nations, takes questions at her confmation hring from members of t senate foreign relations committee. you can watch all of these programs live on c-span now come our free mobile video app or online at c-span.org. >> c-span, democracy unfiltered. we are funded by these television companies and more. >> where are you going in -- or how far do you want to go? how fast do you want to get there? now we are getting somewhere. let's go. let's go faster. let's go further. let's go beyond. >> midco supports c-span along

with these other television providers giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> coming up on washington journal, your calls and comments live. usa today white house correspondent joey garrison discusses the news of the day and the agenda for the first full day of the new trump administration. we will look at president trump's day one executive orders and policy priorities on immigration and the border with america first policy institute's chad wolf and kerri talbot. "washington journal" is next. >> the golden age of america begins right now. host: the "washington journal" for january 21. after his demonstrates, president trump wastedded no time in advancing elements of his i can't understand,

including the signing of numerous executive orders that ran from immigration to those involved in the attack on the capitol on january 6. this among meeting his supporters in downtown d.c. and attending several inaugural balls. for the first hour and a half this morning, your calls on donald trump being sworn in as the 47th president of the united states. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8002 for independents. text us at 202-748-8003. post on facebook at facebook.com/cspan. and on x, @cspanwj. here are some of the nationwide headlines from newspapers and how they captured yesterday's events here in washington, d.c., with the inauguration of donald trump. "wall street journal," defiant trump regains power. the sub head, new president is sworn in to cap remarkable

comeback. this is "the washington post," trump's stark vision, taking office, he orders policy reversals and begins reshaping government. from the "new york times," trump caps return to power, vowing to stop a u.s. "decline." that sub head, he cease a mandate as both personal and political. and "the washington times," trump vows "golden age," against all odds, returns to redirect america's path forward. that inaugural address still available on our website, our app, and other channels here at c-span. but if you want to see it there, here's a portion of donald trump yesterday during his inaugural address as the 47th president. >> the golden age of america begins right now. from this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the

world. we will be the envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer. during every single day of the trump administration, i will very simply put america first. our sovereignty will be reclaimed. our safety will be restored. the scales of justice will be rebalanced. the vicious, violent, and unfair weaponization of the justice department and our government will end. and our top priority will be to create a nation that is proud, prosperous, and free.

host: that was just a portion of the address. you can see that on c-span.org, and our app, c-span now. we're going to ask you about the president being sworn in yesterday as well. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8002 for independents. text us your thoughts at 202-748-8003, and facebook and x available to you as well. in virginia, hampton, virginia, democrats line, this is danny on the swearing-in of donald trump as the 47th president. go ahead. caller: yes, it's unbelievable. noticing biden, knocking browns, knocking blacks. he is the 47th president, but his agenda and arena is being examined.

host: this is from mike, mike in california, republican line. go ahead. caller: yeah, it was excellent. the difference between biden and trump is that trump puts the american people first, and america knows it. biden never, ever put the american people first. he put them last. he did you not even consider them. that's evidence when he opened the wars, first thing he did. the reason he did that, and i'm a social studies teacher by the way, but the reason he did that is both malicious and it was political. he sees those invaders as potential democrats. host: so when it comes to the president being sworn in yesterday, what do you think about that event yesterday? caller: i thought it was excellent. i thought he hit a lot of high points. it was very reflective of where the american people are, what they want. i think he as a president does a

great service to america. really bringing the elite liberal media down in terms of their impact on the political scene, serving as the offensive team to the left. i love the fact that he derided biden, because he deserves it. biden is treasonous. what he did is treasonous opening the southern wall, other than the borders. there's no getting around that. and he did it because he wants to turn texas and florida blue. when you turn those blue, the republicans can't win the presidency any more with the electoral college. host: eddie in atlanta on donald trump being sworn in as the 47th president. eddie in atlanta, democrats line, hello. caller: hello. i was listening to him. it's the same old talking point that he made when he first got

in in 2016. he ant going to do nothing but tear united states up again like he did the first four years. biden was the best president in our four years. my back account is sitting $14,000. when trump was in office, my bank card was less than $100. we were struggling trying to figure out how we're going to -- so how we're going to eat, how we're going to -- trump didn't have the best economy. he got the economy under obama. and he screwed it up. now he's going to screw it up again, talking that same, talking about he want to work with the democrats. next thing you know he bashing democrats, what do you want to do, what he want to do to them and stuff. trump is just -- man, he's scum.

host: that's eddie in atlanta. let's hear from hector in virginia, independent line. caller: hey, looks like we're going to have another period of the robber barons. we got a criminal administration headed up by felon and who has allowed 1,600 felons out. it's going to be the end of democracy. host: ok, hector in virginia, several thoughts on donald trump being sworn in as the 47th president of the united states. you can continue to make yours on the phone line. post on our social media sites as well. the caller referenced, when it came to part of the activity of the new president, it was in the oval office, signing numerous amounts of executive orders. one of those dealing with those january 6 defendants.

this is the breakdown of what happened from yesterday, saying that mr. trump, president trump pardoned or commute prison sentences of all of the 1,500-plus people charged with crimes in the january 6, 2021 capitol riot, including people convicted of is he difference conspiracy and assaulting police officers. using his clemen a powers on the federal reserve day of office to undo the massive prosecution of the unprecedented assault on the seat of american democracy. he spent about 45 minutes talking to reporters and signing executive orders yesterday in the oval office. you can find that on our various platforms as well. when it comes to specifically him referencing the january 6 and those involved, here's some of that exchange from yesterday. >> yes, sir, first we have a list of pardons and commutations relating to events that occurred on january 6, 2021. president trump: and how many people is this? >> i think this orders applies to approximately 1,500 people, sir. president trump: this is january 6 and these are the hostages.

approximately 1,500 for a pardon. full pardon. full pardon. we have about six commutations in there, where we're doing further research. nice to see you again. this is a big one. anything up to the explain about this? we hope they come out tonight, frankly. year expecting it, six commutations. we're looking at different things. but the commutations would be the once that we'll take a look, and maybe it will stay that way, or it will go to full pardon.

>> the order does regard the bureau of prisons to act immediately on receipt of the period and commutation orders. host: the story following up on the document that the president just signed, saying among those set to be release from the prison are defendants captured on camera committing violent attacks as lawmakers met to certify president biden's election victory. leaders of the oath keepers and proud boys, extremist groups who were found of seditious conspiracy in the most serious cases brought by the justice department will also be freed from prison after having they're sentences commuted. roy in florida, democrats line. go ahead. caller: yesterday was a sad day. i hang my head in shame. poor capitol police, poor d.c.

police, goat help at all from donald trump. he signs a bunch of period for a bunch of guys that tore up the capitol, and that's what they did. there's so much hatred in this country. it's pathetic. any time we change presidents, we always disagree. my dad worked for five presidents in washington, d.c. and look it now. he worked for carter, reagan, johnson, came right from the air force into the federal government, put food on our table. but we always got along. and for some reason trump has divided this country so bad, it's not even funny. you can't talk to your neighbors. you can't talk to your friends. is this man is a danger to society and should not be in the white house. he should be in a mental institution. i'm sorry, that's just the way i feel. this is what i see. any of these people not pick up a paper?

i'm 50. my dad worked for the government. he was a civil servant down there. host: let's go to mike. mike in massachusetts, independent line. caller: good morning. yeah, it's the same thing over here. i grew up in the u.s.a., and there was a back drop of the space race, of unity. we didn't make fun of military veterans. i can't get out of any conservatives i know. they immediately start talking about joe biden, whether it's my friends or whether it's the guy on the street who i ask with the trump street, this is up here in new england. our friends up in maine, who has been convinced that climate change is not happening, i can't get it out of him either. the nazi rhetoric, comparing

haitians, saying haitians are going to eat dogs and all that. that's nazi rhetoric. i can't get out of a single one of these guys a straight-face answer. they actually don't even try to answer. they launch off into some unrelated topic. host: how does that all relate to the president actually being sworn in yesterday? caller: to me, it's kind of like the end of an era. it's the end of how i viewed this country, which was through a lens of unity and coming together to get certain things done. for me it changes the whole perspective of life, which is we're against each other. and your neighbor has it out for you and you can't trust anyone. worst of all, you just can't talk about it in public and get a straight answer out of these people. host: let's go to al in massachusetts, republican line. go ahead. caller: good morning. i'm calling from plymouth,

massachusetts, where it i'm started of self-governance. no longer -- the people, this president was put before the public for eight years. democrats spent $2 billion, and atop of that, they had oprah and taylor swift. the citizens, the voters of this country have spoken loud and clear. democracy has elected donald trump. and if you truly want to defend this system of self-governance, then we need to give this man a chance. the democrats, otherwise the democrats will be left behind. so that's a warning for democrats. and the left wing media complex has been exposed. host: that's al there in massachusetts, giving his thoughts on donald trump being sworn in as 47th president of the united states. some opinion pieces from two papers this morning, this is

"the washington post" this morning on their take from yesterday's events. listening to president trump is how it's headlined, saying that mr. trump today is more powerful than he has ever been. his party now molded in his image, capable of pushing his agenda through congress. the democrats, after their defeat in november, lack the influence to thwart trump's unwise ideas. but americans will be paying attention to how well the president's policies are carried out. they will not want to see the economy falter or watch the country's political polarization increase, "it's action, not words that count," the president said after his formal address. the editors of "the washington post" finishing on this, he is right. that's the take. you go to the editorial of the "wall street journal." the editors write under the headline trump's inaugural of optimism. the editors writing perhaps the most important lines in mr. trump's speech were his promise to end politically

motivated prosecutions. never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents, something i know something about, he said. going on to say, we will not allow that to happen. it will not happen again. under my leadership, we will restore fair, equal, and impartial justice under the constitutional rule of law. this couldn't be clearer, and the contrast with the biten years is refreshing. if he means this, despite his occasional campaign rhetoric, he will help the country and his presidency by avoiding a retribution drive that will be a political dead end. again, you can find that in "the wall street journal," giving their take on the events of yesterday's inauguration of donald trump. you can add your opinion to the mix. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8002 for independents. texting available, too, at 202-748-8003. let's hear from greg in ohio, democrats line. go ahead.

caller: trump supporters have a difficult time deciphering between rhetoric and reality. you're not going to executive order. price is going backwards. you're not going to legislate prices going backwards. he said he's going to deport 11 million illegals during his term. i got news for you. you're going to deport 7,500 people per day between now and 2028. i want to see that happen. with 2-- 2,500 hundred ice offers. that is unreality. and the soldiers, national guard, are already on the bored near support role. i want to see this happen. oh, and by the way, that war in ukraine didn't end in 24 hours. he said nothing about it. i want to see prices go

backwards, a whopper go backwards. i want to see rent go backwards. and everything he said is unreality. i'm going to leave it at this. a very famous quote. who is the worst fool, the fool or the fool who follows him? have a nice day. host: from john in florida, independent line. go ahead. caller: good morning. pretty good day yesterday. it was nice to see the president get sworn in. it was quite a speech. i don't think i've ever seen a speech like that. i was amazed at what he was saying as joe biden and kamala harris were right behind him. he basically eviscerated them. it was quite something. as far as what happened and what he did on his first day, i was pretty impressed with the closing the border immediately. i was happy the j6'ers all got released. some of those prison have been in four years without a trial.

four years. i was happy. they were political prisoners at that point. that was out of control. i just like the general overall tone of the country. it seemed like we're going in a month positive direction. i was really, really, really disappointed as joe biden was walking out the door to pardon his whole family. absolutely disgusting. i mean, if you're going to take a pardon, what the justice department told the j6'ers, then you're guilty of the crime. i guess we assume that biden's family is guilty of everythi they've been telling us for the last four years seems to be true, which is sad. but again, i want to leave on a good ne. it's the start of a new day. i'm very positive, but i'm hoping, like the last caller said, prices will come down. roam wasn't but in a day. so this is going to take a little time. everybody hang in there and hope for the best. i appreciate you. thank you very much. host: that was john in florida. he mentioned border security issues this.

story about some of the executive orders signed yesterday, saying that mr. trump signed those orders to beef up security at the southern border that began taking effect hours after he was inaugurated, making good on his defining political promise to crack down on immigration and marking another wild swing in the white house policy under the divisive issue. some of the orders rereceived priorities from the first administration that his predecessor rolled back, including forcing asylum seekers to wait in mexico and finishing the border wall. others created sweeping new strategies, like an effort to end automatic citizenship for anyone born in america. and ending the use of a biden era app used by nearly a million migrants to enter america. the story adding that actual execution of the agenda on immigration is certain to face legal and logical challenges. we'll talk about that later on in the program, about 8:30 eastern time, a discussion with two experts on the immigration portion of the president's agenda going forward. you can comment on that and other portions of the agenda, as you saw there, lot of executive

orders signed yesterday in the oval office. some signed at the capitol one arena at a rally that took place. you can see all those events on our increase platforms. you can comment on it as well. let's hear from adrian in washington state, republican line. caller: i'm happy he's back in office. i think america will be put on the right track. i'm glad he declared we have two sex, male and female. the economy will eventually be turned around. the deportation of the illegal aliens. i'm ecstatic that he's back in office, and it was a mandate. the american people had a mandate that we want him back in office. and his speech in front of biden and kamala was a repudiation of what they have done to this country.

so yay trump. god bless america. god bless trump and his cabinet. host: from miami, this is james, democrats line. james in miami, hello, go ahead. caller: thank you. i thought the inauguration was a very nice inauguration. i'm a democrat. but unfortunately, the people that voted for him, there's going to be a statement made in two years from now. oh, my, what have i done? democracy is going to be tested, and this is a test for democracy in our country, for the world to see. i was looking at the democrats and how they were sitting there, and they weren't clapping. the man won. the people have spoken. let's see if he fulfills all his promises. but i guarantee you, i will not. but this is a transition that we have to go through so it will

never happen again. the autocratics they're going to make an attempt to run this country, and they're going to try to destroy democracy. but we will prevail, guaranteed. we will prevail. it's just a test for mankind and for democracy. thank you. host: jeff is in pennsylvania, independent line on donald trump being sworn in as the 47th president. caller: yeah, good morning. i used to be a republican until the republicans couldn't stand together. i like donald trump's way of doing things. i love the fact that he closed the border and is going to get rid of the illegals. but more importantly, i love the fact that he is not going to use the d.o.j. to prosecute political opponents. i keep hearing trump this, trump that, the sun is not going to rise because of trump. yet the man, with his personality, which is perfect for the job that he has, is

saying i am not going to let the d.o.j. go after anybody. now, the question i have for anybody out there -- host: you're breaking up a little bit. either go closer to your phone or go closer to somewhere that may not be blocking a signal. go ahead. caller: art two, section two of the constitution talks about the president granting period. can a pardon be granted to somebody who is not been convicted of a crime? if so, how is it legal for mr. biden to pardon all these people if they haven't been convicted of anything? thank you very much. host: that's jeff in pennsylvania. comments by the president of his so-called weaponizing of government. you can see that portion and more on our various platforms.

here's that portion from the speech yesterday. >> after years and years of illegal and unconstitutional federal efforts to restrict free expression, i will also sign an executive order to immediately stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to america. never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents. something i know something about. we will not allow that to happen. it will not happen again. under my leadership, we will restore fair, equal, and impartial justice under the constitutional rule of law.

and we are going to bring law and order back to our cities. host: let's hear from tim in connecticut, republican line. go ahead. caller: so thankful trump got in. what he's going to do, other countries are afraid of him because he will not put up with any garbage. i want to thank the democrats to actually realize they're protecting the u.s. that voted for him. that's about it. host: frank up next. frank's in california. democrats line. caller: how you doing? i'd just like to say, it was very interesting, i'm watching the inauguration yesterday, i like how they did everything, because i was able to see it a lot more closer. i just don't understand, i hope mr. trump does a very good job. i am a democrat. i'm willing to give him a chance.

i just don't understand signing the executive order about the government freeze, and he wants to do all this immigration stuff. i hope everything goes well. but you've got to remember, he's got two years, because then the midterms come. so we'll see what's going on. i hope they'll be able to work on both sides of the aisle for the american people. host: some of the other executive orders that were signed, quite a bit yesterday, but just some of the ones dealing with temporary suspensions of u.s. foreign assistance program for 90 days pending reviews. the creation of that department of government efficiency, elon musk being involved with that, the overhauling of the refugee admission program to better align with american principles and interests, declaring a national emergency at the u.s.-mexico border, you heard him talk about that directive in the speech, but a directive ending the weaponization of political adversaries of the previous administration, designating drug cartels as

foreign terrorist organizations, the directive ordering the restoration of freedom of speech and preventing government censorship of speech. and the withdrawal from the paris climate agreement. others there, too, quite a bit yesterday in that signing ceremony that took place in the oval office, which you're watching right anyway, still can see on c-span.org or our c-span app. let's go to jack in florida, independent line. caller: yeah, this is jack. i'm a little nervous. i was very disappointed in his speech and rhetoric. the whole thing just really upset me. it's very sad for this country. i'm 87 years old, and i've never seen a show like it was yesterday. he's talking about tariffs on

canada. canada makes most of our cereal. i eat cereal on a regular basis. that cereal and whatever else canada makes for us is going to cost more money. i just bought a jeep, an automobile. it was manufactured and put together in mexico. and the engine came from italy. i don't know how he's going to do that. but it's very, very sad. it's the saddest day that i have seen in my 87 years of how our government works and how the presidency, they're oligarchies. and elon musk, when he said

they're going to put a man on mars, which that doesn't make sense at all. take that money and spend it on the people. host: jack there in florida, giving his thoughts on yesterday's events. a viewer texted us this morning, this is pat from indiana, i believe, saying this. how can you believe anything trump says hwas sworn in and didn't place his hand on the bible. never seen any other president do that. you'llember there were two bibles. e, lincoln bible. the other from his mother. hill looks at that event in yesterday's ceremony, saying president trump, when taking the most recent oath of office, did not appear to place his left hand on either of the bibles. a placement of the left hand, however, has no bearing on the legitimacy on his first day back at the job. the u.s. constitution does not stipulate that a president-to-be place his or her hand on the bible because each president who recruits the oath or affirmation

is bound by the words themselves, per article six. same article also says that no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the united states. article two, meanwhile, merely states the chief executive of the united states must recite the oath being able to take office. there's also no stipulation the oval office and so help me god, though it has become customary. there's more on the hill story if you want to read that in connection to yesterday. connecticut is next, republican line. carol joins us. go ahead. caller: hi. i think it's a wonderful day that president trump got back into the oval office, ok? not only because of the economy, which prices were also high, and that's because the biden administration was trying to kill the oil and gas industry, and that's why prices are so

high. they were trying to force us to go electric. that's what they were trying to do. and also, the illegal immigration, you know, we have criminals, drugs, terrorists, you know, child pedophiles, all coming into this country. and breaking our immigration laws, and that's what the biden administration was doing. and if kamala got in, it would even be worse. they would never have stopped this, ok? for these reasons, i'm so glad that president trump got in. i think people will be thriving. this country will be safe. the crime rate will go down. by to c.v.s. now, and things that i just picked off the shelf, now they're under lock and key. i have to get an attendant at c.v.s. to open up, just to get soap sometimes. this is what has happened under the democrats.

i do not believe that trump is whatever they say, a dictator, all that. i think he's going to restore peace and security to this country and safety. host: that's carol there in connecticut. an hour to go on this, if you want to make comments about donald trump being sworn in as the president. call us on the lines. post on facebook and on x. you can send us a text if you wish. again, we'll go for another hour if up to the call in and make those comments on the phone lines. please pick the line that best represents you. if you've called in the last 30 days, if you can hold off from doing so today, we would appreciate it. democrats line in texas, this is barbara, hello. caller: this is barbara. i'm from texas. america is a lot. god hates liars. i'm just waiting on him to answer my prayers. host: chris in philadelphia,

independent line. you join us next, hello, go ahead. caller: good morning. yesterday i watched it, it was my day off for martin luther king. sad that such a respectful man like martin luther king, you didn't even really about him, because you're too busy hearing about trump's dog and upony show. i was just waiting for the cigars to come out. anybody that didn't -- let's talk about elon musk, when he jumped up on stage, jumping around like a lunatic. not professional. not educated. just in space basically. like the caller jack from florida said, the 87-year-old man, he said, there is a problem when you're talking about going to mars and there's so many internal issues here. it makes you wonder where things

are headed. but i did not vote for trump. i wouldn't vote for trump. i'm an independent, but i did vote democrat. you know, it was a sad day. i mean, melania never even took off her hat. you couldn't see if she was a man or woman or what. as far as the transgender stuff, of course elon musk is going to push for that. his son, his son is transgender that he don't like. there's always something. host: ok, chris, we'll leave it there. this is bird from richmond, virginia, who texted this morning, saying a new era has gun for the american citizens for our country, our nation comes fst the american dream and that americanreness is now set on a new course toward a full comeback. again, a golden era is how the president cast what he'd like to see done in the next four years. you can comment on that or other portions of yesterday's events on the phone lines, if you wish.

if you want to go through the executive orders portion of it, again, numerous amounts signed yesterday, and we'll show you more that were signed. including the requirement for federal workers returning to full-time work in person. federal hiring feelses, except for military and other excluded categories, regulatory freeze preventing bureaucrats from issuing any more regulation. a rescision of 78 biden-era executive actions, orders, memoranda and others. and then the ordering of the hatting of off-shore wind lease sales and asking the issuance of approvals, permits and loan for both on-shore and offshore wind projects. again, that was not only at the capital one center earlier in the day, which you're seeing there, which the president was throwing out pens after he was done with that. and then he's going to the oval office later on to sign those

other executive orders and talk with reporters there too. ryan up next in virginia, republican line. caller: how's it going? i just wanted to put in my two cents on the period that happened yesterday. i thought there was going to be more of a case by case basis. it ended working out for me, as i was one of them. but yeah, nobody really expected it to happen actually on day one the way that it did. i personally don't agree with the violent offenders being pardoned for those crimes, but to each his own, i guess. it just makes me wonder what else is actually going to happen in such an expeditious manner, because typically there's a logical process that delays things from occurring so rapidly. i'd like to see the good news when it comes to matters of efficiency and productivity. host: square any tennessee --

gary in tennessee, democrats line. caller: hello, pedro. good to talk with you. you and the other moderators are wonderful and professional. and you're way cool. a couple of bold points i'd like to go through. first i'd like to congratulate all the maga people on their election. i think i'm going to wish america well. i'd also like to tell the people that one thing worse than a sore loser, and that's a bad winner. but anyway, the one thing i wanted to call about also is the mandate that he was talking about. i lived through a real mandate. that was back in 1980 with ronald reagan. he did have a mandate. he won 20 states then.

that's not all of them, except for georgia, i think. but anyway, another thing is with the period. now, these period, and i think it's an executive order, and that's fine. why doesn't he pardon all the people that assault police officers? after all, the republican party is the party of law and order. i also have a friend that assaulted a sheriff allegedly. he can pardon him. oh, let's see, the last thing i'd like to talk about is being a christian. and looking at scriptures. i'd like to have all those christians out there that supported mr. trump to look into the fact of the anti-christ. he fits a lot of boxes there. host: ok, let's go to glenn in new jersey, independent line. good morning.

caller: good morning. how you doing? i'm just going to make it short, because people are rambling. i'm 71 years old. i look at this guy, he come from here. i think it's a very sad state of affairs for the united states of america. he's a convicted felon. it's typical, it really is when you take the time, stories from the fascist playbook when you look. he's a symptom. donald trump is a symptom. he's the consummate con man. and he's been able to take the highest office in the world. i could go on and on and on. i think you guys got the gist of where i am and where i feel. 71 years old, and i thought 1968 was crazy. it's 2025. put your seat belts on, folks. it's going to be an interesting four years. god bless. thanks for the time. host: yesterday was president trump's day, though president biden before leaving office making some news of his own. this is from the associated

press, joe biden pardoning his siblings, their spouses on the way out of the white house, saying monday that his family had been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me, the worst kind of partisan politics. unfortunately i have no reason to believe these attacks will end, he said. the family period were a surprise finale in a series of unprecedented presidential actions by the democrat who's been known as an institutionalist during the half century in politics. biden also pardoned dr. anthony fauci, retired general mark milley, members of the house committee that investigate would the january 6 attack on the capitol, and allies who have been targeted by donald trump, who was sworn in on monday. joseph up next, in virginia, republican line. donald trump being sworn in as the 47th president of the united states. caller: it's a great day in american history. i voted for him three times. after the worst most inept corrupt presidency leaving office, thank god for trump.

i never prayed so hard for trump and the republican party to win. after four years of socialist woke card failure, america and the world could not take another four years of that. and i'm sick of people saying he's a felon. this man has been more attacked than anybody in history, and only because he loves america. he puts america's people and america's problems first. he's the best damn president we've every had. and we're looking forward to four years of success after four years of libtard failure. thank god for president and the republican party. i'm looking forward to the midterms when we can throw the rest of them woke card bums out and put some sanity back into our government. host: joseph there in bedford, virginia. the when it comes to those the president wants to see, one at least has made it. roll call reporting the senate

resoundly confirmed marco rubio to be secretary of state, making him the first member of the 47th president's cabinet to win the chamber's backing. the senate vote, 99-0, followed shortly after the senior senator from florida received unanimous support, 22-0, from the senate foreign relations committee, of which he was a member for his 14 years in the senate. anyone in america who wants to see what american policy policy looks like and get a good rundown on it, needs to watch rubio's confirmation hearing and watch the questions that were asked of senator rubio and his answer to those questions. that was the senate foreign relation chairman of idaho. he said, he was flawless in his presentation of american foreign policy. let's hear from larry. layer any california, democrats line. caller: good morning. host: watch your language, caller. watch your language, but you can keep going, please. caller: don't interrupt me,

please. host: watch your language then, and please keep going. caller: he's a rapist, but he didn't charge. he's also an insurrection that the supreme court hasn't charged him. if the supreme court charges him, he's a domestic terrorist. he will be taken out. by a lot of us military people. we've had it with this guy. host: ok, that's larry, with his legal problems, liable for sexual abuse, that's been said on this program and other forums as well. let's hear from ruth in indiana, independent line. caller: good morning. as far as i was concerned, it was a sad day yesterday. we've heard 10 years of nothing but running down our institutions, you know, running people down, lambasting them. it's such a sad day. to hear that the rioters who have been pardoned, i mean,

you've got all these tech giants up here with all this money who are going to control the information now that we receive, it's really a sad day. i'm just sorry that we're going this route. i'm really fearful for our democracy. we hate one another because for 10 years that's all trump has done. teach to us hate one another. people don't give biden the credit that he really deserves for bringing this country through rough times. i just hate this moral bankruptcy and so forth. the speech yesterday was nothing about me, myself and i and my grievances. the proud boys were marching. republicans are supposed for law and order, and trump says he's for law and order. so you pardon all these people who broke into the capitol. i guess the only way some of these people who have been hoodwinked would believe that

this riot actually happened would have been if they'd have hung pence, who thankfully had the goodness to do the right thing. it's just a sad day. i'm just sorry this happened. host: that's ruth there in indiana. some of the other status of the president's other nominees, just to give you an update, "the washington post" reporting it was earlier yesterday that pete hegseth and john ratcliffe, the pick to lead the pentagon and the central intelligence at-bat, also got approval from the senate committees overseeing their nomination, necessary steps before they can be considered by the full senate. hegseth, a former fox news host and soldier in the national guard whose nomination process has been clouded by allegations of sexual assault, financial mismanagement, excessive drinking and other misconduct, barely scraped by. the senate armed services committee approved him 14-13 along party lines. hegseth, who is 44, who faced withering scrutiny from democrats during his hearing, is

unlikely to win any democratic support and can only afford to lose three republican votes when his nomination goes before the full senate. the leaders of the senate select committee on intelligence, meanwhile, urged a swift senate-wide vote to confirm mr. ratcliffe. our world is far too dangerous for any delay and having a senate firmed leader in charge of the c.i.a., we urge expeditious consideration of this important nomination, that was tom cotton, republican arkansas, and mark warner said in a statement. nick knee panama city, florida, on the -- nikki in panama city, florida, on the inauguration yesterday of donald trump. caller: good morning, pedro. i was delighted to see all of the events yesterday. i've tried a little bit of msnbc and a little bit of abc, and even pbs. i came back to c-span. c-span is really the only ones

that didn't continue to spout hate, just like some of the callers this morning that just run on and on. i want to say one thing. only call for one thing. trump has always been funny about his ties. i've watched him for i guess 30 years. i have never seen him wear a purple tie. and this year, purple means a whole lot. last year purple meant a whole lot. it meant swing states. it meant bringing red and blue together and unity. that's what i'm looking for. i'm looking for unity in this country. some people just don't seem to want to even try. don't even want to try. i'm going to not try so i can punish trump, when what do you is punish the country. so let's just try. host: ok, nikki there in

florida. this is john in pittsburgh, democrats line. caller: good morning, pedro. i just want to say that the circus is coming back to town and all his sideshow people. thank you very much. host: 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8002 for independents. your comments on donald trump being sworn in as the 47th president of the united states. we're going to go for another 45 minutes, finishing around 8:30 this morning, eastern standard time. if up to the make those calls. you can text us, too, post on facebook, post on x as well. christine in pennsylvania on our independent line, hello. caller: hi, good morning. just wanted to say shame on you, c-span. i lisp to you every day. i really do like the program. but in the last hour when a caller called up and was disappointed that trump didn't put his hand on a bible, you had the opportunity to correct the record and make it right.

the real reason for that is because, as you know this, judge roberts started saying the oath prior to the family being in position, including melania, so there was no way for him to start that with having the hand on the bible. if you could please state the truth, i would appreciate it, thank you. host: one of the things yesterday the president talking about economically, the topics of inflation and energy. part of his inaugural address, here's a portion of that from yesterday. >> next i will direct all members of my cab at that time to marshal the vast powers at their disposal to defeat what was record inflation and rapidly bring down costs and prices. the inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and escalating energy prices. that is why today i will also declare a national energy

emergency. we will drill, baby, drill. america will be a manufacturing nation once again, and we have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have, the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on earth, and we are going to use it. we're going to use it. we will bring prices down, fill our strategic reserves up again, right to the top, and export american energy all over the world. we will be a rich nation again, and it is that liquid gold under

our feet that will help to do it. with my actions today, we will end the green new deal, and we will revoke the electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto industry and keeping my sacred pledge to our great american autoworkers. in other words, you'll be able to buy the car of your choice. host: that from yesterday. "the wall street journal" takes a look at some of the economic and other factors, not only during the trump administration, but comparing them with the biden administration and the obama administration. under the section of consumer price index, they write that it's not just eggs, the consumer price index ticked up about 2.9% in the 12 months through december according to the labor department. not only is that more than

december before trump's first inaugural, but the american wallet still remembers the huge rise in prices. the federal reserve is on a last march to get inflation closer to 2%. but the stub our pricers when, it could be fueled by tariffs and projecting fewer rate cuts this year than anticipated. they not only look at consumer price index over these administrations, but other categories, such as southwest border migrant encounters, unemployment rate, trade deficit, and other factors. but compare and contrast the administration, up to the see that, that's in "the wall street journal" this morning. rudy is next in ohio, republican line. caller: thanks for taking my call. what a lot of people are not talking about is one of the orders that trump signed yesterday, which was a great day, is that they did away with the security clearance of the 51 c.i.a. guys that signed that

hunter biden letter back in 2020, saying that hunter biden's laptop wasn't real, 51 former security guys, most of them democrats. yeah, executive order took away mile an hour security clearance. i don't know what cnn and msnbc is going to do for guests now, because that's about all that showed up on their shows. these guys getting on there lying about trump. how trump, he didn't pardon criminals like january 6 committee that he erased all the information. they destroyed evidence, and i think that's a felony, isn't it, 10 people giving these january 6 people period, because trump is going to come after them. well, they deserve to be come after because they're criminals. they destroyed evidence. they erased all that stuff. that's a felony, you know?

pardoning his family? you know, they're all a bunch of crooks. barack obama, you know, biden is the worst president we've ever had. thank god we got rid of him, you know? yeah, yesterday was a great day. just long live trump, and see you, biden. host: rudy in ohio. this is andre in new york, democrats line, good morning. caller: yes, good morning, pedro. i sit up here and i watch your face as the last guy was talking, and it must be extremely hard for you to deal with so much misinformation that's getting repeated by these people. the key to it all was the oligarchy that was up on the stage with donald trump, from elon musk to jeff bezos, they own entities which distribute this misinformation.

and i wanted to say this was a sad day in america when you have the richest of the rich up there, and joe biden goes out, only after they talk about this spending, joe biden spent on the people of america, to help people. donald trump is only concerned about him and the top 1%. thank you, pedro. have a beautiful day. host: there are people that are acting as acting heads of various departments of the federal government, until trump's nominees are confirmed by the senate, just to give you a list of who is in place currently at the federal b.y.u. of investigation. brian driscoll, who helmed the f.b.i. newark field office, will serve as the acting f.b.i. director. this adding that mr. trump has chosen kash patel to helm the f.b.i. he's a controversial pick. while the goth majority in the senate means he'll probably be confirmed, it might take some time. the attorney general's office, immigration lawyer james mchenry

has been tapped to serve as acting attorney general as the senate looks to confirm former florida attorney general pam bondi. secretary of state, marco rubio receiving. treasury, david lebryk has been tapped to be acting treasury secretary, while law makers wait to confirm scott bessent. and huffman is acting secretary of homeland security. a couple of hearings to look out for, elise stefanik, the representative from new york previously, but now being considered to be the next ambassador to the u.n., 10:00 is her hearing before the senate. and then doug collins, who's been tapped to head the -- i'm forgetting it for a second. veterans affairs administration, he's also on set for a hearing

at about 10:00 this morning. say close to c-span.org and our other platforms for nor information on those confirmation hearings. that's part of a changeover of the administration. mike in california, independent line, good morning, go ahead. caller: i'd like to bring up a few points that haven't heard people talk about. one was, what about the war in ukraine? didn't trump say he was going to end that in 24 hours? second thing is bitcoin and truth social are a obvious conflict of interest. he doesn't seem to want to divest himself from any of his businesses before he gets into office. the other thing is, what about the assets of the illegal aliens that are being deported? a lot of these people lived here for a long time and they have houses and bank accounts and things like that.

i think biden beat donald trump to the punch when he issued the pardon to all the people that trump was going to go after. i think trump wasn't targeted by the d.o.j. i think he committed all those crimes, and you think he got away with it because the justice department was a little slow on getting things done. the supreme court gave donald trump a break. that is what i have to say. host: joe is next in long island republican line. caller: i just have a question. i don't understand the pardoning that joe biden did because he

made money from -- while he was a senator having his son be the henchman with the money and stuff like that. and then he pardons everybody in his family. isn't he part of this criminal activity that has been going on? my second question is, how come the democrats are calling and mocking trump and sankey is this and that and everything else. but it wasn't trump that brought this country to where it is now after four years. i don't want to go into the whole thing about borders open and inflation and all the other stuff in the criminal stuff going on, police stations burning down, riots, bl on, that was all under his watch that no one got arrested for it for paid for. yet democrats are calling saying

what kind of criminal trump is. i have news for the democrat callers, it isn't trump that did this to this country for years ago. you hate the guy, i understand what come to reality. host: joe in long island. we will go for another half hour when it comes to your calls on donald trump being sworn in as the 47th president. (202) 748-8000 for democrats, (202) 748-8002 for republicans, --(202) 748-8001 for republicans, (202) 748-8002 for independents. mr. garrison, white house correspondent, joins us. where are you in perspective to

the white house? guest: i'm on the front lawn, as you can see, the white house is behind me. host: what is the agenda for the first full day? >> trump will we welcoming house speaker mike johnson and senate leader john thune and they are going to really start laying out the plans for the long discussed reconciliation package. there has been a debate whether to have this in two different bills or one bill. this will have the tax policies proposed by trump, and that includes continuing the trump tax cuts from 2017 there is also in 52 days the funding of the government runs out and they will have to hash out an agreement on how to proceed. another topic is the federal aid

for the wildfires in california. president trump will be going to california to serve a wild fire damage on friday. host: when it comes to the house and senate, how in agreement -- what is the president's preference on how reconciliation takes place and what is the perspective of the house and senate? >> president trump wants to have this in one bill. but senate republicans have talked about two pieces of legislation. johnson will be more on board with the one bill approach to this but it remains to be seen how they will move forward. host: we have been showing viewers at home several executive orders signed inside the oval office. i wonder being there and in the area what was your perspective from yesterday's events in the office? >> it was a remarkable scene.

you had trump in front of 20,000 of his fans and supporters at capital one arena signing some executive actions, including revoking 78 biden era orders. he then came to the white house and oval office and signed at some of the others that included withdrawing from the world health organization, the pair climate agreement, calling a national emergency -- the paris climate agreement and calling and calling a national emergency in the border. he went back and forth with reporters on questions. one thing about trump is he will engage more with the preston president biden did. part of this action included pardons or commutations for a 1600 of the january 6 defendants. there has been talk about the fact that maybe he wouldn't pardon some of the more violent offenders from january 6 but that wasn't the case.

there were many defendants who had been accused of assaulting police officers. it really was a very broad pardon issue to if not all of them, most of them. host: because the white house changes so drastically from one to the other, what have you noticed from being there now that mr. trump is in office? >> it is early but very quickly of the inauguration you saw inside the press room they took down photos of biden that were on the various parts of the west wing of him engaging with americans over the past four years. those came down. trump photos went up. in the oval office, you saw immediately a portrait of andrew jackson went back up. i didn't see this firsthand but i guess that was the diet coke button on the desk that trump had. so quickly new people come in. you saw buses coming yesterday

full of some of the new employees from the trump administration who are now moving into their desks today at the white house. it really is quite our rapid transformation when it comes to one president going out and another coming in. host: you talked about the president's interaction with press good when is the first white house briefing from the new press secretary carolyn levitt? >> we don't have a date on that, i believe. there was a lot of speculation it could happen as early as today and certainly this week. we are going to be curious to see how the press briefings go. you remember during the first trump white house they would often be combative. we haven't seen caroline take the podium get on behalf of the president in the white house so we are kind of curious how this will unfold. host: do you know if the press pool or those who sit day after

day will change drastically from this white house to the other one? >> for now, we now have the same assigned seats that we had from the previous white house. mine will be in the second row, usa today's is. we will see how things change. it has been talk about the new trump white house bringing in new forms of media, podcasters and that sort of thing. it has been too early to tell any indication in terms of a change like that but we will see how things go from here. host: so as a reporter, joey garrison, what are you interested in examining next? >> day one was just a rapid fury of orders and i want to see if there are more and i want to see how the negotiations start happening on the hill. it is one thing to use the executive pen, it will be

interesting to see how the dynamics plate with the house and senate leadership. republicans have a full control of the senate, white house and house and they are going to be expected to pass big things for that we have to take complete ownership over the next two years. i am looking forward to seeing how that communication involves and what comes out of the meeting today and other meetings in the future. host: usa today's joey garrison who reports from the white house, joining us. thanks for your time. >> thank you very much. host: this is ann joining us from cincinnati, democrats line. caller: i think that biden was a great president. the speech yesterday from trunk

consisted of hate and did not consist of anything that i feel will keep america great. it was baseless. some of the pardons that were offered by most presidents going out, he should have offered pardon for himself. we must look at the fact that the media is going to be shackled here. we are in hot going to get to work public information because he is anti-media and everything but fox. but biden was a good president. he did care about people and he cared about how well america was going. it as far as putting his hands on the bible, he lost me. his thing was he wants you to

purchase his bible but he is not a god to me. i don't understand how the common person can look at him and see that the is all about money, millionaires and billionaires. i am very disappointed. i am seeking for country become part have become very angry at our neighbors, just for being who we are. host: let's hear from levini in georgia. acaller: i think god put the right person back in the office. it is in gods hands and he put the right man back in the office. we could not have taken another four years of a biden bringing everything down and raising prices up. biden didn't do a whole lot. i don't know why these people can't see that. i think highly of trump and i

know he is going to be great and do great because it is in gods hands and got put him back in their. host: this is a video from one of the many balls from the president and the first lady. we will show you a little bit of that and we will hear from sam in california. independent line. caller: thank you for taking my call. the singular issue on the basis of which i will judge president trump pressed for second presidency is the cost. inflation may have come but the prices have not come down. i recall pre-covid you heard the jingle on the radio, five dollar foot long from subway. i don't think we will hear that anytime soon again. when i hear it again, i know that prices have come down. host: from ohio, democrats line

in madison, ohio, this is done. caller: good morning, united states of america. i am sorry we have elected and sworn in a sexual predator, a felony, an insurrectionist, and a traitor. and the reason i say those things is i was in the paratroops. if i had taken classified documents home, i would still be in leavenworth, kansas breaking big rocks into little rocks. this guy is no good. he has never been any good and we are going to see the full effect of what this guy is going to do to us. thank you for taking my call. host: here is how papers characterized yesterday's events in washington, d.c. the chicago tribune with the headline "back in charge." that is how they decide to label

that. moving to the south florida sunset. "trump returns." a picture from the speech yesterday. this is the headline of the advocate out of louisiana. also "trump returns." the subhead, the president emboldened to reshape american institutions. the minnesota star tribune, "golden age." sweeping inaugural promises, january 6 pardons. the san francisco chronicle "trump back in power." this picture from the searing in ceremony. catherine, you are up next. caller: i have a question i would like to ask you this morning around 7:50 am, a gentleman who was a democrat called and you had cut him off immediately because you said

please watch your language. his final words were, i'm military and we are going to take him out. my question to you is why did you not ask him what exactly did he mean? did he mean assassinate him, a murder him, a out? i was absolutely shocked that you did not follow through with that. that is a threat to the united states president. i am still -- my mind is still swirling thinking why in god's name did you not say to him exactly what did you mean. is there anyway you could find out who that man was? it was 7:50, i am from the east. could you find out exactly who he was and exactly why he made that threat? that was a threat to the president of the united states, sir, and you did not follow through. i am a republican and i can't tell you how thrilled i am that president trump is in office. i think president biden was a

nice man but what they did to him was a disgrace and those were the democrats themselves to do such a terrible thing to that man to humiliate him like they did. i think he was a nice man as far as that goes, inapt as a president towards the end but i am thrilled that president trump is in office and i am really concerned that that man made that threat. his words were, i'm military and we are going to take him out. please, please find out exactly what he meant. host: demand used language so i stopped him. he got his coming out and i don't know what he meant by it, so we are not in the process of investigating it the way you want investigated but we do urge caution to everyone who calls in especially of threats are made against the president specifically, call that out.

eddie, democrats line. hello. caller: good morning. i enjoy the wall street journal. i started watching it two or three years ago. i think the problem is, and it is my opinion, our government is failing us. our three branches of government , they are failing us. there are checks and balances in our government and they are failing the citizens. although we elected trump, now he is up to the task of putting this country back together. we have for years to see whether this is done. pardoning the criminals that attacked the capitol, i don't

understand that. but we have three branches to run the country and if they fail us, the country will fail. host: from dan in delaware, republican line. caller: good morning, pedro to out of your listeners to. i would like to see the country get more unified and be one could we are all americans and the partisan politics should be set aside. after that good note i would also like to say, i am surprised by the number of people who are still supporting biden. and i am from delaware, biden's home state. he did a lot of terrible things while in office. our economy crashed, we had war start around the world. almost a world war iii. the southern border is in saying the number of illegals coming across. the fentanyl, the sex

trafficking, and the law and order, there has been no law and order in the last several years under biden, at least on one side of the aisle. the law fair was obvious to most of us. with regard to all of the pardons, it is amazing the moral high ground that the democrats take with so much defense to trump's pardons. many of the january 6, even ones who attacked cops, have been in the jail long enough for the crimes they have committed. it is time to let them out. and you are speaking to a law and order 22 years air force veteran here. they have served enough time. 1500 people were charged under all of that, nor near, zero or charge for the summer of 2020 riots across the country. it is pitiful. host: you put a lot out there.

we will go to linda, utah, independent line. caller: i'm just wondering about trump putting his hand on the bible. he didn't have time to put his hand on his bible. it takes five seconds. that was so funny. thank you. host: and for all of the things we have showed you come here is the actual part of yesterday when the president elect became the president of the united states. [video clip] >> please raise your right hand and repeat after me. i, donald j. trump, do solemnly swear. >> i, donald j. trump, do solemnly swear. >> that i will faithfully execute. >> that i will faithfully execute. >> the office of president of

the united states. >> the office of the president of the united states. >> and will to the best of my ability >> will protect and defend the constitution of the united states. >> so help me god. >> so help me god. >> congratulations. [cheers and applause] host: the oath of office being administered by john roberts. democrat line in california, william. go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. last last collar regarding the hand on the bible was what i was calling about. that said, i would hope there are some republicans either in the senate or in congress that are willing to stand up for what is right against donald trump and not fall in line, like it

seems like they are all doing. i really have concerns for the country and the country's future. host: from carrie in florida, a republican line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i want to say to every democrat out there who is knocking trump without giving him a chance. first of all, there is the word respect. he was elected our president. number two, i am a victim of terrorism. i was in the tower on 9/11 and 20 years and i am still with cancer and in my last years. so for all of you who think that border didn't need to be closed and closed quickly, you are so wrong, and he was going to leave it open forever. that is really all i have to say because it is all i am involved in. the word is respect. he is our president.

weren't you raised like that? host: from john in maine, on our independent line. hello. john in maine, hello? one more time for john. let's go to bertha in virginia, democrats line. caller: i am disgusted. i did not look at that inauguration yesterday. i refused to even watch. the fact that some americans that voted for him, voted for a felon. now we have a felon in office and he is getting ready to get out the rest of the felons from january 6. i guarantee you, i would not be surprised, china will be a part of our country and we will be a part of their country within these four years.

i am disgusted. host: you can call in the remaining minutes of the segment, (202) 748-8000 for democrats, (202) 748-8001 for republicans, independents (202) 748-8002. and texting at (202) 748-8003. this text, didn't our first lady looked exquisite last night? from stan in minneapolis, a republican line. caller: i am a conservative. i voted for trump three times now. frankly, i am thankful that president biden issued the pardons to his family members and to anthony fauci. my rationale is as follows. i personally have no desire to see his family members or from

she prosecuted or served criminal -- or fauci prosecuted or served criminal time but i am interested to know whether or fauci colluded with the chinese to cover things with covid or the biden family took money inappropriately from china. i would like to know the truth. now with the pardons issued, these people should be called in front of congress to testify in the search for truth. they can no longer plead the fifth amendment. there is no criminal prosecution that can be brought forward. their only obligation would be to tell the truth and if they didn't tell the truth, perhaps subject themselves to perjury. we have as a country many things to take care of. we should be looking forward to it. however, i do think it would be

good if congress would ask those people who testify under oath to tell the truth about what happened so we can get to the bottom of that, and i think joe biden with the pardons has cleared the way for congress to get to the truth. host: that is stan in minneapolis. we have been focusing on president trump being inaugurated as the 47th president of the united states. it was president biden before it was president biden before leaving washington, d.c. making comments about his term in office. here is a portion from yesterday. [video clip] president biden: everyday i am deeply moved by all. the point i want to make is to make clear in my farewell address, we have more to do. you heard the inaugural address today, we have a lot more to do.

i know many have experienced the ups and downs but we have to stay with it. my dad taught me the measure, how quickly they get back up when they get knocked down here that is what we have to do and that is we never, ever give up. [applause] we are leaving office but we are not leading the fight. you are smart and skilled and passionate. the country needs you again. stay engaged. whether it is in public service, philanthropy, academia or running it. i give you my word, we believe in you. jill and are a family, we believe in you.

i have no doubt you will make this experience and continue to do amazing things for decades to come. that is where i see a feature, all leading the way by you all. take some time to decompress, reconnect to friends and spend more time with your family, but take care of yourself and each other. i mean it. host: if you want to see the full comments of the former president, go to our website and app. and it in new york, independent line. -- annette in new york, independent line. caller: i was affected personally, there was a tax increase under trump. i am in long island.

and people aren't forgetting this is a guy who is not that bright. he wanted people to inject with bleach. that is number two. host: there are questions on the semantics of this, but go ahead. caller: he said it. are we going to dispute that? also in my opinion, no respect for the rule of law with all of those pardons. imagine those people with petty crimes who are right now in jail . he has pardoned people at the c apitol. in his followers, including musk, what does that signal to people. sorry, america, buckle up, you are in for a long, hard ride. host: one more call from carlton

alabama, democrats line. caller: i was going to say that about trump, remember that pandemic when you told people to inject bleach or use a bright light. i would like to think president biden for coming in and rescuing the country. the reason why trump put his name -- hand on the bible is that he doesn't believe in it. the bible clearly states the love of money is the root of all evils. and elon musk and all of the millionaires and billionaires that trump had on the stage with him, trump is the most evil president ever and elon musk and the rest of them are the richest people in the world. thank you. host: this is a bbc headline from april 20 20. their headline, coronavirus: outcry after trump suggesting disinfectant as a treatment. that is it for this portion.

thank you for all of you who participated. coming up, taking a look at the actions of the trump administration when it comes to matters of immigration. two guests are joining us, chad wolf and keri talbot. that conversation continues when we return. ♪ >> marked the inauguration of donald trump as the 47th president of the united states with a free commemorative inauguration button from c-span. scan the qr code on the right or visit c-span.org/buttons to request yours today. quantities are limited. >> democracy, it isn't just an

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under the trump administration in two guests joining us. we are joined by chad wolf the former acting homeland security director from trump in 2020-2021. also joining us in studio is keri talbot with immigration hub, the director. thank you for joining us. a little bit about your various organization, mr. wolf, your time, the america first policy institute, what is it and what do you do there? guest: we are a 501(c)(3) created at the end of the first trump administration and we have 20 different policy centers so we advocate for america first policies, education, health care, national security and homeland security and we have been doing that and will continue to do that.

host: same question, your organization. guest 2.: we are a network of organization that focuses on sensible, humane and fair immigration policy. host: what did we learn about the trump administration's sense of policy from the first date yesterday? host 1.: the breadth of the orders pretty much a constitute a zero immigration into america and that is not good for how much we need to rejuvenate small towns, help us grow. these executive orders basically turn everybody away, even people coming on visas. it is a mass deportation. .

what policy and immigration did we get from yesterday? guest 2.: the action is what america wanted to see after four years of unchecked immigration to have over 10 or 12 million depending on how you count illegal aliens coming into the country and the majority is staying here. very few deported or removed, is ok to take a pause and say let's get our arms around who is here and trying to understand better vetting in place to understand who is coming here and making sure you enforce the rule of law. for four years, immigration law simply hasn't been enforced. the american people, obviously on november 5 wanted a change of those executive orders deliver that change. host 1.: of those signed, what was the strongest one in your mind? guest 2.: it allows dod

resources to help in that fight and making sure the border is secure it. there were several others, you need physical infrastructure in certain areas, not entirely across the border but didn't certain areas but that construction was all but halted for the past years and a lot of that law was sold off for pennies on the dollar. in the directive to start remain in mexico with the micro protection protocols was critically important. host: if that is the case of yesterday, what was the most concerning of the executive order signed yesterday? guest 1.: it has to be called the so-called birthright citizenship. this is kids born in the u.s.. it has been around for hundreds of years and if a child is born in the united states, they are a citizen. that is critical to make sure we don't have a second class in this country. we believe in border security

and it is a total fallacy that the border is out of control right now. arrivals at the border are actually lower than one trump was in office. host: the 14th amendment is the basis of that birthright amendment. what wiggle room is that in your mind that the president would issue such an order? guest 1.: there is no wiggle room. it is unconstitutional. it is cost -- in the constitution that if they are born here they are citizens. host: what did the executive order do? guest 2.: there are questions among legal scholars and others on whether you can take this action. it is limited we talk about the birthright. it is just for children of illegal aliens that come here illegally. it is not for everyone that that applies to. back to a comment made earlier, we talk about the lowest illegal crossings under the biden

administration, it is a fallacy to say illegal crossings have dropped. it simply is not true. when you funnel most of those through the processes, those would be counted as illegal apprehensions. when you decide as the biden administration didn't, to count the individuals coming across the border differently, then of course are numbers are going to drop. the flow and pressure on border patrol has not subsided at all. host: would like to respond to that? guest 1.: i disagree. the numbers have been counted the same way for decades and looking at the exact same numbers, biden cracked down. guest 2.: no. host: if you want to ask about border policies, (202) 748-8000 for democrats, (202) 748-8001 for republicans, and independents (202) 748-8002. you can text us at (202)

748-8003. executive orders being one way to deal with issues. what does the trump administration, at least desire to do through congress for other aspects of border or immigration policy? guest 2.: probably set out a reversion of hr2. my guess they will go back to elements of that allowing the department of justice a few more authorities they would otherwise have. you can secure the border today using executive authorities from the president or you can use secretarial authorities from the dhs secretary. it is the way it has been for four years, we heard from the biden team that they needed congress to do more but the last year they started to view a few more executive orders and a few more things. they just didn't do it all the way and enforce it. it can be done. is it preferable for congress to make lasting changes,

absolutely, but you don't need congress to secure that border. host: lasting changes such as what? guest 2.: such as making sure you have the ability to return individuals back to their home countries a little quicker, particularly children. we saw in unaccompanied child crisis. thousands have been trafficked into the united states. it is very difficult to return them back to the parents and the home countries if they are not from canada or mexico. a few changes like that could go a long way. host: you said you support security issues and a lot of people voted for the president because of these issues. what is it about the current state of immigration that would give you pause as far as how things are handled from here on out? guest 1: i would like to see long-lasting reform in congress and see balanced solutions that have a path to citizenship and a strong border. that is what the american people

want. they did not look for cruelty. they voted for an end to chaos which is understandable and that is what we support. we want long-term support and laws that do security and a path to citizenship. just listening to this, i am reminded of how many attacks there were on children. there they go again talking about attacking children and that is what happened under mr. wolf and the first trump administration was family administration. guest 2: the biden administration lost 330,000 children in the immigration system so this idea that they care for children and that is with their best interest was over the past four years, their actions did not show that. guest 1: they are talking about two different things. what mr. wolf was helping with was separating children from their parents. that is what everyone was upset about in 2018. the biden administration has not lost 300,000 people. host: a response?

guest 2: just ask the new york times. the bastion of writers broke the story, 330 lost because the biden administration time after time and they had a chance to make a decision to protect children, they continued to cut corners and allow those children to be issued to sponsors that were not fully vetted and they did not follow up on where those children were. host: i want to ask both of you, the man at the center of policy going forward is tom homan, the so-called borders czar. what do you expect him to do? guest 2: he is an operator and has 30 years experience, not only as an ice officer but a border control agent. he understands how the system works and the bounds of what can be done in the authorities that i.c.e. and other organizations

have. if you allow law enforcement agents trained to do their job as congress intended them to do, then you can bring a lot. as the czar, advising the president, it shifts to the apartment to execute that was field operations and others. it is going to be a good mix. host: ms. tele, as far as the position, what are the concerns -- talbot, as far as the position, what are the concerns? guest 1: my concern is the attacks on children, having their parents taken and having the kids be alone at school and have no one to pick them up. i feel like they are going to

run rampant over these families. host: or first call is from greg in wisconsin, independent line. you are on with both of our guests. caller: i would like to thank both of you for being here. my concern is the fact that we have an amendment process that we have in our country and we also give the president the power to issue executive orders. we have a 14th amendment in which we have an executive order in which the president has just signed wanting to end birthright citizenship. my concern is the fact that does an executive order override an amendment process? and what is that going to look like in terms of a constitutional question. we have a lot of executive orders being signed by presidents and an amendment process. the 14th amendment says they have birthright citizenship. what do both of the people here have an opinion about this and i

will take this call. guest 1: that is an excellent question. it is totally true that there is an amendment process and this was a constitutional amendment during the civil war. it was critically important that everyone born in the united states be an american. that is what makes us who we are . an executive order cannot overrule an amendment to the constitution. host: mr. wolf? guest 2: i think the executive order issued is very narrow. it is not saying every child as afforded the opportunity for very specific talking about children of illegal aliens that came into the country illegally. it is critically important. i agree there is an amendment process. i think the basis of the 14th amendment was set back in the 1800s is dated and the purpose for that is not questionable but

open to interpretation. the president's comments and yesterday and others have said this will be challenged in a court of law. ultimately my guess is the supreme court will decide on whether or not it is limited to everyone coming here and there is some ability for the president to issue executive order around this issue. host: from tampa, florida, this is kim, democrats line. caller: i think what mr. wolf is saying about immigration and the border is 100% correct. we don't know who came across that border. i think we should lock the border down and if something was to happen with one of those people that came across that border and it happened to eight democrat's family, they would be up in arms and feel real bad knowing they should've vetted

those people. we don't know if the taliban or isis came across. we need to keep the border it shut, come across legally, go to the american embassy in your country, get a visa, apply for immigration status in your country. if you are given it, you are and if not, if not good we can't go into other countries and get into them the way you can hear. host: mr. wolf, you had talked about the idea of security and shutting the border down. what is the manpower required and money required and does the federal government have that? guest 2: we talk about showing the border down, we talk about shutting it down the folks deciding to cross illegally into gangs and others. there are a good amount of trade travel and legitimate travel across the border and that

should continue. as far as manpower and additional resources, it is going to take more and that is why the president issued the emergency to allow dod some resources as well. for four years the border has been broken and they are going to have to get in and assess what has been done, build the capabilities and authorities back up. we have had border control agents detailed and it has been out of control. they will first have to get their hands around what has been broken and build it back up. i am sure the new administration is talking to congress inside the reconciliation package about what more resources not only dhs but doj, state department and other elements are critically important to securing the border need. host: what about the idea more manpower and money to deal with issues along the border? guest 1: the biden

administration sought more money but republicans were always blocking it. we think there is an important role to play for technology and infrastructure in vetting. they already do that. we do know who is here and they vet people. the biden administration is trying to push people through legal channels. i want to call mr. wolf's attention to executive orders because a lot of them up to people coming lawfully, including the birthright citizenship. there is a kamala harris provision saying if your appearance came on visa and they have a kid, they do not qualify as a citizen and that would have ruled her out as president. we have to be careful with a sweeping ban in an executive order. guest 2: this is what the american people voted for. you can say they didn't, but he saw four years of an out-of-control border where we allowed anyone and everyone to come across.

we saw individuals on watch lists that were released into the united states and we had to go and find them because an overwhelming number of individuals coming to that border time and time again. the measures the president has put in place along with his team is what the american people want to see. you may not like it but the majority of americans voted to make sure the border is secure and we stop the hundreds of thousands and millions of individuals coming across the border released into american communities almost as quickly as they come across the border, the american people wanted that stopped and they will do for trump and that is what the executive orders do. host: one was the shutting down of this app and what was the purpose of shutting it down and did you agree with that? guest 2: i agree with it. we talked about how you count numbers and the comment was that is how it's always been. cap as never been used wait the

biden administration has and the numbers were counted differently. it allowed if you were an illegal alien, they brought it to anywhere in mexico that you could sign up on the app for an appointment at a port of entry and allowed to come in and released into the united states for you weren't actually asked about asylum status. you were given parole to come into the united states and you could claim asylum at a later time. that was basically just facilitating folks coming into the country illegally. the biden team called it a legal pathway. that stopped on day one. that as well as a perl program -- parole program. they facilitated more and more illegal aliens into the country in the american people said, we have had enough. host: and if i understand it, those in the queue, their

appointments were canceled. guest 2: if you are in the queue and you have an appointment six months or six weeks from now, again, the american people and the trump team was clear throughout the campaign that they intended to end that program quickly. host: ms. talbot, the ending of the program and implications? guest 1: i think the american people agree if you stand in line you should be able to get what you stand in line for. the government promised that. it is unfortunate we are moving away from where we should be headed which is an organized, no chaos situation where people can stand in line. that is what the american people want. i don't think they voted for the executive orders this is about to cause. they want an orderly situation at the border and they wanted the economy and prices to come down and immigrants help prices go down. i think people are going to be shocked when the prices at

walmart go sky high in the grocery store go sky high because the immigrants who are picking strawberries and helping with fruits and vegetables suddenly are getting rounded up. i don't think that is what people want. host: that is a common argument we have heard as far as the impact on immigrants and the economy. what would you make of that? guest 2: i hear that a lot. the argument is our economy is so dependent on i guess illegal immigrants that we should just ignore the law and allow them to come in and stay so we have a great economy. i don't fundamentally believe that. i believe if you enforce the law the right way and smart way you target and we've heard the president, we target illegals. there are 1.5 million final orders of removal, orders given to individuals to say you have no legal right to be here in the country and you need to remove yourself and they have decided to defy that order. even if you just focus on these

populations and remove them, that is a historic number of individuals without really getting to a lot of other folks here illegally. the idea that you are going to target the agricultural industry or one industry or another in a way you will have such a major impact, i don't believe that is the prioritization of the trump team. host: susan in indiana, republican line. caller: good morning question for ms. talbot. i had the aggie -- arguments where taking children away where they might be at school. what about the mothers and fathers who had to now bury their children because of illegal immigrants that have either raped, murdered, drunk driving, that have killed their children? those children will never come back to their parents. there is no option for that. another question i would like addressed is every time democrats talk about getting rid of the illegals, they refer to

them as crop pickers, laborers and hotels. to me you are talking about maybe slave labor. i'd like to hear your opinion on that. guest 1: certainly all workers should be treated fairly and given a fair wage. that is why it is important we eventually do immigration reform and have people register with the government, get right with the law and be able to contribute. we need more workers. our population is getting older and we need people to help us take care of older folks, help us in hotels, etc. and our lives will be better for it. i definitely feel so horribly for families who have lost a loved one. it is just awful. and those folks are already deportable.

we have lost on the book saying they should be deported and they should be deported for sure. it is a horrible situation. i don't know we can have our entire system based on just a few folks committing such horrible crimes but we do have to make sure we do as much as we possibly can to protect those families. host: the senate yesterday passing what is known as the laken riley act that they could take into custody undocumented immigrants who are charge, arrested or convicted of criminal acts of burglary, theft, larceny. what do you think of it? guest 1: it allows state attorney general's to just go into federal court on any immigration case, even just individual cases. that will clog the federal courts and it is just too bad they rushed that through congress and we are going to have these awful repercussions

in the courts and also picking people up who stole some m&ms at 7-eleven or a kid to steal something. those are not priorities. we need to focus on priorities, those who have serious crimes and they should be priors for deportation. not somebody who made a mistake when they were 17. host: mr. wolf, you can respond to the caller and the passage of that act. guest 2: it is unfortunately we have to pass a bill to tell the federal government to detain dangerous individuals and not let them go into communities. after four years, that is exactly what we had to do because i agree that there are certain laws on the books that allow individuals to not only be detained and be removed, but there is a lot of leeway and discretion in immigration law. what this bill says is you must do it. it doesn't get the leeway or discretion anymore and it is unfortunate because we should

have a federal government, whether republican or democrat that enforces the law and doesn't cherry pick which laws to enforce and how much to enforce them. there will always be prioritization. when you are prioritizing and still letting dangerous criminals go free, that is when the american people have a problem and it is when congress has a problem and that is why the bill passed overwhelmingly in both chambers. host: chad wolf formerly of the trump administration with the america first policy institute. with immigration hub. we are expected to take a life of the swearing in of marco rubio to be the next secretary of state. we will show you some of that process as it plays out and as we continue our conversation with our guest. while we are talking about that, the incoming secretary of state, the role that marco rubio may have, i know it is more common

security but does it play a role? guest 2: it plays a big role. we think about homeland security and dhs because they have agents and officers on the ground whether border patrol agent or ice officers or other officers, they play a very outsize role in immigration as far as processing individuals. the front of state and justice are two key agencies, particularly when we talk about the incoming secretary of state and what he needs to negotiate with some of our foreign countries that allow individuals to be returned there, that allow certain measures to take place. obviously mexico plays a big role here. certain other countries in central america play a big role. the state department is a lead negotiator in a lot of, so senator rubio were now secretary of state rubio is going to have to play a big role as well. host: the influence that marco rubio has secretary of state? guest: i worked with marco rubio

on the 2013 immigration bill when he supported a sensible balance that included a path to citizenship and border security, but i agree he will play a big role, especially with latin america. a lot of the policies that trump announced last night depend on cooperation from countries like mexico. mexico has already said they do not intend to take all these folks who are not mexican, so this is going to be a hurdle for the trump administration. >> we will take those comments in that event featuring the incoming secretary of state when it happens. we will continue on with calls. rob in maryland, good morning. caller: if mexico is not going to take those people crossing their southern border illegally, they need to do something about it. i am disturbed with your female guest. i apologize. i did not get her last name.

what she is saying is that we should prioritize cheap labor over the safety and well-being of human beings, especially females and children. this is disturbing. earlier, she said the biden administration was a betting these people crossing our border. do you mean to tell me that we are supposed to believe that? do you understand the cartels are making money off the backs of every single person crossing that border question mark host: we will let our guest respond. guest: i do understand that. i have worked on this for 20 years. i understand that vetting is important for security and i am committed to working with any administration to make sure this system gets more safe and more secure, but it is not more safe and more secure to just push

people into unlawful crossings. what trump is doing is shutting down all lawful pathways. that means people will use cartels more. they will go around. they are not going to stop trying to come just because trump says he does not want them. we saw that yesterday. people were lined up at the border. i hear your point. we want to make sure this is a safe and secure system, but we have to do it in a smart way. we cannot assume by trying to close it down that that is going to work. we need to use more security measures, more technology, but do it smart. >> what is mexico's role in slowing migration to the united states? guest: they have a large role. they are a major conduit to our southern border and their northern border. we saw where mexico incentivized

measures during the first from administration. they do not want to take these measures. it is not in their politics to want to do this. obviously the biden administration could not get them to do much except for that last year. they started to do more. they can do a lot more. president trump and his oncoming team will ask them to do more and we will see if they are able to do that. the challenge they have, because the biden administration opened that border to the entire world, no longer are the majority of folks showing up spanish-speaking. we talked about how mexico is more willing to take spanish-speaking folks back in mexico. you now have dialects and languages from over 160 countries coming across the border, so how do you deal with that when spanish is not their native tongue? it will be a challenge for the trump administration. i agree with others i agree with others that have said that. unfortunately, that is the situation we find ourselves in. i think mexico will have an

outsized role in helping deter some of the illegal immigration. they can do that on their southern border, but there is a number of other things they can do as well. host: the new president in mexico, how willing do you think she is in working with the trump administration? guest: i do not know her well. she is not a fan of some of the things the president indicated he would like to see her do. we will see how that works out once you get the secretary of state and others actually talking to them about what can be done and what the united states can help them do. it is going to be in negotiation, but something like the migrant protection protocols -- they did not want to do that during the first trump administration administration. once it was in place, i started to hear from them that they liked it because it slowed the flow within mexico and started to ease some of the strain on their social services as well.

so it can be beneficial to mexico, what we are asking them to do. guest: mexico has been engaged in a cracked down for a long time. it amazes me you would say they have hardly done anything because they have been cracking down quite a bit in terms of preventing people from taking buses to the border and i anticipate they will continue doing that. i do not think remain in mexico is in their interests. remain in mexico is where the trump folks push people into mexico and have them wait there instead of waiting anywhere proceeding in the u.s.. we are going to see camps developing along the border that are very dangerous and where children and families will be at high risk of kidnapping. guest: let me make a comment. we talk about pushing people to mexico -- they all traveled through mexico to get to the united states.

they were all seeking asylum. we had them under this program for asylum proceedings and had them come into the u.s. and go to those asylum courts. the trump administration and others were not excited about is releasing these individuals. the law is clear that you must attain or remove individuals. some will say we have never had the resources to do that, so we just let people go into the interior of the country never to hear from the majority of them again. the trump administration is trying to get back to what the law says, which is you will detain or remove individuals. that is the goal. that is what mpp was designed to do. we did not see a hint of trying to follow the law during the biden administration. host: let's hear from bethany in maryland, democrats line. bethany in maryland? caller: i wanted to talk about what mr. wolf talked about, the

biden administration losing 200 children. we know during the trump administration, with the separation policy, it was done putatively, as a deterrent, hence why the previous homeland security director and it up resigning. so the way they talk you would swear illegal immigrants walk around here killing everybody. we know statistically that is not true. we cannot get anybody to do anything about the gun violence in the united states, but all of this energy and effort being put into illegal immigrants as if they are the ones committing the vast majority of the crimes that we have in the united states when we know that is not true. he knows that is not true. host: we will let him respond. guest: i hear this a lot. statistically the numbers are low. how low to the numbers need to be to try to deter illegal aliens from committing crimes?

every crime committed by someone here illegally is a preventable crime and that should be our goal. as far as your tolerance. i heard this mentioned in 2018. the left continues to love to talk about zero-tolerance issued by the attorney general for four weeks seven years ago because it is all they have. it is all they have to say how terrible the trump administration was. i go back to the last four years and the number of children that have been displaced and lost inside this immigration system and have been encouraged to come here the hands of smugglers and cartel members. if you want to talk about what is best for illegal aliens, you would prevent this dangerous journey coming to united states where you pay and put your life in the hands of a cartel member. they care nothing about human life. all they care about is making money and they will do that at any cost. guest: family separation i talk

about because it is one of the worst things i have ever seen. i remember getting a call from someone at dhs telling me they were purposely not tracking which kid went with which parent. they were purposely doing that. it was punitive. i agree with the caller that it was a horrible thing to do to kids and parents. what he is talking about with the biden administration is a different situation about kids already in the u.s. and helping them, but that is not the same thing as purposely trying to hurt children. host: again, the difference being 5000 to 6000 impacted by zero-tolerance and 330,000 children. the comparison is astronomically different. host: kirk in oklahoma, independent line. caller: i know i talked to you before as an immigrant.

i want to ask mr. chad wolf two questions. how much ice agents we have in the united states? i want to ask him also how many immigration judges and what the latest court date a person has to see an immigration judge. if you have a court case right now, you are not what is the a judge until 2028 and the question is, with all this talk, which is talk, how biden is going to end up with more people than the trump administration -- four major flights and up to china are now going to be 10 years. it is not everybody you can fool with your arguments and your

schism. host: we will let him respond. host: i am -- guest: i am not sure exact with the question was. there is limited resources when it comes to ice removal agents and immigration judges, which is the purpose of why the system today is broken. the fact that you cannot get a court hearing for four or five years, maybe six years depending where you are is an indictment of the current system. it is not working as intended, so you need to make changes. the president and his team believe the changes they are making will help do that. is why -- it is why you have micro protection protocols in place, because the system is not working today. the fact there are so many being released -- you do not have enough removal agents. you do not have enough attorneys or immigration judges to process these claims more and more quickly.

asylum is being abused today. 80 to 85% of folks claiming asylum will never receive asylum because they will never qualify for it, so this idea that we need to reform the system so those that truly need protections under u.s. law get those protections as early as possible and do not wait six years, they get them within a matter of weeks or months, they get those while everyone else that will never qualify for asylum is removed back to their home country so they can apply and come to the united states if that is their goal in a legal way. host: this idea of performing the system? guest: it would be great if we could provide for more immigration judges. when i first came to washington, we have republicans and democrats work together. it was no -- it was not all totally political, extreme proposals like trump put forward last night. we were trying to do sensible stuff, even as regionally as

2013. we should go back to that. we should look at things we can all agree on like more immigration judges. >> to what degree do you think rates will take place in the united states under the trump administration? guest: i am anticipating they will start probably today and i think it will be awful. certain people, as we talked about, our security threats and maybe we should go after them, but i have this concern that we are going to see what we saw a few weeks ago in bakersfield, california where they had agents stalking the walmart, hanging out of the parking lot randomly asking people questions. that is racial profiling and we do not need that. we do not eat agents at schools and hospitals -- need agents at schools and hospitals and community places. enforcement should be targeted where they know exactly where they are going, why they are going after that person. host: what keeps these raids tailored to specifically those they are supposed to get?

guest: they are targeted enforcement operations. we think of raids as agents go in neighborhoods and kicking down doors randomly. that is not how it works. that is an elementary view of how i.c.e. targets and removes individuals from the country. if you go back to the first trump administration, 90 percent removed were illegal aliens under final removal. the other 10% was everyone else. what the trump team has been clear on is they are not going to exempt individuals from the law. they are not going to exempt individuals who come to the attention of law enforcement. they are not going to give them a pass. it is what biden did for four years and we saw the border explode and we saw a removals at an all-time low cut removals from the interior of the country at an all-time low. i think the trump team has a different way and a different

view about that. host: kathleen is joining us from los angeles, california. caller: this is my area of expertise and i'm glad you brought up the 14th amendment. the 14th amendment was enacted during the civil -- after the civil war. it was enacted for the newly freed slaves and their descendants. it was later battered eyes by liberal judges on the supreme court to include women, lgbtq folks, and illegal aliens, so trump is trying to make right what was made wrong long ago, so after the civil rights act was enacted in 1964 the next year democrats enacted the immigration act of 1965.

mass immigration vast -- adversely impacts african-americans economically appear this was talked about in the 1800s when there was mass immigration. black americans benefited economically when there is a halt immigration. host: that is a lot of history, but what is the question? caller: i am wondering why democrats -- trump is trying to make right what was made wrong long ago. democrats have destroyed black america. why is the woman -- she said she has worked in this area for a long time. why does she not know for every increase black americans lose a certain percentage of their wealth? guest: that is not true. it is not true that immigrants hurt black americans. immigrants help grow the economy for everyone and i think it

would be really helpful for all of us to see the economy -- you want to see the economy grow quickly for black americans, make sure we understand how the economy works and the way it grows is to have war workers. so i think it is sad that is the interpretation of the four amendment. my understanding is it is equal rights for all, for women, for everyone, for immigrants. the colonists themselves were immigrants. i do not agree and i think it is critical that we make sure we do not have second-class citizens in this country. guest: we talk a lot about making sure we have immigrants to support the economy and be part of the united states. i don't know anyone would disagree. the united states continues, regardless of a democrat or republican administration meant to be the most welcoming and generous country in the world. a million green cards are handed out every year. we are talking about folks coming here illegally and making

sure we are protecting u.s. citizens and telling people to come here the right way so we understand who you are and what you want to come to the united states for. it is not the way the system is designed now. it is part of what these executive orders do. that is what we should strive to get this idea that trump and everyone else is against migrants coming here is not reality. we are talking about folks wanting to come here illegally and understanding who those bad actors are and who are the good actors. host: how would you know if the trump administration is on the right track when it comes to immigration policy? what signs would you see? guest: you will see apprehensions numbers go down and removals take place. you will see the law enforced. you will start to see other

folks like other countries in other parts of the world and what kind of reception they are getting from the trump administration as well. there are a number of things you can say. migrant crime -- do we start to see that reducing? the amount of fentanyl coming across the border, is that going down? it is not going to happen overnight. it will take time to see results in all these areas. host: what would you see that would concern you? guest: everything concerned me last night and those executive orders because they are not doing what mr. wolf is saying. they are focusing also on lawful pathways. host: i have to end it there. we are watching the swearing-in ceremony of marco rubio. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2025] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> i want to give a special welcome to senator rubio's family, especially his four beautiful kids and wife.

thank you for being here. it is a great occasion. it is hard to top being sworn in as vice president and the buckeyes win the national championship the same day, this is a healthy start to a run because marco is one of my favorite people in washington. he is a son of cuban immigrants to this country. he has an incredibly deep love of our nation. he is a bipartisan solution seeker, a guy who can get things done but a conservative of great principle and great version -- vision. more than almost anybody i have met in washington and the last few years, senator rubio understands the distinctive priorities of president trump and white represents such a significant and needed departure from a generation of failed foreign policy. senator rubio will be the chief diplomat of the united states of america, but he will remain a friend.

i am proud to know him and do this. senator rubio, thank you. i also want to thank president trump for nominating president rubio -- for nominee senator rubio giving me an easy first swearing in. i want to thank the senator and his family for making this easy you guys got this done quickly. 99-0. so it is a great testament to your career of service and this is a new chapter but i think you are going to do great. i think we are going to a minister the oath and then he will say a few words. is that right? please raise your right hand and repeat after me. i cannot marco rubio. sen. rubio: i, marco rubio. v.p. vance: do solemnly swear. sen. rubio: do solemnly swear.

v.p. vance: i will support against all enemies foreign and domestic. that i will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that i take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion and that i will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office of which i'm about to enter. so help you god. sen. rubio: so help me god. v.p. vance: congratulations, mr. secretary. [applause] sec. rubio: thank you, mr. vice president, for making time. it has been a busy 72 hours and maybe longer. 96 hours, i guess. i want to thank my wife, who has been so supportive, as the vice president knows well it is impossible to do the jobs you do

here, including the senate, without the support of our family and our spouses. thank you for being supportive every step of the way. i would not stand here before you today without that. i am also grateful all four of my children are here. they are the most important legacy any of us will leave behind. the most important job i will ever have is that of a father and husband. i am proud they are able to join us. i am happy they are able to see this today. i want to thank my colleagues for joining us. you did a great job managing the committee that brought us to this point but he has also been one of my closest friends. we wound up basically being first and second behind one another on seniority in every committee. we even sat next to each other on the floor, so people thought it was a plot. it was not by design. it is one of the most special

relationships either establish and an honor to be with the vice president, who i think is going to be phenomenal. someone i knew and admired and relied on for policy ideas before he was even elected to the senate and now will do an extra ordinary job for the president. i cannot think of a better voice for the world and for the president's policies. as far as the task ahead, president trump was elected to keep promises and he is going to keep those promises. his primary promise when it comes to foreign policy is the priority of state will be the united states. it will be furthering national interests of this country. he has given us a clear mandate. everything we do, and this is true in government but especially at the department of state, everything we do must be justified by the answer one of three questions. does it make us stronger? does it make us safer? does it make us more prosperous? if it does not do one of those things, we will not do it.

that is the goal and promise he was elected to keep and promise he will keep and we will help him keep. the united states is now, as president trump pointed out, we are headed into a new era i think will make the world a safer place. we have a president who made clear that one of the primary goals of american foreign policy is his promotion of peace. of course peace through strength , without abandoning our values, but i think it is extorting air that is something that needs to be said. we look forward to being a key part of helping the president achieve his agenda that he has a clear mandate to keep. if i may take the liberty for 15 seconds to say something in spanish, i know a lot of people back home are very proud and i want to make sure i acknowledge that. [speaking spanish]

sec. rubio: i just said i saved a bunch of money by switching to geico. that is what i said. i want to end by thinking almighty god and my lord and savior jesus christ. that is truly the single or purpose of our lives. it is the most important priority, the only thing that will matter when we take our last breath on this earth but this is an extraordinary opportunity that would not have been possible without god's blessings. i'm honored and privileged and i want to thank president trump for his confidence. we will work hard every second of the day to help him achieve the agenda of the american people have given him to achieve. thanks for being part of this

today. god bless all of you. [applause] v.p. vance: thank you. we will talk more soon. >> long time member of the senate marco rubio there. comment that you heard him make. you can comment on that as we head toward open forum. this segment you have heard that the inauguration yesterday, all part of open forum and here is how you can participate. (202) 748-8000 free democrats. (202) 748-8001 -- for democrats. (202) 748-8001 independents, (202) 748-8002 independents, (202) 748-8002 for republicans. this is from fox news, saying two more of the nominees will face questions from senators today while a third will get a committee vote. former representative doug

collins will testify before the senate veterans affairs committee as he seeks confirmation to lead the veterans affairs department. representative elise stefanik of new york will before the senate foreign relations committee as mr. nominee's nominee to be -- mr. trump's nominee. the senate will convene at 10:15 and vote on whether to advance scott bessent's nomination to be secretary of the treasury. there is more therefrom that fox news story on the status of various people chosen by the president to become members of his cabinet. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. in this open forum in wisconsin, john starts us off. caller: i am bummed out i missed the portion of the previous

guests. i agree we need to have more legal immigration. and as far as the other thing i wanted to ask, president trump talked tongue and she about taking canada over. the major problem is mexico and our mexican border is 2000 miles long and at the southern tip of mexico it is only 700 miles long so the fentanyl and gangs and all of that is coming across our southern border. maybe we need to rethink which direction we want to expand the country. that would solve all the problems because they would all be part of america and they wouldn't have to cross a border to come up and pick the crops during the off-season and things like that. i'm sure people are going to say that is way out there, but i am just saying that will be a

possibility. host: john there. this is richard in kansas, republican line. caller: i wish i could have talked to the lady that was there before because i will stop short of calling her a liar but she was one of the most dishonest people i have ever met. as far as the 40 the men meant there is a part they always like to leave out on that, and that is subject to the jurisdiction thereof. all citizens born or naturalized in the united states are subject to the jurisdiction of our citizens of the united states. illegal aliens are not subject to that. the people who pick our vegetables and work in our industries and dig ditches and things like that -- they are green cardholders. there is a process for them to go through and do that. they come here and work and go

back home for six months or so and then come back and work. i'm familiar with this because i have been involved for 45 years. now, as far as what we really need to get a handle on, you better start telling people what it means to be a natural born citizen because there is a big argument now. a lot of people that are not natural born citizens are running for offices -- running for president of the united states and this needs to stop. we need to get that down. that standard is what the country was set up on. you can look it up on the internet. host: let's go to anna in texas, democrats line. caller: the lake and riley act -- laken riley act -- we never

had the uvalde act were students and teachers were murdered. we never had the el paso act where 35 people coming in from mexico to get groceries and also just living in el paso -- el paso is one of the best cities in texas. that young man was white. you never got anything with lake carroll and the wealthy neighborhood and a young man, 19, selling it to students. we do not talk about social security. $27.1 billion from people that work in texas and in united states -- nobody says anything about that. we also -- a work visa -- one million people come into mexico. they built homes.

they have a quarterly visa where they come. the others the cartel. when they talk about the cartel, those are cartels that come from different countries flying into small airports in texas and oklahoma also and they bring in drugs. i am -- mr. wolf, when he was talking about i.c.e., i.c.e. came through in 2019 and went into -- i'm sorry. host: we got your point. there is a follow-up story from the passage of the laken riley act. senators believe the party bungled immigration in 2024 but they are not happy by the swift passage of the bill they view as terrible policy. democratic critics of the bill believe the rush to pass it is

political overreaction from colleagues scrambling to protect themselves on those issues. some democratic senators are venting frustration about senate minority chuck schumer giving a green light to politically vulnerable colleagues to vote to advance the bill without getting a guarantee democrats would have opportunity to mend the legislation. democratic lawmakers have likened the handling of the bill to a disorderly retreat and warned has sparked frustration. more there about the passage of the laken riley act. let's go to dean on our independent line in delaware. caller: i think as a businessman what i experienced in the last eight years, and it is increasing, is there are a lot of illegal immigrants into delaware who work several different situations got most of

them for cash. because they are illegal. they might pick the crops in a season and then they do independent work, very good, but they want cash. that way they do not have to pay taxes, so not only is it an invasion of our economy because they work so much cheaper, we are not getting the benefit of the federal, state, local, and city, especially social security taxes. they do not pay that. it is important people understand there are complicated issues and more than three or four sides to this story. host: let's go to james in albuquerque, republican line. caller: there has to be legal immigration. you cannot let people in here. it is a law that is broken when

you come in here. when illegal aliens come into the country, that is illegal. that is what it means. it is illegal to do that. the thing about these blanket pardons -- i hope the trump administration changes that are in pardons are for people who have convictions or are convicted of something. that has to change. another thing is the media and politicians need to quit lying and telling people the truth. i will give you an example of why they keep lying. they lie every time there is an election about the republicans want to take away grandma's social security. that has never happened. it never will happen. they need to start telling the truth, these politicians and for the most part the democrats keep lying to people when there are elections. they need to stop that. start just reporting the news and telling the truth because it is about truth and lies. this election was about truth

and lies. good and people. that has to stop -- good and evil. that has to stop. host: the numbers on the screen. you can continue to post your thoughts on various things from this program on our social media channels, but there are the numbers if you want to participate until 10:00. one of the things the president addressed during his inaugural address, among the many things he addressed was the issues of gender, race, and related policies. here is a portion. [video clip] >> i will also end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life. we will forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based.

as of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the united states government that there are only two genders, male and female. [applause] this week, i will reinstate any service members unjustly expelled from our military for objecting to the covid vaccine mandate with full backpay. i will sign in order to stop our warriors for being subjected to radical political theories and

social experiments while on duty . it is going to end immediately. our armed forces will be free to focus on their sole mission, defeating america's enemies. host: much more to the inaugural address from yesterday. find it on our website and app. this is kentucky, democrats line. caller: you say we are limited on immigration judges. can we not hurry the process and make some of our local judges taught to be immigration judges? and hurry up the process instead of four years to two years? we have an illegal person come in and they are paying state taxes and federal taxes for two years. hurry up the process for them to become a citizen and then have

that monitored by a legal -- local judge maybe every two years. they have 100 questions to answer, which some of our u.s. citizens cannot answer. we have enough people to teach them english. i am one of those teachers. and just hurry up the process for them to become a u.s. citizen if they are paying federal and state taxes and they have not committed any crimes and then monitor that they are paying taxes and not committing any crimes. and have a local judge monitor that. can we not do that? host: this is in georgia, independent line. caller: as a defendant of the enslaved who are not immigrants but captives who were chained to the bottom of ships and brought here against their will, it is a

big difference. i am for the mass deportation of illegal aliens. because they knew exactly what they were doing. my brothers and sisters can be shot and killed over a traffic stop, so i could care less that their families are separated. the experience that on a daily basis of our families being separated, but no one cares about our families staying together. it sickens me the way people care so much about illegal aliens and care so little about american citizens struggling every day to feed, clothe, and house their families while at the same time pay local taxes to only be used to house and educate and provide medical care to people who should not be here in the first place. we are being pimped to take care

of non-us citizens and it is not right. host: political reporting this morning that president trump early tuesday morning announced plans to fire more than 1000 presidential appointees who are not aligned with our vision to make america great again. hours into his second day in office, he kicked off that process by dismissing the former chair of the joint chiefs of staff from the infrastructure advisory council and a slippery chef from the council on sports. he dismissed a former atlanta mayor from the president's export council and brian hook from -- who served in the previous trump administration from the wilson center for scholars. let this serve as official notice of dismissal for these four individuals with many more coming, he wrote, followed by the words you are fired, all in cap. let's hear from thomas in

florida, republican line. caller: i called about a month ago to say's i am part of trump's administration. i cannot go into detail yet but i want to say this thing about people accusing elon musk of doing a nazi salute is ridiculous. it is easy to film someone moving their arms around and then catching them at an angle where if you freeze it it looks like it is a nazi salute. it is on -- it is not. he is obvious we not doing that and it is disingenuous when the media tries to present it as such. if you want to know more about me, you can youtube blue orange 2022 -- but essentially this new and ministration is not going to tolerate dishonesty from the left-wing media, the allies of the left-wing media, and trying to paint elon musk as a nazi is

ridiculous. he has one of the most diverse workforces in history. he hires people all over the world, all races and religions, so to paint him as a nazi is pathetic. host: that is thomas in florida. this took place yesterday at the capital one center, political writing his use of hand gestures that critics are compared to a fascist salute is taking a life of its own on social media. the tech billionaire through a vigorous street armed salute as he told the crowd got my heart goes out with you. let's show you what happened yesterday. [video clip] >> yes. this is what victory feels like. yes. this was no ordinary victory. this was a bump in the road of human civilization.

there are elections that come and go. some elections are important. some are not. but this one really mattered. and i just want to say thank you for making it happen. thank you. my heart goes out to you. it is thinks to you that the future of civilization is assured. host: you want to watch that again can't you can go to our website or app. this is open forum. you can call those numbers to participate. this is delia in new york city. caller: how are you tay? i just wanted the sister from georgia stole some of my thunder. i agreed with her when she was talking about the illegal alien

situation and as far as black people are concerned. i am a democrat and i am sorry that it was handled that put -- particular political issue has been handled. i have been greatly affected by that. i agree with what she was saying and also what the guy from florida who just called in about the wave or whatever it was. as a democrat, unfortunately i had to cross the aisle this election and i did vote for president trump because i am sick and tired of what is going on and i saw something that the -- just to say to the gentleman in florida, do not get into the ridiculous. just ignore it. we have to keep moving. as far as elon musk is concerned

, i just saw what happened. i was watching it last night. i agree that is not what that was. he was just waving or whatever. now, i wanted to say i saw president trump last night signing the executive orders. i am proud -- i was really on the fence because as a democrat -- god says i am a democrat. as a christian, i want to honor what god says. the same time, there are times god put in your spirit to do something that you may not understand now but have to do it for the greater good for his word. and something trump did that i was so impressed with -- many things he did. he turned around and they asked him -- they said something about who would he -- i cannot think of what it was, but he mentioned president clinton, my favorite president of all time, and as

far as i'm concerned the only black president we have ever had. host: as far as the point you are making about president trump, go ahead. caller: when he was saying about president clinton, he said i think he is very smart. he is a gifted politician. and he is not treated with the respect that he should be given. i would say that goes not just to him but also to his wife, first lady hillary clinton. i saying that to say this is the kind of man that trump is. it does not matter what the media says. god will always confirm the character of his people by what they say and do. >> let's hear from been in connecticut. caller: good morning. i want to congratulate the 49.9% of trump supporters who voted for him for electing a criminal,

for electing a rapist and electing a pathetic liar. congratulations and good luck to all of you. host: hernando in texas, republican line, you are up next. go ahead. let's hear from bill in florida, democrats line. hello. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i wanted to remind one of the callers not too long ago that some of the first words out of donald trump's mouth when he ran for the first time was that barack obama was not an american citizen. that turned out to be another one of his big lies that he is very good at doing. host: how does that relate to the current status he holds as president of the united states? caller: i was wondering and i

just watched marco rubio take the oath with his hand on the bible, i did not see trump place his hand on the bible when he took his oath. that is all i have to say. host: from yesterday, i will give you a little more from elements of the inauguration speech. you can always find these things at c-span. a lot of other things there too, not only the cital one arena event where he signed those executive orders and even the swearing in of secretary of state marco rubio, all available at our website. you can always go to app if you want to view these things. tabitha is in ohio, republican line. tabitha in ohio, go ahead. caller: ok.

i was not sure you were there. i wanted to comment now that i have heard things about trump not having his hand on the bible. if anybody was watching, that didn't really anger me. we waited a long time for jd vance's family members, his children who come to the stage and wait for him to be sworn in and inaugurated until his family was there. they swore and trump before anyone was there. milani was not there with the book yet. that was not ok. so to say that he was not on the bible is not fair because it was not his fault. he did not start talking. someone else did. i'm glad to have trump as my president. i woke up very happy and free and safe feeling compared to what i did two days ago. host: when it comes to

confirmation hearings, lots to watch out for today on our networks. 10:00, doug collins, chosen by thident to bec the next head of veterans affairs. he will appear at his confirmation hearing and you can that at 10:00 on our main annel, c-span, c-span now, c-span.org. if you are interested in international relations, representative elise stefanik of ne york chosen to be the next ambassador to the united nations . her confirmation also at c-span3 is how you can follow as well as the app. let's go to clyde in new york, independent line. caller: thank you. 65% of americans are remedial in thinking and a lot of them -- i should not say that.

but a lot of them do not understand finances and politics. this is the ending of the new deal. this thing has been repeating at least three times in american history. and give trump everything he wants and see where this country goes. it is going to go like the 26 other businesses that he failed in. that is pre-much it. i hope the people realize after everything is said and done where they are, their whole thing is looking for a bogeyman and now the people have gotten there bogeyman. he is going to stress that the death. america cannot be happy with what you get because it is about to come.

host: democrats line, tracy in north carolina. caller: i was watching the events yesterday. we knew many of the executive orders that were going to come, but i was disappointed with the issues on transgender rights. i think it is a small fraction of our country that has faced a lot of hate and discrimination and it really is an example of government overreach from a group that says they are for small government. it is a warning as to how far they might reach into her personal life in the future. host: that is tracy in north carolina. that is the capital one centre event you saw yesterday where the president started signing those executive orders before moving to the white house to sign a series of others. some other things he did

yesterday, issuing a directive barring censorship of american citizens constitutionally protected speech by the federal government, issuing a directive aimed at addressing the cost-of-living crisis in united states, withdrawing from the world health organization, revoking security clearances held by his former national security advisor john bolton and former intelligence officials who signed onto a letter calling the hunter biden laptop story russian disinformation, renting interim security clearances to certain personnel on a list provided by the white house counsel office and directing his administration to beautify federal civic architecture. let's go to horace in ohio, republican line. caller: i wanted to go back to the insurrection at the capital. everybody is blaming trump for the whole thing. if they would have started before the crowd started coming in, you see trump had a taped

phone call telling them all to be peaceful. then it goes on and on and they started breaking things up and he called in and ask them if they want to the national guard and it was either pelosi or somebody that did not want to guard and then went on and on destroying things. when castro took over to host cuba cut would that be an insurrection? host: linda is in el paso, texas, independent line. caller: i live on the border. yesterday i was watching the news where this lady was from a different country and she was crying, let us in. what gets me, why aren't they crying and fighting the way they

are trying to fight to come here in their own country? host: adam from new york, democrats line. caller: i am really upset. i do not know where to begin. seeing elon musk, someone i used to look up to, particularly give the nazi salute was very disappointing. i feel it is only a matter of time before you start to see people give that salute back and that is what i'm afraid of seeing moving forward. there is so much to dive into, so many executive orders being signed that are authoritative. i don't know where to begin. as an american, i am confused.

host: this is quentin in woodbridge, virginia. go ahead. caller: i was wondering why no one is reporting on what was said by trump and his pre-inaugural speech where he said he had had the election rigged and it was an hour long speech. he mentioned about the olympics and saying he was not going to be president until people that and they said do not worry. you will be president. it was on the 19th, his preinaugural speech, that is all i had to say. host: