a dime for this.

my reason for calling in, i would think that my health insurance would be paying for the care at some agreed-upon rate in order to increase or augment the money going into v.a. service. that's what i'm looking at and i'm curious if you've had an opportunity to look at any issue like that. it wasn't easy for me to get down to this and finally have them send me a computer printout on it. and it was obvious, things i was receiving from v.a. weren't being shown to me on those documents from in this case, blue cross. host: allison, do you have any insight into that? i know health care is a big issue for veterans. guest: health care is definitely a big issue. depending on your disability status, the v.a. is sort of

deciding how much they pay for care. some veterans who choose to go to the v.a. will pay a co-pay. i think your experience isn't different in terms of the fact that for as much criticism as the v.a. health care system has gotten over time, there are a lot of veterans who find the quality of care really great. i think cultural competency is something that no other private health care provider can match when it comes to the v.a. you are there with other veterans with similar experiences. that is very important when it comes to mental health care. they all speak from -- i will speak from personal experience. it is different when you have a therapist who can relate to your lived experience versus a therapist who can't, which i'm sure that there are other

communities where that probably is the same thing too. where if you have somebody who is able to feel those your unique journey in life and i found that it makes the healing much more efficient. in terms of the private and public -- that is not something i have insight into but i know that i am committed to making sure those veterans who want to turn to v.a. for their health care get the best quality care and the best access possible. host: i want to bring up in the current year, the veterans administration budget, the agency has the largest budget ever, at $303 billi, a 10 percent increase from the previous fcal year. v.a. mical care services are the main beneficiary of that

nding. there is also that hori our promise to address comprehsi -- the past --he pact act that was signed in 2020 two, to expand and extend eligibility benefits for v.a. health care for veterans who had toxic exposure, vietnam era and cold war veterans and post-9/11 veterans. that was signed in 2022 and expanded the list of health conditions that veterans could be eligible to receive medical coverage for. what has been the impact of that legislation? guest: my generation of veterans , the huge issue has been toxic exposure from burn pits. on my second deployment, we were near a camp called camp

trashcan, where there was smoke building not just above trant -- trashcan but heavy smoke over the camper i was stationed. for a long time while we were there, many of my battle buddies and i were concerned about the lingering smoke that we were sleeping and working under and the impact it would have on us, not knowing what was in the smoke. so i think advocating for -- it started with the burn pit registry, tracking all the veterans and this act is huge because it guarantees that if you have cancer, for example and were exposed to a burn pit while deployed, the v.a. would help treat and cover that cancer. the great thing about this legislation is we were able to

include a number of other -- for other generations of veterans. there is an issue with -- in north carolina. there is a presumption that if you lived there during a certain period of time, you could also get coverage from the v.a. for medical conditions that could be a result of that. it does require that the v.a. budget grow to be able to have the ability to invest in that care, but i think it is important and the other thing i would want your viewers to take in, there would be a budget debate going forward and we made the decision to fight our wars with all volunteers. we did that post 9/11 and most

signs of our politics say we will do that going forward. if we continue to fight with all volunteers, it is important that we keep a promise to the veterans who are willing to risk not only their lives in wartime but how messy war is, we will take care of them when we come home. in addition to taking care of them if there are challenges like ptsd or cancer, we also -- so if you want it, a topknot education -- top-notch education. i think as we continue to go forward, even though we are investing a lot in our veterans these days, there is a real good bottom-line reason for us to do that with a all volunteer force. host: let's go back to the phone lines now. in tucson, arizona, kay is on the general line. go ahead. caller: hi.

i am a mother of -- my son is in the army reserve, he has been on reserve for over eight years. he just signed up for another six. many don't realize reservists don't get free medical when they enlist. you have to be active to get that. my son goes away to his unit, he got hurt, he had to pay his own medical bills and it took him over six months for them to reimburse him. this is a boy who is willing to go and fight for his country and stand up and protect us and we can't even take care of them. i feel so bad for other veterans out there.

this is a new generation from our military and this is how we treat them? it makes me sad. host: let's let allison respond. guest: thank you. a lot of my work is hearing stories like yours or your sons, through you. and then taking those stories the policymakers to see if there is bureaucratic red tape we could get rid of or more investments we could make. there are a lot of americans who get to sleep in safety and security and that comes at a price because our armed services

are willing to make sure that any threat that comes to us is defended against. first and foremost, thank you for your son who is willing to step up. fewer and fewer americans are willing to do so. i appreciate your perspective and that is something i want to ask my team to look closer at because especially if he was on duty when he got injured, of course we've got to make sure that he gets the care from the government health care system that he has earned and deserved. guest: our next call -- host: our next caller is a gulf war veteran, mark from cheyenne, wyoming. caller: good morning ladies. host: good morning. what is your question or comment? caller: my comment is about the gulf war syndrome. i was on several panels from san antonio to washington.

in the haste and hurry of the government during the gulf war to give us a shot to go over there, we had seven shots and we know now that a combination of shots can be harmful to your health but in my research, but i found out -- this is just for the veterans who are listening, the vials that were sent to the government, because they were in such a hurry, the vials were contaminated and i found that several companies in massachusetts had vials that were sitting outside and got contaminated and then they would fill them with these drugs. my question is, with this pact act, you guys are concerning yourselves with -- gulf war syndrome affected people who

were not in syria. now it is only for those in that theater. you will see that the vials were contaminated if you do research. host: is that something you have heard about? guest: it is the first time i've heard but i really appreciate mark calling in and sharing that. as the leader of an organization that is fighting to get care for veterans, it helps to get this perspective. i am also jealous that i don't live in cheyenne. host: let's take another caller. pete is in appleton, wisconsin, a veteran as well. when did you serve? caller: i was in the 1970's.

-- those men and women are not getting the care that they should get. it has to be service-connected or something like that. i'm not totally sure about that. in my case, i've got lots of problems with the v.a.. especially outpatient procedures. all of these veterans all over the country are getting screwed over. i think i got caught up in that

bureaucracy. they wouldn't take me and they had two chances that do it and refused to do it. so i found two white house investigations. i called one senator named tammy baldwin and they supposedly went after them and asked why they did this or did that but nobody ever told me why. i think they got caught up in that bureaucracy. community care, whatever you want to call it, outside of the v.a. coverage.

the outside providers were still providing care. if you call it a double whammy or whatever, i just happen to get caught up in this. they went after them, reeducated them. host: let me let allison speak to what you said. you talked about helping veterans navigate the bureaucracy. what is something you have learned in your advocacy work? guest: first of all, this is a

wonderful place to live. -- a lot of veterans don't know that your member in congress can be a resource and they exist of people to get answers for those constituents. big picture, i think something we are always keeping a watch on is making sure that the health care system works for veterans. i think it works for some people really well, depending on where you live in the country, and in some areas it works really terribly for folks. i think access is a greater issue in many cases than the actual quality of care, which sounds like what you're running up against. seeing clarity on the benefits

of your v.a. health care system. i'm a little concerned that you are not at least getting feedback if something would not get covered. it is great to hear your story as i launch forward in this new leadership position, it is not -- it is something i would want to dig more into. host: we will take another caller. this one is in south dakota, a vietnam veteran. dylan, good morning. caller: good morning ladies. i am 100% service-connected and i was in vietnam during cad and there were two attorneys from the board of veterans appeals that had shredded files and it was godfrey and -- and she was writing fake statements against veterans because every time they

remanded the file, they would get a bonus and he was at this for 20 years, and there were 29 pows that died in the process, that were in convalescence homes in the v.a. system and they kept me at 30% and in 1996, they came down with an acute claim for erroneous unmistakable errors and they arrested those two and put them in prison for 15 months and they paid back $64,000 and all the money went back to the board for the man hours wasted. in 96, they did pay me back 10 years and in my first claim that i put in was april of 1970 and

i'm still fighting them. i'm 73 now and i started when i was 20. could you imagine? my wife got colon cancer and died but the v.a. did take care of her very well. i don't want to stay on too long but they lost my file, seven volumes over two years, they couldn't find my file. now i'm sitting out here, i still have a claim in. i've got letters from him, and he was appalled. host: we appreciate your call. allison, it brings up some systemic issues with the v.a.. a lot of issues over the years. do you think v.a. is showing improvement and where is there

still room to improve? guest: first, i'm very sorry to hear about your loss and your experience. i will say the v.a. has come a long way since the historic backlog that happened a number of years ago, but there is still work to be done. the onus has to be on leaders, not just the v.a. secretary but in the regions and states to make sure we have employees who are doing right by veterans. it is the largest health care system in the country, so it is a big job and it is a complex task to tackle and stay on top of, but for those who raise the right hand and step into the leadership role, you have to do right by our veterans and be

very vigilant. our job on the outside is to be as vigilant and hold those leaders accountable and make sure they are doing the job they are supposed to be doing. the reason why this work still exists is because if somebody isn't continuing to hold leadership accountable, our veterans will suffer and so our job is to continue to hold them to the highest standard. host: i want to mention something that you mentioned earlier, but to bring up some numbers regarding women veterans , by 2040, the projection is that one in five veterans would be women and in 2020, that was one and 20 veterans and that is according to defense news. how does that affect the advocacy work you are doing,

especially as a woman veteran, the fact that there are so many more women entering military service in this new generation. guest: i appreciate you giving me the opportunity to speak about women veterans. going from your own personal experience to a role where you have to advocate, every funny -- every story is different. women veterans are known as the fastest-growing deck dashed fastest-growing demographic in the veteran population. not just the v.a. system but a country that supports us, to understand our unique experiences and understand that we are as much a part of the veteran population as you would assume is a male veteran and it takes some work to get the v.a. system closer to parity in terms of the quality of care but also

changing the culture. when people close their eyes and think of a veteran, to the think of someone who looks like me or do we still have some work to try and educate americans and understand there are as many if not more women serving these days. women have been allowed in the combat roles. i was in the line of fire when i was deployed but we were not allowed to serve in combat roles. it is pretty badass. women are sacrificing so much more and also as they change the rules they are serving in, that is going to change the way they need care when they come out of the military, so there has to be a constant dialogue about how the veteran population itself is

changing and the older generations die off and the younger generations gets out, it is more female than ever before. host: let's go to dan in memphis, tennessee. tell us when you served and then share your question or comment. caller: i served in vietnam from 1971 to 1975. i volunteered for the draft. i came back home, -- the attorney general's office told me they would prefer i paid for it myself. i didn't forget about it.

[indiscernible] thank you. guest: veterans home assistance is another issue that is big when you talk about veterans. guest: yes, tragically there are many veterans who are homeless. for many of them, it is those suffering from ptsd who have a hard time keeping a job and then themselves homeless, and so there is a lot of work to be

done and not just because we don't want anybody without a house but it is a great tragedy for many americans that veterans who have put it all on the line in vietnam or my generation are coming home, wanting to go to school on the g.i. bill and be a member of the community, and not to be suffering from their war wounds and end up homeless after all that they sacrifice for our country. there is a ton of work to be done. there is also a lot of work to be done not just to get homeless veterans re-housed but also to focus on how we transition veterans, to make sure that is not an outcome we are finding veterans in, anymore. we are walking with them in such away from any military service into their transition and post service life, to ensure that

every veteran stays on a path to prosperity, but it will be -- it has to be active, it cannot be passive. that is why organ nations like iava -- that is why organizations like iava exist. we are keeping an eye on how our country is treating folks as they transition. host: last month, republican representative mike mccall, who chairs the foreign relations committee discussed the reasons why his committee is going to kick off a series of investigations regarding the 2021 u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan. here is a portion of his remarks. [video clip] >> overall, i think the veterans and the goldstar members deserve answers as to why this went so badly. why were americans left behind? why were the afghan partners we

promised we would protect, why did we betray them and leave 100,000 of them behind with the taliban? tonight i will be having the afghanistan ambassador to the united states, female ambassador and i have invited her to stand in the gallery with my ticket to remind people about the women, the women who were left behind under taliban rule and how they are being treated as property and chattel, they can't get educated now, they can't go outside their homes and in many cases they are tortured. a reminder of what this administration did and the failures of this administration. we have to learn from our mistakes and do better. host: i want to ask you, what are your thoughts as you listen to the representative, but also in general. what are your thoughts about the

fact that congress is preparing to do these hearings and investigations regarding the afghanistan withdrawal? do you think that is necessary? guest: more broadly, there is an afghanistan mission getting set up that will study -- study the entire war, independent of what the foreign relations committee is going to do. regardless of your politics, most people can agree that the afghanistan withdrawal was not our finest moment. when it comes to getting answers around the withdrawal, i wish more people knew that the withdrawal and the way it went down, that coverage was very traumatic. i served in iraq twice. a variety of different emotions.

interpreters were still trying to get home before all that went down and it was especially traumatic. many veterans are still dealing with trauma afterward still. they have interpreters and some veterans who would even credit their lives with an interpreter who was in the firefight with them and rose to the challenge, and save their lives and they are still over there, now being hunted by the taliban and fearing that their family will get killed or they will get killed any moment. we are going to congress to see get some of those allies who fought alongside american troops during that war, and not such a responsibility but we owe it to them because we couldn't have done what we did over there without them, without the interpreters, without -- it

shows the real priority of not just the country but the next -- the community feels a sense of responsibility to help get them out of taliban rule and have the type of opportunities that american veterans have, going forward, especially in this great country. host: we're going to go back to the phone lines now. robert is in utah. another veteran. go ahead. caller: if the goal of your organization is to leverage politically for veterans, i would suggest you reach out to all of the veteran organizations, dfw, vietnam veterans, american legion. the other suggestion i would have is, she should look and

study a group called the gar, the grand army of the republic. they were union veterans from the civil war and they had a stranglehold politically on the government for about 40 years. look and see how they did that. i will leave you with one personal experience with the v.a. i submitted a stack of paperwork, about a half inch. seven years later, the v.a. reached out to me. host: final words? guest: i think not only do we have relationships with other veteran organizations but from a generational perspective, there

is also the a rack and afghanistan war veterans of america so we don't just advocate for our veterans -- our generation but to lift other veterans up as well. those organizations are great in their own ways in terms of how they have postured on the landscape. it is great and the only get their input but many of our members are members of that organization as well. many of those members are members of iava as well and we welcome that. some of my best conversations have been with vietnam veterans who are very passionate about how other generations are treated better than the vietnam generation. host: we've been talking this morning with army veteran allison jaslow, the incoming ceo

of iraq and afghanistan veterans of america. thank you for joining us. guest: thank you for having me. host: that's going to do it for us this morning. q&a -- "washington journal" will return tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. enjoy the rest of your day. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]