chapter, number three in his 177 page book, he claims civilization is now in flux. the decay of the west is manifested not only in racial tensions coupled with new barriers to free speech but in the deterioration of dress code the erosion ofraar on decline in sales oserious booksnd classical music and so on. all of which have traditionally been signs of civilization. >> author robert kaplan talks about his book wasteland on this episode of book notes plus with our host brian lamb. look notes plus is available on the free c-span radio -- the free c-span app or wherever you get your podcasts. >> c-span, democracy unfiltered. we are funded by these television companies and more including comcast. >> you think this is just a community center. it is way more than that.

comcast is partnering with 1000 community centers to create so students from low income families can get the tools they need to be ready for anything. >> comcast supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers giving you a front row seat to democracy. continues. host: on mondays, congress is in session, we like to look ahead at the week ahead. emily brooks, house reporter with the hill. emily brooks, start on that plane and helicopter crash here in washington, d.c. what is the latest in terms of how congress is reacting, whether there will be a congressional investigation, whether they are devising legislation in response to this? guest: absolutely, congress will be looking into this. my colleagues have already found that the heads of the transportation committee in the house have all the received briefings about this.

certainly something that lawmakers, who fly in and out of reagan national airport all the time, are certainly very concerned about the safety implications there. congress will absolutely play a role. it is a little bit interesting, though, in this congress versus last, now with washington under total republican trifecta control. the republican-controlled house and senate are giving more leeway and room for the trump administration to investigate and provide information, both to congress, and publicly what is going on. a little bit of a change in the power dynamic from previous investigations we have seen, such as with the assassination attempt with donald trump. that prompted a whole select committee to investigate the matter.

we are not quite hearing of anything up to that standard yet but certainly congress will be investigating and playing a role. host: what could a legislative response look like? local members of congress, chris van hollen here in maryland, some of the virginia members, as well, who have talked about too many flights in and out of reagan national airport, that that is a safety issue. is there legislation to limit the number of flights, what could they do? guest: actually congress just approved an increase in the number of lights -- flights in past years, reauthorization bill. congress green lit five more round-trip flights from reagan to destinations that are usually further than the radius that airplanes go from. that includes places like san antonio, las vegas, i believe

one to seattle. those are slated to start in the months ahead. i don't believe those flights have started yet. maybe that is something congress could reconsider. that was a very hotly debated topic at the time with that the faa reauthorization bill. that only comes up every four or five years or so. it would be a pretty heavy lift for congress to limit those flights, but not out of the realm of possibility. another thing they could do is further restrict the air for military flights, maybe prevent any training missions, as this helicopter was, in that congested area. those are things that lawmakers will be looking at. host: you talk about the months ahead, i want to shift to the house agenda. you sat down at the house

republican retreat last week with speaker johnson to talk about his strategy for moving president trump agenda for the 119th congress. what is the strategy? guest: hopefully having everyone together. the very big theme that i saw at that retreat was just how desperate republicans are to have some kind of unity, but at the same time, there are so many fractures and divisions, very slim majority. fiscal hawks demanding really deep cuts on whatever they pass. this bill will encompass the top priorities for the trump administration agenda on taxes, on the border, on energy policy. also, you have other members in democratic-run states looking at the state and local tax deduction cap.

that will have a budgetary impact that will have to be made up. right now, the timeline that was laid out last week, this week, the budget committee was supposed to mark up and advance the legislation that will encompass eventually the trump administration agenda. but we are hearing from our sources that it is not quite clear if that will be able to happen this week because there is still so much jockeying going around about what those deep cuts should be, how deep they should be, what should be included. there are some topline decisions that need to be made before they can go to the next step. with almost zero margin for error in the house after at least a phonic gets confirmed because democrats will never vote for this. very hard to get all the republicans on the same stage. host: remind us where we are

right now in terms of government funding in the debt ceiling issue that continues to raise its head through the years. guest: absolutely. the trump administration bill is not the only thing that congress has to deal with. march 14 is the government funding deadline. congress will have to do either some kind of full-year funding through the end of september 30, or another continuing resolution, which i don't think there is much appetite for that. another looming deadline that republicans may need to go to democrats to help them advance. like i said, all of those fiscal hawks in the house republican conference chair who really object to something like a really big massive omnibus bill that funds the government. they don't want that.

speaker johnson may have to go to democrats for that. at the same time, you have president trump looking at the debt limit deadline which is supposed to be expected to hit around some this summer, when lawmakers must absolutely address that, or risk the nation's credit rating taking a hit. that could have vast economic impacts. when republicans, a couple years ago, had the minority, they use that to extract concessions from the biden administration, negotiated some rescissions in funding from democratic legislation. president trump absolutely doesn't want democrats who are in the minority to have any leverage on that debt ceiling deadline, so that is putting house republicans, speaker mike johnson and other republican leaders, in a very tricky

situation because it will be very tough to raise the debt ceiling with only republican votes. it very may well be attached to something like that regular government funding that expires on march 14 in a bid to get democratic support for it. or it could be potentially attached to something like wildfire aid for california, something that has been floated around. would that get democrats able to vote for that? hakeem jeffries, leader in the house, has said that is a nonstarter. it will be another headache for house republican leadership to figure out how to meet trump's demand on the debt ceiling. at the same time, trying to prevent a government shutdown, and advance the trump administration's massive legislative agenda. host: if democrats were to try

to extract something in one of these negotiations, where would they start? guest: they have not hinted yet but i'm sure there is a lot they could try to extract. the actions the trump administration has taken so far on freezing funding for foreign aid, the now-rescinded omb memo about grant funding, a whole lot going on with usaid seeming to be dismantled over the weekend, put under the state department, a lot of changes that are not clear. is that something that democrats could try to get restored? would that be a priority for them? there is a lot they could go through. they are probably not in any real mood to help out the

republicans, so they will be looking for something. that is exactly what president trump doesn't want. a tough situation for the republican leadership. host: emily brooks with us at the hill newspaper, taking your questions as we look ahead at the week ahead in washington. phone numbers, republicans, (202) 748-8000. democrats, (202) 748-8001. independent, (202) 748-8002. as folks are calling in, we spent the first hour of the program today talking about those new tariffs signed by the president on saturday, set to go into effect on tuesday. what is the most interesting reaction you have seen to this tariff regiment on mexico, canada, china? guest: of course, speaker johnson, like a lot of the things that president trump is doing, is expressing support for

the move. i think this will expose a lot of tensions between both may be the more libertarian-minded members of the republican congress, like rand paul from kentucky, who had a post on x over the last few days saying, i remember when republicans didn't like tariffs because it was considered a tax. now this is like a flagship policy from the trump administration. there could be some tensions there. maybe a little bit quieter, some tensions between agricultural state republicans, those in agricultural districts whose constituencies and business districts could be affected by escalating tariff or trade war happening with some of the united states' largest trading

partners. as the market reacts, as prices get adjusted, however long this lasts, i think, could probably affect how people react here. so far, like a lot of the things that trump is doing, there is not a lot of criticism from the republican side that is vocal. a lot of it is pretty under the radar and may be privately expressed. host: the quote from rand paul, one of the papers today, tariffs are simply taxes. conservative once united against taxes. this will mean higher prices. we won the last election complaining about high prices. tariffs will be forced to explain the high prices. guest: exactly.

there could be some tensions there. rand paul does tend to be more of a libertarian-leading member, may be more willing to express criticism on something like this that a lot of members. but i'm sure there are a lot of republicans in states that will be affected by these tariffs, or retaliatory tariffs, that are getting worried. we will have to see what the impacts of the tariffs are. host: let's go to mike waiting in massachusetts. emily brooks with the hill newspaper that you are chatting with this morning. caller: i have a couple of questions. one on elon musk. he has total access to social security numbers. that scares me more than the tariffs. having someone not elected having total access to everyone's social security number. secondly, on the tariffs, i bought a handmade guitar, quote

unquote, in nebraska, a small family company. when you look at the part list, the wood comes in from canada, brazil, electronics from japan, they assemble in nebraska, so yes, made in america, but the products come in offshore. that company will be destroyed. it is not helping small business in any way. what are your thoughts on that? thank you. have a great one. guest: i don't have the exact information on elon musk and what all he has access to, but certainly the doge apparatus he has set up is taking a lot of liberties and getting a lot of information. there has been reporting about getting access to sensitive information. of course, like we were talking with democrats, causing alarm on

that side about how much access he is getting. this is not a senate-confirmed position, just someone appointed by the president. how fast they are moving, they are reportedly working around the clock. i read another report about beds in the office building where the doge staff members are set up so they can work as much as possible. that is pretty stunning. will democrats be in any mood to get anything across the finish line with republicans given all they are seeing from doge, concerns about that? maybe they will ask for some kind of safeguards, check on doge in response.

that is pure speculation. something that other people have their eye on. to the point about small businesses and the guitar assembled in nebraska, certainly, all of these imports from other countries that will be subject to tariffs. that is definitely what people are worried about, that cost getting passed on to the consumer, raising the cost of the price there. also with the impact on businesses, whether they will be able to pay that upfront cost, or whether customers will be willing to buy their products, considering potential price increases. host: i know we only have a few minutes left with you. sometime in the next half hour or so we are expecting to hear from secretary of state marco rubio as he leaves panama from that visit to the panama canal.

we will take viewers there when he does make his remarks. an article from the hill newspaper noting that marco rubio had been warning panama over the canal, saying the current status is unacceptable. what will you be watching for from the secretary of state's remarks this morning? guest: panama, if there is any progress on negotiations for the united states to try and retake it, if it seems like it is positive, taking a more aggressive stance, probably that major tone is some that i'll be looking for there. top priority of the trump administration. republicans from across the ideological spectrum have expressed support for the panama canal move. we will see if there is any

progress there, any action that congress can even take to empower the trump administration to look into negotiations on the panama canal. there has already been one proposed bill on that from representative dusty johnson of south dakota. whether that is needed, we will see. host: david is waiting in massachusetts. pittsfield, massachusetts. good morning. go ahead. caller: good morning. i just have a sure thing here, as far as his legislative agenda goes. i really believe, and i know -- i don't like to call him a president because his agenda is about him and him only. he is going to tear this country down if he is not impeached and the republican party disbanded, because they are the ones that put him there.

that is all i have to say. have a good day. host: that is david. impeachment. what would it take in a completely republican-controlled house and senate for an impeachment hearing? guest: i think that is incredibly unlikely at this point. of course, president trump has been impeached twice in the past. both times there were democratic majorities, i believe. i don't think that is something republican leadership would be eager to bring up in the house, certainly. they would have to be some thing i assume catastrophic, in order to bring up impeachment articles. even though there were 10 house

republicans who voted to impeach president trump after january 6, that was only 10 house republicans. certainly not eager to capture signal or move against the president in that way. definitely not when a lot of them are eager to advance that kind of legislative agenda that they also kind of agree with, which includes extending the tax cuts from that 2017 bill that president trump signed. that includes changing energy regulations, boosting funding, enforcement on the southern border, and even the northern border. those are all things that republicans in congress want to fund. as far as impeachment, i don't think anything has happened so far to get any republicans to even think about impeachment. it would be just incredibly unlikely to see a party impeach

their own president for something, considering the balance of power, what we have seen. host: brooklyn. independent. you are next. caller: thank you for taking my call. in regard to the tariffs that president trump has put on canada and mexico that are allegedly related to unauthorized crossings at the southern border and fentanyl, what type of publicly available metrics is he looking for in terms of what he wants to achieve, so that he may then reverse the tariffs? my understanding is that crossings at the southern border are at a low in recent years. canada supplies approximately 1% of the fentanyl in the united states. what numbers does he want to see? anything publicly?

guest: i am not sure if there is a metric or something the president is looking to hit. when you are talking about border crossings, though, this is something that republicans have brought up over and over. they are not only looking at the numbers, people who are unauthorized crossing the border, but they are looking at a lot of the ways that it has been legal to come across the border and into the country over the past several years, and to change that. when you are looking at those statistics, numbers of border crossings, you also have to look at republicans will be looking at asylum cases, looking at whoever is approved to be on humanitarian parole while they wait for their case to go out in front of a judge. those are the kinds of things

that are technically legal ways for people to enter the country. it depends on what statistics you are looking at. certainly, republicans and the trump administration want to drastically increase a lot of those other categories, get rid of those other pathways. one of the things the trump administration did was get rid of the cbp one app, which was a way for migrants to schedule hearings, meetings with border officials at the border, in order to expedite, have a more orderly process for getting people through humanitarian parole, through that process. now that has been taken away. there are fewer pathways to schedule that or you just have to go to the border to do it. when you are looking at that,

there are a whole lot of things. i'm not sure as far as tariffs, what exactly the trump administration is looking for to lower those, but it is definitely a negotiation point. may be something canada or mexico could say they could provide but we will have to see. host: speaking metrics, on x, how much could the federal vernment saved by saving bloat from their workforce, full-time, contractors? have republicans in congress put a number on that yet? guest: i wouldn't know the number off the top of my head, but i know in broad terms, if you are just looking at the workforce, looking at the kind of steep cuts that a lot of the republicans are looking for, in order to right the federal budget, deficit, steer the

ship's away from getting evermore debt, which is what so many are concerned about. looking at the federal workforce alone is not going to be enough in order to do all of that. there will have to be programs that they will look to cut. there is talk about things like medicaid benefits, putting some work requirements, conditions on those being discussed as part of the reconciliation bill, the massive trump administration agenda bill that republicans are working on. i don't have the numbers off the top of my head. in broad terms, workforce alone will not be enough to address those concerns. host: i know we had to start your day on capitol hill today. what did we get to today that you'll be watching for this week? guest: i think the biggest thing

is the trump administration agenda bill, reconciliation bill, as we call it on capitol hill. if that gets a markup. of course, all the senate confirmation hearings, what movement there is on some of the more controversial nominees like robert f. kennedy, jr., tulsi gabbard. that will be interesting to see if the trump administration takes any hits on that, on those two more controversial nominees, or if they are able to convince republican senators to support them and they sail through. i'll be watching that, as well. host: emily brooks covers it all at the hill newspaper ,thehill.com. and of course the free c-span now video app. that's was having today. here's a look from you about what is on your mind.

this is because hearing from you. betty, what is on your mind? caller: yes, are you there? host: yes, ma'am, i'm listening. caller: in 1970 three, the first came home, and they came through the philippines, and i wanted to say i appreciate, you are one of my rare -- it was a solemn thing to seek them it was not one way or the other. host: are you talking about vietnam pow's? caller: yes. host: you were there? caller: yes. host: why. caller: i tell people my husband works for the airlines. he really was cia. if you see the movie coming home from the philippines, the little

boy hanging outside the fence was my sons, and i was out there with a sign holding my baby and my daughter. it was rewarding, but it was very sad. it happened february of 1973. host: what did you learn about your husband's job in the years afterwards, betty? caller: well, let's put it this way. the movie "air america" is a true story. i know. i was there. host: for folks to whether or not they are, what is the story? caller: well, it's mel gibson's movie, what he told was the truth. very much the truth. host: what is that story that you would want people to know? caller: well, it was a very nice thing, that the cia was involved in things that are very honest.