more, including charter. >> charter is proud to be recognized as one of the best internet providers, and we are just getting started. over 100,000 miles of new infrastructure to reach those who need it most. >> charter communications 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 live, then we will talk about the looming federal spending deadline, first with tennessee republican go -- congressman tim burchett and later with minnesota democratic congresswoman betty mccollum. "washington journal" starts now. ♪ host: good morning on this thursday, september 12 53 days away from election day. this morning on "washington

journal," we want to know from you, which party do you want to control the house of representatives? democrats dial in at (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can text (202) 748-8003. include your first name, city, and state. or join us on facebook at facebook.com/cspan or on x at @cspanwj. take a look at 538, the polling company, they asked, do voters want republicans or democrats in congress? 46% -- 46.8% said democrats. 44.6% say republicans. which party do you want to control the house?

that is our conversation forhe first half an hour of the "washington journal." on capitol hill yesterday, the republicans who now control the house chamber by nine seats dropped the continuing resolution proposal that they were going to bring to the floor for a vote. this is from the new york times, house speaker drops vote on stopgap spending bill. speaker mike johnson abruptly canceled the vote on his initial plan to abort a government shutdown is opposition to the six-month piled up in both parties. it was a bruising setback for mr., coming just a few weeks before the september 30 deadline congress faces from the government or force a shutdown. that is in the "new york times" this morning. speaker johnson with reporters on wednesday talking about his

decision to postpone the vote, saying they will work over the weekend to get a coalition. [video clip] >> the american people demand and deserve that we do everything possible to secure the elections. that is what we have heard from the people across the country. it is consistent from coast to coast, north to south. we will continue to work with this i do the hard work, working through the weekend. i want any member of congress in either party to explain to the american people why we should not ensure that only u.s. citizens are voting in the u.s. elections. we will work on that issue around the clock because we have an obligation to the people, and that is what the fighters, what is important, the most pressing issue right now. we're going to get this job done. >> no vote today, right? >> no vote today because we are in the consistent -- consensusbuilding part of this

in congress. that is what we do, having thoughtful conversations, and we will get there. people have concerns about all sorts of things. that is how the process works. host: "wall street journal" reporting on those concerns, fractions of the republican party, defections in gop delay the funding bill with republicans in control of the chamber, johnson can only afford a handful of defections. some republicans who object to the measure want to move the next in line to march and say will prevent them from implementing spending cuts sooner, and others at the proposal will hurt the military's priorities. a dozen or so gop lawmakers were lined up against the speakers plan. this is what the house democratic caucus chair pete aguilar had to say about republicans holding this bill.

he talked with reporters on tuesday. [video clip] >> once again, house republicans are leading us toward a government shutdown. these so-called reasonable republicans are nowhere to be seen as speaker johnson tries to jim trump's project 2025 agenda into legislation. republicans know that this bill has no chance of becoming law, yet they want to force a vote that jeopardizes military readiness and veterans health care. we have seen how this ends. the only way to pass a government funding bill is to pass it on a bipartisan basis. even their own members admit it, the american people are sick and tired of the chaos and dysfunction and the extremism that they see from house republicans and their failure to govern in a responsible way. host: that was pete aguilar, caucus chair for the democrats in the house, saying the democrats should control the

chamber because voters are sick of the chaos. do you agree or disagree? which party do you want in the majority in the house? "wall street journal" is this, lawmakers need to pass the deal to continue funding federal agencies the on september 30 to prevent a partial government shutdown because congress has yet to agree on the 12th annual spending bills for federal agencies for the next fiscal year. republicans and their six-month cr include a provision that would prevent illegal immigrants from voting in federal elections, which is already illegal to do so. republicans are insisting that that proposal be in the legislation. senate democrats are saying that is a no go from the beginning. that is your update on what is happening on capitol hill on spending. this morning, we want to know which party you think should be in charge. sylvia in virginia, independent.

let's hear from you. caller: thank you. i do not think either one of them. i have become independent. we were republicans for years, democrats even before that in our family. and i think the independents need to take over, because i do not think either one of them are doing anything in congress. 2025, i would really like to know if president trump is involved in that. thank you. host: if he was, what would that mean for you supporting the republican party? caller: i don't. i am an independent now. i used to be republican, ever since i started voting when i was 18 years old. i am discouraged with both parties. thank you so much. host: fred in maryland, republican. which party should control the house? caller: i am a conservative

republican. i believe the independents that call in, their fans if i'd democrats. they always side with the party that ignores our constitution. we are in this mess because of one party, the democrat party. the rinos in the republican party not help. they bend over and do whatever chuck schumer and nancy pelosi tells them. these people are not even moderates. they are as moderate as joe biden claimed to be in the 2020 elections. host: answer the question. which party do you want to control the house? caller: republican, the conservative part of the republicans. when trump gets in there, we have to clean house. i'm not talking about ignoring the constitution like ignoring supreme court rulings or student loans, things like that, we need to follow the law and get back to the basics. host: if republicans were to retain the majority, you want to clean house.

does that mean speaker johnson needs to go? caller: speaker johnson is conservative, but he is willing to work with both sides. you have hakeem jeffries, extreme maga republican -- we need to get back to the basics. immigration is killing us. until we get a handle on that, we are going downhill. we need to follow the laws on the books. one more thing, i was appalled that c-span did not cover the victims of illegal immigration yesterday. there was nothing. the democrats ignored that hearing. nadler, he fell asleep during the hearing. they are not concerned about what is going on, and that says everything. i do not want these people in volved in my life anymore. they got to go. host: if republicans are in the majority, who should be speaker of the house? caller: jim jordan.

he was such a threat, nancy pelosi did not want him on that january 6 hearing. host: jim in trenton, texas, independent. caller: hello, am i on? host: yes, which party should control the house? caller: i am leaning towards the democrat. i am in independent. because they take care of older people, and i'm one of the older people. host: when you'd say taking care of the older people, which policies are you talking about? caller: as you know, there is an argument about social security and about medicare and all that. the democrats seem like the only ones that care. host: republicans who speaker putting forth on the floor bills dealing with china, to portray the party as tough on china. they are calling it china week, several proposals, passing with

bipartisan support. do you think they should be spending the week on that issue? u.s. policy toward china. caller: no, i do not think they ought to take that time. host: jim in texas, independent. "washington post," house republicans are bringing a rest of china focus legislation to a vote in a pre-election bid to bolster the party's foreign policy credentials, as democrats and the gop compete to try to pass, managing a front relationship with the united states most powerful adversary. the broadly bipartisan sensing congress that beijing poses a significant national security threat has turned the rally cry tough on china as a point of contrast in this election year. republicans want a show of strength against rivals, and democrats have sought to have their own tough on china, and

they say this is a cynical ploy for votes. will it work with all of you? trish in seattle, democratic caller. which party do you want in power? caller: without even a doubt, the democrats. mike johnson, what has he accomplished since he got in there? all of the fighting. just yesterday, johnson had to call off the vote. that would never happen with nancy. she knew how to wrangle those members, how to get consolidation, and not waste our time without a vote. what these guys are doing, johnson and scalise, is just a big old playground school brawl. it was said last summer that the republicans had not gotten anything done. absolutely nothing.

then instead of staying and working, they decided to take a little earlier holiday vacation. so we have to get these bills passed or we don't. in the meantime, our veterans are hurting, our farms -- legislation needs to be dialed in asap for them, food spending and the farmers, etc. but mike does not do anything. he cannot even herd cats. bob goode got kicked out of the freedom caucus. there is one for you. host: he lost in the primary, as well. caller: yeah, so there you go. host: if democrats were able to wrestle back the majority in the house this election in november, who do you think should be the

leader? caller: oh, without a doubt, hakeem jeffries. host: and why? caller: because he has a plan. he knows how to wrangle the members. he knows how to get in consensus with these folks and work on the policies that america wants. host: what would be the policies that you would want to see a democrat-controlled housework on first? caller: well, the farm bill and the v.a. bill, two huge, imported bills to get past. host: what about reproductive health? caller: absolutely. all they want to do is tear it down. i do not know what fred is talking about earlier, but the republicans, they do not have anything. they have no policy agenda. all they want to do is tear it down. just look at what happened with

the immigration bill, and that was written by the consensus of republicans, but somebody got into the earwig of the former president's mindset, so they just tore it all down. host: the former president also saying that he thinks that the continuing resolution should include this save act, as well, or shut the government down. he has put his finger on the debate in the house over that, as well, this week. the safeguard american voter requires proof of citizenship to register to vote in a federal elti. it ialready illegal for undocumented immigrants to past a ballot in federal elections. pa house in july, 221-198. all republicans and five to ricketts voted for it. no senate vote is planned yet.

introduced by a replin of texas, congressman chip roy. fi docrats also voted for the legislation. that is included in the republicans continuing resolution that would fund the government until march. the vote pulled from the floor yesterday, speaker johnson saying they will work over the weekend trying to get enough republicans to vote. coming up, we are going to talk to one republican, tim burchett, who opposes the way this plan is written as of now. we are asking all of you this morning, which party do you want to control the house? i asked about reproductive health because democrats are focusing on reproductive rights in their ads across congressional districts. here is a spot from a pro-democratic group against a republican candidate in michigan's eighth district. [video clip] >> michigan already voted to protect abortion rights, but that will not stop extremist paul young. young wants to ban abortion with

no exceptions for rape or incest. he says -- >> i am pro-life, at all times. >> he even said he would celebrate the opportunity to restrict women's reproductive freedom. take him at his word, paul young is too extreme for michigan. host: an example of the ads democrats are running to try to take back control of the house of representatives. we want to know from you, which party do you want to control the house starting in november? republicans are focusing on the economy and the cost of living in their ads. here's an example from the national republican congressional committee in support of the texas 34th district. [video clip] >> i just want to make good food for good people but washington democrats are killing us. >> everything is more expensive. >> a cost me twice as much just to get to work.

>> no one is doing anything about it. >> outrageous. >> we need leaders like fluoresce that will fight for us. >> places like this are the heart of our community, but d.c. politicians are crushing businesses. i will fight for the valley and bring down prices. thank you. i approve this message. host: william in ohio, independent. caller: i think i would like to see the democrats take over because they get things done, and the republicans do nothing at all. as long as they listen to the big orange monster, we are moving towards extreme america. i will tell you right now, the democrats will work for this country and do a good job and get things done again for the american people. host: you are an independent. have you always leaned democrat and voted for the democratic party? caller: no. the monster turned me

independent. we had that crazy thing in charlestown, charlottesville. that is crazy. i am independent all the way. host: ok. alex in brooklyn, democratic caller. caller: good morning. yes, can you hear me? host:host: yes. caller: good morning, good morning. i think -- -- democrats should e control of the house, just from the past congress we

as much as they can delegitimize the process, as much as they can bring this to the supreme court and take this election. that is what this is all about. what we have to really think about is, beyond all of this drama and theater, and see what republicans are actually doing. and i wish she would put some clips about what it is that they are doing in congress and all of these different states where they are making it extremely difficult, throwing out votes, just making it impossible for people to vote, and that is what they want. they want chaos in order to keep control. i hope democrats win. we have five seats here that i hope we turn.

in california, as well. hopefully we get that congress, and hakeem can lead the house. host: john in troy, new york, republican what do you say? caller: good morning. hopefully the republicans win. but what i cannot understand is kamala harris is running away from all the policies that she championed up until five minutes ago. want to know how she really feels about stuff? youtube any interview from her from the past three years when she was asked directly, will you ban fracking as president when she ran in 2020, she said absolutely. open borders, she does not want border patrol. she has been in charge of the past four years, and she has just held it up. she could close it right now she wanted to. i do not care how poorly think -- people think, trump could have done better in the debate and kamala was nice and polished, but if you look at the

policies and country, not personality, the reason we are where we are in this country right now is because the democrats have gone insane the last five years with the policies. host: on immigration, have house republicans done enough? caller: that is the other thing, too, the immigration law that the democrats brought in and how they say trump shot it down. that law would have put into law, set in stone, just because 10,000 a day were coming across the border and democrats say, ok, 5000 a day on average come through, then we will have the ability to close it. it is half of a horrendous situation, still not good. trump had record low -- i am not talking about legal immigration, i'm talking about illegal immigration. trump had record low illegal immigration. biden and harris came in and opened the border wide open, and then we had a complete mess down at the southern border that is

affecting every state right now. undecided voters today, i cannot understand because these two are so night and day. i'm not radically right. i have been the same guy i have always been, it is just the democrats have gone insane in the last five years. host: i will ask again, what have house republicans done on immigration? caller: they want to control the border. they said they want a controlled border like they had when they handed the white house to joe biden. they do not want it set in stone, a policy that will allow a semi-complete insanity instead of the full insanity we see going on. host: guarded, heard your point. from rollcall, democrats have a path to the house, democrats winning virtually all the tulsa braces. on the other hand, even though

republican see the current house majority shrink with bessie -- passing resignations, gop is in a better position to control the house on election day. this was written in. -- this was written in may. the math is more difficult for democrats. 174 races solid democratic, 35 likely, told democrat, putting them at 209 seats, so democrats need to win nine of the 10 tulsa braces to get to 218 -- nine of the 10 tossup races. if you go to the cook political report, you will see that the tossup races, now about 24, the gray right there, then look a solid republican, 192, solid

democrat 174. then these leaned democrat, tilt republican, or lean republican, tilt republic hidden -- republican. maria in north carolina, democratic caller. caller: good morning. i would like to address the republican caller. one thing he did not mention was the fact that a bipartisan bill came up before congress, and trump put it down. they were ready to vote on that. it is more of what trump wants to do. in a perfect world, i want the democrats to control all three. host: two of the three branches of government. caller: yeah, including the presidency.

i want to codify women's reproductive rights. that needs to be settled once and for all. the second thing is -- oh, dear, it is early. host: it is. caller: supreme court. we need to do something. this is a laughable supreme court. if we have to put additional seats on the court to bring it back where it is reasonable. in my opinion, i would like hakeem jeffries, i think you would be a wonderful -- oh, dear. host: wonderful speaker if they win the majority. caller: wonderful speaker. host: we will let you go. you go get another cup of coffee. priscilla in virginia, independent. which party do you want to control the house? caller: definitely the

democratic party. there is no way the republicans should stay in power. they have shown that they are totally inept and kind of wonky out there. i do not know what has happened to the party. they used to be a republican for many, many years of my life. and when this guy trump, the convicted felon and crook, was elected to our presidency, i completely jumped off that ship, could not, have not believed anything of what i have been seeing and hearing. i am like mitt romney in that way. i just think they are not the republican any longer. host: what do you like about the democratic policies? caller: i like their belief in women. i like the fact that they believe in the rights of women. i mean, women have fought for

decades to get rights to vote, rights to own property, and out they are trying to take the right to our health care? i am an older woman, so abortion is not something i would be looking at personally, but i think of all of the reasons why women need to have really great health care in the event they should need an abortion. having to jump on a train to another state or find some way of transportation, it disgusts me that the republicans have placed women in this position. host: jerry in tennessee, democrat. caller: definitely the democrats. republicans can't run the house. the main thing is to do away

with project 2025. if democrats take over, that thing will be thrown to the dept hs of hell. if republicans win, women ain't going to have a place in this country. are they going to be a slave? churches are so disappointing, and maybe they will return back to normalcy. but the republican house has really went nowhere. mike johnson up there, he shows himself, and we see what donald trump's theory of operations are from the times past. yes, we could have had an immigration bill that would have been for everybody, and donald trump stopped it. even the republicans wanted it. host: i am going to leave it at that. we're going to talk about government funding and possible shutdown. we will be joined by two lawmakers on both sides of the

aisle, coming appeared republican tim burchett of tennessee, and later, democrat betty mccollum of minnesota, top democrat on the appropriations committee. we will be right back. ♪ >> attention middle and high school students across america, time to make your voice heard. c-span's studentcam documentary contest 2025 is here. create a documentary that can inspire change, raise awareness, and make an impact. this year's question, your message to the president, what issue is most important to you or your community? whether you're passionate about politics, environment, or community stories, students can

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neural election of 18 72 -- gubernatorial election of 1872 in her book "america's deadliest election." 10:00 p.m. eastern afterwords, kim whaley looks at the history of the pardon system, how it works, and recent challenges the system is facing. she is interviewed by a university of michigan emeritus professor. booktv every sunday on c-span2 or online at booktv.org. >> "washington journal" continues. host: with us at the table, congressman tim burchett, republican of tennessee, on the oversight and accountability and foreign affairs committees. within the republican party, there is debate over the stopgap

spending plan of speaker johnson. he wants to pass a continuing resolution to keep the government funded at its current levels until march. where do you stand? guest: i voted against it. they attached the save act to it, which is to prevent foreign folks from voting. we already past that in july. chuck schumer refuses to bring it up. i keep saying to our leadership, why don't we hold a press conference and ask why they are not bringing this up and why they are doing it? the other thing is the fact that it is a continuing resolution, and it continues the mad spending policies, in my opinion, of schumer and speaker pelosi, and forcing conservatives like myself to vote for it so they can attach the save act to it, which we have already past. it is too much inside

washington, inside the ballpark, kind of play. i don't think america gives a rip about all that. i don't think they want to shut the government down. i am not afraid to do that. we have done it before. but i think going into an election cycle is probably not the best time to do it. again, you are forcing conservatives to vote for horrible spending policies that are in place. we at $1 trillion every 100 days to our debts, and neither party wants to do anything about it. the dirty secret is the democrats wanted to do it for so-called woke programs and republicans will do it for missile defense plans. so we're both just going to run up our check card beyond belief, and neither party has a plan to pay it back. i think it is time for like-minded people to say enough is enough. host: will you be part of we can conversations with the speaker's office to try and convince you to vote yes? guest: i am sure if they call, i will pick up the phone.

i had a long meeting yesterday with a group for over an hour, and they were very convincing in why we needed to do this. there was a lot of strategery, as they say, with conservative members. i think that is how we will get a solution. ultimately, i think we will end up passing a big spending package and no one will make any cuts and we will go home and blame both sides. 90 9% of us will get reelected. host: on the save act, it is already illegal for undocumented immigrants to vote in federal elections, so why is this needed? where is there evidence that is happening? guest: it may be anecdotal to yell, but if one or two votes are cast illegally, we have won elections in our own conference within just 20 or 30 votes,

literally congressional races decided in this last go round. so i think it is important that every vote counts and is legitimate.like we do in tennessee , our secretary of state, who i served with in the legislature, he is a friend but also a dynamite secretary of state, and we do not have the problems that they do in these other states and the shenanigans that seem to go on. it is disappointing that other states do not look at tennessee and have folks from tennessee show them how we do it and how we do not have the problems. you do not see the cameras rolling in in tennessee. you do not have people running in and saying these are not verified, these are foreigners, this, that, and the other thing. we just have legitimate elections in tennessee. the rest of the country, it is a mixed bag.

the federal laws say on elections that the state legislature has to make the laws on the elections. so what you see in some of these states is their nonstate elected officials moving voting places around, having open ballot boxes, doing things that are not legal. that calls into question. and i know that is tradition, and i know that a lot of these states have a history of voting -- host: how will the safe act to solve what you outlined? guest: the save act would verify everyone at the ballot box being an american citizen. host: how would it address when you said is happening at the state level? guest: because the states have changed some of those rules. the states have literally given illegal aliens drivers licenses.

in some states, all you have to have is a drivers license to register to vote. so you can see how that can easily be displayed. you could be registered to drive in one state and move your residency to another, take your drivers license, and vote in that state. some states are allowing people just to vote with a drivers license and there is no verification, and they are here illegally. host: with democrats in the senate controlling that chamber, they say they are not going to pass the six month cr, that they will not pass the save act. would you be in support of a three-month continuing resolution to get through the election that would avoid a government shutdown? guest: i would like to see what is in it. if they bring me the same horrible spending packages that we have right now, the deficit spending, no, i would not. the one thing we do have is our

constitutional duty in congress, to pass a budget. in 30 years, we have never passed a budget. 30 years. we have a budget committee that meets every week. i used to serve on the committee. i asked to be taken off of it because it does not do anything. you have got an excellent chairman out of texas right now who does a great job with that committee. here's what happens, they put together a budget and bring it toward the conference and they get the golf clap and a pat on the head, then sent on their way. why? they do not want single spending bills. that is what we need to clean up the mess, single spending bills. make every congressman and woman come up and defend their bills. i can defend all my bills and the funding. i guarantee you that a lot of them cannot. that is what you have a 3000-page bill dropped on your desk five minutes before the

vote, because they will not have you read on to page 30, find what you need for your district, then people for it and disregard the rest. several thousand other pages, and that is why we are $35 trillion in debt. host: stephen in indiana, independent. caller: yeah, tim, you make a lot of sense, buddy. i am independent, but you make a lot of sense about all the spending that has been taking place in the democratic party. the republicans has followed the democrats to the whole process for the last three and a half years, actually four years. they fought to keep this deficit down. but the democrats -- it does not make any sense to me how these

bills, like you said, 3000 pages just before it is time to get these bills passed, it just does not make any sense. host: are you there? who do you blame in the republican party for that, the leadership? caller: it is the democratic party that does this, not the republicans. host: republicans control the house. you decide what legislation comes to the floor. guest: yes, and i would tell stephen he would get nowhere in town by complementing me. but i do appreciate what he said. i am sure my wife and daughter are smiling right now in tennessee. truth is, both parties are guilty at the end. democrats get a hold of it, they will spend it on what we call

woke programs. the republicans get a hold of it and spend it on missile defense systems that are not needed. and therein lies the problem. both parties play it. what you will see in one of these big continued resolutions, omnibus, whatever you want to call it, everyone disagrees. they will go home and say, look at those dirty democrats, just a joke playing on the american people, then they will get reelected, and they will go on a congressional delegation trip together and they will toast themselves and continue getting that huge salary all pay us. host: speaker johnson said he would pass these spending bills one at a time. what grade would you give him on what he said he would do? guest: i would give him a good grade. here is the problem was speaker johnson. i find him to be very honest, almost to a fault in this town.

but the problem he has is that we have a two or three-person majority. you have to realize, some of those guys up in new york that are friends of mine, we do not agree on anything politically, but they are in districts were joe biden won by 15 points. he has a very fine line to ride, and i get it. he is trying to get something passed, trying to keep the government running. they do not want to hang that around our next at election time. i am willing to shut the government down if it comes to it, but i do not think it needs to come to that with all the nonsense. i think if we would present a reasonable -- for instance, i raised the speed limit in tennessee. i asked for probably 90 and i think i got 70. of course, i brought peyton manning to the house it would before, i probably could have passed 100 miles per hour and communism in tennessee at the point. truth is, you ask for a lot and negotiate.

we send a clean cr to the senate, and schumer sends it back with what he needs, then you go back and forth. you do negotiating. when i first got to congress, i remember one of my smaller communities needed some money for a water system and sewer system, which was incredibly antiquated. they could not increase the size of their school or bring in any business. there was money set aside in the federal government any were supposed to write a letter. i said, who the hell am i writing this letter to? and they told me it was a very nice lady, and i called her and she had a sweet southern exit, sort of like my mama did, and she said, congressman, i have been here 20 years and have never talked to a congressman. i said, you know why that is, i said, because i have not been in congress. we have to put the dadgum pencil down and talk face-to-face with

these folks and try to work something out with the american people. i am kind of sick about the hijinks. we're are going to write a tough letter get 20 congressman to sign it. that is a lobbyist trick. the lobbyists come to town to get hired by these people they go write a strong letter to whatever, and that is bogus. pick up the dadgum phone, tell the congressman to get off their butts and quit going to their cocktail parties. walk across the street and talk to the bureaucrat or the member of the opposing party and figure something out. host: michigan, democratic caller. caller: yes, you were in congress during the january 6 riot, insurrection. did you vote against the certification of the 2020 election? guest: yes, sir. caller: you voted against because you think there was vote fraud? i mean, the republicans keep

bringing up this issue of vote fraud, and you know that fox news was sued over lying about the dominion voting machines and there was no rigged voting machines, and fox news lost or settled that lawsuit for like $800 million. and you keep talking about vote fraud and rigged voting machines. i am in michigan. i do not know of a single -- what do you call it? prosecution for vote fraud in the 2020 election. you keep talking about this, and there is no evidence. to me, this riot was incited by trump, and when trump told the people to march to the capitol, the capitol was closed that day, correct? everything was closed to the public. so all those people that marched

to the capitol were trespassing, even if they did not get into the building. guest: i have said many times, i was actually the less congressperson to leave the house floor. i stayed to fight, we did not know what was going on. once a person crossed those barriers, they were trespassing. i have said that many times, have not argued with that. i always find it odd that it is my friends across the aisle that bring it up continuously. i knock on doors. that is how i get elected. i do not come from money. i can daresay this year, it has never been brought up once when i knock on registered voters doors. this is never brought up. you have to realize, too, speaker pelosi, i have a quote from her that when trump beat hillary clinton, she protested that vote, as well. so the votes i made over the eight states that i felt like

had some discrepancies were things just like i mentioned. you had ballot boxes that were left open. you had unaccounted for ballots, not verification of some folks. these were legitimate concerns that i thought should have been answered before the election. host: concerns and then there were lawsuits and judges throughout the cases. guest: they were thrown out, not because of content, they were thrown out on technicalities. that was a legal mistake made by our team. we had some show ponies, and we should have had work horses. i am not an attorney, and i respect -- i expect jim jordan to be able to better talk about the specifics. host: oklahoma, republican. caller: yes, a republican on. the trump-harris debate, the

moderators of abc, three on one, and all the democratic callers forget about trump saying march peacefully and patriotically. a convenient drop, so there's never any fact checking from the moderator on these so-called independents and our democrats. my point was, i think there is premature celebration of the democrats because kamala was on the house, leaving the house as a result. kamala talking a lot, but there was no solution. there was nothing -- host: what are you referring to? caller: referring to the celebration that the media is doing that the house will now go democrat because kamala is able

to talk and get support from the moderators. host: ok, because of debate momentum, the media is saying now the house could go to democrats, he says. guest: my theory on debates are you bring your site and i bring my side, and we both leave thinking we won. the only debate in my lifetime that has ever made a difference was the trump-biden one which showed president biden was, in fact, mentally inept to handle the job, and then the democrats yanked it out from under him. so i do not think this debate mattered a whole lot. everybody got their jabs in. just like i predicted, the folks from cnn said how much kamala harris won and the folks on fox said how much president trump won. host: how did the former president to come in your opinion? guest: i thought he could have

done better. obviously, i third -- i thought he could have done better in the debate over biden. the answers were not what i would have given, but i do not think she helped yourself either by laughing and trying to talk over him. the caller is correct, there is a lot of frustration with the bias in the media. abc did not fact-check kamala harris on a couple things. one of them was the 2025 report, which i have not read, and obviously kamala harris has not read because it does not have anything about ivf and she also mentioned squads that would hunt women down or check on them if they were pregnant or if they have an abortion. that is not even in there. so i would think that at some point in media hurts themselves, and i think that is why shows like this, ratings are getting better. and then folks like abc, unfortunately, more people are

watching reruns of "spongebob squarepants" on cartoon network. they had walked music and a producer to produce it, nobody watched that. nobody that had any other inkling of the way they would think, nobody's mind was made up. americans are too busy working and trying to raise their kids and trying to get over paying 600 more dollars a month out of pocket than they did three years ago. they are not spending a lot of time on these crazy debates. host: the vice president announces her first name ka- mala. you mispronounced it. do you do that on purpose? guest: no, ma'am. i am not sure how she pronounces it. this is the first time somebody told me how to pronounce it. how do you pronounce it? host: ka-ma-la, and you said

ka-mala. guest: people get my last name wrong all the time. i stand corrected. thank you. somebody is going to say you're showing bias to her by correcting her and not correcting anybody for me, but i see that as you being very kind to me. i will take it as that. host: how do you respond to center -- to senator romney who said harris showed she was an intelligent and capable person? guest: i do not have any argument with that at all. she has a law degree, obviously has a lot of intelligence. she has accomplished a lot in her life and for her family. i remember when she was nominated, and i tweeted out, regardless of political parties, a young lady whose family came here from another country is now in line to be the most powerful person in the world. i have a wife and daughter. my mama flew an airplane during the second world war. i've been around my chief of staff in nashville and my chief

of staff here in washington, d.c., women. i am not afraid of strong women. host: then why call her a dei hire? guest: that is what the president called her. he said it starts at the top, and he called her that exactly. and then when president biden does it, they want to give him all these accolades. then when i quote the president of the united states, i am being chastised. that shows a double standard in the media, and that is why i think the media in this country is going down the tubes, why nobody is paying attention to it. there are folks like my buddy sean ryan who has a podcast, and more people are watching that then watching news stories, because they find the biasness in the media, left and right. host: we will go to joe in maine, independent. caller: hey, pete, i guess, if

you're going to call ka-mala, don't know how to speak english, telling all kinds of lies. let me ask you, skippy, you are the one who voted to get rid of kevin mccarthy, right? that was you, your vote, boy. ok? so george or whatever your name is -- host: can you get to your question? caller: ok, why do you lie? and donald trump said, you said i do what donald trump told me to do. donald trump is not the president. let's correct that. guest: when did i ever do what donald trump told me to do? caller: you just said that? you just rated ka-mala and a woman and dei, that is from donald trump and heritage foundation and 2025, crown boy. host: you can repeat what you

said. guest: that is alright. i appreciate it. he obviously had a little bit too much morning. i am not even sure, what was the question? host: i think he thought you were referring to former president trump said she was a dei hire. caller: probably quoting me. host: that you were saying the current president. guest: there is a quote that you can google, easy to find, where he said that. he said dei, starts at the top, diversity equity and inclusion starts at the top, and it starts with my vice president, and people cheered. my point is, but the best player in. if washington, d.c., was nfl, peyton manning was still be waiting to get in, because we do not put the best players in. the person who raises the most money, does the most this, that, the other thing, not the person that produces. that is how you get ahead in washington, d.c. host: to chicago, democratic

caller. caller: good morning, greta, good morning representative burchett. guest: thank you, ma'am. caller: you're welcome, tim. years ago, democrats, republicans, and independents fought together for the armed services, even newt gingrich and dick cheney were part of the movement. i heard you mentioned that republicans, democrats, and independents will join together to support missile-defense systems. would you be willing to work with democrats to stop missile-defense systems? although the save act makes it harder for people to exercise our human rights to vote, would you be willing to protect human rights abroad and work with democrats and independents to protect human lives and enforce delay he act to not give arms to those who violate the laws of war, murdering innocent civilians? thank you, tim. guest: thank you, ma'am.

i would not vote to remove missile-defense systems. i would vote to limit them. let me tell you what happened, i did not vote for the money for ukraine, but when president biden through an executive order or whatever said we're going to give ukraine our missile defense system and then we had to replenish hours, which i think we should have to replenish hours, we should not be left unattended to in that area, i noticed that members of both parties own stock in that company and made considerable profits because of that billion dollar no-bid project. those are the kind of things that this town enjoys and, in fact, celebrates. people get ahead in their portfolios, and their very large. i am proud to say my $9,000 portfolio is handled by my buddy

tommy. i have all my money in mutual funds, and i would like to see stock trades eliminated by congressman. i would think a mutual fund is fine and works very well. those are the kind of things i would like to see. i'm sorry, i'm not sure if i got all the questions on that one, but i hope i answered them. host: we appreciate your time this morning. congressman tim burchett -- guest: you got my name right. host: you're welcome here thank you for being at the table. guest: always a pleasure. i actually enjoyed being on here. you gave me a cup of coffee, and i might even walk up with that coffee mug. host: you sure can. coming up next, a view from the other side of the aisle on the government spending debate, we will talk with democrats betty mccollum of minnesota, top democrat on the appropriations committee. we will be right back. ♪

♪ ♪ >> as the 2024 presidential campaign continues, american history tv presents a new nine part series, historic presidential elections. learn about the pivotal issues of different eras, uncover what made these elections historic and elore their lasting impact on the nation, this saturday at 7:00 p.m. eastern. a look at the election of 1850.

abraham lincoln defeated several other candidates including stephen douglas to become the first republican elected president. several states in the southern u.s.uld out of the union, leadinhe civil war. watch historic presidential elections, saturday at 7:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span two. >> sunday night on c-span's q and day, author and publisher peter talks about lbj and mcnamara. a soon-to-be book about president johnson and robert mcnamara's handling of the vietnam war. he talked about publishing robert mcnamara's memoir in retrospect of the meetings we had with mr. mcnamara. >> i was pleased or happy that mcnamara let me push him around to get what we needed. i wanted him to do what i

thought was essential, which was explain how it was possible that all of these really smart people , the best and the brightest, which became a term of derision, how could they have gotten it so wrong? how could this group get the vietnam project wrong? >> peter with his book lbj and mcnamara. you can listen to q and a on the free c-span app. >> washington journal continues. host: we are back with congresswoman betty mccollum of minnesota, a democrat on the appropriations committee. a ranking member of the defense appropriations subcommittee.

let's start with the report by republicans in the house to extend the current level of funding through march. how do you stand on that? guest: we should get our work done on time. the appropriators should have had a bill that was bipartisan enough to pass on the house floor to go over to the senate to get real negotiations going. unfortunately, the republican bills were so partisan that they had to do that. they didn't pass on the house floor but the ones that did pass were so partisan i couldn't vote for it. that's where the continuing resolution comes into play which is what you are talking about. a continuing resolution for six months is advocating our responsibility once again to get the job done on time. we are supposed to have these bills passed, ready on the president's desk in october. and when we don't have it done

on time, it causes inefficiency. it causes more chaos within the agencies. and it doesn't allow, especially in a presidential election year, for a smooth transition for a new administration to prepare a budget. so, it is long headed to keep the saying we will do a continuing resolution. another thing a continuing resolution does is it doesn't fund the programs we might agree on partisan only to move forward -- partisanly to move forward. in the department of defense, maybe it is the payraise we agree our service members should get or housing for our service members. instead, with doing a continuing resolution, it funds programs we have agreed to cut. it's a terrible proposal. we need short-term -- with few emergencies added onto it and

then we need to get our job done and pass the real bill. host: what about the six-month strategy? would you agree to a three month continuing resolution? guest: we should just get our work done. that means staying here until it is done. if we were ted -- everybody is going to go home, it appears that calendars are going to change and we are going home in october. if we are going to go home in october, we should find ways to be working, whether it is zoom calls or conference calls. even during the month of october . i don't support picking us down the road. i think a realistic timeframe is november to december. i really think, i'm really to stay here as an appropriate or, the while congress has to stay, to work this out with

prospective leadership to get this done in november. host: if there is not an agreement and you get to september 30 when the deadline is, if there is a government shutdown, the news reports it would be partial. explain what that means. guest: as we said, we passed some of the bills. and so, there are five bills that were passed. we could go and we could negotiate that with the senate and bring those five bills forward. every single agency is dependent upon another agency. think of your household budget. if you decide i'm going to budget for food but i'm not going to budget for gas or the house payment, that's irresponsible. we need to get the whole job done and get it done as soon as possible. we shouldn't have a government shutdown. democrats have prevented it. the last couple of times it came close.

we helped pass continuing resolutions and the spending bills at the end, when people sat down and worked it out in a bipartisan fashion. that's the solution. that's what we need to do. host: on the cr proposal i the speaker, he has included in it the faith act, which would make it illegal for undocumented immigrants to vote in federal elections. five of your democratic colleagues voted for it when it was brought to the house floor in july. why not include that language? host: it was a stand-alone bill when it was voted on. appropriations are supposed to deal with the financing, and fine tuning of what it takes to keep the rent running and open. moving effectively and moving efficiently. we have authorizing committees. authorizing committees that look at authorizing legislation, how to change legislation. part of the problem, why these bills have become so partisan is

the defense bill and -- in the defense bill and other bills democrat's have not been able to vote for, -- they put the kitchen sink in it. they start putting authorizing language into the appropriation bills. that's not our job. it shouldn't be there. speaker johnson, when he did that, he was trying to get his members to vote for it and his members wouldn't vote for their own bill. it shouldn't be in there. host: our last congressman to sized his own party saying they want to spend on things like missile defense. -- criticized his own party saying they want to spend on things like missile defense. is the committee, the congress spending too much money on defense? guest: we need to be more efficient on how we spend money in defense. there is no money in the defense committee that i identified when i was chair two years ago.

there are military bases that need to be partially closed down, and the authorizer's need to do their job and allow us to stop funding some of those ineffective programs. there are programs which the department does not want any more, that still kind of keep floating up in our bills. we could cut some of those programs. i could find examples of things we can do to cut. the other thing we need to do as a committee is we need to get the department of defense to do an auditor the supreme court is the only one who has done an audit. we have challenged space force to be the next. the army and the navy to do audits. there is room to cut back. it needs to be done wisely. it needs to be done strategically, with inputs. host: tom in ohio, republican.

hi, tom. caller: hi, greta. how are you doing? host: good morning. caller: i would love to ask the congresswoman if she agreed with kamala harris's statement during the debate tuesday the 81.5 million americans -- that 81.5 million americans -- donald trump in the election. that number has been revised by the democratic party as of march of this year. joe biden got 75.5 million votes. all this time, you've been telling people it was 81.5. where did those 6 million votes go and where did they come from? they were fake ballots that you people took illegally. thank you. host: obviously the caller has made -- guest: obvious leave the caller has made up his mind and has his own opinion with what happened during the election. i think it was a clear and fair

election. i can speak for minnesota where we had some of the largest voter turnout in the united states. i look forward to the election in november. host: usa today today full of voters in swing states where the election could be determined -- poll of voters in swing states where the election could be determined. one voter reacted he was skeptical the debate was won by either candidate with new voters and it didn't change his opinion that harris has not shown she can make the country a better place while trump has four years of accomplishment under his belt. the quote is this country has gone the wrong direction in the last 3.5 years. inflation is up and interest rates are up. who do you trust? guest: i'm supporting vp harassed her become president of the united her running mate, tim walz, the governor of minnesota.

i am proud of the work they are doing to move us forward. i served under the trump administration where i saw a lot of things going backwards, whether it be in environmental protection, protections for workers rights and moving forward on working on climate change. the caller and i are probably going to disagree on the direction we think the country should be going. he's entitled to his opinion but we need to be moving forward. i will say this. i think vice pres. harris: knows she -- vp harris knows she needs to spend time talking about her plans going forward. people who still have a little bit of space in making a decision for president, give her an opportunity to tell us how she would like to take our nation forward. host: von in missouri, independent. caller: good morning.

host: good morning. caller: you straight into that you won't vote for her -- [indiscernible] guest: we kept things lean and mean and we stayed to the appropriations. once or twice, there were things added on and they were negotiated by the four corners, the leadership of both the house and the senate republican and democratic parties. speaker johnson negotiated with no one except a few members in his caucus. thank you for your question but i've been in the room when the decisions have been happening and this was not an inclusive decision. thank you for your question. host: jaden in south carolina, republican. caller: yes, good morning. host: good morning. caller: yes, did you say republican?

independent, hello? host: talking to you, jaden in south carolina. caller: i don't understand why the democrats, what they usually do is cause conflicts. all they are going to do is make themselves look bad. i wouldn't give into them. i think the democrats need to stand up and be crafty with these guys. if they want to self-destruct, we will see that we need to change the house too. i think they put too much emphasis on the presidential election book we are going to take the house and the -- need the house and the senate also to get something done. if we don't, it's going to be the same thing. i think they need to advertise, take this momentum and push it for getting that guy johnson out

and those republicans. because they've been causing the same kind of chaos for the whole time they've been in there. this is the time to let the american people see what they are really doing. i wouldn't given an inch. host: for the congresswoman, that's the plan. don't give an inch. guest: it's a negotiation. and it says on c-span, it says democrat. i'm from the democratic former labour party. i come from a coalition party. coalitions meaning hear each other out. you find out what your goal is and maybe people have different objectives of how to reach their goal but you get there eventually. and so, i work across the aisle. that's my job. people elect me to do that. to his point about chaos, sitting on the house floor, members not being able to get

sworn in, families waiting to celebrate both democratic and republican families waiting to celebrate members of congress, it took us days to get a speaker and then we got another speaker and another speaker. and that chaos needs to stop. i say this with great affection to my republican colleagues. my mother was a republican from montana, north dakota. i love republicans, one gave birth to me. there are some people in the republican party that if they don't get their way, it's the highway. and i want viewers here to know there are a lot of us on both sides of the aisle who want to work together to get the job done. host: mike in north carolina, republican, your turn. caller: good morning. i was wondering, you are talking about the appropriations thing. i agree with this the marine corps is the only one that has done or is willing to do an audit.

i'd like to see the pentagon do an audit. the pentagon is about as corrupt as washington, d.c. is. all of the politicians and everybody, they worked basically a half a year. like joe biden, they work half a year, not even half a year and they get paid all this money. they ought to do like the american working people. you get paid when you work. instead of two months of vacation, every american, honest american taxpayer worker would like to do it. one thing before you cut me off, these bills, why are democrats always voting against the safe act? why is it such a problem to keep illegal aliens from voting in elections and deporting illegal aliens that shouldn't be here with criminal records? why do democrats always want to keep them in this country? guest: two issues there.

first, i want to stand up for the men and women who work in the pentagon. they work hard. some of them put their lives on the line beyond the battlefield. other people stay up late at night when we are preparing to do a rescue mission or other things like that, making sure that service people who are out there putting their lives on the line return home safe and they have the equipment that they need. but we do need an audit. businesses audit themselves all the time. local units of government audit themselves. i was a state representative and city council representative. the audit gives the elected officials a clear eye view of where the money is being spent, how it's being spent, where it isn't being spent effectively and auditors, you know, help us with a clear eye without, you know, a position on whether it is good or bad policy. but just whether it makes

economic sense. i'm all for us doing an audit. host: why hasn't an audit happened? guest: an audit hasn't happened because congress hasn't put its foot down. i will say that the appropriators, both democratic and republican, who work on the defense committee for the last couple of cycles together, we have said no, we are done. you need to provide an audit and that's why the marine corps got there audit out. that's why we challenged space force. space force will have one. the other branches are going to have to explain why they can do what other branches can. and we need to hold people accountable when the audit doesn't come in. we are prepared to do just that. the question on the safe act, as i said, i'm from minnesota. we have free and fair elections there. we have some of the highest voter turnout. we have wonderful people, partisan, nonpartisan, who work on getting voters out for the election.

i'm so proud of our secretary of our secretary of state. it's illegal for noncitizens to. if someone is caught -- for noncitizens to vote. if someone is caught voting, they will suffer the consequences of it. i haven't been convinced that what the safe act is -- one of the things we start getting into, i work a lot with native american tribes. we have 11 tribes in minnesota. they hold elections. they are free and fair. the tribal elders sometimes, who don't have a drivers license anymore, they are recognized by our constitution, they have an id that is from their tribe. and a lot of states won't accept that as id. there are a lot of questions i have on why we need to -- need the safe act in the first place.

and if we do, congress needs to recognize that different people have legitimate, respected ids that they might, should and could use when they go to vote. host: we will go to georgia, carol, democratic line. caller: good morning, thanks for having me on. i agree happily with the caller from north carolina regarding audits. it seems like in this day and age or in that when he first century, we have artificial intelligence that can help with the accounting whatever that we get an accounting of what's going on with all of our expenditures. every now and then, 60 minutes or so will have a program about some -- that a congresswoman is still pushing through. it's millions and millions of dollars. i hope you would be able to push

through something about an audit that it can be published, a clean audit where we can see where our money is going thank you. guest: i couldn't agree with you more. that's what i'm working on. thank you for your support. host: in minnesota, independent. caller: good morning. i can no longer vote democrat. our democratic governor, mr. walz, just squandered $18 billion of our surplus, raised our taxes another $10 billion. our roads are in shambles. we can't even drive our cars down the road anymore. i wonder, if he gets into office, what's he going to do with our federal money? that's just a thought for the voters out there. host: roger from minnesota. guest: i would agree that our roads are interesting. as you know in minnesota, we have two seasons.

winter and construction. this weekend, getting around on 94 and some of the other worlds -- roads, there were a lot of detours. why? they were being fixed. they are being fixed because of the biden infrastructure bill that was passed and the work the minnesota state legislature has done with the minnesota department of transportation to fix our roads and give them -- get them in top-notch shape. i think governor walz has done a fabulous job. i really am proud of the way the minnesota legislature stepped forward to get our business community going. our education community going, working on a workforce that will take us into the future. there is a lot of work to do and are legislator did it. i'm sorry if you didn't agree with some of the choices they made. host: tim is in new hampshire, democratic caller. caller: yes.

my concern is russia has these nuclear subs around cuba. i think we should get missile defenses along our southern border to protect our southern border. i mean, if you have china influencing argentina and brazil and all of that and these people walking across into the united states, we have a trojan horse here. we have to be careful. everything doesn't always seem to be what it looks like. because they are also protecting poland with missile defense system, in case something really bad happens in ukraine. these are just common sense things. i understand budget and everything. but we can't allow a trojan horse here in this country. we have to be -- and that's all

i have to say. guest: to your point about russia and including chinese submarines, i appreciate the fact that you are talking about what happens in the southern part of our nation. in the waters there. we also have issues up in the arctic with russia, with alaska. we are working with the nordic nations up there that are part of nato and sweden and finland are part of that group. what we need to do to make sure russia doesn't start staking out territory and become an aggressor in the arctic, especially as china is looking for minerals. we have a lot of work to do. but we need to do it cooperatively. we need to do it with other democracies. no one does a great job alone. it works better when you have partners with you.

and so, we are working on that. that is something we are very aware of. thank you for making sure that i go back and tell my colleagues i heard from you and you want us to keep working in that direction to protect our borders. host: congresswoman, your reaction to the first commercial spacewalk that happened this morning? guest: it was super cool! first off, spacex and nasa are working together on all of the things. that's important that we do that. it's a public-private -- it's the public-private partnerships that make our country so unique and strong. watching the astra notes. host: we are showing it -- guest: astronauts. host: we are showing it. guest: they were saying they might look like caterpillars because they are testing out these new spacesuits. it was so amazing to know we are going to have, hopefully the mission goes exactly the way

that we want it, four people out in space, including people testing out brand-new spacesuits and the information download we will be able to have from that will help us work together in a public-private partnership in the future. i want to give -- mowing is working on what went wrong with getting our astronauts home. in the meantime, spacex has stepped up and said we are part of the u.s. team and we will work together with you. i think this is an exciting opportunity. i remember when john glenn was in orbit and other things like that. everybody watch for a few minutes, you're going to love it. host: sergio in illinois, independent. caller: hello, good morning. host: good morning. caller: good morning, congresswoman. guest: hello. caller: i have a couple of things to say. i'm an independent.

but i have served under four commander-in-chief's from ronald reagan up to george w. bush. thank you for being on the subcommittee that you are serving on and the appropriations committee. my issue is that this election is one of the most important elections in the history of our country. i am military. i am telling you right now, i am voting democrat this year because this man is very dangerous. i've seen him yesterday, i've seen him with harris on the debate on abc. and he's just dangerous. we were just floored with what he said about people eating things and doing whatever. put that aside, he's one of the most dangerous people on the face of this planet.

on the flight over to 9/11, she's dangerous herself. there are no guardrails no more. hopefully with you being in congress, hopefully with all of the congresswoman and congressman on the democrat side , i'm going over, there are hundreds of thousands of us going over on the military and veterans side. we are beside ourselves because we don't want this person in the white house because we know that our constitutional republic democracy is at stake. host: i will leave it there because we are running out of time. congresswoman. guest: first and foremost, thank you for your service, for volunteering to keep our democracy strong and to stand up at a moments notice and defend all of us. thank you for that. i was disappointed that 9/11 has become politicized in the way that it was and some of the

choices of former president trump's guests. i was here in washington, d.c. during 9/11. we have a lot of funds. some of them were young adults and young children. what happened to our nation during 9/11 is something that needs to be treated with dignity and respect here and thankfulness for the first responders who put their lives on the line. unfortunately, not being able to rescue very many people. host: congresswoman betty mccollum, democrat of minnesota, thanks for being at the table this money. guest: it was great. get out and watch the spacewalk. host: we will try to show it in the next half hour. when we come back, we will be an open forum. any public-policy or political issue on your mind, we want to hear from you. start dialing now. we will be right back. ♪

♪ >> discover the heart democracy with spans voices 2024 as we engage voters nationwide and ask what issue is most important to you in this election and why. >> my name is reagan flannery. my biggest issue this election season is the media. i feel like we don't have adequate coverage of both parties and we have a very leftist media. >> my top issue is women's rights and women's productive rights. i have a wife, two daughters and two sons. the most important thing for me

is to make sure my daughters are safe in my wife is safe. i'm a big believer in not just equal rights but everyone has a choice. >> i guess my top issue is the preservation of democracy and freedom. it seems like our freedoms are being eroded. the world war ii museum is next door. a lot of people paid a heavy price for that freedom and that's what i think we need to focus on. >> when i think about who i'm voting for, it will center about health care -- around health care and women's rights and the ability to choose. and better access to health care for everyone and an equal playing field for all. >> my top issue for the u.s. right now would be immigration and illegals. we can close up the border or keep it open to people immigrating legally, that would be fine. but until that gets corrected,

there will be a lot more issues that stem from that. >> c-span voices 2024, be part of the conversation. >> listening to programs on c-span through c-span radio is easy. tell your smart speaker, play c-span radio and listen to washington journal daily at 7:00 a.m. eastern. important public affairs events throughout the day and weey, -- weekdays, catch washington today. tell your smart speaker, play c-span radio. >> washington journal continues. host: we are back in open forum this morning. we have 30 minutes to talk about any public policy or politics issue. let's begin with the historic spacewalk. here is the washington post. spacex astronauts complete first spacewalk by private citizens.

the first mission is intended to test new spacesuits developed by spacex. take a look at the video of the spacewalk as they are calling it from earlier this morning. [applause] [cheering] >> i said it before. a lot of us are here because we want to do this. it's really cool to see one of our own out there. >> we are watching from the nose

guard. host: spacex from earlier this morning. billionaire and entrepreneur jared isaacman performed the first spacewalk by a private citizen. he popped his head and torso out of the spacex dragon capsule. we can talk about that this morning. we can also talk about politics this morning. just to let you know, our campaign coverage continues here on c-span. we will have at 5:30 p.m., the former president holding a rly in arizona. and that covere gins at 5:3 p.m. eastern time on c-span, c-span now, our free video mobile app or on c-span.org. anthen the vice president, kamala harris, will have a rally

in north carolina today. we will have coverage of that toght at 7:00 p.m. eastern time. watch live on c-span, c-span now, the free video mobile app or online at c-span.org. you can see all of our campaign coverage if you go to c-span.org/campaign. happening on capitol hill today at 10:00 a.m. eastern time, a hearing on the bankruptcy of health care and how mismanagement of the company could be impacting patient care. that's the senate health committee holding that hearing. we have live coverage on c-span three. also on c-span now, the video mobile app and online at c-span.org. bernie in sanford, florida. democratic caller. we are in open forum, what's on your mind? caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: the reason why i am calling up is -- host: hey bernie, mute your television please. caller: ok, hold on.

ok, the reason why i am calling up is i want to mention a couple of things about donald trump. host: all right, you're hearing the feedback from your television. i will put you on hold and see if we can come back to you. kelly, you have to meet your television as well. caller: ok. host: go ahead. caller: ok, i've been trying to call in. i just want to say that i think the government and the senate and the house and everyone should be treated like the public. they are no different than the people out in the world because if they can't pass a bill, they should be fined. they should be fined where their money is or their own personal,

this would stop all of this. they have to come to a neutral agreement. i am here to say that -- host: which legislation are you referring to? caller: president trump is been attacked one. 2017, he has been attacked from day one. i go by fax. and the facts are that when he was in office, he got things done. that the democrats did not try to stop him. they put roadblocks everywhere. i'm here to say go by the facts and the facts are president trump doesn't have to prove himself. he has proven himself through his term as president. it's kamala harris who has not been president, has not had any kind of background as far as being vice president. she hasn't done anything.

she has been vice president for four years. host: ok. kelly in louisiana, republican caller. republicans in the house control that chamber, putting forth a plan to keep the government open and federal spending levels at their current level through march. they want to do the continuing resolution because the house has now passed all of their 12 sending bills that are specific to each department and the federal government. speaker johnson yesterday pulled that boat from the floor because there were defections within his own party. here's what he had to say to reporters yesterday. >> the american people demand and deserve we do everything possible to secure the election. that's what we have said consistently. that's what i have heard from the people across the country.

it's consistent from coast to coast, north to south. we will continue to work on this. we will work through the weekend on that. i want any member of congress, in either party, to explain to the american people why we should not ensure that only u.s. citizens are voting in u.s. elections. we are going to work on the issue around the clock have an obligation to do it. that's what the fight is. that's what's important. it's the most pressing issue right now. no vote today because when the consensus building business here in congress with small joys, that's what i've been doing since i became speaker, we are having thoughtful conversations, family conversations and i believe we will get there. people have concerns about all sorts of things. that's how the process works. sometimes it takes a little more time. host: the speaker talking to

reporters about his decision to not hold the vote on his plan to keep the government funded. pete aguilar also speaking to reporters the day before on tuesday, talking about the republicans plan. >> once again, house republicans are leading us toward a government shutdown. the so-called reasonable republicans are nowhere to be seen. as speaker johnson tries to jim trump's project between 20 five agenda into government funding legislation. extreme republicans know this bill has no chance of becoming law and yet they want to force a vote that jeopardizes military readiness and veterans health care. we have seen how this ends. the only way to pass a government funding bill is to pass it on a bipartisan basis. even their own members admitted, the american people were sick and tired of the chaos, dysfunction and extremism that

they see from house republicans and their failure to govern in a responsible way. host: congressman pete aguilar, a democratic leader in the house on the spending debate. tom in nashville, tennessee, on the independent line. we are on open form. hi, tom. caller: i thought jim burchett was sharp this morning. i'm taking on bridge with the person making fun of farm boys. farm boys are important in america. in tennessee, it's troublesome to vote but at least the vote counts. i send money into the candidates and thinks about voting and playing golf that day. it's a little tough to vote in tennessee. biden got 51 million and kamala

harris got 51 million mail-in votes. that's a lot of votes out of the 80 million they got in the election of 2020. i'm curious if that will start again this time. host: can you explain to viewers outside of tennessee why is it tough to vote in your state? explain the process. caller: most of the time you have to show up. you have to get out of your bed or go away from your job. sometimes i wish you all would ask how much the people who call in pay and federal income taxes. you have to go to the booth, show your id, sign in that you have registered. they match that up, they match up your face with your passport or your driver's license. and it's a little tricky. it's a little tough to vote in tennessee. but at least they know you are a tennessean and you can vote

in that precinct. there is no way you can save the vote in tennessee. when maynard called up and started giving him trouble, -- burchett is so cool. i'm from nashville and he's from knoxville. a big tennessee fan, i'm a vanderbilt fan. the way he handles himself and talks about calling people directly and not sending over letters and all of that stuff, he's a sharp guy. we should have him on more. every time he's on, i'm glad to see him. host: we have those points, i will go to kevin in washington, d.c. credit caller. -- democratic caller. caller: i like your exchange with the tongass men -- i liked your exchange with the congressman.

he recognized he made a mistake. some people like trump don't recognize they made a mistake. i think trump's presidency was a mistake. especially the insurrection and the election denial. i think he knows he's going to lose. but he has the legal jeopardy so he might end up in handcuffs. the debate with kamala, the stuff about haitians was definitely racist. he said stuff about his father was in the former prime minister, he talks crazy like that.

what kamala said about china was that trump creates the chinese president by knocking down the country. people like kennedy support trump when trump is praising china and kamala said they weren't transparent about covid which the cdc director said it was a drastic project that was man-made. host: we have others waiting and i wanted to follow-up on what you had to say about the debate and the president's claim of pet eating in ohio and how that story emerged on the national stage. the washington post digs into that today. the influx of haitians in the

small town of springfield, ohio, has revitalized segments of the local economy according to residents and city officials but also strained municipal services. city officials publicly pleaded for more federal assistance to help bolster city services. it goes on to say in the article that after the claim began spreading, the springfield police division told the local paper, the springfield new son in an article published monday that the allegations were not something on their radar right now. on monday, the police issued verify that -- clarify that there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community. messages to the springfield police department asking them to expand on their statements were not returned. the paper notes yesterday or on tuesday morning, jd vance, the former presidents running mate, appeared to give himself a way out of the pet eating claims

when he posted a social media message that it is possible that all of these rumors would turn out to be false. jenae in washington, d.c., independent. >> yes, good morning, c-span. i just want to comment on the debate the other night where donald trump had to talk about immigration and kamala harris pointed out that the republican bill that was on the table and that he started to call republicans and say let's kill the bill. i'd like to know more about why that happened and there was not a lot of elaboration on that on trump's side. it seems to me that the immigration issue -- they have had the floor. many members have tried to come

forward and work in a bipartisan manner. i'm sure of the immigration issue. they preferred to be a constant issue for their gain. i don't see why ron johnson and republicans didn't work with democrats on that. second, i want to say that kamala harris won the debate, hands down. i thought donald trump went off the rails and he became a comedian. if people are entertained by that and believe he is fit for presidency, that's the reason why we have all of these conspiracy theories and crazy things going on. host: let me go to doug in falls church, virginia. a republican. your turn. we are in open form. caller: thank you for taking my call. i consider myself a moderate republican. i was entertaining supporting

pretty much everyone else in the primary except for trump. i tuned into the debate with an open mind and my main take away was such a feeling of sadness of the state of american discourse, the quality of candidates we have available. it is so sad in my eyes. in terms of the outcome and implications, i think kamala has been a center and vp. but she didn't go through a primary process. no one was able to cast a vote for her. she didn't put forth any policies or platforms and has been avoiding the media. and then this was her moment to clarify and to really sharpen key points on what she was going to do. i think all the back and forth was a draw in the end. but because trump is a known and she is more of an unknown, i

personally didn't walk away with any new piece of information on what she will or won't do. and such key questions like hey, you are changing all of your policies. what does that mean? she gave the same response she gave in the interview, i didn't change my values. i didn't change the question. she was asked direct questions around immigration. david mirror said hey, you were put in charge of the border, you were the borders are. kamala harris nodded her head. i guess we finally have consensus on that point and she didn't give any clarification. are you going to continue the biden policies? are you going to reverse them? she talks about the bipartisan bill that came through at the start of this year, three years into the biden administration. is that really your platform? nothing for three years when you have this huge surge of immigration and now this bill? if we were to put her in office, are we just going to wait for another 10 million people to come through and then if there

is congressional consensus, then you will do something? i personally think she had a huge miss and this will be to her detriment. i don't feel more informed about her personally. host: dug in virginia. jan in illinois three democratic caller. -- jan in illinois, democratic caller. caller: i have concerns pray the german before me touched on immigration. -- helped her do her studying to become a u.s. citizen. it suspected that it is a lot of work and she was very brave to become a u.s. citizen and work in our country and be a part. and what has happened with the borders being opened, i'm for

immigration because every one of us in this country are a descendant of immigration. there is legal and there is illegal. i will say that for kamala harris, and i'm not for donald trump, i'm not a big donald trump fan, either. but for immigration and a lot of other areas, she is for criminals. and immigration has its places. but only the legal way. only the legal way. the other part, the democrats, i bet united 5% of what the woman said was a lie. -- i bet you 95% of what the woman said was a lie. host: you can go to fact

checking websites and look at the remarks in the claims she made in the debate and see what was deemed false, mostly falls, mostly true, true. they have truth meters, some of them that they use to describe the claims made by both sides. skip in washington, d.c., independent. caller: yes. i feel that i must respond to the last two callers because a lot of times people will call in and give false information that has not been fact-check. so, let me do that, looking at both sides. the gentleman who called from falls church, right outside of d.c. said that she didn't answer the question about immigration other than to say that she would support the bill that both sides agreed to that would have been a compromised bill that would have addressed the situation. the reason why that bill was so

important was it was going to provide money and resources for the border patrol. that's why the border patrol supported the bill. it is necessary to implement any restrictions on the border, which is what they all agreed to. binding -- biden had to, on his own, enact restrictions. they are not act by funding which makes it harder to enforce. but it has led to a number of illegal crossings and asylum claims to be limited. what he said was not true. she had a clear position that she supported a legislation that would provide funding and in the meantime, there was the executive action by biden. and so that is her plan on day one, to continue that and to try to get that legislation passed again which i think the republicans will be willing to

compromise if trump loses. regarding the debate, it was clear that she, the republicans saying that she was not smart and all of that is clearly they are not saying that anymore because she was well spoken and she did have -- she came off much more presidential than donald trump did. host: i have to get in a couple of more phone calls -- a couple more phone calls. let's go to rachel in florida. caller: hello. host: hi, rachel. caller: hi. i would like to ask everybody listening how can they vote for the party that wants criminals to cross and come into our country, pedophiles, terrorists. is that a caring party that cares for the united states or the people of the united states? no. and these criminals are going after our women and our children

, our most vulnerable people. and we think that's ok, we are going to vote for more of that? i don't get it. don't get why we would vote for criminals to come into our country. i could see if we have illegal immigration where they are vetted but they are not vetted. they can't come in here. host: we will go to steve in winfield, massachusetts, independent. caller: how are you doing? host: hi, steve. caller: one thing for that last woman, people are not coming into this country illegally as much as she thinks they are. she talks about letting criminals in, she's trying to vote for a criminal as president. it makes no sense. host: steve in massachusetts. jane is an independent in newark, new jersey. your thoughts? caller: thank you for taking my phone call. this is serious.

[indiscernible] what's happening is that -- host: i'm having a hard time understanding you. we will move to john in baltimore, maryland. independent. john? caller: thanks for taking my call. i will keep this short. i am an independent. in the last two elections, i have not voted for either of the major candidates in the election. so once again, we are presented with a very challenging choice of two individuals that -- to be honest with you. i think if we are going to focus on the border, we are either a country of law or we are not. either party cannot pick and choose laws to their liking and then pretend they are somehow better than the other.

on both sides of this, this has been what's been happening over the last several years. i really don't know how i'm going to vote at this point. i might write myself in again which is what i've done the last two times. the bottom line is, you know, we are a country of law and we have to follow the laws. and if the laws need to be changed, it has to be done by the majority. i am bummed out on -- burnt out on listening to all of the recurring and lack of ethics and lack of bipartisanship here. this has to end. the only candidate i would say that is out there that i am familiar with who has these is larry hogan for senator. i'm definitely voting for him. thank you. host: john in baltimore, maryland. independent. the house is gaveling in early this morning. 9:00 a.m. eastern for