host: good morning it is tuesday, may 7. columbia university canceled its main commencement ceremony

amidst pro-palestinian protests around the country. in all over 2000 people have been arrested at nearly 50 college campuses. students have faces other -- have faced other disciplinary actions include suspension, and in some cases expulsion. some have offered to negotiate with protesters. we would like to hear what you think about how university leaders have handled campus protests and commencement. the phone lines are split up this way. if you approve of their handling, call us on 202-748-8000. if you disapprove, it is 202-748-8001. if you are a current college student, faculty member or administrator, call us on 202-748-8002. you can also send us a text at 202-748-8003. be sure to include your first name and your city and state and we are on social media, facebook.com/c-span and x

@cspanwj. here's the associated press. hamas accepts gaza cease-fire. israel says it will continue talks but presses on with raaf tax. the article says hamas said monday it accepted an egyptian qatari cease-fire proposal that israel said the deal did not meet its core demands and was pushing ahead with an assault on the southern does a city of raaf operated israel said it would continue negotiations, the high-stakes diplomatic moves left a glimmer of hope alive but only barely. that could bring at least a pause to the seven month old war that has devastated the gaza strip. hanging over the wrangling was the threat of an all-out israeli assault on raaf. a move the united states strongly opposes and that they

have sworn would be disastrous. 1.4 million palestinians taking refuge there. it's a look at what the white house national security spokesman said yesterday when he was asked about the potential cease-fire. >> are you able to say whether hamas agreed to something over the last couple of days? >> without getting into the details of it and director burns is still talking to partners about this. there have been ongoing negotiations and talks here for weeks. and the director traveled recently. again without speaking about the details of the response by hamas it's safe to conclude the response came as a result or at the end of these continued discussions the director burns was part of. >> a better sense of what's happening later today or

tomorrow. >> the president has been briefed on the response and he is aware of the situation and where the process is. what you're asking is when will we get the final table slap here. there is a process that has been worked in the past and will be work this time. we get a response by hamas and we will have to evaluate that. certainly the israelis must have a chance to look at this to evaluate it and director burns as we speak as we are talking or having these conversations. it would be great i'm sure revenue answer as soon as possible. i don't want to get ahead of that process. >> that was yesterday at the white house and we will take a call now from tony who is a college student in new york. tony, where'd you go to school? >> i'm not entirely comfortable

with saying. host: what do you think about what's going on? guest: we had encampment over at my campus recently which led to dozens of arrests. just me and myself as an organizer i -- my own university hasn't had that in my face before. their blocking protesters, the sitting we've done prior. that law led to the arrest of nine people i believe. that was prior to the encampment that we did. our university senate voting to -- is trying to get a vote across that would hold the university president as unfit serving on behalf of the university.

during the encampment when the university president called i the university police, suffolk county police and stuff like that. host: i've got a question for you. your protests, where they abiding by the rules that your university set for protests? caller: yes. for one it was a peaceful encampment. we held different rules, but at the same time the university has changed the rules constantly and either way, the point of the protest is to be disruptive so even if we weren't harming anybody or harming any property we were just occupying the space, --

host: were you for instance blocking students from getting to their classes? when you say you were trying to be disruptive what kind of disruption did you cause? caller: our university, i guess for the most part we were literally just protesting, holding signs that we weren't going to classes, entering buildings. at least when i saw it online. we were just sitting there not doing anything. if anything it was the police blocking access to buildings bringing students out. and that was -- host: you said some of your

classmates got arrested. do you know what happened to them, where are they, what is going on? caller: some have been suspended. they have had the access to their dorms blocked, they can -- it is again a second round of arrests because they're still a first round of arrests that they did that they were charged with violations or whatever. host: tony you did not get arrested, why not? >> this one, this one i didn't for this one but i am so trying to keep -- again i'm trying to -- different personal reasons

why i'm trying to be a little bit more not on the ground as much. host: would you say you are done protesting at this point? will you continue once classes let out after graduation? will you continue or what is the plan? >> to be fair even prior to 2024 i've been doing protests so i've no intention of stopping. >> appreciate you calling in. >> thank you. host: john is in bridgewater new jersey. caller: this is incredible and 70 five years old i live through the 68 riots, the riots we had in 2022 -- 2020, this is all coordinated, has nothing to do with legitimate protests.

you can see it by the tents, by the flags. where did these come from. it's unbelievable. are you kidding me. this is not organic. host: coordinated by who? caller: soros. all of them. this is a long term bill ayres, clinton, obama, a long-term movement to destroy this country, end of story. host: al is next in georgia. go ahead. caller: i blame all of this on bidens policies when he gave that money they had the money to pay these charities to come over here to start all of this. as bad as you all hate to trump

he had them under control. i believe all of joe biden foreign policy -- i blame all of joe biden's foreign policies. host: this is an article from al jazeera that text of the gaza cephas fire proposal approved by hamas. it provides a timetable for release of hostages and withdrawal of israeli troops from the territory. a copy of the posa hamas said it accepted, the deal which was put forward would come in three stages that would see an initial halt in the fighting leading to lasting calm and the withdrawal of israeli troops from the palestinian territory. the proposed agreement would also ensure the release of israeli captives in gaza as well as an unspecified number of palestinians held in israeli jails.

israel has said it does not agree to the proposal but that it will engage in further talks and secure an agreement all while pushing on with its results on gaza. there's also regarding the protests here this is npr.org that says this. new york city, half of those arrested at two pro-palestinian campus protests were not students. this gives an idea of this being arrested and says new york city officials say nearly half of the 200 82 people arrested at pro-palestinian protests on two campuses this week are not currently affiliated with either school. the arrests break down was released on thursday by the new york city police department and mayor eric adams following mounting pressure for adams to

reveal how many of those arrested at columbia university in the city college of new york were students. after repeated claims that outside agitators guided the protests that led to the arrest. speaking of columbia university, here is a recent video from that university's president about the situation on campus. >> these past two weeks have been among the most difficult in columbia's history. the turmoil and tension, a division and disruption have impacted the entire community. you are students who paid an especially high price. you lost your final days in the classroom and residence halls so those of you who are seniors finishing college the way you started online. no matter where you stand on any issue, columbia should be a community that feels welcoming and safe for everyone.

we try very hard to resolve the issue of the encampment through dialogue. many people who gathered there were largely peaceful and cared deeply about the humanitarian crisis in gaza. academic leaders talked with students for eight days and nights. the university made a sincere and good offer but it was not accepted. a group of protesters crossed a new with the occupation at hamilton hall. it was a violent act that puts students at risk as well as putting the protesters at risk. i walked through the building and saw the damage which was distressing. but despite all of that has happened i have confidence during the listening sessions i held with many students in recent months i've been heartened by your intelligence, thoughtfulness and kindness. the ones that impressed me the most were those who acknowledged the other side has some valid points.

we need more of that at columbia. everyone of us as a role to play in bringing back the value of truth and civil discourse that polarization has severely damaged. >> we are taking your calls this morning on your thoughts on how university leaders are handling campus protests and these upcoming commencement's. the phone lines are split up this way. if you approve of their handling it is 202-748-8000. if you disapprove it is 202-748-8001. and the line set aside for current college students, faculty administrators it is 202-748-8002. let's hear from jim in highland park new jersey. >> good morning to you. what can we say but what's happening on the campuses throughout the country is

disgraceful. >> they are resorting to violence and as a result they should be dealt with in a forceful and aggressive manner by the powers that be. >> so if the protests are not violent, do you think they should just be allowed to continue? >> i would think if they are not violent, yes. but as far as they are resorting to storming the administrative offices of the respective institutions of higher learning, that is a no no. host: have you ever protested?

caller: i'm sorry? host: have you ever taken part in any protests in your past may be in your youth. caller: no. no. host: just wondering. carla in wayne city illinois, good morning. caller: i desperately disagree with all this. i think the university leaders, whoever is supposed to be there administrators, when they start negotiating with these children, i think they are wrong. they are adults but i think they ought to be punished and i've been more disappointed when they start taking down the american flag. because that's telling me these kids that are our americans are saying they don't want to be in america. send them all to palestine and let us see what's really going on.

israel has every right to defend what went wrong on october 7. hamas is a terrorist group. this is an organized protest, all of them. it was like boom down the road they all started protesting. so organizations is to me organized terrorism. and then when you've got -- i give kudos to the gentleman that held that flag up when they try to take it down. i was impressed. those boys are heroes. host: all right carla. let's look at this axios article that is about where college negotiations ended campus protests chaos it says deals between four universities and pro-palestinian's protesters offer a rough road map for school seeking to defuse

tensions and shutdown encampment before commencement. it says administrators at northwestern, brown, rutgers and university of minnesota found diplomatic alternatives since the agreements had pushed protesters take down their tense , here -- they avoid sweeping and immediate changes. two university investments in favor of scholarships and expanded academic programs. none of the four schools agreed to divest from companies that do business in israel or aid to countries across the country. all agreeing to let concrete ncessions around their endowments. and there is more detail here about what each of those universities did and what they agreed to and how they resolved the protest on their campus. kelly in texas, good morning. caller: how are you doing. host: i'm doing ok.

caller: i love your show. no worries. i'm just -- i'm not jewish but i am christian and a very disturbed about what's going on in some of our highest universities in america. those that i cherish the most like columbia which i heard on another news station says it cost $90,000 per year, that's a little bit more than what i heard. for someone to go to that university but i remember during the pandemic a couple years ago there was a man, he is a holocaust survivor.

he was a child. at bergen-belsen. and all of his family was murdered, destroyed by the germans. and he had the tattoos on the inside of his arm. and they did a local news story here in which he went to a houston high school and apparently he goes all around the country giving -- and houston isd, the school district in texas and these high schoolers had never been caught, never heard anything about the holocaust. so he was like a small child in

the allied troops had come in and had liberated the jews from the concentration camps. and some of them had gotten sick and even had cried. host: you feel like there isn't enough education about the holocaust? caller: amen. yes ma'am. and so i'm thinking the students here at our most cherished universities, our top 10 universities, they do not know -- they know not what they do. and they don't know about the genocide of the jews and how that is still going on. i'm not jewish but i have a

third or fourth cousin who is jewish. my mother and my parents and i learned in school about the holocaust. i saw the films, the black-and-white films. i read l.a. for cells -- elie wiesel's night and going through a whole box of kleenex and wondering how a whole -- a human being could go through this. and what is going on now. and i see what's going on now it's like in the early 30's and what led up to the third reich and nazi-ism and everything and i thought no we cannot have this , do this again. >> let's go to barney in zephyrhills florida. >> good morning.

>> one thing i know about this situation people need to be honest with themselves. israel, netanyahu, this apartheid. in south africa which is banked by the united states, the united states is doing the same thing that israel. anytime you've got a big wall, walling people off and don't let them participate in the country they have no rights, they are taking the people in the west bank, what you expect people to do. you expect them to lay down and let it happen? any person will fight for survival. and another thing. college students studied, they

read books. these republicans run around trying to stir up more mass. these people understand what's going on. the younger people understand what's going on just like in the vietnam war when the soldiers came back and telling the country what's happening in vietnam that's when we started having those protests. the same situation here. everyone knows what's going on in israel. netanyahu is a crook. donald trump is a crook. the republican party is trying to overthrow the united states. host: speaking of the republican, speaker johnson was a columbia university previously unreleased this statement about what's happening there. he says the president and administrators have displayed a shocking unwillingness to control their campus. they've allowed outside agitators and terrorists

to rewrite campus rules andculty vile anti-jewish aggression. thousandsudents who've worked hard to achieve their degrees will not gethe recognition they deserve. because it is abundantly clear that the president would rather cede control to hamas supporter then restore order. clumpy ad of trustees should emilio remove her appoint a new president too well. our once great university desperately needs strong moral leadership now more than ever. he was referring to columbia's decision to cancel their main commencement ceremony. they will instead have smaller school-based graduation ceremonies for each of their schools. and milton is calling us from baltimore maryland. caller: good morning. i feel like this. having been to the college i

feel what i've learned is that whenever there's a controversy it's always a balancing act between good and bad. and so these students kind of denying there should be a oneness between mankind and the freedoms we have shared in the united states to be the freedom everyone has and that's not always the case. so they need to lay out their case and they have a proposal and come to a decision as a true function for everyone so i agree with the handling of the campus, the university leadership and how they have dealt with the situation. because they are being logical with their decisions and the students are not. once the student see people trying to infiltrate them in

their movement they need to stop and to cease. with that said, one thing people saying hamas attack to israel. hamas did not attack israel. hamas attack illegal settlements on palestinian lands so that's one thing that's a narrative that should be corrected. other than that i totally agree with the university president. >> carolyn is in virginia. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. i've been looking at this since it started. i really don't like the idea these young people coming over here taking over our campus after we let them come over here and get an education. i feel that they are not americans they shouldn't be taking over our campus and they are not american and when they protest like this they feel that's strongly about what's happening over there they need

to get back on the plane and go back over there and help their people into the disturbing university where people pay hard money to get an education. it's not right for them to come over here and do that. and disturbing our campus for our students education. if you feel that strong about your country, you need to go back over there and help your people. we need the american people to get the money to send over there. they want one thing. somebody sent them there to do that. host: what do you think of the young people protesting that are american? caller: i feel like the lady was saying they're not educated enough about what happened over there. the same thing happened about what happened israel and same

thing to the black people. they don't want black education in school. all they want is the white education. they don't want any other education. even though they have no right to stir dust disturb other people's education. that their mothers and fathers paid good money for to get an education and at the end of the year they can even have the enjoyment to walk across the stage. send them back to their country. i guarantee you who do you think they can ascend. they will send the young people over there. and they will be sending them, coming to our schools, getting our jobs and living in big houses. while young people are getting killed. same people in the vietnam war. living good while our kids are over there fighting.

i think it would be wrong for them to do that. they should go first. host: this is in the washington times, it says protesters from abroad put student visas at risk. biden urged to ask against sympathizers and those involved in the unruly campus protest against israel are guests of the u.s. on foreign student visas and pressures mounting on president biden to start revoking those visas to help schools regain control of their ground experts say the administration has the tools and republicans are demanding mr. biden show the well. we put people in planes and sell -- send them to sell -- el salvador, why can't we put them on planes and send them back for being arrested for violence on the university campuses. that is emilio gonzales who ran immigration services in the george w. bush administration adding the federal government

has got to want to act. we will check in here on our social media feeds, here is gary on facebook saying the ivy league colleges just flat-out failed. a text from keith in fort wth texas. columbia canceled graduation punish the entire class for a few protesters over safety concns now others are doing the same. take back the campusesave graduation. add more security if necessa this is from tony in florida. the universities of mishandled the prfrom the start. there is equivocation and failure to act proactively only serv tmake things worse. at the first instance of illegal acts they should have acted. the university of florida set the example. they should have followed. speaking of the university of florida we have a portion of the

former senator ben sasse talking about the commencement ceremonies of the university of florida. [video clip] >> what you have is a lot of tears of mom's first-generation kids throwing her arms around her kids as they get to graduate. a lot of these kids graduated high school four years ago and because of covid they did not get a commencement. it's been a glorious weekend of celebration. >> that is what probably passions about gaza and israel aside that's probably what most parents and students would want is a commencement where their accomplishments are celebrated. obviously there are free speech lines and free speech and debate that we also hold dearly in this country. it's interesting because notably after the governor ordered them to activate a more radical -- deactivate you opted to not do so because of free speech concerns.

where does the university president draw a line between free speech concerns with the right of every student on campus to feel safe and secure and to enjoy college and graduation. >> great question. i think the line is between speech and action. i'm a first amendment zealot and it's a glorious thing that our first amendment gives us free speech, a freedom of religion, press, assembly, redress of grievances. what we tell all of our students, protesters and non-is there are two things we will affirm over and over again. we will always defend your right to free speech and assembly and also we have times, manner and restrictions and you don't get to take over the whole university. you don't get to barricade yourself in the buildings. you don't get to disrupt someone else's commencement. don't allow protest inside. on my run this morning i got to run the stadium this morning i ran by our peaceful protesters

waving the palestinian flag. we protect their right to do that but we have rules and we don't allow campaign on campus. you cannot start to build an encampment. our goal is not to arrest people it's to help us get into compliance with the rules. they can protest and try to persuade people but they don't get to build a camp. nobody else does either. >> that was the president of florida university we are taking your calls for about the next 25 minutes on how you think university leaders are handling the campus protests and the commencement's, the lines are if you agree it is 202-748-8000. if you approve of their handling prayed if you disapprove it is 202-748-8001. and our line for college students, administrators, faculty it is 202-748-8002. bonnie is in lancaster, pennsylvania. caller: please allow me a little

time here to give a little bit of a lesson. i'm a christian. i was married 30 years ago to a jew. his niece caught in a cookbook's. we have to understand what a kibbutz is. it is very similar to our amish. they are peaceloving jews and they were targeted. would we like to live with bomb shelters in our sellers? 60% -- 50% of the jewish people live with bomb shelters in their homes and in their businesses. these college students, and i'm educated, college educated. i could have been expelled for having beer in my room. this is ridiculous. this is absolutely ridiculous. this is staged. they can go ahead and they can

protest but you cannot tamp on a campus. you cannot take over a campus. people work hard for an education and i don't know if americans realize this. but 10,000 palestinians a day across the border and work in israel. they work their, hamas destroyed all this peacefulness and i suggest that our students go over there and try to live with the palestinians. host: you said you disagree with the encampment sprayed what you think should happen to students that are destined want to remain. >> they should be expelled. they should be removed. they should lose their credits. they should have lost -- i believe not more than a quarter of them are students. i believe the rest are

protesters that are paid and this has been planned. but to campolo -- cancel graduation, to cancel a graduation of those that worked so hard. and i believe that these administrators definitely should be fired and replaced. this is not -- kids go to school to learn, they go to school for an experience. they don't go to a school to do this. it's that simple. and we americans welcome immigrants. we welcome these people but why doesn't egypt? why doesn't egypt, saudi arabia, jordan, why don't they want the palestinian refugees. do you know why? because they are taught from birth to kill jews and western world. caller: let's take a look at a portion ofhetatement from columbia university about

commencement. it says we are determined to give students the celebration they deserve and that they want. other colleagues who work directly with students have been leaders and listening.student based on their feedback we have of our commencement activities are class days and school level ceremonies. where students are honored individually alongside t peers rather than the university ceremon is scheduled for may 15. past few weeks have been incredibly difficult for our mmunity just as we are focusing on making a graduating experience truly special continue to listen to student feedback and are looking at the possibility of a festive event on may 15 to take the place of the large formal ceremony. getting your views on that and how you think the university leaders have been handling the

situation. bill is calling us from ohio. good morning. caller: the woman on from pennsylvania was exactly right. these kids don't know anything. but i know in all 50 states we have a law against terrorism so when they stand up and they say that they are hamas and they want to take over these places than every person has the right to go ahead and make a citizens arrest and put those people on the ground and detain them and have law-enforcement, and take them out. host: the view deck you said that the protesters are saying that they are members of hamas. caller: i've seen them on tv saying we are hamas, holding up their signs. covering their faces. calling the police kkk and all this other vile stuff. those people, the ones in

college need to go ahead and lose their college education if they're from another country they need to be sent back to that country and they shouldn't be allowed back in here. these college administrators they did not know what they were doing. if they knew what they were doing they would've said shut this down as soon as they started. as soon as they started setting up these encampments and soda putting the stuff on campus that's when they should have gone in and shut it down and they should have used violence if they had to. host: do you think there is a place for peaceful protest on campus? let's say if they remain peaceful? caller: if you want to peacefully protest i'm all for that. but when you go to take down my country's flag and put another flag up there's a lot of people like me. host: let's take a look -- we

will take another call from jim in bellingham, washington. caller: good morning. my comments will start with this and i don't claim to know everything about everything. i watch the ucla protests last night and they were awful. i take the side of the protesters, the students that are jeopardizing their own graduation to stand up for a rightful cause and i'm reminded of the old great musician that died recently david bali. he had a song called changes. i won't call these people children, they are young adults, but his lyric was these children that you spit on as they try to change their world, they are quite immune to your consultations. they are quite aware of what they're going through. i think if you want to get a

better handle on things you can check out, i think noam chomsky would be in favor of the students and he is jewish. i know many jews who are persecuted by the right wing and these left-wing jews are wonderful people and some of them are in these protests and they support them they have peace rallies and all sorts of things which differs from one of your previous callers who said they shouldn't be doing it, i will just finish with this. norman finkelstein specialized, he wrote a book called gaza: an inquest into martyrdom. he spent his whole adult life writing this book. he is a very good source. you cannot find him in the mainstream media because they won't have him because he is too radical. he says also if you challenge

him on the facts she is very diligent about, but he is on the web you can get him, google normal -- norman finkelstein gaza you will get some of his videos. he is very informative. a great man and that is my perspective and thank you for letting me in. host: marian in grovetown, georgia, good morning. caller: i want the american people to know that when the suffrage movement, people were protesting, women were in the streets and guess who they arrested, a lot of the leaders of the suffrage movement. every single time we make a shift in this country and we are upset about something and it's grassroots i know we keep hearing about soros. but i am not affiliated with anything in the democratic party at all and i'm a democrat but that's all.

i totally support what the students are doing. i cannot -- i am pretty old and when i die and saint peter asked me what did you do when there were 30,000 people being killed, did you just sit there or did you say no, killing is wrong. two wrongs do not make a right and that's how i feel. they talk about the college students not knowing anything. i can tell you my daughter calls me every day on the way home and i tell her what news is going on because i have the time to research and do things and she worked 15 hours a day. young people in college actually have the time, that's what they are there for. they are learning and they probably know more about this issue than most of us know because that's what they are there for. they are in school learning about history. that's why they are so angry because they do know. one thing that i wish c-span1 talk about is we keep talking

about the hostages, but do we talk about what israel is doing with administrative detention where they can hold people. i was just looking in an article , in 2003 thousands of palestinians being held without charge in israel. they can pick you up because they think you might be a problem later on in the future and hold you indefinitely without a charge, just forever. isn't that a hostage? isn't that just as bad as being a hostage? it's not black and white. there's a lot going on and give these young adults credit that they know what they're talking about. thank you. >> allen is in stanley, virginia, good morning. caller: thanks for taking my call.

if you take a look at what's going on, whose really called intelligent? what i would like to comment about is the professors and administrators. i disapprove of it because it's very poor leadership, it's not america. it's sweet words and talk, nothing gets done and we see what's going on. to me it is a disgrace to see this happen in our country, these foreign flags flying. if you cannot respect our country you should leave. and as far as young kids being educated, i don't know this minority group that's doing all these protesting, why can't -- where is it coming from? it's from these radical liberal marxist professors and the whole

bunch should be cleaned out from the top to the bottom. host: sorry to cut you off but i wanted to ask you a question because you mentioned the flags flying. some people brought up the confederate flag, that some far-right groups fly and display, what do you think of that? caller: first of all let me say whether you like the confederate flag or not it's an american flag? it's a part of our history we have to accept that. we don't have to accept these other countries coming in here hanging their flags when they don't belong. they want to come here and work for -- that's all good but i don't see that. this thing is very well organized, it's organized and these lousy politicians filling their pockets with money. it's so sad to see. we wake up as americans and see

what's going on. if we elected the current president in november this is what you will see. this is the america we want, i don't support that and i urge every american, it's our country , its freedom for all, a love for all let work together. this is despicable. host: amin is in florida. caller: hello, how are you. my english is not so good but i will try my best. we approve and disapprove. we are disappointed for all what's happening in gaza, but -- i don't support for hamas and a

don't support the prime minister of israel because he is taking a decision. >> we can hear you. continue. caller: i'm not sure for the prime minister at all. and i'm not -- it is very frustrating. it is painful for my brothers, especially the kids and the families. especially people who aren't involved in this thing and what's the most sad is that

people -- can you hear me? host: we heard you. caller: it's only the people who pay the price in this kind of thing. what is frustrating is other arabic countries like saudi arabia, qatar and egypt they don't really do anything. they say ok we are going to make a negotiation for this and that so it doesn't make sense to after that -- yes you are allowed to say what you want but at a certain point,

i don't really know what they do. host: got it. he did mention the children in gaza. this is on the front page of the new york times this morning. four children hurt in gaza arrive in the u.s. among 100 evacuated for urgent treatment. the four children survived horrors in gaza but on sunday morning to reach the end of an arduous journey out of the conflict zone and into american hospitals to receive urgent medical care. they flew from cairo to kennedy airport where agreed with much fanfare. among the children was a six-year-old boy with pale skin and strawberry blonde hair who

appeared dazed as the crowd rushed around his wheelchair, an airport employee shouted for people to disperse and put away their cameras. he has cystic fibrosis and weighs about 25 pounds and is suffering from severe malnourishment caused by famine according to the palestine children's relief fund. joe is in riverview, florida. >> good morning. all these different opinions. the guy speaking earlier about the confederate flag. i feel that way -- the way he felt about it. but that's way out field. the insurrectionists should look

at these kids and feel guilty. i cannot understand how the president can tell these kids -- how you can protest and what can happen but the mealy mouth doing nothing we should have troops on each corner waiting. if you do what you are going to go to jail and just like the president trump has said there's got to be a bloodbath, president biden needs to let it know you got away with the first one but come back again we will be ready for you. we are knocking to tolerate it. republican or democrat, this is our country. i fought into wars and i work for the government for 50 years and i was trained to protect

federal property and as far as i'm concerned the guys at the capitol didn't protect that property the way i would've protected. the guys the train with me because if -- that insurrection we would still be mopping up blood because they would've killed everyone of us. >> here's another joe this time in washington dc. >> good morning. the question at hand is whether or not you approve or disapprove of how the universe are handling the protests. so i will try to stick to that. i was in college in 2015 in the baltimore area when freddie gray was murdered. by the police and the protests that happened on my campus were very different from the ones happening now. obviously it's a different cause.

it's hard to judge how much more passionate things like that. when we were protesting we marched down charles street, in baltimore and a group of students occupied the president of the university office. but they had a list of demands so they had a very clear list of demands they wanted out of the university in response to the systemic racism that led to the killing of freddie gray and then they wanted relief from in the education system. i think the difference here and i called in on the disapprove line because i think the university president have done a really poor job with gauging with the protesters saying what are you guy -- what do you guys want, what am i able to do in order to get you to see what i'm

capable of or not capable of. meeting a compromise, treating them like the young adults that they are. i think the protest that happened on my campus were over relatively quickly and they only occupied the office for about two days or so. because the president sat down with them and said i see that you're really passionate about this. what do you want me to do. >> i was can essay one of the things that some of the protesters are asking for is that the university's endowment completely divest from any companies that do business with israel. do you think that is practical, do you think that is possible? caller: i don't know if it's within the president's power or something to the board of trustees or whoever. i think of the president sat down and said this isn't something i can do unilaterally

this is a process we have to go through. and then having an honest conversation with them. i think it would be more productive. i'm not saying the protesters are in a place emotionally to even have that conversation but i don't even see an attempt being made on the others to say let me level with you and see what we can do here. i do not think it is -- i'm a democrat, i support freedom for palestine. i understand, i am not equivocating but no matter how you feel about the situation, what do you actually want out of this protest and can we get you to stop occupying buildings and ruining graduation ceremonies for people who don't either feel the same way that you do or maybe they do but they don't feel it passionately to do all of this. it's difficult but if they were able to sit down and have a conversation it would be a better situation.

host: carol is in pennsylvania. are you a college student? caller: yes i am. university of pennsylvania. host: what's been happening there? caller: it's been nuts. i want to know, do you like your job? host: yes i do. caller: ok. journalism is an interest -- interest i had when i first went to school. when you do your newscast, i have noticed that a lot of this coverage from the papers to the washington journal, to cnn, msnbc, i notice that there is an extreme bias by our journalists today and i'm not talking

antisemitism because that's been around as long as my mother and father have been alive. that's been around since germany. it is the fact journalists do not seem to know their history. and they certainly do not like the constitution. host: getting back to what's going on on campus. caller: there a lot of people from other countries, this is what you get when you don't have borders. you get people who think that they are entitled to destroy. don't you remember 2020? does any journalist remember 2020 and tearing down jefferson statues, tearing down all of our founders.

-- there is nothing but these people destroying. they are not educated. if everybody would stop sending their kids to college and teach them how to be plumbers, we might have a better world. host: let's get one more call in , washington, d.c., good morning. caller: i've listened and i'm not upset but i'm shocked. i believe that the university is doing the best they can do under the circumstances. they have to think about so many things. not only about the goodness of the protest but how to stay safe, how to have a future school. how to understand. the problem is not with the university. the problem is the united states continuing to give this crazy man money and ammunition to kill children from gaza. i don't understand that.

university, i think they are doing the best they cannot to the circumstances. host: that's all the time with got in this segment, up next, we will take a closer look at the congress oversight of the faa and the aviation industry with dave shepherdson of reuters. later, we will speak to representatives of both the college republicans and democrats about t campus protest. first up, courtney hope rid of the college republican national committee and at 9 a.m. eastern, the college democrats of america. we will be right back. ♪ >> will you solemnly swear that in the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god?

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about congress and oversight of the airline industry is the reuters correspondent david shepherdson, welcome to the program. we are up against a friday deadline for reauthorization of the faa. what does that mean and why does it need to be reauthorized and why is it separate from everything else? guest: congress is establishes procedure to re-approve agencies every few years to give them a chance to take a deep dive into that policy. with the faa, it's about safety and consumer issues and air traffic control so all the functions of the faa and over the past year, both the house and senate have been working hard to get this done. it was not reauthorized past may 10 and they would lose some of their ability so it would be a bad thing if it was not reauthorized. it's already been temporarily reauthorized several times over the past year as congress has been working to complete this

five-year reauthorization. host: where does this legislation stand now? how far along have they gotten? guest: the house passed a bill overwhelmingly last year. the senate got bogged down initially over a pilot training issue, the so-called four corners, the chairs of the house and senate committees and the ranking members of the parties reached a bipartisan agreement about a week ago. that bill is expected to be largely what gets approved by both houses but there is still a lot of debate over some last-minute amendments and extraneous bills that members would like to attest to that that are popular. host: that have nothing to do with the airlines or anything? guest: right, it's election year and there's not a lot of so-called trains leaving the station so they want to attach a bill that's been languishing. host: speaking of airline safety, remind us of why this has become a big deal them with those issues were that have come up. guest: the one issue people have

most recently thought about is the boeing 737 max 9 midair emergency in january when a door plug which is a piece of the fuselage that is attached to the plane and it blew out of it this last airplane. it was an alaska airlines planet caused a lot of concern about the faa oversight of boeing as well as boeings quality and manufacturing processes. there has been a number of near miss -- near collisions on airport runways, most notably about a year ago in austin, texas where the southwest plane and a fedex plane came about 100 feet from one another from colliding into each other. the third issue was an outage of the system which is a notice to air missions, its messages pilots get to make sure they know what's going on. a year ago in january, that

system shut down and it required the united states to ground all commercial departures for the first time since 9/11 for about two hours. there's been a number of safety issues as well as the shortage of air traffic controllers. host: let's go back to the near misses on the runway, what causes that? is it air traffic control is not paying attention guest:? there is a number of factors in the case of the southwest incident. it's most likely the fault of an air traffic controller made a mistake and allow the southwest plane to depart and go down the runway. in that case, the ntsb will have a hearing about that soon, you had two planes basically going over one another. had the southwest plane taking off in the fedex plane about to land. the copilot saw a single light in the fog and as a result aborted the landing. basically averted of massive tragedy. host: speaking of boeing, this

is on the front page of the business and finance section of the wall street journal -- what's going on at boeing right now? guest: after that january incident involving alaska airlines and potentially the most troubling part was when the door plug was removed, it was missing for keep bolts in blew out. there were no records at boeing of the removal of the door plug and the removal of those bolts so that raised serious questions about boeings quality and manufacturing processes. as a result, the faa band boeing

from increasing production of the 737 max. in this instance since then, boeing has encouraged employees to report any problems. an employee basically noticed another employee not following procedures and boeing investigated and found out one of these required tests for the 787 dreamliner was not being done. the records were being falsified that the test had been completed. boeing instead of taking swift action, called it misconduct and the faa said they were investigating so it questions about other tests. what assurances does the public have that the required tests are being done? host: let's take a look at a portion of ted cruz, the top republican on the senate commerce committee about safety provisions from the faa bill. [video clip] >> i'm proud to say that our bill includes numerous crucial safety provisions such as

requiring 25 hour cockpit voice recorder's in all commercial aircraft. this safety upgrade will allow the national transportation safety board and the faa to have access to vital information needed during accident investigations. this became abundantly clear after the cockpit voice recorder in the alaska airlines flight was lost because of an out dated two hour requirement. that's unacceptable and it should never happen again. with this bill, it will not happen again. in response to recent runway surface incidents, this bill establishes a zero-tolerance runway safety policy. it prioritizes projects that improve surface surveillance and establishes a runway safety council and it requires a timeline and an action plan to

actually get better runway and turmeric incursion technology installed at airports that need them. air traffic controller shortages have plagued airports across the country. that includes in my home state of texas. it puts traveler safety at risk. this legislation aims to relieve the strain on air traffic control by directing the faa to hire the maximum number of air traffic controllers. hopefully, aiding the many facilities that are been understaffed for far too long. host: there is a lot there. what stood out in that list? guest: on air traffic controllers, senator cruz is right, we are about 3000 lower than targets, 10% fewer controllers than 2012 and despite the fact the faa is hiring a lot, 1500 this year, it's not enough to increase the

number insignificant terms. it's catching up with attrition and controllers in many places are working six-day weeks in 10 hour workdays. controllers are really overstressed. host: why is there a shortage? guest: this is a long-running problem where the faa or multiple administrations did not do enough to catch up and there was a dispute over the proper number of staffing at certain facilities. this problem really has festered for years. as a result, the controllers are working to me hours the faa wants to set mandatory rest times and there are a lot of these near misses that are a result of air traffic control errors. one of the issues is to increase technology and to have systems on the airport runway to ensure that if a controller or pilot makes a mistake that there is an alert in the cockpit and the control tower through technology on the ground to ensure they

don't result in a fatal incident. host: we will be taking your calls and you can start calling in now. our lines are regional so if you were in the eastern time zone, (202) 748-8000 mountain or pacific time zones, (202) 748-8001. you can also talk to us via text or on facebook at x. legislation does not increase the retirement age for pilots. what's going on there and is that in line with other international countries? guest: the international body that sets aircraft regulations has 60 fit -- age 65 in some countries do allow 67 but the vast majority do not. there was a big push especially in the house to get 67 but ultimately, what we've seen

recently is there's been a slow down in a need for pilots. some airlines furloughed pilots because boeing is having trouble delivering a number of planes that airlines expected to get so as a result, they are cutting some expected flights. they are asking pilots to work fewer hours. i think that took some of the steam out of the push for increasing the pilot retirement age of 65 to 67. there is also a big fight over pilot training. after the last major fatal commercial airplane crash in february of 2009, there is a big boost in the required training for pilots, about 1500 hrs and there was a push to lower that and make it more in line with what other countries require. that effort failed and that was one of the reasons the senate took so long to get back to this bill. once those two issues got off the table, they were left with a

couple of outstanding big issues like biometric screening by the tsa and adding some additional flights at dcaa and whether to change the refund provisions in the bill. host: i wanted to ask you about the consumer protection. what's in the bill currently? guest: the bill is similar to what the administration has proposed in that if your flight is canceled or delayed by more than three hours for a domestic flight, six hours for international, the airline has to refund your money. this refund only applies if you take the flight. if you fly to tulsa and your flight gets delayed, you can get your money back but you are not getting home from tulsa unless you buy another ticket. the question be comes, the administration wants this to be mandatory. your flight gets delayed and they had to give you your money back within seven days. the question be comes in the senate bill, you have to ask for the refund. the airline is required to have

visible buttons on their website suit and as for the money but what do we do with passengers who don't want the refund and they want another flight? does the legislation make it easy enough for airlines to get you on the next flight? it's very technical but in the language come in if you don't respond and you a flight mounts are now in gets changed 2:00 to 8:00, that would trigger this automatic refund provision. if you don't respond to the airline, can the airline have to automatically refund your money or can they just push you out of the flight if you don't respond? it's a small bucket of people we are talking about who would be impacted but it comes down to this debate over whether it should be automatic or you have to ask for it. host: we've got some calls lined up for you. i wanted to ask you about the minimum seat size. congress has declined to weigh

in on that. guest: they tried in 2018 to set the seat sizes if they determined it poses a risk to safety. the safety risk is not because we are crowded in the seat, it's about evacuation standards. are the seeds to small and are we too crowded for people to properly evacuate the flight in the case of an emergency? the faa not -- opted not to do that. the faa has to certify why it's not setting seat sizes. it would be a dashboard that would disclose to the public the minimum seat sizes by airlines. it doesn't look from a regulatory standpoint whether congress -- they will not set a number and so far the faa has shown no interest in actually setting a specific number in terms of the minimum seat size.

host: i wonder if the legroom would also be an issue because you expect that to be a safety issue as well. guest: it's not just about the size and pitch and how you get across. senator duckworth said it's not how realistic these standards are. it is a test versus a real emergency. how will we act? make your dad leave your lap top behind if there was an evacuation. host: george is in st. louis, missouri, good morning. caller: interesting conversation, thank you for taking my call. if it ain't boeing, i'm not going. now it's completely reversed. people see what type of airline they are flying. if it's boeing, they don't want to go. there is a lot of blame to go

around. when those two planes fell from the sky, the faa and boeing management should have taken a long hard look at what was going on. i don't think it really was done to the extent it needed to be. i am a shareholder of boeing and it hurts me to say this. this was an iconic company, one of the best, it was run originally by engineers. when they merged with mcdonnell douglas, it became a bean counting company run by bean counters rather than engineers and they've had a series of bad ceos in there and i don't understand why mr. calhoun is still there. he should be gone. they should seize back his bonuses. they should bring in somebody that has an engineering background. the faa is not clean on all of

this either. it's just horrible when a company of boeing's quality and you see keep going down. they tried to launch their missile in the aircraft down there in florida last night and that was scrubbed. i personally don't understand what's going on. however, i will say that unless they get somebody out there who's an engineer first, this company is too large to fail. they have their tentacles and so many things and they cannot and should not outsource all of their business. they started outsourcing everything. they used to make every thing in the house and they don't have control over everything. you cannot do that anymore. you've got to take control. host: let's get a response. guest: he raises a lot of

interesting points. dave calhoun the ceo of boeing said he's going to step down by the end of the year and boeing is actively looking for a new ceo. many people raise the same questions and said boeing needs a new ceo with an engineering background, not someone from the financial services side. after those two crashes in 2018 and 2019 that forced the grounding of the plane for almost 20 months, it did caused legislation and the faa and boeing to rethink about their processes. they did get criticized for their oversight of boeing and boeing agreed to a 2.5 billion dollars settlement with the justice department over its representation during the certification of the max 8.

that is still ongoing. the doj now is deciding did the alaska incident, was that a violation of that agreement? will that prompt it to reopen or extend that prosecution agreement? the broader point is one that's been raised alive. has boeing move too far from its roots as an engineering company and become a financial company? there is anecdotal evidence that people have moved away from blowing -- boeing flights a little bit. one in every two commercial planes as a boeing plane. most people don't know they are getting on a boeing airplane. air travel is extremely safe despite these incidents. it's safer to get on airplane and flight your destination and driving your car to get to the airport. that's because there has not been a single fatal u.s. airline

passenger crash in 15 years. it's an unbelievable safety record that we shouldn't take for granted and recognize these near miss incidents are incredibly serious but the united states had an unprecedented history of safety in the last 15 years. host: we've got a text from new rk -- guest: these whistleblowers have raised a number of concerns. it goes back to the 787 issue that was reported about boeing's quality process. fundamentally, manufacturing is the biggest issue they have to address. that's what the faa has said. by may 28, after they set this deadline, boeing has to show here's how we fixed our quality and their manufacturing and here are the safeguards to ensure that nobody makes a mistake like

leaving out bolts that are processes in place. it ensures that gets caught and documented. host: ron is calling from san clemente, california, good morning. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. we've got some issues here and i applaud that first caller from missouri. good job on the entry there. a couple of things that are very important. believe it or not, boeing is competing against airbus. airbus is funded by the saudi's. they have unlimited ability to build as many planes as they want as fast as they want. we restrict that. the second thing is, an eso anp employee stock option plan and,

have to cut back. they cut back because they want their stock money in their pension money later on. as a result, quality control and quality assurance get put to the side. i was raised and worked for north american back in the space program. in those days, there wasn't one nut or bolt that wasn't checked and not written off by a quality control person. the quality assurance person oversaw the whole thing. these are important things. when congress is looking at the faa, why in the world are flight attendants not paid for on boarding when they get on board a plane? they are not paid until they rollback the plane. that's all money.

there are so many things involved with the faa that they really need to look at and especially these collisions on the ground. that is unacceptable. i will stop there. guest: back to the near miss collision, we had six very serious ones last year that came close in the other important thing to remember is we are looking at potentially a record summer travel with a lot of pent-up demand from covid and people are still traveling a lot despite the concerns. the system is strained. the air controllers, the pilots, the mechanics and the faa has to ensure that the system works properly and when is it a problem? you need to slow things down and you need to ensure the system operate safely at all times. it's going to be a difficult summer especially with carriers

having to cut flights. host: ronnie says -- guest: this is an issue that has rankled the industry for a while. pilots are in a special class of employees where they are subjected to much stricter scrutiny than other people. part of that is entirely justifiable. we don't want pilots in the cockpit who are suicidal for sure. we saw that happen in europe several years ago with the german wing flight. the current rules basically as a pilot, can you go to therapy and talk to a therapist without scrutiny but you would temporarily lose your ability to fly. some pilots don't mess up. there is a difference whether

certainty test certain antidepressant should be allowed to be taken and be in the cockpit. i think there is a lot of support for this idea that if you have some sort of family crisis or an issue, should pilots be allowed to talk to somebody, counselor or psychiatrist without having to hide or fear they might lose their livelihood? whether it's a pilot, the ntsb or the f aa, there's wide support for trying to encourage pilots to be transparent about their concerns but allowed them to take steps for their own mental health without putting their pilots license at risk and ensuring the system gives quicker answers and doesn't keep pilots out of service for a long time. host: glenn is in clearwater, florida good morning. caller: i just wanted to make it comment about the statement that you head or a question that was asked of your guest.

why is there such a shortage of air traffic controllers? suddenly it sprang into my memory that ronald reagan initial election in 1980, in august of the following year, i remember quite distinctly that he had fired 11,000 or more air traffic controllers because they were striking, protesting that they were working 12 and 15 hours shift and it was creating a dangerous situation for air traffic -- airline passengers. these people were fired and i was kind of shocked that your guest didn't know or didn't remember or forgot to mention that this was the beginning, this was the line for corporations in this country to start to deal with the rise for

the power of unions. still to this day, there is a real reduction over the intervening 40 years or so of union membership in this country. it's all to benefit corporations like boeing or mcdonnell douglas or lockheed. host: we are running low on time, let's get a response. guest: the caller is correct that president reagan's firing of air traffic controllers in the early 80's was certainly a factor then. that was 40 years ago. the controllers than would've already aged out and when not be able to be working today. certainly it's true that was a blow to unions. you are right that u.s. union membership rates have fallen drastically but they have risen

slightly in the last couple of years or flatlined on the private sector side. the aviation sector remains one of the most unionized among the u.s. industry. most airlines are heavily unionized and it certainly was a blow to the air traffic controllers, not necessarily to the aviation sector. also with boeing which has major union membership didn't necessarily cause a blow to the aviation sector host:. david shepherdson, a correspondent for reuters, thank you for joining us today. up next, will speak to representatives of both the college republicans and democrats about campus protests. after the break, we will be joined by courtney hope brett from the republican national committee and at 9 a.m. eastern, the college democrats of america, stay with us.

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truth and nothing but the truth so help you god? >> saturday watch congress investigates on major investigations in our country's history from the u.s. house and senate. authors and historians will tell the stories and we will see historic footage and examine the impact and legacy of key congressional hearings. this week, the 1980's hearings on the iran-contra affair and we will hear about the clandestine failed missiles in exchange for the release of hostages in lebanon, the proceeds going to contra rebels in nicaragua. watch congress investigates saturdays at 7 p.m. eastern on c-span2. >> "washington journal" continues.. host: where joint now by the national representative of the republican national committee. tells about the republican college national committee. guest: it was founded in 1892 but a group.of college students

in michigan since then, we've grown to all 50 states plus puerto rico and guam. we have a chapter on college campuses in our mission is to get republicans elected at all levels of government host:. are you affiliated with republican national committee? >> we are in a sense and recognized by them as the official arm of the republican party but we are not funded by them or pay any dues to them. host: how are you financially supported? guest: we are supported by donors and we know how hard it is to be a college student. we are famously broke so we don't require our chapters pay any kind of money. we are one hundred percent supported by donors. host: how big is your staff? guest: we have a staff of about six people. i am both staff and board like chairman and ceo so i'm chairman of the board and i run our

staff. host: have you started officially campaigning for former president trump even though he is not the official nominee? host: our main goal this year is really down ballot. we are working on holding the house and flipping the senate. we cannot start doing that until the primaries are over. we are totally outside independent in the primary process and don't weigh in on that. most states have not made their nomination and the down ballot races yet so we are holding off on that at this time. host: i want to ask you about what you are hearing on college campuses about the main priorities for this year's election. guest: i think the concerns among college students are similar to the general population. let me start by saying the college students are not a monolith. what concerns one college student may not be of any concern to any other college student. that being said, a lot of

college students are concerned about the economy right now. the economy affects young people in the way it doesn't affect older generations. it affects everyone but we are trying to get our feet underneath us and we don't have a whole lot of financial capital built up yet. the economy is a huge issue for us. it's absolutely the number one issue. the other issues we hear about our border security and national security. host: there is a poll put out by harvard. theyuld 18-29-year-olds. what they found was 53% say ty will definitely be voting in the presidential election. i don'tnow how you feel about that number but we will talk about that. president biden leads former president trump by eight points among likely voters. that lead expands to 19 points. they also mentioned the economy but also reproductive freedom.

what are you hearing about that? guest: that's an issue for a lot of people now. it varies so much state-by-state. our primary concern from a national perspective is primarily focusing on the economy. we don't take a stance on the issues of reproduction or abortion and we are primarily pro-life but we welcome people in our ranks who are pro-choice. we are a big tent party. both parties in america have to cover the entire electorate. if you agree that's more of your concern, then be a republican. host: another that is attracting national attention is the pro-palestinian protests. i want to play you a section of what house speaker mike johnson said on colombia university's campus about what he think should be done there. [video clip] >> my attention is a call president biden after we leave here and share with him what we have seen with our own two eyes

and demand he take action. there is executive authority that would be appropriate and this is not contained quickly and if it is not stopped, there is an appropriate time for the national guard. we have to bring order to these campuses. we cannot allow this to happen around the country, we are better than this and i will ask the president to do that and i will tell him the same thing. >> what is the house going to do? what is your plan? >> the house has been investigating a number of these campuses. there is a nexus to federal funding of the campuses can't get control of problem, they don't deserve taxpayer dollars. that's a serious issue. it seem air education and workforce committee. we have brought the president to these universities and to congress to testify under oath and using accountability begun there. there will be much more of that we will continue to work on legislation to adjust this at the federal level. i genuine believe there is

bipartisan agreement on this, we will stand for what is good and what is right. we are going to do what is right by america. we respect free speech. we respect diversity of ideas but there is a way to do that in a lawful manner and that's not what this is. host: i wanted to get your reaction to that. he said two things that they should call the national guard in some cases on college campuses. i want to get your opinion on that and this idea of stopping federal funding for some universities. guest: i think it's appropriate in some instances to call the national guard. we seen wild instances across the country like at columbia. they've had to cancel commencement because they cannot get the students under control. they have really let this spiral out of control as appropriate to call the national guard in some instances. it's not fair that students are going to these universities in

fear of their safety because of these protests. we are in full support of people protesting. i can't think of anything more american than peacefully protesting. that ends where the peace and. once they become violent, it's an approach -- it's inappropriate. host: we will take your calls for courtney hope britt of the college republican national committee. if you like to call income of the lines are by party so democrats, (202) 748-8000 republicans (202) 748-8001 an independents (202) 748-8002. what are you hearing from young republicans about mr. trump's legal problems? guest: it's not something that people are focused on right now. college republicans are mostly focused on getting through the end of the semester.

politically, they are focused on the issues more than legal concerns. host: speaking of the economy, a big issue for college students is loans and student loan debt. what are they saying about that? are they looking to president biden to forgive student loan debt? guest: there are varied opinions on this even among republicans. there are opinions that there should be some level of student loan forgiveness and opinions there shouldn't be any. broadly speaking, total student loan forgiveness is not what most republicans are calling for. the bigger issue is that we need to address the cost of higher education. we can forgive all the student loans tomorrow and everyone coming through would still have this problem. we've got to address the rising cost of higher education. it has ballooned and far outpaced any other area with maybe the exception of health care. we need to address that before we address the issue of student loans but we do need to

address that as well. host: what's the best way? guest: i think it will be complex to address student loans. some level of forgiveness is probably appropriate. we've forgiven a number of other loans and i think certain other measures like reducing the cost of interest rates and some of the fees associated with them. it will take a full-spectrum approach for us to address this appropriately. host: we are going to go to the phones. we also have a line set aside for students and college administrators. if you would like to call in on that line, that's (202) 748-8002 (202) 748-8003 (202) 748-8003 which is the same line you can use for texting. bill in fairfax, virginia. caller: i'm curious about the student protests and who is actually funding them. i don't know whether your guest

is any thoughts about that but it seems that if republicans want to keep the border issue alive rather than addressing it, they might also want to keep this issue alive rather than addressing it and make it worse. what is she think about that? host: what you think? guest: if you are suggesting that republicans are behind the student protests, i cannot imagine how wrong that is. i know there are a number of groups that are organizing some of these protests and i know some of the campuses have multiple groups that are involved with the protests. i don't think the republicans have anything to do with this. i don't see what we have to gain from it. host: your organization put out a statement that said this -- these protests and encampments just -- displayed the worst form

of a long growing anti-american sentiment among academia in the united states. can you explain that? guest: for years now, we have seen this growing sentiment on college campuses, we are the worst country to ever exist attitude growing on college campuses. is something college republicans are frustrated by. also tons of americans are frustrated by this sentiment we see on college campuses.this is a natural outgrowth of that. if you think we can't do anything right, then eventually, you might get to the point where you are supportive of things as crazy as terrorist organizations which is some of these protesters are doing by flying flags of terrorist groups. we've heard them chant from the river to the sea and have been in support of hamas which is a terrorist organization. it's not entirely crazy that this has happened given the growing feeling of america is

all batted we have no redeeming qualities. host: we got a text from richard in the u.s. virgin islands -- let's go to joe in alexandria, virginia, republican. caller: yes, i have a question. host: go ahead. caller: i would like to know what you feel about the violence on campus being shut down and president trump did not do anything with the violence at the capitol and didn't shut that down for a long time and that was pretty violent. what to the college kids think about that? host: those two situations are not in the same context. i absently think the violence at the capitol should have been shut down more quickly than it was in much more should have been done to address that situation. host: we have a text here from

mark in fort lauderdal frida -- there is an article here in solon about that. the texas chapter may secede, what's going on with that? guest: bids in salon so i will leave it at that. it's far more than i could possibly explain in the 30 seconds i should take on this question. unfortunately, there is this growing movement on the right where when you don't get what you want, you say it was rate. you say the election was stolen. we seen that from the highest levels down. that trickle down to my election but like the 2020 election, i one there as well.

host: so you do take a position on the 2020 election? guest: absolutely. host: let's talk to tim who is in raleigh, north carolina, independent. caller: thank you for breathing some, i don't know, some truth back into the conversation? i wanted to ask regarding the students encampments at columbia, i think i heard or watched on the news that the police were the ones that came in acting violently. i'm curious if you been tracking that and have an opinion about peaceful protesters being treated violently by authorities? they don't want students to talk about this.

maybe they are supported by weapons manufacturers and other means the u.s. industry does to uphold the genocide against palestinians. host: your line is not that good. were you able to hear that? guest: i got the gist of the question. i understand that there is so much tension on his college campuses now. i applaud the law enforcement officers who are doing their best to address these issues. i think they haven't been characterized as they are. i've heard the same suggestion that the police are the ones coming in and being violent but i don't think that's the case. we have to remember that when it's the case, is because they are responding to violence and students who have been given the opportunity to leave their encampments and told to do so and then chosen not to. host: you're brought up the idea of the vestige are -- divestiture of universities

doing business with israel. what are your thoughts on that? guest: i don't think it's appropriate, we stand by israel. i don't think it's appropriate to divest from companies doing business with israel now. i think we should talk about divestment from companies that are doing business with china and who are oppressing the weaker minorities. i think that's a better discussion. host: let's talk to barry in new jersey, independent. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. can you tell us your opinion of the january six in surgeons? -- insurgents? are they patriots or criminals? when you go to vote, you asked for -- you asked for -- hello? host: we are listening. caller: when you go to vote, you should read. the party's platform the republican's platform says

that they are dedicated to execute the america first agenda as directed by donald j. trump. isn't that the definition of fascism? one liter? you will do everything that one leader wants to do? host: let's get an answer. guest: there has to be a leader of any party. there are multiple leaders of both republican and democratic party. there are party chair chairs at different levels. all of these acronyms, there are many republican leaders. all of them contribute to the movement in a meaningful way. host: and what about the january 6 insurgents? guest: i absolutely condemn what happened at the capital. there were plenty of people that day who didn't go to the capital whatsoever and were part of a peaceful protest are also a lot of people who were part of a riot that tried to attempt an

insurrection and i condemn that. we put out a statement then and i wasn't leader at the time but i stand by the statement we put out. host: silver spring, maryland, independent line. caller: good morning. i want to say thank you for breathing sanity back into the conversation. i really do appreciate your levelheaded approach. i have two quick questions. for college republicans, i wanted to know how you were educating college republicans on how to stick to principle. they see the immediate cycle that seems to be alarmist and drives up a lot of anxiety but at the same time, may not be a realistic picture of what the majority of americans who work and have things going on in their everyday lives and not get wrapped up in the cycle. the second question is on ukraine stuff. i don't know if you said anything before but i understand

historically ukraine was always corrupt. as i recall, donald trump was elected president, russia was always considered to be the problem not the ukrainians. i wonder the college republicans or the college republican stance is and is moving toward on ukraine because it's a legitimate fear for those who are supportive of ukraine against russia. they worry about trump gets an office in the rug will be pulled out from under them. guest: i think your first question was about host: educating college republicans. guest: thank you, weave and number of different initiatives we engage in to do with different programs in person and online programming for students. we try to bring information to campus through speakers and other events and other events undertake many approaches to that. in terms of the media cycle,

campus students don't look at a lot of mainstream media. they are getting their news from things like social media and podcasts. your other question about ukraine and russia, we don't have a blanket stance on the situation toward russia's attack on ukraine. we support ukraine so they can fend off the events. we don't want to go overseas at the end of the day with americans. host: we have a posting onx - guest: it's interesting you bring up community college. i attended community college because of the cost of education. i attended for two years but i also continued going and grading credits i transferred to a four-year university. i spent three years at a community college.

to say i am a fan would be an understatement. it's a great example of how you can do low-cost education. four years should be looking to the committee colleges and seeing how the committee colleges are saving and what can we do to lower our costs like they have? host: low-cost but not free cost. guest: in most instances, free college is probably not the best idea. host: john is calling us from vicksburg, mississippi, independent. caller: hi, how are you doing? i feel like i'm a boomer and i feel like i need to apologize to this young lady for the world we've created that they are inheriting. my position at this point is that the older people really need to get out of the way and let you create the world you want to live in. host: what do you think? guest: i appreciate that so much. i think that's the perspective

of a lot of us younger folks about the older generation, that they won't let go of power and didn't such -- didn't do just such a good job with it. i appreciate you saying that and i agree with your sentiment. we need to get more young people elected. host: mark in nyack, new york, democrat, good morning. caller: good morning at thank you for c-span. i am curious about this young woman you have on. does -- do you believe in climate change? guest: absolutely, i think it's real. most americans think climate change is real at this point. caller: bright, the science is irrefutable. the republican party are climate change deniers always bashing the big polluters -- always backing the big polluters. i don't understand how any young person's day and age when were under the threat of climate change can be a republican.

not to mention that this is not a reasonable republican party anymore. you have donald trump was a criminal andm this wholeaga thing is nuts. i expect young people to be progressive and have better views. i am a lifelong progressive and i really don't understand the right wing philosophy. tell me about it. guest: i would urge you to take a second look at what republican opinion on climate change. one congressperson did a great piece for axios. i encourage you to look at that. there's a lot of great work to support the survey of climate movement. we've come a long way on this issue and years ago, you are right, republicans broadly speaking were climate deniers but today we are working to address it with free-market principles. to your second point about the republican party, neither party

is perfect. nothing is on the side of heaven. it will not get any better if we don't participate in the process which is what i encourage people on both sides who are dissatisfied with their party to do. if you're not happy with the things just way things are going, get involved and make the changes you want to see. host: last question from dave in orlando who says this guest: i need something more specific than that. the republican party is a big tent party and we cover a lot of ideas. that is the same on the left. the same on the left. we only have two parties so they will have to be pretty big. courtney hope britt, thank you so much for joining us. coming up, we will continue our conversation with campus

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continues. host: we are joined by the national director of communications for the college democrats of america, sohali vaddula. welcome to the program. tell us about the college democrats of america. guest: the college democrats of america are the official arm of the democratic party. we hold two seats on the d&c and we have three levels of structure. our executive board consists of 11 members, currently 10. our board is responsible for carrying out the decisions of the organization, representing the organization to the party, and we have federations that represent members at the state level to the national council which is our legislative body for the organization that helps make decisions along with caucuses that identify -- that represent identity groups like jewish groups, the lgbt, women, and more.

we have campus chapters at many college campuses that help organize and elect democrats. host: your affiliated with the democratic national committee? guest: yes we are. our president and vice president whole two seats. host: what interaction do you have with the biden campaign? guest: the biden harris branch has a student's branch of the campaign and we work closely with them to help and ultimately elect democrats. host: and your funding, where does that come from? guest: we are largely funded by donations. we do not get a ton of funding from the dnc. for the most part funded by donations. host: can you talk about your personal background? guest: that is a great question. when i was a sophomore i was heavily involved in high school with speech and debate and that sparked my interest in politics. that is how i got involved in

the high school democrats of america. then once i graduated high school and new i wanted to stay in being a voice of youth for the democratic party and now i'm here at the college democrats as acute occasions director and i was also the communications director for the high school democrats of america until last fall. host: your currently a freshman at nyu studying public policy. what do you hope to do? guest: i know i want to go to law school after graduating. currently i work as a congressional intern. i'm trying to get a glimpse of all the different aspects of the local landscape and get as much experience as i can before i decide what i want to dive straight into. host: we will take your calls for our guest, sohali vaddula. the lines are by party. (202) 748-8000. republicans (202) 748-8001.

independents (202) 748-8002. we also have our line set aside for students and administrators. that is (202) 748-8003. use that same line to text us. let's talk about what college students are thinking about and what their main issues are going to be this election season. guest: they rising issue that is important is the conflict in the middle east. aside from that, reproductive rights, climate change, and gun control are important issues. reproductive rights affects people of my age and older people as well. aside from that we have seen school shootings at college campuses and high school campuses and spoke to buses in general, that affects young people the most. -- and school campuses in general. that affects young people the most. and climate change and global

warming, the way this is playing out with storms and heat waves. it is important we take care of our planet and that is important to us. host: how are college students feeling about the biden administration and if president biden has been addressing their concerns? guest: a lot of us see the biden administration is not doing the best job of representing youth voices. the biden administration has also done the most for young people when it comes to student debt cancellation and pushing the inflation reduction act, which has the biggest piece of climate change legislation in history. that is a huge win for gen z and young people. vice president harris is going on a reproductive freedom torah college campuses and that has been very influential -- reproductive freedom tour on college campuses and that has been influential. it is important we use our voice to speak out and voice our concerns. host: we spent the first hour

talking about viewers reaction to the protests on campus and how administrators, college leadership has been addressing those protests. what are your thoughts? guest: i think the administration or its -- i think the administrators are doing the best they can with the situation they have and it is a complex and nuanced issue. my personal take is they need to do more to support students peacefully protesting. for the most part the protests are peaceful and it is important to keep that in mind. after talking to many students on the ground protesting at columbia, at nyu, i have understood many of the protests are peaceful and the minority of protesters that are using violence are overshadowing the larger message of the movement. it is important we do not contribute to that. host: this idea of the antisemitism on college campuses

and jewish students not feeling safe or feeling targeted or attacked? your thoughts on that. guest: antisemitism is completely unacceptable and we will stand against it and condemn all forms of hate. in the statement we released we made sure to emphasize we stand against any form of hate in any shape or form including but not limited to antisemitism. host: i wanted to read the statement you put out. the statement says college democrats are committed to the reelection of president biden and democrats in every corner of our nation. as representatives of youth across the country we reserve the right to criticize our own party when it fails to represent youth voices. as young voters we are well aware that in november our votes will determine who wins the white house. the white house has taken the mistaken route of a bear hug

strategy for benjamin netanyahu and a cold shoulder strategy for its own base and all americans who want to see an end to this war. your comments? guest: i am glad you brought that up. a lot of young people are finding themselves disillusioned within the party because it no longer represents them. i'm not saying the party has to be perfect or we will be 100% on page with everything elected officials do, but if we are endorsing a candidate like president biden, the least we can ask in return is he represents us and we'll listen to the voices of the youth that are standing behind him and are willing to knock on doors and register voters and talk to their peers to turn out for him. it is important to consider that, that young people's voices are not to be taken for granted and what could be the margin for victory for president biden in his reelection bid. we hope we can do our part.

host: let's hear from president biden talking about columbia university. >> there should be no place in any campus in any place in america for anti-semitism or threats of violence against jewish students. there is no place for hate speech or violence of any kind whether it is antisemitism, islamophobia, discrimination against arab-americans or palestinian americans. there is no place for racism in america. it is all wrong. it is un-american. i understand people have strong feelings and deep convictions. in america we respect and protect the right for them to express that. it does not mean anything goes. it needs to be done without violence, without disruption, without hate, and within the law. make no mistake. as president i will always defend free speech and i will

always be just as strong standing up for the rule of law. that is my responsibility to you and my obligation to the constitution. thank you very much. >> have the protests forced you to reconsider any of your policies with regards to the region? >> no. >> do you think the national guard should intervene? >> no. host: i want to ask you about that question he got, which was have any of the protests caused you to rethink your policies towards israel and he said no. what do you think? (202) 748-8003 i think -- guest: i think that comment disappointed many people that were watching in organization and out, including myself. it shows we are feeling unheard by the democratic party and it is important we feel so. i urge president biden to listen to us because i think it will help elect oriole -- i think it

will help him elect really and it is the right thing to do. host: he was also asked about the national guard on campuses. speaker johnson has said in some cases there is an appropriate role for that. what do you think? guest: in cases of violence, which is in the minority of protesters, i think it should be addressed appropriately. i'm not sure the national guard is the best way to do so. in many cases those incidences we have seen across college campuses, many of the reasons where law enforcement is getting involved has aggravated the situation and led to more violence than the actual protests consist of. it is important to see the fine line in what is necessary and what is unnecessary involving law enforcement. host: let's take calls. illinois. independent line. caller: i would like to know how

you feel about biden not answering questions for the democratic people and republicans who are asking questions about what choices to make about supporting israel? host: so what is your question? caller: how do you feel when biden turns away as a democrat -- you say you want to raise funds for democrats. they are not listening to you. they are not listening to republicans either. host: got it. guest: i think there are broad spectrum of democrats and our people wanting different things for the party and there is room for everyone in the party and

there should be a seat at the table for these other voices. president biden is juggling many different topics, both within the party interest and national security. it is a complex issue. host: north carolina, democrat, good morning. caller: i am calling her to let her know how proud i am of her. very proud. i am a 75-year-old widow. when i was in school, i was 18 years old, i could not vote but i got to be a voter at 18. i was so thankful. when i could vote i voted and never missed a vote. i am letting her know how proud i am of her. in another case, the president

is doing the best job he can do. all we have to do is pray. everything will fall into place. everything. host: always good to get some encouragement. let's talk to jamie in garden city, missouri. republican. caller: good morning. you're such a pretty girl and you are very smart. i am glad to see our young people on this venue. i have some points i would like you to try to defend in the democratic party. first of all we have late-term abortions where it is just disgusting. in abortion less than 1% or for rape or incest or to save the mother's life. secondly we have open borders which is leading to fentanyl poisoning and chinese nationalists doing harm to american citizens. i don't know how anybody can defend that.

thirdly, we sent $139 billion, that debt goes onto to my children and my grandchildren and that is alarming to make. on the trans, i think kids should not be sexualized until they are an adult. if they want to have a surgery they need to pay for it. i want men to keep themselves out of my granddaughters locker rooms and out of their bathrooms. it is not a good thing. could you defend those for me? guest: the first point you brought up his great thing to talk about because it is a really important issue. reproductive rights is a defining issue. as for late-term abortions i say

most people are not pushing for late-term abortions. they are pushing for abortions that are not capped at six weeks or 15 weeks. most people agree that after viability we are not open to the idea of abortion. that is what many of us are pushing for. as for the second point about -- host: the second point was open borders. guest: many young people can agree the border is a crisis. the college democrats have released a statement that defendant -- that put their support behind the bipartisan immigration reform bill that failed to pass. the border is line for many democrats and republicans and it is something we need to work together in a bipartisan way to approach. the last point about the national debt, i think it is an important issue. it affects my generation so i understand what you might be feeling. it is something we need to work together.

it also requires a bipartisan approach. at the end of the day the economy and how it affects us whether through taxes or welfare policy, it does affect us. lastly, i believe everybody should be treated equally regardless of their gender identity and sexual orientation. that is what the college democrats stand for. host: there is a text from angela in maryland saying have you heard the rumor thomas and alito will retire if the -- if trump becomes president. why does that not concern the youth? guest: it does concern the youth. the courts have a lot of power that politicians do not have. especially with reproductive rights, that is a concern for many of us. it is not talked about because there's so much else going on that that that is something we have control over, whereas we are able to elect our

legislators but not the supreme court judges. host: let's talk to alex in washington, d.c. a democrat. caller: i had a question of following up on the israel-palestine question where i had some concerns about whether president biden is listening to the youth vote. on the issue of climate change i saw document that was from republicans, it was from the hunter biden laptop and it showed u.s. lng and oil fields carved up in the names were written in chinese it was for a chinese company. it look like what the bidens were doing was planning to sell off a lot of u.s. natural gas to china. you get the feeling the bidens are not so sincere about climate change given what they were doing when they're out of office? guest: i think president biden does consider climate change to be a priority and we can see that through the bills he helped

champion and the inflation reduction act and the infrastructure bill which can put a lot of jobs through the clean energy sector which has been the most monumental piece of climate change legislation. that is important to keep in mind. i think president biden can only speak for his own actions and not those of hunter biden and that is not convoluted the message he and democrats are trying to push in terms of climate change. host: in michigan, republican line, mike, good morning. caller: i want to ask her if she is an american why are we allowing them to fly another country's flag at our universities? your talk -- host: you are talking about the palestinian flag? caller: any flag besides the american flag. guest: one of the best things about being an american is we are not just americans.

we come with many different backgrounds and ethnicities. it is important we have diversity represented and i do not see any issue with flying the palestinian flag at college campuses. it shows people are in solidarity with what they stand for, and many college students are standing with the issue and behind palestine for what they believe in. that is a cornerstone of our democracy and our diversity as a nation host:. -- our diversity as a nation. host: david in memphis, tennessee. caller: i'm just wondering, don't you think it would be appropriate to have a jewish student on there to talk about how they feel about these protests come about people chanting from the river to the sea? host: what you think about that phrase, from the river to the sea, palestine will be free. that incorporates the land of israel right now. guest: free speech is a

cornerstone of our democracy. student should be able to stand in solidarity and voice their concerns and stand up or what they believe in as long as they do so without any hate speech of any sort. host: people are calling that hate speech, from the river to the sea. what are your thoughts on that? does that cross a line in your opinion? guest: i think there is line between being anti-semitic and saying palestine deserves its own territory and there should be a two state solution. i think they are different things. i do not think saying palestine should be free and have its own sovereign nation is the same thing as being anti-semitic. do not see it as hate speech. host: let's talk to russ in white plains, new york. good morning. caller: i think from the river to the seat means freedom for everyone who lives there. it is dangerous to conflate

anti-semitism with anti-israeli government policy. i want to know what your opinion is about increased migration and its effect on low income workers because democrats to support workers. are you going to be going to the convention in chicago? what can biden do to avoid conflict? should he announce no more arm sales? guest: the border is a concern for democrats and young people in the party. like i mentioned before, the bipartisan immigration reform bill is a great place to start because not only doesn't ensure protections for migrants crossing the border with dignity, but it also ensures we can control the overflow of migrants at the border. as for the convention, i think that -- i am undecided whether i will be attending. i think president biden needs to put an emphasis on reaching out to young people at the convention and doing his best to make sure people in the party are heard. host: he mentioned announcing it

no more arm sales to israel. is that something your organization supports? guest: many people in our organization would support conditional military aid to israel. as far as the particular wording of that we do not have a stance at the moment. host: kathy is in michigan. republican. caller: i would like to know if she is aware that we had 4 -- we had four years of democrat russia hoax and how anyone can be a democrat after the democrats had the russia hoax. they spent millions of dollars on president trump, trying to get him, when all of that was fake. how could anyone be a democrat nowadays when they know they are so corrupt, they can make up a hoax for the whole presidency of a man. it is incredible to me.

no one was held accountable. i would like to say about your set, those look like blinds instead of a map on your rug. anyway, thanks. host: a lot of people do not like that rug. getting back to what she mentioned. guest: i think democrats have different views on this issue and it is ok because our party is very diverse. i think those people should be held accountable. i think there are more important issues we need to focus on going forward into 2024. host: steve in wisconsin. democrat. caller: i have a question for the young lady. the question is, when i look upon the protesters, i see a lot of young adults that are not participating in gainful employment to help with their tuition costs and pay their own

way. that is my question. why so many people not working, but they have time to protest? i will listen for my answer now. thank you. guest: i think many of these college students that are protesting are protesting because they are standing up for what they believe in. they condemn the military actions of the united states and foreign policy. i think that speaks for itself. if students are taking the time to protest it shows they care about the big issue. this is not the first time we've seen protest that college campus. this is been a trend from the vietnam war took black lives matter and many instances. it is time we listen to these protesters. host: all right. sohali vaddula is a freshman at new york university and the national director of communications for the college democrats of america. thank you so much for joining us. guest: thank you for having me. host: coming up next, more of

your phone calls in open forum. start calling now. democrats (202) 748-8000, republicans (202) 748-8001, independents (202) 748-8002. we will be right back. ♪ >> do you solemnly swear that in the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help you god? >> saturdays watch america history db congress investigates as we explore major investigations in our country's history on the u.s. house and senate. authors and historians will tell the stories and see historic footage and we will examine the impact and legacy of key congressional hearings.

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schedule today. this morning education secretary will be testifying on his department's priorities. likely topics include unrest on college campuses, which we have been talking about today also federal student aid application delays. you can see the house education committee hearing live today at 10:15 on c-span three. it is also on our video app, and online at c-span.org. also this morning, president joe biden will deliver the keynote address at the u.s. holocaust memorial museum's days of remembrance. that is live coverage at 11:00 eastern on c-span2 and also online at c-span.org. we go to the phones to diane, st. paul, minnesota. democrat. caller: i am so glad you're taking my call. i wish i could've gotten in when the beautiful young lady was on

talking about students and what they do at the university. the reason i say that, i remember the 1960's when i was in college. i would have still been riding on the back of the bus if it was not for the freedom riders. i was there when one of my cousins went to central high school. it was the young people. it was not the old people, it was my young people who are the new generation. they are the new joshua's of this world. weald moses will have to give it up. that is what i have to say. the student generation are our legacy fighting for us. they do not believe in violence, not all of them. i know that for a fact. i have grandkids going to college. they told me grandma you are an

unsung hero, no one remembers the things you did. you are marching all of your life. do what you've got to do. do what is in your heart. i thank you very much for hearing me this morning. host: on the republican line, miller place, new york. anthony, hello? caller: i would like to make a guest recommendation or request. a woman by the name of amy heckerling. she is a pretty in-depth thinker and i think she would make a wonderful guess to discuss what it is to be a woman and discuss the importance they play in all of our lives and how amazing they are that they have had to meet with some a challenges in this modern world. i find women to be quite extraordinary.

these are powerful women such as yourself, even, that have been led astray were not treated fairly. when we have a supreme court justice that can deny the importance of women in the values they play in our lives. all of this discussion about abortion, the use all of these reasons. i believe there are ulterior motives behind it with regards to the babies, they are harvesting the organs and stuff. i think there is a sinister motive with regard to why they want to change the abortion. women have made such great sacrifices for all of us. the first nine months of our lives and the many years that follow. motherhood is such a commitment. to have a career. some imams have sacrificed their career for motherhood and have to do both. in amy heckerling's situation

she did both. what a contribution to our society. she allows us to see ourselves. she has a profound way of describing what she sees. she helps us better understand ourselves. she has done it in movies and books and i wish you could invite her onto your program and have her discuss that. thank you. host: appreciate the suggestion. deborah lee is in north carolina. hello. independent. caller: there are two things i would like to say. the first, i am so saddened to hear so much animosity and hatred for "the other." it just saddens me. there is a beautiful new world just round the corner but this sort of thing is pushing it off into the future. the other thing i would like to say is this character

assassination campaign going on from every direction against the most wonderful, intelligent person running for president, robert kennedy, jr. is very sad and i am praying the young people will have good sense and show up and vote and he will be our next president. god bless america. god bless this world. host: speaking of running for president, here's a portion of former president trump's remarks to the press after yesterday's hearing in new york. >> they all want to keep me off the campaign trail, that is all this is about. election interference. it is a disgrace. the other thing that is even more disgraceful is the gag order. i have to watch every word i say to that you people.

you has to be a simple question, i cannot tack about it -- i cannot talk about it because the judge have been mia gag order and c will go to jail if i violate that. our constitution is much more important than jail. it is not even close. i will do that sacrifice any day. what is happening is a disgrace. new york is so bad, new york's so-called justice is so bad between this judge and kaplan, the triple team of corrupt judges is a disgrace to our nation. host: george is in north carolina, line for democrats. hi. caller: thank you for taking my call. i will try to talk fast because i know i'm on a time frame. you had the guest speaker this morning, she was saying a lot of things, i noticed every two or

three words she was saying what she thinks. it is not based on what she thinks. she was not validating a lot of stuff. it is not the student protests raising other countries flags. i like with a gentleman said earlier about five callers before me who said if you have so much to protest about, why are you flying flags of these other countries? these are the united states of america. if you like those other countries stay in those countries. we are the united states of america. the other comment is about former president donald trump in court. the things he is saying, criticizing the judge. we have a legal justice system in the system is for all. everyone is entitled to the legal justice system. he is not above the law. he is trying to use everything he can to come against our legal system and change our legal system just to benefit himself.

that is all i want to say right now because i know you are accepting other calls. people should be very careful about what they say. she is not validating anything with what she is saying. host: on the line for republicans in baltimore, mary, good morning. caller: i just want to say that people need to vote for taking care of america like trump is trying to do. biden has broken more laws. we had a lot to protect our borders. our children are dying from the drugs. the sex trade. the cartel is having a good day in the united states as well as our enemies walking in here which will create a great problem if we do not start doing something at our borders. i am embarrassed that agencies have weaponized against trump.

on the church and trump. no it. biden should be impeached from opening our borders and having our babies killed with drugs. i pray to god something changes quickly. host: have you been following the trial in new york? caller: yes i have. all the trials. there are trials against him. so many lies put up against him. i'm embarrassed at the republican party did not stand behind him. host: enid is in orange county, new york. democrat. good morning. caller: i am a 90-year-old woman , retired as a registered nurse. i have not seen anything like this before. however, we are now living in the last days.

i am going by the bible. this is what you are seeing according to jesus christ that towards the end he of his coming there shall be all of these things taking place. whereas hamas and israel are fighting, this is from bible days, from abraham's time. he had these two brothers and they are two brighter's -- they are two brothers still fighting. president biden cannot do much with the border because he tries what mr. trump says, he puts a block from the border being closed because he wants to use it against mr. biden so he can win the election. my my. host: we are taking your calls for the next 15 minutes until

the house dabbles in at 10:00 -- until the house gavels in at 10:00 eastern. you can call us by party. democrats (202) 748-8000. republicans (202) 748-8001. and (202) 748-8002 if you are an independent. david is on the line for republicans from pennsylvania. caller: a couple of comments. your previous guest was referred to, even by your democratic callers as lady, even the liberal democrats the call c-span know the difference between a man and a woman. all right? when it comes to the trump trial, donald j. trump was denied the witness list until the trial started. no other criminal prosecution in this united states has had the witness list sequestered away from the defendant. it is another sign of the clear

persecution of donald trump in these trials. i've not heard anyone of the democrats condemning the desecration of the world war i war memorial last night in new york city. they could not get near the met gala because of the high police presence protecting all of the hollywood elitists and all of the gorgeous people. there is nothing wrong with gorgeous people. a memorial to our veterans was desecrated and nobody is condemning that other than the staunch conservative republicans. i tried to get through to ask the opinions of the young lady, does she condemn it. she speaks double speech a lot. you have to understand democracy. we live in a representative republic were we vote for representatives. democracy by these people is

another term for socialism. host: here is that article from the daily mail, it says is nothing sacred. "pro-palestinian graffiti world war i memorial." that is at the daily mail if you would like to read the rest of that article. christopher in pennsylvania, democrat. hello. caller: i wanted to start by asking the people who call in in support of israel, praising israel, if they've ever lived in gaza. i wanted to suggest they should go live there and see what it is like. then they can come back and they can lecture us. to put their money where their mouth is. they should get the deed to their house and the keys to their house in the title to their cars and find a jewish family they support and give everything they have to that jewish family.

that is what happened when the british and americans created israel. all of these palestinian families were driven out. i wanted to make a quick point about october 7. i think people hearing the war started -- i keep hearing people calling in saying the war started on october 7. the war started in the 1930's when the jewish people fled europe and went to america or palestine. in palestine, while the american boys were fighting and dying, the jewish people were slaughtering palestinians, they were killing civilians, just like what happened on october 7. the only reason we do not have video of this is because video did not exist then. thank you very much. host: mike is in detroit. republican. caller: what is happening on

these campuses follow is up on the political violence from the left starting in 2016 until 2020 and then we have this. these are constituencies of the democratic party, whether they are the palestinians, black lives matter, hamas, the open border constituency, restorative justice. these are constituencies of the democratic party and it is sad for me to see what is happened to this party because i was raised by the world war ii generation. initially they hated president trump because he exposed to them for being criminally corrupt, personally corrupt, seditious, treasonous, and basically incompetent. this is judicial corruption on a grand scale when it comes to what they are doing to president trump. now i think they are more desperate because they do not want to be held accountable for their horrendous behavior for

the past eight years. host: i want to ask you, since you mentioned political violence on the left, a lot of people would bring up january 6 as political violence from the right. caller: yeah. this is like come how can that be compared to 2020 or the violence that is going on? this was one day. they use it in the sense of the reichstag fire as an excuse to use persecution by the doj and the fbi of their political enemies on the right. this was nothing compared to the violence we have been experiencing for the last eight years from the left. that is all there is to it. that is reality and people better wake up to it or they will not have the country to live in at this point. host: just so you are aware,

this is an article from the washington post that says "adult film actress stormy daniels expected to testify tuesday in trump's hush money trial. testimony in donald trump's hush money trial is expected to include adult film actress stormy daniels. trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records related to his reimbursement of his former lawyer michael cohen for a hush money payment before the 2016 election. ms. daniels, alleged she had a sexual encounter with trump years earlier. " philip in mississippi. independent. caller: i always seem to call when you are the host. i will give it my best shot. i am an author, i wrote a book to help educate america in regards to the racial divide in our country.

i believe we need education to the newcomers all the way to the old folks that have been here on the reality and facts of our racial divide. number two, i want to point out that the most important issue in my opinion is the climate. i used to think it was raised but now i believe they'll go together in some capacity. the climate, if you have been taking time out to look at the weather around the world, flooding seems to be occurring everywhere. i just believe that until america can wake up and see a major issue and stop talking about each other and making all kinds of negative statements and unprovable statements. obviously you can go to --

people are referred to life the way they see life. it is not a reflection of the reality we live in. if we do not have a world we can live in, we can have our own feelings of security because we get inundated by the weather, which is happening now and we are not coming up with policies to do anything about it. for instance, i do not use a mower anymore that uses fossil fuel. i do the regular member. -- i do the regular mower. i try to do whatever i can to reduce the carbon footprint. i appreciate you. host: bill is in illinois, democrat. caller: good morning. just a few comments on some of your callers. rump, the trial he is -- trump,

the trial he is under, he is a crook. he has been a crook ever since the days he was brought up by his father. hello and good morning. host: you have to talk right into the phone and meet your tv. don't listen to that. are you there? caller: he has been a crook since the days his father in new york was running their business with their mob. he thinks he is untouchable. my second point is with the border, with republicans and democrats, there was an agreement made. then trump said no, let's not do that. i want to use that for my running for reelection. if he gets reelected he will do

nothing but his crazy ideas. he will just mess up this country worse than it is. these protesters, you have a right to protest, it is your first amendment right. that does not mean to be violent against jewish people or any people. that is all i have to say. host: janice in florida, republican line. caller: i have a point i would like to make. i am over the moon when it comes to this palestinian thing and israel. i wonder how many people remember those palestinians were dancing in the street during 9/11. those people have celebrated nothing but death and destruction since their conception. i am just tired of this look at what is going on in gaza. israel did not start this. they have every right to defend

themselves. the biden administration, the way they are funding terrorists is beyond my ability to comprehend. anybody can find that. people need to do history and read their bible and realized there is no such thing as the palestinians. it was philistines, and they came from the romans, the romans made that up. they are arabs. they have a home. it is south arabia and north arabia. my second point is the case that is going on, anybody with common sense should know this is nothing but a farce, this is nothing but political interference. i am so tired of everybody talking about if trump gets reelected he will do this and that. what did you do the first four years?

he did not do any of the things he has been accused of what would happen if he got another four years. it is ridiculous. all this is is fear-based bs from the left because they cannot go with bidens policies because he does not have any. he has totally mucked up this country, left, right come in between. there is nothing he has touched that he has not destroyed. the border is out of control. people are far enough away from the border. it is one of the lowest secure borders in the entire world. now they are buzzing them through. they cannot run through the border. they have been ordered to bring those people in by the busloads. i am a witness. as far as my last point, the

idea of protesters. every single one of them. i know everyone knows this is funded by soros and all of the other rich out of touch idiots that want to completely revamp america because they hated america from giddy up in these protesters, most of them are not the students. what they have done to a lot of these kids that were supposed to graduate is hurtful. these were the same kids who are not able to graduate during 20 because of covid and now because of self-centered idiots they will not be able to have their commencement again. i think that is outrageous. i think the administrator should be fired. they do not know what they are doing. 90% of them agree with the students about palestine and the

palestinian people. people need to wake up. host: reno, nevada. independent line. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i wish i could've gone on with the two young ladies. i would like to ask them a question or two. it is super frustrating. i hear so much hate and sadness in america and i understand. the lady was just on. i get your sad and scared. climate change is a big problem. the shameless media coverage you see on fox and cnn of trump, they are covering that for their own numbers. it is not really news. young people protesting on college campuses is an american right. people crying and screaming about the first amendment, second amendment. i say the right to gather is under attack. that is pretty scary.

then we get into, we have homelessness. homelessness is caused by people and profit-taking on housing. the american government is not for people owning houses. they want everyone to pay rent. everybody gets a dividend. it is so sad. flags in america, all of the flags in the world are welcome in america. we do not put it all over everything in america. we are americans. what i wanted to ask those young ladies is if they believe whether a coke brothers billionaire ray jeff bezos billionaire who is profiting from these military-industrial of talk chrissy, if there it -- a military-industrial kleptocracy or if there is a difference to keep the people separate and under control.

love to america. host: one more call. brent in washington. democrat. caller: spot on to the last caller. i will go with the flags. i hear people whining about people having the palestinian flag at the protest. what about you guys with your rebel flags and your desecration of the american flag when you wear it as a coat or you drive around with it on the back of your pickup truck or you keep it up at night, stuff like that. you do not know proper flag etiquette and yet you whine and snivel about other people waving their flags. it is ok for you to do your thing but when it comes to the other side you are constantly moaning and groaning. host: that is it for today's "washington journal." we will see you again tomorrow morning at 7:00 eastern. here is the house.