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public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front-row seat to democracy. when congress is in session would like to take a look ahead on capitol hill and to do that we are joined by our capitol hill reporter. on government funding and a potential shutdown again with september 30 at the deadline, the house has so few workdays between now and then. what needs to happen in that time to avoid another shutdown scenario? >> friday house republicans released the bill to continue funding until march, and it would include the safe act with republicans, especially conservatives have been pushing for. we heard senator schumer yesterday saying it is kind of a nonstarter. democrats are looking for kind of a three month deal to push things to negotiate. they are in a fight between chambers. >> the safeguard american voter

eligibility act, it requires proof of citizenship to register to vote in july. te, democrat footing in favor. no senate vote planned as of yet. it was introduced by chip roy. why is this suddenly joining in on a government funding bill? >> republicans kind of forth of the senate hand on this as an important topic. warning when you are not a citizen is already illegal so there is kind of a redundant l and nonstarter for them definitely something that conservatives would be pushed on. host: so if it is a nonstarter, then what happens with that said, 30 deadline? guest: keep in getting the republican bill through the house maybe kind of a challenge.

we will see if they're able to get enough votes tonight and i'm sure there will be kind of a standoff between chambers and that is what some moderate republicans would probably expect. if you days to go, so we will see how it all pans out. >> explain some of these terms. when you say they are going to with it tonight, what does that mean? >> try to encourage members to get behind the legislation, get a fuller picture. >> and you reported on mitch mcconnell and the save act of this legislation. how was he factoring in? >> i think they know that it is not going to go anywhere over there. eventually we will probably see a cr that ends up passing the house. host: again, when you talk about the length of the cr, there is no limit yet on how long they

should go on for. they can essentially the government run on autopilot previous funding levels. why are the sides not agreeing on the timeframe? guest: republicans like to punt it to next year, conservatives said they would like to see a more conservative deal. democrats would like to see things punted to december. if there is a lame-duck fight, they feel like they can get more wins out of that. >> why do democrats feel like they can get more out of a lame-duck fight? >> feeling bullish on where things stand with where harris is in the election. right now this timeline is their best for negotiating things out. right now they've got democratic control of the senate and republican are feeling good about picking up seats in the senate. that could be a factor.

host: congress is back in at the august recess. 3:00 p.m. eastern for the senate coming in. we are talking about what is happening ahead. we like to do this on mondays when congress is in session. (202) 748-8000 free democrats. (202) 748-8001 republicans. independent, (202) 748-8002. science potentially putting up a government shutdown which the they business, what else is congress looking to do before they go home until election day? guest: it is china week, and bills. it's unclear whether that is going to get through there, but that they focus definitely as long to be for sure on the government funding. last night we saw the house foreign affairs committee released the afghanistan report, so that will be a big focus today, something they are hoping to bring up ahead of november. also the trump shooting

investigative committee are hoping to hold hearings this month, so a whole array of issues there. host: no lack of stories to write about. you wrote yesterday about this afghanistan report. who put it out and what is new about this report? guest: michael mccall put out this report, and this is kind of the culmination of a three-year investigation were initially, during the palau from afghanistan, there were some bipartisan concerns. republicans feel that there wasn't enough coordination and planning before pulling out troops, that it is responsible for the deaths of 13 service members and things could have been handled much differently where it could have gone smoother. >> one of their republican investigators on the house foreign affairs committee ended up resigning from the committee as congressman mccall wasn't

doing enough to hold the military leadership responsible, that he was focusing more on the political side of it. will that be addressed in this report, did this report have more focus on the military leadership when it came to pullout? >> i've talked to chairman mccall about it, he wanted to make sure that it was a fair and nonpartisan investigation, so the report would be taken seriously. that was a big concern for him. host: a 354 page report, is it available for anybody to read right now? guest: they made it public last night, and it touches on an array of issues. host: how does the reporter cover that when a page -- 354 page report gets drop and you got to cover that? guest: looking for the highlighted talking to members about it. host: can you give members on

the phone on a sunday night or is that something that the committee wants their members to come out and talk about? guest: it was definitely a lot of texting last night. host: is that one of the main way to communicate with members these days? guest: for sure. host: as they are texting and things are happening, referred some frustration from leadership when that happens we are talking about the had in washington. it is actually the month ahead, looking ahead to the end of september and that potential government shutdown (202) 748-8000 four democrats. (202) 748-8001 four republicans. (202) 748-8002, independents. this is elaine in connecticut, republican. you are up first. caller: i was just wondering, i

was watching c-span which i watch a lot, and liz cheney was being interviewed and i think her and her father should put their hats on and go back home and stay home. what she did was she said trump was a pig on national tv and i said isn't there any censorship? i think she has so much hatred in her heart, and she isn't a republican because i am republican and i don't think like her. it's so bad. i mean, she switched to the democratic party, that's what she did i think it is just a sin the way they pick on trump because obama, clinton, and the whole bunch of them all did the same thing and biden in afghanistan, 13 a very young, wonderful men. lona i mean, politics is just getting to be too much. host: when you say the term

isn't there any censorship, can you explain what you mean when you say isn't there any censorship? that is not something we hear a lot from people. what do you want to censor? caller: to call trump a pig? host: so you are just saying insults should be censored, people should be here when somebody old another person. -- insult another person. caller: i don't think you should insult somebody like that like if residents. host: that his grace in connecticut. the cheney endorsement of kamala harris, any reaction that you saw on capitol hill. guest: a lot of republicans say they don't feel it is going to move the needle, they long had a contentious relationship. we heard liz cheney kind of come

out and say that her father would also endorse kamala harris and they were kind of hoping it was moderate and swing voters that would move things toward their direction. host: this is usa today, one of the colonists. a liberal in good standing and i never imagined i found myself admiring the good sense of former republican vice president dick cheney. he talks about that endorsement. he said together, dick cheney and liz cheney creek information structure for other republican voters to back harris and more importantly for them, read the party of donald trump. democratic reaction to the cheney endorsement? guest: i think they are very excited about it. you will see her point to her former criticisms of the vice president, the primary and her losing matt, but democrats, her father is obviously prominent

figure may feel that her voice is a very important one to have out there. it could push moderates and swing voters toward voting for democrats in november. host: abdul in california, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. i am just now seeing what is going on with michael mccall. and you know what, after 20 years, we fought them there and over 50,000, almost 38 countries were involved. why bring this issue back? people don't want to fight.

somebody can answer it because in the united states, over 100,000. you know who are they? i know personally a lot of them. $100 million, these people. we support them. these are republicans. young people get blown up day and night for 20 years. host: got your point. to give you some background on this report, asking about why mccall is coming up with this report now. guest: this has been under investigation for three years and they interviewed a number of administration officials and subpoenaed a number of documents. he said he will continue to do everything in his power to get secretary blinken to testify and

they will be a press conference later today were you supposed to walk through more findings. host: let's walk viewers through the cover of this report. house republican interim report, a strategic failure assessing the administration about, stand rall. above that are two pictures, one from the withdrawal from afghanistan, one from the withdrawal from vietnam. the quote underneath it saying people being lifted off the roof of the embassy according to president joe biden on july 8, 2021, and then they put those pictures side-by-side. and then below the title of the report, including secretary of state antony blinken. whatever happened in afghanistan, deterioration and security, we have discussed this before. i do not think it is going to be something that happens from a

friday to a monday, but i would not necessarily equate the departure of forces in july or august or early september with some kind of deteriorathat in je evacuation in august. and this from mark milley, more likely than not to develop over the course of time that will allow some reconstitution of al qaeda and or isis. put this into context what they are trying to highlight. >> one of the major themes is republicans of the criticized the white house and the state department and the acting ambassador to afghanistan for

not heeding the warnings from the pentagon arguing that they should've had more of a plan sooner amid the evacuation plan in the days leading up to it. i think that is kind of a major theme they are going to lean into. they put this report out there to try to get it in the media. host: what is the covid test story? guest: the ambassadors her testimony from some of his staff that after the evacuation happened, the ambassador had tested positive for covid and proceeded to allegedly have a staffer take a test for him since he was still testing positive. host: this is ross wilson at the time. guest:guest: something that republicans are highly -- something that republicans are highly criticizing. that kind of further demonstrated with a field was a lack of leadership.

guest: i reached out, he has not gotten back to me yet. host: this is kathy in pennsylvania, republican. you are up next. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i just want to know why congress was allowed to go on vacation with the looming shutdown of the government. to me that is just ridiculous. they need to do their job. thank you. guest: they were kind of trying to work their way percent of the spending bills, the individual spending bills and get their work done and ultimately they didn't have the support there. congress traditionally has their august recess to go back and hear from their constituents and do district work. so they are fact, they are hoping to get it done in the next few weeks. host: how far did they get through their homework, as it were, their spending bills? with the house being controlled

by republicans, the senate by democrats, was there ever a serious pass for the normal process, the regular order? guest: a handful of them, the ones that were able to get to the house were never reconciled with the senate. just a lot of anticipation for the past few months now. host: who are going to be the main voices to keep the government open or shut it down? guest: i think it will be a lot of schumer and johnson trying to get things done now that the house and senate appropriations kind of put out there bills. host: can on a potential shutdown, there was a mention of this happens, republicans used to get blamed for a government shutdown. why is that? guest: sometimes the conservatives say it doesn't give them quite as much heartburn as democrats and more moderate members, but i talked

to a lot of moderate republicans especially in a tough election year who are concerned about that and confer assurances that that won't happen, that they are not going to be here october 3, and they definitely need those votes. host: the washington times today, the headline of the piece, the save act or shut down. the save act is that legislation being proposed where you have to present idea when you register to vote. and this is what the editorial board of the washington times rights more levelheaded realized that failure to pass appropriations legislation is less consequential now than it has ever been in the past, the largest are on autopilot and several employees sent home during a shutdown know that they will automatically receive full back pay whenever the government reopens. most americans will be affected by a shutdown and they likely have no idea how broken the voter registration in this country has become. leveraging the situation can

lead to some needed change, an argument for a potential shutdown. how big is that voice inside the republican conference? guest: you will also talk to republican to note that shutdowns could be more expensive than keeping government open and that government employees say they do feel that not having a paycheck, especially in the month leading up to the election can be a huge problem for them. host: austin texas is next, line for democrats. question or comment. caller: yes. my question i have, what happened with afghanistan, trump is partly responsible for that also, because he negotiated with the taliban by himself without afghanistan's president or

anybody else. so the failure of pulling out on the biden administration was a failure to, because he had to pull the people out. so trump is also responsible for that action. they need to understand that. thank you. guest: i've spoken to democrats and you will hear from democrats in the white house was a trump kind of laid the groundwork there and i think there will be a lot of blame cast on him. a report shortly after the withdrawal kind of made a similar argument. host: yesterday, how often does it mention donald trump. guest: not much. i need to do a deeper dive today . host: is there discussion about

the negotiation leading up to the biden presidency guest: and withdrawal? it definitely does a deeper dive into the biden administration. host: idaho, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. this morning what i would like to get is a question on here. we are talking about a government shutdown over the appropriation bill. i don't think anybody out here understands that every time, every penny they are talking about is going to be borrowed money. they run on a $2 trillion deficit which encompasses every nickel that we spend on the direct operating cost of the united states of america for one year. right now, the united states is in the latter stages of an

economic death spiral. in 2023 we spent $700 billion on interest. 2024 is going to be $1.1 trillion. he rolls over and rolls over and rolls over. and not one question in your previous segment for the candidates even getting close to asking that question. host: i think there is one that talked about debt and deficit but to take your point, what you think needs to happen here ahead of this particular funding fight, or do you think it is going to be the same old? caller: every nickel they are going to stand is going to be borrowed. in 2023 we only took in $4.4 host: i've got $5 trillion being taken in in revenue this year, but the federal budget deficit

approaching $1.9 trillion, you add up all the deficits over time, that is the total of u.s. national debt. currently $35 trillion. the u.s. debt clock is where you can go for those numbers. anything you want to comment on from that? guest: the topline numbers are still kind of being negotiated out. a resolution kind of keeps spending levels at the same level. host: texas, independent, good morning. >> thank you, c-span, for taking my call. i wanted to clarify some comments i heard about that afghanistan thing and that includes a little historical thing. and that went back four presidents. we can go back four presidents and our government that that war

went on. in the middle estimate of money spent in the war is $2 trillion. and if you take that, that middle estimate and you divide how much we spent per month, we were spending $9.6 billion per month to run that war. i understand that a lot of people want to paint everything with a big political brush, but we can't overwrite the fact that how much money we spend, how many lives we lost over that 20 year war and what we gained, which was basically nothing for anybody, and probably, nobody ever says this and, like your guest to comment on this, biden probably could see what was coming down the road and knew that we couldn't be involved in ukraine and we couldn't be involved in all the other conflicts we are involved in in the middle east. look at what is going on in the

middle east. he can probably see what is coming down the road and that is why he acquiesced to what trump wanted to do and what trump had negotiated and we have to get out on the date that trump had negotiated. remember also that trump wanted to bring those negotiators to camp david. that was the original plan. i'd like your guests to comment on all those things. host: we will certainly let her do that. have you ever heard of the cost of war project? caller: no sir, i haven't. is it something i can find online? host: it certainly is. google cost of war project. it is out of the watson innertube -- institute in brown university. what you were talking about is a lot of what they go into, trying to find a summary of the cost of the war that had happened since 9/11. just some of the summary for

you, over 940 thousand people have died in post-9/11 wars that have taken place to direct war violence and 38 million people have been refugees or displaced persons. it federal price tag is over a trillion dollars in the u.s. government is conducting counterterrorism activities in some 78 countries around the world. and a lot of what they do is trying to account for these things. something you might be interested in reading. guest: i just know that we have people fighting right now. sailors and airmen fighting right now for us overseas. i don't how you can classify it as part of the price of being a superpower. i have a grandson serving in the military right now and they couldn't be prouder of him, but i think that is part of the thing of being an american.

we have to do what we can to support our troops and i not sure all about -- about all of that. thanks for taking my call. look forward to hearing what your guest has to say. guest: the white house has been adamant the field bringing troops home and out of afghanistan with the right decision. that is kind of where they stand on that and i think you will continue to hear from republicans they created a national security risk by document and what is behind and it kind of leaves a gap in intel gatherings. host: john from memphis, tennessee. democrat, last caller in this segment. caller: good morning, c-span. my question for today is will congress try to -- bigger for

trump and knowing that he is not capable to run this country? will they do a better job the rest of the year, because they've been nothing all year. thank you. guest: i had a hard time hearing the first part of that question. caller: he wants to know if congress will do better about how they speak about donald trump. guest: congress and the house of representatives, they all kind of got their opinions and we will see how the rhetoric continues. host: who are the one or two or three members of congress that you want to talk to first when they come back here? guest: i will be looking at leadership and see what the latest is. kind of see with the big plans

are for the week. host: you can read about it and the coverage of it in axios.