CSPAN - Washington Journal 03/07/2025

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March 7, 2025 07:00-10:02 - CSPAN

03:01:54

Washington Journal 03/07/2025

Participants

Main

greta brawner

cspan 51:11

Appearances

al green

rep/d 02:06

brian lamb

cspan 00:39

hakeem jeffries

rep/d 01:12

james comer

rep/r 00:39

kevin hassett

admin 01:12

kevin kiley

rep/r 02:11

mike johnson

rep/r 00:40

steve witkoff

00:33

ursula von der leyen

00:53

Clips

patty murray

sen/d 00:04

ray mcgovern

00:09

tim donnelly

00:15

wayne paul

00:28

Callers

john in florida

callers 00:25

stephen in alaska

callers 00:15

texas skeptic in texas

callers 00:10

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Speaker	Time	Text
unidentified		Coming up this morning on C-SPAN's Washington Journal, we'll take your calls and comments live.
		And then Jack Brewer, former NFL player and chair of the Jack Brewer Foundation, discusses issues affecting black men and boys in the U.S. and his support for banning transgender athletes in women's sports.
		And Christine Berzino with the German Marshall Fund on the fallout from last week's Oval Office meeting between President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky, the response from Europe and implications for transatlantic relations.
		C-SPAN's Washington Journal starts now.
		Join the conversation.
		On this vote, the yays are 224, the nays are 198, with two answering present.
		The resolution is adopted.
mike johnson ▲ ● ▼		Without objection, a motion to reconsider is laid on the table.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Speaker Mike Johnson, House Republicans and 10 Democrats voting to censure Representative Al Green for disrupting the joint address by President Trump earlier this week.
		He stood and he shouted.
		He was escorted out and yesterday censured by the House of Representatives.
		This morning, we want to get your thoughts on the vote to censure the congressman.
		Here's how you can join the conversation this morning.
		Democrats, dial in at 202-748-8000.
		Republicans, 202-748-8001.
		Independents, 202-748-8002.
		If you don't want to call, you can text at 202-748-8003.
		Include your first name, city, and state.
		Or you can go on facebook.com/slash C-SPAN.
		And you can also post on X with the handle at C-SPANWJ.
		Good morning, everyone.
		We'll begin with that censure vote.
		Now, a censure is a public rebuke of a lawmaker.
		They are forced to go to the well of the chamber and stand and listen to the criticism, the public rebuke of them by the House.
		Listen to that moment on the House floor yesterday.
mike johnson ▲ ● ▼		By its adoption of House Resolution 189, the House has resolved that Representative Al Green be censured, that Representative Al Green forthwith present himself in the well of the House of Representatives for the pronouncement of censure, And that Representative Al Green be censured with public reading of this resolution by the Speaker.
unidentified		The House had come to order.
		The House had come to order.
		What's that?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Would you?
unidentified		Remember, I didn't want to let him keep doing this.
		House had come to order.
		Clear the well, please.
		Clear the well.
		The House has to continue its business.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		The Speaker trying to get order in the House as some Democrats gathered around Representative Al Green as he was in the well to receive that public rebuke started singing, We Shall Overcome.
		This morning, we're getting your reaction to the House vote yesterday to censor the Congressman.
		We're dividing the lines by Republicans, Democrats, and Independents.
		We want to know what you think of what happened.
		Now, 10 Democrats voted with all the Republicans to censure the congressman.
		Here are the names of those lawmakers and the faces.
		Congressman Barra of California, Representative Ed Case of Hawaii, Jim Costa of California, Lauren Gillen of New York, Marie Glusenkamp-Perez of Washington State, Jim Himes, who serves in Connecticut, and from Pennsylvania, Chrissy Houlihan, Marcy Captor of Ohio, the longest serving member of Congress in the House, and Jared Moskowitz of Florida and Tom Swazi of New York.
		Those were the 10 Democrats who joined all the Republicans to vote for Center.
		Now, we'll tell you their explanation from those 10 Democrats is why they agreed with Republicans that the congressman deserved a public rebuke for his actions at the joint address.
		He stood up and he shouted that you don't have a mandate.
		He shook his cane at the president and he was escorted out of the chamber, you'll recall, at the top of that joint address.
		Danny in Arizona, Republican, will begin with you.
		Danny, what do you make of this action by the House of Representatives yesterday?
unidentified		Good morning, Greta.
		Good morning.
		Yeah, you know something?
		Yes, that's long overdue.
		This guy is nothing but a troublemaker.
		He should be censored.
		And what the Democrats did Tuesday night is disgraceful.
		They couldn't stand for a child with brain cancer and the rest of the poor people that have died raped or whatever due to the hands of illegal aliens.
		And the Democrats should sat on their hands.
		Greta, this is disgraceful.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Danny's thoughts there.
		In Arizona, Republican, Betty's a Democrat in Atlanta.
		Betty, good morning to you.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I don't think he should have been censored because the Republican have did way more worse things than he did.
		So the goose cannot talk about the gander, okay?
		If they want to get things straight, be straight.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Give me some examples of what Republicans have done that's far worse, you think.
unidentified		Okay, that green lady, she says what she wants to say.
		Okay, the president, he get on there and call people's names.
		And I think they're just as bad as him putting the king and calling him a name.
		He's nothing but a man like everybody else.
		He's not God.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		So, Betty, let me ask you this.
		What is the best form of protest for the Democratic Party during this second Trump administration?
		What do you think is appropriate and effective?
unidentified		Okay, you can't be mean with me.
		You understand what I'm saying?
		Because you know God love us all.
		But what I'm saying, everybody want to get down on the Democrats, but they don't say nothing about the Republicans.
		Okay, when he pardoned all those people that got up there and got police killed and everything, what did they do about that?
		Nothing did that.
		All right.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Betty there in Atlanta disagreeing with the center of Representative Al Green.
		She points to Marjorie Taylor Greene's behavior back a year ago when then President Biden gave his last State of the Union address to a joint Congress, referencing Marjorie Taylor Greene shouting at the president during his speech about Lake and Riley and other issues.
		Now, Representative Al Green spoke on the House floor about the public rebuke.
		Here's what he had to say.
al green ▲ ● ▼		I respect the Speaker.
		I have no ill feelings toward the Speaker.
		None toward the persons that escorted me away from the floor because I did disrupt.
		And I did so because the president indicated that he had a mandate.
		And I wanted him to know that he didn't have a mandate to cut Medicaid.
		I did this because Medicaid is the only insurance many people have in this country.
		I am blessed as I stand here now.
		There's a physician waiting.
		If something should happen, I would be taken to that physician.
		I have the best health care in the world.
		There are other people who have less than I.
		I would have them have what I have.
		But I surely will not stand by and see them lose what little they do have.
		Medicaid is for people who don't have the kind of health care that 435 members of Congress and 100 members of the Senate have.
		But they do have some health care.
		It has been approved by legislation that the Energy and Commerce Committee would cut $880 billion from their budget.
		The overwhelming majority of that budget has to do with health care.
		I see no way for this cut to take place without cutting into Medicaid.
		I am going to fight the cutting of Medicaid.
		I hope that this comment, this message that I'm giving today will deter them and cause them to go a different way.
		Then they can say, we were never going to do it.
		Al Green, he just had this false notion.
		Well, let me have it.
		Don't cut Medicaid.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Representative Al Green on the floor, Democrat there after he was censored by the House.
		All the Republicans and 10 Democrats joined to say that what he did at the joint address was wrong and that he deserved that censure.
		Now, Speaker Mike Johnson put this out on X. Representative Al Green's shameful and egregious behavior during President Trump's joint address disgraced the Institute of Congress and the constituents he serves.
		Despite my repeated warnings, he refused to cease his antics and I was forced to remove him from the chamber.
		He deliberately violated House rules and an expeditious vote of censor is an appropriate remedy.
		Any Democrat who is concerned about regaining the trust and respect of the American people should join House Republicans in this effort.
		We're getting your reaction this morning to what the House did yesterday to the congressman in response to his behavior during the joint address.
		Now you heard the congressman from Texas talking about why he did it, because he believes that the Republicans and the Department of Government Efficiency has their sights set on Medicaid cuts.
		Here is the economy and business section of the Washington Post.
		The GOP budget goals would require Medicaid cuts.
		This according to the Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan group that advises Congress on their policy.
		Republicans in Congress cannot reach their goal of cutting at least $1.5 trillion in spending over the next 10 years for President Donald Trump's big beautiful bill on taxes and immigration unless they cut Medicaid or Medicare benefits.
		Trump and the GOP are seeking to extend provisions of the President's 2017 tax cut law, which would nearly, which cost nearly $5 trillion, while also pushing hundreds of billions of dollars to new spending on border security, mass deportation campaigns, and national defense investments.
		To do all that, without sending the national debt soaring, Republicans are looking for spending cuts to pay for the new spending and lower tax rates.
		But Trump has said that the GOP shouldn't cut benefits for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
		Those are the three largest social safety net programs, which together accounted for roughly $3.2 trillion of the country's $6.75 trillion of total spending in the 2024 fiscal year.
		More than 60 million Americans rely on each program for medical coverage, retirement security, survivor benefits, and unemployment caused by disability.
		But the CBO is saying you can't reach the spending cuts that you want to achieve without getting to Medicare and Medicaid.
		Joe in Dayton, Ohio, Republican.
		We're talking about Representative Al Green and his protest at the joint address.
		What do you think?
unidentified		Good morning from a beautiful sunny day in Ohio.
		Al Green is a deranged lunatic.
		He was on your show about two weeks ago holding up the sign that said impeach Trump.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Yep.
unidentified		Impeached Trump.
		Impeached Trump for what?
		A man who's been in office for six weeks.
		Please tell me what you're going to impeach him on.
stephen in alaska ▲ ● ▼		And also, Al Green tried not to certify Trump's election in 2016, along with other Democrat individuals, Adam Schippt, Hank Johnson, Nancy Pelosi, all these people did.
unidentified		Greta, it's sad, but the Democrats really exposed themselves this week.
tim donnelly ▲ ● ▼		Shameful how a man standing not more than about 15 feet away from the president is shaking a cane in his face, not allowing him to speak, not allowing him his First Amendment rights.
unidentified		And it's shameful.
		And then, hold on, Greta.
		Sure, go ahead.
		And also, what really showed me yesterday was 10 Democrats voted against this guy.
john in florida ▲ ● ▼		And they might have their own reasons and stuff like this, but I was floored by Harold Ford coming out right after Trump's speech saying that the Democrat Party is lost.
unidentified		They have nothing for the American people.
		Go ahead, Greta.
		I apologize.
		Go ahead.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		No, no, you're all good.
		I wanted you to finish your thoughts.
		So a couple things.
		Couple things.
		So Representative Al Green, he was on the program.
		He talked about moving to articles of impeachment.
		He said it would be a grassroots effort.
		So he did talk about that.
		And for our viewers, if you missed that, you can find it on our website.
		We'll try to show you that moment as well when he was on the Washington Journal.
		Joe, respond, though, to our previous caller who pointed to Marjorie Taylor Greene's behavior during President Biden's last State of the Union address.
		She stood up and shouted at the president when he was trying to finish his remarks.
unidentified		Correct.
unidentified		But what Marjorie Taylor Greene was, she was saying, say her name of a young, beautiful young lady down in Georgia that was bludgeoned and raped by an illegal alien that Joe Biden led into this country.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		So Joe's point.
unidentified		But I don't remember Marjorie Taylor Greene standing with a weapon or a cane, shaking it at Joe Biden.
		But if you want to say that, that's fine.
		Then I guess they should have censored Marjorie Taylor Green.
		Okay.
		But Greta, another thing I wanted to tell you, just real quick, and I know you've got other callers here, but there's only two things that the Democrats have.
		They talk about Medicaid or Medicare and Social Security.
		They've been talking about that since Ronald Reagan.
		You're too young to even know Ronald Reagan.
		But anyhow, they've been talking about that since Reagan.
		And the other thing they have is January 6th.
		That's all they have.
		And they better find something else.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Joe, let me just ask you one last question because what viewers may be hearing from you is that it's okay to disrupt a joint address by a president as long as what you're saying you agree with.
		So you agree with Marjorie Taylor Greene's what she was saying when she was disrupting the president.
		So as long as that happens, you're okay with it.
		But when Al Green stands up and says, you don't have a mandate responding to President Trump saying he does, then you're not okay with it.
john in florida ▲ ● ▼		What I am okay with is that Donald, what I am okay with, just to get the facts straight, is that Donald Trump was not with, Donald Trump didn't even say two sentences.
texas skeptic in texas ▲ ● ▼		And Al Green was standing there in the front row, or not the front row, but right behind the justices, shaking his cane at Donald Trump, not allowing him to speak.
unidentified		And he was told to sit down numerous times, numerous times, and he refused to do so.
		With Marjorie Taylor Greene, she said, say her name, say her name.
		And finally, Joe Biden was bullied enough that he had to say Lake and Riley's name, and he didn't even pronounce the name right.
		Yes, ma'am, I'm okay with Marjorie Taylor Greene.
		But of course, you're going to have your Democrat callers going, oh, you know, Joe is an idiot, or he's one-sided, whatever.
		So that's my thing.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Joe, and while you were talking, we were showing the moment from Tuesday night's joint address and the reaction in the room.
		And you could see from a wide camera angle where Congressman Al Green was sitting and the reaction from those in the room, including the speaker and the president.
		We'll go to David next, Massachusetts Independent.
unidentified		David.
		Good morning.
		How are you today?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Morning.
		All right.
		What is your view on this?
		Join the conversation here.
unidentified		Yeah, I've been hearing the conversation.
		It's very, very interesting.
		I believe that we have rules and protocol.
		I don't care whether it's a Democrat or Republican.
		I totally disagree with this man doing this, but anybody, whether it's Democrat or Republican, should be taken out.
		We know the rules, and why don't we follow them for doing that?
		I think in this case, the Democrats are really, really in a bad place.
		Like they said, there were 10 Democrats that also voted to censor this guy.
		They're just reaching out for things.
		It bothered me in the fact that I remember when Nancy Pelosi ripped up the speech behind Trump in front of everybody.
		Nothing was ever done.
		You know, so my feeling is, and I'm an independent, but if you're on either side and you disrupt that thing, you should be taken out.
		And I'm glad that they censored this band.
		All right.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		David, do you think that that line of argument applies to the Democrats who wore pink and protest or the signs, paddles that they put up with words like Musk steals and false, et cetera?
		Some Democrats wore T-shirts that said resist on the back or King doesn't live here and they walked out during the speech.
		Is that all, in your view, not appropriate?
unidentified		In my view, it's also not appropriate.
		I mean, you know, there is certain protocol, and that's just it.
		I get it.
		They look like they were at an auction of holding a paddle.
		I mean, they made themselves look foolish.
		For me, there's a way to do things and a way not to do things.
		And when they start doing things like that, then they're grasping at things.
		And the worst thing about the night for me was that none of them standing up for that child who had cancer, the man who came back from Russia.
		That's really bad.
		Once you start doing that, then you're just not good with me.
		I mean, and I am also a gay independent, which people look at me saying, how can you be gay and not be a Democrat?
		It has nothing to do with anything.
		I said, you know, it's just behavior that we're taught as children and should be continued on.
		And these people are acting like children.
		So, and I even think the next day, when they did censor him and they all started standing around, come on, there you go again.
		You're doing the same thing that you don't want other people to do.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		When they stood around Representative Al Green in the well and started singing, We Shall Overcome to drown out the speaker, you think that was also just a doubling down on bad behavior?
unidentified		Correct, correct.
		I mean, you can't, it's like a little baby, you know, that you got to teach them, hey, stop doing this.
		They're going to continue.
		They're going to continue, I think, because they see their future, which is not good.
		And when you have 10 Democrats actually say things, you know, that this should have never happened, that's telling you something.
		Or even Federman, his remarks the other day about, you know, not thinking that this was terrible.
		You got to look at your party people and say, we're approaching this the wrong way.
		We really are approaching.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, David, I'm going to pick up on that because Monica Hess, who is a gender columnist at the Washington Post, writes a piece about what is the right way for Democrats and are they organized to respond to President Trump during his second term?
		She argues that they don't seem to be, that they don't have a strategy here.
		The Pink Protest Club, noting a picture of the Women's Democratic caucus who all wore pink in protest of President Trump at the joint address.
		And she ends her column today in the Washington Post saying this, because Trump was up there bloviating and because Democrats seemed to have so little recourse, because it wasn't clear whether the issue was that Democrats were trying the wrong thing or scarier, that there was actually nothing left to try.
		That Democrats have tried all sorts of things.
		She questions what is the best way to be an effective voice of protest in this era.
		She says, in most years, most recent years, liberals have tried Minnesota nice, coconut trees, going high, going low, going weird, being heartfelt, being snarky, marching, pleading, mocking, understanding, using facts, using pathos.
		And here we are again.
		So for Democrats, what is the best way to protest against the Trump administration?
		Harvey in Wisconsin, Democratic caller, let's hear from you, Harvey.
		Disagree or agree with the censure by the House on Al Green.
unidentified		Good morning.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Good morning.
unidentified		I agree with the censor because rules are rules and he steps outside the rules.
		But I don't condone what he did, but I understand why he did what he did.
		And I think he did what he did to draw attention to the fact that there's some things that people aren't really aware of.
		And he wanted them to focus on.
		For them to reach this amount of cutting that they're talking, there's no way that they can do that without getting into that Medicaid, Medicare deal.
		And also, I think there was another time for the president, if he really wanted to honor those people, the young kid and the lady, he could have done that at another, he could have held another press conference with that.
		This was a time to focus on issues directly affecting each and every individual from the highest to the lowest in our society.
		And he was using filler, father of great, feeling good about things, which is natural.
		Yes, that was great.
		I felt good about all of it.
		And I'm a Democrat, but that was not the time.
		This was a time to address things that are affecting us, Ukraine, the cost of eggs, everything that goes on in our everyday lives in our homes.
		And he covered all that up with all the praise and honor of things, which is important.
		But this was not the time for him to do that.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right.
unidentified		And I agree with the censorship.
unidentified		Thank you.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		Harvey in Wisconsin, Democratic caller saying he's a great.
		You sound like the Democrats who voted with the Republicans.
		Here's Representative Marie Glusenkamp-Perez, who represents a swing district in the state of Washington.
		Today I voted to center a fellow member of Congress.
		When you knowingly break House rules, as Representative Greene did, it shouldn't be surprising to face consequences.
		Congress should respect the co-equal office of the presidency, regardless of who holds the job and do and do our Constitution.
		Here's Congresswoman Laura Gillen.
		The American people expect their representative to hold themselves to a certain level of decorum on the House floor.
		If I expect the other side of the aisle to do that, I have to hold my Democratic colleagues to the same standard.
		That's what she had to say.
		Chrissy Houlihan.
		I did indeed have a heated conversation with Speaker Johnson on the House floor after I voted yes to censor my colleague.
		I called Speaker Johnson out on his and his party's hypocrisy and reminded him of the many instances in which Republicans have blatantly broken the rules of the House.
		Three of the 10 Democrats who voted in favor of centering Representative Al Green, 77-year-old congressman from Texas, who has indeed moved to impeach President Trump early on in this second term of the president.
		Anthony in Detroit, Michigan, Independent, we're going to get your thoughts this morning on this vote to censor.
		Go ahead.
unidentified		Oh, yeah.
		Well, I didn't, you know, mind Al Green interrupting Trump.
		You know, I, you know, if that's how Al Green felt, and I'm all for it if you feel that strongly about it.
		And I don't really support Trump or the Democrats.
		I think they both groups looked like clowns to me that night.
		But the censure is kind of meaningless.
		Tim Burchett was on here yesterday and he said he wishes they'd censure him so he could do some fundraising and get some media coverage.
		So it's kind of meaningless.
		They both look like clowns.
		You know, the Democrats, they have an identity crisis.
		They don't know if they want to be like their Senator Slotkin who gave the response, the Cold Warriors and the McCarthyites, because there's nothing really left-wing about that.
		So the Democrats have an identity crisis.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		The resolution to censure introduced by Representative Dan Newhouse, a Republican of Washington state, noted Green's words on the floor were, quote, a breach of proper conduct.
		This is USA Today's reporting.
		It passed largely along party lines with 10 Democrats voting with Republicans.
		And how common is a center vote?
		This is from USA Today.
		A censure is considered a severe public rebuke of a legislator brought by other members of Congress, a form of punishment second only to expulsion.
		The U.S. Constitution allows for Congress to punish its members for disorderly behavior.
		Center, though, is not in the Constitution.
		It's a formal disapproval intended to discipline members of the House.
		The censure is written in the form of a resolution that the House votes on.
		To pass the censure means that a majority of the members support the criticism included in the resolution.
		Once the House comes to a majority vote in favor of the resolution, the censured person must stand in the well of the House as the resolution is read out loud as a form of public rebuke.
		We're getting your thoughts on that very thing that happened in the House yesterday, public rebuke of Representative Al Green.
		He came to the House floor following that censure, gave remarks saying why he did it, said he would do it again.
		Representative Kevin Kiley, a Republican, followed Representative Al Green on the floor with these remarks.
kevin kiley ▲ ● ▼		Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
		We've just heard the gentleman from Texas speak passionately on a number of topics, which is his prerogative as an elected member of Congress to speak from this floor on any topic he chooses.
		What is not his or any of our right is to stand up during the State of the Union and interrupt the President of the United States.
		Imagine if everyone did that.
		Imagine if everyone took whatever grievance they have in the moment and decided to use the State of the Union to air that grievance.
		Imagine if during President Biden's speech, each and every one of the Republicans in the House had stood up and objected to the President's open border policies or his runaway inflation policies.
		The State of the Union could not be delivered.
		The institution could not function.
		What's even more remarkable, though, than the conduct of this one member is the fact that all but 10 of his colleagues on their side of the aisle chose not to censure this eminently censorable conduct.
		We held a vote today, and there were 10 Democrats who joined with Republicans in voting for the censure.
		They were Ami Berra of California, Ed Case of Hawaii, Jim Costa of California, Lauren Gillen of New York, James Himes of Connecticut, Chrissy Houlihan of Pennsylvania, Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, Jared Moskowitz of Florida, Marie Glusenkamp Perez of Washington, and Tom Souzi of New York.
		The other 200 members who are present chose not to censure that conduct.
		I find that remarkable, and indeed, the antics on display during the State of the Union truly exemplified everything that is wrong with politics in this country today.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Congressman Kevin Kiley on the floor, Republican of California, speaking after Representative Al Green explained why he did what he did at the joint address earlier this week.
		We're getting your thoughts on whether or not the House should have moved to censure Congressman Al Green.
		Alan in Fulton, Mississippi, a Republican.
		Hi, Alan.
		Alan, you are up.
		We are listening to you.
		Go ahead.
		All right.
		Reminder to Alan and others: you got to mute your television, listen, and speak through your phone so that you're ready to go.
		Jason in Mount Sterling, Kentucky, Republican.
		Hi, Jason.
unidentified		Good morning, Greta.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Good morning.
unidentified		Yes, I agree totally with the censorship.
		Being a member of Congress requires a certain level of decorum and professional behavior.
		And Senate or Congressman Green did not show that.
		Instead, he was unprofessional.
		He was rude.
		He was arrogant.
		And so I think that he deserved to be censured.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Jason, how do you respond to Democrats who say Republicans are being hypocrites here because of what Marjorie Taylor Green did a year ago?
unidentified		Well, I have to agree that she should have been censured.
		I mean, she was unprofessional in her behavior as well.
		I think she should have been censured.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
		Jason there in Mount Sterling, Kentucky.
		Jay's a Democrat in Somerville, South Carolina.
		Jay, good morning.
		Go ahead.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I think it's a bit overkill, actually.
		I remember President Obama giving a speech, and someone stood up and called him a liar.
		And President Obama, President Obama handled it in such a diplomatic way.
		And I think that was a good protocol that everyone could follow.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		So, well, before you go, Jay, so that was Joe Wilson, by the way, a Republican of South Carolina.
		How do you think President Trump should have handled it then when Representative Al Green stood up?
		Or how do you think the Speaker should have handled it?
		I mean, what if Al Green had just kept going?
unidentified		Well, then if he kept going, then he should have been escorted out, of course.
		But I think that his passion for the subject of Medicare, you see, a lot of people know that the Medicaid system is mostly supported by Social Security, and that's the only real money that the country has left.
		And that's why everyone wants to get their hands on it, because it's the people's money, but it's real money.
		That's all that's left.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		Jay, I'll pick up on that.
		Below the fold, front page of the Washington Post, Doge is driving cuts at Social Security.
		The newly installed caretaker of the Social Security Administration acknowledged this week that Elon Musk's Doge service is calling the shots as the agency races to slash thousands of jobs and shrink its budget, telling a group of advocates things are currently operating in a way I have never seen in government before.
		Now, on these cuts to the Social Security Administration inside the fold, it's important to know this, that Andrew Biggs, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a center-right think tank, said shrinking Social Security's roughly $15 billion operating budget would represent just a small fraction of the program's $1.5 trillion in annual costs.
		So these cuts by Doge, they're looking at shrinking the size of the Social Security Administration, the number of employees, and the programs.
		And this conservative Andrew Biggs with the AEI is saying if you do just that, you know, that's just a very, very small amount when you're looking at decreasing the impact of Social Security, which is one of the main drivers of our nation's debt.
		Let's go to Judith, West Virginia, Republican Judith.
		Welcome to this conversation this morning.
		Go ahead.
unidentified		Hello.
		I just have a good morning to you all, too, by the way.
		Regardless of whether or not the incident that occurred in the States of the Union was right or what's wrong, the point is, and between Marjorie Green and Al Green, the House Speaker emphatically told Al Green to stop, and he wouldn't.
		So therefore, he followed through with the decorum pools.
		No one in the Democratic Party asked Marjorie Green to stop.
		So she continued.
		And then when she had her say, she stopped.
		And one other thing, I am really, really surprised that none of the Democrats stood up in favor of what Al Greene was saying or follow him out when he left.
		And that's about all.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
unidentified		I just want people to realize that.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Okay, Judith.
		Judith makes those points about the differences between Marjorie Taylor Greene and Congressman Al Green and his behavior this week at the joint address.
		Judith, let's read from a couple of Democrats, their posts on X, why they voted with the Republicans.
		Here's Congresswoman Delia Ramirez saying, like many makers of good trouble whose shoulders we stand on, Representative Al Green did what he felt was right and stood for his constituents.
		Representative Green and the broad movement of people standing up to a bully and want to be king deserve our support and gratitude.
		That's what Congresswoman Ramirez had to say.
		And then Bobby Scott, these are the Democrats who voted against the Center.
		Excuse me.
		Let me clarify that.
		He said Representative Al Greene was punished for standing up for Medicaid.
		Furthermore, Republicans heckled, jeered, and argued with President Biden last year during his State of the Union without sanction.
		When Representative Green was escorted out, we walked past a Republican member of Congress, he said.
		And the post on X goes on.
		So Democrats who voted against Center explaining why they're because they see this as hypocrisy with the Republican Party.
		Catherine in Washington, D.C., Democratic caller.
		Hi, Catherine.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Of course, it's hypocrisy.
		I mean, if you look at the behavior of the Vanguard Republicans, they wore hats, they wore t-shirts, they hold signs, they disrupt people.
		You talk about unprofessional, rude, arrogant.
		Any hearings, you hear them.
		They yell at people.
		They don't care what they say as long as it fits their agenda.
		And I'm tired of the faux outrage.
		I mean, where's the outrage for the veterans who claim you love so much that have lost their jobs?
		Where's the outrage for the people losing their jobs based on lies?
		I didn't see any outrage when people talked about the children who were caged like animals at the border.
		I didn't see any Republicans standing up for them.
		I don't remember the million people who died of COVID.
		I remember the outrage when that was mentioned during the speech.
		I don't remember the outrage when the woman was run over in Charlottesville during the protest.
		I don't remember any outrage over the Klan walking in Charlottesville.
		I don't remember any outrage when they talked about the police being hurt during the January 6th riot.
		I don't care what you say.
		It's very hard to sit during a speech and watch someone gaslight the American people.
		I don't, I believe what I hear.
		I believe what I see.
		And you're not going to sit up there and sell me lies during an hour-long speech and then expect me just to sit there for it.
		So, and I'm tired of people saying that the Democrats have no identity.
		We very much have an identity.
		We do not believe in racism.
		We do not believe in hatred.
		We have compassion for people.
		We have integrity.
		And we believe in the truth.
		Thank you.
		That's all I wanted to say.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Catherine, before you go, are Democrats organized?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Are they unified in a strategy to respond to President Trump?
unidentified		Not right now.
unidentified		I don't believe that we are.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Do they need to be?
unidentified		We do need to be.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, so what is the appropriate response?
		What should be happening?
		You saw Representative Al Green stand up and get escorted out.
		He disrupted the proceedings.
		He was punished for it.
		What should his fellow Democrats have done in that moment, do you think?
unidentified		Honestly, I think let him do what he does.
		I do believe in law.
		I do believe in order.
		I do.
		But if you're going to apply to something to apply to the Democrats, you also have to apply it to the Republicans.
		It just can't be one-sided.
		I don't agree with what he did, but I understand why he did it.
		All right.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		One last question for you, Catherine.
		Why aren't Democrats organized here?
		Who do you blame?
unidentified		I think we just have too many fractions within our party.
		I think that they're trying to appease too many different groups at the same time.
		So I think we just have to come and have one unified voice.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		And who should that voice be?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Give me a person that's high-profile enough to lead the party right now.
unidentified		To be honest, I don't know who that person is right now.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		Deborah, Oakland, California, Independent.
		Hi, Deborah.
		Deborah, good morning to you, Oakland, California.
		You're up next.
unidentified		Good morning.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Morning.
unidentified		Yes, hi.
		I agree everything with the last caller, the Democratic caller.
		I agree with her.
		Eric Holder should lead the Democratic Party.
		Eric Holder should be the one.
		Also, hello?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Yeah, we're listening to you.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		You said Eric Holder should be the one.
unidentified		I believe Eric Holder should be the one.
		And like she said, it's too many, too many different people under the Democratic pet.
		That's why.
		And those 10 Democrats that voted against it, they're bought and paid for.
		It's too much money in politics.
		That's what it is.
		And did Ceasepand do anything when Joe Wilson yelled out, you liar?
		Did they have any conversation after that about that?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Oh, Deborah.
		I can't remember that far back, but you can go back into our archives and look.
		We have conversations about Democrats and Republicans every single day here on the Washington Journal.
		It's three hours, 365 days of the year.
		Representative Hakeem Jeffries is the Democratic leader in the House.
		Here's what he had to say yesterday to reporters about the center vote.
hakeem jeffries ▲ ● ▼		Republicans are playing political and partisan games with their censure resolutions because they are on the run.
		Republicans are on the run with respect to the economy.
		Donald Trump consistently promised that grocery prices were going to be lowered on day one.
		But costs aren't going down.
		They're going up.
		The stock market isn't going up.
		It's going down.
		Inflation is up.
		And Donald Trump and House Republicans are crashing the American economy in real time.
		Republicans are on the run with respect to the economy.
		Not a single bill, not a single executive order, and not a single administrative action has been put forth by Donald Trump or House Republicans to improve the economic circumstances of the American people.
		And folks are taking notice all across the country, which is why his approval ratings aren't going up, staying the same.
		They're going down.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Representative Hakeem Jeffries, who leads the Democratic Party in the House, Congressman from New York, there explaining why he was one of the 198 Democrats who voted against the Center for Representative Al Green.
		The final vote was 224 in favor.
		It was all the Republicans plus 10 Democrats who moved to publicly rebuke Representative Al Green, Democrat of Texas, 77 years old.
		Take a look at disruptions during a joint address by a president over the years, USA Today, with this chart that shows it's on the rise.
		When have lawmakers objected during a state of the union?
		You can see in the 1970s, the blue ring of Democrats there.
		In the 1990s, a red ring.
		In the 2000s, it increased.
		In the 2010s, it increased even more.
		And here we are in the 2020s and how many times there have been disruptions at a state of the union or a joint address by a president.
		Laura in Massachusetts, Independent.
		Laura, what do you think?
unidentified		Well, thank you for allowing me to speak.
		Good morning.
		So, first of all, as far as Al Green goes, I think I admire the man for having the courage to stand up to Trump.
		I mean, it's about time people start doing it.
		All the Republicans do is coddle him and kiss his ring and make him feel like he's so special all the time with all the horrific things he's doing right now.
		It's just awful.
		Let's be real here.
		This is not a culture warfare anymore.
		This is a class warfare.
		This is the wealthy trying to really destroy the poor in this country.
		And they're doing a good job at it.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		In what way, Laura?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		In what level?
unidentified		Well, first of all, health care.
		I mean, health care is dwindling.
		I mean, all the insurances are either for corporate for-profit insurance or their government insurance, which their premiums are going up, up, up.
		You know, an elderly woman can't, you know, she's supposed to pay all these Medicare premiums and deductibles and co-pays, and she's getting a $1,500 check a month.
		I mean, it's outrageous what's going on in this country, and it's all being slandered toward the wealthy in this country, like Musk, who wants to destroy the poor in this country so that they can make themselves more powerful and not have to follow any rules.
		But I want to say the 10 Democrats that I think they're traitors, the ones that voted against, I mean, these are blue dog Democrats.
		Let's face it.
		It's now very fractured.
		You know, we have really progressive Democrats that really do care about the struggling class in this country.
		And then we have the blue dogs that are really more Republican than they're running in swing districts.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		They have an uphill battle.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		If they were not aligned with you perfectly, you said progressive, they might not be able to win, and a Republican would.
unidentified		Good.
unidentified		Good.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		You would rather have a larger majority for the Republicans?
unidentified		No, no, no.
		No.
		What has to happen now is money has to start supporting true progressives.
		And when I say progressives, you know, it's a really, it's kind of a strange term because the reality is you're either a Democrat that supports the New Deal, supports health care, supports the environment, or you're not.
		And those type of Democrats, we don't need them in the party anymore.
		They're the ones that are actually destroying the party.
		That's why Republicans keep winning because Democrats don't even want to get up and bother to vote anymore.
		And I'm going to end this by saying, as far as the congressman that you said who should lead the party.
		Yeah, I think Congressman Khazar of Texas.
		He's passionate, and he is a person who I think could really turn this party around.
		We don't need any more go-along to get along people.
		It's just not working for the country anymore.
		And most Democrats see it.
		And one more thing.
		Are any Republicans on Medicare or Medicaid?
		Do they know somebody that's on Social Security?
		Of course they do.
		So what are they trying to do?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Laura.
		Laura is saying that she thinks the party should be led by a progressive like Cesar Cesar, who's a congressman who is leading up the progressive caucus in the House.
		She also mentioned Elon Musk.
		He is featured in the New York Times and the work of the Doge, the big federal contracts Musk's team hasn't touched.
		Take a look at this chart in the New York Times.
		These are the 2024, this is the 2024 spending on federal contracts by departments.
		The Department of Defense, $554 billion.
		Haven't been touched by Doge and Elon Musk.
		It goes down to Veterans Affairs, where there's $68 billion.
		A little bit of that Doge has looked at.
		$25.3 billion at Homeland Security, almost $20 billion for NASA.
		State Department, nearly $12 billion.
		And again, Doge looking at a little bit of the State Department contracts.
		Look at that underneath where USAID lands, $7.5 billion in contracts.
		That's where most of the Doge cuts have been so far, along with some at Health and Human Services, some at Social Security Administration, some at HUD, which is the Housing and Urban Development Agency, as well as Interior and Commerce, GSA, Agriculture, Treasury, just a little bit of those agencies.
		But the largest department with federal contracts, the Defense Department, $754 billion.
		Doge has not looked at those yet.
		We'll go to Matt in Bath, New York, a Republican.
		Matt, good morning to you.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I'm just kind of curious.
		You referred to the Washington Post three times this morning.
		What about the New York Post or Wall Street Journal?
		Just seems kind of strange.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Matt, well, be patient with me.
		Be patient with me.
		I have papers from the Washington Times, the Wall Street Journal.
		I have headlines from all of them.
		Go ahead.
unidentified		Anyways, I got a kick out of the lady that said about the poor kids in cages.
		She talking about the cages that Obama built.
		I just find that hilarious.
		Anyways, I was totally for the censorship of Al Green.
		And if you look back at history, you know, Al Green shaking the cane right before the Civil War, when there was a lot of rambunctiousness in the House, a House Democrat beat a Republican senseless with a cane.
		I think Al Green should be getting some kind of legal charges against him with that threat.
		And yeah, so and then the clown show they did with the We Shall Overcome, a civil rights thing.
		Now, when Al Green spoke on the well yesterday, that's his proper outlet, not at a state of the union.
		And then as far as another thing that's very shameful, that little boy with the brain cancer, he's actually in Al Green's district.
		Now, I don't know if these Democrats heard that on MSNBC or CNN, but he's actually one of his constituents, and that's just shameful.
		And then they had the gentleman that said that some of the stuff, having the people there didn't affect, how does that affect us?
		Well, you ask the mother and the sister of Lake and Ryland that was there.
		Ask the other people that had people lost by illegal immigrants that Joe just walked across the border.
		Of course, that had import.
		It's just the Democrats, their clown show.
		I really think what they're hoping and praying for is that there's some police incident with some young black man so that they can stir up all the riots and protests because that's all they go on anymore.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		Matt, I'm going to jump in at that point and share with you the front page of the Washington Times this morning.
		Education Secretary to start closing the department.
		Trump orders, Trump Order faces strong opposition.
		There's that headline.
		And below, next to that is a picture of the chair of the Freedom Caucus, Andy Harris, a conservative group in the House, a faction of the Republican Party.
		And it says that the House Freedom Caucus will go along with a stopgap bill, bets that the president won't spend all the funds.
		The House is set to vote early next week on the bill known as a continuing resolution or a CR, and Republicans hope to achieve what was once thought impossible, passing it without needing Democratic votes.
		Mr. Trump has endorsed the stopgap, which would continue current funding through the September 30th end of the fiscal year that would freeze spending, avert a government shutdown, and keep the rest of the legislative agenda on track.
		Republican fiscal hawks, many in the Freedom Caucus, have rarely, sometimes never, voted for a continuing resolution.
		Mr. Harris readily acknowledged he described the upcoming vote as part of several interesting paradigm shifts going on in Washington, D.C. right now, and ones that we shouldn't have predicted.
		So it looks like the Freedom Caucus is in line behind President Trump and Speaker Johnson on passing a one-year continuing resolution.
		Charles in Dallas, Texas, a Democratic caller.
		Let's go to you.
		What do you think about the center vote yesterday against Al Green?
unidentified		If it was a House rule, I agree with it.
		You know, if that's what they had to do, they did it.
		But what I'm really kind of perplex about is this notion that somehow the Democrats are disorganized.
		I think a couple ladies before me spelled it out exactly what Democrats stands for.
		So all we got to do right now is just wait.
		All those that are on that Trump Titanic ship right now, when it hits that iceberg, they watch and see where they're going to come.
		And we don't need a leader.
		A leader is something that is too easily a target for disinformation.
		What's going to happen?
		It's going to be a ground root effort from the people.
		And out of that is going to come a leader.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Charles.
		You may be interested in this for what you're talking about.
		You think that there's going to be growing opposition to President Trump.
		Here is Wall Street Journal.
		President's early moves are cheered in Texas.
		In this one county, nearly nine in 10 voters here in the county of Texas backed Trump in November, making it among the trumpiest counties in the U.S., according to results tallied by the Associated Press.
		It is a place where voters are thrilled to see Trump delivering on campaign promises.
		No matter how disruptive they are to those in the nation's capital, those on Wall Street, or the broader set of voters who are nervous about Trump's whirlwind return to Washington.
		Those folks in this Texas county are cheering on the president, and they like what they see so far.
		Terry in Akron, Ohio, an independent.
		Hi, Terry.
unidentified		Hey, glad to be on C-SPAN, but I'm just worried about the delusional people in this country.
		And, oh, we got rules now, and we got decorum.
		This president breaks all rules.
		He has no decorum.
		And we're supposed to all of a sudden abide by some rules.
		The Democrats, and that's why I'm an independent.
		They need backbone.
		They need to change the way they are doing things.
		It's not working.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		So Terry, what do they do and who leads them in that effort?
unidentified		I don't know.
		I really don't know.
		Jasmine Crockett, I like her.
		But I'm ashamed of all of the Democrats who voted, especially the one from Ohio, Nancy Kaptur.
		I'm ashamed of them.
		I thought we had a rule that women could have an abortion if they wanted.
		Oh, all of a sudden they changed the rules.
		Rules are made by people who are in power.
		Some of those rules don't mean anything.
		It's time to break the rules.
		I wish that the Democrats one by one would have done what Al Greene did and disrupted the whole thing because this man is disrupting the whole country.
		And thank you for C-SPAN.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Terry's thoughts there.
		In Akron, Ohio says he's ashamed or disappointed that Marcy Kaptur is one of the 10 Democrats who voted with Republicans to center Al Green.
		Marcy Kaptur has been, has had to fight for her seat for many cycles.
		It is a swing district in the red state of Ohio.
		New York Times front page to share with you this morning, Barrett's voice may be crucial in Trump cases.
		Justice Amy Coney Barrett is who they're referring to.
		She's breaking ranks with conservatives.
		On Wednesday, for instance, she was the only one of the three justices appointed by Mr. Trump to vote against his emergency request to freeze foreign aid, joining the court's three Democratic appointees and Chief Justice John Roberts to form a bear majority.
		That's the front page of the New York Times this morning.
		And they note that those same five justices, they ruled against Mr. Trump on Wednesday, rejecting his request.
		They voted Wednesday and rejecting the freezing request.
		And just days before his inauguration, they were the same who spared the president from being sentenced, who rejected his request to be spared from being sentenced for those 34 felony counts in New York.
		So that same five coalition, which includes Amy Coney Barrett, voting against the president, one of three appointed by President Trump.
		This is from the Washington Post this morning.
		Their headline, Justice Amy Coney Barrett ignites anger on the right after ruling against President Trump.
		All right, Victor in Westwood, New Jersey, Republican.
		Hi, Victor.
		Good morning to you.
		What are your thoughts on the center of Al Green?
unidentified		My thoughts on Al Greene.
		Listen, I watched that the other night, and I'm a respectful Marine Corps veteran, and I thought it was disgusting the way he spoke when Trump was speaking.
		That was way out of line.
		He didn't even give a proper apology the following day.
		Instead, they gathered in song, the same people singing, We Shall Overcome.
		A little over a week ago, we're outside the Capitol building saying, F-Trump, F-Trump.
		And my children were watching that as I did.
		And that was atrocious.
		There's no respect.
		They have no leadership.
		And as far as Hakeem Jeffries speaking on Trump with no executive orders, he signed hundreds of executive orders.
		And as far as the money that's being wasted abroad, billions and billions, hundreds of billions of dollars, in which over $100 billion in Ukraine alone was never accounted for by Zelensky.
		And all Trump is trying to do is recover some of these monies and not give them to trans surgeries in Africa and all these other countries.
		I mean, come on, what's going on with this country?
		It's pathetic.
		And Trump's only been in for, what, two months?
		And they want change instantly.
		We had four years of misery, misery.
		And now finally, we have a president who's going to do something.
		And all this screaming about Medicare, Medicare, listen, I'm on disability.
		My mother-in-law's on disability.
		I know we're not losing our Medicare and we're not losing Social Security.
		It's not going anywhere.
		These people are just trying to destroy a man who actually loves this country and is trying to make change.
		This is disgusting.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
		Victor, we heard your points.
		We'll go to Carrie, who's in Bellwood, Illinois, Democratic caller.
		Terry.
unidentified		Greta.
		Hi.
		Greta, you and I, we had a conversation a while back when I first talked to you.
		You insisted all Republican callers call in.
		You wanted more Republican callers.
		And I say he was doing a disservice to us at that time.
		And you added that, you know, he was open to all callers.
		But that particular time, you insisted, I need to hear from the Republicans.
		Now, this is the fallback from that, Greta, is that, oh, let me get my thought together.
		The other day when they had that meltdown at the White House with Zelensky and Trump and Vance went off on Zelensky, Marco Rubio, you know, he's the Secretary of State, and he didn't say nothing, but he got over 100 senators to back him up.
		That's why it's important that we need Americans, because at some point, we're going to need defenders for our Constitution, because at the rate it's going, Trump is going to have a challenge that he can't handle.
		And we're going to have to have some people that's going to back America.
		And in essence, they're backing Trump, too, because he's naive to a lot.
		But believe me, she and all them other dictators, they're not naive, Greta.
		That's the point I was making when I said you were doing a disservice.
		All right.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Let me go to Ray, who's in Aurora, Colorado, Independent.
		Morning, Ray.
		We're listening to you, Ray.
		Go ahead.
unidentified		Ray.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead, Ray.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Ray in Aurora, Colorado.
unidentified		Hi, is this better?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Yes, that's better.
steve witkoff ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead.
unidentified		Okay.
		So I listened to the address.
		I didn't watch it.
		So I did hear Al Green.
		I don't know if his conduct would rise to the standard of censure.
		I think a more appropriate example of using censure was back in 2021 when it was used against Paul Gosar when he used Kush from Attack on Titan, depicting him taking out then President Biden and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		So you think it should rise what to the level of, should be used when there's violence or the threat of violence?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Or what is the standard, Ray?
unidentified		Yeah, I think any kind of depiction of violence as opposed to just disrupting with speech, I think that's a good line.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		So Ray, I don't know if you've heard from Republicans who joined us this morning, they were pointing to the cane raising by Representative Al Green and that that was a physical threat.
unidentified		I mean, I don't know about, you know, raising the cane and shaking it.
unidentified		Now, if had he actually thrown it, then that would be an issue.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
		Ray and Aurora, Colorado Independent.
		We will leave the conversation there.
		We're going to continue, though, here on the Washington Journal.
		Coming up next, Jack Brewer, founder and chair of the Jack Brewer Foundation and former NFL player, will discuss issues impacting black men and boys in the United States and his support for banning transgender athletes in women's sports.
		And then later, Christina Berzina of the German Marshall Fund discusses the strained relations between the U.S. and Europe over the Ukraine-Russia war.
		Stay with us.
		we'll be right back.
unidentified		American History TV, Saturdays on C-SPAN 2, exploring the people and events that tell the American story.
		This weekend, at 5.15 p.m. Eastern, historian Rebecca Brenner Graham talks about America's first female presidential cabinet member, Labor Secretary Francis Perkins, who worked to aid refugees fleeing Nazi Germany.
		Then at 7 p.m. Eastern, watch American History TV's series First 100 Days as we look at the start of presidential terms.
		This week, we focus on the early months of President Gerald Ford's term in 1974, including his pardon of former President Richard Nixon, who resigned from office during the Watergate investigation.
		At 8 p.m. Eastern on Lectures and History, Georgetown University history professor Derek Gannon on the Irish diaspora and the role of the United States during the Troubles and in the Northern Ireland peace process.
		And at 9.30 p.m. Eastern on the presidency, James Bradley, co-editor of the Martin Van Buren Papers, talks about his biography of our eighth president, the first in-depth look at the Van Buren presidency in decades.
		Exploring the American story, watch American History TV Saturdays on C-SPAN 2 and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at c-span.org slash history.
		Book TV, every Sunday on C-SPAN 2, features leading authors discussing their latest nonfiction books.
		Here's a look at what's coming up this weekend.
		At 8 p.m. Eastern, Reason Magazine senior editor Brian Dougherty talks about the modern libertarian movement led by thinkers like F.A. Hayek, Ayn Rand, and Barry Goldwater in his book, Modern Libertarianism.
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		Then at 10 p.m. Eastern on afterwards, journalist Omar L. Akkad questions if the U.S. is forsaking its core values after 20 years of covering wars around the globe and social unrest in his book, One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This.
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		Watch Book TV every Sunday on C-SPAN 2 and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at booktv.org.
		Washington Journal continues.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Joining us this morning from Tallahassee, Florida is Jack Brewer, the former NFL player and founder and chair of the Jack Brewer Foundation.
		Sir, let's begin with your group, the foundation.
		What is its mission?
unidentified		Well, our mission is to go into communities with people that are the most underserved, the most voiceless, and uplift them.
		And that includes jails and prisons across the United States and the world.
		We also do a lot of relief work.
		We do global relief efforts.
		Anytime there's a natural disaster or there's a crisis on hand, we're usually the first on the ground to bring relief to those that are the most voiceless.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		How did you go from NFL player to this type of work?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Tell us your story.
unidentified		Well, you know, as a kid, I remember one of my first memories was watching the famine in Africa and Ethiopia back in 1985 and 1986.
		I was about five years old.
		And so as I start, I grew up as a young child watching that famine.
		I'd always told my mom that I wanted to serve and I wanted to help people.
		I remember looking at the TV screen and seeing kids that looked like me.
		And so it was a moment that I'll never forget.
		One of the first memories that I have in my life.
		And since then, I've really dedicated my life to empowering the most underserved in Africa, in Haiti, and across the United States.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		You focus on the issues that are impacting black men and boys in the United States.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		What specifically in that community are you focusing on?
unidentified		Well, first thing is fatherhood.
		You know, we don't have enough fathers in our homes.
		Too many of our young black boys are growing up in houses that are broken and not having enough positive male influences.
		And you see that.
		You see that in the spikes in our even our crime numbers.
		You see that in the spikes of our rates of incarceration.
		You know, just this last year, we had a 21% increase in juvenile crime.
		And the vast majority of those kids are young black boys.
		If you go into our education system and you go into our schools and you start to see that our reading and math proficiency levels are in the tank.
		I mean, you can literally compare some of our neighborhoods and communities to third world countries when it comes to reading, writing, and maths.
		And so those are crises.
		Those are epidemics.
		They stem from a cultural crisis.
		You know, we have a lot of cultural issues in the black community.
		Our kids are listening to the wrong music, the wrong influences.
		You know, I just made a comment the other day to some of my friends.
		You know, when we grew up, it was cool to have a baby mama.
		Like we actually looked at each other and put our chest up if we had babies with women without getting married.
		And so all those things are ungodly.
		And so for me, my message is let's get back to Christian principles.
		Let's get back to real family values in our homes and in our communities.
		And let's start teaching our kids what righteousness means and reestablish a fear of God again, particularly in Black America.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Is it your Christian faith that drives you alone or is it also a political philosophy?
unidentified		Well, I would say my Christian faith drives my political philosophy.
		I mean, without that, you know, God has been so good to me and so good to all of us.
		I mean, we live in the United States of America where millions and millions of people from all over the world want to be here.
		And so, just in that alone, we should all be thankful and grateful.
		But it's definitely my commitment and my passion for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, that drives me.
		And that drives my political beliefs because my conservative values haven't always been there, just like my faith hadn't always been as strong.
		And so I want to see young people across this nation with the fear of God again, because what's happening in our culture, all the confusion, and just look at the numbers.
		I mean, you look at the poverty rates.
		You look at the dropout rates.
		You know, 71% of kids that drop out of high school are fatherless.
		You know, you're five times more likely to live in poverty if you're fatherless.
		And so the numbers are there.
		We just have to really attack the root cause issues that can help uplift these communities.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		When you go into these communities that you're talking about, what do you say about being a conservative?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		How would you convince those that they should be a conservative?
unidentified		A lot of times it doesn't take convincing.
		My message is clear.
		When I walk in, I have my Bible in hand.
		And usually people can see and feel the Holy Spirit when we move and talk in the different rooms.
		I mean, if you come to a prison with me or you come to a juvenile with me or you come to an inner city community with me, I think you see the message.
		And I invite you to come and witness and see the power of God in these various communities.
		I believe and I've seen that young men, particularly young black men, are yearning for a leader, are yearning for mentorship, are yearning for a coach and somebody that can really speak into their lives.
		And so these things aren't pushed away.
		They're actually yearned for.
		People, most kids want direction.
		They want leadership.
		They want discipline.
		Unfortunately, we just have a society that hadn't been providing that.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		President Trump appointed you to the Commission on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys.
		You're a member of that.
		What does this group do?
unidentified		So we're a commission, we're a bipartisan commission, actually, that's built up with probably 80% Democrats.
		And, you know, President Trump signed this new, the newest commission in our country signed it into office doing his first term.
		Obviously, he gets no credit for that.
		But this commission focuses on these root cause issues and doing deep studies, you know, the effects of health on young black communities, the effect of family and society and the different challenges that young black men and boys face in the United States of America.
		You know, everyone has different challenges, and specifically when it comes to cultural issues.
		But I believe that our young black boys in America have probably more challenges than anyone, just given the state of the society and really what's happened around the culture.
		And so when you don't have a father in the house, the things that you have to overcome are so great that you have to name this a crisis.
		You know, when you start seeing 70, 72, 73% of kids in one particular community born without a father in the house, that's a crisis that we all must do something about.
		President Trump understood that.
		Senator Marco Rubio at the time, who lobbied for this, do that.
		And probably the biggest voice of all, who's, she's like a mother to me, is Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, who actually is our chairperson.
		She's dedicated her life.
		She's a Democrat.
		She dedicated her life to young black men and boys.
		This is her legacy.
		She leads us.
		She guides us.
		She speaks truth.
		And we look at her like a mother figure.
		And so I just, I tip my hat off to her and to so many others that are part of the commission trying to uplift our black men and boys across America.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		I want to invite our viewers to join us in this conversation, give you their comments and their questions this morning.
		Here's how we've divided the lines.
		Democrats can call in at 202-748-8000.
		Republicans 202-748-8001.
		And Independents 202-748-8002.
		Jack Brewer, while we wait for those calls, this commission, what initiatives is the commission doing to address fatherlessness?
unidentified		So right now we're working on some of our criminal justice work.
		We are working on our lobbying efforts and our pushes to do more deep dives into the criminal justice system in some parts of the country, understanding more of the reasons why.
		You know, personally, and my biggest push now is on the juvenile side.
		You know, as I mentioned before, you know, we had a huge spike in juvenile crime last year in 2024.
		It ticked up over 21%.
		That is a lot of juvenile crime.
		And so we have an epidemic going on right now.
		Gun violence is up.
		You know, robberies are up.
		You know, violent crimes are up in our nation when it comes to that demographic.
		And so we really got to do something about that.
		You know, that starts with our schools, that starts with our homes.
		So we're pushing more sports programs, more mentorship programs, and really getting more active men in the lives of some of these young boys.
		And so I think it's really important for us to understand that in order for us to reach and hit some of these root causes, that we really have to take time to partner with our local communities, partner with our local governments when it comes to our criminal justice.
		We have to go in and actually partner with the Department of Corrections, partner with the Department of Juvenile Justices, and speak to them so that they understand what's really happening in the communities.
		And I think that there's a lot of disconnect oftentimes when you start to try to take on some of these cultural issues.
		And so those are the things that we're trying to do as a commission is just bring the light, educate, do more research, and bring more practical solutions to a number of these problems.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Jack Brewer is our guest this morning, former NFL player and founder and chair of the Jack Brewer Foundation.
		He's also on the Commission for Social Status of Black Men and Boys, appointed by President Trump.
		He's joining us from Tallahassee, Florida this morning, where he's there doing foundation work, kind enough to pull over and join us from a parking lot in Tallahassee.
		Let's get to calls.
		Cindy in Montgomery, Alabama, Independent.
		Hi, Cindy.
unidentified		Hi, how are you?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Morning.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead.
unidentified		Oh, my question is, well, not my question, but I just want to concur and agree with Mr. Brewer about getting back to practical issues, I mean, practical things that will work for the community.
		Getting back to basics, if you will.
		That's what I think is best.
		So I agree and concur with what he's saying.
		And I was glad to see him this morning.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Cindy, before you go, tell us what does it mean to you to get back to basics?
unidentified		Well, I think that so many, at times, we do too much.
unidentified		And I think we just need to get back to some common sense on some of these things, issues that's going on in our country.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right.
unidentified		All right.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Thanks, Cindy.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Jack Brewer.
unidentified		Yes, I mean, Cindy is right on.
		That's what we're pushing for, right?
		We're pushing for basic common sense approaches to a lot of these cultural issues.
		Saying yes, sir, and yes, ma'am, opening the door for women, looking people in the eye, having etiquette, you know, basic training that many of us grew up with.
		A lot of our kids aren't getting it.
		You know, when you have children in the United States of America, it doesn't come with a guide or a playbook, right?
		A lot of these things you have to be taught.
		And we are now sitting with a generation that weren't all taught a lot of the things that you would assume that they were.
		And so you really have to meet people where they are and you have to be real about things.
		And so when you start to see, again, juvenile crime spiking up, you start to see school systems, entire school systems where not a single kid is proficient in reading or maths.
		I mean, this is an epidemic.
		And so when you start to produce populations that can't read and write on grade level, there's a major issue to that.
		You got to start asking the why.
		And the why starts at home.
		And we got to start building our families back.
		We got to start holding parents more accountable and uplifting our men to man up, get in their houses, and raise their children the way that they're supposed to be raised.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		We'll go to Kenny, Oxon Hill, Maryland, Democratic Collar.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Hey, I want to just say first, thank you for the work that you're doing.
		My question is about these.
		Yeah, my question is about these type of programs that you're talking about.
		So I run a nonprofit that does similar things, but within aviation, Legacy Flight Academy.
		My question is with the opposition of programs that are focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
		Like, how do we still, in this administration, still able to be able to continue to hit those things that you're talking about, still be able to impact our young black men around the country with these other organizations that are losing funding?
		Well, I can.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		I think he's talking about the DEI initiatives that were cut by the president.
unidentified		Yeah, I mean, listen, DEI, that's an entire, that's an entire different conversation.
		I don't think this administration looks at DEI as programs that are directed towards black men and boys, programs that are directed towards uplifting our juveniles.
		I think, and I know that the president sees these issues when it comes to our black men and boys, when it comes to our criminal justice reform, the things that we're doing around the First Step Act, things that we're doing around opportunity zones.
		He just has a different approach and an approach that I agree with in targeting those areas.
		A lot of these DEI programs got so involved with whether it's transgender issues and this sex and that sex.
		And it started to become so much about identity that it lost its ability to actually impact the communities that we need to impact.
		See, the Bible tells us that we need to serve the poorest of the poor, the voiceless of the voiceless, the most underserved children.
		And I think that is what we need to focus on.
		We need to focus on, like you said, to think about the aviation industry and the need and the ability for young black boys just to get access to that is a huge deal.
		And so I can tell you that more and more programs you will see started, particularly around HUD and some of the projects that Scott Turner has going on.
		Scott Turner is a dear friend of mine, who now the secretary of the Housing and Urban Development.
		We have several initiatives that Scott's working on when it comes to reentry, when it comes to criminal justice and housing, uplifting the poorest of the poor to give them an opportunity to live the American dream.
		There's a lot of programs coming.
		I can tell you, be patient.
		It's only been, what, 40 days since President Trump's been in office.
		And so I think you're going to see more and more of these major initiatives being pushed.
		I know I just met with our chairwoman, Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, and we have some big, big plans for 2025 and how we get into the communities and uplift our young black men and boys.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		We'll go to Allen in Wheelersburg, Ohio, Independent.
unidentified		Yeah, good morning.
		I have not followed NFL football at all in my life.
		This is my first time seeing Mr. Brewer.
		And I've got to say, I am thoroughly impressed with what I have heard.
		And, brother, I just want you to know, as a fellow believer, I'm going to pray for you because I believe that truth changes lives.
		It doesn't matter whether you're black or white.
		It doesn't matter who you are.
		The word of God is quick.
		It's powerful.
		It's sharper than any two-edged sword.
		And when you go into communities like you're doing, helping them with their physical needs and then bringing them the truth that they need in their soul, you're going to change lives, brother.
		And I just wanted to thank you for what you're doing and let you know I'm going to be praying for you.
		Thank you so much, man.
		God bless you and keep you.
		And you said it.
		You know, a lot of times we want to put words on things, but when you lead with the word of God, like I said, you can walk in the room sometimes where these are the most broken men.
		We have hundreds of youthful offenders in our programs that have committed heinous crimes.
		And the word of God just gets to their hearts and it softens their hearts and it changes them and reforms them.
		And you see it happening.
		And it can happen across America.
		And it is and it will happen across America.
		It just takes people being bold enough to say it, you know, asking and demanding for the fear of God to be led and put and spiritually set into our homes and our children.
		And I think that's what this nation needs right now in these times.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Jack Brewer, you were in Tallahassee today.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		You were in Minnesota on Monday with activist Riley Gaines lobbying for a bill to ban transgender athletes from competing in women's sports.
unidentified		Why is this issue important to you?
		First off, I'm a pro athlete.
		You know, I played in the National Football League.
		I was a captain on three teams.
		I'm a coach now.
		I have daughters.
		I have a young daughter who has huge dreams of playing sports, tennis and soccer.
		And I've just always been an advocate for what's right.
		And to me, to watch, particularly in the state of Minnesota, where I went to college and was a captain on the Gophers and then went on to be a captain on the Vikings, to see that the state is literally embracing men to play with women.
		It's really heart-wrenching, man.
		You know, when you hear the stories of Riley Gaines and so many of these girls that are forced to be in a locker room with a man changing, I mean, come on, we've lost our mind and we lost our way.
		You know, playing sports is not just on the field of competition.
		It's the locker room.
		It's the team.
		These are private places, right?
		The shower.
		I mean, so to try to start combining those things, I think is taking it way too far.
		I think, you know, there's a reason when you look at this issue, there's a reason why you never see women trying to play in men's sports.
		You only see men trying to play in women's sports.
		And so there's a reason for that because this is not natural.
		This is not right.
		And people are taking advantage of it.
		And states across this nation need to say enough is enough and stop the madness.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Senate Democrats on the federal level on Monday blocked a GOP-led bill similar to ban transgender athletes from women's sports.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Here is the Hawaii senator on the floor talking about what Republicans are trying to do here.
unidentified		What Republicans are doing today is inventing a problem to stir up a culture war and divide people against each other.
		And worse, they're trying to distract people from what they're actually doing, which is at a time when people are finding it harder and harder to afford the basic necessities at a time when diseases we eradicated almost 20 years ago are making a comeback and killing kids at a time when people are getting on flights and saying an extra prayer or breathing a little heavier.
		You have Donald Trump and the Republicans saying, you know what?
		Let's cut taxes for billionaires.
		Let's take money from regular people and the things that they rely on, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act.
		Let's take hundreds of billions of dollars from there and shovel it into the pockets of the richest people to have ever walked this earth because that's what we need and that is what people voted for.
		Republicans are focusing on the wrong 1%.
		Trans people are not the reason people can't afford groceries or health care or housing.
		The other 1%, the top 1% economically, is responsible for a lot of that.
		And that's who Republicans are desperate to help.
		And they're doing it by going after some of the most vulnerable people in our society.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Chuck Brewer, how do you respond to the senator from Hawaii?
unidentified		I mean, there's just a lot of deception in that speech.
		You know, this is what, unfortunately, some Democrats have decided to do is to divert away from social issues and cultural issues and actually root cause issues.
		And so these are all spiritual.
		So for you to tell a society and tell a little boy that he can be a girl, when you start to do that in the mainstream, in the media, in schools, and start to tell a little boy you can be what you want, that is so ungodly.
		You're cursing that entire generation.
		And that's what we're doing.
		That's the bigger picture.
		I don't care if there's 0.01% of transgender.
		It's just the messaging of telling a five, six, or seven-year-old boy that he can become a girl or a girl, that they can become a boy.
		Kids need direction in America.
		Kids need parents and adults to do what God put us here to do, and that's to protect them and to tell them what's right and wrong.
		You're going to allow young children to make that decision.
		And then to start talking about Social Security and all of these things.
		President Trump has cut taxes on Social Security, already cut taxes on tip.
		These things are affecting the middle-class Americans, the hardworking Americans.
		So for him to use that deception of the millionaire billionaire talk to try to stir up division is ridiculous.
		And so if you talk to female athletes, I just left Minnesota, went to high schools, talked to young girls, talked to girls of all ages.
		They don't want boys in their locker room.
		And so it doesn't matter if there's just one boy in the locker room of 25 or 30 or 40 girls.
		They're affecting everyone.
		And so every time a team has to go play against one transgender athlete that enters a tournament and there's 200 girls in that tournament, they've affected that entire situation.
		And so we have to realize that this issue is bigger than what many on the left want to make it out to be.
		You hear the story of Raleigh Games, you hear the story of the poor young girl who took the volleyball to the face, paralyzing half her body, ending her career.
		These things are happening.
		If you look and see the state championships and sports like track and field and volleyball, and these sports do not need men taking them over.
		Title IX was so important to our nation, giving girls the opportunity to play.
		It is not okay for us to continue to market to men that can't make it in men's sports that it's okay for them to drop down and compete against women who aren't as big, strong, or fast.
		It's just not right.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		On this policy, I'll share with our viewers Politico's headline.
		California Governor Gavin Newsom breaks with Democrats on trans athletes in sports.
		The Democratic California governor made the stunning remarks in his debut podcast with conservative guest Charlie Kirk.
		Go to Crystal in Louisiana, Republican.
		Hi, Crystal.
		Good morning.
		Welcome to the conversation.
unidentified		Hi, how are you?
		Mr. Brewer, I think it's wonderful what you're doing for these children and the program that you have, your foundation.
		I wanted to ask: do you have any programs for the mothers of these boys to help them guide them in the right direction?
		Yes, ma'am, we do.
		And, you know, we work with young women and empowering women since we were established almost 20 years ago.
		And so, what our programs do is once we get these young boys, we uplift their families.
		So, we have literally millions and millions of pounds of food that we distribute every year to the families of our kids.
		We also, you know, we support these children, not just when they're in juvenile or not just when they're inside of the prison, but when they get out.
		And so, we stay in touch with their family.
		We do programming to help them build that relationship back with their son, build that relationship back with their child.
		And so, we do a lot of family services around that.
		And so, we're a full circle organization.
		You know, once someone leaves our care, if we have a program that's inside of a juvenile or we have a program that's inside of a prison, when they get out, they become part of our community.
		They become part of our family.
		We have mothers that come and volunteer with us.
		We have, you know, we worship together, we pray together.
		And so, we really try to make our initiative a family one.
		And so, it's really been special to see some of the stories of the families that have been reunified and the young girls and daughters.
		And I'll tell you this as well: some of the folks get out of our program, they become coaches, they volunteer when we go out in the community and do our relief work after natural disasters, and really, you know, just come together as a family.
		So, it's really been a beautiful thing to see everyone come around and so much support when it comes to working with these black men and boys.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		We'll go to Peter in Baltimore, Independent.
unidentified		Hi, good morning.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Morning.
unidentified		I just want to, yeah, I just want to congratulate Mr. Brew and encourage him for the work he's doing.
		I think it's a great work.
		I mean, I was touched when he said a lot of these young guys, they're looking for leaders, they're looking for mentors, and this is really, really good.
		And then, I also wanted to ask whether he has any program on the educational front, because from where I come from, you know, very poor background, but I know what education has done for me, you know, beyond building family values, encouraging young ones to go to school, helps them, you know, have a better view of life and gives them great opportunity for success in life, right?
		So, I just wanted to know if you have any educational programs for these kids when they come out and as they grow up.
		Thank you.
		Yeah, so one of our one of our big focus areas is reading and math proficiency.
		And so we have delivered programs to help kids improve their reading and math proficiency.
		And so we did a study a couple years back and we looked at many of the children and juveniles in our program and they were on average about three grade levels below their age group.
		And so we really started to try to address those reading and math proficiency levels through different technology and training courses.
		We also inside of our classes, we deliver professional development skills, fatherhood development skills.
		So we do full etiquette training and classes.
		We also, you know, we have a pretty comprehensive evidence-based program that we run inside of our prisons and jails.
		We do parenting classes.
		We do speech classes, communication classes, and also vocational skills.
		We think it's very important.
		You know, some people aren't going to go off and go to college.
		And so we empower folks whether they want to get their CDL license.
		We sponsor those on many occasions.
		And so we work with different partners that can help drive some of these different educational certifications and training opportunities for the folks that are in our care and that are in our programs.
		And so we are huge believers in education, like you just said, sir.
		I was the first in my family to go to college.
		By the grace of God, I went on and got my master's degree.
		Football was really the way that I was able to go and pay for college.
		But I know a lot of kids aren't going to be able to go to college and become a pro football player.
		And so we want to arm them with the tools that it takes for them to be qualified in this workforce.
		And so we're always looking and finding more and more ways to educate our population.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Carol, Indianapolis, Democratic caller, your turn.
unidentified		Hi, Brother Buru.
		I like what you're doing.
		God is using you.
		And I will continue to pray for you.
		And you just keep on doing what you're doing because it might not look like you're doing a whole lot, but God is going to bless it.
		He is.
		And here in Indianapolis, I have a sisterhood program similar to yours, a smaller.
		But God is using me also to help people.
		And I get out and mentor people.
		And I give our tracks every week as God has provided me.
		And you just keep on doing what you're doing, son.
		I'm praying for you.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Caroline.
unidentified		Thank you so much.
		Thank you so much, Carol.
		That means a lot.
		You know, I know we're getting announced Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, but I think this entire interview and call and interaction just shows that our politics can divide us.
		I think the word of God unites all.
		And no matter where you stand politically, our faith speaks very loud.
		And I think we all see the need in our nation, particularly when it comes to the demographic that we're talking about.
		We all know that we need uplifting.
		And we all know that the only way that we can improve on the things that are happening across our nation is through the word of God and prayer and the fear of God and reestablishing that again in this nation.
		And so this has been truly incredible to hear from so many different people.
		And, you know, the last caller, thank you for your prayers.
		God bless you and keep you.
		And I pray for your mission as well.
		And just know that we are on one accord.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Jack Brewer, how do you get the money that you need to do the work that you're doing?
unidentified		Ah, God provides.
		I mean, I don't know.
		You know, I smile when I say that.
		I mean, I've been in situations when I've had to liquidate my retirement account.
		I've been in situations where, you know, I've had to borrow and scratch and move funds, you know, personally, borrowed from friends and everything.
		But, you know, God has always provided.
		And now, you know, we have, we get a series of grants from different places.
		We have people that, you know, donate to us.
		You know, one day we needed, I think, $50,000.
		I was trying to start a new initiative and expand.
		And I wanted to rent this space and this building for kids.
		And then literally a week later, someone donated that exact amount of money to me.
		And so God always provides that.
		You know, I'm blessed to be able to do media and to, you know, we have a pretty good social media presence.
		And so people see what we're doing.
		And usually, once they see what we're doing, and especially when they come and see it firsthand, oftentimes, you know, God moves their heart to support us.
		And so we've been blessed.
		You know, so it's to answer your question more specifically, it's a combination of individual donors.
		Some corporations donate to us and make us a part of their commitment to their communities.
		And we also receive some funds from the state as well.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Joe in Yukon, Oklahoma, Republican.
unidentified		Morning.
		Morning.
		First time caller.
wayne paul ▲ ● ▼		I'm a little bit nervous, but you know, I do believe a couple things that I hear from both sides is sympathy, scientific, bad things, good things.
unidentified		Whatever happened, first I want to thank Jack Brewer because I do believe, I tried to, I'm 63 years old.
unidentified		I was brought up to respect women, never hit women.
wayne paul ▲ ● ▼		I don't know what's right, transgender, but I do believe that we were taught as a society that men are men for a reason, women are women for a reason.
unidentified		And I try to teach my 16-year-old daughter that.
		Whatever happened to us, stop saying, well, that's transgender.
		I do believe women have the raw end of the deal.
		I want to thank Jack for fighting this.
		I wish I could do more.
		But whatever happened to stop labeling, and it's just, I truly believe my 16-year-old daughter came home to me one day because she works with transgenders.
		I respect her belief.
		She knows what I believe.
		But she came home about a month ago and she said, Daddy, the only problem is why now I feel bad about where I work because I lost it to a boy who's making it, who believes that he's a girl.
		Something's wrong.
		When does this all stop?
		All right.
		Thank you.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Joe.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Jack Brewer, your final thoughts here.
unidentified		Well, I think it's, you know, we got to start talking about root cause.
		And if we're talking about young black men and boys, or we're talking about the transgender situation in our country, all of these things, there's real cause for that.
		There's a reason why.
		There's a reason why you see a spike in juvenile crime.
		There's a reason why you see a spike in the number of transgender men trying to play sports against women.
		All these things are growing for a reason, and that's because we haven't gotten to the root.
		And so my prayer is that as a nation, we can start understanding that foundationally, we got to get back to Christ.
		It's got to get back to the Lord and Savior.
		You got to get back to being able to tell a child that God created man and woman.
		If you can't say that in our schools, you can't say that in our homes, then how are kids supposed to know, right?
		We have a lot of people that are confused right now.
		And so we can't take some of this confusion.
		And we also have mental health issues.
		We all know that in our nation right now, we have a spike in mental health issues.
		And so we cannot, you know, exacerbate our mental health situation in the nation by trying to appease and tell people what makes them feel good.
		Sometimes people need to know the truth and the truth shall set them free.
		And so that's my prayer.
		I know that as an organization and as the commissioner on the social status of black men and boys and as the Jack Brewer Foundation, we will remain committed to fighting these causes in Florida and across the United States.
		I welcome anyone at any time to come see our work and see what it does.
		It is moved by God.
		It's founded on the principles of the Bible.
		And we are going into communities that a lot of people don't want to go into, whether it's the prisons, the jails, the juveniles, and going into the inner city areas and going into disaster areas to help some of the poorest of the poor.
		And so I just encourage everybody to check out our work, support our work, get into your communities.
		The only way that we make America better is not through our politics, but it's through our service.
		And so I just encourage everyone to go out and serve those underserved folks around them.
		And let's make America stronger again.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Our viewers can go to thejackbrewerfoundation.org to learn more.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Mr. Brewer, thank you for the conversation this morning.
unidentified		God bless you.
unidentified		Anytime it will go, it was a true pleasure.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		We appreciate it.
		Coming up, we're going to take a break.
		We'll be joined by Christine Berzina of the German Marshall Fund to discuss the strained relations between the U.S. and Europe over the Russia-Ukraine war.
		We'll be right back.
unidentified		Saturdays, watch American History TV's 10-week series, First 100 Days.
		We explore the early months of presidential administrations with historians and authors and through the C-SPAN archives.
		We learn about accomplishments and setbacks and how events impacted presidential terms and the nation up to present day.
		Saturday, the first 100 days of Gerald Ford's presidency.
		He took office after the resignation of President Richard Nixon during the Watergate investigation.
		President Ford declared, our long national nightmare is over, and later made the controversial decision to pardon Richard Nixon.
		In those first few months of his term, President Ford also tried to tackle high inflation in the country, energy issues, and the treatment of Vietnam War draft evaders.
		Watch our American History TV series, First 100 Days, Saturday at 7 p.m. Eastern on American History TV on C-SPAN 2.
		Sunday on C-SPAN's Q&A, Kentucky Republican Congressman James Comer, House Oversight Committee Chair and author of All the President's Money, talks about his committee's 15-month investigation into the business practices of then-President Joe Biden and members of President Biden's family.
		In this interview, Representative Comer argues that the Bidens have benefited financially from corrupt financial dealings involving Ukraine, China, and other countries.
james comer ▲ ● ▼		Six different banks had filed 175 suspicious activity reports against the Bidens, most of which were while Joe Biden was Vice President of the United States.
		And then they were subject to another 50 suspicious activity reports.
		So let me put that in perspective.
		No bank would file a suspicious activity report against the son of a prominent politician unless they were darn sure that a financial crime had been committed because when you file one of those, the bank examiners roll in your bank and it causes a lot of problems.
		So the banks knew that there was some bad things going on here.
		And that's when the investigation really took off.
unidentified		James Comer with his book, All the President's Money, Sunday night at 8 Eastern on C-SPAN's Q ⁇ A. You can listen to Q&A and all of our podcasts on our free C-SPAN Now app.
		Democracy.
		It isn't just an idea.
		It's a process.
		A process shaped by leaders elected to the highest offices and entrusted to a select few with guarding its basic principles.
		It's where debates unfold, decisions are made, and the nation's course is charted.
		Democracy in real time.
		This is your government at work.
		This is C-SPAN, giving you your democracy unfiltered.
		Washington Journal continues.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Joining us this morning at our desk is Christine Berzina.
		She is the managing director of Geostrategy North at the German Marshall Fund here to talk about the U.S. pause on Ukraine aid and transatlantic relations.
		Let's just begin with the German Marshall Fund.
		Remind our viewers, what is this group?
unidentified		The German Marshall Fund is a transatlantic organization that was founded 53 years ago and it champions democracy, prosperity, and security as the cornerstones of the transatlantic relationship.
unidentified		We're here in D.C. and we also have seven European offices.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		And what is the German Marshall Fund take on President Trump's position on aid to Ukraine?
unidentified		We're waiting and seeing what this actually means.
		The German Marshall Fund certainly wants there to be a strong and healthy relationship across the Atlantic and we absolutely want to see a whole and prosperous Ukraine also in the future.
		This means that we are curious to see how the situation will evolve and want Ukraine to be on the strongest and also most secure footing moving forward.
		This does not mean that war should keep going by any means in a long duration, but we are very worried that Ukraine could not have what it needs in the short term.
		But again, this pause as we understand it and as I understand it is simply a pause on funding and it is a highly fluid situation hour by hour, frankly, this week.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		It doesn't sound like the European leaders are going to wait and see.
		I want to show a headline from the Washington Post front page below the fold this morning.
		Europe scrambles to bolster its defenses, the EU countries move to raise military spending as Trump shifts alliances.
		What it says is that the EU leaders broadly agreed to move forward with plans intended to unlock hundreds of billions in extra defense spending in the coming years, but a military spending spree won't be easy.
		I want to show our viewers what the president of the European Commission had to say earlier this week on when she unveiled this plan to boost European military spending.
ursula von der leyen ▲ ● ▼		The question is no longer whether Europe's security is threatened in a very real way or whether Europe should shoulder more of its responsibility for its own security.
		In truth, we have long known the answers to those questions.
		The real question in front of us is whether Europe is prepared to act as decisively as the situation dictates.
		We are in an era of rearmament.
		And Europe is ready to massively boost its defence spending, both to respond to the short-term urgency to act and to support Ukraine, but also to address the long-term need to take on more responsibility for our own European security.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Christine Berzini, it sounds like she almost agrees with President Trump in a way.
		Europe needs to do more.
		Putting aside what he has decided or this pause, did Europe need to do more?
		Was this a long time in the making?
unidentified		Absolutely.
		And so what you heard from President von der Leyen is a very clear acknowledgement that Europe has not done enough for its security and defense since the end of the Cold War.
		And there have been many warnings about the fact that the world is becoming more dangerous from Russia since 2014, but really across the globe.
		There are many actors that seek to destabilize and hurt both Europe and the United States.
		And Europe has to step up.
		It has to spend more.
		And we're seeing that right now.
		Europe has been very good at pronouncements across the decades, but in the summit that was in Brussels yesterday, and in a lot of the ad hoc formats, meaning the various leaders coming together in small groups, we have seen incredibly strong signals for increased funding.
		And frankly, over the past few years, even before Trump came into office, again, we have seen a significant increase in European defense spending.
		What in the last few days we've seen as an evolution is a question, well, how do they come together and use some of the European mechanisms?
		So not just each country's individual national budget, but how do they come together, perhaps borrow together, open collective funds so that the European Union as such, because that's what von der Leyen is president of the Commission of, how can they work together to make acquisition of weapons, but also to recharge the defense industry more quickly?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Why haven't they done this so far?
		Even though there have been warnings, there has been recognition.
		What has stopped European nations from taking this action?
unidentified		Well, many have.
		And then there are laggards as well.
		There are very different threat perceptions across the European Union and across European countries.
		There are ones like France, which has a nuclear fleet, that have had to make sure the investments keep going in that.
		And there are also countries that are tiny, like Luxembourg, that haven't really seen the purpose exactly.
		So we are needing to have all of them move up currently in their defense spending.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Let's get to France.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Here's the French President, Manuel Macron, delivering a televised address on Wednesday, outlining the future of European security and its commitment to Ukraine amid a pause by the United States.
unidentified		Peace cannot be achieved by abandoning Ukraine.
		Peace cannot come at any price.
		And it cannot come from Russia dictating the terms.
		Peace for Ukraine come with the collapse of Ukraine.
		And we have seen this happen in the past.
		We can't forget that this invasion started back in 2014 and that there was a ceasefire that was agreed to in Minsk.
		And that same Russia did not uphold the peace, the treaty, the ceasefire agreement.
		So we cannot have stability without robust guarantees.
		We cannot take them at their word.
		Ukraine has a right to peace and security for itself.
		And it is in our interest of security in Europe.
		And that is why we are working closely with our British, German allies and many other European nations.
		That is why you have seen me in these past few weeks engage with numerous these people in Europe, in London, to draft the commitments that are the base requirements for Ukraine.
		For us to sign a peace agreement where Ukraine will no longer be invaded by Russia, we have to do so by supporting the Ukrainian troops in the midterm, which may require further European forces to be deployed.
		I want to believe that the United States will stay by our side, but they will need to be ready if that were not the case.
		Whether we come to peace now or in somewhat distant future, Europe needs to be able to better defend itself and to deter other forms of invasion.
		Whatever the case may be, we need to arm ourselves more.
		We need to bolster our defense positions.
		We need to determine.
		And that is why we uphold NATO and our partnership with the United States of America.
		But we need more.
		We need to reinforce our own defense and security capabilities.
		The future of Europe is not going to be decided by Russia or by Washington.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Christine Berzina, did the French president just say Europe needs to prepare for war?
unidentified		There's the eventuality that there could be war.
		And frankly, if you prepare for war now, there won't be war.
		This is the funny thing about deterrence.
		Why do we have militaries?
		Why do we consistently invest in making sure that we have arms that can protect our citizens?
		Frankly, so the bad guys don't think they can get away with bombing or invading us because it's going to hurt them so much.
		So what is the purpose of preparing for war?
		It's making sure that you never, ever have to use those weapons.
		And that is more of the mentality that Europe is catching up with.
		That is why American defense budgets have been so high.
		That is why the American people and the American military was so successful throughout the Cold War, because no one decided to poke at the U.S. to test how real it was.
		That is what Europe is understanding that it has to do.
		And even in countries like Germany, which have a very strong anti-nuclear sentiment, there is a big question about, well, maybe nuclear weapons might actually be necessary, because maybe a show of strength is the best way of being safe and never having to use a single bullet.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		What have we heard from German leaders this week?
unidentified		So German leaders this week are really looking at some of the financial mechanisms for how to improve their defense spending.
		When there was the full scale of an invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Germans said they had an era shift in which they gave a lot of lump sum money to increase their defense spending.
		But they were so far behind that it made them simply less behind.
		What the Germans are doing this week are saying they're going to structurally change their budgetary process in order to be able to invest more long term.
		So not needing their parliament to say, yes, we approve X billions every single time, but to say we can structurally invest a higher percentage of our budget in defense needs.
		There's very strict fiscal control.
		You can't really run big deficits in Europe at all.
		And so this will change that when it comes to defense, so that there is a bigger willingness and ability legally in Germany to invest in defense.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		How big of a shift is that for Germany?
unidentified		This is massive, right?
		So they talked about the big era shift, again, in 2022, three years ago.
		The financial shift, because you have to understand how incredibly important austerity is in Germany.
		The word for debt is the same word as the word for guilt.
		So psychologically, the idea of opening debt, you know, credit cards, all of this is quite icky, right?
		This is not quite the relationship with these same issues in the United States.
		And so the notion of being able to take on more debt for defense.
		And Germany has simply not seen the military as a primary mode of global operation for a good reason historically, but today is different.
		And so for them to want to change these complicated austerity measures and structurally be willing to take on more debt, I think that is the big era shift in Germany.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		And where is Britain in all of this?
unidentified		So Britain is a first mover.
		It is not in the European Union.
		So we did not see Britain be active yesterday in Brussels.
		They chose to exit the EU.
		But they had a very important leadership role over the weekend.
		And Britain has a really good line to Washington right now.
		President Trump and the Prime Minister, Kier Starmer, of Britain, seem to have a very productive relationship, and they are checking in as the Europeans come to some forward-leaning suggestions.
		And so last weekend, the Brits brought together not only the European Union Europeans, but they brought together Turkey, a NATO ally, Canada as well, to think through what the non-U.S. allies can do in order to help Ukraine.
		The Brits are very eager to have this leadership role.
		They're also a nuclear power.
		So their strength is well respected in Russia.
		Their finances and their budgets aren't as strong because of domestic budgetary concerns in terms of the growth of their economy.
		But in terms of appetite and leadership, they're doing very well.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Why will it take Europe so why does it take them longer to respond?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		And is it going to happen fast enough for Ukraine?
unidentified		I think that Ukraine has some time.
		On the one hand, we don't know when this war is going to end.
		It could be relatively soon.
		We have the anticipation that already next week there will be conversations between the U.S. administration and the Ukrainians.
		So we don't know if we're talking about a war that is going to go on for another three weeks or three months.
		And if everything falls apart and if Russia chooses not to stop firing, because frankly, what is making this war go on, it is the fact that every single day Russia chooses to fire missiles and shoot at Ukrainians on their territory.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		They did again last night.
unidentified		They did last night.
		So it's not as though the Ukrainians are starting this fight by any means.
		It's the Russians who every day make an active decision to shoot at Ukrainians in their countries, in their cities, in their capital.
		So we don't know how long Russia will choose to keep doing that.
		But Ukraine, even with the pause in American aid, still has resources it needs.
		In terms of the front line, the American aid is not as important.
		What is necessary is a lot of the drone warfare.
		And they have their own domestic manufacturing that is able to provide them with the drones to keep doing that.
		And so, yes, the Ukrainians have European support right now.
		They have arms that are necessary.
		It does get a little bit shakier.
		But for the Europeans, it's incredibly important for Ukraine to be on a really strong footing as it goes into the negotiations.
		And it's not that the Europeans want the Ukrainians to keep fighting for fighting's sake.
		And it's a question of how strong Ukraine is when it goes in.
		And in the four-point plan the British put out over the weekend or led the announcement of over the weekend, the point of putting Ukraine in the strongest possible position was there.
		And that's why the European leaders in Brussels yesterday had a strong financial incentive of over 30 billion they would like to give this year to the Ukrainians.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		30 billion this year is what they are talking about doing.
		With that number in mind, take a look at this New York Times.
		How soon could Ukraine forces start to buckle without U.S. weapons?
		It could be as little as four months, say analysts, as Europe scrambles to plug the hole in support left by President Trump's suspension of military aid.
		Take a look at these numbers.
		The United States has sent $67 billion of military aid to Ukraine.
		Europe has sent $65 billion to Ukraine.
		Those are all the countries, other countries, $4 billion.
		Christine Berzina also mentioned talks between the United States and Ukraine picking back up.
		I want to show our viewers what Steve Witkoff had to say.
		He's the White House Special Envoy.
		He talked with reporters outside of the White House yesterday.
steve witkoff ▲ ● ▼		Well, President Zelensky sent a letter to the president.
		I think the president thought that it was a really good, positive first step.
		And from that, we're now in discussions to coordinate a meeting with the Ukrainians in Riyadh or even potentially Jeddah.
		So the city's moving around a little bit, but it will be Saudi Arabia.
		And I think the idea is to get down a framework for a peace agreement and an initial ceasefire as well.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		That was Steve Witkoff at the White House yesterday.
		Let's go to calls.
		Darrell in Caldwell, Idaho, Independent.
		Hi, Darrell.
unidentified		Good morning, Greta.
		Good morning, Christine.
		My daughter, I spell the same way your name, K-R-I-S-T-I-N.
		But the thing I'm looking at is that here you've got a situation where Russia and Ukraine were at the point of signing an agreement back in 2022.
		But then all of a sudden, here comes Boris Johnson and Joe Biden interfering and putting money in.
		So it's like, now you've got a case where I myself being independent, I look at the fact that here's Biden's son Hunter working at Brisma, making $80,000 a month.
		And then Ukraine is famous for being the most corrupt country on the planet Earth.
		So now we start shoveling money in, and Donald Trump labeled Lezinski as the world's greatest salesman.
		And now here, because we've stopped getting money, now all the European nations have decided to jump in.
		And it's just impossible for me to understand.
		Russia's got 6,000 nuclear weapons.
		The United States got 6,000.
		And you put all the European nuclear weapons together.
		And I don't even know if it adds up to 2,000.
		And it's like everybody wants to get in this financing the military corporation.
		So I really think you people haven't studied the scriptures.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Okay, Daryl, I'm going to jump in.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Let's go back to his point about 2020.
unidentified		So if you go back and you look at when this conflict started, it doesn't start just in 2020 or in 2022 with a full-scale invasion.
		But in 2014, already there was a decision in Moscow to create a hybrid operation, put soldiers in Crimea and seize territory, but not only Crimea, also the Donbass of eastern Ukraine.
		And there were many attempts through the Minsk process, which is how the European diplomatic process was called in the last decade, to come to an agreement.
		But rather than accepting the fact that throughout this entire time, Europeans were offering extensive carrots to Russia to play nice, to stop taking over its neighbor's territory, there wasn't that good faith from the Russian side to stop.
		And rather than saying, thank you for starting new gas deals with us, thank you for approving new pipelines with us, thank you for being gentle with us, even though we are invading our neighbors, they moved on to a full-scale invasion.
		The military support for Ukraine isn't really a Biden starting point there.
		And under the first administration, Trump also gave javelins to Ukraine, but that's already because we had a war situation on the Ukrainian continent.
		And what we've seen at every turn is Russia upping the ante, seeking to destabilize the situation.
		It has all the money in the world and had much more of it before the war started.
		And so the question is, why has Russia wanted so much to invade a neighbor when it has all the wealth, I mean, a seat at the G8, a big international role, incredible wealth for Putin and for a lot of the Russian people.
		But instead, he has sought to go after this question of changing borders.
		And the problem has been, well, how do you make a nuclear power understand that there are rules and that you can't take individual innocent lives?
		How do you protect those innocent lives in Ukraine from being massacred?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		We'll go to Robert in Missouri, Republican.
		Robert, it's your turn.
		Welcome to the conversation.
unidentified		Thank you.
		First time caller.
		I was kind of wondering, were the Europeans upping their defense spending before Trump was elected?
		Well, I think it depends on where.
		So you have a variety, again, of threat perceptions.
		The countries that have been closer to Russia, in particular after 2014, when you had the first lend grabs, got scared.
		And they decided to increase their defense spending.
		The countries that are further away thought they could negotiate their way out of it.
		That, again, the right balance of economic incentives would mean that maybe you don't need to throw that much money at the defense industry.
		This is also at the same time that most of these countries are fighting in the Middle East alongside the United States.
		I think we forget a little bit about what the European militaries were up to between 2001, 9-11, and once we get into the late teens and the early 20s, when we're really looking again at a territorial threat.
		And what they were doing was serving alongside the U.S. in the deserts in the Middle East.
		And the capabilities that they developed, in some ways, were very niche, but to plug gaps and be complementary to the United States.
		And the United States, before 2014, didn't especially want the Europeans to be investing in tanks.
		What they needed was help in Afghanistan and Iraq.
		And so I think that when you look at it and when did Europe wake up, in some ways that's also a U.S. question.
		When did the U.S. wake up and understand that the Middle Eastern wars were one issue, but there was a looming issue of territorial expansion and large-scale power competition?
		What we're seeing now is a catch-up, not only from a sense of the end of history in the 90s, but from an era when we had expeditionary war in Iraq and Afghanistan to, again, a notion of territorial defense, which requires entirely different tools.
		The Europeans had desert camo gear.
		That's not going to be especially helpful right now in Europe or in Ukraine.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		We will go to Sally in California, Democratic caller.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Morning.
unidentified		Good morning, ladies.
		I just want to say, you know, 75% of Americans do support.
		We do support Ukraine.
		And we do not support Trump's policies.
		And I was just wondering if you guys had an idea of how the rest of the world is perceiving Americans in general, that if it's us that are siding with Putin, or if it's just Trump that's siding with Putin and how they are feeling about it.
		Okay.
		Thank you for taking my call.
		Well, I think there's a lot of concern about who the U.S. is on the global stage right now.
		By no means is there an interest for America to be weak, but there is a concern about does America have its friends back?
		Right now, we're seeing this play out in Europe.
		We're seeing it with Ukraine.
		But I'm sure that in the Pacific and in other parts of the world, there's a sense, well, yesterday, President Trump questioned whether the Europeans would come to the American assistance if the U.S. asked.
		That's exactly what happened after 9-11.
		This is why per capita, the same number of Estonians and Danes died in the Middle East as Americans, not because they had been attacked, but because the Americans asked for this assistance.
		For Trump to discount the willingness of Europeans to help hurts American friendship and prestige.
		Does America remember how much other countries care about America and Americans?
		And if he doesn't, why should the rest of the world care about America?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		We'll go to Olmsted Falls, Ohio.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Diana, an independent, good morning to you.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Thank you.
		Yes, last week in the Epoch Times, there was a tiny article which the mainstream media did not pick up on.
		It says, Putin offers rare earths aluminum to us.
		And Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow is open to partnering with the United States on joint resource exploration and extraction, including rare earths, and has no objections to a potential U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal.
		It goes on just shortly here.
		He offered the United States the opportunity for joint exploration of Russia's own critical mineral deposits as well as the renewed supply of aluminum if trade resumes.
		Putin said Russia has significantly more rare earths than Ukraine and that it's doing little to extract these resources.
		He also said Moscow is open to an agreement with Washington on scaling back defense budgets with Putin, mentioning a mutual reduction of 50%.
		And the mainstream media did not pick up on that at all.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Diana, we'll get a response.
unidentified		Putin is absolutely seeking to establish new economic ties with the Trump administration.
		After the meeting between Rubio, Witkoff, and Russians in Saudi Arabia earlier in February, we have already seen the conversation evolve on historic economic opportunities.
		Do American companies want to operate in Russia again is a question, because there's one thing when the administration is interested in opening opportunities.
		But a second question is, do the companies that have had their fingers burned, Russia has not been a good player in the past in terms of appropriating or protecting other countries' investments in Russia, do they want to open themselves up to risk again?
		And what are the most secure supply lines?
		Again, Russia has been attacking allies of the United States.
		Does the U.S., on issues as important as critical minerals, really want to rely increasingly on Russia?
		So much also of what this administration, the Trump administration, wants to prioritize is a kind of self-sufficiency and security of supply chains.
		Does that really make sense to go in with Putin on something as important as critical minerals?
		And is it instead better to work with allies, again, who have served and died along the United States, rather than relying on Putin, who has in the past very much portrayed and his government has portrayed the United States as the enemy and who seeks to create a smaller role for the West led by the United States globally.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		We'll go to Marysville, Washington.
		Maryland is a Republican.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		My question has to do with the leadership in Turkey.
		Erdogan has turned Turkey from a democracy into someone who wants to ally with Russia and Iran and North Korea.
		On the sideline, I don't know how you can remove a nation from NATO, but I believe Turkey should be removed from NATO.
		But as to this point, recently Turkey is part of the European group who supposedly are going to be thinking about or arguing about how they're going to deal with Russia.
		Is Turkey on the side of Europe or is Turkey on the side of Russia?
		And I'll take your answer and I'm going to ring off.
		Thank you.
		Thank you so much.
		So Turkey is a NATO ally.
		It is not a member of the European Union, even though it has been a candidate country for decades.
		Turkey is playing a very nuanced game, being both incredibly important as a NATO ally, but also having closer defense and industrial ties, but on the defense industry side to Russia.
		But it isn't especially friendly with Russia.
		When you look at the fact that shortly after the first Crimean invasion, a Russian airplane crossed into Turkish airspace, then the Turks shot it down.
		So the Turks very much stand up for themselves.
		The Turks were incredibly important for negotiating some of the Black Sea transit grain deals because they are the major Black Sea power.
		There are, of course, concerns with allies.
		It is a very mixed bunch.
		And yet, Turkey strategically helps the United States incredibly often and Europeans, which is why it's very important to have Turkey at the table in London.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		There's been a development on talks with Ukraine, and I want to run it by you.
		This is from Fox News's White House correspondent.
		Zelensky will not be attending Tuesday meeting with the American delegation.
		Zelensky said he will be meeting with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia on Monday.
		Then his team will stay to meet with the Americans on Tuesday.
		What do you make of that?
unidentified		Well, it also wasn't Putin who was sitting down with the American team last month.
		So I think we're just seeing a process of developing the ties.
		In many ways, this is probably a way to not derail with personalities.
		But in practice, this is exactly what we saw last month with the Russian side.
		And so if we're going to call this protocol and having the Ukrainians do the same thing the Russians did, then fine.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Christine Berzina is with the German Marshall Fund.
		We appreciate the conversation this morning.
		Thank you very much.
unidentified		Thank you so much.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		We'll take a break when we come back.
		We'll be an open forum.
		Here are the lines on your screen.
		That means any public policy or political issue that is on your mind, we want you to share it with us.
		Start dialing in.
		We'll get to that conversation in just a minute.
brian lamb ▲ ● ▼		In the years right before World War II started, in 1939, Winston Churchill had been out of government.
		However, even though he was far from power, his country home, Chartwell, became Churchill's headquarters of his campaign against Nazi Germany.
		Catherine Carter is a curator and historian who has managed the house and collections at Chartwell.
		Her new book is called Churchill's Citadel: Chartwell and the Gatherings Before the Storm.
		Catherine Carter reveals how Churchill used Chartwell, which is 35 miles from London, as his base during the pre-war years to collect key intelligence about Germany's preparations for war.
unidentified		Author Catherine Carter with her book, Churchill's Citadel, Chartwell and the Gatherings Before the Storm, on this episode of BookNotes Plus with our host, Brian Lamb.
		Book Notes Plus is available on the C-SPAN Now free mobile app or wherever you get your podcasts.
		Mr. Speaker, on this historic day, the House of Representatives opens its proceedings for the first time to televised coverage.
		Since March of 1979, C-SPAN has been your unfiltered window into American democracy, bringing you direct, no-spin coverage of Congress, the Supreme Court, and the White House.
		Is this Mr. Brian Lamb?
		Yes, it is.
		Would you hold one moment, please, for the president?
		It exists because of C-SPAN founder Brian Lamb's vision and the cable industry's support, not government funding.
		But this public service isn't guaranteed.
		All this month, in honor of Founders Day, your support is more important than ever.
		You can keep democracy unfiltered today and for future generations.
patty murray ▲ ● ▼		To the American people, now is the time to tune in to C-SPAN.
unidentified		Your gift today preserves open access to government and ensures the public stays informed.
		Donate now at c-span.org/slash donate or scan the code on your screen.
		Every contribution matters.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		And thank you.
unidentified		Washington Journal continues.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		And we are back here in open forum this morning for the remainder of today's Washington Journal.
		Any public policy or political issue on your mind, you can share that this morning.
		I want to start with economic news.
		We have new numbers out this morning.
		CNBC with the headline about the stock market and the unemployment.
		SP 500 Futures Fall as Disappointing Jobs Report caps brutal week for markets.
		More from CNBC.
		The SP 500 pulled back on Friday with the benchmark headed for its worst week since September as the salvo of trade policy actions unnerved investors.
		Futures connected to the broad index retreated 0.4%.
		A weaker-than-expected jobs report today raised further concerns about economic softening and sent rates lower.
		Non-farm payrolls increased by 151,000 jobs in February, less than the consensus forecast for 170,000 from economists polled by the Dow Jones.
		The unemployment rate ticked higher to 4.1%.
		That came as stocks have been on a roller coaster ride this week with President Donald Trump's tariff policies worrying investors about future U.S. growth and inflation.
		You can talk about the economy and you can talk about other public policy and political issues as well.
		Patrick in Oberlin Park, Kansas, a Republican.
		Patrick, we're in Open Forum.
		On your mind.
unidentified		Well, I want to talk about your prior guest.
		I, uh was a young infantry lieutenant in Berlin 55 years ago and got to lived there three years, got to meet some Russians and then, when the Berlin wall came down, I was asked by the government to go to Russia and I spent two years there working for mayors along the Volga river in the privatization and democracy program, and my wife is Russian.
		My mother-in-law, before she passed, was Ukrainian and was born in Odessa, and I have some personal knowledge about what's going on over there and I spent some time down Understognatan, which is by the sea Of Azov, not far from where the current fighting is going on, and to me and my family it's the war going on over there is is more of a civil war really than it is uh,
		the way it's being portrayed by the media and the Europeans and um, I think there's um, maybe a lack of sophistication and understanding about the history that went on between Crimea Ukraine Russia, etc.
		It's a long, long history and it's being simplified, I think, for political purposes, and I just wish outlets like C-span would maybe have a little bit more educational and historical framework to make the people understand what's going on.
		Okay, thank you.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right Patrick, we appreciate that feedback.
		Follow-up on the jobs report, you can listen to the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, today here on C-span.
		He is going to be talking about monetary policy at 1230 p.m eastern time.
		He's likely to react to the jobs report you can follow.
		You can listen and watch on C-span online at C-span.org or our free video mobile app, C-span.
		Now again, that's 1230 p.m eastern time.
		The front page of the Drudge Report who the Drudge critical of president Trump?
		Has this banner, president folds on tariffs yes no yes no yes, no.
		This follows on the headlines in the WALL Street Journal this morning and many papers about the president deciding yesterday to then pause the tariffs that he had threatened on Canada and Mexico.
		The front page of the WALL Street Journal this morning featuring the Mexican president standing next to a graph of how Mexico has responded along the border, looking at fentanyres and the numbers that they have had in recent years leading up to now.
		The Trump administration, the Mexican president thursday pointing to cooperation with the United States on the drug fight.
		As she criticized the tariffs.
		She then responded to the president's decision to pause them again, saying that they had a constructive conversation that the president had listened to her.
		So that's the front page of the WALL Street Journal.
		This morning, you can talk about tariff and trade policy as well.
		Bernie in Louisville, Kentucky, Democratic caller.
		Hi, Bernie.
unidentified		Hi, good morning.
		If I've done my math correctly, it's been six weeks since I've called last time.
		I appreciate your previous caller and his knowledge of Russia, which I wanted to get through to Christine because knowing history on Russia is very helpful for people to know.
		you know, how to figure out what's going on over there.
		Six weeks ago, I got the chance to talk to Marvin Calb on your show.
		And we went through, we had a very long conversation.
		I was one of the few callers that were able to get in.
		We talked about Russia, and we also talked about football.
		So he's very knowledgeable.
		One thing about the Democrats, I'm a part of the Democratic Party.
		I really think we need to change our strategy a little bit more.
		Don't sit there like a bunch of curmudgeons and sore losers.
		Smile a little bit.
		Laugh.
		You know, President Trump, he likes to make jokes.
		Laugh.
		They can be a fake laugh.
		You don't have to mean it, but need to smile a little bit more.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		What do you mean?
unidentified		I'm just talking to you.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Well, Bernie, before you go, what did you think of Representative Al Green's protest at the joint address?
unidentified		I think it's kind of a small beer.
		I don't know exactly what a censor is going to do.
		In fact, the next day, Tim Burchard was on the show, and he was like, he's saying that he really should, he acted like they shouldn't even censor him at all because it would just give him a little more star power.
		It didn't bother me, but I was sitting around with these sire looks on your face.
		People need to smile a little bit more, need to bring some more joy back into politics.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Bernie.
		You know what?
		I'm going to leave it there and update our viewers in case they missed it yesterday.
		The House did, in fact, move to center Representative Al Green, Democrat of Texas, 77 years old, for his outburst at the joint address.
		He stood up.
		He had his cane raised and he told the president, you do not have a mandate.
		He was told to stop.
		He didn't, and then he was escorted out of the chamber.
		Yesterday, the House moved to center him.
		All the Republicans, 224 and 10 Democrats, voted yes in support of a center.
		198 Democrats voted no.
		Other updates on Congress.
		Here's the front page of the Washington Times this morning, featuring the Freedom Caucus chair, Andy Harris of Maryland, talking to reporters.
		The Freedom Caucus has said they will back a stopgap bill that will keep the federal government open.
		They're called continuing resolutions, and Republicans and the president want to have one until the end of the next fiscal year.
		So for about a year until September, the end of September.
		And Andy Harris notes that a lot of these Freedom Caucus members have rarely or never voted for a continuing resolution, but now they are in support.
		And it looks like if this holds, House Republicans would be able to pass this continuing resolution with Republican support only.
		We'll go to Timothy in New York, Independent.
		Timothy?
unidentified		Good morning.
		Thank you so much for taking my call.
		I just want everyone to know.
		Yeah, hi.
		My recently deceased octogenarian mother was a child refugee from World War II.
		She was born in Stettin, not Stettin proper, but a German farming town called Herbstein.
		It's about 100 miles to the southwest.
		And for those of you who don't know Stetten, when you hear it, from Stettin in the north to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has fallen over Western Europe.
		Those were Winston Churchill's famous words after Russian or Soviet expansion after World War II.
		Now, for the two callers who came in with their points about history, I'm a recently retired 30-year veteran, New York City high school history teacher.
		I taught at Grace Dodge Vocational High School in the Bronx.
		I speak German.
		I speak Russian.
		I've read Rezanovsky from cover to cover, and I do understand the Kiev and the Rus, the first original people of Russia, were there in Kiev.
		But that's a million years ago, and I'm exaggerating just to make the point.
		Anybody who knows anything about history knows that it was capitalism that defeated communism.
		All right?
		It was an economic system that defeated them.
		And all it took was one man who's brave enough.
		And for the guy who's talking about freedom policies afterwards, he's talked about Per Stroika and Glasnost under Gorbachev.
		And the problem was, after Gorbachev died, the oligarchs and the criminals just basically took over.
		And Putin is now the new Stalin.
		And anybody out there who studies history or teachers' history knows the first lesson is those who do not learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them.
		So I want every caller to understand out, they have to understand.
		My recently deceased octogenarian German mother is rolling in her grave right now.
		While this president, who I believe is compromised, I think he's been compromised since the KGB, followed him back in 1987 or 89 during the Miss Universe pageant.
		And if anybody tells me he wasn't followed, an American billionaire in Moscow under all that fanfare of a Miss Universe pageant, they followed his every move.
		I believe they have dirt on him, and I believe he has dirt on others like Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio.
		And this is a government of coercion.
		And right now he's being coerced by Moscow, and then he's coercing his people here in America, and it's having a detrimental effect to all of us.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Timothy, I'm going to get in some other voices.
		Russ, Big Rabbits, Michigan, Republican.
		Hi, Russ.
		What's on your mind?
unidentified		Hi.
		Well, I just have something I'd like to say.
		When Putin started all this, well, first of all, way back when Ukraine was stealing oil from Russia on the pipeline, that's what started a lot of problems.
		And then second, remember when Putin said he was going to start do a special operations in Ukraine?
		Well, people don't have a lot of information because what that special operations was, was going to these biolabs where they were doing experiments on these kids.
		And that is one reason why Putin took them children back to Russia and saved them.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Russ.
		Jerry, Los Angeles Independent.
		Jerry, we're in Open Forum.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning, Granada.
		Thank you very much for taking my call.
		I was motivated to call this morning with that first guest referencing God as a primary source for many of the activities that he was taking that he was engaged in, all of which seemed to be good.
		But I think clarity should always be stated when we are utilizing a term that references a deity.
		God is a general term for a specific, let's call it a body of beings that are deities.
		There are three deities that we have been exposed to for the past two millenniums and quarter century, with this being 2025.
		The names of those deities should be utilized because they are not the same.
		The elder of which would be Yahwah, the deity of Hebrews.
		The junior of that would be Allah, the deity of Islamic peoples.
		And the third would be Jehovah, the deity of the Christians.
		And for absolute clarity here, this is speaking specifically to the Adamian people.
		For absolute clarity here, Elohim is the deity of the Adamian people.
		And let me be very clear.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		And your point, Jerry?
unidentified		My point is that Yahweh is not Elohim.
		Jehovah is not Elohim.
		And Allah is not Elohim.
		Neither of which are entirely holy.
		All right.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		I'm going to go to Leon, Fayetteville, North Carolina, Democratic Caller.
unidentified		Good morning, Greta.
		Morning.
		I'm recording this portion because I really enjoyed the segment that you had on his name is Jack Brewer a few minutes ago.
		I'd like to get in contact with him because I had to run out the house right quick to help a young brother stay in his house.
		I gave him a few bucks to stay in his house.
		I was doing the same thing that he was talking about.
		And I have a youth program that I'm developing after 34 years in the military.
		I still want to give back.
		And he was saying all the right things.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Leon, let me give you the website.
		It's thejackbrewerfoundation.org.
		You can probably find some contact information on that website.
		Dan, Glenside, Pennsylvania, Independent.
unidentified		Thank you for taking my call.
		One question is: we have some folks around here that are like first-generation Americans.
		The families migrated from Europe during the tech bubble.
		And some of them have, we have some large medical companies around here.
		So some of them came over for them.
		But they keep in touch with their families back home.
		And some of them, I talked to one a couple days ago, and they're talking about how they're going to be boycotting American products.
		And my retirement's in the stock market.
		And my question is, is there anything, any rumors about these boycotts and what they're boycotting?
		So I know what stocks to buy and not to buy for my retirement.
		And one of the other things is looking at the mineral deal that Donald Trump's buying to push, if you look at the list of all the rare earth metals are over there, every one of those Leon Musk needs for SpaceX.
		And we gave him $119 billion out of the $200 billion that were allocated.
		And Donald Trump wants $500 billion in return on it.
		I mean, I'd be nice if I could get return on that in the stock market.
		But my big thing is about these not buying American products.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Got it, Dan.
		Dan in Glenside, Pennsylvania.
		An update for all of you on President Trump and Republicans' budget proposal.
		You'll remember that the President Republicans want to use the reconciliation process to make permanent the 2017 tax cuts, as well as spending cuts to pay for them and more spending for border security.
		This is the economy business section of the Washington Post this morning.
		The GLP budget goals would require Medicaid cuts.
		That coming from the Congressional Budget Office, which is a nonpartisan budget organization that advises Congress.
		Republicans in Congress cannot reach their goal of cutting at least $1.5 trillion in spending over the next 10 years for President Donald Trump's quote big beautiful bill on taxes and immigration unless they cut Medicaid or Medicare benefits.
		Trump and the GOP are seeking to extend provisions of the President's 2017 tax cut law, which would cost nearly $5 trillion, while also pushing hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending on border security, mass deportation campaigns, and national defense investments.
		To do all that without sending the national debt soaring, Republicans are looking for spending cuts to pay for the new spending and lower tax rates.
		But President Trump has said the GOP shouldn't cut benefits for Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid.
		These are the three largest social safety net programs, which together accounted for roughly $3.2 trillion of the country's $6.75 trillion of total spending in the 2024 fiscal year.
		More than 60 million Americans rely on each program for medical coverage, retirement security, survivor benefits, and unemployment caused by disability.
		Richard in North Little Rock, Arkansas, a Republican.
		Richard, let's hear from you.
unidentified		Yeah, Greta, you look fabulous today.
		Anyway, yeah, I just wanted to let people know that there are appearances and there are deceptions.
		And what we actually see politicians doing and saying is just one aspect of what they are really up to.
		There is an organization or a group, or some people call them a mafia.
		I believe they are a mafia.
		They're called the Khazarian Mafia.
		And in present-day Ukraine, that's where they originated.
		And it's been many, many years, but they are still around and they are still very powerful and they are still very influential in all governments of Europe and the Vatican and all across America, even here.
		And all the things that are happening, like Putin and Ukraine and whatnot, to me, that is just like smoke and mirrors.
		It's very tragic that all these young kids are dying, but they're dying for their being killed for the Khazarian mafia.
		And Europe is being overrun not by Putin and Russians.
		Europe is being overrun by third world illegal aliens, just like America is being overrun by third world illegal aliens.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, that's Richard's opinion there in Arkansas.
		Crystal in North Dakota.
		Hi, Crystal.
unidentified		Hey there, time for some joy.
		Hallelujah.
		Earlier caller said, let's celebrate, let's have smiles and joy.
		Tomorrow is going to be International Woman's Day.
		And that got started by the United Nations back in 1977.
		I've been involved locally here with a service club.
		And we've been involved with the United Nations since it got created.
		Thank goodness.
		Joy us.
		I've been involved with the International Women's Day right here in Fargo since 2023.
		And there's five of us who went for a visit to the United Nations.
		And the theme that year was celebrating women in service to others.
		And when we came back, the one woman from Somalia, another woman from Kurdistan, which is in the north area of Iraq, We celebrated the fact that we live in a fantastic country.
		And that's what I celebrate each time that we've had International Woman's Day.
		Because globally, we are having an impact.
		Not only, I mean, I try not to get involved in the politics, although I'm a Republican, but today I'm joyous.
		The theme in 2024 was invest in women, accelerate progress.
		And again, that momentum really had an impact with women positive-wise.
		This year, it's for all women and girls, which is regarding rights, equality, and empowerment.
		That's the theme this year.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Okay, Chris.
		Thank you for the call.
		Catherine, Burlington, New Jersey, Democratic Caller.
unidentified		Good morning, Greta.
		This is Catherine again from Burlington.
		How are you?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Happy New Year.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Happy New Year.
unidentified		Okay, I'm calling.
		I want to speak about Al Green, Representative Al Green.
		Yes, he did break the quorum, and he accepted the punishment, but he had a righteous call, Greta.
		And I think he took responsibility for what he did.
		But Medicaid is important.
		He wanted to get it out there on the floor.
		And he had many people watching, and I heard him.
		All right, Greta.
		See you in another 30 days.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Catherine in Burlington, New Jersey, they're talking about Representative Al Green.
		He did accept the punishment, said he had no hard feelings towards the speaker or anybody on the Republican side.
		He knew there would be consequences.
		He did say, though, he would do it again.
		We're in open forum this morning.
		Any public policy or political issue on your mind?
		President Trump, his schedule today includes signing executive orders around 2.30 p.m. Eastern Time.
		And then at 3 p.m., he's going to deliver remarks at the first cryptocurrency summit.
		It's going to be taking place at the White House.
		And we will have live coverage of those remarks at 3 p.m. Eastern Time on C-SPAN 1.
		You can find online at c-span.org and our free video mobile app, C-SPAN Now.
		After that, the President departs the White House en route to Mar-a-Lago.
		Edward in Paris, Ohio, Independent.
		Hi, Edward.
unidentified		Hello.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Morning.
unidentified		Thank you for taking my call.
		I would like to know if Donald Trump would publicly humiliate Putin in the Oval Office like he did the President of Ukraine.
		I know he took his side when he first interacted with Putin in Helsinki in his first term.
		And I'm really curious to see his true colors when Putin, if Putin, ever has a meeting with Trump, if Trump will call him a dictator and accuse him of invading a free and sovereign nation.
		I'm really curious to see what Trump and Vice President Vance would extend to Donald Trump, or to Putin.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Edward, let me get your reaction to this.
		This is from the president posting on his Truth Social page.
		Based on the fact that Russia is absolutely pounding Ukraine on the battlefield right now, I'm strongly considering large-scale banking sanctions, sanctions, and tariffs on Russia until a ceasefire and final settlement agreement on peace is reached to Russia and Ukraine.
		Get to the table right now before it is too late.
		That just from the president moments ago.
		Edward, your reaction.
unidentified		That's not nearly enough.
ray mcgovern ▲ ● ▼		Putin has done horrendous things to the people of Ukraine, kidnapped children, taken them to Russia, killed innocent people, bombed hospitals.
unidentified		Pregnant women have died.
		Pregnant women have been atrocities after atrocities.
		And he has their green army that are mostly out of prisons and they're forced on the front line.
		If they retreat, they're shot.
		Plus, the North Koreans have sent military people over to help him.
		It's just unbelievable how Donald Trump looks the other way whenever there's so many atrocities performed by Putin.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Edward.
		Edward, there in a caller this morning on his voice on Putin and the Ukraine-Russia situation.
		You can talk about that.
		You can talk about any domestic public policy issue or politics as well.
		Want to share with you a story from the front page, New York Times, this morning.
		Amy Coney Barrett's voice may be crucial in Trump cases as the headline in the New York Times.
		On Wednesday, for instance, she was the only one of the three justices appointed by Mr. Trump to vote against his emergency request to freeze foreign aid, joining the court's three Democratic appointees and Chief Justice John Roberts to form a bear majority.
		Those five justices were also the same five justices that denied the president's request to stop the sentencing against him on those 34 felony counts.
		The Drudge Report notes that they linked to a Washington Post article that quotes Republicans critical of Amy Coney Barrett, calling her evil, a closet Democrat, and a DEI hire.
		Gary in Winter Haven, Florida, Democratic caller.
		Hi, Gary.
unidentified		Hi, how are you doing?
		I have an issue with Elon Musk just had a rocket blow up and drop debris here in Florida.
		And there's a reason we launch out of Kennedy Space Center because when stuff like that happens, the debris falls harmlessly into the Atlantic Ocean and not overpopulation centers like here in Florida.
		What happened is Kennedy charges him a fee every time he wants to launch a rocket, so he built his own rocket in tech or launch pad in Texas, and now he's launching especially experimental rockets over the heads of us Floridians.
		And that's just my thing.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Gary.
		I'm going to go to Anthony, who's in Port St. Lucie, Florida, Independent.
		Anthony, you're next.
unidentified		Good morning, Gretch.
		I call you the queen of awesomeness.
		So the Democrats or whoever was singing around Al Green, which I believe should have been censored, you know, or this order.
		But instead of them saying we shall overcome, they should have been saying, We haven't been doing anything for the people.
		We haven't been doing our jobs for years.
		Deep in their heart, they should know they haven't been representing the people for years.
		Now, also, as we talk about Al Green, that other gentleman that snatched that sign at that lady's hand that says it's not normal, he should have been censored too because that was really a thought.
		All right.
		Thank you, Gretch.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Oh, okay.
		Anthony in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
		Let's show that moment from the floor yesterday when the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, called Al Green to the well of the chamber.
		That's what happens when you are censured.
		You have to face your colleagues and listen to the resolution criticizing your actions.
		Here it is on the House floor yesterday.
unidentified		Its adoption of House Resolution 189.
mike johnson ▲ ● ▼		The House has resolved that Representative Al Green be censured, that Representative Al Green forthwith present himself in the well of the House of Representatives for their pronouncement of censure, And that Representative Al Green be censured with public reading of this resolution by the Speaker.
unidentified		The House had come to order.
		The House had come to order.
		What's that?
		You wanted to let him keep doing this or it's only fair?
		The House had come to order.
		Clear the well, please.
		Clear the well.
		The House has to continue its business.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Speaker Johnson, yesterday, trying to read the resolution on the floor that censured Representative Al Green.
		As we told you, all the Republicans, along with 10 Democrats, voted to censure the 77-year-old from Texas.
		We're in open forum this morning.
		Randy in Kentucky, Republican, what's on your mind?
unidentified		Good morning.
		Thank you.
		We talked about inflation.
		Talk about inflation, rental and housing cost, groceries, food, wages not keeping up with inflation.
		Just some Medicare, Medicaid, or especially Medicaid.
		You know, since 2000, it's estimated that we've had 20 million new people come into this country.
		And you can call them if you want to.
		I'm sure they changed that language from illegal to undocumented to illegal migrants or whatever.
		But when you've got 20 million more people reaching for a package of cookies on the shelf, like four years ago, it was 88 cents for a cheap pack of oatmeal cookies like I liked.
		Now I go this week and I get that same oatmeal cookies and it's $2.
		And those eggs are so much more.
		And you talk about cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, especially Medicaid.
		When you had 30% of these people, no, I'm sorry, 30% of all Medicaid people are, whatever you call them, migrants, illegals, whatever, undocumented.
		I mean, that's a great number of people that's taken away from the American citizens, the poor, the black, the whoever's on, and just the children.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Okay, Randy's thoughts there.
		The Republican in Kentucky.
		Happening on Capitol Hill yesterday, and the C-SPAN cameras were there to capture it all.
		The president's picked to lead the FDA, testifying before senators, the headline in the Washington Post, Senator's press FDA nominee on staffing and the vaccine meeting.
		You can watch that hearing in its entirety if you go to our website, c-span.org.
		If you don't have time to sit for hours and you want to just get the gist of what the senators were asking, you can see on the side of the video player for that hearing will be points of interest.
		Those are the little gold stars when you hit the player head on the video and you can then skip through and just listen to what the senators had to say to the nominee.
		We're going to go to the White House right now.
		The president's economic advisor, Kevin Hassett, is talking to reporters.
		Let's listen in.
unidentified		The first few weeks are quite visible in the jobs report.
		So for example, he's taken an action to reduce federal government employment.
		And we saw that in the jobs report.
kevin hassett ▲ ● ▼		So that's something that you could definitely attribute it to President Trump's policies.
unidentified		He's made it so that we're a more attractive place to onshore production, especially manufacturing.
		And we saw manufacturing jobs go up 10,000 after dropping 111,000 last year.
		And so you would definitely feel like that's fair to attribute to him as well.
		But there are a lot of pieces of the puzzle that have to be put together, especially on cutting government spending so that we don't have runaway inflation, increasing energy production, and having the tax cuts pass.
		How much of Doge cuts in fact via jobs report?
		I think the Doge cuts wouldn't have shown up in the jobs report very much yet.
		One of the things about these jobs reports, remember, is that they survey them in one week and then call that the data for the month.
		And the survey week was kind of the beginning of February.
		And so I don't think that we would see much of these cuts in that report.
		And I think that you'll see bigger reductions in federal government employment in the next report.
		On tariffs, China has signaled it's open to talking.
		Is that something the administration is willing to do?
		Yeah, the president is always willing to talk.
		I think that what's going on right now, right, is that we've got a drug war.
kevin hassett ▲ ● ▼		The president is adamant that we reduce fentanyl deaths in the U.S. We've made an enormous amount of progress with Canada and with Mexico.
unidentified		Some people have said, oh, geez, it looks like there's some disorder because you're changing the parameters.
		But that's what negotiations are.
		That you say, hey, if you do this, if you do that, then I'll move the parameters because we'll show that we're making progress.
		And so the Canadians and the Mexicans have made a lot of progress, and that's why we revised the tariff schedules along the way because this is a drug war.
		The Chinese have not, and that's why the tariff on the Chinese production has got up.
		What do you say to businesses who say they cannot plan with the current uncertainty?
		And then farmers worried about losing market share since China's announced these retaliatory tariffs on soybeans, porn, and other products.
		I don't think that there's going to be a heck of a lot of uncertainty.
kevin hassett ▲ ● ▼		I think that the fentanyl war we're going to make a huge amount of progress on, and that'll be resolved hopefully by April.
unidentified		And then on April 1st or April 2nd, we'll announce what our reciprocal tariffs are.
		And at that point, uncertainty will be mostly resolved.
		Can I have any buyers and aluminum tariffs?
		I'll go this way and then I'll come that way, I promise.
		You can ask about the steel and aluminum tariffs.
		Those are already signed into law for March 12th, next Wednesday.
		Obviously, a big friction point with Canada and Mexico in the first term.
		Has that come up in conversations with those countries?
		Do you expect retaliation and what might that look like next week?
kevin hassett ▲ ● ▼		I'm not sure about retaliation, but one of the things that we've seen is that when there's a war, steel production is really key for national defense, as is aluminum.
unidentified		And I like to think back that people think that the reason that the U.S. was able to help the Allies win the Second World War was U.S. production, right?
		That's what we always learned in high school.
		And you could ask yourself, well, what were we producing that helped us with the war?
		And it was steel products.
kevin hassett ▲ ● ▼		And so President Trump thinks it's a national security matter that we have a strong, vibrant steel industry, and he's pursuing policies to do that.
unidentified		And he wants the steel industry to be in the U.S.
kevin hassett ▲ ● ▼		And so, you know, I think that one of the problems that he sees in Canada, for example, is that there are a lot of foreign steel producers that come into Canada and then ship it to the U.S. and undermine the U.S. steel industry.
unidentified		And he's working on getting that resolved.
		Does he consider any exemptions to those tariffs?
		He really doesn't like the word exemption.
		If I walk in and offer an exemption, then I'll probably get kicked out of the office.
		We'll see how it goes, though.
		Maybe there'll be some.
		I doubt it.
		Yeah, over here.
		The president just posted on Truth Social he's strongly considering big sanctions on Russian banking, maybe also tariffs to drive them to the negotiating table for a cease-fired peace agreement.
		What levers haven't been pulled yet?
		What companies could be in the crosshairs?
		Give us some details on what he's looking at.
		President Trump is adamant that we need to get everybody to the table, and we could do that with carrots, and we could do that with sticks.
		He's talking to everybody, and he's got, you know, a whole litany of potential proposals that he could throw their way to get them to the table.
		But the bottom line is the president wants to stop the carnage.
		He wants to save lives and he wants to end the war.
		And he's doing everything he can to talk people into going to the table and trying to do that.
		And exactly how they do it with carrots or sticks is something that's a work in progress.
		And it's, you know, Marco Rubio and the president are working on that every day.
		Kevin, what's left?
		Oh, I mean, there are a heck of a lot of things that are left for sure, but let's see how it goes.
		Kevin, on tariffs, the president has spoken about short-term pain.
		He's spoken about disruptions, interruptions.
		What are we talking about?
		How long is that short-term pain that American consumers should prepare for as it relates to these tariffs?
		I'm sorry, yeah, I'm sorry about that.
		I didn't realize that.
		What I'm most interested in right now, what I've been seeing, is the short-term gain.
		So we've got more manufacturing jobs.
		We've got revenue coming in from tariffs.
		We've got interest rates going down quite a bit, saving each basis point about a billion dollars for taxpayers.
kevin hassett ▲ ● ▼		And I know that there's some uncertainty, but in the end, if we make it so that it's really attractive to produce things in the U.S., then all the value of production in the U.S. that moves here is a positive for the economy.
kevin hassett ▲ ● ▼		And so I don't really think that, I mean, sure, there's going to be some uncertainty, especially between now and April before the reciprocal tariffs are finalized.
unidentified		But after that, that it should be just gained.
kevin hassett ▲ ● ▼		It's going to be a golden age because what we're doing is we're moving towards a world where domestic production in the U.S. is the most attractive place to produce on earth.
unidentified		And so if you're thinking about where do I want to invest my money, do I want to be in a place that's a really attractive place to invest?
		And would I rather have policies that make America more and more attractive a year from now?
		Or would you like to keep the Biden policies?
		What would the world look like if we had the Biden policies compared to that?
		And there's just no way that you could get anything other than a big positive out of deregulation, incentives for onshore production, and lower tax rates.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		When he says short-term pain, Kevin Hassett at the White House this morning, he is the president's director of the National Economic Council.
		He advised the president during the first Trump administration.
		He's back again for the second, and you heard him in real time, live C-SPAN coverage, explaining and responding to the latest headlines on the economy, the tariffs,
		the unemployment numbers coming out this morning, stock market as well over the last couple of days, and also talking about the president's posting on Truth Social this morning saying that he's thinking about sanctions against Russia to get them to the table to talk to Ukraine.
		We have a couple minutes left here in open forum.
		Charles in Pinehurst, North Carolina, Democratic caller.
		Hi, Charles.
unidentified		Hi, good morning, Greta.
		Just an observation about the president.
		When the president won, President Trump won his office in November, it struck me odd that President Putin congratulated him by posting pictures of Milani and new pictures of Milani and Trump.
		And I thought that was an odd way to congratulate someone.
		Well, here we are, all these months later, we have this Oval Office meeting with Selensky that goes off the rails, and all of a sudden, Ukraine has no support from the United States.
		It seems to me that those pictures were a reminder of something that possibly Mr. Putin has on Mr. Trump.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, I'm going to go to Keith, who's in Madison, Wisconsin, Independent.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Keith, what is on your mind this morning?
unidentified		Hey, why do you always front load all of your callers with right-wing mega fascists?
unidentified		You know, you do this every show.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Keith, we take the calls that come in.
		I can't control who picks up the phone and dials.
		But do you have an issue, a public policy issue, or a political one?
unidentified		I just want to mention something about Al Green.
		I think he did the honorable thing, and to be censored by that disreputable institution is a badge of honor.
		More of the Congresspeople should have done the same thing, and they should have walked out with him.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Keith in Madison, Wisconsin, Independent.
		Our last call this morning, we want to thank all of you for joining us this morning on the Washington Journal.
		Enjoy your weekend.
		We'll be back tomorrow morning with another conversation, 7 a.m. Eastern Time.
unidentified		I'll look now at some live coverage coming up today on C-SPAN.
		First, at 12:30 p.m. Eastern, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will deliver keynote remarks at the 2025 U.S. Monetary Policy Forum, hosted by the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business.
		And later in the evening at 7 Eastern, Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin will be joined by law professors and human rights advocates for a discussion on civil rights and the rule of law.
		It's being hosted by Politics and Pros Bookstore.
		You can also watch live coverage on the C-SPAN Now app or online at c-SPAN.org.
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