>> good morning. it is friday, april 7, and a three hour washington journal is ahead and we will start with american values. >> a recent wall street journal survey found priorities like

patriotism, religious space, are receding among americans. they are finding that less pundits and politicians are pulling back and core values, so we are asking, what are the values that define being american. our phone lines are split by political parties. the numbers are on the screen. you can send us a text as well. please include your name and where you are from if you do. otherwise, catch up with us on social media. or on facebook. a good friday morning two. you can start calling in now. you may have seen this survey or story about the survey last week it is from the wall street journal read this is a headline from that survey.

america pulls back from values that once defined it. patriotism, religion and hard work. here are some of the findings from within that survey. some 38 percent of respondents important to them, and 39% said religi ver them. the journal first asked a when question b in 1998. 70 percent then deemed patriotism to be very important. 62% said religion. more from that survey. the only priority that has grown in importae in the past quarter centurwamoney. it was cited as very important by 33%. that was up from 31% back in 1998. we will take you through that survey during this first hour of washington journal, but that sparked a lot of headlines.

americans are frightened by a shock pool on diminishing importance of traditional values. dwindling patriotism and top american values go against what we stand for said one woman. this is from the american conservative. wall street journal takes the pull some of eight dying america. there is a headline with mike allen writing that the core value is quantified by a single pole. rarely does one move so deeply to tell that story, but the wall street journal north pole exposed a generation of political divides that echoes loudly and transformative lee across our culture or politics and our governance. mike allen wrote about that pole. let's get a politicians response to that pole. here are a few of them from

their twitter feed last week. chris murphy of connecticut, democrat, saying american greatness was always rooted in our abilities to deal with individualism and the concern for the common good. we have lost the balance and we need to start a discussion about what happened and what it means for our collect futures. republican congressman says date and family and community, patriotism are at the core of what it means to be an american. this degradation of traditional american values is disturbing and we must find a way to reverse course. one more from congresswoman diana harshbarger. the wall street journal published a journal saying that americans are less interested in building a family. one thing is clear. the radical left is eroding our values, and that is why she cofounded this caucus. it is time to strengthen our families is what she wrote. that is the reaction from the pole last week. we want to hear your reaction, specifically your answer to this question.

what values define being an american? thats the conversation we are hang on this friday morning. >> this is the number to call at the bottom of yourcreen. we will takeou through survey results, but let's get right to the calls. orange park florida, line for democrat. what values define being american? >> i think the value that defines america is money. power. people use the prospect of religion, and say this is my value to try and force everyone else. i wasn't the one saying it. we always have to have proof that something is happening. but when you look at religion, you've got to believe from the

story you were told, years back, and the story keeps going. century after century, it's the same story. america values money and power. >> otis in florida. this is randy in michigan. millington michigan. randy, one of those calls every month on the washington journal. good morning. >> good morning. i would like to thank you. all of the other men and women who bring us these programs. you are doing a great service. >> what you think about this define nation of america. >> we have strong individualism. we have an adventurous spirit, but we also have humility enough to be able to get along with our fellow man. we all know we can't have what we want. we've got to compromise. we've always done that. that is my look at this. at a value of this. to be american.

>> getting along with our fellow man, how are we doing on that front? >> it ebbs and flows. on that, i think, overall, to me, the vast majority is just that. what i described. you have a squeaky wheel and they are always the ones that want to do well, but overall, we've got a great country. i believe it i don't agree with everyone, and no one ever agrees with me either, but that is america. >> what does it mean to have humility as a nation. how do we demonstrate that. >> you can argue or debate your point. you may be passionate about it. but you know to keep at the end. you still have to be able to listen to your person you are debating. by not agreeing with them, the

only way you can try to convince them is to make a legitimate argument. you can't yell at somebody. and scream at them or threaten them. we've got to do this because i've got 25 people in front of your house and you have to do what i say. that's just being a mob. thus being -- that's not being a true american. i have to walk away from the school board shaking my head, but i have to go back the next time and sit down. we have to get that problem solved rated the matter what. that's how i think it is. we are all pretty strong-minded individuals, but thank you for letting me speak this long. you have a great day. this is tim out of gainesville florida. good morning. you are next. >> good morning. how are you. >> what are the values of being an american? >> is defined by being an

american. i watched david makela, they talked about his book, the pioneers. values of respect for native people. respect for freedoms from lack appropriate respect for education spirit --. what was talked about with the purpose of education. but also to take the world as we find it and make it better. the values of john kennedy when he spoke about service. that is not -- ask not what you can do for your country. what can you do for your country. >> how are we doing on these value surveys in this country, do you think? >> i am sorry to say i don't think we are doing well with that. i think we need to strengthen our religious training in this country. we need to be more like ancient israel was. we need to be god wrestlers and not just people of faith.

faith is important. >> that is tim from are more visual learners. we have to come back to the wall street journal survey. they do this in conjunction with the university of chicago. there were a couple of different times here over the years with whites on the charts. they are from when we did in 1998. 2019, and 2023. community service. the community involvement might be a close akin to that. you can see that back in 1998, the involvement would have been very involved -- important. jumping up to about 60% of americans back in 2019. it took a nosedive in the latest survey. it was down in the 20%. they were talking about religion. you can see how religion has fallen in americans responding to the survey from 1998 to 2019

to 2013. as the survey pointed out, the only value, the only important the only value that was more important to them over that time. was money. 1998 to 2019 to 2013. you can see how jumps up in importance from the 30% range to over 40% in the latest poll. again, this is only from the wall street journal. a pull is getting a lot of attention. we got a chance to talk about this last week it was a busy newsweek read i want to talk about this on friday morning from the washington journal, asking what are the values that define being american. raymond in washington. good morning. you are next. >> hello. i believe that the value that defines america is a freedom to choose.

on the subjects of the five items i just viewed, i don't know if that will stop them, but it was choices. whether it is financial, religious, many things that are concerning to americans. i would feel that what has defined to make america get that freedom to make a choice and we have choices that are really causing a lot of problems that if we choose to stop and work together, we are america. i think we are, and we will continue to be one of the best countries that we could help the world, >> what does it mean that we choose to have money be more important to us then we did 25 years ago.

>> those are personal values. someone can choose to do that. >> how you do it reflects on you as a person. maybe not as a country. as we work together to create a system that makes everyone in america have the same rights to choose, and value the fact that they might be an american. and they are allowed to have those rights. we can't define what others can do because they have the same freedoms of being who they are as an american, and that is what gives us, republicans, democrats, independents. the fact we have freedom to say i am this or that. we need to learn to coordinate all of our work together to be a company or country, rather, like

i've tried to be as an individual. >> thank you. somerville south carolina. independent. good morning. >> i just want to say that service is everything. a lot of us had an opportunity as youngsters and we were trapped in the vietnam war to serve our country. that meant everything. i hear people call him. they don't consider the vietnam war memorial and the national senate tape. i wonder where there heart really is. our last president had an opportunity to he didn't show up. >> that was mac in south carolina. this is joey, republican out of atlanta. good morning. >> morning. we as americans, we have been

breaking away from so many of our christian values. our country was founded on christian values, principles. we have just been deteriorating from that, and i think that is a problem in this country. we have just been breaking away from christian values, and i believe that until we have deep values, we are going to go downhill more and more. this is just a bad feeling that we are built on christian values, and over the time, we have lost it. >> let me run this by you. from the washington times, it's a different survey. it is a survey done by evangelical christian organizations. but that survey it is a focus of the washington times. for the first time ever in a multiyear history in the survey, a majority of americans felt

that it held helpful accounts of ancient myths, but it is not true. at a high of 32% of those surveys say that god is not concerned with their day-to-day decisions. they believe it is a matter of personal opinions and not objective truths. what does that tell you? >> to be honest with you, our faith is really what is the most important thing to understand. our faith is better than any findings or studies or any scientific -- whatever you believe in is what is going to save this country. on last week come back together and join hands and love each other and respect each other, that is what is going to destroy us. that will destroy this country, and it will destroy this nation and this country and this world. >> that's joey in atlanta. this is brooklyn new york. good morning. democrat.

>> interesting >> with this show this morning, i guess we just question what our values are. what are the values of the united states. we are dealing with global warming. we are dealing with california in the midwest. you have gun violence, life expectancy has gone down, and education has gone down. so, i think it is a data question what is the value of the united states, and with so much divided hatred in this country, i think we have to think about the future and no one is thinking about the long-term. it is more about partisan politics and how i get my team to win. and i think that is what is lacking in this country.

really, tackling all of the issues that are destroying this nation. >> out of brooklyn, and here's paul waltman in the washington post, writing a column last week in response to this wall street journal survey. the headline is that americans care too much about these policies reflecting an ideology about work. 20 days of paid vacation for your. in addition to holidays in most countries given even more. the idea is that work is important, but so is the rest of your life federal law guarantees zero paid vacation days, and zero paid holidays. workers understand that the policies say about how much our society cares about them. they've gotten a message. that might be why in the wall street journal, young people were less likely than older people to say that hard work was a very important value to them. they are willing to work hard,

but they are less likely to believe that toil and drudgery are their own reward. maybe they had the right idea. in the washington post, this is minneapolis. independent line. good morning. >> good morning. i think our faith is americans really is what propelled us to where we are. despite the racism and the coverups and missed truths, we have a tendency to be able to rise above our past. i think, we have reached a point where you can go into genesis 10. that is the table of nations, and you can take your index finger and take it down, it will take you through avalon, mesopotamia, so mesopotamia is

what the bible is. but you don't hear 60 minutes talking about the ethiopian ocean which is the name of the atlantic before it was the atlantic. you don't hear 60 minutes talking about chemists. i touch the walls of the tomb of king tut. we are in a place where we want to continue to support black culture because of white supremacy. white supremacy is really not emerging until the 1600s. most people will call british. >> would you say one of the values in america today is racism, or right supremacy? what do you think? our freedoms are rising above our past, but we are at a point right now where we are not rising above the past.

we are stopping because of racism, and white supremacy. we don't want to take a step we took in the 1960's which really because the rest of the world to laud america when they saw that given our history, folks were willing to give black people their freedoms, but white people don't know about the slave trade. it was the first war, and it was with was certain. there was white slavery to the late 1800s. >> i take your point. here's stuart in nebraska. republican. good morning. >> good morning. thank you for accepting my call. i live in nebraska which is the home of strat con. a nuclear deterrent. i have not missed a republican primary or general election since 1980. i would like to put forth a

proposition that there is no such thing as being american anymore. ever since biden got in office, he has led approximately 2.5 undocumented aliens in the country. they are unvented. they are running to this country. from 108 different countries. enemies of our countries, or from china. prussia. who knows where. i'm not racist. i am not saying all undocumented aliens are wrong, but they are not being vetted. i don't think this is going to be america as we know it. for good or bad. it is going to keep coming. i know russia is bad. ukraine is bad. china is bad, whatever you want to say. but the greatest threat threat

to our democracy is a flood of illegal aliens in the country, and republicans. whichever one. they are just as guilty as democrats because democrats are letting the men for political reasons, but the republicans are hunting -- letting them into undercut wages. >> that is stewart out of nebraska. another question we come back to time and again on the washington journal. about america. one of these big questions about america is whether america is still the greatest country in the world. wall street journal pulled the same poll we are talking about. it takes a look at american exceptionalism. a little more from that survey we have been focusing on. in this segment, 21% in thvey say they are standing all other countries. a view that some call amer exceptionalism. america is one of the greatest

countries along with others. they say that other countries are better than the united states, but 20% in this latest survey. that is up from 19%. that is back in 2016. again, wall street journal, we are talking about this segment, and we will talk about that to the first hour. just to note where we are in about an hour. an hour and five minutes, we are expecting job numbers out of the bureau of labor statistics. we will talk about those numbers when they are released to talk about this in our last segment of the washington journal. we are simply asking the values of being an american. >> for republicans, democrats, and independence. linda in lawrence connecticut, democrat. what values define being an american.

>> i think, i would love to know the average age of people who took the pole because you get a lot of different views, depending on the age. >> i can give you some of that if you want. i will let you respond, but let me give you some numbers on that. what the pole did was show the difference in response from the old age bracket, 65 plus, and those who responded and the younger age bracket. you can take a look at this. but let me tell you about the survey. patriotism being very important to them. that compares to 59% of seniors ages 65 and older. 31% say that religion was important. compared to 55% among seniors. under the age of 30, 20% say children are important to them. well under 30% in the oldest age

group, but go ahead. >> that falls into what i was going to say. when we got out of college, those of us older than 60, we didn't get out with that. we can turn our tensions to all of the other things you spoke about. patriotism, these kids are getting out of college with staggering debt. they have to work and earn to pay off that, along with holmes, all the things people want. >> it only makes sense. the money is more important. >> absolutely. we've made it that way with the cause of education being so expensive. but the other thing i want to say is this. we forget sometimes all of the good. look at the areas that have been devastated by tornadoes and all

of these disasters lately. americans pick up and get in their cars. they are helping. they are assisting. the old adage is that if it bleeds it leads. we don't hear the good. but i have heard about the nashville concert in washington dc. my husband went a few years ago. the first thing everything that was asked, is that already you democrat or republican. we ask where you are from. and then people talk about the different states. you really get to see the patriotism and the pride, so i wish that people would go to more of those functions. or be able to. >> we talk about the big fourth of july, that happens on the

capital. >> memorial day. and, we think for the weekend, we go to the parade, and i'm telling you, americans, we are not the monsters that we think we are. we are pretty nice. ask on that note, i will wish everyone to have a happy holiday. christians, jewish people. muslims. everyone. sit back, take a breather, and look for the good. it is there. goodbye. >> thank you for the call. good morning. >> good morning. i am just calling about comments that were made. i keep hearing about faith and religion, and i think they are important people, but there are so many different faiths and religions and sects, and they have been fought over faith and religion, and i think people need to keep that to themselves. it is a personal decision.

it ends up involved in politics which says wrong, but as a true independent, what defines us, that's our constitution. we keep destroying that, ignoring the in our bill of rights. we are against the right to personal protection. republicans are against the right to freedom of speech. we need to really stick to our roots and are constitution, and that is what defines us in my opinion and sets us apart from the rest of the world. >> what is in our constitution that defines us and sets us apart? >> basically, it is the freedoms. sure there are freedoms. switzerland has great freedoms, independent, and they stay out of wars, they send diplomats instead of tanks and bombs which is the way it should be, but it is definitely freedom that is granted, and i am not saying it

shouldn't be sensible. but we've gone too far. a lot of that comes back to partisan politics. extremism. donald trump is extreme on one end, we widen on the other end. that's why vote independent, and i hope pete buttigieg runs again. >> wilmington. mentioning tennessee, and a lot of focus on the tennessee state house from yesterday. this is a story from the tennessean yesterday. after unloading a hundred 52 rounds, killing 62 people, the house republican on thursday expelled two democratic lawmakers for house rules mounting a gun protest. after hours of debate, they expelled jones of nashville. and justin pearson, a democrat from memphis, with the nation's eyes on tennessee and its

politics. here is some of the tennessee house from yesterday. >> my colleagues, i want to say, you have the votes to do it you're going to do today. but i want you to know that when i came to this well, i was fighting for your children and grandchildren, and those here will cast a vote to live free from the terror of school shootings and mass shootings. when i walked up to this well last thursday, i was thinking about thousands of students outside. demanding that we do something. many of their sign said to do something. do something. do something. that was their only ask of us. the response was to grief and traumatized communities.

but, in response to that, the first action of this body is to expel members or calling for a gun legislation. we were calling for a ban for the insult of democracy. this is a historic day for tennessee, but it marks a dark day for tennessee. it was a signal to the nation that there is no democracy in the state. >> that is from a state house floor from yesterday. back to your phone calls and to make question we've been talking about in his first hour of washington journal. what values find being an american. out of upper marlboro maryland, good morning. >> >> good morning. what values define being

american. it is leaving false narratives and how we are spreading democracy abroad. it is maintaining hegemony. it is shocking our resources. it is believing we are the best when our education is probably 30th in the nation. with our health care best. it is truly contingent on work. leading education to be the best when really, going to higher levels, it requires debt servitude, and believing our structure is great when it's not. it's scapegoating problems onto minorities in our own country. it's allowing as you stated earlier to squeeze you for every inch of your life. you can enjoy a little bit of chicken on friday, and thank you. >> wesley quoting mar burrell marilyn. this is phil in columbus ohio,

republican. good morning. >> morning. thank you for taking my call. this just shows that the democratic party and liberal media and all of them, the school system, calls -- colleges. this is what they're doing for 25 years. it just doesn't make sense how people go on with the scrap rate thank you. have a good day. >> bill in ohio. tampa florida, independent. what values define being american. >> good morning. >> it seems like every time i try to get through, i get through with you on the line. >> i don't know if that's a good or bad thing for you. >> is a great thing. if things are racing through your mind when you listen to c-span, you call from all over the country with opinions, but the bottom line is when we say what is american value, before

the call, and listening to all of these people i was like wow. when you look at this for example, the value that they allow as representatives, they expel only black or young representatives, but they only save the white representatives, democrats. it is like the value. they say one thing, out of one part of their mouth. maybe as americans, and they use the same thing on the other site. i am a veteran. i am 62 years old. i have done 20 years in the military, for nato. panama. iraq and afghanistan. all countries of color. we invade countries that don't do what we want them to do. but when other countries invade the ukraine, it's bad. americans, veterans, they talk

about homeless veterans, but what do you think they do with all of those values when they brought all of those afghans or muslims, this and that. what do you think those peoples live. >> john, i'm telling you, america is well. we put our lives on the line as black people for the country, and all they do is spit in her face. >> my mother is 80 some years old. she always wanted to see a person of color in the white house. that is the same thing. for white folks who want to see donald trump. america is not going to go back to white supremacy, no battery what they try to do. it just baffles me, but i appreciate it. have a good easter weekend. god bless you. >> tampa florida. mentioned afghanistan and some news on that front yesterday. here is the front page of the

washington post today. afghanistan evacuation should have happened sooner. the white house secedes from the story. they have now prioritize the earlier evacuation of americans during a security crisis, offering a tacit admission of fault from two years ago in afghanistan. the biden administration is providing congress with a long-awaited assessment of a chaotic response to the impending collapse. this will invite political feuding. house republicans are rushing ahead with oversight hearings to scrutinize the closing days of america's longest war. from the white house briefing room, this is the national security council. a security coordinator talking about the new report. >> it was always the president's intent to end that war. it is undeniable that decisions made and a lack of planning done

by the previous administration significantly limited options available to him. president biden inherited a forced presence of some 2500 troops, the lowest since 2001. he inherited an immigrant visa program that has been starved of resources. he inherited a deal from the previous administration a call for the complete removal of all u.s. troops by may of 2021, or else, they have stopped their attacks. the president's team asked to see plans for that removal. they asked to see plans for the security transition to the afghan government. they asked to see plans to increase the process of immigrant visas. none unfortunately. transitions matter. as the first lesson learned here, the incoming

administration wasn't afforded much of one. thus, president biden's choice was stern. either withdraw forces, or fight with the taliban. they chose the former, but even in so doing, they stretched it out august. that is the second point worth making. despite having the option curtailed, there was a deliberate, legalist and inclusive process which was responsive to the facts on the ground. he focused on the facts, and the top national security leaders to withdraw even before making the final decision to leave afghanistan. >> the council spoke to john kirby yesterday from the white house, but if you want to watch that in the entirety, you can do that at c-span.org. back to this question on your phone calls. the question is what are the values that define americans.

democrats americans, independence, this is from waldorf maryland, good morning. >> good morning. i just want to say two things. number one, the moment your questions don't speak to you, whatever you're doing on your own, it is a public. and then greed. greed has taken over all of america. you need to work on that or go back to god. thank you. >> marilyn, michael, republican. what values define being an american. >> thank you. the keyvalue is found in our founding documents. i have the declaration of independence pulled up, and i want to just read two sentences really. we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal. there were certain unalienable rights, and among them are life

livery and the pursuit of happiness, and they are instituted among men. there were just powers from the consent of the government. so, our rights come from god. they don't come governments. because of that, they can't be taken away, but the problem we've had recently is god and everything. we haven't unelected bureaucracy that is making rules that they are not elected to do. we got a regressive call of left-wing that is destroying this country. a crazy culture war. the number one thing to differentiates us is the right that comes from god, and man cannot take them away. we need to get back to that concept. thank you. >> this is terry stewart, independent. good morning. >> good morning. thank you for having me.

>> years ago, i read, and i can't recall where it was, but there was a survey done asking americans what the golden rule was. do you know that most americans did not know what the golden rule is? most americans at that time said to do unto others before they do unto you. now, that made me very concerned back then. it still seems to be the prevalent view of some americans. do unto others before you do unto them. then, years ago, i heard a person give a brilliant explanation of what the golden rule was. he said that he who has the gold makes the rules. in light of the former president , that really hits it right on the head.

if you have money, you can just about do anything in this country. you can make your own rules. you can break the laws. and, some people will accept it as such because they feel that the golden rule is to do onto others before they do unto them. >> i wonder if this gives you some optimism. this survey is a-year-old from the news in utah. but in march of last year, a survey from the news, a mayors poll showed that 92% of adults say that the call of do onto others as they would doing for you is. necessary or necessary, and a part of the personal life strong levels of support for the golden rule can be found in every major faith group at every major education level and within every generation.

>> for nationally -- fortunately, the christian right has assert that by attacking women, who they don't want them to decide whether they should have a baby or not. it's ridiculous. and i do have optimism. leave me. i know that these people who feel this way are a minority in this country. they used to call them the silent majority, but they were never silent, and they were never a majority read so yes and i am optimistic about that america had as these things unfold, just like today, just like clarence thomas, they've been shown to have taken hundreds of thousands of dollars in free gifts. he should be impeached. no doubt about it.

there is a strong group of people who feel that well, he has to golden he can make the rules. he is making his own rules, and this is something that needs to end here in america. we don't need anything. >> that was a profile story on clarence thomas and his travels that gathered a lot of attention. the washington times had a follow-up on that story. scrutiny is expected to come from capitol hill on that front, but the democratic chair of the committee vowed that his panel will take action after a report alleged that clarence thomas accepted millions of dollars from a gop donor in luxury travel, and experienced richard durbin of illinois, with a report showcasing a need for ache code of conduct for supreme court justices. this was on the interview program for cnn.

they were asked about the clarence thomas story. the author of nine black roads. here is some of that discussion. >> i want to talk less about that, but adding to the public perception, a code of ethics for people who serve on the court. is there one, and what do they have to follow, and how does that play into a public perception? >> that's a great question, and it's immediate. as you say, right before he came over here, i was confronted with the story. it uses a lot of impressive reporting, talking about these resorts. clarence thomas visited these resorts on gop make donor dimes. you are right. we don't know everything about that at this point, but i can tell you what is going on in the supreme court. there is no former -- formal ethics code. the chief justices follow the rules that are set for a lower

court judge. they are supposed to report, gifts, things of value. under federal law, they're not supposed to take any money who could influence a case. but there is a gray area. who influences them, and what kind of gifts are taken. one thing that will interest your viewers is that only recently, the judicial conference, the policymaking arm amended the rules to say that personal hospitality would be something you should report when you get into these figures. i would have to tell you about private jets, vacations. but again, this is unfolding as we speak. on thursday, there is something that has concerned some members of the court, but there has not been unanimity among the

justices about how to communicate that they are following ethics rules as they believe they are, despite the stories. >> you can see the full interview on our q and program that airs at 8 p.m. eastern on sunday evening on c-span. >> the back to your calls. 15 minutes left in your statement. we are talking about what is defining being an american. democrat, texas. good morning. >> i am going to talk about a speech on this from martin luther king. one of his last speeches. the three evils of surviving. >> arrogant power, which we saw yesterday. and arrogance of what they did to those two guys in tennessee. extreme wealth. i will put wealth over three

babies, nine years old and three adults. being murdered. and then, doubletalk. i've heard people talk about religion all day. martin luther king says beware of people who wear robes. robes are in the church. that is the supreme. what clarence thomas and all of his arrogance, his extreme wealth, we talk about it. i have to say, if you've been talking about this, you have to talk about chapter nine, root 12. you see all of this, but every single day, we talk about religion. but we don't do anything about it. we murder children. we deny people the right to work.

the ones who have the goals, those are the ones who are taking over america. >> in texas, this is scott illinois. republican. good morning. >> good morning. i am so proud. good morning america. i just want to make a few things about being an american. being an honorably discharged veteran, i remember when i was young my sister and i were like six years old, and we were fighting as kids do. my parents took me to a children's hospital and we have seen babies missing arms and legs, and i recommend taking our children. wait a minute. don't forget 9/11. when we were attacked, every house, every city was patriotic. we were americans. there were american flags everywhere. i wish there was never going to

be another attack on this country, but i think all of the youth with this woke agenda echoing on should take these kids to v.a. hospitals. the veterans who are missing limbs and mental albums, they would be more than happy to talk to these young. when we talk about a children's hospital and you see that distress these kids have, no matter what age you have, i'd grew my life helping people. i don't see young people opening doors for anyone. i don't see them assisting. crutches. this is what's going on. i believe that the draft should be reinstated. just for two years. you grow up, 17 or 18 years old, in the military, you have to put your socks on a certain way. you have to get your head shaved. everyone is equal. you live your life like that. you don't look at skin color.

you fight the enemy. but we've lost that in this country. now, the world with this problem, they come to the u.s.. it is just killing us. we don't need to say no, but we need help from everyone. >> that's gotten illinois. several folks are responding. hundreds of folks are responding on the social media page. let me give you a sample of this conversation happening there. this is will henning in warner robins georgia. values are being defined being an american. honest, responsible, respectful, and speaking your mind when you see wrong things happening. this is shown in minnesota. a person who loves this country will fight for it. all people have the same rights and opportunities. they are kind to one another. they let people speak their opinion. a basic family unit with a

willingness to work and not depend on the government for handouts. laws are made to help countries and not destroy that. we take care of each other, and we shop at each other's doors. we pay a living wage. we foster caring for family and neighbors. these are the ideals that i hope we all hope for. in cleveland ohio, a family abiding by the law with a mortgage. we can retire with dignity. who is in office is irrelevant. robber in utah. looking for a new nation based on the proposition that all men are created equal. we have struggled with that proposition ever since. >> in orlando, my values are my freedom. religion, and those are for everyone. we don't practice giving values to others. >> norcross georgia. good morning. thank you for calling.

>> thank you. nice to talk to you. i will try to do this fast. usually i talk slow. i would say an exceptional american is the indigenous american -- indigenous american. there are very few around compared to the rest of us. it was the iroquois nation that had the idea of democracy. when the benjamin franklin, and all of these were talking, with indigenous americans, the coin nation was doing this. they all got together and said they were going to agree amongst themselves. and, i just think that is something we all ought to reflect on. so, what did they do in the 1800s, in the late 19th century. they streamed europeans in here

as fast as they could because they saw the slaves were reproducing white folks. we wanted to stay white for some reason. we did all of these crazy things. we drew people as fast as we could. that is what makes america exceptional. it is exceptionally stupid. it is exceptionally rich. and exceptionally poor. >> barry in georgia. this is ron in johnstown pennsylvania. good morning. >> good morning. good morning, john. the greatest influx of evergreen -- illegal immigrants were the puritans and the colonists, and also the african slaves. you can hear the outrage from the time that they brought in

the slaves. all of a sudden, there is outrage because of the southern border. >> bring me to the values question. >> this seems that, you know, values have changed. you are saying that there is a golden rule. that is correct. this has become an autocracy. it seems like what happened in tennessee was a disgrace. kids were killed and people were killed in school. their main concern was getting rid of two black legislators that were democratic and i would like to stay one more thing. i would rather be woke than a joke. the republican party today is a total joke. >> herb is in greenville south carolina. good morning. >> good morning. best thing on radio and tv. the ideals expressed in the

declaration of independence are quite lofty indeed. 46 of the men who signed that document owned other people. they own slaves. as far as the national anthem, which has all of these beautiful phrases, there are verses that are no longer song in prompt -- public venues. one of them goes like this. no refuge can save the slave from the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave. now, you've got this guy, the governor of florida, and he wants to erase all blackness from history. this guy was a young officer in guantanamo bay, and he was adolf hitler. he was proud of that. >> will hold off on hitler's comparisons. >> in moscow in, and leon.

you are next. >> good morning. >> in terms of values, about being an american, i was talking with a group of people. not too long ago, we were trying to figure out what is an american value. the american value, ask an immigrant. newly arrived immigrants. they have lofty goals. it is about self. selfless service as opposed to self-service. i think americans have lost their values. i don't know what our values are. after serving in the military for 34 years, and you keep learning about teamwork, and respect for authority, i've come back home and everyone is at one another's throats, and what they want is what is good for me, not for the general collective, so whatever the american value is, i think it resides in these new immigrants that are coming to

our country. they know more about our country than we do in terms of passing a test to become an american. i appreciate the opportunity to voice my opinion. >> richard is last, up in this first segment on washington journal. fort myers journal. go ahead. >> my name is richard. what values of being an american. i would say what you guys played a week ago on c-span from the george w bush state of the union. 2002 and 2004. >> you are talking about the speeches that define a presidency. >> exactly. he said it the best. i'm sure they are going to replay this. but the wording was the best on what values of being an american and the other thing, i want to say that we are going down a slippery slope.

everything is based on race and gender and sexual orientation. this is just dividing us more and more as an american. it is saying that person is a racist, that was a homophobe. that one -- it is not what i was ever told was the american way to go in dividing all of us, and the one color earlier, that was what i was not sure about. ron desantis is the governor of florida, and he is banning books, but a lot of them are also showing women and men's parts in it. and when it comes to black history, they are not racing black history. they are just showing what's been going on. they are showing the things that new york does when it comes to race.

host: our last caller in this first segment. stick around, plenty more to talk about including we will be joined by peter ralph, director and senior fellow at the center on europe and eurasia at the hudson institute and we will discuss the state of the russia-ukraine conflict in the latest on u.s. aid and finland's new nato membership. later, georgetown university will join us to discuss a recent texas court decision that focuses on insurance providers and the ability to pay preventative medical services. that discussion later this morning and lots to talk about today on " the washington journal."

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wes the top 21 winning studentcam documentaries all this month6:50 a.m. eastern on c-span and go over to stunt cam.org to watch all winning entries anytime online. >> there are a lot of places to get political information but only at c-span do you get it straight from the source. no matter where you are from or where you stand on the issues, c-span is america's network, unfiltered, unbiased, word for word. if it happens here or here or here or anywhere that matters, america is watching on c-span. powered by cable. >> "washington journal" continues. host: now we have a discussion on nato and the war in ukraine.

we saw finland become the 31st member of the alliance this past week. what does finland joining mean for the security landscape for nato in europe? guest: i think its good, finland have no problem meeting its obligations to spend 2% of its gdp on defense. it also buys a lot of a male -- american military credibility. they also will buy military equipment. they will buy f-35's. these are people that have an esprit de corps and know how to defend themselves and i also have the arctic in the high north. they are some of the world leaders and icebreakers which is an area where error coast is falling behind the russians. once they enter the alliance in the coming months, it will be

the first time in centuries that all of the north powers will be part of one military alliance. they provide real military hard power assets. host: it also significantly hardens the border between europe and russia. guest: they have an 800 mile border with russia. they had been relatively robust and muscular in their own military posture. the former russian oligarchs said vladimir putin only listens to three people. when finland sees that, they say we want to move behind the nato military shield and provide power and in economic terms, there had borders are in helsinki. they have telecommunications in

bringing that to the alliance will be an important signal and asset as well. host: i wonder if vladimir putin listen to antony blinken this week on finland joining nato. [video clip] >> i'm tempted to say this is maybe the one thing we can thank mr. pruden for. its something he claims he wants to prevent by russian aggression crossing many countries -- causing many countries to believe that they need defense and they can now believe they can deter russian aggression going forward. this is the 31st member of this alliance. the report today on an important day already in history. host: antony blinken there, what does finland actually get that it is a full member of nato? guest: there is an important

provision in nato that under article five, if one alliance member is attacked, there is a political decision taken amongst the nato heads of government to intervene. it increases the security blanket of american security. the baltic states, the states, in the past have been somewhat vulnerable to russian coercion and aggression and now with finland, the capital of estonia is a mere 50 miles from helsinki so it will change our defense planning process. finland will have the joy of being within nato but obligations arise with that. host: why wasn't finland an original member of nato? guest: finland did join the

european union in 1995 so it has a western orientation. there is a gray zone between the west and russia. it has no public opinion support for joining nato. it wanted to stay in this middle zone and have neutral status. in the invasion of ukraine, public opinion in finland flipped dramatically. there was an overwhelming majority of support for ukraine so this is remarkable turn of events. host: the war in ukraine and finland is our topic. this discussion will go until 845 a.m. so start calling in. finland joins this week, where does that leave sweden and its

membership in nato? guest: i'm optimistic that between the turkish election and the next summit this summer, the turks who are the last country that needs to ratify a sweetest succession -- a swedish succession to nato will take that political step. sweden and turkey have had bilateral difficulties and it involves a kurdish terrorist organization which have essentially they been giving succor to and there's a problem between the american bilateral relationship with f-16 upgrades. that's a way to drive a message to stockholm but i'm optimistic between the turkish election and the nato summit next, sweden will enter and they are the big powerhouse. finland has a population of 5 million and a gdp of $300 billion. sweden has 10 million and a

bigger gdp. we would like to see sweden in as well. host: remind folks about the process of joining nato. guest: every national parliament is obliged to ratify an agreement taken at the madrid summit last summer to invite these two into nato and the turkish parliament has yet to ratify sweden's succession into nato. we think the hurdle at this point is turkey. host: your thoughts on this latest aid package to ukraine from the united states, what's in it and how does it compared to previous ones? guest: this is a very large a package of $2.6 billion. there is a much off -- anticipated spring offense at that has been telegraphed to the world so we expect an attempt by the ukrainians in mechanized

brigades to push probably to the south to cut the russian land bridge. this is a large package to outfit support of the ukrainians. this war has been an artillery heavy war of attrition so in the package, we saw large numbers of ammunition and artillery for the ukrainians. host: what is the point of telegraphing a spring offensive? guest: the strategy depends on support from the west. successful ukrainian offenses keep the support in the ukrainians have wanted to show that over the horizon, there will be gains being made. this so -- is aware this seems to be never ending but there is some progress. its also good for their own population who are suffering

enormous hardships. if they continue to defend, they will be able to counterpunch and better days are on the horizon. host: the focus of that next event, what is your assessment of the conditions that defend akhmud and how this has gone? guest: the argument for defending the donbass region, they enjoyed a positive force ratio which is to say that by and large, is considered a 3:1 ratio. the question is whether or not that still holds and the attritional rates in math bears out. i think some in the united

states have raised questions about whether or not we fight for this which is in -- an enormous political symbol or makes sense on the ground. every time the russians take territory and there were torture chambers found and women have been raved and civilians killed, why give up ground that they have to liberate a few months later. host: david ignatius in today's washington post is what he writes today --

in your mind, what does victory in ukraine look like? guest: it looks like the liberation of ukrainian territories. ironically, the first country to recognize ukraine's borders including crimea was that of the russian federation and here we are with the russians trying to annex parts of ukraine. the biden administration continues to say they will stand by ukraine as long as it takes. as long as it takes, this is essentially a way to mask the differences between the presidents. president zelenskyy has been widely hailed in the left as a churchill and as a result, the president does not want to cross him but there are differences between the white house and k iev. they have been resistant and

hesitant to provide the types of weapons into parts of crimea. host: let's bring in some callers. can is a democrat in miami, good morning. ken, is a democrat in miami, good morning. caller: as finland enters nato and eventually sweden several months down the road, is norway and denmark already part of nato? if not, white and when will they get in? as far as ukraine getting into nato, is the main reason the ukrainian corruption is reduced to a certain level or is there a fear of escalation of nato's involvement in russia escalating the conflict? guest: yes, norway and denmark

are members of nato. sweden says it will be the first time in centuries that all of the nato allies will be in the nordics. seven out of eight members of the arctic council will be part of the alliance and the obvious succession -- exception is the russians. the bush administration pushed for ukrainian and georgia membership. the french pushed back against that and were unwilling for fear provoking the russians of inviting ukraine into nato. there has been some language in every communiqué about ukraine's desire to join the allies but there's been no steps taken. it has less to do with corruption and far more to do with fears of antagonizing the russian. they are worried the russians might go to work ukraine as if

they have it already. corruption really is a byproduct of russian influence. to the extent we are able to push the russians out of ukraine, some of the corruption would recede as well. that's why military battles are connected to the political future of ukraine. host: this is ryan, independent, good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. my question concerns what would happen to a pro-russian separatists should be ukrainian offensive succeed, will they be given amnesty or forced out? i recall the yugoslavian wars when croatia in their operation storm liberated and had the massive exodus of promilitary. will we see such a thing again

happen? guest: one contrast to the wars and the former yugoslavia were that there were ethnic and religious striations and differences that remain in part unsettled to this day. the people of ukraine are slavic people, by and large russian orthodox but i think there are questions of historical justice that will have to be addressed. if putin has done anything, he's given the ukrainians a sense of purpose as a nation. those who have flipped to the russian side will be dealt with severely but this is where the united states and the european union and our european allies have a role to play to perhaps mediate and the ukrainians will decide on their own political future. i done expect war crimes on

behalf of the liberating ukrainian people for those who fought on behalf of the russians. i would expect there is a political process launched to help pave the way toward a better future. host: what's your reading of this latest effort to draft more russians into the russian military? guest: the russians have struggled from the beginning to outfit their forces because putin does not want to call it a war. he calls it a special military operation. some people do want to fight on behalf of prudence imperial intentions. some welcome this operation and want to be liberated. we show a huge exodus from russia to the neighboring central asian states and other parts of europe and we've seen morale rather low. this is really dragging people to the front and i think that

speaks to the russian attitude on this war. host: iowa, this is brett, independent. caller: good morning, gentlemen. host: what is your question? caller: a couple of questions -- thank you both and your group behind you that takes our calls. i am well, are you well? host: what is the question? caller: thank you, bear with me. make it double to you. have a great day. host: we will go to john in mechanicsburg, pennsylvania, republican. caller: good and thanks for taking my call. i would ask your guest to take

his washington, d.c. hat off for a second and talk to the american people and respond to the american people who say, is this war, these billions and billions of dollars, once again, jonathan republican/democrat money laundering exercise to distract from our dying dollar, our rising inflation, set aside d.c. for a second and think of the american people. do you think the american people really give a rats you know what about this war? guest: polling shows that ukraine is not at the top of the american people's concern about domestic issues. annually, we spend about $800 billion on the defense budget to deter two major adversaries, china and russia. to date, we spent about $35 billion in security systems to the ukrainians.

for that, the ukrainians have not spilled a single drop of american blood but have destroyed a good part of the russian military. without any american lives being shed for a relatively huge defense outlays, the u.s. is putting in check one of its two major adversaries. it dozens necessarily -- it is necessarily a bad deal. europe is in our vital security interest. 46 american states export more to europe than to china. there are trillions of dollars in foreign investment that goes out on a regular basis to europe and huge investments in the united states. if we destabilize the european continent i think the zone of prosperity from those who benefit enormously begins to come into question and the chinese will be waiting. president xi was just in moscow,

whispering in the years of vladimir putin but also to the europeans. if america can solve the russia problem, then who will? we can use our influence on the russians to potentially restrain them but in return, europe would have to move away from the u.s. this is a meaningful and important conflict, the first major conventional war in europe since world war ii on this scale. the u.s. i think has to show leadership here or our interests are adversely affected. host: halfway through our conversation with peter rouh. guest: the hudson institute is a think tank, conservative think tank that believes in america engaged abroad with our allies in defense of american interests. we believe in an america that is active abroad and coordinating

and working with its allies to help secure a better future for us. host: what did you do before this? guest: before hudson, i worked in the bush administration and work with the president on his memoir. i worked on academic book with the fletcher school of diplomacy and i been at hudson since 2014. host: our guest for the next 20 minutes, here are the numbers. doug, florida, democrat, good morning. caller: happy easter to you all. why does in this administration get some long-range missiles to the ukrainians and hit every power plant in russia they can reach. have a good day. guest: this gets at a major

component of the war which is that the russians can sunbathe on the russian side of the border well ukrainian cities are hits. the reason why the administration has been hesitant to empower the ukrainians to hit russian supplies deep within russian control parts of ukraine or across the border is because they fear escalation to the nuclear weapons issue. if the ukrainians break through far on the battlefield, vladimir putin might actually escalate to the nuclear level. every time ukrainians have broken through, the administration has pulled in the reins. my reading is that prudence saber rattling is this -- disconnected from the battlefield but connected to his read on western resolve. he wants to get ukraine in a one-on-one match up. he cannot beat nato so he believes through his saber

rattling, he can push the west away from the weapons supplies is given to the ukrainians to avoid giving them the type of long-range systems that your caller just mentioned. for that reason, i think putin repeatedly says this and the administration falls for it. third parties are around the world are watching this. ukrainians gave up their nuclear weapons years ago. the russians are inverting the nuclear paradigm by threatening the west in ukraine. they are saying we do want to mess with a nuclear power. a third world country wants nuclear weapons. there are steep costs by going for weapons. this is very damaging and

american presence of worried about this but it might take place now for those reasons and are self deterrence has been a self-inflicted wound. host: you are in favor of sending in tanks? guest: there is a big spare parts market that are capable and there are large numbers of nato allies who have this in stock. the abrams are not a good fit but they were necessarily to unlock the leopards because its an american built security order. its understandable that the germans jump want the americans alongside but it took a long time for the abrams tank decision to be made but the leopards could be green lit and war is contingent on time and space. perhaps these maneuver battalions could launch an offensive now but could have been lost before the russians could dig in their lines as they have host: where are you on

fighter aircraft in ukraine? guest: i'm for a fighter aircraft training program which will take time for this to be stood up and f-16s to be capable in the hands of the ukrainians but there's no reason why we can train now. my colleagues have talked about a train today and fight tomorrow program. we could go under training and when the decision is taken to washington and elsewhere, these weapons would be ready for the battlefield. host: this is larry, independent, good morning. caller: thank you. this gentleman is going exactly the wrong direction. host: why is that? caller: the last thing we need to do is to widen the war. this is literal insanity. what you would do is push the russians into a situation where they'd have to completely

capitulate to the west or go nuclear. the danger of that is just so grotesque that this kind of conversation should even be occurring on our television screen. we need a cease fire and don boss is russian as this gentleman knows and crimea is basically russian as this gentleman knows. let's have a cease fire instead of widening the war. guest: a cease fire is unavailable to is now because the russians still believe they can win and the ukrainians still believe they can win. as long as both sides believe they can still win, i know think a cease fire is in the offing. i think the administration is willing to push for a cease fire sometime after the spring offense of. once the ukrainians have been able to make a push, both sides have militarily somewhat exhausted themselves, reaching some sort of equilibrium that will lead to negotiating in the

administration would be pleased with that and that is more or less where the present is. i am in a different place. i've given you my nuclear logic. as long as the ukrainians are prepared to fight, they are the ones asking for these systems. in the end, i know think a cease fire is possible now because the warring parties are not interested. potentially in the fall, there might be negotiations moving in that direction. you can feel it in the capital that they would like talks. host: what's your read on this headline from the new york times today? guest: i think president macron is a man of enormous self-confidence bordering on arrogance. there is no political opponent or friend he has it that he dozen think he can explain their interests. i do think the chinese have any

interest in helping restore the pre-war order because that's an american order. i think they want to build a china-centric order and that means destroying enough where the europeans run to them for support. you seen a similar dynamic in the middle east where the americans have done little to support the saudi's and because of that, the saudi's said we will go with normalization in beijing. that's the same worry i have in europe and the chinese have no interest. they have one friend and that's the russian partnership. they want to show that they will stand by their side. host: this is john, independent, good morning. caller: good morning. i just had a couple of things i wanted to say to correct what

pete buttigieg is saying. first of all, communism is not whatever the russians are. they are in the situation they are because of the doctrine and how capitalism managed to destroyed their system. they'll days they are an oligarchic fascist system. china is not communist either but their inflation is an control and their gdp and their growth is still going up above their inflation. they are actually developing more infrastructure and they are calling for peace. we in the u.s. are being controlled by think tanks like the one this guy has that is probably paid by the military-industrial complex to drive us to war. they will keep driving this narrative while other countries,

other powers are trying to call for peace. these neoliberals will end up lining themselves up with the fascist in this country. guest: i think russia's fundamentally in a different place today than it was during the soviet union,. the lesson of the 1990's, when we thought all would be honey and light and a victory in the cold war meant there were no losers but vladimir putin sees that differently. because of the greatest collapse of the 20th century and has been a staunch revisionist ever since. there is no doubt that russian development in the 90's and not go as planned and we should be naïve to think the future trajectory will be some sort of liberal democratic past. its just the opposite, no one will march on moscow. we are likely to see resentment,

conspiracy theorists and anger and frustration. either the military-industrial complex in russia will take a successor they can control oblate work -- for it will be a more hardliner. the argument against pruden in luck -- and russia's not that is made a mistake, its did -- that he did the right thing but he was weak in doing it. one plank in the peace plan would beast respecting the sovereignty of all sets but -- all states but its a total nonstarter. iron expected to go anywhere. host: just a few minutes left with our guest. he's from the hudson institute. a couple of minutes ago, we got the latest job numbers for march. let me touch on them quickly.

those numbers are just out this morning. we will talk more about those in open forum. any thoughts on the jobs numbers? guest: the more jobs the merrier. host: washington, d.c., democrat. caller: good morning, c-span. [indiscernible] forger hundred -- 400 of them

died. we need to decrease their global power. guest: they are describing the wagner military group. its run by a russian restaurant tour who made his money in the 1990's and subsequently got catering contract from the kremlin. now he is making it play for political power so he's not content with money, he also wants to be a major political power -- figure. this group is connected to the kremlin and putin. in 2008, wagner's group attacked an american post and thousands of his people were killed. those are -- if those are regular russian units attacking, it would have been an act of war. the wegner group is active in

africa and very active recently in ukraine. they took a major bloody nose and i think the united states is working closely with the french in africa to try to develop a strategy to push back on these wegner mercer areas -- mercenaries. they have controlling states and several countries in africa. i would like to see a pressure campaign against them. to hit them, i think is appropriate especially if putin says they are not part of the russian apparatus. host: that may lead us to this twitter question -- guest: sure, modern war is

getting increasingly computerized. a lot of modern systems really are computer systems in a way and moving into the digital realm is increasingly a basic part of modern warfare. i agree with that entirely. host: this is margaret in north dakota, republican, good morning. caller: good morning. what i want to say is the only way this war could ever be over is if putin would be arrested by the international war crimes tribunal. that's how i feel. host: do you think that might happen? guest: i hate to -- or hopes but i see no way that he becomes arrested. i would agree that ident see a prospect for the war ending anytime soon.

perhaps the ukrainians are stunningly successful in this offense of in the russians are put on the run and can liberate their territory but it could grind down. we in the west like to think of war neatly like 1914-1917 world war i. this war might not have an ending date, it might encourage complex in georgia where the russians are positioned in a way where they have their feet on the windpipe of ukraine like the port of odessa which has access to the black sea. by an attempt to landlocked ukraine so it turns into a mongolia dependent on western aid, that is very much a scenario where the russians are always ready to pounce and building up their military while the west builds up the ukrainian forces. they might have another go at it in a few years so i would join

the caller's pessimism that this war is really not programmed to end ari some fantastic breakthrough on the ukrainian side. host: from north dakota to idaho, a republican. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. what is mr. biden doing about our oil supplies and air reserves? what's he doing with rebuilding our military and if he depletes everything we have in getting it all to ukraine, nuclear weapons is the only thing we will have left to use. also, what would his feelings be at president trump been able to

have been president today instead of joe biden? what would he have done about the ukrainian situation? guest: starting with president trump, i dope think there would be a war in ukraine because donald trump swung like a pendulum because being an isolationist and being an aggression is then that ambiguity confuse the kremlin. on one hand, the president did not respond when a refinery was hit in saudi arabia but then he killed the revolutionary guards general. i think that was confusing to putin and i think that's why we did and have a war during the trump administration. i think pollutant reads weakness in president biden. we just had the jobs numbers and i would criticize the administration. one of the weapons president

trump used against vladimir putin was to push out american hydrocarbons and export them on international markets. that drives down the price of oil and gas which is a major part of the russian economy and funds the russian war machine but we basically killed off the domestic production opportunities like the keystone pipeline. quite frankly, that's a mistake. we are asking the saudi's to pump more and i think that's a disconnect. as for the industrial base, you alighted on a problem we discovered during this war. a lot of what is going to ukraine is coming from american stocks. meanwhile, tie one is getting military sales but those two are not done but the other weapons we would use in the south pacific are not the same as the ones being used in a land war in ukraine.

that's in the context of the south pacific and the long-range anti-ship missiles and submarines are not applicable. when you look at the subcomponents, there are chokepoints there and over the deck -- and over the decades, we have consolidated our defense industry and have a lack of inventory or a buildup and scalability in the industrial base and that has to be addressed now and we've been grateful that the war in ukraine has shed a light on these problem's in our military-industrial complex. otherwise, we will not be ready to maintain deterrence in the asia-pacific. host: let's get one more call in, independent, good morning. caller: good morning and thank you to c-span, excellent program. in addition to the economic benefits from europe, i also think a weakened russia will

loosen their grip on dictatorships such as on the ayatollahs in iran and many other dictatorships around the world in the middle east. hopefully, that will result in major other positive changes around the world. thank you. guest: if putin fails in ukraine succeeds, it will be difficult for belarus to maintain his grip on power. that would put enormous pressure on the belarus and leadership. beyond that, russia has become the friend and ally of the iranians. the iranians are sending drones to russia and coproducing them for russia. we will see with the iranians get in return. there is talk of fourth-generation fighter jets. the missile defenses must make

the israelis nervous given the iranian nuclear program. that relationship to the extent that the russians would weaken the iranians and perhaps we see a eurasian axis forming from beijing to pay on yang to moscow. they are seeing their moment in the sun to the extent that the russians are weakened, the entire axis will take a blow. host: you can always go to hudson ductwork -- hudson ductwork. -- hudson ductwork hudson.org. next, we will discuss the recent texas court decision and what it means for preventative medical services under the affordable care act. stick around, we will be right back.

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full schedule in your program guide or watch online anytime at c-span.org/history. >> there are a lot of places to get political information but only at c-span do you get it straight from the source. no matter where you are from or where you stand on the issues, c-span is america's network, unfiltered, unbiased, word for word. if it happens here or here or here or anywhere that matters, america is watching on c-span. its powered by cable. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we now have a discussion on preventative medicine and they for the care act. she is the founder and codirector of the georgetown university center on health insurance reforms, thank you for joining us. start with the ruling last week by the federal judge in texas

and how it could impact americans access to preventative medicine? caller: anybody who follows the affordable care act might be familiar with the name judge o'connor because this is a texas district court judge who has ruled several times to strike down or weaken the affordable care act. in this particular case, he struck down a provision of the law that requires health insurers, whether you're covered through an employer or through the affordable care act exchanges to cover preventive services without any cost-sharing like mammograms, colonoscopies, birth control, immunizations. those roll things that are insured and they cannot charge you anything. host: what happens with this case now? guest: the federal government through the department of

justice has filed a notice of appeal so they are likely to appeal but that appeal goes to the fifth circuit which is an appellate court that has been pretty conservative. we also have very conservative supreme court. this provision of the aca that provides preventive services is very much at risk. host: do you expect this to end up in front of the supreme court? guest: i would expect that. host: how many people per year make use of preventative services offered through the aca? guest: 150 million people in the u.s. have this protection. in terms of the numbers of those who get preventive services, its most of us. we are talking about cancer screening, childhood

immunization, well visits, contraception, tobacco cessation counseling. you name it. these are all services that all of us benefit from. host: americans use of this service was part of this discussion in the white house briefing room who talked about this case and the biden administration's reaction. [video clip] >> the ruling about preventative services in the affordable care act, what is the message to insurers and providers with that ruling having been made and appeals coming but right now, what's the message to leaders and providers? >> the president is glad to see the doj is appealing this decision which blocks a key provision of the affordable care act as -- that has insured free

access to health care for 150 million americans. this is another attack on the affordable care act which has been around for 13 years. it has survived three challenges before the supreme court. the administration will continue to fight to improve health care as we have seen the last few years and make it more affordable for hard-working families. that is something the president has been committed to and we will continue to do that especially as it faces attacks by special interests. host: the white house press secretary there. what do you make of the end of that, taking attacks from special interests? guest: in this particular case, the plaintiffs are saying they simply dump want to cover preventive services. that's their argument and i think there is also a religious argument here. against one particular preventive service that is to

prevent hiv aids. they say covering that in their health plan is a violation of their religious beliefs. there are strong interest that have been fighting for years to strike down or roll back the affordable care act and this is another example. host: who are the plaintiffs in this case? guest: b the lead plaintiff israidwood, a small employer who is saying that these preventive services are services that he does want to cover in his employees health plan and that coverage of the hiv aids drug is against his religious beliefs. host: the aca is our topic this morning. you want to join the conversati, the phone lines

are different. the reaction to this case from the insurers themselves, what are they saying? guest: this case means that its entirely up to the insurance company whether they will cover preventive services and whether they will charge cost-sharing like a deductible. governor witmer in michigan has reached an agreement with the insurance companies in michigan and they said ok, we will

continue to cover these services but essentially, once this provision is struck down, if it goes to the supreme court and they agree, it will be an insurance company by insurance company decision and these are profit driven organizations. host: before the affordable care act, how willing were insurance companies to cover preventative medicine? guest: that depended, there were services that were covered but often cost-sharing would be imposed so the patient would either pay a deductible or a copayment before they could get a colonoscopy or mammogram. we know from reams of studies that when you impose a financial barrier for someone to get a preventive service, they often will not get that service or they will delay it. often times, if they have cancer or something else, its not

discovered until too late in the illness has progressed too far. host: by doing that preventive medicine, is in a tree you keep it from getting worse later? is there a financial incentive for these companies to encourage preventative medicine when these develop -- when these diseases develop later on? guest: yes but diseases sometimes manifest later in life and insurance companies know that people turn on and turn off in a good example is tobacco cessation counseling which is a recommended service that insurers have to cover but the diseases that come from tobacco use are often incurred on the medicare program. that cost is not borne by the insurance company if they get emphysema, its borne by the medicare program. you've heard insurance companies looking at return on investment

and not everything manifests itself right away. sometimes, the concern is the preventive services that people should be getting are not always in the financial best interest of the plan. host: let's bring in callers from north carolina, she gets her medicine through private insurance, go ahead. caller: good morning and thanks for having me on. its really hard to wait 30 days. anyway, they want to raise the medicare and social security age based on the fact that people are supposed to be living longer and yet we are removing preventive medicine? it seems like a financial oxymoron to me. i do know who wins out except people making the money. preventative medicine means that you are on the job, you are at

peace on the job even if you are working 12 hours a day. it needs to be considered when you think of removing in the hiv issue, people are living because of that. i'm not saying they are surviving but they are living. they are able to manage their lives. contraception, same thing, blended families already have five kids and another one coming? who wants to ruin the whole family when they guest: thank you for that comment. the good news is the decision does not affect the preventive services covered in medicare or medicaid. the decision touches private insurance, affordable care act

plans but it does affect a lot of people, 150 million people covered through their employer or a private individual plan. i want to pick up on one point and i think it is an important one, the coverage of contraception. now in this country since the decision in dobbs when abortion services for women are no longer available in many states coverage of contraception is all that much important to have that coverage potentially stripped away or barriers imposed is really frightening prospect. host: columbus, indiana. this is nancy, private insurance. caller: the biggest flash place around contraception and hiv treatment and prevention which are a huge issue.

as a psychologist, i would like to raise the point that preventive services task force as recommended greater access to mental health care for a long time. and according to the benefits of mental health treatment for the prevention or better management of a host of conditions and mental health parity act passed, i think 15 years ago, never seems to have been enforced. and private insurers and the affordable care act still limited access so insurance companies can bump mental health services to something separate. as a quick example, the task force has made recommendations

about treatment of obesity and preventive health care conditions and when regulations were changed that was very watered down to treatment -- two things, one psychologist cannot be reimbursed for addressing obesity with current patients, only physicians could. and obesity treatment cannot be charged for it unless they had already developed a health complication for people with diabetes. they didn't have other potential complications of obesity, they could not get treatment reimburse for their obesity and treatment for obesity is very complicated and a fraud process -- a fraught process.

i wonder if we could get better enforcement of the law existing task force recommendations on accessing mental health care and psychologist. thank you so much. i would take your answer off-line. guest: i'm so glad you brought up mental health because even before the pandemic we had a mental this country. post-pandemic it has exploded, particularly among adolescents. to take away -- to risk insurance companies will no longer cover for screenings that people need for depression and other mental health issues is really handicapping providers and everyone else trying to meet the needs of people with mental health issues. i'm so glad you mentioned that.

it is another real travesty with the judge's decision. with respect to mental health parity roles, i know enforcement of that has been a challenge. i think the bite in the administration new roles -- bi den administration has implement it new roles for mental health coverage. hopefully, that will get better. host: in michigan, nick. private insurance. caller: hi. this is an important topic. the affordable care act is not only not avoidable, it is unsustainable. i am worried. if you look at hospital bills and what they charge you for saying one night, you can go to a best hotel in the world in suite, the most expensive and it is less than what the hospital

charges you. the act did nothing to lower the cause. preventive medicine. how do you prevent and make it sustainable? you go outside and look -- in morbid obesity on the streets and everywhere you go. people do not know how to eat. the sugared and the fats people eat in the u.s. compared with how people live in the rest of the world. it is unsustainable. that's what the government needs to do to educate people how to eat properly. people do not have a clue to how to eat properly. guest: i think the caller is absolutely right. the hospital cost has really gotten out of control, particularly for people who have private health insurance. one thing the affordable care act that the lawmakers did not anticipate is the level of consolidation we have seen in

the hospital sector. what hospitals are doing as they are consolidating and gaining monopoly power in a lot of big markets as they are using that power to drive prices up. that is a big problem that the affordable care act did not address. action does need to be taken in antitrust to slow down the consolidation as well as to prevent anti-competitive haber part of the hospital sector. host: we talk about the preventive case going to the supreme court. maybe it is time for a quick review the affordable care act and cases involving the affordable care act before the supreme court. guest: there has been a fair number of them. there has been lawsuits dating back to 2012 that aim to strike down the full law on the various

arguments. there is another one in 2014 and the most recent one also decided by judge o'connor in taxes was -- texas in the plaintiff arguing because congress zeroed out, individual mandate penalty, that the law was no longer constitutional. all three of those cases were ultimately made their way to the supreme court and the court did strike -- reversed the lower court rulings and allow the affordable care act. with this one it is slightly different. i'm a little bit nervous that judge o'connor's decision not only will stand but could be expanded. 6-3 conservative majority on the supreme court. the one issue the plaintiff

argument is congress inappropriately delegated decision-making authority to preventive services task force, this group of medical experts that are recommending preventive services. congress that we are not doctors. we will depart at this group as to what the right recommended services are. that is what the plaintiffs are arguing is unconstitutional. i wonder this supreme court is looking to rein in the power of a ministry the state and they may use this case -- i'm initiative state they may use this case to do that. host: what else should people know about o'connor? guest: he is a conservative district court judge in texas. host: who appointed him? guest: he has been there for a while. i do not know who appointed him. he has been there may be president bush. i do not know for certain.

he has consistently ruled to strike down the affordable care act or roll it back. host: doug in baltimore, maryland. good morning. caller: good morning. i'm a small business person. i have for folks in my shop we are on a group plan and i think the earlier caller said affordable care act was not affordable and i think that is true for us. the cost increases we have had in 10 years has been outrageous. you're talking about preventive care. one of the selling points of affordable care act was by reducing the cost for people to do preventative care and they would do that care and stay out of the emergency room which is more expensive. there has been many studies that have shown that is not the case. people are not going to preventive care. they're going to emergency rooms more. the challenges government cannot

care more about your health and you do. as earlier caller was talking about, diet and by facilitating and making it easier to be unhealthy does not help. some of the insurance companies with these new fitbit programs were you track your health if you lose weight you get discounts, that is a better way than making everything three for people for americans to be healthy. guest: one of the concerns i have is insurance companies are profit driven. one of the things they tried to do in the absence of any government standards is avoid covering sick people, avoid covering people who are high risk, avoid covering people who might have pre-existing conditions. one of the ways they do that is from been a defense design. if you do not cover services with people with hiv or

conditions or what are people you can avoid a lot of expensive people in your plant and save people that way. though affordable care act says economic or operate that way. that is a good thing. if you have a pre-existing condition, you no longer have to worry your health plant will reject you or deny you care. the caller makes excellent points. health care is way too expensive. we are not getting our money's worth for the premiums we are paying. congress and policymakers at the state and national level need to tackle this issue of cost affordability. host: i will come back to judge o'connor. plenty of stories focused on judge o'connor. this federal judge may be hazardous to your health focusing on o'connor.

his biography the north district of texas. he is the u.s. district court born in 1965 began serving in 2007 i president george w. bush, bachelor of signs from university of houston. jd from south texas college and a assistant u.s. attorney for the northern district of texas from 1998-2007 and appointed judge in 2007. anything you want to add? guest: no. thank you for the bayou -- biography. host: mark, you are next. caller: the aca is meant to give americans the choice of having care and i find the republicans trying to do away with the aca

is paramount to them saying, no, you cannot get a catheter put in your heart or possibly your eye being transplanted. it is disgusting. the republicans need to take care of their constituents. the aca is a great venue. thank you. host: mark in atlanta on the politics of this. guest: first of all, i would hope members of congress would be making clear statements to the public and judiciary that the law they passed in 2010, constitutional and the

delegation of the decision-making around what our heart preventive value services was appropriately located to the preventive services task force. also congress can take this moment to call on employers and health plans to maintain these benefits as they have been in place since 2010 because consumers have come to rely on them. doctors have come to rely on them and they have been proven to help keep people healthy. host: 15 minutes left with sabrina corlette on health insurance reform. sean in california insurance through the aca. caller: good morning. i was listening this morning and this topic place close to me at home.

i used to receive aca. i had received it for a couple of years until i found a job to where i felt i want to let aca go. i can afford to pay for my insurance. i put in blue shield on blas. for the first year i got, they paid for my medications to treat my condition i had. after the first year, they no longer pay for my medication. i would alter the loopholes, contacted blue shield -- i went through all the loopholes and contacted blue shield. they wanted me to take generic medication. the medication that would not work now i am paying out of my pocket. i'm going -- i'm trying to work with the state of california so i can pay the state of california for aca.

they're just taking my money. thank you very much for talking about this topic. thank you very much for fighting for us. you have a blessed day. guest: thank you for the comment. i am sorry you are having this experience with your health insurance company. this is what the health insurance companies do. they cover services but they will also deny coverage of services. they stand in the place of your physician and estate, no we are going to -- and say no we are going to second-guess your doctor's decision of what you need because we did not want to spend the extra money. that is one of the reasons why this decision is so concerning because if insurers are not required to cover certain services that u.s. preventive services task force has said are

really critical people to receive, they may not cover them. they will make decisions based on their bottom line. host: what is the mission for the center of georgetown and how long have u en around? guest: the center on health care and reform we study private health insurance. we have been around since 2010. our mission is to promote evidence-based policymaking that supports consumers access to affordable, comprehensive and high quality health insurance. host: who are the top ways members of congress -- what are the top ways members of congress could do that today? guest: a couple of our callers have brought this to the floor and that is the issue of affordability. while the things that affordable care act did is expand the number of people who could get

health insurance. but health care still cost way too much. it is breaking the back of families, particularly middle and low income families, financially. if i can be cleaned -- queen for a day, i would have congress take a hard look at the issue of health care affordability, what is driving our health care cost. i talk a little bit about the consolidation in the health care sector and the monopolies that are jacking prices up. that is the first think i would ask congress. host: gregg in florida. i've insurance. -- private insurance. caller: good morning. happy friday to you. i have two statements. first, why do we even have life insurance companies? they are a beach on society.

if we did not have health insurance companies and we had a single-payer, health costs will probably be cut in have. the second thing that could reduce health care cause is get rid of patents on medical devices, medicines, etc.. this is the benefit everybody in the world. why should a few be allowed to rape us for profit? host: your first question was it life or health insurance? caller: health. guest: the caller points out something the united states is unique in our health care system and how we cover people. most of our peer countries, western industrialized countries, have guaranteed

health insurance, guaranteed by the government. in the united states that is not so true. we do rely on these private health insurers to deliver benefits for most of the population. one of the challenges that the folks on the hill had a face who have wanted to pursue a single-payer system is we do not have the votes. the interest in maintaining the status quo is entrenched. senators and congressmen who have tried to advance single-payer legislation has not ever gotten really far. host: debra in ohio. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. my concern is addressing health first. i have long-term health care

insurance. i have private secondary and medicare but what i am concerned about is we do not look at the deceased. we do not look at how it has changed or with the cost of the diseases. one is diabetes. diabetes cost our nation $230 billion a year. you look at the number of people in the u.s., each and every one of us as citizens should set aside $1000 per person. in 2008, we added sugary soft drinks, cake and candy, any food to snap. how on earth that happened or why that is happened. the only thing that makes sense as our politicians are taken money for the injuries are there paying for their vote.

the second disease as smoking-related disease. that disease cause -- would cost each and every one of us $650 a year to treat. until we address health and like the food program, we never had sugary soft drinks until 2008. that never been on the process. host: let's take up those two issues, diabetes and smoking, snap reform. guest: i think the call that a good point. one of the reasons why lawmakers included this preventive services provision in the affordable care act mandated not only coverage of preventive of service including services that would help screen people for diabetes, help prevent people from starting smoking or help people quit smoking, all of that is because they really wanted to

shift us from a health care system that would disease focus to preventing the disease from happening in the first place. what of my fears with this decision -- my fears with this decision in texas is we will roll back the clock and people will be reluctant to access these critical preventive services because they may face a barrier or deductible. with respect to snap, that is outside of my areas of expertise but i do think food and nutrition reform critical and could go a long way to preventing the crisis of obesity in this country. host: preventive service flu shots and and you will call the shots? guest: yes. immunizations are critical preventive services that are required to be covered under the

affordable care act and those services are at risk under this litigation. host: to somerville, massachusetts. mike. good morning insurance through private insurance. caller: good morning. the preventative services, i cannot believe this is happening and i cannot stand with these people down south. i cannot freak and stand it. but the fort worth i had a today will be the best words i hear all day -- the four words i heard today is the best words i heard all day, evidence-based policymaking. thank you for fighting on this issue. what prevents that here in this country? i think the first think would be wealthy lobbyists and politicians working together. what enables that? citizens united enabled that. what perpetuates it?

mostly conservatives and conservative democrats which is most democrats. what constitutes conservatives? highly uneducated base of voters and they make up about half of the country. it seems like we are at a point of stagnation here. i do not know what is going to happen. they rigged the courts pretty strongly. that is in their favor. i have hope the sentiment of most of this country, regardless of political ideology, will eventually go through the hard way or easy way. realize we have to do something about the situation with health care. host: got your point. guest: yeah. thank you for the comment and for your kind words. policymaking can be a challenge.

it is circling back to this particular decision. i do think it is befuddling to a lot of us that a single district court judge in a court in texas can make policies effectively decisions that affect the entire country. that is a sad state of affairs. host: one last column. gustavo in florida on the line for those who get their insurance through private insurance. good morning. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. i do have private insurance but my question for the guest is related to my son's. my son was employed and recently left his employment his private insurance to start a business and is working with a broker, insurance broker. he is telling me that the

insurance broker told him that he is being rejected by major insurance companies for united health care because he has a pre-existing condition. he was diagnosed with myocardial vascular issue. he was covered last year and now the broker is pretty much telling him it is been denied. my read of the aca is that could be legal. i would like your guest to give me her opinion on what is going on there. thank you. guest: you are welcome to send me an email and you can find my email on our website on georgetown. my best guess as the broker is trying to sell him an unregulated product, insurance product. that may be because he is trying

to buy this insurance outside of the annual open enrollment period. what i would recommend he do, i doubt we'll call the state you are from, host: florida. guest: ok. i will have him try to enroll through health care.gov. unfortunately, he may have missed the window to enroll. but if he is truly a small business owner, he may be able to enroll in small business owner and escape the open enrollment window deadline. you're welcome to email me and i can try to help that way. host: georgetown university's center on health care reform chir.georgetown.edu. sabrina corlette is the founder

of that center. up next in our final 30 minutes we turned the phone lines over to you in our open forum. in political issue you want to discuss some of the phone lines are yours to do so. the screen. -- the numbers are on the screen. >> the name of america which belongs to you is who your national capacity. >> four score and seven years ago. >> ask not what your country can do for you. >> throughout american history presidents have delivered speeches during inaugurations, times of challenges and farewells. saturday was the final episode of our series speeches that define the presidency in

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there's something for every c-span fan and every purchase help support our nonprofit operations. shop now or anytime at the c-span shop.org. >> "washington journal" continues. host: at 10 a.m. eastern, 28 minutes from now in that time is our open farm. any issue you want to talk about. phone lines are yours to do so. democrats, 202-748-8000. republicans, 202-748-8001. independents, 202-748-8002. as you call in, it was an hour ago that the march job numbers were released and this is the headline from the washington post labor market adding 236,000 jobs in the month of march. that number showing the commonly through a period of increasing financial stability and

inflation as a resilient labor market continues to prop up the economy against all odds. the unemployment rate take down to 3.5% last month hovering at a near 50 year low. some employers have held onto workers in a tighter labor market. the march job support marks the month -- 236,000 jobs addedd unemployment rates at 3.5%. that is the news this morning out of washington. what do you want to talk about it? here is our open forum. ride in kentucky, independent. caller: i just want to bring attention to it will be four years in prison in england

coming this tuesday i believe. april 11. government actors at any level, especially joe biden and kamala harris, to let this guy go free. he's got two young sons now. if he did put anybody in danger, nobody is going to be tried for war crimes that he exposed. we are done in afghanistan. we need to let this guy go free. it is a shame to any position that is not speaking out for him. it is a shame any journalists. it is a shame to each and every citizen that is not done anything for him. host: that is brought in kentucky.

he wanted to point out democracy now story about reporters without borders denied regionally -- to visit him in the u.k. present noting note nongovernmental organization has seen him in four years. you can read the story at a democracy now.org. marion in grovetown, georgia. democrat. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. i have been listening over the years. it seems to me since citizens united and so much money flooding, i guess that is the deep state, the dog money flowing liberally through the coke brothers and sorrows -- soros, and millions of dollars of generous travel. it seems we will become

venezuela if we do not get the money out of politics. with health care, it is not being discussed that the people that want -- not health care, social security. the people who want to privatize social security or cut social security, their main motive is every employer has to match the employees when they take out every paycheck for social security. the employer also pays for that. if they privatize it or if they cut it over whatever the republicans are trying to do, they will, the rich people, will

have a huge break because there were not have to be paying any social security for their employees. host: jack c keystone state, washington, pennsylvania. republican. good morning. caller: yes. i want to make a comment about i guess he had on yesterday -- i guess yesterday and advocated for social security reform and he made so many mistakes in his presentation that i wonder how your screeners let him get by. host: did you try to call in yesterday? guest: -- caller: i cannot get in. i can call about that today? host: yes, sure. caller: he talked about social security rate being 12.6% and it is not. it is 12.4%. another thing she talked about, caller called about how it had been expanded and fsi,

disability payments. your guest cut him off so short saying that is different from social security, it is not the same thing but it is because it comes out of the same funds. that's a major problem with social security. they expanded it that you have survivor benefits, spouse benefits, people that never paid in it still receiving benefits from social security. that is the problem why social security is going broke. he talked about rich people should be paying on all of their income. people pay social security based on earned income. millionaires and billionaires probably did have earned income but most of their income is through investments, is through capital gains, dividends, pension income. from what he was saying, he expects those people to pay on all of their income, which is

not the case and it is not why social security was set up. i feel this guy needed to -- he is obviously a liberal socialist and that our government should take care of everything and his ideas were the only ideas to be considered in the only way to reform social security would be to tax everybody on everything they have. i had to make that comment because i thought he was not qualified to be on your show. host: for viewers who want to go back and watch yesterday segment and see for yourself, it is alex lawson on social security and medicare. hicks executive director of social security works on this program. 45 minute segment if you want to watch it. susanne is next in south carolina. democrat. caller: good morning. i am calling to thank the tennessee three who stood up for

justice and gun laws in tennessee yesterday that were expelled, two of the three were expelled from the general assembly for the peaceful protest thing. i believe that our democracy had no intentions of expelling someone -- an elected official from their position for peaceful protest thing. there were there for our children to enact safe gun laws. instead of the general assembly addressing safe gun laws, they expelled two young black progressive representatives. it is appalling. it is disgraceful. it is downright frightening that this happened in tennessee. host: did you get a chance to watch the vote to expel the two

members? caller: i washed it -- watched it throughout the evening. host: we are going to be reentering the debate on the expulsion -- air the debate of the expulsion after this program at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. you can also watch on c-span.org or the c-span free video app. i want to show you a minute and 30 of that debate. this is representative justin jones speaking on the floor of the tennessee general assembly. [video clip] >> to my colleagues i want to say you have the votes to do what you are going to do today but i want to let you know -- those who were cast a vote for expulsion, i was waiting for your children to to live free

from the terror of mass shootings. when i walked up last thursday, i was thinking about the thousands of students who are outside demanding we do something. many of sign said do something, do something, do something. that was their only ask of us. responded to their grief. respond to the traumatized community. but in response to that the first action of this body is to expel members calling for common sense gun legislation. we were calling for ban of assault weapons and the response of this body to assault democracy. this is a historic day for

tennessee but a mate a dark day for tennessee because it was signal to the nation there is no democracy in the state. host: former representative justin jones yesterday on the floor of the tennessee general assembly. back to your phone calls. 15 minutes left in our program. any political issue you want to talk about, the phone lines are you -- are yours. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i agree with those who are appalled at the expulsion of these democratic members of congress. i do not think we will ever get legislative change in this country as far as gun safety unless those who will not try to

make a difference started filling some of the pain. they can afford to send their children to private schools. whereas they're probably safer than in public schools though in this instance it was children in christian schools who were killed. another way we can inflict pain is to withhold our tourist dollars. i have canceled a planned trip to nashville. i would never go to tennessee to visit and spend my tourist dollars. they did not deserve them. they do not deserve the tourist dollars of the rest of the country either. that is another way we can inflict pain and may be helped to bring about change. host: that is juanito. mark in california. caller: good morning. want to talk about the previous

guest about affordable health care act. i'm a professional firefighter and i have insurance which is considered a cadillac plan. in the obama -- i cannot stand politicians because they are corrupt on all fronts. anyway, pelosi is a joke because she passed a bill saying you have to pass it to say -- find out what is in it. the individual mandate said if you have a cadillac plan, such as mine, i would get tags an additional $800 a month for my insurance which i'm already paying $2000. when the iff president went to obama and biden to get an exemption for the firemen, they said no. you know who got the exemption for the cadillac plans?

the teachers. think about how these guys are bankrupting us because we are giving free health care to 6 million illegals and i am paying for it? it is disgusting. i'm a combat veteran. host: what plan are you on now? what do you paid these days for health care? caller: blue cross. only the reason i am not paying taxes is because trump voided the individual mandate. if they bring it back i get hit with a hundred dollars for health care. host: this is mary out of las vegas. democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. watch out for fox news this month. they are trying to stop the courts, the case from january 6 insurrection being brought up. i guess they did not want to fill

in liability that may result from them spreading more of the big lie and the prep regarding -- on the propaganda network. the going to hit with at least 1.6 billion, hopefully punitive damages can get them to turn their evil ways around. and citizens united brought to us by the supreme court, allowing all that is happening in our politics today to go on and on with these wealthy donors, everyone comes on the network and talks about george soros but do not forget wealthy donors that influence the supreme court. then there'd and this other gentleman, there for 20 years has been giving justice thomases wife vacations one of which if he had to pay for it out-of-pocket will cost half $1 million. it is unbelievable. the influence that is going on.

they couldn't deny it all they want but that is what they are buying -- they can denied all they want but that is what they are buying. host: the pro-public a story yesterday, justice thomas accused of accepting donations and already getting reaction from members of congress. democratic chair is the shary committee, senator durbin of illinois vowing his panel will take action after that report alleged the justice had accepted millions of dollars in luxury travel expenses. that topic and the travel expenses and ethics rules of court came up in our conversation yesterday that we had on this network. our q&a program. she is seeing insincere pre supreme -- cnn supreme court reporter. [video clip]

>> have not seen all of that story but adding to the public perception of the court, a code of ethics for people who serve on the court. is there one? what roles do they have to follow? how does that play into public perception? >> is a great question. for i came over here, i was confronted with the story. it is an excellent story. impressive reporting talking to the people at there's a resort that clarence thomas visited on this gop mega donor dime. we do not know everything about it at this point but i can tell you what i know about the supreme court. there is no formal ethics code. the chief justices follow rules that are set for lower court judges who do have a formal ethics code. they are supposed to report gifts and things of value.

under federal law they are not supposed to take money from anybody who could influence the case, but there is a gray area of who influences them and what gifts they take. one think that will interest your viewers is only recently did the judicial conference, policymaking on judiciary amended the rules to say personal hospitality would be something you should report when he gets into these figures. personal hospitality, private jet to fly to someplace, resort, vacations. this is all unfolding as we speak now. but this is something that has concerned some members of the court but there is not been unanimity along the justices of how to communicate to the public they are following the roles as they believe they are despite the stories. host: you can see more of that

interview on our q&a program sunday evening 8:00 p.m. stern and also 11 p.m. eastern on c-span. come online at c-span.org. a few minutes love in open forum. this is emily in st. petersburg, florida. independent. caller: good morning. i'm calling in to saint living in florida where children live at the poverty line and instead of worrying about that, education, unions are worried about criminalizing drag shows, being mean to disney. i would like to say to the floridians who call, i would love it if we could work towards health care, education, maybe meeting the needs of production. morning everybody. host: mike in mount vernon, new

york. good morning. caller: good morning. what i want to talk about today is the state of corruption in the united states. it is really bad. we the people need to look at ourselves and think about when the next voting cycle comes who we are going to vote for. also, what i want as cnn -- c-span is that you do some kind of show on the pandora papers. is that possible for you to bring the pandora papers to the discussion? i would like to find out of that could happen. host: always up for suggestions on topics and i'm pretty sure we have done that as well. i will look forward for you. in the meantime, terry in the

land of 10,000 lakes, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to make a comment about the three tennessee legislators. they ran in the democratic process. but so were the other vast majority of tennessee people who these three decided they could usurp, they pledged to abide by the rules and then did not. showed up with megaphones. started shouting is the attempt to mid -- intimidate the other people's representatives. they want to do that, whether they go to memphis and start yelling -- why don't they go to memphis and stop yelling at the gang members to turn over their guns? that how democracy works. the majority does rule. the minority does not get to

tell the majority how it works. does the same insurrection as january 6. people on both sides of this -- and now if you were against january 6, that was horrible and of course this was standing up for democracy in tennessee. and of the river is for republicans. -- and the reverse for republicans. are we ever going to just say you do not get your way? it is selfish. if you are part of the system you have to abide by the system. they're perfectly correct in tossing those three members. they decided not to abide by the play they made. they decided only they matter. everybody else did not matter and if they do not get their way then there will be no peace. no peace. which is saying will bring violence. what else will we bring? there were not be peace.

that is a threat on the floor. it was ridiculous. thank you for your time and. host: on the pandora papers, josh rudolph was our guest, alliance for securing democracy discussing the pandora papers, financial regulation. that was one of the segments we have done on it. c-span.org, the search bar on top of the page is a great place to search the over 100,000 hours c-span archives. danny in west virginia. democratic. good morning. caller: good morning. i want to say you can see for all the trouble is coming from. it is coming from the republicans. people vote and they know it. they got to do is go out and vote the republicans out and killed the party completely out

because they are rotten to the quarry. that's all i got to say. host: matthew in north carolina. caller: good morning. when are you going to start screening some of the information and guys put out? he say he's a combat veteran. go to the v.a., it is free. some of these guys are saying the most ridiculous thing. the guy in minnesota talking about minority role. the republican party is a minority party but they are rolling everything. i do not know this country is going through. we are fighting one another and the world that it was like we are in a bubble. the world is growing. you have china on the rise. these authoritarian governments on the rise. we cannot get guns out of our schools.

we are fighting over woke. the dollar is getting weaker and weaker. you think we are in trouble now? give us two more years. you get a lot of guys going off of the dollar for his own currency and we are fighting over petty things. host: salsberry, north kelowna. this is lewis. caller: the last gentleman took my thunder. i want to talk about -- so many things you can talk about. tennessee especially but right now this guy came up and said he was a combat veteran. we all know the veterans is taken care of with their insurance through the v.a. if you cannot make it to the

v.a., something must have went wrong in the military. you can go and patch -- bash obamacare but the pre-existing cases killed a lot of people and if you take pre-existing cases of your medical, a lot of people are going to die. you better think god obamacare still exists. host: that was lewis. our last today's "washington journal." we'll be back tomorrow morning 7 a.m.

the labor department reports employers added 200,000 jobs in march. the total is the lowest monthly gain since december 2020. unemployment went down from 3.6 to 3.5 percent. the next jobs report will be released on friday, may 5. u.s. space force discusses the space operations priorities and national security strategies at the mitchell institute. the name of america, which

belongs to you in your national capacity. four score and seven years ago. ask not what your country can do for you. throughout american history presidents have delivered pivotal speeches out inaugurations, times of challenges and farewell. watch our 10 part series, speeches that defined america. through the words of washington, lincoln, barack obama. we follow his speech after the mass shooting at sandy hook and three years later after the shooting of mother emanuel church president obama led the country in morning by singing amazing grace.

watch our 10 part part series, speeches that defined a presidency. and tune into american history tv. sunday night, on q&a the book nine black rob. she argues that trumps three additions to the supreme court sped their sped their way to the right. as i worked on that story, i pitched this book, a group

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