host: this is "washington journal" for wednesday, october 16. with the elections less than three weeks away, early voting

already underway in some states, vice president kamala harris and former president donald trump are making their final pitches to voters, telling them how they'd address key issues. to start today's program, we're asking you, what issu driving your vote? here are the phoneines. republican, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. you can text your comments to 202-748-8003. be sure to include your name and city. you can also post a question or comment on facebook at facebook.com/cspan. or on x, @cspanwj. good morning, thank you for being with us. this headline from "the wall street journal," battle for swing states is tied, trump has edge on top issues. "wall street journal" poll shows that. the article saying that voters

in the nation's seven battleground states see donald trump as better equipped than kamala harris to handle the issues they care about most, the economy and border security, yet are divided about evenly over which candidate should lead the nation, a new "wall street journal" poll finds. looking at a breakdown of where the divide is among the parties, a poll from gallup out last week breaks down the top five voting issues for the two parties. republicans, the most important issue for them, economy at 66%. immigration, 63%. terrorism and national security, 60% say that is extremely important. crime, 52%. taxes, 46%. for democratic and democratic-leaning independent voters, democracy in the u.s. is the top issue at 58%.

and types of supreme court justices, candidates would pick, 57%. abortion comes in at 49%, saying that is extremely important. and healthcare and education coming in at 45% and 40% respectively. this morning, we are asking you what issue is driving your vote. you'll hear first from joe in arkansas on the line for democrats. good morning, joe. caller: yeah, the first thing is my vote, the economy. my understanding, unless i'm wrong and you can correct me if i'm wrong, when donald trump come in office, he had inherited a real good economy. when he left office, the economy was going bad. now everybody seem to think that he had the economy that he left out with. it was barack obama. he lived off barack obama's economy. but people for some reason don't want to give obama credit.

obama, when he come in, bush left him in bad shape, and he brought back what trump had when he came in. that's what i don't understand, how do they say trump is the one that had the best economy? look how the economy is now. it was down because of the pandemic, and it's on the rise now. host: joe, is the economy your top issue? caller: yes. host: is there anything specific about the economy? caller: yeah, my 401-k is out the roof. everything is going up from the time trump left office, best thing about it. everything went up. and he started getting on tv saying the economy is a mess. what do people believe? they believe a man that lie every time he open his mouth? if he was judge judy, how you know a teenager lying? mouth open. how do you think donald trump open? his mouth open. thank you. host: that was joe, former president trump was in chicago yesterday. he spoke at the chicago

economics club. during the interview, he was asked about the issue of tariffs. here is a clip from that interview. >> you talk about tariffs. you look at the american economy, 40 million jobs rely trade. it accounts for 27% of g.d.p. you cut that off, that's also going to affect many, many business people here. tariffs also have another side. isn't that something that you have to acknowledge? you could be plunging america into the biggest trade war. you're going to stop -- there are tariffs already. >> there are no tariffs. all you have to do is built your plant in the united states and you don't have any tariffs. >> a lot of places like this, there are a lot of jobs that rely on foreigners coming here. you're going basically stop trade with china. you're talking about 60% tariffs on that, 100%, 200% on things you don't like. you're also talking about

tariffs on the rest of the world. that is going to have a serious effect on the overall economy, and yes, you're going to find some people who will gain some individual tariffs. the overall effect could be massive. >> i agree it's going to have a massive effect, positive effect. it's going to be positive, want negative. no, no, i know how committed you are to this. it must be hard for you to spend 25 years talking about tariffs as negative and then have somebody explain to you that you're totally wrong. if you don't -- >> 40 million jobs is a lot of jobs. >> they're all coming back. >> 40 million jobs in america that rely on trade. >> are you ready? john deere, great company, they announced about a year ago they're going to build big plants outside of the united states, right? they're going to build them in mexico. >> you pressured them and they're going to stop. >> i said if john deere builds

those plants, they're not selling anything in the united states. they just announced yesterday they're probably not going to build the plants, ok? i kept the jobs here. and i'll keep -- john deere will stay here. host: for this first hour of "washington journal," we are asking you, what issue is driving your vote? gregory in sherman oaks, california, on the line for democrats. good morning, gregory. caller: hello. good morning to all of you. the issue that i am most concerned about is the issue that's usually referred to as climate change, although actually it's really climate destruction. we are destroying the most fundamental thing of all, which is our world. the economy, our quality of life, our avoidance of war, just decency all depends on preserving a reasonably functional environment. sometimes referred to as god's creation. if somebody wants to worship

god, destroying the most manifest sign of god is sacrilege, not to mention destroying our future prosperity. we're going to have wars and conflicts and disease and agricultural disruption and every other kind of problem as far as the eye can see, because we are ignoring this problem, including this all-important election. i think that people who are voting this year need to understand that they really have a power that very few people in very few points of time ever have, which is actually voting in a way that determines the shape of the world at least in the rest of the 21st century and probably for multiple centuries to come. we're gettinghat's called 1,000-ye storms. this is not even 1,000-month storms. they're barely 1,000-week storms

now. ev tt is years in the futu. we are creating a world that's going to be unusable to live in, and every future generation is going to look back on this generation, especially in countries likehenited states, if we vote republican and voteor trump, with total disdain. trump even took us out of the migratory bird treaty, not to mention the paris climate accord. this is insanity. host: steve in san jose, california, on the line for republicans. good morning, steve. caller: what i've got to say is probably going to be your only call on this subject. and that is, what is driving me toe vote republican is the insidious lust for power that i

see in the democratic party. if they get in power, they've already expressed a willingness to make two more states, puerto rico and washington, d.c. they've already expressed their willingness to abolish the electoral college. they've already expressed their willingness to stack the supreme court. this demonstrates to me an insidious lust for power. once they get in power, it will take years and years of destruction to get another republican back in the presidency. host: steve, what is your concern with puerto rico and washington, d.c. becoming

states? caller: well, puerto rico has nothing to offer other than welfare. it would be another state that we give money to rather than receiving benefits from. washington, d.c., in the constitution, it was never meant to be a state because of the politicians that live there. the electoral college was put into place because during the time of the founding fathers, they were having problems ratifying the constitution, and the complaint was that big states with high populations, california, well, california wasn't a state, but new york

would decide the presidency. if they abolish the electoral college, then there is a fear that very small states will break away from the union. host: palmdale, california, on the line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning, c-span. thank you so much for taking my call. i want to first say many blessings to all of the people who are suffering from all the storm damage that's been going on around the country. and also all of the people right now, all the women and children who are trying to protect themselves from all of the atrocities going on with wars around the world. the issue i'm going to be voting on right now, obviously, is two issues. one is going to be, of course, this immigration issue that is

keeping used as a political football by one side that never wants to solve the issue. i'll give a perfect example about that. during the trump administration, there was plenty of border issues. we remember the kids and the migrants in cages and the separation of children. trump tells us that he was the one who corrected the border, it was those states. the only reason he was able to use the closing at the border and remained in mexico, i want to remind all of the listeners and viewers, is because of covid. the second that covid was announced that it was starting to be over when biden came in, he had to rescind that, which means that all of those people who are waiting at the border, which was thousands and thousands of people trying to get their cases heard, were then starting to filter in to the country as they have done for

decades because of our laws. so the reason why we need to get congress in here and get some work done is because they're never going to get anything done when people want to play political games like they have been for decades. if they want to get something done, we need congress to do that, not political rhetoric. host: vice president kamala harris is in the middle of a media blitz. she's been making several appearances on various shows. this headline from today's "washington post," let's not fall for it, harris urges black americans not to sit out the race. the article says looking to shore up her support with a critical demographic of black men, kamala harris charged during a town hall tuesday that donald trump had no plans to help them and extorted those voters not to be fooled by trump or anyone who would take you out of the game by not voting.

the article goes on to say, harris' wide-ranging interview with sharp amain, a co-host of the breakfast club program that is enormously popular with younger black voters, came at a moment when she is trying to shore up softer than expected support within that demographic. says over the course of the hour-long interview on tuesday, harris said several times that she is clear-eyed about the problems facing black men in the united states and the historical factors that make it harder for them to prosper. harris says she's determined to do more to help them build wealth and expand their access to capital. harris on monday released an opportunity agenda for black men, including such proposals as forgivable loans for such small businesses and renewed attention to health problems that disproportionately affect that group.

yesterday, as we mentioned, vice president kamala harris had that interview with charlemagne. here she is being asked about her proposal and the timing of her agenda. >> i've been in this race about 70 days. you can look at all my work before those 70 days to know that this is what i'm talking about right now, it's not new. it's not for the sake of winning this election. this is about a long-standing commitment, including the work that i've done as vice president and before when i was senator and before that. in fact, a lot of what i'm doing that is about my economic opportunity, an opportunity economy, was born out of the work i did as vice president, before that as senator most recently, to get access to capital for our entrepreneurs. the work that i did in the senate was about getting a couple billion more dollars into our community banks and then building on that when i became vice president. i created, it's called the economic opportunity council, bringing in some of the biggest

banks and technology companies to put more into the community banks. i'm going to tell you one of the reasons why. because i have been aware for years black entrepreneurs only get 1% of have not tour capital funding. of all the venture capital funding, only 1% goes to black entrepreneurs. we don't have the same rates of access to capital, be it through family or through connections, which is why i've done the work of putting billions more dollars and working to put billions march dollars into community banks, which goes directly to the community. my work around the $20,000 is building on that and understanding that i convened, for example, i said this earlier, a group of black entrepreneurs way before i was running for president in my official office at the white house to hear some of the obstacle that is they were facing. one of them was what we need to do around getting folks the help

to just be able to buy the equipment they need to run their business. often times we found when black entrepreneurs and black people apply for credit, they're denied at a higher rate than others. we have also seen, and the data proves this, that all of those -- the realities also tend to dissuade black folks and black entrepreneurs from even applying for credit. my point is to work on every way that we can approach the issue, to encourage people and to invest in their ambition, because i know the ambition is there. i know the challenge is there. i know the innovation is there. and certainly the hard work ethic. so this is not new work for me. host: we are hearing from you for this first hour. what issue is driving your vote?

in addition to calling us, you can also shoot us a text or find us on social media. these comments coming in on facebook. reproductive freedom. perry says immigration, foign policy, economy. stephen says ending the genocide in gaza, stopping the rises of fascism in america and tackling the climate crisis. lawrence says border security and the economy. back to your calls. will in tulsa, oklahoma, calling on the independent line. good morning, will. caller: good morning to you. thank you, c-span, for taking my call. good morning, america. my primary reason, what drives my vote, the overall, overarching reason is donald

trump's inability to tell the truth. but to be specific, 187 mutes he sat in the white house, for over three hours on january 6. he can't be held responsible for the actions of others unless he gave them a detailed map of what to do, which he did not. but he motivated them to express themselves. rudy jail yani was there, trial by combat, stoked up the crowd. but he is responsible for sitting idly inside the white house, watching a riot occur in our only capitol, the building known as the capitol. hundreds of people, thousands of people outside, hundreds stormed in, breaking doors, breaking windows. he sat in the white house observing this, because he took

it as a personal compliment. took it as a benefit to see, to show america how passionate people can be for this man, donald trump, how dare they take away my white house. how dare they take away my generals. so he saw it as a personal compliment. that's how deranged he is. and after much vocal urging, he finally came outside and reluctantly said, all right, guys, we love you, we love you, go home. but it's just disgusting. i want everybody in america to think. that man, donald trump, sitting in the white house next to the oval office, sitting there staring at a television screen watching what we all watched. host: amanda in mississippi on the line for democrats. good morning, amanda.

caller: my vote is the danger that donald trump holdsen side democracy, similar to what the previous caller said. the same kinds of things do drive my desire to vote. i voted already in mississippi. and he tends to want -- i call him a dictator wannabe. he is scary. back in the old days, he would have been charged with some type of treason. and he's a pathological liar, a convicted sex offender. he also has many felonies, and he needs to be in jail. that's what's driving me, and i voted. host: a couple of callers bringing up the issue of

democracy in the u.s., according to gallop is the second most important issue to voters. 49% saying it is extremely important. 36% saying very important. 11% say it is somewhat important. 4% say it is not important. curt in anaheim, california, on the republican line. good morning, curt. caller: good morning. how you doing? hope doing well. caller: repeat the question again. host: what issue is driving your vote? caller: economy. national security. just being responsible, not blaming others. host: when you say the economy

and national security, is there a specific part of the economy you're concerned about? is there a certain part of national security that you care more about? caller: not a certain part, but i reflect back on 2016 to 2020. i think we had a great economy. i think we were doing really well regardless of covid. i like running the country like a business. if you run a good country like a good business, it will take care of itself. same thing with the family. i hope and pray that donald trump is elected, and i want the best for everybody. host: that was curt in california. woodward, iowa, on the line for democrats. good morning, jill. caller: good morning. thanks for taking calls from americans. i do appreciate that. there's only one thing that

counts this time, thanks to the supreme court, and that is character, because the guard rails have been removed. and trump's character is on display every day, how poor it is. but i think even with a little deeper digging, people can see how truly ominous it is. if you would look up the rod of iron ministries, there were speakers from the rod of iron monday industries. they had, i don't know, a convocation or something recently. both anyone flynn and bonn homan, who is related, i think he's an ice director that trump was planning on bringing back. they were speaking in very violent terms when they spoke to this group, telling them about what they are pretty sure trump is going to do when he gets back in, and i believe general flynn said it was open the gates of hell. we don't need any people like general flynn back in our government. the economy is important.

but it's not running our country like a business. i was a social studies teacher for 30 years, taught the preamble to the constitution, which has the purposes of government in it, and profit is not one of the purposes. domestic tranquility, defense, you know, there's all kinds of great purposes that are stated in the preamble of the constitution. the united states needs a good government. we are not a business. i just can't believe that he went to wharton and doesn't understand that not one opiniony, not one penny of a tariff is ever paid by a foreign country. they are all paid by consumers. it is a disincentive for consumers. you won't to want buy anything, because all of the costs will be higher. if it was something imported into this country.

host: you're a former social studies teacher, looking at the gallup poll, it looks like 38% say that that is a very important issue, and 47 percent percent say it is very important. how do you feel about education as an issue? caller: well, the problem is people, get your religion out of education, and make sure that education is solid. no teachers are out there grooming students. i love this statistic. maybe people will still trust the ncaa. all this trans stuff, it's so sick. there were only 40 trans athletes out of 500,000 ncaa athletes in 2023. that's a statistic on the ncaa website. i don't think they're partisan. they are making big, big issues out of things that are not big, big problems. they're prying into, again, i'll

go with tim walz. mind your own damn business. and when it comes to education, public education, where everybody is educated is what must be supported if you want to have an educated public that is capable of electing a capable government. host: ken in tampa, florida, on the line for independents. good morning, kenneth. caller: good morning. how are you? host: doing well. how are you? caller: i am good. my main issue is the economy, immigration. but at the end of the day, i'm not afraid of anything, but i'm just concerned of the racist attitude that donald trump displays. you know, i'm going say, even with c-span, because c-span understands that 90% of their listener are white people who

are over the age of 50. and they cater to them to not try and balance what is going on. now, i called almost four years ago to ask a simple question, the donald trump model of make america great again, and no one has yet called in and said america, what day, what week, what decade, what month, what century america was great for everyone. now, last thing is, the gentleman that calls that says democrats win, washington, d.c. and puerto rico will be 52nd and all that. both of those are areas with minorities as dominant. it's like we're losing our country, but who are they losing their country to? it's fear.

donald trump shuts down yesterday for 39 minutes. if that was joe biden, what do you think the right would be saying? i mean, america need to get past a racist attitude towards other people that looks different. me being a black man in america, 28 years i served in the military. we have always had black people that don't understand what's the issue. and when they talking about catering to black men, when 40% of them either in prison or some type of conflicted felon against them because they fail to understand the system. black men voting is going to be irrelevant in this election. it's going to be white women that's going to have to step up and do what they did to keep trump out of office to where they put trump in office.

thank you. host: in addition to the presses y'all election, there are also several tight senate races, including the texas senate race, this headline from the texas tribune, colin allred and ted cruz blast each other as extreme, throw jabs on border and abortion in a senate debate. that debate happening last night. here is a clip of them talking about securing the border. >> time and again, senator cruz treats our border like he's going on some kind of safari. he comes down, puts on his outdoor clothes. he tries to look tough. he goes back to washington and does nothing to help. in fact, does he worse than nothing. when the toughest border security bill in a generation came up in the united states senate, $20 billion for border security, he said we don't need a border bill, that's what he said. and listen, it's a pattern for him. he's never there for us when we need him.

when the lights went out in the energy capital of the world, he went to cancun. on january 6, when a mob was storming the capitol, he was hiding in a supply closet. and when the toughest border security bill in a generation came up in the united states senate, he took it down. we don't have to have a senator like this. let me be clear. i believe in physical barriers as part of a comprehensive strategy to secure the border. we had a bill for $20 billion, for 1,000 new border patrol agents, for more immigration judges, morass almost officers to help us teal with the backlog. i wanted to make sure we pass that. when i'm in the senate, we will. we'll also fix our broken legal immigration system. senator cruz has had forever, and he's done nothing to solve this problem. why would we believe that he will with six more years? >> senator, you have 90 seconds for a response. >> well, i want to know once again, his entire answer he made zero reference to anything he's done in office. as was noted in the question, congressman allred has said publicly, if you believe border security matters, he thinks you're a racist. he calls the border wall "that

racist border wall," and has pledged to tear down that racist border wall personally. and he said, "we will not have that wall in this country." and by the way, that's been his cannot voting record. he's voted against the border wall not once, not twice, but three times. every sickle time there's a serious measure in the house to secure the bill, colin allred votes no. look, it's a pattern we've seen at the presidential level, because it's what kamala harris does as well. and understand at home, colin allred is kamala harris. their records are the same. i've served with both of them. they voted in favor of open borders over and over and over again, and now they are desperately trying to hide that from the voters. now at the end, congressman allred said, gosh, cruz hasn't done anything on that. let's talk about my record. when donald trump was president, i worked hand in hand with president trump to secure the border, and we achieved

incredible success. we produced the lowest rate of illegal immigration in 45 years. that's what joe biden and kamala harris inherited. it's what colin allred inherited. and they deliberately broke it and opened the border, and texas is paying the price. >> senator, that's your time. congressman allred, in your response, can you address the original question? why was trump's border wall bad? >> listen, what i've always said is that we have to make sure that as we're talking about border security, we don't fall into demonizing. this is context from seven years ago, but he doesn't want to talk about what he said this year. we don't need a border bill. i have a simple question for you. the $20 billion for 1,000 new agents, who are immigration judges, for 4,000 asylum personnel to help us have technology to catch fentanyl coming across the border, why did you not support that? >> it's a great question.

>> i'm not yielding my time. you can answer it when you have time. the point is, there are a lot of bills. host: just about 25 minutes left in this first hour asking you, our audience, what issue is driving your vote? tim in rochester, new york, on the line for democrats. good morning, tim. caller: yes, good morning. i'm a black man asking america. i'm voting to combat trump-like supporters. i'm sorry to say, but i think they're racist, not all of them, but majority of them. this man sat auto stage for 30 minutes, didn't say anything, rocking back and forth. in an economic panel he had yesterday, he kept talking about tariffs. it's just sad to me that it comes to this. and another thing, like the guy said, puerto rico, washington, d.c., yeah, they got more people than wyoming and idaho.

get rid of them. this just is crazy. bill clinton said, democrats created 50 million jobs. republicans too. so we always talking about the economy. but democrats do better. just behind all of this, it's not just politics. something ain't right, and it's scary. so you have a great day. host: rob in minnesota on the republican line. good morning, rob. caller: good morning. under trump, our gas prices in minnesota peaked at $2.79 per gallon. that was the highest. under build back better, we peaked so far at $4.89 per gallon. under obama, we peaked at $4.39. under bush, we peaked at $4.29 per gallon. so clearly we were better off under trump than any other politician. i'll take a businessman any day

over a politician. host: rob, what specifically about the economy, other than gas prices, what's important to you? caller: oh, the border. the border being open is a big deal. illegals come in off taxpayer dollars. we're paying for illegal everything that they want done to them, like transgender surgery. we pay for transgender surgeries for illegal immigrants. that's a big deal. that's going to raise the cost of living. we're going to be paying more to live the next four years than we're paying now if she gets in. we need trump badly next four years. host: that was rob in minnesota. both former president trump and vice president harris have been doing media interviews and holding town halls. trump had an interview, or held a town hall yesterday on women's

issues with fox news, says that former president donald j. trump reiterated his belief that democrats are "the enemy within" during a fox news town hall on tuesday, billed as a conversation about women's issues. vice president kamala harris sought to highlight mr. trump's recent inflammatory comments, arguing he has grown increasingly unstable and unhinged in the final weeks of the campaign. during a stump speech pennsylvania, ms. harris played footage of an earlier interview he had conducted with fox news in which he called the democratic party an individual lawmakers an enemy within and said they were more dangerous than foreign adversaries. vice president kamala harris is also expected to have a town hall with fox news today. that is her first news interview with the outlet. the article from "usa today"

says that the network announced monday that its chief millian corps, bret baier will interview harris wednesday in pennsylvania. their conversation will be prerecorded in the afternoon and will air later that night on baier's special report at 6:00 p.m. eastern. let's hear from nick in roanoke, virginia, on the line for democrats. good morning, nick. caller: good morning. talking about why you're voting, correct? host: yes. what issue is driving your vote this year? caller: racism. and the fact that the feds can't even help out their own people. host: what do you mean, nick? is what's going on with the floods and everything. he announced that fema is out of money. where did all the money go?

host: nick in virginia. craig in wisconsin on the independent line. good morning, craig. caller: yes, good morning. my issues are protecting democracy, and honesty and integrity in our elected officials. the more i hear, the less i can vote for donald trump. he just is not anywhere near honest and has no integrity. host: you're an independent. did you vote for former president trump previously? caller: no. host: who are you going to be supporting this election? caller: i was leaning toward harris, then i became toward trump, but more and more i hear

him, the less i can vote for him. host: that was craig in wisconsin. john in washington, d.c. on the republican line. good morning, john. caller: yes, i'm concerned with the administrative state, which is tied directly with the democratic party, the so-called progressives. i was there on january 6. i was on capitol hill at 10:30 a.m., hours before anything happened. you know who else was there? nobody. no police. no fence. nothing. when i went down to washington monument and saw 200,000 people, i said this is crazy. we had a fence around the white house, 10 foot, all summer long, while black lives matter tried to burn it down. i saw them catch on fire, molotov cocktail, the st. john's

church. when the fire truck came, they threw bricks at it and broke the windows and prevented the firemen from hooking up to the fire hydrant to put the fire out. nothing was said about that. but january 6, january 6, it was all political theater, broadway, and hollywood, chuck schumer and nancy pelosi did that on purpose. they knew it was going to happen. i'll guarantee it. i was there at 10:30 a.m. no fence, no police line, nothing. they did it on purpose. host: john in washington, d.c. yesterday at the chicago economic club, the interview with former president donald trump, he was asked about accepting this year's election results. here's that exchange. >> people here in this room, business people, capital markets, they all like the rule of law. they like certainty. the chinese, you mentioned,

other dictators, they don't like it when things go -- they like it when things go wrong in america. if you look at the events of january 6, 2021, showed to many people, america's democracy was unruly and violent. only three weeks to go to the commitment. will you commit now to respecting anden couraging a peaceful transfer of power? >> well, you had a peaceful transfer of power. >> you had a peaceful transfer of power -- come on, you had a peaceful transfer of power to the president of venezuela, but it was by far the worst transfer of power for a long time. >> thank you. i appreciate that. because this is -- you know what they like to do. this is what they like to do. it's very interesting. >> the question, president trump, would you respect the decision? >> when i found out about this interview, i did a little check. this man has not been a big trump fan over the years. so i have a choice. do i do this interview or not? i'm glad i did it. but do i do this interview or do

i disappoint a lot people? his view is different than mine. >> i'm asking you. >> we had a term. peacefully and patriotically. if you think an election is crooked, and i do, 100%, if you think -- the day it comes when you can't protest, you take a look at the democrats, they protested 2016, they're still protesting it, nobody talks about them. but if we protest, we won't have honest elections. host: bill in ohio on the line for democrats. good morning, bill. caller: good morning, and thank you for taking my call. here is my issue with elections. i really think that the democrats are doing a poor job of defining donald trump. what they need to do is let donald trump define himself. and what i mean by that is they

should run an ad with nothing but quotes by donald trump about women, about people in the military, about everything. just let him define himself, right in front of everybody, out of his mouth. i think that would seal the election. host: bill, what issue is driving your vote this year? caller: well, i just don't think that donald trump is all there. what i mean by that is, he's the oldest fella. i'm an older fella. i'm old. and i know i can't do what i used to do. and i think donald trump is in the same situation. i don't think he can do what he used to do. he's not the same person he was 10 years ago. and that's my issue. host: wendy in tennessee on the line for independents. good morning, wendy. caller: good morning.

i have a challenge for every single legal american citizen right now today. you don't have much time left. i want you to make yourself a sign that says i want to vote for kamala harris, please tell me why i shouldn't, and i want you to go to a local area where donald trump is having a rally and talk to your fellow citizens and see what they say to you and see how much you don't know about the truth that has occurred with donald trump that they are trying so hard to keep you from finding out. host: give us an example, windy. caller: since 2015, it's insane. so many lies, untruths, untold things that happened to him.

host: windy, give us an example what you're talking about. caller: january 6 specifically. january 6 specifically. if you have not been following since it occurred, literally, since it occurred, cowboylogic.us, every single interview with every single january 6 person who was there or charged, you have no idea of the truth of january 6 because it has yet to have been told. the committee has been deemed literally unconstitutional and irrelevant. they won't even turn over the records. to prove what they say about january 6 is actually true. cowboylogic.us, go listen to the interviews of the people who have been in prison for three years with no charge, no due process, no way to submit their testimony and their evidence, because they won't release the

40,000 hours of documentary video and audio. host: that was wendy. scott in massachusetts on the line for democrats. good morning, scott. caller: hello, sacramento, california, but ok. needless to say, i suffered a massive brain injury in the 2009, but based on the bar that's been set by trump, i am a genius. person, woman, man, camera, tv, wow, i aced it. oh, my goodness, i'm so smart, i should be president. no, i can't walk. 30 years of martial arts, and i can barely walk. but here i sit today watching the chaos happen.

now, i believe that mental competence will be driving my vote. and in regards to that, if putin ever was unable to manipulate trump, kind of like the guys in russia where he throws them out the window, all you have to do is visit the white house with trump in office. yay, vote trump, no. he would just gloat over his gun. oh, show me that colt 45, all done up in gold. gold doesn't fire. but all you have to do is ask trump. is it loaded? trump would look down the barrel and pull the trigger, and that's about the size of his skills. oh, my god, i am disabled, and i am certain that trump is as well. thank you for your time. host: jerry in broadway, virginia, on the republican line. good morning, jerry.

caller: yeah, good morning. my biggest issue is border security. we opportunity have a border. i would like something about that so-called border secuty bill, which was actually an own security bill, open border bill, but that bill will prevent trump from securing the border when he goes to the white house in january. thateqres any future president to allow at least 5,000 people every day to cross our border before he takes any action. that was nothing but an open border bill. and i'd like to say something about january 6. the committee, when they found out there was a special council

to investigate, they destroyed everything they had. and there is a video recorded by nancy pelosi's daughter where she is admitting that she is responsible for january 6. donald trump did his part. he authorized the national guard for january 6. nancy pelosi said no, we do not want them. that would interfere with her and the f.b.i.'s plans to invade the capitol. thank you. host: that was jerry. terry in atlanta, georgia, on the line for democrats. good morning, terry. caller: good morning. good morning, america. my concern and what's driving me in the 2024 election is the fact that i believe the office of the president of the united states needs someone who has dignity,

needs someone who is intelligent enough to make decisions for america and who is intelligent enough to place people in the cabinet and other positions who will also help the president make the best decisions for america. moving forward, i don't care about race or gender. i do care that the person has the knowledge and the ability to make the decisions. donald trump is not the person. day by day he is becoming more unhinged, unmanageable. he says things that make absolutely no sense at all. he does not and never has had dignity. and he is a consummate liar. i think that donald trump is too old to be the president, and i also think that he is hiding something regarding his health,

because he won't release his health records. there is a rumor going around that he has to wear a diaper. whether or not that's true, i don't know. but he is definitely not the person to lead this country, and i think any woman who votes for him needs to really take a deep look inside herself and look at what he has done to destroy the overall image, the role of women, and the purpose of having women in not only politics, business. he is destructive. he does not take responsibility for losing the 2020 election. and the fact that he did not attend the ungracious, he left the white house under just really bad publicity and constantly still says that he

did not believe the election was fair, it proves what kind of person he is. so i'm voting for harris-walz. i do believe that is little best choice for america, and i hope that everyone takes a good look at this, the information being publicized in ads. i live in georgia. there are a lot of ads here that are just absolutely crazy. and if you believe them, then really, truly, i question your sanity. do your research, people. don't listen to these ads. don't listen to these talking heads on these tv channels. do your research, and you will find the best candidate for president is definitely not donald trump. thank you very much, and everyone have a wonderful day. host: you're calling from georgia. have you already cast your ballot? caller: i'm going to do it tomorrow. host: that was terry in georgia.

from cnn, record number of early votes cast in georgia as the election gets underway in the battleground state. it says as of tuesday, residents headed to the poll in a critical battleground state that is grappling with fallout from hurricane helene and controversial election administration changes that have earned the fury, and says more than 328,000 ballots were cast tuesday. dave sterling of the georgia secretary of state's office said on x, the first day, the previous first day record was 136,000 back in 2020. just a few minutes left in this first hour. rocky in lake city, florida, on the republican line. good morning, rocky. rocky, are you there? caller: yes. how are you doing?

host: doing well. caller: i was listening to a lot of the people just saying everything they want to say about all of the people, harris this, tim walz this. can you hear me? host: yes, i can, rocky. caller: ok. they talking about trump this and trump that. wanted to go back four years ago and go into trump's actual thing when he was president. they tried to take him out so many times. how many times did they try to impeach him? well, you know what? trump is just like the people that have been calling in. they made to realize that he's the man. he's got a family. just like they probably do, just like in georgia. they got tore up with the storms and all that. but do you think that biden and harris is up there trying to help them?

no, they're not. all they're doing is running around acting like they're somebody. now, i think it's time that people need to quit talking about trump and talking about harris. if you want harris, vote for her. i think it's a disaster if you do, but that's ok. but if you want trump, vote for him. i think the people at the united states will go back the way we were when trump was in office, that everything was cut. that's just because he was thinking that the people of the united states, they are thinking about the people that they can fill their pockets. how did biden get so rich? when obama was making biden house payments for him. none of that stuff ever come out. host: that was rocky in florida. david in new york on the independent line. good morning, david. caller: good morning. how are you?

i just want to -- i've been listening to everyone speaking. i agree with some of the stuff that people are saying, like, for instance, doing your own research. don't just rely basically on the media telling you what to think or what's true or what's not true. for instance, as i hear people talking about january 6, one of the things that was always a little bit puzzling to me why donald trump would want to january 6 to happen. just thinking about that, i wanted to know what was going on january 6. democracy was playing out on january 6. you know, we had a senator, ted cruz, who was with the house of representatives, one congressmen, which is actually something that the democrats have always wanted to do that

they can never get a senator to contest the election and actually have democracy play out by debating whether things were on the up and up with the election. why would donald trump want to stop that? so if things like this that people need to look at and think about. would trump really want that? or would the democrats want to stop that? things like that, right? host: got your point, david. steve, our last call for this hour in massachusetts on the line for republicans. good morning, steve. caller: good morning. just wanted to say, most of the democrats, i think the minimum thing they want in the election is for not to have donald trump. they don't have anything to stand on. they don't just want donald trump. my main concern is safety in america. not today or tomorrow, but in the future. i have five grand daughters.

it seems that every day america is getting less and less safe. since obama, since biden has been in office, child sex crimes have tripled. we have 200,000 children from the border missing. it goes on and on. we have terrorists in this country, cells already, and it's going to go on and on and on. if you have more safe in the last three years in america than in the past, i'd be surprised. and there was a documentary about cheating on elections. the higher educated you are, the more likely you feel that it's ok to cheat, so you have somebodyi will tell you, durings election with new hampshire trying to get trump off of the election in colorado, and then the lawsuits that have gone on and the assassination attempt

which now seem normal. it is normal to try and assassinate someone. it is the safety in america that is important. host: got your point. we are out of time so we will leave it there. still ahead, we will be talking about latino voters in campaign 2024 with joined by rafael collazo, the director of the unidosus action pac, and later with alfonso aguilar, the hispanic engagement director at the american principles project. we will be right back. ♪ >> booktv every sunday on c-span2 features leading authors discussing their latest nonfiction books. 6:30 p.m. eastern, a surgeon and

johns hopkins university public policy researcher looks at what happens when medical institutions make mistakes in public health recommendations with "blind spots." at 8:00 p.m. eastern, bob woodward shares "war" where he talks about the war in the middle east, ukraine, and the 2024 presidential election. thentephanie baker looks at thelobal impact of u.s. led economic sanctions against russia following vladimir putin's invasion of ukraine in " punishing booted that putin" and is interviewed by angela stent. watch booktv on c-span2 and find a full schedule in your program guide or watch any time at booktv.org. >> american history tv,

saturdays on c-span2, exploring the people and events that tell the american story. starting at 2:00 p.m. eastern for ticonderoga -- fort ticonderoga include that had a conference on the american revolution. highlights include canadian regiment and why general horatio gates went from a dutiful subject to a committed revolutionary. and then at 7:00 p.m. eastern watch the tv series historic presidential elections. exploring what made these elections historic. we look at different eras and their lasting impact in the nation. this week the election of 1960. john kennedy narrowly defeated vice president richard nixon. this was the first election to which all 50 states participated.

and at 8:00 p.m. eastern in lectures in history, a boston college communications professor on how baseball connects americans to the past and culture. exploring the american story, watch american history tv, saturdays on c-span two. find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at c-span.org/history. >> washington journal continues. host: joining us now from philadelphia to discuss latino voters and campaign 2024 is rafael cleo's a -- calloza. welcome to the program. guest: pleasure to be with you. host: why don't we start by reminding our audience about your organization and tell us how you are funded. guest: good morning, everyone. unidosus is the alliance super

pac formally named the nation's largest civil rights organization and unidosus action pac's mission is to align with policy paul -- priorities and open up opportunities for the latino community and all americans. host: unidosus action pack has endorsed vice president kamala harris, why? guest: we feel that she is the clear choice as it relates to the presidential options to not only continue the progress of the biden administration as it relates to the latino community but to expand opportunities economic and social across a variety of issues. latinos are telling us through the polling and we encourage people to look up unidosus' robust polling around the issues that latinos care about that we have been releasing. it is clear that latinos are

concerned about economic issues and a host of social issues. kamala harris' policy priorities and track record make it an obvious choice for her to be the president of the united states. host: "in the new york times" there is a section, latino voters feel let down by government. nevada democrats the erosion of support from group over concern about housing prices and the economy. what is your message to latino voters on why they should vote for vice president kamala harris? guest: two things. the first thing is that latinos have the right to want to have more economic opportunities. the rising costs and inflations has disproportionately impacted working latino families. one of the reasons we are so enthusiastic about a potential president harris' term in office is that her campaign are laser

focused on addressing specific concerns not just working families broadly but the latino community. when we poll the latinos in philadelphia, las vegas, arizona, and other swing states, one of the particular pain points is housing costs, especially those who are not homeowners in our community. her platform around building more housing and expanding -- curbing rental costs and allowing them more opportunities to purchase a home is particularly something that resonates with the community and is one of the many examples where candidate harris is addressing the top issues of concern to latino families in her campaign. host: i wanted to show some polling done after the 2020 election from pew in 2020. president biden won hispanic men vote by 57% to 40%.

a recent poll in this year's presidential election had vice president harris beating trump by only 3%. 48 to 45. why is vice president harris underperforming with this group? guest: many reasons. a couple of the principal reasons that i wanted to share with your viewers is first, latino men, particularly deal -- some feel the economic pinch since covid and some have not recovered yet from the economic progress since covid. and they are feeling anxiety over the rising prices and they are looking for answers. so one of the things incumbent on vice president harris to do is to inform and reach out directly to latino men to share with her economic vision which is about expanding economic

opportunities from the latino workforce and building 3 million homes during her presidency, which a high proportion of the workforce that would build those homes in construction and other industries would be latino male workers. expanding opportunities for homeownership, which is a pain point. there is a gap in support between latino men's presidential preferences, and the issues that they care about because latino men when they poll around these issues they are very much in line with kamala harris' policy platform around economic issues. so we believe that she can improve her standing with latino man and we are focused on robust outreach. host: we are talking with raf ael callozo -- collazo.

if you have a question or comment you can call in now. if you are republican, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. and, independents, 202-748-8002. i wanted to ask you about some polling that your organization has recently done looking at latino voter outreach. and it showed that -- "one extremely concerning aspects showed that 53% of latino voters polled in nevada said that they still had not been contacted by a campaign or political party." what is your advice for the harris campaign in terms of improving its outreach? guest: again, as we were discussing, it is about direct voter contact and directly

addressing voters regardless of their backgrounds and a direct and respectful way. listening to voters about their concerns and addressing those concerns and aim culture really -- culturally specific manner. other cycles when we had vast majority of latino voters that had not heard from any candidate or party. we would encourage vice president harris, senator rosen and other candidates that we have endorsed or simply looking to engage the community in direct outreach, not just in language. that is part of it. reaching out to voters in spanish. but also engaging in their community. local messengers and trusted stakeholders whether they come from our network of local latino leaders that people trust to pass the message of the platform that vice president harris had

and potential president harris has. and we believe that latino voters will respond positively if we are reached -- if they are reached out to in an appropriate manner. host: we are going to bring the audience into the discussion but note that we have a line set aside for latino voters. that line is 202-748-8003. if you are a latino voter, give us a call on that line. we will hear from rick in missouri on the line for republicans. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking this question. first off, i want to understand what is your position on what the harris and biden administration have done on the border. but you said earlier was that litton -- latino men feeling the economic pinch since covid.

can't you attribute that economic pinch to a flood of people coming across the southern border, which happened after covid. i think that is a real issue. i want to clarify something so i will let you answer that. but this order deal bipartisan that trump killed it. he killed it because a bad deal is not worth during. no deal is better than a bad deal. let us go back to economic position being caused by the border surge. thank you. guest: so thank you for your question. on the economic issue, i would humbly suggest that the much bigger concern as it relates to the economic pinch that working people in the country, and latino men are facing early relates to going back to the trump administration. we had essentially a pretty stable economy thanks to eight years of barack obama. a few years into his presidency,

president trump at the time and the only significant piece of legislation he ever passed passed a tax law that overwhelmingly benefited the wealthiest americans and corporations. that was, plus covid and other factors, accentuated the inflation that not only the united states but the globe has gone through over the past few years. and in fact the united states, relatively speaking, did not have inflation significantly. it was pretty much the rest of the world to the credit of the biden administration. those steps were bigger factors than the economic pinch. on the flipside, while costs are an issue for latino men, employment is not. they are working in very high numbers and are a big part of the labor force. and their wages are rising. they are still seeing -- feeling the impact. the economic story is about

inflation and is part of the puzzle. and around immigration. you know, president trump had four years to address having his own approach to the immigration system. he did not, as he said he would, build a significant amount of border wall. he did not get mexico to pay for it. he did not have any sort of plan for a comprehensive approach for border security but also to address the over 10 million long-term undocumented that are part of the society that live in mixed households and are contributing into the positive net gain to the economy. so, i believe it is rich of him to now after president biden and vice president harris worked with a very conservative senator lankford in the senate to come up with a bipartisan and very right leaning border bill. it would what enforce security.

and the border agents endorsed. to kill the bill and say it is not tough enough. the question on the table is who has -- who is trying to address and solve problems, difficult and complicated problems, with no real perfect solution or someone just trying to play politics with an issue that does concern americans, but has now gone into one of the very few campaigns premices, which is to demonize latino people. i appreciate your question and i would just ask you to consider who is really trying to address some of these issues that we have been discussing today. host: joe in kentucky on the republican line. good morning. caller: hello? host: go ahead, you are on. caller: i want to know how open borders of fact the latino

blue-collar workers, the minority workers. and when you open borders, you suppress the wages and you make more people compete for housing. you tell me how the open borders helps the blue-collar workers. guest: i appreciate your question. i say that in our recent history i would same open borders is a misnomer. there is no mainstream either democratic or latino advocacy stakeholder that believes in an open border situation. if you pull the -- poll the latinos, and you look at vice president harris' platform the latino leadership community and when you look at them, we want a balanced approach to the immigration a system -- system. we want a border security policy

and we want treat -- want to treat people humanely whether they are recently arrived and have a fair path of citizenship for those who have contributed. as it relates to what has occurred over the last few years, we had a very serious crisis and i -- and it was a humanitarian crisis. so while, and now, vice president harris is trying to address that. biden tried to address it by creating a very right leaning border security bill that present -- former president trump killed and everybody in a very transparent way, that is what took place. i would suggest that the much bigger issue as it relates to some of the economic anxieties of latino men, are around inflation like the conversation earlier and other factors. not necessarily immigrants that contribute to the economy and in fact we do not have an open

border. one of the things that has not been talked about. over the last six months or so when the biden administration has focused on addressing the issue, crossings have gone down. so, this is a fluid situation that we need to be fair on how we monitor day today. host: i wanted to show you some more recent pew polling done in january of this year looking at latino voters. hispanic -- eligible hispani voter population is projecteto be 36 million latinos expected to make up 15% of eligible voters. slightly more than half of latinos are eligible voters. what should viewers know about the political power of this voting bloc and how they vote? guest: absolutely. voters will determine -- there

is no question about it if you look at arizona and nevada we have a critical mass of the electorate. over 20% of those states. even in what we consider traditional overwhelming white in the other midwest like pennsylvania, michigan and wisconsin and in the sun belt, growing populations. we expect the latino electorate in pennsylvania to be 5% of the voter turnout, well within the margin of victory for candidates. they have a great say in states like pennsylvania, north carolina and others. the latino electorate is going to grow exponentially. the average american is about 40 years old and the average latino is 30 years old. we have a growing population and 40% of those who vote in 2024 were not voters in 2016. we are talking about a robust community driving the economic

and cultural engine. and it is very important that both parties, frankly have an understanding of how to message to this very fast-growing and diverse electorate because you cannot win national elections in many state and local races anymore. without engaging the community. host: we will hear from staten island, new york. mia, on the line for latino voters. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. i do want to share that many latinos that come to this country are fleeing fascism and places taking away their freedoms and they come here. and many tend to vote for trump which is is doing the same

thing. he wants to take away our freedom. he also separated the families at the border. someone is challenging what kamala harris it wants to do. she is not going to be separating families. many of those families have not been united. so, other latinos are strong, and we cherish that freedom. so a little bit from jfk, we just ask the latinos ask not what the country can do for you what we are going to do for our country. we will need to stick together with kamala. and i hope that they will consider working with the freedoms that we have.

project 2025, i think they should push that a little more. but he is taking us back to the dark ages. host: you are breaking up but we will leave it there. let's get a response. guest: thank you for your question and commentary. it is good to analyze some of the dynamics between latinos that tend to vote more conservatively and have an is -- history of fleeing left-wing dictators for cuban-americans and venezuelan americans and they get a lot of contacts. that is the dynamic that we see even though those communities are not as right wing. it is closer to 50-50. the vast majority of that part of the -- that latino electorate is concentrated in florida. that dynamic that impacts one

state in statewide elections. to the bigger point around in some ways the wrong conversation about immigration because this is asylum seeker's that had been the focus of this conversation over the last few years, we are seeking asylum for very valid reasons. for economic, political or personal. they are trying to escape domestic violence. and there are a lot of horrific circumstances and i would suggest the people watching this that have a negative opinion from immigrants who have arrived through the asylum process. i would remind you that many of you are christians and have that as part of your faith. jesus was an asylum seeker who is mother's name was maria. i think we need to focus about having these conversations.

and what it says about the politics that one of the major candidates, one of his very few if any major arguments for being president is that the problem with our country are black and brown people that are more recently arrived. the question is that our we can have a president working to solve problems and believe in the humanity of all of us or a president as he has done in springfield and many other circumstances to create more problems and demonize people. whether they are haitian migrants or legal residents or meteorologists in the southeast simply reporting accurate information about weather patterns will create pride problems and be targets. i think the choice is clear. host: on a related note. a text from a viewer. melvin in illinois asks "latinos

seem to be swayed by the false equivalency of comparing american democratic socialism to the socialism that tak pce in venezuela. how can th harris campaign help educate latinos to distinguish between the two?" guest: it is a bigger problem as it relates to the decentralized media system not just by candidate harris let all of us have a responsibility to prevent the rampant misinformation that we are seeing that targets spanish-speaking voters, social media and youtube through text messaging, every latrine no -- latino who is watching this story will get a text or reach out by a spanish-speaking relative that is getting just incredibly wild and inaccurate information in their whatsapp chain about some crazy conspiracy theory against a democrat and kamala harris is

the target of that vitriol. social media platforms, she did the univision town hall which was a great step to communicate directly. she needs to continue to do that in every way to reach out to different sectors and share her policy platform. if you pull the latino voters, -- poll the latino voters. without infringing on first amendment rights and how we will have a larger conversation about the social media and media ecosystem so that we can rid ourselves as much as possible as the rampant misinformation that is damaging our democracy. host: let us hear from teresa in texas on the line for latino voters.

guest: i come from a huge family in texas. and even the neighborhoods where i purchase my home is pure latino. i do not know one person who is voting for kamala harris. our values do not line with the democratic party. we hold life very very sacred. so, we do not align with them at all. their morals and values. i do not know where this guy is coming from. furthermore, a lot of my tios are masons and plumbers. it was hard to compete for jobs and work because of what is coming in. it is not the mexicanos, but 159 countries. this is a problem and he knows it. this gentleman knows it and it is an issue. i am with latinos for trump and

i will always be there with them. i was there in 2016 and i will be there in 2024. i do not know where he is coming from. there is nothing that the democrats have to offer. as far as kamala harris is concerned. socialism whether it is in venezuela or here in the united states is socialism, period. there is no differential. when you are they setting prices for groceries, that is socialism and marxism. you do not do that and that is wrong. they know what they -- what is going on. we need to drill and we need energy costs down that will help with groceries and housing and everything. we need to get the 27 million illegals out of our country. host: we will get a response. guest: i'm sorry. what is the woman's name again? host: that is teresa. guest: good morning in waco.

there are a couple of things. one is i am coming from a place of data and i am not picking up what the democrats are talking about. you represent a quarter to one third of the electorate that will vote for donald trump in a few weeks. you have your voice as part of our electorate and i would not sit here to say that we have homogeny. we have different perspectives. your purpose -- your perspective is roughly one quarter or one third of our community and i respect you. let me give you a moment. the first one is the abortion issue. so, in the latest polling, and this is consistent from what we have been done with every edible poster. 70% from the evangelical to catholic or nondenominational or whatever their religious or spiritual background has said, regardless about my personal opinions and the decision that i

may or may not make with my family and religious meat leaders and my doctors, i believe that 70% plus leave that women have a right to choose what they can do with their own body. and i would suggest to you, that i think we have seen some of the examples in your state of texas where abortion access is being denied and we are seeing women have incredible life-threatening medical conditions. and a fact some have documented to have died because a lack of abortion care that they now have in texas. i do not believe that in your heart you would want that to happen, regardless of spiritual views. as it relates to drilling, the united states is producing more oil than we ever have. that is currently taking place. in regards to socialism, i would suggest -- i would respectfully ask you to consider that vice

president harris' plan as it relates to stimulating small business growth and building 3 million homes to your point about builders, 3 million homes to match the needs of the job market so we can have more latinos working in the construction industry and more affordable home so latinos can buy them. that is something that the latino electorate and latinos from your economic perspective can agree with. socialism, i do not know where that is coming from. president trump and his economic platform is to pass another huge tax cut for the wealthy. and the rest of it is concepts. thank you for your questions. host: monique in washington, d.c. on the line for democrats. caller: good morning. thank you for taking your call. i live in the beautiful city known as the most socialist city in the world. and we embrace all people.

the latinos are doing marvelous up here in the district of columbia. we have, as a matter of fact, the council just passed a law last year that allows noncitizens to vote in the local elections, not federal, local elections where we elect councilmembers and the board of education and everything else. yes, we are social and are taxes represent socialism that we have. we do not give out money. we are trying to pull people up from the bootstraps and make sure that they have housing and food and everything else so kids can go to school with a full belly and come home with education on their minds and have some type of consistency in their life. when the governor of florida

sent the noncitizens appear he thought he was doing something mean. but we embrace them. and 100% of those noncitizens they have dropped off our working and they have housing and they are being productive. it is crazy to me when people say send them back and all of this negative stuff. they are contributing to social security, local taxes, and everything else. i mean, it has to get to a point where just like the other caller said, they are running away from something. a majority of the noncitizens are running away from something. they are looking for peace and to raise their kids in a productive society where they can grow and have their own traditions. and in washington, d.c. they are not getting paid $7.25 an hour or $10.50 minutes of wage.

they are getting $17 an hour. ok? host: we will give time for him to respond. guest: thank you for your commentary and i appreciate your passion for this question. this speaks to some of the larger questions that we need to address as paula -- as part of our politics before and after -- and after election day is that this focus of latinos on the politics and the emphasis on the demonization and then having to play defense about immigrants. the bigger story is that latinos are such an economic engine and bringing so much vitality whether they are native born or immigrants. how do we open up the doors of opportunity so that we can have more latinos attending higher educational institutions and have quality education and open up economic opportunity and

pursue the american dream? it is still a very aspirational electorate. so how do we provide them doors of opportunity so they can fulfill the promise and continue to be the economic engine of the country. there were so many undocumented workers in 2020 that were essential workers. we were in a position where there was one political party and president that was demonizing them but at the same time we would not have had food on the table or roads built for the society to function without them. the last point on this question is this constant demonization that i see it in philadelphia and all of the trunk commercials are about latino him -- immigrants in the transgender people who are the problems of the society. i would respectfully ask everyone watching is that if we could be honest with ourselves, this is really a proxy for latinos and people of color are the problem in terms of this rhetoric.

we know that because trump in four years, i will go back to one of my identities as a puerto rican. in four years he treated puerto ricans after hurricane maria horribly by denying critical funding and rapid response that cost us the lives of thousands of puerto ricans on the island and the biden administration has had to play catch-up and the rebuilding. 3 million u.s. citizens live on that island. trump threw towels at our lowest point shortly after the hurricane. he mused about trading for puerto rico to greenland. he wanted to eradicate our country, many of which you have fought in the wars and contributed vastly to our society. we know that this rhetoric around the bad immigrants is really a bigger dog whistle around latinos and diverse communities being a threat when

we are the exact opposite. we are working in an inclusive way to build this country together. the more we focus on the needs of working people which are increasingly becoming diverse, the better we will be. thank you for your commentary. host: what about the role of dreamers in this election? what are vice president harris and former president trump messaging to them? guest: that is a great question. dreamers have become such a great beacon of hope and aspiration as it relates to young people in our country and people that are already contributing in an incredible way. there is a lot on the line for dreamers. obviously a -- obviously vice president harris will continue to advocate for a way for a full legalization for the full population and former president trump will do the complete opposite. the future and our country and society are on the line.

the dreamer community has been very active in social movements and we anticipate that they will continue to be a great driver of voter turnout in the next coming weeks among the communities. rima: let us hear -- host: let us hear from mike on the republican line. caller: i think a lot of the people in this country border bill and it codifies at least 5000 a day coming in which adds up to 1.8 million a year. this biden and harris and integration allowed the biggest illegal immigration and history in this country. the thing is that i.c.e. has a lowest deportation in history in terms of getting out illegal criminals. why -- do you agree that

illegals that are in this country that commit crimes should be deported and not let back in? and i want you to tell the people of the people who were killed that you and your open border policies of letting people, and is good. ok. but these people are hard-working and great family people. and the latinos in this country. my mother-in-law is full mexican from california and we live in north carolina. she has trump. and most the people that she knows disagree with this open border, letting everybody in. people that come into this country should not be a burden on the american taxpayer. look up in new york they are giving them $5,000 debit cards and putting them up in hotels which is $1700 a month.

that is unfair to the american taxpayer and to the american latinos out here busting their rear end making ends meet and their tax money is going to pay for all of the illegals. i want you to say that these immigrants from venezuela coming in with gangs in aurora and starting in chicago and everywhere in this country. you think that is good for the americans and the american latinos? host: we will get a response. guest: so, to go back to the conversation. first of all. nobody here at unidosus, or the congressional spending caucus is for open borders. and so that is why addressing it with a bill like the republican supported in the senate border bill that president biden negotiated with the conservative republicans in the senate would have addressed the asylum question.

part of the challenge with the asylum process which we agree is broken is that we have such a backlog of people that have gone through the process not just because of the last few years but decades of this process being underfunded and not being properly supported which the border bill would have addressed. it is because -- with more support and more resources we could have asylum claim hearings within a few months instead of several years. the more we address the broken immigration system, that is how these issues will be addressed. demonizing people and dehumanizing people is not the solution to addressing an issue that latino advocates for decades have set have been broken and the federal government's own both sides have to address it in a comprehensive manner. it is so interesting that you talk about you have had many republican callers basically fully focused on attacking

latino advocates in the latino community that believe that we want to address problems and i would sit -- i would suggest everyone watching that this not obsession with the singular focus on the problem with this conversation is because we actually want to treat people like a human being. and the only thing that latinos are good for as part of the conversation is talking about how immigrants are the problem. i would suggest that we have many other issues to address that will ultimately determine the election. and that is why vice president harris is focused on immigration which we have talked about extensively. but an economic and social message that provides all people, especially working people whose prices are still high, an opportunity to buy a home and get an education without incredible student debt and have an inclusive society

where everyone is welcome. i would hope in the coming days that we could see more of a balanced conversation about the real issues impacting our country and not a singular focus on demonizing immigrants in our society. host: one last call. ronald in north carolina on the line for democrats. morning. caller: good morning. listen. i am enjoying your show this morning. thank you for having me on. i am a vietnam veteran who served in the united states air force in a military capacity. and i am 78 years old. i am also a retired fire chief from the fire department in florida. one of the things that i did serving as a fire chief was to

go to a seminar where they discussed the beauty in this country of immigration. they described it as a wonderful salad that had been prepared with multiple vegetables and nuts, raisins and everything. it was a really inspiring lecture. it really opened my eyes to the beauty of inclusion in this country. i cannot understand for a minute how people can be so negative about immigrants because we are all immigrants. our parents immigrated here. and we should not look at it as a deficit but as a positive note. host: we will get a response because we are running out of time. guest: thank you for your service, sir. i have a lot of family members

who have served honorably in the military and i appreciate your commentary. i think that helps sum up the conversation because on some level, particularly president trump is having the wrong conversation as it relates to immigration and the future of our country. and vice president harris has consistently advocated for a balanced approach which latino support in terms of reasonable and efficient human board -- humane border security and addressing the long-term undocumented which are overwhelmingly positive to our society. thank you for your comments and we look forward to a very robust and solution oriented conversation around immigration reform with president harris when she is inaugurated. host: our joest -- guest ra

fael collazo, from unidosus. next, we are going to continue our discussion of latino voters and campaign 22. we will be joined by alfonso aguilar, the hispanic engagement director at the american principles project. we will be right back. ♪ >> attention middle and high school students across america, it is time to make your voice heard. the studentcam documentary contest 2025 is here. this is your chance to do a documentary that can inspire change, raise awareness and make an impact. it should answer the question, what issue is most important to

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>> friday night, watch c-span's 2024 campaign trail. a weekly discussion on how the presidential, house, and senate campaigns have progressed. two reporters joined to talk about the issues and events driving the news and a look at what is ahead. watch the 2024 campaign trail friday nights at 7:00 eastern on c-span, c-span.org or download as a podcast on c-span now or wherever you get your podcasts. c-span, your unfiltered view of politics. >> washington journal continues. host: joining us to continue our discussion of otieno voters and campaign 2024 is alpha long ago -- alfonso aguilar, the hispanic engagement director for american principles project. good morning. guest: happy to be with you.

host: remind our viewers what american principles project is and how you are funded. guest: well, we are a c3 organization and we also have a c4 sister organization. we advocate in support of policies that are profamily. we do it before the u.s. government and state governments. and we also get involved in the electoral process to advocate for candidates and support candidates who are profamily. we are funded by donors who believe in the cause of defending foundational principles of our country. that believe that we need to fight against the woke,

progressive agenda that seeks to undermine our american values and the family, the authority of parents. we fight against allowing trans men and female sports. i kate -- against teaching gender ideology in public schools without parental authorization. and we are definitely against allowing minors to have puberty blockers and same-sex surgery. host: you said that you advocate for candidates. have you endorsed anyone or do you endorsed candidates? guest: well, yes we have endorsed president trump. again, like other organizations, we have a family organization. what is the educational foundation, the c3.

the c4 is the advocacy and then we also have a super pac and then through that we are campaigning against kamala harris and pointing out her anti-family policies that challenge parental authority and put our kids at risk. host: and your role with the american principles project is the director of hinz panic -- hispanic engagement. what does that entail? guest: it entails engaging the hispanic community to inform them about the policies that the democratic party and the biden-harris administration have been pushing against the interests of hispanic families, regulation changes to title x to try to force educational institutions that receive federal funding to follow gender ideology policies and to allow

trans men to have access to girl sports or locker rooms which puts it risk their security and intimacy pushing policies that would allow them to participate in sports. and also, pushing and supporting efforts in different states to allow minors to have access to puberty blockers that can cause permanent damage to minors and also to change sex change surgery is, which involvements ectom -- masectomy, and genital real mind meant and basically child abuse. for jewett -- for a majority of americans and hispanics these are policies that are scary. and we are one of the few

organizations, actually that point out in the political process. we run ads highlighting the democrat's woke agenda and support for this appalling policy. and, frankly it is working. we think that the radical trans agenda is a sleeper issue certainly for the edge -- for the meat out. but first for americans it scares them. that is why many hispanics or hispanic men are moving towards donald trump because they are afraid of this agenda that kamala harris supports of schools treating children as not according to their biological gender without telling their parents. and policies like that really concern hispanic parents, talking about graphic sex or

sexual orientation to -- orientation or gender identity to minors were very small children in schools is something that should not happen. this is what the biden-harris administration has supported. so we participate in the political process and campaigns that run ads highlighting that because we do believe that that leads a lot of voters and certainly hispanic voters to support donald trump. host: part of your job does include outreach and engagement with the latino community. is that different this year than previous years? because -- guest: it does in the sense that we are seeing a major realignment in hispanic politics. in the past, hispanics were a vast majority supportive of the democratic party.

they saw the democratic party the party of hispanics. as they integrate and assimilate into american culture. they are starting to vote like most americans. they are looking out for their own interests and the interests of the families. so, it does happen with other migrant communities 100 years ago with italians, and the irish. they arrive and they were driven to the democratic party. with time they started voting like average americans. we are sitting hispanics not necessarily becoming republican. many are. but many just being independent and saying what is best for my family. they are not voting according to groupthink and whatever hispanic identity democrats say, but according to what their interests are. and that is why we are seeing so many move towards the right.

we have seen that in the past two elections in the current polling, and we are seeing that as well. not only at the national level is trump receiving significant support from hispanic voters, but hispanic support for kamala harris has dropped dramatically. remember on the national level, the democrats were used to to winning for 3040 points. kamala harris is only ahead by 14 points. if you look at the battleground states, and most of them hispanic votes will be decisive. and that margin is even smaller. kamala harris is ahead in most with the hispanic vote but the margin is smaller and in arizona, trump is winning the hispanic vote.

this is a major development in american politics. but it shows that as hispanics immigrate and assimilate they becomes more independent which is against everything that we have been hearing from democrats for so long. the hispanics say -- but at the end we say they share the same ideas and that is true. the biggest diversity in the hispanic community is the diversity of ideas, even within different ethnic groups. puerto ricans in new york think different from those in central florida. we have had that diversity and that is what we are seeing. we cannot generalize. and i think democrats are still doing that and that if you listen to kamala harris' campaign rhetoric, they are still treating hispanics as a monolith.

we are trying to victimize him saying that republicans are racist. but hispanics can see beyond the pandering that race baiting. frankly they are saying we do not buy that. and that is why so many are supporting trump. host: our guest, alfonso aguilar will be with us talking about latino voters and campaign 2024. if you have a question or comment you can call in. the lines, republicans, 202-748-8000. democrats, 202-748-8001. independent, 202-748-8002. and if you are a latino voter, the line for you is 202-748-8003 . alfonso, i wanted to ask, when you are talking with voters what

is your pitch to get them to vote for former president trump, if they are not a supporter right now? guest: and that is exactly what we are doing. because you have to look at undecided hispanic voters in the battleground states. the first two issues they care about is the economy, specifically high prices. prices remain very high. across they are seeing that in the supermarket, the gas pump, so that is the number one issue. second is border security. and hispanics still would like america to be a welcoming country. hispanics do not have the same views on immigration. they may have had it in the past

and they believe in more restrictions, and hispanics believe in deportations, so ask about border security. hispanics believe trump would do a better job. thirdly, social issues matter. we are seeing that kamala harris is bleeding hispanic male voters, and one of the reasons is they are concerned with sexualizing kids in schools, allowing trans men in female sports, access to the same-sex surgeries, hormone blockers, and they are aware of it because democrats talk about it, so that is another reason and that is something that needs to be talked about. i think another issue that is

important to them is crime, and, obviously, that is related to the mass migration we are seeing because they are seeing high numbers of illegal migrants arriving in their communities and taking away resources that they need. also, an increase in serious crime from murder to violent crime committed by illegal immigrants. and it is impacting the community, so that is an important issue for them. that is more or less the issue being talked about, and hispanics respond to that. host: callers are waiting to talk with you. richard, augusta, georgia, democrats. good morning. caller: good morning. mr.aguilar, how can you support a man who separated over 4500 mothers from their children at the border and did nothing to

try to reunite the families together? right now, biden and harris has worked on reuniting the families. another thing, on the economic issues, the president cannot control what corporations raise prices when the government opens up the strategic reserves. other than that, the gross restores by corporations, they are the ones who raise the prices. guest: well, first, let me address the separation of families because that is a talking point for democrats. we saw an increase in illegal arrivals 2019. president trump took action i was able to achieve control of the border. we do not want migrants from latin america or over the world

to make the dangerous trip to the southern border. over 60% of women and girls are victims of sexual assault, rape, we do not want to see that. massive gratian facilitates child trafficking. do not want to see that, so we would like to take measures like trump did from the remaining policies to dissuade people from making that trip. you mentioned the children. people do not talk about the over 300,000 unaccompanied minors that the biden anhydrous ministry should have lost -- and harris avenue station have lost contact with. they do not know where they are. and our government has lost contact with them. that is the scandal. that overshadows what happened with the separation a family policy, but nobody is talking about it. we should ask kamala harris,

where are those children? many of them are being sex trafficking. we know that massive migration of facilities, the trafficking of children, the border patrol is so overwhelmed, sometimes hhs releases those children to individuals they think our relatives when they are actually traffickers. the government cannot communicate. they don't know where over 300,000 children are. and they are not talking about that separation of families, so that is a political point. the situation we have in the border right now, president biden said he wanted it to have a humane system. we have humanitarian crisis right now. it is anything but moral and humane. people are risking their lives, it facilitates the sexual salt of women and child trafficking. it must stop.

inflation started going up to 9% under this administration. why? because we have declared more on fossil fuels. that has an impact in the market. that inundated the cost of energy, and energy is a basic component and pillar of the economy. we already had an overheated economy. government had invested a lot of economy because of the pandemic, which was an exceptional situation. instead of reducing government spending, the biden-harris, station started overspending with a different build a past. and the inflation reduction act had nothing to do with inflation, it was about massive subsidies to the environmental agenda, and that did not help low income individuals, so inflation, right now, and high prices, due to the policies of

this ministrations, it happened on this demonstration, so every pulses biden and harris is responsible and trump would do a better job. that's the reality. host: let's hear from paul, independent. caller: good morning. mr. aguilar, i have a question for you. we need labor in this country, and before the pandemic -- i'm a contractor, and within the pandemic, i have no problems. now, i have a serious problem. all i can find are undocumented workers. nobody would do it except the

latino workers. and i think [indiscernible] but that is another issue. we need workers in this country. guest: i agree. donald trump has been very clear that his concern is with illegal immigration. there are ways to come here legally to work. donald trump is not anti-immigrant. if you look at the numbers of legal immigration with a trump administration, they remain high. every year from 2017 to 2021, he gave one million people the status of permanent resident. that is a high number. every year during those four years, they would naturalize 800,000 people.

no other country, numerically or proportionately has those immigration numbers. what we cannot have his massive unregulated migration. if we receive some new people in a short amount of time, we will not have the resources to integrate them, that is why you have democratic mayors complaining they have no resources, any do have cities and small towns being overrun. talk about springfield, ohio. a lot of migration has been rough because of the comment about cats or whatever, but it is a small town, 58,000 people, 15,000 to 20,000 poor haitian migrants arrived. but in a short time, so many people arriving cost -- caused economic problems, clashing, and it leads to crime.

we are not against immigration, but we need legal immigration, and it needs to meet the needs of the labor market. i agree, but the solution is not to say let's open the borders and let everybody come in. our system was not set up to receive so many people. we are overwhelmed. i heard previous guests saying the problem is we don't have enough judges to process the people. we will never have enough judges with this volume of people. think about it. that is an incredible displacement of people from different parts of the world to the united states. i think in the eastern united states, we have never seen anything like that. in recent times, i cannot think of that type of displacement. it encourages all sorts of problems, not just in the u.s., but for central american

countries, and this creates a quarter of terror -- a corridor of terror from panama, to our southern border, and this is not the way to enter the united states, but we need to secure the border. we can talk about perhaps finding other ways to bring labor, but they are different program democrats have opposed those programs. democrats have historically opposed them, putting all sorts of regulations to impede us from bringing those workers legally. host: alfonso, vice president harris spoke to latino voters last week during an event, sponsored by univision. she talked about her approach to migration. i would like to get your response. [video clip]

vice president harris: i will put my record against anyone's in terms of the work i have done and i have always done to ensure we have a secure border, just like i also mentioned in the context of an earlier question, the point about the border security bill. i spoke with the border patrol, leaders there, to your point, they are working around the clock, and they need more support. donald trump got in the way many months ago for them to go to the border, which would mean those many months of resources going to help those agents who talking about. many months of what could have happened right now in terms of putting resources into fentanyl and stopping the flow of fentanyl, which we know is killing people every day in america. the trafficking issue, and,

again, work i have done and care deeply about. so, my pledge to you is that by the grace of god and hopefully with your support, as well, when i'm elected president, i will bring back the border security bill and sign it into law. [end video clip] host: your response. guest: her record is tough on immigration, it is laughable. she was part of this administration, the second highest ranking person in the administration. whatever goals she had, she was part of putting in place the policies of the administration, and this administration put away , since border security policies that the previous administration put in place, and they incentivized a massive wave of migrants. they allowed the majority in.

secretory mallorca said 75% of people arriving have been let in , so we are talking millions of people. they created the crisis, and now they are saying that she has always been tough? it's incredible. when it comes to the bill, first of all, you know, the bill was filed and worked on the very end, not at the beginning of the administration. they want to talk about a crisis at the border, we had tons of people coming in, and they did not do anything to stop that, but if you look at the bill, first of all, even if donald trump had not gotten involved, it would not have passed. he had the support of 15 republicans, he had the majority support of republicans in the house, and they said that it was not going to go anywhere. why? because that bill would perpetrate the problem. it would incentivize people to

come to the country. it would allow, according to that bill, up to 5000 people who would arrive, and they would still allow them in. it would allow them to better manage the entry of all those people arriving without the proper, but it would not dissuade people from coming or stop people who have no proper documentation or legitimate claim to asylum to enter the country. there was another bill republicans put in the house, and that was introduced early on but every democrat ignored it, so the whole talk about the bipartisan bill, they created this problem, and now they would like to fix the problem with the same policies that created it in the first place.

people are not dumb. the discussion about immigration shows that she's not telling the truth, and people understand. you can say that we really messed up and we should have enforced the law. and that is a problem. we listened to bill clinton the other day. they said that riley and georgia would not have been killed legal immigrants going to the border if he had been vetted properly. they created this ministrations that is not allowing the border patrol to vet people properly. they are overwhelmed. they are so overwhelmed and they cannot do their job. they cannot stop the property or dedicate the resource of that power to stop the fentanyl coming through the ports of entry, so we have an immigration problem. and i hear the previous guests

trying to minimize the crisis that we have in the country. this is the problem. this is someone defending the biden-harris record, still saying that policies have been good and we don't have a crisis. the majority of hispanics think there is a crisis. again, their positions have changed, and in the past, most hispanics said they would speak out for immigration reform but that is not the case anymore. you know, once we secure the border, then we can talk about other things. frankly, we had never seen such responsibility in terms of the border. hispanics understand it takes responsibility of the biden-harris administration. host: let's hear from our caller in maryland, independent. good morning, kinzie. caller: thank you for taking my

call. i would like to say something. i'm in my 60's, i've seen one group demonized after another. it is the blacks, the gays, now the latinos. this is a settler country that turned into a traffic part of its immigration population, and each group has tried to pull the latter up for others not to come in. why should we support any person in our administration that seeks to target and demonize any group of people? when i lived in new york, most of the illegals were from russia.

one will the russian illegals become a problem? or will the irish illegals become a problem question mark no, it is just the latinos, the people of color. host: we will get a response from our guest. guest: well, yeah, this is the typical democratic talking point that hispanics do not buy because it is going to the whole racism card. we are receiving legal immigrants at the border from over 140 countries. yes, we are concerned with russian illegal immigrants. we are concerned about national security, and our biggest vulnerability is the border. so we have an increase in the number of people on the terrorist list, coming from the middle east. it is not a question of color. it is a question that we can be a welcoming country, i'm a son

of immigrants, i believe immigration is good for the country, i agree, we are a nation of settlers, but it has to be orderly and regulated. we are talking about regulated, massive immigration that affects our health with antennal, creates crime, and now we have a criminal organization that has terrorized communities and that should be a concern. that is not being racist, but the entry to the united states has to be legal and orderly. he can be an orderly nation, but it has to be orderly. massive migration in a short time destabilizes a country read we don't have the resources, -- country. we don't have the resources, the manpower of the country to receive all these people.

that is not being xenophobic or racist. are there some who are? absolutely, but the vast geordie of americans agree with donald trump on doing their job on immigration, not because they are racist but because they are concerned about our security and economy. that is the reason. and if democrats continue this narrative that it is all about racism, i tell you, they will continue to lose more hispanics. actually, most are african-americans because president trump is right that a lot of these illegal immigrants are taking jobs from african-americans and taking resources from african-americans. and it is understandable, but it is not about racism. if democrats continue with this, they will continue to lose the support of hispanics. hispanics do not buy the condescending narrative of the democratic party that hispanics are racist and democrats are the progressives, welcoming party. that is a simplest equation.

the latino vote is very sophisticated, and they can see through that narrative. host: just about 10 minutes left with our guest, alfonso aguilar. mike, michigan, republican. good morning. caller: yeah, yeah. well, my take on this, hispanics did not abandon the democratic party, the democratic party abandoned hispanics. i know this from personal experience. i lived on the border for years in arizona, and the horrendous cartel-narco wars that are ongoing on their. you know, this open all powers exponentially.

-- cartel powers exponentially. not only in mexico. i lived in o'rourke, denver, -- aurora, denver, and the police designed a program to try to prevent gangs from infiltrating apartment buildings and taking them over. and, you know, when trump talked about that, he said, listen, we have to stop this before it gets worse. i agree with 100%. this is just common sense. i wanted to ask him a question, had he heard about the idea of municipal takeovers? because in mexico now, the cartels have gotten so powerful, they take over entire municipalities. i'm not saying that will happen here, but you have to put an end to it somewhere. this is common sense. everything he said is common sense.

and it needs to be dealt with, with common sense. this play by the democratic party and the open borders to put themselves in power as a one party power, and institutionalized that is the worst possible thing that could happen to our country. guest: yes. that is a very good question. look, most central american presidents, and in mexico, have lame joe biden for the crisis in the region -- have blamed joe biden for the crisis in the region. throughout the region, he has empowered cartels, human trafficking and child trafficking is a big issue per people are coming from africa,

china, and they fly to ecuador, and then from there, they trekked to the southern border, through panama. it is terrible. this is what we have created this is not humane. it is very difficult to deal with mexico when there is so much corruption, when cartels have so much power, wednesday, actually, as you say, take over local governments and i don't think it will happen in the united states, but when you have a group, a very violent organization, a more violent than ms 13, operating at different points, it really challenges local authorities and is a huge problem. look. recent stories in peru of violence and terror committed by venezuelan gangs, and we thought that only happens in latin america. we are seeing it now in the united states.

is that the kind of country we want? no. that is not being racist, that is a question of common sense. and this is the problem. while the democrats use their elective narrative of racism and systematic racism, americans would like common sense. that is why president trump is providing common sense solutions, and that is why he is getting support from independent and moderate democrats. let me say one more thing, immigration is not the only issue for hispanics. again, i mentioned inflation, high prices, but i have to go back to the agenda. kamala harris is losing hispanic men, so much so that they just launched men for harris, and i don't know how that will help them get the hispanic male votes, but clearly, a lot of men

are not responding well because it undermines masculinity. this discussion about the transgender, the obsession with trans kids. and kamala harris may not want to talk about this on her campaign, but throughout the administration, they continuously talked about providing gender care, sects change surgeries, hormone blockers to transit teenagers and kids. this is a travesty, this is dangerous. these are the policies that the democratic vice president champion as governor, allowing a bill to have minors to have access to puberty blockers and gender affirming care, so called. even when he signed the bill, he had a trans minor in the room.

what are they talking about? hispanics, for the most part, our family oriented. there is a reaction to this type of policy. it is visceral, and it is not about discrimination or intolerance. it is just saying leave our children alone. that is the message that is having an impact. host: bob, minnesota, democrat. caller: hello. i would like to know how you are going to toy if trump gets in and turns this country into a dictatorship. he came right out and said it, so don't deny it, it is going to happen. all you have to do is keep voting for trump, and it is going to happen. guest: it is funny when democrats keep mentioning that

because he made a comment and just that he would be a dictator the first day, meaning he would issue executive orders. if that is the indicator of dictatorship, then joe biden has been the biggest dictator and has had the most repressive government because of the number of consecutive orders on issues. that is a lame argument, but it is funny that the administration talks about promoting abroad. regimes in latin america are doing better because of joe biden. a socialist strongman in brazil, he took out sanctions on venezuela that allowed the regime to make more money and consult with power. they negotiated a deal in barbados, and they just had elections a few months ago, and

they stole the elections. latino american strongmen have played the biden administration because they look weak, donald trump had a policy about work, it was debilitating the regime, that is what venezuelan americans are so angry at this administration, of military regimes in latin america, many hispanics follow what happens in their home country. they know it that the administration has been weak and very close socialist regimes like others. host: alfonso, you are joining us from miami. you are down there to attend former president trump's univision town hall tonight. what are you expecting and what are you going to be watching for? guest: well, different from kamala harris who had a teleprompter at town hall.

i think donald trump will be spontaneous. i think he's incredible at interacting with people. hispanics are responding so well to donald trump. i think they will have hispanics from all over the country, asking all sorts of questions, and he takes the questions. focusing on the serious problem of high prices that is disproportionately affecting hispanics and the policies of encouraging and blocking and expanding the explanation and production of natural gas and oil will help us increase prices. i think you will talk about how he would like to control the border, and that will help. also, implement a policy deportation to get terminals out of the country. and i think he will also talk about cultural issues. he was about this radical agenda that scares a lot of hispanic families, and i think you will be very successful.

every opportunity he has with hispanic audiences has been incredible. he has had rallies in the bronx, florida, new york, arizona. every time the reaction is spectacular. i think it will be very successful, and i'm looking forward to being part of it. host: our guest, alfonso aguilar , the hispanic engagement director for american principles project. thank you for joining us this morning. guest: thank you for having me. host: we are wrapping up this morning "washington journal" with more of your calls with open forum. republicans, (202)-748-8001. democrats, (202)-748-8000. independents, (202)-748-8002. we will be right back. ♪

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analysis on the results survey, hosted by the parking institute -- brookings institution and the public religion research institute, live at 10:00 a.m., right here on c-span. you can also find it on c-span now, our free mobile app and online at c-span.org. also at 10:00 a.m., the army secretary particates in a showcase highlighting the u.s. army's civilian workforce, from the association of the u.s. army. we will have that live 10:00 a.m. eastern on cpan2 and c-span now and online at c-span.org. tonight at 8:00, the inc north decatur -- north dakota governl face off his democratichallenger. in a race for north dakota

senate seat, watch the debate live at 8:00 p.m. eastern. that will be on c-span two and our mobile app, and online at c-span.org. and we are getting to your calls. first, mark, new york, independent. caller: yes. i would like to say that democrats talk about the bill in congress that republicans should have signed. the truth is the president has the power to sign executive orders. they don't need any bill through congress to move out immigrants. all right? number two, i would like to finish, number two, democrats talk about dictators. maybe they should read about dictators. i've been reading about dictators. maybe they should read about the truth of a dictator and they will realize what a true dictator was. bye-bye. host: margie, pennsylvania, republican.

good morning. caller: do you agree that it is racist? good morning? host: good morning. caller: so i just had feedback, so i wondered. so, 2021 vice president harris went to south america, and the actual situation got worse. obviously, the leaders down there got out of hand. with the world situation as it is today, we need former president trump. he at least projects the feeling of strength. and a little bit of craziness. which makes other countries nervous, and they will not be pulling anything because they don't know what he will do.

and that is good. he does have a narcissistic personality, but that means he likes to win, and he needs to win. so i will be voting for president trump, and i think we need his strength right now. thank you. host: henry, alabama, democrat. caller: good morning. i have two things to say. one, all the glory that trump wreaks upon putin, i believe we should make him a foreign agent. number two, the guest just on television, alfonso, he needs to empty his pockets of the money that the maga group put in

because he has put his foot in his mouth. that is all i have to say. host: gary, main, independente. good morning. caller: yes, i have a problem with the three big lies donald trump tells at all his show rallies. the first, that he won election in. 2020 he cannot seem to understand that he did not win. that may be dementia. the second lie he keeps telling is that there was never a war going on while he was in office. and a took joe biden to get us out of the 20 year afghanistan war, which all republicans did not like the way he did it. the third big lie he keeps telling us, there was never any terrorists things happening when he was in office.

when the biggest terrorist action that happened to the world happened while he was in office, when he killed the commander of iran or killed the commander of iran in iraq, which i ran unleashed the world pandemic on us. it seems that nobody understands that they unleashed virus on the world. i hope people understand what will happen if he is elected again. thank you, america. host: that was scary in maine -- that was gary in maine. wall street journal, u.s. warns israel that it must boost gaza aid. in a letter to senior israeli officials on october 13, signed by antony blinken and defense secretary lloyd austin, u.s. blamed israel for a drastic drop

in humanitarian aid into gaza, and that contributed to starvation and widespread suffering. they gave israel 30 days to "reverse the downward humanitarian trajectory or else it will have implications for future weapons transfer and funding." blinken and austin site part of the foreign assistance act that bars the u.s. from providing security aid to any nation that impedes the transport or delivery of the united states humanitarian assistance, state department officials said they would like israel to enable significant increases in humanitarian aid getting into gaza. let's hear from ruben, connecticut, democrat. good morning. caller: morning. [indiscernible]

host: ruben, i'm sorry, i'm having a hard time understanding your. i think we might have a bad connection. we will go to arthur, texas, independent line. caller: yes, i'm a conservative christian. [indiscernible] host: tom, said -- san jose, california, democrat. caller: first of all, until trump accepts the results of the last election, he does not believe in fair and honest elections, fact. and for alfonso who is just there, he would like to concentrate on the 5000 immigrants per day that the bill would allow in, without talking about all the other good stuff.

i would like to remind the hispanics out there that when they start rambling, when trump is in their and they round up 10 million hispanics, they are going to get a lot of weeds. when you start pulling up those weeds, you will get a lot of good people, and they will cause a lot of panic. trust me. there will be a lot of problems with that deal. you know what i get satisfaction in? i get satisfaction in watching fox news for five to 10 minutes, look at the commercials, call the phone numbers up, and i tell them i will not buy their product. that gives me power because when i watch c-span, these republicans called up, and you can tell that they turn around the facts, and they say he's not lying. i go on facebook, and all my friends say, no, trump does not lie. why is he lying? all i'm saying is that really, watch out, hispanics, because he's going to pull up a lot of

good people with those weeds, and he will do it, trust me. thank you. host: eva, mississippi, republican. caller: hello. yes. i would like to say something to the last few callers and the last few days, people have been mentioning trump mental decline. the released report on biden, [indiscernible] joe biden is fine, his mental health is fine, he is very alert. suddenly, he goes to the naacp convention, he comes back, and he cannot run. did he sell out? and trump is smarter than any of those guys. harris, she's not the brightest bulb in the chandelier.

she is proof positive that education does not make you smart. i think her background should be better investigated. i think she hiding a lot of stuff. i would like to remind people when you don't vote, you forfeit the right to complain. and nobody can vote for your dead relatives. thank you. host: oklahoma, independent, sharon. caller: good morning. i just wanted to say one thing to your past guest that you had on, when he said that biden was more of a dictator because of numerous executive options, trump had 220 one he was president and 32% were turned down by the court.

joe biden has had 142 so far, and i don't know how many have been turned down by the court, but i would like to know. and another thing, i don't know how anybody could vote for trump . that is all. thank you. host: that was sharon in oklahoma. this headline on fox news' website, nathan wade world by house investigators, the article says that the special prosecutor nathan wade left capitol hill on tuesday after a marathon of 4.5 hour grilling white house it area committee investigators. wade, the legal team include, the former governor of georgia, said little to reporters before, after, and during his close doors deposition. no lawmakers were seen entering or cleaning the room. the article goes on to say that the house judiciary committee has been seeking information on

his relationship with the fulton county district attorney, annie willis, who is investigating former trump's alleged -- former president trump's alleged efforts to overturn his loss in the election in georgia. trump and 18 allies were indicted by a grand jury in august 2020 three on charges that include racketeering and conspiracy. marie, minnesota, republicans. caller: good morning. i'd like to talk a little bit about governor walz. he has a progressive far left agenda. he has been in politics for 22 years. he was a teacher, he was in congress for 16 years and became our governor. in his first term, his motto was one minnesota.

when he got a democratic majority in 2022, his agenda changed. abortion is legal here up to and through the ninth month. and if that baby is born alive, the decision is made in the room, and that baby can die. minnesota is a transgender refuge, which means anyone can come here, children can come here, get their drugs, get their surgery. undocumented get free college tuition in in-state schools. free medical care, and they are allowed to have a drivers license. so, most of and a soda does not agree with any of the policies. the people here do not want that, especially people in

minneapolis, which, by the way, during george floyd, kamala harris was the leader of the minnesota freedom fund to post rail for all the writers -- bail for all the rioters. this is what the country will look like. tim walz, maybe he was a teacher, but he doesn't talk about the policies that were put through with him as governor in these last two years. so, be careful america. you never hear him talk about it. host: doug, virginia, democrat. good morning. caller: i have a general question, if trump were reelected, since he did not divest himself previously, would he continue to sell his and fts, -- nft's and swatches from his

suits while in the second term/ that is all i have to say -- second term? that is all i have to say. host: steve, florida, republican -- dave, florida, republican. are you there? caller: [indiscernible] i would like to talk about legal adoption. i'm the father of three children, two of which were adopted. host: can you turned on the television in the background? -- can you turn down the television in the background? caller: yes, i'm here. host: we are hearing in echo. i need you to turn on your tv in the background. we will go on to mark, florida, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. mr. aguilar, you use the word "dissuade," a very good word, i know you are probably not a

natural english-speaking person, but i have a couple of questions. why do you continue to mention trump as president trump? he has not been the president for four years. and why can you not pronounce kamala harris' name correctly? i view this as disrespect. regardless of policies, her name is pronounced ka-mah-la. i will listen to your comments. host: rick, boston. caller: i wanted to make a couple of comments on the hispanic guy. a lot of this stuff on it happened. bush, but he was running, calling hispanics rapists and

murderers, and if he had rented out there in front of all those white people and put trump in his place, trump had nothing to run on, the only thing he can run on is hate. and he did not try to do nothing at that border. he had a chance, and he did not do nothing. a lot of people in this country are not murderers, but use talking about hispanics commit crime. these committing crimes in the white house. he's talking about i believe putin. you should have been shot before he got back to america or in prison until he got back to the united states. he's a disgrace. people are running around talking about [indiscernible] host: wanted to show this headline from "the cape cod times."

kennedy memorial service to be held in d.c., president biden will deliver the eulogy. the article says that the memorial service is going to be held today in washington. kennedy, 96, died october 10 after suffering a stroke a week earlier, according to her family. her funeral was on monday. the service is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on wednesday at the cathedral of saint matthew the apostle. the robert f kennedy human rights group confirmed that ethel kennedy was the founder of the organization and on the board of directors. president biden will deliver a eulogy at the service, according to his scheduled release by the white house. tom, illinois, independent. good morning. caller: hello. host: hi, tom. caller: i would like to speak briefly about the upcoming election.

in years past, election day was the deciding factor, and we would know what would happen. and then a lot of what happened between then was routine, but four years ago it did not work that way and it will not again this time. probably trump will declare victory, and there will be court cases, and it will be ongoing for the next few months. that is just my brief remark. again, we have a 250th anniversary in less than two years. and it is a long word. so, prepare for that i guess. thank you, everybody. host: anastasio, democrat.

caller: yes, how are you doing? good morning. you know what, i'm tired of hearing about latinos this and that? i may black latino, no problem. my problem is this, latino is the one that provided food for all of america. so what i hear now, also, down in north carolina, the legal immigrants that they so-called [indiscernible] and they are getting a little bit of nothing to do all this work. trump talking about the are killing the dog, eating rats and

all that. and what we have provided for this country, it is support, and those citizens do not want to do the work that is out there. even trump people working at mar-a-lago, he had illegal people working for him. let's vote for harris. by the way, she don't have the fault that they are raising prices of food. she is the vice president, she does whatever biden says to do, but once she is elected, she will be a different person. that is all i have to say. host: a few minutes left before

we take you to an event for americans in campaign 2024. dawn, republican line. caller: i'm amazed at educated adult people thinking that trump is telling the truth. i cannot believe that we have lost our intelligence and are trying to even think about following someone like him. harris is the way to go. host: don, new mexico, independent. caller: a woman called in this morning and said she appealed to the strengths of donald trump it i would like to outline the string to set up a charity, and

then embezzled for it. the strength has set up a university and defraud students and be forced to pay 25 million in restitution. the strength to change valuations of property, and as a result, be liable for half $1 billion. the strength to sexually assault a woman and then defame her and be on the line for $83 million. the strength to pay off a point star and -- porn star and file false business records. the strength to take classified documents from the white house and then refuse to give them back, which is now in the 11th circuit. the strength to set up an insurrection against the united states of america. these are his strengths. what i'm concerned about is that the american people are willing

to appeal to the strengths and sell democracy out for fascism. host: eddie, illinois, democrat. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. the previous lady on talking about the strengths in an undertone voice, i cannot agree more. the last years, all you have heard about his they are coming across the border, they are rapists, they are from here, they are from there, they are doing this, that. then eight yearsover to eight y, talking about springfield, ohio, they are eating the cats, they are eating the dogs. it is always haitians or latino or the blacks or whatever country comes to his mind, he