it is the washington journal the seven tonight president biden delivers the state of the union. you can watch on c-span or c-span now. he pushes republicans to work on him with lowering cost, higher taxation's on corporations and other measures but many measures are expected to nights. we want to hear about the top issues in the united states. for democrats (202) 748-8000 for republicans (202) 748-8001 for independents (202) 748-8002

if you want to text us (202) 748-8003 and post on social media at facebook.com/cspan or on x at cspanwj. our coverage starts at 8:00 with your phone calls and analysis leading up to the speech. all of that is available to you as part of coverage of state of the you in. if you go to our website we posted a poll about those you in light of the state of the you and here is what you are responding. 34% said the top issue is

immigration, reproductive rights 13%, bipartisanship a 10% foreign policy at nine, health carerime 3%. if you want to participate you can do that if you use your phone's camera you can take apicture of the qr code and it will lead you to a way to participate and make your thoughts known. you can always call on the phone if you want to talk about the top issue and how the president might relay that in the state of the union. for democrats (202) 748-8000 for republicans (202) 748-8001 for independents (202) 748-8002. dealing with the cost americans pay are expected to be part of

the president's speech. daniel hordern said he plans to ussp make the case for his economic record and how the president got a recovering from the pandemic. we have seen a historically strong recovery from 15 million jobs created in unemployment below 4% in the president acknowledges done with the response to republicans. c7he believes part of his responsibility to lower cost for families and everything he is legally permitted to do. if you go to the washington examiner the words you may hear tonight, the term shri

nkflation, it is the word du jour has become a term for corporate greed. corporations are cheating consumers by giving them less products at higher cost. the pushing of the shrinkflation puts inflation on corporations rather than economic policy. if matters are inflation are important to you you could participate in the poll.

montana starts us off on the democrats line. melissa, the top issue facing the united states? caller: good morning c-span i am so grateful for c-span, a shining light. thank you for all of that you do. what i would like to say is for people to please stop saying president bidedageism and it's like any other kind of discrimination. we are honored to have such a man to lead us in this time of darkness. host: do you think people will

be watching for that this ' ing him. host: what's your top issue leading into this? caller: we need to support these brave people in ukraine who are dying to support democracy. it is disgraceful that the gentleman in charge of the house of representatives cannot govern enough to bring -- host: 9% of you have foreign policy is top issue. let's hear from fred in florida on the republican line. caller: everything sir. all we are going to hearis the same

spinoff. we created 15 million jobs. thus untrue. i wish congress would not even invite him to talk so we don't have to hear this. host: what's your top issue going into to d tonight? caller: the border, foreign affairs. everything about this man needs to be changed and i wish they wouldn't even have to invite him so we have to listen to him talk. host: let's hear from ralph in new york. caller: i am a uaw worker and i hope the talks about wage earners in this country specifically raising the federal minimum wage equal pay between

men and women and men might add march 7 bloody sunday and union workers played an important role in that. they were really clubbed by state troopers. host: detroit news saying sean fain will be a guest at the state of the you tonight with a guest of first lady jill biden. mr. bided a friend of labor who went to the picket line to support the labor union last fall. several people have been invited by the administration to sit in

the first lady's box. 8:00 our coverage stc-span. top issue when it comes to tonight, bob in utah on the democrats line. caller: good morning pedro. joe biden is an old guy like me and as long as he stays alive he supports democracy. host: what should he say about democracy? caller: we don't need a dictator and donald trump has

promised to be a dictator. so please listen to that woman and montana. host: you can keep calling our show today we will primarily be hearing from you when it comes to tonight's state of the union. you can call us on the phone lines or send us a text (202) 748-8003. the white house press secretary previewed some of the themes the president will address tonight and here's a portion of that. [video clip] >> you will hear the president lay out his historic achievements in his vision for the future. looking at what he faced when he came into office it is clear he has gotten more done in the first three years than most

presidents have into terms. he will talk about the success in implementing his agenda from infrastructure chips, and lowering prices. he will talk about whose side he is on in his plan to improve the lives of americans and that includes lowering costs for americans, lowering cost premiums making the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share in taxes saving our democracy and protecting our democratic institutions, protecting women's reproductive health, making progress on his unity agenda, delivering for veterans, and beating the opiate pandemic. we will have more s fundamentally,

the president will outline an agenda about building on the progress e made over the past three years. the president has always been an he is hopeful for this country's future and why it is a mistake to bet against the american people. host: there is more of that if you go on the website about tonight state of the union. let's hear from alberto on the independent mind. caller: a really top issue losing our moral leadership. we have had us since world war i because of the israeli war. i don't call it a word, it is genocide which is what happens

when we unconditionally support israel. we have supplied the weapons to israel and were going to get the more money. he's beginning to talk about taking care of palestinians for humanitarian reasons. host: to reverse that trend what would you want the president to say? caller: he needs to make it . point, are desired to support israel but the way that they have responded the u.n. has the veto power and it can take steps to try to modify israel.

we are really in a bind and i want to bring something of that happened in the rga we have the chief of staff from the white house that did an interview with punch bowl and foreign policy expected to be a part of that speech. saying we need to support ukraine, israel in the palestinian people. we need to supply the ukrainian people with what they need to continue to fight back the russian invasion of their country and there is more to that interview. john in virginia on the republican line. caller: i would like him not to talk about the things that are simply like shrinkflation i

think americans are smart enough to figure out2 how many cookies they are getting. these are trivial things. what we ought to hear are things we need our government to in one of them is creating a framework so we can operate strong borders in defense. we are coming from the defense revenue every year. we need to be demonstrably stronger than anyone else to have a presence in the world. you can't continue to spend money having the wealthy pay their

fair share does not bear out. i would love to hear some truth will not. on that. host: let's hear from terry in birmingham, alabama. what's a top issue for you tonight? are you there? caller: hello? can you hear me? usi want to talk about misinformation. host: you will have to stop listening to your television and just tell us what you think on the phone. caller: i want to talk about misinformation. host: for those waiting online if you could turn down your

television i know primarily you would be interested but there is a delay that forces a delay in the conversation. steve and arizona on the republican line. steve in arizona? one more time for steve. let's try john in new york. caller: i'm getting through pedro can yeah, go ahead. caller: top issue, close the open borders. i support hr-2. came out of the senate should be rejected. they say these people come and want to work, they were 2, 3

years. host: hello? a wide variety of issues heading into tonight's state. you can add years (202) 748-8000, for republicans (202) 748-8001, for independents (202) 748-8002 if you want to text us your thoughts you can do that to that (202) 748-8003. let's try terry again in alabama. caller: i want to talk about misinformation. what i am see from my point of

view they talk about things to distract will is really going on in the real conditiongressional issues. what i mean by killing amissing in virginia. meanwhile they talk about girls getting kidnapped. why are they talking about all the bodies being found in the rivers in alabama. host: roland on the republican line. caller: i'm sorry i didn't hear my name. i would like to express three thoughts. my concern istanyl,

covid-19 with the injection started happening there was a medical internet line and women stop their menses and our birthrate is going to shrink. there was something that sterilize them temporarily or not. a resurgence of a new hiv/aids and they are coming to our border for treatment and no one is tracing that. in palestine, the israelis and arabs are genetically identical. we don't belong there. we should be in sudan and ukraine. the palestinians are using anything they can, they are freezing. it's not right. host: is in ohio.

caller: for those who say immigration is the number one problem. what are immigrants taking away from you who are legal or illegal that you already have? the answer for me is nothing. when the republicans put immigration front and center it is nothing but see. they take one murder that happened to be the right demographic and propagandize it and say here is the problem and that is why this girl was murdered out of all the murders. my number one issue is that my economy. that's what's affecting me. host: what you have to say about it? caller: he should say when i took office we had covid the economy was jack. look at where it was awareness

now, is drastically improved. also with the border, the solution is to change the asylum laws and restrict who comes here. there is no more khmer rouge or holocaust. put more people on the border to process immigrants. if they don't meet the criteria, turn them away. the number one issue is change asylum laws. host: ron is in new hampshire. most important issue was a pandemic. more than 2400 americans were killed by covid-19 that's like a 9/11 attack every 10 days. since october 7 born american's have been killed by covid-19 then everyone killed in gaza.

you know why they are being killed? no one is talking about it they don't know how dangerous it is. people are still wearing cloth masks and shame on you for not including the worst atrocity that has hit america. host: in light of the recovery why is covid still an issue? why should he address it? caller: over one million americans have been killed. they have not handled this pandemic properly and they are not talking about it. people don't even know how dangerous it is. a cloth mask will not stop the virus.

host: if you go back to the pole we showed you with the beginning health care in that general topic you could include covid and that. that was a major issue for you. if you want to participate look at that qr code open up your phone's camera take a picture of it and it will lead you to that poll, is not a scientific poll in any way. tonight at 9:00 is when the sp start and you can start watching our coverage at 8:00 on the platform there are network and see the speech on the on interrupted --

uninterrupted.from michigan on the democrats line, your top issue. caller: national health care for all. put it in the form of medicaid for all followed by affordable equal housing opportunities. i went down to flint i can even begin to describe it. it is so depressing and sad. when i took my children down we felt so very sorrowful. we've been working on itminating poverty. national health care would go a long way to alleviating poverty. host: do you think that topic has fallen off the radar as a

desire? caller: yes, yes it has. i just don't understand, i don't get it. i went into the local hospital and parts of it were remodeled in the other parts were wasteland. it is not what it should be. people should not have to worry about racking up huge amounts of debt to get treatment. host: that was kathy in michigan on health care and homelessness. you can add yourwe have some guests along the way but for democrats (202) 748-8000, for republicans (202) 748-8001, for independents (202) 748-8002 or text us at (202)

748-8003. from pennsylvania we have matt on the republican line. caller: good morning. i love the poll you showed a few minutes ago on tvt showed foreign policy a lot of the issues his domestic policy. we have heard different sides of the southern border and immigration than all this other stuff. one of the things congress was debating yesterday is the mismanagement of the budget of the united states government going towards all these other nations for ukraine, for israel against russia. when it comes to the state of the union president biden needs to be the first president to say the state of our union itself is

broken. we have a crisis at the border. we need to be able to help americans get back to work. they have allowed for oil production to go back to other countries instead of bringing them back to the united states and getting america back to work in bringing the budgetk towards their own people. inflation has skyrocketed and we are living in a time where it's s hard to buy groceries. the biden administration is refusing to put money towards their own people and that needs to happen here for

tonight's state of the union. the president needs to say we've been doing on this other stuff but now the american people are calling for help. host: he mentioned the matters of the budget it was reported by reuters that the u.s. house of representatives passed legislation to fund a broad swath of the government they voted voted for the bill and it will go to the senate before friday before the deadline expires. you can talk about that or other issues the president should discuss. on the independent line, from boston. caller: there are two words

that encapsulate what i want to talk about, boomer culture. there is such a great generation and everyone else. that has persisted for so long it's affected almost every facet of our lives and has culminated into this cliff where all on the edge of today. if i were to try to dig deeper into that phrase there are a lot of root causes but one of them has culminated into us being brought to her knees and we cower in the face of our corporate rulership that controls every angle of our life. it has robbed us of health care,

housing, and a competent governance, our politicians. if you are an average peryou can even get by if you work hard. i told my boss to go eat rocks and i'm get a take a few days off and try to think about how to break free from this and what bothers me most, every boomer i talked to tells me how grateful i should be to have more than two weeks vacation. they tell me to suck it up, get the boomers out of office to get them out of my life. host: immigration as some of you

have mentioned being a feature to the extent of where it will be in the speech tonight. this is from roll call saying when it comes to tonight speech president of the student murdered last month. others don't want them to give a speech at all. among the guests invited by speaker mike johnson is a mom who blames the border stance for her daughter's death. virginia senator tim kaine will be inviting born through ivf. we will show you more on who the first lady invited to watch tonight speech.

speaker johnson talked about issues concerning him and here's a portion from yesterday. [video clip] >> if you had to describe and one word what you believe the state of the you and is, you have heard the word crisis catastrophe. it is because of this president and his administration that we are decline. our economic strength is in decline people can barely afford the cost of living homeownership is out of reach and household debt is at all-time high. american sovereignty is in decline. the southern border is a total catastrophe. fentanyl poisoning is killing

our children and border with recklessness. in the midst of all that we last week he never one time spoke to the chief of border patrol. innocent americans, they have all been victimized by those who the biden administration is released into our country. he is releasing them into your stthe safety adversities is in decline. carjackings are we have more than 600,000 criminal aliens free to reoffend and vicn7timize americans.

be as many as 15 million illegal aliens since joe biden walked into the office. american presences in decline iran, russia and china are acting more proactively than they have been many years. the president is turning his back on their greatest ally israel. and after the withdrawal from afghanistan are staffordsture has diminished. we expect he will say this is a time for a reset but of course the state of the year and and is not strong and everyone knows that. host: how speaker mike johnson and you can see more on the website. we have a tax i illegal

onomy, health care. alidedpeople have a very short memhere is more of the guest list for tonight. under the category of abortion, ivf, laura beasl whose ivf treatments were halted and kate cox area mother was rejected by texas courts despite her doctors arguing that her pregnancy put her at risk. in a blood cancer patient who is affected by the price of drugs. chris blakckley an oncology nurse

trying to expand cancer treatments as part of operation moonshot and maria shriver journalist of the women's alzheimer movement to increase research on women's health. we will show you more of that list as we move through the morning. republican line in new york. caller: i think you guys do a great job and i appreciate the program. i think we need to recognize as a country that her secondary education system in aggregate robs the generations of tomorrow by putting them in debt and does

not train them to work in the workforce for jobs available and that needs to be addressed. senator marco rubio said there should be a policy if you take a college loan you should fill form and determines the unemployment rate for that degree in the amount of money you will make a year and what would your debt ratio would be. as the robbing of the futures generations well and a problem positioning future generations to be successful. not everybody who comes into this country seeking asylum are the scourge of the earth.

i don't see it that way. i think there are problems everywhere and they see america as a beacon of light. the problem is the democrats say we need these votefolks to do jobs we don't want to do. but it is illegal to hire an illegal immigrant. the reason we see so many people unemployed because we invite more people here who will not be able to participate in the economy and that creates all kinds of issues. the democrats have created this theory giving everyone a wage and giving everyone health care and the truth is, that stands

what fdr which is giving opportunities to work in dignity of life creates american exceptionalism. host: thank you for calling in, let's hear from james and north carolina on the democrat line. caller: i would like president biden to mention the national debt and the republicans of always help the rich and reagan started it with major tax cuts for the rich and both bushes and

from gave them tax because that amounted to a trillion dollar year. i don't know where they're getting the money they're sending to israel and ukraine but i think this national debt is going to destroy capitalism and free enterprise as we know it and is taking the country down but you won't hear any of the politicians talk about it. they are using the border issue is a smokescreen to get stupid people to not realize what is really going on and how they are pulling off the biggest heist in world in the robbery of the treasury. we should have 34 trillion in savings is not dead. host: tom in north carolina on the republican line. caller: the top issue for me is

immigration. since president biden has been in office we know 11 million people of crossed illegally. the democrats had the house and senate and what'd they do? where is kamala harris? she went down there one time and do nott the reason he went last week is good immigration to me is number one and the need to close the . we have had 26 thousand chinese people cross into america. and president trump was in office see you guys would be down there every day asking why so many people are crossing. remember and biden can

even say laken riley's name. host: abc news reporting the president is expected to spend a large part of the state of the you and addressing the economy increasing tax on corporations and billionaires and highlighting the economic rebound of the u.s. since he became president and to the aspects of recovering with the unemployment rate under 4% for two years. he will push his plans to change the tax system by proposing a 25% tax for billionaires the gop plan would add trillions of

deficit if they make the tax cut plans permanent. some of the things to look out for tonight as the president makes his address. caller: i would like to hear president biden apologized to the palestinian for repeating lies he got from his israeli media. they continue to repeat on in palestine. they say that palestinians are begging for attention, these bombs and hearing six-year-old girls with the red crescent and her mother before she's killed by the israeli army in they lied about that.

a lot of outlets have covered this and said israel has lied about that phone call about not being there when they killed her. i'm sick and tired of people saying palestinian people ask for this. i wish he would say he doesn't want to be the president. i am sorry old people, he is old. i just wish she would apologize to the palestinians for spreading these lies. host: sean in virginia when it comes to matters of foreign affairs she will be joined by the prime minister of sweden and

commander of the navy who received a broad star to help protect ships from houthi robles . sitting in the first lady's box. north carolina, hello. caller: my topline issue that people are not thinking about is climate change. climate change is having an effect on our economy, health effects and national security. last year was the hottest year recorded in history. the oceans have warned. we will see erosion from

atlantic city down to miami. the department of defenses thinking about moving from new for because of erosion. we will have more hurricanes coming in, storms,ughts and the helpalth effects will be catastrophic. i agree with the comments made by the gentleman with covid. it's like seeing an airbus crashing every week in term of covid desk. climate change will have a tremendous effect and we have our heads in the sand and i hope president biden will comment tonight in terms of funding for things that are going to make us even more energy efficient to

mitigate against these effects that are coming i.e. more wind farms, solar farms, more efficient housing appliances and the like. host: thank you gail from north carolina. we have katrina from pennsylvania on the democratne. caller: i just wanted to make two quick little planes. all i want to hear is affordable housing and acceptable wages that coincide with housing prices. host: why are those on the top of your list? caller: rt of pennsylvania i live in and i work in other states as well.

rent is more expensive buying a house and buying a house, they have made a very difficult especially since you see your parents go and do all of these things and it has changed over the years. we would like to be able to not struggle. host: what would you look for from the president on those issues? caller: i would like wages to go up. we talk about minimum wage going up year after year but none of the other wages go up. i went to college and i have a bachelors degree.

i don't know if it would be better to see someone with an education do something. host: thank you for calling in, on the republican line we have gary. caller: i would like to state the primary thing i would like to hear about is the elimination of higher education for our younger americans. i feel there are many out there who could not participate fully in our economy because of our crushing level of indebtedness

with student loans in the initiatives to reduce or eliminate those studs are very important to allowing our younger adult to get married develop families, by houses and fully participate in our economy. host: when you hear republicans talk negatively about the efforts to forgive student debt how do you feel about that? caller: i still see those in the age group of 20's and 30's that are struggling so much to

fully participate in our economy and by homes and ather things. host: courtney is next on the independent line. caller: i just wanted to let you know the most important issue our country faces is our national debt. 40 years ago it was one trillion in today's 34 trillion, thus not sustainable. they should put a nonpartisan commission to get the debt down. host: thomas from freehold, new

jersey. caller: well listen. what i think is wrong is people don't everybody is out-of-control. the whole world is out-of-control, bottom line. what would you like the president to say about it? caller: i think president biden has been doing a great job. host: if you are calling in this morning, pay attention to the lines. for democrats (202) 748-8000s (202) 748-8001 for independents (202) 748-8002you

can text us at (202) 748-8003. choose the line that best represents you and if youwithin the last 30 days if you could withhold this time around and turn down your television keep delays from happening so we can hear from you and america can hear from you as well. on the republican lines from temple, texas. caller: i want all of you to know what is going on has nothing to do with government and anything like that. it has to do with thedays. here in texas we had one million acres burned. that's not all. host: as far as top issues what is your top issue in light of that? caller: the first thing i would

do was try to get the government right to put people in their that wanted to do something to help people. if we elect trump for president that's it. don't expect nothing. that is the end as a moralist that to be running our government is the end. host: we will stick to the state of the end. the hill reporting that speaker johnson urging republican lawmakers to maintain year and he made the request during a closed door conference. three republican lawmakers told the hill, decorum is the order of the day.

he said we should carry ourselves with good decorum and another member said we are closing out this first hour on the top issues for you as the president makes his state of the union address tonight. you can launch our coverage at 9:00 eastern and we will start our coverage at 8:00 and you can follow along on c-span, c-span now and c-span.org. not only will you get a chance to see the speech but you will have a chance to: and give a response after it is done. if you want to participate in our pollsking your top issue for you.

if you want to take your phone and take a picture of that qr code, you are invited to do that. you can put your data in and we will show you those results. for democrats (202) 748-8000 for republicans (202) 748-8001 for independents (202) 748-8002. 8003 let's take you back one year for a montage from last year state of the union address. >> two years ago, democracy faces greatest threa civil war and today, the bruise our democracy is unbowed an unbroken. [applause] >> i want to thank my republican friends who voted for the law. my republicans who voted against it as well. i still get asked to fund the

project in those districts as well but don't worry, i promise i would be a president for all americans. we will fund these projects and i will see you at the groundbreaking. [applause] >> instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some want medicare and social security to sunset. [boos] >> anybody who doubts it contact my office, i will give you a copy of the proposal. congress must restore the right that was taken away in roe v. wade and protect roe v. wade. [applause] >> bowden's invasion has been a test for the ages a test for america, a test for the world. i'm committed to work with china where we can advance american interest and benefit the world but make no mistake about it, as we made clear last week, if china threatens our sovereignty we will act to protect our

country and we did. public safety depends on public trust is all of is now but too often that trust is violated. join us tonig nichols, welcome. [applause] >> fighting for the ke fighting, power for the sake of power, conflict for the sake of conflict gets is nowhere. that's always been my vision of i know it's many of yours. to restore the soul of this nation to rebuild the backbone of america, americans middle-class and unite the countries. we've been sent here to finish the job in my view. host: again, montage of that speech from last year. if you go to our website, you can see many of the state of the union speeches that have taken place across many presidents if you are learning more. go to the website at c-span.(202) 748-8000 democrats, (202) 748-8001 republicans, (202)

748-8002 independents. when it comes to the republican response tonight alabama senator katie britt, the youngest female senator will deliver that spree -- that speech. she is 42 and in a joint sake dish staith mitch mcconnell and mike johnson she said it's time for the next generation to step up. the republican party is the party of hard-working parents, families and ito putting this critical perspective front and center. this comes in its backlash to a ruling by her state supreme court that says the frozen embryos can be considered children under state law and several clinics announced they were pausing ibf services leaving parents pursuing the treatments with an uncertain path. alabama's legislature will attend to that. when it comes to his cancer programming, former president trump plans to do the same for tonight according to his true social website. yesterday he said i'm pleased to

inform you that tomorrow night, we will do a live play-by-play purkett joe biden's date of the union address. i will correct and rapid response any and all inaccuracies pertaining to the border and his weaponization of the doj fpi, ag's and district attorneys to go after political opponents, me, never done before in this country. we did this once to tremendous portant for the country to get this right. that's a former president's plan for this evening. let's hear from david in new york, republican line. caller: hi, i think tonight should be about unity and bringing the country together. and possibly solving the debt, the border, education, all of these issues, some of them you can't fix like student loans. he doesn't have the power to do that and the federal government holds the debt. i don't see why congress just doesn't take a vote on it. they should vote on it and say we voted on it and we passed it

and it didn't pass. but they will they own that debt. if they want to get rid of it congress should vote on it. also i think the democrats need to get away from the news agencies and we should have more investigative reporters. telling the people the truth. ile together. i think the court hearings with his son and him should also be addressed. i think there is a lot they did to the former president that he all the cases will be dropped. what did they do? they tried to bankrupt him in new york for what reason? those are the top issues for you in the state of the union. brooklyn, new york, democrats li hello. caller: good morning. the president should talk about

democracy and how we are losing the democracy. he should make sure that the people that the republicans don't get away with taking away our freedom. they talk about freedom but the congress is not doing anything for the voting rights for people to vote and voting rights, they are trying to take them away and trying to take away abortion. the -- republicans are the ones taking the freedom of democracy and our freedoms away from the women. of the people that want to vote. they should discuss that and speak about that that we should be looking and be vigilant about what they are doing. they say the democrats are not telling the truth. they are the ones not telling the truth. host: steve and next, republican line. caller: my main issue i would

like to have them talk about his safety in america and whether america is safer now that was four years ago and how we can make it safer and whether it's the border and all these people comi over or it's the fentanyl that's coming in every which way , it comes in marijuana it comes in cocaine and it's because they want people to be addicted to fentanyl. it's like the wars that are going on and 45 days, prudent stood on the border of ukraine and how many times has joe biden talked to vladimir putin? have they had one discussion? they've had 45 days and what's going on in israel and hostages that are in israel and why haven't we demanded to gaza and hamas to get our people out of that country? you have a date to get these hostages out of there and is the same thing that goes on in america every day we've lost. the gas stations have people

withthere so people don't steal someone's car while they're pumping gas. it's the safety and america that has to be addressed. host:ustin, texas, democrats line, good morning. caller: i think the biggest problem in america today is truth. i don't know if the president can do anything about it but the negativism to get the news, someone that professes they are a new station, they have to have viable proof of what they are saying before they say it. they can be entertainers and commentators that just say their opinions but how are people to know what decision to make if we can't get a hold of the truth? regular people can't verify all the things going on in ameri or all over the world. that's why people are just picking the side they agree with. host: james in michigan, the top

issue you may have leading up to the state of the union tonight? you are on the independent line. caller: i'm from the state of michigan and i'm an independent voter. to be straight up democrat but now i am changing for 2024. i am becoming a republican. host: let me stop you there because you have to pick the line that best represents you. we have three lines you can call in so call in on republican line if you want, (202) 748-8000 is the line for democrats, (202) 748-8001 for republicans and independents (202) 748-8002. if you want to call in james callublican line and we will get you on there. new york on republican line this is joe, hello. caller: how are you doing?

he will get on the podium, the president and he will start talking about the great job he did for america and this and that and his people did. what i would really like people the democratic callers to try to explain to me, what was the difference in how this country was when donald trump was in office and biden is in office now thatwhat did biden do that was so positive as far as the border and as far as everything else? he will go up there and talk about his policies and what he did for this country and how great a job he did. the border issue if he does take it up, he will blame either the republicans but not himself. he is the he's had the pen and paper that can override anything and stop the border from the way it's going

now. it's scary the way america has turned out the last four years. the democratic callers have to realize that even though you hate trump because of his personality or the weight he was and this and that and everything else, this country was not -- wasn't asit is horrible and we are a week country in the world. that's basically all i have to say. host: president biden is expected to tell thea compliments of his record during his time in office in tonight's state of the union and the actual speech starts at nine the coverage for us starts at 8 p.m. and what happens after tonight's speech is highlighted in the washington post when it comes to what advisors are planning on.

look for that to take place after tonight. tonight is the state of the union. from wisconsin on our independent line roget is the name? caller: thank you for taking my call. i have to say i think maga is a huge threat to our way of life.

the most subliminal danger and nobody addresses it as a once republican whatever happened to fiscal responsibility? if people would take a step back and look at our interest payments on our national debt if we could make those go away, could you imagine what can be done with their infrastructure with all of that money? that's only the interest. i think they have to start talking about that. it's a problem down at the border. it's a mess but it's not biden's fault it's not trump's fault, it's been everybody's fault the last 30 years. it's taking the things that are poignant that maybe don't stand out because pundits pointed out but somebody has to clean up this nationalt. d out a way to do it. host: that's our viewer in wisconsin calling in about that

tough issue facing the united states. you can add yours to the mix (202) 748-8000 democrats, (202) 748-8001 for republicans and independentss (202) 748-8002. you can text us as well at (202) 748-8003. if you are currently waiting, we would ask you to wait a few minutes more, feel free to keep calling in during the remaining portion of our program. we will be visited by various members of congress to talk about the state of the union. representative adrian smith is a republican from nebraska and serves on the ways and means subcommittee as the serves the third district of the state as well, good morning. guest: good morning. host: as far as expectations go about what would you describe those as? guest: here we are already in an election year and i expect the president to talk about topics he thinks will help him get reelected. the immigration issue, i'm not sure how much he wants to talk about that because it is an issue i think he's lacking a

good position on. the american people are very concerned about what's happening at our southernle. i hope he has an announcement to tell the country that h whether that will happen but the economy overall i will guess he will say everything is great. the american people would not agree with that. their visits to the grocery store, their household purchases are still very expensive. host: of immigration, would you want to do this by executive order or want him to reach out with republicans to work on as the authority to tighten things up at the border already. the remaining mexico policy for example and that has been suggested to reduce the immigration by about 70%. so far, the president has chosen not to do that. he says he wants congress to give him legislation. yes, i would love to have him

ultimately a law that a reasonable approach that includes remain in mexico and other components but the president has the authority to do something that i think would be a great message to send to the american people and members of congress. host: you probably heard that much of the address will deal with matters of the economy. when the president talks about it tonight, what would you like him to say to republicans about this matter? guest: the initiatives the president has made previously spent a lot of money. our countries deeper in debt and we are not seeing the rebound he promised certainly. quite honestly, we republicans have stood in the way of him spending even more money as he has wished to do. the child tax credit, we passed a bill in the house that was much more modest than what the president wanted. the fact of the matter is, we've got a text bill that passed out of the house that would be good for the economy and it would be great if you would focus on that

perhaps. that's a bipartisan piece of legislation that brings back much of the 2017 tax reform bill that was very productive in the economy. the way that bill is drafted as a piece of legislation that can bring people together. host: asi union, the house passed a package of bills to keep the government funded for at least a short time. did you vote for that package? guest: package. i think it has modest reductions in spending we know we need to exercise. moving forward, the regular order of appropriations process is very important. we've got another bill coming up on the rest of the government. moving fortake our 12 appropriations bills one at a time and get those passed in the house in the senate and perhaps go to conference and ultimately get to the president desk. that appropriations process is one of the most fundamental functions of congress and we need to get back to that regular order. host: what is your level of confidence of that happening

before a partial shutdown. guest: we are behind already because we are still addressing things that have been addressed last year. we are moving forward in a diligent manner given the time resources we have. now we are addressing last year's spending bill and that should have passed last year but now we are into the next appropriations season as well. we need to use the regular order , the appropriations committeeiligently as they do hearing from members and we are from constituents and this is vital to the process. host: you serve as the chair of the trade subcommittee. i don't know if you expect trade issues to come up into nights speech but how would degrade the administration's approach to trade? guest: i would be shocked if the president wants to talk about trade given the fact that there seems to be such a low priority. fe a flagrant violation of u.s. mca bite mexico shutting -- seeking

to shut ouec president biden has not said anything about it. that's disappointing. there are other trade opportunities that exist around the world that would be good for our economy, good for relationships with other countries as well. so far the president has chosen to skip over af that's unfortunate so i would be shocked if the president wants to talk about trade tonight. host: it looks like former president trump will be the presumptive nominee. he is talking about trade matters saying if he was in office new tariffs would take place against china and maybe other approach? guest: when president trump was in office, he utilized some tariffs but tot a high priority and that allowed congress to ultimately take action to give u.s. mca. i think it was helped along the process because of some of the tariffs. i think moving forward, we want to look at opportunities in trade.

96% of the world's lives outside our country. we are really good at producing food in america and everyone he world needs to eat. let's take advantage of that opportunity of our production here. let's expand our markets overseas and bring more front and i think everyone can benefit from that area that requires trade being a high priority than what president biden thinks at this point. former president trump is campaigning hard. he sees trade as a high priority. i respect that. there will be some disagreements along the way but when an issue become such a high priority, that ten tt's what led to mca being the most bipartisan trade agreement in modern history. host: the president will issues of ukraine and israel aid. where are you on these issues? guest: israel-ukraine needs to have a border ent. i hear from constituents all the time with their concerns about the border.

they wants to focus on domestic security concerns stemming from border certainly in comparison to perhaps the important things going on overseas as well. we neei think that's very important and israel as well. let's not ignore things at the border. the president has done not much already. host: the passage of hr two is what you are looking for or is there otherust some other way to come about it to get these concerns satisfy? guest: hr two is a bill that passed the house with a narrow majority. hr two contains very reasonable policies. if the present insist on something else, let's hear more of what he thinks needs to happen to make the border more secure. messages from the administration that the border is secure and everything is just fine, the american people disagree with that and i certainly disagree with that. i've been to the border and i've seen what's happening. it'sit's heartbreaking, in fact.

we need to do better and the american people expect us to do better on border policy. host: we've heard reported that speaker johnson is asking for decorum among republicans for tonight. do you think that will happen? guest: i believe it will. there is an appetite to get things done. we need to address things like the border and other issues still hurting the american people. speaking for myself, and maybe my colleagues would agree, we i hope the president will avoid division. previously, he has made statements that are very divisive, unnecessarily so and he gets a divisive resnse whatement as well. i hope we can have a conversation that the american people want us to have about addressing the true issues and challenges facing our country. host: to what degree do you

think tonight's speech will be a test of the president age and his mental acuity? i think a lot of people will be watching. i'm sure the president will be strictly scripted. that's normal. maybe we will see the biden from four years amepeople together rather than making statements that split our country. host:ative smith serves nebraska. is one of many legislators that will visit us during the course of the morning. thank you for your time. more will join us throughout the course of the day and we will hear mainly from you during this program today. joe biden isn't -- california, democrats line your top issue leading into nights state of the union. caller: it's immigration and i'm glad representative smith spoke at length about the problems at the border. it seems to me that president in some kind of denial

about what's going on there. i think what would win back some voters from the democratic party is if he would admit to his failures in regards to his border policy. i think it's absolutely a disaster to reverse remain in mexico. host: are you there? let's go to james in california, republican line, good morning. caller: i am a retired u.s. navy. i was a democrat and now i'm a new republican. i think the economy and inflation is the biggest issue. last year, i spent seven dollars per gallon for gas twice in 2023. i think the reason why is because we are at war with ukraine. also i like to comment on for personal gain.

i'm wondering how he can get away with that. host: let's go to curtis in clearwater, florida, independent line. caller: yes, good morning. were talking about the top stories were what our concerns are. host:e faci peo inime wo come when the very cision a l to think critically is almost like a lost art area.i would like for a fair and balanced media and i think we all would like that. and not for the it seems like they own the media. host: top issue facing the united states, democrats line, go ahead. caller: immigration here as well. i think biden has an opportunity to present the bite partisan senate bill that was donevery conservative

republican and more. they came up w bill that is endorsed by the border patrol union and the chief of the border patrol. it has $2.3 billion and refugee assistance and it has money for more judges. and more for extra border patrol assistance. it gives the people at the border more than they ever had before. know why congress doesn't take this up and accepted. host: cudia in north carolina, republican line on the top issue facing the united states, go ahead, you are next. caller:esw last callers concerns, i agree with

him about the border but what i have been trying to find is the content of the border bill. i only heard it covered one time. part of it was that the 5000 immigrants allowed into ports of entry but then there was some about what are the ports of entry. i wonder if you all ever covered or had available the content of the because it would be interesting to know why the republicans are not feeling positive about it. host: i would refer you to the website only because i know the context of the bill talked about on this program when it comes to details, legislators asked about it. the best way to point you to that is our websitecan find anything about the legislation including the senate border bill, t bill that went. you can find out about other immigration efforts as well. that website is also a way to

watch tonight's state of the union speech. president starts at 9 p.m. and our coverage starts at 8 p.m. and you can see it main platform. if you want to reference our app and downloaded there, c-span now is how you do that. the.org and the app also available if you want to take part in our poll about those top issues. they range from immigration to to the economy and other categories. you have the ability to give your thoughts there as well. it's not a scientific poll by any means but a way to track those issues. the top category as it stands right now is immigration border security. you can do that on the website but if you want to take a picture of the qr code there you can access it that way as well. people have been doing throughout the course of the day as part of our coverage of the state of the union. dennis, republican line in new york, hi. caller:go ahead.

you are on the program, go ahead. caller: ok, i've got another question -- what about bringing jobs back to america? i heard trump wants to open up our oil fields. we do not need oil from overseas. host: ok, is that your top issue? caller: the economy in my top issue is the economy and border control. host: why are those top issues for you? caller: those are my top issues. why is it hard for natural born americans to get a job in this country? they bring them over and educate send them back home to help them over there and give the americans back their jobs. host:on and border security is a couple of top

issues participating in our poll. in alabama,gwen democrats line. caller: good morning. my top issue is because i'm an african-american and i know what we as african-americans have had to endure in the united states of america, a we helped build or should i say rather built. that spy top issue is democracy in this country. my top issue is health care. my top issue is social security and retirement because i'm a senior citizen. my top getting rid of the republicans in congress and senate because they are not doing anything for us. we arewe are not interested in. also my top issue is the racism in this country. that's especially tort immigrants and black people. when republicans talk about immigration like the man that just hung up, they sayem."

we have to talk to people with dignity. i understand we have different people coming in this country all of these people are not coming to this country not only for a better life. to speak withindignation and no respect, the republicans are racist about border security and immigration. and especially donald trump. i'm sick and tired of the hate in america. stop putting it's you. if you'd choose to be a racist that's on you. host: john in pennsylvania, independent line. hello? one more time for john in valencia, pennsylvania.

ok, you can call on the lines and be ready to go in your name while we are waiting, let's hear from the senate majority leader chuck schumer on the floor of the senate yesterday previewing his take on the state of union. [video clip] >> when president biden comes before the congress to deliver his state of the union this week, americans will hear a clear message that america's economy is accelerating, inflation is decelerating in the investment democrats made in the past few yea, i was proud to be majority leader during the most successful, productive congress in 30 years in these investments are really paying off. today for example, many americans are paying less for insulin then they did a few years ago thanks reforms we made on the ira. seniors on medicare have a cap on prescription drug spending. no longer does a serious on this mean spend $10,000 more in prescription drug expenses. consumer sentiment is way up compared to two years ago. despite so many naysayers who

were sure there would be a recession inflation has slowed to more normal levels without causing a recession. manufacturing construction is at an all-time high, triple its highest point during the last administration. these are just the accomplishments of the past year. the inflation reduction act is projected to create another 1.5 million jobs over. the next decade today, want to point out another part of our agenda delivering you on anyone's wildest expectations. the surgeon america's clean energy and the jobs it creates. es put it best in a recent article -- they noted that clean energy manufacturing is booming. thanks to investments democrats made in the inflation reduction act and the chips and science act and other bills, clean investment just last year reached over 230 billion

dollars. that's triple the investmt levels of 2019 just five years ago. many companies who invested toward clean energylegislation was passed, said it made their decisions easier and while that can seem hard to visualize, the practical impacttments are plain as day. american see these investments at work through newev battery plants, neconstruction sites new jobs that will stick around for years. our economy has added nearly 30,000 jobs and supply, stark from years of the client the previous administration. host: chuck schumer, the senate nority -- majority leader on the floor yesterday. you can see more of that on our website at c-span.org. there is a group called progress texas.org in the lead up to the state of the union tonight that had put up a series of bingo cards you can fill in during the

course of the speech. if the president talks about things and use specific terms, use a card. texas might be a reference to it, the term malarkey as well, themes of unity and topics of minimum wage a reference to the first lady, more there as well. if you want to listen to the speech and as you listen to the speech fill out a series group progress texas marking that out if you want to spend your time tonight watching the state of the union that way. you can do it while you watch it on our coverage on our main c-span channel. during the course of the morning, we will hear mainly from you because of the speech tonight. the top issue facing the united states, president biden expected to address manyue issurse of the speech tonight and we want to hear about the top issue you have and how he should address them. (202) 748-8000 four democrats, republicans (202) 748-8001

independents (202) 748-8002. gina in maryland, democrats line, go ahead. caller: yes, my top issues is inflation. i don't understand how the american people can look at president biden and blame him for everything where we are right now as far as inflation. look at what he inheritedwe were. you've got to know where you were before you know where you are going. ex-presidentis country. listen to him. he will tell you everything you want to know what he's going to do. inflation was not the fault of joe biden. where are we now? we are in the green. especially prescription drugs. why is the government so involved?

i don't want the government involved in prescription drugs. is a lot of price gouging going on. you're going to pay $300 for tilde probably cost $.35. then you have a woman's right to choose. i hate abortion. i don't like people to randomly abort. it's about health care for women and their right to choose. it's my choice to have an abortion but it's about health care. the government should be right there and let them choose. they cannot be involved in a woman's right to choose. going back 200 years, we are going back. trump wants to take us back where he has a certain race of people controlling everything. host: let's hear from bill in new jersey, independent line.

caller: the two greatest problems we have in this country is stupidity and corruption. the president of the united states is one of the most corrupt people we've ever had. harris is one of the stupidest people we've ever had. nothing is done with common sense reasons. they do things because they are corrupt and they do things because they are stupid. the majority of the problems this country has come a common sense needs to be taken and control the decisions being made. an example would be the national debt. my suggestion for the national debt would be at the present time, i believe it's like $134,000. you stop paying social security.

they made everybody pay social security. on talking about the executive's getting $5 million per year. the amount of money that will come into social security would be double or trii would suggest if they pass a bill for 10 years, some of us o research and come up with a stronger figure. the employee money would go into social security fund. host: lester in virginia, democrats line. caller: how are you doing today? this is my first time calling and i've been listening to a lot of people and i will keep mine simple. i would like to see president biden tonight come in and get everybody [indiscernible] and work on one issue at a time.

don't give no speech. he should try to solve some of these issues we have and show the american people that it takes congress and the senate that's all i have to say. host: offering his own take on what the state of the union should look like. tonight's speech you will see what the president offers when it comes to the themes he will discuss. he is trying to win another term in office later this fall, 9:00 is when the speech will start. leading up to it, and analysis with your calls about the speech at 8:00 p.m. and after the speech more of hearing from you about what you heard from president biden. all that gets wrapped up on television on c-span, air app and c-span.org. to guests, you heard from some of those attending in the first lady's box. house speaker mike johnson has invited the parents of evan

gershkovich who was the parents of the reporter imprisoned in russia. this will be the one year anniversary of his arrest by russian authorities on the charges of espionage allegations and the u.s. government considers them wrongfully detained. look for that to play out tonight as well. let's hear from illinois republican line, carol. caller: i don't understand how all those states that want to bar trump from the ballot ended up voting for him. how did that work?

i am a republican but i was going for haley and that she's dropped out and i would not vote for trump because i think he's totally evil and he's definitely guilty. host: we are about your top issue for the united states, what would that be? caller: i think immigration. we need to protect all of our citizens and it's going to cause the bubble to burst. you can't put more air in a balloon that will hold. our prices, we have to first worry about stealing and robberies in crime. biden needs to do mohe needs to close that border and it's a bipartisan issue. we all have family we want to protect and love. think biden did some good job. i think he needs to stand up more. i will watch his state of the union tonight again. host:'s next republican line.

caller: yeah, host: you're on, go ahead. caller: my big issue is immigration, illegal and legal immigration. how much it it is costing us every day. we've got 10 million crossing ther and that will cost us $50 per person to house and feed them. i know you can't house and feed yourself or $50 per day but that will cost us $500 million per day. where is this money coming from? host: ok, that' the top issue facing the united states for lester with our lead up to the coverage of the state of the union address. you can continue to call in at (202) 748-8000 for democrats (202) 748-8001 for republicans

independents (202) 748-8002. you can text us as well at (202) 748-8003. during the course of the morning, weird being joined by legislators to talk about tonight's speech. this is the democrat from texas who serves the 33rd district and serves on the armed services and energy committee guest: guest:. good morning.host: you may have heard about the topic of immigration and border security being discussed. being a texan, what would you like the president to say about that tonight? guest: i want the president to be 100% resolute and clear that we have a border bill. we had a bill that was negotiated by republicans, a conservative senator put together a bill that was bipartisan that even fox news called the immigration and the best one that has come through the u.s. house of representatives and the u.s. senate and trump told the

speaker to kill the bill. i think the president needs to be 100% clear and resolute that there would be no more busing of migrants were issues of the border. we wouldn't be having all these problems if donald trump had not haaker to kill the bill. everything would be much better than it is now could be talking about other topics that are important to the american public. host: when it comes to the migration level at the southern a problem for the president? guest: i think it's a problem for republicans. we had a solution to this it is absently not the present problem. he was very earnest and wanted to work with senator langford from oklahoma. he was going to work with senator langford and he said that he would get behind this bill and it was republicans

donald trump, speaker johnson it is now their liability and it's now their fault about anything you see that's happening along the border that is immigration related in the media needs to start saying that more and more. it is their problem. we try to fix it and thehost: republican say it was president biden overturning a series of immigration efforts at the start of his term that in their mind could lead to issues regarding the southern border now. is there any validity to that? guest: no validity to that. donald trump was president of the united states before joe biden also had large numbers of undocumented crossings. president obama who i don't hear republicans giving any credit to had less than donald trump. absolutely, we are not going to give trump any sort of credit whatsoever or say it was

policies that biden reverse. we have a broken system that needs to be fixed. we have a situation in central america that creates a lot of instability and creates a lot of migration that this country needs to try to address the way president clinton did. we need to accept those things because the status quo of keeping things the way they are is not going to work and we shou bill that speaker johnson killed at the behest of donald trump. host: when it comes to funding and aid for ukraine and israel, what would you like the president to discuss or his visithonts? guest: i saw a sign outside the capital a week or so ago that said -- it's 1939 again. the president needs to explain that in concise words that the situation in the ukraine is serious.

ignoring the situation in ukraine and allowing former kgb agent vladimir putin to continue in his efforts to attack former soviet nations will lead to a wider conflict t deadly for the united states. the president needs to explain that. he also needs to talk about the ct that israel had a right to defend itself and we need to give aid to israel we also need to do something about the right now. i think he needs to touch on all of those things and of course, the president needs to also about taiwan. china is watching how we handle the situation in israel and they are watching how we handle the situation in ukraine. they want to see if america is still committed to democracy. the way the republican party is moving and the fact that donald trump fan boys over put makes

europeans uneasy. people in europe right now are absolutely on edge to think that donald because of the reasons i just brought up. host: the president's support in ukraine and when he comes to matters of israel, do you think this will be a reelection matter for him? there are concerns from democrats about the level of uncommitted votes. will this be a reelection issue? guest: i don't think it will be a reelection issue. i think of donald trump becomes president of the united states, he will an act a muslim ban that people ca i don't think anybody in michigan will be for that. i think people will get out to vote. i will also tell you that i stillt the economy is going to be a big part of this particular election.

i think president tell to the infrastructure bill it was passed in the inflation reduction act and the chips bill will keep us competitive and keep us ahead of red china. to me, he has an amazing story to tell with the economy. we've seeneas with inflation that are still a concern to people but one of the biggest indicators of inflation were gas prices. they have really stabilized since two years ago. the president has an amazing story to tell as it relates to that and when it comes to overseas conflict as well, the president and the policies he's enacted and seen through have really led to a certain level of stability in europe despite what's happening in ukraine. i give him credit for that and he deftly ne when it comes to matters of the house how did you vote on the series of packages concerning the appropriations bill yesterday? it was ye all the way

across the board. ahost: as far as your level of confidence of preventing a shutdown, how does it stand today? guest: i think it's looking good. i think we will get it done. i think you'll see something thatsterday. because speaker johnson will stand up to the reckless radical republicans in his conference that we will continue to look for ways to make life easier. the fact of the matter is, you saw an overwhelming ye tos get those appropriations bills passed innkeeper government open and you will see that happen i feel good about that and i like the direction we are headed right now with the majority of democrats leading the way in order to get these bills passed. host: as far as the speech tonight, to what degree do you thin is a test of the president's age and mental acuity? guest: i think the president

will look great tonight. i think the american public will sei also think the american public absolutely has the right to question that but i think what they will see is that he is the man that is as fit as any president we've had in previous history. i think a lot of that is going to be put to rest tonight. host: when you right to question that, what do you mean? guest: that's one of the reasons why the public always expects the president of the united states to do checkups. they want to know if the present is healthy. you probably recall in 2016 that donald trump for a long time refused to releasesults. in 2020, joe biden readily did that and he did just recently.

absolutely, the american public has a right to wonder about those things and question those things. for me, i'm mo concerned about trump and some of the crazy things he says. just his constant sort of cozying up with putin makes me question his mental acuity. host: he served the 33rd district of texas in dallas/fort worth. he is also in the armed services and energy commerce committed th -- committees, thank you for your time. you can add your voice to the mix when it comes to those top issues. in ohio, democrats line, thanks for waiting. caller: yes thank you very much. on the speech tonight, i think president biden needs to close his notebooks and make two

statements. one is to order the border patrol to close the border temporarily, use executive action to close the border. that's for some months until we can figure out what to do with the border. that's number one. number two, he needs to tell netanyahu to shove off. and to tell netanyahu we will any aid to israel until israel starts to behave the way humanity should behave. those are the two points that i would like to see president biden come there, closes notebook and make those two statements and elaborate.

close the border temporarily. host: james in ohio, democrats line. james in ohio, hello? yoe u hello? you are speaking, i am aorld war ii veteran, a korean veteran , i'm in my mid-90's and i'd like to give you some clean good advice. close the border and deport 10 million -- deport 10 million of the latest arrivals in e united states of america. i want to tell you something else -- i canis going to be elected in this time and how it's going to come about if you want to listen. host: we will stick with the james in california can your

next, independent line. caller: i'd like to hear him talk about the price of rent and the reason it's so high. i feel it's these commercial businesses buying up properties and i've lived in this place for 10 years and my always $900 and a commercial place bought it out and every year, they raise my rent 10% which is up to $1300 and every year, it's another hundred. is the commercial businesses. -- good mning four houses in rentals are commercially owned and we would like to see them do something about that. of course, never hear about this stuff. host: james in redding california closing out our

second hour of looking at the top issues facing the u in light of tonight's state of the union. you can watch it at 8:00 starting on c-span, the app and.org, as well. the president is expected to speak sometime after 9:00. continue calling about that top issue, (202)-748-8000 free democrats. (202)-748-8001, republicans. pendents, (202)-748-8002. text as at (202)-748-8003. galluplarly keeps track of the approval ratings of the president, particularly into tonight's state of the union. 38% approval rating in early february, and it was part of an interview that we had leading up to tonight's state of the union with the editor and chief who is talking about that survey and

what it means for the president that interview. [video clip] >> what did the poll numbers say? >> president overall approval rating. that is a decline from where he was in january and it is two points lower than his three-year average, so our latest read on president biden is not promising for his camp. in january, we did an analysis where we compared where president biden was then and were all previous president in modern history were at that same moment, and when we did that analysis, when he was four points higher than now, he was behind every single president going all the way back to president eisenhower at 41% at the time, the only person close to him was president obama but president obama made a pretty notable turn in his approval rating in that last year, in the last three of his first term to end it with

a 52% approval rating pre-election. so president biden right now is behind, not just approval but in people's overall satisfaction with how things are going the country, and the question asking are you better off three years ago than today? just to give you a point ofn 2020 621% of americans said they were better off three years ago than at the time, and today, that six to 48% -- that 61% is down to 48%. and there are a lot of reasons to not necessarily see that this year in the selection. [end video clip] host: go to the website if you would like to fool interview. let's hear on the independent line from ship -- see that full intview.

let's hear on the independent line from chicago. caller: thank you. i love the show. i am a computer programming teacher, and i have helped many voters get their first job and build very successful careers. i see learners over and over and public services in general and the u.s. get worse and worse and they have been getting worse and worse since reagan and thatcher. yet, data shows we can get good public services. this has been shown, but in the british parliamwi data from the vanguard method where workers are involved in the decision-makingr intelligence, and they made their first public housing repair for 60,000 properties and saved one million pounds a year, why can't we get our public service together? and people say it is good data, but they don't take it up. and we need to really improve

our public services using expertise that we order to actually have an economy that works for everyone. host: a viewer from chicago. let's ar on the democrat line in georgia. caller: two issues. i would like to address the economy, where it was when he took office and where it is now and the border situation, where he is and what are the impediments from stopping it from getting better, and the last issue is the moral majority in this country. there is a moral majority pehat transcends democrat republicans titles that if he would talk to that moral majority, people would have a sense of what is morally right and i think they would see that he is a man of character. host: can i ask about the third part? you say he needs to talk to

them what are the issues he needs to talk about to the majority as you described? caller: about the constitution and declaration of independence, and how that applies to all even reminding us that the statue of liberty in new york harbor is what this country centered itself around. and the other thing when we talk about immigration is there are employers hiring people who should not be in the country and if they found anant amount of money, also, but the statue of liberty was there to say, on in -- say come on in, but do it in a way that makes it crystal clear. host: rick in florida republican line. caller: good morning. just would like to put my opinion inonight state of

the union. i would say that i think the talk is cheap, and we have had enough talk from the president. we need action. he knows he can fix this border. he chooses not to. it has been years, and he chooses to have an open border, and it is america first, and i think we all need to sit back and ask ourselves, are we better now than we were in the last 30 years? democrat callers saying the same thing i feel no, we are not. and it is an easy fix but he chooses not to. here's the last thing i will end this with, how can you fix something when you don't know something? and he does not even talk to the border people there. he has not talked to the chief border p agent in the two years he has been in office, and

you cannot fix nothing if you don't know nothing. host: that was rick in orange city, florida, giving his top issue into tonight, immigration and border issues. his topic, a new one around the u.s. capitol in light of tonight's event at the u.s. capitol, and roll call reporting that they will surround the capital mr. president delivers tonight's address, and the capitol police will improve the installation of the up from last year state of the union speech, and the highest security status the federal government can assign to an event determined by the potential threat profile people would expect to see heavy law enforcement and he noticed there would be technology, plain clothed officers and support teams. we should do that photo of the fence erected around the u.s.

capitol for tonight's state of the union. that is is going on outside, and our c-span cameras taking you inside. you can watch it at 8:00 with tch the speech and you will get a chance to respond to it throughout the course of the program. a manual on the united states in washington, d.c. -- emmanuel on the united states and washington orning. caller: i would like the president to speak more of the human fight [indiscernible] and if you would allow the supreme court to step in, and women's rights is very essential for him to talk about. host: as far as exactly what the

president should do on that, what are you looking for? caller: i am looking for peace and america needs to allow people to said, if the supreme court continues to avoid women it will continue to be a threat, so i would also talk about immigration. immigration is a simple thing. you survive by the laws. americ known for immigrants. and people think it is a joke. it is not a joke.

and they are not here [indiscernible] republicans are saying the immigrants are here for other reasons, no, it is for better life. host: that is a manual in washington d.c. caller: i would like president biden to ask the question, who hires mexican/immigrants? who hires mexicans and who gets blamed for that? i would also like the president to address how come the mainstream media to include c-span is vilified as per democrat/socialist when really the mainstream media just reports on civilization as opposed to giving their on cowboy movie logic? host: for the first part of your question, how would you answer

the question as a disposed? caller: who hires the mexicans/immigrants? host: yes. caller: mexican/immigrants but who gets blamed, and the word is blamed who gets blamed for that? host: how would you answer that? caller: obviously, the democrats are being blamed and vilified for republican businessmen like donald trump i believe was caulked with an illegal immigrant at his mar-a-lago :0property. yet, democrats are blamed for it. you know so i would hope that he would ask who hires mexican/immigrants? host: it is in the realm of possibility that democrat business owners would hire those they should not either? caller: as i said earlier everybody is hiring them, democrats and republicans, and i ght that donald trump is

hiring illegal immigrants, but who gets blamed for it? who gets blamed for it? host: ok, let's hear from andy in arizona, republican line. hello. caller: hello, good morning. couple of comments and then a quick question. my biggest concern, i have called the show the last two years and every time i got through, my concern was the border especially in a border state, and you would even have guests on and one of my questions to her is how much additional c i? i we just blew it off, like it is on a problem -- like it is not a problem. hr two was sitting on chuck

schumer's test for almost a year and he did not even look at it. and how come nobody talks to hrt that was sent to schumer year ago? you mentioned one of the talking points that chuck schumer might -- that joe biden might have is student loan forgiveness. i have a problem with that because those are my dollars paying off their loan. what about mine? ut not me? those are my tax dollars, not joe biden's. lastly, i have a question, i have a male deer show many times. typically i get a reply. i haveot reply from washington journal when i send an email, so i don't even know if they have received them. do you know if i should h a i don't know, what was the nature of your email? caller: just regarding the show topic. host:: one of them was -- and

you probably will not like this, but one day i was actually keeping track ofs and i do not want to see the host but it was like 17 calls republican caller was taken, and i was like, wow, you know? like it was independent democrat, democrat independent democrat democrat, and then when republican finally came on it sounded like a democrat. how come i am not getting replies? anyway, i appreciate your time and show, and allowing us all to have our voices heard. host: andy in arizona, on the front page of "the washington times," and on other front pages, a picture of nikki haley announcing yesterday that she was suspending her presidential campaign to a crowd of reporters and supporters. it was during the course of her final comments as a candidate

talking about the future of the campaign and particularly comments to president donald trump read here is a portion from yesterday. >> i am filled with gratitude with everyone from across our great country, but the time has come to suspend my campaign. i said i wanted americans to have my voice is heard. i have done that. i have no regrets. although i will no longer be a candidat ist voice for the things i believe in. our national debt will eventually crush our economy smaller federal government is not only necessary for our freedom, it is necessary for our survival. the road to socialism is the road to ruin for america. our congress is dysfunctional and only getting worse.

it worse. it is filled with followers, not leaders. term limits on washington politicians are needed now more than ever. our world is on fire because of america's retreat. standing by our allies in ukraine, israel and taiwan is a moral imperative but it is also more than that. if we retreat further, there will be more war, not less. while we stand because food -- strong for the cause of freedomr as americans and turn away from the darkness of hatred and division. i will continue to promote all of those values as is the right of every american. i sought the honor of being your president, but in our great country,e citizen is privileged enough in itself, and that is a privilege i very much look forward to enjoying. in all likelihood, donald trump will be the republican nominee when our party convention meets in july. i congratulate him and wish him

well. i wish anyone well who would be america's president. our country is too precious to let our differences divide us. i have always been a conservative republican and have always supported the republican nominee, but on this question, as she did on so many others margaret thatcher provided good advice when she said, "never just follow the crowd, always make up your own mind and it is now up to donald trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him, and i hope he does that. at itsest, politics is about bringing people into your cause not turning them away, and are conservative because badly needs more people. this is now his time for choosing. host: again, that fool comment from nikki haley you can see on the website and app.

let's hear from joe in michigan independent line, on the top issues facing the u.s. thank you for taking my call. you know, i wish i could hug you from here in michigan have the technology to do that. and that is what i think is the top issue. i think we need universal health care. i think we need money diverted from the military or talth care so i can hug people no matter where i am, and i can even hug the astronauts up at the space station, you know? we need universal health care because there are so many divorced dads out there who need health. host: let's hear from rod in kansas, republican line. caller:my call. i would like to say that i think they should call it state of the

onion. i am notg to be horrible here, but the man cannot string a sentence together, and i am sure he will prove me right tonight, and the top issue -- you still there? host: go ahead. caller: the top issue is that migration. i immigration, but they have got to do it legally. if it is called legal immigration and then they get arrested. host: nancy is in ohio, democrat line. hello. hi, pedro. i have watched c-span for years and they do a great job, butwhen you cut off that 97-year-old veteran world war ii korean veteran, he was saying his top issue on the state of the union with the president t was trying to get out his point his

point was doing something about the border, and you cut him off. host: he got his point across, and i thought he was done. that is like i moved onto the next call. caller: i think it was obvious he was not done but thank you for taking my call. host: do you have a top issue as well? caller: my top issue was his top issue, which was the border, president biden, who i hope does a great job tonight with the stroke of a tune, he could handle this border, and like he was saying, we could handle the immigrants, the illegal immigrants that have come through and get up in the courts, get that fixed, and they we could open it back up. we don't believe we should keep the border closed forever, and we should continue to let legal immigrants come in the right

way. we are a country of immigrants so that is my top issue. host: carolina is next, washington d.c., republican yes, good morning. my top issue is our democracy and national security threat. biden and trump both our national security threats and they want us to go out and vote to save the democracy. we have agencies to deal with that if it is a national security threat, and i think they a threats, and they are both off of their games. i don't know what he is going to talk about tonight. homelessness immigration, these people have no humanity, ok? and he and trump do not have it, so this country right now is in a hot mess, and in nikki haley i am sobecause she would not have been a good president. thank you.

host: debbie, missouri, democrat line. caller: good morning. i just would like to say that the american people need to wake up to the coup that trump and th republicans are trying to take over our country. they are not getting anything done in congress. joennot hear you? host: debbie, you will have to stop listening to the television. caller: i have my tv muted. if the republicans had not taken off immigrants and spread them all over the united states, we could have processed, indent a better job making sure they had what they needed to go to work for they were whisked away. wake up, america the tune continues. host: joanne in new york state republican line. go ahead. caller: hi, pedro. can you hear me? host: yes. caller:l, i would say that the border and the economy is

the most important. guest: when it comes to that -- host: when it comes to the border, why is that? caller: i live in new york, and new yorky bad right now, and the crime is spreading all over, and they are moving them around in ghostbusters in the middle of the night all over new york st but i also feel there are a lot of people who needed housing in new immigrants are coming before them. also, college tuition. i worked my whole life, i paid for my own school, my kids paid for their own school, and all thesepl like everything for free. it should not be allowed. host: ok, joanne, and where is the new poles in new york state? it is one hour and 40 minutes north of new york city. host: ok, thank you for calling in. by the way it is reported by

spectrum news 13 the governor of new york catherine hogle will attend tonight state of the union address, a guest of a democratic senator who represents the 13th new yordistrict. "federally funded transit projects lowering costs for families in new york, and addressing immigration and border security after the bipartisan compromise was killed," catherine hogle said in a statement, "that is what i am honored to join my friend in the capitol as guests for the state of the union prayed we are proud o between new york and the biden administration and look forward to continued partnerships." so you can look for her in the crowd, some invited by the president, leaders in congress and all of those will be seen tonight at the capitol

starting at 8:00. our coverage, and 9:00 is the speech, and after the speech, your chance to comment, too. tino in florida, independent. caller: praise be free c-span letting ordinary citizens have their say so. this nation needs toare so many angry people who support trump he says he would like immunity to commit criminal acts, and we are supposed to elect people to law, and why so many people still support this man we need to have psychologists and psychiatrists minds of these people that are so fearful, and as james says, trump tells lies but the problem is so many people believe him. host: as far as your top issue for tonight leading up to the state of the union, what would at be? why are there so many angry and fearful people supporting this man who would like to be a criminal? address that, joe biden address why there are so many

still after all the things this man has done. they need to understand the minds of these people. host: that was the caller referencing the former president running an endorsement yesterday from mitch mcconnell area here is a portion of what happened yesterday. [video clip] >> how do you reconcile your endorsement of the fact you called in him tactically and immorally responsible for january 6 and the fact that he insulted you and your wife repeatedly. >> january 6, 2021 shortly capiol -- capitol, i was asked a similar question, and i said i would support the nominee for if he were the former president. >> in april of last year, you indicated and did not really correctly answer the question as to whether or not you were comfortable with mr. trump and

he was in the middle of ment and he was the nominee, and that means you are comfortable with him. >> i said in february ofe capital that i would support president trump if he was the nominee of our party, and he is [end video clip] host: that took place on capitol hill yesterday, and the caller also mentioned the court setting a date for oral arguments on that claim and the dates before the supreme court will be april 25. let's hear from susan in texas, independent line. caller: thank you for taking my calls. i have been a lifelong texas democrat up until now. i am now an independent because my number one and type two issues for me, of course, is the border crisis. why it took there why they could not

set up a situation where they have to set up camps or whatever on the other side of the border while they process the people instead of letting them come in and then abbott to shipping them all over there country. but the buck stops at joe biden he should have taken care of this before. i am an immigrant, i came in legally, and i love this country and would like more people to number two, the israel-palestinian issue. number one he flew down there and hugged benjamin netanyahu showing the whole world that the u.s. has taken sides veto every single call for a cease-fire up until recently 0,host: ok, susan in texas, giving

us her thoughts on top issues. you can do the same for the remaining time we have left until the house comes in, (202)-748-8000, democrats. (202)-748-8001, independents, (202)-748-8002. we have been joined throughout the morning with members of congress joining us now on capitol hill, the percent of brad sherman, a member of the foreign affairs committee and ranking member on capital markets, representative, thank you for giving us your time. as first tonight, i don't know if you heard the last caller but when it comes to issues of israel, what do you expect the president to say? guest: i expect him to say that we need to stop the fighting. and the egyptians, he has got everybody together, including israel, to accept the idea of a six-week cease-fire together with everybody, and

only hamas refuses to do that, and i think that he will remind us of that but president to wave a wand and create peace in the middle east. host: i don't know if you heard the caller, but he referenced the president's actions of taking sides. what do you think about that sentiment? is it a concern for the president, especially if he is reelected? guest: the american people have taken sides, 80% are with israel, 20% with hamas. it i not to look at the death and destruction brought by hamas. they initiated this on october 7, i get to have one guest in the gallery as i watched the state of the union, and it will go to a woman, whose daughter was taken hostage on october 7, thank god, released in the first hostage release. i think the entire country would like to see peace in gaza, but

to get permanent peace, you have got to there. after all, hamas is saying if they get a cease-fire, it is to regroup so they can do october 7, the second, third, fourth and fifth time. host: as far as comments you expect from the president tonight on ukraine, what would you like him to say? guest: the ukrainians need our help today, and we need to pass a senate bill today to deal with humanitarian problems but also in our media, ethiopia and we need to provide aid to the nd israel and to taiwan. there are problems in the world that they are being held on for political reasons. host: as far as the likelihood of the light of day in the house, what would you rate that as? guest: i think if you have a jbill that would pass overwhelmingly, if we had a vote on it, at some point, we will get a vote on it, and i suspect

that that will not be until april. that is well past when the ukrainians made the aid. i think they already have battlefield losses and it is a bill that should have been passed if no action is done on either of those fronts, what is left for the administration to do and are you comfortable with the prime minister should steps on its own? guest: there are certain steps the administration can take. it may be able to transfer certain weapons to ukraine or israel, but without the money to replace those that is not good for necessarily our national security. what we need to do is pass that bill and we need to put pressure on speaker johnson to put the bill on the floor. and within two thirds of the

house would vote for it, and the vast majority of the american people will support it. host: to bills being passed, how would you vote yesterday on the package of the appropriation bills that was ultimately passed by the house? guest: i think virtually every democrat voted yes roughly half republicans voted yes. we need to keep our government open. we are a laughingstock in the world the way we have come up to the edge of shutting down the government or last year came up to the edge to dishonoring our debt. we have to compete for capital in a world economic system and washington is not a good advertisement forty of the united states. host: as far as future appropriation bill being passed on time without a partial shutdown, what is your level of et in that? guest: a 60% to 70% likelihood that we can pass the rest of the bills by march 22. the first one we passed the easy six, and i we have to deal with the harder six. i think we do it, maybe there is

further delay beyond that, but this is not a way to run a government. speaker johnson has got to find when a bill has overwhelming support, he has got to let us vote on them. host: and the harder six, why is it harder? guest: because we deliberately delayed some of the more controversialills to the second package. and there are a number of contentious issues, chiefly over the spending levels, and republicans have not given up on some of their antichoice riders hey like to stick on the bills. host: because you are a member of the financial services subcommittee on capital market jerome powells to try to get inflation down to 2% and expressed concerns over the outlook of the economy. in order to do that, ultimately, do you think we will get to a point where we are at 2%?

guest: we are at 2.4% since last close to 2%. i think it is now time to start cutting interest rates, which are not captured in that 4% figure. the cost of a home mortgage is not included when they calculate the cost of living, but, of course, it is part of the cost of living. host: as far as the economy is concerned, that is expected to be talked about by the president tonight. what would you like him to say as far as the economic outlook andir in this last year and this potential second term? guest: the president cannot just finish the job, he has to lay out an agenda beyond what he proposed 3.5 years ago, and i hope it includes regulating, not justegotiating, the price of a few drugs but all drugs. we are paying triple what much

of the world is paying for pharmaceuticals, and we are passed legislation so they get a fair price that reflects the risk when they do the research, but they cannot just price the drug at $1 million a year or $100,000 a year. no other country allows that, it is time to regulate prices, and i think that will be the biggest and he can do at the federal level to bring down inflation. host:host: one more from your financialthe fcc yesterday approved a ruling that would require some companies to report greenhouse gases. what do you think of the rule and what do you think the reaction will be amongst large companies? guest: i think the companies will comply and money will like the fact that there is a standardized and accepted way to define their greenhouse gas effect. but this is long overdue. i am an old cpa. the goal is to report to shareholders and respective

shareholders the material to their investment decision, and for an awful lot of investors the greenhouse gas company is material, and what this will do is cause american companies to compete for capital by reducing their greenhouse gas effect. this is going to help us in our climate goals. host: representative brad sherman, member of the foreign affairs committee, thank you for your time on the state of the you. host: we have about 20 minutes until the house comes in. we will take your calls, and we hear from one more member of congress. (202)-748-8000, democrats. republicans, (202)-748-8001. (202)-748-8002 independents. john is next in virginia, democrat line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i just cannot i donald's second term. what worries me today is he is going trump and biden is going to get, according to

national security, and that is so scary right now because this man was lots of people money and he would do anything, and read the bill. the bill that they refused to sign. it is people who do not do fact-checks and say that immigrants moving out of new york from place to place there is no evidence. we have to talk about the facts. brainwashed and lie to every day. they get information that does not exist, and it is said, like the pourevi, that these people are claiming to be americans when they know putin is happy today and smiling because he knows that he will get to america. host: let's hear from duane on the republican line in indiana, top issue for you. caller: my issue is that two

parts, with all the immigrants borders a and everything like that, the money they are spending, that they are giving t immigrants there is just so many freebies to them and everything like that if joe biden would have left that border close like trump, he could have avoided -- he could have avoided -- afforded to pay off our debts or 50% of the debts of the students , and he did not. he spent of dollars on immigrants giving them freebies and everything like that and we don't have the money to do both. host: erin in maryland, independent line.

caller: thank you for taking my i think we are witnessing a van diagram of the invasion of the body snatchers, the stepford wives, and stockholm syndrome. if you look at -- doesn't mitch mcconnell look like he was hatched out of a pod when he freezes uo)p? doesn't he look like a stepford wife? host: so your top issue into tonight state of the union, what would that be? caller: i am just making a comment. host: do you have a top issue? caller:caller: this is my issue. of the stockholm syndrome. donald trump talked about him and his wife, and now he is like, that is mythat is it. thank you for taking my call. host: brian in ohio, republican line.

caller: good morning, next up. i have got a question for you, a lot of people come in and i hear them blasting out, so, good mornbut what is the most important process in this country is the immigration process, ist process? is it the process that all the clouds of government dance with each other around and about? no. the most important process in this country and the elephant in the room is the electoral process. we would not be here today if in fact, you know, crime had not been redefined and the laws had not been reset and our elections, so when youha unduly without legislative approval and end up with joe biden in office, that is what happens. the most important process and state of the union and the most important topic better be elections. we have millions ofegal immigrants coming into the country that will vote in every sanctuary state and city. guess what?

they will vote by electric bill. that is the 2020 election, so if you do not like joe biden or if you like the government and state of the union and the way the processes are handled, keep in mind the important process in this country is the electoral process, and we would not be here today if the rules, laws and crime not been redefined by the democrats the last election. host: ryan there, one of our calls of money during at the top issue. we will continue for the next 15 minutes or so. we are joined by our final bre, republican of oklahoma, a member of the budget and homeland security committee. i hope i said your last name right. guest: you did, however you pulled that. as first tonight state of the union, what are your expectations going in? guest: i would love to tell you that i have expectations.

i am prepared to endure it because i don't see anyone who is admitting -- your callers have been talking about the border, i don't see him admitting that he will reverse the 50 plus executive orders he has brought forth to cause the problem of an invasion, not just a national security threat, but a daughter who is going to the local park to jog with what we know happened in louisiana virginia, and a gentleman from honduras who raped a 14-year-old girl, and this gentleman that we this administration in 2022 paroled this individual into the country, whereas the immigration d ty and her role is to be done on a case-by-case basis and they have turned it into a $30,000 per month palm that allows people from ennis whaler and nicaragua cuba, and this gentleman comes

across, and he issshe inflicts, you know, a horrendous crime upon someone in our country. it is going totonight for those who seek what this president is doing, not just there but within the economy, inflation, the average family of four spending thousands more than three years ago. host: as far as the freedom caucus, are you a member? guest: correct. host: will there be a formal response to tonight's speech? guest: i am not aware there will be a formal response, but if you see the cameras expanding the republican conference, you will see a lot of response. there will be a lot of people in shock at how someone in the largest position in our land does not understand. host: the house speakers call for decorum amongst republicans

for tonight, how much do you think that you and your colleagues are going to adhere to that? guest: i will be civil.e9 civility does not mean that i may not have to struggle to make sure my face is not rolling its eyes. i will do my best to try and not do that, to try and honor the position not the decisions but the position. butit is just going to be an endurance test. just so disappointed in where we are at with this leadership. host: an appropriations bill passed yesterday, how did you sign off on it? guest: i did not. i did not like the fra 1% triggered division. it was the better choice and that was in the fra, and extending to september 30, it brought aillion, and i felt like that was the better solution and

something that democrats and republicans signed onto, and i stand by that. i have great angst. i worked for a u.s. senator 20 years ago, known as one of the most prominent voices, talking about the corruption of earmarks and how it leads t that in the earmark process, there were 14,000 and the gop embraceda moratorium. i am disappointed in my republican colleagues in embracing the earmark process once again and to have 6000 earmarks in this 600 page bill worth $12 billion, that told billion in earmarks can go a long ways in physical barriers along the southern border. keep in mind, donald trump at 0 us mile of rehab and building physical barriers that texas proves does work, that was 15 billion and told billion in

air max and half of the appropriations bill, keep in mind, too, this is the first time that i am aware of in our nations history where manng, i do care and medicaid, social security interest on our debts, that is the bulk of the mandatory items and the interest of our debt, that consumed all of our revenue last year, so by the time we get to the appropriation bill that is mandatory, that means it is mandated as soon as it occurs, and then you get the discretionary spending, and this is the first year where 100% of our 12 appropriation bills were borrowed money's, we borrowed 4.4 trillion and paid off interest on our debt, and there was no money left over for the extra 1.7 trillion going to discretionarynding because this next year, just our interest payments are going to match what we spend almos we are going to spend, no

principal, just interest on past year's reckless spending, and what a missed opportunity. the level of our indebtedness is the level of our limited opportunity to spend those levels -- moneys otherwise. host: are you and your fellow freedom caucus members messaging speaker johnson and if the appropriations bills passed, what does it mean for the future? guest: that will be an internal conversation. i can just say that i am somebody conference to adhere to the principles of our platform of fiscal discipline, and i am really concerned that we are majorly missing the mark and i think speaker johnson is a conservative, and my hope is that in the months ahead, as we get into 2025, you will see him unash the chair of the budget committee, and my hope is that

speaker johnson is going to lean on the appropriators as we set the top line numbers and what we plan on doing in the years ahea if the appropriators would say, we are in, we understand what will happen whencare. we understand that we are going to get serious about real change, not wordsmithing change. host:oklahoma, a member of the budget and homeland security, two are for your time. guest: appreciate it. host: a few more minutes of your calls before the house comes in. this is from margaret and washington d.c., democrat line. you either waiting -- thank you for waiting. caller: thank you. i understand that i have a number of issues that i think i really top of my mind preserving social security, and for the united states to develop

some level of immigrationaside from the whole asylum issue, with regard to the further viewing address, i understand that there is a congressional delegation that has invited us andof israeli hostage families and president biden will acknowledge them but what i hope he also does is i hope he will say in no uncertain terms that the united states will stop participating and supporting israel and perpetrating what can only be called the holocaust against the palestinian people. and that the united states will no longer send military aid or other funds to israel. i also hope he will not try to play up this farce of air dropping meals as some sort of

thing that he should get some praise for. because it really is just hypocritical, it is cynical. what is the purpose of it? in the absence of a cease fire? is next in new york, go ahead. republican line. caller: my number one issue would be the inflation and i would go back to the gasoline prices from the first day that the executive order was put in 5< i went to the government website and looked up executive orders and you can read that president biden put in an executive order to put a pause on drilling in a of domestic private land oil. ever since then, as people would know anybody who goes

grocery store or goes to a restaurant or can see it, what happened was the price of the tripled so that the gasoline trucks that had to bring food to the stores had to raise their prices because their prices went up threefold so i do not think he can say that the state of the economy is good and i think it needs to go and order and take the paws off. host: let's hear from scout in new jersey independent line. hi, i apologize. i should've dialed in as a democrat. host: i am sorry, i will have to pause you there, and thank you for being forthright, but if you can get in the next couple of minutes, i hope you can. i apologize. it's hear from joe in massachusetts, republican line. caller: i am calling about

election integrity. ever since the loss changed from covid, people don't believe in our elections anymore. the doj is talking about the elections, and that is not h that. it is not the doj. that is why people don't trust our anyone who gives donald trump money, $6 billion to build a wall, and that is too much money, and now we are spending triple that amount on the illegals in this country, so that is all i have got to say? host: minnesota, beverly, democrat line. caller: yes, i live in minnesota, and i was not allowed to vote.

they said that 90. they said that i could not have a valid because of who i am, and i am just disgusted with in oka minnesota. host: ok. elvira in alabama, independent line -- in birmingham. caller:ave been listening to c-span and "washington journal" for some time, and whath is the problem with the state of the union and should be addressed is the number of socialist policies that have ined the education system, they have undermined the american family, they have american values as far as addressing the conflicts in tiddle east. these conflicts go back prior to

world war i and they were exasperated during that time. and just as a comment, there is a cease fire in place. it has been in place for a number of years. hezbollah and hamas and even the houthis to some extent -- don't you cut me off! they are the ones who have broken the cease fire. host: we have less than one minutemocrat line. caller: yes, how are you today? my top issues are, democrat and i would like to see the president talk about social security. the democrats at the majority of both houses, and the president did nothing. this is a working person's program, and i keep hearing that

we don't have enough money to fund it.that is unacceptable. so many times we have programs for college loans, funding programs for migrants, but what about working people? the men and women who get up every day, do their work, their job and pay their taxes? i don't hear this from the democrats, and it is disorienting and being a hearing the president, and this is a huge thing in the future for working men and women, and this is what my plan is.