♪ host: good morning. it is saturday, november 4, 2023. after a new week on capital week -- capitol hill and around the world, we begin our program by hearing from you about the top news story of the past week. what story caught your attention?

phone lines are open to call in and split and as usual by local party. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can send us a text, (202) 748-8003. if you do, please include your name and where you are from. catch up with us on social media, x, facebook.com. a very good saturday morning to you. we can start calling and now. here are some of the stories we have been talking about this week, including the house passing that aid pafor israel that includes cuts to irs funding torothat package. president biden in maine t mourn the families of the lewiston shooting. the house rejected expulsion and censure efforts are rinsed --

againsesentative santos. october jobs numbers came out yesterday that federalerve rate is vision deciding to hold steady when it came to interest former president trump's chilestified in that civil fraud trial in new york some of the stories that we have talked about this week. you lk about any of them. let us know what you think the top story was. here is a headline from the wall street journal. president biden mourns with maine after the mass shooting, saying you are not alone. this was president biden yesterday. [video clip] >> 18 precious souls. 13 wounded. children, grandchildren, spouses, siblings, parents, grandparents. bowling coaches, union workers, beloved members, advocates and friends in the lewiston hard of hearing and deaf community. all of them lived lives of love

and service and sacrifice. we also remember the survivors who will forever carry the memories and physical, emotional scars of this. they should be embraced. i know you will, i know you do. as we mourn today in maine, this tragedy opens a painful, painful wound across the country. too many americans have lost loved ones, or survive the trauma of gun violence. i know because jill and i have met with them in buffalo, uvalde , in monterey park, in sandy hook -- anyway, too many to count. too many to count. from places that never make the news all across america. it is about bringing people together. different voices and

perspectives, from an honest conversation of what is to be a long road to recovery. you know, i have been at this a long time. i know consensus is possible. this is about common sense, reasonable, responsible measures to protect our children, our families, our communities. regardless of our politics, this is about protecting our freedom. if you go to a bowling alley, a restaurant, a school, a church, without being shot and killed. host: that was president biden yesterday in maine. this morning on "washington journal," we can talk about that and whatever you think hasee the top news story of the week. phone numbers, (202) 748-8000 for democrats. republicans, (202) 748-8001. inpeents, (202) 748-8002.

hang this conversation about your top news story of the week in this first hour of the "washington journal." we will start in lafayette, indiana on the independent line. terry, what was your top news story of the week? caller: good morning. i saw on podcast, tucker carlson said he contacted the governor -- i do not know if he went to see him. he said he asked him three different times, why haven't you sent your national guard to close the border? he said it is against the law to have that border open. he said any governor can send their national guard and close that border. he said all the towns down there are overrun, there is more people in them towns then there is -- there is more illegal immigrants in the towns then the people in them towns. they are breaking their banks. they are feeding them, putting them up places to stay, sending them in buses or planes to new

york to ruin new york. it has ruined a bunch of towns on their on the border. it is going to ruin this country and doom us if we do not close the border. any governor can send his national guard there. what is going on? are the republicans with the dems and waiting for kyle schwab to come over here and turn us into a communist country? host: got your point, terry. terry on the point of immigration is a top news story of the week. this is from the wall street journal today, there were review section. how democrats lost the working class on immigration by championing legal and illegal immigrants and largely ignoring border security. the democratic party has alienated key voting groups. they write, including hispanics. this is rob out of new york, an independent.

what is the top news story of the week? caller: good morning, john. i love that first collar, he was right about everything. the un soldiers crossing our border into arizona, that is troubling. i have seen wendy of videos on rumble where there is north african soldiers with un identification. host: where did you see that? caller: there is videos on bit shoot and videos on rumble of americans who are down there at the border. host: what is bit shoot? what is bit shoot? caller: it is a video site. i believe it is based in the u.k. these americans are down at the border and doing good work down there. these north africans, these are all men, military age men. there is not a woman insight. they are crossing the arizona border. our governor is welcoming these

people in. host: this is doug in san jose, california, republican. caller: good morning. i am calling about the president's remarks on gun control. over and over and over and over again, the solution is not more laws. we have got plenty of laws. there is over 20,000 federal, state and local laws and the books regarding gun control. what we need to do is enforce those laws. this particular shooter in new england -- he was broadcasting all sorts of signals that he was going off the deep end. he should have had his guns removed. the law was there to allow that to happen. and, it did not happen. many mass shooters in recent history have broadcast the same signals and we did not do anything about it. host: on the laws of the books

in maine, not a red flag law, but maine is a state that has a yellow flag law. let me explain what that means, this is from today's new york times. maine has the highest rates of gun ownership in new england and has stopped short of those red flag laws other states have to allow police to take guns from people who are found to be in danger to themselves or others. maine has a yellow flag law that requires the police to have the person evaluated by a medical practitioner and then go before a judge before a person's firearms can be taken away. calls to change that to a red flag law in maine, what are your thoughts on that law? caller: i think if they want to change it to a red flag law, that is fine. in this particular case, the shooter had been medically evaluated and had been placed in an inpatient mental facility. so, as far as i'm concerned, based upon what i have read about that yellow flag law, all

of the requirements were there. for some reason, they just cannot find the guy. it seems to me they should have been able to find him. he obviously had a job, he had a home. he was somewhere. they should have been able based upon their existing law to take his guns away and they did not. host: that is doug in san jose, california this morning. this is one more story on gun laws in this country. supreme court agreeing to review a challenge to that bum stockman you recall -- bump stocks use did not october 2017 shooting, a gunman firing from a hotel in las vegas near the strip, killing 58 people, wounding hundreds more. the supreme court, deciding to take up the ban on bump stocks. the solicitor general arguing against that, saying bum stocks

fit the legal definition of sheen guns that have been banned since 1986 because the devices allow a shooter fire hundreds of bullets a minute by a single pull of the trigger. the supreme court taking on a challenge to that man. therefore, that is expected to be decided in this term of the supreme court. this is joseph in worchester, massachusetts, independent. caller: good morning, c-span. yeah, my top story is the shooter in maine and what is going on in the middle east with hamas and israel. i want to talk briefly on hamas and israel. i want to conversation on the shooting because that is a serious, serious issue for the western hemisphere, not just america. as far as the middle east, you know, as a psychology major in college, we studied an experiment and this is what people need to know. mia, prisoner of war, geneva

convention -- they will do the same thing to you that they did to them. in psychology class, they had a group of people and made them inmates in a jail. they made the other group the prison guards. the prison guards treated the inmates brutal. they gave them shocks for simple things and got carried away. when they switched the groups, the inmates -- the prison guards and the inmates did the same thing. the mia, missing in action, p.o.w. -- in the marine corps -- host: joseph, bring me to that. caller: you have got to treat people humane. let me concentrate on the gun one more time. you know, the problem is, you put a frog over water and put

the water to boil, you put the fire on it and the frog will not jump out. the reason why -- i moved to texas to get away from new york city back in 1987. new york city was actually a safe, big city, even with the highest crime rate. they had over 2000 murders a year in 19 seven -- 1987. i moved to texas in 1994, there were 200 guns on the street. texas overall has 60 million guns and at the same time, the top 10 violent city in america was in texas. the gun problem is a result of the drug trade. when america is 5% of the world's population but utilizes street drugs, it carries over. the only problem here, only america is the problem with guns. in mexico, venezuela, brazil,

police, guatemala -- belize, guatemala, jamaica -- we have to look at it from a socialist point of view. you have got to give people jobs. even though it does not sound direct, that shooting in maine, he had become desensitized watching the tv with killing and stuff. you have got to take a worldwide view. host: i got your point, i did want to point out on your first point on the war in israel and strikes in gaza -- the latest on that. this is the front page of today's wall street journal. benjamin netanyahu re-bumping u.s. calls for humanitarian pause in strikes on gaza, the prime minister resisting pressure from the united states on that topic after secretary of state antony blinken urged him to do more to protect civilians in gaza, saying israel refuses a

temporary cease-fire that does not include defraying of our hostages. the u.s., stepping up its pressure on israel saying it has a moral imperative to pause fighting while humanitarian relief and particularly fuel is delivered into gaza. this is elizabeth, randall's town, maryland, line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning. i want to talk about israel and palestine. there needs to be an immediate cease-fire, immediate cease-fire. biden is not supporting that and blanket is meeting with the plo, which is wonderful. we need immediate cease-fire. people are suffering in both countries. the palestinians are getting through the crossing into egypt. arab countries are helping the poor people in gaza. there needs to be more humanitarian aid and there needs to be a cease-fire.

the security council is working hard on getting a cease-fire, but biden is not working on it. he needs to work on it right now. that is all i need to say. host: on capitol hill, members of congress working on an aid package for israel. the house republicans passing their aid package for israel, a 14 point $5 billion military aid package funded through the internal revenue service. doing that way is nothing democrats have said is dead on arrival. this is senate majority leader chuck schumer from thursday. [video clip] >> the senate will not be considering this deeply flawed proposal from the house gop. instead, we will work together on our own bipartisan emergency aid package that includes aid to israel, ukraine, competition with the chinese government and humanitarian aid for gaza so much-needed. let me say that again. the senate will not take up the

house's gop's deeply flawed proposal and instead, will work on our own, bipartisan emergency aid package that includes aid to israel, ukraine, competition with the chinese government and humanitarian aid for gaza. it is still -- it still mystifies me the moment the world is in crisis, at a time where we need to help israel respond to hamas, the house gop thought it was a good idea to tie is relayed to -- tie israel aid to a hard proposal that would raise the deficit. it is totally, totally partisan. host: senate majority leader chuck schumer yesterday on that aid package. the white house has promised to veto that aid package. speaker of the house johnson was talking about that veto on thursday. here is what he had to say. [video clip] >> for the israel funding, as you know, president biden has issued a veto threat on this bill.

would you consider putting a bill on the floor that includes funding for israel but does not have spending cuts, or is that a nonstarter? >> no, listen. we are in dire straits as a nation. if you talk to leaders at the joint chief of staff, at the pentagon, they have testified -- if you ask them with the greatest threat is to our national security, most people would expect they would say china, russia, iran cairo terrorism. we have commitments and want to protect and help and assist our friends, israel. we have to keep our own house in order. people at home, i think the american people understand that. at home, you have to balance your budget. at home, you have to make tough decisions. washington should run the same way. we are here to change the paradigm the way washington things. if we continue on the trajectory we are on, it is going to hurt our country terribly and hurt hard-working americans more,

seniors and the rest. while we take care of obligations, we have got to do it in a responsible manner. i have made this clear that we have made it clear to our colleagues, house republicans -- senate republicans, to every cabinet official all the way down the line, we are going to do this in a responsible manner. host: speaker of the house mike johnson on thursday. this morning, asking about your top news story of this past week. this is michelle in maryland, independent. what do you think the top story was? caller: good morning, john. i think the top story this week was on the actions of congress from michigan. abby phillips from cnn showed a video last night of her, of what the congressman posted and scores of palestinians in michigan shouting something

about, from the river to jordan -- i do not know what that epithet is, i am glad i do not. it is something that signals death to jews. she needs to be thrown out of congress. everyone talking about a cease-fire -- how about calling for hamas to release the hostages? in the black community, there is a saying -- do not start nothing, will not be nothing. hamas started something. they are still keeping those hostages. i would like to see the world cry for hamas to release the hostages instead of putting it on israel to stop their campaign. it is a horrible thing. hamas should not have started this. going back to the original question, congresswoman to leap, i do not think enough attention has been paid to the video she posted and what she is basically

endorsing. my heart goes out to her as a palestinian-american. i do believe that we need to look at this through, who started it, and the hostages. let's release those hostages. host: this is jeff in north carolina, republican. good morning. caller: hey, john, how are you doing? host: doing well, go ahead. caller: not one more penny should be spent on ukraine or israel until we close our southern border. in maine, 18 people died on the shooting -- when are we going to get on tv and mourn the 300 people died for fentanyl poisoning. my only child is dead because he opened the southern border. when is he going to get on the tv and mourned those 300 people that die every day?

that is a big part of -- that border is a big part of our national security and should be closed immediately. immediately. i do not know how these people get on here and say joe biden is a good president and he is doing a good job. how stupid are the people of this country? donald trump kept our nation safe, secure and strong. he walked tall and carried a whole stack of big sticks. this country cannot and will not survive another four years of a biden-harris administration. he has got to go. he is gone. the people will put trump back in office in 2024. thank god for donald trump. host: mary is in las vegas, democrat, good morning. caller: yeah, good morning. we should not be hearing praise for trump. come on. he is america's first dictator.

he aligns himself with all of the dictators, ok? host: mary, what do you think the top news story of the week was to this question we are asking? caller: pardon me? host: what do you think the top news story of the week was? the children of donald trump was in that civil, broad trial in new york. caller: i think the top story is probably, you know, the war. i do not know how you deal with terrorists --coming on the news, saying they want to bomb israel. we only heard half of the torture and the stuff that they did to the people there. john, let me say this. will the american people please look up social security works.org and see the real,

authoritarian agenda of the so-called republican party there? the conservative justice can talk about the threat our nature -- our nation is under, and also alex larson of social security works, if you could have those two people on the show. i sure would appreciate it. host: judge michael -- has been on this program as recently as a year ago this month in october. if you go to c-span.org and type in ludig, you can find him there. somebody that has been on this program in the past likely will be in the future. this is jerry and hudson, florida, republican. you are next. caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: i am hoping for better days for this country.

am i on tv right now? host: you are, jerry. caller: i want to talk about this country. the people running this country. there are a lot of problems, the border being open, food prices going up, gas prices, just the security of this country as we stretch out to every other country to help them out, which is a good thing we are doing. we are leaving our self wide open here. all these people that run this country, the senators, the congressman -- everybody else, why don't they get together and get rid of this president because he is destroying this country? he is giving away everything that i worked for and everything that you worked for. you know, they got real cushy jobs. they are not out there in the sun beating their bodies to death like a lot of people do. they just show up when they want to for work and they get paid no matter how they performed. host: what kind of work do you do, jerry?

caller: i refinish and build swimming pools. i am out there every day in the sun, exposing myself. it has been a rough job for 50 some years i have been doing it, but i serve the people with all my heart. i do my best. i expect the leaders of this country to do the same thing. they need to step up to the plate and straighten out this mess. we have got kids dying left and right from these drugs coming across the border. these people are bringing back probably full of drugs they are going to make a great deal of money from. does the present care people are dying? he is letting it wide open for a vote. evidently, it seems like. i think we need to take some charge and get some of these people out of washington. they have been in there too long, they are desensitized. they have had such an easy ride. they cannot appreciate what they are being given. host: you think the new speaker,

mike johnson, appreciates what he has been given? is he someone who has been here too long or someone you trust to do what you are talking about? caller: i do not know. he sounds good. i do not know if he is going to be able to do much. it seems like when certain people get impositions and tried to do the right thing, they want to boot them out, like trump. you can see what the guy has done. he has been there for the people, he ain't in there for the paycheck. he is therefore the country. look at what they are doing for this poor guy. they are attacking him and his poor family. there is more and more stuff they are bringing on him all the time. give the guy a break, he did great things for this country. he needs to be put back in office so we can get this country rolling in the right direction again. all these other people that are running as we watched the debates and stuff, i do not know

if they should be running for president. that is the most important position in the world. we take care of the people in the world. host: the third debate happening next week down in florida, in tampa, florida. the rnc rolling out its criteria for the fourth debate set to take place in tuscaloosa, alabama in december -- to simmer sixth. candidates will need to have 80,000 or so unique donors and have reached 6% in two national polls to appear that debate. the previous candidate -- the previous criteria had been 4%. bradley is next out of west virginia, democrat, good morning. caller: good morning, good morning c-span. my biggest three points is the israel war. i am a vietnam veteran, and that -- we had 47 gis killed and if

you are going to do something, go after them and get rid of what is there. all of his house controversy going on. the democrat party -- i am a democrat right now -- but the democrat party created all the house problems we had with mccarthy and all that because everybody in their voted against mccarthy. when he tried to work something out with them. you know, they need to get together and work together instead of fighting each other and stuff. host: you are a democrat, did you vote for joe biden? caller: nope. i did not vote for obama when obama run. i voted for the guy in the pen. you can go back on my records. i am a democrat for now. host: what is keeping you as a democrat? what is keeping you as a democrat right now? caller: well, i just take the change. the democrat party used to be a

great party. like the lady in nevada, she is running trump down for all this stuff he has done. i am a veteran, what about all these millions of dollars that biden and hunter and the brother and all of them -- they got the canceled checks and everything and stuff. there is no controversy like they are with trump. when you see that, you just see the fine paperwork and it is sad. host: what do you think of joe manchin? caller: i like joe. he has got problems too, but i like joe. he has done a lot for the state. i would probably vote for jim justice because i know jim personally. he has done a whole lot for the state of west virginia. you can say, got us out of debt. fix to these roads, redone roads

and re-done a lot of stuff. host: you think the governor is going to come to washington as a senator? caller: well, he is supposed to apply for it and i hope he does. as much as i think of joe, i would probably still have to vote for jim because jim has done a heck of a lot for the seven part of west virginia, which is part of west virginia that needs a lot. it has been left out over the years. host: thanks for the call from west virginia. this is ted in boston, independent. what was the top news story this past week? caller: i think the top news story is how a low grade traito family, hoodwinked, almost half a nation --hihas been interesting to hear a couple callers, maybe one from north carolina, seo from florida doing pools -- even this last guy, who thinks he is a democrat.

but, clearly, his frame is so shifted he is lly conservative. to me, this is all big -- is is all one big case study. you have all of these conservatives who are so sheltered and so secluded in their own information bubbles that they are running around thinking that the border is "open," -- which, i do not even know what that means, but that is their tagline. if you want to do something about illegal immigration, how about you go after the republican donors and major employers hiring and abusing these people? oh, they do not want to do that. well, that is the root of the problem. instead of telling us they are going to slap a wall of like we are freaking teenagers are idiots, slap a wall up that does nothing to address the problem that does not exist -- can we attack the recons?

these people are so encapsulated in their little bubbles. host: how do you get your news? how do you break out of a bubble of your own? caller: i do not know. i think i have the privilege of being educated. i have the privilege of having a job that affords me a healthy lifestyle. i have the privilege of not growing up in a sheltered, poverty-stricken, red state. i feel for this people -- these people. i think this guy said he lost sons and daughters to fentanyl. these people are out there absolutely suffering at the hand of their own, broken capitalism. they are being convinced of all these scapegoat ideas. it is mind-boggling. this opiate problem is a drug problem. as far as i have been around, i have seen conservatives do nothing but criminalize drug

addicts. they actively work against public health interventions that are proven and data backed, like safe sites for injection or drug use, rehabilitation programs. they just want to criminalize them and throw them in jail because that is their culture and that is all they know and that is all there encapsulated bubble tells them. host: this is carla out of wing city, illinois, republican. you are next. caller: good morning. i am happy to follow this gentleman, telling him i live in a blue state and am a republican. i am not in a bubble because chicago is going to hell because of mass migration from the open border. plus, the points on my top issues -- all of them remain t issues.

for one, israel, i am glad i got there ai there should be no cease fire or no pause host: carla, tve not gotten the aid yet. the houseasd their version of the package in the sand, promising not to take up their version but bring up their own version. they have not gotten that $14.5 billion yet. caller: ok. there shot be a pause, i am happy the house passed the alone bill because i did not want itut together with ukraine. the president's push on the more n control -- guns do not kill people, people kill people. house rejects expulsion of censure efforts, that was a big miak i understandhe insurrection deal with it, but she should not censored, she should be expelled along with the other ones that join her. october job report, that is a joke. trumps cn to testify in

civil brodd case, that should be civil case of fraud. that is my five points. covered them all because are all top news stories. host: that is carla in wi city. we are asking you ou your top news story of the week on the october jobs report. those numbers came out yesterday, they always do on the first friday of every month. employers adding 100 50,000 jobs in october, that is half o septembers gain and the smallest monthly increase since june. the unemployment rate rose to 3.9%, up .5% since april. wage growth slowed, the hiring pullback likely to bring the federal reserve's historic interest rate increases to an end by providing stronger evidence that higher borrowing costs has slowed the economy. that is how the wall street journal wrapped up the numbers today. numbers again coming out this time yesterday.

this is eddie out of l.a., independent, good morning. caller: good morning, good morning america. so, my problem is what is going on in palestine. i can understand why we are so adamant about backing israel, considering in 1957 -- 1959, the lavon incident where israel attacked this country. or, in 1967 with the uss liberty where they attacked this country. revelations 29 and revelations 39 for all of those christians out there, you need to read these things. we are looking at the way america started. europeans came in with their bibles and started robbing, stealing, killing, did the same thing they are doing in palestine.

they can't put people in slavery there, so they just lock them, control their water, their air -- that is crazy. these are occupiers. how do they take control of everything? for us to be sending nuclear weapons and weapons of mass distraction to the holiest country in the world? that is ludicrous, man. host: this is the front page of the review section of the wall street journal today. for israel, a war unlike any other. the existential threat hanging over the country as united israelis whose divisions were so evident over this past year but a reckoning, they write, is near for the failed leadership of benjamin netanyahu. that is one of the op-ed pieces again today from the wall street journal. this is kevin in san antonio, texas, independent. good morning. caller: greetings, greetings. i want to say about this george santos. you know, we do not even know

this guy's real name. he can be some foreign agent as far as we know. between -- we have no knowledge of this guy's background. he should have been suspended, expelled, months ago. i would like to say to my fellow united states citizens, republicans, that keep saying the open border. the only one that is saying open borders are republicans. this is ridiculous. the republican party has been running the state of texas for 20 years, since i have lived here, and accomplished nothing about improving relations with the mexicans on their side of the border and the united states side of the border. their own fascist propaganda,

openly says -- the republicans do not want to fix the border problems. they like it the way it is. since 2020, that is all the republicans are saying -- open border, open border. i do not hear a democrat saying open border, they say they want to fix the problem at the border. again, i have been hearing san antonio -- here in san antonio for 20 years, moved from the southern suburbs of chicago, illinois. met wonderful people here. my neighbors are wonderful people. my governor wants me to turn in my neighbor because they take their daughter to the hospital for a medical procedure. this is not correct or right. this is republicans failing and

blaming everything on the democrats. host: kevin, have you ever thought about leaving texas? caller: you know, i do not want to leave texas anymore. i love illinois, their south suburbs of chicago -- i love my neighbors down here. i like taxes. -- texas. look at our ag, we are trying to convict him of all of his crimes. he openly admitted he turned down millions of votes over the years for signature things. host: why don't you think democrats have been able to crack texas on a federal level, some high profile senate races in texas over the years. why haven't democrats been able to find that formula? caller: i believe it is the money.

texas is an oil state. they accomplished nothing for the citizens. i am on social -- i am 62 years old, i just started social security. my food -- i broke my back a couple of times, i am physically incapable of doing my physical work. lower educated, i have computer type of work. it overwhelms me. i do not know if you understand that. too much information all at once, type of thing. to tell you the truth, i would like to get this out there. i would like to see former president obama and michelle obama come down here and do some promoting for democratic -- get rid of that traitor, ted cruz. we need obama and them to come

down here in a couple of months and about two weeks before the election, so we can get rid of these criminals like traitor t eddy cruz. host: that is kevin in san antonio. this is patrice out of palmetto state, good morning. caller: i would like to remind everybody every time i call in that the mainstream media is the number one weapon used against the people. also, my top story is all the money they are finding from the current president biden. the committee is doing a great job. my second top story is clarence thomas coming in and reviewing elections. 2020, along with the 2022

elections. those are my top stories that you never talk about. you never talk about the council takes all this money the community is assigning of joe biden. host: patrice in south carolina. this is robin in schenectady, new york. good morning. caller: good morning, how are you? host: doing well, go ahead. caller: my top story today is something you do not hear on tv, really, like how the west bank controlled by hamas at all and still we hear about people getting bombed and shot over there. that is ridiculous. and how the -- are throwing around all of the, you know, shooting them. that is my top story. you don't even hear about it on tv. you heard about the guy getting shot, but they do not talk about

how hamas ain't there. why is there problems going on there? they talk about, you know, people getting bombed in gaza but they do not talk about how half the people in gaza right now our children. i work with kids, about these kids age. it is crazy, they do not let them know people on the other side of the break are dying and they are the same age as them. it is scary, really. host: that is robin in new york. this is sarah in savannah, georgia, republican. your top news story of this past week. caller: good morning. so, i would like to talk about the fact that we are spending so much money on other countries and stuff, which i think is a good thing. i think we need to be proactive, not reactive. but, we do not pay our own police enough, our own first responders enough. we certainly do not pay our own

teachers enough. we have got all kinds of monetary issues. i think that we need to focus on our own issues. how can you fix something when somebody else's problem, when you have got enough problems you cannot damn fix? you know what i'm saying? host: keep calling in, asking your top news story of the week. that is our question in this first hour of the "washington journal." i want to focus on the sunshine state, a lot going on in the coming week in florida. joining us to talk about it via zoom is kimberly leonard of politico, the florida playbook author there. thanks for getting up on a saturday with us today. it is the florida freedom summit taking place down in florida where the republican presidential candidates are going. what is the florida freedom summit? guest: it is going to be a huge roster of speakers, not just those running for president. they have got almost everyone

except nikki haley had to bow out. a lot of top officials in florida, many of whom are rumored to be running for governor in 2026. host: what are you watching for today? i know that former president trump is set to speak this evening as the headliner, but who else are you watching for today? guest: well, really, the tension as the attention is going to be between governor desantis and former president trump. there is a sense of unease. the trump campaign has something up its sleeve as our viewers probably noticed this week -- risk -- rick scott came out in support of former president trump, he is speaking at the event today. the person who will be speaking after governor desantis on a panel is representative brandy fine, who last week accused governor desantis of not doing enough to find -- fight anti-semitism in the state and he flipped the court from ron desantis to trump. it is, i would say there is a

trepidation of what is going to happen, what are folks going to say? is it going to appear that the summit is more supportive of one florida man over another? that is sort of what we are all watching and i think a lot of people are on edge about it. host: is this a make or break week for ron desantis? this event in his home state and the third republican debate set for wednesday of next week in tampa. considering how he has been performing in polls, is this the week to turn it around if he is going to? guest: right, that is the thing. there is this event this weekend and heading into next week is not only the debate, but trump is running a counter programming event, a rally about 20 minutes outside of miami. he has really wooed the republican class down in south florida, not only send out the eye -- sent out vip tickets for the grassroots activists in the area to be able to attend the

event and have good seating and not have to wait in line, but he is hosting the mar-a-lago dinner the very next day in which he has invited all the main leaders from different republican counties across the state. he is sort of working that angle right now. he is definitely stepping on santa's'-- on desantis' turf. he is trying to draw that contrast against governor desantis. host: you mentioned rick scott coming out for donald trump, not really a surprise there. what about the rest of the leaders in the state and having to make this choice between trump and desantis, two florida men in the sunshine state? guest: our reporting shows there are folks who are going to be flipping. it is going to be tense first of all, because there are folks in the legislature who do have to

think about possible repercussions of going up against the governor. i think there are folks looking at the polls who are looking at how the campaign is going and they feel like the race might be over. you know, no one is counting the ballots yet. that is where some of the tension is and i think there's going to be in a lot of pressure for oaks to come out and talk about where they stand -- folks to come out and talk about where they stand. i would say leaders in the legislature are on board with governor desantis. it is just that there is -- i have been calling a charm offensive -- going on from the trump campaign. host: let me step away from trump and desantis. you mentioned nikki haley is not going to be there, why? guest: something with her family came up, we do not have a lot of details to share. she is the only one of the presidential candidates who is not able to make it. host: other candidates you are

watching for today, or for folks trying to keep track about the freedom summit, what else should they be looking for? guest: [laughter] the biggest story i would say, any attempt to reframe governor desantis's actions in florida is probably worth noting. the governor is popular here. when i talk to average people, average voters, they like what he did in florida, trump is also very popular. he is ahead in the polls. if you pull florida, who voters prefer for president -- what i would say i am watching is, i guess, first of all, casey desantis, the first lady of florida is now going to be on stage. i am not sure if that was something that was changed because of nikki haley stepping back. she is a huge asset to the governor. i would say any comments folks are making about problems in

florida, whether it is our expensive property insurance, any bills on education or things like that. it is interesting to have everyone in this one place and the two florida men duly get out -- dueling it out, there is tension in the air. host: c-span's live coverage of the florida freedom summit begins at 6:00 p.m. eastern tonight on c-span, c-span.org, the free c-span now out. 6:00 p.m. is when we are expectinfoer president trump to give his address. a great place to go to finou news from and wrapped up politico and the florida playbook at politico, kimberly leonard is the author of the playbook and the politics reporter there. appreciate your time, i know it is going to be a busy day for you. guest: thank you so much. host: 10 minutes left in the segment of "washington journal." back to your phone calls about the top news story of the week. what struck you, what do you

want to talk about? this is tricia in plano, texas, republican. go ahead. caller: thank you. no, i just want to say it looks like we are living in the 1930's again. host: why is that, patricia? caller: well, it seems the israelis have taken over palestine and are trying to kill them off. hamas beheaded everybody and shot them, burned them up. i am pretty sure that hitler's policies are hamas's policies. that goes right back to iran and they want to take over the world. they want to get rid of the israelis, then they are going to go down the line and get rid of

the christians and everybody else until they are running the whole show. i am sorry, hope you enjoy the 1930's again. it is not going to be a good ride. host: this is kim, knoxville, tennessee, democrat. what is your top news story of the week? caller: good morning, c-span. i want to say -- i think over 3 million illegals back out of the united states. the most of any president. i just want to say that about the border. thank you. host: phone lines again if you want to join this conversation as we ask for your top news story of the week. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. go ahead and keep calling in as we hear from you about your top news story.

it has been a busy past seven days in washington from capitol hill, to the white house, to around the world. this is ed in antioch, tennessee, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. my top news storyf the week is joe biden -- iran, they funding the wall of israel. another story is [indiscernible] something needs to be done about that. that is my top news story of the week. host: that is ed in tennessee. this is logan out of north carolina, independent, good mornin caller: good morning. , i called yesterday. this bald leader talking about

how iran does not have the nukes to reach the united states. he said something about north korea. the united states -- north korea for over 20 years. it is time to take some action before what he said, the united states does not exist anymore. let's just, you know -- i say, shoot first. hope everybody has good aim. host: you are advocating for starting a nuclear war against north korea. that is what you are saying? caller: yes, man. host: all right, that is logan in north carolina. this is tom in zion, illinois, democrat, good morning. caller: good morning, c-span and

viewers. i am calling because i picked the top story of the week was the battle on capitol hill with the new speaker of the house, mike johnson over what kind of aid is going to go to israel and ukrainian someone. for now, they are cutting out the ukraine aid that the white house, even mitch mcconnell and leaders of the senate, have requested. i find it pretty this hour. -- pretty bizarre. i find this new speaker, not knowing who he is, might be more balanced, bipartisan, sensible. in his first speech, he sounded like he was serious about israel and working together in congress to make progress, pass legislation, improve things. i have done deep dives on him, it seems he is another super

christian, far right zealot in some ways. host: let me bounce this off of you. this is from the washington post editorial board. their review, they are calling it the early returns on mr. johnson, but they are talking about this move to tie israel funding to cuts to the irs to pay for it that way. they write that the hopeful view about this move is that it is cynical, that mr. johnson follows in the footsteps of previous speakers from both parties who have brought up extreme legislation to appease party hardliners before moving on to something more pragmatic. if that is his play here, it can serve as a prelude to what would be a good-faith negotiation to fund the united states most important ally in the middle east and defend itself from the iran backed terrorist movement guilty of horrific atrocities. the unsettling possibility is

the speaker wants to embody the role of mag of mike johnson -- maga mike johnson in an effort to consolidate power inside the house gop conference. in that case, it writes, mr. johnson is engaging in legislative obstructionism and brinkmanship even at the risk of undermining a key, bipartisan foreign policy objective in addition to cutting health for ukraine and resources to increase border security from this bill, the speaker cut out the white house's proposals your view on those two reads on this move here to type the aid to cut to the irs? caller: that article is very thorough and i think they are trying to protect those who donate to them.

it is very cynical, unfortunate. even when reagan was president he had both sides working together. the irs and visit -- end of it, they are trying to protect tax cheats and billionaires who don't pay anything. we are in all this debt and they are complaining about a, 31 trillion. how will the debt be paid down? by tax revenue. give me a break. host: this is steve in massachusetts, a republican. caller: i have a few stories i want to talk to you about.

barack obama and susan rice living in washington. we never hear a thing about them. i believe barack obama is a dictator here and not trump. i believe the republicans and democrats are admit on the border. donald trump to talk about what no one else wanted to talk about it. in 16 republicans listen to him it did not speak on it. thousands have died in ukraine and you hear nothing about it.

you hear no protests about it. you hear no protests about it. a half a million soldiers have died in this stupid war which bind and let the tanks sit on the border for months before they went into ukraine and not once did he talk to putin about a cease-fire or doing anything to stop this war. everything is so political, it's ridiculous. host: ed outean city, new jersey. an independent. you are xt caller: ojobs report. it does not count spouses, adult children, temps, people in prisons. i am a third party candidate and what i would do first is a guaranteed job for everybody.

host: are you still with us? i think weost him. this is john in mississippi, a democrat. john, are you with us? ed was talking about the job numbers. those came out yesterday. two days after the federal reserve announced it would not increase the benchmark interest rates again. it was jerome powell speaking from the federal reserve. this is what he had to say. [video clip] >> have you gotten any clarity if you have an economy that has a justest -- adjusted to this

higher rate will you have to continue to tighten? >> i think we are seeing the effects of all of the hiking we did last year. it is very hard to know what that might be. an example where you would not have thought this yet, debt that has been turned out. it will come due in have to get rolled over next year. there are things like that where the effects of taking time to get into the economy. i think we have to make monetary policy under great uncertainty about how long the lads are. -- the lags are.

it takes time for monetary policy to inner into the economy. slowing down is giving us a better sense of how much more we have to do, if we need more. host: time for monetary policy to inner that was wednesm the federal reserve. time for one or two more calls in this first segment. asking for your top news story of the week. we will take sam. caller: my story is the middle east crisis. these people demanding a cease-fire you need to think about pearl harbor and 9/11. can you imagine for us to have a cease-fire? if i remember correctly, these same palestinians were cheering in the streets after 9/11.

hamas was voted in by the palestinian people over the moderate. you think that they would be writing against hamas like the kurds did to saddam hussein but you see none of those. you saw palestinians crossing the border with hamas militants taking part in the attacks. the american people say they don't want to be involved in this. we are already involved. we have had 31 countrymen slaughtered and there are hostages. involved. our troops have been fired on in iraq and syria and the government isn't doing much about it.

i think people need to get more informed before they start condemning israel. host: that was sam and arkansas. and that will do it for this first segment. but stick around, and next on our program we will be joined by arthur evans from american psychological association and we will be talking about his findings from his stress in america report. and then astead herndon joins us in our spotlight on podcasts with his podcast "the run-up" that talks about the campaign 2024. >> american history tv, exploring the people and events that tell the american story. a discussion on abraham lincoln's presidency.

a detailed biography of president garfield. the biography highlights how in 1881, garfield was shot in a washington dc train station and died two months later. watch american history tv every weekend and find a full schedule on your ween guide at c-span.org/history. monday, watch the c-span series books that shaped america. it will feature zora neale hurston's novel, their eyes were watching god. the story said in florida during

the jim crow community in florida. the book written in 1937 is considered a harlem renaissance classic and highly influential. tiffany rubin patterson will join us on the program to discuss the book. she is the author of zora neale hurston in the history of southern life. watch books that changed america monday on c-span, c-span now or online at c-span.org. scan the qr code to listen to our companion podcast. c-spanshop.org is c-span's online store. browse through our collection of products, apparel, books, home

to core and accessory. shop now or any time at c-spanshop.org. a healthy democracy doesn't just look like this. it looks like this. where americans can see democracy at work. where citizens are informed, they thrive. c-span, unfiltered, unbiased, word for word. the opinion that matters the most is your own. this is where democracy lives. powered by c-span. "washington journal," continues. host: we are glad to welcome back arthur evans joining us to

talk about the associations latest stress in america survey. explain how you do these reports and why you have been doing them for 15 years now? guest: thank you for inviting me. we started these reports because there is a link between stress and our health. we do these reports because we understand the stresses people are having. the level of stress people are experiencing and it's an opportunity for us to then talk about managing stress. host: the title of this year's report, a nation healing from collective trauma. what is that trauma? guest: the trauma was the

pandemic and going into the pandemic we would need more mental health needs. if you recall what that was like, there was a tremendous amount of uncertainty. we didn't know if we would have toilet paper. there was a lot of fear about what was going to happen. a lot of anxiety. there were major disruptions in our lives. milestones of our youth were interrupted and one of the most important things that we have to improve our health which is social connection. that combination of things had a tremendous toll on our mental health. we knew that was going to happen. we understood as we move through the pandemic we would have mental health challenges.

our organization documented during the pandemic we see the continued effects of the pandemic and what's really important about this report is people may not be aware of the levels of stress that they see. when we asked them about how healthy they were, 80% of people said very healthy. but when we started to delve down into specific questions about chronic health conditions, mental health conditions. it turns out that a much higher proportion of people are reporting an increase in these conditions after the pandemic. this is one indicator coming out of the pandemic, even though we feel better. when you look at the data and you ask people, we are reporting more stress than prior to the

pandemic. host: are they recovering from these high levels of stress? how long does it take for people to recover after such a traumatic experience that changed how people lived, worked, stopped at the store and had that huge impact on the economy and economic upheaval in the country? guest: it depends on the person and the type of stress they experience. in the middle of the pandemic, if you were a front-line worker you are experiencing much more stress than people who could work from home. if you are expressing -- expecting more stress, if a lot of your friends and loved ones died because of covid. the time it will take us to bounce back depends on the level

of stress we experience. it's also important to remember that all of us experience stress. we will all be ok but we also have to recognize that even though we want to be ok, there is a residual effect. we know from events like katrina, 9/11, these collective traumatic experiences have a long tail. studies of people experiences a, they would continue to have problems a decade later. we know these things have a long tail. we know they can recover but it's important for us to understand what the stresses we are experiencing so that we can make sure we are healthy and well. host: who was not doing well

right now? which groups are reporting in the stress in america report to have higher levels of stress? guest: one of the things we see in the data, not only our data, the younger you are the more psychological stress you're experiencing. in our survey, younger people have higher levels of stress. if you plotted out by age, what you would see is the people experiencing the highest levels of stress are those who are the youngest. over time, as we get older, the levels of stress are reporting goes down. that's a consistent finding and it's consistent with other data that we have that looks at psychological distress in the population and it suggests to us

that as we age, we get better at negotiating and managing her stress. we also saw that certain subgroups have higher levels of stress. parents of kids under 18, those groups experience more stress than other groups. i think it is a very important fact to know, even though we have collective trauma, how we are experiencing that trauma varies depending on the group you're part of. host: we are talking about stress and collective trauma. our guess is arthur evans of american psychological association, apa.org is where

you can go to check out that report. phone lines are split regionally so if you are eastern or central it is (202) 748-8000, mountain or pacific time zone (202) 748-8001. we have calls already from thomas in maryland. you are on with arthur evans. caller: good morning. guest: good morning. caller: you talked about the psychological stress, francis welding says mental illness of racism that why in our society have in the linguistic propaganda that is constantly bombarding us is a big factor in all of this. you talk about the young people, this is a group that is definitely involved.

you talk about the pandemic but stress was here long before we even heard the term pandemic. some groups have experience stress for a long time. if you look at unemployment of african americans, it's always been double digits compared to white society. this is a stress factor. host: let me let dr. evans jump in on that. guest: thomas, you are exactly right. one of the things we also look at is not only current events of the day but historical events that people may be experiencing. consistently our reports find in surveys find that

african-americans, latin americans, are experiencing higher levels of stress than the white population. whenamericans, we ask questionst discrimination, those issues come up. communities of color are experiencing higher levels of stress as a result of discrimination. other groups report discrimination as well but not at the rates of those groups. you are absolutely right. the other thing you mentioned that is really important to highlight is the current events do cause of stress. our survey shows fact consistently. we saw this during the last election shows that people were experiencing higher levels of stress. we know when there are other national events people are concerned about, even if they are not in our backyard.

those things because her stress -- those things because of stress. women have higher levels of stress than men. we know there are demographic differences and that's another reason for us to understand how these things play out so we can be better positioned to deal with them. host: out i wonder your recommendations for managing stress at a time when we are experiencing war in the age of social media. you can scroll through social media feeds and see the war in or gaza. you can scroll through your feet and there i wonder will be a vif someone being shot and killed on the street or dismembered bodies after a blast or somebody being kidnapped and being filmed. when you are going through that,

what that does for stress and how you manage that. guest: one of the things we talk a lot about as a result of the survey. the need for us to manage our intake of those kinds of horrific events. if you are just turning your tv on and all you are hearing in the background are all of these horrific events. that can have an effect on you. i think especially now it's important to be intentional about watching television. one thing that i do, if i feel tired or stressed. i will be intentional to not watch those kind of news events because i know it will have a greater impact. we absolutely need to do that,

manage that. especially now, there are so many issues we are dealing with is a nation and us being intentional of that information is going to be important. host: this is thomas from humble, texas. caller: good morning america. i hear you have a lot of things about stress and things like that. but the solution is to deal with the things stressing you. as far as health care, boat. - vote. during covid, a lot of policies left a lot of people out. this football season, and merry

christmas. host: he mentioned voting to relieve stress as well as football and the holidays. guest: i think him for making those points. there were a couple of important points that he was thinking. in our lives, we have controllable stress and uncontrollable stress. if we have controllable stress. our relationship with our spouse or our job and there are changes we can make it her job to change how we are experiencing that. it is important to have problem-solving strategies that are directed at solving those problems. if we can reduce those stressors it will reduce the stress were experiencing.

there are things that are outside of our control. it could be the election of a politician that does not agree with our own particular point of view. for those kind of stressors it is important to have coping mechanisms and that kind of thing that thomas was talking about. taking a break. giving yourself time to relax and do things that you enjoy. being aware, is this something i can control? if it's something i can control i will problem solve and if not i will focus on coping strategies as a means of reducing that impact. host: here is steve from xha despite in drug overdoses subsided since people are back to socializing in public again?

guest: that's a very good point. what we saw during the pandemic is a spike in drug overdoses. last year we had the highest number of drug overdoses on record. we know the pandemic and a lot of other factors have gone into that. we have not seen that subside now. i want to pick up on the issue of loneliness because that is a strong predictor of how we are going to do psychologically and physically. the surgeon general put out a report talking about loneliness. really tying loneliness to a variety of health outcomes. when people are lonely and isolated, they are much more likely to have heart disease, stroke and to die prematurely.

50% of people dying prematurely are experiencing loneliness. so there is a 50% increase that we will die prematurely if we are lonely. one of the strongest predictors of how we do physically, mentally and socially as our social connection. of how we dothe more social cond the better they are, the better mental health we have, the better social health that we have. to the point about loneliness being in addiction's best friend . we want to make sure people are intentional about connection. it reduces the likelihood we might develop an friend

. addiction or if we are in recovery, it helps us to stay in recovery and stay healthy. host: what percentage of americans that therapy is ok to help relieve record numbers of stress? guest: i don't know what the number is overall but i will tell you that number various over the course of our ages. younger people tend to be more interested in therapy and older people. i think that is in part because younger people have less stigma associated with mental health for younger people. one of the interesting things from the pandemic and one of the reasons we believe that people underestimate their levels of

stress is that many people feel that if they talk about the stress they are experiencing that they may be burdening other people. they start to minimize and say the problems i have are not as important as these other things happening. thereby minimizing and making it less likely for people to reach out for help when they need it. being aware that these things are happening and being aware and open to getting help when they get to the point we can no longer manage it ourselves. host: open to getting from colu, mississippi. caller: good morning. would you give a clinical definition of stress and second, is it possible that some people's lingering concern for covid may be have an effect on

them? or are people using it as an excuse to get back out there. could it be just a crutch for them? guest: i didn't get the first part of the question. host: the first part was the clinical definition of stress. guest: stress is when the demands on us exceed our ability to respond to those demands. if we are asked to do something and it's difficult for us to do it than it creates stress. i think with the caller was talking about is covid and whether people are using that as a crutch. for many people who have health conditions, covid is still a significant threat and they have to take precautions to keep

themselves safe. if you are immune compromised, covid can be very devastating. i don't think people are using it as a crutch but there are some people in our population who are at greater risk and they have to continue to take precautions. all of us still need to take precautions, getting risk and d. caller: vaccinated and keeping vaccinations up to date. host: good morning c-span. when you sit down with someone, you go through a list where your comfort level gets negative. his sleep deprivation a key

factor for the break in the mind before it starts getting out of control? guest: i'm not sure if i got the first part of the question. host: i think it was a question about how you assess stress levels? guest: there are different ways to think about stress. one of them is the sheer number of things that we are experiencing a stress. some of the early research around stress was a checklist from things that were devastating like a loss of a loved one or friend to other things that are more mundane. people would check off those things and if you had a higher score that was an indication

that you were experiencing higher stress. some of it is just the sheer number of things were taking on and is also the kind of things we are taking on. there are some events that are more dramatic. let's talk about the issue of collective trauma. it can happen in different ways. if you have a hurricane or something massive that happens and you go into the recovery process quickly. that acute stress followed by a recovery period is different than a chronic stress that we saw with the pandemic that lasted a few years. what we do as mental health professionals try to understand

what kind of stress are people experiencing? that we saw with the pandemic that lasted a few years. how do we help people adjust and cope with those stressors? and then make some prediction around how those stressors are going to play out over time. acute stressors being much more easily dealt with then stressors that are ongoing, long-term. those tend to be much more challenging for us to cope with. host: this is jackie in erie, pennsylvania, good morning. caller: good morning, first time caller. dr. evans you're the perfect person for me today. no one has mentioned global

warming and dr. hanson's paper this showing we face and increase and to return the next two years. young people will experience catastrophes for the rest of their lives. i've known about this since the 1970's and worked on my professional life to avoid where we are at. frankly, i want to know with this psychological association is going to do. i am old, i'm out of here in a few years. but the disasters i see, they will be horrendous. i have taken steps to help relieve my anxiety by joining red cross in deploying to disasters. i see what they are like and i talked to these people and i

know their anxiety by joining red cross lives will be forever destroyed. it is disheartening to see not one caller bring this up. thank you for your efforts. i think you have to step them up. guest: and thank you for that question. we know that climate change has an impact on people's mental health. as psychologist, we come at this two different ways. one is a scientific discipline, we try to understand climate change is a result of human behavior. we believe that the solution to climate change half to include human behavior because that is one of the causal factors.

we, it from trying to locale psychological science can help with with with solutions to that issue. on the other hand, there is also the impact of climate change. i have family members who live in the caribbean who have experienced multiple hurricanes over the past several years. it's on president and when you look at the number of hurricanes, some islands have experienced several hurricanes in the past two years. and you live on those islands, those people are experiencing anxiety. because of the concern about those natural disasters. thus not only happening there but in places where we have wildfires as a result of climate change. increased flooding, all of those

type of areas where people are being affected, we know that people report higher level of concern and anxiety about climate change. even in areas where people's livelihoods are changing. people who fish for a living who are seeing changes because of the changes in the ocean. even those individuals are experiencing anxiety around it. it is an issue that the american psychological association does a lot of work and. if you go to apa.org, there are reports we do with eco-america that is looking at this issue. but you are right, it's a very important issue relative to our mental health. host: you can also go there to

see the stress in america report and links to the past 15 years of reports if you want to see what has been stressing out america over the years. this is liz in new jersey, good morning. caller: when you are facing stress and we had some national things in the news that her ongoing. our problems with mass shootings in school settings. you only add to that stress when you give them so-called solutions which are these active shooter drills and subject young children to training and have to hide from somebody he was going to take their life. that is not helpful and doesn't protect them.

i think the conflict people feel is just window dressing. it has no real meaning. i think we could get to real solutions and people would see their stress reduced. guest: you are making a good point about those drills that students go through around active shooter's. if you look at how people approach though there is a range. some believe that making the event or training as realistic as possible is the way to go. others understand that could be traumatizing. i think we have to be very

careful and thoughtful about how we do these. i think people doing these kind of drills should be consulting psychologist to help figure out what is an appropriate way to do those kind of drills because we want our kids to be safe. we want them to know what procedures to take if there's an emergency. but we want the training to be done in a way that is age-appropriate. that is not potentially traumatizing the child but gives them the information that they need. i think being more aware that there is a potential for traumatization and consulting with experts that can help us assign those kinds of training events is important. a very good point. host: we mentioned you have been doing these stress in america reports for the past 2015 years.

back in 2008 1 of the topline findings was the issue of gender and stress. it found that economic concerns impacting women who reported higher levels of stress than men. more social and emotional levels of stress and feeling that they could not handle their stress well. guest: the point that i was making earlier, are reports have consistently shown that women have higher levels of stress than men. parents have higher stress levels than non-parents. those findings have been consistent. what we look out over the course of time are the current events of the day. in 2008, we were experiencing an

economic meltdown. that's not the technical term. the economic downturn we were experiencing and so we were interested in how this is differentially affecting women and men. and as you noted, women were experiencing a lot more stress related to that economic downturn. host: from michigan we have the malik. caller: have you read the book weathering, the extraordinary experience of ordinary lives. stress is the number one cause

[indiscernible] guest: i have not read the book but i am familiar with the idea behind the book which i think is a real phenomenon. you are talking about the work i am thinking about, the idea behind that. a lot of times we are not experiencing these massive changes in our lives, these chief stressors but as the low-level things happening every day that can chip away at us. that is a real phenomenon and that can have a deleterious effect to our health. one of the other implications of that weathering that people might experience is that the level of stress that we are experiencing is insidious. it's not really imperative --

apparent. it's not something we can see but just these little everyday things and before we know it, we are experiencing significant distress, significant levels of stress that affect other areas of our lives. that is why i think the work the association does to help educate people about stress is important. stressors happen to us in multiple ways and one of the things that is really important for us to understand, if you ask yourself the question what are the signs i am experiencing stress? for me, one of the things that happens is i start to forget things. about the third or fourth time i have forgotten something important i start test myself my .

in i experiencing stress? some people experience stress through stomachaches, headaches, disturbances in their sleep. some people become more short, short with people in their lives. recognizing when we have gotten to a point that those stressors have gone to the point where they are beginning to affect us physically and mentally is real important. host: i wanted to note that the book caller brought up, weathering the extraordinary stress of an ordinary life. that was the book the collar was referring to. this is jeremy in indiana. caller: my question is, what has

the increased use in cannabis dunces stress levels? my second question is, are there differences between those who attend church and those who do not? host: cannabis and religion. guest: we spoke about the issue of drug use and stress are not sure i can speak to that. on that second point about religion. i'm familiar with the research. people who are part of a faith community do have better mental health and people who do not engage. it looks that being a part of a

faith community is important for our physical and mental health. one of the thing that happens when you're a part of the community is that you have more social connections. you have people who argue are connected to pin your temple or church and we know that is related to having better mental health. but there is also something important about believing in a power greater than yourself as a way to help explain and understand the world. that's very helpful as well. the point around being a part of a faith community and religion, positive connections to our mental health and something that if you are a part of a faith community. you may want to reconnect

because i can be helpful for you. host: dr. arthur evans is the ceo of the american psychological association. were talking about the stress in america report and you can find it on apa.org. dr. evans, thank you for your time. guest: thank you. host: coming up our spotlight on podcasts and we will be joined by astead herndon to talk about his podcast "the run-up". but up next, it is open for them. the phone numbers are on-screen and we will get your call, right after the break. ♪ >> but tv every sunday on

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look like this. it looks like this. where americans can see democracy at work. get informed, straight from the source, on c-span. unfiltered, unbiased, word for word. from the nation's capital to wherever you are. the opinion that matters most is your own. this is what democracy looks like. c-span, powered by cable. "washington journal," continues. host: for the next 25 minutes it is time for you to lead the discussion. it is our open forum. any issue you want to talk about, democrats (202) 748-8000, republicans (202) 748-8001 independents (202) 748-8002. one note for our coverage today on the c-span network, the 2024

republican presidential candidates and donald trump will be speaking at the florida freedo summit. an event in kissimme florida, and our live coverage begins at 6:00 p.m. when the former president is expected to sak. you can watch on c-span, c-span.org and c-span now. without your phone calls and open forum. eileen is up first from st. petersburg, florida. caller: good your phone calls ad open forum. morning, i would like to talk about the new speaker of the house. i referred to him as the creature of the house because every other sentence he has a reference to the bible or some biblical reference. i read where he made a comment about the gaze should not be

allowed to be married because then they will want to marry their pets. i think he is focusing too much on religion and if he wants to focus on religion, maybe he should look at his powell donald trump. who has probably violated every commandment in the book. maybe he should get back to policy and not the bible and that's all i have to say. host: among those being considered for speaker, did you have a preference above mike johnson? caller: i would love to see, i would not mind seeing someone more moderate. i happen to be a moderate democrat. i am not of far left liberal. but we have gone berserk in our politics. jim jordan would not work and

this guy have never even heard of him. i wish the democrats had voted for the previous speaker. i think he was a little more sensible and not totally half-baked like the others. i am open to bipartisanship. host: this is mark, a republican. caller: hello, good morning. host: what's on your mind? caller: my problem is that the house is not doing enough to defend the government in areas. they should defund everything except for the department of defense. that is the way i feel about it. and trump should become president again. and anybody who disrespects the bible, they are all going to hell. host: you don't think there

should be a state department of energy, you don't think they are worthy of funding? caller: oh yes, those are. host: what parts of the government do you want to see defunded? caller: the doj, the senate. all the democrats, defund all of their money. defund the presidents money. all the people that work for him. just so that they can't get any money. host: this is sandy the people r him. and the buckeye state, good morning. caller: hello there, good morning. talking about the stress, the guest he had on a few minutes

ago. i think there is a lot of stress with their seniors because they are all constantly threatening to take away our health care. host: who was day? caller: now they give us a few more bucks and that will put us in the different health care category and this is creating a lot of stress for our seniors. thank you very much. host: this is dan and independence, oregon, a democrat. caller: good morning. i just want to say i have been doing research on palestine and israel. i found out we've given israel $250 billion.

we have given 1.5 billion to palestine. we don't care about the palestinians at all. but we care about israel because we made israel. it's the only religious government we support. i don't know what we are doing. i thought we had a separation of church and state but apparently not. we are supporting a religious state. thank you very much. host: and in peachtree, west virginia. this is clark. caller: caller: listen, person, look at your damn money. it's got in goode we trust. when we turn away from god, then you're not a country no more. this country was built that way.

now, forget religion. let's go to these senior since like that lady's talking about. and in logan, west virginia, and most of west virginia, i don't know who's done it, but the people that's busted all to hell the coal minus and logging -- mines and logging industry, they cannot get a pain pill down here. what in the hell happened in -- did biden send it to ukraine if did he send it to israel? host: are you talking about access to opioid medication? caller: yes, sir. damn right. host: there's too many restrictions on it at this point. caller: now wait a minute. in canada, people that's got chronic pain, they've got a place to go to. so here's what happened in my area. everybody's down here is on crack and dope. what happened, these young

little fellers are spraining their wrist and getting a whole load of -- the doctors are prescribing them their pinspiration medication and they would tack out the -- and tag over dead. why is it old people that's worked their life away to punish us because of some young punk all dead? and listen. the country that i grew up in is not the same. i run into a state trooper here in logan county 25 years of age he said my generation has -- was the one that has ruined the country. they said on -- sat their little chairs with their little a.i., their little ipads, their little cell phones and they sit there. they can't communicate with one another. they don't have no chores. mom and dad does their homework. all these young punks down here,

papa has bought them a brand-new hot rod car. i'm talking about 440 magnums. i mean, this world -- hey, if i could find a place, i've got three places. i'm going to go to the mountains to stay away from these people or i'm going to -- i don't know where i'll go. i'd like to find an island somewhere. but i'll tell you something -- host: a question we occasionally come back to on this program is do you think america's best days are ahead or behind us? caller: they're over. now the bible -- i'm going to quote the bible for you. when they surround israel, go to -- with israel. god will exhume us or extinguish us. that's the way i feel about it. yeah. and the coal miners down here -- listen to this, son. insurance and the love of money

is the root of all evil. the boys down here was working on four or 10 story, an old temple. i worked in one, sir. that collapsed. now, do you think it collapsed on its own? hell, no. it was an insurance job. then we got another boy that was killed inside the coal mines. because they were lacked on their damn safety. host: got your point from. we'll head to alabama. madison, line for democrats. good morning. caller: i'm a first-time caller. i just want to really complain about a senator upperville who needs to go back to florida. he's got the entire military all upset because there's some people that can't get promoted. people are having heart attacks. the senate is -- i'm a retired military. i cannot imagine someone holding

up my promotion. you all take care and have a good day. host: what did you think about other republicans coming out and criticizing senator tupper ville about his holes on the military promotions that happening this week as well? caller: my complaint is what took them so long? and there are some of those individuals who have served the military. they know what military members go through. it is a hard situation. the senator who's from florida needs to pack up and go to florida and governor of alabama had said nothing. quiet as a church mouse. i'm highly upset, sir. host: republican senator of alaska, one of the top members of the house and armed service committee. this is what he had to say about

senator tupper principle and his holes. >> we can go in and out of readiness. but my colleague from alabama is 100% wrong. no kidding. the readiness is being impacted when you have -- i'll just give a couple of examples here. from,-con. -- uconn. really important job. that's a big marine corps combined force that fights anywhere the world, 25,000 marines, commanded by three star is a two star. now for those of you who served the military, we understand this is a problem.

this is just from uconn -- u-com. these officers cannot move because they've been nominated for a position that required senate confirmation. to say there's no readiness issues? there is readiness issues. and that's the whole point. we have a really dangerous world. host: alaska republican senator dan sullivan there on senate floor on thursday. audrey in west virginia, independent. what's on your mind? caller: the young kids who are protesting in these colleges for one thing, i think we need to put the violence that's really

been happening in this war on tv for everyone to see. they don't understand what they're protesting against. another, i think they should they should be put out of college and sent back to their countries. the american students who are doing it should be expelled and we should stop all government funding for those colleges. host: jim in texas, republican. you're next. caller: good morning, son. just quickly what i hear. i would like people to understand the timeline of the middle east, especially 20th century. there's a good research that's called teachmideast.org.

and if you look at the timeline, you know, the mideast, you think of it as the ottoman empire and early in the 20th century, these things got broken up. so when we are hear syria, lebanon, palestinian, sudan, this is relatively recent history as is the, you know, the jews in that area, what do you call them? arabs? i would recommend teachmideast.org is an excellent resource for people because i think it's really important these last few weeks and i'll leave it there. thank you, john. host: what's your takeaway about what's happening now in 2023?

caller: well, if we're discussing the -- what's happening in israel, i would say obviously this was a provocation, an intentional provocation by hamas to try to engage the larger arab world, you know, in a campaign against israel. i mean, i think that's pretty obvious. what is israel to do about it? is israel, you know, have a legitimate right to be where they are? these are questions that if people would refer to this timeline of the mideast, they would see that i would -- the british are important players on what's going on now, things that the british did. and i don't fault them and i don't fault that jews -- i mean,

we don't even have to believe the bible as being the, you know, divine providence but we can acknowledge that there's a history of jews living in that part of -- as a faith. they are a people, a large tribe, and they've maintained this distinction. and by the way, the anti-semitism is silly to me because arabs and jews are both semitic people. i think i knew this is going to happen that planes there --

palestinians are going to pay a tragic price. that is not the fault of israel. that is the fault of hamas and i just -- it's horrible. it's just horrible, but big wars, intense wars. it's common, you know, the civilians and innocent dies. host: got your point. shirley's next. back to west virginia. line for democrat. good morning. caller: i want to address the lady that called in on the last segment near the end about the concern. i'm a retired teacher. and two things. one, we had many active shooter drills and i can tell you those kids were wonderful. they were excellent.

they knew exactly what they were supposed to do and really, they tried to -- the administration tried make fit seem real and those kids were excellent in their responses. and very patient. and number two, as far as practice goes, i was in a school in tennessee and on a day we couldn't proceed, the time we didn't know the men from the county by accident were working on the pipes. and the gas from the pipe that they hit into started to fill the school. now we had had many, fire drills in that school. and on that day, i didn't have students. i was coming back from my -- to go to my planned period. but teachers are trained to take a specific book with every name of every child, the parents'

names and phone numbers and when i opened the door to go out into the corridor, i had my book. and you saw those students and in absolute precision coming down the halls to the exits they were designated to go to and they were -- heads were straight to the front, perfectly spaced and everyone got out of that school. host: so shirley, you think that these sort of drills aren't adding to stress but giving these students agency and the confidence to be able to help themselves in an emergency? caller: on that days, it certainly proved 100% true. and not only do we have to get out of the school but on the campus, there were a lot of areas with grass and you're trained to move way, way from

the school zone and everyone did but we begin to smell gas. and the vice principal signaled all of us and we were told we were going to walk to the high school. and that meant we had to -- this is really true. we had to cross a six-lane highway. luckily it was about 10 after 1:00 in the afternoon and the traffic was lighter. but there were still traffic. and every single class in precision crossed, went occupy the high school. the place where they were concerned -- we had a good time in high school. children were relaxed and teachers were good about everything. and it was broadcast over the whole city. and when the parents started arriving in their cars in the car lines, when they drove up, the absolute terror on their face was real. they were the ones that were

having the stress that day. and the first thing said to them was everybody got out safe. everyone is ok. and you could totally see their faces begin to relax. but on that day, practice and precision won the day. that was just what i wanted to mention. host: thanks for sharing that story from west virginia. thomas from dearborn, michigan, independent. you're next. caller: oh, good morning, jon. yeah. my top story for the past year had been ukraine, the war and now that there's a military campaign in israel, i think that that's falling out of favor. the ukraine war in the eyes of politicians and the media. but to me, there are two big problems and i can't not -- they can't not be the top story to

me. and, you know, i just want to look at -- they say that ukraine is a democracy and we have to fight for its sovereignty. and then, you know, they say israel is our best allies and the only democracy in the middle east. and i just -- i can't buy into these narratives at all because i look at ukraine, they don't have freedom of speech. you know, you can't criticize the military campaign and the government waging the war. they don't have freedom of press. there's an american locked up for doing blog posts and youtube videos right now in ukraine. they don't have freedom of religion in ukraine. they're trying to go after the orthodox church based out of moscow. they don't have all these opposition parties to where

zelenskyy was outlawed. so ukraine is a democracy 0% and then you have israel, which is our best ally and it's a total appar tied state it's like a military operation in the west bank and they had a siege and a block cad in gaza. we're in a bad place in the world. host: time for just a couple more calls here it's open forum. whatever's on your mind, this is your time to lead the discussion. katherine in essex junction, vermont. good morning. caller: good morning. i am calling because the caller early left from madison, alabama, regarding senator tuberville. his comment, i agree with him 200%. and any veteran in the state of alabama should not, i repeat, should not vote for senator tuberville on his re-election.

and i charge less from madison, alabama to please organize veterans and alabama to vote against tuberville. he is not voting for your best interest in congress. and please, do not just be idle and speak up and say what you are thinking and experiencing as a veteran in alabama right now. this is not right. and i'm -- my family, i have family members who are veterans and i was born and raised in alabama. but i live in vermont now. but this struck many chords with me when i heard the comments. i agree with him 200%. host: katherine, let me take you back to capitol hill after we showed you that criticism that's now coming from the republican side of the aisle and democrats

who have been criticizing senator tuberville over the military holes he's been doing for months now. he talks whether pressure on both sides would change his mind. this is what he had to say. >> i cannot simply sit idly by while the biden administration injects politics in our military from the white house and spends taxpayers dollars on abortion. the only power that a senator in the minority has is to put a hold on a nomination. the only thing. i'm not the first person to do this. holds on nominations happen all the time. holds on military nominations have happened many, many, many, many times before. typically, they don't last this long because administration will work with the senator until the

issue is resolved. but that has not happened this time. zero negotiation. abortion is the most important thing to the democrats that they have and they won't negotiate it. one more time. abortion is the most important thing that democrats have and they will not negotiate. this has been going on for nine months. every day this continues is a day that democrats think abortion is more important than the nomination at our military. i support many of these nominees and i agree that these are very, very important jobs. but we could have been voting on these nominees the entire nine months. the senate has had more than 90 days off this year, not

including weekends. each nomination could take us little as two hours. in fact, tomorrow we'll be voting on three of the most important nominees that we forced the leader of the senate to bring to the floor. the nominees at the very top ought be vote on anyway. these jobs are too important not to receive the advise and consent of the senate. host: senator tommy tuberville on the floor on wednesday of this week. we're going to continue with open forum here. 202-748-8000 for democrats to call in. republicans, it's 202-748-8001. independents, it's 202-748-8002. just by way of explanation this morning, usually at this point on a saturday, it's our spotlight on podcasts.

astead herndon is our guest this morning. he may join us a little bit but as we do that, we can hear from you and take your phone calls. we'll continue in open forum. 202-748-8000 for democrats. republicans, it's 202-748-8001. independents, 202-748-8002. go ahead and keep calling in. we'll hear from gary in connecticut, independent. caller: good morning, jon. i'd like to preface my remarks by saying how horrified i was at the attacks by hamas on israel. but we hear over and over again that israel is an ally of the united states and it is the only democracy in the middle east. first of all, israel is not a democracy. they don't even have a institution. secondly, israel has never, ever came to the aid of the united states and more importantly, we've had standoffs against israel first in 1956 in the suze

crisis but on june 8, 1967, israel attacked the u.s. intelligence during the 1967 war intentionally, murdering 34 americans and wounding 171 others the attack was deliberate and has proven to be so. merely go online to read about it. i would like your audience to look into that. additionally, israel has spent a great deal of time spying the united states. this is not the act of an ally. it's unbelievable if we should be calling them a democracy and an ally when they haven't been. thank you, jon. host: wheat on in illinois. good morning. caller: the biggest issue is hamas and palestine and us

confusing them. there's people over there and they're not all terrorists. but the big news this week, just because of the timeliness of these trials for trump is he got in front of the jury and they didn't deny that the trump organization committed fraud. they were emphatic that they didn't know anything about it. they didn't really run the companies. and the accountants were guilty. they didn't contest that there was fraud. they just want to get out from under the bus. so the bus is rolling over the trump organization. i find it fascinating that the son did not deny there was fraud. they just wanted to get out from under the bus. so take that to the bank, all you trumpers, and then go follow that trial. they did not deny it was fraud. the trump organization cheat on taxes with their c.f.o. they cheat on property taxes and payroll taxes and social security. and c.e.o.'s, people know what's

going on. host: so let me ask you. here's the headline from today's "new york times" on the testimony. trump lawyers get a gag order. the son testifies on the second day of the trial. you talk about what this means. do you think this civil trial and the outcome of this civil trial is going to change anyone's mind about whether they will or will not vote for donald trump in 2024? caller: well, it won't change any of their minds to the people who take the polls and support trump because they're just lying. but hopefully, it will move the 8 to 10% of the people in the middle who cannot abide, fraud, corruption and people stealing from the federal governments. they put people on payroll that didn't even work there so he gets social security. they overwrote the value of the property so they can underwrite

the value from the taxes. you can't turn the trumpers. host: but do you think there's still people in the middle who don't have an opinion about whether they're going to vote for donald trump again? caller: they just got to figure out even me. i have a -- i'm a democrat mostly. i voted for reagan, but i'm a democrat. but even i don't want to see biden run. i'm going to have to make a decision on whether i vote for a guy -- i'm not worry about him being 80. there's a whole generation of politicians that have been moved out by pelosi and by mcconnell and by biden and by trump. let's get to 65 and the 70-year-olds, the guys with energy and move these people out. host: so stephen -- caller: it's a decision on whether they vote for biden and hopefully not trump. there's a decision to make. host: in your perfect world, who

is in that 55 to 65 range that you think has been overlooked because the older folks in the party are hanging around too long? caller: you know, on the democrat side, it's so muddled i don't really have a name. i like even people like joe manchin but the idea that you might be independent ruins everything. if it came down to joe biden and nikki haley, i might vote for nikki haley. even though she's crazy. she's proven as governor just like george bush prove as a garner they can be -- governor they can be bipartisan. i wouldn't vote for biden necessarily because -- well, if she was a nominee, i could probably vote for her over biden. but i need somebody who has

demonstrated bipartisan to lead a state and not exclude those -- 51% of these people vote for somebody and lately, all they do is exclude the 49%. even what they're doing in the house. host: on nikki haley, opportunity is knocking again saying that she has a knack for being at the right place in the right time and for making her good luck when she has it. the republicans debate is next wednesday. this is the third debate. former president trump. are you going to watch? caller: i probably will to see if they move beyond the, you know, the kid gloves with trump and really address the fact that republicans are lost. even this guy, they put this christian in there. i'm a christian. i truly believe in christianity. but you don't run the country with a theocracy. you don't get rid of the church and state separation.

we got to respect every creed and color. host: how do you see mike johnson getting rid of church and state? caller: well, just listen to what he said in the past. i mean, he thinks -- he equates -- he wants to take away same-sex marriage. he wants to deprogram every homosexual. i mean, that's on the home sells -- homosexuals side. he said oh, i'm ordained. god put me in this seat.what is? god put me in the seat. host: stephen in wheaton, illinois. this is nancy out of st. charles, michigan. republican, good morning. caller: i have two things, i

want to warn all people. we have an epidemic of marijuana poisoning in our emergency rooms of children 3-17 years old. that might account for some of the behavior that we see children having now. and yesterday, shock of shocks, i heard there were people in michigan who want to take donald trump's name and not allow him to be on the ballot. and miracle in the mail, when i opened my mail yesterday, i got a happy birthday card from malala you and donald trump -- melania and donald trump and i have never even contributed to his campaign. host: was it your birthday, yesterday? caller: yesterday, and i'm going to frame it. host: happy birthday. caller: pardon me? host: happy birthday. caller: i'm going to be 90.

if people know everything about you, that proves to me that they must. i'm a supporter, big time for donald trump because i admire the fact that he's just a plain american and i am too. the rest of that is up to somebody else that if we don't keep america the way it has been all of my life, going through world war ii, and my father was a dentist and i was born with a big red mark on my face. he took me to a doctor and that dr. took that red mark off of my face and, coming home, my father said with radiation, my father said don't ever tell anybody that he's a jew. host: why do you think he said that, nancy? caller: because, obviously,

people were against jews 90 years ago. i don't know why my father would have said that because i'm polish. host: nancy, in 90 years, can i get your perspective on people saying today that the country is more divided, whether it is politically or whatever reason, more divided today than it has ever been? do you think that is accurate? caller: the democrats are collectivists and they only deal with leaders and groups of people. the republicans are more individual and more entrepreneurial based, which is what i am. i have a christmas tree farm. but, i also had an idea that fountain hills, arizona, needed a parking lot. so i used the money from selling 20,000 christmas trees.

when i bought this place, it had 185,000 trees on it and i didn't know a spruce tree from a pine tree. i only knew that christmas came once a year and my dad always said if you ever want to sell something, make sure it sells itself. host: before you go, what's the outlook on christmas tree sales in 2023? caller: it's going to happen every year. host: is it an up year or is there no such thing as an up or down year for christmas tree sales? caller: i'm getting phone calls. i will deliver trees and have them set up for senior citizens. host: good luck to you, nancy. happy birthday and thank you for chatting. this is jonathan out of garden state, independent. it's just after 9:30 on the east coast. good morning, john. -- caller: good morning, john. i don't know if you remember me

calling when the forest fires were happening and you asked me if there was anything that would give me hope for a better future. still nothing. here we are all these months later and there is no cease-fire between russia and ukraine. there are all those children that still died. now, we have another war happening. it's not another one, it's one that has been going on for 80 years. it's an occupation. you have people saying i denounce hamas for this and that. meanwhile, these people are doing exactly what any red-blooded american in this country fantasizes about. if red dawn were to happen here. if some other country were to step in and facilitate our election or some other country were to come in and start murdering our people, locking us all of -- up and restricting the amount of food and water and electricity that we had, if they

were to set up some right wing reactionary party like hamas that u.s. intelligence officials have been said was created by israel, even the people in charge of israeli intelligence have admitted hamas was created by israel. if you starve people enough and murder them enough, even in places like the west bank, where hamas has never had any popularity, what do you think is going to happen? after centuries of murdering people, starving people and bombing them. detaining their children, wives, husband and family members, torturing them for what other than existence? host: jonathan in new jersey. caller: good morning. host: good morning, saul, is

everything ok? is that an alarm behind you? caller: good morning. -- i don't understand why people would vote for someone like donald trump, who is a habitual liar. he has messed up the country and out of the country. he is a great liar and a habitual liar. you can't believe nothing he says now. biden is the reason everything is going good. that's all i want to say. host: that is saul in south carolina. a reminder, if you turn your television down, we can have a conversation over the phone. this is alicia in okeechobee, florida. republican, good morning. caller: good morning. i am in maine right now, i just

came here this week. i am from florida. i am the president of a republican club there. we do good for our committee. i saw joe biden yesterday in lewiston, maine. my daughter was murdered and joe biden came there on a political agenda against guns. i was a democrat. maine is a democrat state. what's going on in this country should not be going on. and people don't realize that democrats are starting it. this country needs to be standing united against terrorists that are crossing the open borders by the millions. we have to stand together, united. we can't survive if we don't. so, if everybody would take the democratic view and put them in

the back pocket, stand in a bipartisan manner, america will survive. if we don't, we can kiss this country goodbye. i worked with immigrants who came here many years ago, who came here legally. they are here legally. these people crossing today are not here legally. my daughter was murdered in a bowling alley because the guy who killed her slipped through the rocks of the law enforcement in the state of maine. host: your daughter was one of the victims in the lewiston shooting? caller: she sure was. her name was trisha. we buried her yesterday. host: i'm sorry for your loss. caller: thank you very much. we are starting a baseball scholarship in her name at the high schools in auburn, maine.

we are going to keep her memory going. and her memory would be also carried on if they would help people with mental illness. the police were all notified that this man had a problem. they kept calling and telling and saying something was wrong with him. he was one who slipped through the cracks and he took 18 lives, needlessly. this is why i'm saying everybody has to pull there butts together. i didn't mean to say it that way but i have to. you have to unite against terror coming across the border and every border. the northern border, the southern border, the eastern, the western, california. we have to stop that. we have to save the future of america. and it's in our children. i'm asking everybody out there,

put your political opinions behind. i'm a republican, used to be a democrat and changed to independent. i can't say how sad i feel for my democratic colleagues across the united states of america. let the party go. it's not the same party when i was a member. this party is not what you think. it's not the same anymore. the people are lost and the democrats are feeding you a line of baloney. it's awful. it's a tragic world we live in. please, everyone. the speaker of the house, he is praying for america. he's praying for the country. there's nothing wrong with praying for your fellow citizens in this country. we need unification.

and i'm asking everyone to stand up and be unified so we all can survive this storm that is heading our way that you don't even know about. you hear donald trump this, donald trump that. and it's not donald trump this or donald trump that. it's people united together under god. saying the pledge of allegiance, it should be in the schools. bring your children up good and good comes out of the world. host: is there anything you want folks to know about your daughter before you go? caller: yes, my daughter, tricia , came in this world two months early and it was a struggle. she overcame that with the grace of god, who gave her strength to help. she became very athletic, riding horses. her number one thing was softball, baseball and boston

bruins hockey. that was her love and passion. she has one child and she was 25 years old. she turned 25 years old two days before her murder. everyone in this town in lewiston, maine, new tricia. when she came through the door at the bowling alley, she was the first one to greet you at the door. she would say go sit down, i will be right over. she would bring them whatever they wanted. she knew them. she worked at a golf course as well. she started this program at the apple valley golf course, wine on whole nine. wynette nine. she was a very outgoing person. yesterday, the church was full of people and some were having to stand in the back. there were over 500 people in a tiny little church for my

daughter. because, she touched everybody's life that she knew. everyone from every stage of her life that grew up with her in elementary school, high school and wherever she worked, she touched hearts. this is what we want tricia to be remembered for. because she hugged everybody. i wanted -- want her to be known for the heart and love she shared. and please hug somebody today because they may need that hug. that's what i would like for her to be remembered as. host: thanks. i appreciate your call about tricia. caller: thank you. host: next, out of detroit michigan, independent, good morning. caller: how are you? host: i'm doing well, go ahead. what's on your mind? caller: to the caller who just got off, spiritual hugs to her.

i'm sorry what happened to her daughter. this is a violent state that we live in, i'm talking about the country. can you hear me? host: yes, sir. caller: i want to say that the united states government has been a kind of ai state of mind government. it pretends to be one thing but it does something else. the united states is complicit and supportive of the apartheid state of israel. i remember, and i did research on the apartheid system in south africa. and there were some people around the world, leon sullivan, nelson mandela, a bunch of other people who were saying no, this crap has to stop.

it did. south africa is not completely liberated but it is much better than it was before. angela davis recently said that if israel gets away with murdering thousands of people in palestine, that this will be the new norm. and job widen and all of those democrats and republicans and congress are sitting on their behind's, while this massacre gets worse and worse. host: yesterday, the secretary of state called for a pause for humanitarian reasons, that being rejected by benjamin netanyahu. but that was something that happened yesterday. caller: the pause is a joke. what do you mean a pause? let's get to the root of it.

israel occupied a land that was not theirs. and they are still occupying it and they want to kill everybody who is against them. that prime minister over there, my god, he told africans don't come over to israel because you are worse than terrorists. host: that is roland in michigan. this is daniel in washington, d.c. caller: can you hear me? host: i can, daniel. caller: i want to give you an interesting perspective from my end on the tommy tuberville abortion thing. i grew up in fort liberty. i work in health care. i've been around military hospitals and civilian hospitals. i think it is just really sad that we have this situation

going on with a senator that wants to prevent military people from being able to get there promotions -- promotions in lieu of abortions. i have had mothers who have had babies born, who had they known the babies would suffer the way they did, they would have had the elective abortion. for someone to say absolutely no abortions whatsoever, and we are going to reverse the promotions of our military people for that reason, it makes me shake and really just irks me that that is the single-minded perspective of some of the republicans and specifically this one. host: daniel, what did you think of republican senators making a point of criticizing tommy tuberville over this?

democrats have been criticizing him for a while but we played a clip of dan sullivan from alaska saying this is impacting military readiness in our country. caller: republicans historically, at least where i grew up in the fort liberty area, a lot of them in the military tended to vote republican. they had a good stronghold on military and security type people who work in that area. i'm surprised that all of the republican colleagues are saying it is ridiculous. whether or not, it can go either way, i think it does risk our security. having military personnel potentially not being able to have an abortion because their

life is at risk but they don't want their baby to suffer from a rare condition after birth, to me, it is awful. host: that is daniel in washington, d.c. just about 10 minutes left in our program, ending this extended open form. this is bob in michigan, republican, good morning. caller: good morning. i don't think the people understand what tub or bill is doing. -- tommy tuberville is doing. a lot of americans are running around with a little bit of knowledge. he is saying he doesn't want me and you and anybody else to have to pay for these god-awful procedures. the murdering of children. that is what he is fighting for. now, he is not stopping anybody. anybody can get confirmed.

they have to do it individually and not as a group. host: bob, he is talking about reimbursement for travel and time off. not paying for the procedure itself. caller: you may as well pay for it. any travel, anything, to kill a baby, are you kidding me? that's nuts. i'm not paying for that. i shouldn't have to pay for that. i don't know who these schools think they are. if you want to get into stuff like that, don't get in the military. we need you to fight. we don't need you to cry about not getting your way all day. this is bs. we have snowflakes in the military now. i'm afraid for our country. we have these trans people running around and they want their rights. this and that, what about my rights to be protected by you? host: that is bob in michigan. this is another bob out of dallas, texas. good morning. caller: good morning.

i'm an 81-year-old african-american, raised in an integrated san diego, california. i am ex military and i've seen this white supremacist game before. it has a white supremacist core and has been a social eo since reconstruction. tommy tuberville is an inarticulate racist. that's the end of my statement. host: why do you think he's a racist, bob? caller: it's very obvious from everything that he has lived through and the way he presents himself today. host: that's bob in texas. this is -- in hempstead. you are next. caller: good morning for eight i

think someone needs to remind mike johnson that he was not elected as an evangelist in the house of representatives. he was elected speaker. and as speaker, he is supposed to represent all americans, not just the christians. i think he is a zealot and as such, he is a danger to our democracy. thank you very much and i hope everybody has a nice day. host: back to virginia, woodbridge, virginia. this is tom, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. the first thing i want to say is , i think several callers ago, you had a woman call in who lost her daughter in the horrible tragedy in maine and i think people need to go back and go to the c-span website and review what she was saying.

i have been deeply involved in virginia for many years. and the mental health crisis in the united states is the number one single most important domestic crisis we have. it has been truncated very often with gun violence. and what she is trying to get everybody to see is it is not about guns. it's about the mental health conditions in our country where we have people that are suffering from mental illness. they can't get help. there is no place for them to go . and they do, unfortunately at times, a small percentage of people who would normally commit suicide perhaps also take out their pain on those around them and this is a situation like what happened up in maine. i think one of the things she was saying that was very important, and i don't want to make this political but the

reality is -- host: are used to with us? caller: i am. can you hear me? host: you are going in and out so make your point so that i've got you. caller: the democratic party lies to the american people in order to get joe biden in office. it's a power thing, it's not about biden, it's about democrats having power. they lied to americans about the dossier. they colluded with the fbi and the doj and social media companies to tamp down on narratives of free speech. they convinced intelligence officers to lie that the hunter biden laptop was disinformation. they lied to us and every american citizen for power. they didn't do it for joe biden. joe biden is a playing piece on the board. it's all about the power and they are willing to lie, cheat and steal to stay in power.

host: got your point. that is tom in virginia. a couple of minutes left. rosemary is waiting in montgomery village, maryland. caller: hi. host: go ahead. caller: thank you. i must say i think that we need donald trump for our next president. host: you say that as a democrat, rosemary? caller: i am. i believe that we need donald trump. i think he is the one who is going to save our babies and he is the one that will get us all back to our country's origin and i think he is the one that will put the guns in the right hands, in the army and the u.s. navy and the air force. i think donald is going to feed our children.

host: what does it mean to be a very conservative democrat? caller: it means -- what does it mean? well, i don't know. let's ask jamie rankin. host: jamie raskin, the congressman from maryland? caller: yes. host: what aspect of the democratic platform makes you a democrat? caller: because we care. because we see and we think. we feel their pain. host: you don't think republicans care or feel pain? caller: i think they feel their pain. i don't think they feel my pain. i don't want them to feel my pain. i just want them to feel pain. i think donald feels pain.

host: that's rosemary in maryland. time for one more call. this is peter, thanks for waiting in elmwood park, illinois. peter, are you with us? let's try dennis in tunnel hill, georgia, independent. dennis, go ahead. caller: i guess this morning i woke up getting ready to watch some football but this program has been going off in all directions. but i was going to remark about, happy saturday first. tommy tuberville doesn't bother me. he's saying you can bring your nominations up individually. he doesn't want taxpayers

supporting anyone that does abortions. i also heard some folks talking about the gays and stuff with this new speaker. i think all he is saying is people are challenged with different things. like me, when i was young, there are things i would have done if it wasn't for knowing that i would be giving up part of my soul. anyway, i understood where he was coming from. i'm not a real big christian but i understand people are challenged. i don't think everybody has the same challenges. but once you get into that, you lose. that part is over with. i don't understand why everybody went after him because he's a christian. that doesn't bother me. donald trump doesn't bother me

because i know it's a system you are voting for, it's not the person. just like joe biden, it's the system. a lot of obama people are still in the white house. i woke up this morning really sad about the gun shootings and people. maybe i am just programmed in the past where the medication people have given their children , the side effects could be what is happening with these gun violence folks. i don't know why they cover it up. the pharmaceutical people can't speak about it. medication -- host: that is done is in --

dennis in tunnel hill, georgia. our lastaller in today's washington journal. a program reminder for later this evening, 6:00 p.m. eastern, the florida freedom summit will be taking place in kissimmee florida. 6:00 p.m. eastern is when we are expecting donald trump to address the audience. that will do it for us this morning on washington journal. we will be back tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern and 4:00 a.m. pacific. in the meantime, have a great saturday.