>> coming up this morning on c-span's "washington journal," we take your calls and comments life. then, jack brewer, former nfl player, discusses issues facing black men and boys in the united states. kristine berzina from the german marshall fund on the fallout from last week's meeting between president trump and president zelenskyy. c-span's "washington journal" starts now. join the conversation. >> on this vote, the yeas are 224, the nays are 198, with 2 answering present. the resolution is adopted. ♪

host: speaker mike johnson, house republicans, and 10 democrats voting to censure representative al green for disrupting the joint address by president trump earlier this week. he stood and shouted. he was escorted out. yesterday, censured by the house of representatives. this morning, we want your thoughts on the vote to censure the congressman. here's how you can join the conversation this morning. democrats, dial in at (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. if you do not want to call, you can text at (202) 748-8003. include your first name, city, and state. or you can go on facebook.com/cspan. you can also post on x with a handle @cspanwj. good morning, everyone.

we begin with that censure vote. a censure is a public rebuke of a lawmaker. they are forced to go to the well of the chamber and stand and listen to the criticism, the public rebuke of them, by the house. listen to that moment on the house floor yesterday. [video clip] >> by its adoption of house resolution 189, the house has resolved representative al green be censured, that representative al green forth with present himself in the well of the house of representatives for the pronouncement of censure, and that representative al green be censured with public reading of this resolution by the speaker. ♪ >> the house will come to order.

the house will come to order. ♪ >> the house will come to order. clear the well, please. the house has to continue its business. host: the speaker trying to get order in the house as some democrats gathered around representative al green as he was in the well to receive that public rebuke, started singing "we shall overcome." this morning, we are getting your reaction to the house vote to censure the congressman for dividing the lines -- censure the congressman. we are dividing the lines by democrats and republicans. 10 democrats voted with all the republicans the censure the congressman. here are the names of those lawmakers and their faces. congressman dara of california.

representative ed case of hawaii. jim costa of california. laura gillen of new york. marie gluesenkamp perez of washington state. jim himes, who serves in connecticut. from pennsylvania, chrissy houlahan. marcy kaptur of ohio. the longest-serving member of congress in the house. jared moscowitz florida and tom suozzi of new york. those with a 10 democrats who joined all the republicans to vote for censure. we will tell you their explanation from those 10 democrats as why they agreed to, with republicans, that the congressman deserved a public rebuke for his actions at the joint address. he stood up and shouted that "you don't have a mandate." he showcased kane at the president. he was escorted out of the chamber at the top of that joint redress. danny and republic -- danny, republican, we start with you. what do you make of this action

by the house of representatives? caller: good morning. you know something? it is long overdue. this guy is nothing but a troublemaker. he should be censured. what the democrats did tuesday night is disgraceful. they couldn't stand for a child with brain cancer and the rest of the poor people that have died, raped, or whatever, due to the hands of illegal aliens. the democrats just sat on their hands. host: betty is a democrat. good morning to you. caller: good morning. i do not think he should have been censured, because the republicans have way more worse things than he did. the goose cannot talk about the gander. if they want to get things straight, be straight. host: give me some examples of what republicans have done that is far worse, you think. caller: that green lady, she

says what she wanted to say. the president, he get on there and call people names. i think that is as bad as him -- he is a man like everyone else. he is not god. host: let me ask you this. what is the best form of protest for the democratic party during this second trump administration? what do you think is appropriate and effective? caller: ok. you can't be mean with mean. you understand what i am saying? because god loves us all. what i am saying, everybody want to get down on the democrats, but they don't say nothing about the republicans. when he was applauding all the people got up there -- what do they do about that? host: all right. betty in atlanta disagreeing

with a censure of representative al green. she points to marjorie taylor greene's behavior a year ago, when then president biden gave his last state of the union address to a joint congress, referencing marjorie taylor greene shouting at the president during his speech about lake and riley and other issues. representative al green spoke on the house for about the public rebuke. [video clip] >> i respect the speaker. i have no ill feelings towards the speaker. north towards the persons who escorted me away from the floor, because i did disrupt. and i did so because the president indicated that he had a mandate. and i wanted him to know that he did not have a mandate to cut medicaid. i did this because medicaid is the only insurance many people

have in this country. i am blessed, as i stand here now, there is a physician waiting. if something should happen, i will be taken to that physician. i have the best health care in the world. there are other people who have less than i. i would have them have what i have. by surely will not stand by and see them lose what little they do have. medicaid is for people who don't have a kind of health care that 400 35 members of congress and 100 members of the senate have. but they do have some health care. it has been approved by legislation, that the energy and commerce committee would cut $880 billion from their budget. the overwhelming majority of that budget has to do with

health care. i see no way for this cut to take place without cutting into medicaid. i am going to fight the cutting of medicaid. i hope that this comment, this message that i am giving today, will deter them and cause them to go a different way. then they can say, we were never going to do it, al green just had this false notion. well, let me have it. don't cut medicaid. host: representative al green on the floor, democrat there, after he was censured by the house. all the republicans and 10 democrats joined as a what he did at the joint address was wrong and that he deserved that censure. speaker mike johnson put this out on x. representative al green's shameful and egregious behavior during president trump's joint

address disgraced the institution of congress and the constituents he serves. despite my repeated awnings, he refused thesis antics, and i was forced to remove him from the chamber. he deliberately violated house rules, and and expeditious vote of censure is an appropriate remedy. any democrat who was concerned about regaining the trust and respect of the american people should join house republicans in this effort. we are getting your reaction this morning to what the house did yesterday to the congressman in response to his behavior during the joint address. you heard the congressman from texas talking about why he did it, because he believes that the republicans and the department of government efficiency has their sites -- sights set on medicaid cuts. here is the economy and business section of the washington post. the gop budget goals would require medicaid cuts. this according to the congressional budget office, a nonpartisan group that advises

congress on their policy. republicans in congress cannot reach their goal of cutting at least one point $5 trillion in spending over the next 10 years for president donald trump's big beautiful bill on taxes and immigration, unless they cut medicaid or medicare benefits. trump and the gop are seeking to extend provisions of the president's 2017 tax cut law, which would cost nearly $5 trillion, while also pushing hundreds of billions of dollars to new spending on border security, mass deportation campaigns, and national defense investments. to do all that without sending the national debt soaring, republicans are looking for spending cuts to pay for the new spending and lower tax rates. but try has said the gop should not cut benefits for social security, medicare, and medicaid. those are the three largest social safety net programs, which, together, account for roughly $3.2 trillion of the

country's total $6.75 trillion spending in the 2024 fiscal year. more than 60 million americans rely on each program for medical coverage, retirement security, survivor benefits, and unemployment caused by disability. but the cbo is saying you cannot reach the spending cuts you want to achieve without getting to medicare and medicaid. joe in dayton, ohio, republican. we are talking about representative al green and his protest at the joint address. what do you think? caller: good morning from a beautiful, sunny day in ohio. al green is it arranged lunatic. he was on your show about two weeks ago, holding up a sign that said "impeach trump." impeach trump for what? the man has been in office for six weeks. tell me what you're going to impeach him on.

also, al green tried not testify trump's election in 2016, along with other democrat individuals, adam schiff, hank johnson, nancy pelosi, all these people did. greta, it's sad, but the democrats really exposed themselves this week. shameful, how a man standing not more than about 15 feet away from the president has shaken a cane in his face, not allowing him to speak, not allowing him his first amendment rights, and it is shameful. and also, what really showed me yesterday, was 10 democrats voted against this guy. they might have their own regions -- reasons and some going like this. and i was floored by harold ford coming out right after trump's speech saying that the democrat party has lost, they have

nothing for the american people. go ahead, i apologize. host: no, you're all good. i wanted you to finish your thoughts. so a couple things. representative al green, he was on the program. he talked about moving to articles of impeachment. he said it would be a grassroots effort. he did talk about that. for our viewers, if you missed that, you can find it on our website. we will try to show you that moment as well when he was on the "washington journal." respond to our previous caller, who pointed to marjorie taylor greene's behavior during president biden's last state of the unit address. she stood up and shouted at the president when he was trying to finish his address. caller: correct, but what marjorie taylor greene said was trying to say "say her name" of a young, beautiful lady down in georgia who was bludgeoned and raped by an illegal alien that

joe biden let into this country -- host: so, joe -- caller: i don't remember marjorie taylor greene standing with a weapon, a cane, shaking it at joe biden. but if you're saying that, i guess sheesh -- they should have censured marjorie taylor greene. but another thing i want to tell you real quick -- i know you have other calls. there are only two things that the democrats have. they talk about medicaid and medicare and social security. they have been talking about that since ronald reagan. you're too young to even know ronald reagan. anyway, they have been talking about that since reagan. the other thing they have is january 6. that's all they have. host: let me ask you one last question. what viewers may be hearing from you is it is ok to disrupt a joint address by a president, as long as, what you are saying, you agree with. so you agree with marjorie

taylor greene, what she was saying when she was disrupting the president. so as long as that happens, you're ok with it, but when al green stands up and says you do not have a mandate, responding to president trump saying he does, then you are not ok with it? caller: what i am ok with is -- what i am ok with, just to get the facts straight, is that donald trump was not -- donald trump did not even say two sentences, and al green was standing there in the front row -- not the front row, but right behind the justices, shaking his cane at donald trump, not allowing him to speak. and he was told to sit down numerous times, and he refused to do so. with marjorie taylor greene, she said "say her name, say her name," and finally, joe biden was bullied enough that he had to say laken riley's name, and

she did not -- he did not even say her name right. and of course, you will have democrats saying it is one-sided or whatever. host: all right, while you were talking, we were showing the moment from tuesday night's joint address, and the reaction from the room. you can see from a wide camera angle where congressman al green was sitting and the reaction from those in the room, including the speaker and the president. we will go to david, next, independent. caller: good morning, how are you today? host: morning. what is your view on this? join the conversation here. caller: i've been hearing the conversation. very interesting. i believe we have rules and protocols. i do not care whether it is a democrat or republican. i totally agree with this man doing this. but anybody, whether democrat or republican, should be taken out jade we know the rules -- should

be taken out. we know the rules. why don't we follow them? in this case, i think the democrats are really in a bad place. there are 10 democrats w also voted to censure this guy. it bothered me in the fact that i remember when nancyeli stood up a speech in front of presen trump, nothing was ever done. feeling is -- i am an independent. if you are on either side and you disrupt that thing, you should be taken out. i am glad they censured this man. host: do you think that line of argument applies to the democrats who wore pink in protest or the signs, paddles, they put up with words like "musk steals" and "false," etc. some democrats wore t-shirts that said "resist" on the back

or "king doesn't live here" and they walked out during the speech. is that all, in your view, not appropriate? caller: in my view, it is also not appropriate. there is certain protocol. that's just it. they looked like they were at an auction, holding a paddle. they made themselves look fuller show -- foolish. for me, there's a way to do things and a way not to do things. when they start doing like that, they are grasping at things. the worst thing, for me, was none of them standing up for that child who had cancer, the man who came back from russia. that's really bad. once you start doing that, then you'r just not good with me. and i am also a gay independent, which people look at me saying, how can you be gay and not be a democrat? it has nothing to do with anything. i said, it's just behavior that

we are taught as children and should be continued on. and these people are acting like children. the next day, when they did censure him and they all started standing around, come on, there you go again. you're doing the same thing you do not want other people to do -- host: when they stood around represented al green in the well and started singing "we shall overcome," to shout out the speaker, do you also think that was not -- caller: correct. it is like a baby. you got to teach them to stop doing this. they will continue, because they see their future, which is not good. and when you have 10 democrats actually say things, that they should have never happened, that is telling you something. even federman, his remarks the other day about not acting that this was terrible.

you got to look at your party, people, and say we are approaching this the wrong way -- host: all right, i will pick up on that, because a columnist at the washington post writes a piece about what is the right way for democrats, and are they organized to respond to president trump during his second term? she argues that they don't seem to be, that they don't have a strategy here. the pink protest club, noting a picture of the women's democratic caucus, who all wore pink in protest of president trump at the joint address. she ends her column today in the washington post saying this. because trump was up there bloviating, and fixed -- because democrats seem to have so little recourse, because it was not clear whether the issue was that democrats were trying the wrong thing or, scarier, that there

was actually nothing left to try. that democrats have tried all sorts of things. she questions, what is the best way to be an effective voice of protest in this era? she says, in most recent years, liberals have tried minnesota nice, coconut trees, going high, going low, going "weird," being heartfelt, being snarky, marching, pleading, mocking, understanding, using facts, using pathos, and here we are again. so, for democrats, what is the best way to protest against the trump administration? harvey in wisconsin, democratic caller. let's hear from you. disagree or agree with the censure by the house on al green? caller: good morning. host: morning. caller: i agree with the censure, because rules are rules. he steps outside the rules. i do not condone what he did, but i understand why he did what he did. i think he did what he did

to draw attention to the fact that there are some things people are not really aware of, and he wanted them to focus on. for them to reach this amount of cutting they are talking, there is no way they can do that without cutting into medicaid, medicare. and also, i think there was another time for the president -- if he really wanted to honor those people, the young kid and the lady, he could have done that -- he could have another press conference for that. this was the time to focus on issues directly affecting each and every individual, from the highest to the lowest, in our society. and he was using filler, feeling good about things -- yes, that was great. i felt good about all of it. and i am a democrat. but that was not the time. this was the time to address things are affecting us. ukraine, the cost of eggs.

everything that goes on in our day-to-day lives, in our homes. he covered all that up with honoring things, which was important, but this was not the time for him to do that. and i agree with the censure. host: all right, harvey in democrat -- in wisconsin, democrat. you sound like the democrats who voted with the century. here is representative perez, who represents a swing district in washington and. today, i voted to censure a fellow member of congress. when you knowingly break house rules, as representative green did, it should not be surprising to face consequences. congress should respect the coequal office of the presidency, regardless of who holds the job, and do our constitution. congressman laura gillen -- the american people expect their representatives to hold themselves to a certain level of decorum on the house floor. if i click the other side of the aisle to do that, i have to hold

my democratic. colleagues to the same standard. that is what she had to say. chrissy houlahan -- i did indeed have a heated conversation with speaker johnson on the house floor after i voted yes to. . censor my colleague i called speaker johnson out on his and his party's hypocrisy and remind him of the many instances in which republicans have latently broken the rules of the house. three of the 10 democrats who voted in favor of censuring representative al green, 77-year-old congressman from texas, who has indeed moved to impeach president trump early on in this second term of the president. anthony in detroit, michigan, independent, bringing your thoughts this morning on this vote to censure. go ahead. caller: oh, yeah, well, i did not mind al green interrupting trump. that is how al green felt, and i am all for it, if he feels that

strongly about it. i do not really support trump over the democrats. both groups look like clowns, to me, that night. but the censure is kind of meaningless. tim jewett was on yesterday and said he wished they would censure him so he could get some media and fundraising. the democrats have an identity crisis. they do not know if they want to be like slotkin, who gave their response, -- the democrats have an identity crisis. host: the resolution to censure introduced by representative dan newhouse, a republican of washington state, noted green's words on the floor were "a preacher proper conduct." -- "a breach of proper

conduct." and how common is a censure vote? this is from usa today. a censure is considered a severe public rebuke of a legislator brought by other members of congress, a form of punishment second only to expulsion. the u.s. constitution allows for congress to punish its members for disorderly behavior. censure, though, is not in the constitution. it is a formal disapproval intended to discipline members of the house. the censure is written in the form of a resolution that the house votes on. to pass a censure means that a majority of the members support the criticism included in the resolution. once the house comes to a majority vote in favor of the resolution, the censured person must stand in the will of the house as the resolution is read out loud as a form of public rebuke. we are getting your thoughts on that very thing that happened in the house yesterday, public rebuke of representative al green.

he came to the house floor following that censure, gave remarks, saying why he did it, said he would do it again. representative kevin kiley, a republican, followed representative al green on the floor with these remarks. [video clip] >> thank you, mr. speaker. we have just heard the gentleman from texas speak passionately on a number of topics, which is his prerogative as an elected member of congress, to speak from this floor, on any topic he chooses. what is not his, or any of our, right is to stand up during the state of the union and interrupt presidents of the united states. imagine if everyone did that. imagine if everyone took whatever grievance they have in the moment and decided to use the state of the union to air that grievance. imagine if, during president biden's speech, each and every

one of the republicans in the house had stood up and objected to the president's open border policies, or his runaway inflation policies. the state of the union could not be delivered. the institution could not function. what's even more remarkable, though, then the conduct of this one member, is the fact that all but 10 of his colleagues, on their side of the aisle, chose not to censure this eminently censurable conduct. we voted today, and there were 10 democrats who voted with the republicans in voting for the censure. any barra, ed case, jim costa, laura gillen, james himes, chrissy houlahan, marcy kaptur, jared moskowitz, marie gluesenkamp perez, and tom

susie. the other 200 members who are present chose not to censure that conduct. i find that remarkable. and, indeed, the antics on display during the state of the union truly exemplified everything that is wrong with politics in this country today. host: congressman kevin kiley on the floor, republican of california, speaking after representative al green explained why he did what he did at the joint address earlier this week. we are getting your thoughts on whether or not the house should have moved to censure congressman al green. allen in mississippi. republican. hi, alan. alan, you are up. we are listening to you. go ahead. all right. a reminder to allen and others,

you have to mute your television, listen and speak through your phone. jason in mount sterling, kentucky. hi, jason. caller: good morning, greta. yes, i agree totally with the censure. being a member of congress requires a certain level of decorum and professional behavior, and congressman greene did not show that. instead he was unprofessional, he was rude, he was arrogant. and so i think he deserved to be censured. host: jason, how do you respond to democrats who say republicans are being hypocrites here because of what marjorie taylor greene did a year ago? caller: well, i have to agree that she should have been censured. i mean, she was unprofessional in her behavior as well.

i think she should have been censured. host: jason there in mount sterling, kentucky. jay is a democrat in summerville, south carolina. go ahead. caller: good morning. i think it is a bit overkill, actually. i remember president obama giving a speech and someone stood up and called him a liar, and president obama handled it in such a diplomatic way. i think that was a good protocol thatveone could follow. host: before youo, that was joe wilson, a republican of south carolina. how do you think president trump should have handled it when representative al green stood up? or how do you think the speaker should have handled it? what if al green had just kept going? caller: well then, as he kept going, then he should have been escorted out, of course. but i think his passion for the

subject of medicare -- ec, a lot of people know that the medicare system is mostly supported by social security, and that is the only real money the country has left, and that's why everyone wants to get their hands on it. because it is the people's money, but it is real money. that is all that is left. host: below the fold, front page of the "washington post," doge is driving cuts at social security. the newly-installed caretaker of the social security administration acknowledge this week that elon musk's doge service is calling the shots as the agency rushes to slash jobs and trinkets budget, telling advocates things are currently operating in a way i have never seen in government before. on these cuts to the social security administration, inside the fault, it is important to know this. andy biggs, a senior fellow at the american enterprise institute, a center-right tank,

said shrinking social security's roughly $15 billion operating budget would represent just a small fraction of the program's $1.5 trillion in annual costs. so, these cuts by doge, they are looking at shrinking the size of the social security administration, the number of employees, and programs. and this conservative with the aei is saying, if you do just that, that is just a very small amount when you are looking at decreasing the impact of social security, which is one of the main drivers of our nation's that. -- data. republican judith, welcome to this conversation this morning. go ahead. caller: hello. good morning to you all. regardless of whether or not the

incident that occurred in the state of the union was right or wrong, the point is -- and between marjorie greene and al green -- the house speaker emphatically told al green to stop, and he wouldn't. so therefore, he followed through with the decorum rules. no one in the democratic party asked marjorie greene to stop, so she continued. and then when she had her say, she stopped. and one other thing. i am really, really surprised that none of the democrats stood up in favor of what al green was saying or followed him out when he left. i just want people to realize that. host: ok, judith.

judith makes those points about the differences between marjorie taylor greene and congressman al green. his behavior this week at the joint address. judith, let's read from a couple of democrats, their posts on x, why they voted with the republicans. here is congresswoman delia ramirez saying, like many makers of good trouble whose shoulders we stand on, representative al green did what he felt was right and stood for his constituents. representative crane and the broad movement of people standing up to a bully and want to be king deserve our support and support -- support and gratitude. and then bobby scott. these are the democrats that voted against the censure. it clarify that. he said representative al green was punished for standing up for medicaid. furthermore, republicans heckled, jeered, and argued with president biden without sanction. representative crane was

escorted out, we walked past a republican member of congress who said -- and the post goes on. democrats who voted against censure, explaining why, because they see this as hypocrisy with the republican party. catherine in washington, d.c., democratic caller. hi, catherine. caller: good morning. of course it is hypocrisy. if you look at the behavior of the maga republicans, they wore hats, they wore t-shirts, they hold signs, they disrupt people. you talk about unprofessional, rude, arrogant. in these hearings you hear them yell at people. they don't care what they say, as long as it fits their agenda. or is the outrage for the veterans you claim you love so much who have lost their jobs? where is the outrage for the people losing their jobs based on lies? i didn't see any outrage when

people talked about the children who were caged like animals at the border. i didn't see republicans standing up for them. the one million people who died from covid. i don't remember the out rage when that was mentioned in the speech. i don't remember when -- i don't remember the outrage when a woman was run over in charlottesville. i don't remember the outrage when they talked about the police being hurt during the january 6 the riot. i don't care what you say, it is very hard to sit during the speech and watch someone gaslight the american people. i believe what i hear. i believe what i see. and you are not going to sit up there and sell me lies during an hour-long speech and expect me just to sit there for it. i'm tired of people saying that the democrats have no identity. we very much have an identity. we do not believe in racism, we do not believe in hatred.

we have compassion for people. we have integrity and we believe in the truth. host: before you go, are democrats organized? are they unified in a strategy to respond to president trump? caller: not right now. i don't believe we are. host: do they need to be? caller: we do need to be, absolutely. host: what is the appropriate response? you saw a representative al green stand up and get escorted out. he disrupted the proceedings. he was punished for it. what should his fellow democrats have done in that moment, do you think? caller: honestly, i think let him do what he does. i do believe in order. i do. but if you are going to apply something to the democrats you also have to apply it to the republicans. it cannot be one-sided. i understand why he did it. host: why aren't democrats

organized here? who do you blame? caller: i think we just have too many factions within our party. i think we are trying to appease too many groups at the same time. we just have to come and have one unified voice. host: and who should that voice be? give me a person that is high-profile enough to lead the party right now. caller: to be honest, i don't know who that person is right now. host: all right. deborah, oakland caliphate -- oakland, california, independent. deborah, good morning to you. oakland, california. you are up next. caller: good morning. host: morning. caller: i agree everything with the last caller, the democratic caller, agree with her. eric holder should lead the democratic party. eric holder should be the one. also -- hello? host: yes, we are listening to

you. you said eric holder should be the one. caller: i believe eric holder should be the one. and like she said, there is too many people under the democratic tent. that is why. and those democrats that voted against it, they are bought and paid for. there is too much money in politics. that is what it is. does c-span do anything when joe wilson yells out "you liar?" did they have any conversation about that? host: i can't remember that far back, but you can go back into our archives and luck. we have conversations about democrats and republicans every single day here on the "washington journal." it is three hours, 365 days of the air. hakeem jeffries is the democratic leader in the house. he was what he had to say

yesterday to reporters about the censure vote. rep. jeffries: republicans are playing partisan games with their resolutions because they are on the run. republicans are on the run with the respect that -- with respect to the economy. donald trump promised that grocery prices were going to be lowered on day one. but costs are not going down, they are going up. the stock market is not going up, it is going down. inflation is up, and donald trump and house republicans are crashing the american economy in real time. republicans around the room -- on the run with respect to the economy. not a single bill, executive order, and administrative action has been put forth by donald trump or house republicans to improve the economic

circumstances of the american people. and for sare taking notice all across the country. which is why his approval ratings are not going up and staying the same. they are going down. host: representative herrell hakeem jeffries, who leads the democratic party in the house. congressman from new york there, explaining why he was one of the 198 democrats who voted against the censure of al green. the final vote was 224 in favor. all of the republicans plus democrats, who moved to publicly rebuke representative al green, democrat of texas, 77 years old. take a look at disruptions during a joint address by a president over the years. usa today with this chart, which shows it is on the rise when have lawmakers objected during a state of the union?

you can see in the 1970's, the blue ring of democrats there. in the 1990's, a red ring. in the to thousand's it increased. in the 2010s it increased more, and here we are in the 20 20's, and how many times there have been disruptions at a state of the union or joint address by a president. laura in massachusetts, independent. caller: thank you for allowing me to speak. good morning. first of all, as far as al green goes, i admire the man for having the courage to stand up to trump. it is about time people started doing it. all the republicans do is coddle him and kiss his ring and make him feel like he is so special, with all of the horrific thanks he is doing right now. it is just awful. let's be real. this is not a culture warfare

anymore, this is a class war. this is trying to destroy the poor in this country. host: in what way? caller: first of all, health care. health care is dwindling. all of the insurances are either corporate for-profit insurance or they are government insurance, which their premiums are going up, up, up. you know, an elderly woman is supposed to pay all of these medicare premiums and deductibles, and, you know, co-pays, and she is getting a $1500 check a month. it is outrageous and it is all being slanted toward the wealthy in this country, like musk, who wants to destroy the poor so they can make themselves more powerful, you know, and not have to follow any rules. i want to say, the 10 democrats that i think -- i think they are traitors, the ones who voted against. these are blue dog democrats, let's face it.

it is now very fractured. we have really progressive democrats who do care about the struggling class in this country, and then we have the blue dogs that are really more republican. host: laura, they are running in swing districts. they have an uphill battle. if they were not aligned with you perfectly, you know, you said progressive, they might not be able to win and a republican would. caller: good. good. host: you would rather have a larger majority for the republicans. caller: no, no, no. it has to happen now is money has to start supporting true progressives. when i say progressives, you know, it is kind of a strange term, because the reality is you are either a democrat that supports the new deal, supports camino, health care, supports the environment, or you are not. in those types of democrats, we don't need them in the party

anymore. they're the ones destroying the party. that is why republicans keep winning. because democrats don't want to get up and bother to vote anymore. i'm going to end this by saying, as far as the congressman that you said who should lead the party? i think congressman of texas. he is passionate and a person who i think a turn this party around. we don't need anymore go along to get along people. it is just not working for the country anymore and both democrats see it. and one more thing. are any republicans on medicare or medicaid? do they know someone on social security? course they do. so what are they trying to do? host: laura saying she thinks the party should be led by ce sar, who is leading up the progressive caucus in the house. she also mentioned elon musk. he's featured in the new york times.

big federal contracts musk's team has not touched. take a look at this chart in the new york times. this is the 2024 spending on federal contracts i departments. the department of defense. $554 billion have not been touched by doge and elon musk. it goes down to veteran affairs, where there is $68 billion. a little bit of that doge has looked at. $25.3 billion at homeland security. almost $20 billion for nasa. state department, nearly $12 billion. doge looking at a little bit of the state department contracts. usaid, seven point $5 billion in contracts. that is where most of the doge cuts have been so far. along with summit health and human services, some at social security administration, some at

hud, which is the housing and urban development agency, as well as interior, commerce, gsa, agriculture, treasury. just a little bit of those agencies. but the largest department with federal contracts, the defense department, $754 billion, doge has not looked at those yet. we will go to matt in new york, a republican. good morning to you. caller: good morning. i'm just kind of curious. you referred to the washington post this morning. what about the new york post or wall street journal? just seems kind of strange. host: matt, well, be patient with me. i have papers from the washington times, the wall street journal. i have headlines from all of them, go ahead. caller: anyways, i got a kick out of the woman who said about the poor kids in cages.

is she talking about the cages that obama built? i just find that hilarious. anyways, i was totally for the censorship -- censureship of al green. right before the civil war when there was a lot of rambunctious and is in the house a house democrat beat a republican since this with a cane. i think al green should be getting some kind of legal charges against him with that threat. so, then the clown show they did with the we shall overcome, a civil rights thing. when al green spoke yesterday, that is his proper outlet, not at the state of the union. and then as far as another thing that is very shameful, that little boy with brain cancer?

he is actually in al green's district. i don't know if these democrats heard that on msnbc or cnn, what he is actually one of his constituents, and that is just shameful. and then you had the gentleman that said some of the stuff, having the people there didn't affect -- how does that affect us? well, ask the mother and the sister of laken riley that was there. ask the other people that had people lost by illegal immigrants that joe just let walk across the board. of course that had imports. . the democrats, they are a clown show. i think what they are hoping and praying for is that there is some police incident with some young black man so they can stir up all of the riots and

protests, because that's all they go on anymore. host: matt, i'm going to jump in and share with you the front page of the washington this money. education secretary to start closing the department. trump order faces strong opposition. there is that headline, and next to that is a picture of the chair of the freedom caucus, andy harris, a conservative group in the house, a faction of the republican party. and it says that the house freedom caucus will go along with a stopgap will. that the president will not spend all the funds. the house is set to meet next week on the bill, known as a continuing resolution, and republicans hope to achieve what was once thought impossible -- passing it without needing democratic votes. mr. trump has endorsed stopgap, which would continue current funding through the september 30 end of the fiscal year. that would freeze spending, avert a government shutdown, and

keep the rest of the legislative agenda on track. public and fiscal hawks have rarely, sometimes never, voted for a continuing resolution. he described the upcoming vote as part of several interesting paradigm shifts going on in washington, d.c. right now, and ones that we shouldn't have predicted. so, it looks like the freedom caucus is in line behind president trump and speaker johnson on passing a one-year continuing resolution. charles in dallas, texas. a democratic caller. what do you think about the censure vote yesterday against al green? caller: if it was a house rule, i agree with it. that's what they had to do. they did it. but what i'm really kind of perplexed about is this notion that somehow the democrats are disorganized. i think a couple days before

they spelled out exactly what democrats stand for. so all we've got to do right now is wait. all of those on the trump titanic ship right now, watch and see where they are going to come. we don't need [indiscernible] too easily targeted for disinformation. what's going to happen is, it's going to be a grassroots effort from the people. host: charles, you may be interested in this. you think there is going to be growing opposition to president trump. here is the wall street journal. president's early moves are cheered in texas. in this county nearly nine in 10 voters backed trump in november, making it among the trumpiest counties in the u.s. it is a place where voters are

thrilled to see trump delivering on campaign promises, no matter how disruptive they are to those in the nation's capital, those on wall street, the broader set of voters nervous about trump's whirlwind returned to washington. those folks in this texas county are cheering on the president and they like what they see so far. terry in akron, ohio, an independent. caller: hey. glad to be on c-span, but i'm just worried about the delusional people in this country. we've got rules now and decorum? this president breaks all rules, he has noted coram -- no decorum, and we are supposed to abide by some rules? the democrats -- and that is why i am an independent. they need backbone. they need to change the way they

are doing things. it is not working. host: so, terry, what do they do and who leads them in that effort? caller: i don't know. i really don't know. jasmine crockett, i like her. i'm ashamed of all of the democrats who voted, especially the one from ohio. i'm ashamed of her. i thought we had a rule that women could have an abortion if they wanted? all of a sudden they changed the rules. rules are made by people who are in power. some of those rules do not mean anything. it is time to break the rules. i wish that democrats one by one would have done what al green did and disrupted the whole thing, because this man is disrupting the whole country. and thank you for c-span. host: terry's thoughts there in akron, ohio. says he is ashamed or

disappointed that marcy kaptur, one of the 10 democrats who voted with republicans to censure al green. marcy kaptur has had to fight for her seat for many cycles. it is a swing district in the red state of ohio. new york times front page to share with you this morning. barrett's voice may be crucial in trump cases. justice amy coney barrett is who they are referring to. she is breaking ranks with conservatives. on wednesday she was one of the three justices appointed by mr. trump to vote against his emergency request to freeze foreign aid, joining the court's three democratic appointees and chief justice john roberts to form a majority. that is the front page of the new york times this morning. they note that these same five justices, they ruled against mr. trump on wednesday, rejecting his request. they voted wednesday, rejecting the freezing request and just

days before his inauguration day where the same spare the president from being sentenced, who rejected his request, to be spared from being sentenced for those 34 felony counts in new york. so, that same five coalition, which includes amy coney barrett, voting against the president, one of three appointed by president trump. this is from the washington post this morning. their headline, justice amy coney barrett ignites anger on the right after ruling against president trump. all right. do in westward, new jersey. good morning to you. -- victor in westward, new jersey. good morning to you. caller: my thoughts on al green? listen, i watched that the other night, and i am a respectful marine corps veteran and i thought it was disgusting the

way he spoke when trump was speaking. that was way out of line. he did not even give a proper apology the following day. instead they gathered in song, the same people singing "we shall overcome" a little over a week ago work outside the capital saying f trump, and my children were watching that as i did, and that was atrocious. there is no respect, they have no leadership, and as far as hakeem jeffries speaking on trump with no executive orders, he signs hundreds of executive orders. and as far as the money being wasted abroad, billions and billions, hundreds of billions of dollars in which over $100 billion in ukraine alone was never accounted for by zelenskyy . all trump is trying to do is recover some of these moneys and not give them to trans surgeries in africa and all of these other countries. and come on, what is going on

with this country? it is pathetic. and trump is only been in for two months? we had four years of misery. misery. and now, finally, we have a president who is going to do something, and all of this screaming about medicare, medicare -- listen. i'm on disability. my mother-in-law is on disability. we are not losing our medicare and we are not losing our social security. it is not going anywhere. these people are just trying to destroy a man who loves this country and is trying to make change. this is disgusting. host: we will go to terry who is in dellwood, illinois. caller: hi. we had a conversation a while back when i first talked to you. he was insisting republican callers call in. you wanted more republican callers, and i was saying he was doing a disservice to us at that

time. you said he was open to all callers. but that particular time he said, i need to hear from republicans. now, this is the fallback from that, greta. is that the other day when they had that meltdown at the white house with zelenskyy and trump and vance went off on zelenskyy, marco rubio, he is the secretary of state, and he didn't say nothing. he got over 100 senators to back him up. that is why it is important that we need americans. because at some point we are going to need defenders of our constitution. because at the rate is going trump is going to have a challenge he can handle, and we are going to have to have some people that is going to black americans. in that since they are backing

trump too, because he is naive. but believe me, they are not naive. that is the point i was making. host: let me go to ray, who is in aurora, colorado, independent. good morning, ray. we are listening to you, ray. go ahead. caller: [indiscernible] host: go ahead, ray. ray in aurora, colorado. caller: is this better? host: yes, that is better. go ahead. caller: so, i listened to the address. i didn't watch it, so i did hear al green. i don't know if his conduct would rise to the level of censure. i think a more appropriate example of using censure was back in 2021 when it was used against paul gosar, when he used

quotes from attack on titan. host: so, you think it should rise, what, to the level of -- should be used when there is violence or the threat of violence? what is the standard, ray? caller: yeah, i think any depiction of violence as opposed to just disrupting with speech. i think that is a good line. host: so, i don't know if you have heard from republicans who joined us this morning, they were pointing to the cane- raising by representative crane, and that that was a threat. caller: i don't know about raising the cane and shaking it. if he had thrown it, that would be an issue. host: ok.

we will leave the conversation there. we are going to continue here on the "washington journal." coming up next, jack brewer, founder of the jack brewer foundation and former nfl player to discuss issues affecting black men and his support for banning transgender athletes in sports. kristine berzina of the german marshall fund discusses the strained relations between the u.s. and europe over the ukraine-russia war. stay with us. we will be right back. ♪ >> american history tv. saturdays on c-span two. exploring the people and events that tell the american story. this weekend at 5:15 p.m., rebecca brenner ram talks about labor secretary frances perkins,

who worked to aid refugees fleeing nazi germany. then at 7:00 p.m. eastern watch american history tv's series first 100 days as we look at the start of presidential terms. this week we focus on gerald ford's term. including his pardon of a former president richard nixon, who resigned during the watergate investigation. at 8:00 p.m. eastern on lectures and history, georgetown history professor gannon on the jewish diaspora and the role of the united states -- the irish diaspora and the role of the united states in the irish peace process. on the presidency, james bradley talks about his biography of our eighth president. the first in-depth look at the van buren presidency in decades. explore the american story. watch american history tv saturdays on c-span2 and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch oinanytime at c-span.org/history.

>> book tv. every sunday on c-span2. features leading offer -- authors discussing nonfiction books. he was a look at what is coming up this weekend. at 8:00 p.m. eastern brian doherty talks about the modern libertarian movement, led by figures like beer and goldwater in his book "modern libertarianism." pacific research institute ceo sally pipes talks about the rise of the american pharmaceutical industry and warns against enacting drug controls. then at 10:00 p.m. eastern on afterwards, journalist omar of cod questions if the u.s. is forsaking its core values after 20 years of covering wars around the globe. in his book "one day, eryone will have always been against

this." watch book tv every sunday on c-span2 and find a full schedule on your program guide or wah online anytime at booktv.org. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us this morning from tallahassee, florida is jack brewer, the former nfl player and founder and chair of the jack brewer foundation. sir, let's begin with your group. what is its mission? guest: our mission is to go into communities, people that are the most underserved and voiceless, and uplift them. that includes jails and prisons across the united states and the world. we also do a lot of relief, global relief efforts. anytime there is a natural disaster or there is a crisis on

hand. we are usually the first on the ground to bring relief to those who are the most voiceless. host: how did you go from nfl player to this type of work? tell us your story. guest: well, you know, as a kid one of my first memories was watching the famine in africa, in ethiopia in 1985 and 1986. i was about five years old. i grew up a young child watching that famine. i had always told my mom that i wanted to serve and i wanted to help people. i remember looking at the tv screen and seen kids that looked like me, and so it was a moment that i will never forget. one of the first memories i have in my life, and since then i have really dedicated my life to empowering the most underserved in africa, in haiti, and across these united states. host: you focus on the issues that are impacting black men and boys in the united states.

specifically in that community are you focusing on? guest: the first thing is fatherhood. we don't have enough fathers in our homes. too many of our young black boys are growing up in houses that are broken and not having enough positive male influences. you see that in the spikes in our juvenile crime numbers, see that in our rates of incarceration. just this last year we had a 21% increase in juvenile crime. the best majority of those kids are young black boys. if you go into our education system, our schools, and you start to see that our reading and math levels are in the tank. you literally compare some of our neighborhoods in communities to third world countries when it comes to reading, writing, and math. those are epidemics. they stem from a cultural crisis. we have a lot of cultural issues. our kids are listening to the wrong music, the wrong influences.

i just made a comment the other day, some of my friends, when we grew up it was cool to have a baby mama. we actually looked at each other and put our chest up if we had women without getting married. for me, my messages, let's get back to christian principles. skip back to real family values in our homes, in our communities, and let's start teaching our kids what righteousness means and reestablish a fear of god again. particularly in black america. host: is it your christian faith that drives you alone, or is it also a political philosophy? guest: i would say my christian faith drives my political philosophy. without that, you know, god has been so good to me and so good to all of us. no, you live in the united states of america, where billions of people from all over the world want to be here.

just in that alone we should be thankful and grateful, but it is definitely my commitment and passion for our lord and savior jesus christ that drives me. and that drives my political beliefs. because my conservative values have not always been there. just like my faith had not always been strong. so, i want to see young people across this nation with a fear of god again, because what is happening in our culture, all of the confusion, and just look at the numbers. look at the dropout rates. 71% of kids that drop out of high school are fatherless. were five times more likely to live in poverty if you are fatherless. so, the numbers are there. we just have to really attack the root cause issue that can help uplift these communities. host: when you go into these communities you are talking about, what do you say about being a conservative? how would you convince those

that they should be a conservative? 3 guest: a lot of -- guest: a lot of times it doesn't take convincing. my message is clear. when i walk in i have my bible and usually people can see and feel the holy spirit when we move and talk in different rooms. if you come to a prison with me or an inner-city community with me i think you see the message. and i invite you to come and witness and see the power of god . i believe and i have seen that young man, particularly young black men, are yearning for a leader. are yearning for mentorship. are yearning for a coach and somebody that can speak into their lives. so, these things are not pushed away. they are actually yearned for. most kids want direction. they want leadership during they want discipline. unfortunately we have a society that has not been providing that. host: president trump you to the

commission on the social status of lachman and boys -- black men and boys. what does this group do? guest: we are a bipartisan commission built up of probably 80% democrats. you know, president trump signed this, newest commission in our country, signed it into office during his first term. obviously he gets no credit for that. but this group focuses on doing deep studies. you know, the effects of health on young black communities. the effect on society and the different challenges young black men and boys face in the united states of america. everyone has different challenges and specifically when it comes to the culture issues, and i believe our young black voice in america have probably more challenges than anyone, just given the state of society and what has happened around the culture.

when you don't have a father in the house the things you have to overcome our so great that you have to name this a crisis. you start seeing 72%, 73% of kids in one particular community born without a father in the house, that is a crisis we ought to do something about. president trump understood that. senator marco rubio at the time, who lobbied for this, new that. and probably the biggest voice of all -- she is like a mother to me -- is congresswoman fredricka wilson, who is our chairperson. she is a democrat. she has dedicated her life to young black men and boys. this is her legacy. she leads us, she guides us, she speaks truth, and we look at her like a mother figure. i tip my hat off to her and so many others trying to uplift our

black men across america. i want to invite our viewers to join us, give you their comments and questions this morning. here is how we have divided the lines. democrats can call in at (202) 748-8000. republicans at (202) 748-8001. and independents, (202) 748-8002 . while we wait for those calls, this commission, what initiatives is the commission doing to address fatherlessness? guest: some of our criminal justice work. some of our lobbying efforts and pushes to do more deep dives. understanding more the reasons why personally and my biggest push now is on the juvenile site. as i mentioned, we had a huge spike in juvenile crime last year, 2024. it ticked up.

that is a lot of juvenile crime, but we have efforts going on right now. gun violence is going up. robberies are up. you know, violent crimes are up in our nation when it comes to that demographic. so, we've really got to do something about that. that starts with our schools, that starts with our home. so, we are pushing more sports programs, more mentorship programs, and getting active in the lives of some of these young boys. so, i think it is really -- i think it is really important for us to understand that in order for us to get some of these root causes that we really have to take time to partner with our local communities, partner with our local government when it comes to our criminal justice. we have to go in and partner

with the department of corrections, the department of juvenile justice, and speak to them so they understand what is really happening in the communities. i think there is a lot of disconnect often times when you start to try to take on some of these cultural issues. those are the things we are trying to do during just ring the light, educate, do more research, and bring more practical solutions to a number of these problems. host: jack brewer is our guest this morning. former nfl player and founder and chair of the jack brewer foundation. he is also on the commission on the social status of black men and boys. he's joining us from tallahassee this morning, where he is there doing foundation work. kind enough to pull over and join us from a parking lot in tallahassee. cindy in montgomery, alabama. independent. hi, cindy. caller: how are you? host: go ahead. caller: i just want to concur and agree with mr. brewer about

getting back to practical -- i mean, practical things that will work for the community. getting back to basics, if you will. i agree and concur with what he is saying and i was glad to see him this morning. host: before you go, what does it mean to you to get back to basics? caller: i think that so many -- at times we do too much, and i think we just need to get back to some common sense on some of these issues that is going on in our country. host: all right. thanks, cindy. jack river? guest: cindy is right on. that is what we are pushing for. we are pushing for a basic common sense approach to a lot of these cultural issues. saying yes sir and yes ma'am, opening a door for women. looking people in the eye. having etiquette. basic training that many of us grew up with. a lot of our kids are not getting it.

when you have children in the united states of america it doesn't come with a guide or playbook. a lot of these things you have to be taught. we are now seeing a generation that were not all taught a lot of the things you would assume that they were. so, you really have to meet people where they are. you have to be real about things. you know, and so when you start to see, again, juvenile crime spiking up, you start to see school systems, entire school systems where not a single kid is proficient at reading or math, i mean, this is an epidemic. so when you start to produce population that cannot read and write on a gray level, there is a major issue with that. you have to start asking why. why starts at home, and we have to start thing our families back. have to start holding parents more accountable and uplifting our men to man up, get in their houses, and raise their children the way they are supposed to be

raised. host: we will go to kenny, democratic caller. caller: i wanted to say thank you for the work you are doing. my question is about these type of programs. i run a nonprofit that does similar things but with legacy flight academy. my question is with the programs focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion, how do we still in this administration, still be able to continue to hit those things you are talking about, still be able to impact black men around the country with these organizations that are losing funding? host: i think he is talking about the dei initiatives that were cut by the president. guest: yeah, i mean, listen. dei, that is an entire conversation. i don't think this administration looks at dei as programs that are directed

towards camino, black men and boys, programs directed toward uplifting our juveniles. i think and i know that the president sees these issues when it comes to our black men and boys, when it comes to our criminal justice, the things we are doing around the first step act, opportunity zones. he just has a different approach and an approach i agree with in targeting those areas. a lot of these dei programs got so involved with whether it is transgender issues and this sex and that sex, and it started to become so much about identity that it lost its ability to impact the communities we need to impact. the bible tells us we need to serve the poorest of the poor, the voiceless of the voiceless, the most underserved children. that is what we need to focus on. we need to focus on, like you said, to think about the aviation industry and the need and ability for young black boys

just to get access to that is a huge deal. so, i can tell you that more and more programs you will see started, particularly around hud and some of the projects that scott turner has going on. scott turner is a dear friend of mine who is now the secretary of housing and urban development. we have initiatives scott is working on when it comes to criminal justice and housing and uplifting the poorest of the poor, to give them an opportunity to live the american dream. there is a lot of programs coming. i can tell you, be patient. it has only been, what, 40 days since president trump has been in office? i think you are going to see more of these major initiatives being pushed. i know i just met with our chairwoman, congresswoman frederick wilson, and we have some big plans for 2025 and how we get into the communities that uplift our black boys.

host: we will go to alan in wheeler's bird, ohio. independent. caller: good morning. i have not followed nfl football at all in my life. this is my first time seeing mr. brewer, and have got to say, i am thoroughly impressed with what i have heard. and, brother, i just want you to know as a fellow believer i'm going to pray for you. because i believe that truth changes lives. it doesn't matter whether you are black or white. doesn't matter who you are. the word of god is quick, it is powerful, it is sharper than any sword. when you go into communities like you are doing, helping men with their physical needs, and then bringing them the truth a in their soul, you are going to change lives, brother. and i just wanted to thank you for what you are doing and let you know i'm going to be praying

for you. guest: thank you so much, man. god bless you and keep you, and you said it. a lot of times people want to put words on things, but when you lead with the word of god, like i said, you can walk into a room sometimes where these are the most broken man. we have hundreds of the youth offenders in our programs who have committed heinous crimes. the word of god just gets to their hearts and it softens their hearts, and it changes them and reforms them and you see it happening, and it can happen across america and it will. it just takes people being bold enough to say it. you know, asking and demanding for the fear of god to be lead and put and spiritually set into our homes and children. i think that is what this nation needs right now in these times. host: jack brewer, you are in tallahassee today. you were in minnesota lobbying

for a built-in and changed under athletes from competing in women's sports. why is this important to you? guest: first off, i am a pro athlete. i played in the national football league. i'm a coach now. i have daughters. i have a young daughter who has huge dreams of playing sports. tennis, soccer. and i have always been an advocate for what is right. for me to watch, particularly in minnesota where i went to college, the captain of the gophers, and went on to be the captain of the vikings, to see that state literally embracing men to play with women, it is really -- it is heart-wrenching, man. and you hear the stories of riley keynes and so many of these girls that are forced to be in a locker room with men changing, i mean, come on. we have lost our mind and we have lost our way. thank sports is not just on the field of competition, it is the locker room, it is the team.

those are private places. to try to start combining those things, i think, is taking it way too far. you know, there is a reason when you look at this issue why you never see women trying to play in men's sports. you only see men trying to play in women's sports. there is a reason for that. this is not natural, this is not right, and people are taking advantage of and in states across this country. people need to say enough is enough and stop the madness. host: senate democrats on monday blocked a gop-led bill similar to ban transgender athletes from women's sports. here is the hawaii senator on the floor, talking about what republicans are trying to do here. >> what republicans are doing today is inventing a problem to stir up a culture war and divide people against each other. and worse, they are trying to

distract people from what they are actually doing. which is at a time when people are finding it harder and harder to afford the basic necessities, at a time when diseases we eradicated almost 20 years ago are making a comeback and killing kids, at a time when people are getting on flights and saying an extra prayer or breathing heavier, you have donald trump and the republicans saying, you know what, let's cut taxes for billionaires, let's take money from regular people and the things they rely on -- social security, medicare, medicaid, the affordable care act -- let's take hundreds of billions of dollars from there and shovel it into the pockets of the richest people to have ever walked this earth. because that is what we need and that is what people voted for. republicans are focusing on the wrong 1%. trans people are not the reason people cannot afford groceries or health care or housing.

the other 1%, the top 1% economically is responsible for a lot of that. and that is who republicans are desperate to help. and they are doing it by going after some of the most vulnerable people in our society. host: jack brewer, how do you respond to the senator from hawaii? guest: i mean, there is just a lot of deception in that speech, you know? this is what, unfortunately, some democrats have decided to do, is to divert away from social issues and cultural issues and actually blue-collar issues. so, these are all spiritual. for you to tell us society and tell a little boy that he can be a girl, when you start to do that in the mainstream, in the media, in schools, and start to tell a little boy you can be what you want, that is so ungodly. you are cursing that entire

generation, and that is what you are doing. i don't care if there is .01% of transgender, it is just the messaging of telling our 5, 6, seven-year-old boy he can become a girl or girl they can become a boy. kids need direction in america. kids need adults to do what god put us here to do, and that is to protect them and tell them what is right and wrong. [indiscernible] allow young children to make that decision. and then to start talking about social security, president trump has cut taxes on social security. already cut taxes on tips. these things are affecting the middle-class americans, the hard-working americans. so for him to use that deception of the millionaire/billionaire talk to stir up division is ridiculous. if you talk to female athletes, i just left minnesota, went to high school and talk to girls of all ages. they do not want boys in their locker room. it does not matter if there is

just one boy in the locker room with 20 or 30 girls, they are affecting everyone. every time team has to play one transgender athlete that enters a tournament and there are 200 girls in that tournament, they affect that entire situation. we have to realize this issue is bigger than many on the left want to make it out to be. you hear the story of riley gaines. you hear the story of the four girls who took the volleyball to the face, paralyzed, ended her career. these things are happening. the state championships in track and volleyball, these exports do not need men taking them over. title ix was so important to our nation giving girls the opportunity to play. it is not ok for us to continue to market to men that cannot make it in minutes exports that it is ok for them to drop --

make it in men's sports that it is a pay for them to drop down and compete against women who are not as big, strong, or fast. it is not right. host: political headline, gavin newsom breaks with democrats on trans athletes in sports. he made the remark on his podcast with charlie kirk. crystal in louisiana, good morning, welcome to the conversation. caller: mr. brewer, i think it is wonderful what you are doing for these children and your foundation. do you have any programs for the mothers of these boys to help guide them in the right direction? guest: yes, ma'am, we do. we work with empowering young women since we were established 20 years ago. when we get the young boys, we uplift their families. we have literally millions of

pounds of food we distribute every year to the families of our kids. we support these children not just inside of prison but when they get out. we stay in touch with their families. we do programming to help them build that relationship back with their son, with their child. we do a lot of family services around that. we are a full circle organization. when someone leaves our care, if we have a program inside a prison, we make it out, they become part of our community and family. we have mothers that come and volunteer with us. we worship together, we pray together. we try to make our initiative a family one. it has been special to see some of the stories of the families

reunified and the young girls and daughters. some of the folks get out of our program and they become coaches. they volunteer when we go out in the community and do our release work after natural disasters -- relief work after natural disasters. it has been a beautiful thing to see everyone come around in so much support when it comes to working with these black men and boys. host: peter in baltimore, independent. caller: good morning. i just want to congratulate mr. brewer and encourage him for the work he is doing. i was touched when he said the young guys are looking for a leader, for mentors. this is really good. i also wanted to ask whether he has any program on the educational front. where i come from, a very poor

background, i know what education has done for me. encouraging family values, encouraging young ones to go to school gives them a better view of life and gives them an opportunity. i just wanted to know if he had any educational programs for the kids when they come out. thank you. guest: yeah. one of our big focus areas is reading and math sufficiency. we did a study a couple of years back and looked at many of the children in our program. they were on average about three grade levels below their age group. we started to try to address those reading and math proficiency levels to different technology and training courses. inside of our classes, we

delivered professional development skills, fatherhood development skills. we do full etiquette training in classes. we have pretty comprehensive evidence-based program we run inside of our prisons and jails. we do parenting classes. we do speech classes, communication classes, and also vocational skills. we think it is very important. some people will not go to college. we empower folks whether they want to get their cdl license, we sponsor those on many occasions. we work with different partners that can help drive different educational certifications and training opportunities for the folks in our care and in our programs. we are huge believers in education. i like to say i was the first and my family to go to college. by the grace of god, i went on and got my masters degree. football was the way i was able to pay for college. i know a lot of kids are not going to be able to go to

college and become a pro football player. we want to arm them with the tools it takes for them to be qualified in the workforce. we are always looking and finding more ways to educate our population. host: carol, indianapolis, democratic caller, your turn. caller: hi, brother brewer. i like what you are doing. god is using you. i will continue to pray for you. you just keep on doing what you are doing because it might not look like you are doing a whole lot but god is going to bless it. he is. in indianapolis, i have a sisterhood of programs similar to years. it is smaller. but god is using me also to help people. i get out and mentor people. and i give out tracks every week

as god has provided me. you just keep on doing what you are doing, son. i am praying for you. host: all right, carol. jack brewer? guest: thank you so much, carol. that means a lot. i know we are getting announced as democrats, republicans, and independents. it shows politics cannot divide us. the word of god unites all. no matter where you stand politically, our faith speaks very loud. i think we all see the need in our nation, particularly when it comes to the demographic we are talking about. we all know we need uplifting. we know the only way to improve on things happening across our nation is the word of god, prayer, and the fear of god. we are establishing that again

in this nation. it has been incredible to hear from so many different people. the last caller, thank you for your prayers. i pray for your mission as well. just know we are on one accord. host: jack brewer, how do you get the money you need to do the work that you are doing? guest: god provides. i do not know. i smile when i say that. i have been in where i have had to liquidate my retirement accounts. i have been in situations where we have had to borrow and scratch and move funds, personally, borrow from friends and everything. god has always provided. now, we get a series of grants from different places. we have people that donate to us. one day, we needed $50,000.

i was trying to start a new initiative and expand. i wanted to rent this space in this building for kids. literally, a week later, someone donated that exact amount of money. got always provides that. i am blessed to be able to do media. we have a pretty good social media presence. people see what we are doing. usually when they see what we are doing, and especially when they come and see it firsthand, oftentimes god moves their heart to support us. we have been blessed. to answer your question more specifically, it is a combination of individual donors, some corporations donate to us and make us part of their commitment to the community. and we also receive some funds from the state as well. host: gel in oklahoma, republican -- joe in oklahoma, republican. caller: good morning. first time caller.

i am a little bit nervous. a couple of things i hear from both sides is sympathy, scientific, bad things, good things. i want to thank jack brewer. i'm 63 years old. i was brought up to respect women, never hit women. i do not know what is right, transgender, but i do believe we were taught as a society that men are men for a reason, women are women for a reason. i tried to teach my 16-year-old daughter that. whatever happened to us stop saying, that is a transgender. i do believe women have the raw end of the deal. i want to thank jack for finding

this pretty i wish that i could do more. whatever happened to stop labeling? i truly believe -- my 16-year-old daughter came home to me one day because she works with transgenders. i respect her belief. she knows what i believe. but she came home about a month ago and she said, daddy, the only problem is now i feel bad about where i work because i lost it to a boy who believes he is a girl. something is wrong. when does this stop? host: all right, joe. jack brewer, your final thoughts? guest: we have got to start talking. whether we are talking about young black men and boys or transgenders in our country,

there is a reason you see a spike in juvenile crime and the number of transgender men trying to play sports against women. all of these things are growing for a reason. my prayer is as a nation we can start understanding foundationally we have to get back to christ. it has to get back to the lord and savior. we have to get back to being able to tell a child that god created man and woman paired we cannot say that in our schools. we cannot say that in our homes. how are kids supposed to know? we have a lot of kids confused right now. we also have mental health issues. we all know in our nation right now we have a spike in mental health issues. we cannot exacerbate our mental health situation in the nation trying to appease and tell people what makes them feel good. sometimes, people need to know the truth and the truth

shall set them free. as an organization and commission on the social status of black men and boys and at the jack brewer foundation, we remain committed to fight these causes in florida and across the united states. i welcome anyone at any time to come see our work and see what it does. it is founded on the principles of the bible. we are going into communities a lot of people do not want to go into, whether prisons, jails, juveniles, going into inner-city areas, and going into disaster areas. i encourage everybody to check out our work, support our work. the only way we make america better is not through our politics but through our service. i encourage everyone to go out and serve those underserved folks around them. let's make america stronger again. host: our viewers can go to

thejackbrewerfoundation.org to learn more. thank you. thank you, god bless you, it was a true pleasure. host: we are going to take a break. we will be joined by kristine berzina of the german marshall fund to discuss the strained relation between the u.s. and europe over the russia ukraine war. we will be right back. ♪ >> saturdays, watch american history tv's series. we explore the early months of administrations with historians and authors. we learn about accomplishments and setbacks and how events impacted presidential terms in the nation up to present day. saturday, the first 100 days of

gerald ford's presidency. he took office after the resignation of richard nixon during the watergate investigation. present ford declared our long national nightmare is over and later made the controversial decision to pardon richard nixon. he also tried to tackle high inflation, energy issues, and the treatment of vietnam war draft evaders. watch our american history tv series saturday at 7:00 eastern on american history tv on c-span [applause] -- on c-span2. sunday on c-span's q&a, james comer talks about his committee's 15-month investigation into the business practices of then-president joe biden and members of the biden family. he argues the bidens have benefited financially from

corrupt deals. >> six different banks filed 170 five suspicious activity reports against the bidens and then they were subject to another 50. let me put that in perspective. no bank would file a suspicious activity report against the son of a prominent politician unless they were darn sure a financial crime had been committed. when you file one of those, the bank examiner gets involved in your bank and it causes a lot of problems. the banks new that there were bad things going on here. that is when the investigation really took off. >> james comer with his book sunday night at 8:00 eastern. you can listen to all of our podcasts on our freak c-span now app.

-- on our free c-span now app. democracy is a process shaped by leaders elected to the highest offices and entrusted to a select few. it is where debates unfold, decisions are made, and the nation course is charted. democracy real time. this is your government at work. this is c-span giving you your democracy unfiltered. >> "washington journal" continues. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2025] joining us -- host: joining us at our desk is kristine berzina of the german marshall fund here to talk about the u.s. paused on ukraine aid and transatlantic relations. remind viewers, what is the group? guest: it is a transatlantic organization founded 53 years

ago that champions freedom and democracy of the cornerstones of the transit when take relationships. host: what is the german marshall fund's take on president trump's position on aid to ukraine? guest: we are waiting and seeing what this actually means put the german marshall fund wants her to be a strong and healthy relationship across the atlantic and we want to see a prosperous ukraine in the future. this means we are curious to see how the station will lash the situation will evolve and what -- this means we are curious to see how the situation will evolve. we are very worried ukraine could not have what it needs in the short term. this pause as i understand it is simply a pause on funding and it is a highly fluid situation

this week. host: it does not sound like the european leaders are going to wait and see. her up scrambles to bolster its defenses. they move to raise military spending as trump shifts alliances. it says that you leaders broadly agreed to move forward with plans intended to unlock hundreds of billions of dollars in extra defense spending in the cong years but a military spending spree will not be easy. i want to show our viewers what the president of the european commission had to say. this was earlier this week when she unveiled the plan to boost european military spending. [video clip] >> the question is no longer whether europe's security is threatened in a very real way or whether europe should shoulder more of its responsibility for its own security. in truth, we have long known the answers to those questions.

the real question in front of us is whether europe is prepared to act as decisively as the situation dictates. we are in an era of we armament. europe is ready to massively boost defense spending both to return to the short-term urgency to act and support ukraine but also to address the long-term need to take on more responsibility for our own european security. host: it sounds like she almost agrees with president trump in a way, europe needs to do more. putting aside what he has decided or just pause, did europe -- this pause, did europe need to do more? is this a long time in the making? guest: absolutely. you heard a clear acknowledgment

europe has not done enough for its security and defense since the end of the cold war. to have been many warnings about the fact the world is becoming -- there have been many warnings about the fact the world is becoming more dangerous. across the globe, there are many actors that seek to destabilize and hurt europe and the united states. europe has to step up and spend more. we are seeing that now. europe has been good at pronouncements across the decades but in various formats we have seen incredibly strong signals for increased funding. over the past few years even before trump came into office, we have seen a significant increase in european defense spending. how do they come together and use european mechanisms? so not just each vigil country's

national budget, but how did they come together, perhaps tomorrow together so the european union as such, because that is what she is the president of the commission of, how can they recharge the defense industry more quickly? host: why have they not done this so far? even though there have been warnings. there has been recognition. what has stopped european nations from taking this action? guest: many have. and then there are laggards as well. there are very different threat perceptions across european countries. there are ones like france that has a nuclear fleet that have had to make sure the investments keep going in that. there are also countries tiny like luxembourg that have not seen a purpose exactly. we are needing to have all of them move up currently in their defense spending. host: here is the french

president emmanuel macron delivering a televised address on wednesday outlining the future of european security and its commitment to ukraine amid a pause by the united states. [video clip] >> peace cannot be achieved by been any in ukraine. peace cannot come at any price. and it cannot come from russia dictating the terms. peace for ukraine does not come with the collapse of ukraine. we have seen this happen in the past. who can forget this invasion started in 2014 and there was a cease fire agreed to minsk? in russia did not uphold the cease fire agreement. we cannot have stability without robust guarantees. we cannot take them at their word. ukraine has a right to peace and security for itself. it is in our interest in the

interest of security in europe, and that is why we are working closely with our british, german allies, and many other european nations. that is why you have seen me in the past few weeks engage with numerous of these people in europe, in london, to draft the commitments that are the base requirements for ukraine for us to sign a peace agreement where ukraine will no longer be invaded by russia, we have to do so by supporting the ukrainian troops in the midterm. it may require further european forces to be deployed. i want to believe that the united states will stand by our side. but we need to be ready if that were not the case. whether we come to peace now or in the somewhat distant future, europe needs to be able to best defend itself and to deter other forms of invasion. whatever the case may be, we

need to arm ourselves more. we need to bolster our defense positions. we need to deter. that is why we uphold nato and our partnership with the united states of america. but we need more. we need to reinforce our own defense and security capabilities. the future of europe is not going to be decided by russia or washington. host: kristine berzina, did the french president to say europe needs to prepare for war? guest: there is the eventuality that could be war. if you prepare for war now, there will not be war. this is the funny thing about deterrence. why we have militaries? why do we consistently invest in making sure we have arms that can protect our citizens? frankly, so the bad guys do not think they can get away with bombing or invading us, because it is going to hurt them so much. the purpose of preparing for war

is making sure you never have to use those weapons. that is more the mentality europe is catching up with. that is why american defense budgets have been so high. that is why the american people and american military was so successful throughout the cold war, because no one decided to poke at the u.s. to test how real it was pretty that is what europe is understanding it has to do. even in countries like germany that have a strong antinuclear sentiment, there is the big question of maybe nuclear weapons might be necessary because maybe a show of strength is the best way of being safe and never having to use a single one. host: what have we heard from german leaders this week? guest: german leaders are looking at the financial mechanisms for how to improve defense spending. when there was a full-scale invasion of ukraine in 2022, the germans said they had a shift in which they gave a lot of lump-sum money to increase defense spending but they were so far behind that it made them simply left behind.

what the germans are doing this week is saying they are going to structurally change the budgetary process to be able to invest more long-term. not needing there parliament to say we approve x billions every single time but to say we can structurally invest a higher percentage of our budget in defense needs. there is very strict fiscal controls. you cannot run big deficits in europe at all. this will change that when it comes to defense so there is a bigger willingness and ability legally in germany to invest in defense. host: how big of a shift is that for germany? guest: they talked about the big shift in 2022, 3 years ago. the financial shift, you have to understand how incredibly important austerity is in germany. the word for debt is the same word as the word for guilt. psychologically, the idea of opening debt, credit cards, all

of this is quite icky. this is not the same as in the united states. the notion of being able to take on more debt for defense, and germany has not seen the military as a primary mode of global operation, for good reason historically, but today is different. for them to want to change these complicated austerity measures and structurally be willing to take on or debt is the big shift in germany. host: where is britain in all of this? guest: britain is a first mover. britain is not in the european union. they chose to exit the e.u. but they had a very important leadership role over the weekend. britain has a good line to washington right now. president trump and keir starmer seem to have a very productive relationship and they are checking in as the europeans come to formal leaning --forward

leaning suggestions. the brits brought together the european union and turkey and canada at think through what the non-u.s. allies can do in order to help ukraine. the brits are very eager to have this leadership role. they are also a nuclear power so their strength is well respected in russia. their finances and budgets are not as strong because of domestic budgetary concerns in terms of the growth of the economy. but in terms of appetite and leadership, they are doing very well. host: why does it take europe longer to respond? is it going to happen fast enough for ukraine? guest: i think ukraine has some time. on the one do not know when the war will end. it could be relatively soon. we have the anticipation that week there will be conversations between the u.s. administration and the ukrainians. we do not know if we are talking

about a war that will go on another three weeks, three months. if everything falls apart and russia choose to not stop firing, frankly, every day russia chooses to fire missiles and shoot at ukrainians on their territory. host: they did again last night. guest: it is not as if the ukrainians are starting the fight by any means. the russians every day make an active decision to shoot at ukrainians in their city, in their capital. we do not know how long russia will choose to keep doing that. but ukraine even with the pause in american aid still has sources of aid. they have their own domestic manufacturing able to provide drones. the ukrainians have european support.

right now, they have arms necessary. it does get shakier. for the europeans, it is incredibly important for ukraine to be on a strong footing as it goes into negotiations. it is not that the europeans want ukrainians to keep fighting for fighting's sake. it is the question of how strong ukraine is. in the four-point plan the british put out over the weekend were made the announcement of over the weekend, the point of putting ukraine in the strongest possible position was they are. that is why european leaders in brussels yesterday had a strong financial incentive of over $30 billion they would like to give to the ukrainians this year. host: $30 billion this year is what they are talking about. with that number in mind, look at new york times. how soon could ukraine's forces start to buckle without

u.s. weapons? look at these numbers. the united states has sent $67 billion in military aid to ukraine. europe has sent $65 billion to ukraine. other countries, for billion dollars. kristine berzina also mentioned cox between the -- talks between the united states in ukraine picking back up. the white house special envoy talked with reporters outside the white house yesterday. >> president zelenskyy sent a letter to the president trade i think the present thought it was a positive first step. from that, we are now in discussions to coordinate a meeting with ukrainians. it will be saudi arabia or the idea is to get down a framework for a peace agreement

and initial cease fire as well. host: that was steve witkoff at the white house yesterday. darrell in idaho, independent, good morning. caller: good morning. good morning, kristine. my daughter's name is spelled the same way. we have a situation where russia and ukraine were at the point of signing an agreement in 2022. but all of a sudden, here comes boris johnson in joe biden interfering and putting money in. i stopped being independent. i look at the fact biden's son hunter is making $80,000 a month. ukraine went from being the most corrupt country on earth to we

are shoveling money into them. trump labeled zelenskyy as the world's greatest salesman. since we stop giving money, all these european nations have decided to jump in. it is impossible for me to understand. russia has 6000 nuclear weapons. the united states has 6000. put all the european nuclear weapons together, and i do not even know if that up to 2000. -- that adds up to 2000. i think you people have not studied the scriptures. host: i'm going to jump in. let's go back to his point about 2020. guest: if you go back and look at when the conflict started, it does not start just in 2020 or 2022 with a full-scale invasion. but in 2014, already there was a decision in moscow to create a hybrid operation, put soldiers

in crimea and sees territory. but not only crimea but the donbas. there was a process in the last decade to come to an agreement. but rather than accepting the fact that throughout this entire time europeans were offering extensive carrots to russia to play nice, stop taking over neighbor's territory, there was not that good faith from the russian side to stop. rather than saying thank you for starting new gas deals with us, thank you for approving new pipelines with us, thank you for being gentle with us even though we are invading our neighbors, they moved on to a full-scale invasion. the military support for ukraine is not really a biden starting point.

under the first administration, trump gave javelins to ukraine. that is because we had a war situation on the ukrainian continent. but we have seen at every turn is russia upping the ante, seeking to destabilize the situation. and has all the money in the world and had much more of it before the war started. why has russia wanted so much to invade a neighbor when it has all the wealth, a seat at the g8, a big international role, incredible wealth for putin and a lot of the russian people. but instead, he has sought to go after the question of changing borders. the problem has been, how do you make a nuclear power understand there are rules and you cannot take individual innocent lives? how do you protect those innocent lives in ukraine from being massacred? host: we will go to robert in

missouri, republican, welcome to the conversation. caller: thank you. first time caller. i was wondering, were the europeans upping their defense spending before trump was elected? guest: you have a variety of threat perceptions. countries closer to russia, particularly after 2014 when you had the first land, got scared and decided to increase defense spending. countries further away thought they could negotiate their way out of it. the right balance of economic incentives would mean maybe you do not need to throw that much money at the defense industry. this is at the same time most of these countries are fighting in the middle east alongside the united states. we forget a little bit about what the european militaries were up to between 2001, 911, and when we get into the late

teens and early 20's looking at a territorial threat. they were serving alongside the u.s. in the desert in the middle east. the capabilities they developed were very nice. -- niche. the united states before 2019 did not want europeans investing in tanks. they wanted them helping afghanistan and iraq. when you look at when europe did wake up, in some ways that is also a u.s. question. when did the u.s. wake up and understand the middle eastern wars were one issue but there was a looming issue of territorial expansion and large-scale power competition? what we are seeing now is a catch up not only from history in the 1990's but from an era when we had expeditionary war in iraq and afghanistan to an notion of territorial defense

which requires entirely different tools. the europeans had desert camo gear. that will not be especially helpful right now in europe or ukraine. host: sally in california, democratic caller. good morning. caller: good morning, ladies. 75% of americans do not support -- we do support ukraine and we do not support trump's policies. i was just wondering if you guys had an idea of how the rest of the world is perceiving americans in general. if it is us siding with putin or just trump? and how they are feeling about it. thank you for taking my call. guest: i think there is a lot of concern about who the u.s. is on the global stage right now.

by no means is there an interest for america to be weak but there is a concern about, does america have its friend's'back? we are seeing this play out in europe. we are seeing it with ukraine. i'm sure in the pacific and other parts of the world, there is a sense -- yesterday, president trump questioned whether the europeans would help if the u.s. asked. this is what happened after 9/11. per capita, the same number of estonians and danes died in the middle east. not because they were attacked but because the americans asked for this assistance. for trump to discount the willingness of europeans to help hurts american friendship and prestige. does america remember how much other countries care about america and americans? if he does not, why should the rest of the country care about us? host: ohio, diana, independent,

good morning. caller: good morning. thank you. last week in the epic times, there was a tiny article which the mainstream media did not pick up on. it says putin offers rare earth aluminum to us. russian president vladimir putin says moscow is open to partnering with the united states on joint resource exploration and extraction, including rare earth, and has no objections to a potential u.s.-ukraine minerals deal. it goes on, he offered the united states the opportunity for joint exploration of russia's own critical mineral deposits as well as the supply of aluminum if trade resumes. putin said russia has significantly more rare earths then ukraine and is doing little

to extract these resources. he also says moscow is open to an agreement with washington on scaling back defense budgets with putin mentioning a mutual reduction of 50% paid the mainstream media did not pick up on that at all. host: we will get a response. guest: putin is seeking to establish new economic ties with the trump administration. after the meeting between rubio, wit cough, and russians inside saudi arabia in february, we have seen the conversation evolve on historic opportunities. do american companies want to operate in russia again is a question. it is one thing when the u.s. administration is interested in opening opportunities. russia has not been a good player in the past in terms of appropriating or detecting other

countries' investments in russia, do they want to open themselves to risk again? what are the most secure supply lines? russia has been attacking allies of the united states. does the u.s. really want to rely increasingly russia? much of what the trump administration wants to prioritize is a kind of self-sufficiency of supply chains. does that make sense to go in with putin on something as critical as minerals and is it better to work with allies who have served and died along the united states rather than relying on putin who has in the past and his government has portrayed the united states as the enemy and who seeks to create a smaller role for the west, led by the united states globally? host: we will go to marysville,

washington, republican, good morning. caller: good morning. my question has to do with the leadership in turkey. erdogan has turned turkey from a democracy into someone who wants to ally with russia and iran and north korea. i do not know how you can remove a nation from nato but i believe turkey should be removed. as to this point, recently, turkey is part of the european group who supposedly are going to be thinking or arguing about how they are going to be dealing with russia. is turkey on the side of europe or on the side of russia? i will take your answer and i will ring off. guest: turkey is a nato ally. it is not a member of the european union even though it has been a candidate country for decades.

turkey is playing a very nuanced game being both incredibly important as a nato ally but also having closer defense and industrial ties to russia. it is not especially friendly with russia. when you look at the fact that shortly after the first crimean invasion, a russian airplane crossed into turkish airspace and the turks shut it down. the turks stand up for themselves. the turks were incredibly important for negotiating some of the black sea transit grain deals because they are the major black sea power. there are of course concerns with allies. it is a very mixed bunch. and yet, turkey strategically helps the united states incredibly often, and europeans,

which is why it is very important to have turkey at the table in london. host: there has been a development on talks with ukraine. i want to run it by you. this is from the fox news white house correspondent. zelenskyy will not be attending the tuesday meeting with the american delegation. zelenskyy said he will be meeting with the crown prince of saudi arabia on monday and his team will stay to meet with the americans tuesday. what do you make of that? guest: i think we are seeing a process of developing the ties. in many ways, this is probably a way to not derail with personalities. in practice, this is what we saw last month with the russian side. if we want to call this protocol having the ukrainians do the same thing the russians did, fine. host: christina berzina is with the german marshall fund. thank you very much.

when we come back, we will be in open forum. here are the lines on your screen. any political issue on your mind, we want you to share with us. start dialing in. we will get to that conversation in just a moment. ♪ >> in the years right before world war ii started, in 1939, winston churchill had been out of government. however, even though he was far from power, his country home became his headquarters in campaign against nazi germany. the curator and historian has managed the house and collections. her new book is called " churchill's citadel." she reveals how churchill used chartwell as his base to

collect key intelligence about germany's preparation for war. >> catherine carter -- ka therine carter on this episode of booknotes+. ♪ >> mr. speaker, on this historic day, the house of representatives opens its proceedings for the first time to televised coverage. >> since march of 1979, c-span has been your unfiltered window into american democracy, bringing you direct, no spin coverage of congress, the supreme court, and the white house. >> is this mr. brian lamb? >> yes, it is. >> when you hold one minute for the president? [crowd reacts] >> this public service is not

guaranteed. all this month, in honor of founders day, your support is more important than ever. you can keep democracy unfiltered today and for future generations. >> to the american people, now is the time to tune into c-span. >> your gift today preserves open access to government and ensures the public stays informed. donate now at c-span.org/donate or scan the code on your screen. every contribution matters, and thank you! >> "washington journal" continues. host: we are back in open forum this morning for the remainder of today's "washington journal." any public policy or political issue on your mind, you can share that this morning. i want to start with economic news. we have new numbers out this morning. cnbc with the headline about the stock market and the on employment. s&p 500 futures fall as

disappointing jobs report caps brutal week for markets. more from csnbc. the s&p 500 pulled back friday with the benchmark headed for its worst week since september as a salvo of trade policy actions unnerved investors. futures connected to the broad index retreated .4%. a weaker than expected jobs report today raised further concerns about an economic softening and sent rates lower. nonfarm payrolls increased by 151,000 jobs in february, less than the consensus forecast for 170,000 from economists polled by the dow jones. the unemployment rate ticked higher to 4.1%. that came as stocks have been on a roller coaster ride this week with president donald trump's tariff policies wearing investors about future u.s. growth and inflation. you can talk about the economy and you can talk about other

public policy and political issues as well. patrick in overland park, kansas, republican, what is on your mind? caller: i want to talk about your prior guests. i was a young infantry lieutenant in berlin 55 years ago and got to meet some russians. when the berlin wall came down, i was asked by the government to go to russia. i spent two years there. that was in the privatization of democracy program. my wife is russian. my mother-in-law, before she passed, was ukrainian, and born in odessa. i have some personal knowledge about what is going on over there. i spent some time by the sea. not far from where the current fighting is going on.

for me and my family, the war over there is more of a civil war really than it is the way it is being portrayed by the media and the europeans. i think there is maybe a lack of sophistication and understanding of the history that went on between crimea, ukraine, russia, etc. it is a long, long history. it has been simplified for political purposes. i just wish outlets like c-span would maybe have more educational and historical framework to make the people understand what is going on. thank you. host: we appreciate that feedback. a follow-up on the jobs report, you can listen to the federal reserve chair jerome powell today here on c-span. he is going to be talking about monetary policy at 12:30 eastern. he is likely to react to the jobs report.

you can follow, listen, and watch on c-span, online at c-span.org, or our free mobile app c-span now. the front page of the drudge report has this banner. president folds on tariffs. yes, no, yes, no this follows on headlines this morning in many papers about the president deciding yesterday to pause the tariffs he threatened on canada and mexico. the front page of the wall street journal this morning featuring the mexican president standing next to a graph of how mexico has responded along the border looking at fentanyl seizures and the numbers they have had in recent years leading up to now the trump administration.

the mexican president thursday pointing to cooperation with the united states on the drug fight as she criticized the tariffs. she then responded to the president's decision to pause them again saying they had a constructive conversation, that the president had listened to her. that is the front page of the wall street journal this morning. you can talk about tariff and trade policy as well. bernie in louisville, kentucky, democratic caller. caller: good morning. if i have done my math correctly, it has been six weeks since i called last time. i appreciate your previous caller and his knowledge on russia. i wanted to get through to kristine because knowing the history on russia is very helpful to know what is going on over there patients weeks ago, i got a chance to talk to marvin on your show paid we had a very long conversation. i was one of the few callers able to get imprint we talked

about russia and football paid he is very knowledgeable. i'm part of the democratic party. i think we need to change our strategy more. do not sit there like a bunch of sore losers. smile a little bit. laugh. president trump likes to make jokes. laugh. it can be a fake laugh. you do not have to mean it. need to smile a little more. nice talking to you. host: before you go, what did you think about represented al green's protest at the address? caller: i don't know what a sensor is going to do. the next day, tim was on the show and acted like they could -- should not even censor him at all because it gave him moisture power. it did not -- yum! more star power -- it gave him more star power. people need to smile more. host: yesterday, the house did

move to censor al green of texas for his outburst at the joint address. he stood up, had his cane raised, and told the president you do not have a mandate. he was told to stop, he did not, and he was escorted out of the chamber. yesterday, the house moved to censor him. tim democrats voted yes -- 10 democrats voted yes. other updates on congress. the front page of the washington times this morning featuring the freedom caucus chair of maryland talking to reporters. the freedom caucus has said they will back a stopgap bill that will keep the federal government open. they are called continuing resolutions. republicans and the president want to have one until the end

of the next fiscal year. for about a year, until the end of september. andy harris notes a lot of these freedom caucus members have rarely or never voted for a continuing resolution. but now, they are in support. it looks like if this holds, house republicans would be able to pass this continuing resolution with republican support only. we will go to timothy in new york, independent. timothy? caller: good morning. thank you so much for taking my call. my recently deceased octogenarian mother was a child refugee from world war ii. she was born in a german farming town. for those of you who do not know stetten when you hear it, an

iron curtain curtain has fallen over western europe, those were winston churchill's famous words after russian or soviet expansion after world war ii. the two callers came in with their points about history. i am a recently retired 30-year new york history teacher from the bronx. i speak german, i speak russian. i do understand the first original people of russia were in kyiv. but that is a million years ago, and i am exaggerating to make a point. anybody who knows anything about history knows it was capitalism that defeated communism. it was an economic system that defeated them. all it took was one man brave enough. forgot it talked about freedom policies afterwards, -- for a

guy that talked about freedom policies afterwards, the problem is after gorbachev died, the oligarchs and the criminals took over. putin is now the new stalin. anybody who studies or teaches history knows that the first lesson is those who do not learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them. i want every caller out there to understand. my recently deceased german octogenarian mother is rolling in her grave right now while this president who i believe is compromised, i believe he has been compromised since the kgb followed him in 1989 to the miss universe pageant. knowing people who say he is not compromised are the billionaires in moscow. i believe that they have dirt on him and dirt on others like lindsey graham and marco rubio. it is a government of coercion.

he is being coerced by moscow and he is coercing his people in america and it is having a detriment mental effect on all of us. host: timothy, i'm going to get in some other voices. russ, michigan, what is on your mind? caller: i have something i would like to say. when putin started all of this -- first of all, way back when, ukraine was stealing oil from russia on the pipeline. that is what started a lot of problems. second, remember when putin said he would do a special operation in ukraine? people do not have a lot of it -- a lot of information because what that special operation was was going to be bio labs where they were doing experiments on these kids. that is one reason why took the

children back to russia and saved them. host: jerry in los angeles. independent. caller: thank you for taking my call. i was motivated to call with that first guest referencing god as the primary source for many of the activities that he was engaged in, all of which seem to be good. i think clarity should always be stated when we are utilizing a term that references a deity. god is a general term for a specific body of beings. they are deities. there are three deities that we've been exposed to for the past two millenniums with this being 2025. the names of those deities should be utilized because they are not the same.

the elder of which should be yahweh the deity of hebrews. the jr. of that would be allah, the deity of islamic peoples, and the third would be jehovah, the deity of the christians. this is speaking specifically to the adamian people. for absolute clarity elohim is the deity of the adamian people. host: and your point? caller: my point is that -- host: i will go to leon in north carolina. caller: warning. -- good morning.

i am recording this portion because i really enjoyed the segment you had -- jack brewer a few minutes ago. i would like to get in contact with him because i had run out of the house right quick to help a young brother stay in his house, i gave him a few bucks to stay in his house. i was doing the same thing he was talking about. i have a youth program i am developing after 34 years in the military. he was saying all of the right things. host: let me give you the website. it is thejackbrewer.org. you can probably find contact information on that website. dan in pennsylvania. caller: we have some folks that are like first-generation americans.

their families migrated from europe during the tech bubble and we have some large medical companies around here. some of them came over. they keep in touch with their families back home. some of them i talked with a couple days ago and they were talking about how they would be boycotting american products. my retirement is in the stock market and my question is there any rumors about these boycotts and so i know what stocks to buy and what stocks not to buy for my retirement? one of the other things is looking at the mineral deal that donald trump is trying to push, if you look at the list of all of the rare earth minerals, every one of those elon musk has for space-x.

we gave them $119 billion out of the 200 billion allocated and donald trump wants $500 billion in return on it. i could get a return on that in the stock market. my big thing is not buying american products. >> an update -- host: an update for all of you on president trump and republicans budget proposal. you will remember that the president republican wants to use the reconciliation process to make permanent the 2017 tax cuts as well as spending cuts to pay for them. more spending for border security. this is the economy business section of the washington post this morning. the gop budget goals would require medicaid cuts.

that coming from the congressional budget office which is a nonpartisan organization that advises congress. republicans cannot reach their goal of cutting $1.5 trillion in spending over the next 10 years for donald trump's "big beautiful bill" on taxes unless they cut medicaid and medicare benefits. trump and the gop are seeking to extend provisions of the 2017 tax cut law which would cost nearly $5 trillion while also pushing hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending on border security, mass deportation campaigns, and national defense investments. due to all of that without sending the national debt soaring republicans are looking for spending cuts to pay for the new spending and lower tax rates. president trump has said the gop should not cut benefits for social security, medicare, or medicaid. these are the three largest

social safety net programs which together accounted for $3.2 trillion of the country's 6.75 trillion of total spending in the 2024 fiscal year. more than 60 million americans rely on each program for medical coverage, retirement security, survivor benefits and unemployment caused by disability. richard in arkansas. a republican. let's hear from you. caller: you look fabulous today. i just wanted to let people know that there are appearances and there are deceptions. what we see politicians doing and saying is just one aspect of what they are really up to. there is an organization or some

people call them a mafia. i believe they are a mafia. they are called the gosar mafia and in ukraine is where they originated. it has been many years but they are still around and they are still very powerful and they are still very influential. all governments of europe and the vatican and all across america, even here. all of the things that are happening like putin and ukraine. to meet that is very tragic that all of these young kids are dying but they are being killed for the mafia. europe is being overrun not by vladimir putin and russians. europe is being overrun by third world illegal aliens just like america is being overrun by third world illegal aliens.

host: that is richard's opinion in arkansas. crystal in north dakota. caller: time for some joy. hallelujah. our earlier caller said let's celebrate. tomorrow is going to be international women's day and that got started by the united nations back in 1977. i have been involved locally. we have been involved with united nations since it got created. thank goodness. i have been involved with the international women's day right here in fargo since 2023. there are five of us who went for a visit to the united nations. the scene that year was celebrating women in service to others. when we came back the one woman from somalia, another woman from curtis dan, which is in the

north area of iraq, we celebrated the fact that we live in a fantastic country and that is what i celebrate each time we have had international women's day. globally we are having an impact. i try not to get involved in the politics although i am a republican. today i am joyous. the theme in 2024 was invest in women, accelerate progress. that momentum really had an impact with women positive wise. this year and for all women and girls, which is regarding rights, equality, and empowerment. that is the theme this year. host: thank you for the call. catherine in new jersey. democratic caller. caller: this is catherine from burlington. happy new year. host: happy new year.

caller: i want to speak about representative al green. he did break decorum and he accepted the punishment but he had a righteous cause. he took responsibility for what he did. medicaid is important. he wanted to get it out there on the floor and he had many people watching and i heard him. see you in another 30 days. host: catherine in burlington, new jersey talking about representative al green. he did accept the punishment and said he had no hard feelings towards the speaker or anyone on the republican side. he knew there would be consequences. he did say he would do it again. we are in open forum. president trump schedule today include signing executive orders around 2:30 and at 3:00 he will deliver remarks at the first cryptocurrency summit. it will be taking place at the

white house. we will have live coverage of those remarks at 3:00 eastern time on c-span. after that the president departs the white house en route to mar-a-lago. edward in ohio come independent. caller: hello. thank you for taking my call. i would like to know if donald trump would publicly humiliate vladimir putin in the oval office like he did the president of ukraine. i know he took his side in the first interacted with putin in helsinki in his first term and i'm curious to see his true colors if putin ever has a meeting with trump, if trump

will call him a dictator and accuse him of and freighting a free and sovereign nation. i am curious to see what trump and vice president vance would extend to donald trump or putin. host: let me get your reaction to this. this is from the president. caller: "-- host: "based on the fact that russia is pounding ukraine i am considering large-scale banking sentients and tariffs on russia until a cease-fire and final settlement agreement on peace is reached. to russia and ukraine, get to the table right now before it is too late." that from the president moments ago. your reaction? caller: that is not nearly enough. putin has done horrendous things to the people of ukraine, kidnapped children, bombed

hospitals. pregnant women have died. atrocities after atrocities. he has the green army. they are mostly out of prisons and they are on the front line. if they retreat they are shot. north koreans have sent military people. it is unbelievable that donald trump looks the other way whenever there are so many atrocities performed by putin. host: edward on putin and ukraine russia situation. you can talk about that, you can talk about any domestic public policy issue. i want to share you a story from the front page of the new york times. "amy coney barrett's voice may be crucial in trump cases" is the headline in the new york times.

"on wednesday she was the only one of the three justices appointed by mr. trump to vote against his emergency request to freeze foreign aid joining the courts three democratic appointees and chief justice john roberts to form a bare majority. those five justices were also the same five justices that denied the president's request to stop the sentencing against him on those 34 felony counts. the drudge report notes they linked to a wash --on those 34 felony counts." the drudge report quotes an article calling amy coney barrett people, closet democrat, and a d.e.i. higher. caller: elon musk just had a rocket blow up and drop debris in florida. there is a reason we launch out of kennedy space center because when stuff like that happens the

debris falls harmlessly into the atlantic ocean and not over population centers like here in florida. what happened is kennedy charges him a fee every time he wants to launch a rocket so he built his own launchpad in texas and now he is launching experimental rockets over the heads of us floridians. that is just my thing. host: i will go to anthony in florida. independent. caller: rang. i call you the queen of awesome -- good morning. i call you the queen of awesomeness. the democrats were talking about al green, who i believe we should have been censored, instead it should be overcome -- instead of we shall overcome

they should think we should not be doing anything for the people, we've not been doing anything for years, we've not been representing the people for years. as we talk about al green, that other gentlemen that said it is not normal, he should've been censored because that was assault. thank you. host: anthony in port st. lucie florida. let show that moment from the floor yesterday when the speaker of the house mike johnson called al green to the well of the chamber. that is what happens when you are censured. you have to face your colleagues and listen to the resolution criticizing your actions. here it is on the house floor yesterday. [video clip] >> the house as resolved that representative al green be censured, that al green forth with pers vent -- that al green forth with present himself in the well of the house of representatives for center that

representative al green be censured with the public reading of this resolution by the speaker. >> ♪ deep in my heart i do believe we shall overcome ♪ >> the house will come to order. also come to order. clear the well. the house has to continue its business. host: speaker johnson yesterday trying to read the resolution on the floor that censured representative al green. as we told you all the republicans along with 10 democrats voted to censure the 77-year-old from texas.

we are in open forum. randy in kentucky, republican, what is on your mind. caller: can we talk about inflation and rental and housing costs and grocery food? wages not keeping up with inflation. care and medicaid, especially medicaid. since 2000 it is amazing we have had 20 million new people come into this country. call it whatever you want to. i am certain they changed it from illegal to undocumented to migrants or whatever. when you have 20 million more people reaching for a package of cookies on the shelves like four years ago it was $.88 cookies i like. i go this week i get that same

oatmeal cookie it is two dollars. and the eggs are so much more. you talk about cuts to medicare and medicaid. 30% of all medicaid people are migrants, illegals, whatever, undocumented. that is a great number of people taking away from the american citizens, the poor, the black. and the children. host: randy's thoughts, the republican in kentucky. on capitol hill yesterday in the c-span cameras were there to capture it all, the president picked to lead the fda. "senators press fda on staffing and vaccine meeting."

you can watch that hearing in its entirety at our website, c-span.org. if you do not have time to sit for hours anyone to get the gist of what the senators were asking , you can see on the side of the video player for that hearing will be points of interest. those are the gold stars when you hit the player head on the video and you can skip through and just listen to what the senators had to say to the nominee. we will go to the white house right now. the president's economic advisor kevin hassett is talking to reporters. let's listen in. >> he has taken action to reduce federal government employment and we saw that in the jobs report. that is something attributive to president trump's policies. he has made it so we are more attractive place to onshore production and we saw manufacturing jobs go up 10,000 after dropping last year.

you definitely find that that is fair to attribute to him as well. there a lot of pieces of the puzzle that have to be put together especially cutting spending so we do not have runaway spending and having the tax cuts fast. >> do the doge cuts impact the job report? >> they will not have showed up in the jobs report yet. they survey them in one week and call that the data for the month in the survey week was the beginning of february. i don't think we will see much of these cuts in that report and i think you'll see bigger reductions in federal government employment in the next report. >> china has single it is open to talking. is that something the president is willing to do? >> the president is always willing to talk. we have a drug war. the president is adamant we reduce fentanyl deaths in the u.s..

we have made in norma's progress with canada and mexico. some people said it looks like there is some disorder because you are changing the parameters but that is what negotiations are. you say if you do this and you do that i will move the parameters because we will show we will making progress. that is why we revise the tariff schedules because this is a drug war. the chinese have not and that is why tariffs have gone up. >> what you say to businesses who say they cannot plan with the permit uncertainty and farmers losing market share? >> by april 1 and second we will announce a reciprocal tariffs and by that point our uncertainty will be resolved. >> there also steel and aluminum

tariff signed into law for march 12. august the a big friction point with canada and mexico in the first term. has that come up in conversations with those countries and you expect retaliation? >> i'm not sure about retaliation but when there is a war steel production is necessary for national defense. i like to think back that people think the reason the u.s. was able to help allies in the second world war was u.s. production. what were we producing that help us with the war? it was steel products. president trump thinks it is a national security matter and he is pursuing policies to do that and he wants the steel industry to be in the u.s.. one of the problems he sees in canada is there are a lot of foreign steel producers that come into canada and then ship into the u.s. and undermine the u.s. steel industry and he is working on getting that resolved.

>> would you consider any exemptions? >> he does not like the word exemptions. >> the president just posted on truth social he is considering strong sanctions on russian banking and may be tariffs. what levers have not been pulled yet and what companies could be in the crosshairs? give us details on what he is looking at. >> president trump is adamant we need to get everybody to the table and we can do that with carrots and we can do that with sticks and he is talking to everybody and he has a litany of potential proposals he could further way to get them to the table. the bottom line is the president wants to stop the carnage. he wants to save lives and end the war and he is doing everything he can to talk people to the table and do that. how they do it is something that is a work in progress that marco rubio and the president are working on.

>> you have any names of companies that might be impacted? what is left? >> let's see how it goes. >> on tariffs the president has spoken about short-term pain, he has spoken about disruptions, interruptions. how long is that short-term pain that american consumers should prepare for as it relates to these tariffs? >> what i am most interested in right now what i've been seeing is the short-term gain. we have more manufacturing jobs, we have revenue from tariffs, we have interest rates going down quite a bit saving about $1 billion for taxpayers. i know there is some uncertainty but in the end if we make it so it is attractive for to produce things in the u.s. than all the value of production in the u.s. that moves here is a positive for the economy.

certainly there will be uncertainty between now and april before the tariffs are finalized. after that it should be just gains. we are moving towards a world where the u.s. is the most attractive place on earth. where do i want to invest my money? what i rather have policies that make america more attractive a year from now or would you like to keep the biden policies? what with the world look like with the biden policies. there is no way you can get anything other than a big positive out of deregulation, incentives for offshore production. host: kevin hassett at the white house this morning. he is the president's director of national economic council. he advised the president during the first trump administration and he is back again in the

second and you heard him in real time explaining and responding to the latest headlines on the economy, the tariffs, the unemployment numbers coming out this morning. stock market as well over the last couple of days and talking about the presidents posting on truth social this morning saying he is thinking about sanctions against russia to get them to the table to talk to ukraine. we have a couple minutes left an open forum. charles in north carolina, democratic caller. caller: good morning. just an observation about the president. when the president won -- when president trump won his office in november, it struck me as odd that president putin congratulated him by posting pictures of melania trump. i thought that was an odd way to

congratulate someone. here we are, all of these months later, we have this oval office meeting with zelenskyy that goes off the rails. ukraine has no support from the united states. it seems to me that those pictures were a reminder of something that possibly mr. pruden has on mr. trump. host: i will go to keith in madison. what is on your mind this morning? caller: why do you always frontload all of your callers with right-wing maga fascists? you do this every show. host: we take the calls that come in. i cannot control who dials. you have a public policy issues? caller: i think al green did the honorable thing and to be

censured by that distributor will institution is a badge of honor. more of the congresspeople should have done the same thing they should have walked out with him. host: keith in madison, wisconsin. independent. our last call. we want to thank all of you joining us on the washington journal. we'll be back tomorrow morning with another conversation at 7:00 eastern time. ♪ [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] >> a look at live coverage coming up today on c-span. at 12:30 eastern federal reserve chair jerome powell will deliver keynote remarks at the 2025 u.s.

monetary policy forum. hosted by the nervous he of business. later at 7:00 eastern maryland congressman jamie raskin will be joined by law professors and human rights advocates for discussion on civil rights and the rule of law. it is being hosted by politics and prose bookstore. find coverage on the c-span app or online at c-span.org. >> c-span, democracy unfiltered. we are funded by these television companies and more including sparklight. >> what is great internet? is it strong, is it fast, is it reliable. we know connection goes well beyond technology. the best connections are always there right when you need them. how do you know it is great internet? because it works.

we are sparklight and we are always working for you. >> sparklight supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers , giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> american history tv, saturdays on c-span two exploring the people and events that tell the american story. this weekend, historian rebecca brenner grant talks about america's first female presidential cabinet member, labor secretary frances perkins who worked eight refugees fleeing onto germany. we look at gerald ford's pardon of former president nixon who resigned from office during the watergate investigation.