media, supports c-span as a public service alo with these other television providers giving you a front row seat to democracy. ♪ >> coming up on "washington journal." your calls and comments live on the air. defenders of wildlife government relations vice president robert dewey discusses endangered species day and recent senate actions that would overturn some protections. also, heritage action for america executive director jessica anderson talks about the debt ceiling debate, immigration and other political news of the day. "washington journal" is next. ♪ host: as the florida legislature ended its 2023 session this week, governor desantis signed several bills dealing with gender issues, top priorities

for any republican voters. it is not surprising governor desantis is set to launch his 2024 presidential campaign according to many news reports. in doing so, he will automatically be the closest polling contender to former president donald trump. good morning, it is friday, may 19, 2023. we will spend our first hour asking you about the likely candidacy of governor ron desantis. here is how to join the conversation. if you are a democrat, (202) 748-8000. republicans, call in on (202) 748-8001. for independents and others, (202) 748-8002. if you live in florida, you are a florida resident, the line is (202) 748-8003. that is the same line to use to send us a text. make sure on that case, that is your name and where you are texting from. we want your comments on facebook, twitter and instagram. @cspanwj.

we will get to your calls shortly on "washington journal." the kind of conversation we are looking to have is, what does ron desantis have to do to close the polling gap with former president from, or how widespread is ron desantis' national appeal outside of florida? some topics and more that we will explore this morning, we will hear from governor desantis. we will hear commentary via twitter and pack ads from the trump campaign. start calling, we will get to your calls and a bit on "washington journal." the headliner on insider on the story, desantis said to officially announce his presidential run just as 2024 front runner trump readies his move north from mar-a-lago. the author of that piece, the writer is camberley leonard, policy and politics senior correspondent with insider. we welcome her to "washington journal" this morning. the morning, kimberly. guest: good morning. host: first of all, why now?

why is ron desantis reportedly jumping into the race in the next week or so? guest: the reason is, he really wanted to, from everything i hear, be able to run on a slew of various accomplishments. the legislature wrapped up its lawmaking session in early may. desantis has been spending the last two weeks signing bills into law. in doing so -- and doing so very publicly in these big showman type press conferences and taking questions from the press, a lot of questions about his presidential run on top of that. he, essentially this way, has been able to say, look. i can govern effectively. here are the things i got passed into law. a lot of them are very, very conservative type policies that would probably appeal even more to a primary republican voter then even typical florida voters. host: we are doing our conversation this money based on

those news reports that he will announce in the coming days or so, what concrete signs are we seeing from the desantis campaign? what are the likely next moves of that campaign to push the announcement forward? guest: the earliest signs that his political operation moved its offices in tallahassee. what that could do is trigger an f cc filing. once you start spending certain amount of money, you have to file paperwork. the lawmaking session having ended is a big sign. the fact he has been doing this book tour to promote his policies and his life has been another. and, there is a meeting set for next week in which major donors are going to be gathering in miami. they are expecting to start make calls to raise funding for a desantis residential campaign. host: you are writing in insider about a major move by the disney corporation. the headline, disney kills $1

billion investment development in florida days before desantis'expected resident shall announcement. is this coincidental? guest: [laughter] i think disney is probably very good at public relations. and, that probably leaked a time they intended for it to leak. i do not know how long it has been in the works to kill this plan, but it was a plan put together under the former ceo. there is now a new ceo. but, yes. desantis and disney have been in this ongoing battle over the land surrounding disney that originates back to a bill they disagreed with that severely limits instruction about gender, sexual identity in public schools. disney came out probably to oppose that and dissension -- and desantis even shall he put in this tug-of-war over, should his knee have special privileges in florida? the santos has made it clear he

is going to be running on this issue, he will not be backing down. disney appears to be flex its muscle and show it will not be pushed around. it ain't special privileges in florida and the first place because it has been such -- gained special privileges in florida. host: among the timing, your headline says this is happening just as former president trump is readying his move north to mar-a-lago as they typically close the mar-a-lago for the summer. why is that important? why are you pointing that out in your story? guest: a lot of the reporting has been about how these two florida men are facing up for the gop nomination. but, it occurred to me -- trump is actually only in florida for a portion of the year. mar-a-lago closes over the summer because of hurricane season and because it gets really hot here. there is -- this is typical. every single year, the main club closes after a big mother's day

brunch. then, the beach club closes after memorial day. that means trump himself does not stay because mar-a-lago is not just where he lives, it is where he hosts a lot of republicans. it has been where he has been able to woo the donors and other republicans to endorse him in this presidential race. so, typically, former president trump goes up to new jersey. that will be the go to for fundraisers, for these gatherings, for the republicans who want trump's endorsement. the political universe is shifting, it is not going to be all located in florida. we will see these two states emerge. host: lastly because we are interested in hearing from our viewers on this, what is ron desantis' perception, the turnout for events when he goes to places like iowa, etc., how has he been received? guest: it has been a strong reception.

from everything i have seen, he has raised a lot of money. desantis does have a reputation with being aloof with colleagues. he has become -- i have covered him for most two years now, he has become much more comfortable getting up on stage levering his remarks, being consistent in what he says, really doing the whole dog and pony show essentially. another thing he has been doing i will be writing about soon, he has been having his wife on stage with him. they are doing something i have not seen before, she will interview him. she will share what he is like as a father and a husband. that opens up this whole other sphere of looking at desantis in terms of what he is like more personally through her eyes and so forth. it is going to be an interesting dynamic to watch. host: there is also quite a contrast between the former first lady, melania trump. guest: it is not coincidental.

i think they will be playing that up a lot. casey is a former tv host, she is comfortable on stage. she is comfortable in front of a microphone. yes, the contrast is clear. host: follow kimberly leonard's reporting on this and other issues on business insider.com. she is also on twitter. thank you so much. guest: thank you. host: opening conversation this morning with you is about the likely candidacy of former dash of florida governor, i should say, ron desantis. (202) 748-8000 is the line for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. for independents and others, (202) 748-8002. florida residents, use (202) 748-8003. we would love to hear from you in particular on this. let's get to our first couple calls. we will go to carl in rhode island, democrats line. caller: yeah, hi, good morning.

this is carl. i am calling, i am a democrat, yes. but, i am not one of these radical, socialist communist democrats. ok? here is the deal. desantis, if he is the nominee, he will be the democrats worst nightmare because he will be bite and. because, he has got a beautiful family. you do for kids. he is highly intelligent. ok? he will beat biden. biden do not even know. it has turned into today's friday. one other thing for you, the host. why do you make people wait so long and let her talk? that is it. host: thanks for the critique, carl. we try to get some perspectives sometimes on issues from reporters and such. thanks for waiting, glad you got

on. deandre is in baltimore, maryland. republican color. go ahead. guest: thank you. from 2018 - 2022, i was living in miami, florida. desantis, went to yale, harvard. me, personally, i feel like he should stay in florida and hold down the fort over there. the lawsuits against the biden administration, it would be a lot of stuff i was like, well. this guy is for real. defending the rights of the constitution. i feel like he should just stay and hold down the fort in florida. -- has been there for 19 years. he is the nephew of fidel castro. he needs to stay there and protect florida from any

potential whatever. we are being infiltrated. i do not know. i feel like biden is the illegitimate president, in my opinion. ron desantis should hold down flora. hold down flora. -- florida. host: denise, good morning. guest: hi, good morning. i feel -- i live outside of orlando. i do not want him to run for president. i do not think that would be a good idea. i am disappointed in what has happened with disney, because disney is right in our back door. it is not a good situation. he punched them because they took a stance on something and he wants to get rid of the special district. my understanding, they talk about -- has the same type deal. it does not make sense.

i am disappointed in him and i do not want him to run for president. host: this is the headline from the associated press. desantis signs bills targeting drag shows, transgender kids and the use of bathrooms and pronouns. that signing ceremony yesterday, the picture of the florida governor at that sermon. florida governor ron desantis was in iowa last week, was supposed to see dueling rallies with former president trump. that rally by former president trump was canceled due to the potential for tornadoes. here is ron desantis talking about running against president biden. [video clip] >> the hope is, both florida and iowa show strong leadership and a bold agenda can defeat the left in this country. but, there is no substitute for victory. we must reject the culture of losing that has infected our

party in recent years. the time for excuses is over. we've got to demonstrate the courage to lead, the strength to win. if we do that, if we make 2024 election a referendum on joe biden and his failures, and if we provide a positive turn to for the future of this country, republicans will win across the board. if we do not do that, if we get distracted, if we focus the election on the past or on other side issues, i think the democrats are going to beat us again. it will be difficult to recover from that defeat. here is the thing. i used to think our country was locked and loaded, nothing can go wrong in terms of a free society. but, freedom is fragile. if you have lived for the last four or five years, you know that. there were states in this country that forcibly shattered churches while allowing liquor stores and strip clubs to operate. we saw incursions on freedom i would not have thought possible

even six or seven years ago. host: ron desantis last weekend in iowa. we are talking about his likely bid for the president in 2024. a line for florida residents, (202) 748-8003. it is also the line for those of you who want to send us a text message. a couple of those here. this one says, as a lifelong florida resident, desantis has made florida the place where constitutional freedoms go to die. desantis is what is currently wrong with our country says mike in orlando. fred says, in congress he did nothing and as governor, cost of living is exploding daily. he does nothing for the people. he is a failure. on twitter, he is popular here. if you is, i could easily support him. he is in the tenure in the states leftist manufacturing plants, according to this tweet. this one says, ron desantis cost floridians jobs because he wanted to pander to trump space.

the voters should recall him. let's hear from beth in fargo, north dakota on the democrats line. good morning. caller: hi there. i want to say, i am not going to vote for ron. he is bad. i want to leave you with a quote. the friendly fascism of the 21st century will not be like the fascism of the 20th century. the fascism of the 21st century will not come with swastikas and concentration camps. it will come instead with a smiley face and a tv show. this time, he is a fascist, he is a nazi. he is bad. he is hurting people who are trans. host: our line for democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. four independents and others, (202) 748-8002. this is from the new york times this morning on fundraising.

biden and me, desantis privately tells donors trump cannot win. the new york times writes governor ron desantis in florida all but declare his presidential candidacy thursday afternoon telling donors and supporters on a call only three credible candidates were in the race and that only he would be able to win both the republican primary and the general election. "you have basically three people at this point who are credible in this whole thing," mr. desantis told donors on the call, organized by the super pac supporting him. "biden, trump and me. of those three, to have the chance to get elected president, biden and me." based on the data from the swing states which is not great for the former president and probably insurmountable because people are not going to change their view of him, says ron desantis. the times writes, the calls to which a new york times reporter

listened came as the governor expected to officially enter the presidential race next week. according to three people familiar with his intentions. they write, during the phone call on thursday afternoon, the republican governor said the attitude of republican voters amounted to"we've got to win this time." while he praised mr. trump's policy, he said mr. biden had done any of them. the corporate media once trump to be the nominee, mr. desantis said, adding other candidates and two presidents had targeted him with criticism. the times writes mr. desantis has quoted a voter he had talked to at an event in iowa, saying "trump was somebody. we liked his policies, but did not like his values. with you, we like your policies, but we also share -- we also know you share our values." democrats line is next, j in syracuse, new york. go ahead. caller: hi, good morning. we just left florida after 42 years in 2021.

mr. desantis has come in and dumbed down the school system. he can have people with a two-year degree as teachers or people with only military service as a teacher. he also has further divided the state, i think, with really not caring about the cost of living increases and going after the lower classes such as the immigration bill where they are going to be chasing every business and higher somebody that does not have the proper paperwork to be in the country. having been there so long in the hospitality business, most people there in the back of the house do not have papers. they are not paid less, they are just not legally in florida for this country and it is a gray area and all understood for so long. that is going to affect a lot of the middle class and small business owners, if you ask me. the argument with disney, it is not a republican platform because he is going after big

business. he lost six-figure jobs in the orlando area because disney said it is because of him, we are not doing this project. he is going to get the maga republicans on his side. the smarter people will go somewhere else, hopefully. he is not going to have much to go on as a national candidate. host: two hour florida line, debbie, go ahead. caller: hi, thank you. he -- i am sure everybody is familiar with the property tax debacle. they are canceling people left and right. they're pulling out of florida. they have tripled their premiums. it is a nightmare. the cost of homes, rents have skyrocketed under his watch. houses have doubled in price

under his watch. then, the last caller said so much i wanted to say as far as costing jobs, costing money. the disney district he is trying to cancel is -- if they are paying for it. his moves are going to cost the orange and osceola county taxpayers money because he is trying to take it away to be petty. he is a little mini mussolini. the neo-nazis that have marched with his banner supporting him in tampa, and orlanda, he has never condemned --orlando, he has never publicly condemned them. if you are jewish in florida, do not vote for this man great i am jewish. i would never vote or him. he is absolutely horrible.

i think the whole country will see what a nightmare this man is. thank you. host: next is joanne calling on the republican line from bridgeport, connecticut. go ahead. caller: i am a former florida resident for 30 years. i think ron desantis needs to stay in florida. he needs to help out broward. i have three children that live there in different parts of the state. they cannot afford to live in the area they grew up in because of the housing crisis. donald trump will win the primary. he has a proven record. ron desantis spent too much time with disney not addressing the taxes, the housing. i just do not think he is ready for president. host: wisconsin, independent line. june, your thoughts on a presidential run by ron desantis?

good morning. caller: i just cannot believe the hypocrisy. such a hypocrite. you talk about freedom, but at the same time, he does not want the truth about america to be taught. it is not crt theory, it is critical race truth. and anyone who cannot see that and vote for this man, i feel so sorry for america. host: you're concerned he would bring those policies to a national stage? caller: it is pitiful. god help us. host: this is a piece from the associated press, the headline, desantis criticizes trump for implying florida abortion is too harsh. in the associated press article, they quote former president trump saying if you look at what

desantis did, a lot people d not even know he knew what he was doing, but he siedix weeks and many people within the pro-life movement feel that was too harsh. this is a response courtesy of the florida channel on the florida governor. [video clip] >> former president trump recently stated that many view the pro-life movement, they feel your six week abortion ban is too harsh. what are your thoughts on that? >> protecting an unborn child when there is a detectable heartbeat is something that almost, probably 99% of pro-lifers support. it is something other states like iowa, governor kim reynolds, has enacted. i think as a florida resident, would you have signed the heartbeat bill, that florida

did. all the exceptions people talk about, the legislature put it in. i signed the bill, i was proud to do it. he will not answer whether he would sign it or not. host: on our morning topics, comments via twitter and via text. (202) 748-8003. in saint augustine, margaret says, florida resident from new york and maryland. as a fully woke black woman, desantis is against anything and everything democratic, particulate anything inclusion and diversion in a white state. trump will be arrested for criminal activity, property taxes, home insurance and crime are through the roof in florida. desantis only cares about making news with fake woke drama, not governing says david in clearwater. jersey girl tweets, it is hard to understand what lane desantis would have for the general. most americans do not want a country where abortion is legal, trans care is banned, children cannot be taught honestly about

life and government goes after corporations for respecting their customers. virginia -- cat in virginia is next, it is stefan caller: on the independent line. caller:i am from northern virginia. i follow politics. i know who desantis is. my son is 21, has no clue who desantis is. i parents are 70 and 80, have no clue who desantis is. i think on the national stage, he is going to be in trouble. everyone, my neighbors are not buying desantis flags or buying trump flags. there is a whole bunch of them. i think he is too late to the party. i think trump is going to win it. host: in bonita springs, we say good morning to john. caller: good morning, how we doing today? ron desantis running for president is fine by me. i still think he will lose in the primary to trump, trump -- ron desantis is a fine governor

for the state of florida. i love how all the lefties in this state are losing their mind because you have somebody fighting against this trans insanity. when you have a small percent of the population trying to dictate to the majority. it is madness, isn't it? as far as the book banning they say desantis is doing, the books he is banning are crt, crazy nonsense. proven, absolutely wrong nonsense. homosexuality in the books, hating on white people, which is reverse racism. you do not have a friendly media. you do not have the actual story, you get more craziness, i will just say. i am happy with ron desantis in the state of florida. i think he will stay in the state of florida. i do not think anybody can touch

trump. i think he is a juggernaut. i do not see anybody beating him in the primary. host: to nehemiah in florida. caller: this is nehemiah from pompano beach. i just want to say one thing about desantis. i believe he is highly racist. i believe the only reason he is in office is because of the human population in south florida -- cuban population in south florida. that is all i have to say. host: why is the cuban population in south florida and so much support of governors desantis? caller: no. host: i am saying, why are they in support of governor desantis? caller: oh, because he looks just like them. he reminds me of the guy that is out there trying to falsify the records of himself. he is not right.

i do not think he is right. host: this is from the truth social media platforms from former president donald trump, one of several dealing with ron desantis. this one says, congratulations to a star in kentucky, daniel cameron, he has my total endorsement. ron's magic is gone. he lost shockingly in jacksonville last night. the election special held earlier this week. we are talking about the likely announcement coming in the next week or so of ron desantis entering the gop field for president in 2024. the line for democrats is (202) 748-8000. for republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents and others, (202) 748-8002. there is a florida line, that is (202) 748-8003. dorothy is in zephyrhills.

hi there. caller: hi. good morning. host: good morning. caller: i am in zephyrhills, florida. i think ron desantis is the worst governor since i have lived here. he is taking us back 100 years. he is banning books. i mean, didn't hitler's start that banning books stuff and he is going after the transgender? he even said the other day, if parents do not follow his rules, they are going to take away their children. where is this going? he has done nothing for the rent here. i am 82 years old and i am being pushed out of a mobile home that i have lived here for 15 years, because my landlord has gotten greedy. he does nothing for the people. if he runs for president, i am telling you, we are going back a

century. with this abortion bill, and now banning everything and telling people what they can do and where they can go. it is going to be a disaster. i hope he does not get another trumper. as a democrat, i would never vote for either of them. desantis is the worst. thank you. host: bob is in binghamton, new york, independent line. what are your thoughts? good morning. caller: good morning. i do not think he's got a snowball's chance, especially since the durham report came out. it shows everything donald trump had said about being spied on and every thing was true. c-span, you guys need to be talking about that durham report. it shows the fbi stopped four investigations into hillary clinton, including an $18 million bribery scheme that was set up with patrick byrne. he admitted it years ago.

you guys really need to get on the ball, man. this whole world's burning, you guys are failing. host: we have talked about that report numerous shows, including several comments, several segments on it in recent shows. two stadium, georgia. jack is on the republican line. good morning. caller: good morning, sir. yes, sir. i would like to make a comment. you know, the jewish lady out in florida, i believe? i wear the star of david around my neck with a cross. i do not think the man is anti-semitic whatsoever. i love all people. the transgender thing, i hear purple --people talking about, there is nothing wrong with being a transgender until you become the age of 18. if you choose to be that way, that is your choice. that is why christ gives us freedom to do that.

i do not think you should try to mix and confuse younger children about their identity. you know, it is transient -- if transgender's are so right, why don't they get their dna checked and show they are either male or female? host: politico reporting on legislation signed by the florida governor, the headline, desantis enacts a wave of laws targeting gender affirming care, pronouns in schools. governor desantis put the final step on several of the more contentious proposals in florida just late shift session wednesday by signing into law a ban on transgender minors receiving gender affirming care and expansions to the states parental rights rules and by critics as "do not say gay." political rights in one sweep, desantis enacted these priorities sought by thy -- the presumptive presidential candidate like making it a criminal offense for someone to

use certain bathrooms that do not align with their sex at birth and blocking children from attending adult themed drag shows. here is what governor desantis said prior to signing those bills. [video clip] >> guy feel very strongly as governor, but also as a dad of a 6, 5 and three-year-old that we need to let our kids just be kids. we have a very crazy age that we live in. there is a lot of nonsense that gets floated around. what we have said in florida is, we are going to remain a refuge of sanity and a citadel of normalcy. kids should have an upbringing that reflects that. i think there is a lot of emphasis in other parts of the country and our society as a whole to take that away from them. we are not going to let that happen in florida. and today, it is proof of that. host: you can send us a text if you would like, (202) 748-8003.

this one from richard in the villages in florida says, i am a trump republican but cannot support desantis. his political fight with disney and his constitutional concealed carry law are serious blunders that will hurt. this is dave in orlando, desantis will use his power to pursue his will on everybody. chaos will follow. from florida representative darren soto, thanks to governor desantis' failed anti-disney policies, central florida will soon lose over $1 billion in investments and over 2000 potential jobs. this ultimately hurts our economy and the people of lake nona. back to paul's. chris -- back to paul's. -- back to calls. caller: ron desantis is a joke. this is a classic example of, he was just elected in 2022.

can you be a governor for at least two terms before you go throw in your hat in the ring to be a president? nobody knows who ron desantis was until he started attacking transgender people. he had nothing going for him, so he had to get some kind of radical base and get something behind his name, so he attacked the weakest link in the chain, the transgender link. he went ahead and, that is how he got popular. he got the bible belt -- here these people call up, let's keep the bible out of the government, ok? that is not the way it should be. there is a separation of it. unfortunately, when you listen to the scholars, calling up -- callers, calling up, the lord this, the lord that. the lord is not paying your bills. the lord is not protecting you.

ron desantis is a joke. it is a joke. this is what happens when you throw people and who do not have experience. get a couple terms under your belt, then move on. ok? again, it is disgusting how people ride on the hate of others to become famous. it is just disgusting. so, that is my opinion. thank you. host: next in our florida line, this is stephen. go ahead. caller: hey, good money. i do not why ron is getting beat up so much. this trans thing, he is trying to protect the parents that control their child lives. once a person is 18, they can do whatever they want. they want to be happy, they have found themselves. give a child a chance to develop. i have a 10-year-old, you do not want them learning about certain things until they are a certain age. as far as ron driving upper and prices and real estate, that is

because of covid. everybody wanted to come here. he kept the state free. property values went up. inflation caused everything. i am a small business owner. we had to increase employees 30% on their wages the last year. that is the economy. that is not ron. you get into property insurance. the prior legislature did not control the property insurance market. my insurance doubled. that is not ron's fault. they are trying to fix it. it does not happen right away. host: another caller mentioned that. what is with the property rates going up in florida? why is it going up so much there? caller: we are losing carriers because there was lawsuits -- you have people who have a problem with the roof instead of waiting for the claim process and go through the insurance company. i am an insurance agent.

you have lawsuits out there, these three firms brought these lawsuits so they are driving up these premiums. there -- the companies in florida are shrinking. it is a tough property market right now. of course, if you are renting property, if the owner has to pay more insurance, they've got to past that cost to the renter. that market is tough, but you cannot lame one person for that. that is a whole market of intricacies. the storms, etc. ron, some of the stuff i hear about all this hate, he is not a hateful person. he is a good person. he is trying to do good things. i believe in parent's rights, that is the most important thing. the parents control what is going -- host: stephen in florida, appreciate the call. this is the reporting of the new york times, the fbi revoke security clearances of three agents over january sixth

issues. the federal bureau of investigations has revoked security clearances of three agents who either took part in the riot at the capitol on january 6, 2021 or later expressed views that laced into question their allegiance to the united states. the letter written by the top official of the fbi came one day before and at least two of the agents, marcus allen and stephen friend were set to testify in front of a house to the shary subcommittee investigating what republicans contend is the "weaponization of the federal government against conservatives." at that meeting yesterday, democrats objected to the use of the term whistleblowers by republicans in mentioning the proposed witnesses. here is a look. [video clip] >> i think you are going to indulge the congresswoman from florida and her point of inquiry. >> the gentlelady from florida is recognized. >> thank you, chairman. >> you are making a point of

order? >> no, i am asking you a point of inquiry. it is my understanding the minority in this committee under the rules is entitled to the same testimony, information, documents that the majority is entitled to. i am not aware that you are able to withhold information from the minority that we would need to use to prepare for -- >> i would remind everyone, look, when it comes to whistleblowers, that is not right. >> it is shocking. >> that is not right. >> that is shocking that the -- >>[overlapping conversations] >> the chairman, i cannot hear five people at once. can we have regular order? >> i am inquiring. >> i told you that when it comes to whistleblowers, you are not entitled to it -- that is the

direction of mr. allen. >> these are not whistleblowers. they have been determined by the agency not to be whistleblowers. are you deciding that they are whistleblowers? >> yes, the law decides. did you not listen to mr. everett's testimony? >> [overlapping conversations] >> the gentlelady from new york has been recognized. host: all of that hearing available on our website, c-span.org and the c-span now mobile app. our morning question for you, first question is about the potential of a likely candidacy of ron desantis. the headline from the wall street journal, dissent is set to launch 2024 presidential bid next week. they say dissent is'intentions have been clear for months, but the decision to file former paperwork with the federal election commission declaring his candidacy begins a new phase

in his quest for the gop nomination. and put some in direct competition with former president trump and a handful of other candidates. cindy is in st. petersburg on the democrats line, good morning. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. a lot of the things i have been hearing, and a lot of people are not talking about our environmental issues here. and, i call him developer santos. he gets a big fat f for that. our environment is in peril, our farmlands are in peril. he hands florida on a silver platter to developers. he has signed a bill into law that local governments cannot enforce rent control, so our rent is going to go out of control. i am trying to figure out if you just signed into law hb 540,

which will penalize the citizens if they fight against the developers, if the citizens lose against the developers, the citizens will have to pay for all the legal fees. he just hands florida on a civil platter -- a silver platter to developers. we are losing our lands. our farmers are going nuts. our farmlands are in peril. people never talk about that. thank you for taking my call. host: susan is next on the independent line in connecticut. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. i am really concerned about desantis becoming anything close to being president in our leadership. i do not believe he would be good for america grade already, he is doing -- but for america. already, he is hiding travel plans.

his book tour, we do not even know where he has gone, whose money has paid for it. so, his battle against -- which he feels are the assault on christian values, his idea that florida is going to be a template for his american plan. as that previous person just said about how land, lepers in florida -- land developers in florida are doing what they have to do, that is going to happen in america. do we want a president that creates laws to hide what he is doing? that doesn't sound like somebody who wants to be ethical and show what true leadership is. thank you. you have a lovely day. host: here is a lead opinion piece in the commentary section of the washington times, by congressman hunt of texas. the 38th district of texas. the headline, trump will be republican 2024 nominee, why debate?

he writes whether it is among general election voters or resort -- or respect between parties, the support could not be clearer. one is collapsing in the polls, the other is surging and has been since january. the candidate that has been searching has been trump. he is going to be the republican nominee. the survey of likely gop voters shows that trump had 60% of support and a 41% advantage over florida governor ron desantis who has yet to announce he is entering the race. congressman hunt said no other declared challenger besides desantis has perceived double-digit support. they trust mr. trump, no he will fight for them and he has unfinished business for the american people. next up is nicholas, democrats

line in madison, wisconsin. go ahead. caller: yes. i want to say, i do not really think it matters whether donald trump -- whether it is donald trump or desantis. either way, if the republicans have it their way, america will be pretty much russia or a third world country. the only problem i have as far as desantis and his book, his book problem, how is he going to say let kids be kids and take books away from them? how does that make any sense at all? he needs to be educated. host: all right, nicholas in wisconsin. to let you know about a couple of our programming plans on the

c-span networks. coming up after this program this morning at 10:00 a.m. eastern, a hearing looking at issues in the housing appraisal regulatory system including standards and practices in challenges in the profession. here on c-span, on c-span now and streaming online. federal reserve chair jerome powell will sit down with former fed chair ben bernanke to talk about challenges faced by policymakers and challenges in the economy, that is live at 11:00 a.m. on c-span, our mobile app and streaming online. at 3:00 p.m. this afternoon on c-span, a discussion on the supreme court's dobbs v jackson decision challenging a woman's right to abortion. the senior director of public policy and litigation at planned parenthood will be on a panel of

reproductive rights for that conversation live at 3:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. tyler is in cambridge, massachusetts, independent line. what are your thoughts about ron desantis? caller: hi, i just wanted to mention. a lot of people are calling in and talking about how there is this big trans agenda. most trans people just want to exist and not be killed. most americans are pretty apathetic to the transitions in general and people think should just get to live. politicians are putting in policies that are going to affect trans people's lives and make it harder for them to live and exist. i want to talk about age. i am 23 years old. it sounds like most people who call in here are well over 50. i think you try to seek out younger perspectives and get a more holistic perspective on this show. thank you, i appreciate it a lot. host: we appreciate your perspective. thanks for calling, tyler. donna in florida, there you are.

go ahead, donna. caller: well, good morning. one thing i would like to say extremely strongly, i wish people on both sides would begin to listen is, what an evil web we weave when we practice to deceive, a slip -- a silly little thing like that means so much in these times. the problem is, no one knows what to believe anymore. we are heading into a matrix of truth where the truth belongs to you. it is not universal. there is a situation here where you have tv stations, cnn. then, you have fox news. the problem is, the trains are not crossing. people who are devoted to these lies and people that push them and live by them are watching fox news and they are being fed the same stuff over and over. the problem with the american people is that, we are in a

situation where no one really knows who anyone is. i mean, look at george dissenters. now, you get -- i am sorry, george santos. take a look at desantis. take a look at trump. look at how all of these people have managed their careers based on lies. lies. l-i-e-s, folks. it is not about the truth anymore. it is about what they want you to believe. they are messing with our brains, to put it simply. on an intellectual level, this is extremely dangerous. the blueprint comes from communist leaders and the old ways of how to control and manipulate people. as far as desantis himself goes, having lived here in the state of florida or 20 years, i will tell you, i have seen a disgusting, upsetting -- i do

not even know how to put it into words. this state is being destroyed. you come here because you want to be part of nature. you enjoy the outdoors. you get away from the cold. when you get here, if you do not know any better, you think this is paradise. i have news for you. this is no longer the paradise it was. the lack of regulations surrounding the environment, the red tide, the dead fish, the dead manatees, no one is really, really helping the conservancy solve any of these problems. when i built i home, i was told no one could build around me because of all the endangered species. i had pictures to prove it. well, they took the land down anyway. they destroyed habitats. this all came from a statement which rumor or truth, not sure, but it came from trump a long time ago.

desantis backed him, that no one should stand in the way of progress and making money. well, that is true to a certain extent. but, there are counties in florida that are starting to take action and say if you build on three pieces of land, you have to have one to conserve for these animals. i have seen an unbelievable, unbelievable, heartbreaking drop in just the animals in my backyard. host: thanks for your call. we will be exploring more broadly across the country the issue of endangered species with our next guest on the program. this is a headline from the hill this morning, marjorie taylor greene moves to impeach fbi director and the u.s. attorney for d.c. here is the georgia congresswoman yesterday making that announcement. [video clip] >> it is with the highest amount of solemnity that i announce my intention to introduce articles

of impeachment -- articles of impeachment on the executive branch that has been working since genuine 20th, 2020 one to systematically destroy this country. the president of the united states, joseph robinette biden. joe biden has the liberally compromised our national security by refusing to enforce immigration laws and secure our border. allowed approximately 6 million illegals from over 170 countries to invade our country, deprive border patrol of the necessary resources and policies sufficient to protect our country. his administration has willfully refused to maintain operational control as required by the law. he has allowed fentanyl, the number one killer of americans between the age of 18 and 45, to overwhelmingly flood into our country and kill around 300

americans every single day. host: we will go to jimmy, calling from tompkins bill, kentucky. republican line. what are your thoughts on ron desantis, jimmy? caller: good day, how are you doing? host: fine, thanks. caller: i like ron, he will stand up against the crazy left. i listen to these democrat callers calling in from democrat states, new york, connecticut, whatever. you know where they went when covid hit? florida. he opened it back up a few months after everybody else, while everybody else shut down, that was open. the restaurants, the businesses, they all done well in florida. the state economy grew. they bought their homes, rented places. they drove up the prices. they got an influx of people

from all these democrat shut down states. he cannot control that. he might want to keep his mouth shut. right now, i think he needs a lot of strength. all these people supporting trump, trump cannot win. that is pretty much what i got to say about it. host: all right, jimmy. a different view, who writes from the washington post, electability will not be enough for desantis as he gets closer to announcing his candidacy. santos is inching toward criticizing donald trump. at an event in iowa, the florida governor took a shot at the former president by alluding to the gop's culture of losing. desantis is going to have to be a lot more explicit if he wants to prevail. you cannot defeat someone if you are afraid to see their name. he is also going to need to rethink the content of the criticism, not just the tone.

the critique santos is making of trump that he would lose in november of 2024 might be popular among the governor's supporters, but it would probably fall flat among the republican voters he needs to persuade to win. he writes further in this column the claim that trump cannot win will continue to run into the polls that suggests otherwise, which leads to one last reason the electability argument is a dud. in its strongest form, in his almost certainly false. trump might well be the riskier candidate for republicans than desantis, but given the right environment 18 months from now, if gas prices spike again or recession hits, trump could win, he writes. desantis has to convince republicans as president, he would deliver better results. voters need to believe they would get the conservative policies trump accomplished for them and more without everything they dislike about the trump presidency. donna is in florida in

sebastian, florida. thanks for waiting. caller: hi, wow. i do not even recognize this. [laughter] these people are describing florida. i have been here since 1990. i really do not even know what to describe. [laughter] i voted for desantis the first time. the second time. and, i will be voting for trump. so, i do not see any kind of -- all the animals are still here. [laughter] my property, nobody built behind me. i mean. all i can say is, desantis is getting a little big head. i think he should talk to his constituents a little more on what he is doing. but, he is a whole lot better

then gillam. i made sure he did not win. in any case, there were 1000 people moving to florida when i moved here in 1990. and, there are still 1000 people a day moving here. so, nothing has changed. host: all right. one more from florida, sarasota. it is joe. hello there. caller: hi, how are you this morning? host: fine, thanks. caller: my comment here, i will steer away from the politics. one side or the other, i am sort of in the middle. [laughter] i am research oriented, i come from the financial industry and i am commenting about the talk of the debt crisis that we are in right now. today, at $31 trillion, our money going out to service the

debt is not much higher than it was when the debt was $10 trillion and a much higher interest rate environment. and, the taxes collected in 2022 equal almost what that service amount is, it is about $900 billion more than what we collected, what the united states government collected in 2021. i think people really need to open their eyes and just see what is actually being spent. the $31 trillion deficit, -- not deficit, the $31 trillion debt with a service of about 2%, when compared to several years ago when it was $10 trillion at 5% or 6%. host:

host: thanks for your call and comments in this segment of "washington journal" coming up next, robert dewey will join us from defenders of wildlife and will talk about endanger species day in recent senate actionshat potentially would overturn some of those endangered species protections. later in the program, jessica anderson will talk about the debt ceiling debate and immigration and other political news of the day. >> c-span's campaign 2020 for coverages your front row seat to the general election.

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c-span.org/history. >> a healthy democracy doesn't just look like this. it looks like this. americans can see democracy at work where citizens are truly informed in the public thrives. learned straight from the source on c-span, unfiltered, unbiased, word forward. from the nation's capital to wherever you are, it's your opinion that matters the most. this is where democracy lives, c-span, powered by cable. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we welcome robert dewey who is government relations vice president for the group defenders of wildlife. today is endangered species day and we will talk about federal endangered species protection. tells about your organization. what is your mission?

guest: our mission is to protect animals and plants in a natural community. we had 2.2 million members and supporters around the country. host: those are individual donors that are part of defenders of wildlife? guest: members and supporters and many of them are members and others are activists, supporters, people who care about wildlife and protecting places in which they call home. host: how much is keeping track of endangered and threatened species a part of your work? guest: it's a core part of our mission. there is nothing more important to us than protecting imperiled species and that's what we do. also biodiversity, particular those species most at risk of extinction. host: i thought we would start with some terms and the numbers according to the u.s. fish and wildlife service, the number currently listed species, animals and plants that are endangered.

what is the difference between a species be it animal or plant being threatened versus endangered? guest: the immediacy of the particular species becoming endangered, if it's here and now, it's endangered. if the threats are manifest, if there are foreseeable that the species will be endangered in the foreseeable future, it would be listed as threatened. that's the primary separation between the two. host: the chart we put up there is a total of over 1700 in the u.s. but is that the number or is there a bigger number worldwide? guest: there are more species worldwide that are imperiled for sure. that's primarily your number

that is focused on the u.s.. host: what is the fundamental protection for species, the federal protection for species in either endangered or threatened? host: what do you get if you're protected? one of the most important things is a recovery plan. if the federal government identifies a species as endangered or threatened, there is a recovery plan that's developed to help aid in advance to a stage were no longer needs federal protection. another is review by federal agencies, of actions by other federal agencies, consulting with them to figure out what the effect is of federal activity might be to reduce that impact. also, depending whether the species is endangered or threatened, there are some other nuances to that but fundamentally, whether state

prohibitions are implemented. it can be killing but harming in other ways like habitat laws. species are protected because it's not only about whether a species is killed or harmed but habitat laws are essential. species can't do this without -- cannot thrive without habitat. host: we were talking about florida in a political conversation and one caller talked about the loss of habitat where she was in punta gorda florida and the loss of species in that area. are there state laws across the country which protect species in addition to the federal protection? host: sure, many states have endangered species acts and they vary in their quality. california has quite a good law. i think it's wyoming that is a state that does not have an --

and endangered species act but quite a bit of difference between state and federal. federal law is more comprehensive and more protective and is the lifeline for species. the states could do a lot more to protect imperiled species but the level of protection of florida state laws is typically not as significant as federal law. host: our guest is robert dewey and it is endangered species day. we are interested in hearing your thoughts and comments. the lines are the same as they were the previous hour -- you are here with us this morning on endangered species day but what is the broader mission and message of your organization and related

organizations on this day? host: for me and defenders of wildlife, every day is endangered species day. today is endangered species day and it's exciting and a challenging day in some ways. we are today celebrating the incredible success of this highly effective law in preventing the extension of species and -- the extinction of species and recovering of species and we are excited. on the other hand, we are alarmed as well. there are biological and political reasons to be alarmed. biologically, we are going through a biodiversity and extinction crisis. more and more species worldwide are being -- are at risk of extinction. a scientific report identified one million species worldwide and we know things aren't that great in the u.s. as well. host: who is it that is keeping track?

there are defenders of wildlife but there are a lot of people keeping track of this so who do you rely on her data for how species are doing across the country? guest: there are lots of different metrics and measurements. they include a national audubon society report recently that concluded three million birds have been lost in the u.s. since 1970. that in itself is alarming. we are seeing more and more species in need of endangered species act protection. also, the government is developing the first ever national nature assessment that will provide more detailed version of exactly the status of wildlife natural resources in the country and give a good sense of what the drivers are causing a loss of species and biodiversity. we have a pretty good handle

that things are not going so well and we need to do more. host: we hear about invasive species. it's particularly in the plant world so how much are invasive species a problem in limiting the habitat both for animals and other plants? guest: they could be either reptiles like pythons in the everglades. they could be plant species that are out competing native ones. they are a huge problem. according to this comprehensive study of biodiversity and extinction worldwide, invasive species was ranked as one of the five drivers of the biodiversity extinction crisis. we know it's a huge problem. zebra mussels in the great lakes are one of them so there are many examples of how we know invasive species are a fundamental threat to biodiversity. host: you mentioned the audubon

society and the report on birds worldwide, huge volunteer organization devoted to nature particularly to birds, how can people who are hikers or people who fish or hunters best be engaged on the issue of endangered species? host: most of my work guest: his federal policy focus and legislative and congressional. for me, i get out there and i watch birds, i hike but i also follow congress closely. the threats from congress and the political threat to endangered species are profound. i would urge people who care about nature like to get outside not only to watch the birds and look for the animals as they should but also asking members -- ask themselves to figure out what their members of congress

are doing and to the extent which they support policies and laws and programs that support endangered species. host: we have several calls waiting. we will go to alpharetta, georgia, good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: can economic development and business coexist with the endangered species act? host: guest: most certainly they can. healthy ecosystems and healthy biodiversity is fundamental to a strong economy. i would point out that according to the world economic forum, biodiversity laws and ecosystem degradation is one of the top five threats to the global economy that they've identified. they do an annual review and this is not the first year. it's been a finding of this organization. they have found in the last several years that we have seen consistently that nature at risk

is a threat to the healthy economy. host: this is from liverpool, new york, on the republican line. caller: yes, my question is that recently all these whales are washing up on sure in new jersey. like 36 of them so far this year. i'm not exact on that. i was wondering if the defenders of wildlife are investigating this and possibly these wind offshore are causing the whales to get disoriented or swim to shore. it seems like it's starting to be a serious problem. host: yeah, guest: i have not followed that particular issue closely but i know there are thousands of threats to whales

along the atlantic sure -- shoreline particularly the north atlantic whale is under critical pressure. the populations are down to 340 individuals or so and are on the brink of exaction -- of extinction and includes entanglement from fishing lines so there are a lot of causes. in any case, it's terrible and heartbreaking to hear of the loss of that number of whales along the new jersey coastline. i just don't know the specifics. host: you talk about the audubon report on the loss of three william birds since 1970, what about fish stocks especially the areas that would be fished for american consumption like the pacific and atlantic and the continental shelf? are there studies of fish stock in those areas and what do they say? host: there definitely are. guest: fish stocks apart from mammals such as the north

atlantic right whales and orchids have been a primary focus but fish stocks have not been our focus so much. the area fish stocks of going up and down and there are still a number of them that have that -- that are at risk. host: the headline in one of the stories says the senate votes to limit critical habitat designation for imperiled species and drop the batch protections. the senate voted narrowly last week to overturn to biden administration policies intended to protect endangered species. what was behind the senate action doing that? guest: we were dumbfounded by those votes. on the one hand, we know the american public strongly supports the endangered species act. we've seen polling time and again and we know that it flies in the face of science-based decision-making by the agencies in a number of these cases.

more specifically, in the case of the northern long-haired bat is that the bat is critically imperiled. they are down 99% of their population in the last 20 years and in the case of this habitat rule, it's a case of the biden administration restoring long-standing habitat protections for endangered species that were weekend by the previous administration. these seem like common sense actions to take to protect the northern long beard that which is an endangered species and restore protections that have long been the rule of law. host: what is behind the drop in that species and why is that species important in that ecosystem? guest: bats are critically important. many of the listeners may not

know this but they provide essential ecological services. bats eat insects and in fact, there are estimates that $3 billion per year is saved by bats in terms of agriculture production. bats eat the insects and otherwise, crops would be lost are farmers would need to apply re pesticides. ey provide a critical role in the ecosystem and they save money. the country needs bats and name -- and they need the northern long beard that because they are in critical decline. host: jeff calling from bayville, new york, go ahead. caller: thank you. i would like to point out that the loss of biodiversity is not only a global, economic threat but it's also a public health threat. there is a nexus between climate change, loss of biodiversity as

well as the precipitous rise in frequency of pandemic since 1981. that's compared to the time before that. it's not an accident that we are experiencing so many infectious disease outbreaks and its related to the loss of biodiversity and climate change. a lot of it is driven by human activity. i would like to say that it's an understated risk, the loss of biodiversity when pathogens jump from one species to another because they have to because they are losing their endemic hosts and this increases the risk of infectious disease. i just wanted to mention that that it shouldn't be such an understated state. thank you very much. host: that's a great comment. guest: it's absolutely true. there is debate but there is a

good reason to believe that the covert outbreak could have been a transmission from animals to people of the disease. i think that is certainly a valid point as we reduce the habitat for wildlife worldwide. we are per just putting people and animals and greater proximity into increasing the risk of transmission of diseases. in addition, in terms of human health and welfare, a healthy ecosystem provides essential services. they clean the air we breathe, the water we drink and they provide these essential ecological services to people. i agree with the disease reference that the caller made but i also point out there other ecological services of a healthy ecosystem for people as well. host: next up is mike and country club hill, illinois. caller: good morning.

when i was young, used to see a multicolored butterfly. now i'm wondering, are butterflies becoming extinct? guest: the butterfly population has declined, for example the monarch under fly population in the east and the west and those populations have declined significantly. they were currently considering listing them under the endangered species act. butterflies and bees and bats provide critical ecological services. butterflies in terms of pollination and they have a huge value to food production and agriculture. we love butterflies. i have a picture of a monarch on my wall in my office and i love butterflies but they are essential for people as well.

host: when a species is threatened or extinct, is the reason behind that the loss of habitat? guest: there are five main drivers of extinction and biodiversity decline. habitat loss and modification is probably the strongest and biggest single factor. your listeners could probably figure out that climate change, pollution, overexploitation of wildlife such as overfishing are all factors as well as invasive species. there are really five factors in five main drivers of biodiversity laws so that's probably the biggest chunk according to the federal government. host: you have a number of success stories when some species get off the list. what are the biggest examples? guest: that's part of the celebration we have today despite the worries we have about the endangered species

act. as most people know, bald eagles have made an incredible comeback. they have been delisted by the federal government from the indigenous species act of the 90's in california condors -- i've had the privilege of seeing one flight in utah in the wild3 . other examples include the delmarva fox which is a cute very tall squirrel that was once listed as an endangered species and was removed because it had recovered. these are a few of the examples as well as the peregrine falcon. all in all, there are well over 100 species that are no longer needing the text of the endangered species act or have been downgraded. they were endangered but now they are not threatened so there are successes to be thankful for on this celebration day. host: you mentioned the

pellegrin falcon and they have protected areas for the peregrine falcon nesting. let's hear from jeff intel site, montana, good morning. caller: good morning. i'm on the positive side of a couple of species like grizzly bears and wolves that appear in northwest montana. as we have more interface between humans and these animals, we will obviously have contact -- conflict and humans win. the great wolf and they have timberwolves up north but the grizzly bear has made a comeback in the state is trying to make a move to pin down the numbers. i wanted to get your organization's feelings on us moving forward with that.

make if your time. guest: grizzly bears have made some progress but i think it may require further analysis to determine whether they should or should not be removed from the endangered species list. the issue in congress has been controversial. our concern is that there is legislation afoot to mandate the removal from the endangered species act of grizzly bears and also to prevent the courts from reviewing decisions to remove the species. that's as flies in the face of sound science and agency deliberative's and rational decision-making. we -- the fish and wildlife service has announced plans to undertake a review of grizzly bears. that may result in it being delisted and removed from the endangered species act but i would not do so prematurely.

it sounds like you are from montana and my understanding is the montana is one of the states that is looking to liberalize its hunting policies with respect to grizzly bears and that's one of the factors the federal government looks at in making decisions about what status to have for species and whether it makes sense to remove a species from federal protection if there is a risk. estate may implement policies that would ultimately cause that species to be back on the endangered species list. host: he also mentioned the great wolf and the reintroduction of the gray wolf in yellowstone and montana -- in montana and lake superior doesn't come without political pushback from residents nearby or different interest like hunters and other people? guest: it does but there are some cases of controversy.

defenders do a lot of work on coexistence to reconcile conflicts to the instances werewolves might appear on farms or ranches. we work with farmers and ranchers. we promote the use of a technique to essentially scare off wolves through noise and sound and visual aspects as well to discourage conflict and minimize them. i don't think there are excessive conflicts and wolves have done quite well and recovered. we are worried about the policies of certain states including montana in terms of its policies with respect to wolves. host: let's hear from michigan next, go ahead. caller: good morning, gentlemen. thank you for taking my call.

i live in the great. of northeast michigan. we are unique to the snowshoehare. folks that are not familiar with the snowshoe hare, for its protection, it turns white and if it's under attack with any other animal, it will freeze. it is camouflaged. with the climate change, the snowshoe hare appear as disappeared. we used to have snow up to her waist. now, it's green throughout the beginning of the winter and at the end. i contacted the dnr about the decline of the snowshoe hare that we don't see here anymore and still have on their small game hunting manual that you can

take five per day. all the animals, the fox, the eagles, the coyotes, everything thrives on the snowshoe hare. i just want to give the snowshoe hare i don't know what to say. host: thanks for letting us know about that. guest: the caller makes the point about the amount of green and less snow in climate change and that's a real threat. one of the main drivers of biodiversity law and it relates back to one of the actions congress has taken with respect to the rule on habitat. the effort in congress is to plant their political judgment experts and limit the scope of

habitat under the endangered species act to areas currently occupied as critical habitat. that's just a mistake because with climate change, perhaps with a hare, the range of species needs to move and shift as a result of the impact of climate change. climate change is certainly a major concern and a factor as we think about conservation of imperiled species going forward. host: next up is north carolina, valerie. caller: hello. thank you for taking my call. mi online? host: yes, you are. caller: i am a retired audiologist in north carolina and i heard a call in from liverpool where i used to work in new york. sonar is a primary way of navigating for wales.

it affected the white whales in maine and they blamed it on the lobster hunters or the fishermen i think. as it moves down, they are saying a lot of other reasons but i think the primary is the windfarms that are developing offshore. i think they need to stop that until they do an investigation. there were only 400 and now there are 350? host: fewer than 350 the north atlantic right whales and there are many factors that can impact the north atlantic quail. -- whale. fishing lines are the primary threat as well as vessel speeds and the whales are hard to spot and they get hit by boats and ships and that's a huge problem.

there are other factors. we look at offshore wind but those two factors i mentioned are particularly threatening. the caller mention sonar and sounds of servants and that's another cause for concern as well. host: this is boone, north carolina, go ahead. caller: thanks for telling us about this. you touched on how the indigenous species act helps people and i wanted to hear more about the specifics of that and maybe if there is tangible ways they can be stacked. guest: i would emphasize again one area which is food production. without pollinators, without bees and butterflies, i don't know where the country would be in terms of the volume of food production but also the cost of

food. we really need these species for our well-being. earlier, we heard a caller mentioned zooanautic diseases, the transfer of the diseases that spread from animals to people. there are huge economic benefits to people. they were mentioned earlier and the value in terms of clean air and clean water, a healthy ecosystem. there are profound benefits to people. it's not just about preserving the beauty as we should in its own right and intrinsically of animals and plants in their natural communities, but it's also a self-interest we all have. host: the center for biological diversity put out a press release in march they headlined of which said -- defenders of wildlife support

that so is that funding threatened under the proposed budget? guest: we are very worried. funding levels for endangered species have not nearly been with a need to for many years. the act is physically starved. by our estimates, the act only receives about 40% of the money it needs. i will give you a couple of examples. we cannot recover species without adequate funding. that is the valve that determines how many species can be recovered and impacts the success we can have. one in four species lacks a recovery plan and hundreds of species received no funding at all under the endangered species act. how can we possibly expect those species to recover if the federal government doesn't provide the funds it needs. there are over 300 species waiting to be listed because they are not protected because there enough -- there is not

enough resources to do that. finally, a couple of years ago, the nation passed an important infrastructure law. it calls for the building of new roads and highways and other infrastructure. in order to accomplish that, you need the involvement of federal wildlife officials to review these project and make sure they don't do undo damage to particular endangered species. it's not a question of stopping the project but making sure is done in a more ecologically sound way. yet, there is not enough resources because it's poor funding levels to support the timely review of those projects. it's in their interest on so many ways to better fund the endangered species act. host: does most of the funding go to the fish and wildlife service? guest: there are two agencies. the lead agency's fish and wildlife of the national marine fisheries service is in charge of many marine species as well. between the two, those are the

agencies that really receive the funding. host: the marine fisheries is part of noaa? guest: host: yes. host:to greenbelt we go on its merry on the line. caller: hi, thank you very much for taking my call today. mr. dewey, you are talking a little while ago i think about a senate vote on the northern long-haired bats. our members of congress going against protections for other individual species and what does that mean when they go after protections for individual species like a bat? why are they taking the time to do this? are there many other things congress should be focusing on and doesn't it take time for congress to take the votes on these individual species? i will hang up and listen to your answer. guest: we are dumbfounded.

the american public overwhelmingly supports endangered species and congress is spending time to politicize the decision-making over the fate of these species. we don't understand it. it's not just about the northern long-haired bat that was subject -- of the recent vote in is not said about the senate voting on critical habitat rules but there are some 22 legislative proposals to undermine this -- the basic scientific basis of the endangered species act so we are seeing a massive assault these days. we are incredibly worried about this. we just hope that congress will spend time on other issues instead of politicizing and attacking endangered species. host: the pittsburgh has the headline -- not extinct.

guest: that is welcome and great news. i have not seen that story. it sounds like it's hot off the press. we would certainly welcome that. there has been a lot of debate over sightings of the bird. we are excited to hear that this may be a new and valid report. host: you can read that at post

gazette.com. richmond, virginia, good morning. caller: hello, when you were giving the main drivers of endangered species, i'm nervous, i heard you mention pesticides. i have a short story -- i used to have a pollinator garden in my front yard and one day i noticed all of the insects disappeared. i thought what is the deal. i discovered one of my neighbors was spreading pesticides around everywhere and that was causing the disappearance of the insects and the disappearance of birds from my yard area there are no laws here to prevent that. i have called numerous agencies to see if there is anything that can be done and they say we can go out and interview this person

but if they lie to us and don't fess up to what they are doing, there is nothing we can do. i even contacted the epa. i am afraid and i talked to this person and it's someone who's totally ignorant of environmental issues and the importance of wildlife. my only option is to try to move. the pesticides are huge problem and people don't either know about it or they don't care. i would like to know your opinion on the use of pesticides. guest: yes, one of the five drivers of biodiversity law is pollution. pesticide use can be a significant threat to wildlife as evidenced in your case. it's a threat to pollinators and these in butterflies and other species. you are absently right, this is a significant concern.

we just hope that pesticides are regulated primarily by the epa and we hope that pesticide users follow appropriate directions. probably in your case, the person involved did not. they should be followed correctly and also reviews need to be done under federal law by epa to determine whether a particular pesticide should be granted renewal in their approvals and there are limits on resources. those need to be done we have to determine which pesticides are appropriate and what their impact is on wildlife. host: next up, clinton, south carolina. caller: good morning. i live for years on washington and i noticed this guy was

talking about the windfarms on the east coast. maybes these things are killing whales. in washington state where i lived for years, it was the sea lions. there are so many of them that you cannot go anywhere now because they protect them. what you don't know is a sea lion destroys the salmon run. ac line will eat 40 pounds of biomass. they let the less -- rest of them go to the bottom of the river and they refuse to get them out. i think environmentalism is a business and they will never say maybe it is the windfarms. maybe it is these windmills they have everywhere that are killing birds. they kill a host: on that? guest: i think we are balancing two important objectives.

there are clear examples of windfarms located poorly and not subject to regulation such as conditions in which they operate. they can have adverse and significant impact on bird populations. this is a real problem. it needs to be monitored closely. at the same time, we obviously need wind energy. it's a critical part of our response to climate change. it's a delicate balance but requires specifics and takes careful analysis where the siding should be done and particularly wind energy should be operated and what times of year and if there is a migrationperiod, you are not operating the turbines but there is a lot of complexity and specific analysis the needs to be done to balance these important goals.

host: eric in buffalo, new york, you are on. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. mr. dewey, i thank you for your work. i live on the great lakes and firsthand witness the invasion of species that hurt and help their great lakes. there is so much diversity out there, the wolves in yellowstone, the bats, mosquitoes are going to come around. it's just a fine balance with nature. is it capitalism? is it progress over pollution, fracking? there are so many issues that this affects that it's hard for everybody to grasp. the branches around yellowstone and throughout the southwest.

they get some -- compensated by the government or anything that gets eaten by the wolves, am i correct? thank you. that's all i had to say. so many diversities that affect everybody. host: any final thoughts there? guest: the caller is right, 50 years ago, we were fortunate that the nation as a whole made a commitment to endangered species and made a commitment to science-based decision-making under the act. today is a time to reaffirm that on this 15th anniversary of the endangered species act and on endangered species day to day. we need to prevent the politicization and substitution of political judgments for scientific ones. if the public and reaffirm that

and demonstrate the support for endangered species act, we will be in better shape. host: our viewers and listeners can find out at defenders.com. thanks so much for being on with this. still ahead on the program, we will be joined by jessica anderson who is heritage for action for american executive directors and is the president of the sentinel action fund. we will talk about a number of issues including the debt ceiling debate, immigration and the lifting of title 42 a week ago and other political news of the day. that is next. ♪ >> seattle-based author has written 10 books. his newest is called a beaver in

the heartland and is described on the cover as the ku klux klan plot to take over america and the woman who stopped them. the publishers says the roaring 20's, the jazz age has been characterized as a time of gatsby frivolity. but it was also the height of a uniquely american hate group, the kkk. they hated blacks, jews and catholics and immigrants. in equal measure and took radical steps to keep these people from the american promise. >> author timothyegan on this episode of book notes pluwhich is available on the seas bent now eeobile app or wherever you get your podcasts. >> in the last three years alone, the number of satellites orbiting earth lower orbit have gone from 2500-8000.

sunday on q and a, the bloomberg businessweek feature writer talks about when the heavens went on sale to private companies launching the small satellites for commercial and noncommercial use and the risk they represent. >> it's an over these tech companies have gotten so large they do these worldwide giant infrastructure plays i think space is the next step of that and people need to wrap their heads around the idea where the balance of power used to exist were russia and the u.s. could get along. that era is over. it's not just the companies you should worry about, it's a country like russia whose space program is collapsing. will they be a rational actor as th new regime takes hold? >> ashley vance and his book

sunday night at 8 p.m. eastern on q&a. you can listen to all of our podcasts on our c-span now app. >> watch video on demand any time online at c-span.org and try air points of interest feature come a time link that uses markers to quickly guide you do newsworthy and interesting highlights of our key coverage. use it 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 where citizens are truly reformed and the republic thrives. get it straight from the source on c-span, unfiltered, unbiased, word for word from the nation's capital to wherever you are. it's your opinion that matters

the most. this is what democracy looks like. c-span, powered by cable. >> "washington journal" continues. >> host: jessica anderson is with this, the president of the sentinel action fund and is the executive director of heritage action for america. we are here to talk about the status of the debt ceiling debate and other political issues guest: guest:, good morning. thanks for having me. host: tell us about the sentinel action fund, what is their purpose? guest: we get involved to support conservative elections and we look at the senate and house and we know there is a lot of states looking at the 2020 for map so we support the candidates that are battle tested conservatives, ready to lead. that is backed up by our work at heritage action which is the largest draft organization and advocacy organization the country. guest: host: roughly, how many

candidates in 2024 will you support? guest: the map is really just now starting to shake out. we've got some important republican senate seats to hold like senator rick scott in florida and we will want to support him and senator ted cruz in texas. then we got some interesting braces and we will see in six months how it will shake out. montana has a potential to pick up a republican in west virginia , we are watching to see what senator manchin does and will that open up for mr. mooney to jump in west virginia. ohio, indiana, we will probably land somewhere between six-and 12 races we get involved in. a lot of that will be more clear as the map forms. as voters way into the primary season host: as well. you also weigh in on house races? guest: the margins in the house

for republicans are different than it has been in decades. they will ensure that publicans maintain control of the house and hopefully grow that margin of support under speaker mccarthy and allow more comfortable majority to get things done that are needed to turn the country around and hopefully that's done in concert with a republican-controlled congress. host: given the current debt debate in the looming potential for the debt ceiling crisis or default, what do republicans have to do to strengthen their base in the house and broaden to other candidates to build on that majority? guest: we are starting to see that sort of leadership. look at speaker mccarthy and you see his polling, just four months ago, he was underwater with a lot of republican voters. he has jumps 25 points because

he is doing what he said he would do in the leadership and following through on his commitment to america which was his campaign pledge from last year. when we see republicans actually leading and tackling tough issues like the debt and the border and putting forward commonsense plans, that attracts voters. these guys are doing what they said they would and they are doing it in the face of what we believe our radical decisions coming out of the left right now. that culture clashes happening in our families and our communities and we look at commerce and businesses but also in washington. host: the president is out of town for the g7 but will return earlier and political rights the president is giving a clear indication he is willing to make a critical debt ceiling compromise. the president has downplayed his embrace of work requirements and government programs is modest but his fellow democrats of already warned against it. do you think that's one of those

redline items for republicans? guest: it's good to see the president come to the dabo where we started this conversation with no negotiations and there will be a clean hike in the debt ceiling and we know that's reckless and not possible. the fact that he is coming to the table and is looking at the republican house pass package on the debt that mccarthy shepherded through was a positive sign. now they have to get in the room and hash this out. i think work requirements will be a redline and what sort of cuts on the domestic discretionary programs will end up being a redline for discussion. mccarthy is a really challenging role because he's got the conservative part of the party that committed to the fy 22 spending levels and how that matches up with democrats want to increase spending. it will be a problem of today. speaker mccarthy said yesterday

he is getting closer. i would watch this weekend and hopefully we will have a deal early next week. host: there was a piece published at heritage action. you call for passing the house measure. the houses pass the measure and you are calling in the senate to do that as well. how likely is that? guest: it depends on how the next few days and negotiations go. senator rick scott, ted cruz and others are strong conservatives leading in the senate and putting together a letter that mirrored almost exactly verbatim what the house passed. now you've got nearly all senators on the republican side supporting that. can they pull over kyrsten sinema and joe manchin and then

you have enough to pass this. the house did their part and there will be some forte of agreement in the senate. -- some sort of agreement in the senate. host: our guest is president of the sentinel fund, the political action fund and we welcome your calls and comments. in general, what's your view of what we've come to in these debt ceiling issues? guest: they have certainly gotten the public's attention. you can have a conversation about the things you want our american government to be spending money on. is it woke programs, education, health care? when you have these big, major cliffs that happen, they cause

voters to pay attention may be outside the political cycle. it begins in earnest at the end of the year but people are talking now about the issues. we've got record inflation, huge hikes in mortgage rates, unemployment is starting to bounce back but a lot of that are jobs lost from covid. you've got an economically depressed country that now is looking at we have a debt ceiling ahead of us so what will happen to my family and can i afford my groceries and send my kids to school for summer camp? it's whatever it looks like in their stage of life so it's a great opportunity for americans to weigh in. they can call their member of congress to be serious about the debt not to allow a government shut down but to actually allow concerted effort to cut spending have some actual hard look at what our defense budget is doing and what it shouldn't be doing and how it can adapt to threats

internationally. it's part of the conversations i see traveling the country and a lot of people are eager for them to get this right. host: is anybody out there in favor of seeing this country default on its debt? guest: no, it's such a small sliver of people that are supporting that. most people now want to see the package that was passed in the house taken up in the senate and the lead in the negotiations and the fact that president biden has come to the table is willing to negotiate with speaker mccarthy i think is a great first step. we don't have a ton of time and that needs to be prioritized in the next seven days. host: i wanted to get your opinion on how things have gone at the u.s.-mexico border since the lifting of the title 42 restrictions. this is from the los angeles times --

also the reporting this morning on the front page of the washington times -- guest: title 42 expired the day that republicans controlled the house passed this was the largest most common sense and comprehensive order package that was passed in our country's history. the asylum process and how illegal immigrants are handled when they come to the border but it looks at humanitarian

pricing. how those coming across are taking care when they get here versus when they are seeking asylum. all of that was at play at the border. it was disappointing when you see liberal outlets try to cover the problem. anyone that sees video of the border knows how open it is. how much of a humanitarian crisis it is. the house was right to take it on. i am grateful they did. chairman jim jordan and greene let them through. to come to a common sense conclusion about what our border security package needs to be. this to become a rebuke to the biden -- does it become a rebuke to the biden approach? secretary mayorkas has been testifying. there are threats of impeachment. it is an issue every single day americans are dealing with.

governor abbott sending another busload of immigrants into a sanctuary city. this is not going away until we secure the border as outlined in the house package but senate takes it up and as additional provisions is good too. host: hhr2. will get a look at it as we go to callers here in your comments and questions. jessica anderson. let's go to the nation's capital. caller: thank you for taking my call. i'm struggling with conservative position of the debt ceiling crisis. i do not understand the logic, the stated goal of increasing interest rates to cut inflation or reduce unemployment. this is the stated goal and for conservatives to argue for work

requirements for federal social spending programs -- they do not stated outright, but if we're increasing interest rates to increase unemployment, the city goal, how implement vomiting work requirements on social programs if they cannot find jobs already and most of them are working. let's tell the truth. majority of people who do social spending benefit are fully employed. i apologize. i'm a little nervous. she calls her efforts grassroots. you guessed because her efforts grassroots. she said call your congressman but her organization and sister organization heritage foundation a similar think tanks. on the down the street from the

heritage foundation. they get their funding from millionaires and billionaires. i want to push back on that grassroot effort. enqueue by -- thank you. guest: on the debt package. simply requiring able-bodied adults who are able to work to show they can work and how this element of a work requirement, that is common sense. this shows everyone has skin in the game. if you cannot work, there is a ton of opportunity and programs at the federal and state level. this idea we are going to look the other way at a pandemic across the country of able-bodied workers that are on the streets, not employed. that is a target rich environment to get back into work and employment an important part of this conversation.

the position on the debt ceiling is culminated in what we do with our spending and do we have measured cuts that balanced out any increase to our spending? we are talking $4.8 trillion in spending that can be put in place. that is a ton of money putting money back in the hands of americans, business owners, families so they can go back to life. by their groceries, by their homes. send their kids to summer camp. the money is there and it needs to go back to them. host: did you want to talk about his comments on heritage action? guest: we are graciously supported a very wide base of donors across the country. people that get one dollar a day to those i get $100.

it is a broad base between heritage foundation and heritage action. that is a part of independent financials. grassroots are about are you willing to advocate for the people and we have too many active is a part of our network and they do that every day whether it is the school board, secretary of state, getting involved in elections as pole washer or pole walker or working directly with congressman on policy issues. host: pat in new jersey. caller: has the debt ceiling outlived its usefulness? why do we have to go through these gyrations 12 months? market fluctuation, stability, -- instability and insecurity in the marketplace woman of the debt ceiling is going to be race. -- when we all know the debt

ceiling is going to be raised. i'm old enough to remember when richard nixon proposed a surplus in his first budget, even veto the spending bill, the congress over voted. guest: that is a great question. sounds like you're in favor of 10 year balanced budget as i my -- mia. we have to have a budget. there has to be a realistic view of what should be spent. not only in discretionary side, but also entitlement programs. although this is what makes government work. that annualized process between corporations, white house budget, leadership in house and senate, that is an important part of the business of america. the question becomes at what point does these arbitrary

limits become silly, which i think the caller is asking. that is the type of reform i think you hear on the 2024 cycle. at least on the republican side talking about how do we get long-term solvency to get fiscal house in order for the long-term so we do not continue to have market fluctuation and hurt for the american industry. it showed how important it is to have stabilized budget and if we got back to a rebalance budget, you would see the tension relief. host: jessica anderson mentioned republican plan will save 4.5 trillion over the next decade. the limited save and grow act of 2023, the opening on the debt ceiling plan would include raising the debt ceiling and 22 1024 and reduce spending too fy

2022 levels. limit spending to them percent annually the next decade. it will recover upent covid-19 funds. i we -- as we have been talking about new requirements for recipients of federal aid, it will call back irs funds which have been authorized, block student debt cancellation, and reforming energy permitting and repeal the green energy programs propose by the biden administration. michael in belmar, new jersey on the democrats line. caller: thank you for taking my call. great job as always. jessica, alyssa mcmichael of the month when somebody from -- i look to make my call the month with somebody from heritage is on. the people that would like to see the default are on the republican side of the aisle. that is clear.

my question is about santos. there's a big think about hunter biden laptop, joe's family connection with china. i have no hunter biden flight in front of my house for -- flying proudly in the wind. if he did something wrong, he should go to jail. joe biden this of the groan, he should be held responsible. -- if joe biden did something wrong, he should be held responsible. do you think it is a conservative way of running the party? host: your congressman -- talking about the new york congressman. guest: i any form of government whether it is the state, federal or the oval office, is unacceptable to majority of americans. each of us want to know our

elected officials are doing so with honor and respect for the office. speaker mccarthy has been clear about how to handle the allegations against george santos when he was taken into custody this last week and with those implications might be for his seat going forward. i cannot speak to exactly what is in speaker mccarthy's mind now but i will say he takes the issue seriously and i think that is on display with the rapid response last week, thursday, when he was taken into custody. the issue around the biden family is the exact sort of oversight, transparency, and one day accountability that is going to be needed and expected from the replicant-controlled house. the house oversight committee under leadership of chairman palmer and chairman jordan is incredible to understanding if there were favors, what applications or influence had

the president biden. we do not have hunter biden flight outside of my home either but i did not want to see corruption in any office. host: -- sperry oklahoma, randy on the republican line. caller: hey. host: are you there? caller: yeah, i am here. [indiscernible] in the marine corps a years ago. host: we are losing you. i will let you go to dial back in. that was a lousy connection and probably on our end. apologize for that.

dave in south carolina, independent. caller: good morning. i will favor increase requirements for the subsidies that are received by the poor when we increase the requirements for the subsidies the corporations, many of whom are making obscene profits. host: one more comment on the proposed work requirements. lee says people already required to work to receive benefits, the question is whether to increase the age from 50 to 55. the issue is disingenuous. the tweeter says 11 billion relative to a debt of 32 trillion. guest: it comes down to the government is providing services to individuals and they can

work, they should. we are in an environment of a country that values work, by his people are earning their dollar, and keeping as much as possible. there's going to be noise around this. if there is fundamental need for work in the country and we value it, let us put that forward in our proposals and not get hung up on larger noise and not let it take -- take a deal. host: are the echoes of the debate going back to bill clinton and republican congress of 1994? there are forms on social programs. guest: that was the first time the country did it in a meaningful way. the main policy leaves that were behind -- leads behind the package show you have to have a hard look at the a vote by the individual, not people on disability -- a hard look at the

abled body individual, not those on disability, has a path to entitlement program. host: on to chicago, anthony the democrats line. caller: good morning. i have two questions. first question on the deficit conversation. we have been talking about this a lot. folks have not gotten the scale. these buckets that come up as areas of potential savings. it is hard for us to wrap our minds around this without seeing it. the cbo puts up good data. we have heard there's going to be cuts to certain entitlement programs. the deficit for the next fiscal year is right around 1.5

trillion. we have spending mandatory social security, major health programs, chip and medicare and veteran programs. snap. things that lead people and make sure people get nutrition and health care. those are the best majorities of the budget. when it comes to discretionary spending, defenses over half of that. the other half -- relative essential programs but there is very small slice of the pie. i'm trying to wrap my mind around where are you balancing 1.5 trillion dollars to limit your deficit for the fiscal year when we are talking about prices -- slices that are small relative to the grand scheme six-point $2 trillion total budget -- $6.2 trillion total

budget. i am in a sanctuary city. we humanely welcome people into the city but it is unfortunate i am hearing that since the volume of migrants coming into the country has increased and now chicago has a homelessness crisis. sincethis is not created by --t is for people coming here to chicago. it is been an issue for decades. the issue of homelessness. any given day 6000 people are homeless. any given year up to 60,000 people experience homelessness in chicago. there are 120,000 units of vacant housing in chicago. that is more units of housing than any person experience homelessness.

what is my solution? we should expropriate vacant housing from landlord's holding that. host: several issues on the table there. your thoughts. guest: let's start where he ended off. you look at the blue cities across the country, chicago is one, san francisco comes to mind , new york, even here in d.c. the homeless rate is astronomical. it is a mandatory and crisis -- humanitarian crisis. what are the policies from these global officials, mayors doing the -- to help people go from welfare to work? to move them in an ability to have a job or hold down housing, reconnect with her family and friends. there are fantastic social programs that exist in the cities that can look at the homeless rate but you have to be

clear about what some of these blue city mike ross are doing -- democrats are doing and not doing before we can get serious about getting people off the street. as to the first question about the debt and how you can go about having a budget that is balanced, yes, these are hard decisions. it is not easy. it is why takes congress so long to put negotiations together within the party and then comes a -- come together and come up with to negotiate a compromise. it is clear our spending is not stable or allowable at this rate going further. we cannot print more money to solve the problems we need to make, to solve today. i argue having an honest,, since negotiation like we are seeing now with president biden,

speaker mccarthy, and others hopefully, is going to produce something all americans can get excited about, get debt on the control and look under the hood in stern way and make hard choices about what the federal government should be spending at expense of the debt crisis. host: what you think, by the moose of this democrats. -- what do you think will come by the moose of the distant kratz -- what do you think will come of the moose by the democrats? to move forward on bypassing the debt limit. what are your views? guest: both parties have an election to worry about. the american people pay attention to these major movements in our economy so you look at what has been like since

president biden took office, every american in this country who lost purchasing power because of inflation. that is real money that i should spend or use as i needed to for my family but because inflationary i cannot. then are the actual love -- leaders in the country willing to have conversation and out of the overhead of profit or procedures of congress in white house and back and forth and not over the head of the people and be willing to do the hard to think to lead our country. i think president biden has that in mind. i think it is why he's coming back to the table. advisers reminded him how important it is to show leadership and to get under the hood. host: as one working with republican candidates, what is a bigger argument for those republicans in 2020 four? you mentioned pushing back on quote

woke policies or is it the -- the rise in inflation? guest: the three main issues on every candidates mind because they are on voters mind securing the border, increasing some level of fiscal confidence, getting inflation under control, and then this conversation about how do we get a hold of our government? we seen weaponized doj going after parents to flood of woke policies in the federal government led by the biden administration to even trickling down to our schools and education system at the state level. how do you get radicalized view of the government out of the agencies? one way to do it is through spending and another is through

elections where you have candidates come on and expose this and rude it out -- root it out. do you want your government to make you more free or less free? that is what voters will be looking at next fall. host: alan in scottsdale, arizona. caller: good morning. my question there are 287 departments in federal government. untiluntil you get your head wrd around that, your -- it is unbelievable. there is no reason for 287 departments. i say decentralize washington dc and send it back to the states. get to a real option of fixing things. i've been in business for 37

years. i fix problems and solve issues every day for my clients. they do not have it in their head to reduce the cost of living for the american people. otherwise we will not be in the mess we are in today. they are shirking the responsibility of the constitution. they need to go. they need to find new people that are willing to fix things. host: will get a response. guest: i think he said right when you look at the insane growth of the size and scope of federal government, not only the agencies, but the actual footprint in washington. watching from the right -- largely from the right moving

different agencies back into the united states department of interior comes to mind, getting that into the interior part of the country, and getting government closer to the american people. there suggesting decentralize view of government, i am on board. host: calling from michigan on the independent line. caller: the previous caller jumped me. but walmart employees 1.2 one million people. the federal government employs over 9 million people. at what point do we drop one million of their -- one million of government employees to help american citizens out? did obama sign hr413o to allow propaganda to be used of the american people? guest: what is interesting about

the size of the federal government goes to how the federal government is seen and use. is it helping or hurting the american people? this discussion about whether or not the size should shrink, i think it's going to be something the next president is going to have to get serious about because so many career officials in federal government -- sic the proposals of the schedule act reform coming into the bloodstream put in to affect to shrink the federal career workforce in a way that right sizes the government so it is behemoth of entity taking over our daily life. host: responded to your comments on homelessness. dude says, the only cite a blue city democrats as high homeless rates when republican ran dirt

port red states use more federal assistance then blue cities which in large part subsidized public and run red states. guest: i think you have to look at where the homelessness spikes are at and you see there in san francisco, los angeles, chicago, new york, d.c., and what are the mayors of doing to look at the problem? are welfare worker forms? are they trying to get individuals help, maybe mental health care they need to act out whatever it is, there are social service programs available. there also some on private site. let's not look over the role of churches. host: more more from robert in greenville, north carolina. caller: good morning. i would like to explain how she can be talking the republican party stuff and not mention

santos those --, donald trump. why are you doing something to clean your house? this republican is not republican party your parents or grandparents. they are criminals. you sit here and stick up for them. you promote more criminalization. host: we did talk about george santos early in the program. guest: at any level of government whether it is in the oval office all the way down to the local mayor or school board member has no role in our american civil society and i think a speaker mccarthy is doing last week in taking a hard look at the door santos and the trial likely to go on later in the summer is important part of the discussion. host: we started the program talking about likely announcement by governor ron desantis to enter the race . what is your political view of

that? guest: is going to shake things up. he has been long deleted to get into the race. -- awaited to get into the race. the photo session is coming to a close in tallahassee is going to open the door. it will be interesting how governor desantis goes toe to toe with president trump, mike pence, was likely -- she was likely to get into the summer. what ron desantis brings to the discussion is real experience from florida as a governor. he's got a record he is going to be able to point to governing in the middle of covid, keeping the state open, so many people flocking to florida for a better life will come up a lot. you saw foreign trips as he went on just last week he brought his wife casey and kids with him.

really trying to flex on the international access showing he is someone who wore the uniform and engaged on diplomatic standpoint. the country seems intentional to travel to. i think it's going to be an interesting summer. whether resident trump engages with the governor on one-to-one basis will be something only president trump will be able to decide. host: jessica anderson executive director of heritage action for america. thank you for being with us. it is open forum coming up in a bid. you can weigh inn any public policy political issue you are following on the news. democrats, 202-748-8000. republicans, 202-748-8001. independents, 202-748-8002. go ahead and start calling and we will get to you shortly. ♪

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away in -- chance to weigh in. president biden attending the g7 summit in japan. he will return to the u.s. earlier than planned. he had planned to see australia but returning to dissipate in debt ceiling negotiations which are underway -- participate in debt ceiling negotiations which are underway. a report from associated press on the meetings. zelensky to attend the g7 summit sunday as world leaders tighten sanctions on russia. rick in florida. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i hate to say this. i do not want to be a downer but democracy is over. trump and his minions have killed it. andy biggs, marjorie taylor

greene , jim jordan sitting on the judiciary committee he is not a lawyer. he ignored her congressional subpoena and now the idiots are in charge. it is over. there's nothing we can do about it. there is not going to be a debt limit. republicans want this chaos. this freedom caucus branch of republicans want this chaos. they want this chaos so they can blame it on biden. this woman from the heritage group, i do not know if they are related to the heritage foundation, but you have to ask how much $500 billion in cares act donald trump the control of that number seems to care about or ask about what happened to that. him and steve mnuchin being sued

by sears and kmart for selling over $3 billion while the whole time telling stockholders they were working on a reorganization program for sears and kmart enough after they filed bankruptcy it's a good accountant years to find out he had done to the money. steve mnuchin was the perfect accomplish for donald trump. where is our $500 billion? why is no one asking? host: sylvie in virginia, republican caller. caller: yes, thank you. the young lady from heritage i enjoyed her being there. one of the carolinas had a six week abortion ban and i hope that spread throughout the country. i hope and pray santos is kicked out on his ear. host: emme in washington on the

independent line. caller: thank you for taking my call. two things i want to bring out. one was a committee hearing yesterday on organization of the government. as soon as jim jordan took the floor, he started attacking. then the second thing that happened that got my goat was the fact that how can you have democracy if you're not willing to work together? that is what i got out of the committee hearing yesterday. the republicans were not willing to work together as far as the committee is concerned. i thought committee assignments where they are to make our country better, make laws and policies. all i got was attack, attack, attack. thank you very much. host: we covered the hearing and it is available at c-span.org and mobile app.

news from supreme court from the washington post, it rolls for google, twitter on terror related content. they write supreme court ruled thursday the families of harris victims have not proved google, twitter or facebook help foster attacks on their loved ones and handed a greater victory to the tech industry by declining to weigh in on a protected internet law at the center of the debate over social media regulation. the families quote never a lash after defendants establish their platforms gave isis any special treatment or words of encouragement, justice clarence thomas wrote for a unanimous court, quote nor is there reason to think defendants selected took any action with respect isis content except perhaps blocking some of it. they write this case involves allegations against twitter, facebook, and google. the court adopt a similar briefing in separate lawsuit against google filed by

different family. nikki in missouri on the democrats line. good morning. caller: good morning. when you had the lady on earlier, jessica, and the guy got on talking about homelessness in this country and she referred to it as blue people because democrats in blue state. that is more division in the country. on the topic of desantis, he is banning books. hitler's banned books. people need to wake up. i have several friends that live in florida. they're moving from florida. the kids in the school districts were teachers cannot teach. it is a nightmare what is going on. as nightmare what is going on in my state. women are fleeing the country.

they cannot get health care when they are pregnant. they are forced to bleed in the parking lot until someone will take care of them when they are pregnant. this country is going downhill. i do not understand why people are not raising up and saying we are stronger together than we are divided. good lord. i know we want the pit lord and god -- put lord and god in politics but first line in competition says separation between church and state. host: thank you for the call. kyle in buffalo, republican caller. caller: i have to agree with the last caller from missouri. i became republican because republicans stood for civil rights and limited government. it seems to be today it is not about that.

it is more government intervention seems to be republican way. desantis government intervention is to the point where i do not understand what is understood only -- i do not understand what is going on the republican party. they're going to drive people out. it is frustrating. the last caller hit on the head. church and state are supposed to be separate. i should not have depute that i put my own personal belief on someone else. i did not know why abortion is the main topic. we have more issues to worry about the someone's personal choice. banning books? telling someone they cannot have drag now. that is personal choice. businesses should be able to do what they want to do in legal parameters. host: on the return to dianne feinstein to the u.s. senate abc

story has the headline dianne feinstein suffered brain information is complication from shingles, and eight conference. another story we are looking at on dianne feinstein reported that "politico." headline says her return leaves her party on a. dianne feinstein they say taking on a notably lighter schedule so she came back from california. she appears in the senate at committee hearings or the floor with her throat -- where her vote is essential. the party holding their breath as the 89-year-old return and democrats are to have her back. they love to discuss her condition being on generic well wishes. they're not hearing much from her at all. that is at "politico".com john in clearwater, kansas.

caller: good morning everybody. i did not know about the rest of the people out here, but it gets tiring to go through the debt ceiling debate periodically. it is time we really got out after it. the first thing the term default is bogus. we are going to pay our debt regardless. we have more than enough money to take care of paying the debt instrument. it is required by the constitution. there will be no default unless people intentionally do it. with spending cuts, i think all we need to do -- the left will not cut spending. they have made it clear. we need to get enough conservatives in congress who

control the flow of money and say we are not going to raise the debt ceiling anymore and prioritize our spending. after we pay the debt instrument, we need to decide who do we need to pay next and that would probably be the military and those actively serving the country, but there are many cuts we can make an federal employees we could lay off and nobody would notice a difference. the time -- it is time to solve this once and for all and start drastically reducing entitlement spending. people also security -- all in social security getting paid more than they put in and there will be no problem to simply say were going to reduce that a little bit, at least freeze it, and start making a real way towards the debt problem. host: to let you know about our coverage plans.

coming up in 15 minutes we take you to a hearing looking at issues and biases in housing appraisal regulatory system. a hearing the federal housing finance agency and it is live 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span and our mobile app and online in span.org. 11 a.m. this morning on c-span two a conversation with fed chair jerome powell talking about challenges faced by monetary policy makers and in the state of the economy live at 11 a.m. c-span 2. this afternoon on c-span a conversation on reproductive rights, dobbs v jack and decision at 3 p.m. eastern on c-span online at c-span.org and or on the mobile app c-span now. in washington we go to print on

the democrats line. caller: on the debt and the deficit, i would like to remind everybody under democratic administrations the economy has done well. as soon as republicans enter they start spending money on things like tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations in the deficit go up. as far as when we talk about guns, everybody talks about mental health issue. i would say, hoarding is a mental health issue. if you are hoarding guns, you are the ones with the real health issues. [indiscernible] the the person you had on here is the same typical republican talking point blaming the poor. all the republicans politicians

need to learn empathy for other people. people are not leaving in the streets because they choose to. they are getting forced out of their homes because rent has gotten too high. unaffordable for a lot of working families. they are not all lowlife, drug addicts living off of the government entitlement program. you need to learn empathy all of you. host: january -- jerry in new york on the independent line. caller: good morning. inc. you for taking my call. i was disappointed in what jessica had to say to us. when we talk about -- it is all about democrats versus republicans. in my opinion, what they are doing is keeping -- doing what

they have to do to keep in power or to get in power. it is very rare, especially the last several years, they come together for important issues and bank out solutions. we talk about the debt ceiling's and printing money, the answer is simple. they can print as much money as they want and they will print as much money as they want. so, what is really necessary here and i told this to my children, i'm 72 years old, i told them there's going to be a revolution in the country like in the 1960's, which i was a part of. i believe that is necessary. both of these entities have to go. there's got to be something different to government this country. thank you. host: are you still ? we lost him.

are you still there? that's all right. patrick in greenville south carolina. democratic caller. caller: thank you. two comments. i come from a traditional 66 plus years. i want to comment on jessica homelessness. i would like to invite her here to greenville south carolina to c the conditions. secondly about raising the requirement of federal aid. public transportation is a huge issue here we have a little over 600,000 population. the city governor gives $1.5 billion each year to cover both public and predation and the county therefore limits number of routes and the time to have

the buses run. that is the two comments i have. host: first amendment story from the washington time. tiktok user sue to overturn montana's -- [inaudible] they argue both the law is unconstitutional violation to free speech rights and the state does not have the authority over matters of national security. the governor signed the bill into law wednesday said it would protect montana residents private data and personal information from being harvested by chinese government. we expect legal challenge and fully prepared to defend the loss. a spokeswoman for the department of justice in montana rights measures scheduled to take effect will serve as a testing

ground for the tiktok free america that many national lawmakers have envisioned. don on the republican line in michigan. caller: good morning. i have got awful tired hearing about trump and biden. there were other presidents. i would like to say a bit about them. this one is clinton. it starts with this. i ordered the military into action for the first time firing 23 tomahawk missiles into iraqi intelligence headquarters. for them overshot atlanta in up -- upscale neighborhood -- four of them overshot and ended up in an upscale neighborhood killing civilians.

i'm not very well organized this morning. host: that is ok. i am glad you called in. another call from sagan -- michigan on the independent line, anthony. caller: two questions for open forum. do you know what "washington journal" most viewed video is on c-span.org? host: i do not. caller: maybe you can find that out and report back to the audience. question number two on "washington journal" since the ukraine war began, have you guys entered anyone not a proponent of nato? interviewed someone who is not a nato proponent? host: we have interviewed a wide range of guest. i cannot say specific. caller: you only interviewed

nato proponents. you are very biased. host: ruth in michigan, the democrats line. you are on the air. one more time. we go to dorothy in international falls, minnesota. you are on the air. caller: i think they should put no caps on social security. everyone should have to pay it no matter how much they make. i also think they should not have percentage raises on that. it is not fair for the lower income. on the democratic side, i never hear anybody but fox news mentioned robert kennedy running. i think he would be a great want to run against trump. the debt ceiling, they had to take care of the debt. there are many people able to

work there -- that are not working and we need help. thank you. host: the story of unemployment on the front page of "wall street journal". job market the best ever. titus job market in generations transfer a -- transforming employment prospects for black americans in ways that can be more long-lasting than past economic expansions. an appointment rate for black workers fell to a record low in april still above the national average but below 5% for the first time in labor department records. which began in 1972. 1.1 million more black americans held jobs last month and in february 2020 just before the pandemic. the increase they write accounts for nearly half of the total gain in unemployment during that time. they say black workers have long

depend -- been at the bottom of the latter in wages and job security at the confluence of strong demand for labor demographic shifts in the country were many older white workers retired benefited black americans. one more on the front page just below the front page about home sales and they have dropped. they have dropped. sales of previously owned homes fell in april from the prior month. prices declined by the most in more than 11 years. the national leading home price fell 1.7% from april down to a year earlier. in virginia on the democrats line, good morning to will burn. caller: good morning. yesterday it was a good example of how white folks kill blacks because yesterday marjorie

taylor greene was on tv and said she felt her and by the black congressman and i was a good example of how police officers -- that was a good example of how police officers always say they feel threatened by black man. marjorie taylor greene should go and apologize to all black americans. host: next rick in hannah, oklahoma. hi. caller: hello. host: you are on the air. caller: hello. the problem is the media when all of your media is owned by liberals, that is the only noise you hear or want to watch. it is tearing us apart.

it is a sad time we are living. host: do you not think there other outlets for more conservative views? caller: when all you are hearing is one side, it is put us in the position we are at now. it is a pretty sad time. the fbi, cia are all owned by the same party. i do not see any justice. host: tom is calling from thomasville, georgia. good morning. make sure you mute your volume and go ahead with your comment.

you are on the air. mute your tv please. caller: good morning. host: mute the volume for us. turn down the volume when you call in. front page of the new york times this morning in new york city outraged over the options for housing migrants. tens of thousands of migrants began arriving in near city last year, the administration mayor eric adams has searched for one place after another thousand them, hotels, parking lots, cruise ship terminal, among them. almost every idea has caused an uproar. the daily stream of migrants feeding the crisis is doubled in -- inside. as many as 700

migrants are arriving each day of from happ that -- up from half of that last thursday of title 42 expiration, i trump era policy that allowed officials to expel some border crossers back into mexico. they write with no clear solutions, the city turns to shelter some of migrants in public school gems darting last week. that a plan like many others was met immediately met with outrage, not only from activists and human rights groups, but also from public school parents and the ranks of everyday new yorkers. tom is -- thomas are you there? caller: good morning. i have a few comments. we are talking about the border. congress got to do their job. then there talking about social security and what we get.

we get paid once a month. we are on a fixed income. the economy is going up and congress is not doing anything about it. the check cannot cut. they worried about the president. they're worried about the country, they need to work with the president, not against them -- him. the country's going down because a donald trump and that is not make no sense. ron desantis is a immigrant but they always want to put this thing -- this country was built on immigrants. the country needs to wake up. host: a caller asked about the number one viewed clip in c-span video library thanks a quick work by producers. will bring you the steps available at the library. we started recording in september of 1987 but the most viewed event in video library

was the white house daily briefing april 15, 2009 at 600-3700 views, the most viewed clip in our video library is president bill clinton on immigration. that from january 241995. that has over 2.5 million views. c-span.org to find our video library of is where you find our video library. we are back tomorrow morning at 7:00 eastern. we hope you are as well during we are taking you live to a hearing coming up next looking at the issues and biases in the housing appraisal industry, being put on by the federal housing finance agency. we will take you there live. you are on c-span. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪

[indistinct conversations] >> the appraisal housing finance agency is holding a hearing on appraisal industry issues. you are watching live coverage on c-span.