coming cap on washington journal, the latest on the biden administration student debt forgiveness efforts witmiael stratfordnd then the u.s. conference of mayors. our spotlight on podcast has ma leon goldberg with his podcast "global dispatches". washington journal is next. >> the only way democracy can function is through compromise and consensus. to forge bipartisan agreement where possible in needed.

host: good morning it is saturday june third, that was president biden addressing the nation last night from the oval office. the house and senate passed a bill to extend the debt limit for two years. the president will sign the bill today. this first hour we will ask your opinion of the debt crisis handling. if you approve call us at (202) 748-8000, if you disapprove (202) 748-8001, you can text us at (202) 748-8003 and we are on social media at facebook facebook.com/cspan and twitter http://twitter.com/cspanwj. before we get to your calls i

want to show you this article from the associated press, biden celebrates a crisis averted in oval office address on debt ceiling deal. president biden celebrated a crisis averted in his speech to the nation ready to sign an agreement that eliminates the potential for a default that he says would have been catastrophic for the u.s. and global economies. the measure was approved by the senate late thursday night after passing the house. biden is set to sign it at the white house with just two days to spare until the treasury department has warned the u.s. would not meet its obligations. passing this agreement was critical, the stakes could not have been higher. nothing would have been more

catastrophic than defaulting on the country's debt. the agreement was hashed out by biden and mccarthy giving republican some spending cuts but holding the line on democratic priorities. it holds the limit until 2025 and gives legislatures a budget target for the next two years in hopes of assuring fiscal security. let's take a look at the portion of that white house address from last night. [video clip] >> passing this budget agreement was critical, the stakes could not have been higher. if we fail to reach an agreement there were extreme voices threatening to take america into default on our national debt. nothing would have been more responsible. nothing would have been more catastrophic. our economy would have been

thrown into recession, retirement accounts would have been decimated. 8 million americans would've lost their jobs, default would destroy our nation's credit rating would have made mortgages, car loans much more expensive. it would have taken years to climb out of that hole. america is standing -- america's standing would be in danger. no one got everything they wanted, that the american people got what they needed. we averted an economic crisis, collapse. we are cutting spending and bringing the deficit down. we are protecting important priorities. host: that was president biden

from last night talking about the debt ceiling deal. he is said to his side and the deal today. we are asking you what think of his handling. do you approve or disapprove? oliver is up first from falls church, virginia. caller: good morning mimi. i want to say i am in rehab in northern virginia after back surgery at fairfax hospital and i appreciate joe biden so much. i know the republicans are going after programs for seniors. i am coming up to my 70th birthday and i thank god for joe biden being a steady hand who is trying to help the american people. i don't understand why his poll numbers are so bad.

i think the gentleman stepped in when we had a difficult time after the former administration did everything to tear the government apart and i appreciate joe biden, i really do. he has been one of the best presidents we have had in a long time and i chalk it up to his experience on capitol hill and in the white house. host: are you still there? caller: yes. host: some people on the left or criticizing him for negotiating at all. he said he would not negotiate and he did not get that. caller: let me say this, i really believe that he had no choice and i think he was smart by saying no deal in the beginning. he really put the republicans in a position in that state of the

you know address where he said you won't touch social security and medicaid. i am going to tell you, the american people are afraid with the abortion issue and the things the republican party has talked about, the nightmare of donald trump scaring people deliver the country that joe biden gets reelected. host: ed is in ocean city, new jersey. caller: he should have use this to do away with the entire pentagon budget, military budget. everything is better in those countries, war is never the answer.

he sent his sons to a quaker school. there is a way to save the budget. host: you think the united states can get rid of its military budget? caller: yes if i was the president is the first thing i would do. host: do you think is used for deterrence so other countries don't attack us? caller: no. war is never the answer. host: what if we are attacked? caller: it's not going to happen. host: why? caller: we will have a worldwide movement to do away with military's and wars. host: so if other countries give up the military we should give up ours? caller: yes. host: bill is next.

caller: thank you for taking my call. i called you on the approval line and i was very pleased with the performance of president aydin. i feel as if he is one of the best presidents this country could ever have and i feel very blessed that he is our president and he is trying to move this country in a direction that helps everyone, not just the rich and the poor. he is trying to make america greater and greater. he has a vision for this country and i would be more than welcome to be able to visit with him and shake his hand and let him know that i am behind him 115%.

host: take a look at the huffington post, this headline says it rewards a hostage taking , progressive's view at the deal and democrats felt they wouldn't negotiate over the debt limit, well, here we are. progressive lawmakers are seething over the deal warning it could normalize taking the economy hostage for years to come. their biggest critiques are about the process rather than the actual contents of the bill. here is elizabeth warren of massachusetts saying it rewards the hostage taking the republicans have gotten so good at. i am disappointed the president was put in this position. they are demanding changes that

they can't get through a democratic process because they are not supported by the american people. the minute we get the votes we need to eliminate the debt for good. wonder what you think about that and michael is next in carolina. caller: good morning it's a beautiful morning in north carolina. i want to say that i do approve of president biden's handling of the debt deal and he taught us a thing or two, us republicans thought he would not budge and i was glad he did give us a few things that we wanted and we gave him things he wanted and that is what it's all about. i was disappointed that there was enough military aid given.

lindsey graham said on the senate floor that there was no money in this package for ukraine. the other thing i was concerned about was the defense budget was not increased enough to where we could build more navy ships because lindsey graham stated that china has increased its navy ships tremendously within the next four years and i don't think we are doing that at all. i do approve of joe biden's handling of the debt deal. host: our first caller talked about saving medicare and social security. we have that clip from yesterday's white house address from the president. we are taking your calls during this first hour on what you

think about president biden's handling of the debt ceiling crisis. we have lines for approve or disapprove but here's president biden. [video clip] during the state of the union address i pointed out that for years some of them put forward proposals to cut social security and medicare as some of them took exception and it was a true so i asked them will you agree not to cut social security and medicare? would they agreed to protect the social programs that are a lifeline to so many americans. americans who have paid into it with every paycheck since they been working. with the bright lights and cameras on those republicans that were protesting agreed and

said they would not cut it. that is how we protected social security and medicare from being cut. health care was another priority for me. i made it clear from the outset that i would not agree to any cuts in medicaid, and essential lifeline for many americans including children in poverty and americans living with disabilities. the house republican proposal would've cut medicare for 21 million people. host: that was president biden from yesterday talking about medicare and social security. this is the text we got from ed in connecticut. i am trying to understand our president but i am having difficulty. he refused to negotiate for 97 days and promised he would not

give an inch. now he says he's the great unifier, go figure. this is from tim and california, aydin has nothing to do with the debt ceiling debate. larry from new jersey says, i approve, joe biden is a classic example of why we need seasoned officials to work through -- i totally approve but the man knows how to govern he passed so much legislation and he is right that we have to come together as stop seeing people we disagree with as mortal enemies.

that is what we have got so mark is next from berlin maryland. caller: mortal enemies, but last night in his speech he attacked republicans like he always does. as far as the debt ceiling, federal spending and donald trump's last year before covid was $4.4 trillion. in 2023 it will be 6 trillion and projected to be 6.7 trillion by 2025. the money the federal government is spending from 2019-2025 would've gone up over 50%. this cannot continue.

these numbers are on your program all the time. the gdp is 20% debt. that's the biggest it's been since world war ii. each american owes hundred thousand dollars. host: what do you think of the deal that was struck? caller: i think it was horrible it continues to raise the national debt. he said in his speech they want to cut social security and medicaid. as some point the national debt will be so high that even the government is going to have to tax at a high rate every single business in every single individual and it will put our nest egg, social security, medicaid and our liberty at risk. host: let's go to bob in

bellevue, ohio. caller: i think joe biden is the worst president we have or had in my life. he is a communist. he will be arrested before he gets out of office. host: anyway, here is douglas and eagle rock california. caller: i am an 88-year-old veteran. i have seen a number of individuals claiming to be a good president. the last good democrat was jfk. president biden's handling was just as bad as him stumbling

down the ramp. he has no idea what is going on. he is leading to million illegal aliens come into the country which is costing billions of dollars and he is wondering why the crisis of finances is bad. he doesn't know how to handle the debt situation. he doesn't know how to handle the country. i think his age in the end, he's physically and mentally unable to handle the job. host: let's take a look at some of those approval ratings. this is from real clear politics. here are the numbers for overall

job approval of president biden. 42 percent approve, 56%. on the direction of the country as a whole when asked about being on the right track only 22% felt the country was on the right track. 67% said it was going the wrong direction. joe is next from new york, good morning. caller: good morning, i think the 22% of this country that say it's on the wrong track is because of the reason people can't come together. this debt thing was an example

of them at least coming together. that is what needs to happen more and politics. you are not my enemy because we disagree, let's sit down and talk about it, you know what i mean? host: i know what you mean. lee is in charleston, south carolina. caller: i think he has done a great job. he is emboldened by the goodness within him because he is considerate of people in general. the corporations are looking at bottom dollar and could care less what is going on. if people would understand and 2024 and when we get out to vote and put the right people in power, i think this country will be phenomenal. i think also we just have to

pray and care for each other. thank you. host: charles in tennessee, go ahead charles. caller: yes ma'am, thank you for taking my call. i very much approve of everybody negotiating. if the republicans had everything in its terms, social security would have been gone. they have made that pretty plain. host: is that oral charles? -- is that all charles? caller: can you imagine the united states without social security? old people couldn't afford nursing homes. it would be the end of this country. hello? host: i am here, i am listening.

caller: it is time to do a one pair health care bill, is time to help the american working people. it's time to raise taxes on rich people. the working person cannot support all the taxes. thank you for taking my call this morning. host: let's take another portion of president biden's speech where he talks about spending cuts. [video clip] >> we will do even more to reduce the deficit, we need to control spending but we have to raise revenue and go after taxes and make sure everyone is paying their fair share. no one making less than 400,000 a year will pay a penny more and federal taxes. i know the federal tax system is not fair. i kept my commitment that no one

earning less than 400,000 will pay a penny more in taxes. last year i secured more funding for the irs to go after wealthy tax cheats. the nonpartisan congressional budget office said this bill will bring in 150 billion and it could save more as much as 400 billion because it forces people to pay their fair share. republicans may not like it but i will make sure the wealthy pay their fair share. i've also propose closing a dozen special interest loopholes from big oil, crypto, hedge fund traders. saving billions of dollars. republicans defended every one of the special interest loopholes. i will be coming back with your

help, i will win. host: that was president biden from last night we are asking your opinion on his handling of the debt ceiling crisis. he is expected to sign the bill that passed both chambers today and also the job numbers came out. i want to make sure you are aware of that. here's an npr article, the u.s. added 309,000 jobs in may. hiring surged last month as u.s. employers added 300 39,000, far above expectations. the job gains were also stronger than previously reported. the april's jobs figure was revised up by 41,000 by march was revised up by 52,000. the u.s. job engine continues to chug along with substantial

hiring and business services, health care and hospitality. construction added jobs even as construction prices weighed down expectations. caller: i get frustrated from people who demonize joe biden. he was the right man to correct the last administrations faux pas. they stop tiring and virtually eliminated jobs. to rebuild our infrastructure, not just our roads we also had to replace all of these positions in government.

we are stuck with dejoie as our postmaster. host: when you say president biden was the right man at the time. do you think he is still the right man? would you support him for the next election? caller: the current people running for office on the republican side, i would not give any of them the time of day. if he has denominated democrat i will vote for him. i haven't seen any leadership coming out of the right for a long time. this view that we can turn our country into a bunch of fascination, it drives me nuts. host: what about on the

democratic side? would you like to see someone run? caller: at this point, i am 69 years old. i have seen a lot of stuff go down. i lost a lot of money on investments depleted from right wing senators voting to protect the rich in this criminality i see on the supreme court and some of the republican side willing to drive the country into a default. you don't believe it would happen but had it happened we would all be whistling a different tune today. host: let's talk to carrie and planes fell, indiana. caller: good morning how are you

today? host: fine, thank you. caller: i can't believe these republicans are calling in saying they're doing the right thing. i believe us liberals calling under the guise as republicans. i think he is guilty of accepting bribes, influence peddling, treason, human and drug trafficking helping the cartels on the southern border. i think he should be tried and executed. host: this is one of the top two negotiators on the republican side, let's take a listen. [video clip] >> the white house miscalculated on this one. they misjudge the speaker. he is the best strategist i have worked with. it's amazing to be with him

behind closed doors and someone think about not only the next step up five steps down. look at the bills that he has delivered with this type majority. it was a major miscalculation on this part which is why they had tire tracks on him in this negotiation and why we ran over them as some of their redlines and this is why you see them try to spin this in a way that benefits them. host: congressman graves saying that the administration has tire tracks on them. caroline is in locklin, oklahoma. caller: good morning how are you? host: good. caller: we already know what is going on.

biden is trying to do the best he can, he's older, experienced and he know how the world thinks. all of the people who don't even know the bible, they will accept a lie. they say in the last day a man will tell lies, get away with it. the bible tells you that these things will happen. these are the things going through this world today. i just don't understand a lot of the thing that man does. it is a shame that we older people that don't even know the truth from a lie. host: annabelle is in south holland, illinois. caller: i think biden is doing a very good job and during the

trump administration they raise the debt ceiling three times and never asked one question. if anyone needs to be put in jail it is trump and many of the nazis. anyone they catch one of them they have a nazi flag hanging around. let's tell it like it is. it has nothing to do with biden is kamala and her jewish husband. that is what they are afraid of. host: let's talk to chris from south carolina. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. i am listing to everyone talk and everybody talking about what we could get an don't get. i get frustrated.

i took care of myself, i am not rich. i don't need the government to give me anything because if they give it to me they can take it away. i wish the government would get out of my life. i have to save all year to pay my taxes. host: what do you think of how president biden handled the debt negotiations? caller: i don't think any of them handled it well. you can't put out more than you take in. we have to get our expenditures lower than what we have. we can't print money. i disapprove of the whole thing. as far as i'm concerned, they could have let the debt ceiling

blowup because that is the only way we will get a good reset and get back to putting our hands back in our own pockets. host: bill from california. caller: thank you for c-span, i really enjoy it. i am 67 years old and i try to watch each of the new stations to get a good perspective of things. it is wonderful to hear the way you approach it. i watch it every day now and i just want to say thank you. with biden, as far as how he is handling the situation. i wish she would handle more situations like this. i don't think the final product is as good as we would like it to be.

at least were watching our democracy work, at least they are talking to each other. he took the time last night as he was talking to start throwing barbs against the right. i am independent but i know eileen right. i want our president and mccarthy to succeed. our politicians take each opportunity to throw darts at each other. i would like to have more faith in the process, it's demoralizing each time they take shots at each other. host: take a look at this op from david ignatius in the washington post. the headline biden is delivering on his most far-fetched pledge, compromise. the presidents congenital

sm is easy to criticize in thisra of polarizing views. he is a conciliar, and hs risk-averse and avoids escalation when facing catastrophe. biden's critics missed the fact that he is behaving precisely as he said he would. his inaugural address was to restore normal order. speaking of unity can sound li a foolish fantasy but still, we can join forces, stop the shouting and lower the temperature. ned is calling from annapolis, maryland. good morning. caller: hi, is it mimi? host: yes. caller: what motivated me to

call was i agreed with the caller from california. i wanted to express my regret for the insult you received. from the person from ohio and i thought you handle it gracefully. as far as president biden goes, i think both president biden and speaker mccarthy deserve credit. as far as the barbs go back and forth, that is something to placate the more extreme elements of the party. i hoped president biden would praise speaker mccarthy for his statements ship but if he did that, the far right element might want his hat on a platter. host: he did think speaker

mccarthy as well as congressional leadership in his speech. caller: that's great, that's great to hear. i think he did a great job. speaker mccarthy, i was pleasantly surprised. we had tough issues with this budget but i think the two came together. i think we are seeing the fruition of the opportunity of office. both the speaker of the house if mccarthy became more moderate there would be a base for both parties to get things done and push aside the less compromising people in each conference. i am heartened by the way both gentlemen acted and they put the country first. host: steve is next from

illinois. caller: i don't think either party did their jobs. i think our budget is way overblown. everything they said they would take away, kid school lunches and everything. they could have taken away from energy projects to make sure the kids could eat. but they said no, we will take away schools kid lunches. we are giving too much money to europe to fight the ukraine war.

nobody is holding hungry to their feet. joe biden's president and he should tell hungry so let [indiscernible] n illegal immigrants good better treatment that are veterans. they get flat screen tv's and gourmet food from hotels. host: let's take a look at senator john cornyn he was criticizing president biden to get to the negotiating table. [video clip] >> the american people are clearly unhappy with what they are seeing happening here when it comes to out-of-control spending.

60% of adults think the government spends too much. they are right. they are frustrated by the unnecessary and wasteful spending and they eager for congress to do the rational thing wished us to get our financial house in order. that is precisely what republicans demanded throughout this process, necessary fiscal reforms as part of the debt ceiling negotiations. instead of stepping out, doing his job, acting responsibly, president biden took a different approach. he said i refuse to negotiate. this is a president of the united states with 31.9 million trillion in debt.

-- trillion had died. he said only a clean debt increase was an option and refused to engage in negotiations altogether. it was in january where we hit the debt ceiling and what has happened since then is the treasury secretary engaged in what is called extraordinary measures in order to pay the bills as the money comes in through tax revenue. now she has told us that the x state, the default date after extraordinary measures are exhausted would be june the fifth. that is monday. the president has known since january that this day would come, he has refused to negotiate and lead us into this

scenario where unless congress acts by june 5, we will preach the debt limit. host: that was senator cornyn from thursday night. we are asking you what you think about president biden's handling of the debt ceiling and negotiation. here is marianne from twitter, disaster was avoided and biden is shrewd enough to know when to dispute and take a when humbly . just because calling from wichita, kansas. caller: i would like to say that that person from ohio was lying. you handle him with grace.

secondly, biden did an amazing job. for what he has done for the country, better than trump ever has. the far right has been holding us hostage and they are deplorable for doing that. i do praise mccarthy for coming to the table and compromising. thank you, god bless. host: greg is in pennsylvania, good morning. caller: as far as i can tell, everybody wants to give you

kudos for the comment that guy made but there have been comments made by people like me is 75-year-old white guy and people don't seem to get upset about that. it is part of your job i am sure you have heard much worse. as to the issue at hand. on the debt ceiling, the only thing i can say about hunter's dad is that i think you showed a little bit of backbone to the people who write the teleprompter. apparently, he has not completely lost it. if the people who broke the teleprompter had their way we would be without a bill that was passed. people need to understand that what you see is what you get.

he is not the same guy he was 10 years ago. when use show clips from 10 years ago and now there's a big difference. host: a huge difference in what way? caller: physically, mentally. it is obvious. show some clips to people. he was born dynamic, i never agreed with him, ever. at least he could make an argument. he does not take questions anymore. he doesn't give answers to questions he doesn't know is coming. host: what do you think of the deal that was struck? would you have voted for it? caller: yes, neither side got what they wanted because neither side controls all the levers.

if people disagree with what happened then next year, vote to make sure that what you think should have happened will happen. host: victor, clinton township, michigan. caller: i agree with all the callers who say the deficit is too high but we have revenue problem not a spending problem. if the tax code for the rich expired the deficit would have started to come down. thank you. host: kevin is in cleveland, ohio. caller: good morning i think he did a magnificent job. he handled it like a pro considering what he was faced against. it is sickening to hear these people talk about his age.

he is 80 years old and i want to remind them that we are all going to get old one day. it is sad that they hold it against the man. host: when you say he handled that well, what about the criticism that he waited too long to come to the negotiating table? caller: i don't think it was him. they never presented an offer. host: but they did have that bill and they keep saying it was 97 days, what you think of that? caller: i think he handled it the way he was supposed to. i think he did a great job. they will criticize him either way. host: johnny and jensen beach, florida. caller: my big concern, why did it take so long to make a last-minute deal about it when

they had all this time, the whole spring to go after the problem. how many pages is this bill that just got passed? i haven't been able to get a copy of it. host: let me find out for you because i thought i heard the number to how long it is. we will try to look that up and find where it is so we could share with you how to read it. caller: my point is, we don't know what is in it. we don't know all the parameters covered and when we are making comments about the whole thing, there is a lot of information i don't know and i don't want to say somebody did a good job or bad job. it has passed and now we deal with the consequences of it.

you are going to spend more money, that's fine. i have seen prices go out. i'm not blaming joe biden, is the way our system is developed. thank you. host: i am finding out that is 99 pages long but i will find out where you can read it. choi and west babylon, new york. caller: on the deficit, you can go online and it will teach you how to be a better investor. host: robert in shepherdsville, kentucky. go right ahead robert. caller: i think we are in a

situation where every year, every time it comes out is not fixable. i don't think it can be fixed. we are giving away free money to other countries where we should be taking care of ourselves first. host: another robert in minneapolis, good morning. caller: good morning. it is funny how the republicans raised the debt limit three times, no problem there. as soon as it comes to the democrats, there is no accountability. thank you for taking my call. host: before you go, a lot of democrats are criticizing president biden for negotiating

it all. what you think of that? caller: yeah, you have to take the good with the bad. it should not come down to that. it should have been passed. we got a pair of bills, we already spent the money. let us take care of that and negotiate the budget later. the funny thing is how little what they can negotiate of the budget really is. thank you for taking my call. host: list talk to brian in goodland, minnesota. caller: we have a spending problem. we don't have two nickels to rub together. if i ran my checkbook like this i would be bankrupt in 30 days. they have to get some discipline

and live within their needs are not there wants. host: what the democrats are saying, this is a separate issue. raise the debt limit, we have to pay the bills, we've already spent that money and then we can talk about the budget later through the budget process. caller: if there is waste in there, get rid of it. come on now, be serious. what are we doing to our grandchildren and children? this is scary business. we are going to default big time down the road. the taller you are the further you fall. maybe i just see the big picture but, we are in trouble. host: let's go to california next, nathan. caller: thank you for taking my

call. i think president biden did a great job. republicans are destroying the process. they should have taken it through the ways and means can it deep. the president is doing a great job. governor shapiro pennsylvania, everyone criticizes our president for being the worst president of the united states and that has happened ever since franklin roosevelt. every president is always the worst president in last never true. president biden is the correct person at this time and i was supportive for reelection. host: carla is in missouri. caller: my head is about to explode. first of all, before i get to

the budget deal. these people are throwing the word nazi. if you didn't live through world war ii you shouldn't be calling people nazi s. i am against this deal. by the end of biden's term we will be even further in debt. this is a horrible deal from all sides. i am so mad i could spit. host: alan is fort mills, north carolina. caller: on the jobs report, our is gig work included? are both

entitlement recipients from red states? host: maybe we can help you with that. we will have someone look that up. archie is in arnold, missouri. good morning. caller: i appreciate what our congress is done to pay her bills. i have a couple of issues whenever the guy was talking a minute ago about the tax break that the republicans got whenever trump got into office. there were however many billions of dollars that was rode off for so many people that younger people didn't get any of it? why wasn't that addressed in order to get the proper amount of taxes pulled in so two years down the road we could haven't

even budget? you understand what i'm saying? if my wife is spending everything and i have to worry about the credit card, what if i loose a credit card? i will be in trouble. is the same way with these people fighting instead of helping us. that should be straightened out. host: stanley from lakeland, florida. caller: good morning, this is stanley sanders. host: go ahead stanley. caller: the reason the debt limit is necessary because of the policies of biden and it's very simple. the weights and not worry about that talks is to minimize government spending, government

regulations and government taxes. what really started all this was because of restrictions on fossil fuels. if they had no restrictions on fossil fuels and maximize stock, that is what really started the inflation. is because of the gas prices got so high everything you evolved from that. the real secret is to minimize government spending, government regulations and government taxes and that would solve all the current problems. host: let's talk to doreen in louisiana. caller: hi, how are you and thank you for taking my call. i love watching you, you do a

great job. i don't know how the gentleman said president biden is doing a great job and he would vote for him again. i don't believe he believes suck. if you keep spending and spending it will be a disaster. in your own household if you spend until you get into debt everything falls into a crisis. that is common sense. spending has caused inflation to go out the roof, eggs being nine dollars, it is ridiculous. joe biden has to go and god bless him. host: that is the time we have for the segment thank you to everyone who called in. i want to show you this from the des moines register. gop candidates plan so roast

biden at joni's roast and ride. thattoday at 1:30. republican candidates nikki haley, mike pence, ron desan tim scott and larry elder are amongst those speaking at the rod ridevent hosted by joni first. you can watch that live beginning at 1:30. it is also on c-span now or online at c-span.org. coming up coming up next on washington journal, politico education reporter michael stratford discusses the latest othe biden administration's federal student loan debt and forgiveness efforts. and mark leonoldberg discusses

his podcast on foreign affairs issues. we will be right back. ♪ >> next week the house and senate return and the campaign 2024 coverage continues with presidential hopefuls announcing candidacy, mike pence, chris christie and doug burka. house oversight subcommittee on migrant surges and how they have exacerbation -- exacerbated law enforcement and an examination of the biden administration's prepared meant -- preparedness for the surge. we will talk about national security measures. what next week live on the

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find your program guide our wah online at tv.org. >> 40 our copy of the 118th congressional -- order your copy of the 118th congressional guide. go to c-span shop.org. every purchase helps support our nonprofit operations. >> "washington journal" continues. host: am joined by michael stratford of politico. welcome to the program.

guest: thank you for having me. host: our phone lines will be if you have a student loan debt you can call us on (202) 748-8000. if you have paid off your student loan debt call us on (202) 748-8001. everyone else can call us on (202) 748-8002. you can text and use social media. i want to start by reminding people of president biden's student loan forgiveness plan before we talk about the reaction to it. we will put it up on the screen. it is essentially to forgive $20,000 to pell grant recipients , low income borrowers, $10,000 to non-pell grantoans and this uld apply to anybody making under 120 $5,000 per year. if you are married filing

jointly -- making under $125,000 per year. if you are married filing jointly it would be $250,000 per year. tell us about the debt relief plan. there was a resolution what does it do? guest: it allows congress to quickly and more easily overturn recent executive branch policies . republicans who oppose the plan sought an opinion from the government watchdog that the plan amounted to a rule subject to this congressional review act. republicans introduced it earlier this year.

it was passed in the house last week and this week in the senate . the white house has promised president biden will veto this plan. his program he has attempted and championed, the act resolution nullifies the plan so the president's debt relief plan which is already on hold would have been completely repealed by this resolution. it also would have affected the ongoing pause on federal student loan payments. those payments have been frozen since the beginning of the pandemic back in march 2020. and the president in announcing his relief plan last august

announced an extension of the payment pause. the resolution targeted that as well. separately, there is other congressional action on student loans this past week that we can talk about. host: i want to talk about that and the pause but you mentioned the supreme court because they heard arguments in february. here is your article from political, supreme court appears skeptical of biden's student debt relief plan. do we know where they are going to come down on this because this could all go away if they rule the president doesn't have the right to forgive student loan debt. guest: that is right. this is a plan brought on by

conservatives. it is hard to glean what the courts might do from the oral arguments. but the conservative members of the court were skeptical that the president has the doherty -- the authority to cancel this debt, the administration argues it has the power to write off some of this debt under an emergency power given to the education department to address the effects of national emergencies. they say the covid pandemic is such an emergency that borrowers were struggling during the pandemic and the education department needs to wipe out some of that debt in order to prevent a surge of delinquency and default when payments restart after the pandemic. the conservative justices were particularly skeptical of that.

they have the majority on the supreme court. so the plan does seem to be in some peril at the supreme court but we won't know what the court will rule until the next several weeks when they are expected to release their plans. host: bobby scott spoke on the floor of the house about the impact the bill would have on borrowers. [video clip] >> hi republican colleagues refused to acknowledge serious questions about how -- might republican colleagues refused to acknowledge serious questions about how this would impact americans. you have to overturn the whole rule, including the pause in student loan payments and the deferral of interest. how do you pause a payment that was supposed to be made many months ago and what will happen

to all the interest payments that now have to be added back to the loans, about $233 a month in interest and principal and what happens to the public loan forgiveness promised during those months, our firefighters and teachers and other public servants who may have had their loans forgiven now on the rope for additional payments? the reality is it would trigger a wave of delinquencies and defaults for the most vulnerable borrowers. this resolution would create chaos for borrowers and their families as well as loan servicers and the congressional research service has confirmed this chaos would be triggered by retroactive application of this rule. host: michael, talk about that. how would it be applied

retroactively and do you think it would cause all this chaos the representative is talking about? guest: that was certainly a big sticking point in the debate over this resolution in congress over the past few weeks. it is somewhat unprecedented that congress would pass legislation to undo the student loan benefit. it is a bit unusual, typically when congress uses the tool of the congressional review act, they are blocking recently passed legislations from the executive branch that haven't taken effect yet. the congressional review act says that when congress uses this tool to repeal these

policies, the agencies shall treat the plot regulation as though -- the blocked regulation as though it has never taken effect. it is the student loan payment pause and the debt relief plan is a little bit unclear. the education department, biden administration hasn't said exactly how it would implement the resolution if it were to become law. they said it would cause operational problems and significant problems for borrowers but have not mentioned how they would implement it. republicans say it is fear mongering and that they would have the ability to implement it favorable to borrowers, not going back and calling back interests that borrowers were promised that were waived.

democrats say that is the plaintext of the review act saying the retroactivity is something the education department could have to do. it is unclear but the congressional budget office sided with republicans. they said the savings from this resolution, they said they did not anticipate an retroactive effect. host: let's look at another side to that, republicans talking about what the resolution would do. [video clip] >> tip xinia liberal fashion, democrats -- typical liberal fashion, democrats want

americans to foot the bill. america also shouldn't buy accusations from the left that the resolution would charge borrowers backpay for interest payments. it couldn't be further from the truth. nowhere in this resolution doesn't mandate backpay. it is prospect of, not retrospective. if anything it will be their decision to enact backpay. host: what do you think of that? that is what you were talking about with the backpay. does that settle the issue? guest: no, it doesn't. from our reporting we understand the congressional research service on a variety of issues has said that retroactivity is one possible outcome of this

resolution, but as you heard the congresswoman, she and republicans think there would be discretion at the administration to avoid this. we should point out this is somewhat of an academic debate at this point because president biden has indicated he will veto this resolution and it will not become law. there aren't the in congress to override that veto that the legislation didn't pass with the two thirds majority that would be needed to override the potential veto. host: areas is first in maryland. -- darius is first in maryland. caller: i have three points and then a question. number one, to the clip you just paid, who benefits the most from

student loans not being forgiven? i believe there are minute -- municipalities or state governments that have attached themselves to universities for their retirements, pension plans and like that. also, can you speak to the prospect of an retrospective, where these are possibilities. i don't think many callers are very savvy when it comes to doing anything illegal. even though we say perspective and retrospectives are possibilities. my third point, i am under 35 and i cannot buy a home.

can you speak to those who went to school during the 1970's or during the 1980's or whatever the case is in the massive difference between the loans they took out and the free ride they ended up getting until the mid-1990's where they were buying homes and living their lives and talk to the fact that because home purchases are low at the present point because many previous students cannot longer afford a home due to the student loan debt against them when it comes to purchasing a home. host: we will get answers to those, but you have student debt, can you tell us how much you are carrying? caller: i don't know the exact amount because the interest rate on it has changed, but last, it was around $60,000.

i make around $60,000. so it is relatively crazy that i make what i came out in debt and with the interest, it is going to be more than $60,000. host: let's get some answers. michael? guest: there is the point about the confusion about the different options for borrowers is fairly well taken. borrowers are being left hanging , because we have a lot of different moving parts. 40 million americans who have student loans are waiting for the supreme court to decide what is going to happen with their loans later this year. we do know as part of the debt ceiling deal that was reached

this past week that the education department would be prohibited from further extended -- extending the ongoing pause in payments. that is set to go through the end of august. the administration agreed with republican leaders negotiating a deal they would put into the package a provision that prevents further extension of that payment pause. we know effectively payments restart this fall or borrowers. that is not particularly helpful if you are reading on potentially having $10,000 or $20,000 of your debt forgiven. for that answer we will have to wait on the supreme court hopefully in the coming weeks. host: he did talk about how much the change of how much college costs these days and how much they cost back in the 1970's and 1980's.

is that a part of the discussion at all? guest: it is very the argument for progressives who over the course of several years really brought the idea of student let -- debt cancellation and the fringes of debate to the main stage and having multiple democratic candidates in 2020 talk about this and having president biden ultimately agreed to move forward with a plan to cancel some of the debt. that is some of the argument progressives are making that the student loan system is broken and our system of financing higher education has out of control and the majority of students can't go to college without taking on significant amounts of student debt and they

note in some cases it could be a drag on the economy for not doing family formation, people from purchasing homes. it was a core argument that this program would be an economic stimulant and the administration makes the secondary argument that borrowers need more assistance in responding to the economic effects of the covid-19 pandemic. host: there doesn't seem to be a lot of pressure on universities to keep the costs low. guest: that is right. that is a reason why many conservatives oppose this policy and they fear it will only worsen the rising costs of college because students will take out more if they have an

expectation it will be forgiven in the future. the administration responded that there are a few plans they are trying to help tackle the costs. the administration is working on rules that would more tightly regulate career college programs , programs for for-profit schools and career colleges they have forthcoming rules to cut off from federal student aid funding programs that leave borrowers with high debt loads and low levels of earning. the administration also says it wants to tackle this issue by writing more consumer public education -- by providing more consumer public education and

coming up with a list of colleges that provide low value to students and made enhancements to the web side -- website that names colleges with a range of outcomes for programs and institutions that will help people take more informed decisions before taking out these loans. host: let's talk to jim in hattiesburg, mississippi. caller: i wanted to say that i have student loans from my undergraduate and i do it degree -- and graduate degree. i became disabled after college and got total discharge. it has forgiven my debt and in exchange, i am on a three year probationary period for my

income to make sure it doesn't go above a certain level. provided it doesn't come at the end of those years, all of my student debt loan is forgiven. host: any comment on that, michael? guest: that segues into another part of this conversation which is the existing range of federal programs that are designed to help borrowers with their student debt. it also includes borrowers who become totally and permanently disabled and are unable to work or limited ability to work. the biden administration has forgiven tens of points of dollars through that program by essentially breaking down some of the paperwork barriers that existed and prevented borrowers

that qualify from getting the benefit. if the government knows a borrower qualifies because they are receiving social security disability benefits, for example , the other part of the government, the education department, didn't connect the dots so the administration made it more seamless for them to automatically get that in a fit. and there are other programs that said they want to make improvements for borrowers defrauded by their college and those working in public service jobs. there are various parts the administration is working on to make improvements. host: robert is in missouri. go right ahead. caller: michael has answered a

lot of questions. i had a grant. i was blind in one eye and couldn't go into the military. they gave me -- they paid for my school because i was about to join the military. costs back then were a lot less. i never knew police officers and firefighters need to go to college to get their jobs. i understand that the teachers would need to. host: we will get a response. go ahead, michael. guest: i think he is talking

about the public service own forgiveness mentioned, passed by congress in 2007. the premise is that borrowers who work in public service jobs and nonprofits, police officers, teachers, and then after 10 years they have their loans forgiven. the problem is very few borrowers were making it through that process for a variety of reasons. there were allegations that the loan servicers were not helping borrowers to fill out the paperwork and a stay enrolled in the program and frankly the criteria was a it, hated for people to figure out. what the biden administration did last year was institute a one-time waiver that allowed people who otherwise wouldn't qualify for the program to qualify and as a result, over

the past few years they have forgiven tens of millions of dollars of debt owed by public service workers and they are taking steps to try to streamline the process going forward. host: james has a student loan, matthews, north carolina. caller: the thing about -- it seems like most of the programs are dressed up in a nice suit and then when you peel it back it doesn't have that. i paid my kids college without alone. -- without a loan. when i went to college it was $24 a credit hour.

kids could afford that. when the public colleges costs skyrocketed and you almost needed it to get a job and that is when the corruption seat in. you have kids coming out of school owing hundreds of thousands of dollars and still living at home there parents and congress says we can't do anything about it. it is not that they can't do anything about it, it is the recipients. you have poor white people and blacks and they won't do anything about it. host: we will stay with the

student loans. go ahead, michael. guest: i think that is part of the debate that over the past few decades, states have pulled back their investment in higher education at public colleges and universities, which is where the majority of students vote to school and they have responded by having to increase the tuition and what they pay to go to college. that is a big driver. host: you alluded to legislation that would address this problem. is there anything currently like that? guest: the administration and the democrats proposal for dealing with the cost of college is to provide significant

increased federal subsidies. you will remember the president was pushing a plan to get states money to eliminate tuition at community colleges and during the campaign he talked about that at some hbcus and minority institutions, but that didn't make it into the legislative package that eventually came the inflation reduction act last year. it democratic proposal hanging out there, republicans probably later this year will be talking about introducing a higher education bill to reauthorize some of the student loan programs and we will see what their proposals are. but there is not really much appetite on the hill right now for a sort of comprehensive

overhaul of the higher education policies and probably not something we lose the next year either. host: scott is in maryland, good morning. caller: my loans got paid off with a combination of paying through the nose and income based repayment and covid shutting down payments and interest for a good while and finally the public service loan forgiveness waiver. biden put that in place in october 2021. think it ended a year later. they might have continued it because of the $10,000 or $20,000 thing going to court and that is a separate thing that didn't apply to me. pennsylvania higher education and loans, that doesn't count toward the psls until

president biden put that in. now my loans are included. before it was undergraduate -- graduate didn't count. they were giving bad advice and putting you in forbearance for 12 or 13 months at a time that now i find out is way too much. there is a lot of problem with the system. you would think they would have figured out this stuff and automated it. i don't know if it is a human problem. if you pay off a loan, less money for the servicers. so they have a conflict of

interest helping out borrowers with loans and getting them into the right programs. every buddy should automatically booted -- everybody should automatically be put into the income driven owns. host: what do you think, michael? guest: it has a pitfall that borrowers have to recertify income every year because the payments are based on a formula that is tied to their income. the good news is that a few years ago congress passed legislation that allows the education department to access, with borrowers permission, federal tax information at the irs so borrowers wouldn't have to every year at submit tax documentation proving to the government but the government already knows which is their tax income information.

that is in the process of being fully implemented. they are working on it and as they put a new income driven repayment program, that will get the data sharing program up and running. with the income driven repayment plan, you should see in the next few months, one component is whether borrowers should automatically be placed in these programs because in the argument is it would prevent default and delinquency because in many cases if someone can't afford to pay their student loan because their income is low, they could qualify for a zero dollar per

month payment due to these programs, but challenges that a lot of people aren't participating in those programs. so the argument is whether they should be automatically be put in them if they fall behind on payments and we could see something on that in the new rule that comes out potentially in the next few months. host: now that the pause and loan repayments is over, i guess, when do payment actually start? when are borrowers expected to make payments? guest: as we've mentioned, the debt ceiling bill the president is expected to sign soon would prohibit from further extending the payment pause effective august 30 of this year. that means payments will start and interest will resume accruing after that point. we don't know exactly when the

administration would require borrowers to start paying. we have heard reporting about the education department planning this and previous plans have called for interest to start accruing in september with the first payment due date for borrowers at some point in october. payments have payments at different times throughout the month. the first month in which borrowers would be required to make payments, at least under some of the existing plans would be october with interest accruing in september. host: let's go to david in detroit, michigan. you have student loan debt. caller: i have substantial student loan debt.

i don't try to lay blame on the student loan program. it served its purpose. it allowed me to access education, or higher education where in many instances i would not have been able to afford it. my situation is vastly different. i chose to go into higher education with the intent receiving a doctorate. and so yes, i have amassed quite a bit of student loan debt, but just keep in mind, i am the tail end of the baby boom generation. i graduated from high school in 1978.

i went into the united states navy and did four or five years there and then i went in after the old g.i. bill so i didn't get that so i had to take student loan debt in undergrad. when i got to grad school, i took out quite a bit of money to complete my graduate degree. the point being is that it does need reshaping and i don't think i am going to make enough money to be able to balance and have a lifestyle and i am prepared for that but i do think that hopefully the gentleman and society at large will take the different look at how student loans are lent out and the banks

getting into the business, charging higher than usual interest rates in many instances . i am definitely on track or behind the thinking that we should really revisit student loan debt and how it should be or can be repaid. host: there is a question we got on text from alan in hawaii. he says do you think there will be traction on a new bill to discharge student loans in bankruptcy? what do you think? guest: student loans are particularly difficult to get discharged in bankruptcy. borrowers who go into bankruptcy have to prove that their student

loan debt posed an undue burden on them going forward, which is a really high bar for bankruptcy proceedings that isn't a standard applied to other debt. there has been discussion and talk about changing that and allowing borrowers to discharge their student loans more easily in bankruptcy. the caller mentioned the pending legislation which is bipartisan legislation between senator durbin and senator corbin. that hasn't moved at all. this congress as far as i am aware, there are no immediate plans to move it. the biden administration has taken some administrative action

to make it easier effectively for borrowers to get their debt discharged in bankruptcy because it is the government on the other end of the bankruptcy proceeding in those cases, so the justice department has instructed u.s. attorney is dealing with these bankruptcy cases to essentially make it easy for borrowers to face the undue burden rather than fighting them every step of the way, which was what the justice department was doing before. that doesn't change the standards. that is just sort of around the edges of how it is enforced. the legislation the caller is talking about we change the standard which is something that has been the subject of debate for a while now. i don't have any prognostication on what might happen to it. host: let's talk to chris in

pittsburgh. caller: my general take on this, i did have student loans and i paid them off and it was very difficult. i lived very within my means. i am not in favor of just totally eliminating student debt. i would be in favor of lowering the interest rate, all sorts of things to make it easier to repay but not eliminate it. maybe do a partial elimination, just not a total wipe the slate clean. connected to this, i general viewpoint is that the whole higher education system is getting a little bit of a mess right now because mom you know -- because, you know, they all compete with each other. the high and engineering

schools, for instance, want to have their tuition to be compatible because they see it as a competition, and yet many of these schools give grants so the tuition is this mystery number. then all this money comes in. explain to me why the engineering schools are dominated by foreign, chinese, primarily indian students coming in and taking these positions. the administrative staff has totally exploded it the university has to have a climbing wall to compete with other universities. look at the images of these graduations. it is like a fantastic resort. host: let's get a response. guest: that is certainly part of the debate over college costs.

i would point out that there is really a broad diversity to who takes out student loan debt and why they have student loan debt. in some cases they went to a university that has a fancy climbing wall and in other cases they took part time while working and couldn't make it through the program for financial reasons or other reasons and they have small amounts of student loan debt. and a lot of times those are the borrowers likely to fall behind and default on their loan because they have the debt but don't have the credential on the other end, the diploma, to get higher wage in the job market. a big component of forgiving student loan debt is wiping out the debt obligations of those

folks but i take the caller's point that it is taken out by at very fancy private with a climbing wall. host: michael stratford, thank you for joining us. guest: thanks for having me. host: mark leon goldber discusses his podcasts and foreign affairs issues. but first we will hear more from you during open forum. you can start calling. we will be right back.. ♪ >> sunday night on q&a, in his book lost and broken, adam smith

details his decades long struggle living with chronic pain and anxiety and finding the right treatment and the u.s. health care system and ability to meet the needs of americans with mental and physical health issues. >> when the anxiety and pain hit, i had no idea what to do. when i was trying to accomplish something in life and i thought, i can't do it, i would go to very self-pity. then i would be, what are you going to do? so i had little yellow notepads and writing down what i was going to do. i could do something. here, what can i do? i have this feeling of incredible anxiety, can't sleep, i'm in pain and i'm trying to exercise but i can't.

>> adam smith with his book "lost and broken," on c-span's q and a. you can listen on our free mobile app. ♪ >> since 1979, in partnership of the cable industry, c-span has provided complete coverage of the halls of congress, from the house and senate floors to congressional hearings, briefings, and committee readings. c-span gives you a front row seat for how issues are debated and decided with no commentary, interruptions and completely unfiltered. c-span, your ud nfilew of government. >> a healthy democracy doesn't look like this, it looks like this, where americans can see democracy at work.

a republic driving, informed, straight from the sources on c-span, unfiltered, unbiased, word for word from the nations capitol to wherever you are. the opinion that matters the most is your own. c-span, powered by cable. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we are taking your calls. you can call on lines by party affiliation, publicans, (202) 748-8001, democrats (202) 748-8000, independents (202) 748-8002. this is the front page of the washington post, it says the georgia probe of trump broadens. several states under scrutiny and assign of a sprawling case.

an atlanta investigation of election interference by president donald trump and his allies has broadened to include activities in d.c. and several states. according to people with knowledge of the probe, a fresh sign prosecutors may be building a sprawling case under georgia's racketeering laws. reminding you the job numbers came out yesterday from the department of labor. employers add 339,000 jobs. here is another article from fox news.com, pence will face no charges from doj investigation into retention of classified records. he is expected to announce a 2024 presidential campaign next week. it says that former vice

president mike pence will not be charged in the justin -- justice department investigation into classified records in the time of trump's administration. fox news was told the investigation is closed into his possession of classified documents at his residence in indiana. the justice department said a letter to penn's attorneys said the fbi and doj have completed the investigation in no criminal charges will be brought against the former vice president. it says pence informed congress and the national archives in january that he discovered documents with classified markings in his indiana home on january 16 from his time as vice president. it is open forum. we will start with stephanie, who is in pennsylvania. caller: i am calling about our

capitalist american companies. we are saber rattling all over the orient because of china, but our companies, i read article after article in the wall street journal about our companies are still flocking to china to do -- to manufacture our goods. what is going on there? we are making china rich. we are making china's army and air force. why doesn't anybody ever say anything about that? you either choose china or you choose the united states, but you can't choose both. i hope that people call their representatives and senators and

tell them, stop saber rattling and starting a war when our companies are making china great again. host: would you be willing to pay more for stuff that is made in china much cheaper than it would be made in the united states? caller: the tariff thing was supposed to correct that. so americans are paying more when trump puts a tariff on and eitan didn't change anything -- and biden didn't change anything. our trade deficit went to $700 billion a year. the americans are paying those tariffs. all the news article say the tariffs aren't hurting china, they are hurting the buyers in the united states. that really doesn't hold up that argument anymore.

otherwise, yes, i am willing to pay more for goods made in america. i have made conscious efforts to find even boots that are made in the united states. you can't find anything that is made in the united states. host: i hear you, stephanie, an independent. the numbers are on your screen. it is open forum. republicans, (202) 748-8001, democrats (202) 748-8000, independents (202) 748-8002. marine is in winchester, new hampshire. -- maureen is next in winchester, new hampshire. caller: something that has been bothering me, this is about our elections.

we no sooner elect one group of people lowest school board members up to the presidency, and they no sooner get elected and they start running for the next election. and they are keeping score by how many donations and how much they get. i am looking at these figures of the donations to be spent. it is mostly on television ads, which i think was a bad thing. i don't think they ought to allow electioneering right off the bat. it has cost millions and billions of dollars that could go into schools, into our health care. they are wearing about saying they are worried about spending when he on social security -- spending money on social security and this and that and we have all of this money rolling into campaigns.

it is said that money is speech. where is this money coming from and you don't get something for nothing. these people are obligated to these donors. host: speaking of elections, take a look at this from the des moines register, candidates to ride motorcycles and roast biden at the joni ernst roast and ride as the iowa caucus season is revving up with the first event. republican candidates have been confirmed as speakers, and they will ride in on order cycles and make their case to iowa caucus-goers, kicking off a busy summer season of campaigning. we will have coverage of that event here on c-span at 130 time

-- 1:30. nikki haley, mike pence, ron , -- vivek ramaswami and of barry elder will be there. -- and larry elder will be there. you can watch on c-span, c-span now or c-span.org. monday at 9:00 a.m. eastern, we will have for you secretary of state antony blinken ring israel relations at his speech at the policy summit. that is on c-span two, c-span now, or c-span.org. paul is next in louisiana, republican. caller: yes i am. host: go ahead, paul.

caller: i wanted to bring a fact to the people who are watching, since last year, figures have shown that we have 63 million abortions and they keep on going and killing. what gets me disappointed is the fact that president biden considers himself a true catholic. i don't think the catholic faith has approved abortion at all. i don't think he has bed a good catholic -- has been a good catholic example for others to see. it is a disappointment to see

how our legislatures are arguing about 12 weeks, 24 weeks, a baby should be aborted. how about the point of conception, where that child has to be protected until birth. that's it. host: we will pause on the open forum to talk to andrew ginter, the mayor of columbus, ohio and the second vice president of the u.s. conference of mayors. welcome to the program. guest: thanks for having me. host: tell us about the conference of mayors. what do you typically get from the yearly meetings? guest: we are excited to host in columbus for the first time in history.

it is a coalition of mayors from all over america, publicans, democrats, independenta, -- independents, working with each other to advocate at the state level. you have mayors exchanging ideas on the biggest issues facing us as a country and certainly at the local level, whether it is gun violence, housing affordability, job creation, innovation and creation. a great time for us to share ideas, best practices and and together to fight for cities. host: you mentioned issues that will be brought this says that public safety is expected to top the list of issues at the mayor's conference in columbus. tell us about that. what do you expect to hear? what is going on? >> we series i can violence in

many counties. we have the most reckless and dangerous gun policy that we've ever had interstates history. not only did the assault weapons ban expired on a federal level, but the other elements of the crime bill with a weight to be effective on the state level, but the legislature has patched -- past eight conceal carry, and there is a proliferation of guns going into american cities, so we are coming together to figure out ways to fight for storage of firearms and red flag walls. universal background checks. banning bump stocks. all the things we need to do to make cc chafed, and what we are saying is that if we don't have the courage to take on these issues, at least get out of our way and let us protect our cities.

>> the infrastructure law passed. it will have a big impact on local communities. what are you going to be talking about with infrastructure, and how will that impact your city in columbus? >> we are excited about this. so proud to have bipartisan support from the state of ohio and grateful to the conference of mayors for all of their advocacy and support. this will be a transformational opportunity across the country to invest in infrastructure. when you look at the last couple of years with all of the success, whether the american rescue plan or infrastructure law read inflation reduction act. the chips act. we are more excited about our partnerships with the biden administration. there is not been a more close city present from the of the structural.

make a huge difference across america, whether it is roads, businesses, everything that makes our cities thrive and grow. and, it will create millions of jobs at the same time. that is critically important to our city's future. >> have you seen any projects? has anything started in columbus yet? >> there are number of things for one of our major thoroughfares here in columbus around nationwide children's hospital which is one of the largest in america. as part of the bipartisan infrastructure law, with u.s. conference, miss landry is running on the white house, so he knows the best way to get infrastructure money spent and invested appropriately and efficiently by working with america's mayors. if you want to get done, you are

for the mayor. there are three kinds of folks in america. republicans, democrats and mayors. mayors do not have time for partisanship or ideological fights. our job is to solve problems and that is what we are going to do bipartisan infrastructure. >> speaking of problems, there is a problem of migrants coming to various cities around the country. what are your fellow mayors saying about that. how are you dealing with that issue? >> we need more help from the government. honestly, we need comprehensive immigration reform. as long as we have battles and partisan fights in washington, we will not be solving the problem. we have strong advocates for comprehensive immigration reform for a number of years, and it's time for leaders in washington to step up and do what we know is right and do what is right for our economy. on the unitarian level, we need

much more federal resource and support to work and help mayors deal with the crisis as more folks are showing up in places like new york city or chicago or other cities across the country. we need more federal resources and support until conference of immigration reform is passed. >> finally, we know that this second general will be addressing this is there a bigger problem? we look at the statistics in america, and around the world, so we are so thrilled to welcome with roundtables, but what we can do on a local level, that there may be resources available on a federal level partnership. we have to come together and

write extremism in the form of extremism, homophobia, sexism. we are excited to welcome a second general -- gentlemen. we are all safer when we stamp out anti-semitism. >> mayor of columbus ohio and second vice president of the conference of mayors. thank you for joining us. this is open forum, so we are taking your call for the next 10 minutes. gordon, georgia, independent line. you are next. good morning. >> yes. we need to stop the instruction of talking about abortion and immigration and all of this kind of stuff. we can't control it, and to get to the things to fight for things with education and health care. in america, we will pay for

people in prison to have health care and education, but our own citizen will let them have it, and it makes no sense. an older generation, i am 39, but i got mine, so we don't care about your generation. the thing about it is we don't have a cure. that's all i've got. >> in brandon florida, good morning, ted. >> good morning. i just want to say something about the passing of the budget deal at all of that. i think that is a good deal, but it is also a show, and a waste of time because it is really going to be passed. everyone pretty much knew that was going to happen. the one thing that i want to say

, your government is not your kitchen table budget. it is very complicated. most of the time, those things go five or 10 or 15 years out. as far as dealing with certain issues. the thing that you have to realize who you need to be contacting is your government. those are the ones who get your property taxes, your fees, all of those things that are committed to your state. if you're not happy with what is going on, it is not the federal government to for the most part, is your state government. that is who is dealing with all of this stuff that's going on. they get a lot of stuff from the federal government. they get a lot of money from you, the taxpayer. >> got it. let's talk to john in goldsboro. hello.

>> i. thank you for taking my call. i want to say i think joe biden is the worst president we've ever had in the history of the country. there are number of reasons for. one is what he's done to our border. it is criminal. it has been a policy that is criminal. he has weaponize the justice department. he goes after republicans and doesn't touch a single crony or he ruins the country with inflation. his historic policy has been a wreck in ukraine. as because of world war iii. i just think he is the most divisive president and we have to get him out of office. >> thank you. >> will be talking about or in policy in our next segment so stay tuned for that. charlie is next in fort myers florida, indiana -- independent. good morning. >> can morning. >> is interesting how the democrats and republicans always

want to throw things out there. it's time to come together as a country and remember we are the united states, and to stop trying to divide us. >> all right. jeff is in indianapolis. , crabb. >> good morning. i want to talk about the subject a little bit. it's an important issue, and there was a guy promoting this not that -- nonsense. it is book banning. i want to tell the republicans one thing for it i will read whatever i want to read, and you have people in the school boards. you have a woman who said she doesn't read a lot, and amanda gorman, a young lady who read this at the inauguration, she is going to get this poem banned in

a school, and she is confused with oprah winfrey. oprah winfrey wrote this poem. i'm going to tell you about these republicans, and obviously don't read that much, but if you have a high school diploma, i will read whatever i want to read, and ron desantis, we are not going to put up with a fascist america. i will read whatever i want to read. >> mike is in stockton california. independent. >> hello. i don't know if anyone remembers, but the references to nazi-ism in all this kind of stuff, there were black suvs where you couldn't see the names, and the police were dealing with the administration. that was nazi stuff. everything the republicans are doing, the 14th amendment says

you're not supposed men surround with debt like that, and they're doing it like they are supposed to certify the election. just uncertified. they bring in the debt ceiling, the national debt is mixed up, and everything they say is mixed up. it's not true what the republican's are same. i met independent, democrat or republican doesn't matter to me. i'm just in shock. they are saying donald trump is a good president and biden is in. be personal about it. if you can put your hand on woman stress, what is it -- what if it is your sister or mother print is that ok with you? if you can choose someone on 5th avenue, that your father or brother or sister, is that ok? everything he says is terrible. donald trump is a terrible

person and a terrible president and i hope all of your kids grow up to be just like donald trump and you will see what we are same. that's all we are same. >> let's lot -- let's talk to alan. independent. next morning. i'm calling because i've heard several times that reporters say that one quarter of the deficit is due to the trump administration and raising the ceiling three times and giving us a high tax break the wealthy. i don't hear the said very much, but it seems to imply that biden should be blamed so much for the situation that we are in. trump is known here in new jersey. he has a number of failed businesses. his casino went bankrupt. i was privately -- when he became president, he wanted to encrypt the country. quarter of the debt is due to him.

he was on his way to do that. that's all i have to say. >> that's all the time we have for open forums. up next on washingn journal, we have a spotlight on podcasts. mark leon golerg discusses his podcast called global dispatches. also, other foreign affairs issues. we'll be right back.

>> washington journal continues. >> welcome back to washington journal. my guest is mark leon goldberg.

he is a host of a podcast called global dispatches. he is also the editor of the when dispatch. welcome to the program. >> think you for having me. >> before we get into foreign policy issues that we want to talk about, talk about the podcast. white and when did it start much more >> global dispatch is the longest running independent international affairs podcast. i started it 10 years ago. i saw a dearth of coverage of international news in an emerging sphere. over the last decade or so, my choice remained fairly consistent. each episode is structured about a 25 minute interview that i conduct with an expert who has some knowledge about something happening in the world, whether does a political crisis in ecuador, a big u.n. meeting on

banning chemical weapons, or what a u.s. default might mean for the developing world. the idea hind each interview is to draw out the person i am interviewing and do so anyway that is enlightening, informative, and a bit entertaining for the audience as well. >> there's a lot on any given week internationally. how do you decide what to cover in your podcast? >> the podcast specializes, i would say, in covering issues that are globally important. but they don't typically get in-depth coverage in mainstream english language media, in the west, or in the united states. this often leads me to shine a spotlight on under covered global crises, such as a humanitarian bend or a drought that is compounding misery in the horn of africa. or, the ongoing civil war in

sudan. or even issues that don't get routinely covered like meetings happening at the u.n.. just a few weeks ago, there was a big meeting on chemical weapons that was happening under you and auspices. no other outlet was covering that, so i decided to take it upon myself to do so and explain what the issues were that were being discussed and debated at this big meeting on chemical weapons. each interview is to, when appropriate, shine a spotlight on noble stories, but i don't exclude big stories like china, like ukraine, like things happening to foreign policy. i integrate those into my coverage, but i also seek to keep listeners informed about what is happening in the rest of the world works will talk about a lot of those issues that you

mentioned, but i will mention to our viewers that you can call in now if you would like to ask a question of our gas or make a comment. those numbers are republicans, democrats and independents on the screen. you can also text us and set of social media posts. i want to start with china. there is a big meeting going on called the shangri-la dialogue did right now in singapore, it is very interestingly are secretary of defense who reached out to china's counterpart and he -- generally refused to meet with lloyd austin. what do you make of that? are u.s. china tensions at a

dangerous point at this point? >> i think the decision by the chinese government to refuse a direct meeting with lloyd austin at this shangri-la summit, which for contacts is the major asian security summit. you had prime ministers from around the region descending on shangri-la in singapore with the annual event discussing key security issues, and it is meant as a forum for dialogue and also a place where these ministers can have bilateral meetings with each other to discuss key issues of bilateral concerns. this would have been a very opportune moment for the u.s. secretary of defense minister to discuss some of these concerns they have with each other and other areas of mutual cooperation. unfortunately, the chinese government decided to reject a direct lateral meeting with

lloyd austin. lloyd austin was not seen on camera, smiling and shaking the hand of his chinese counterpart. but as he said afterwards, a handshake doesn't substitute substantive conversation, and there is an incident that is unfortunately indicative of where we are in the u.s. china relations, and it is problematic that the two countries don't have a sustained level of dialogue and communication. these art major powers in the world, these are the third-largest nuclear arsenals in the world with plenty of tensions around taiwan and other key issues, and the fact that you don't have sustained or high level communication is just an inherently dangerous situation. even in the depths of the cold

war, with the u.s. and the ussr, you have open lines of communication, but that is not the case right now with china, things have been on a downward spiral. >> why is that? what happened? why has the relationship with china gotten so bad? >> the proximate cause of the downward spiral was the balloon incident. right before that, you had an opportunity to get more stable footing, and antony blinken was headed to beijing. and then this spy meeting blew up, and the meeting was canceled, and there has been a lack of public diplomacy and communication between chinese leaders and american leaders.

they are like structural reasons for that as well. there is a rising power with the chinese and an established power, there was an inherent tension there, and there is obviously tension over the status of taiwan, but the bottom line is that these countries ought to be talking to each other to reduce any mistakes they might have in perceiving each others intentions and foreign policies. >> let's talk about the russia ukraine war. we have heard a lot about the counteroffensive read what is happening with that and what is the next phase going to look like? >> we are widely expecting a much anticipated ukrainian counteroffensive. they have been telegraphing this for four months old. -- four months now. they are proving arms to the ukraine on the russian side.

they have been escalating and stepping up more audacious daytime attack on kyiv in particar. three civilians were killed and yet another missile strike in ukraine. from the ukrainian side, the was an air defense system that seems to be working pretty well. the d news is that russia, in anticipation of this plant counteroffensive is stepping up. it is air assault on civilian infrastructure in ukraine, and it is very dangerous and tense. >> as far as more attacks on moscow, on areas of insight and russia, is that what you are expecting? >> ukrainians have denied their responsible for. >> from my perspective, sitting at my computer, i can't deduce who is behind these drone

attacks in moscow. but it seems to me to be a strong signal from ukraine to moscow that should moscow intensify its attacks against targets in kyiv and the context of eight ukrainian counteroffensive in the east of ukraine, that indeed, ukraine has the opportunity to strike in moscow. >> moving to ask -- africa, there is a drought in the horn of africa. what is going on there? asked right now, this is one of the major stories that tends to get drowned out by our focus. understandably so in china and russia. since october of 2020, the horn of africa, pacifically ethiopia and kenya have been in an epic drought. there have been failed rainy

seasons to the point where 40 million people across this region are now on the brink of a complete famine and disaster. livestock are running out, food is running dry, and this is a region as well that is prone to conflict. there has been civil war recently in somalia. there's been civil war in ethiopia. kenya is home to the world's largest refugee camp. mostly somalians who are leading conflict disasters over the border to kenya. just this week, i heard from a humanitarian aid worker in that refugee camp that they are running out of supplies and support. earlier this week, earlier in the month, i should say, the united nations held a fundraising, rinse for this disaster to help pay for food and medicine and shelter for people, displaced by the drought.

seeking to raise $7 billion, and by the end of this conference, they came nowhere close to raising the amount, so this is shaping up to be a major human emergency that will impact the lives of billions of people and have profound security concerns beyond the region. >> there is a civil war going on in sudan. what is going on with that and how might the u.s. be involved? what is the role of that smirk >> the united states, along with saudi arabia has been seek to broke her a humanitarian cease-fire. fighting in sedan broke out in april 15 between two rival generals. they are seeking to control the state. these generals have been partners in the suppose a transition to a civilian lead role? they partnered up to mount a

coup against the civilian leadership in sudan. after having toppled to civilian leaders of sudan, these generals started fighting each other and now, they are a country of worry million people who are caught in the crossfire. it is a dangerous situation. they have millions of people free -- fleeing from sudan, and you have thousands of people killed thus far and just to put this in context, we all remember the syrians have a war. there were 50 million people. there is a much larger country in a very strategic part of the world. what happens in sudan must not be contained to sudan. the united states and its allies in the region, including saudi arabia have been seeking to rocher a humanitarian cease-fire. two weeks ago, it looked like they were getting close and making progress. it looked like they had an

agreement, however, that has fallen apart in recent days and the fighting has erected once again, and the fighting has recently imposed sanctions on certain financial entities controlled by the two rival generals in an attempt to get them back to the negotiating table. >> let's get some calls from our viewers print run is first. a republican in san clemente california. good morning. wax good morning. you represent c-span in the best and highest regard. we've always been proud of you. but mark, you have in plate of issues on your hands. i'm going to bring up a couple of things. number one, if you want to stop the problems with china, rollback the terror from the trumpet ms. ration. it would be a nice way to stop that right now.

were hurting them in the handbook, and in the back pocket with the tariffs. a number of unreported stories i would love you to take a look at. on the kurdish issue, what is going on with our free countries? syria, turkey, iran, and iraq. actually. what is happening to our friends , the kurds? what i think is really important is that in serbia, and kosovo, they are what you would call an eastern orthodox religious area. serbia is more or less catholic. what you've got is these issues that are a little wine from the teaspoon, they all start with

religious fervor and background. we just want you to carve something that has a meaning that we have been so tired of seeing c-span in all of these companies follow the same thing, and cover the same ground. it is boring. >> all right. let's hear from mark. go ahead. >> if you are bored, mainstream media it means you should subscribe to this podcast. we have covered all of the stories you've mentioned, but to address your question specifically, on china, trade issues, one of the e issues is hearing and speaking with people who represent the chinese perspective. the u.s. has a broad fan on the export of semiconductor parts and manufacturing in china, which is stunting the development of the chinese semiconductor manufacturing

industry. from a chinese perspective, what you hear is that there are all of these sanctions against us and they have all of these bands on exporting equipment, and we think that is just to hold us down. they are not offering any positive vision of what a chinese relationship should be like, so they have this aggrieved perspective on why the u.s. is imposing the sanctions that they do, and it is to impede the inevitable rise. that is important to keep in mind when considering these trade issues with china thread on on the issue, it is a difficult and really tenuous situation, particularly in northern syria where you have the united states backing a kurdish group that has been highly effective and routing isis from the region.

however, the government of turkey they consider it a terrorist group to undermine the turkish states. you have an odd situation in which the united states is directly supporting a group that a nato ally considers to be a terrorist group rated this is all very much an unresolved challenge. more broadly, throughout the middle east, i think the big seismic lyrical shift to keep an eye on pertains to syria and how the star al-assad, the syrian president is coming in from the cold after a decade of being on the outs with other regional leaders read for his conduct and for what happened in the syrian civil war. that stock is being let back into the club of that.

this is about forming relations between saudi arabia and iran. the governments have been at odds for years, but they are now starting to find ways to coexist which i think is a good thing. you don't want to see the two big powers in the region seeking to undermine each other at every turn. there is a warning of relations between saudi arabia and iran and the consequences bringing assad back into the international mix, and in terms of what is happening in kosovo and the elkins, this is a story to keep an eye on.

this is the soft underbelly of europe, and the fact that it is a place, historically, where conflict can fester. were seeing signs particularly over the serbian control part of bosnia of increased nationalism and increased russian meddling as the 1995 accords which ended the balkan civil war but in stamp -- establish the sanctity of bosnia has gone to unravel if you ask close balkan watchers. that is partly a consequence of russian meddling. it is certainly an important story to keep an eye on. >> you've mentioned that the turkish leader was reelected. that was for another term. what impact might that have on regional, global and on the united states? >> the u.s., particularly for

biden, there is not a close relation. they played their foreign policy that has inserted turkey. it is in regional politics. turkey is not gone all in on other nato countries sanctions on russia. with key military equipment, there is a meaningful impact. diplomatically, turkey has played an role in brokering what is known as the black sea grain initiative. this was something that was pushed heavily by the united nations and the secretary-general. essentially, ukraine is one of the breadbasket of the world print russia is one of the breadbasket of the world.

they are in a context of rising inflation, everywhere. pricesn food had shot up dratally, particularly in e developing world, and particularly in the horn of africa where we ar discussing the droppingo bad. it is one of those humanitarian emergencies because the cost of food is high. the united nations brokered an export agreement to search vessels that are leaving to go through turkey and reach the rest of the world with food and not arms. turkey played an important role in brokering that agreement. it is important, strategically and i don't suspect that there will be any profound shift in turkey's foreign policy, owing to the reelection of the president has been serving since 2000.

>> going back to ukraine, let me -- i will show you a portion of secretary blinken's comments from helsinki yesterday. he was talking about the ukraine war and russia's military. >> president putin spent decades building the russian military into a modern force. cutting-edge weaponry, streamlined command and well-trained soldiers. the kremlin often claim to have the second strongest military in the world. many believed it. today, many see the russian military is the second strongest in ukraine. the equipment, technology and leadership and strategy tactics were a case study in failure. even as moscow inflict devastating damage on the crane and ukrainians. russia's forces have suffered 700,000 casualties after pruden sent wave after wave of troops

into a meatgrinder of his own making. >> what do you think of the comment from the secretary of state on russia's military? do you think that would make putin even more desperate? >> honestly, these remarks seem to be an accurate description of the facts as we've seen them on hold since february. russia's military, despite the size and the erstwhile technological capacity have completely underperformed to the point where russia is fully dependent on the mercenary group and a temperamental leader to achieve any gains they have on the ground in ukraine. recently, we saw a huge cost, the number of wagoner mercenaries who are mostly drawn from prisons.

they go to prisons, find men who want an early release, and signed them up and send them to the front without much training. after wave after wave of these prisoners being thrown into the city of mock mood, russia controls that city, but at a really high cost. so, what we are seeing is both incompetence on the part of the russians, but also, you have a very highly motivated ukrainian armed force that wants to defend the homeland. you have unmotivated soldiers on the other site who are fighting a war for whatever propaganda reason or whatever self-serving reason like not goingo ison, so it is an imbalance on the motivaonhich i think is reflected on what we are seeing onhe battlefield. >>'s got a question on twitter.

from the florida georgia girl who says that maybe in china, after the balloon floated into our. don't you think accusing them publicly and spying and creating a huge media frenzy was to -- that -- detrimental for them. it was not just the accusation of the spine. but there was this hysteria here in the united states at the time. you had like 24/7 cable media coverage of the balloon right now, and conversation by talking heads in the media saying why can't we shoot it down as if it was a huge menace to american security so it was in the media and political context that made the meeting between blinken and

paying very difficult or at least politically difficult to pull off. again, you have this situation that is reminiscent of the cold war. you have a frenzy and hysteria that constrains diplomacy and politics in what i think is a harmful way of motive of envy with china. we need the ability and the communication of china not just because we are always going to get along, but to avoid this perceptions and disasters. we need a number to call to establish relations and credibility in case there is a mistake that could spiral out of control. >> we will take a call from william who is an independent in florida. good morning. >> can morning. here's my question. we have been members of the u.n. since his inception, and i assume the ukraine was never

discussed because of russian veto in the security council, but i know the you and does a lot of things behind -- besides the security council, but what does the u.n. really do for us? if they cannot participate if they cannot negotiate a, there will be a negotiated settlement. the u.n. can't participate in something like this. what good is our membership, particularly lee since russia is now with the end of china? that is my question. >> this is a great question and one i get often rated specifically on ukraine, this is a fact that russia, like russia

has a veto on security council. the security council as an entity has been unable to impose a cessation of hostilities or cease-fire in ukraine for the fact that they don't want to stop fighting. however, that has not stopped united nations from continuing to impact diplomacy and other meaningful ways on ukraine, and i will give you three examples the first example was the humanitarian evacuation of this besieged steel plant. in the earlier days of the war, the russian forces had back to creation -- ukrainian forces into a a few square miles, and they were trapped in this calling steel manufacturing plant in southern ukraine. it was shaping up to be a massive atrocity event in which there were a lot of ukrainians who are about to be killed, so the united nations secretary general was able to work the phones and establish a

humanitarian core door to let them escape. this was hoped that the establishment of certain humanitarian principles might lead to further dialogue elsewhere in the conflict, and that happened of -- around the green initiative to release food that was stored in the ukraine to the rest of the world, and it required a direct intervention of the secretary-general who traveled to moscow and met with and met with sil and kyiv. he was able to negotiate further, and what i think is arguably, probably the most important example for all of us in the world, is what the international atomic energy to secure the nuclear power plant, which is the largest power plant in europe, and it is currently

in russian occupied ukraine. now, power plants need to be connected to electricity in order for cooling systems to work so there is not a chernobyl event in which there is a broad or meltdown. seven times since the outbreak of this conflict, outside of electricity, it has been severed to a nuclear power plant, sparking an emergency, but each of those times, emergency backup generators kicked in to prevent a meltdown. they were able to negotiate across battle lines across the power plant where they are currently u.n. staff monitoring what is happening. beyond that, earlier this week, the iaea head went to the security council to seek to create some sort of agreement on making this power plant a no fire zone.

basically, getting an agreement from russia not to store heavy weaponry and to get an agreement from ukraine not to attack. also, seeking to get agreement on all sides to not sever the power going into the power plant. if there is no nuclear meltdown, it will be a consequence of the u.n. direct intervention in ukraine. beyond that, the humanitarian agency like the world food program and refugee agency have been seeking to support the hundreds of thousands at this point. ukrainian refugees who have been displaced by the conflict. while the security council itself may be paralyzed, other aspects and parts of the u.n. system have snapped into action in ways that move into global security. with 10 ms. left in the program, taking your calls, you can call us on our lines on the screen.

mark, we have a message sent to us by mlb from twitter which says this. haiti is a nightmare. with little to no centralized government, at this is a humanitarian crisis. is there any possibility that the united nations will send a peacekeeping worse to gain control and reinstate an honest centralized government. >> the short answer is the politics don't look like that. the u.n. has had a peacekeeping force in haiti. for many years, the peacekeeping force is no longer there. the security council, after existing for a while at the haiti earthquake, it has supported certain aspects of the haiti rebuilding.

the peacekeeping force that was in haiti lost the support of a local population. it was because partly because of the fact that cholera epidemic was traced to a you and peacekeeping base. i really devastating epidemic in haiti. for the last several years, there has been no peacekeeping force in haiti. there was a peacekeeping force for years, but there was not much appetite at the security council at the moment to redeploy the peacekeeping force. there was more appetite for the security council and the un's choices more broadly to support akkadian lead security epidemics, but this has to do with sending police the challenge of gangs that are essentially controlling things that governments would typically

control is not something that the united nations or any outside power, including the united states, has been meaningfully impacting over the last several years. it would seem that the best we could do at this moment, what they are doing is providing humanitarians of worked as the country descends further into humanitarian crises, providing the world food program, the self-supporting shoe -- children education, refugee agencies wording people displaced inside the country, and so on, so there was certainly a humanitarian imperative, and it was ongoing. humanitarian and development that the united nations is supporting in the country, with a political and governance perspective. the appetite is not there, and i don't know if there is an opportunity in the -- near term to make a role there. >> as you know, the washington

consumption lately at the negotiation, the possibility of default, what reaction has or overseas to that process and the possibility of defaulting? >> it is terrifying for the rest of the world. we have we have wondered what would happen if there was a debt default, but what would happen in countries that are already in that distress, particularly a country like ghana in africa, they would default themselves, most likely, and the misery would be compounded. the economic growth would be halted and many countries are left with resiliency to withstand the shock. the pain and misery would hit much harder in countries that are less developed and poor.

that would be instead of what was in the united states. there was a real sense of trepidation talking to economists and people in the developing world, particularly in africa where a lot of their reserves are held in the u.s. it something completely beyond their control. something sort of political and mass nations in washington dc. it might completely tank their economy any progress they have made since covid rebounded, with social developments. there is a collective sigh of relief not only in washington, but around the world at this situation that has been a void. let's talk to richard in brentwood maryland. a democrat. good morning. >> good morning to you both. my comment is very much a discussion about the genesis of this fight in ukraine. but by russia. it takes on an appearance of a

holy war. it was brought about by a city on seven hills. ukraine was slowly turning over from being a catholic country. to a protestant country. i think that this was something we talk about in the wrong context, and the russian orthodox leader had the ear of prudent, and he had the ear, they both have the ear of the pope. i think if were not talking about in the right way, i think it is more underlying reasons for this fight. so, that is basically my comment. >> isn't ukraine predominantly orthodox? >> it is mostly eastern orthodox from the protestant or catholic, but i suppose i disagree if you have an analysis that it is a

motivating factor. i don't suspect religion is one of them. >> was talk to nelson in pembroke pines florida. good morning. good morning. i have one question regarding the situation in ukraine. with the russian troops that have suffered so much, why is there some kind of enterprising meaning for the soldiers. why isn't the general trying to remove mr. pruden from power, and why isn't the russian citizens and re-doing more to try to mess with what they've gotten themselves into. thank you. >> did you hear the question? >> i got the gist of it. on the civilian discontent with the war, the public interest

pulling is difficult to do in russia. i would suspect that the -- what we are seeing in the western media about what is happening in ukraine is not the same as being broadcast on russian state media. there are propaganda to the population. they are not getting the full picture of what is happening in the ukraine, so they are not quite as discontent with the outcome of what is happening in ukraine as we suspect there might be. on the question of generals and intrigue in kremlin, no -- you know, pruden has been in power for 20 years. he has been quite good at creating power sources around him that are it is preventing

him from being a target. you are seeing this play out in the public statements at the head of bag mayor, the mercenary group that has been made in recent weeks, in which, they will never directly criticize pruden, but they will say the russian general in charge of the military operation in ukraine and the russian defense minister are criminals with blood on their hands who are not giving him the equipment that mercenaries need to effectively fight ukrainians. you can see these public displays of conflict between key figures in the regime. but there are never aims directly at putin or each other which are indicative of how pruden has nurtured our dynamic within the inner circle to fight each other and not him. >> mark, host of the global

dispatch podcasts and the editor, thank you for joining us. >> thank you so much for having me. wax i will remind you of a few programming notes. the first is happenday at 130. that is republican presidential candidate nikey and mike pence, ron desantism scott and larry elder, they are among those speaking at the 2023 roast and ride fundraiser. it is hosted by supporters of the iowa senator ernst, you can watch that live at one of -- 1:30 p.m. on c-span with a free mobile video app and online at c-span.org also, coming on monday, at nine a.m. on c-span, secretary of state antony blinken will cover u.s. israel relations during the speech at the policy summit, life at 9 a.m. on c-span two.

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