with great internet. wow. >> wow supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. coming up on "washington journal," we will take your calls and comments, then jacob rubashkin with the inside elections newsletter discusses key house and senate races to watch that will determine control of congress. marine veteran and cofounder and ceo of with honor action, rye barcott come on his group's mission to increase the number of veterans in elected office. "washington journal" is next. ♪ host: good morning, wednesday, august 28. back-to-school season across the country, but today we are asking for your views on education in america. former president trump has said

he will cause the department of education and send that function to the state. do you agree? some districts are banning cell phone use? do you think about the use of technology in the classroom? do you prefer public, private, charter, or home-based schools? what do you think of k-12 education? give us a call. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. we have a line for teachers and administrators. that number is (202) 748-8003. you can also use that same line to text us. if you do, send your first name, city, and state. and we are on social media, x at @cspanwj or facebook at facebook.com/cspan. welcome to "washington journal." we are glad you are with a spear two news items to share before

we get to our topics -- we're glad you are with us. trump faces new indictment and capitol rate case. special counsel jack smith filed a revised indictment tuesday that accuses donald trump of trying to undo his 2020 election loss, sing the case remains largely intact even after the supreme court's july ruling that former presidents have immunity for acts while in office. trump faces the same four federal offenses he was originally charged with related to a series of events that culminated in the january 6, 2021, attack on the capitol. but smith says the government refashioned the case to conform to the supreme court's holding that presidents cannot be prosecuted for core constitutional powers. the other it is that cnn, this

says cnn lends kamala harris-tim walz interview, their first since becoming the new democratic ticket. that will happen tomorrow in primetime on cnn. it will be conducted by dana bash. now to our topic, education, k-12 education in america. abc7.com, differences in educational policy between harrison trump, one item is the department of education. trump's agenda 47 campaign has proposed eliminating the u.s. department of education. in a campaign video, he said he wants states, not the federal government, to have control over schools. throughout trump's presidency he proposed billions of cuts to the department of education's budget. harris' campaign has criticized

trump for threatening to dismantle the department while expressing support for federal funding and policy initiatives from the agency. let's look at what former president trump said in an interview earlier this month with elon musk when he talked about the department of education. [video clip] fmr. pres. trump: we are ranked at the bottom of every list of the top 40, ranked number 40, number 38. norway, switzerland, sweden, different countries are ranked -- actually, china is pretty close to the top, top six or seven, but we are ranked almost at the bottom, 38, 39, 40, horrible. yet, we spend more per pupil than every country in the world. one of the first acts i am going to do, and this is where i needed elon musk, someone with a lot of strength and courage, i want to close the department of education, move education back to the states, where states like

iowa, like idaho -- you know, not every state will do great. states that are not doing good now, looking at gavin newscum, governor of california, he does a terrible job, so he will not do good with education. but i would think 35 would do great. 15 of them or 20 of them will be as good as norway. host: and we are talking about your grade for k-12 education in america. here is what the department of education does, according t the website, establishes policies for federal aid for education and sends and monitors use of those funds, collects data on america's schools, publishes sech, and prohibits discrimination and injures equal access to education. there budget request for this coming fiscal year, 2025,

starting october 1, is $82.4 billion. that request reflects a $3.1 billion increase from the last fiscal year, and they currently employ about 4400 employees. we will go to the phones. yvonne in washington, d.c., republican. good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to start by saying that i am a public school teacher. since school year 1998, 1999, so over 20 years experience. i have worked in many states, majority charter schools, and i can say there is a big difference between charter and non-charter public schools. however, education is a national mandate and responsibility for public makers and those in charge of implementing federal

laws to actually adhere to. i want to say that the state of education is impacted by the divide and conquer mentality. i am in washington, d.c., and i would bring people to a 50 no matter what a child knows or does not know. i do not understand the scenarios, but i know that without it being a federal mandate, that those laws being removed will negatively impact districts even more. there is not a simple answer, but i know dismantling the department of education will do more harm than good. host: and what grades have you taught? what are you teaching now? caller: i like to say i have taught k-12 because a majority of my years were special education.

and we are able in one year to serve several grade levels. currently, i am in middle school, sixth through eighth grade. i have served every grade level to date. host: about special education, do you think the educational system is doing enough for kids with those special needs in education? caller: honestly, it is not. even if we pull together the best iep team or multiple disciplinary team, to address one students needs, because all the way down to the school implementing it, the teacher understanding the iep, the services being delivered, it being documented. i do not see the annual growth that we protect every year despite the services we put in place. because every number matters, from the parent to the child and everyone in between.

there is something broken, but it is not the federal level of implementation and guarantee of the services. host: thanks for sharing that with us. here is another teacher in buffalo, new york, kyle. good morning. caller: good morning, and give me just a few because there is so much to cover. the d.c. calle is part of that southern chain of n that, for some reason, seems to be behind in the northern states, connecticut, massachusetts, rhode island, they always seem to do better when it comes to education. the do much better. southern students come up north, ey are way behind. this is myyear teaching. the problem is all 50 states have their own policies. talking about federal laws, i do not know what she is talking about because the states have

different laws in the way they educate their students versus other states. we have a regents exam that students have to pass in order to graduate, to get a diploma. moreover the last five to 10 years, they have given other students options to have some type of diploma. but at one point, you have a school district that graduates 95% of their students, and they spend about $15,000 per kid. and you have another district that is in the local level -- lower level of poverty, they spent $23,000 and graduate 50% of students. and then charter schools, they can be successful but should not be funded, not through public dollars. they take away from public school dollars, and a lot of people do not realize that -- host: how would they be funded? if it is private, then it would be a private school. caller: they are corporations

that run these charter schools. what happens is, around march, april, they weed out the problematic kids and send them back to public school, and they have the funding for the students and it helps the testing show different results. i have seen kids come in around march, april, from so-and-so charter school, and i make a joke that you did not pass the bar for the exam. i do not actually say that to the student, but we talk about it as educators, and we know what happens. a lot of these kids are cut off, and the ones who cannot pass the exams for the charter schools, the come back to the public school, and the public school takes the hit. in our area, public-school education dollars that is meant for the public schools are being supplemented to go to these charter schools. like the lady said before, it is not one situation, but the

federal department of education is not necessary because there is no mandate for all 50. you know, if you had -- host: but should there be, kyle? should there be one standard for the whole country? caller: no, because you have so many different issues in different areas. you have your rural districts versus your aurburn -- urban. you have your more suburban districts with your middle-class workers, typically a little more educated, and they will have the resources. in our area, usually in the north, it is all about tax dollars. the better school districts are the ones where you can afford to pay the school tax. and the lower school districts are the ones where the taxes are not really -- there's more lower poverty, lower this, lower that. host: i have to move on to other

calls. we have this from gypsy rose on facebook, both my kids had a great public school education, both went to college, both have good careers, caot complain pure cheese in maryland. this is nicholas on facebook, he sa, d, schools should be less concerned with test sres and more concerned with developing the child's education in a way the child can learn. we need way more funding for schools, way more, and religion has zero place and public schools. we are taking your calls, getting your grade on k-12 education in america. the numbers are on your screen. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. if you are a teacher, administrator in a school, your homeschooling your kids, we would love to hear from you. it is (202) 748-8003. doug is in florida, democrat.

caller: hello, i guess you said doug. i did not get the name. but i am glad you took my call. i have a question for you, please, if you would answer it, then i will answer yours. ok? host: go ahead. caller: y'all talk for three weeks about biden's age, and i know it was a big deal. but i wonder, how long will you cover donald trump's illegality on his life -- host: it is not our topic, but you can definitely talk about it on open forum later in the program. caller: -- about their kids education and make sure they did their homework and stuff. i had a kid that got scored on the mcat with other students and went to a public school down here in florida, no problem.

i just made sure he did his school work. that is all i got to say. host: and we have another doug, this time in fairfax, virginia, republican line. caller: good morning. how we doing? host: good. how is it going? caller: good, good. i am not saying the department of education needs to be shut down, but i do believe -- i teach at a christian school here in fairfax, and public school tends to do great things on test scores, etc., etc., so they get funding. that is where i am from in north carolina and i do not know how it works in fairfax. christian school has a lot of ap courses, and 90% of our kids score a four or five on the ap test. and then our s.a.t./a.c.t.

scores, 1500, so well above average on test scores. the way they score and the way they do things, with tenured teachers and stuff like that, it is just not the route to go. not saying it needs to be shut down, but the department of education should be more of a guidance maybe. but i do not believe the public school is doing justice to our children in the country, where i think charter and private schools are doing a lot better at that. host: in your school, what kind of technology do they use in the classroom? caller: we use ipads for our juniors and seniors. we have computers that our kids use, a lot of ipads for their books and stuff. then we have cahoot, not sure if

you have heard of that, and memory game. it is a great program. i am a pe teacher and use different technology to grade the kids on their ability to do pull-ups, sit ups, stuff like that. we have a robotics class, a coding class, do a lot of that stuff. coding is the future for a lot of kids. host: can you give me idea of the tuition per year for a student? caller: elementary, k-6 grade, around $5,000, $6,000. high school's seventh-grade on through 12 grade, around $8,000, $9,000. host: thanks, doug. he did mention teacher tenure, and this is from that same article from abc7.com, since trump's agenda 47 says he plans to put an end to teacher tenure

laws. he describes the united federation of teachers and state laws that prevents a school district from dismissing a tenured teacher without due process. most states have tenure laws in states, but most are limited. in a campaign video, trump states he wants to abolish these policies to remove bad teachers. trump also plans to create a credentialing but it to certify teachers to embrace patriotic values and support the american way of life and encourage schools to allow trained teachers to carry concealed weapons at school. the biden-harris administration has touted the tens of billions of dollars it has invested in staffing to the american rescue plan which fills gaps in employment stemming from the covid-19 pandemic. the administration's american rescue plan and the safer community act funded the hiring and training of more counselors, social workers, and other staff

in schools nationwide amid what has been called a mental health crisis. let's take a look at nike pringle -- at becky pringle, head of an association and was recently on this program talking about her support for the harris-walz ticket. [video clip] >> the nea has a member and every single congressional district in this country. we know what is at stake. a lot of people are saying we have a stark choice. for us, for educators, it is not really a choice. we already know, whether you are reading the ending of the department of education, project 2025, what donald trump and maga extremists are talking about, whether you're talking about their plan to not feed our

children or to cut back on early education, they are telling us what they are going to do. so it is not really a choice. vice president harris not only -- president biden and vice president harris invested in universal meals, not only making sure that our students are not graduating with crushing debt, not only are they making sure that our students have a deep and rich curriculum that reflects the diversity of this country and where we can teach the children complete history of america, we know that they have lifted their voices to talk about how we have to pay teachers what they deserve, how we have to respect them as professionals. so we have a record, but we also know that we have that vision of what we're going to do as a country to invest in our public schools like we believe they are the foundation in this or, quite

honestly, in a democracy. host: and this is ray in washington, d.c., and teacher. caller: good morning. i think the question was, how would we grade our schools? personally, i work at a public high school, a small school, a school for students were language learners, meaning most of our students are raised in families that are not speaking english. we have much higher graduation rates than students who are english language learners, across the standard public schools. one of the reasons i think our school is successful is the teachers are supported. we're just a really organized place. i think it is really possible for public eduti to work. i know, overall, the system has a lot of problem but as most of our students are

low income and require a lot of extra services, sometimes we forget that our schools are also providing social safety nets ie or the government has failed to do largely. we have active social workers, community partnerships, involved opportunities to support our students and also theiries threeobs.ften working two and i think sometimes we forget the american school system is one of the most diverse in the world. i taught government for a long time. most of the funding comes from states and localities. in discussions on education, do not think we are being honest about the zip code issue about -- or about other things students are paying for. you think about the classroom and free and reduced meals, which is a federal program, but there are other things states and localities do that make each

area different. i do not know that the department of education really changes the gaps we see due to income equality and a lack of services in some states. host: you said you teach at a magnet school. explain how that works. it is completely funded? caller: yes, we are a public school. we do have a school-based budget based on enrollment of our magnet program. some magnet programs are housed within a larger comprehensive high school, public high school. ours is in a standalone building. but in a magnet school, students were often applied to be part of the program. it is similar to a charter school, but they still keep students in the public system. it does not necessarily take money from the public school districts. also, we still have to meet the standards and regulations of the local and state education

agencies. so we're just as regulated and have to meet the same standards, we just offer specialty services. our school's language learning, but some might be career or educational things like agriculture. host: how does a student get into that school? is it optional or a lottery? caller: it is optional. we have our counselors, social workers, and teachers visit the middle schools that feed into our area and offer admission support. other -- and offer additional support. other schools do the same. other magnets will visit either feeder schools or sometimes students, if they're interested in a certain service, the enrollment offices may refer them. for us, if the student is new to the country and they do not have

any english language skills, our school may be a better fit for them because we are able to provide those services, able to support those students which they may not get in the same way in a larger comprehensive school. host: g it. bob lynn on facebook, poor, students can't read at grade level, same with math. it has been going downhill since the inception of the department of education. pat on facebook gives it a d, it is terrible, they dno teaching left skills. jas on facebook says i am not an education expert, i stay in my lane and comment on wha i know about. my uninformed opinion is that there is a wide disparity in the grade from state to state and even within states, disparities from area to area, and it depends on where you live.

matt in maryland, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. there is a few things i want to touch on. yes, education needs more funding, for sure. it is different depending on the zip code. that is a given. too often, people are relying on school systems to educate their kids and failing in the homes. kids, yes, teachers have a responsibility to teach children in schools but also parents do. most parents want to be there kids best friends and are not educating them in different things, how to treat people, the golden rule. i have heard a couple people said that religion has no place in schools. well, on the others of that, teachers should not wear their political agendas on t-shirts. when i went to school, teachers

were wearing a suit and tie. there was a dress code. you did not know their political affiliation. let kids think for themselves. i heard the one lady in education, we already know what the other side is doing because of project 2025. yes, there is a document out there, but i do not think anybody can know what the future holds. the biggest issue with our society's parents are not being parents, and education starts in the home. my daughter is in the public school system. covid, schools were shut down. i did a program with my daughter, teacher kid to read in 100 lessons, a book that has been out there for years. she is in third grade reading high school books. host: during covid when the kids were at home, where you working at home? did you have time to spend on your daughter's education like that? caller: i did.

i was lucky enough to be working from home. i did work from home, but that always started at like 6:00 in the morning before i went to work, so it was 15 minutes. it is a program -- i do not know why more schools do not use that program. it teaches them phonetics. but yeah, if you want your kids to learn, you are going to have to take time and sit with them and teach them, whether you are talking reading, writing, math. we sit with my daughter daily and do math workbooks, english workbooks. yes, we rely on the schools for large part of the education, but it starts in the home, as well. host: this is omar in new jersey, independent. caller: good morning. i give public schools in new

jersey an f. can i ask a question? host: go ahead. caller: in the new jersey, -- in new jersey, we started the lottery for the schools. when i was in school, we had music, gym, afterschool programs. it was exciting to go to school. but now they are taking music out of the schools. they do not have any more afterschool programs. it is sad because these children are our future. i went to public schools and work to public schools, and it is very sad. if we do not -- i mean, it is sad. and we have to go back to basics and give the kids opportunities, because we are not giving them a chance right now.

everything is about running right now, and it is set. host: let's take a look at the american federation of teachers, brandy weingarten spoke at the dnc about education. here she is. [video clip] >> one of my first lessons i taught my students was about the social contract, how both individual freedom and mutual responsibility are essential in our democracy. this covenant underlies our commitment to public schools, where educators prepare students to spark innovation, steward the environment, create our arts, and shape our democracy. now one of the first lessons my students taught me was you gotta

walk the walk. that means donald trump and jd vance can claim they are pro-child while getting funding for public schools -- while gutting funding for public schools. that means that being profamily means we support access to good union jobs, affordable housing, health care, and higher education. that is what kamala harris and tim walz are fighting for, and we are all in. host: we are getting your grade for k-12 education and taking your calls this first hour of the program. maurice's next, a democrat in silver spring, maryland. caller: my wife is an elementary school educator.

it all starts at home. the person on facebook that made the comment and the other person that made the comment about more funding is needed, listen, we spend more on each pupil than anybody in the world, so it is not a funding issue, it is a matter of what they are doing at the funds. two, it starts at home specifically, and the parent is part of teaching their children. there is a reason why magnet schools, charter schools, especially private schools, and christian private schools not only excel on the grade level but they have almost 100%, 95% rate of going to college. i can guarantee you the people that are giving these schools f's and d's, etc., i guarantee that you have students excelling in those same schools, doing very well and going to college. so do not just give a school an

f or d or whatever the cases, because i can guarantee someone is excelling. host: besides the parents getting more involved, what do you think public schools need to do? what is your opinion on that? caller: the main thing is, again, when you say what public schools need to do, obviously hire better teachers and hold them accountable, but at the same time, it is difficult to solve because when you have teachers that are babysitting more than they are teaching, by the time the day is over you have only taught for 35, 40 minutes because you're dealing with issues from home. you have some schools where there are language barriers and different things like that. and then i wanted to make a comment about the interview with elon musk, people say he is

saying get rid of the department of agriculture -- he is saying turn it over to the states. what applies in alabama may not apply in massachusetts. it is about the environment. talking about the department -- host: department of education. caller: thank you for correcting me. none of them had anything to do with making the problem better, read them again. when you dissect the three things you mentioned, none of them will improve education, and it hasn't because that has been the criteria for decades. it has not changed anything. bottom line is it starts at home. host: got it. mel in new york, independent. caller: yes, i give public education a d, maybe an f. it is a monopoly. the teachers unions and the states control it.

they are not profamily. if they were profamily, the money would follow the students and the parents so that they would have control over their children's education as to where they would like to send them or keep them at home to educate. brandy weingartner again demonstrates their ignorance when she calls this country a democracy. we are a republic. however, maybe those who think publication -- public education is in the model -- is a monopoly , they have the power and the money. they do not want to be equitable. they do not families and students to be given the power to choose -- they do not want families and students to be given the power to choose. to me, our education system for more of a neo-soviet, culturally

marxist worldview. education is not unbiased. it is not neutral. and there is a strong bias in the government-run system that is not training the young to understand freedom. host: so do you think that all schools then should be private? go ahead. caller: let there be a government-run system. but give the students and parents the power to choose where they want to go by conceiving a system of vouchers so that the money begins with the parents and the students, for them to choose homeschool, private school, and if they want the government-run system, go ahead. host: ok, and this is about

school choice, which is what mel was talking about. here are the differences between the two campaigns on that. trump has backed universal school choice programs which allows a student allotment of public education funds to be transferred to nonpublic schooling options, including private and religious schools or homeschooling. trump signed the tax cuts and jobs act which allows parents to use up to $10,000 from a 529 education savings account to cover k-12 education costs at a school of their choice. the democratic 2025 platform opposes the use of private school vouchers and tuition tax credits, opportunity scholarships, and other schemes that divert taxpayer-funded resources away from public education. here is representative byron donalds at the rnc making a case

for private schools. [video clip] >> when i was in the seventh grade, my mom lost her job. we went on government assistance, and my grandma helped us pay for private school. my mom and my grandma sacrificed to ensure that i could build a successful future through a commitment of academic achievement and hard work. i am standing here today as a result of their love, good schools, and great teachers. and to the teachers of america who pour your heart and soul into your students and teach the next generation to love, honor, and serve our great country, we all say thank you. but what about those kids whose parents cannot scrape money together for private school?

don't those kids who grew up like i grew up deserve the same chance that i had? joe biden and kamala harris sent their kids to high-priced private schools. but since they are in the pocket of the far left teachers union, they trap poor kids like me in failing schools with no way out. they say they are pro-choice, but not if you want a choice over what your kids are taught. donald trump believes every parent deserves a choice and every child deserves a chance. host: we are taking your calls for the next 20 minutes on your thoughts and opinions about education in america, k-12 education. here is matt on the republican line in kenosha, wisconsin. caller: the public schools, i give them an f. 40 years of research on public schools, all federal, state, and

local documentation. we need to get rid of the school and work on opportunity programs, from 1996 and 1997, to put -- it would put us on a path toward soviet style education. 1992, there was a study for the department of education studying the soviet school work system and how they could integrate it. this is across the whole country, i have all the documentation to prove it at home, hard copies. you cannot find it online anywhere. host: all right. bill in new york city, a teacher. hi, bill. are you there? caller: yes, can you hear me now? host: yes, go ahead. caller: good morning, and thank you for letting me speak. i would give the school system, my school system developing.

we have a very good union here, a very good system even though it recently separated. they will not admit it. but we do know that we need more parents involved. that seems to be the problem. and parents cannot get involved, especially in the low income communities, unless they have resources that can make it available to them to go to the schools and participate in volunteer and do the things that other communities can do because they are substantially wealthier. i am saying to everybody, it is not about making the money, but we have to look at the whole system, saying, why isn't it doing this, why aren't more parents involved here versus here? why can't we give the same services? why are there not.org programs given to children early in life -- why are there not doc

torial programs given to children early in life? we could have doctors and lawyers. but they do not have the programs to get those children involved in helping the people, helping the community, helping the world. i am expecting to see in either political candidate policies that will address and help all these schools that are developing. thank you. host: mel in poland, ohio, democrat. caller: hi, two things -- thank you for taking my call, and good morning to you. i think there's two things that are affecting problems in education, and i agree with the previous caller who said that parents are not preparing their children enough for school, not interacting enough with their kids.

there are parents who -- those kids never learn their alphabet before they start preschool. they are sent in cold, and then they have a hard time catching up. and that makes it harder for the teachers, too, having to start from square one. it causes delays when kids are not prepared at home. that brought all of thisisioname education to tv that helped parents hdset prepared before they started school. not only did it prepare them by learning basic things, your and consonants, your letters, your numbers, but it did it in a fun and encouraging way. it also taught kids how to be

nice to each other. because the other big problem we have now that is causing people to take their kids out of the public school systems is bullying and kids being traumatized by how they are treated by their peers. in this bully culture, in my opinion, got worse and started with this far-right bullying mentality of this trump era, where you cannot just disagree with someone, you have to beat them down. and it is the parents that the kids have been watching this, and they think it is ok to be cruel to each other, label each other, and that is a big reason that parents are looking for other options. it isn't just because they are looking for quality of education. they are pulling their kids out to protect them. host: one of the other options

is homeschooling. on "booktv," an actress and entrepreneur discussed her book about homeschooling. here is a portion of that. [video clip] >> trying to reach a parent to open their eyes to understanding that educating your children yourself is the greatest gift you can give yourself. the education of a child is not only about the education of the child, which is whatever school system tells us, it is only about educating children. but if you talk to any teacher, you should hear from them, my gosh, i got so much out of it and was so glad to have these children and watch them grow, whatever. and parents willingly give up detriment is gift. my children, i have three, and they're all grown and taught me so much and have brought such richness to my life that when they were teenagers and -- they

were not actually even teenagers, but when i homeschooled them for a while and realized how fulfilling it was, how much richness they brought into my life, i became angry at the schools for trying to take that away from me, trying to rob me of that. the schools have robbed the culture of the family unit. that is dangerous to our public because that is the building block of our nation. and if we lose a family, which we are in the process of squandering, we have lost a lot. host: here is cheryl in virginia, line for republicans. caller: good morning. the last caller, you know, it is amazing to me how she is going to say president trump is being a bully. they don't like people who fight back. as long as you rollover, you are ok. but if you fight back like

president trump does, then you are a bully. my point is this, young people are not being prepared to be adults. they're constantly coddled. i once taught in the public school, and i am telling you, high schools, they have snacks on their desk, eating in class, on their phones, playing. you talk to them about, your young adults, expected to sit there, you do not eat you do not eat your little snacks like a preschooler in order to participate in class and get your work done. too much coddling. they get away with all different types of behaviors, and it is not good for education. to include the dress code, the young girls walk in there like prostitutes, a lot of them. then they talked about sexual harassment and all of that. they do not even enforce a dress code. host: so you say there is a dress code but it is not enforced. caller: it is not enforced.

they need to go to uniforms. the way these young women -- and i do not mean to blame them, i blame the adults in the school systems for not correcting them. there is a time and place to dress like that, maybe when you go to a mall or with your friends at a party, but at school it is not appropriate. i cannot even tell you how many times i had to stop a young woman, zip it up, go back home, or something like that. and i talked to the principal, well, the parents are just like the daughters. the parents are not the students. host: can you shareware about in virginia you are? caller: i do not want to say that. it is not just in virginia, this is all over the country. it does not make sense how we are not preparing -- young women , you talk about a pipeline to prison, but what about a pipeline to the abortion table

or a pipeline to prostitution or a pipeline to just promiscuity? these young women and these young men are not taught to behave in a way that is appropriate for school and prepare them to be young adults ready for the world. it is not happening. host: and this is israel on the line for democrats, lancaster, california. caller: i watch your program all the time, and this is the first time calling in. yes, i agree with the last two people, that there needs to be dress codes. i would say the industry has a lot to do with wearing these expensive shoes, tin issues. -- tennis shoes. yes, we all have a responsibility for that.

i went to school in the bahamas and got a better education there than i got here in america. guess what, in the public schools here, i would say, versus the christian schools that this republican was talking about, i would say that they need to stop stealing money from the public school because, guess what, it is easy for them to be more successful because they will discriminate against who comes into their schools. ok, the public school has to take everyone in, whether they are disabled or whatever you want to call it, challenged, or what have you. the public school accepts that an has to have a program for that. i volunteered -- matter of fact, i went to both public schools

and private schools, so i know the difference between both. believe me, class and racism has everything to do with the schools today. it is based in that christian thing, even in schools, in public school, you have the christian thing and it is embedded in the theology. what i am simply saying is that with both public schools and private schools, there will always be that disparity. and they need to fund the schools with more money. if you go to minority areas, go to those schools, and then go to the other schools, talking about public schools, you will see the disparities in those schools. host: and there is a post on x

that says my kids have a tougher curriculum and more homework than. i remember having at their age overall, it has been a gre experience. the schools have been a little disorganized, but theeaers care and administrators are spsive. and thiss mlb, one of mfour children was dyslexic and one in the gifted children program, th are successful personally and professionally as adults. i owe that to the public school system. i am eternally grateful. andy, a republican in kentucky, hi. caller: thank you. i would love to have sent mike grandchildren to that lady in virginia, talk about a good disciplinarian. that is the one thing missing from a lot of these schools now, discipline in school. they do things that never would

have been thought of when i was in school. but some other things to go about is that the teachers union is not for the students, therefore the unions. according to the u.s. department of justice, there is a group of teachers that molest children, 100 times that of a catholic priest. you can look it up, u.s. department of justice figures. you do not have very many male teachers in school now. you do not do spankings anymore, very little of it, they do it in selected areas. so many aspects -- host: do you recommend corporal punishment in schools? caller: absolutely. without it, you do not have any discipline. we had zero people when i was in school that was on all this medicine.

they did not have it when i was in school. and perfect content, very well mannered. host: are you talking about adhd medication? caller: yes. i do not understand how it got to be like this. a system where people did not want to deal with them or they did not want corporal punishment or whatever, but i had a friend that was in school, he was this way, could not do math figures, guess he was just less good -- he was dyslexic, and i helped him. you know, that fellow learned in did so well at what he was interested in that today he is a multimillionaire and has people that can do all those things in the classroom so much better than him working for him, doing

his paperwork and doing his figures. accountants and things like that. he could draw, was such a wonderful artist. and he just turned out to be such a productive citizen. but he had discipline. you have to learn how to do discipline and have discipline about yourself. host: got it. tom in virginia, democrat. caller: hello. i am probably going to be echoing some of what everybody else has said. i was on the board of a private school for a period of time and also time at a christian school. i found out that they are not equipped to care for troubled children whatsoever. they would just send them over to the public schools.

i pretty much realized that they do not have the funding to do things like that unless they want to increase tuition dramatically or just send them over to the public school that need the funding and need the ability to try and educate every type of child, not just the children that have parents that are very, very involved. and also -- [indiscernible] host: i am afraid you are cutting out on us. i will go to jay in maryland, republican. caller: the whole problem started in virginia, when black kids went to school with white kids. every single white parent took their kids out of schools in virginia. then ronald reagan came along and took all the funding and made these private schools, and

that is basically racism. if you just give the public school the money in the teachers, we would not even have this problem. that is all it is about. host: here is larry in maryland, democrat. caller: yes, we have this discussion about private schools and public schools and how they are transferring their funds automatically to the parents so that they can move to private schools. but the elephant in the room is we have a public school system in the u.s., and it has functioned in the past for mass education. and if you are setting up a system as drastically as one that would allow any parent to move any of their funds to a

private sector school, the elephant in the room is, what is the impact on public education? if you are talking about this large scale and you are not addressing what impact it has on public education, will the public school systems fail or will they be great with the possibility of this? you are not having any real discussion about education in the country as a whole. so i always look at the discussions about moving funds, but there's never a discussion about what the impact is on the public education system in the united states. yes, you can move funds, but if it deteriorates the public school system such that they fail, then who was impacted and what will be the impact of the country as a whole with no public education system?

host: last call, seymour in scottsdale, arizona, democrat. caller: i started teaching in a title i school, glendale union high school district, at the age of 60 and talked for 10 years, followed by 10 years of substitute teaching. it was a great education for the kids. everything was fine. my own kids were educated on the others of town in scottsdale, arizona. when you had open school night for parents there in scottsdale for a class of 30 students, you had 60 parents show up. on the other hand, we had -- hello? host: keep going. caller: in glendale, i had fewer than 10 parents show up. the parents that showed up were just like it parents anywhere, wanted to know how their kids were doing, how to help.

but most of those kids did not have the parents helping them. in our school, we had a union that worked with the administration. i could do lots of things. we had great tools, and we were able to educate the kids. i am very proud of the education we did. the biggest problem is the fact that parents do not do their job. there are too many areas on the back of a teacher. i used to say to my friends, i would say i put on five one-act plays a day to an audience that did not and with parents behind them that were lackadaisical in many respects. it is a hard job that a teacher has. i can tell you, at my school, the teachers were really great.

the administration worked with the teachers and i hold that standard in glendale arizona as a standard for all high schools. host: were to come come of this up next on "washington journal," jacob rubashkin breaks down the house and senate races in 2024 that will determine control of congress. and later a marine veteran in co-founder with with honor action discusses his group's mission to increase the number of veterans in elected office. ♪ >> campaign 2024 has resulted in -- involved in unexpected ways. c-span promises you unfiltered coverage of the candidates as they battle to win white house and congress.

you may not know then c-span is a private company that operates without a dime of government money. like many organizations, we have been impacted by cord cutting. we are asking for you to help support our unbiased political support with a donation. one hundred percent of your contribution directly supports c-span operations. an anonymous donor has pledged to match a donation dollar for dollar up to $25,000. find out more at c-span.org \donate. help make sure the coverage of politics i here to stay. thk you for watching and anks so much for your support.

>> american history tv, saturdays on c-span two, exploring the people and events that tell the american story. at 6:15 p.m. eastern, the national portrait gallery curator takes a tour of the textiles that tell the story of american women who went to paris in the early 20th century hoping to make their mark on the arts while breaking gender and racial bear here they encountered in the united states. watch the conclusion of american history series historic convention speeches featuring notable remarks by presidential nominees and other political figures from the past several decades. texas governor george w. bush accepted his nomination at the two thousand republican convention in philadelphia, exploring the american story. watch saturdays on c-span and find a full schedulen ur anytime at-span.org/history.ine

>> "washington journal" continues. host: we are back now with jacob rubashkin, deputy editor of inside elections. welcome to the program. guest: thanks for having me. host: where does the senate stand now if the election was held today, what do you think would happen? guest: the congress is split. democrats are facing a tough senate map, defending more seasoned than republicans are defending, especially in the most competitive races. pretty much all of them say for one or two seats are held by democrats. it is structurally a very difficult moment for democrats in the senate. however, they have been doing well in almost all of these races and have strong

incumbents. if the election were held today, everything would probably remain at a status quo result with the open question being montana. democratic incumbents and open seat challengers are doing well and every other state that is competitive, ohio, wisconsin, michigan, except montana. senator jon tester looks vulnerable in could conceivably lose if the election were held today. host: let's talk about that race in particular. why is he so vulnerable, because he has a strong opponent? because he has been reelected. guest: he is vulnerable because this is a republican state. montana was a purple state that electric -- elected republican candidates but it has almost

elected barack obama but has moved to the left. we are just at a point in time where the borders of any given estate are former it likely to split the ticket between the presidential election. jon tester as to when over a considerable amount of trump of voters to win reelection. the republican opponent in montana has some issues but the state is so republican at this point that even a candidate who is not a great a 100 percent top-tier candidate stands a good chance of winning if they are a republican. host: let's look at a campaign and it put out. [video clip] >> montana voters know -- >> jon tester stands for us. >> to get the care and benefits we have earned. >> he delivered 12 new veterans

clinics. >> he passed the act so veterans with toxic exposure -- >> finally got the help we need. >> veterans across montana. host: that is a play for veterans. are there in montana? guest: montana has a higher than average veterans. he is the chairman of the veterans affairs committee. when i talk to republican strategists about the race, they love bringing up that this is the first time that tester has been challenged by a veteran himself. he is a former navy seals decorated in afghanistan has made veterans issues and his express as a veteran front and center to his campaign. tester is feeling the heat on that issue and felt the need to do an at fully focused -- focused on veterans issues.

he has dozens in a room endorsing him. clearly this is something he wants to drive home that he is the better candidate in this race. host: and the ohio senate race we have sherrod brown defending his seat. guest: this is one that should be one of the republicans' best pickup options. it used to be a quintessential swing estate but it is not a pretty republican state and one of those two states on the map for democratic incumbents are running in the states that trump carried in both presidential elections. on paper, this looks like one of the best opportunities for republicans. however, sherrod brown is one of the democrats' strongest incumbents and the opponent has a lot of flaws. she has never held elected office before and is a very

wealthy businessman who made his money in current dealing but he has issues that sherrod brown has successfully exploited. we look at the polling data, sherrod brown would probably win today. host: let's take a look at an ad. [video clip] >> for nearly 50 years, sherrod brown helped create the problem at the southern borders voting kamala harris to give stimulus checks and even a security to illegals. sherrod brown caused the crisis let bernie moreno will fix it by deporting illegals, building the wall and securing our border. that is why he is endorsed by president trump. bernie for senate. host: a bit of an issue is immigration and the border for ohio voters. guest: it is a big issue

everywhere we look, any of the races. immigration is one of the top couple of issues voters say is most important to their vote and especially, it is probably the issue that republicans have the greatest advantage on. a lot of issues that voters who care about, immigration, the economy, abortion, crime but immigration and the border is clearly one where it republicans have built up an advantage over democrats in terms of which party voters make is better equipped to handle what is going on at the southern borders. that is what we see across the board. ohio is not estate on the southern border and it is a lot closer to the northern border than the southern but that doesn't matter. we are seeing this across the map and it makes sense that bernie moreno looking for an issue to leverage against brown would focus on the border as the one that would give him the most bang for his buck. i will note that we heard multiple times endorsed by

president trump and the reason is because trump will carry ohio so he needs as many trump voters as possible and that checks the box for his name. if he wins the trump voters in ohio, you will be the next senator. the reason sherrod brown is looking good now is he is comfortably taking away 10 or 15% of trump voters who like his brain even though they are willing for a republican at the top. host: this is between elissa slotkin and mike rogers. what is going on? guest: this is one open seat. it debbie stabenow is not running for reelection. she served for several decades. elissa slotkin is the democratic congressman from central michigan and has cleared the democratic primary field and had one minor opponent and beat him easily. she was one of the rising stars in the party.

she came into office in 2018, former c.i.a. officer, decorated pedigree and is one of the best fundraisers. she locked down support on the democratic side. her opponent, republican former congressman, sba agent, also used to represent a central michigan district back in the to thousands. he has been out of office for a decade. this is a race that is probably the least developed than any of the biggest senate races on the map because it is an open seat and his two candidates who have never run statewide and are not known by all of the voters in michigan as opposed to one of the other open seat races we have seen were big personalities like kari lake. this is one for the spending has only just begun to pick up. it is a close race on paper. we think slots can has the slightest of advantages just because of her financial backing but ultimately this will be a

very close race in michigan likes to hold close races. if democrats can't win this one, they have no opportunity of controlling the senate. host: continue, you can call now (202) 748-8001, republicans and democrats (202) 748-8001. let's look at an end. >> what did mike rogers do after 20 years of a politician, he left michigan to trade on d.c. connections, helping chinese tech companies get access to the u.s. and about a florida mansion. rogers kept busy for himself. >> i'm mike rogers, elissa slotkin is lying about me and my family. she is trying to hide that she is everything that is wrong with washington. she rubberstamped biden's

agenda, driving up gas and grocery prices, push for ev mandates that are devastating to the michigan auto industry. she signed a secret deal it help a chinese company and took away jobs from michigan workers. unlike her, i've always stood up for it michigan families. i am mike rogers and i approve this message. i will fight to save our jobs and make life affordable. host: this is on the hill with the headline, mike rogers sent a cease and desist letter over the ad in michigan. what is that about? guest: the rogers the campaign is frustrated about some of the attacks that elissa slotkin has been lodging against him and we saw the ad about moving to florida, and the business ties, clearly china, a central issue in this case, specifically coming out of the rust belt state in michigan where

manufacturing is such a court part of the identity and economy and has been for many decades a tremendous worry about outsourcing and the reality of jobs shipping overseas and that is clearly why we are seeing her hit him on the china-related elements and rogers fighting back on her. this is a theme we are seeing across a lot of the senate races where you have candidates, where rogers was in congress but after he was in congress he went in private industry and served on corporate boards and when you serve on the boards you open yourself to a tax for whatever sort of things those companies are doing, even if you are not intimately involved involved at all in those decisions. again, he is probably the most conventional republican candidate on the cycle but still has baggage that democrats are looking to exploit.

frankly, politics is a rough and tumble game. a lot of it is the back and forth. we have a former president famous for making legal threats about all manner of as in statements they have never followed through on. i think this is all part and parcel of the game of politics, especially coming from the other candidate. they are high bars to reach in terms of legal liability. when it comes from outside groups from super pac's, there is a lower standard for getting an ad taken down and we have seen tv stations refused to air ads from super pac's because of the legal threats but funding from the candidates themselves, it is very difficult to get anything like that taken down or cease and desist.

host: 10 -- senator ted cruz won last time buy at 215 thousand votes, the closest senate race in texas since 1978. what is going on in that race? guest: ted cruz is running for a third term. his democratic opponent, another rising democratic star who flipped a purple district in 2018. he has a great biography, played college football at baylor and played in the nfl. he got in law degree and worked in the obama administration won a seat in congress. he is a strong fundraiser. the ingredients in this race, texas is becoming more democratic. it is slow but clear over the last 15 years, texas has shifted from a republican state into a state that is increasingly

purple. the growth of the suburbs in dallas and houston, san antonio and austin, which are so increasingly democratic, as relate moved the state from one that would have voted for george w. bush, but even mitt romney by high double digits to one it will probably be between four and eight points on the republican side. that creates an opportunity for a candidate and then you have ted cruz is just unpopular. he has made decisions across his political career that have made and not particularly well liked in the state of texas. part of the reason why it was so close in 2018 is because people didn't like him or didn't know him well but what they did know they didn't like. his personal popularity or unpopularity gives an opening. it is not a huge opening and this will be arrays that -- races race that cruises favored in -- that cruz is favored in.

democrats are facing pressure to make something happen in this state or florida to offset losses elsewhere. host: our color is in fort worth, texas, a democratic caller. caller: i would like to speak about school vouchers. i watch the news every day and i have direct tv and i go back and forth at any given time. democrats are not fit for the middle class people to talk about what the voucher system is like for those working two jobs with two or three children. you have a child with an aptitude that is great and you

would like for them to go to the private school. you would like to take the voucher for them, but you have two other children that don't have the particular aptitudes in the need to go to the public schools. the thing is, how in the world do you reason that out that you are going to take a certain amount of tax dollars over for them and leave the school that is in your area without? host: how big of an issue is school choice in the texas race? guest: school choice constantly ranks low on the level of voter concerns about the election. one of the interesting things we have seen some democrats try to lean into is the education and schooling issues in more rural parts of the area. texas is a state that has the

huge cities and suburban areas in dallas, houston, san antonio, and if he is going to win that race is because he is getting huge margins in those cities. the reason why texas is still a republican state is for every one of those states, there are 100 small towns across the state and tons of counties looking ever increasingly republican. there is little that a democrat can do to win those voters back. they are shifting so far to the right that education in school issues is one of the few things were democrats feel like they have some purchase. there are plenty of fancy private schools and regular private schools in the big cities and suburbs but when you get to the counties that have 100,500 thousand people, there is no private school. all they have is the public for school and even if they are conservative on a host of other issues, the reality is public

schooling issues in supporting public school is popular in those areas. democrats are looking to lose by at less than the smaller counties in order to give them sin -- cells -- give themselves a chance to win. host: let's go to the independent lane, north carolina, charles. caller: talking about the house and senate, the parties say this and say that, the american people as a whole, we are ignorant of the constitution and what it means and the people up in washington do not know what the left end of the right hand is doing. i wish they would open their minds up for the people by the people and do for the people

instead of doing for a majority. in north carolina, if i would call and ask for help and he was a collier senator from north carolina. they were for one group, their state. they don't care about the others. they might say something about it on television but deep down they are up for the money. host: let's talk about the house. what are some of the big competitive races in the house? guest: calls -- houses evenly divided. democrats currently have 214 seats. you need 218 for the barest of a majority. we are looking at a situation where democrats need to have a net gain of four seats minimum to reclaim the majority. the good news is they have got some offensive targets that they

potentially flip to give themselves the majority. on the democratic side, california's 13th district. a republican in the central valley of california and he won by just a couple hundred votes in 2022 in a district that has voted much more democratic. he is facing the democrat who he beat by a couple hundred votes last cycle. this will be one of the top races of the year. if democrats can't flip this one, it is difficult to see how they went back the house. they are confident in specifically they view some as differently with republicans in lump sums have a brand in their district and are clearly able to win over cross votes. we saw in 2022, he performed the

worst of any republican in that district. he is quite vulnerable. the other republican that i will single out, brandon lives in upstate new york, represents a syracuse district, this is a district that already looks democratic on a per in the map after the 2022 election to make that seat more democratic. if they had their druthers about them and they can beat brandon williams as well, that gets you to two and there are a whole host of other seats democrats will have to win to flip the house and they have to defend the vulnerable seats and they have quite a few of those. in alaska, this is republican and will win to spare. she has to win. in washington third district, and upset victory in 2022.

she is probably the most vulnerable democrat on the map this time. don davis in north carolina first district, any number of house democrats in tough races. they have to hold the vulnerable incumbents and pick up some vulnerable republicans in order to get the slimmest majority in the house. host: let's talk to russell, a republican in louisiana. caller: it is a comment. i am worried about the country. i believe our country has run its course as the country and a superpower. in the past, history shows that great nations have fallen in the past. and whether trump wins or not, i am for tom i believe the country was better with the four years of him being in charge.

no matter who wins this residential election, i think within time things are going to get worse. in our nation i think will fall. it is only a matter of history repeating itself. one thing about the border, at the stroke of a pen, mr. trump closed that border and was building the wall. and now the democrats, they put the bill out and they want money to close the border. and it didn't take money for trump, all it was was a stroke of the pen. and for the people at vetting other people, we have people on payroll to defend the states, we call it the national guard. it shouldn't cost money. it is just another waste of money and a way to clean the money and reroute it into other people's pockets like we always

do. it is only a matter of time before our great nation falls the commute -- people need to be prepared and understand the seriousness of what is going on in today's time no matter who becomes president in november. host: any comments? guest: the border is a big issue in the border bill we have seen democrats latch on to it as the best response. it is the strongest advantage over democrats. democrats are trying to eat into that advantage by seizing the border bill and saying we try to do something about it and republicans were the ones who killed it. and republicans led by president trump are the ones who killed the bill. that has become the de facto standard response to any border attack levied by republicans against democrats and we will see if it is effective this fall

but obviously border topic is the head of mine for both heading into the general election. host: this was asked of you, with so many nate democratic seats up, do you expect the senate turn red and how has the flailing economy affected the vulnerability of democrats? guest: i will just reiterate the importance of montana again. the chamber is so evenly divided and we have one seat in west virginia currently held by a democrat or independent democrat joe manchin who is not running for reelection. republicans are starting this election at eight plus one on the ledger. if we have a status quote results at 50-50, if trump wins and has a 50-50, that is a win now. yes, it is more likely right now

and looks like republicans flip the senate but it is very, very close because it is coming down to a handful of close races in a few states. there is a lot of game left to be had. but the structural vulnerabilities and very few offensive opportunities for the democrats makes it difficult for them to maintain this majority have had over the last two years. as for the economy, this is also an issue that democrats are on the fence about what one that might be changing for them. there was a new poll out armor reuters asking which -- out asking orders which they count on more for the border. in the july, trump had 11 points

over harris on economic issues and now at three point advantage. perhaps it is because the economy is improving and we the jobs numbers in the stock market at an all-time high and we might get a rate cut, potentially that is finally seeping into the voters' minds and are more receptive to the economy as it is. in might have something to do with the fact that kamala harris isn't joe and all the frustrating they had about biden's economy they don't ascribe to the vice president. the part of the reason why we are seeing more border and less inflation and economy from republicans is simply because the border is a much better political issue than the economy was in 2022. host: here is carol in new york, democrat. caller: i called in when you

were talking about the competitive and tight races around the country. youth spoke specifically about new york 2022. i live in -- new york 22. i live in 19 and i would like you to drill down on that race, the kinds of issues you think are important and what either one of them has to do to become the victor. thank you very much. guest: i love this district, upstate new york. it is a really fascinating. when democrats drew the map, they basically drew long island, new york, hudson valley and upstate and then transitional space between those that they had to fill and filled it with the 19th district. it draws from all parts of the state and has five different media markets in it which is

incredible what it is featuring a rematch between marc molinaro who won close election in 2022 and his democratic opponent, josh riley, who is an attorney. this will be one of the most competitive races on the map and one that democrats would like to flip. the district was very close in 2022. when you talk to josh riley and i sat down with him, he recognizes he had work to do in a few distinct areas. for him, i think his team believes that boosting turnout in the most liberal parts of the district, ithaca college, cornell university, he felt like he hit the marks in those districts in that county but wasn't getting the turnout he needed so making sure he boost turnout in the most democratic areas will claw back on the

margin at the southern point of the district in that new york media market. this was a bloodbath for democrats in 2022. we saw as connecticut's fifth and all the way down to pennsylvania's eighth that touch the media market and those places were bad for democrats because of all the money being spent on crime issues in the new york media market and governor race that year. if they can claw back a little territory in the southern part of the district and boost turnout in the most democratic parts of the district and then really trying to position himself as an old-school populist and talks about his family's roots, ibm and the shoe factory and a lot of local issues that speak to a region of the state and country that has been devastated, more quietly perhaps than the rust belt states we hear so much about but that has really face its fair share of economic challenges.

if he can pull all of that together and get the extra couple thousand votes he missed out on in 2022, i think there is a good shot he can be the next member of congress from the 19th district. host: this is debbie, a democrat frombby. i wanted to ask how abortion will affect the outcome of the election. i know there are a few places that have ballotres protecting abortions. will this motivate independent or republican voters to vote blue? guest: this is a great question. we have seen abortion ballot measures make the ballot in a number of states where there are the highly competitive races. arizona is one where democrats and progressives were successful in getting an abortion measure on the ballot in the wake of that state's reduction of an

1800s abortion law. it will be one in montana, florida, nebraska. i think there are a couple of things going on that make it a pretty nuanced situation. on the turnout question, ultimately, turnout in presidential election year is driven by the presidential election. people showing up to vote for president more so than they are showing up to vote for any specific ballot measure. it could matter on the margins and there is something to be said for bringing out the younger voters that may be disenchanted with people they are voting for and would welcome the opportunity to vote on an specific issue like abortion, marijuana legalization and minimum wage. it does two things, it creates higher energy and infrastructure for organizing outside of the parts and set up which is helpful for democrats on this particular issue.

it makes sure that abortion is constantly in the conversation. this states that have ballot measures, whizzing seen time and time again republican senate and house candidates being asked how are you going to vote on this measure. it is an easy way to keep the democrats a focus on clearly the best issue. it is almost certainly a net positive for democrats to have ballot measures on the ballot. however, it doesn't mean or guarantee victory in the states. voters ultimately are good at differentiating between specific policies they like and candidates they like. we have seen for instance in florida, a republican state by now, progressive policies do good progressive candidates less so. host: paul, republican candidate. -- republican. caller: why are they talking

about the voters are very attuned to what is going on, job markets increasing, economy is better when it was released today that over one million jobs have been lied about? guest: i think what paul is talking about is the downward revisions we saw come out. i don't know if it was quite a million but 800,000, but over the past year the monthly job numbers were overestimated. nobody is saying the economy is fantastic. there is a lot of economic frustration and pain in the success and bounce back has been segmented. it is not touching everybody. that said, globally, or to the u.s., the indicators are on an upward trajectory.

the things that we look at to measure the health of the economy are improving. it is slow but we are seeing those numbers increase and seeing a delayed but corresponding increase in consumer sentiment and ultimately that is the most important factor, the consumer sentiment. it is, do people actually think the economy is improving and while that has constantly dogged the biden inheres administration for the last three y, even as they have been trying to get people to look at the more esoteric stats, we are seeing americans believe the economy is getting better. i mentioned that reuters poll, there was a financial times and university of michigan poll that came out a few weeks ago that had similar results. democrats are doing better on the economy than they have in a very long time and that is because voters feel better about

where things are going now. host: carol in st. louis, missouri, democrat. caller: i was interested in the race with holly. i was wondering if you could run one of his ads because i think he has a good chance. host: what you think? guest: a tough state for democrats. missouri is to be a swing state but they voted for every presidential winner for i believe almost a century up until 2008 when it very narrowly went for john mccain. it was the closest state in that election but did vote republican. he is to have democratic senators, governors, that is not where the state is anymore. it looks a lot more like the other states around it, iowa,

indiana, that have turned more republican. the senate race that carol was talking about, josh hawley won in an fetid the incumbent claire mccaskill. he is facing a marine veteran karen for the senate in 2022 and lost the primary and is running a very economic list campaign. this is a really uphill climb for any democrat in the state. we saw in 2016, jason kander ran possibly the best senate campaign of any candidate in recent memory against roy blunt and came within three points of winning but because trump was winning the state by 18 at the top of the ticket it just wasn't enough. the ticket splitting has declined so precipitously over the decades, in a state like missouri special with a republican incumbent, it is too difficult for any democrat the

one running a strong candidate, to place themselves into contention. the truth is, running an aggressive campaign and raising a lot of money, but ultimately the cold hard math says it is very difficult for democrats of any stripe to win a state run election in missouri in 2024. host: one more call from carol, tennessee, democrat. caller: want to know why they let trump get away with all these things that anybody else would have to go to jail for it. to have all of the evidence against him. he is not above the law. why is he getting away with all of this stuff? host: any impact on the time -- trump trials on down ballot

races? guest: it is striking to see what we have come so far since the spring when trump was on trial in new york, convicted in new york and was facing churches in georgia and facing charges in south florida and facing charges in washington, d.c., but through a number of circumstances, almost all of that has completely receded from the narrative about the election and that is on the count of a couple things. it is not just one overarching reason. in each of those situations, georgia, the prosecutor made some personal mistakes that personally handicapped her ability to prosecute that case against trump before the election. in south florida, trump, through a favorable judge who insulated him from any development in that case, going as far as to rule

the whole special counsel unconstitutional, a case and i'm not a lawyer and i will say the chances that it would be overturned but their chances it could be overturned. in the sea, yet the supreme court cases that were fairly favorable to trump when they came down this past summer that have pushed those trials past election day if they are ever going to happen. as to why, it hasn't caught up with him yet, i think he is a unique figure in american politics and with his 2020 work campaign, he has excess fully insulated himself for much of the legal jeopardy he was facing throughout 2022 and 2023. that said, we don't know whether this is the true test or something that will come back and hurt him in an election. we've never had a presidential candidate on a major party

ticket that has been convicted of 30 discourse felonies and their effects candidates, presidential major party candidate who is facing indictments on all manner of federal charges. we just don't know how voters will react when all is said and done. i struggle to see it, especially in this new paradigm kamala harris as the nominee instead of joe biden how it is a net positive. the two things trump was getting out of the conviction that was he had personal attack against joe biden and that he was directing that and got a big fundraising boost and the trials and convictions were a good way for trump to raise biden's fundraising abilities. he doesn't have that against kamala harris. he has lost the competitive advantage he had in fundraising and now she has the advantage where she can point to a prosecutorial experience in frame for whole campaign around

the notion of the prosecutor versus the perpetrator, a theme we saw again and again at the democratic national committee mentioned last week. at that it was particularly striking that when harris accepted the nomination on the speech, the background they chose was very courtroom-ish and looked like she was standing at the prosecutor's desk in a courtroom like she did when she was a d.a. and i think that was clearly intentional. this is a frame that the harris campaign is leading -- leaning into and it comes to the trump trials and legal jeopardy. whether or not he faces criminal consequences ultimately is an open question but from a political perspective, the jury is still out on whether this will actually hurt him in this election. host: jacob rubashkin, you can read his work at inside elections.com. thank you for joining us. host: coming up, a marine

veteran and ceo of a group called with honor action talks about efforts to increase the number of vets in office. first, more of your calls on open forum. republicans (202) 748-8001, democrats (202) 748-8000, independents (202) 748-8002. ♪ >> shop and save it during our labor day sale going on at c-spanshop.org. get 15% off on all of our great 's products like t-shirts, hats, hoodies, home decor comes of that for every c-span fan. every purchase you make goats toward supporting our nonprofit organizations. cap now by scanning the code or visit c-spanshop.org.

>> saturdays, american history tv features historic convention speeches. watch notable remarks by presidential nominees and other political figures from the last several decades read this saturday, george w. bush accepts the republican nomination in 2000 and addresses leadership in america. >> our opportunities are too great, our lives too short to waste this moment. so tonight we bow to the nations we will see is this moment of american promise and use these good times were great goals. >> watch historic convention speeches saturday at 7:00 p.m. on american history tv, on c-span two. >> if you ever miss any of c-span's coverage, you can find at any time and online at c-span.org, videos of key hearings, events and other

events pictures markers that guide you into newsworthy highlights. these points of interest markers appear on the right hand side of your screen when you hit play on select videos read this timeline told makes it easy to quickly get an idea what was debated and decided in washington. scroll through and spend a few minutes on points of interest. >> be up-to-date in the latest in publishing with book tv's podcast about books current nonfiction book releases plus a lists as well as industry news and trends through insider interviews. you can find about books on c-span now, our free mobile app or wherever you get your podcasts. >> american history tv, saturday stomachs explain the people and events that tell the american story.

at 6:15 p.m. eastern, the national gallery prints and drawings character takes a tour of textiles which tells the story of american women who went to paris in the early 20th century hoping to make their mark on the arts while battling the gender and race barriers. and watch our historic convention speeches featuring notable remarks by presidential nominees and other political figures from the past several decades this week texas governor george w. bush accepted his party's nomination at the 2000 republican national convention in philadelphia. exploring the american story, watch american history tv saturdays on c-span two and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at c-span.org/history. >> friday night, watching

c-span's 2024 campaign trail, a weekly round up of c-span's campaign coverage, providing a one-stop shop to discover what candidates across the country are saying to voters, along with first-hand accounts from political reports, updated poll numbers, fundraising data and campaign ads. what 2024 campaign trail friday night at 7:30 p.m. eastern on c-span, online at c-span.org or download as a podcast on c-span now, our free mobile app, or wherever you get your podcasts. c-span, your unfiltered view of politics. >> "washington journal" continues. host: welcome back. we are in open forum, this is something in the new york times, at least nine killed as israel

begins major military operation in westbank. hundreds of troops entered cities in the occupied territory targeting militants. a significant escalation after months of what is unfolding. we will take your calls, richard is in texas, republican. caller: i am 71 and i went to renew my driver's license at the department of public safety here in texas yesterday and i was turned down because of my birth certificate. i was born in indiana and my birth certificate does not reflect male or female on it so they rejected it and i have to go back to my birth state and get a new bureau of vital

statistics birth certificate, and it is a mess. anyway, i try to show them my passport and it is expired and it said male on it and they couldn't accept it because it is expired. i also used to be an employee at the department of public safety in highway trooper recruiting and they did not have a record of my birth certificate anymore, it has been too many years and i am sure they required it when i went to work there. it is a mess. i heard yesterday from a friend of mine that there are a lot of people who are going for the first time drivers licenses and they are asking them if they want to vote. anyway, this is all going on in texas because of the border stuff. there is some while they passed

that is making it strict. so anyway, i appreciate your time. host: here is mary in ohio, democrat. caller: i would like to talk about, i have listened to trump again and again talk about all of the immigrants coming across the border. if ohio doesn't have immigrants, we are in agriculture state. we travel a lot and we see the mexicans everywhere. when trump cut of the mexicans in the immigrants, the food all laid in the field where there was no one to pick it. the lettuce was terrible, soggy and wet and had very little leaves. the fruit was late being picked. we have always depended on immigrants to help with the farm

work. kids today don't want anything to do with farm work or processing meat, eggs, poultry in the factories. so we love the people living around here who do all of that work and it would certainly help our food processing -- injure our food processing if they didn't have that. also, sherrod brown has done so many wonderful things for our state and work so hard on the east palestine after the train wreck and got all of these bills passed and did lots of work but all i hear them talk about is how jd vance showed up to coffee and doughnuts for a meeting. people need to get their heads on straight and understand what's going on and who is

actually doing the work for ohio . host:. as rose in miami, florida, independent. caller: i just wanted to talk a little bit about what's going on in this country and my life experiences. i was in the longest dictator communists in this -- and was a political prisoner. i came to this country legally. we came here and worked hard. my brother had a kidney failure and i donate a kidney to him and he became a doctor and i became a pharmacist and have been working all of my life in this country. these people coming in, even from my country, are receiving benefits that they don't deserve. they come here not for freedom but to live off of the people of

this country and i don't think it is fair. when you go to a country that is not your country, you are supposed to go there to give and not receive. this country is going into the tank and i see it and i lived under communism since i was four years old and i see the clock the -- the signs very clearly. i am very concerned. nobody is going to tell you that living in a free country is very easy. go to those countries and live over there and i lived there and i am 70 years old and i don't want to live under that. my parents from the sky i am sure they are crying because they will see what we will go three if this happens here and i the it. i still have, from those days. host: amanda, peoria illinois,

republican. caller: i would like to say that you have anyone talking about the marxist book that kamala harris's dad wrote? you don't have anybody that has any information on that? and furthermore, you have someone that is democratic, when you should have someone else that republican on their side of things. host:. his tummy in kentucky, democrat. -- here is tommy in toebbe, democrat. caller: i worked in the coal mines and served in the military and did all the things i was supposed to do.

i hear nobody talking about these people who have worked hard all their life and then you have a man running who wants to be a dictator. how anybody can vote for a man who says he wants to be a dictator, and he has said it. i have been a free man my whole life and i would never give into a dictator want to be. all these things that donald trump has done that the other people want to play it on the democrats is beyond me. i don't know why at the democrats to stand up and tell them and do like they do. it is on them because they are the ones who do it. trump was the one who was with a pointed star. trump was the one who loves putin so much and agrees with everything he says. our military isn't anything.

this is ridiculous. if anybody wants to be under a dictator, to meet they are sort of stupid. if they don't think so, wait until they get under it. i served time in the military and i know that i was at the berlin wall and how they tried to get over here instead of over there. it is ridiculous. and people have not done it for anything but the money gives them. they could be helping poor people. i would rather have the mexicans working for us than the russians taking over. host: this is news from npr, the trump campaign staff had altercations with officials at

burlington national cemetery. two members of his campaign staff had a verbal and physical altercation monday with an official at arlington national cemetery where the former president participated in the wreath-laying ceremony. they said the cemetery official tried to prevent trump staffers from filming and photographing were recent u.s. casualties are buried. arlington officials made clear that only cemetery staff members would be authorized to take photographs or film in the area, known in section 60. the cemetery official tried to prevent trump campaign staff from entering the section 60, campaign stop verbally abused and pushed the staff member aside. from like texas, david, independent. caller: i have some items i would like to mention about the educational system. we talked about it earlier, 20

minutes ago, finance used on the educational system is used for teaching students in the areas of the proper principles, learning subjects, learning communication between students and teachers. the moral quality of individuals , and teachers, students should be productive adults. assumed to be productive adults necessary, deep learning begins in the individual that shows the capacity to clarinet the childhood age. as an individual, a person should make up the quality of human skills formed in childhood, and it is why

education is conducted at childhood. education of any social status, particularly for teaching them how to get along if they don't have the educational capacity for school, how to get along with each other. host: larry, chicago, republican line, good morning. caller: hello. this is larry, i'm actually a democrat. three things, one, i would like to continue to think joe biden for what he did. he has become one of the greatest presidents i have lived to see. number two, all these people keep saying president trump. i don't understand. he is former.

he lost a job and is no longer the president. a lot of them are screwed up saying he is the president. number three, they say kamala harris has to make debates and what have you. i've been in the service, have done three years, and, listen, i don't care if she never have to sit out with anybody until she got in office. we have to understand, we do not do what she can do until she gets in the office. a lot of people say we don't know what kind of woman she is. i tell all of them people, when trump was in office, we did not know about him, and in office, trump did some of the worst things, and he knew what he was doing. ok, thank you. host: you have got to call on

the right line. you did in fact call on the republican line. you have to call on the proper line next time. steve, indiana, independent. caller: there are no republicans in chicago. i live right outside the place. anyway, i was watching a rerun of family fruit -- of "family feud" the other day, and they asked who was one of the most admired people in the country, number one, barack obama, number two, oprah, number three, trump. i checked on information, it was from 2013. that reminded me of a documentary i saw about trump, talking about the days before back in new york when he got mixed up in politics, they showed the rev. al sharpton,

without these famous black people in politics and stuff, he was getting awards from the naacp, and all these people were saying, he is a racist. he said he was going to run for president in the republican party. that is when he became a racist. host: let's talk to rick, north carolina, republican. caller: even the democratic [indiscernible] i would like president trump to pardon joe biden's grandchildren as soon as he gets in office. they did not know what hunter, his granddad, was doing to get that money. no prosecution of his grandchildren, thank you. host: mary, nevada, democrat. caller: good morning. you know, i believe all the

people calling in on the republican line republicans. the problem is, donald trump is not republican. he's an autocrat. he proves it every time he opens his mouth. he praises dictators because he would like to be a dictator. he would like to be feared. the congress we have, the current congress is worthless. they are doing nothing but running a retribution campaign early. if you have watched any of the hearings, you might learn something rather than watching other right-wing stations. please listen to all the generals and the people who have been blacklisted from the republican party. they are trying to tell you how dangerous donald trump is. he is very well aware of 2025, and you have steve mora on here

yesterday, that guy is one of the many authors in project 2025. many of those people were in his administration. it is a unique foundation plan that is different and unique envision from the america we have been living in, from our founding, and you have really got to start reading some books about his mismanagement. they are out there, written by republicans. host: let's talk to mike, missouri, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. this morning, i'm calling, has anybody noticed that before joe dropped out of the race, it is a big deal that he was using a teleprompter?

well, how long has it been since donald trump talk from the teleprompter. he reads with that dumb look on his face. he doesn't have a single thought in his head that is not coming off the teleprompter, except he is done, but i would also like to talk about josh hawley for a second here because i called josh hawley's office to ask him to ask about how he felt about ukraine, and josh hawley said he would not give one single penny to a worthless cause. worthless cause, he calls protecting democracy in worthless cause, so i went on to ask how he can sleep at night, knowing that ukrainian women, children and elderly are being slaughtered by russian aggressors.

and the person repeated the same thing, senator hawley will not give a penny to a worthless cause, so, then we went on, you know, and i hung up, and, so, a couple weeks later, whenever i called to ask him what his opinion was on the deal that trump turned down on the border that trump destroyed, and my phone number is blocked. my representative supposedly has blocked my phone number. so i wish that you would show a lucas koontz advertisement there so we can see water real person who cares about missouri looks like. host: tom, ohio, republican.

caller: i would like to go back a little ways, but obama ran through the obamacare deal, and you could keep your insurance and tablet you would like, and brown is from ohio, and they took our insurance away. i worked at a uaw plant, and we had to fend for ourselves. i did not see sheriff brown trying to do anything there. you i. goodbye. host: john, florida, democrat. caller: good morning. i wanted to point out and straighten out one of the many misrepresentations that former president trump is making continuously, and that is that china is feeling our treasury with dollars and that is

incorrect, when somebody imports something from china here, china does not play the terrace -- tariffs. it is the individual who is importing from china who pays them, and as a consequence, the cost is passed down to the consumer in this country, so it is a complete falsehood for former president trump to say that china is building our treasury with tariffs that he put in place. i would just like to point that out. and he will be called on that when he makes that statement. it is a falsehood. they don't pay the tariffs, we do. as a consequence, it increases inflation and raises the cost for consumers. thank you. i wanted to point that out.

host: west virginia, donna, independent. caller: yes ma'am. i'm concerned that this election is probably one of the most important i've ever voted in, and most every person i have ever voted for has become president, i voted democrat, publican, but i'm not going to vote -- republican, but are not going to vote for kamala harris. i voted for trump and 2016 and biden in 2020, i'm not voting for kamala harris. at the democratic national convention, i believe the grandson, mr. soros, things started firing off in my head

and i have been observing what is going on everywhere, with the prime minister, what are you doing? what they have done all over europe, and now to the united states with mass migration. i feel that she has -- with so much money behind her, she will owe somebody, and she will be short u.s. dollars, the same way that her grandfather shorted the english pound. if you would like to know our future under kamala harris, look at what is happening now to england. we are next. host: a couple of things for your schedule for later today, this afternoon, we will have a discussion on cyber threats, with a focus on china, election

systems and border security. we have live coverage on c-span at 1:15 eastern, also on the app and on c-span.org. latetoy at 3:00, we will have jd vance speakintooters in pennsylvania at 3:00 p. with live coverage on c-span now, our app, and on c-span.org. coming up, rye barcott with honor action joins us to discuss increasing the number of veterans in congress. we will be right back. >> shop and save during our labor day sale now at c-spanshop .org, get 15% off on our great c-span products, like t-shirts,

hats and hoodies, mugs, accessories, and more. plus, every purchase you make goes to supporting our nonprofit organizations. visit us online at c-spanshop.org. >> friday night, watching c-span's 2024 campaign trail, the weekly roundup of c-span's campaign coverage, providing a one-stop shop to discover what candidates are saying to voters, along with fundraising data and campaign acts. watch c-span's 2024 campaign trail at 7:30 eastern on c-span, c-span,.org, or download the podcast on c-span now, our free mobile app, or wherever you get our podcasts. c-span, your unfiltered view of

politics. >> the c-span podcasts makes it easy to listen to all of our podcasts that feature nonfiction books in one place to discover new ideas. we are making it convenient to learn from authors from our signature program, from book notes plus, and q and a, listen to our bookshelf podcast feed today, you can listen to all of our podcasts on the free c-span now video mobile app or wherever you t your podcasts, and on c-span.org/podcasts. >> "washington journal" continues. host: welcome back. we are joined by rye barcott, the cofounder and ceo with honor action, and he also wrote about

called "it happened on the way toward." thank you. tell us about the organization. guest: so better representation in congress used to be 70% and now it is 20%. seven years ago, i cofounded with honor action with a former marine, and the goal is to increase the number of veterans who served with each other across already lines, so they take a pledge to serve with courage and to participate in the congressional caucus and that group of veterans is now 50/50 in the house, and they have helped passed over 150 laws over six years, mostly focused and national security within increasing service opportunity. host: do you endorse candidates?

guest: we are nonpartisan as an organization, but are political action committees are very active, especially during the primary seasons, but this primary season, we have been behind a total of 65 veterans, running from a pool of 500. we have also supported state and local representatives, as well. host: how did you get involved? i know you are a former marine. guest: i started the business after the marine corps, and my business partner decided to run for office. he was motivated to serve, and at that point in time, we saw military veterans, mostly who served in iraq or afghanistan, and they wanted to enter this arena, which is a hardship poster deployment, and naked exact but to do so in a way that

is focused on getting things done as opposed to picking a culture war battle and using the office as a communications means. host: our lines are going to be veterans and nonveterans. if you are a veteran, your line will be (202)-748-8000. if you are not, then it is (202)-748-8001. you can send text messages, (202)-748-8003. you can also reach us on facebook and on . what do you think the edge is that veterans have when it comes to public service? guest: the key piece to having said in the military, less than 7% now serve in the military or the marine corps, so it is a small number, but everybody who has served has assigned the documents and you will give up to two in your life, and when

you serve, user with americans from all walks of life, so working with people who think differently than you, is a bedrock for service, and that is the key ingredient, we think, in helping to turn around the environment right now in congress. host: you said you recruit all kinds of veterans, mostly a lot of the issues around national security. are there issues that unite all of them? with a all like to increase literary spending or the like to have a stronger military posture overseas? guest: there are a number of issues that the veterans have an to come together on, ranging from our afghan allies support, now on the third anniversary of the withdrawal, and this group has passed over five laws to support those who have worked alongside our military forces overseas. a lot of focus in making it more

efficient and better to use with technology to combat our current threats we face, and then a lot of ethicists on what are the emerging threats and strengthening those alliances overseas, we are going to take a delegation to ukraine next month, and stay strong with our support for fighting russian aggression. host: i would like to ask about john kelly, the former chief of staff and former president trump reported that he said about veterans, "our suckers and losers" about world war i veterans. your reaction. guest: i know we know many who served in iraq and respected his service. i hope that that statement was taken out of context or not accurate.

i don't know. one thing i do know is that were veterans are our most treasured veterans as a country, and every memorial day one of the things we do is we help to clean one of the war memorials, democrats and republicans, coming together. this year, we had three last surviving vietnam veterans who are still in congress, came out with democrats and republicans, and we cleaned the memorial show respect. host: there have been criticisms of tim walz, the vice president candidate on the democratic ticket, former national guard member, retiring before his unit deployed for iraq. what do you make of the criticisms? guest: we are a nonpartisan position that works with democrats and republicans. one of the only functional platforms in d.c. still left with it.

for the first time in over 28 years, we have two veterans at the top of the ticket, two vice presidential candidates, so we honor that service, and we recognize that service, and he rose up the ranks as an enlisted man, and we appreciate that. host: caller let's talk to callers, james, veteran, new york. caller: good morning. semper fi. the question i have, and i asked this in the past, you see the commercials for the dogs, and right after those commercials, it is always the former veterans who need money and whatnot. is the major star act going to be doing something or is it simply label use for years to hold over our heads and whatnot? guest: thank you for the question.

the richest star act is a large piece of legislation that has followed pact act, a historic piece of legislation that passed bipartisan support that would endorse all the veterans in the car. many of them lead on it, and our estimation is that it is unlikely to pass this year. it has good material but perhaps can continue to get negotiated out. we think at the core, the mission to serve our veterans and to serve them with better services than they have received in the past is important. host: andrew, virginia. caller: good morning. i would like to ask your guest, why would any self-respecting patriotic army veteran or someone who is choosing to run for congress or the senate, why would they want to support the

republican party and specifically donald trump, who said on a national radio show after getting five deferments to vietnam, that his personal battle or rewards during the vietnam war was to evade sexually transmitted diseases? this was a guy who disparaged john mccain, a sickly called him a loser and not a hero because he was shot down and held prisoner. the fact that this guy, called american veterans "suckers and losers" if they lost their lives or an arm and a leg, why would anyone, a patriotic american, support this clown when he is constantly disparaging our american or dead veterans? guest: thank you for asking me.

i'm not the best person to ask that for. if you think about what happened in the united states, we are frozen with our electorates. millions of americans are going to pull the lever on each way, and what i think is important is the breakdown in overall conversations. think about it with your neighbors, etc., people -- maybe ask somebody you know who is planning to vote that might and try to have a real conversation with them. that is where it needs to start, and that is what is happening with what we support in congress, 30 military veterans who were going against the grain, and even in the time of insane rhetoric, that is where it starts. they actually focus on things getting done. host: you participated in, your

organization, do americans trust those to be best elected officials? this was shows that americans believe that legal or law enforcement experience makes the best elected officials, and they are confident that people with military, legal or law enforcement activities would make good decisions as elected officials, and those have success in academia and policy, and have also been seen as capable. by the way, at the bottom of the list is people with experience in entertainment or the news media. guest: i don't plan to run anytime soon. host: talk about that pole and what you learned. guest: they have been a great partner with this and this is an annual poll. we actually do an annual unity index, where we look at individuals, ideas, concepts,

and when you look at this, there was a high favorability and positive feeling across party lines with historical figures, particularly many of those who have served in the military, 31 previous presidents. this pole points to the fact we have seen over the last years which is the degradation of almost every institution, including the military. one of the only groups that has not been impacted by that significantly across party lines are veterans. there is still a bond and recognition that these are individuals who have served up with the country above them themselves. that is part of the reason we focus on this group as a way to be a bridge to have some adult conversations and get these things done. host: let's talk to a vietnam vet, orion, maryland. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call.

ok, i am a vietnam veteran, and andrew earlier stole my thunder and said much of what one to say, so i'm going to change my question, these service organizations, can they endorse? guest: thank you and i appreciate your service in vietnam. i lost my father who served in 1965 a couple of years ago, and it is my mother's 80th birthday, happy birthday, mom, and i learned so much from both of them. of course, thousands served in

many significant ways. might understanding for almost every veteran service and is asian is that they are nonprofits who do not get involved with political activities. we are different. we are a political organization with packs and it works in this bipartisan space, and greet are one of the only groups that in the nation that does bipartisan work. it is not easy for the faint of heart. host: rick, vietnam vet, michigan. caller: good morning. i was a vietnam veteran, served in the forced entry division. one representatives are elected, they have the honor of nominating young men and women to the military academies and they oftentimes take that to their political advantage and

what i would like to see is that people who are elected to office would honor the same honor codes that these young men and women have when they go to the military academies, specifically like west point, their honor code is not to lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do, and i think we would be better off if these congressmen and senators would be able to take that honor code and hold to themselves if they are expecting 18-year-olds coming out of high school, that code. thank you. guest: i strongly agree, i think every member of the caucus, which you can see with honor.org

agrees violently with you, and many of the veterans, i'm with all of them that i worked with in congress, have said that their work and duty to appoint young americans to the service academies is one of the most gratifying pieces of the job for them. i would like to call out congressman steve womack, a republican, congressman was -- received the principles before honor last year and is the chairman of the west point visitors committee, the outside court for the organization, and i encourage you to reach out for him. in addition to pat ryan, a member of congress in the first-ever member of congress to represent west point as a constituent and is a west point alum. thank you for that comment in question.

host: mike, cleveland, ohio, a veteran. caller: good morning. firstly, i would like to say, i'm a former marine. anyway, as i understand, there is a bill going through the united states senate concerning pain pills and the use of opioids. as it stands right now, any veteran with chronic injuries cannot receive any pain medication, and it actually had someone at the v.a. look at me and say, if you are not dying, we cannot help you get no pills, ok? as i understand it, there is a bill going to the senate to correct that. do you know the bill? guest: we will certainly look into it. we are actively involved and

help pass over 150 laws, and about five have focused on mental health and strengthening our mental health opportunities, not only for veterans but americans. we are facing a mental health crisis, suicide rates have spiked the last 15 years and other indicators of it. one bill led by a marine who i served with i went to school with and is a member of the caucus help pass the national suicide hotline and also prostate bill that helps create more access for veterans to say, i need help and that is usually the first step. we will look into it, and please reach out and we will look to follow up with it. host: somebody on x with american cats lady united aclu, how does your organization decide who to support or

endorse? do you vote internally? guest: i have to say that i love your handle. i will give a shout out to our two cats we just got at our house, claire and clyde. thank you for that question. we run a rigorous process and it starts with our pledge, and the pledge is is her with integrity, stability, and the courage to work across party lines, and that may sound basic, but the environment involves a trade-off between being a workhorse and a show horse, almost from the beginning, day one. are you going to raise small dollar or build relationships with people from the other side? we are interested in the latter, so our process is focused on identifying those individuals. not only that, but part of the solution, where we are committed

to being bipartisan and working on tough issues across party lines. please check it out, we have more information on with honor.org. one important pieces we do reference checks with other veterans, and as veterans who are calling in no, you often see two colors, particularly in a combat environment when you are serving with somebody by your side. host: david, jacksonville, florida, good morning. david, are you there? billy, new mexico, veteran. caller: good morning. i am a vietnam veteran. the only conflict i was involved in was regard at kent state. i would like to say that -- host: you have got to mute your

tv because you can hear you in the background. caller: ok, let me mute it. i'm a vietnam era veteran, i served at kent state. my draft number was 50. i did not go to vietnam because my brother was already there. my main concern is national security. it has been exposed that a lot of individuals who are lobbyists are foreign agents and trump is the number one. thank you. the agents are on both sides of the party. thank you. guest: thank you.

i think that was more of a comment then a question, but i appreciate you weighing in. one of the things i found, we do advocacy for bipartisan laws in the past, this is a town full of special interests, i would like to say that our only special interest is the united states of america. and that is what we need more of from our elected leaders who are committed to doing the right thing, even when it is hard. host: you wrote an op-ed for stars & stripes called a nonpartisan way to make a difference for selection, what is that? guest: i'm on the advisory board of power the pole, which i've worked with a former caucus member, adam kissinger, and this is focused on the way for americans to serve, and i would encourage everybody to check it out at power the pole.

again, nonpartisan poll workers are needed to help guide the election process, and our sacred work and duty in a democracy, and this organization is driving that all across the country. so i worked with them to reach out to military veterans, service men and women, and their spouses, who, as i mentioned, plate an important role in service, and as a way that you can do something this november 5. and you actually get paid for it, as well. more importantly, it is giving time to us for the election. host: you are in fallujah, in iraq, when they had an election. guest: it is a fascinating thing, were we were running an election, and we basically that it would be a disaster and nobody would show up. host: because it is so dangerous.

guest: because it is so dangerous, and the previous election had little turnout. in part because you had normal citizens coming out and showing themselves present in a time with all these things, but they showed the presence and that enabled more individualistic, and though. it was almost like the u.s. presidential turnout with over 70%, and that was the first wager election that ended up happening and really started us down a different path. host: veteran, janice. caller: i was in the navy during the vietnam era when the bone spurs president evaded the draft. i strongly believe in service to our country and appreciate what you are doing.

my question is this, is the commander-in-chief subject to the uc mj? and does your group believe that the capital was attacked on january 6 or was it a riot? because i get really upset about the call it a riot. that is not what it was. it was an attack on the capitol, plant, a conspiracy. thank you. guest: i actually do not know the answer to the first part of the -- ecm j. host: what is that? guest: the military laws, essentially. so they have a different system. and on the second part, i'm not aware of any veterans that have referred to january 6 as a riot. it was something far more significant.

host: marcus, wisconsin, veteran. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for being able to take my question. i am a combat veteran, served in iraq, 2006 to 2007. as a veteran, i would like to talk about the ongoing issue of homelessness among veterans, especially resources allocated for immigrants. please share legislation or initiatives you may be currently working on or looking at that addresses the housing needs of veterans. and how can we ensure that our nation's heroes are the priority and treated how they are deserved? guest: i'm glad you asked because it is something that i wanted to talk about. one of the top priorities that can get done this year, and not everything can get done this

year because of congress, is legislators led by veterans in the caucus, one of the representatives is a retired veteran, and another who was an air force veteran, they have led with honors action support and a quality-of-life panel that has helped the armed service committee, and that is representing a paid increase for those enlisted. there is military food insecurity, and that is unconscionable that some of our junior military cannot even afford basic food staples, especially those with families, so it is a large pay increase being proposed. we think it could potentially get done and we have a significant support. and we are also helping to push forward to help improve the

housing, so i encourage you to check that out as we work together with honor action in the military quality-of-life panel. host: rye barcott, this is the third anniversary of the co-op from anna stan -- of the pullout from afghanistan, tell us about afghan allies, what they did, and how many are left that are still looking to immigrate to the u.s.? guest: i did not serve in an anna stan but iraq -- afghanistan, but iraq and the situation was similar for our interpreter, the second most deadly job in both was serving as an interpreter. first was our implicit ordinance serving members. host: why was it so dangerous? because they were with you? guest: there were always on the

front line, there with those who were right there, and many to not have as many training, and on top of that, many of them still had family in the countries so they would be targeted, and they knew what a viable asset goes interpreters were. especially any counterinsurgency context. so what we have focused on his honoring our promises, there are over 80,000 afghans that were able to make it to the united states. half of them have been stuck in a limbo and do not have a pathway to become illegal, permanent resident, it is unconscionable, and both sides agree something should be done about it. polarization in congress has made that difficult and it is something that has to happen. the bill is called the afghan

adjustment act, and with broad support on the senate side, as well, jason crow is a co-chair and in army veteran and has a democratic lead on it, and we would like to see this get done this year, putting a lot of emphasis on it and this is a way for us to not only do the right thing for the afghan allies but honor our promises as a country. host: sarah, new hampshire. caller: good morning. thank you for bringing two parties together in a moderate committee, and independent moderate constitutionalist. i have seen how that extreme parties have torn families and communities apart. i have a couple of questions, how do you bring the two extremes together in a partisan

--a bipartisan and moderate weight? two, how do you feel as a veteran? i come from a military family, with so many government officials who are dual citizens, how can you serve two masters? i believe in the constitution and i cannot even get a dual citizenship with canada because i do not want to pledge allegiance to the crown. we have become the united states of israel, and this is disturbing to me, and the amount of money that has been poured into our politics by an unregistered illegal lobbyist, aipac, which has compromised our president down to every congressman and senator. host: all right. guest: thank you. i actually do not know much on the citizens should, so i will hold off, but the first question

about how do you actually bridge the divides? we are so polarized, we work on this, as i mentioned, we are one of the only bipartisan groups left, and we have -- and one of the most recent bills we endorse is the let america vote act. it will be hard to get it done, but republicans and democrats have come together to initiated. and jerry goldman was the former co-chair. what this bill does, and we endorse it with no labels, it would mandate what the state allows in their primary election, individual, american citizens who are not limited to parties, such as myself, and 45%

are not registered, and in many states, they are disenfranchised from the primary election and they cannot vote in the primaries. that is not this case in my state, but about half the states in the united states, so check it out, it is an important piece of legislation. it will not pass if it does not get support from american citizens pushing forward. both parties are going to oppose it, but other organizations are trying to do the right thing here for the country. host: george, vietnam veteran, texas. caller:ing, good morning. host: go ahead. caller: what is the question of veterans in public office? it is not only public office but in the population in general. [indiscernible]

you know exactly what i'm talking about. but today we live in the era of a new presidency, and i look at the right hand, it is about tomorrow. we are living in tomorrow right now. we are living out there right now with this war everywhere, and i'm a veteran, i know what war is about. i tell you what, this is the best place to live on this planet, and as i speak, think about the people who just died in ukraine, how many people have died, that is what i call veteran, and one more thing, on the political side, ex-president trump, how do you talk about john mccain?

for all those years, he took those beatings, you are over here playing, thank you very much. guest: thank you, george. eight tours in vietnam, wow. i salute you. less than 2% of americans served, either in the military or other service. one of the accent has passed along this their troops to teachers program, and what that does is enable veterans an opportunity to encourage them to pursue careers in public education, our schools are hurting, and many that veteran leadership, not just elected office. host: from montana, uttering. caller: i made vietnam veteran, i was wondering how donald trump has served as commander in chief when he is a convicted felon and

when you are not allowed to join the military when you are a convicted felon? guest: great to have so many vietnam veterans. this question is above my pay grade but i appreciate you asking. host: we have got -- sorry. my voice is going out. jake sanderson says what is the partisan breakdown on the pacs? guest: it is roughly 50/50 and we expend resources 50/50 on primary and general elections. on primary elections, one caller asked what we can do structurally to make our country less polarized? a big part of the problem is how we gerrymander districts. that is difficult. i mentioned one piece of legislation that would help address this, but primaries are very important. people often don't think about them, but one of the things we

do is to support principal veterans that are running in state districts, and as they get through those state districts, they can become a constructive member, and in some of the elections, you have real extremists, and you see what they can do in the type of damages they can do, grabbing a microphone and yelling into it every day. host: iowa, a veteran. caller: good morning, sir. one very quick issue to deal with. i'm near the university of iowa's facility, where we have a really wonderful veteran administration hospital, and i cannot say enough about what they do for the veterans, except for one thing, and that is they

do not to dental. i was hoping we could talk about the chances of adding dental coverage at the veteran administration hospital system. guest: thank you. i'm sure that would be something that the veterans would be interested in looking at and working on in the caucus. the lead cosponsor of the vice chair of the caucus, and then another who served in the air force, both of those individuals might be someone to follow up with. please feel free to reach out to me and i would be happy. host: also a veteran, sam, maryland. caller: usmj is the code of

justice in the military, but thank you very much. i had never heard of with honor and united states army, the 42nd hospital attached to a former brigade, my question is about the chaplaincy, which was for spiritual care for members or soldiers who are in the va hospital with president lincoln to serve the disabled veterans. by the way, there is a landmark case going on now -- when i say gender, i'm not talking about lgbt, that's another conversation. i'm talking about traditional, male-female stuff area it seems -- stuff. it seems to me there is a disparity of female chaplains to serve the needs and unique needs

of female soldiers, whether they had gone through sexual trauma or other types of different trauma, is it on your radar to infuse more female chaplains into service for veterans? i say that because there is an endorsement to be a chaplain, whether v.a. or otherwise, there has to be an ecclesiastical endorsement or ordaining, and it is notoriously against women. women cannot be ordained or ed. but i see that lifting in that episcopalian church and stuff like that. host: let's get a response. guest: i actually was not aware of this issue, but i have a thought about who we can reach

out to, two cochairs in the u.s. house, and they are both outstanding women veterans, one from new jersey, a former helicopter pilot, and a medical doctor who had served in the army. and i think that would be a good one to follow up with. thank you for bringing it to our attention. host: last call, vietnam veteran, illinois. scott, you are on. caller: good morning. how are you? thank you for what you do. two quick questions. first, what is your opinion or other people's opinions on a thank you for your service? when we came back from vietnam, i got spat upon and i cannot even get a beer in california. you could drink on base but not going to town. secondly, do you think that the drafts should be brought back so that these young -- i don't care if it is all people were kids -- to learn how to. and get respect?

back to the original with the thank you for your service thing, it is ok that iraqi kids -- i go to the v.a. hospital, they got their legs bombed off, and they can name a street after them, that's ok, but it is blind when they say, thank you for your service. guest: thank you with a question from another vietnam veteran. i mentioned one of the rituals we have instituted at with honor is to clean one of the warmer morels each year. this year, we did it with the veterans in congress at the vietnam wall. we were so thrilled and delighted to be able to have the last three vietnam veterans in congress, two republicans and one democrat, join us. your question on thank you for your service, it is insufficient but appreciated. our generation appreciates that we came back to a different environment than you did in vietnam. i think that one of the up shots

of what we have seen is that you would like to see more opportunities for young americans, they deserve. this is a long-term commitment for with honor and veterans in congress, one of the reasons already got the hand the expansion of americorps -- behind the expansion of americorps. last year, we were able to push for an expansion of jrotc in public schools across the country as a pathway to both teach kids more about public education and opportunities to serve in uniform and out of both in uniform and out of uniform. less than 2% of americans served. service can save us, as governor wes moore says. the first ever veteran with honor supported running for governor. his first bill, the first one he introduced, was a bill to promote more civilian service in maryland.

check it out if you get a chance. thanks for your call. host: that is rye barcott, cofounder and ceo of with honor action. also a former u.s. marine, author of the book "it happened on the way to war." that is today show. thanks for joining us. we will be back tomorrow morning, 7:00 a.m. eastern. have a great day. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> here's a look at some liv coverage coming up later today on c-span. first at 10:30 eastern tim minnesota governor and democratic vice president on the

money tim walz will be delivering remarks before the international association of firefighters in boston. then a discussion on cyber threats to critical infrastructure with a focus on china, election systems, and water security from the intelligence and national security alliae. later today at 3:00, vice president or candidate jd vance will speak tvoters in erie, pennsylvania. you canatch the live events on c-span, c-span now, our mobile video p, or online at c-span.org. >> all this week we are showing several major rulings from t supreme court's most recent term. we will also talk with reporters about the background of each case and the impact of the court's decisions. tonight we highlight the cion. the supreme court ruled, unanimouslrecting a challenge to the fda's approval ocess and rules for expanded use of the abortion pill

mifepristone. they said the group ahm, which opposes abortion, had n standing to file suit and failed to show harm from the fda's actis concerning the bill. oral argument was heardn march. tune in for this and other supreme court rulings all this week at 9:00 eastern on c-span. you can also find our supreme court covege on our website, c-span.org/supremecourt. >> american history tv, saturday on c-span two, exploring the people and events that tell the american story. at 6:15 p.m. eastern, the national portrait gallery print and drawing curator takes a tour of the exhibit "brilliant exiles" which tells the story of american women who went to paris in the 20th century hoping to make their mark on the arts, while breaking racial and gender barriers they encountered in the united states.

then watch the conclusion of our series, historic convention speeches, featuring notable remarks by presidential nominees and other political figures from the past several decades. this week, texas governor george w. bush accepted his party's nomination at the 2000 republican national convention in philadelphia. exploring the american story. watch american history tv, saturdays on c-span two, or watch onliney time at c-span.org/htory. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more, including cox. >> when connection is needed most, cox is there to help, bringing affordable internet to families in need, new tech to boys and girls club's, and support for veterans.