that the grand jury was not going to do anything until later in april and that he that trump was the price. -- and later that trump was a price. literally, we were sending out and the story broke. the new york times broke the story about the indictment. not that he was indicted, but the timing. it's really a shock. i do think members are scattering all over the place. there are congressional delegations going overseas. i think this surprised everybody. i think we'll have more discussion about it today. host: covered capitol hill's for many years, cofounder of "punchbowl news". you can find his reporting if you go to twitter at punch bowl

news oralways appreciate your t. host: let's go back to calls. steve in ohio. democratic caller. good morning to you. your reaction to the news that the former president has been indicted. caller: thank you. good morning to everyone. i was wondering if you could tell me what is the status of the class action lawsuit against trump? this is the lawsuit that many have launched about the fact that he allowed a half a million people to perish in this country, according to the university of john hopkins and

others another official health experts that proclaim how did not been for his behavior during that time, a half a million people would have been alive today. i was wondering if you could tell me, what is the status of the class action lawsuit? host: i would try to find something. i did a quick search. i do not see anything immediately but we can have a producer look for that. host: in arizona, independent. hi, nona. caller: thank you. i am tired of the house this country is going against. if you look at our economy, what it is today compared to what it was when he was in office, our

country is in shambles. our border is not secure. i live in arizona where we have people come across the border every day. people that are ill. people that are criminals. people that should not be here without going through the legal process. my husband came through here legally from canada. he came over and he served in the u.s. military while a canadian and then was denied a government job when he applied for one when he got out. he became a citizen thanks congressman that took care of it within two days. this country needs to wake up. people are suffering daily. people do not want to go to work because of the handouts that this administration is giving them. host: tie them back to the indictment -- that back to the indictment. caller: the indictment is a crock. they are doing anything they can

so that president trump will not run again. the democratic party is afraid of him. they can to make people dislike him and not do the good things he did for this country. host: james in florida. republican. caller: i am appalled by the ignorance of the callers who are supportive of this indictment of donald trump. it is a sad day in america. this trump derangement syndrome israel and they go after him because they do not like him. to me i see it as the end of freedom. i'm flying my flag at half mast today. host: renee, michigan. democratic caller. caller: good morning.

i have quite a bit to say but i will keep it limited. james, thank you for your call. you call it ignorance because we disagree, not necessarily do not like him. i do not like him his ways. as it relates to the indictment, i see people going to jail every day. i see people being killed every day. on the behalf of the police. we do not visit them in jail. we do not have any concern about their well-being but those who tear down january 6, who goes in and kill cops. how dare you tell people where they can and cannot go? for a man to take children away from their parents simply because they come from another country, they should not be

here, who are you? if you felt that way, go ahead and pass something on immigration to assist, not to destroy. how can you sit there and say he is a good guy? he is full of hate. that's all he has been living under for the last eight years almost. dealing with this guy and his way of thinking and he brings his puppets. he's a puppetmaster. he has occultist personality and you say you should go after bragg. she go after everybody there republicans disagree with. trump is not a part of congress. they are backpedaling information. everybody is suckers for him. he is running it. what have they done? what bill has a past that made a difference? republicans in the house have not done anything. host: we will stick to the news this morning. indictment of former president,

first time in has three. he will be arraigned on tuesday, april 4 around 2 p.m. eastern time. from there reporting in the paper, a the suspect and daddy police custody, police or other law enforcement process them behind closed doors taking mugshots and fingerprints. the process is identical whether the person is arrested or has agreed or negotiated through lawyers to turn themselves in. as we have said to you earlier, the first court procedure after an arrest would be an arraignment where the judge would determine whether the former president needs to pay bail or adhere to certain restrictions like a possible gag order which will prohibit him speaking about the case publicly and anyone close to him. james is the fort myers, florida. cnn reporting 30 plus counts in this indictment although it is

still sealed and we do not know details. what do you make of it? caller: good morning. first of all, i have to say we should be thankful for the checks and balances that we have in our system and that is all this is, a check imbalance. -- a check and balanced. i'm 73 years old. i'm not seen anyone that can get by time after time, it is the number of people who want to support trump because they perceive he has done something no one else has done. i'm talking about good. he has done bad too. and that is to be checked and balance. that is the way i see it. i'm glad we have it.

i thought about this a one million times when i was listening to "washington journal" and we all better -- one of the other would not work. that's the way i see the. host: you're looking at video from last night at mar-a-lago as the news broke. this is from reuters. pro-trump supporters in florida yesterday we saw some pro indictment folks outside of the district attorney's office in new york. security is being beat up in those cities -- beefed up in those cities and here in washington dc as officials expect more protests today. roy in woodstock, georgia. republican.

caller: good morning. you all owe me an apology. i called in about january 6 and i mentioned a person named ray epps, an informant that instigated the january 6 insurrection to stop the challenge other republican election. but the think we trump -- the with trump, they have been after him since day one. he went to the world economic forum and said he would make america great again. they wanted a one world american cyst -- one world system and trump said no and you should make your own country great. ever since he been there, because of the world economic think israel. america needs to wake up and see this. we have this agenda 23.

erode road economic system people are trying to impose -- there is an economic system people are trying to impose and trump is standing in their play and they want him out of the picture. make us need to stop this into cnn and get real news. our country is in trouble, we are approaching an area of no return until we start doing things the right way. host: here is a text from steve in florida. donald trump getting indicted for an affair, campaign hush money is like al capone getting indicted for income tax evasion. you can text us with your reaction to the news this morning at 202-748-8003. using go to facebook.com/c-span and post your comments there or send us a tweet with the handle @cspanwj. you can follow the story on instagram as well, same handle @cspanwj.

taking your calls all morning. your reaction to the news of the former president being indicted. chuck in pennsylvania. democratic caller. caller: thanks for taking my call. this is a first of four indictments coming down the road. this is the tip of the iceberg. you have the jack smith indictment from the federal government. new york city is going to have one and georgia. this is just the beginning. as far as heads of state being indicted or gone after, this is the only country that probably has not had one. it is have them in mentally -- it is had them in italy. people from south korea. one from france in jail.

this is only new in this country. just because he broke the law does not mean you're allowed to break the law in this country. they had distinct when you are president you cannot be -- this think we were president you could not be indicted. that is the policy they followed. host: usa today with a similar headline, charges against trump will be up first in the united states but other countries every tilney charge -- they routinely charge leaders. italy, south korea, and france have convicted leaders of crimes. host: bill, independent. caller: good morning. listen to some of these people talk is interesting. the idea of indicting trump is a good thing. nobody in this country supposedly is above the law and

i think that is a good reason to have him taken down. anybody that is indicted then they say we are going to have a big rally and people are going to be hurt, killed that should not be allowed. the january 6 comes back to what he said about having an x direction in new york city -- and insurrection in new york city. i am not unhappy. i just hope this gentleman -- i hope this does not turn into a farce. host: the district attorney? caller: yes. host: alvin bragg. caller: i hope he has real solid evidence that he's not going to make an idiot of himself and not

make it idiot of the justice department. i hope he has all his ducks in a row and will be able to do it properly and legally. thanks very much. host: front page of the new york post this morning. your grand jury poster charge -- poster charge. caller: this kind of looks like election interference to me. i know the laptop, hunter's laptop, the fbi said 50 of them said it was fake and now we realize it is not fake. and that it showed bidens grandson that i -- got $100,000. he is 14 years old. looks like they are hiding what

they want and exposing everything they can about trump. alvin bragg was elected because he said he was going to target trump. he gave him $40 million to run. this is seven years of trying to get trump. i know they also tried when they went down to mar-a-lago and they got these secret documents and they're going to press charges on that. within biden had -- but then biden had them in his garage and all over it that killed that does them trying to get trump on the documents. i know stormi. seven years ago she paid trump because they proved she was lying. she had to pay him. seven years ago if you remember

that but now it is changed all around. there is even a letter that stormi wrote saying it was not true. they have tried, four years of the russian lies, two attempted impeachments. it is scary meet that the left, every single person that calls in from the left, he is a racist, he's a extremist, he is a liar. i've never heard so many names called. i'm 73 years old. why does the lab have to use such nasty name-calling constantly ? host: can i ask you about your 40 million from george soros. where did you hear that? caller: i think that was on the

british network. i'm not sure but is it true? did your sorrows back alvin bragg? host: this is from political fact. you heard this mentioned before. trump's attack on alvin bragg back by george soros. here's what you need to know. facing potential indictment over hush money payments, the president attacked or portrayed the prosecutor as driven bipartisan intent. he says in march -- your sorrows did give a aggressive racial group $1 million in may 2021 and in the same month they endorse alvin bragg and pledge to spend over one million supporting his campaign. however dorsi was $1 million was not earmarked for alvin bragg. there is supporting other

progressive district attorney candidates that year in different cities and had done so in previous elections as well. it is impossible to know 's weight the decisions on the best getting trump. the group's focus has been criminal justice policy and trumps legal situation. the money came from your sorrows given to a group called for equal justice, that group donated to alvin bragg's campaign. your reaction? caller: before bragg was even the d.a., he ran on getting trump. and he got $1 million, ok. $1 million to help him and his whole thing was running to get trump. three other da's and the feds refused to prosecute.

isn't it strange that now trump is running for president again and all of a sudden three da's and the feds said they do not have a case and bragg does? i note new york is strictly democratic so it does seem one-sided. host: right. michael on twitter says no proof of politically motivated prosecution exists. alvin bragg is doing his job just as any other dh throughout the usa. he gathered facts, evidence and the evidence has been presented to a grand jury. 23 citizens doing their duty resulting in an indictment. sarah in virginia. democratic caller. caller: hi. what took them so long? mr. trump's father took him under his wing.

donald trump has gotten involved in a lot of things and he started off with the student by new york city with regards to the father not running to people of minority groups -- renting the people of minority groups and i think trump from that said i can do whatever i want to. remember his statement when he was running, he can go ahead and shoot somebody on fifth avenue and he would never be indicted. i think mr. trump thinks he is of a class that cannot be touched. the banks in new york city were not known him money. only one bank, deutsche bank. that should tell you little bit about his standing in new york city. there is a reason why he changed residents to go down to florida. my question i go back, what took them so long? he thinks he is privilege. you can get away with anything

-- he can get away with anything. i hope he gets a fair trial and i'm sure he will. the judge will see to that. it is in the judge's hand. it is not in the republican or democrat's hands. or any of those crazy people that will go march for him. on top of that, mr. trump went out over a week ago and said i'm going to be indicted on a tuesday. he went out and raised over $1 million just on that one statement along. that should tell you about the mentality of mr. trump. host: he saw a poll numbers go up among republicans voters. this morning we are continuing on the "washington journal" getting your reaction to the breaking news that the former president was indicted yesterday by a grand jury in manhattan. the new york times frames it this way. the nation finds itself on a path never traveled.

the wayne in jamaica, new york. independent. caller: good morning. it amazes me and i listen to callers. some have good points on what is going on. have anyone of them sat in a grand jury and listen to evidence? bragg did not pull the evidence out of thin air. he has the evidence. i have set on the grand jury. i listen to the evidence. if the evidence did not make sense, i voted against it. whatever the grand jury saw that the evidence to indict the former president, that is what they would with. host: how do you respond to people who say the bar is low for an indictment? and people make the joke you could indict a ham sandwich, caller: these are all little sayings. people come up with these things to make a joke out of things.

and i a ham sandwich? this is real stuff. this man has been indicted. not convicted of a crime. when he comes to trial, the evidence will come out. we do not know with the evidence is. we are assuming. we are all fighting. let's see what comes out of this. host: i would add cnn reported last night, early this morning that over 30 counts. 34. "politico" -- "punchbowl news" noted that the counts added quickly because each one the 11 checks that the president signed to michael cohen is one count. i want to get your reaction to that. caller: i am not a legal scholar by any means but if that is the

evidence we so far know about, that is a 30 counts, that's all we have to do with -- not week, he has to deal with. he has to hire an attorney to defend him on that. everyone thinks it is about think what is doing, it is. if you are signing finance checks to a person for sex, they say it is not a crime, in new york state, it is a crime. host: his lawyer is likely to argue is previewed in the washington post this morning. a writ of caution on the indictment. prosecuting him over checks makes for a problematic case. they argue the strategy is novel and courts may regard it with skepticism. the potential campaign finance charges self is shaky,

when federal prosecutors charged john atwood with a similar crime following his 2000 eight presidential run, he rebutted the accusation by arguing he was trying to disguise his faithlessness from his wife, rather than from the voting public. the child ended in acquittal -- the trial ended in acquittal and the justice department dropped the charges. in memphis, tennessee. republican. good morning. caller: good morning. it seems to me most of the democrats calling in are so bitter and haters. i'm a trump supporter. i've been called all kinds of names this morning on your program just because i supported trump. bragg run on getting trump, taking him down, and the most this is is a misdemeanor is trying to turn into a felony.

in manhattan, he is letting these felons out with a misdemeanor that has been out killing people and doing much worse things than what trump has done. trump has not done anything. we do not even know. democrats are really angry. you sat there and let them call us all kinds of names. january 6, trump did not tell these people to do what they did. he told them to peacefully march and let your voices be heard. that is left out all kinds of times when you talk about january 6. host: we covered what he said that day in the entirety and i encourage others to listen to what he said the morning of january 6. allen in brooklyn, new york. democratic caller. caller: good morning.

there are so many points i want to make. first of all, the new york times versus sullivan case in the 50's said you had to work harder to prove libel if you are a public figure, debbie interest in free speech, in favor of the free speech, the ordinary people and against the protection of public officials. when i hear people arguing, we are to have a higher standard of proof in order to indict a public figure, that is opposite of what the supreme court said about the balancing of public versus private figure in the free speech context. if you consider the fact that michael cohen was indicted and put in jail for the very same crimes that were talking about here being charged against trump by trump on justice department.

he tried to keep him in jail longer when he began to write a book to silence him. i do not see how he can argue the merits against him are somehow less then he used to put his former attorney in jail. then there's the whole question of the balance of the past 40 years of republican misconduct enlarging their powers. we heard recently about ben barnes, the testimony that the election of reagan was almost stolen in 1980 when the interfered in negotiations to release hostages and that probably calls part of the election -- cost the election. how many major decisions, enlarging the power of gop the past four years were based upon this interference? when people say republicans are getting the wrong deal,

democrats doing thing for their own party, look in the mirror. look at what is been placing an imbalance of power in your favor. host: more reaction from republicans. this are from senator of missouri, he was on fox news last night. listen to what he had to say. [video clip] >> i think what this is about as nothing to do with the rule of law. this is about power. this is the demonstration of raw power. the democrats know it has nothing to do with the law. they are sending a message, they will use any power they have tender fear the next election -- to interfere in the next presidential election. there were not willingly let donald trump run. it would use every means at their disposal. these are the same people who sent swat teams to pro-life activists. use fbi against parents at the school board meetings.

they'll use any kind of power to try and hold onto their privileges, their own position is interesting that tonight. it is unprecedented in american history. the only way out now is to win. >> is like a fastball to the head of about her? >> exactly. and the head of the batter is the american people, conservatives who want to have their own abuse and make their own decisions and democrats are saying will use power against you. you want to elect donald trump, no. we will use power against you. you want to speak up against a school board meeting. we will use power against you. you want to protest peacefully at an abortion panic. we will use power against you. it is burning down the rule of law. they will regret doing this because the american people will not stand for it. we got to make sure they did not succeed in what they are trying to do.

host: missouri senator josh hawley on fox news. your turn to give us your reaction to the indictment of the former president. gregg in california. what do you say? caller: i think more or less to met gives me a better belief in the rule of law. the president of former president can be indicted, it lls me that maybe there is fairness to this judicial system. you got all these republicans on fox news grant setting, -- grandstanding, this is so terrible but i'm thinking behind closed doors. i think they're going to return to some sense of normalcy and they are saying they really hope this guy is taken down and they

cannot wait for the other shoe to drop. i really do not think this about anything necessarily bad. this is what we signed up for. this is democracy at its best. people need to stop looking at it as one-sided -- one side against the other side. it is good old-fashioned law. it is something that happens every day to people and you should not be above it. it is not like the democrats are indicting this guy so white lump them all together. it is the d.a. in new york. are you going to say the same thing when the shoe drops in atlanta the federal case based on january 6 and the documents? this is what we signed up for. this is what we pledge the allegiance to the flag for. this is what we all want in markedly. for of all. it is beautiful . i do not have any dog in the show. i do not care if he's convicted or not. i have thought of his -- if

he does becomes president, he's going to upset a lot of people. host: would you vote for him in 2024? caller: i voted for him in 2016. i tell you what, i'm going to hold onto that. it depends on his policies. he cannot have these crazy ass rallies where he goes up there and talk this and that. where you going to do about taxes? what were your ideas on education? i'm smart enough to know at least after this whole thing was over with trump. make the grade economy in the world. the economy was not bad when he took over from obama. that was not the case. i want actual policies. if he comes up with greater policies that benefit my life as opposed to him -- going here

are there, i am willing to vote for anyone who makes the country better but you cannot have rallies where people are standing in doing this. he has to have actual policies that benefit me in my daily life. otherwise i'm not going to vote for him. host: carol says in a text to put a song from lizzo, trump has avoided being held accountable for anything so far. know is above the law and that includes the line two impeach of the january 6 trump. dave in michigan. republican. caller: good morning. first of all, i want to give you kudos up link up with the individual -- for putting up with the individual for chastising you. and c-span 2. i love to listen to this in the morning.

you're getting the opinions of other people's, not just what you read or hear. listen to all your c-span stations. one thing about this fiasco with trump, it is deriding the country even more so. lesson people comment -- a lot of people, that why you do not trust the government did not think this is helping matters and i think it is something that needs to be -- we all need to get the rest of the story so we can all voice our own opinion. i appreciate you folks giving us the opportunity to voice our opinions. i love to listen to you guys because you put up with a lot. our work with the public. i know what you are going through. host: president biden left the white house this morning. he is off to tour damage later today. kelly oh donald who covers the

biden administration at the white house tweeting he stopped to talk to reporters. she asked him about with the trump indictment means to the rule of law and the united states. he responded i have no comment at all. he and the first lady leaving to visit mississippi after the deadly tornado there left 25 dead and dozens injured. patty in ohio. democratic caller. we are talking about the indictment of the 45th, donald trump. your reaction. caller: i'm a democrat. i would never support donald trump but do not care. i'm so sick of hearing about him. the people that called in and said terrible things that democrats were calling them, who started it all? trump started all when the primary started.

all the candidate names and crucifying them. that's what he did to hillary clinton. it goes on and on. i've been a teacher over 35 years and then i substitute teach for many years after that. i'm embarrassed to say this man represents our country. i heard a child swear in the hall, a bad word in front of two girls who were standing right behind him and i called the boy over and said why are you talking like that? you do not talk like that in the school. he said, president trump talks like that. this is the kind of man we want to represent our country? between hookers, cheating the government on tax money, cheating on his wife? this is who we want? let him propose good ideas. but he does not. he stands up there and talks about himself. what a great person he is.

i pay my taxes. i do not cheat my government. i want the government to work well and i do not care they take tax money out of my check which is hardly anything to compared to what he makes. i'm disgusted with him. he is like a degenerate fraud and all he wants to do is takes these people money. i have a neighbor down the street with a sign hanging in his front yard a huge one that says fuck biden and i called the police department and there's nothing they can do about it. where are we coming to we put things like that? i'm sure there are signs that are not nice for the democrats but he started it all. he stepped on that stage in the primary the first time with his mouth. host: bobby, independent.

you heard the news what you think yesterday? caller: first of all, you are less caller should go into the kitchen and have a snickers bar. calm down. what i thought was this, i think it is more in my opinion, it is more of a resurrection of alvin bragg. alvin bragg if you take a look at when he came into office and there were prior da's, two of them did not touch this. i'm not a trump guy here. i'm looking at this is small potatoes. you have bigger fish to fry. you got a georgia. you got january 6. you got the secret documents. there are bigger things to fry. i think it is about his political career. when he came in he was getting heat. crime wave was skyrocketing in

new york city and putting a picture to him where his light on crime. they want to recall him. he passed up on this issue with trump. now all of a sudden out of nowhere here is alvin bragg trying to pound a square peg in a round hall. that is nothing. misdemeanor. this is not the case to go after trump. this is alvin bragg political career that was going down the tubes and alvin had to do something to shake things up. host: ernest in columbus, georgia. republican. now it is your turn. caller: good morning. my take on this, i am a conservative. all republicans are not conservative.

i'm not really concerned about whether trump goes to jail or not because republicans have other good candidates out there that may have a better chance than him. we're in good shape one way or another. the thing that bothers me i am 81 years old and retired. i watch a lot of c-span. it is pathetic the amount of time and money we put into investigating biden, trump, or other politicians and our country is going to hell in a hand basket. we cannot pay our bills. we have problems with railroads, infrastructure, immigration and we are sitting there worrying about somebody having an affair. all politicians have an affair. i'm disgusted with our congress and our politicians. they are not statesmen anymore. it is a vendetta to get even with someone else.

i hope it gets better. host: ernest mentioning the other potential candidates and those that have declared the 2024 contest for the republican party, nikki haley who was announce a presidential bid. this is more about revenge that it is justice, her reaction last night on twitter. ron desantis, florida governor, tweeting out a weaponization of the legal system to advance political agenda turns the rule of law on its head. it is un-american. the district attorney has been the law to downgrade felonies into criminal misconduct. we read from put a fact earlier on this claim of -- "politico" fact earlier on the claimed alvin bragg back by george soros. torsos they give a group, color

of change $1 million and in the same month they endorse alvin bragg and plan to spend over one million supporting his campaign however is one million was not earmarked for bragg, it was given to this group color of change. it was supporting other candidates that year and had done so in previous election cycles. you can read more if you go to politifact.com. david in michigan. caller: good morning. host: what was your reaction when you heard the news yesterday? caller: the main think i called about, i am a democrat so my opinion really is more in favor of the indictment, but i do believe the things he did -- he is not about the law but what i'm concerned that i do not remember if it was an official statement or a post on social

but he mentioned it was election fraud. i guess i posed the question suit republican listeners, do you consider this election fraud ? host: this indictment? caller: yes. host: he called it election interference in his statement on true social, the former president did. caller: yeah. i am curious if the listeners they agree with that and if they will act the same way they did last time. that is something i'm curious about. i wonder why he chose those words. host: tina in pennsylvania, independent. hi. caller: good morning. i have a few things to say. i voted for trump in 2016.

i did not vote for him in 2020. i thought he was out there. what happened yesterday seems to be a coincidence if you will. there police the so-called -- they release the salmon after prison at the documentary footage aired of the january 6 the burglary at the capital. what they have done now is going to catapult this man into -- he is going to be the candidate. do not necessarily agree with alvin bragg. it is out of the statue of limitations. the federal government did not pick up the indictment. he is doing this for him. our country is going to suffer. it is going to suffer really bad. host: do you think heat win in

general election, the former president? caller: absolutely. host: why? caller: because it has been nothing but trump, trump, trump since 2015. you had military men die yesterday. have not heard anything from biden on that. the shooting in nashville. is set of talking more about the attack on the christian facility, your hate more of a transgender with mental problems so let's go grab everybody's guns. in today's world, you need to protection. it is a sad day for america. people need to get off of all of this trump aide and come together -- trump hate and come together as america. a promise that biden said that

he would unite this country. he did not unite this country. he has divided us now. it is so bad. host: in general election matchup, if it is the former president from versus president biden, who do you vote for in 2024? caller: trump. because biden has run this country into the ground. billions of dollars for special interest groups. ukraine is one think. in the beginning i was all for sending the support, but come on. look at our border. if the immigrants do not see what is happening, they are leaving countries that are police states and socialist states, coming into a free america where they can capitalize and make their lives better. host: tina an independent voter

there. chris in pennsylvania, republican. your reaction to the news here. caller: hi priya tina -- hi. tina sort of stole my thunder. i think it is adjusting timing with an be released from prison to the halfway house yesterday. people calling in that are concerned about the president being above the law, it is not about being above the law, it is about following the letter of the law. this case was already thrown out due to lack of evidence. it is over the statue of limitations. i think people are missing the point here that once you start down this road, it is a slippery slope. the repercussions of using the law to prosecute your political

opponents is a very dangerous game. host: garan in keyport, washington. democratic caller. good morning to you. caller: hey, there. host: what was your reaction when you heard the news? caller: i will admit i was not too surprised. it seems like you cannot throw a rock in any direction without hitting at least two suspicious incidents surrounding this particular president. i think i find the strangest part of this whole deal is the amount of people who are more focus on the facts that trump has been indicted than what he has been indicted for. there is not a lot of talk concerning the actual merits of the case. i understand part of that is because the d.a. has not come out and stated everything that is going on. i think i saw a note that said

there were 30 potential charges. host: that's what cnn is reporting this morning. you are right the details are still do. we do not know yet. caller: we do know they are related to business fraud. i am sorry but the clear facts behind donald j. trump, not even as a politician, but as a businessman, fraud is not uncommon to those guys -- this guy. he makes a consistent living off of shady deals. he has bragged about it. he has made a point of hyping up that aspect of his operating and you look at his history. host: let me it your reaction to this. apiece in the wall street journal this morning. the case against trump is far

from open and shut. presumably trump as company ceo had a limited role in the trump. it came more limited after he entered the white house. it is left unclear how the prosecution will prove beyond a reasonable doubt trump knew how the payment from ms. daniels will be reported. perhaps michael cohen testimony or some currently unnamed trump organization employee can show trump personal knowledge of and involvement in the alleged false recordkeeping. from the absence of such testimony, the prosecution case may founder on this elementary point. caller: that is a solid concern. in the case of potential crime being committed, you want to know the person committed the crime but i would counter with

that's when jimmy carter was selected, they gave him a cloth. donald trump did not follow through with that. he did not properly divest himself of his businesses and that in and of itself was a problem when he was originally elected. that was quickly paved over by a whole lot of other issues. this is part of the reason why you do that. if he is too big of a personality to walk away from his business, in the proper way that we have -- the standard we have held other presidents to, he should face consequences. honestly, we are not talking about a share of writing a parting -- parking ticket for someone who does not like. this is the district attorney. granted, the guy may be aiming high but he is not just going to run out with no evidence. he will not run out with no evidence

>> the impact of taxes hosted by the cato institute. then president biden will be in mississippi to talk about tornado response and recovery efforts. the last week storm impacted mississippi killing at least 25 people. my 4 p.m. eastern, we will hear from the chair of the joint chiefs of staff in conversation with government executive media group. he will discuss the russia-ukraine war, china and the future of the joint forces. >> fridays at 8 p.m. eastern, c-span brings you afterwords from book tv were nonfiction authors are interviewed on their latest books. tonight