>> coming up on washington journal, your calls and comments. the future of artificial intelligence, we speak with neil chilson. then, amy littlefield on abortion access in the u.s. since the court decision last summer that overturned roe v. wade. washington journal is next. host: good morning, it is tuesday, june 27. members are back at home ahead of the july 4 holiday, the house

will hold a brief session at 9:00 eastern today. we begin with a look at a new poll that asks americans to identify the nation's biggest problem. inflation, health costs and the inability of democrats and republicans to work together top the list of responses. this morning, we want to know what you think. give us a call on phone lines split as usual. you can also send us a text. if you do, please include your name and where you are from. catch up with us on social media . very good tuesday morning, you can start calling in now. what is the nation's biggest problem?

that is the question we are asking. here are some of the top findings from a pole. inflation remains the top concern for republicans and republican leaning independents with 77% saying it is a very big problem. the state of moral values, illegal immigration and the budget deficit are seen as top problems by two thirds of republicans. for democratic leaners, gun violence is the top, with 1810 saying it is a big problem. affordability of health care is second. democrats are more than four times as likely as republicans to say that climate change is a big problem. they are more likely to say gun violence and racism are big problems. that is from the new research center report out in the past couple of days, some 5000 respondents to that survey. we want to have that survey this

morning in this first hour, what is the nation's top problems? give us a call on the phone lines or send a text message, we are also looking at facebook and twitter. someone writing and a lack of good education in every state is the nation's top problem. linda taylor says it is the 24/7 news networks that regurgitate their own opinionated talking points, often devoid of facts, prove, accuracy or reality. coral on facebook says the democratic created failing economy in recession is the biggest problem. the second runner-up is the invasion of the southern border. as time passes, younger generations are increasingly worse off than their parents. automation is making it harder for many to make a decent living. income inequality is creating fertile ground for trumpism to

flourish in certain quarters. steven writes in that politicians are dividing us in that is the biggest problem. some comments from social media, we want to hear from you. asking what is the nation's biggest problem. (202) 748-8001 for republicans, (202) 748-8000 for independence, -- for democrats, (202) 748-8002 for independents. we start in alabama, independent. caller: good morning. i live in birmingham. last year, we bypassed 133 homesites in the city, which was 86 years, a record break. here it is in 2023, we are at 69 homicides. homicides in murder and violence

is the number one issue. when you look at violence holistically with all the multi-shootings we have had across the nation, i do not see have nothing else could be an issue for america than the self hallucination of citizens, the young black man, is profound and should be more announced. realize black america deserves reparations like a lot of entities. chinese, jews, everyone else. what happened to us, almost 400 years of slavery. those are systemic ramifications for what we see happening throughout the larger cities of america and smaller townships. for me as a black man and

activists that deals with crime in birmingham, it is a sad indictment. every two days, we have at least two homicides. we are in the middle of june with 69 homicides for this city. i think we are number two in the nation as a relates to homicides in america. host: this is thomas in rhode island, line for republicans. what is the biggest problem facing the country? caller: good morning. i am a vietnam veteran, disabled veteran. i know what it is to give life and i know what it is to take life. i believe one of the number one problems in america is a lack of respect, and it shows in regard

to homegrown americans, veterans and nonveterans living on the sidewalks of the 50 states. the lucky ones are living in tents, the unlucky ones are living completely on the sidewalks. the method of food is to beg for loose change so that they may be able to go into a coffeehouse and purchase a cup of coffee and a doughnut. this is america. our southern border is the number one problem that is causing this. i believe today, 7 million, million with an m, illegal

immigrants have crossed our border. they are provided hotels, motels , food vouchers, clothing vouchers and all kinds of other incentives. at the same time, we take a broom and brush the american citizen to one side. the problem with the border is a democratic problem. host: thomas in rhode island on illegal immigration, 47% of respondents to the poll saying it is a big problem in the country. when you break it down by party, 70% of republicans describe it as a very big problem, 25% of democrats describe it as a very

big problem in this country right now. in maryland, line for democrats. good morning. caller: my opinion is the economy is the biggest problem americans are facing. the pandemic is over, which is a wonderful thing, the most important thing. but people are suffering because of all the cutbacks to food stamps and medicaid and health care and all kinds of things. the pandemic is over, all kinds of cutbacks to funds. they get cut back on all kinds of things. immigration is important to people want to come over the border and have a new life, better life for their children and families. we treat migrants terribly coming over the border because they have been bussed all over

the country. racism is a big problem, so is sexism. have a great day. host: president biden said yesterday on his -- set off on his investing in america tour. here is how the washington times put it on the front page of their paper. the president sets off on a path to revive lost confidence in bidenomics.they announced more than $40 billion for high-speed internet projects, pledged that every household in the country will have high-speed internet access by 2030. paducah, kentucky is next. independent, good morning. caller: the main problem is corruption from the government down to the media. the media is a mouthpiece for the democratic party.

crime, the economy, everything is being hidden by the media. they only tell one side of the story. democrats are letting all of these illegal immigrants in. you want to talk about the economy, bidenflation. when trump was in office, it was 1.4%. because biden wants to pay everyone off with student loans, so-called green energy which does not work, the democrat party is corrupt, along with all of their holdings in the media. host: inflation and prices in this country, one more chart today showing the comparison of prices on various items from today to january of 2021, when president biden took office. gasoline at three dollars 79

cents per gallon, it was two dollars 39 cents per gallon in january 2021. eggs $2.66 per pound, $1.46 back in january. chase in maryland, good morning. caller: good morning. thanks for having me. the last caller, talk about projection. but i think every issue that was pointed out in the previous calls, we have a congress that is elected by us, the americans. and they refused to do anything for us. there is no consensus or ability to work together. they might push out policy, but

it is one-sided. it is not necessarily good policy. with that being said, i do not see them working for the american people. all these issues we talk about could be taken care of by congress, if they were willing to do something together for us. not all policy is great policy, nor is it fair for everyone across-the-board. that is why you negotiate. the other issue is the money that goes into politics. politicians are corrupt, they all are. that is because money and people with money have the influence to create or influence the policies in the focus areas that congress is centering on. that, to me, is the biggest issue. host: does it surprise you in the latest poll of the inability

of congress to work together was the third biggest problem of problems cited by 5000 respondents to the poll? we talked about differences when it came to immigration, 70% of republicans is saying it is a big problem, 25% of democrats. when it comes to the inability of democrats and republicans to work together, 63% of republicans say it is a big problem, 62% of democrats. they are essentially even on this concern about the inability to work together. caller: there is consensus, 60 2% across-the-board is pretty significant. for its only be third, i wish it would be first. then again, even if 60% of republicans believe illegal immigration is a problem and

only 27% of democrats believe it , there are still issues within immigration that can be addressed through policy. but they are not doing anything to address it. host: in terms of not doing anything to address it, a headline from politico taking a look at what might happen if congress does not address its budgeting plans, debt deal twist is shifting congress is shut down game. there could be another shut down right, that is from politico today looking down the road six months from now. in minneapolis, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. my top priority is the chinese spy balloon and any impeachment. it is trying to stop take over

-- they're trying to go hard on my community. my thing is protecting trans people and making sure we have a country were all of us can live. i live in minnesota. we should have more congresspeople like her, a couple days ago we had that she could not cite anything good. matt walsh, the guy who says he is a christian fascist on his twitter feed. the thing is just to stop the fascists from coming into office. voting for less of those people. host: lawmakers in this country could make history, that would

be delaware. state senator sarah mcbride, the highest ranking transgender elected official, announced her candidacy to become delaware's congresswoman. she would become the first trans person openly elected to office, but would be the youngest elected official delaware has sent to washington since joe biden's win in 1972. a couple other stories about lgbtq community this morning, this from the new york times today, just a picture of vice president kamala harris. she visited the stonewall inn on monday, the site of the 1969 riots that spark the modern lgbtq rights movement. she took selfies with the assembled people there on the day after new york's pride month. kamala harris in that picture

from the new york times today. one more story on this topic, this from colorado. the shooter who killed five people at a colorado springs nightclub in 2022 was sentenced to life in prison on monday after victims called the defendant a monster who hunted down lgbtq patrons in a calculated attack. he pleaded guilty to five counts of murder, 46 counts of attempted murder, one for each person inside club q on the night of the shooting. we are asking you, what is the nation's top problem? in maryland, good morning. caller: good morning. i think the top problem in our nation's education. to teach everyone to start school from first grade to know our history, how our government is working.

number two, do not push your religion. separate it from schools and the government. three, it is good to help everyone coming 2 america, because you were all pilgrims, except the indians. we have to teach our children the integrity, honesty and let immigration come to the front door. not from the back door.

five -- i guess i already gave enough. but number five is to make sure if you are complaining, serve your country and vote for the right congressperson to represent you. host: this is john in arizona. republican line. caller: hello. i do not disagree with the major ones people have mentioned, i'm going to mention one that is a little bit not recognized, but think it is super important. that is when i went into vote at the last election, i said my ballot looks just like everybody else. how are you going to know if somebody is inserting ballots? we do not know.

i want to put a number on a unique number for each registered voter that goes on the ballot and either the ballot gets voted or does not get voted. but you cannot have someone coming in after midnight and inserting votes for one particular candidate. i think there should be numbers on the ballots. inflation is bad, border security is bad. lots of major things that are bad. but i do not think anyone else has been thinking about this were talking about getting it implemented. after you clean up voting roles, after you have gotten people that moved out, you will have a registered number. one person, one vote. host: new mexico, brian,

independent. good morning. caller: good morning. so many of our problems are tangential to the dysfunctional american family. kids education levels are getting worse. reading skills are worse. it starts with the parents. 40% of children in this country are born to women who are not married and most of these women cannot afford to support themselves or their children. they are having children willy-nilly, then turned to the taxpayer and say you have to take care of me. that is the wrong way to live. you are supposed to educate yourself, find your life partner , get established in your career, then you have children. so many americans do it backwards and we never talk about it. we hear all these conversations

about you cannot afford childcare, health care, can't afford this or that. if you cannot afford children, that is god's way of telling you you are not ready to have children and we need to discourage that. it needs to be frowned upon. it should be limited to, one child. if you are uncovered, you do not get to have more children. host: we heard quite a bit about moral values in this country, if you are watching the state and freedom coalition 2023 conference. among those who spoke, presidential candidate ron desantis. here is the florida governor. [video clip] >> you see the problems in this country, the economy where you pay more for daily necessities like groceries. meanwhile, the people in this town with the spending, debt and printing are living high on the hog. you see a southern border that

is white oppen, -- open, illegal aliens and deadly narcotics. you see cities that have been overrun with crime, places that have been hollowed out like san francisco. we see a federal government whose agencies have been weaponized against their fellow americans, including people of faith. underlying all of that is the fact the left is lighting the fire of a cultural revolution all across this land. the fire smolders in our schools, incorporate boardrooms, in the halls of government. we are told we must accept that men can get pregnant. we are told to celebrate a swimmer who swam for three years on the men's team, then switches to the women's team and somehow is named women's champion.

we are told to sit idly by as they try to rewrite and distort history and demean the founders of this nation. we have had to watch as a football coach had to go all the way to the u.s. supreme court just to get his job back for the quote crime of saying prayers in the midfield after football games. we see professional sports teams openly elevating groups who overtly demean people of faith. let us be clear about this. we did not start this fire. but as president of the united states, i will leave the effort to extinguish the fire of cultural marxism once and for all, all across this country. host: ron desantis at the faith and freedom coalition policy conference, that was from

friday. we are about halfway through this first hour of washington journal. we are talking about this research center poll that asked some 5000 americans, what is the biggest problem facing america? inflation, health costs and partisan cooperation are among the top problems. inflation cited by 65% of respondents is a big problem, including 52% of democratic respondents, 72% of republican respondents. president biden yesterday launched a tour to talk about his economic plan for this country, he talked about inflation. this is president biden from earlier this month on a campaign stop in philadelphia, touting his economic achievements. here is a little of what he had to say. [video clip] >> from the bottom up and middle out, not the top down. when the middle-class does well,

everybody does well. the wealthy do just fine. but like i said, i did not come into office with a theory, it came with a plan. i started passing the american rescue plan, to vaccinate the nation and get our economy going again. that is exactly what it did, it put money in people's pockets and provided a lifeline for businesses to stay afloat. it kept 7 million people in their homes. it did one more thing. that matters a lot to you. it included the butch lewis act. that was a big deal. that was a big deal, i committed when we worked together, you got that passed for me. it is one of the most

significant achievements to union workers in over 50 years, that is a fact. not a single republican in congress voted for it, but we still got it done because of you. next, we passed bipartisan infrastructure law. we cannot have the strongest economy in the world without the best infrastructure. can you believe we used to have the best infrastructure in the world, rated number one? today, we rate number 13. 12 other nations. how could you grow an economy without infrastructure? not a joke. under my predecessor, infrastructure became a punchline. on my watch, we are making it a decade headline. that is what this is all about.

investing in america. high-speed internet and so much more. host: president biden earlier this month. asking you this morning, what do you think the nation's top problem is? phone lines for republicans, democrats and independents. this is eddie, from south carolina. good morning. caller: the biggest threat facing us today is media outlets like yourself. you won't showed the republican committees like used to do the democrats, you will not cover biden and his crooked -- taking millions from china, that is the biggest problem. you touted, look earlier at a gay bar or whatever, she has a -17 approval rating for god sake, wake up. host: did you miss the durham hearings we showed last week?

caller: you do not show them, you bury them just like you put the republican and democrat lines on for people to come in. take the lines off and let people call in, you will see what a majority of the country thanks. host: if you want to watch the hearing he was referring to, you can do it on our website. this is bradley in richland hills, texas. independent. good morning. caller: the problems i see is morality, civility and greed. host: in that order? caller: yes. host: any thoughts on what we can do about those problems? caller: you need to get back to

fundamental basics of what made this country. we have drifted so far away from god. look at the results. look what is going on. we have government trying to persecute a former president and we as a society are being persecuted because those of us that voted for him, everybody wants to throw everybody in jail or cause harm. there is civility. we are drifting so far away from god, you are seeing the destruction of this nation. that is the way i see it. i do not know the answer other than to try to get back to the fundamental basics. host: in ohio, republican. good morning. caller: good morning.

sounds like you're getting an earful. i am a vietnam veteran, complications -- and not, the economy and national defense. under donald trump, who i will vote for a third time, our enemies feared us. putin would not be in ukraine right now if donald trump had been allowed to be reelected. enemies feared us and they are walking all over joe biden. the economy and in with defense. the economy was booming under donald trump and joe biden blamed high inflation on pugin, but that started day one, when he picked up his pen.

inflation under trump was 1.4, 1.6. all i am saying for this biden character is blaming trump on everything. but he is the number one problem. our enemies feared donald trump, the economy was booming under donald trump. host: this is david in texas, democrat. good morning. caller: the biggest problem i can see in this country and really any country at any time is the economy. if people can buy things. things they need. we let people into the country not legally.

if it was legally, than anyone could come in. but we have to support those people. there are homeless people we need to take care of and our own country, he needs to take care of our people. host: david in texas, on the ability to buy things, the ability to buy health care in this country is cited as a big problem by some 64% of respondents to the poll, including 73% of democrats, 54% of republicans, the second most often cited problem in this country, according to that response. some 5000 people responding to that report from early june, it came out just a few days ago.

we are talking about in this first hour of the washington journal. in michigan, independent. caller: good morning. i believe it is education and lack of perspective on what is going on around the world. in their own backyard. to me, it is the amount of education that people get. it is limited to, i can understand that. it is hard to keep up on all the things going on in communities around the world and your own backyard. host: are you talking about education in schools, k-12 and college, or people just educating themselves about world events? caller: both. it should start in the schools.

what we value and what we put our priorities on, i think it needs to be a broader education. maybe our education system is to limited and needs to be extended. i know that does not work for all people. i do not know what you are going to do, how you are going to fix that. but it needs to be a broader knowledge of world events and what is local. people just can't grasp all of that. that is where we need to go. host: are you talking about adding years, doing year-round schooling, hours in the day? caller: i guess what would be considered year-round schooling. i do not know how many hours in the day you need to do.

but a year-round thing. it should be the priority. i think we set priorities on other things, like how much money we are going to make or what sports team is going to win the world series or whatever. those should be secondary things, not primary. host: this is andy in the bluegrass state, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. the second biggest problem in america is communism. 1954, humphrey put in a law called the communist control act of 1954. it has never been challenged, i think it is time to challenge that. that same year, the johnson

amendment which made all churches corporations. when they got their tax break, it was a gag order and they were not allowed to talk about taxes or political issues. god's politics, is taxes, is social issues. everyone wants to skirt around that, that is were all of this came from. atheists pay for churches because somebody has to pay for the tax break. when you get a tax break, someone is going to pay for the tax break. it is like your corporation that you have. i have to pay for and others have to pay for your tax break.

people have to pay for you, your remote, the wires you use, everything. host: the way we get paid for is by people paying cable bills. a few cents a month on folks cable bills, that is where it comes from. caller: who pays for all of your other surrounding things? where your building is located a, electric poles, everything you get. taxpayers have to pay. you get the tax break and do other things that are supposed to be for the public good. but other people have to pay for your tax breaks. most people do not understand how taxes work. if i am not explaining it right, let me know. host: do you think you pay a fair amount of taxes? that is a big debate. caller: the government thinks

you are not paying enough because they want to control everything you do. the government owns you, me, my children and grandchildren. they own every breath i take. you ever heard of a commune? in a commune, the commune owns every single thing. that is what communism is. everything belongs to the commune. i ask people about this, do you know what a commune is? people do not know. the bible speaks so explicitly against communism because god gave you everything you have. not government, god. christians cannot speak out about these things because if they do, they are liars,

deceivers and corrupters. they broke the contract they get their tax breaks with. host: jimmy in texas, independent. caller: my theory -- the number one problem may sound a little preposterous. there is a ted talk. a book has been published three times. i believe our biggest problem, basically the achilles' heel of all civilizations as environmental decline unintentionally caused by well-meaning people over a long periods of time is the main reason civilizations collapse.

the most obvious manifestation is man-made deserts. he believes are going to have to take domestic livestock and use them as proxy for herds to restore the deserts. people would be a lot happier if we had more water, more grassland. healthier natural resources. i know that sounds kind of odd ball. host: let me point out the issue of climate change, that is cited as the biggest problem among respondents. 39% say climate change is the biggest problem, but a big difference among democratic and republican respondents, 64% of democrats say it is a big problem, just 14% of republicans say that.

palm coast, florida. democrat. morning. caller: i think the biggest problem is class warfare. we have a bad case of class warfare. what happened to the white supremacists in america, is class warfare. host: a few more comments from social media, calvin writing in the undermining of institutions and trust in our electoral processes is the biggest problem facing the country. for-profit health care shelter, food and water is the biggest problem facing the country. on facebook, the nation's top problem is the wealth gap created by decades of tax cuts that gutted the middle-class. about 15 minutes left in this first segment of the washington journal.

what do you think the nation? 's top problem is right now republicans (202) 748-8001, democrats (202) 748-8000 and independents (202) 748-8002. as you are calling in, look at what is happening on capitol hill. the house and senate are a way ahead of the july 4 recess, there will be a brief pro forma session in the house at 9:00 a.m. eastern. just across the street from the capital as the supreme court, we are expecting more decisions today, those expected to come out at 10:00 a.m. eastern. there are about 10 cases left to be decided that we are waiting on opinions four. some of them likely to come out at0: a.m. today. lateroday, 10:30 a.m. eastern, nikki haley will be at the american enterprise institute. the former u.n. aasdor and current republican presidential candidate talks about u.s.

foreign policy, efforts to strengenartnerships in the indo pacific region. we will air that live this morning. speaking of nikki haley, to coincide with the talk today, an op-ed in the pages of today's wall street journal. my plan to confront the chinese threat. she takes a look at the past two administrations when it comes to china. she said donald trump deserves credit for upending the failed bipartisan consensus that trading with china would free china, he was singularly focused on trade, doing too little about the rest of it and congratulated the communist party on the 70th anniversary. he should have condemned it. joe's record is worse, he has refused to investigate china's cover-up of covid origins, has done little to stop china's expansion and china's key role

in the fentanyl crisis. nikki haley writing in the pages of today's wall street journal, you will likely hear more on those topics if you watch today, 10:30 a.m. eastern on c-span. john out of louisiana, republican. you are next. caller: my days of c-span go back to brian lamb, when he was a dj in lafayette, indiana. the people that call in and complain about one side, that is the way the news is. you cover the news, whatever happens to be happening, you are going to cover it. it is not a big conspiracy. we have an open border, we cannot be a sovereign nation until we seal the borders and control. not keeping people out, but we have to control it.

look at the coverage of it, you see the humanity coming across. you do not see the drugs coming across. humanity includes a lot of nasty people. that is what the first priority has to be, get the border sealed so it is operating the way it is supposed to operate. god bless you all and brian lamb and c-span. host: i will tell brian you said hello, he is down the hall here today. this is kevin in texas, good morning. caller: greetings. from fascist republican occupied territory of texas. variously, i have a problem with the fascist gq p party that is running the state of texas. maga.

kkk, terrible individuals. they are destroying our country. greg abbott wants me to turn in my neighbor for taking their daughter to the hospital for a medical procedure. that is a wannabe dictator. he is banning water breaks. it is 102 degrees out here, and he wants to ban workers from drinking water on the job. that is fascism, that is a problem in america, that is what the republican is doing. sorry i am ranting here, but we need to destroy fascism, not embrace it like the republicans are doing today. host: that is kevin in texas on the issue of abortion access, topic we will take up in the 9:00 a.m. eastern hour. amy littlefield will be joining

us, talking about abortion access in the united states in the year post at the dobbs decision. this is a bit in north carolina, democrat. good morning. -- abe in north carolina, democrat. good morning. caller: the problem with america is they have not solve the problems of the past. you look around this country, you see who has in who does not have. we have the right idea on paper with the constitution, but we did not follow it because some people got special privileges, while others did not.

they tried to blame it on religion. it was not really religious anyway for the simple fact that we came over here, we killed all of the native americans. then you needed someone to do the work, so you brought in slaves. do not tell me you are so religious when we were on the wrong track in the beginning. we have the constitution, if we just followed that, we would have been a much better nation today. host: this is karen out of florida, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. my concern is i have eight grandchildren and i am concerned with the corruption biden has been involved with all these years.

i am concerned about the chinese being in cuba and mapping us and everything else. all of these weapons pointed toward us. my husband served in vietnam and i do not trust this administration at all. i have concerns my children could be sent off to war. we do not have good leadership at all. i want to point out to people that they do not realize it is easy for all the people in congress and everything else to do all of the stuff they want to do, all of that is going to full on the hard-working wage income people. they get benefits the average americans do not get. host: to new jersey, independent.

caller: yes. the number one problem in the nation and the world is lack of mercy, tolerance, friendliness, courtesy, manners, forgiveness. my charity that's religion and mental health courses in schools, those values can be taught. host: when and how should they be taught? caller: it starts in the home. i have loving parents, but parents have to teach her love and kindness and mercy. we start in kindergarten now, i call it value education. that is the key. the shooting on bus 23 in philadelphia, it started with a verbal argument. host: value education something that should continue through college? caller: yes, i went to colgate. colgate teachers love. love can be taught.

friendliness, manners, courtesy, forgiveness. host: the state of moral values was cited by 54% of respondents in the bowl, including 69% of republicans, 39% of democrats. independent in oregon, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. i think religion is the biggest problem in our country. children are taught from a very young age to believe in faith over fact. when it comes to facts, religion does not care about facts. all they care about his faith, that is how we got here with donald trump. they kept saying have faith in him. i believe religion is the biggest problem. host: jeff, republican. good morning.

caller: i think the biggest problem -- there are many problems. but they all stem from the government itself. the government has become too big and too powerful over the years. it is way beyond what it was supposed to be. we need to do what the declaration of independence suggested that we do when something like this happens, too many abuses and the government becomes too big and to radical, we need to legally create a new government. i see that as the only way, legally create new government. host: clark and florida, democrat. good morning. caller: i have a crazy idea, but that list on the ballots when the elections come up again.

then we can all vote, it will not be a poll, a true ballot. that is the problem, they do not listen to the american people. host: a referendum on america's biggest problem to let congress know what we want them to focus on? caller: take the businessman out of business, take the profit. go back to places like pharmaceutical, military-industrial. go back to the public, like the post office. bring it all back. host: explain the post office comparison. caller: we need people that work for the company that owned the company. the board holders are the people who work there.

those are the people who know what is going on. otherwise, we are just being misled. they are making money off the backs of us. that is what businessmen do. host: georgine d.c., what is the biggest -- george in d.c., what is the biggest problem facing the country? caller: yes, my name is george. -- people say they do not care, it is crazy. what is it? he is one man, this is america. how can one man have so much power? did they drink the kool-aid are

they crazy? host: this is larry in texas, democrat. what is the biggest problem facing the country? caller: i believe the biggest problem in our country is politicians with a lack of integrity that are moving to divide the country versus unite the country. one of the previous callers stated all the problems we are facing, whether it is inflation, the border, gun rights or abortion rights is the fact that congress is not working for the people, they are working for themselves and pushing ideology out of hitler's playbook. they are dividing us. talking about who they are going to attack next. we have to be conscious about who we are setting.

we need politicians who have integrity. you have churchgoers, then you have questions. i hear a lot of callers calling in, they are churchgoers, not christians. jesus was the most liberal person you could find. they attack anyone that wants to speak the truth. integrity is the biggest problem when you have politicians pushing agendas not for the people. the border can be resolved. you need more judges on the border, more technology to solve the immigration problem. the united states gave over 400,000 acres to immigrants coming from italy, france, germany, sweden. i mean, the hypocrisy going on today -- i apologize if it sounds like i am rambling. but my biggest concern is integrity.

the germ report did not indict anyone, did not convict anyone. but they are not seeing that. they are going by an individual that obviously -- i do not want to say republican, i do not believe there are true republicans out there anymore. they are more fascists than they are republicans. host: in california, good morning. caller: the biggest problem is you, john. i am kidding. the biggest problem i see is demographics in america and i hope -- what is happening is we have less productive people and more people needing assistance. it is all a result of poor education, mental health, racism

even. we have a growing number of people in america that are not productive. capitalism depends on productive people and if we have the productive people having to support the nonproductive people , than it just becomes a problem because nonproductive people will vote against the productive people. capitalism depends on people going to work, the education system and -- has failed us. the homeless problem is a problem. we just have to solve the problems to bring people up to get jobs. and to work and know that work will give you pride and a way out. we are just not telling that to our kids. we've got a larger amount of people who are dependent on the

government and the government is catering to them and catering to people who can do something. that is why donald trump was great. we celebrated the fact that you could not have to pay taxes to the government. he was a great president and you realize that. host: we are out of time in this first segment of washington journal if user not getting on the segment, we will revisit the topic in about 45 minutes and continue the conversation. stick around for that discussion. next, we are going to be talking about the future of artificial intelligence, a topic of conversation on capitol hill and around the country. former federal trade commission chief technologist neil chilson

will join us. later, amy littlefield will be here to discuss abortion access in the united states since the dobbs decision last year. we will be right back. ♪ >> live sunday on in-depth, author and professor friend says returns to talk and to calls about politics, international affairs, liberalism and more. he is the author of the end of history and the last man. he has published several books since his 2006 appearance, including the origins of political order and "identity up

." live on c-span two. >> in 1814, francis scott key wrote a song that would go on to become the national anthem of the united states. sunday on q&a, musicology and professor discusses his book about the history and impact of the star-spangled banner. >> one of my beliefs about the song is that it is a living document. it is not a frozen icon, a -- it is brought to life by people like jimi hendrix. every time we sing the song, we element the questions, attention the crisis in the hope that is

in that song a new. cracks with his book, sunday night and :00 eastern -- and :00 eastern. you can listen on our c-span now app. >> washington journal continues. host: a conversation on the future of artificial intelligence. our guest is neil chilson, served as chief technologist at the federal trade commission. he is a commissioner at the center for growth and opportunity. there has been a call for a pause in the ai development to get around this issue. headline on that topic yesterday from wired magazine. meet the ai protest group campaigning against human extinction. fears that artificial intelligence might wipe us out has fueled a rise in groups like this.

what is your idea about taking a pause in ai? guest: ayotte is actually many things. many tools, dozens of tools use ai today. the tools that are prompted the most news and maybe our water concerning this group are these large language models like chatgpt which has a chat interface where you can type prompts and it generates text that is probable based on the understanding of everything on the internet. it gives you an understanding of a sequence of tokens. i think if people thought about pausing all of the devices that they have that use ai and say we are not quite to make these any better, we talking about things like alexa or siri that can be beneficial to the disabled community among others. a lot of tools have a huge

potential to benefit humanity. why would you pause that? we should think about the risks. i don't think these largely which models like chatgpt, they are not an existential threat. they are worried about what comes in 40 or 50 years. does that mean we should pause development? if not pause, there needs to be rules of the road. there was a conversation on capitol hill. we have privacy laws at the state level, the federal trade commission who prevents unfair and deceptive practices. we have laws around how -- they sectors have a bunch of roles.

it is up to the agencies that manage these two take a close look and see if there are gaps that they need to fail. if there is a gap that congress needs to fill, congress can look at it. some of the discussions on the hill, the positive spoke model might be the right approach. host: explain. guest: there would be a central repository of expertise in the federal government. it would be something like the national institute of standards and technology. then that would be used by all the agencies who have these sector specific regulatory mandates, to understand how ai would apply to driverless vehicles, drones, drug development. each of the agencies --

host: so the future of ai calls to pause and regulate it, neil chilson is our guest, a senior research fellow for the center for growth and opportunity. republicans call in at (202) 748-8001, democrats (202) 748-8000, independents (202) 748-8002. this was a conversation on capitol hill, chuck schumer talked about it last wednesday. the majority later, a minute and a half of comments. >> we do not know what artificial intelligence will be capable of two years, 50 years, 100 years from now. in the hands of foreign adversaries, domestic groups, interested in financial gain or political upheaval.

the dangers of ai could be extreme. we need to do everything we can to make sure these groups cannot use it for illicit and bad purposes. but we also need security for america's workforce. because ai, particularly generative ai, is disrupting the way people make a living. i greatest risk are those who live paycheck-to-paycheck, displacing millions of low-income workers. energy production could be next. those with college education and vast degrees will be impacted. ai will shape and reshape the knowledge economy. impacting workers in sales and marketing, coding, software develop and, banking, law, other skilled professions.

many assumed these jobs would always be safe but that is not the case. the erosion of the middle class, already one of america's most serious problems, could get worse with ai if we ignore it. and measures to prevent job loss or distribution of income. host: chuck schumer on capitol hill on wednesday. i want to pick up on the erosion of the middle class due to artificial intelligence. do you see that happening? guest: what is powerful about ai, i've mentioned how we already use these tools. i think senator schumer is correct to point out the trans-formative effect of the potential, including to the workforce. in many ways, i think the early concerns about automation in factories and manufacturing did directly impact blue-collar

workers. these language models are aimed more at content critters so it is more white-collar workers who will have the opportunity to transform their jobs with this technology. i say that with an optimistic bend because i think these tools are powerful in enabling individuals to create sophisticated, complex image and video and text content. that means that many of us can express ourselves in ways maybe we have not been able to before in art. and there is the chance to streamline the most boring parts of our work and become more productive. there was a study out of stanford about call-center workers who were using ai assisted chatbot's to help them answer customer questions. the research showed there were

14% more productive. customers like them more and the benefits were to the people who were the newest and least experience on the job. the younger, less experienced people on the workforce. there are opportunities for gains across the board for these technologies to help us all get better at our jobs. host: when it comes to your job, former chief technologist in the federal trade commission from 2017 2018, what does a chief technologist do and how far has that rule changed in five years due to ai? >> is primarily an advisor to the chair and it weighs in on all of the areas in which the federal trade commission, both a composition and a consumer protection mission, might touch on technology. i think that job has probably not changed that much due to ai,

but the emphasis has changed on the types of cases that the ftc is bringing. the ftc is primarily a law enforcement agency. the more recent administration has shifted to more of a rulemaking mode in which there would be a regulator over certain industries. that means that you technologist has a harder job in some ways and has to try to predict the future of technologies so the rules that are put out don't hinder it or maximize the benefits and minimize harm. if they say there is a law violation, let's talk about the intricacies of how the law was violated and bring in the case -- maybe that role has changed a little. host: neil chilson, what is the center for growth opportunity?

guest: it is focused on igniting economic growth and abundance and thereby enabling all of us to have more opportunities to live better lives. we focus on immigration, energy and where i focus, technological innovation. we work with students, we have an international network of researchers and we try to communicate the transformative solutions we believe will help spark economic growth to decision-makers. we are funded by a wide range of individuals, organizations and foundations. the work of our researchers is directed by this. host: the center for growth and opportunity, to give you the opportunity to check in with a few people. democrat from virginia, good morning. caller: good morning. i think regulations are just

fine, but regulating the dark world is not going to work. i equate ai as the invention of the atomic bomb. the ability to destroy humankind is evident. i don't know how it is going to be -- look at the internet. in the 90's, the internet was a wonderful thing and then the dark forces started working their way in and they take over in many ways. i'm not sure -- how do you see regulation going? what kinds of regulations are going to keep it cap on this and thank you for taking my question. host: answer the question. guest: i have heard the equivalence between the atom bomb and ai before and one way they are similar is they have

big potential international implications. we can talk about the race between china and the u.s. and who is going to win the ai race. they are different in other ways. ai is a general-purpose technology. we all use this technology all the time. every time you use talk to text on your phone, it is using algorithms that fall under in many definitions ai. this technology is here, it is being used widespread. john is talking about existential risk and in many ways there is no clear path from the technologies that we have right now to the type of artificial general intelligence that people are afraid poses an existential risk to humans. even the experts will say that. so regulation i don't think

should be focused on that risk. we should have people thinking about it, just like we have people thinking about what we would do if there was an asteroid collision. but i don't think it ranks as a global priority. as humans, we have many global priorities that probably are more immediate. you mentioned, we do have atom bombs and nuclear destruction is a potential catastrophe for humankind. we have viruses and pandemics and things like climate change. these are much more immediate threats that probably are a higher policy priority than the risk of artificial general intelligence. host: you talk about the ai race. how does a country win? guest: maybe i am braced too quickly. technology is not a race. it produces benefits and when they become widespread, they can produce them for all of humankind.

when i talk about a race between the u.s. and china, i'm talking about the different visions that a u.s. led effort on ai would have from a chinese led effort on ai. so that u.s. in technology, software technology like ai, where we have quite a lead, all of these companies are in the u.s., his focus on bottom up delivering solutions to customers and users. in china, everything has that predicate how is it a threat to the states and the ruling party? with that, there technology will be aimed at supporting the party first rather than trying to deliver solutions. those competing visions for ai are what i talk about when i talk about a race.

host: this is jc, the line for independence. caller: i have a question about artificial intelligence, ai, and how it impacts society, humidity. when we have your ones and zeros being controlled by somebody to shift into the wrong path, how does that benefit society rather than going into those creations? the need to guide us so it does not destroy the earth and the galaxies, the universe. host: a philosophical question. guest: i think computer ai is a tool. i think tools are as useful and as harmful as the people behind them. i think when people choose how

to use tools, it is important that we think about the moral implications of using those. i do think that ai has a great potential to bring benefit and healing, both of the physical kind but also psychological. maybe even spiritual number but it is a tool and we want to make sure that we have the uses that are beneficial while mitigating the ones that are harmful. host: is it a tool that can be more creative than a human and whatever industry -- writing books. we are seeing ai generated books. do you think the ai is going to eventually be able to be more creative and come up with better stories than a human writer? guest: i think people will always value something created by humans. that is the history of technology. we see that when people have

furniture, handcrafted widgets from at sea. i think people will always value human creation. these are powerful tools and in the hands of creators, they can make average, normal people be able to express their thoughts in extra ordinary ways. i think there is a huge potential for an explosion of creativity in this space. will a ai generated novel ever win the pulitzer? i don't know. it's possible. you can think of these large language models as generating the average of the internet on whatever prompt you give them. if i ask them to write something in the style of hemingway, it is trying to generate something that looks like the average understanding of hemingway. it is more derivative than it is creative but it is a good sounding board for people who are trying to be creative.

to say what will it be like to talk about that in a poem? you can get a reaction, a first draft, and they can spark creativity in humans. host: people on twitter with optimism on the human side, a real writer has more imagination . let's get over the notion that it will take over as a writing tool and nothing more. let's get your calls, for republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats (202) 748-8000. independents (202) 748-8002. neil chilson is with us for the next 15 or 20 minutes.

in colorado, good morning. >> good morning. a quick comment for the audience and mr. chilson. i believe at its current state ai is more of an aggregator. it might be able to give off a false sense of creativity, again some of the more popular platforms where populated by mining reddit. as far as it being the average of the internet opinion, that rings true from my understanding. i have a question. given the revelations from the twitter files and how private organizations working at an agent for the u.s. government, there are things the government is forbidden from doing, is there that much of a gap between the chinese pursuit of ai, the american pursuit of ai given the

fact that we now understand them from revelations? guest: complicated question. the twitter files debate is ongoing and the role that government has in shaping large platforms is one that i think about a lot. i think we do have constitutional and statutory protections for u.s. citizens being able to express themselves, whether individuals or if they run a large platform. i think when we have large platforms collaborating with government officials, it needs close scrutiny. i still think that is quite different than the chinese system where the technology itself is getting a yes no restriction on whether or not it can even be used in the first place or developed in the first place.

and it has to be calibrated so that it does not offend the communist party in china. that is very different from the u.s., both structurally and in effect. host: you're talking about chatgpt, the average of the internet and the color was talking about -- the person who called was talking about the early usage of reddit to get this content. who decides the content of the intelligence and where does it come from? who says you can use this to create your chatgpt answer but don't do this? guest: the way these large language models are created is by gathering a bunch of information and there are certain repositories of information the people have gathered already. they are made up of publicly available content on the internet primarily, but there are supplemental pieces of content that are put in there. that is run through an algorithm

that trains the model. what that means is at the end there is a model which has a bunch of numbers. none of the content is there. the decision is made on the front end about what all of the content will be that goes in there. once a model is trained, the content is sort of distilled down to its essence and relationship to each other. that is what the model has going forward. at that point, when you type in a prompt into chatgpt, it requests from the model, predict what text would look like following this. it is like a fancy version of auto complete of that's on your phone. that response goes through screens that the company might have about looking for mistakes in might have or other types of problems it doesn't want to

release out. then the answer is, the result of the prompt is given to the user. there are points when you can choose with the result would be. but to the questioners point, the decision is made at the front end when you're training the models about what content will go into there. host: if you are focused on chatgpt, would you be more comfortable with some sort of heavy hand of regulation on some other form of ai? guest: we are to focus on gpt and these models. these same tools are producing amazing science. we have something all alpha fold, which -- how we build models for how various

biological functions of our bodies work. and they were able to do in 18 months what 200 million of these predictions, almost all of them known to science, were in the previous 60 years of the manual approach. misuse implications for drug testing, plastic cleanup in the oil. to the first part of your question, where to focus on chatgpt and large language models. there is a lot of potential for ai in a lie -- a wide number of spaces with human benefits. to those areas have more risk? certainly if you are developing drugs, we need to protect the safety of those. we have the fda drug administration approval process.

it is not really change that particular process. the safety concerns are adequately addressed by the fda. the question is how can you maximize the use of ai to produce the drugs? host: you are on with neil chilson. an independent. caller: thank you for taking my call. since the computer knowledge has been expanding. i think of the roof of the sistine chapel where we see the figure of god with his hand out to man, and he is in participation with man. and here's his hand, and he doesn't give a damn and does not consider god trying to help them

out. when man has evolved over the last thousands of years, hundred years recently, and it seems like things are getting worse instead of better. we've got a thing called a television, telephones, handheld computers that isolate our children in my opinion because they have got their nose in that all of the time. they don't have any human committee kitchen with other people. it seems like the computer phone has basically isolated the next generation. host: can ai make us feel less isolated from other humans? guest: that is a great question. the concerns around the use of electronic devices, computers or televisions, is recurring

throughout history. each time there is any technology, people point out the downside and worry about it. they acclimate to the technology, maybe find new ways to use it. in my own personal example, my chat groups are the easiest way for me to stay in touch with my family. including my 71-year-old grandmother who i can pick up my phone and text her and that is easy. while i'm just running around, i can send her pictures to a device she has in her house. we need to think about how we use these technologies, including ai. ai has the potential to appear to -- there are people who like that mode of discovery, explanation, dutch exploration, and will benefit. but we can keep an ion how

people will use it to supplement rather than replace it. host: good question, why can't ai prevent hacking or fishing or other crimes? guest: in oxley does. the biggest example, the one i'm sure all of your listeners and waters have benefited from, is spam filtering. it is a format for ai. because we are able to apply some of this morning, we can identify this. these types of technologies, they are very good at absorbing a giant amount of data and identifying patterns in them. the types of cybersecurity attacks that might be difficult

if a human was management -- manually monitoring them, certain things ai systems can and do help cybersecurity experts identify problems. can they stop all of it? no. bad actors are creative as well. they have access to tools and they try to do things. but ai is one tool but the good guys can use to deal with some of these. host: you said you are an optimist on ai. do you think the overall narrative is more pessimistic? we started with this headline from yesterday about human extinction and ai. you heard the comments from majority leader schumer that we played overall, who is trying to change the narrative on artificial intelligence? guest: historically, humans have always and where to buy something that looks human but

is not. it goes back to frankenstein and much further. what people personify these technologies, frankly it is so easy to do with chatgpt, it sounds very convincing. when we personify the is and we don't understand the underlying technologies, it is easy to fear there is a replacement for humans, the few things that people have loaded, right now the technology is not like that. i think the people who are -- >> host: or the people who are programming them have motives. guest: it is a concern. but it is less of a concern about ai than the other types of technology. the way these large language models are trained is through a mass amount of data. the amount of direct control the

designers have over the results is not as mechanical as it would be if they are blocking keywords on social media or something like that. so i do think that is a concern and we should be aware of what the designers are intending. we recently asked for comments -- and cia, that national telogen -- the and tia -- they talk about technology issues within the government. they asked about how can we can make technology accountable. and how can we make sure that when people design ai's, they have the common good in mind. once that's one thing the left out was the primary way across all industries that we make sure

that people who produce products and services are accountable is market processes. if you're not producing something people want and find useful or they find offensive, that is a bad business plan. so i think we need to think at least about that particular method of accountability and where there are gaps where we might need regulatory solutions. host: paul in indianapolis, republican, good morning. caller: good morning. what we have to remember is we have all been using we call ai for a long time and the original versions said if then statements, a primitive version of artificial intelligence. what we mislead ourselves when we call it intelligence. it is simply machines executing

binary instructions at a high rate. now the computers are so powerful that they execute those at a higher rate than we can grasp. we were just talking about the ill will of the programmers. i am not so much worried about the ill will of the programmers as the mistakes of the programmers, the instructions that they left out. something they did not intend that will have unintended consequences. as far as the intelligence, i want to free up again the work of lawrence joseph stock meyer who did a lot of work on complexity theory. he once said as part of a joke that to have a computer that could discuss the novel jane eyre, it would take a computer the size of the known universe.

so i think when we call it artificial intelligence we mislead ourselves. we have to be careful about that having unintended mistakes. thank you. host: neil chilson. guest: you're pushing a lot of the buttons on the issues that we care about. i wrote a book called getting out of control that is about applying complicity theory public policy in the personal lens. i think you are right. when we think about the interaction between computers and complex systems, some of the fears that computers are going to be as intelligence -- intelligent as a human, we don't have good definitions of intelligence. philosophers fight over this a lot. there is some knowledge processing happening in computers that can resemble the ways that humans process information. but it is not the same. and especially it is not the same as the complex efforts that

we as individuals contribute to, but we don't control across society. when you think about the complexity of all of the things we as a society produce and we think about how can we cram all of that knowledge and execution ability into a box, i'm less afraid of that. i think you are right that when we compare the intelligence that computer has to the complexity of the world, there is still a giant gap between those things. host: getting out of control, emergent leadership in a complex world, the paper out in 2021. this is micah in nevada, republican. good morning. caller: good morning, thanks for taking my call. i called and on one of the lines, eileen left of center but it does not matter, we are all americans.

it is interesting what you're talking about, but someone a few people ago from indiana, i think we've got to be careful about humans being separated and not speaking to each other. as it happens, people become statistics. it gets orwellian and easy to say porous people are going to be affected, this and that. if the interest of people are going to have opinions -- it is going to affect millions in america and that is politically motivated. the people who control the intelligence and the artificial intelligence, that is where the problem is. i would say, would you do anything you are doing without security of housing, take away all of your income and imagine yourself as one of the poorest people? would you be anywhere but at

home try to help yourself? i think government is basically corrupting. i don't want to say ignorance is bliss. but there are some ways that humans -- you drive on the freeway and people are driving like they want to kill you, i drive for a living. please address some of this. host: we will let him take it up. guest: at the center of growth and opportunity, our goal is to have economic abundance that raises all people and gives everybody the opportunity to maximize their contribution to this world and live a good and fulfilling life. i really synthesize with your objectives. i think that over history, technology has been one of those ways to raise living standards. the last 200 years have been unprecedented in the amount of

human growth that we have had, within population but also in prosperity and the access that people have to information, resources. that is not mean we are done. we have plenty more to do. ar is not a silver bullet on those complicated problems that you are talking about. the one where it probably has the most relevance is around automated driving and certainly it can be frustrating. there is the potential that automated driving would make it less frustrating. that still seems like a little ways off. it does seem like other areas are taking off and are simpler to solve. but it shows that ai helps with the hardest problems and we will have to continue to deal with the barriers that are holding people back from reaching their full potential. host: to alabama, this is dixie, independent.

caller: good morning. frontline, if you are familiar with that show on pbs, they did a series about five years ago, on ai. in all of the scientists there at the end called for regulation because it is going to be a big job displacement. it was also a concern at the current senate hearings. but you don't seem to be concerned about that. guest: i do think the economic effects on employment are important for us to look at. there are a bunch of ways we can deal with that. the question is, do we slow down tools that can make workers more productive, or do we find ways to get those tools into people's hands and the training that they need to move up in the value chain and be able to produce more and have more fulfilling work, get rid of the drugs work

that maybe they have been enduring in the past. one of the big potential areas of ai is in education. when you think about what education is, in many cases it is they -- teaching people the average knowledge around a subject is kind of the goal. if you can have an ai based tutor responding to your questions on different topics, that can help close the education gap in many ways. kahn academy is doing this with online courses now. you can ask about that specific math problem you're working on and it will coach you through getting to the answer. it won't give you the answer but it will coach you through one of the steps you need to take. there are lots of applications for job training and retraining.

that is something that i think could be a helpful role for government. we should look at how we can deploy these tools in order to make it possible for people to be more productive and happier in themselves. host: this is doug, staten island, republican. you are on with neil chilson. caller: good morning, how are you doing? host: doing well, what is your question or comment? we are running out of time. caller: last night, we were kicking this around and i think this whole ai chatgpt thing is being blown out of proportion. so your venture capitalists can make a lot of money. i don't think it is going to be replacing -- was your opinion this whole thing is the next graft to get a bunch of money built up but it is not going to

change our lives? what do you think about this? host: do you want to take up the topic of whether this is not that next big thing echo -- thing? guest: every technological trend has people who have not thought through what they're trying to build. or maybe they are trying to take advantage of people. this technology has proven to have substantial uses that are profitable but also beneficial. i've mentioned the protein prediction. there were lots of technologies that we use every day that were powerful and that use the benefit. i do think this -- these new technologies have created a talking point. because they are so conversational, they can feel

like a personality. and i think they have surprised a lot of people with their capability. but i do think if we step back and look at the 5, 10 years down the road, will see this was the start of the new general-purpose technology that is going to get deployed throughout our economy. and investment is part of making that happen. but it is only one part of making it happen. host: thank you for the answer despite the sign off. neil chilson, center for growth and senior research fellow, check out his work. i prescient the time. back again. guest: thank you. host: next, we will return to the question we began our program with this moaning, we are asking you what the top issue was in this country with the nation's top problem. publicans call in at --

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that is at 10:00 a.m. eastern. we are expecting more supreme court decisions to come down. have fun scrub fortune magazine, they will release 10 decisions from student loans to it when mark decision on affirmative action. we don't know when the decisions will come but they will be released at 10:00 a.m.. look for news on that after this program. and for the next about 25 minutes, we areeturning the question that we started the program with today tt the pew research cter report on the top problems, a survey of some 50 americans asking them to name the biggest problems facing americtoday. here's the headline from the report that came out a few days ago. inflation, health costs, partisan cooperation among nations. top problems. more americans agree with republicans on economy, crime and innovation -- immigration.

the headline -- what do you think the top problem in the country is? guest: dust -- (202) 748-8001 for republicans, democrats (202) 748-8000, independence -- independence -- independants (202) 748-8002. caller: the inflation is really bad. it is the corruption in politics. you don't know who to believe, who is selling the about why. when you can look dead in the camera and say swear to god, the honest truth, no lie and then tell it live, and it has been spread around and nobody knows anymore. host: is there anybody in

leadership in this country who you feel like you do believe and trust? caller: i would say 50-50. i believe a lot of the republicans more than the democrats. but it is still not a high confidence in either one. most of them are bought and paid for. host: this is david, in the tar heel state, you are next. caller: when i went to school, the biggest problem -- when i went to school, it was not the problem. but it is a problem now. when you have the 10 commandments overtop of the teachers two, when you are looking to trade in, you see that everyday. i just appreciate that and i wish i could get back to that stuff.

i have grandkids. i go to places and see a bunch of queers open hands and kissing in the parking lots and scores -- stores. what happened? host: good morning. caller: i would like to start by saying i know the best of this is the greatest country in the world. but i have concerns and i'm concerned about the people that work in the public sector. people in the chain of command or management have to start doing a better job. that is one of my main concerns. i'm concerned about people being rewarded for stupidity. we bailout thanks but we don't look at the kids who are taking out predatory lending from the

federal government with student loans. these are some issues that i find to be a concern. i think people also are so greedy now. instead of making people have a better life and have a fair wage, it is about upper management making more and more money. those are some of my concerns. host: eli in maryland, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. people are saying some good things, some real problems. but it is pretty obvious that the main issue is all of the free speech that we've got. people are able to just say whatever they want. sometimes it hurts people's feelings. we had that one guy that was the president, they got to say whatever they wanted and some of it wasn't true. a bunch of it -- some of it might have been true so it gets

confusing and confuses people. if we have another fascist president, they should be someone who buckles down on the free speech. host: that was eli. iris in new york, the biggest problems facing the country today, what would you pick? caller: any time they talk about the first amendment, it is not that you can say whatever you want to say. what we are forgetting is that there are consequences to what you do say. so the freedom is not there for you to say whatever you want. but there are consequences. the other is congress. the politicians. they are elected officials. there are about their states and the need of the people. it is become money and power. the needs of the people are not being done.

so i believe that we need to eliminate this majority party, republican and democrats, and making people feel where they do the service and work together. we are united states. i'm also a veteran and this is what hurts and deeply affects me. the division between the republicans and democrats. we are supposed to work together to resolve the issues of the people. the people are the voice, not the politicians. host: that is iris in new york. the country's highest ranking transgender elected official announced her candidacy on monday to become the next a soul congresswoman. if elected she will become the first openly trans person

elected to federal office. the youngest official delaware has sent to washington since president biden's senate when in 1972. vice president, harris was at the stonewall inn, the site of the 1969 right, sparking the modern lgbtq rights movement. it laments that it continues and the exceptions after their pride march. picture in the new york times. before the house comes in, we will show you the gavel-to-gavel for this pro forma session. make sure to stick around when it is over but until then we will take your calls. rochester, minnesota, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. the think that is impacting our nation the most is ethics and

lack of accountability. the thing that pops into mind is what is going on in the supreme court and people taking trips and saying i was told i did not have to release that information. where is ethics? you know what's on the has bad optics, everybody knows it. ethics, as far as politicians lying boldfaced lies, and no one holds them accountable. no one says you are wrong, you are lying, do that. that is my point. host: buffalo, new york is next and george is a republican. caller: there are so many topics being talked about. host: a quick one before the house comes in. what you think is the top problem? caller: the top problem in the

united states -- it is unregulated immigration. i could not-- i could not becomn citizen. i'm an american in buffalo, new york. it would be harder for me to become a citizen in mexico than for the opposite to happen. immigration is wonderful. i love having people coming from all over the world. even though i'm a republican. i don't care where you come from. like, come here. i'm a sixth generation american. host: george, we take your point. we are now taking viewers live to the house floor for a brief pro forma session.