Transcripts For CSPAN Washington 20240703

Host the washington journal for october 9, in response to the hamasled attacks in israel, the white House Republicans and democrats on capitol hill have all renewed their support of the country. Many calling for Additional Support from washington, even as the house of representatives has yet to elect a speaker. Join congressional resolution condemning hamas is currently being worked on. The pentagon announced additional equipment to the country. With the white house and Congress Calling for support of israel at this time, your thoughts on how washington should respond to the attacks in that country. Heres you can call and let us know. Republicans, 2027488001. Democrats, 2027488000. Independents, 2027488002. If you want to accepted us a text on how washington should respond to event in israel, you can do that at 2027488003. You can always post on facebook and on twitter, and you can also follow the show on instagram. Pinch bowl news with punch bowl news with reporting on what might be expected in congress this week, even in light of the lack of a speaker of the house, particularly when it pertains to israel. They report this morning, without a House Speaker, it will be tricky to pass anything in congress, but a senior g. O. P. Source tells us the house needs to act, it may do so regardless of the procedural consequences. This adds the number of americans, nationals, killed or taken hossage by hamas is still unconfirmed by an administration official. On an unclassified call on sunday, they believe at least four americans were killed in the attack. The House Minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, is working with the Biden Administration to schedule an allmember briefing on israel this week, and also Top Senate Democrats are pushing to speed up the confirmation of mr. Bidens nominees to ambassador to israel, and the ben cardin is promising a legislative push that will focus on providing israel with what it needs to defend itself. Thats from punchbowl. When it comes to the house side, reporting by ax i dont say about a joint resolution being drafted condemning events there in the country. They report this morning that the resolution, a draft copy which was obtained by axios, reaconfirms the u. S. Commitment to israels security through the Security Assistance and calls for full enforcement of sanctions on iran. It also condemns irans support of terrorist groups and proxies, including hamas and Palestinian Islamic jihad, called on all countries to condemn the brutal war. This measure is being led by representative Michael Mccall and Ranking Member greg meeks of the Foreign Affairs can he. Its being circulated to members of the Foreign Affairs committee for cosponsors. Thats what you might expect to see happen this week when it comes to the washington response to events in israel. Were asking you to what degree should washington respond to those attacks and how she should do that. Let us know. On the phone line, its 2027488001 for republicans. 2027488000 for democrats. Independents, 2027488002. If you want to let us know by text this morning, 2027488003 is how you do that. And as always, post on facebook and on x, follow the show on instagram. It was representative Michael Mccall on the sunday shows yesterday, chair of the house phoned affair committee, asked about his concerns at this time about events in israel and how washington should respond. Heres part of his response. Can you and your fellow lawmakers provide more congressional aid to israel when you dont have a speaker of the house . Well, its not ideal. It was not my idea to oust the speaker. I thought it was dangerous. I look at the world and all the threats that are out there, and what kind of message are we sending to our adversaries when we cant govern, when were dysfunctional, when we dont even have a speaker of the house . I mean, how does chairman xi in china look at that when he says democracy doesnt work . How does the ayatollah look at this knowing that we cannot function properly . And i think it sends a terrible message. With respect to funding, we have appropriated 3. 3 billion in Foreign Military financing that is available to the president through a drawdown he can draw down that authority, but we have to get a speaker elected this week so we can get things on the floor, like replenishing the iron dome, get a resolution that Ranking Member meeks and i have been working on, bipartisan resolution, condemning hamas for what they have done to israel. We want to get that on the floor by unanimous consent. Whether we have a speaker in place. Because i think we cannot wait. We have to get that message out as soon as possible. Host again, representative Michael Mccall, chair of the house Foreign Relations committee, making those comments yesterday. We want to hear from you as well about the washington response to events in israel. Phone lines available to you and text us if you wish at 2027488003. New york times reporting the United States already provides israel with more than 3 billion in military assistance every year, and mr. Blinken, secretary of state, said that much of that funding is already in the pipeline to be sent to israel. Theres also six prepositioned stockpiles of american ammunition and arms and locations throughout israel, according to officials, and are designated for use by israel in case of emergency or military operations. The stockpiles include a total of 2 billion in material, and both countries would have to sign off on their use. Thats in the new york times. Lets hear from you. Well start with chris in maine, democrats line on the washington response to events in israel. Chris, thanks for calling, go ahead. Caller thank you. I would ask a question this way. Imagine if texas was taken over by mexico, and mexico for 50 years held texas under its thumb and controlled all electricity, all towers, it controlled all commerce. And they were randomly building settlements all over texas. And to protect the settlements they had to set up barbed wire, check points all across the entire state, and lets just say that routinely the mexicans come in and bulldoze down texas, texans fields and plants and take over the homes bulldoze entire buildings. Thats what israel does to the palestinians, and theyve been doing it for 50 years. Now, if mexico did that to texas, would we tell texans, you know what you need to do . You need to sit back and just take it, just accept the fact that theyve taken over your place . We have no response host no response needed from washington in your mind . Caller of course, washington needs to obviously condemn what hamas is doing, because hamas are a bunch of psychopath i can idiots, but they need to put israel on the spot and say you cant keep doing this to the palestinians for the next 50, 100, 200 years, because its like if you put your foot on a dogs neck, every now and then the dog is going to bite you. You cant blame the dog for doing it. So we need to tell israel stop doing what youre doing. Host ok, independent line, this is from robert in washington, d. C. , youre next up, hello. Caller hey, good morning, happy 7 00 a. M. In d. C. Nice to see you, pedro. I actually dont think the white house nor congress should even be getting involved in this anymore. This is what the 150th time that palestine and israel have gone again each other in some type of battle. This is the 150th time we have seen congress, or not congress, the israelis and palestinians go after and kill each others citizens. I mean, yes, absolutely, is this time more vicious than ever before . Of course. Absolutely. I dont think anyone is denying that. And should every country call out palestine for the atrocities that are being displayed in palestine and israel . Absolutely. But at the same time, when is enough enough enough . I got to agree with the caller before. I think it is time for us to finally take a step back and say these people are going bite until everyone is dead. Its sad. But i think thats just how its got to be. Howard stern apple. Host Florida Republican line, cynthia, youre next up, hello. Caller hello. I just to want say im really proud of the call that im hearing. As a republican, yes, we support israel, but not at the detriment of what theyre doing to the palestinians. Its time for us to sit israel down and actually say, hey, youve got to let those people go. Theyve got to have their freedom. Weve got to become a nation of doing the right thing. Thank you. Host thats cynthia in florida. Again, responding to washingtons response to events in israel. Several things expected this week, even in light of the house still in the process of choosing a speaker. Christopher in pennsylvania is up next, democrats line. Caller yeah, its so refreshingly pleasing that the previous callers also echo whattive to say as well. The message what i have to say as well. The voice coming out of washington should be doing something about this dual statehood for both nations, because i mean, weve been dealing with this for decades now. Im only 50, but this is ridiculous. I think the congress woman, not the congress woman, the president ial candidate from South Carolina, nikki haley, that was pretty overboard. I think shes only going after this, but yeah, really, everyone should be speaking of statehood. This is going on for way too long. As it goes on, it seem like israel just basically taking advantage of everyone. Host there were two lawmakers reported in israel when those attacks took place. This is from axios, saying two members of congress there, it was representative dan goldman and his wife and three youngest children were in israel for an event when the attacks began, congressman goldman and his family sheltered in their hotels interior stairwell until early sunday morning when they were able to leave, depart for new york. Goldman received assistance from the state department and israeli authorities in getting out of the country, according to his spokesman. Senator cory booker was also in the country for planned meetings, site visits, and an economic summit when he was scheduled to speak on tuesday. And he his accompanying staffers were in jerusalem when the attacks were launched and sheltered in place. It was on senator bookers twitter feed that he posted video from israel about the events he encountered while there, and a little bit toward the end about the u. S. Response. Heres that video. About this time yesterday, i was jogging behind me in the old city when i got an urgent call from my chief of staff telling notice get back to the hotel as quickly as i could, that israel was under attack. There were thousands of rockets being launched. When i got back to the hotel, i joined others in the bomb shelter, or the stairwells of the hotel, frightened faces that were children and elderly, families, many americans. There was a sense of fear and worry, a knowledge to many of us that there were horrific things going on around the country at that time. Hundreds of people have been killed. Thousands of people have been wounded. In a level of attacks, at a scale that is staggering, and really has not been seen in this country for over 50 years. We who believe in peace and freedom and human rights for palestinians, for israelis, for all humankind, must reject those who use terror as their weapon. Host thats the response from senator booker. Other responses, well show you as well. We want to get your sense of what washington should be, how you think washington should respond. Again, 2027488001 for republicans. Democrats, 2027488000. Independents, 2027488002. Text us your thoughts, too, 2027488003. In indiana, this is pat. Pat, hello. Caller hello. Host youre on, go ahead. Caller im glad i have this chance. I used to be a democrat and very much respected the party. Im an independent now. I have been since clinton. Because im seeing stuff like this go on and on and on. And my family voted this last time for biden. We had a dinner yesterday, and they all said, didnt say that they werent democrats any more, they just said that they are so embarrassed by this country. But the thing about it is, whats hard for me and my family to understand is how they, at the end of the obama era, they sent a bunch of money over to iran, ok . Ditto on biden, except hes ridiculous. I dont consider him a president. Host you mean the frozen funds from royal assets that were eventually released to them, the obama administration, and then by this administration. Caller yes. The thing about it is, whos discussing this with iran . Are they just placating them . But the thing about it is now, were stuck with all of the problems, and the one thing that this country and the world needs to remember is, and im not a real religious person, but i remember the fact the jews are not chosen people, and you cant fight them on this, and ocasiocortez and the squad, they embarrass me. Host ok, lets hear from frank in texas, republican line. Caller yes, sir. Can you hear me, sir . Host yep, youre on, go ahead. Caller ok. I would just like to say that democrats and republicans and everybody, just read your bible. In genesis, 15 1821, it makes it clear that god give israel to abraham and his descendants. And if you read your bible, like most people need to do, it clearly says that hes given it to the jewish people. Again, it says it all in the bible. But another good one is leviticus host let me ask you this, because of what you said, how does that relate to how washington responds . Caller well, theres a lot of people on the left, democrats, that want to take up for these palestinian killers on the gaza strip. I mean, ill give you another thing. Biden, when he came into office, he lifted the sanctions that trump had on iran, trump put sanctions on iran and wouldnt let them sell at all. Biden, when he come in, he lifted the sanctions, and now theyre selling three Million Barrels a day to communist china. Host in light of that, how should washington respond then . Caller well, washington should respond by backing up israel 1,000 . Host ok. Sue is next in nevada, democrats line, hello. Caller hello. Host youre on. Caller yes. Ok, i want to speak about the palestinians. I know a family, we got to know them real well, and anyhow, their family had olive trees, had them for centuries. All through their family, and their olive trees went way back behind their house, clear up over a mile, and they kept those olive trees up and everything. And about a week before it was time to pick the olives off the trees, somebody came down and told them that israel, they were bulldozing their olive trees. And they completely bulldozed them all out to put in, you know, just taking everything that belonged to them. They had no idea this was even going to happen. To build, you know, more places for them to live. Host given your illustration, how should washington respond, and what do you think is the appropriate response of washington at this time . Caller well, i believe that the palestinians should be recognized, they should have been all along, more so i just dont believe in israel just taking, you know, like they have. Host ok, so sue in nevada there. You can continue to call on the phone lines. Some of us have posted on social media this morning. This is lori from facebook saying no, why should we support israel in they are corrupt, no more tax dollars to israel, period. Mark says hamas is going to demand millions for the hostages they took, adding President Biden opened this up. Scott, we are willing to do that, then we should be doing the same for ukraine. And then tracy from facebook as well, saying i am sick of war, period. Again, facebook is available to you there at facebook. Com cspan. You can post on the twitter feed x, if you wish, and follow the show on instagram. A story that appeared in the washington journal yesterday, with many people bringing up iran in the last couple of calls, this is out of dubai, reporting by the wall street journal, saying Iranian Security officials helped plan the surprise attack and gave the green light for the assault at a meeting in beirut last monday, according to senior members of hamas and hezbollah. Another iranbacked militia group. Officers of irans Islamic Revolution guard worked with hamas since august to dials the air, land and sea incursions, the most significant breach of israels border since the 1973 yom kippur war. The people said the operation was refined during several meetings attended by offices and representatives of four iranbacked militant groups, including hamas, which holds power in lebanon. The wall street journal has that story. You can find it online at wsj. Com. Getting your thoughts on this as well, the washington response, what it should be. From maryland, this is robert, independent line. Caller thank you. The other day israel got invaded by a terrorist organization. All of our politicians and news media show where their loyalty lies. But every day in the United States, were having, were being invaded by the drug cartels from mexico. 100,000 a month coming here. And dday, it was 150,000 troops that landed on the beaches at normandy. We have 100,000 people coming to this country, i an invasion every month. Were being attacked by a drug cartel, terrorist group, whatever you want for call it. Host thats the issue of immigration. When it comes to israel specifically, what should be the washington response . Caller they should concern themselves with the United States, us border, our border, not ukraine, not israel. Their loyalty is with israel. We had the same problems in this country. But it doesnt offend politician here like they do in israel. It stent offend the news media when we have 100,000 people dying a year from fentanyl being injected into our country. It doesnt offend the news media or politicians when we have Chinese People coming across the border, infiltrating the country. Host ok, robert there. Patricia in ohio, republican line, go ahead, youre next. Caller biden needs to be removed. The sanction says have to go back on iran. He shouldnt have gave them no money. He knows theyre a terrorist organization. This is all his fault. Host ok. Thats patricia there in ohio. The Washington Post this morning, when it comes to the pentagon, what you might expect to see in the next couple of days, the u. S. Government will be rapidly providing the Israel Defense forces with additional equipment and resources, including munitions. The first Security Assistance will begin today, arriving in the coming days. The u. S. U. S. S. Gerald r. Ford aircraft carrier, the newest and most advanced platform, along with an accompanying strike force, is being sent there. The u. S. Will deploy a significant contingent combined with the deployment to involve thousands of military personnel. More there at the Washington Post. Caroline, next up in hawaii, democrats line, hi. Caller yes, i am particularly calling about bringing iran into this topic. Israel has been bullying the palestinians for a very long time. Why do they need to do their concerts on the border with hezbollah, or i think its called hezbollah, the hamas border. They try to provoke palestinians, and i think they provoked them pretty much for quite a long time. It doesnt matter where you are democrat, independent, but i agree with part of what one of the call either said, we need to tend to our own country, and thats not because of the immigrants coming into our country. Host are you saying iran had no involvement in this, do you think . Caller i dont know, but we dont have judge and jury permission, and yet were sending bombs over to help out israel . I mean, theyve got enough bombs. They make the bombs, i believe. Caller i have a couple of points to make. The first one is the only good thing about israel is the biggest leach in uncle sams back. Theyre involved with british territories, and we share intelligence with them. They were selling a new weapon to china until they were backed off. I see no reason for us to be affiliated for them. I see no reason for our war ships to threaten iran that weve already screwed out of so many things. I think some look at the connection between ukraine, where they at least wanted to become a big israel. He said that. And the oil pipeline that israel was running to the ukraine and to europe. Somebody better look into that, and they break off all relations with them as bring our troops home to guard our border and help our citizens, thank you so much. Host u. S. Back in february published a story looking at foreign obligations to other countries, to which they specify, foreign aid obligations by the u. S. Include humanitarian spending and military support, ranging anywhere from Counter Terrorism initiatives funded by the department of state, the healthcare programs, combating h. I. V. And aids, funded by the department of health and human services. In 2020, the most recent year for data, military aid accounted for 23 of all foreign spending. When it comes to that list of Top Countries back in 2020, its afghanistan, at the time topping that list at 3. 97 billion. Israel following that with 3. 3 billion. Jordan, 2. 6 billion. And egypt, 1. 47 billion. It goes on from there. If youre interested of seeing of list of foreign aid and the countries that receive it, israel is high other that list, you can factor that in the mix of how washington responds or should respond to the events in israel over the last two days. Robert in tennessee, republican line, go ahead. Caller we have been unconditionally supporting the state of israel for a long time. Thats unconditional support. And this is where weve gotten. We need a balanced support. Yes, both people should be supported, but its totally imbalanced. The people, as you can see now, theres a extreme rightwing government, which essentially wants all of galilee, and theyre making the lives of the Indigenous People there a living hell. So this is no surprise. It was a surprise attack, but its not a surprise, because they have nowhere to go. Theres stories in the news saying theyre about to bomb you, and you need toe leave. But theres nowhere to go because theyre under season. Im calling for a more balanced approach. Host which means what in your mind . Caller well, money to the palestinians, some hope. They have no hope. We need our policy makers, need to advise the israeli policy makers that their tactics are only causing, you know, i just dont think the israelis want peace. They like things like this when it happens because it allows them to go in and bomb them, because theyre trying to run them out. Host ok, lets hear from david in indiana, democrats line. Caller you know, we have unconditionally supported israel for years, but lets talk about where the support leads us. President biden and nato are going to be using our resources to assist israel and stop in this effort when we know that this ends up every single time with israel entering deescalation efforts and the palestinians going back to being fined for another six months before all war breaks out again. None of this would have even happened if they wouldnt have stolen the election. Host david there in indiana. Pentagon, or politico this morning, this is the headline, u. S. Demands condemnation of hamas at the United Nations meeting. Security Council Takes no immediate action. This is by the Associated Press, saying the security counsel held an emergency meeting behind closed doors sunday with the United States demanding all 15 members strongly condemned heinous terrorist attacks committed by hamas, but they took no immediate action. The deputy ambassador said afterwards a good number of countries did condemn the attacks, but not all councilmembers. He russias u. N. Ambassador rice the Associated Press russia is not condemning the attacks but that is untrue. It was in my comments. We condemn all attacks on civilians. Politico has the story if you want to find it on the website. The response by washington to events in these real. We will continue taking your calls. Call on the line 202 7488001 for republicans. 202 7488000 for democrats. Independents, 202 7488002. Text if you wish at 202 7488003. Democrats line from philadelphia, this is rick. Caller good morning. I like the topic and the people that called in have good opinions. I will not share what i have read off of the internet. Nor, uninformed information i may have received. What i know for sure is that all human beings, all life forms need shelter, food and water. That is everybody. Hi do know and i do know and believe if it is one god and he said that israel should have israel did the indians have their back . Host specifically, how would they relate to washingtons response . What should they be doing or not be doing at this time . Caller respect everybody. Respect everybody. Immigration has always been a part of world history. People move with the food and the opportunities are at. Lets just try to respect each other. Host charles next in texas, republican line. Caller thank you. As a mexicanamerican, this is not our fight. If i can put everything in my perspective, maybe you will find this ignorant. This is what i classify a family dispute. Let me clarify this. When you have a family dispute, the police say those are the most dangerous calls. All this is is a family dispute. If you look back, this is one big family. Basically, they are half brothers. There thing is, they are going to kill each other whether we get involved or not. I say, give them everything they need on both sides and have them let adit. I am tired of this. The United States and washington politicians are basically bought from all over the place and i am sure the Jewish Federation is pumping in money to every politician. You know what, when i started seeing these demonstrations, especially in our city there was a palestinian small demonstration that is not our fight. We are mexicans down in texas. We have our own problems. If you feel that strongly about it, get your buds back up there and fight for what you believe in. The story each other. As far as the United States is concerned, we need to get out of it. Host that is charles in san antonio, texas. One of the people responding on the sunday show yesterday was the secretary of state Antony Blinken. The headlines from most stories coming out including abc news at the time said the world should be revolted by hamassurprise attack on israel. He answered questions on cnn about alleged appeasement of iran and by the martin by the Biden Administration and reaction from that. Here is the secretary of state yesterday. [video clip] according to your administration, had not been unfrozen. Iran does not yet have it. The accusation is that irans posture the u. S. Demonstrations posture toward iran has helped in tribute to this. I want to give you a chance to respond. Well, there are two things here. First, with regard to the funds you mentioned that were made available to iran for humanitarian purposes as part of getting americans back will be obtained in iran. It is unfortunate israel remains under attack. No u. S. Taxpayer dollars were involved. These were iranian resources iran achieve related with the sale of its oil. They have had through day one under our sanctions the right to use these moneys for mandatory purposes. They were moved from one account to another to facilitate that use. As of now, not a single dollar has been spent from that account. Again, the account is closely regulated by the u. S. Treasury department so it can only be used for things like food, medicine, medical equipment. That is what this is about. The Previous Administration set up a similar mechanism to enable iran to use oil proceeds that were blocked in various places for humanitarian purposes. People are either misinformed or misinforming. Either way, it is wrong. Host the comets from the secretary of state yesterday. This is cecil, democrats line, virginia. Washingtons response, what it should be to events in israel. Go ahead. Caller american public, you are thoroughly misguided by the news outlets. Check out the belford accord, a diplomacy for the arabs and separately the Jewish Community that they were going to support them and Herschel Walker treated the land in palestine. It goes back even further. The Jewish Community have an outside influence over the news outlet. This war is criminal. The United Nation states should not be providing our tax dollars to the palestinians who are there illegally. Host willie in North Carolina, independent line. Caller yes. Good morning. Good morning. Host you are on, go ahead. Caller my position on the issue for hamas and israel is when you label people terrorists, you automatically lower their humanity, who they are as humans. You have 2 million People Living in one strip, at some point israel comes in and under any made up excuse this is their story. Our tax dollars are going to this. When we speak about did you hear netanyahu speak yesterday . How are you telling 2 Million People get up and leave because i am going to bomb . Where are they going to go . I think americas position, we are becoming the worlds bullies. We are becoming the suppliers of every war around. What we know from history, in fires, they do not fall from our side. They fall from their side. Host good morning. Caller how are you . Host thank you. Go ahead. Caller we should stay out of it. We have enough problems ourselves. That is on them. Anyone in this country that feels that strongly about it should join the fight over there. As far as the u. S. , i think we should stay out of it, for sure. Host jeremy in california. The Washington Post following up on their story reporting on the u. S. Involvement and activities there, saying behind the iron dome missiles israeli officials have made several requests to washington in response to the military offensive by hamas, including small bombs, ammunition for sheen guns machine guns. Some of israels military requests include those for small diamond small diameter bombs being processed and expedited, this adding the Biden Administration expected to add money for Israeli Government in a funding request into congress on top of additional military support for ukraine according to the official. That is playing out in the background on the house side this week as they are expected to go with the process of nominating a new speaker. We have a discussion on that coming up. You can watch the house and senate on cspan1 and to as legislators take to the floor this week to talk about things including activities in israel and the washington response. In maryland, democrats line, anthony. Caller good morning, washington journal family. This invasion, landgrab was supported by the United States. And all of our tax dollars. To go over there for bombs to israel, even though they had their own weapons factories. They blow up the buildings and build a new settlement, that takes our tax dollars. We have been giving money over to the middle east and we have inflation. People keep claiming biden. We would not have inflation if we were not supporting landgrabs, just like if we go back this is patterned after the landgrab displacement of the native americans and the trail of tears. Andrew jackson, who set these sent these people to the desert where they are still on reservations to this day, like the palestinians. 50 years ago, they were sent off to settlements and they are still there to this day. Teddy roosevelt took texas, mexico, the roughriders. Now, we have a border crisis. If it were not for lewis and clark they did not know anything was across the mississippi. Once they did, we acted like russia doing to ukraine now. Host independent line, new jersey. Tom is next. Caller hello. Some misrepresentation in history is this comical. What i am hoping is people realize, egypt and jordan could be letting so many of these people in. We do not hold them accountable. We give them all sorts of aid. Inflation comes from many sources, it is not about outside sources. We would not have a prevailing wage here if we did not support people all over the world so that terrorism and fascism yes, those are human conducts those things are what are driving our wages down, pushing people from varying places into other areas. Egypt should allow these people in if they care so much. I hope people look in that way. Thank you. Host a viewer on facebook, moses saying in the u. S. Government who is not pro israel is an enemy of the state. President biden is doing a wonderful job so far but has to do more if the situation warrants. Cs nbc ordering a complete siege of gaza. Hamas killed more than 700 pillen people in israel. I have ordered a siege on the gaza strip. There will be no electricity, viewed food or fuel. We are acting accordingly. That is cnbcs reporting on the situation going on over there. In mississippi, republican line, this is jane. Shane. Caller i think we should support israel as gods chosen people. All of this happened after they got that money that we turned over to them. I do not believe anything the Biden Administration or Administration Says about that money. It started when we gave the money and we can always say this. Weakness breeds oppression. That is what we have got in office. His Vice President is even weaker. Host it is those funds, those oil funds that are set to be delivered to iran. That was part of the conversation with the former u. N. Ambassador to the trump administration, nikki haley, president ial candidate. She was on nbc yesterday, talking about the comments from the secretary of state regarding those funds. Her and how she viewed those comets, here is part of that discussion from yesterday. [video clip] i think it was irresponsible for secretary blinken to say the 6 billion does not weigh in here. Lets be honest with the American People and understand that hamas knows and iran knows they are moving monday around as we speak because they know 6 billion is going to be released. That is the reality. When i was at the United Nations, you saw when those planes full of cash sent i obama to iran i went to the agency. What happened what those funds were sent to lebanon, hamas and gaza. They go and spread terrorism every time they get a dollar. It does not go to the iranian people. It does go to terrorist attacks. Secretary blinken is wrong to imply this money is not being moved around as we speak. Yet, ambassador, there is no proof of that yet. This is the hours after that immediate attack. Is it irresponsible to level that charge when you do not have evidence of that at this point in time . The evidence is, look at what the iranian people have done to freedom loving people around the world. Look at what the iranian people have done the irani and regime has done to threaten israel over the years. To think they are not moving money around his irresponsible, to say that to the American People. They are moving money around to threaten those they hate. They hate israel, they hate america. They are going to continue to use this. It was wrong to release the billion dollars. Host we will go to sue in indiana. Democrat line. You are going to have to turn down your television, please. Sue . Are you there . We are going to put sue on hold. We will go to chanel in virginia , independent line. You are next. Caller good morning. People saying that the United States should not get involved the United States has been involved since 1971. They have been giving israel aid according to aid. Org. Send over 70 of annual american aid. The United States has been involved, will always be involved. It has invested interest in israel being what they are. Also what should be the response now, if that has been the case so far . Caller for the palestinians and here in the socalled United States, socalled canada, all of that. Give the land back to Indigenous People and follow what they say to do. Host ok, chanel in virginia. One of the questions coming out of the events from the last couple of days was the intelligence gathering on israels part. A story in the Associated Press saying, Israel Intelligence agencies have gained an aura of the last decades. Allegedly hunted down hamas operatives in dubai. Agencies like military intelligence have obtained their mystique. The weekends assault which caused israel caught israel offguard plunges that reputation and raises questions for the countries readiness for a determined foe. Hamas militants continued to battle Israeli Forces inside israeli territory. Some israelis were in hamas captivity in gaza. This is from dennis asking about the washington response to what it should be. Dennis, alabama, republican line. Hello. Caller hello, good morning. I think we need to go for the head of the snake, which is the ira. We need to go for the nuclear bombs, the little strip is not doing this. They are using them. It they are using them. They are telling these people they do not have much. Go for the snake, the head of the snake. Some of their other sites, hit them hard. Free the people, get them out of iran, try to free those people. Take back the money. We know where the money went. We might have gave them 6 billion, but we know where they are. We know where another 6 billion is. Take it back now. They can do that. Host ok. Democrat line, aubrey in arkansas. Hello. Caller good morning. I think that ultimately, we have given israel billions and billions of dollars throughout its entire history. It already has one of the advanced militaries on the planet. They do not need our help. On principle and any taxpayer dollars that goes to anybody that is not an american citizen is not justified. It is our money. Host leah, South Carolina, republican line. Caller yes. The lady spoke in the past call of giving the land back to the Indigenous People. I wonder how she is going to feel when our soil is soon attacked, and that is going to happen. Our week government left billions of equipment billions of dollars in equipment to those iranian people who hate us. Host im going to stop you there. This is the washington times, their headline this morning israel claires war declares war. Usa today, russia to support israel. To the new york times, caught off guard, israel fights back. This is from the Washington Post. Israel declares war against hamas. Their headline. Finally, the wall street journal this morning israelhamas battle, the death toll rises. As we show you those photographs , we will take the next call. This will be from george, North Carolina, democrats line. George in North Carolina, hello . Caller good morning, thank you for taking my call this morning, sir. Everybody is coming and voicing their opinion. Wouldnt it be amazing, these different groups like hamas and israel youve got russia playing a part, but they are still attacking their neighbor. Also, some of their relatives were attacking ukraine and killing those innocent people. If they just come together and reason together we are voicing our opinion this throughout this nation on your show. What if they could get the leaders of these groups to come together and reason together . Sit down, have a dialogue and talk about the problems we have. I looked at your list this morning of the money distributed to these Different Countries. The money that has been dispersed in Different Countries for help. I am a truck driver by profession. I am also a minister. I have seen what has taken place in our Nations Capital that you never see on tv. Youve got People Living on the 395 and 95 under the bridge. I have seen it, i have been to a couple inaugurations. I traveled a lot, over 3 million miles in the last 40 years. People living in the woods in our own state, living in tents under bridges. The money needs to be distributed throughout our country here. We also need to take care of host can i ask you a question about your initial statement of coming together and hashing out differences . That has been tried by numerous administrations over many decades. Why do you think after all those tries, you can still get something done if they take that approach . Caller i still think there is hope when coming together. Making more guns and distribute in more weapons, that is not going to solve the problem. That will never solve the problems. Sending out more weapons more weapons, more destruction. Innocent people pays the price for it, as well as the military. Host george in North Carolina giving fox this morning. You are welcome to do the same in the minutes we have left. 202 7488001 for republicans. 202 7488000 for democrats. Independents, 202 7488002. Independent line, this is riley in queens, new york. Caller good morning, pedro. Good morning, america. Hope you all know that the jesus christ is coming back to solve this. Go, jesus christ. God bless you. Have a blessed day. Host boyd in pennsylvania, republican line. Caller hello. Can you hear me . Host you are on, go ahead. Caller you are on, go ahead. Hello . Host you will have to adjust your headset as you are trying to call in again. Go ahead and keep calling. The numbers will be on screen. Robert from facebook this is from max, saying we have to reiterate the two state solution that president clinton came up with in clintons second term and keep pushing that until those hardliners in hamas and Palestinian Authority start taking direct action against those extremist troops. X available to you if you want to post there. Facebook, too. You can continue to post even after the segment is over and taking a look at that you can keep posting there. From pennsylvania, democrats line, jacqueline. Hello. Caller good morning. You had a previous caller who was a pastor and a truck driver. He hit it on point. At the end of the day, its about money, pride and ego. I think the jewish people want their people being killed and i know the palestinians do not want their people been killed, too. There is hope. We have been at war since world war i. Arent people tired of dying . Nobody wants to see this. The jewish people on saturday morning had a 9 11 like we had in the United States of america. People are tired of fighting and they keep going because of money, pride and ego. The American People in the world, just pray. Host i will ask you like i asked him even in light of that, there have been efforts to bring some type of resolve to this situation and these events still happen. Why do you think that is still possible . Caller once again, people do not want to talk about this. No one wants to talk about this. It is about being ungodly. You cannot do good things with ungodly people. If your focus is off god whether you believe or not, this is the outcome. That is the bottom line. I pray will come together on a worldview and stop talking talk. Man is limited. God is not. Im going to pray for the people who believe in christ and keep that moving. Host david in israel, independent line. Caller thank you for taking my call. I want to say, a lot of people gave their opinion on the palestinianisraeli conflict. If you do not live in a place, then people are saying opinions from things they have seen online. If you are in a place, you are able to feel what is going on. Any israeli and a rub before the war arab before the war, they could be in any a rap neighborhood over here arab neighborhood over here. Host what part of israel do you reside in . Caller jerusalem. Host what brings you there . Caller i am studying there. Host what is your safety level like there and what do you think are some things the perspective of being there that the audience needs to hear . Caller that in israel, there is thousands of workers that work on the buildings. They do a lot of good things. There is not one area of israel that is secure. Jerusalem i take a taxi 15 minutes the wrong way and i feel my life is in danger. Any israeli caught in an arab neighborhood is in danger. Host lets finish off this round with donna in louisiana, republican line. Caller yes, sir. I have a comment. All these people saying that this conflict may have started in saudi arabia and israels compliance to work together, i think Everyone Needs a hero. I think saudi arabia could just do that at this point. That is all i have to say. Host why do you think that . Caller i just think that saudi arabia could help israel at this point and it would show their strengths and maybe help them come together. Host that is ladonna, louisiana, finishing off these calls. Thank you for all of you who participated this morning. Coming up, we will talk about events in congress not only when it comes to reaction in israel but the house expected this week to elect a new speaker in light of the oust of Kevin Mccarthy. Emily brooks on the hill joins us next for that discussion. Later on, we will hear from faith and blue leader and organizer reverend Markel Hutchins, and he will talk about how to build a Better Police and Community Relations. The office of speaker of the house of the United States house of representatives is hereby declared vacant. Tuesday at 5 00 p. M. Eastern, the House Republican congress meets to discuss potential candidates for speaker of the house following congressman Kevin Mccarthys removal with the party vote expected wednesday morning. The House Democrats have announced their plan to again select minority leader Hakeem Jeffries as their nominee for speaker. Stay cspan as the battle over how speakership continues. Follow every moment from capitol hill as this historic election unfolds. Watch on cspan. Cspan now, our free mobile any lab or online at cspan. Org. Cspan, your unfiltered view of government. Tonight, watched cspans series in partnership with the library of congress, books that shaped america. We will feature narratives of the life of Frederick Douglass, written in 1845 it was the first of three autobiographies by Frederick Douglass and deeply personal and sometimes graphic language. He describes his childhood years on the Eastern Shore of maryland , his time as a slave in baltimore and his escape north in 1838. The book was widely sold and is said to have highly influenced the cause of abolition. Edna green medford will be our guest to discuss the book. Watch books that shaped america featuring narratives of the life of Frederick Douglass tonight, live at 9 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Cspan now, our free mobile video app or online at the span. Org. Be sure to scan the qr code to listen to our companion podcast where you can learn more about the authors featured. Cspan shop. Org is cspans online store. Browse through our latest collections of cspan products, apparel, books, home decor and accessories. There is something for every cspan fan and every purchase helps support our nonprofit operation. Shop now or anytime at cspan shop. Org. Washington journal continues. Host joining us now, emily brooks from the hill to talk about the events of the week including an election for speaker of the house. Thanks for giving us your time. Guest thank you. Host you wrote a story recently that says, curveballs keep coming up in this speakers race. Can you talk about some of those . Guest absolutely. Aside from the fact it is unprecedented, the first time in history the house has ousted a speaker, the house is dealing with a lot of curveballs and trying to figure out who to replace Kevin Mccarthy with as speaker. House republicans are not only operating on a condensed timeline, they are trying to elect a new speaker this week. That is very condensed versus what we saw when former Speaker Boehner left and there was about a month before that next speakers election. This election is happening on a condensed timeline. Usually, there is months of jockeying behind the scenes before that election. Then, you have the factor of former President Trump weighing in on the race. He is very much still a leader and player in the Republican Party, holds a lot of sway. It is unclear whether he will sway people to support jim jordan for speaker over Steve Scalise, the majority leader. But, the fact that he weighs in usually, we do not see president ial candidates weighing in on house leadership elections. Of course, you have this interesting scenario where fox news is going to host what they called a joint interview with the candidates for speaker. That was announced on friday. Very quickly, there were republican members who said they did not think that was a good idea. They wanted to hear from the candidates first. If the candidates asked the candidates pulled out of that and that was highlighting the unusual nature of this and how much of a National Spectacle it is becoming. Host we have gone to two major candidates. Do you have a sense of where the conference is about overwhelming support for either of those men . Guest both are getting a lot of endorsements. I would say jim jordan is getting a lot support from his fellow ohio members, a lot of his fellow members of the House Freedom caucus of which he was the founding chairman. Steve scalise is getting support from the south and many other members. They are both powerhouses in the Republican Party. Both of them bring different flavors of leadership. Right now, there are some members who are talking to reporters last week that think this is far from settled. They do not think either one of them has enough support to win on the house floor right now. That is one reason why republicans are very intent on trying to settle this internally within the republican conference before heading to the house floor and potentially having another multiballot, public speakership election. They do not want a repeat of what happened in january. They want to figure that out behind closed doors. Host if you want to ask questions about the process as it plays out, 202 7488001 for republicans. 202 7488000 for democrats. Independents, 202 7488002. Text us at 202 7488003. Emily brooks, representative jordan was on the sunday shows yesterday. Made the case for himself about the support he thinks he seems to be getting. We will get your response to it. [video clip] Steve Scalise is asking colleagues can you give us a sense of whether or not you have those votes . We have got amazing feedback, incredible feedback from our colleagues across the spectrum in the republican congress. Weve got conservatives, more moderate members, three Committee Chairman. I feel good about that support. It boils down to those fundamental questions. Who can unite our congress . Who can tell the country why what we are doing here the things we are working on, how it impacts them and their family, that is what we are supposed to do in politics. We are supposed to do what we told the people we were going to do, help them, their families and communities. That is our job. That is what we need to focus on. Host emily, that is representative jordan on the air. Factor that into what you might see play out this week. Guest both candidates are pitching themselves as someone who can unite the conference and unify the conference, which is something republicans are definitely looking for. So, jim jordan is an interesting character to think about. Getting so much support right now, particularly when you think about a couple of years ago back in 2015 and 2018 when he was challenging house leadership a lot more. Since then, he has become a lot more of a useful ally of house leadership. He has stood by former Speaker Mccarthy throughout his speakership race and the challenges here. Right now, you are seeing at least one moderate that i can think of supporting jim jordan for speaker. He has shifted, he is not a cap line anymore. That is definitely something he is trying to portray in that interview. Host walk us through the technicalities of what the process this week those who cant see it play out in person. Guest tomorrow, tuesday, the House Republican conference will hold an internal candidate forum. They will hear from both candidates making their pitch to the conference about why they should be speaker. Wednesday, we will have that internal House Republican election for the nomination to be speaker. Usually as we have seen in the past, this is simple majority winner will be the nominee. That is why you see in january, former Speaker Mccarthy had gotten not quite universal support for his speakership. They end to the house floor went to the house floor and had those 20 members voted against him. Republicans are trying to avoid that this time. There is a push. There were 94 House Republicans who signed a letter asking for temporary change in internal rules so they could only nominate a speaker with enough support to get majority support on the floor, which right now, that would be 217 house members, assuming that every member is present in voting. That should be interesting to see if they change that to avoid that public floor fight. Host lets hear from callers. Perry in california, republican line. You are on with emily brooks of the hill. Though ahead. Caller good morning pedro, good morning emily. Guest good morning. Caller my thought is, i do not think republicans have somebody who really gets the message. I think that is what we need to look at. I would like nothing more than to see Hakeem Jeffries go up there and say, buckle up, this is going to be a long one and they have the speaker say, we now recognize the gentleman from florida. Donald trump will be up there and he can do the same thing the democrats are famous for. Being unreasonable. Cspan, would be obligated to carry it all the time. As long as he keeps it off the campaign the funny thing is, we will see who the real insurrection acts insurrectionists are in this country. I am telling you, it is the media and the left. Host we have coverage of every house proceeding that will take place. What is the likelihood . Guest it is not likelihood likely. There were a few House Republicans last week pushing that very thing, saying i would nominate former President Trump to be speaker. Give him that platform, have him lead the party. A couple issues with that. There are a lot of members that think while there is technically not in the constitution preventing a nonhouse member from being speaker, realistically, that it should be somebody who is an elected member of the house and understands that internal process. There was a question about whether they would have to change internal House Republican conference rules which prohibit anybody who has faced felony indictment from serving in that leadership capacity. There was a debate about that. Of course, one of the things that added drama to that speakers race was former President Trump did indicate he was open to serving as a temporary speaker overnight on thursday night, he did say he was going to endorse representative jim jordan for the spot. Definitely, would be a wild scenario for sure. I think he is focused on campaigning right now. Host florida, democrats line, randy. Hello. Caller hi, it is randy. Host go ahead. Caller my exhusband who has a nickname he has never been arrested for felonies, criminal activity including abuse, mental. Host how does that relate to the work of congress, especially if they have to choose a speaker this week . As a segway, emily brooks a lot happening in israel. Already initial reporting about what to expect from congress. What sense do you get how they will react in the house and senate this week . Guest there is strong bipartisan support for showing support for israel right now. We have heard that from both sides. The big question is, how does a lack of a speaker right now affect that . That is adding pressure for House Republicans to go ahead and choose a speaker, because right now the general sense is congress cant do much without a speaker. There are some procedural theories that the house could vote to empower that acting speaker, Patrick Mchenry, to do more if it wanted to. There does not seem to be a strong desire to do that now. We are in uncharted territory, legally and procedurally, about what the house can do. One of the things Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael Mccaul has said is he wants to as soon as possible bring a bipartisan resolution to the floor to show support for israel during this time. Host from michigan, our independent line, denise. Caller thank you for taking my call. Ms. Brooks, i would like to ask do you think jim jordan is qualified to run for speaker since he participated in the january 6 insurrection . It seems to me he would not be qualified. Thank you. Guest i think that is not a question that i can answer, whether he is qualified or not. This is something the House Republican conference will have to grapple with. He is getting a lot of support right now. I will say both representatives jim jordan and majority leader Steve Scalise voted against certifying some of those Election Results after january 6. Either way, that is going to be a factor and probably a line that democrats. 2. Jim jordan is a higher point trial profile name. Former representatives liz cheney over the weekend said she did not think jim jordan should be speaker because of matters relating to january 6. Definitely will be something i am sure we will see from democrats, although they have not weighed in yet on that topic or participated in that internal republican discussion. Host you can text us at 202 7488003. Call us at 202 7488001 for republicans. 202 7488000 for democrats. Independents, 202 7488002. I want to play a little bit from representative matt gaetz on the sunday show yesterday about his take on what the speakers race and his thoughts on it. After that, get answer a couple of questions on that. [video clip] i think in a two man race, it is easier to get someone to 50 plus one then in a race where you have seven people. The fact it has been a constrained race you are watching the plan player. If we have any speaker, jim jordan or speaker Steve Scalise at the end of the coming week, there will not a single republican sands may be Kevin Mccarthy who does not believe we have upgraded the position. This is about ensuring longterm stability financially for our country from a leadership standpoint and with either Steve Scalise or jim jordan, we will undeniably have an upgrade. I am looking forward to it. Host that was representative gaetz yesterday. In this case as it plays out this wee, is mr. Gates a playmaker or a troublemaker . Guest i do not think he is weighing a lot of his republican colleagues to vote for one or the other. He has that power to call that motion to force a recall vote on Speaker Mccarthy, but there is a lot of anger directed at representative gaetz right now for forcing that move. There have been calls to remove him from the conference over this. To remove him from committees, and a lot of residual anger that House Republicans are being forced in this position. I do not think necessarily he is going to be a kingmaker in that sense. It is interesting that he has appeared to be ok with either option. We saw another one of the eight members who voted to oust Speaker Mccarthy, nancy mace of South Carolina did endorse jim jordan over the weekend. It will be interesting to see if there is a trend among those who voted to read the conference of Kevin Mccarthy. Host one of the discussions that came out after Speaker Mccarthys ouster was the changing of rules to change the way the speaker is ousted. Where is that status now . Is that something we can expect from the house . Guest that is a big debate. To give history, after the democrats took over the house and after the 2018 election, the rules changed so that you could not bring a motion to force a vote to oust the speaker unless it was at the direction of either one of the parties. But after that, the republicans took over. They were going to switch it and revamp it, the original rules in january were drafted such that you would need five members in order to force this vote. It was a big issue with those members of the Freedom Caucus and their allies withholding support for mccarthy to change that back down to one member, the way it had been for a long time. Until the democrats had changed it. There are some members who say, no, we should still keep it at one. There is a lot of anger about this. There are a lot of members who say we need to change or adjust this in some way or have assurance this will not happen again. Both candidates for speaker, Steve Scalise and jim jordan are saying that any changes that are made will have to have support from the republican conference. In order to change that rule, it would acquire a vote on the house floor. Host the hills emily brooks joining us for this discussion. Lets go to rhonda in new jersey, democrats line. Caller good morning, america. Oh, god, i think this is horrible what is going on. We do not have a functioning government. We never do when the republicans get in charge. The fact we do not have a speaker on the house they are on vacation for the weekend, they should all be calling an emergency meeting. They are gone, hanging out because they want to destroy this country and give it to trump. That is what they are doing. Jim jordan is a joke. We cannot put that man in there. He tried to overturn the election. He tried to give it to donald trump, so we are going to make them the speaker of our house . The most powerful government in the entire world. Step up, america. Host ok, rhonda. Lets go to steve joining us from pennsylvania, republican line. Caller good morning. That is going to be a tough act to follow. I think coming out of the conference, we will see Steve Scalise step down probably because of Health Reasons more than anything else. They will present jim jordan as the nominee for the speaker of the house. I would like to hear from emilys comments about the why the house has to be dysfunctional without a speaker . We have an interim speaker, is he totally powerless . I do not know. I look forward to your comments. Host thank you, steve. Guest it is an interesting, procedural conundrum the house is in right now. After 9 11, this idea of enacting speaker pro tem was implement it in order to implemented to preserve the house continuity of government purposes. After Speaker Mccarthy was elected, he wrote down a list of names of who would take this place as speaker pro tem in the event of a vacancy. On that list was Patrick Mchenry of North Carolina, close ally of mccarthy. The democrats on the House Rules Committee have put out a memo outlining their view of what the powers of the speaker pro tem could be. They think he is limited in power to only bring the house into session and recess the house and oversee the election of a new speaker and that is his primary role there. There are other commentators arguing that potentially he could have more power that the house could vote to give him more powers if they wanted to. He could have more powers. Right now, mchenry i think is trying to not push the envelope too much or set any precedents that could be problematic. He is taking a scaledback approach so far. Host we saw the democrats and the speaker and the votes to oust Speaker Mccarthy in lockstep with each other. Do you expect that kind of unity, whoever the new speaker might be . Guest i expect so. There is no incentive for democrats right now, especially after they voted to get rid of mccarthy to help them elect a new speaker. This has been something they have been saying is republican response ability. We did see minority leader Hakeem Jeffries come out with an oped saying he is open to working with republicans to work on a Bipartisan Coalition government. What exactly that would entail is unclear, but especially after working to vote against mccarthy after some republicans were hoping they would vote present in order to keep him around and save him, there is a lot of anger from the republican side at democrats less willingness to work on some kind of coalition government, remise right now. Host if you want to find is online, here is the piece. Had keim jeffries Bipartisan Coalition. I expect that is debt for arrival for republicans in the house . Guest i think so. There is not any incentive to work with democrats right now. That could change if there is a situation where they are deadlocked on who to pick as speaker and this drags on for days or weeks. And they feel some pressure in order to do Something Like pass more measures to help israel or urgent matters that could change. Host from ken in pennsylvania, independent line. Can in pennsylvania ken in pennsylvania. Caller good morning. I want to put forward a crazy motion for speaker of the house. For i do, i want to preface it. It drives me crazy to think that donald trump could be charged with a felony and still be president of the United States. The second thing i find interesting is, the speaker of the house does not have to be a member of the house if i am correct. Here is my thought. Liz cheney stood up, ok . And took a position against the january 6 insurrection. I believe she would have almost full support of democrats. I cant believe there are not other republicans that would not have a notion to at least give her enough for a nomination for that position. I think she would do great things and be a very partisan individual. Take my thing offline. Thank you for your time. Host any response . Guest i think that notion definitely an interesting idea, of course we have to remember the republican conference did vote to remove liz cheney from her position as conference chair after her increased criticism of former President Trump after january 6. There does not seem to be the president there they would give her any position of power. She was primary over in part because of that position. As far as whether the speaker has to be a member of the house, as mentioned earlier, there is nothing in the constitution prohibiting that. There are a few people that argue it should be a member of the house, somebody who knows the institution. Liz cheney is a former member, so she would have that institutional knowledge. From what i know about the republican conference now, i put the chances of liz cheney becoming speaker of the house at less than 1 . Host the House Speaker race in the forefront. Is there any work in the background by staffers or members of congress when it comes to keeping the government funded past the november deadline . Guest absolutely. Unlike in january where the speaker had not been elected yet and the house had not been organized yet, there were no committees in place right now, there are committees in place that are still there. They are authorized to do work and there are people still working on this government funding issues. What is interesting is, originally, the house schedule they were not supposed to be in session last week or this week. But, they had decided to come back into session in order to work on Appropriations Bills spending issues. Obviously, that got derailed by this speakers race and ouster of Speaker Mccarthy. How this will effect the spending issues coming up with another potential stopgap or passing more Appropriations Bills before that november 17 deadline is on the minds of house members, as well. Host this is a viewer in florida, independent line. Hello. Caller good morning, i have got good news for america. I want to give elite to ms. Brooks. There is a behindthescenes effort to get john casey if there is a deadlock this week, john casey would be put forward since he is a former member of congress. He worked on a ballot balanced budget in the late 1990s. He can work with democrats. He is a good man. Check it out. Mark pocan is one of the democrats pushing for this. He assured me last week he would promote john kasich. Bruce westerman, a republican from arkansas is possibly interested. I want you to check out this lead. Host ok. Guest absolutely. There are several names that people have mentioned as potential candidates that can emerge if the house is deadlocked on Steve Scalise or jim jordan and cant side between the two and a third option could come up. We did see one other potential candidate, havent heard from oklahoma, the chair of the Republican Study Committee kevin heard from oklahoma, he decided not to lodge an official bid over the weekend. The thought was he could be one of those potential people who rose up as potential third option if the conference cant decide between the two candidates. Host mark in new jersey, democrats line. Hi there. Caller thank you for cspan. I just cant believe the disarray in the house. The republicans cant even manage keeping a speaker. They now have to elect a new one. The fact is, the republicans want to put the government into chaos because they do not like government. That is their whole purpose of being. Trump has even said he is going to gut the ministry of state if he gets it again. This is unbelievable. Media acts like this is normal. I am curious about what your guest has to say about republicans doing a terrible job or not doing their job or wrecking things. In my view, we have one actual Political Party who wants to do the job and that is the democrats. They need to do a better job. And party and the big picture whether republicans who threw the tea party up through trump and candidates very aggressive against washington like increase the debt limit or vote for stopgap spending bills. The former Speaker Mccarthy when he announced he was not going to seek the speakership again, he was asked he said he thinks it is a problem with House Republicans and has to do with rules and the structure of things. And a lot of us are wondering what this says about the Republican Party. Host i suppose they have to consider how they are perceived for the 2024 election on how this plays out. Guest absolutely 2020 for. It is still a while away. We have a year into the general election. So how much of this will last until then is yet to be seen but one thing that could be a blow to republican is mccarthy was a very big fundraiser for House Republican candidates and a powerhouse in that is one advantage that Steve Scalise is bringing. He is a much bigger fundraiser than jim gordon and could be the figurehead of fundraising and how that will affect candidates. There was frustration that some of the candidates that voted to oust mccarthy got help from him in their elections. The financial aspect of this and how much that is affected, whether mccarthy is still able to fund raise for the Republican Party and whether he wants to will be interesting. Host what is the possibility mccarthy might leave before his term ends . Guest there is a possibility and when he was asked at a press conference he was saying that he hasnt really thought about it and then theyd are on friday he said he would run for another term and was going to stay in the house. The same path that Speaker Pelosi took and she ran for another term and is staying in the house and is still there to support House Democrats. Could change his mind, especially after the speakers election. Usually these things can come up quickly, but what his role will be Going Forward should he estate will be interesting. Host one more call from jesse, from a florida, republican line. Caller i would like to get your opinion on elected speaker of the house. As i understand it the speaker of the house, i dont see why it wouldnt be up to the people to elect a speaker of the house for the term and then you wouldnt have to worry about they would have to be impeached to be removed. I would like to. Get your opinion on that. I would like to get your opinion on that. Guest it is interesting. I dont know if members being a part of the house, how do you have someone running for all districts in the National Election in order to pick them as speaker. There is also the question of what if a person was elected speaker who was of the minority party. One of the interesting questions there but right now the health and senate with the members of the legislative body choose their own rules as a body and choose to empower their speaker as much as they want to. In theory the house could further limit the powers of the speaker if it wanted to but it has not in a long time. Host you can see our guests work at the hill. Com. The events of this week and how they play out. Thanks for your time. Later we are going to hear from reverend Markel Hutchins to discuss policeCommunity Engagement and the role of the Faith Community. We will get an upda o the 2024 president ial race and will also return with calls. The ite house and congress for suppor for israel after attacks from hamas. You can give your thoughts on reaction. 202 7488001 for republicans 202 7488000 for democts, independents 202 7488002. We wl take the calls when washington journal continues. Night watch the cspan series in partnership with the library of Congress Books that change america it will include life of Frederick Douglass, written in 1845, the first of three autobiographies by Frederick Douglass, deeply personal and graphic language he describes his childhood years on the Eastern Shore of maryland, his time as a slave in baltimore in his escape north in 1838. The was widely sold and influenced abolition. Watch books that shaped america featuring narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass tonight live at 9 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan, cspan now, our free mobile video app or online at cspan. Org. Scan the qr code to listen to our companion podcast where you can look more learn more about the authors from the books featured. Cspan studentcam documentary competition is back, celebrant 20 years with this years theme looking forward while considering the past. We ask middle and High School Students to create a five to six minute video addressing one of these questions in the next 20 years, what is the most important change you would like to see in america or over the past 20 years what has been the most important change in america . We are giving away 100,000 in total prizes with the grand prize of 5,000 and every teacher who has students participate in this years competition has the opportunity to share a portion of the additional 50,000. The deadline is , january 19, 2024. For information, visit our website at studentcam. Org. Washington journal continues. Host we are getting calls taking a look at what you think washington should be doing in light of the attacks in israel. Call 202 7488001 for republicans, 202 7488000 for democrats, independents 202 7488002. Feel free to text us at 202 7488003. Reuters is reporting the United States will send multiple military ships and aircraft closer to israel. With washington leaving the hamas attacks may be to cut israeli and saudi arabia ties, the Bloodiest Day in decades saturday. Airstrikes in gaza and hundreds killed on both sides. The threatening a new major work in the middle east. Three americans were among those killed. The defense secretary he is ordering the uss gerald ford to the mediterranean. The defense secretary said they also took steps to augment the air force with f16s in the region. The United States he said would also provide munitions to israel. That is just some of these reports stemming from washington. We heard congressional support from the previous guest want to get your thoughts on that washington reaction. Lets start with peter in pennsylvania, independent line. Caller i just wanted to call to express my support for palestine. These people have been locked in cages 20 years almost, kids growing up their whole lives inside an open air prison. What we need to be supporting is boycotting, divesting and sanctioning israel until they stop this apartheid genocide is that israel is putting on the Palestinian People. Host asked, North Carolina, democrats line. Caller we are in no position to protect ourselves much less israel or any other country because we dont have the fuel reserves and that is just about depleted. All that back up and stop making pledges to other countries. I am not democrat or republican. Host qr kong on the line for democrats. Are you a democrat or not you are calling on the line for democrats. Are you a democrat or not . I will leave it there. Next caller. Caller i think we should support israel. They were the first slaves i know from reading in the bible. I think anyone that is antiisrael, we all bleed red. I believe god created everybody and we should help everybody and try to put it to a stop. Host would you extend that help to palestinians . Caller yes, god created every living being so yes i would. Host at is matthew in new york that was matthew in new york. Former mccarthy made these or were Speaker Mccarthy made these comments. [video clip] we never can rely on one form of information. Hamas worked like an old mafia, passing notes and that is why you have to be diligent and going around in getting information. This is a terrorist organization that is very sophisticated. You have to worry about what about the rest of the world that created this access of power, iran, russia, china, north korea, all who want to expand their influence. We should Pay Attention to what is happening around the world and the same thing could happen to us. Israel has a secure border. They have two walls with sensors in between and roads in between. We dont have it on our border. Think about the number of people who cross our border, almost 9 Million People coming from 160 Different Countries. We caught more people on the terrorist watch list. In the month of february then we did the last administration. We caught two people on different days from ammon on the terrorist watch list which is tied to iran, coming into california. With caught a number of people coming from china. If you take 1 of those coming across, it is 9000 individuals that come from china directly in. This is a fear that what is happening in israel could happen around the world. But could happen in america with those sitting in america with with this administration has done to our border . Host will hear from derek in washington, d. C. On the democrats line. Caller i am amazed and disappointed in our president and how he has reacted to send stuff over there. They dont need more bullets. They have plenty. He has just lost my vote as a democrat and cory booker is an disgrace to the africanamerican community. It is so amazing how we are not recognizing what is going on toward these Palestinian People with land grabs. All we talk about his poor israel. They have jets and these people have nothing. It is amazing to me that we are doing what we are doing. We need to be neutral. This is how you have a country being neutral. It is apartheid 101. It is shameful that any black american would side with this craziness of poor israel. Host assist anthony, new mexico, independent line this is anthony, new mexico, independent line. Caller we are concerned with the u. S. Department of agriculture. Host how does this deal with how washington reacts to israel . Caller we are dealing with people of all nationalities. Host beverly is up in san diego, california, republican line. Caller and 100 in support of send everything you have to them. Host we will continue with your calls if you want to make your thoughts on the washington response to israel. 202 7488001 for republicans, 202 7488000 for democrats, independents 202 7488002. Text at 202 7488003. In washington state, seattle, democrat line. Caller i just wanted to say, can you do a show unaided to israel. We give 500 million in missiles in defense, drones, six main dollars for u. S. Israeli cybersecurity corporation grant, 2 million for israeli homeland host where are you getting your figures from . Caller from the ap. Host would you cut off all foreign aid or just israel in this case . Caller i want to see peace. The weight israel has been behaving it is not going to happen. It is just that the way israel has been happening will not allow peace to prosper. I want to see peace on both sides. Host should the United States take definite position specifically against hamas for its actions . Caller definitely. Hamas has grown out of the desperation of being persecuted where people can take your land and collective punishment and destroy your crops. We have people coming in from america walking into your home, saying this is my home. We are ignoring the facts. If we lived under that kind of tyranny, what would you do . I dont support what is going on but how can peace happen and why are we not questioning our aid. We give israel more aid than any other country. Host a person commenting yesterday was the Deputy National Security Officer on nbc bucking about the assistance the United States could provide at this time, especially making the point with hostages being taken. Here are comments from yesterday. [video clip] the fact that there has been is release and others from israel proper back into gaza will make things more complicated from an operational perspective and our hearts go out to the people caught up in that situation. We will be closely coordinating and working with israeli partners on making every effort to bring those people back safely. This is a situation that is likely to play out for some time. I do think we were are going to be wrestling with this for a while and working closely with israel as they plan whatever operations they have underway and the incisions tactically will me made by them as they are on the ground. You mentioned military assistance with secretary blinken also said is under consideration. How concerned are you about the lack of a speaker of the house . Can funding get through the house without a speaker . We can take actions in the immediate term and i think youll see us take actions in the immediate interim. One of the first conversations as the situation was unfolding was secretary austin with his israeli counterpart in the ministry of defense so we could best understand in what ways we can provide support. Going forward, certainly any sort of additional cooperations will require functional house representatives and we would like to see that situation resolved as soon as possible. Host that was on yesterday. If you are on the phone, stay put. Calling in, 202 7488001 for republicans, 202 7488000 for democrats, independents 202 7488002. We will take a few minutes to get an update on the campaign trail. The week ahead, join us to gust that is stephanie murray, the politics reporter. Good morning to you. Guest thank you for having me. Host how do you think the events in israel will affect the candidates for the white house . Guest it shows an interesting split in the gop primary field. Foreign policy has been an area where the field is split and you have seen that over the last several days. Your the former Vice President mike pence throwing punches at former president donald trump, ron desantis, Vivek Ramaswamy saying israel and in pences words, a perfect example of that. We have seen disagreement over ukraine and funding for ukraine that israel is another area where you will see things split but obviously a very dynamic and evolving situation. I think there is a lot to see what happens. This is an area or you can see the field splitting. Host we are expected today to hear an announcement from Robert Kennedy junior about his future plans running for office. Can you set that up for us . Guest this is going to be interesting to see rfk moving from the democratic primary to we think running as independent. The thing to watch is whether he will be a spoiler for either of the candidates in the general election. There are reports the trump team is concerned about him taking votes away from trump. There is also concern they would pull from joe biden. Even without a clear chance for winning in the system we have, an independent candidate can make a huge difference for the general election when it comes to buying and perhaps former President Trump based on the polling. Independents like rfk could have an impact that it is unclear what that might be yet. Host s or any sense of why he is thinking of making this change . Guest it is a situation where he could stay in the race longer and get more attention. In the democratic primary he has not gotten into debates. He is looking for an area where he can make the biggest flash. Host talk about nikki haley as far as she is doing. It seems like the name gets mentioned more and more as she campaigns. What kind of impact does she have . Guest over the past debates nikki haley has had standout performances in both of them. You saw the impact in the polls, especially in New Hampshire, the first primary state. She is rising in the polls. She has overtaken ron desantis, who has been in second place for the majority of the race in New Hampshire and he has fallen in the polls, especially in New Hampshire where he hasnt spent time. He is betting on isle in the iowa caucuses. Nikki haley has been in the state taking advantage of that and moving ahead. She is far second to former President Trump but rising in the polls in New Hampshire. That is where you can get momentum and bring it across the rest of the primary calendar. She will be interesting to watch as she emerges from a very crowded, largescale republicans to start to stand out in a state that really matters. Host if you go online you can find the story taking a look at Governor Desantis operations in iowa. What is he doing there . Guest he is betting on iowa. He has moved Staff Members to iowa and he is trying to make a huge splash in the state. He is visiting all 99 counties and spending a lot of time there but the challenge is every cycle we see candidates who either moved staff to i a what or even with themselves or rent an apartment or do Different Things to show iowa caucusgoers they are committed to the state, it doesnt always work and can put you in a challenging position once the caucuses are over. It can be harder to get resources elsewhere. He is betting on his first in the nation caucus state to deliver him some momentum and they would like to have a strong secondplace showing against former President Trump and manage expectations there. So it really trying to make a big splash in iowa but the way the caucuses are structured, it is a huge challenge. Host former president is dealing with legal issues but how is he compensating for that . Guest he had started to spend lots more time in iowa showing that this is a huge primary state for everyone but especially for trump. It is not the easiest state for him. In 2016, he didnt when the caucuses, ted cruz did but it shows that you can win them but it doesnt always deliver you the presidency and trump has been there saying his contract committed to making it there. Host thanks for your time. Guest thanks for having me. Host back to your calls on the response to israel. No one in the independent line. Caller i feel that there should be a stop on the moratorium from support to israel and iran. American indians should they this since it has been aliens right issue since after world war i. The u. S. Government should remember to remember the treaties they negotiated, which is asking for folks to resign and share our petition. It dovetails with todays comment regarding israel and land rights regarding American Indians and businesspeople abroad. Host will from silver spring, maryland, independent. Caller i just want to make this quick. Maybe another color can educate me. But like a lot of people i have this in where it is confusing because we sit back and watch israel bomb palestine and oppress them or decades and there is no Media Coverage but as soon as palestine or any other muslim nation fights back, it is on every media outlet. Host specific case it was hamas. Caller but hamas, whatever it is, why is it always we have to come to the aid of israel . What is our allegiance to israel . What makes it so special, african nations get bound on every day and kids get killed and we dont cover it in america. What is so special about israel . Maybe someone can educate me on that and give me the significance of why the people of israel get our full undivided support and aid. What makes them different . Host letter from susan in idaho, democrats line. Caller taking a talking point from the previous calls on Indigenous Peoples day. I think it is really interesting that nobody is covering this as just pure revenge. For solid year, even in the usa media that is israel centric, we have been hearing about jewish settlers running amok on the west bank causing the army to have to Pay Attention to that area because of the killing of local palestinian farmers and villagers. Now they are not available to the southwestern flank near gaza to protect the people there. This is so much on netanyahu and the government he has an it so similar to our incursions into indian territory, even here in idaho. Host in ohio, republican line. Caller as far as the white house really getting involved with this, i dont think they are going to do too much. But i can say this about israel, i have grown up with israel and the palestinians fighting for decades and decades and decades, and i think it is time that israel really needs to get tough on the palestinians. I hate to say it but it is true. They need to get in there and clear out the gaza strip and deport everyone of the palestinians. I dont mean to be mean and nasty about it but it is never going to stop unless they clean all of the people out of the country and depart them to the other countries. Host rachel is joining us from new jersey on our independent line. Caller i have a few i have a few items to clear up. A lot of people are under the impression that the palestinians are the indigenous folk. They are not. Anybody who is truly interested can consult a history book and the bible and see how long the jewish people have been there, how long they have had their own governments there before palestine even came into existence. The word palestine was given the name by an invading force. It was not the original name the jews gave their own land. Somehow the word palestine has stuck. It was never given by the jews. Host it see is reporting from cnn this morning a state Department Spokesperson about the death toll of americans killed in israel, i can confirm that nine americans unfortunately have lost their lives to the result of the horrific attacks in the region, according to matt miller. Official told congress the administration is investigating unconfirmed reports of americans being held hostage by hamas. You cant factor that into the washingtons reaction to events in israel. Good call, or text us. This is frank from virginia, republican line. Caller i was calling on the democratic line. Host i am sorry. You can try again. Lets go to west virginia, republican line. Caller i just wanted to say that i support the people of israel. Host why is that . Caller because i see that these people they are producing savages, they have no respect. Host colin in washington, d. C. , independent line. Caller i am kind of shocked at the last couple of callers referring to the palestinians as savages. I dont think that is appropriate in this context. My point is twofold. Number one, the special relationship that the United States has done nothing but destabilize the region and this constant claim that israel is a democracy makes me think that i might have shortterm amnesia because there has been internal strife regarding the fascist takeover of their government. I dont understand that. My second point is i constantly hear that israel is in an tough neighborhood in the middle east. I dont understand that point because jordan is there next her neighbor and is arguably our biggest ally. I dont understand that as well as egypt, lebanon, saudi arabia, turkey. Israel is close to being a fascist state already and this will needlessly cause the deaths of people in the open air prison in gaza. Host the Washington Post in reporting on secretary Antony Blinken talking about the iranian assets frees you up frees up. He said the state department sent around since 100 million spends hundred million on hamas a year. A group called it a relatively small amount in the context of the overall finances and that iran would most likely back hamas regardless of whether the 6 billion in humanitarian funds would be made available. Funny, National Security policy for iran, they will find the money. What they want to spend they will spend. Also quoted the House Majority leader steve schooleys saying the Biden Administration must be held accountable for these terrorists including handing over the billions of dollars for them. He made those comments on x and in the context of a running for House Speaker. Lets hear from forest in arizona, democrats line. Caller good morning and thanks for taking my call. I am with the palestinians, because i heard two women recently say that they were beasts and animals and comparing them to the black men of he United States. As far as israel, benjamin netanyahu, they use the same playbook. They are trying to corrupt the judicial system in america and israel so they can stay out of jail. I am not israel on this. Host there were comments made about the forthcoming speaker race that the House Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries alluded to events in israel and the u. S. Response. Here is a portion of that. [video clip] i dont need to tell you the United States does not currently have a speaker of the house. The u. S. House is frozen and cant respond until that happens. How big of a problem is this for america and globally . It is my hope that our republican colleagues get their act together and can settle on a speaker who can receive 200 17 votes and that we can move forward to get the business of the American People done, both as it relates to our domestic needs as well as the National Security considerations in terms of being therefore israel, the ukrainian people, for our allies in the free world. To the extent our republican colleagues are unable to resolve the ongoing republican civil war, we have made clear as democrats that we are ready, willing, and able to find Common Ground to enter into a bipartisan path forward so we can govern the house in an enlightened fashion that ensures that bipartisan priorities that have sinned of it can support from democrats and republicans in the house can receive and up or down vote. So that we can move over and get things done for the American People as opposed to allowing the extremists within the house or publican conference to tom hate the agenda. Host is the house and senate come back into session later, and particularly in the house, stay close to cspan and cspan2. You could also follow along on the app and you can go to our website at cspan. Org to follow along as well. This is carla in oklahoma, republican line. Caller this is an answer to a previous caller asking why we always come to israels aid. I believe it doesnt have anything to do with religion but it is the only democracy in that area and we should help defend our allies and people with the same political views as us in this world. Host independent line, odell, go ahead from North Carolina. Caller good morning. I would like to thank all veterans for their service. I am a marine veteran and to all black men listening to this program, please read our history. I would like to wreck amend a book called half american. Before you go any further, as far as washingtons reaction to israel that we are talking about, what would you say the reaction should be . Caller the reaction should be, lets find peace. Stop the killing. Israel, stop the apartheid list indians. Learn how to read and cap along with our fellow human beings. Host this is mark in florida, democrats line. Caller first, there are no hostages. They have killed them all. Secondly, i wish i was mr. Truman. Mr. Truman veldt dealt very with dropping bombs. We dont have to do it. We need to take them out in that way. Host lets go to rochester, republican line, this is ron. Caller thank you for having me. My opinion is we should stay out of israel and protect our own borders. We just gave iran 6 billion. So that will be going to hamas and iran if we stay involved. Host this is michelle, chevy chase, maryland, independent line. Caller i just wanted to respond to the woman from new jersey talking about the indigenous and palestine. The canon nights predated the cannonites redated them. Predated them. It is apartheid and these are people fighting the most advanced weaponry with rocks. Our support has done nothing to help. I think it needs to be an International Forum and need to focus on the fact that this is basically an extermination of the people. I dont want my tax dollars being any part of it. Host this is the opinion of the wall street journal, the lead editorial looks at events there. They say the response is israels to make and deserves the wests resort support. They say the temptation of the white house will be to give israel a week or so to respond with a free hand and then lean on the netanyahu government to stand down. That is always the u. S. Pattern but shouldnt be this time. If war breaks out wider, will have to provide the support necessary to destroy hamas. One more call, this is from bill in florida, independent line. Caller i just want to say if we do not support israel, it could turn into like south vietnam. A professor at harvard once said, if we supported and won in south vietnam, it would be like south korea today and we have to defend ukraine. If we want to live these young kids dont care if they live under a socialism or Something Like putin, so we have to support the people fighting for their freedom. The kids dont understand this. Maybe they ought to think about joining the service for a couple of years. Host bill from florida finishing off this round of calls. We are going to change direction and talk about the relationship beeen the police and the communities they serve. Joining us is the faith and blue lead organizer at reverend Markel Hutchins. He will talk about those issues when we return. The office of the speaker of the house of the United States of representatives is hereby declared vacant. On tuesday at five got p. M. Eastern, the house meet to discuss potential candidates following Kevin Mccarthys removal with a vote expected and stay morning. The House Democrats have announced their plan to again select minority speaker Hakeem Jeffries as their speaker. Follow every moment as this historic election unfolds watch on cspan, cspan now, our free video mobile app or online at cspan. Org. Cspan, your unfiltered view of government. If you ever miss any of cspans coverage, you can find it anytime online at cspan. Org, videos from key hearings and debates and other events which are markers that guide you to interesting and newsworthy highlights. These markers appear on the righthand side of your screen when you hit play. This timeline makes it easy to quickly get an idea of what was debated and decided in washington. Spend a few minutes on cspans points of interest. As part of our new series, we are asking you what books you think shaped america. I think about that shaped america is the mockingbird. The jungle. You can join and by submitting your pick for the books that help shape the country. You can select to record a video. Tell us your pick and why. Be sure to watch books that shaped america on cspan. Cspan studentcam documentary competition is back, celebrating 20 years with this years theme the king forward while considering the past. We ask bill in High School Students to create a five to six minute video addressing one of these questions, what is the most important change you would like to see in america in the next 20 years or over the past 20 years, what has been the most important change in america . We are giving away 100,000 in total prizes with a grand prize of 5,000. And students can share a portion of that withers. The deadline is january 19, 20 visit our website at studentcam. Org. Cspan bookshelf podcast makes it easy for you to listen to all of cspans podcast that feature nonfit nonfiction books or discover new authors and ideas. Each week we make it convenient for you to listen to multiple episodes with critically acclaimed authors discussing history, biography, Current Events and culture. Afterwards, book notes plus and q and a. Listen to bookshelf podcasts today at the precspan mobile app and on our website. 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It was widely sold and said to highly influence abolition. The author will be the guest on the program to discuss the book. Watch books that shaped america featuring narratives of the life of Frederick Douglass tonight, live at nine cop p. M. Eastern on cspan, cspan now, our free yelp mobile app or online at cspan. Org. Be sure to scan the qr code to listen to our companion podcast where you can learn more about the authors of the books featured. Cspan shop. Org is cspans online store. Browse the latest collection of apparel, books, home to core home decor. Every purchase helps support our nonprofit organizations. Shop now anytime at cspanshop. Org. Washington journal continues. Host joining us for a discussion on policing and computing in gate and Community Engagement is reverend Markel Hutchins, the president and ceo of blue board. Thank you for giving us your time. Guest good to be with you. Host lets talk about the National Faith and blue weekend. Guest it is now the largest and most consolidated Police Community outreach progress project in america. We are engaged with Law Enforcement officers of every kind to help build bridges between Police Officers and the communities they serve. Faith and blue weekend is october 6 through october 9 and thousands of activities happening and hundreds more happening today. Host what prompted you to start this event . Guest and involved and human rights and civil rights for decades. I have been the protege and mentee of icons that worked closely to Martin Luther king junior. In 2020, i saw people in different sides of the street yelling and screaming messages that seemed to be dividing us rather than uniting us. I knew we needed to do something different. We created faith and blue weekend to promote unity and healing and reconciliation and collaboration between communities and Law Enforcement. Host if you talk about building bridges, what are the biggest obstacles between Police Engagement and the communities they serve . Guest Police Officers too often dont know those they serve on a human level and the community doesnt know Police Officers on a human level. I am not just talking about ceremonial or getting to know each other for pomp and circumstance or pleasantries. The thing that kills so many people in Police Involved tragedies is here. Is fear. We have to decrease the fear and increase humanity between officers and people in local communities. That in my estimation is the biggest inhibitor to progress, not knowing one another and not being able to connect on human level because ultimately that is the thing that will prevent an officer from using force that is unnecessary and will prevent a person in a community from acting out of fear when they encounter a Law Enforcement professional. Host if that is the case, what is the community and Police Departments across the United States doing to build those relations . Guest Law Enforcement for too long has not placed a premium on Community Engagement. Community engagement is essential to Public Safety, particularly in this environment. Law enforcement officers cannot effectively Police Communities they dont know and dont understand or connect with. We have gotten away in the last couple of decades from Law Enforcement being integrated into the day to day lives of their communities. Every Police Officer, sheriffs deputy and state and federal agent should get to know the people they are policing on human level and allow the people in the community to get to know the Police Officers. That is the thing that is going to change policing in america and change our communities for the better. The number one human rights issue today in my estimation is crime and violence. It is incumbent on all of us know matter what our political ideology around Law Enforcement, it is incumbent on all of us to get involved and get in relationship with Law Enforcement and help to reduce the tensions, reduce the mutual bias. Ultimately, that will result in less Law Enforcement involved tragedy, less assault and attacks on Law Enforcement professionals and less crime. Host if you want to ask him questions about policing and Community Engagement, republicans 202 7488001, dem dots democrats 202 7488000 , independents . 202 7488002. It is been three years since george floyd. What is the effect been for not only those who police with those communities they serve . Guest been a dangerous and detrimental effect in the aftermath of george floyd. It has had consequences on a number of levels. Number one, Police Officers have retreated in a lot of instances and more people leaving the profession then ever before. There is a staffing crisis in the Law Enforcement community. I was in Los Angeles Police Department Saturday for one of their faith and blue events and they shared with me that there are they are 1000 officers down in los angeles. That is a real crisis and has a lot to do with the aftermath of George Floyds death. There are increased tensions between cops and communities and more Police Involved tragedies since the death of george floyd than there were before the death of george lloyd as well. Crime and violence is reaching very dangerous places in terms of the numbers of crimes happening in our communities. We see a perfect storm where this continuing distrust between Law Enforcement and communities is adversely affecting the communities because crime is increasing and also making officers. We need to go towards the things that unite us. When we do so we realize that no matter where we are from an what we do professionally or what our identity is, we can lessen the tension which also increases the trust and collaboration. That is what National Faith and blue weekend is doing across the country this weekend. Host is the police exe forum that hiring seems to be picking up. Agencies hired more agents. Agencies are losing them faster than they can hire new ones. So staffing has continued to decline. What are they telling you about why they are leaving and if they are . Guest the animosity directed at Police Officers is driving a lot of polices out of the profession. Suicides are up in Law Enforcement. There is a direct correlation between the mistrust and distrust and some of the narratives that may not be completely accurate. All of those things are driving Police Officers away from the freshening the data shows that when there is less Police Presence, crime and violence increase and that affects almost all of the communities. As a civil rights person, i promote the issue of police and Community Relations to life and death. Too many people are losing their lives and people being violated by violence and crime because there is a dwindling Police Presence in local communities. We need to invest more in alternatives to incarceration. We cannot decrease the number of Police Officers in our local communities and expect crime and violence to decrease on any level. That is what the movement is all about. Where they would, and not just harass us, they would talk to us on a personal level. Get to know us. Get to know what is going on in the community. Where i lived at in east delay east l. A. , that was a different atmosphere. There was constant drivebys from gangs. Having a oneonone conversation and getting to know each other, give him the information he needed of what gang members there were or what was going on helped him do his job easier. It made it easier for me and my friends at the time. We were in high school. We were not afraid of talking to them. Host thanks, caller. Guest you are right. It is essential Law Enforcement officers connect on a human level. Get out of the cars, get out of their comfort zones it get to know the people that they are policing. If they fail to do so, if you are policing in a community that you do not understand you did not grow up in that community, now you are placed there in a position of authority where you have the ability to take life from people, you must connect to that community on a human level. Otherwise, you will get the psychological and emotional profile of the community you will develop. Both the people you are resting and people causing disruptions in those communities, which is why it is so important a matter of reducing bias. There is a lot of conversations happening nationally about the need for police reform. I certainly agree. Every Police Officer in america should have a body. Every Police Officer should have a nonlethal option other than just a gun. Every Law Enforcement officer also needs to have relationships with the people in their local communities. The biggest need for reform in policing is not in policy and procedure, but its relational reformation. Police in communities have to relate more closely if we are going to see an improvement in these relationships. Host winston in columbus, ohio. Independent line. Caller good morning. I had a question and a disagreement on one thing. When you speak about Martin Luther king, i wonder if you would agree with what Martin Luther king was saying and that a jobs guarantee, a guarantee of clean water and food, education these are the things that will bring down crime. That is what Martin Luther king said. Im not sure if you are correctly representing what he stood for. Cops get away with the crime they committed, is a big issue. You have not yet mentioned accountability for police wrongdoing. You keep saying police need to see people as human how do you get a badge and a gun and get to go into somebody elses community if you do not know human beings exist . I think you have completely missed anything Martin Luther king has tried to teach and you may need to look at it again. Host ok, we will let our guests respond to that. Guest i can tell you very frankly that the people in this country are more wellversed than the philosophy of nonviolent social change dr. King taught. I was fortunate to be mentored i most icons that worked with dr. King, including his wife. What dr. King said is we have to invest in the underlying conditions, programs that deal with underlying conditions of crime and violence. One of those is that Police Officers are not connected to the communities that they serve. You also heard me mention we need to invest more in the underlying challenges that drive Violent Crime in local communities. Certainly, investing in opportunities for young people that would give them options other than crime. I do not disagree with you at all. One of those critical elements as we sit here in 2023 is, Police Officers have to know the people that they are policing. As for police accountability, that is important. That accountability cannot just be criminal accountability. We saw the officers that killed george floyd go to jail. We saw the officers that killed tyre nichols being indicted and charged with their crimes. That has not decreased the numbers of officer involved tragedies. I do not just want to curse the darkness. I want america to light a candle. We can hold Police Officers accountable, we must. That accountability becomes even greater when there is a connection between the community and Law Enforcement. Host kim and iowa. Democrats line, good morning. Caller pastor, i disagree with you. Everyone in this country are human. Everyone should see people as human beings. Guest they should. Caller working or not. What profession they are or not. Accountability always works. If they do wrong i do not support wrong. If they do right, i support right. It cant be one or the other. Yes, an officer needs to know the people in the community. But im what type of officers . But, what type of officers . We need to vent our officers more closely instead of seeing everybody as criminal. I get with the police here in iowa. You see mostly everyone has criminals, even if it is a small crime. Wrong. It is just wrong. Host thank you. Thank you. Guest pedro, i am not sure what she disagreed with. I certainly am a proponent of police accountability. Again, we cannot just hold Police Accountable in times of tragedy and crises. We have to get ahead of that. That is what these relationships will afford us to do. That accountability has to happen on a day to day basis in every neighborhood. Police Officers Police differently, there is a different level of combat level of accountability when they have a sense of shared responsibility with the community. That is what we are talking about this morning, creating that level of accountability that supersedes crises, that happens every day in every community in every way. Host you talked about narratives earlier police between police and community. Could you elaborate on that . Guest what we have heard from and what we have seen too much of it is vocal minorities dr. King used to call it not enough of a solid majority. There was a poll recently done where 70 of africanamericans and hispanics and more than 80 of white americans want the same or more Law Enforcement in their communities. Everyone wants no one once to be profiled or mistreated and far too often, that is what is happening in depressed and underserved communities. By and large, communities want the same or more Law Enforcement. That is not what you have heard enough of of in media. We have to figure out how to perfect policing, get them better trained, equipped, better resourced. The idea of taking resources away from Law Enforcement is not what the majority of the American People want. Yet, we have heard so much of that. In the media. Again, there is all of these false binaries that people and i think we have heard some of that from your listeners it is not us versus them. We have to get away from that mindset, us versus them. Yet, i have led protester demonstrations and i work in advocacy, have put corrupt officers behind bars. I no longer wish to lead a movement that is just based on crises. We have to get ahead of these crises and prevent officer involved tragedies. The way to do that is not just prosecute them. Certainly, prosecute officers when they are wrong. We have to get ahead of that. There has been too much cursing the darkness. We have to light a candle in every local community. Host recently, senator john kennedy talked about this aspect of policing but talked about laws himself. He said in part, we need cops to enforce the law. Even if we fill every polic vacancy, some backing policies that returned cmils to the streets after apprehend citizens. Ize more lawabiding some awoke prosecutors ies like San Francisco declined to charge violent criminals. When woke prosecutors decide to press charges, they cut plea deals and avoid time behind bars per the National Narrative makes it hard for good Law Enforcement to keep good people safe. What do you think about that . Guest i am apprehensive about the terminology of woe. That has been used politically as a hot potato. There is a level of consciousness that has been raised across the political spectrum. People are more concerned as we should be about the interest of justice and fairness. But, there is truth and what he offered. Our Police Officers must be resources, there must be accountability. The back and forth with some of us in the social Justice Movement are on one side of the street yelling, our lives matter. People respond and respect and support Law Enforcement no matter what wrong they do on the others of the street. That is not getting us anywhere. We have to come together at the table, not simply to exchange pleasantries but so we can see the realities of one anothers experience and existence. That is what has to happen at every turn in every local community. There is a lot of discussion in programs like this, but the solution to the challenges we face with distrust, with mistreatment, with Police Violence as well as Community Violence the answers to those challenges lie in the local communities with their local identities, their local perspectives and their local demographics. That is what is doing across the country, facilitate that level of engagement and not just talk from one side of the political aisle or the other. Host i forgot to ask you, your organization movement. What is that . Guest Movement Forward is a solution focused Civil Rights Organization where that advocates justice, human and civil rights for people despite their identities. We are taking the work of the civil rights movement, the human rights movement, the movement for lgbtq equality and moving it forward into new generations and cooperative spaces. I think that is the kind of work that dr. King be doing if he were alive. Host lets hear from don in indiana, republican line. Caller yeah, i am don from indiana. I was listening to what you were saying. About, how the Community Gets more involved. I am thinking, how can you get the religious job of the community to get more involved . The trouble is sin, and the heart of man. The only way to remedy the sin and heart of man is through jesus christ and the religious community how could you get them more involved in police work and Community Services . Host ok, don in indiana. Guest i appreciate your perspective. I believe you are correct in your analysis. There has never been a movement for positive social change in the history of this country from the Abolition Movement to the civil rights movement, everything in between there has never been a movement for Progressive Social change that was not anchored in the Faith Community. I am a student of the human and civil rights movement. I was born a decade after dr. King was killed. I am mindful it was reverend dr. King junior. Reverend andrew young. Reverend wholesale williams. Reverend john lewis. The list goes on and on. Those people were at the head of the civil rights movement. It was not by accident. There is a spirit of determination, a spirit of unity that existed in faithbased organizations. I would argue that if we are going to see a decrease in Police Involved tragedies, a decrease in crime and violence, a decrease in distrust between communities and Law Enforcement, it will be because faithbased organizations every church, every synagogue, every mosque, every temple has got to get involved in the Public Safety of their community at large. Which is why faith and blue weekend is premised on Law Enforcement agencies and faithbased organizations coming together to serve the community at large, not just for religious purposes but because faithbased organizations are the largest body of volunteers of any kind in this country. When the Faith Community and Law Enforcement come together, they can decrease the challenges by decreasing the bias and increasing collaboration. That is what faith and blue weekend is about. Thousands of faithbased organizations across this country have responded to the call. Host it was after george floyd and tyre nichols the Justice Department said they would investigate policing practices of certain Police Departments across the United States. How comfortable are you with that oversight . Guest i am very comfortable with this Justice Department. I have great confidence in the attorney general, great confidence in the Deputy Attorney jeopardy attorney general. Months of these causes and the investigations i think we are seeing progress. I have no doubt this Justice Department will continue to find instances where Police Officers have overstepped their bounds and violated peoples rights. The community has got to get involved in those efforts. One of the things i said to the attorney general, deputy and associate attorney general, there should be more investment in Community Programs that cause Law Enforcement efforts ares to be connected to the communities they serve. Ultimately, intergroup contact theory teaches us when we know each other on a deeper and more intimate basis, trust will increase. You cannot police effectively or justly communities that you do not know and do not understand. There is too much emphasis on other things and not enough emphasis on getting officers connected to the communities that they are sworn to protect and serve. Host to that point, it was Merrick Garland earlier this year talking about the Justice Departments plan and investment into Community Policing efforts. I want to play you a bit of that speech. [video clip] we are committed to doing everything in our power to support you and to give back to the officers who have given so much to this country. This year, the department is seeking 2. 7 billion for our cops Office Hiring program. This funding will enable us to help our state and local Law Enforcement partners higher more fulltime Law Enforcement professionals. We are also investing in programs that support officer safety, health and wellness and incentives to improve recruitment and retention and initiatives that help Law Enforcement build trust between police and the communities they serve. We are doing this because we know that when our officers are healthy and safe, our communities are, too. Host reverend, you heard that 2 billion figure. What advice would you give to the, considering your work to best invest that money . Guest i think what the attorney general outlined is excellent and a step in the right direction. There has got to be more resources in curing the problems and not just prosecuting them. That is what i think the attorney general articulated. They should continue to invest heavily in programming Innovative Solutions oriented at the grassroots level. I am so appreciative of what he shared about the cops office in the hiring program. The director of the cops office in the u. S. Department of justice is a gentleman i know well. He has a service heart. We are seeing good things happening. We are moving in the right direction. We are seeing an increase in officers who are now deciding that maybe they can stick around in this perception this profession. We are starting to see the tide turned because people across this country are beginning to see what we have done in the past, the division, the dissension have not led us to safer communities. Since George Floyds death, there have been more Police Involved tragedies in the same time hear then there were before then. Crime and violence has increased. We have to figure out a more Excellent Way in my estimation, the best way to deal with these challenges is to afford communities at the local neighborhood level the opportunity to collaborate with their Public Safety professionals. That is what National Faith and blue weekend is doing. Host emily is next for our guest, reverend Markel Hutchins. Florida, independent line. Caller i agree with the questions about accountability. I also like to think of how we organize police in a different manner. Other countries require you have a masters degree to police. Why are we trusting one group of people to act as detectives, social workers, sometimes emt, judge, jury, executioner . They have a responsibility where they do not get training for that. I, personally, have a relative who is an addict. I do not think i can call the police to help her out because i am worried they will not be able to handle it. I am worried she could get shot, even. But, anyway. Have a good day. Guest members of my family, including in my immediate family, struggle with Substance Abuse and Mental Health challenges. I, too, would be apprehensive of calling a Law Enforcement professional. She touched on something that is critically important. We are asking Police Officers in this moment to do things they are not trained to do. We have got to get a better handle on some appropriate allocation of resources and funding opportunities that will help Law Enforcement agencies to hire better trained, better equipped, better educated Law Enforcement officers. As well, higher Mental Health professionals that can help deal with some of these things officers are not trained or equipped to deal with. Host this is roman in new mexico, joining us for this conversation on police and Community Relations. Democrats line. You are next up. Caller hello, reverend. Thank you for your time. I am in the military. Why not use the military police . The air force security forces, navy has master of arms. We have the same criminal issues on base as you do in the civilian world. Why not use that as a template . We do not have the shootings of blacks or any particular group or anything like that. Maybe the training accountability in the military is a good template. Thank you. Guest i do not disagree with you. I do not know enough about military police. In apprehensive when we Start Talking about the connectivity between military and local Law Enforcement. I do not think that is your point. The truth is, Law Enforcement has got to look at every option available. What is clear is, the things we have been doing are not working as well. As we heard from the attorney general, there is a commitment from this administration to expand how we resource in Law Enforcement. That is critically important for us to look at every potential opportunity for increased knowledge and the betterment of policing. Host how do you know if you are successful at your effort . Guest the way in which i know i am successful is i have conversations with people on a personal level. Organizationally aside, over the past five or six days, i have been in 11 different states and cities attending National Faith and blue weekend. Yesterday, i was in the city of i cannot remember the city i was in yesterday houston, texas at the Greenhouse International church where we brought together the mothers of sons who had died to gun violence in local communities with the Harris County Sheriffs Office and the Houston Police department. When i see the families connecting with the Police Officers that are solving the crimes, win i hear from these mothers how important it is to them that there sons who were murdered in Community Violence get justice and the criminals be found, when i touch the young man who looked at these at least 13 or 14 years old whos a sibling died in Community Violence, i know those people deserve justice. They deserve fairness. When we see the faith and blue activities happening around the country, it helps me know and understand that this is the right thing to do. Communities getting closer to Law Enforcement is the right thing to do. We started to see the tide turning. We are starting to see more people consider or reconsider their careers in Law Enforcement. There is a lot of good happening around this country. What we are doing is amplifying some of that good. Host as far as your efforts Going Forward, do you see what you will expand upon doing and how so . Guest one of the things we are doing this is the first time i have talked about it publicly. My team and i and all of the national Law Enforcement organizations on a program that will help to salute eight a more welltrained, better educated i am not at liberty to disclose it but to better educate, better qualify, better equipped Law Enforcement professionals. We are going to see some real success over the next several years because there is thank god an increased amount of attention that has been placed on the need for better policing in america. More innovation, more resources. There is a lot of good that is coming. Host this is reverend Markel Hutchins. You can find his work at faith and blue. Org. He is the lead organizer and ceo. Guest it is good to be with you. Host news to share as we bring an end to todays washington journal. It is our last full production from the studio, which im sure you have grown familiar with over the years. Starting tomorrow, we are going to bring you a brandnew set. It is a bittersweet moment, particularly as one who has set on the set for 23 years. When things remain sure, even a brandnew set tomorrow will not change what this show is about. It is about access with policymakers, journalists, experts and advocates and particularly those of you who continue to call year after year, day after day. We hear from you, your opinions, direct questions and what you are thinking about that deal with politics and policy. As a proper sendoff for the old set, sean doody, one of our production people, has put together a compilation of large events over the years featuring the set and hopefully, you enjoy it. Here it is. This week, congress is back in session. Cspan has a new studio overlooking the week talking about the issues facing congress as it begins the second half of its session. For almost three decades, cspans washington journal has called this small studio with its spectacular view of the u. S. Capitol our home. This set has been a town hall the nation. We have hosted over 30,000 Public Officials and other experts here and taken more than 600,000 calls from you, all with the capitol as our inspiration. Cspans little studio is a Corner Office with a great view. Over the years, it has had a number of different looks and experienced a few growing pains. Now, we are about to say goodbye to this set and move to a new space in the same building. We know many of you have been a long for the ride with us and we thought you would enjoy looking back at some memorable moments in this studio. We have had a lot of familiar faces here, including politicians. Senator Mitch Mcconnell goal of kentucky, the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee chair. Thanks for taking a few minutes for us. Good morning, this is a republican thanking you for your service. My mother admired your mother, rose. Thank you. We have differences. Members of the house, both republicans. Mike pence, christopher shays. We want to represent you to representative had keim jeffries, a democrat how keim jeffries Hakeem Jeffries. You stood that day and looked down the morgue. To the sea of humanity. If you ever run for president , he has my vote. I am not old enough. Joining us now, senator bernie sanders. Good morning. Let me pivot to another question. I do not think we have asked their have other ask how you spent valentines day weekend. [laughter] president bush had it right. A magnificent address. Joined by the former nato attorney general. Do dispatch from the road, make politics seem as fun for the readers as it is for me. Donald trump he came the republican nominee. Unlikely, but if ever there was a year, this is it. People say whatever comes to mind. Republican of florida, good morning to you. Chuck todd, Political Editor with the National Journal hotline. Good morning. This is a very important topic for the American People. It is how our political process starts. Mike allen is with those. Certainly you did not see this coming. A few astronauts and then they join us in our studio. Good morning good morning. We should go boldly where man has not gone for. Visit asteroids, moon the moon of mars. I dont want to go past that. Is this cher . Yeah. Ok. I read newspapers. And i just want to feel informed. Actor and spokesman no hungry kid campaign. The Founding Member of their vona and author of grunge government. Joining us as barbra streisand. First it is like streisand. Blake stand on the beach. Ok. Ok. Is just funny how many people say my name wrong. The fire alarm goes off and we got a call. Friday we had a window washer behind us. Were having a fire alarm here as you can see. We hope you turning tune in tomorrow when washington journal debuts its new set. And most importantly it will remain a place where americans connect with washington and each other. Host we want to thank sean for putting up together. We have one last look at the set and capitol hill building. And then tomorrow a brandnew program of washington journal will begin. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2023] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] announcer he is some of our live coverage on cspan today. 2024 president ial candidate robert f Junior Kennedy will drop this and pursuing independent bid for the white house that is at noon eastern. And philip jeffersons vice chair of the Federal Reserve board of governors gives a speech and takes questions on the u. S. Economic outlook and monetary policy. Online on cspan today. Announcer tonight watch cspan in partnership with the library of congress, books that shaped america. We feature been narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass born in 1845. It is the first of three autobiographies by Frederick Douglass. In deeply personal and sometimes graphic language he describes his childhood years on the Eastern Shore of maryland, his time as a slave in baltimore and his escape north in 1838. The book was widely sold. And has said to highly influence the abolition. We will discuss the book. Watch books that shaped america featuring the narrative of the life of rhetoric douglass tonight live at 9 00 eastern on cspan. Cspan now our free video mobile app or a line at cspan. Org. And listen to our companion podcast you can learn more about the books featured. Announcer the office of speaker of the house of United States house of representatives is your direct is hereby declared vacant. Trex the candidates will be discussed for speaker because following Kevin Mccarthys removal with the boat expected wednesday morning. House democrats have announced their plan to select Hakeem Jeffries as their nominee for speaker. Stay with cspan as the battle over how speakership continues. Watch on cspan, cspan now, or online cspan. Org. Cspan, your unfiltered view of government. Announcer acting