chair rosenworcel but we will be back in about two minutes. >> thank you. [applause] >> we have more live coverage coming up. and this evening at six: 30, we will hear from veterans of the female tactical platoon of afghanistan, a group of 68 ask and women trained by the u.s.

military who took part in more than 2000 high-profile missions. and available online have website, c-span.org. -- at our website, c-span.org. >> c-span.org/shop has the latest apparel, books. there is something for every c-span fan. and every purchase helps support our nonprofit operation. shop now or anytime at c-spanshop.org. today, democrats and independents only to called in for this first hour, anyway. a line for supporters of joe biden, a line for supporters of all others and a line for those of you who are unsure.

keep track of this through real clear politics. the republican candidate, former president donald trump 44% of those surveyed with the real clear politics and president joe biden, 45%. the big issue is the economy. this is a look at the headline of the washington post yesterday morning. "plot middle-class messaging wind to take economic high ground." the wide -- about a dangerous flaw in the democratic brand. based on six months of pulling, the documents showed the party

losing to republicans on the economy. the democrats focus on social issues and not enough on pocketbook issues. 'challenge is one of volume ,' read the opening slide. the effect was almost immediate. leaders in the house and senate, including hakeem jeffries and senator elizabeth warren started sneaking "growing the middle-class" into social media statements. president joe biden returned with a speech reprinting his approach as bidenomics.

real clear politics also tracks approval ratings by issues. on the war in ukraine, 44% approve of president joe biden's handling of the war in ukraine, 41% on his foreign-policy, 36.3% on crime. is he your candidate? that is the line. (202) 748-8000 is the line to use. if you have another democratic candidate you prefer, (202) 748-8001. for those who are unsure, (202) 748-8002. the president over the weekend in maine was touting his bidenomics. [video clip] >> i'm not here to declare

victory on the economy. bidenomics is just another way of saying restoring the american dream. i believe every american willing to work should be able to get a job no matter where they live in the heartland, small towns, big cities, to raise their kids on a big paycheck. my dad was a well read men. his greatest regret was he never got to go to college. i give my word, this is what he would say. all my siblings remember. he said "a job is about a lot more than a paycheck. it is about your dignity. it is about respect. it is about being able to look your kid in the high-end say 'it is going to be ok.' that is what it is about.

if you are willing to work hard, you ought to be able to make it. what has always worked best in this country is investing in america, investing in americans. when we spend on the middle-class, we see stronger economic growth and everybody benefits. we are making significant progress, and we have done all of this without raising taxes. i commit that we will never raise federal taxes on anyone making less than $40,000. [applause] >> some of my friends on the others say "big spending biden is raising the deficit." and the four years that the last guy was president, he raised the

national debt by almost 40%. that $2 trillion tax cut? raise your hand if you got any of it. not a penny paid for. in 2 years i cut the national debt by 1,700,000,000,000 dollars. host: a couple of comments on twitter -- this one says " anyone but biden and trump." "i will copy my same reply from yesterday. i remain open to republican and democratic candidates. i don't think it is a biden-

trump rematch no matter how much the media pushes it." "what we need is a man or woman who does not fear the to party tyranny and is not afraid to bring it down." if you support biden, (202) 748-8000. if your candidate is someone else, (202) 748-8001. and for all others who are unsure of who they would prefer, (202) 748-8002. let's go first to robin in cleveland, tennessee who is a joe biden supporter. caller: yes, i am a joe biden supporter because there is only one party standing up for democracy. there is only one party standing up for the middle-class and the right for everyone to vote, and it is not the republican party. a vote for anybody else other than joe biden is of vote for trump who would be running the government from prison. these republicans are radicalized.

they do not think he has done anything wrong. there is no equivalency to anything the democratic party has ever done. we have never tried to storm the capital because we didn't win. we really won gore versus bush. the republican party is a radicalized party. they are fascists. a vote for anybody other than biden is a vote for trump. host: laurie and vermont tells us her candidate is rfk junior. caller: i don't plan to vote for either a republican or democrat, because i think both parties put forth candidates that most people don't want. rfk junior, i plan to vote for him now but i'm still up and whether candidates. as far as i am concerned, biden

could not have won the primary without the democrats going all out for him, and perhaps a vote for biden is really a vote for kamala harris, because i don't think he will make a full term. host: what are some of the things about rfk, smooth the things he is saying that you like? caller: i am totally antiwar, and robert kennedy junior seems to be one of the few candidates talking about that issue. i want to us out of ukraine as soon as possible. host: let's go to clearwater florida. ellen is also a joe biden supporter. caller: good morning, c-span. i am a biden supporter. i appreciate everything he is doing and trying to do. if the republicans could just stay out of his way, h will

makee this -- he will make this place easy-going. host: this is from politico this morning back to the theme of the economy, the headline is "top super pac -- congressional democrats are getting directions from the largest super pac. they advise that democrats can boost reelection chances when they focus on economic issues, according to a memo first obtained by politico. last week, representative kevin kiley criticized president biden on his so-called widenom -- bidenomics. >> that is the assessment of the

overwhelming majority of americans who say that the economy is not doing well, that their own financial situation is -- real earnings have declined 3% over the last couple of years. people have less ability to provide for their families and pursue the american dream. we have to acknowledge reality. there has been a pr push to rebrand the president's economic policies as bidenomics but it will not but they see what -- will not full americans when they contradicts what they see with their eyes. host: your candidate for 2024 -- (202) 748-8000 is the line to

use if you support joe biden. (202) 748-8001, if you support another candidate. (202) 748-8002 if you are unsure who your candidate will be in 2024. jack is on that line in cleveland, ohio. caller: i think the only liable alternative -- viable alternative are mouthpieces of the cia complex. i you gof dangerous lobby -- if you go beyond that to another dangerous lobby, the big pharma companies that are really poisoning us and have bought off so many politicians as well as the military-industrial complex has, and i think the only one

who is calling them to account is robert f. kennedy, jr.. i saw him on a town hall meeting and he got rousing hands of applause for bringing the troops home from bases around the world, including and especially the ukraine. he pointed out things like we are being brainwashed into supporting those wars by the corporate caa operation mockingbird media. we are not being told that the u.s. provokes the incursion by russia for years, and has rejected every overture, and has funneled now hundreds of billions of dollars of deadly weapons. host: guest: do think that -- host: do you think that message, particularly on ukraine, the military, that message resonates

with independents, democrats and some republicans? caller: i think very much so. i think it is being suppressed by the media, which is interlocked with that military-industrial complex that president general eisenhower warned against. there are many people who will not be heard from reflected in the media because the media is one arm of that military-industrial complex, and the big pharma complex gives millions of dollars of drug advertisements to the media, buys up politicians just like boeing and raytheon who have led us into all these dirty wars based on lies, control the media, and the government, and the politicians as well. host: some other political news,

we have been talking about the real clear poll averages. this is the latest . latest polling from the new york times -- this is the latest polling from the new york times. 17% for the closest running candidate, that would be governor ron desantis. the others fall off after that. in minneapolis we will hear from ilga who is uncertain who her candidate will be. caller: i am very good. i am very uncertain about all of this. i will vote for whoever will be the best candidate for the people, but i am a trans person. i need to vote for who will be

the least trans phobic. donald trump will be nasty for that, so i will vote for joe biden. there are so many other good candidates like cornell west. there is our little friend, her name is marianne williamson. she is very good. beggars can't be choosers. we only have three candidates running am a few debatend -- and a few debates to figure out who these people are. democrats can't act like it is decided. people can't think that joe biden will be the only winner until the primary is over. do you remember 1968? there was a big, whole to do about those primaries. we have a right as people that

have primaries. people should not get too cocky. . things could happen. there could be a president sitting in jail, commanding from his bunk bed. host: we are focusing on democrats and independents in this first hour. if you -- the numbers are (202) 748-8000, if you support joe biden. if there is another candidate of your choosing, (202) 748-8001. for those who are unsure, it is (202) 748-8002. we are joined by alex thompson with axios. he is a national politics correspondent, joining us to talk about campaign 2024. good morning, alice tom -- alex thompson. we saw your reporting this morning, writing about the

president's team recently splitting with mark elias because of disagreement with elias over legal strategies. what happened there? why is this important to the campaign? guest: the next presidential election might be the most litigious in modern memory. essentially, every election since 2000 has become more and more litigious. it can have incredible consequences to who will occupy the white house, and who will control the house and senate. why this is important is a sickly the president -- basically the president's team is in disagreement with one of the main lawyers in the democratic party. mark elias believes this moment calls for all hands on deck, being aggressive,, litigious and

biden's team feels that while that approach can be emotionally satisfying, and generate lots of good headlines, they note that given the conservative makeup of the judiciary right now, it actually can backfire. what has happened in a few cases is that judges have not only rejected some of those repose holes, but have gone back -- those proposals, but have gone back and established worse principles. what is the best way to litigate the 2024 election? the president's team is on one side and mark elias, who represents the democratic congressional committee, is on the others. this might just be the first step in this battle. host: this is not to say that

either the president's team are the democratic party won't litigate when they see vital issues at stake during the election. >> absolute -- guest: absolutely. the president's team believes in more carefully picking their spots. if you are on the mark elias team, may be you think they are not responding with the urgency that the moment calls for. the president's team is steered by bob bauer, who was obama's lawyer. i is not as if theyt are not hiring lawyers, they just don't want to hire this lawyer. host: in term of the former president's legal concerns, what has been the white house strategy in responding to the indictments as they come down with a potential third

indictment coming this week on the former president? guest: the public facing strategy has been a firm no comment and it has been that way for the past six months/ the president's team makes an effort to say that they are respecting the independence of the justice department. this comes as congressional republicans argue that there is a two-tiered version of justice. what you are seeing is that there -- essentially the white house is trying to duck and cover here and stay above the fray, but the legal proceedings play themselves out. they do not see any benefit to trying to politicize this any further. host: we have been talking with our viewers about the focus of the campaign. it has been totally about focusing on the economy, and the

slow recovery that is beginning to show in someplaces, the lessening of inflation, and the president pushing hiso bidenom ics theme. guest: that is more of a communications-forward strategy. they have put in place the strategies necessary, especially -- the bidenomics push is a communications-first push. you look at growing gdp, the recession that a lot of people feared never came, and things are much better postvaccination. the fact of the matter is americans do not yield that joe biden has done a good job on the

things that people like him who always have complaints with have not. this man is another catastrophe. to even think of him being president again, he should be in

prison for the rest of his life, literally. and the republican party offers nothing. host: ben kathleen in michigan, -- to kathleen in michigan, although -- also a joe biden supported. caller: i support joe biden. the be his age is a concern, but he is an honest broker, dealing across party lines. the root of the problem in politics is bribery. it is legal for politicians to -- their favor. the media is not a good information source for voters. people who are working to survive, what they are getting is cap amanda and the internet -- propaganda from the internet.

an amazing this was to marianne williamson, robert kennedy junior, you are voting for donald trump. the house is on fire. get the dems and the blues and get citizens united dealt with. get to the root. if we all go the other way, if we did not even have decent information to trust, cannot hear troops, -- truth, we have oligarchs. the media does not talk about by the nonexpert in michigan, we have a large infrastructure project going. energy and battery plants coming in. we do not hear about where it is from. it is core to what is often -- what we have democrats in charge, still, the messaging is

run by the wealthy. people vote for the democrats to get the problem. do not vote for ronald kennedy junior. we have two get to the route to get our democracy back where voters are voting for the candidates. some gerrymandered states voting for ronald. i am against war but let's get to the root and get back. then we will deal with the war problem. host: kathleen expressed some concern about joe biden's age. there is also some concern and capitol hill about center minor the mitch mcconnell. his health scare puts focus on the shadow race to replace him. the health scare has republicans wondering whether the 81-year-old will stay in his job