>> good morning. it is may 13, 2023.

today's washington post front page has articles highlighting the scene of the southern border with title 42, ukrainian advances against russia, and the latest on the debt ceiling. but we want to hear from you this morning. what is your top news story of this very busy week. start calling in now at 202, 7 48, 8000, and republicans, your line is 202 748 8001, and independence, we want you to call a set 202 748 8002. you can also send us a text message at 202, 748, 8000 we've included your name and where you live. find us on the website. the conversation is already beginning.

and also on instagram at c-span wj. this is the front page of the washington post that i just referenced, but there are even more top stories that we want to discuss. former president trump had a cnn verdict i the e. jean carrolle trial found him liable for xual assault. there is representative jas comer who alleged criminal activity against president joe biden and his family. representative george santos, the new york republican faces charges by the justice department, and diane feinstein returns to the senate after a lengthy absence after getting sick. also, we have the wall street

journal as a top of the page. the head of -- the headline, velvet hammer to lead twitter. and then, below the full, there is article. the headline -- writers strike, clouding ad sales. i want to read about that. the writer strike has cash a shadow over the tv businesses annual advertising bizarre which was under pressure from a softening at market and eroding television ratings. due to concerns of picketing writers, netflix canceled its presentation which was set to be in new york. instead, netflix will make a presentation, a first-ever pitch to advertisers is art of its efforts to boost and as supported version virtually. that is on the writer strike, but we want to hear from you.

what is your top story of the week. call enough. democrats 202 748-8000. republicans, 202 748-8000 one, and independents, 202 748 8002. we will start with joe in iowa on the democratic line. good morning >> good morning. i want to say, first and foremost that power of this country has to go to the people of this country. i've seen a few instances here in the last 16 months where the people got involved, and things happened and changed for the better. we've gotta stop fulling around. it's time for the people to rule the run. >> all right. that seemed like all joe wanted to say. that's mike in arlington heights, illinois. on the independent line. what your top story of the week.

>> hello. thank you. my top story is a local effort we are doing -- q can we? >> yes. go ahead. >> my top story is here in arlington heights. local citizens are making an effort to stem the use of assault weapons. what we do is we call up a senator or united states representative and we leave a message that has two parts. it could be either a local person who answers the phone in the senator's office or it could be left on a message machine. we tell the senator to please ban assault weapons. then we have a second message and we say please ban assault weapons and do it for the children. >> all right. let's go to the republican line.

linda is calling from oregon. go ahead. >> the problem in america is the border. we have too many news media that have not cover the border, so this is a shock some people read this is very sad. our country is in a world of hurt. i don't know what to do about it. >> linda says the top story is the southern border. how about carolyn in vincent ohio. democratic ohio line. >> this is the first time i've ever talk to you. meeting you. i agree with joe and mike. i think those are great ideas. i feel mine is feeble now, but not that it is the main story, but i just want to thank c-span for showing the coronation. i guess it was the bbc's version

of the coronation, but i would have missed it had you not all run that piece from the bbc, so i appreciate it more than you'll ever know. that's all i want to say it just keep up the great work of showing things that people might miss otherwise, and i disagree with linda because i am so tired of hearing about the border and i think everyone is showing that whatever i am on any channel, i hear about the border, so anyways, my main was just to keep up the great work of showing things that people might miss otherwise. nice meeting you. >> thank you. ben is on the independent line from owings mills, maryland. go ahead.

>> good morning. one of your social media follows. i think my biggest story is the cnn town hall interview with donald trump. i believe cnn really just made a colossal error in the way it was handled, and it was unprofessional. by the moderator, and i'm not a donald trump fan, but i think it was mishandled by c-span -- cnn and gave donald trump a platform and i think it really increases support among some people who may have been on the fence with them, but i think the way it was handled was just unprofessional, and it didn't seem to be well thought out. >> all right. and speaking of trump, let's play a little bit of video from

the town hall that was earlier this week. this is a portion of the response when he was asked by an audience member if he would pardon writers who participated in the january 6 attack at the capital. >> i am inclined to pardon many of them. i can't say for every single one because a couple of them probably got out of control, but when you look at antifa, what they've have done to portland, you look at antifa and minneapolis, and so many other places, look what they did to seattle and blm. many people were killed. these people -- i'm not trying to justify anything but you have to look at the standards of justice, and what they've done, and i love that question because what they've done to so many people is nothing. and then what they've done to people, they persecuted these people and i answer is, i am

most likely come if i get in, i will say it will be a large portion of them. it will be very early on. and they are living in hell right now. and they are policemen and their firemen and their soldiers read and there are printers and electricians, and they are great people read many of them are great people. >> one of the people who was convicted was a former policeman who is convicted of tacking a police officer, but you are answering a partnering a lot of those people does that include the proud boys members who were charged and convicted of seditious conspiracy? >> i would have to look at the case, but in much in d.c., you cannot get a fair trial great just like in new york city you cannot get a fair trial. >> again, that was a version of the cnn down -- town hall with

donald trump, and the audience being republicans or republican leaning voters, but we will go back to the phone lines. we want to hear from you. what is your top news story of the week? will go to zero beach florida. frank on the republican line. >> thank you for taking my call. i wanted to say if not for the weekly summary, but overall, the reason why this country is so messed up is because 80% of the people there are attorneys. attorneys make the laws. they make the rules. they've got it all fouled up. that's what i wanted to say. thank you. >> franken zero beach florida. here is john in washington dc on the democratic line. you are on. >> this is just about the debt

ceiling. we went to the story already. mitch mcconnell wanted to have a one time president obama because he is black, and you want ahead against everything. he damage the country for 10 years. it should be a traitor and also, he is pushing ahead for the debt ceiling stuff. we went through this before. i mean, that's what i'm saying. he shouldn't. he damaged -- i don't know who damage the country more. him or other people. >> thank you for your call.

we are going to go to the republican line now. joel is in mountain home arkansas. what is your answer to this morning's question? >> i've got so many. i don't think you'll allow me to talk a long. we have 11 reasons the deficit is as high as it is. we spend billions of dollars that the american people just don't know where the money is going. now, if are going to let these folksome to the southern border, unchecked, allow them to bring drugs and everything, i think they should just be stripped searched at the border. it could be done by a femal guard, and it could be done by ma guards ar that way, you can stop therugs rea number two, we coulsave money by just doing away with the border.

we don't need the border. let everyone come to this country. where a free country, andet them come. the work read will cut down o welfare, will cut down on the food stamps. we'll cutown on the hotel bills. just let them all commend you. i think that would be great. thank you. goodbye. >> let's hear from angela in maryland. on the democratic line. >> i have a top story that is definitely trump town hall, and i think the host did a great job. he stood toted showing really did a wonderful job with him, but he seems little more unhinged than usual, i'm guessing is because of the indictment and the upcoming indictments and i get sick of when he always says we live in a third world country. what kind of president talks about their country like that. third world country. he is the one to try to make it

a third world country when he tried to take for collectors and overturn our election, so when i hear a republican say wasn't the country better under trump? groceries were cheaper, i say no. when it comes to living a dictator back, i will take high inflation. give me all the inflation. anything to that wannabe dictator out of office. that's all i want to say. thank you. >> we've had a couple of callers reference the surge of migrants at the southern border. some of that was brought along by the end of title 42 which was a policy implemented during the covid-19 pandemic that allows people seeking asylum to be turned away the border. that ended at midnight, going into friday. i want to read off what the biden administration is doing post title 42.

unde guatemala and columbia, there is a new family center, new parole process, and they are doubling refugee resettlement from the region and increasing daily cvp one appointmen. that is the app that they used tochedule tir appointments when they present themselves at the point of entry. th, under imposing consequences, for migrants, the department of homeland sick arity says they are exg expedited removal of peop who migrants whoe from certain cos will be removed to xi. then, cubans and haitian will no longer be ee for parole.

these are steps against divine administration that they are taking in a post title worry to bear or to deal with the surge of the border. we want to hear from you. what is your top story of this newsweek. calling from clearwater florida, karen, republican line. >> thank you for taking my call. top story for me is how ill-informed the public is about our president. our family is a felon, and the media does not let the public know about it because it's all corrupt and sad. you get all of these trumped arrangement people just like your previous caller. it's so ill-informed. it's frightening. we simply don't get the information from the media accurately.

i don't know what an average interval can do other than seek out and call attention to other people about how ill-informed they are and as gently as one can with giving them the fact. our president and his family are corrupt and there is influence with so many people on -- and i'm so saddened by what has taken place in our nation. >> we've got your point. she's referencing some republican house members that have launched investigations of president biden and his family and there was a press conference this week on some of those findings. here's a politico article. homer releases biden family update without showing link to president.

i will scroll down and read a little bit. this is again a representative james comer. he is a republican, and the highly anticipated press conference also raised fresh questions about the ability to capture their white whale. the president himself. in the already faced let doubts within his own party, he can back his promises to show biden's connection to family business dealings. no link has emerged, and that didn't change at wednesday's press conference. asked if he would ultimately be able to prove his central thesis, homer sighed stepped. i don't think anyone in america would think this is just a coincidence that nine family members have received money. he goes on saying, he has been

involved in this from the very beginning. obviously, we will continue to look. characterized an update with the beginning stages of his investigation. that is an article from politico about the kentucky representative james comber or sproat present buying. we are going to bring up a little bit of that press conference he had, talking about details of the investigation alleging millions of dollars were transferred from foreign entities into the biden family and related companies. again, the as it lacks any direct connection but here's how he explained it to reporters. >> with respect to president biden, i don't think anyone who is watching c-span or any other network would think that it is just a incidents that nine biden

family members ever receive that money. for this influence peddling fee. what is jordan and the other figures -- what business is there? the media said that no transactions happen while we were present. we bring that wrong. he said in 2020 his family never took money from china. we have proven that wrong, and you have that in your memorandum. the bank transfers. so, we believe that the president has been involved in this from the very beginning, obviously. we are going to continue to look. there are -- what we've cited today, therefore banks. results from four banks. we believe there are 12 tanks did right now, you could say we are in the beginning stages of this investigation. >> that was a kentucky

representative during his press conference on republican investigations with a business dealing of the fine administration. we want to hear from you. what is your top news story of the week. as a reminder, the democrat line is on the screen. rick is on the line from columbus north carolina. independent. what is your top story? >> my top story would be the border. and the debt ceiling. and the biden story. what i see is a lot of the people getting on the media are trying to tell us what to think.

they're telling us, you should be thinking about this. you should be think about that read trying to distract us from the real issues. what needs to be solved. to fix some of these things in this country. they see politicians not really talking to each other. they're just talking past each other they're all trying to say, who can make americans think what we want them to think? we are talking to each other, trying to solve the problem, that america has. intelligent, honest, loyal americans to solve them, and we will put them in office. >> all right. let's hear from jamie in washington dc. , credit line. go ahead. >> hello. i think we need to focus on the trump town hall. that is more or less what's to be expected, and the most interesting story is the

indictment which is the denigration of seeing where the fine line is in terms of declaring something a witchhunt, and where it will actually end up eating you, and i think that is also evidence of the poor management of the house majority, with the fact that the lack of support for santos signing is mostly due to his inability to garner a majority from the speakership in january. i think this dichotomy with santos in his republican colleagues was actually calling for a resignation. i think it is an example of how poor judgment led to the justice department having to step in and indict santos, and that is an example of looking to the forest for the trees, and it will be a budgetary battle, and in the race for 2020 or, he faces consequences without actually thinking for the future, and thinking ahead, so what his

broader goals will have to be to maintain the speakership and solidarity within his own caucus. >> all right. thank you. let's talk more about the new york republican representative george santos. this is from an associated press article. it says that george santos is famous for fabricating a life story and led not guilty wednesday to charges he do donors, stole from the campaign, and light to congress about being a millionaire. all well seeming to collect unemployment benefits he didn't deserve. afterwards, he said he would drop the reelection bid and defy calls to resign. his 13 counts of federal indictment were a reckoning for a web of fraud and deceit. prosecutors say they overlap with the new york republicans

and an tesco public images as a wealthy businessman. a fictional biography that began to unravel after he won elections last fall. that is from the associated press. let's hear from george santos on wednesday, outside of eight or 10 yard. he said he would not resign despite the charges he faces. >> this is the beginning to address and defend myself. we have an indictment. we have all of the information the government wants to come after me upon. i'm going to comply, even throughout this entire process, i have no desire to not comply. they have been gracious. now i will fight to defend myself. the reality is, this is a witchhunt because it makes no sense. for months, five months, i'm indicted. you have joe biden's entire family receiving deposits from

nine family members, nine failing members receiving foreign destinations in their bank account. it is years of exposing. a lot of you have reported on them. yet, no investigation has been launched. i'm going to -- i'm getting back to that. i'm going to fight my battle. i'm going to deliver. i will take care of clearing my name and i will take care of doing that. ask that is a new york republican, george santos, speaking after he had his first appearance in court after being charged with 13 counts of fraud and misuse of federal funds and we want to hear from you. what is the top story of the week. before we go back to the phone lines, i want to read it responses we are receiving on social media.

on twitter, there are now sensationalized stories, but the top news story that gets rushed aside is the economy. trump incriminate himself on cnn. scott on facebook said biden will say anything to avoid taking responsibility for the problems he creates. like on the end of title 42, it will be rough for a while. he already knew that there would be something coming. is he going to blaine trump for a white house toilet clogged? >> john f brown says border insecurity. brian coddington says cnn wanted rating so bad that it broke its own code of journalistic ethics and i will read one more. bob york says getting perp rocked for defending people on a subway train from a violent person. that is regarding a case in

your. we will go back to the phone lines. wayne is calling from south lebanon, ohio, on the republican line. what is your top story? ask my top story is i suggested that people in washington dc have hostels investigated because a lot of people are dying in the hospitals because of doctors. and i have two reasons why. one, my first wife back in 1999 died because the doctor did the wrong thing. he had shaken her, turned her over, and she had 60 pounds of

fluid on her body that landed against her heart and lungs. the other one is my second wife, and she just died. that was in october. the doctor in the hospital decided that this charger -- discharged her instead of let her have treatment that she needed. >> all right. we've got to be concerned about treatment in hospitals. let's go to al in watertown tennessee it independent. what is your answer to today's question? >> i've got observations on three stories. first, i heard one of your callers say that a cnn anchor did a great job going toto with trump. >> has not her job. her job is to be a moderator read and that is what trump bumps into all the time. he has to debate the moderator and competitor.

it's not fair because that's the way it is the other thing is migrants. i wish she would quit using the word migrants. my hummingbirds come every year. they migrate in they sale summer, and they leave read these people are not migrants. they are illegal aliens. they will stay. they are lying about asylum, and they are not leaving. the other story want to bring up is the receipt on the biden crime family. they -- the mainstream media didn't cover that at all. but we have suspicious activities that link the flow of funds into the biden. they don't have any business. it's not like they have a hardware store. there pedaling influence, but we have known that for two or three years. what it reinforces that the doj is done nothing about the for

years. and it's a two-tier justice system. if you do this or i were to this, we would have been indicted and sent to prison. by the biden's have done it, and the doj has done nothing. and we have receipts for the whole thing. that's the big problem. thank you. >> just as a reminder, the entire conference from james comer and other republican investigators of the biden emily, that is available on our website. if you want to watch their news conference. what they laid out in their investigation. let's go to shirley in mansfield ohio, calling on the democratic line on. you are on. >> thank you. you do a fine job. you will have the patience of job did i want to say that the top story this week is the e. jean carroll story. these women are willing to stoop

as low as they can go to put donald trump back in the white house. the way he abuses everyone, he doesot leave any nationality stonunturned. he calls us all names. we women are nothing in the united states of this man. that is my top story. i feel so sad for the women that stand with the republicans and let them say what ty want to to trying get donald trump back in the white house. we all should be ashamed othis man. thank you. have a blessed weekend. >> in cnn, here's an article about that case. it says a manhattan federal jury found that donald trump sexually abused e. jean carroll and eight

department sort dressing room in 1996. and awarded her $5 million for battery and defamation. she alleges that trump raped her in the bergdorf goodman department store and then defamed her when he denied her claims. he said she she said -- he said she wasn't her type, and there were sales of her book. trump denied all wrongdoings. he does not face any jail time as a result of this civil verdict. while the jury found that trump sexually abused her, sufficient viable battery was not found with rate. that is the latest on that case which are caller said was a top story the week let's go to the republican line. gary in decatur alabama, what is your top story? what i think we lost gary.

daytrip in california, democratic line. you are on. >> good morning. thank you for taking my call. i have a couple things i would like to discuss. i cannot pick my top, so i will list them. first of all, there is no integrity in politics. i feel that every time someone gets up by the podium, specifically, kevin mccarthy, he has a look on his face like he is lying. i'd know that he is lying because when the speakership came up, he was a world record

for votes. i will move on. the second top story is clarence thomas. i'm so disappointed in what has come and and the third thing is gun control. especially assault weapons. they have no business on our city streets. they are weapons of war. i wish the legislator would do something about it. >> i will have to stop you there. she mentioned house speaker kevin mccarthy. this is him earlier this week. alluding to the debate over the debt ceiling while making remarks on title 42. >> the house passed a plan to avoid default.

we cap spending and we grow the economy. we responsibly raise the debt limit. there's only 15 days to go. how does the president handle this? the same way he handles the border. he ignores it and hopes it goes away. but president biden and senator schumer are stuck on no. they have no plan. no proposed savings. no clue. apparently, president biden doesn't want to deal. he wants to default. mr. president, my message is simple. do not miss another deadline like you just missed on title 42. our country cannot afford it. >> that was house speaker kevin mccarthy. he was alluding to a debate over the debt ceiling and addressing the end of title 42. our question is what is your top

story of the week? democrats number on the -- all of the numbers are on the screen. let's go to south bend, indiana. deborah, you are on. >> good morning. how are you? now, my concern is this. ok. on a hot mike, president biden said no one else would be biden. i am sitting here, watching this play out and i am witnessing -- he is right. no one else with the bite. i don't know what kind of governor we have, what kind of system we do. i am so lost. what is really going on, and i

am 70 years old. what is the future supposed to be like when law-abiding citizens like me -- how are we supposed to a? >> thank you. >> let's go to freddie in south carolina. democrat. how are you doing? >> doing well. >> one thing i have not heard the republican sake, nobody is saying how dirty and nasty the president trump has been with what he did with this woman who was found guilty and what we call a court of law. now what you heard, he was found guilty, but none of them have spoken on it about this man, but all republicans are calling in for the first time ever. these people at the border. that's nothing but bigotry and

hatred. you have for 5 million people trying to come in here. this country has 300 some million people. that is 3 million more people coming into this country. same thing. you never hear them talking about that. you never see them talking about how trump has done women, and he said he can get wind of it because he is famous. why look at his voice running around, grabbing women by the peach because according to him it is ugly. and that's all i like to say. let's talk about that. next rupert is calling from illinois on the independent line. >> pecan illinois. yes. major story of the week. it's really strange to me. i've been a democrat most of my

life. twice as long as i have been a an independent. but, nobody remembers when joe biden first came into office. when he stood with a kkk against everything that martin luther king wanted to get done. i couldn't believe that when i was a democrat. but, he's gotten by with everything. all his life and, does anyone know -- look, there is a lady that has accused him of sexually assaulting her. does anyone know the story has been squelched like all the other stories about biden? a man that start with the kkk all his life. he's got to be vice president. he was asked, what do you think

about the president. i was amazed. he smart. i was astonished. he is clean. in joe biden's mind, a black person could not be clean. they cannot be smart. the major story of the week is how we have lost america. >> all right. let's go to greenville, mississippi and larry on the democratic line. what is your top story? >> i a few issues you. first, i'm an american. it is sad to see what our country has become. we went from a handshake and a war that stood for something, and now, here we are throwing mud and disrespecting the president, and bringing on the

president that is really doing some despicable things, and then for this border crossing, we've got america right now where we've got people on the street who would not help. we have mentally open people that would not help it but we are bringing people into the country, and we are company aiding with hotels and medical and bending over backwards to accommodate. to each his own. i don't a problem with that, but we need to deal with our situation first we need to repair our broken system because we need to stop bringing in millions and millions of other things that have gone on. really clogging up the system. i hate to see what america has become. we almost became separate. we were the strongest and number one country in the world, but you know?

we've got to get together. >> all right. mary. let's go to the republican line now. sherry in worthington minnesota. go ahead with >> good morning. we are locked. there is a lot of inconsistency there, and i think on appeal, he is going to be exonerated again.

so, as for president biden, well, i saw him once live in the 70's. all i could think was who is the lounge lizard. he was telling an off-color joke and one of the good old boys, and he definitely did not look like someone who would march with martin luther king. i can tell you that. >> all right. let's go to brooklyn new york. omar on the independent line. what is your top story? wax good morning. can you hear me? wax the morning. most important, good morning to elect america. every single story we have heard people talk about, it always has to do with the common denominator of of how black people in america, black americans are undermined, and

how everyone in this country is always just getting the opportunity to leap over by people, every story we have, you have the presidency right now. joe biden. you know what he did in the 90's with that crime bill. he is a white supremacist behind your back. you've got donald trump was a white supremacist. he is a criminal. i don't know how you people even focus on what he does. he makes black people -- he came some from getting an apartment in here city. he has been sued for that and lost. he had to take millions of dollars, so that's another aspect of the every story, when it comes to tasha my concern is right now, jordan neely. i am a black american living in this country in new york city. you need to tell me every time i get on the train, and story about someone choking me and killing me? these are the problems we have in this country, and like i

said, every story comes back to white supremacy and how everyone, whether his migrants, right now, i'm in a horrible situation. i have a degree in cybersecurity. i can't find work. i'm only applying for jobs in the city, and every time i get an interview, i get two or three interviews binary higher. this is the problem. black people are struggling, and everyone is invited to leap over black americans. >> all right. we got your point. and omar brings up the case of jordan neely. this is an article from nbc new york did the headline. a 24-year-old marine to be charged with manslaughter attributed to the district attorney. under want to know, here are the main bullet points. a 30-year-old died on a train at the broadway station in

manhattan on may 1. after allegedly threatening passengers into being put into a chokehold by a writer. that writer identified as a 24-year-old was questioned by a new york police department and release from custody. medical examiner's office ruled the death homicide the next day which incited a debate whether the writer's actions were justified or vigilantism. multiple protests have taken place in manhattan since the death and dozens have been arrested. the office says they will be charged with second-degree manslaughter and those charges will happen this week. that is something that a few of our collars have mentioned as their top story. we want to continue during from you. ron is on the line now in

berrien springs michigan. democrat line. you are on. >> good morning. before i get to my main point, the last caller is quite right. joe biden is responsible for putting clarence thomas on the corporate he brought more white supremacy, more destruction to our country, laws, everything is pretty clarence thomas is one of the worst criminals this country is ever produced. now, my main story is ukraine. everywhere you hear ukraine, ukraine. more weapons, more war, more offenses. we are headed down the path of atomic war. there is no negotiation going on. it is weapons. these generals, these admirals will get on. they will get kitty because there are retired generals who get kitty. the one stab, the admiral, he gets orgasmic when he talks

about ukraine. he will get destructive with russia. that is our soldiers dying, in my being, we've got problems in this country. the epic solve them. our military, our country is falling apart. all of these weapons and arms and money are going to ukraine, and who will rebuild all of this ukraine after it is destroyed? by us and by nato and the cia? it's us. we don't have money to put our country back together and we are destroying the world, we are going to put together. what about sudan? what is about palestine? their proms all over the world. let's get our noses out of other people's businesses. >> all right. in the washington post, we have an article about the war in ukraine. it is focused on the ukrainian city of mack mood, and it says that basically, drone footage -- i will read from this paragraph.

drone footage has identified an avenue of attack on the outskirts of the city. intelligence suggests that they work focused on the street battle playing out inside. they were not expecting an assault from this direction. it goes down to say that for nine months, the bloody fight for this eastern city have dragged out inch by inch with massive casualties on both sides of the russian ukrainian's. the high-profile commander of the mercenary group promised to deliver the city by may 9. the russian victory day celebration. by the end of april, he claimed that his forces had taken nearly the whole city. yet, instead of giving vladimir putin of victory to announce in his speech, in front of the kremlin, ukrainian forces scored a rare advance south of the city

and held back in the city center. again, this is the ukrainian center -- city and they've gained on russian forces this week there. that counsel it is definitely still ongoing. shirley in raleh, north carolina. repuican line. what is your top story of the week? >> yes. enough is enough. close the border. have chill or the easter bunny to lead joe biden back the basement in delaware. he is incompetent. and he is going off the deep e did if trump was in office, this

country would be in better shape and joe biden can take his energy policy and put them where the sun does not shine. we need a new leadership at the center -- and the sooner the better. >> thank you. x that was surely in raleigh northville in. let's go to mary and harrisburg pennsylvania. you are on. >> i want to talk about the biting case. the hunter biden case. i want someone to actually cite, especially james comber, to cite the law that says what he did, taking money from china. it was illegal. what i've read is since the families of congresspeople and everyone high up in government, have done this forever, they don't actually sell influence.

they just sit there with the name and china or russia gives them money because of it. it is just in case they have some influence, but there isn't actually any law because congress is not going to make a law that will with all their families in jail did >> all right. that is mary and harrisburg pennsylvania. let's go to her all in aurora indiana. republican line. good morning. >> yes. i hope you will give me a little time. what people do not know is that in the last days, they will be bonded to the truth. were going to right now biden has the nato nations together. look what is happening in israel. in the last days, they will be

surrounded by all nations. they will have wars, rumors. people are blinded to what's going on. they are trying to get socialism back in the united states. close the border, give of fighting, and the problems will be solved read >> all right. our next caller is jackie. calling from current -- trenton missouri. on the independent line. good morning. >> i have been listening this morning and i'm quite upset about the jordan neely case. if the states had not close down , mental institutions would have saved money. the same way they have done in prison. young men like him would get the mental health they need. so, it's a sad situation.

these governments, these states have put his people back on the streets when in reality, they need help. thank you. >> all right. jackie in missouri. let's go to the democratic line. michael is in racing wisconsin. >> good morning. thank you for taking my call. i want to give a shout out. i want to let you know, you do a really good job, and i like what you bring to the table. now, i've got a couple of issues if i may. for all these people calling joe biden all these names, i didn't know joe biden but clarence thomas on the work by himself. if he's done that, i would like to say, expand the supreme court. if you can do this all by yourself, not have other senators vote to put you on supreme court, but let's expand the supreme work, and let's

level the playing field. that way, we can have faith in the supreme court. now, the main issue is the fact that we have a lying, sex anti-semite, and con man on air to spew his garbage. i listened to the show. they made me sick to listen, but he didn't say anything new. he didn't bring up any new ideas. they talk about the country being great if trump was still running it. look on many people were in that administration, or were headed to jail, or were being investigated. that party, the republican party is nothing but line crooks. they don't care about the country. you want to know why we are in the situation? all you have to look at this and listen to this. so to go after hunter biden. he is not president. if they want to see which

administration got things from them, look at trump. look what jared walked away with. $2 billion from the saudis. look what trump is doing with golf, getting the saudis to invest money, what he did with those documents he took. he guaranteed showed those to the saudis and so the america. thank you and have a good weekend. i look over to seeing you again on cnn. you do a great job. >> that was michael in wisconsin. kathy -- let's hear from kathy on the republican line in virginia. >> good morning. the top story of the week is the complete dishonesty of the media. it was on full display at the cnn town hall. what i mean by that is you can have similar circumstances as

there are with the documents, trump, biden. and, trump hammered and peppered with questions of his handling, and the moderator wanted to completely defend biden. if you were to say that donald trump and his family had 20 llcs, and that money was being funneled into those llcs, from foreign countries to his granddaughter of all people, it would be the biggest scandal you've ever seen, but everyone is taking a different tack with biden. all you have to do is interchange the name. if his trumpets fat, if it's biden, there is nothing to see here. the e. jean carroll sexual assault case, trump is bad.

have you heard any follow-up whatsoever on the lady who brought her story against biden? she said he cornered her, he had her up against the wall, he put her hand under her dress. as stepan discussed at all? it has not rated all you have to do is put trump in a story, and it is bad. put biden in a story, there's nothing there. next all right. we've got your point. we will take a quick break. up next is josh hodges. he with the with the national council on aging. we will be talking about savings shortfalls among the baby boomer generation. coming up, gideon rockman discusses his podcast rockman review in the global current -- and global current events.

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use point of interest anytime online at c-span.org. >> a healthy democracy does not just look like this. it looks like this where americans can see democracy at work. get informed, straight from the source, unbiased, word for word, from the nation's capital to wherever you are. the opinion that matters most is your own. this is what democracy looks like. c-span, powered by cable. >> washington journal continues. host: we are here with national council on aging chief customer officer josh hodges. we will be discussing the retirement savings shortfall among the baby boomer generation. thank you for joining us.

guest: we are a national nonprofit, focused on one key mission. everybody in this country has the human right to age well. there are many things that have prevented people from aging well, whether they are economic security barriers, health barriers, and our goal is to create policy solutions so we help all americans age well. host: we have some facts pulled up from census.gov. it says an estimated 73 million baby boomers in america, people born from 1946 to 1964, all of which will be at least 65 in age by 2030.

there is a recent headline in the hill that says nearly half of baby boomers have no retirement savings. this is a chart i'm showing from that same article. it shows retirement account ownership, baby boomers, 58.1% have retirement accounts. how much should americans be saving? are you concerned at all that 40% of boomers do not have retirement accounts as they reach retirement age? guest: there are two in five adults who are baby boomers who do not have retirement accounts. it is a problem. this is one of the big problems we are facing in retirement. many people are not saving the dollars they need to retire. ewr know that -- we know that

50% have significantly less than $100,000 in their retirement accounts. they do not have the dollars they need. people are facing two big problems in retirement. longevity and longtime care costs. people are living longer. if you are 65 you have a good chance of living to 85 if not longer. long-term care costs can cost more per year, so many people do not have the assets they need to retire and age well. host: we will be talking more with josh, but we want you to start calling in with your questions about retirement and retirement savings or any comments you want to make on the topic. i want to give you our phone lines because they are different. if you are nearing retirement, not thereby getting close, we want you to call us at (202)

748-8000. if you are retired or semi retired, you are already there, call us at (202) 748-8001. everyone else, your line is (202) 748-8002. you can still send us a text message at (202) 748-8003. if you are close to retirement, (202) 748-8000. if you are already retired, (202) 748-8001. and everyone else, (202) 748-8002. start calling in now. josh, how much should older americans be saving? once someone is ready to retire, how much it should they have been there account? guest: i wish i could give you a magic number. that is just not reality.

everybody needs to look at their individual situation. i would encourage people to look at what their current spending habits are to better understand what social security will provide. social security will not cover as many expenses as people think it will. people need to look across the space. we are about to release a new survey. we did a partnership with the women's institute for secure retirement. it will show that women across the space do not feel prepared for retirement. 4 in 10 baby boomers when asked the question do they feel they are saving enough for retirement, they feel they are not. 6 in 10 generation x individuals feel they are not saving enough for retirement. that is the crisis we are facing as a country. host: you mentioned social security. i do think a lot of people

imagine social security will be enough. why is that not the case? guest: social security provides benefits to a lot of people. it does not provide $1800 a month. the gap has to be filled with something. th isat -- that the crisis many people are facing. when you go into retirement, things are not as inexpensive as people think they are. that is some of the need people have. host: let's go to the phone lines to take some of your questions and comments. one more time, i want to remind you of the numbers. if you are headed towards retirement, call (202) 748-8000. if you are retired or semi retired, call (202) 748-8001. everyone else, call us at (202)

748-8002. our first caller is steve in florida. you are getting close to retirement, steve. tell us about it. caller: we are getting close to retirement. i feel like we are well prepared, but when i look at our situation and the situation of a lot of folks in my age group, seei a lot of the same problems coming out of nowhere. number one is long-term care for loved ones, for spouses, parents. it is prohibitively expensive, and long-term care insurance in checking out, we find out it is so expensive the only people who can afford it are people who do not really need it. i guess the other situation that comes up, when we retire what we are trying to do is create,

establish a budget where you are making more than you spend every month, but the prices of homes, the prices of houses, apartments, everything has just exploded into orbit. i think that's a problem that a lot of people who are looking to retire, they are looking to cut back a little bit. maybe there are people who raised families with several children that have grown up and left. well, we can sell this big house endcap back a little bit. the homes -- and cut back a little bit. the homes we were planning to cut back on are now more expensive than the homes they are living in. host: steve, i hear your point. i want to let josh respond to

some of the points you raised about budgeting and housing. guest: steve, your spot on. your example is one many americans are facing in this country. long-term costs can be prohibitively expensive, easily more than $100,000 per year, so if you're planning for your long-term care or a caregiver for someone who will need long-term care, those are things to take into account. long-term care insurance is one thing many americans cannot afford. as people go towards retirement, they are thinking about what the long-term care costs will be. the impact of inflation on retirement savings, you are spot on how prices have increased. for older adults living on a fixed budget, their budget does not have the flexibility to adjust to those inflationary activities. i applaud you for looking into those things, but that is the

problem many americans are facing right now. host: let's go to ron. ron is calling from sterling heights, michigan. ron is retired. what is your question or comment? caller: i'm looking at social security and retirement. some companies are borrowing money from the retirement fund. that should be illegal. you have social security is not really funded through our money. they say that money is not really hours, that the government never really had it 100% our money. they don't want to pay back. he was talking about rental, that one guy. i tell you how i did it.

i went and bought me a jeep. i sold it. i got 26,500 for it, i paid $40,000, and i used it for a down payment on a house. you have to figure out a way to save up some money. you may not be able to save it up with a savings account, but you need a car or something like that to invest in it. i was at $26,000. by the time i closed on the house, they had changed the law. i bought me another car for $7,000, and took that other money and used it close on the house. host: we appreciate your call. any feedback for ron's comment? guest: i appreciate your ingenuity.

you raise a good point about social security. social security is a vital program in this country. it is very important that we as a country recognize that we must make social security a part of the future as well. host: vince in saint an ego -- in maryland. caller: i would like to pick up where steve left off, and asked josh to consider this. i m on the tail end of the baby boom. everybody is moving into retirement, and the demand that is creating is causing prices to spike. the service sector and the build above the infrastructure to support the baby boomers is ramping up to meet that demand.

my question is what happens when the pig gets through the python on the other side? with all of the infrastructure having been built up, there will be a decrease in demand eventually for folks like me as the baby boomers age out. there are fewer of them. what happens on the others? -- on the other side? is there a better scenario on the other side? guest: i mean it is an interesting concept if the industry will ramp up to the point where we have an over abundance of supply. the reality is people are living longer. you are dealing with retirements that are 20 or 30 years in space. the other side conversation is

many decades away. it is an interesting conversation worth exploring, but right now we are trying to build up these services to allow people to age well. for a lot of people that is not something they can do without financial supports. host: i want to ask you a question we received on our facebook page. bobby writes " how many retired baby boomers saw retirement savings spent within a year due to illness of self or spouse, just before reaching retirement age?" guest: the scenario this individual is talking about is a fairly common one, where they are either spending it on themselves, a spouse, or parents or a child. these things happen. that is unfortunately not an uncommon scenario. the reality is retirement is not a one time thing.

i ist a multi -- it is a multi-decade stage of life. when you have the opportunity to retire, it is important you view it holistically, not just what is happening on an individual day. host: jay is in south dakota. are you nearing retirement, retired, or calling for other reasons? caller: i have worked hard my life, but my house, paid for it -- bought my house, paid for it. the problem i see is with property prices everywhere. i travel around everywhere. it is just terrible. host: ok, property prices? guest: we are seeing property values go up across the country.

there are programs in different areas that have property tax programs. there are a lot of options. i would encourage people to look across their counties, their municipalities to see if there are possibilities to reduce property taxes. host: johnna is calling from oak ridge, tennessee. she is retired. good morning, donna. caller: thank you for your program. i am interested in making a comparison between the savings for people in socialist countries like germany and the u.s., which is the more capitalist country. what i want to ask is retirement funds or savings went down as

social security and medicare came in, or if they stay the same. in addition, i have savings, and i would like to make a little statement to people who do not have any savings. leaning on your pension and social security is not really sufficient to maintain the lifestyle that you might like to maintain. you may have to sell your house. is that what you want? i would encourage people to save a little every month, if they can. thank you. guest: on the second half of your comment, i agree. the reality is, take an opportunity to take a look at what you can save, if you can. social security will not cover the majority of your expenses. on your broader question about

comparing our country pre-social security and pre-medicare, it is hard to know at this point. social security was started nearly 100 years ago, and medicare was put in, in 1965. the comparison is hard. we know social security is a vital program in this country. many older adults rely on it. our goal is to make sure they see social security as part of their retirement. host: that last caller mentioned pensions. the baby boomer generation, do you consider it a generation that still has a lot of pensions going into retirement, or is this the first generation that does not have widespread pensions to rely on? guest: many people retiring now do not have an official pension. the concept of pensions comes from the idea that you work your

40 years, you get your gold watch at the retirement party. that is not a lived experience many people have these days. even companies who have those, they are few and far between. people are not drawing on those as much. i don't know it is the first generation, but it is the largest group of individuals who are now retiring without a defined benefits plan. host: the last caller also mentioned reverse mortgages. can you explain what it is, and is that something that you consider a good tool for retirees? guest: a reverse mortgage in layman's terms, you own your house and you essentially take a mortgage out. instead of you paying a bank, the bank pays you. you are withdrawing the equities in your house. you have to own your house, you

have to qualify for a lot of things. do some serious research. we have a lot of information about reverse mortgages. is it a good tool? it could be. it is a toolbox. if your goal is to get the equity out of your house, there are a few ways to do it. like any other tool in the toolbox, you would not use a hammer when you need a screwdriver. it is a personalized experience. host: let's go back to the phone lines. steve is calling from new york, getting close to retirement. what is your question or comment? caller: hi. first of all, thank you for the program. this is a great segment. i'm four years away from retirement, and i am in a good

position. i work for a union. i work union so i have not only social security, but i have a fixed pension, which mow people do not have any more. i grew up during the cold war, and in my area there was a lot of defense industry, a lot of people had good jobs, but when the cold war ended that industry disappeared, so the jobs where you do not need a high school education, they are gone. that is one thing. the last thing i want to say though is about these reverse mortgages. reverse mortgages is a big bankers way of taking money from the working class. it is their last opportunity to suck the last d dollar out of you so you have nothing for

your kids. guest: many unions still have pensions, but they are fewer and fewer between. a pension is a great retirement tool, but i encourage people to look a retirement accounts more broadly. there have been predatory practices in the reverse mortgage area. everyone has -- host: in case people are looking, the national council on aging, which you are representing, that website is ncoa.org. i i'm showing a page on your website. the heading is "use your home to stay at home." ncoa.org has a lot of resources on many different things.

let's go to eddie now in georgia. what is your question or comment? caller: my main question is this. the one's coming behind us will have to get creative. if you have a high-value home, you will have to sell it. you will have to use some of those funds to live off, and the federal government -- my plans were to go into retirement with the little money i had, and then refinance my home and continue to live. the federal government are not giving assent to do that. they will have to get real creative with that retirement. guest: i think eddie brings up a good point.you

should be looking across multigenerational planning. one of the reasons we did the survey starting at age 25, is depending on where you are in your life, it is something everyone should be looking at across the generations. it is a conversation you should be having at every kitchen table across the country. host: that brings us to another question we have received. mark stone rights "if you could give younger people advice on retirement, what would it be? set up a 401(k) as early as possible and take advantage of the company match?' guest: absolutely. the 401(k) and company match our great things to have. if you are lucky enough to have a company with a 401(k) and company match, take advantage of that. 401(k)'s are not as prevalent as people think they are.

how are you making the budgetary trade-offss at your own table? host: as a reminder, we are taking your calls on saving for retirement. this is josh hodges of the national council on aging. the number if you are nearing retirement is (202) 748-8000. if you are retired, (202) 748-8001. for everyone else, (202) 748-8002. let's hear from carrie in milwaukee, wisconsin. caller: my comment, i will try to keep it real specific and that is on the need to reform social security. we need to make changes. i'm sure this gentleman will agree.

we need to make major changes or we will lose social security. there is not enough money in it. i am currently on social security. if we don't make changes, 10 years from now everyone on it will be facing a 25% cut. social security was set back in -- the retirement age is 67 to get your full retirement benefits. they did that back in '84 and it started taking place 10 years ago. the reforms we need to make will not take place immediately, but they are for people went to years from retirement. people like myself do not need to panic, but people coming up

in the next couple of years do not need to panic, but we need to make changes now that will go into effect are people retiring 20 years from now. that includes raising the retirement age. it has to be done. we also have to look at needs based assessments, which does not seem fair because we all paid into it, but the reality is once you are on social security for about 5 years you have gotten back as much as you put in, so everything from thereon is basically other people's money. we need to go for needs-based, raising retirement, and may be lowering benefits for some. host:, your thoughts josh? guest: the caller might agree that social security as a program has to continue to evolve and be reformed. the cuts the caller was referring to is the concept that

the social security trust fund will run out of additional dollars, sweat will only be able to pay benefits on the dollars it takes into itself at any given point, however, we have come to this many times before. our position is social security is a bedrock program in this country, and has to continue to exist, whether the changes are to increase the tax rate to take the cap off of the income rate. many do not know that if you reach a certain income, you no longer pay social security tax above a certain income. those are common changes we could see would extend the life of the social security program by many decades. the color and i are completely aligned -- the caller and i are completely aligned. host: let's hear now from leroy

in sydney, ohio. what is your question or comment for us. caller: i would like to thank steve for his comment, my union brother. we should be helping our retirements because where we are at now is because of our senior generation. a pension is a thing in the past. it vanished. where i am at, when covid hit that was when you should be backing up your employees and encouraging them to come out because life stuff does happen, and at the same time we do feel

that we need to provide for our families and like he said, when people do get sick, your spouse and all that, you touch into your funds. why should it be like that? what i don't understand is how our government is and how our senior employees have built the future for the younger generation, and yet here they are struggling when they should be enjoying their life because they worked their whole life. host: we appreciate your call. your thoughts, josh? guest: i agree with the caller's perspective that we need to be in a position to let people retire, and that needs to be something -- especially after working for many years. i think the reality is, one of

our goals is to always all people plan for retirement, and make sure they know about the entire services available to someone who is retired. host:host: let's go to traverse city, michigan. carl is on the line, says he is nearing retirement. caller: hi. as has been stated, the problem is the longer lifespans that were not calculated when roosevelt put this into effect. in listening to this conversation, we always talk about what we want our kids to do better than we did. i think over the generations that has generally happened. i have a lot of faith in young people, but it made me think about this -- which set of retirees will be better? my set of retirees that are coming up or the set of retirees

that were behind me, that i am still supporting through working? think about that for a minute. i ask that question to the gentleman there as well as the listeners. the other part is parents who are helping children through difficult times, in some cases adult children, or children helping parents through difficult times, which can tap out savings. a couple of solutions, raising your fica 1%, the employee share, and you don't have to do it all at once, you can do it in quarters. raising the income withholding threshold, there is a lot of money to be generated there. thank you for taking my call and for listening. guest: parsing your comments, i think you raise an interesting

thought exercise. which generation of retirees is better off? it is not something we have given thought to, because we are looking into how to increase everyone's retirement utility. i would push to say where are the holes for anybody at any retirement age, and how do we fill those holes so people can age well whether you are retiring today, already retired, or retiring in 10 years. host: the previous caller mentioned the previous generation, if their parents do not have savings, they become the sandwich generation, taking care of their parents, and possibly raising their own children. can you talk about that and how that could be affecting the next generation? guest: the sandwich generation,

we call them the panini generation, because we press them on both sides as someone providing care to multi-generations. that is a lived experience for so many people in this country. people will spend their time and dollars, caring for family members in different generations and that does impact their retirement. that is especially true for women, especially true for women of color. we see data coming out that women feel they are not able to retire because they are always giving, carrying expenses, and that kind of perspective. it is a personal problem. when i go home to texas and talk to my mom, we sit down and we go through her budget. you race back up in the d.c. space, talk what are the policy changes we have to make in order to address these concerns.

multigenerational housing is not going away. it is increasing. host: can you talk about long-term care? we talk about that often becoming the drain on retirement savings. what do you recommend? guest: long-term care can easily a clips $100,000 a year depending on your location -- eclipse 100,000 dollars a year depending on your location. this is typically true of women, who outlive men. this is a reality most people need to face. more than 50% of people will need long-term care at some point in their life. it gets down to understanding the cost, understanding your individual factors, so i would encourage people to look at other websites that talk about long-term care costs to get a sense of what those things could cost in your area what, those

things draw from, and take that into account when it comes to your budgeting and planning for retirement. host: let's hear from henry in montrose, virginia. henry is a retiree. caller: i was thinking about this retirement thing. i used to have a roth ira, and all of this kind of stuff. my friend was 74 years old, and the money i was investing in i was losing. it was tied to the stock market. i was a federal employee with the federal government. i took long-term pay for me and my wife. i did not have enough money to keep investing. i had to drop that, but when the price skyrocketed, now they are

holding $20,000 over me and my wife. i cannot get back. if i die, my wife cannot get that back. that is kind of jacked up. it is money i paid into the federal government. now they say, "you will never get that money back." i mean, they say the money is still there, but if i die, it is just gone. i don't think that is fair. the careful how you invest -- be careful how you invest, because a lot of the times the money is tied to the stock market. host: henry, we appreciate your call. a lot of people's retirements

are tied to the stock market now. guest: you are absolutely right. henry's experience is one i think many people can relate to, whether you have a lot of money or a little bit of money in retirement savings. it comes down to how you are allocating your assets throughout your life. there are some good tools online. that is not our expertise, but the reality is taking those things into account is vitally important. another point about long-term care insurance, is it is important people understand what they are buying. they really need to understand what the rules of the road are, so to speak. henry, i'm sorry that has been your experience. i encourage people to look to see how their assets are allocated. host: up next, we have don in

troy, new york, nearing retirement. caller: i have a question. i will be collecting at the end of this month. i m 62. do hav you heard being made. every --has there been any talks -- people in my it group do not have the nest eggs our parents had. has there been any talks about them changing that, allowing retirees to make whatever they want? guest: that is a good question. what he is talking about is if

you collect social security before your retirement age, you also have a separate employment, you are working there is a maximum you can earn before they start decreasing your social security. that only lastd a few years. if you are taking social security younger, i would encourage you to talk to the social security officer, talk to other folks about how that impacts you individually. i do not know of any situations that have occurred or are currently occurring that would change that civic rule. -- that specific rule. not my area of expertise, but it is an interesting issue the color raises. host: let's go to grand junction, colorado. rob is another retiree caller. what is your question or comment? caller: what is the progress of

the bill going through congress to ricin the westfall illumination -- rescind the westfall preliminations? is there a bill going through to increase the income? i don't believe that has ever been adjusted for inflation. guest: on the windfall elimination act, i don't have any knowledge as to where we are. i don't know of any active piece of legislation that would make those changes, but your point is valid. there is an opportunity that we should be looking at to change how the social security taxes are collected, especially on

higher earners. host: as we finish up, are there any resources on the national council on aging's website you want to point out? guest: we talk a lot about planning for retirement, but what you do if you are in retirement and you need additional services? there are a couple of things. . these are all free. the first is benefits checkup.org. benefits checkup is a free site to help connect other adults and those who care for older adults in their area, programs to pay for food, electricity, rent, and it is zip code based. we are not trying to sell you anything. we are a nonprofit. there are $30 billion left on the table in benefits every year. we would like to see older adults get access to them. we talked about budgeting, we

have talked about the workforce. there are 2 tools that are relatively new to us. one is called jobs skills checkup. those tools will allow you, if you are trying to reenter the workforce or retool, they will give you tips and tricks on how to do that, and walk you through ways you may want to do that. and from a budgeting perspective, as you plan your retirement budget, it is important to look at the projections and how you are budgeting at your kitchen table. host: this has been a great discussion. the national council on aging, chief customer officer josh hodges, thank you for joining us. we will take a quick break. later in our show, the discussion on foreign affairs gideon rockman, the host of his podcast rockman review.

first, we will return to our question of the day, which is what is your top news story of the day. you can start calling in now. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. and independents, (202) 748-8002 . ♪ >> nonfiction book lovers, c-span has a number of podcasts for you. listen to best-selling nonfiction authors on the afterwards podcasts, and on q and a here wide ranging conversations -- hear wide ranging conversations with authors on a wide variety of topics. the about books podcast takes

you behind the scenes of the non-function book publishing -- nonfiction book publishing industry. find all of our podcasts by downloading the free c-span now app. >> next week the senate continues work on president biden's the senate will hear fromcott shea, former cofounder of signature bank, and the former presiden of signature. jennifer raymundo testifies

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host: we are back to the question of the morning, which is what is your top news story of the week? a very busy newsweek, so lots to discuss. the numbers are (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8002 for independents. stephen in cap 10, new mexico -- capitan, new mexico. what is your new story of the week? caller: story of the week is how incredulously stupid our government is to allow all of these people into our united states.

i have lived in new mexico all of my life, and taking care of my side of the street, the government at this point is not taking care of our side of the street. they have allowed who knows how many gang members into this country, let alonee 9/11 style terrorists into this country, this is not migration. there is no such thing as migration. we have laws that have not been enforced. the people who run the country now stole the votes. they are not enforcing any laws. they have created a dangerous position for each and every american by opening up the border like they have. don't tell me that they haven't opened it up.

they are only giving us figures -- these are not the only people coming down the rio grande, probably into our united statess. host: this is some video of president joe biden, defending his position to send 1500 troops to the border in preparation for title 42 ending. he also spoke about other actions needed to improve the immigration system as a whole. here is that exchange from wednesday. [video clip] >> you are sending 1500 troops to the border. people on the left to say it is inhumane. people on the right are saying you are not putting american priorities first. companies around the country are saying "we need more workers."

>> the first bill i introduced was to reform the system we have for migration. we are in a situation now where those 1500 soldiers are there to enforce the law, to free up the border agents who need to be on the border. we have another 1000 people, week there are asylum judges to make judgments to move things along. i have asked this congress to help in terms of what they need at the border. for example, we need these farmworkers. they are adlai needed. -- they are badly needed. i love the way we talk about dreamers. imagine you are a six-year-old kid. come on. there is so much we can do and are going to do, because for

example i have worked out a good relationship with the president of mexico. we in a situation where we will set up the ability for people to go into an american facility to determine whether they qualify as a refugee, whether they qualify for asylum, whether they qualify for a temporary work order, speeding things up. it is a combination of making sure there is a system by which it is orderly, and number two where employers have access to additional people, especially farmworkers. host: that was president joe biden from wednesday, an interview with msnbc talking about the end of title 42. let's hear now from lynette in north carolina. caller: i listen to robert kennedy junior and his speech a

far ass -- as far as possibly running for the president. i like his views. he is putting our country first again, which is what trump did. not that i condone trump's behavior, but i think the republican party needs a strong leader. we do not right now. we have a president who is subsidized by china. he and his family are on the take. we need some strong leadership in the united states. host: up next we have mary in albuquerque, new mexico. caller: hi. i would just like to say i have been noticing a trend here,

particularly in republican states. i believe that our democracy is being undermined from the bottom up now. in ohio they passed bills changing the way that certain things need to be passed where you need 60% of the vote now. in mississippi where they are trying to exclude black legislators or in tennessee where they are trying to exclude them. i am not even going to go into ron desantis. everybody knows about that. i believe that if this trend continues, we are all in danger. i don't care if you are a republican or a democrat. somebody else will be pulling the strings. you may agree with them, but in the end it will hurt all of our

democracy. host: mary in albuquerque. our next caller is rhonda in kansas city, missouri. caller: good morning. i really want to start with the first thing on my mind, which are the emigrants. i don't know why we as americans have forgotten that we are a country of immigrants. let all of those people in. good lord, have you seen them lining up? they are leaving destitute countries. what is the whole statue of liberty about? that is the first thing. i have a little comment. the democrats seem to get blamed for something we all know were put in place by a republican. i heard a lady speak earlier about poor leadership in the democrats, and yet the

republicans of yesterday are supporting a criminal, a lying criminal, and they act like this is no big deal. he is an alleged rapist. he has all kinds of issues. first and foremost, as a democrat i am fine with immigrants. who will do a lot of the work that a lot of people are complaining about? i say let those people in. if you have literally walked across the country to get access to the united states, it is not me who is going to say don't come in. these are women and children. host: rhonda in kansas city. let's go to willoughby, ohio. vivian is on the independent line. caller: i just wanted to mention to that consumer, that chief

customer service officer for the aging, i just want to know why social security is so threatened. it was selves -- self-sustaining at one point. obamacare was funded by social security. i would just like to know where he stands on that. host: all right. i want to bring up more from that cnn town hall on wednesday. former president trump was asked about the current debate over the u.s. debt. this is a little bit from trump during that cnn town [video clip] >> when we had our economy rocking and rolling prior to covid, we were making a fortune. we were going to start paying

off debt. but then we had to do other things and keep the country alive because it was so serious. we have to get the country back, lower energy prices and lower interest rate. it all has to come down and we have to start paying off debt. when we have a debt limit, and use this very seriously, schumer came in with nancy pelosi and they said we will do whatever. they talked a lot different than they do right now. i say to republicans out there, if they did not give you massive cuts, you will have to do a default. i do not believe there are going to do a default because i think the democrats pool case because they do not want to have that happen. but it is better than what we are doing right now. we are spending money like drunken sailors. >> you think the u.s. should default if the white house does not agree to spending cuts? >> we do not have to do it now

because people do it later. we have to save this country. our country is dying, being destroyed by stupid people. >> you once said using the debt ceiling as a negotiating wedge cannot happen. >> that is when i was president. >> why is it different now? >> because i am not president. host: that is more from former president trump's town hall with cnn. you want to hear your top stories of the week. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. bill in midland, texas on the independent line. caller: good morning. i served in the military. i am a retired military person. i know the content of a military person. this individual that sought out

individuals and killed them on the new york subway, all the media keeps saying he is a marine. a marine does not put people in a choke hold and choke them to death. it is a disgrace to all military people who served honorably. this individual did something horrible and should not be hiding behind his military status. that had nothing to do with that. that is all i want to say and i thank everybody. host: that's is bill referring to the case in new york. our next call her is tony in palm beach city, florida on the democrat line. caller: good morning from the last holds out -- holdouts of democracy in florida. it is crazy what is going on with ron desantis and the super majority gop in florida who just voted to deny access of public

records request to his travel, past and future. there is a strain in the republican party that is in love with authoritarianism. that and the combination of greed is what i am afraid will bring american democracy down. there is no -- in the debt ceiling crisis, it is simple. the race a few pennies on the dollar from the law -- top 1% and we are able to cover the expenses we need. but there is a part of the republican party that is dogmatic and says we will not raise taxes because that is based on greed. then there is another part of the republican party who is in love with authoritarianism. it is their way or the highway. we need the other 50% of the electorate to wake up and get involved. 100 50 million people though ted but there are 240 million people eligible to vote.

we need those folks in the coming elections to wake up and get interested in what is going on or the country will look different. that is not your mongering but just stating some facts out there. host: i want to read out responses on our facebook page to the question of the day. steven writes, "see it and legitimizing and promoting a white, fascist sexual predator who tried to hold onto power after losing a legitimate election without asking him hard enough questions about his lies, acts, and delusions." catherine scotch writes, " after four months of investigation, house republicans who promised to use their new majority to unearth evidence of wrongdoing by president biden acknowledged on wednesday that they had yet to uncover incriminating material about him, despite

their frequent insinuations that he and his family have been involved in criminal conduct and corruption." kinsey otis writes, "we have a frail and incompetent person as president." before we go back to the phone lines, i want to bring up a reporter from the des moines, iowa register. they are here to talk to us a little bit because later on today, both florida governor ron desantis and former president donald trump will be holding rallies in iowa. good morning. guest: good morning. thanks for having me. host: thank you so much for joining us this morning. let's start with the dual rallies. it is at a coincidence that they both are in iowa today? guest: it would be quite the

coincidence since this is the second time this has happened. this is the second time that ron desantis announced events in iowa and donald trump said he will be there too. host: so ron desantis was first? he has two events. tell us where he is going to be and who he will be with. guest: he is going to be in the far northwest corner of the state that is a really conservative area and quite rural. then he will head over to cedar rapids just more urban. he has a mix of events and will attend fundraisers from one of our congressmen. he has not officially declared his candidacy, although this appears imminent. he is showing up to be supportive of the iowa republican party and to try to be there as a guest of these events. donald trump, on the other hand, the third a couple months ago

and is holding a big rally in -- declared candidacy a couple months ago and is holding a big rally that will draw a sizable crowd. we will see how the events contrast against each other. host: as you talk to voters in des moines, do they consider ron desantis a rival to trump? are they saying, we just want to hear from him? or are they saying this is a guy we want to support? guest: you have a little bit of both. ron desantis is unveiling a list of a couple state legislators who are already formally endorsing him, again even though he has not yet formerly that's formally enter the race. you are seeing people sign up in support of him. i think, among voters and nonprofits in iowa, people are really interested in hearing from ron desantis, tim scott,

and nikki haley, and donald trump is of course moving to a pretty sizable share of support. he has supporters who are really locked in with him and are not going anywhere. but then you have another sizable chunk who are interested in hearing from someone else. they want to see what other candidates have to offer and are perhaps ready to move in another direction. host: is there any polling in iowa about how the voters are beginning to lead? we know ron desantis is not a candidate but is there any polling showing -- guest: the des moines register released a poll in march. that was not a true head-to-head poll you see across the nation right now since it is still early, but that show donald trump's favorability numbers have declined. the percentage of people who said they would vote for him if he were a nominee has declined

substantially among iowa republicans. the bride take away from this poll is donald trump's numbers -- the broad take away from this poll is donald trump's numbers have changed this pocket season as other people are taking a look. ron desantis's favorable numbers are about on par with donald trump. little bit lower though because he is still lesser-known. the other candidates nikki haley within that pole -- and others within the poll did not fare as well. it is still early. we expect to do more polling. there is a lot of conversation about the national polls and how ron desantis slipping a little bit. as we get closer to the iowa caucuses, it is important for people to keep in mind that national polls do not necessarily reflect what is happening on the ground in iowa. it is good to vote -- wait for

iowa specific polls. host: when is the iowa caucuses going to be held in 2024? guest: a date has not been formerly set yet but we are looking at january. host: wow. have you heard from voters? are they concerned about the verdict that happened this week? is that affecting their outlook on former president trump? guest: it is hard to tell. again, his core group of supporters, i do not think will be persuaded by any of these that come out. but there are republicans who are maybe more open to new candidates are maybe looking at that and saying he has a lot of baggage. there is this lawsuit and pending lawsuits, and just feeling like there are a lot of

things that could track him down in the general election against joe biden. to the extent that they are worried about whether he can win or whether he can make it through this mess, they are looking at it from this perspective. host: thank you so much. brianne pfannenstiel is the chief economist writer -- geopolitics write at the des moines regte 12:35 pm is the ron desantis event. he will be the featured guest at picnic fundraiser hosted by a republican representative. that will be live from iowa at 12:35 p.m. eastern. you can also watch of c-span no o free mobile video a, or online at sea and.org. at 8:00 p.m., there is a trump event. he will headline the rally in

des moines. it will have coverage again at 8:00 p.m. on cease and, our c-span now app, -- on c-span, our c-span now app, and ceased and.org -- c-span.org. jack on the republican line. what is your top story of the week? caller: the top story is that the united states no longer has a border. what is more, the united states army has been set to facilitate the american people's dispossession. title 42 or whatever the thing was called is legal fiction. the border actually is a real and living thing. the president decided it is no longer his responsibly to defend it and set the military. that is a massive story. the biggest non-story of the week is the fact that the current president when he was

vice president set our house republicans came out with pink records detailing massive corruption and nobody seems to care. host: all right. let's hear from alexis in north carolina on the independent line caller:. caller: good morning. thank you for having me on. there are several things i would like to note. first, with the fellow on the train that was choked to death, i do believe the man should have felt when the body went limp. george floyd was gone in nine minutes. 15 minutes seems excessive. what was he holding onto?

i hope he gets what he deserves. i also would like to mention that trump has no pride, no shame. ron desantis is trying to outdo him if that is possible. they are both undesirable. we do not need autocrats in our legislature as we have now. that is why the debt ceiling is so imperative to pass cleanly. you cannot have the -- cornering democracy in such a way. host: all right, we appreciate your call. we are going to move onto larry

in new york on the democratic line. what is your story of the week? caller: my story of the week is i think the republicans can be so convinced of being radicalized. i made $3000 a month. i have social security. it is already prepaid. it is prepaid by workers and people that have jobs. it is probably the lowest percentage wise. host: all right.

let's hear now from nancy in rotunda west, florida on the republican line. for morning. caller: good morning. i hope you are doing well today. i really a priest -- i really appreciate c-span. you had a gentleman call in from wisconsin, saying he saw you on cnn. i was not going to call at all when you are on and i thought that was unfair of me. i was wondering, are you an invited guest on msnbc and cnn, or a contributor and why you are not on conservative networks? my top story is immigration. it is a shame that these people are not coming in legally. the sadness of what they are going through is just almost too

much to watch on both sides of the river. have a good day. i was just wondering about c-span's policy of you on these other networks. host: that will do it for us on the segment. we are going to take a quick rake. up next, in our spotlight on punt casts i've been. financial times chief economist gideon rachman will discuss his podcast "rachman review" and global current events. ♪ announcer: c-span now is a free mobile app featuring unfiltered view of what is happening in washington, live and on-demand. keep up with today's biggest events with live streams of floor proceedings and hearings from congress, white house

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beyond." exploring the american story, watch american history tv every weekend and find a full schedule on were program guide or watch anytime on c-span.org/history. ♪ announcer: book tv, every sunday on c-span 2, features leading authors discussing their latest nonfiction books. at 9:00 p.m. eastern, the former ceo of the btp networks recounts her career of the entertainment industry with her memoir "i am deborah lee." afterwards, investigative reporter alexander robbins provides a behind-the-scenes look of the issues teachers face in the classroom today with her book "the teachers." watch book tv every sunday on c-span 2 and find the full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at

booktv.org. ♪ announcer: a healthy democracy does not just look like this. it looks like this. where americans can see democracy at work, citizens are truly informed, a republic thrives. it informed straight from the source on c-span, unfiltered, unbiased, word for word, from the nation's capital to wherever you are area -- you are. this is what democracy looks like. c-span, powered by cable. announcer: washington journal continues. host: we are back with gideon rachman, the chief foreign affairs columnist for the financial times. we are going to talk about his podcast, "rachman review", and global current events. let's start there.

tell us about your podcast. what do you focus on? guest: international politics. it is a simple format. one interview every week. i tried to keep it not too long. sort of 25 to 30 minutes. usually, it is a commentator on a particular issue. sometimes we have big name guests. this year i interviewed the president of the philippines and bill gave. but more typically, we have a well-informed commentator on the issue of the day. a couple weeks ago, we had a guy from the washington institute previewing the turkish elections which come up this sunday. last week, we had fiona hill which used to work -- who used to work in the trump white house talking about the ukrainian war. tomorrow i am going to a conference in sweden but there are a bunch of indian

specialists and i will probably call one of them to talk about india's place in the world. that is how we do it. it is events-driven but not events-dominated to look at global issues. host: are going to get to some global current events in a minute but i wanted to talk about your book called "the age of the strongman: how the cold of the leader threatens democracy around the world." it is out in paperback. tell us about the book. guest: it is about what i think is the dominant global political trend of our area -- era which is the rise of charismatic leaders around the world, starting with putin at the beginning of the 21st century. then in 2003, you have president erdogan whose fate is on the line.

he may lose an election but he may not want to accept that even if he does lose. then i go through a lot of others. president xi jinping in china comes to power in 202012. president modi in india. trump who came to power in 2016. he says i alone can fix it and a lot of these strongman leaders say you must put all your -- and you need a strong figure two get through. the book is a profile of each of these leaders and an attempt to explain why they have come to power and what they have in common. host: we want to let the viewers and listeners at home know that they can call. you can call now to have a question or comment. democrats, (202) 748-8000.

republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. for foreign affairs questions or comments to gideon rachman. while we wait for calls to come in, back to your book. you mentioned a lot of these leaders that you say qualify under the age of the strongman. i wanted to ask, is there any characteristics that you think all of these leaders you mentioned kind of embody? or what is consistent through them? guest: mainly it is the cult of personality. it is the sense that they are uniquely qualified to deal with whatever their country faces. also, they tend to be leaders who deal in the idea of private. they will say that we have to suspend normal rules because the country is facing a crisis. so you need to put on your trust in me and i have qualities that

allow me to see the crisis and deal with it. what this crisis is can vary. for president putin, it is the collapse of the soviet union. president xi jinping just recently talked about china facing the threat of the united states and what he called "america's efforts to contain it." trump talked about american carnage. modi in india talks about opportunity but also the threat of the nation from pakistan or a fifth column inside the country. there are leaders who say we cannot play by the old. the past roles are rigged against you. there are usually popular. they will say, i did not represent the police or globalists, i represent the ordinary people.

although the political systems that the leaders emerge from our very different -- obviously, china has never been in democracy and is a one-party state. the united states and the u.k. are established democracies. but nonetheless, i thought there were common characteristics in the leaders of these countries. also countries that have struggled democracy and autocracy like turkiye who is on the because of losing its political democracy. host: your book came out last april. has anything changed since he wrote it? guest: quite a lot. some characters i included have lost power. bolsonaro in brazil and the leader of the philippines previously. they strongmen who come up through a democratic system, as long as those democracies retain the essentials and have free in

-- free elections and people who will enforce the law, and mainly free media, it is possible to get rid of them. the tent followed the -- the former leader of the philippines listened and step down. january 6, they stoned -- like january 6, in brazil they stormed the capital but it did not work. but if you have a strongman country like russia or china where there are not democratic institutions to keep in check, it is hard to keep them in check. and the big development that is shadowed is the invasion of ukraine.

that was a significant event. for a law of the strongman leaders, president putin -- throughout the strongman leaders, president putin with someone i actually admired. he seemed to be quite successful, like the intervention in syria and the and accession in -- the annexation of crimea. a lot of his international fan club who used to admire him let maria look in fronts and speak warmly of him are now much more wary of praising president putin. it is a sign that strongman role, you can understand some attraction to people who are looking for a strong figure to solve their problems, but it has inherent difficulties which is the overconcentration of power and decision-making in a single individual is fallible. and more fallible the longer

they go on. when you have been in power for 20 years like president putin, you tend to succumb to megalomania and make mistakes. host: as a reminder, you can call in with your question or comment to gideon rachman. the number is (202) 748-8000 if you are a democrat. (202) 748-8001 if you are a republican. (202) 748-8002 if you are an independent. our first call her is on the democrat line. chris in boston, massachusetts. caller: if you go to the george washington university archives website, you will find the minutes of an agreement made between then secretary of state james and mikhail gorbachev in which james spader promised gorbachev that in exchange for

the recent education of germany, nato would not extend one inch eastward. since that promise was broken, nato has been actively recruiting these warsaw pact countries into nato until the borders are all the way up to the russian border i believe the object of tomato is to do to russia what they did to yugoslavia which is to break it into its component parts. as for changing borders by force, the president was set by nato in kososvo. israel has been doing that since 1967. host: let's give gideon a chance to respond. guest: what you are saying is

more or less -- i don't mean to denigrate it, but it is similar to what the russian lie is that it is all because by allies breaking promises. but the american say, and i am more of their opinion, is the baker and gorbachev discussion was always quite contended that there was never an absolutely firm prohibition on nato expansion. one of the reasons nato expansion was not america pushing in, but that countries like poland who joined felt insecure. they had been occupied and dominated by russia, and they were not secure without nato security guarantees. it was coming from them as much as from america. also, although they see this as a massive threat to them, most of the nato expansion took place

in the early 2000's. russia remained a member of the g8 and there was a nato russia council. they had their chance to object at that time and they did not. you have to ask what was going on later? i think the real thing that threatened president putin and made him decide to move on ukraine was yes, he did not like the idea of ukraine joining nato . but ukraine was not remotely near joining nato when he invaded in 2022. they kept asking but nothing was happening. i think he just felt that perhaps the west was weak after afghanistan. the west had not responded to the crimean annexation. he never really accepted the dependent -- independence of ukraine. if you read president putin's the struggle essays, he saw any to grab it and try to take it

but miscalculated. i do not believe nato did pose a threat to russia or that there was any plan to break up russia. the people running western for upon -- foreign policy right quite risk observed. they would be very aware of what would happen to the nuclear weapons and so on. i seen a lot of people and none would say wouldn't it would be a great idea for russia broke up? i think the ukrainians would like that, but there is nothing -- a senior german diplomat was saying that might be something ukraine would want but it is not something we would want. i do not buy the idea the west is trying to break up russia. host: tuscaloosa, alabama, catherine on the independent line. caller: your book sounds very interesting to me.

i am a linguist so it reminded me of a problem i had with the term "strongman" because i think of that as a negative. but strong is a positive word. it also made me think, what about the iron lady? what about margaret thatcher? would she have qualified? i am interested in your responses. guest: that is a good question and goes to the heart of what i would say is a difference between strong leadership. but strong is not a bad word. there has been many times when we have needed strong leadership and what i mean by this term. i think you gave an example of strong leadership but within a democratic network. she took power at a time when britain was facing economic problems and so on. she pushed reforms that a lot of people thought were not doable but she managed to get them

done. but she did it within the legal framework. she did it within a democratic framework. she never actually lost an election, but when her party turns on her and cast her out of 10 downing street following the rules of the game, she did not at any point attempt to say i am not going to accept this or that the system was ranked against me, or attempt to stay on and break the democratic contract. in that respect, i would say she follows winston churchill who would say to be u.k. in 1945 and have every reason to believe grateful people would reelect him, but he lost the election than intellect power because that is what happens in a democracy. i think a stronger leader tends to believe much more that they are indispensable and it would be wrong. it cannot be allowed that they would be indispensable. and then they try to change

roles to make it hard for them to ever lose an election which is something that president putin has done so he got rid of term limits in russia. president xi jinping did the same thing. used to have only two terms possible. they have rewritten the chinese constitution so he can stay there effectively for life. president erdogan in turkiye, same deal. of course, donald trump in the u.s., when he lost the 2016 election, he said i did not and attempted to encourage people to overturn the result. that is the difference between a strong leader, which we can probably agree is often required, and a strongman leader in the sense i've used it which is a leader who elevates their strength and regards himself as indispensable.

so indispensable that they refused to be bound by a conventional system. host: next, susan in california calling on the democratic line. are you with us? caller: i am, hello? host: go ahead. caller: the last caller maybe think of an interesting point i would love to have addressed. addressing the differences between bringing up margaret thatcher and donald trump, i would like to know how president biden has been an different? i am a democrat. in response to getting things done and not changing the laws. i thought she raised really interesting points and i thought your points that you responded with sounded -- unlike joe biden, i would like to have this explained to me. because i would love to defend him to my public and friends.

guest: we don't know how joe biden will cope with losing power if that happens, but i do not believe that if he lost an election, he would behave as donald trump did and start calling state officials and say find me another 60,000 boats -- votes. although he feels very strongly, the face of the company at stake as republicans do on the others, is part of president biden's rhetoric. i think he is somebody who would be bound by democratic conventions. if the election results was fair, he would accept it. i think that is the fundamental difference. i actually do not think that president biden, personally, i am talking from the other side of the atlantic and you may see things i do not see, strikes me as an autocratic person. i think the arguments against

him are mainly from republicans who try to portray him as too weak to be president. he seems to me to be pioneering or using a different style of leadership, which i would call reagan-ized, which is that he is not a detailed guide, not somebody who is involved in micromanagement in the way that bill clinton might have been or even george h. w. bush. he says the general direction and lets his staff get on with it. a bee that is the way you have to do it if you are that old. but i do not see him as an autocrat in the making. host: next, alicia from maryland on the independent line. caller: good morning and happy

mother's day for tomorrow. are you a mother? guest: i am not, i am a father. caller: i was tough and about the hostess. host: not a mother either but happy mother's day. go ahead with your question or comment. caller: sir? hello? host: go ahead. caller: i guess i am watching him and he is talking over there but of course it is silent. my concern is about the people who are coming over and it is about the women and children. i was not surprised that women that are coming over now are

being raped, a hundred or a thousand a day. and children. it is 85,000 or 8500. sorry, i cannot remember. i am in my 80's so things like this happen to us. but anyway, i think there should really be a medical people there to beat those women -- meet those women and has to them be interviewed individually, privately, so they can tell their stories. and they can be taken care of immediately. i think it is just horrible. these women have walked and walked and walked and then they

have to endure all of this world will other stuff. host: we appreciate your call. it sounds like she is talking about immigration into america. let's can you put the american immigration, crisis at the southern border, into a global perspective? guest: it is one of the big global issues. the numbers america are coping with really put the numbers in europe and to some context. but it is true that even in europe, there is big anxiety about both the sense that we need to control our border inc. to take anybody in, -- and cannot take anybody in, mixed with the compassion for these people and shouldn't we be treating the well? and how do you balance the two competing impulses? you saw in europe in 2015 that there were a lot of people fleeing the syrian war.

the leader of hungary was the first guy to build a wall and the germans were upset by those pictures and by what was happening. they opened their borders and germany took in one million refugees in a year. but that was a very dramatic instance and was controversial not just in germany but around europe. the european rules mean that once you are in germany, you can move anywhere in the eu. but the italian prime minister is more on the trump's side of the equation and said she would crack on migration, it has not been that easy. the numbers coming across to italy are high. 45,000 so far this year in boats. many of them, you get terrible boating accidents. schools of people drowned off the coast of italy in an

accident in february. even a politician like the italian prime minister whose initial impulse is we cannot let people in, and face like a trap -- with a tragedy like that, they react. they are in a very difficult spot. in the u.k., we have hundreds, more than a thousand people crossing the channel in small boats. the government says it will stop the boats, but to do that, they may have to withdraw from international human rights conventions. they have a plan to send some refugees to africa and settled them in rwanda, which is highly controversial. in the developed world, we have societies that are richer and seem to often offer opportunities to people that are fleeing from war or just prophecy. by to not think any country has

figured out a way of dealing with this in a way that allows you to control the border, but also allows you to be compassionate. there is not a middle ground we have found here. host: let's go now to the democratic line. robert is calling from harrison, arkansas. caller: my concern and globalization is our privacy and personal information and privacy as we are seeing things spread. i had a problem with my phone. i called my local phone provider, and i ended up speaking to some girl in the philippines. what she could tell me as they work from 7:00 to 5:00 and they would give me a call two hours before they closed. i was not sure what day that would be. they also have a local office and i went down to ask the girl and she gave me the specific time. but i noticed that they close

the office two days later and now the phone numbers we called go to the caribbean. i have worker comp under arkansas mandates and all arkansas regulations. i went through the audit and had a problem and called them and i was talking to the philippines with my personal information, ledgers, checkbooks and all the information before them. i had a problem on my credit card and it was not a big deal but i called them and i was speaking to guatemala after i had given them my social security and phone number. i truly do not understand how they can be allowed to have our personal information passed around the world. i will be looking for your response, thank you. guest: i think it is a slightly strange phenomenon that we all have two get used to and that many are not used to. it is called outsourcing, where companies have found that the

collapse in the constant communication, like i can be in london talking to you now. it does not cost anything over the internet or next to nothing. it has made it tempting that other than employing an expensive person in the u.s., i will employ a cheap person in the philippines or guatemala. at my newspaper, if you ring the financial times, the phones will be picked up in the philippines. i share some concern about data security but i actually think it is sort of in the nature of the internet that it does not make it actually particularly words that the data is going to be handled by someone in the philippines or outside the u.k. the internet is a global phenomenon anyway. i am more concerned by the

number of times he would have to type in a credit card or something into your screen, or a shared data. the fact that because you are carrying a phone around, your employer knows where you are at evan -- any given time if it is a work phone. they can read your communications. get to me, it is nothing. i don't really know what someone in the philippines would do with my workplace information. but the fact that the police here or my employer can see everything i am doing, or close to everything, i do not find that comfortable. but it is a trade-off a lot of people have made because of these devices we use, our phones, our computers, are increasingly indispensable if you want to exist in the modern world. we have had to because of

trade-off -- had to accept trade-offs on privacy. if there is any kind of bright side, it -- at least in our society, we have checks and balances. we have politicians who will listen and perhaps make arguments for greater privacy. i would be more worried if it was in china or russia where there were no checks on balance -- are no checks and balances. the latest thing i have had to be concerned about is facial recognition technology. whereby there are cameras all over china and probably all over the west. people can recognize your face on cctv camera and see where you are. the chinese will say, it is great, we can use that to catch criminals. but it also means they can track

the systems. quite easily. that makes dissent much harder in a totalitarian society. that is a long way from where you started on outsourcing and manila answering your phone. it is a part of the border problem which is that the new technologies we have adopted come with things that make it very hard to maintain privacy in the way we used two and we were growing up. host: i want to ask a couple of questions that we have received in writing. jim in indiana sent as a text message. "isn't usa's invasion of vietnam, afghanistan, iraq, and korea, just about the same as russia's invasion." guest: i can see why you would

say that. there are differences. but maybe subtile for you. i do not think in those cases of korea, afghanistan, iraq was america trying to acquire territory. you may disagree with the reasons they went in. the iraq war now feels like it was fought on false pretenses, but it was never america's intention to say iraq is now part of the u.s. that is not what was happening. with putin, he is annexing. he got crimea in 2014 and has now claimed four provinces in eastern ukraine. had he got all the way to kyiv as he intended to do in february 2022, they may have allowed ukraine to remain formally independent of russia, but it would have been a puppet

government installed. that country would have lost its independence. i do not think that those were the kinds of motivations that drove u.s. into korea or vietnam . south korea now is to a close ally of the u.s. and there are military bases, but america does not control the elections. you have a pro-u.s. president or an anti-u.s. president but it remains an independent country, and that was the ambition for afghanistan. it went badly wrong. the idea was they would vanquish the taliban and terrorism, and set up a functioning democracy. that was perhaps unrealistic. host: our next call her is monica in california on the independent line. caller: good morning.

i have a question for the guests you have. but i first would like to say, i don't know if anybody has thought about this but donald trump being a pathological liar -- host: turned on your tv just a little bit and we will be able to hear you better. go ahead. all right. caller: and now he has to register as a sex offender. that was donald trump. i know that he is a pathological liar and he has all of this history, but i am also wondering what you think about all these shootings that are happening here. what does your country think about america? host: i want to start by saying

the verdict this week was in a civil trial, not a criminal trial. i do not think trump will have to register as a sex offender, as he would have possibly if he faced criminal charges. the question is about americans than violence. -- gun violence. guest: obviously, what is my country think? there are 67 million people here and people have different views. but when you look at opinion polls, even amongst conservatives, there was not some -- much support of trump. there was a small conservative group who were donald trump fans and believed there was something we could learn from him. but even from the conservative party, they saw donald trump as a man they needed to manage and a guy they needed to humor he was president.

that was a difference from other periods. when reagan was in power, i don't think even the conservative party was in two mcdonald's from about there were some that were enthused by him. i'll gun violence, it is what many people find baffling. it is very unusual in the world's democracies. america stands out for its willingness to tolerate private gun ownership and tolerate gun violence. if you look at the two countries that were similar, australia and u.k., both of us had gun massacres. there was one in a school in britain. then in the 1990's, one in australia.

both cases were school massacres, and a lot of kids killed suddenly. but they led to big changes in the law, making it much harder for people to have guns. gun ownership was never as widespread in the u.k. as it is in america, but there was a since this cannot be tolerated and action was taken. whereas in america, you know the story better than i do, and it seems to be impossible to get effective gun legislation. the idea of even confiscating guns would be almost impossible politically. it is something we find baffling and difficult to comprehend about america. it does not mean that people do not admire many other aspects of american society and realize that we are close allies.

but that aspect of america is one that is very hard to translate overseas. host: calling from arkansas, witty on the independent line -- woody on the independent line. caller: good morning. how are you doing? i will have to respectively disagree with rewards -- with your words on what is going on between russia and ukraine. in the 1960's, the u.s. declined any type of deployment of missiles in cuba because that is right near our doorstep. however ukraine shares a 2400 mile border with russia. that would be considering a warsaw pact in china trying to move into canada. do you think the u.s. would stand by that? i do not think they would. that is where russia sees itself

today. there are just trying to protect their border. second, you said with the former soviet republic and lithuania and estonia for example in the early 2000's, you said why didn't they raise a ruckus? but you have to realize what was going on in their country back then. their economy was in depression. u.s. was actually trailing russia in joining nato but that was false. president nixon, he was a great leader for the time, but he didn't have a drinking problem. a lots of things that were going on in each era went to pass. i think the u.s. manipulated the situation. any comments on that? guest: that is a good argument

but not what i ultimately agree with. i think the difference between the cuban missile crisis and the way america responded to that and the monro doctrine and what was happening with ukraine, there are several. certainly with the passage of 60 or 70 years. -- the thing that triggered the missile crisis, missiles in the island, regarded as hostiles to america, things that can be used against the united states. it wasn't necessarily missiles being moved into ukraine. although they had been promised nato membership in 2008, it was not a member and was not close

to joining. that was established in advance. however much the russian say, nato is a defensive alliance. in a way, they can look at the both the space and join the nato alliance. nothing has happened to russia. no one has moved to launch an attack from baltic soil. it is not something that was ever going to launch a defensive against russia. if you look at the way russia is deploying its troops now, trying to take over ukraine, they tried

to pull metrics away from the borders. there are no russian troops defending the border. that tells me that they know that nato is not a threat to russia. a lot of this is rhetoric. they are the people invading ukraine, not the other people around. they need to create a narrative so they built up an idea that they were about to join nato, which they were not and then they try to say that that enabled their invasion into ukraine. if you put the other interpretation, it is not what i share. host: let's hear from david on

the republican line. caller: good morning. host: good morning. go ahead. caller: austin talk about the personal data issue. there seems to be no established legal requirement for data, which i am aware not -- which i am aware of. there definitely should be an established legal requirement. there also seems to be no penalty requirement for the failure to protect data. we can go to court and sue you and receive a patent -- pentence for the harm done. my question is, if it is might data, why can we not be

compensated monetarily for that data? host: go ahead,. guest: one of the things that google and facebook would say, we provide minor free services period they are great. i'm not being charged for google maps or gmail, which is a great thing. why do they do that? the data is of value. that is how they are making their money. they use it to sell to advertisers or whatever. they say, i would prefer for

them to pay me. probably, you can tell me whether that is feasible. a lot of people entered into a bargain which seemed too good to be true. in a way, it was too good to be true. host: we have been talking this morning with gideon, from the financial times. he is also the author of a book, they just the strong man, how the hope of a leader threatens. thank you for joining us this morning. guest: my pleasure. thank you for having me. host: that will do it for us on "washington journal". we will be back at 7:00 in the morning. enjoy your day. ♪

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2023] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> c-span's "washington journal." every day we take your calls live on air on the news of the day and we'll discuss policy issues that impact you. coming up sunday morning, and ethics and policy leader discusses campaign 2024 and the future of the republican party. a documentary film maker will join us to talk about his new film, justice clarence his relationship with his wife. watch "washington journal" live on c-span, or c-span now, our free mobile app.

join the discussion with your phone calls, facebook comments, text messages, and tweets. >> this afternoon, ora governor was the featured guest of an event live from ia. you can also watch on c-span now, our free video app or live on c-span.org. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more. including charter communications. >> charter is proud to be recognized as one of the best internet providers, and we are just getting started. 100,000 miles of new infrastructure to reach those who need it most >> charter communications supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy.

>> today, president biden delivers a commencement address at howard university in washington dc -- in washington, d.c. >> this is the front of the washington post that i referenced but there are more that i want to discuss. president trump had townhall just before the day of the verdict. this is befo hwas found liable for assault. there is representative -- who alleged criminal activity against joe biden and his family. representative george santos, the republican faced charges by the justice department. california u.s. senator dianne

feinstein returns to the senate after a lengthy absence after getting sick. also, today's wall street journal at the top of the page. the headline, velvet hammer to leave twitter. then there is another headline, writer strike clouds add sales. i want to lead a little about that. the writer strike is casting a shadow, already under pressure from a softening at market. this is due to concerns over strike from writers, netflix canceled an ad event. instead, netflix will make their first ever pitch to advertisers

in an effort to support their new advertiser version. we want to hear from you, what is your top story of the week? start calling in now. -- kratz, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. and independence, (202) 748-8002 . we will start with our color. caller: the power should go to the people of the country. when people get involved, things happen, things change for the better. it is time for the people to rule. host: all right, joe.

that seems like all joe wanted to say. how about mike in arlington heights, illinois? on the independent line. caller: my type of story is a local effort -- can you hear me? host: yes. here in arlington heights. local citizens are making an effort to stem the use of assault weapons. what we do is we call up a senator or united states representative and we leave a message that has two parts. it could be either a local person who answers the phone in the senator's office or it could be left on a message machine. we tell the senator to please ban assault weapons. then we have a second message and we say please ban assault

weapons and do it for the children. >> all right. let's go to the republican line. linda is calling from oregon. go ahead. >> the problem in america is the border. we have too many news media that have not cover the border, so this is a shock some people read this is very sad. our country is in a world of hurt. i don't know what to do about it. >> linda says the top story is the southern border. how about carolyn in vincent ohio. democratic ohio line. >> this is the first time i've ever talk to you. meeting you. i agree with joe and mike. i think those are great ideas. i feel mine is feeble now, but

not that it is the main story, but i just want to thank c-span for showing the coronation. i guess it was the bbc's version of the coronation, but i would have missed it had you not all run that piece from the bbc, so i appreciate it more than you'll ever know. that's all i want to say it just keep up the great work of showing things that people might miss otherwise, and i disagree with linda because i am so tired of hearing about the border and i think everyone is showing that whatever i am on any channel, i hear about the border, so anyways, my main was just to keep up the great work of showing things that people might

miss otherwise. nice meeting you. >> thank you. ben is on the independent line from owings mills, maryland. go ahead. >> good morning. one of your social media follows. i think my biggest story is the cnn town hall interview with donald trump. i believe cnn really just made a colossal error in the way it was handled, and it was unprofessional. by the moderator, and i'm not a donald trump fan, but i think it was mishandled by c-span -- cnn and gave donald trump a platform and i think it really increases support among some people who may have been on the fence with them, but i think the way it was handled was just unprofessional, and it didn't seem to be well

thought out. >> all right. and speaking of trump, let's play a little bit of video from the town hall that was earlier this week. this is a portion of the response when he was asked by an audience member if he would pardon writers who participated in the january 6 attack at the capital. >> i am inclined to pardon many of them. i can't say for every single one because a couple of them probably got out of control, but when you look at antifa, what they've have done to portland, you look at antifa and minneapolis, and so many other places, look what they did to seattle and blm. many people were killed. these people -- i'm not trying to justify anything but you have to look at the standards of justice, and what they've done,

and i love that question because what they've done to so many people is nothing. and then what they've done to people, they persecuted these people and i answer is, i am most likely come if i get in, i will say it will be a large portion of them. it will be very early on. and they are living in hell right now. and they are policemen and their firemen and their soldiers read and there are printers and electricians, and they are great people read many of them are great people. >> one of the people who was convicted was a former policeman who is convicted of tacking a police officer, but you are answering a partnering a lot of those people does that include the proud boys members who were charged and convicted of seditious conspiracy? >> i would have to look at the case, but in much in d.c., you cannot get a fair trial great

just like in new york city you cannot get a fair trial. >> again, that was a version of the cnn down -- town hall with donald trump, and the audience being republicans or republican leaning voters, but we will go back to the phone lines. we want to hear from you. what is your top news story of the week? will go to zero beach florida. frank on the republican line. >> thank you for taking my call. i wanted to say if not for the weekly summary, but overall, the reason why this country is so messed up is because 80% of the people there are attorneys. attorneys make the laws. they make the rules. they've got it all fouled up. that's what i wanted to say. thank you. >> franken zero beach florida.

here is john in washington dc on the democratic line. you are on. >> this is just about the debt ceiling. we went to the story already. mitch mcconnell wanted to have a one time president obama because he is black, and you want ahead against everything. he damage the country for 10 years. it should be a traitor and also, he is pushing ahead for the debt ceiling stuff. we went through this before. i mean, that's what i'm saying. he shouldn't. he damaged -- i don't know who

damage the country more. him or other people. >> thank you for your call. we are going to go to the republican line now. joel is in mountain home arkansas. what is your answer to this morning's question? >> i've got so many. i don't think you'll allow me to talk a long. we have 11 reasons the deficit is as high as it is. we spend billions of dollars that the american people just don't know where the money is gog. now, if we are going to let these folks come to the southern border, unchecked, allow them to bring drugs and everything, i think they should just be stripped searched at the border. it could be done by a female

guard,nd it could be done by mail guards areahat way, you can stop the drugs read number two, we could save money by just doing away with the border. we don't need the border. let everyone come to this country. where a free country, and let them come. the work read will cut down on wear will cut down on the od stamps. we'll cut down othe hotel bills. just let them all commend you. i think that would be great. thank you. goodbye. >> let's hear from angela in maryland. on the democratic line. >> i have a top story that is definitely trump town hall, and i think the host did a great job. he stood toted showing really did a wonderful job with him, but he seems little more unhinged than usual, i'm guessing is because of the indictment and the upcoming indictments