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April 13, 2025 10:01-13:07 - CSPAN

03:05:56

Washington This Week

Participants

Main

kimberly adams

cspan 37:02

miles yu

28:25

Appearances

brian lamb

cspan 00:41

chuck schumer

sen/d 01:08

donald j trump

admin 02:50

karoline leavitt

admin 01:05

kristi noem

admin 00:53

peter navarro

admin 01:18

rick steves

00:51

willie nelson

00:48

Clips

charlie daniels

00:13

jim marrs

00:09

shane connor

00:06

Callers

bob in new york

callers 00:07

jay in fema region 10

callers 00:06

joshua in pennsylvania

callers 00:04

kurt in indiana

callers 00:07

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Speaker	Time	Text
unidentified		I'm inviting you to discuss the latest issues in government, politics, and public policy.
		From Washington and across the country.
		Coming up Monday morning, Republican strategist Adam Goodman and Democratic strategist Michael LaRosa discuss the Trump administration's first 100 days in office and other political news.
		Then, Francesca Chambers, USA Today White House correspondent, previews the week ahead at the White House and Politico's Ankush Kardori on President Trump's executive orders targeting law firms and why some of them are reaching agreements with the administration.
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kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning.
		It's Sunday, April 13th, 2025.
		President Trump is again dialing back the scope of his wide-ranging tariffs, now ordering exemptions for some electronics.
		The back and forth on tariffs has many Americans and American businesses struggling to plan for the future, but the White House says the strain will be temporary and improve America's position in the global economy over time.
		In the meantime, economists predict financial instability at home and abroad.
		We want to know how you're feeling.
		What's your biggest economic worry right now?
		Republicans can call in at 202-748-8001, Democrats at 202-748-8000, and Independents at 202-748-8002.
		If you'd like to text us, that number is 202-748-8003.
		Please be sure to include your name and where you're writing in from.
		And we're on social media at facebook.com/slash C-SPAN and on X at C-SPANWJ.
		Now, let's look at some polling data in terms of what Americans are saying are their biggest economic worries right now.
		This one from the Quinnipiac poll on April the 9th saying that the price of food and goods is the top concern, 47%.
		Cost of housing and rent is the next top concern.
		20% of respondents said that.
		The stock market as a top concern, 17%.
		Their job situation, 6%.
		And then something else, or don't know, 10%.
		Now, obviously, the stock market responding very much, as well as prices in some cases, responding to the tariffs that the Trump administration has been rolling out.
		But there have been some changes in the last day or so on that.
		Here's a story in the New York Times.
		Trump orders exemptions on phones and computers.
		The tariff reversal gives tech giants a break.
		After more than a week of ratcheting up tariffs on products imported from China, the Trump administration issued a rule late on Friday that spared smartphones, computers, semiconductors, and other electronics from some of the fees and a significant break for tech companies like Apple and Dell and the prices of iPhones and other consumer electronics.
		A message posted late Friday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection included a long list of products that would not face the reciprocal tariffs President Trump imposed in recent days on Chinese goods as part of a worsening trade war.
		The exclusions would also apply to modems, routers, flash drives, and other technology goods, which are largely not made in the United States.
		Now, there's quite a bit of polling in terms of the view on those tariffs in the United States right now.
		72% of Americans, according to that same Quinnipiac poll, say that tariffs will hurt in the short term.
		22% say they will help in the short term.
		And then in terms of the view of the tariffs, that was a short term.
		And then in the long term, 53% think they will hurt in the long term.
		41% say they will help in the long term.
		And so President Trump has been speaking to Americans about the tariffs.
		And at a cabinet meeting last week, he acknowledged that there would be some transition difficulty when it comes to tariffs.
		Let's listen.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		We had a very good meeting.
unidentified		We're talking about a lot of different things.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		Consumer prices have actually dropped.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		There's very little inflation.
unidentified		Everybody predicted a lot of inflation, very little inflation.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		Energy costs are down.
		Interest rates are probably down.
		They scatter, but they're probably down.
		Prescription drug prices are even to down.
		We're doing very well.
		It's been amazing.
		We had a big day yesterday.
		There'll always be transition difficulty, but we had a in history, it was the biggest day in history.
		The markets.
		So we're very, very happy with the way the country is running.
		We're trying to get the world to treat us fairly.
		This is something that should have been done 25 years ago and it wasn't.
		Should have been done 40 years ago and it wasn't.
		But no president was willing to take it on, but you had to.
		It's not sustainable.
		It wasn't sustainable.
		As you know, without a lot of money being added, which is a lot of money that we could add, the country is making approximately $2 billion a day.
		And when you think of it, we've never done that before, never come close to it.
		And the number is probably $3.5 billion a day.
		And that makes us a very strong country.
		But we have Scott here and Howard and some of the people that are working on deals.
		And the biggest problem they have is they don't have enough time in the day.
		Everybody wants to come and make a deal.
		And we're working with a lot of different countries.
		And it's all going to work out very well.
		I think it's going to work out really, very well.
		But we're in good shape.
		There's no inflation.
		There's very little inflation.
		And I went four years without inflation.
		And I tariffed.
		I took in hundreds of billions of dollars from China and others, taxes in China.
		But we took in hundreds of billions of dollars a year from China, and we had no inflation, essentially.
		So we think we're in very good shape.
		We think we're doing very well.
		Again, there'll be a transition cost and transition problems, but in the end, it's going to be a beautiful thing.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Now, going back to some numbers from that Quinnipiac poll I mentioned earlier, Trump's job approval when it comes to trade in particular, 55% disapprove of the president's performance when it comes to trade.
		39% approve.
		His overall approval ratings on the economy more broadly, 55% disapprove, 40% approve.
		Again, our question this morning, what is your biggest economic worry right now?
		Let's go to your calls, starting with Ralph in Manoa, New York, on our line for Democrats.
unidentified		Good morning, Ralph.
		Good morning.
		I'm a UAW worker from upstate New York, and my union has come out in support of these tariffs.
		And the last time that we had a surplus in goods in this country or trade was in 1975, many years ago.
		So I support the tariffs because it's what the market can bear.
		If you look at the Dodge 150, our Dodge 1500 truck, my wife bought one made in the USA.
		You can buy that same truck built in Mexico for a lot cheaper, but they come out at the same price at the dealership.
		Another example is Nike sneakers.
		They're produced by virtual slave labor.
		I remember the New York Times had an article about $2 it costs to produce those Nike sneakers, and they're sold to the consumer in the U.S.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So, Ralph, I understand that you support the tariffs, but I'm wondering what your biggest economic concern is right now.
unidentified		Well, I really don't.
		My economic concern is the anti-worker policies of the Trump administration because they're right on trade, but they're rolling back collective bargaining rights.
		And the Trump administration is mostly known for what they've done to people instead of what they've done for them.
		And I thank you for your time.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
		Next up is Ben in Baltimore, Maryland on our line for independence.
		Good morning, Ben.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Good morning, Kimberly.
		And I know the economics is right up your alley, so you can correct me if I'm wrong with this.
		But my main concern is especially this tariff war with China, because China is in a very strong position when it comes to the United States, because I'm afraid that this can expand to the debt issue, which China owns quite a bit of American debt.
		I don't think we in America know just the depth of how a trade war with China can be, even with food and other things.
		Food as a commodity is a very dangerous thing.
		And I just, my biggest fear is that, you know, we'll see a lot of empty shelves If this thing with China doesn't get resolved in some of our stores and just things that we take for granted may not be there, or the prices may just increase to a point where we can't afford.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So, Ben, if you stick around for another hour or so, we'll be speaking with Miles Yu about specifically the trade relationship with China, and you may get some more information on those things.
		Thank you for your call.
		I will point out, though, that at least for now, consumer prices actually fell in March.
		This is a story we have in Axios about the consumer price index numbers that came out last week and showed that consumer prices did go down in March and that inflation was notably cooler than expected in March.
		The overall consumer price index dropped as energy prices plummeted, while the core measure that excludes food and energy rose just slightly.
		Inflation moved down as President Trump began ratcheting up the global trade war last month, a relief after warnings that inflation progress had stalled out, but concerns about inflation remain.
		Trump's, at the time, 10% across the board tariff that took effect this month could hit consumer prices, as well as the higher levy of 125% on imports from China.
		Obviously, those numbers have changed a bit since then.
		Let's hear from Jeffrey in Greensboro, North Carolina, on our line for Republicans.
		Good morning, Jeffrey.
unidentified		Thank you.
		Good morning for taking the call.
		And I hope you give me the opportunity to fully address this very fortunate and high-level stress situation.
		To just go back to some of what you just said when you said the prices dropped or the economic showing, it is very confusing because to the average person, I'm an average person.
		There is nothing showing anything is falling off in these supermarkets.
		That's one.
		That is guaranteed because when you explain that, it's not really added into the people who are living week by week, day by day.
		We are definitely feeling this disaster situation.
		And as far as how he's doing this turf situation, a terror situation with China, it makes no sense because he is standing one week saying, in principle, I'm not doing it.
		This way in his heart, he knows this is what he's saying.
		We need to build America strong again, economically, this, that, and the third.
		And then 24 hours later, he's changing his mind on cell phones, computers, this, that, and the third.
		This is unbelievable.
		And nobody really is standing up, addressing how disastrous this is.
		People are just, for whatever reason, who made it there with their stellar careers in politics, are afraid to say anything.
		Whatever he says is happening, and it's happening to the poor.
		The people, get the middle class.
		The middle class is still going to be in this equation.
		And I don't understand where people are justifying how the stock market is one day up and then they think the losses that they've seen for two or three days are we recovered.
		There's nothing showing of a recovery at all.
		It is damaging out here.
		It is stressful.
		People are very nervous.
		And only the super powerful know how to move their money around when that stock market is about to, whatever's going to happen based on how it's happening, they know.
		And the people in the middle and on the bottom, we are the ones that are picking up or putting it on our backs.
		It is ridiculous where this is in the communities devastating.
		And as far as the prices, everything from probably what you're wearing today, sitting in there, everything, China, overseas, something that is in front of you, our television, China.
		So why all of a sudden in this miracle of him being re-elected that none of this from Bush's Reagan, all of this situation political-wise?
		I can't explain it the same way.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		I do want to follow up on the point that you mentioned at the beginning of your statement about prices not going down.
		I just want to clarify when it comes to the Consumer Price Index, which were the numbers I was talking about, that's about the rate of prices increasing, not that prices actually went down.
		So the CPI dropped by 0.1%.
		That just means that the speed at which prices were rising has gone down, not that the prices themselves are going down.
		And then in the 12 months through March, it rose 2.4%, which is less than the 2.8% year-over-year that we saw in February.
		So your point is correct in that we're not necessarily seeing prices drop in every single category, although it has in some areas.
unidentified		Well, let me ask you this then.
		Why isn't it, you know, and very much thank you for clearing that up?
		Why do we not hear on the news networks, regardless on who you pick and choose, that the severity of this, the danger of it, the struggle that people every day you know exists, why is nobody trying to, you know, really confront this?
		They're making it appear like it's okay.
		It's not okay.
		He's changing his mind on certain explanations that he has.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		I think we got your idea though, Jeffrey.
		I want to get to some other folks.
		Let's hear from Edward in Kalamazoo, Michigan on our line for Democrats.
		Good morning, Edward.
unidentified		My main concerns at this point are what about the cuts to programs like Social Security, Medicare.
		Are they going to cut Social Security?
		Are they going to cut Medicare reimbursements?
		And then the problem here in Michigan, or I guess throughout most of the country, would be food programs, the food banks are being cut.
		I'm worried about large cuts in government, you know, and government services.
		And I don't think Trump is going to do much in the war on in the tariff situation or the trade situation because Trump gets most of his stuff.
		Trump, before he became president, was selling his shirts and ties, all the Trump line of clothing was made abroad, all of it.
		So I don't believe Trump when he talks about bringing manufacturing back.
		When he was a businessman, he was buying his things from China.
		So, no, I'm concerned about recession.
		I'm concerned about an all-out trade war.
		I'm worried about very bad government cuts that will hurt Social Security people and Medicare people, that kind of thing.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		Abel is in Taunton, Massachusetts on our line for independence.
		Good morning, Abel.
unidentified		Hi, good morning.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		What's your biggest economic worry right now?
unidentified		Well, the inflation.
		Trump keeps talking about there's no inflation, the prices are going down.
		I don't know what stores does he does shopping with, him or his family, because he needs to go shopping once in a while so he can know what inflation is.
		You know, it's nice to be in the White House sitting on a nice comfy chair telling lies to people and just saying, oh, the inflation is down.
		This is down.
		The prices of fuel is down.
		I don't know what is his thing of being on TV, lying to people through his teeth.
		You know, one minute it's 50%.
		Inflation is down.
		The other minute it's 59%.
		Which is it?
		That's all he does.
		And then he turns around and starts talking about Biden, Biden, Biden, Biden.
		I don't want to hear Biden's name anymore.
		Biden is not in office.
		I want to hear what he's going to do.
		You know, the prices of food were supposed to go down as soon as he came into office.
		Well, guess what?
		Prices of food went up.
		The price, the Ukraine war with Russia was going to be done in 24 hours.
		Guess what?
		Ukraine war is still going on.
		The man lies.
		Every time he opens his mouth, that's all he does is lie.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Well, some of those points that Abel raised about inflation and other economic concerns started showing up in the data as well this past week.
		Here's a story from CNBC.
		Consumer sentiment tumbles in April as inflation fears spike.
		That's according to the University of Michigan survey.
		The University of Michigan's Consumer Survey's mid-month reading on sentiment fell to 50.8.
		It's an index and not a percentage of a poll or anything.
		Down from 57 points in March and below the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 54.6%.
		I'm going to read a little bit here.
		Consumer sentiment grew even worse than expected in April as the expected inflation levels hit its highest since 1981.
		A closely watched University of Michigan survey showed Friday.
		Skipping down, the move represented a 10.9% monthly change and was 34.2% lower than a year ago.
		It was the lowest reading since June of 2022 and the second lowest in the survey's history going back to 1952.
		A sentiment moved lower.
		Inflation worries surged.
		Now, White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt in Friday's press briefing was asked about Americans' faith in the administration's policies when it comes to the economic actions.
		Here's that exchange.
unidentified		Why is American consumer confidence so low?
karoline leavitt ▲ ● ▼		Look, I think there's a great optimism in this economy, great optimism for the American people, a lot of reason for people to feel optimistic.
		The president is, as I just said, trying to renegotiate the global trade agenda that has ripped off the American people for far too long.
		As he said, this is going to be a period of transition.
		He wants consumers to trust in him, and they should trust in him.
		Look at what he did in his first term.
		And I just want to reiterate all the reasons to be confident since you asked, Jeff, for those watching at home, yesterday, the CPI report, inflation declined massively.
		Consumer prices are dropping for the first time in years.
		Energy prices are down.
		In fact, oil prices are down 20% since this president took office.
		Wholesale prices fell again.
		There have been trillions of dollars in investments into this country.
		Every day, the president is signing executive orders to cut regulation, especially when it comes to Environmental Protection Agency, our energy industry.
		That's going to unleash the economic boom in this country that we saw in the president's first term.
		So trust in President Trump.
		He knows what he's doing.
		This is a proven economic formula.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Back to your calls on your biggest economic worry right now.
		Bubba is in Memphis, Tennessee, on our line for Republicans.
		Good morning, Bubba.
unidentified		Yeah.
		It wasn't too long ago that Chuck and Nancy both said we need to do what Trump is doing.
		And I would like for somebody to ask them why they're so against it now that Trump is actually getting done what they wanted done a few years back.
		And it's not going to happen overnight.
		If Trump was not worried about it, he wouldn't do it because he's not going to get the gold at the end of the rainbow from this.
		He's going to be out of office.
		But what he's doing is going to work down the line for everybody that lives in the country here.
		He knows how to deal.
		He's getting the job done.
		Eggs have gone down since he's become president.
		Biden was an empty, empty shirt for four years.
		Nobody knew what he was doing.
		He didn't even know what he was doing.
		So it's going to take a little bit to get this thing under control.
		And you got these Democrats calling in talking about Social Security and Medicaid.
		They've done said a thousand times.
		They're not going to mess with it.
		And I think it should be up to y'all to tell people that because the uneducated Democrats believe that's what's going to happen.
		But anyway, let's give Trump, I mean, he's been president four months.
		Come on, let's give him a chance.
		And because I didn't hear nobody calling and complaining about Biden the last four years when he didn't even know how to get off of a stage.
		So y'all have a good day and give Trump five or six months and let's see what.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Before I let you go, Bubba, what's your top economic concern right now?
unidentified		I haven't got any.
		I'm all good and I'm thinking that everybody just needs to calm down.
		We're paying less for groceries, for gas.
		Like I said, how long has he been president?
		Three, four months?
		Give him a chance.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So Bubba mentioned about Democrats' previous stance on tariffs, and there's a story in the Washington Times making some of those points that Bubba was making.
		Here it is, saying that top Democrats previously backed reciprocal tariffs and demanded punishing tariffs on China, pointing to some C-SPAN clips, actually.
		Democrats haven't always been the anti-tariff party, with some of the party's leaders previously calling for reciprocal tariffs, especially against China for unfair trade policies.
		The Democrats' pro-tariff past has been highlighted in a viral social media post of decades-old C-SPAN video clips in which party leaders demand action against countries that impose tariffs on U.S. good.
		Those pushing for tariffs in the 1990s and 2000s included former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Charles E. Schumer of New York, and Senator Bernard Sanders, the Democratic Socialist from Vermont.
		That was back in the 1990s and 2000s.
		But more recently, Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer was on the Senate floor on Thursday, and he had harsh words for the president's current tariff strategy.
chuck schumer ▲ ● ▼		As we look back on this week of self-made chaos and even destruction, we have to ask, what was the purpose of this exercise?
		What was the purpose of this exercise?
		Was it, as President Trump originally said, to force other countries to pay enough tariffs so the United States could eliminate the income tax?
		No.
		Trump backed off that.
		Was it, as President Trump said later, to retaliate against countries that were unfair to us?
		No, that was never true.
		But even if it was, Trump backed off that.
		Was it as some sycophants and cabinet secretaries have claimed some 4D chess move to call China's bluff?
		No, everyone knows that isn't true.
		This was not a week of 3D chess, 4D chess, nor even checkers.
		Again, to paraphrase a former Trump official, people think Trump is playing 3D chess, but most of the time, the staff is just trying to keep him from eating the pieces.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Let's get back to your calls on your biggest economic worry right now.
		Iris is in South Lyon, Michigan on our line for independence.
		Good morning, Iris.
unidentified		Good morning.
		You look lovely today.
		I like your hair.
		I like your suit.
		You look great.
		Thank you.
		Anyway, I just wanted to say that our president doesn't work alone.
		He gets a lot of advice, and he depends on our system of government to advise him as to what is going on.
		I think we have a very big problem with total indifference by too many members in our government.
		We've got a lot of young people coming in that don't even know what life is about.
		They look like your children in government.
		And they do take care of themselves.
		And that's a problem because as they take good care of themselves and travel a lot and make a lot of trips and stuff like that, I think they really are indifferent to the people, everybody in this country.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		And Iris, what is your biggest economic worry?
unidentified		Oh, I think food has gone up tremendously.
		And, you know, it's out of sight.
		I don't do much of the grocery shopping anymore, but I wouldn't be able to afford it in today's market because the dollar just isn't worth what it was when you go shopping for groceries.
		I used to spend like 25% of what it costs now for the same food.
		It's just ridiculous, you know.
		And you see the way people are even shopping, their carts had less food in it, and they are more cautious in what they spend.
		The stuff is not moving in the stores.
		I see a lot of stuff that's put on the reduced shelves, not because nobody wants them, it's just that they're prioritizing their needs when they go shopping.
		It's the same thing in the department stores.
		Everything is increasing in the price of things, and our government just goes over the same things over and over again.
		If they show up, you just showed Chuck Schumer on the floor.
		There was nobody behind him, was there?
		And it's like the place is empty most of the time.
		Even when they open Congress in the morning, I watch that because it's right after your program.
		There's nobody there except the people that are coming in to go to the dais.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		And this is Sylvia in Clareton, Pennsylvania, on our line for Democrats.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Sylvia.
unidentified		Yes, good morning.
		I would worry about the Social Care because I'm 63.
		I'm going to be 64 this year.
		And worry about Trump is closing all the Social Security building by the last caller.
		He said, but he closed all the Social Security.
		I want to use C-SPAN light.
		The speaker on the C-SPAN hammering for an hour or so, we're going to do all the money.
		He's going to get to the debt or give to the taxpayer for the rich.
		Thank you.
		Have a nice day.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		All right, let's go to Jack in Melbourne, Kentucky on our line for Republicans.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Jack.
unidentified		Hello, can you hear me?
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Yes, I can.
unidentified		Okay, good.
		Good morning.
		We're discussing personal tariffs, right?
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		No, we're talking about your biggest economic worry right now, but if that's tariffs, that's fine.
unidentified		Right, that's what I meant.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		My personal biggest economic worry is that the previous caller, not that one, did mention concerns about what the Trump administration is doing in relation to social security.
		And the Trump administration has changed course on some of the in-person requirements it had previously issued when it comes to Social Security.
		Here's a story on that from NPR about those changes, saying the Trump administration is further backing off the in-person requirements it announced for Americans seeking services at the Social Security Administration that were set to go in effect.
		They had been set to go in effect on Monday, but the story is from April 10th.
		Going back there, Liz Hustin, a spokesperson for the White House, said in a statement to NPR on Thursday that telephone services will continue for people seeking services through the agency.
		So that has been a recent change in that regard.
		Tom is in Albany, New York on our line for independence.
		Good morning, Tom.
unidentified		Good morning.
		My concern is about America putting this trust in a man who's failed at every business endeavor that he has ventured into.
		And his mendaciousness of his presentation of what he does is astounding.
		He continues to lie and he continues to make outlandish statements about the economy.
		And in turn, I think that if they had more people around him who went and done their own grocery shopping, all the people are very well positioned.
		They're millionaires and billionaires.
		They're not the common people.
		So if they're not interested in us, and he's not interested in us, I think American people are kind of foolish to follow that type of a leader.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		A couple of comments we've been getting via text messages and social media.
		This one from Carlos Eris in Columbia, South Carolina, saying, My worry is that people are not letting the plan play out.
		Companies will need to pivot, just like they always do.
		It's called Who Moved My Cheese?
		But long term, this will lower interest rates and our deficits.
		You can write us a text message as well at 202-748-8003.
		Let's get back to your calls.
		Chris is in Lafayette, Louisiana on our line for Democrats.
		Good morning, Chris.
unidentified		Good morning.
unidentified		Yes, can you hear me?
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Yes, we can.
unidentified		Great.
		Guys, I thank y'all for the show, and I appreciate the fact that we have such a show with the Washington Journal C-SPAN that folks can call in and express themselves.
		So what I would want to comment on, and I know we're talking about what is the effect of what's going on on me.
		And what I'm going to say is I'm going to speak for people, the American people, the American voters.
		You know, I've listened to a lot of the callers that have called in, and everybody has a right to their opinion.
		I would like to say, if you look at the many years of past presidents, many of them have never done what we're experiencing now.
		What I'm seeing, it's something similar to what would be called like an overhaul or overhaul, where somebody goes in and does what we're witnessing now, and all previous presidents never done that because that was not necessary, and it's still not necessary now.
		In my opinion, and I'm going to make this short, what I'm seeing and what I'm witnessing is a catastrophe.
		It's an American disaster.
		And I'm watching those folks that we have in Congress.
		You know, we have some for, some against, because it's the party thing.
		It's the Republican Party, the Democratic Party, and then, of course, we've got the Independent Party.
		Bottom line is, guys, what we're witnessing again, a catastrophe.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
		Richard is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on our line for independence.
		Good morning, Richard.
		And can you turn on the volume on your TV?
		Then go ahead with your biggest economic worry right now.
unidentified		Oh, okay.
unidentified		Sorry.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		That's okay.
unidentified		Yeah, I guess my biggest problem going on with the whole country is the Democrats.
		I mean, I've never heard them say anything good about anything that Trump has done.
		And they ask a lot of questions of these chairmans and of the different committees, and they never talk about what just happened to them.
		They're trying to spread this through the country, how bad Trump is doing for us.
		And they're scaring people.
		Most of the stuff they got is BS.
		I mean, like Schumer, he talks so much.
		He's bent over.
		He can't even straighten his head up.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		How are you feeling about the economy right now?
unidentified		Well, just, like I said, the economy's what it is.
		I mean, unfortunately, I'm older, too.
		I listen to some of these older people, like that woman says, she doesn't go shopping, but yet she knows that everything's higher.
		She looks at baskets, food baskets.
		People are just led.
		And that's what the, that's my worry about it, that the Democrats, they're putting so much BS out there that they want to win in, you know, the next term here, the next election.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Hey, Jeff is in North Carolina on our line for Republicans.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Jeff.
unidentified		Good morning.
		My biggest economic worry is the 20-plus million illegals Biden led over here to vote Democrat when they get on Social Security and Medicaid and they milk the system.
		It's already in trouble.
		It's just these people call in the Democrats talking about Social Security and Medicaid.
		I didn't hear a peep from them when he's letting all these illegals come in and milk the system.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So there has been a little bit of news when it comes to, well, some significant news reported in the New York Times about immigration and Social Security.
		This is a story that Social Security is listing thousands of migrants as dead to prompt them to self-deport by placing migrants in Social Security's death master file.
		The Trump administration is seeking to cut off their access to credit cards, bank accounts, and other financial services.
		And then, since taking office, the Trump administration has moved aggressively to revoke the temporary legal status of hundreds of thousands of immigrants who were allowed into the country under President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
		Now, the administration is taking drastic steps to pressure some of those immigrants and others who had legal status to self-deport by effectively canceling the Social Security numbers they had lawfully obtained, according to documents reviewed by the New York Times and interviews with six people familiar with the plans.
		David is in Hamden, Connecticut, on our line for Democrats.
		Good morning, David.
unidentified		Hi, good morning, Kimberly.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		What's your biggest economic worry right now?
unidentified		Yes, my biggest economic concern is that the prices are not going to go back down.
		And this was out of Trump's own mouth in that time interview.
		I wish you could put it up on the screen where he was being interviewed by Time after he got elected.
		He said, when the prices go up, it's very hard to bring them down.
		And these prices are not going to go down.
		We're seeing inflation as well as shrinklation.
		And shrinkflation is where we're paying more for less.
		So if everybody thinks that we're going to be going back to the days where gas is under $2 and we're getting lower prices, those days are gone.
		And with tariffs, it's going to add more to our hurt that we're experiencing right now for paying more for less.
		Thank you.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So the Time magazine interview was summarized in an article for NBC News.
		Trump says it will be hard to bring down grocery prices, pins hope on lower energy costs and better supply chains.
		This is an article back from December the 12th, 2024, so about a month after the election.
		President-elect Donald Trump is acknowledging it may be difficult to bring down grocery prices despite making it a key tenet of his presidential campaign.
		In an interview with Time magazine, which named him person of the year for 2024, Trump said he nevertheless believes it'll happen through lower energy costs and supply chain improvements.
		Asked whether his presidency would be a failure if grocery prices don't come down, Trump responded that it would not, while blaming the Biden administration for the way it handled inflation that led to higher food prices in the first place.
		Tony is in Iowa City, Iowa, on our line for Republicans.
		Good morning, Tony.
unidentified		Thank you.
		Good morning.
		I want to mention that the amount of money, the hundreds of billions that are pouring in from foreign investors, should be sign number one that manufacturing in America is going to make a comeback.
		It's imminent, and that can only be a good thing.
		It's going to be a slow process.
		I know people aren't going to like this analogy, but I like to think that Trump is putting us on a fat diet, you know, where he's like a personal trainer, and we're not going to like this.
		We're going to be really working hard to maintain the same amount of living.
		I'm sorry, something in the background here.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So, Tony, what's your biggest economic concern right now, if any?
unidentified		Biggest economic concern, really, is just not an increase in wages.
		It's going to be slow, but that's what's going to happen as the wages will have to increase organically.
		And if gas comes down to like $2 a gallon and all that stuff comes down, we're going to have more money to spend on other things.
		So, that'll open up more markets.
		It doesn't happen overnight.
		Hopefully, we'll see some real progress before the deadline of like probably late spring of next year so that we won't lose the House and Senate.
		But anyway, that's all I got.
		Thank you.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Well, Tony, before I let you go, how long you mentioned the deadline of sort of the midterm elections, but how long do you think you personally could deal with any kind of difficulty related to the trade war yourself in terms of how you manage your own finances?
unidentified		Well, it just means less luxuries, really, less going out to eat.
		Just like any other time when the economy takes a downturn, you just got to tighten your belt and live through it.
		But the difference is at the end of this dry spell, it's going to be a lot brighter at the end of the tunnel, is all I'm saying.
		We're not just getting through the tunnel.
		We're getting through a tunnel where it's a lot brighter at the end than when we went in.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
		Christy is in Augress, Michigan on our line for independence.
		Good morning, Christy.
unidentified		Hello.
		What worries me the most is America going bankrupt.
		I feel like we're already in a recession right now.
		You can ask any builder.
		My husband's a union worker, and he has hardly any new jobs coming in because the Trump administration has shut down entities that were enabling the unions to bargain for jobs.
		So these smaller companies, they're being shut down out of work.
		I mean, I'm really concerned about America and our future.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So you mentioned the risk of a recession, Christy.
		I want to point to an article in the Wall Street Journal that the stock market was going up despite recession fears.
		One of the most tumultuous weeks in years for stocks ended with U.S. indexes higher, highlighting market volatility unleashed by President Trump's trade war.
		And there are other, scrolling down a little bit, New York Fed President John Williams warned that growth could slow and inflation could rise to 4%.
		JP Morgan's Jamie Diamond said the economy faces considerable turbulence, even as his bank reported quarterly results aided by blockbuster trading volume.
		And there are multiple reports here about different consumer sentiment numbers.
		And Christy, I wonder what in particular makes you concerned about a recession?
		You mentioned what you're seeing in terms of jobs for your husband's company.
		Is there anything else that makes you worried about a recession?
unidentified		Christy, they're holding on to their money.
		And I think for the companies overseas to actually bring their factories here, that would take 10 years.
		We'll go bankrupt waiting for 10 years.
		I mean, I just, I do.
		I think a lot of people's concerned.
		And, you know, just going back and forth, blaming Democrat, blaming Republican, that don't help the situation.
		Demonizing each other is not helping the Americans.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		Irene is in Las Vegas, Nevada, on our line for Republicans.
		Good morning, Irene.
unidentified		Hello.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Yes, go ahead.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		What's your biggest economic worry right now?
unidentified		Okay.
		You know what?
		I just don't understand.
		I'm 81 years old.
		I'm born and raised in Ohio and worked all my life.
		I just retired a little like three years ago.
		I don't understand how the Democrats can blame a man that's doing everything he can, and they didn't touch the tariffs because they were going to have trouble, too, with these people backing,
		you know, like Pelosi said, she had a chart, and she said 35%, and that was in the 90s, our companies were paying tariffs into China.
		2.5% of America was charging China.
		So how can people not understand that the man's doing everything he can, and at least he's acting and trying and helping?
		He doesn't want to take anybody's bank accounts, nobody's money.
		And I just pray for all of us because we should unite and be together and work together.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		And Irene, what's your biggest economic concern, if any, right now?
unidentified		Well, I'm on a fixed income, and I'm living in low income, and I was a nurse for more than 30 years.
		And what I'm saying is I have to, you know, it is the way it is, and I have to, you know, accept it.
		And the man cannot be shot at and mistreated because he's trying the best he can.
		But I just hope that we all unite and get together and work for each other and help this man.
		All they do is criticize.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		I want to go to a comment we received from Jason Reeder on X. One of my biggest concerns is that the Trump kleptocracy is deliberately tanking and juicing the stock market for personal gain while hobbling regulatory agencies for the benefit of corporations and to funnel wealth upwards to the moneyed class.
		The grift is in plain sight.
		Back to your calls on your biggest economic worry right now.
		Harold is in Tennessee on our line for Democrats.
		Good morning, Harold.
unidentified		Yes, ma'am.
		I have several concerns.
		I know a girl who's 55 years old.
		She's hoping to get ready to retire.
		Well, her 401k went down $44,000 the other day.
jim marrs ▲ ● ▼		And it'll take her a long time to ever get that back.
unidentified		Other concerns is that look at this bill that proposes that women, you know, going to have to show an ID in her marriage because she changed her name is not going to work.
		You can talk a little bit more about that.
		But the big concern on this is, if you remember, Donald Trump is only, what, the second president to ever leave office for less jobs than what he had, what he went in.
		The man has filed bankruptcy six times.
		He's not a business manager.
		He's just not.
		I mean, he's not personal with anybody.
		He's just not.
		You know, it's just like you and me put the jobs with capable of doing.
		And he's not capable of doing this.
		And these tariffs, farmers, look at what it's going to do to the soybean farmers.
		It's going to really just tear them all to pieces.
		But that's really, you know, my biggest concern is that jobs will start going down.
		And who's going to fill these jobs of picking fruits and vegetables these Mexicans are not going to have anymore?
		They're not going to be here and fail.
		You need to think the long run, what's the result?
		It all sounds good up front, but what is the results and the end of all of this?
		And I thank you.
		I'll listen to you offline.
		Thank you.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Next up is Denise in Danville, Pennsylvania on our line for independence.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Denise.
unidentified		Good morning.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning.
		Could you just turn down the volume on your TV?
		Then go ahead with your biggest economic worry right now.
unidentified		The aging population of the United States are geriatric.
		We don't have the factory outbrookers.
		Our fastest growing population is the 85 to 104 cohort.
		The second fastest growing cohort is 64 to 85.
		Increase in elderly, decreasing young, age of factory workers, even though we've got factories here.
		Service industries with decreasing numbers of doctors, nurses, caregivers are my major concern.
		Thank you.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
		Raul's in Laredo, Texas, on our line for Republicans.
		Good morning, Raul.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I just wanted to say I'm 71 years old.
		Seeing the economics the way it is right now, I plan to retire.
		I was going to retire, but I, based on what's going on, I'll retire later on.
		Keep on working.
		Those people that are planning to retire based on the value of the 401k just wait and retire later on.
		We have to base ourselves on our budget, the same thing as the government.
		Too much spending, just waiting for the things that President Trump is doing that it take in a fix themselves.
		You cannot fix everything like turning on the light after what has happened in the past four years.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Raul, it sounds like you support President Trump.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		I'm wondering how you feel about needing to delay your retirement because of the market swings, I'm guessing, caused by the tariff policy.
unidentified		The tariffs have always been there, but it is true that other countries have been eating our lunch, and it's time to address that issue.
		There is going to be some hurt.
		Like when, let's say, our bone breaks, it'll take time to heal.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So it sounds like you feel like it's worth it, even though you have to delay your own retirement.
unidentified		Yes, yes.
		We have to go through a little pain, and we just have to bear it.
		Like all our lives, we have to bear certain.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
		Raul is not alone in his sentiment.
		There's a story here in Bloomberg that MA voters will be patient with tariffs.
		President Trump's blue-collar supporters like his message on trade and trust his business savvy.
		Wall Street is freaking out.
		Main Street isn't exactly anxiety-free either.
		The concern is justified.
		President Trump, Donald Trump, has imposed import tariffs on virtually every commodity and product under the sun, with the aftershocks of his experiment threatening to produce persistent inflation, stunted wages, mass layoffs, and a global recession.
		But Trump may yet have significant political latitude to see through his attempt to radically overhaul global trade.
		A Reuters Ipsos poll conducted March 31st through April 2nd, the day of Trump's big announcement, showed a majority of Republican voters approved of his handling of jobs, trade, and the economy.
		Only on inflation was his support softer.
		Even in the immediate aftermath of the President's big trade reveal and the economic turbulence that has followed, you should expect Republican voters and conservative populace to retain substantial amount of trust in Trump's management of the economy.
		The benefit of the doubt stems from their faith in the 45th and 47th 47th president as a businessman who knows how to manage the economy.
		Let's get back to your calls.
		Tony is in Claypool, Indiana on our line for Democrats.
		Good morning, Tony.
unidentified		Hey, good morning.
		Thank you for taking my call.
		My biggest concern is that I'm in my 60s. was starting to plan on retiring.
		My 401k, that's my biggest concern.
		I just got it built back up to where I thought I might be able to think about retiring.
		And now it's like, oh, no, that's not going to be able to happen.
		And I don't think Trump knows what he's doing.
		He can't make a plan and stick to it.
		I do the majority of grocery shopping.
		And like everyone else says, prices are just out of this world.
		You can't buy anything anymore, it seems.
		Okay.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Harry is in Norcross, Georgia, on our line for independence.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Harry.
unidentified		Good morning, C-SPEN.
unidentified		I'm getting a kick out of all the Trump admirers calling up, so mad at the Democrats for lying to him.
willie nelson ▲ ● ▼		I guess I was a liar, too, when I told everybody to be careful what they asked for.
willie nelson ▲ ● ▼		What has happened is something a farmer would tell you, never do.
unidentified		Never let the fox in the hen house.
		Here we got the fox back in the hen house, and he had a plan.
		And when he saw that when he backed down off the tariffs the first time, the market went flying up.
		So what he'd done.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Well, Harry, I'm wondering what your economic concerns are right now.
unidentified		Well, I'm telling you what my economic concerns are right now.
willie nelson ▲ ● ▼		What he done next was to go back on tariffs for a while and back off again.
unidentified		He saw what happened the first time, and he got all his friends in on the deal, and he did the same thing.
		He said, now it's a good time to buy.
		And then he backed off the tariffs again.
		And sure enough, the market shot up.
willie nelson ▲ ● ▼		But what he did was make sure to tell all his friends, the market's about to shoot up.
unidentified		Get in on it.
willie nelson ▲ ● ▼		And what they did, all those 401ks that people are complaining about that are down by half $10 trillion, the markets are down.
willie nelson ▲ ● ▼		Well, what he did was he got his friends in and backed down again.
unidentified		And sure enough, the market flew up.
		And they knew what was going.
		His friends all knew what was going on then.
		And they bought it.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So there have been quite a few allegations of insider trading around the market swings related to these tariff decisions, including from some members of Congress.
		This is a story from Politico.
		Democrats go all in on unproven insider trading allegations as they target Trump's tariffs.
		Chuck Schumer is the latest top party leader to raise concerns following Wednesday's sudden U-turn.
		Congressional Democrats are raising increasingly pointed concerns about potential financial malfeasance by President Donald Trump and his allies surrounding his dramatic recent tariff moves despite a lack of evidence of wrongdoing.
		Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Friday joined the growing number of Democrats formally calling for investigations zeroing in on the wild swings in the stock market amid Trump's escalating trade war.
		It's one of the central messages the party has coalesced around in the 48 hours since Trump partially reversed his implementation of sweeping trade barriers.
		Diane is in Arkansas on our line for Republicans.
		Good morning, Diane.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Thank you for taking my call.
		I got a lot of concerns for the economy.
		Everything is outrageous.
		Everything keeps going up.
		I got my homeowner's insurance here today.
		It went up 100.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Diane, it's hard to hear you.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Can you move the phone close to your face again?
unidentified		Yes, just a moment, please.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		You there, Diane?
unidentified		Yes, I am.
		Sorry.
		Is that better?
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Yes, that's much better.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead.
unidentified		Okay.
		What I was saying was I have a lot of concerns.
		Everything is outrageous.
		I got my homeowners yesterday.
		It went up $189 every six months.
		It went from $6.40 to $830.
		I had to do my deductible up to $2,000 just to bring it down $100.
		I didn't want to do my deductible up, but I had to to be able to afford it.
		I think what Trump is doing, I think it needs to be done.
		Ever since Clinton did NAFTA and George Bush Jr. did CAFTA, they've sold us out.
		And it's been unfair trade.
		I don't know how it's going to work out.
		I don't guess nobody does.
		But somebody had to do something.
		We can't keep being just screwed around.
		But that's only part of it.
		I think if we don't lower corporate tax, we're not going to be able to compete in a world market to get jobs back in here.
		You can't have 35% corporate tax, and then the world has 20 or so.
		Nobody's going to come back in here and build anything.
		Even if you do lower tariffs, if the tax is too much, they're still not going to come back.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
		Next up is Miriam in Farr, Texas on our line for Democrats.
		Good morning, Miriam.
unidentified		Okay, it is so unbelievable.
		The lady just said, the previous lady just said that her insurance was going up.
		And then she turns around and she defends the person that is not doing anything about that.
		I mean, this is truly, truly unbelievable.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So, Miriam, what are your biggest economic concerns right now?
unidentified		The Americans, the Americans have always bailed out the corporations.
		During the COVID, we bailed out all the corporations and some small business.
		Now the Republicans want to pass that budget where they're going to add $6 to $7 trillion to the deficit.
		And who's going to pay for it?
		Again, again, the low and middle class are going to have to pay for that deficit.
		And we're going to leave that debt to our children.
		But yet the Republican, with all the fluff that is happening, they're still defending a man that doesn't do anything for the low and middle class.
		He doesn't talk about child care tax credits.
		He doesn't talk about things that are going to improve our lives.
		He's only thinking about doing stuff that is going to benefit his buddies.
		He's been in their buddies.
		And it makes me really upset that this Republican people still want to give him a chance.
		They're in la la land.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		They're trying to get you.
		One more caller before we have to finish up this segment.
		Kenny is in Kentucky on our line for Republicans.
		Good morning, Kenny.
unidentified		Good morning.
charlie daniels ▲ ● ▼		I was just listening to that lady there and Faz out over something that I don't think she even knows what she's talking about.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		And what are your top economic concerns right now, Kenny?
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		And can you turn down the volume on your TV a bit?
unidentified		Sure can.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Thanks.
unidentified		It's just, to me, it just carried over from last year and the last four years.
kurt in indiana ▲ ● ▼		So, I mean, these people think that he can wave a wand and make it all better, but he can't.
jay in fema region 10 ▲ ● ▼		But, you know, like the lady said before, just got to give him a shot.
charlie daniels ▲ ● ▼		And to me, the Democrats don't want to give him a shot.
unidentified		They want to complain everything the man does.
		And like Schumer, he likes to get on there and talk and talk.
		But you know what?
		He's a millionaire, too.
shane connor ▲ ● ▼		All these tax breaks, all these people that's millionaires, they don't want to talk about the Democrat millionaires.
unidentified		Want to talk about all Trump's billionaires or millionaire friends?
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So we're just about out of time for this segment, Kenny.
		But were there any particular economic issues in your personal life that have you worried?
		Are you feeling good about the economy right now?
unidentified		I feel good about the comedy.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay, I'm going to end it there.
		Thanks to everybody who called in this hour.
		Next up, we have Miles Yu of the Hudson Institute joining us to discuss the rising trade tensions between the U.S. and China in particular and which country might blink first in the war over tariffs.
		Then later, we're going to be joined by Vanessa Cardenas, who is executive director of the immigrants' rights group America's Voice to discuss the Trump administration's immigration and deportation policies.
		We'll be right back.
unidentified		Tonight on C-SPAN's Q&A, travel writer Rick Steves talks about his 1978 journey along the Hippie Trail and the 60,000-word journal he kept of the trip, which he recently published as a book.
		During the 3,000-mile trek, the then 23-year-old Steves and a friend visited Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Nepal.
		He recalls the people he met along the way, the challenges of traveling in foreign countries in the 1970s, and the lifelong impact the trip had on him.
rick steves ▲ ● ▼		It's fun to look back on it with the help of the journal and see how naive and green and uneducated I was.
		But it's the growing pains of a global perspective, of gaining a global perspective.
		And I've got this notion that culture shock is a good thing.
		A lot of people try to avoid culture shock.
		To me, culture shock is constructive.
		It's the growing pains of a broadening perspective.
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		Washington Journal continues.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Welcome back.
		We're joined now by Miles Yu, who is a senior fellow and China Center Director at the Hudson Institute.
		Welcome to Washington Journal.
miles yu ▲ ● ▼		Thank you for having me.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		I should say, in terms of your expertise on China, you're also a columnist for the Washington Times.
		You author the bi-weekly column Red Horizon and host the podcast China Insider for the Hudson Institute.
		So obviously the person we need to be talking to today about this.
		Obviously this past week, Trump raised tariffs on Chinese exports to up to 145%.
		We saw a couple of exemptions to that over the weekend on electronics.
		Beijing announced retaliatory tariffs of 125% on U.S. goods.
		How big of a shock is this to U.S.-China economic relations?
miles yu ▲ ● ▼		It is a big shock, and I would say this is probably the biggest shock of this 21st century in terms of economic and trade policy because this is quite, I use the word revolutionary, because change the pattern, change the pattern, also change the global system as well.
		In an ideal world, tariffs were antithetical to free trade.
		But we're not living in the ideal world.
		We're living in the real world.
		The real world, the biggest problem, is that in 2001, the world free trade system embraced, granted full membership to a non-market economy.
		That's China.
		And that is basically the beginning of the trouble we're facing right now.
		The global systems, free trading systems, fundamentals were challenged, even sabotaged by China's active economic and trade policies ever since.
		So now, we're now facing this situation where we have to take action.
		So that's why it's a realistic response to China's membership in the WTO and the global trading system.
		And everything Mr. Trump has said and has done is in response to what China has done to the system.
		So he, well, this is sort of almost like a self-defensive system, a response.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Do you see any potential end to the brinkmanship, the back and forth between the U.S. and China on tariffs anytime soon?
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		It feels like it kind of hangs on who can withstand this longer.
miles yu ▲ ● ▼		I just saw before I came on the show, I just saw a survey by, it's not really scientific, but the internet survey of people in China.
		What are the most important reasons for all this?
		Well, close to 40% of them say this is really the clash of systems, two systems.
		It's uncompromising, and that's very true.
		People in China realize that.
		How it's going to end is if you look at it, think about this.
		Over 75 countries in the world have responded to President Trump's tariff policies.
		They come here to negotiate, to make compromise, except one country, that's China.
		The Chinese system is not wired, it's not built for negotiation and compromise.
		Everything China has done has to be tough because they don't want to look weak in front of the people.
		And China also believes that The system as it existed is fundamentally unfair.
		So, for China, we accuse China of cheating, of stealing, all the other acts of mendacities and against the rules.
		For China, it's not that.
		For China, it's just a matter of strategy, how to sort of again game the system.
		So, I don't think that this is going to end very soon because even if we make some compromises and President Trump reduces the tariff amount, and the bigger wave of trouble will come sooner or later.
		So, I think this is one of the very good opportunities for us to change not only the behavior of the Chinese government, but also to set a new set of rules against what we have right now, which is not working.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		The Trump administration has said, similar to the point you just made, that China should come to the United States to negotiate over this, whereas we're hearing from Chinese officials that they don't need to.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Who actually has the upper hand in this negotiation, do you think?
miles yu ▲ ● ▼		The United States definitely has the upper hand.
		If you look at it, surely from an economic point of view, we have a China export to the United States is about $400 billion each year.
		United States export to China is about just over a little bit over $130 billion.
		So, the trade surplus China has with the United States is close to $300 billion.
		So, the tariffs obviously is going to be to China's disadvantage.
		So, and I think, you know, on the other hand, also, what the Chinese government fears most is not really the United States.
		It's fear about the people inside China.
		So, they have to act tough.
		They revoke the ghost of Mao.
		I mean, the perpetrator of the incredible suffering of Chinese people.
		So, to show how tough China is, because China cannot really afford to show weakness.
		So, if we keep the pressure on and do not expect China to blink and we keep pressure on quietly and proceed with that, at some point, you know, somebody should make a direct appeal to the Chinese people saying all this problem you are having right now, the unemployment, the rising cost for your exports, is not caused by the United States, but by your own government.
		The same way the Prime Minister of Netanyahu, of Israel, spoke very eloquently to the people of Iran to isolate the regime from the people.
		So, that's actually a very, very good approach.
		I think at some point, either President Trump or Secretary Rubio should address to the Chinese people directly to talk about the current crisis.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		President Trump on Wednesday seemed pretty optimistic that China was going to be ready to make a deal.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Let's listen to what he said.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		We have a tremendous amount of spirit from other countries, including China.
		China wants to make a deal.
		They just don't know how quite to go about it.
		You know, it's one of those things that are not quite, they're proud people.
		And President Xi is a proud man.
		I know him very well.
		They don't know quite how to go about it, but they'll figure it out in the process of figuring it out.
		But they want to make a deal.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		You think that's an accurate assessment?
miles yu ▲ ● ▼		I think it's accurate.
		Definitely.
		I think Xi Jinping knows how to make a deal.
		Just pick up the phone, call President Trump, but that will show his weakness.
		Remember, the entire Chinese Communist Corporate regime is based upon three basic concepts.
		Number one, their party is infallible.
		Number two, their party is invincible.
		Number three, the triumph of the party, whatever they try to do, is inevitable.
		The three I's.
		So that's why he cannot really show that he's the one who would blink first.
		This is not just Xi Jinping.
		Every Chinese Communist Party leader is like that.
		So that's basically what they control the entire information system inside China and they try to inculcate the three I's to the people inside China.
		So that's why one of the most effective way to break that Chinese intransigence is talk to the Chinese people directly to break the bubble of that three I's.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		What do you think the administration, the Trump administration, would need to accomplish?
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Like what would a win look like for them to actually drop some of these tariffs that we're seeing?
miles yu ▲ ● ▼		Well tariff I don't think is really for the spite of a punishment.
		Tariff is a conduit through which to reduce tariff on all sides by all sides.
		So basically is to create a much fairer, more sustainable international trading system.
		Free trade is the backbone, is the keystone of a modern capitalist system.
		And I don't think that is happening because what China has done.
		China become rich.
		China become empowered economically, mostly through three methods.
		One is it exploits the full membership of international trading system.
		While when it was admitted in 2001, it was a non-market economy.
		Right now, it's so powerful, it become anti-market economy.
		So that's why China become very, very powerful.
		They dominate the World Trade Organization, by the way.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		I want to get to the rest of your points, but a bit more about what you mean when you say an anti-market economy.
miles yu ▲ ● ▼		Well, for example, China, its currency, is the only major currencies in the world that is not convertible internationally.
		So the value of the currency is entirely decided by the Chinese Communist Party Party Bureau leadership, right?
		So that's basically not following market.
		Secondly, there's no IP protection in a real sense.
		And thirdly, I would say China's state-owned enterprises receive enormous subsidies from the government.
		So that basically is a way to basically favor the state control enterprises and kill all the global competition, driving the price down so China could get all this.
		So forced technology transfer.
		There's a long list of things, the anti-market methods I can go on.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		But I want to let you get back to your earlier points.
miles yu ▲ ● ▼		Earlier point, one is the full membership of China in the international global trading system, which China is not qualified for if they apply today.
		Secondly, it's really through this high tariffs.
		Don't forget, China also raised high tariffs on American imports.
		Now, many other countries do the same too.
		But other countries like Japan, for example, they have high tariffs on some American exports.
		But also, Japanese companies, many of them have shipped their manufacturing capabilities to the United States to make cars like Toyota cars most likely are made in the United States.
		But China is different.
		They raise tariffs for one strategic calculation, that is, to force the American companies to manufacture inside China, and then through which they can also get Chinese Americans' technology and do it.
		Thirdly, I would say it's really about state subsidy.
		I mean, the U.S. government, the power of the state, to encourage its domestic companies to become global competitors.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Some of the points that you raised were also brought up by Peter Navarro.
		The Trump administration points regularly to China's unfair trading practices as a reason for these tariffs.
		Let's listen to what Peter Navarro, the White House Senior Council on Trade and Manufacturing, said about China's trading practices in an interview with ABC News on Wednesday.
peter navarro ▲ ● ▼		Problem with China among cheaters is that it cheats us in every possible way.
		So that's a big challenge for America.
		And another problem, Lindsay, which is a little bit more subtle, but we understand here at the White House, is that China is using other countries to basically what we call trans-ship.
		In other words, they take their goods to avoid and evade our tariffs.
		They'll send it to Cambodia.
		They'll send it to Vietnam.
		They'll send it to Mexico.
		They'll send it to Thailand.
		They'll send it to Malaysia.
		They'll send it to Indonesia.
		I mean, the root of a lot of the problems in the international trading regime is the excess capacity and dumping of communist China into our markets and in markets around the world.
		And so we've got to get back to a world where trade is fair.
		And the best thing China can do really is not just stop the cheating, but develop its own domestic markets.
		I've been saying that for the better part of a decade.
		It's China exists and works off their growth by dumping products around the world.
		Meanwhile, their people at home work in sweatshops.
		They're not allowed to consume.
		They're forced to save.
		And we have this system that's very skewed against America.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Your thoughts on what Mr. Navarro said there?
miles yu ▲ ● ▼		I think Mr. Navarro really hit the nail on the head.
		I mean, he really, really addressed three major issues.
		Mr. Navarro wrote a book in 2011.
		That book's title is long, but addressed three key aspects of our dilemma today.
		The title is called Death by China.
		That means that China is killing Americans in manufacturing and gain advantage over trade.
		And the subtitle, the first line is Confronting the Dragon.
		That means we have to really take action to confront this problem.
		And the third line is what Mr. Navarro spent most of the time in this clip he showed.
		That is global call to action.
		That is, the United States alone cannot solve this problem with China on trade.
		It has to have a global response.
		That's the, I think, is the theoretical foundation for Mr. Trump's current global reciprocal tariffs.
		Everybody has to do this to prevent the phenomenon Mr. Navarro just mentioned, trans-shipment.
		That is, China maybe imposes heavy tariffs and cannot really dump its cheap goods to the United States as much as before, but China can ship those really cheap products to other countries like Cambodia, like Vietnam, to the United States.
		Even certain degree, the theoretical foundation for this 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico is based upon that.
		Because ever since the USMCA, China set up the plants in Mexico and used Canada as a conduit to ship a lot of stuff to the United States.
		And that's one reason why you have to be a global response.
		And that's why, I'll actually, let me just one final point.
		This is actually very, very effective because China initially, when the global reciprocal tariff was announced, China was very giddy because it thought this is the opportunity for China to rally the world against the hegemonic United States.
		But the world is not responding to China.
		China has reached out to Japan, to South Korea, Australia, to the EU.
		I want to be the leader of the anti-Trump coalition.
		It failed.
		Nobody is responding to China's call for this anti-U.S. coalition.
		So that's why I think this global reciprocal tariff strategy is actually working very well.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		All right, we're going to take your calls now on these questions related to U.S.-China trade relations from Miles Yu of the Hudson Institute.
		Before we get to your calls, I want to point to some numbers that we have on U.S.-China trade relations as of 2024.
		There are nearly $582 billion worth of goods traded between the U.S. and China.
		The U.S. imported around $438 billion worth of goods and services from China.
		China imported just $143 billion from the U.S. Our phone lines, if you have questions for Mr. Yu, 202-748-8001 for Republicans, 202-748-8000 for Democrats, and 202-748-8002 for independents.
		Let's hear first from Janice in Wake Forest, North Carolina on our line for independence.
		Good morning, Janice.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Good morning, Mr. Yu.
		I'm wondering about the well, my concern about the U.S. economy is, of course, the value of the U.S. dollar.
		When people are talking about inflation and the cost of goods, they don't bring up the U.S. dollar.
		The value of the U.S. dollar is the key to inflation.
		And in terms of China, I'm wondering how the Chinese yen is doing during this.
		And I'm also interested in who is cashing in bonds, what countries are cashing in the U.S. Treasury notes.
		Thank you.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		So that's three questions there about the value of the dollar, the value of the yen, and then the value of who's selling bonds.
		Before you respond, Mr. Yu, I want to point to an article in CNBC from April 10th that the U.S. dollar index suffered its biggest drop since 2022, hit a new low for the year.
		This is what Janice was talking about there.
miles yu ▲ ● ▼		Yeah, well, U.S. dollar definitely suffered some setback in this round of a tariff war.
		You know, all medicine, good medicine is better.
		So I think, you know, overall, the U.S. dollar still is the standard bearer of international settlement currency.
		China's yuan is devalued artificially by the Chinese government recently in response to this tariff.
		That makes Chinese goods cheaper and cheaper.
		So in response, that's another reason to justify the 125, 145 tariffs on Chinese goods because it is also sort of a proportion to China's devaluation of its yuan.
		Now, bond market, I don't know how much China basically is trying to add more chaos to the dollar and bond.
		I don't know.
		China holds American Treasury by about just under $800 billion in comparison to Japan's $1.4 trillion.
		That's significantly small.
		Even if China sold all its Treasury holdings, and that would not probably affect America's economy fundamentally because American debt is again $36 trillion.
		It's a very small fraction of that.
		I don't think it's going to be ultimately successful.
		U.S. dollar is still very strong.
		It's still the sort of the standard of international settlement.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Let's hear from Tom in Richmond Hill, New York on our line for Republicans.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Tom.
unidentified		Yes, good morning.
		A couple of questions, topics regarding the mixed messages that the administration has been given related to the goals of all this tariff effort.
		On the one hand, we hear from certain officials that the tariffs are permanent.
		They're moving towards a permanent status.
		And then other officials say that it's a sort of a bargaining tool in negotiations.
		The typical Trump supporter that makes up the MAGA movement is supporting Trump, I believe, under the notion that we're going to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States, to specifically all the deindustrialized areas that have suffered for so many years.
		So if that's the goal, then the tariffs are not a bargaining position, but more of a goal in and of itself.
		So how do you say to your supporters, we're going to bring manufacturing jobs back?
		And yet, to the countries you're negotiating with, what we're working for is a freer trade environment, which will not necessarily bring the jobs back.
		And also, how long do you think politically the administration can put up with this some pain-for-gain strategy, which is in the short term going to be very inflationary?
		Thank you.
miles yu ▲ ● ▼		Yeah.
		I think the caller makes some very interesting points.
		I'm sure he's on the minds of a lot of Americans.
		First of all, President Trump is known for his deal-making capabilities.
		Deal-making is really about negotiation and compromise.
		There's a compromise part of that.
		So I don't think there's a mixed message at all.
		It's all about the approach to tough issues like this by the president that is well known to Americans for being a deal maker.
		Making deals is not just transactional without principle.
		I mean, deal-making is a presidential legacy.
		Theodore Roosevelt, he called his entire policy a square deal.
		Teddy Roosevelt, the FDR, called his policy New Deal.
		And President Truman, his entire policy is called the Fair Deal.
		So I don't know what to call President Trump's deal.
		Maybe it's called a beautiful deal.
		But it's the deal-making.
		Deals have to be really fair.
		And I know for this, I think Americans should also know this.
		President Trump is somebody who will not take a bad deal.
		A bad deal is not going to, for example, his deal with the North Korean regime during his first term.
		That's a bad deal he didn't take.
		So back to the manufacturing issue.
		I was just reading this morning President Clinton's 2000 speech urging Congress to pass PNTRTR, that is a permanent normal trade relationship status to China.
		And in that speech, I mean, if you read this today, it's almost like Americans' economic suicide note.
		For example, I quote in here, this is Mr. Clinton.
		I believe the choice between economic rights and human rights, between economic security and national security, is a false one.
		So I go on to say, you know what?
		He said, for the first time, we will be able to export products without exporting jobs.
		I mean, that is a stunning statement.
		The fact is, ever since that, 25 years later, Americans not only exported fewer products to China, but also we export a whole bunch of jobs and the whole industry to China.
		So what I'm saying is, this is reality.
		I think Mr. Trump is trying to reverse that tendency and to try to bring the American manager job here.
		One of the first things you have to do is, as you say, to create a freer international trading system.
		This is how this, I think, this is the ultimate goal of the whole drama.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Let's hear from Bernie in Howard Beach, New York on our line for Democrats.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Bernie.
unidentified		Good morning.
unidentified		So I have a question and I have a brief statement.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		My statement is.
		So Bernie, I'm sorry your line is really distorted.
		Can you get it a little bit more stable before you continue?
unidentified		How is that?
unidentified		Is that better?
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		No, it's not.
		I'm going to go to another caller and maybe you can sort that out.
		Richard is in Nashville, Tennessee, on our line for independence.
		Good morning, Richard.
unidentified		Good morning, Kimberly.
		Good morning, sir.
		I've been watching jobs go overseas and around the world since the late 60s and America's been hollowed out.
		I don't really see how the American public with union wages and all can really compete with cheap labor around the country.
		I'd like you to touch on that, but my biggest concern is Taiwan.
		Where does Taiwan fit in this picture because of the chips and a lot of the stuff, the Asian Pacific and everything that's going on there?
jim marrs ▲ ● ▼		If you could kind of just elaborate on all of that without me rambling on, I would appreciate it.
unidentified		And thank you, sir, for your service.
miles yu ▲ ● ▼		Well, that's why I love Fuel from Tennessee.
		Very succinct and to the point.
		Now, you mentioned about Americans been losing jobs since the 1960s.
		It's true.
		But, you know, quantity itself is also a quality.
		So that is to say that since 2001, Americans lost jobs and the maritime base at a much, much faster rate.
		So that's why I think it's not necessarily the continuation of the 60s and 70s.
		Secondly, you mentioned about Taiwan.
		Taiwan is a very touchy issue.
		We used to think that Taiwan is a tiny island and played the insignificant role in international global politics.
		That is not the case.
		Taiwan right now is a giant in some key aspects of our modern lives.
		For example, you mentioned about semiconductor.
		Absolutely.
		Taiwan makes about like over 90% of the high-end chips that drive the modern economy.
		So Taiwan also is the probably number eight or number nine trading partner of the United States.
		Taiwan is an international good citizen in that sense.
		And I also think that Taiwan is very open and democratic.
		And that's what the Chinese government is really afraid of.
		It's the impact of the open society on the Chinese population, which goes back to my earlier points about the three eyes the Chinese government is trying to sell to its people.
		So I think that this is one reason why China wants to take Taiwan.
		Now, China wants to take Taiwan is not just for the sake of Taiwan.
		Taiwan is but the first of the chain of aggression by China.
		China has border disputes with most of its neighbors.
		You name it.
		Taiwan is one, obviously.
		India, Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines.
		The list goes on.
		So what I'm trying to say here is that if we do not defend Taiwan, we have a lot of problems going on down the road.
		And another thing is, you know, everybody is concerned by what's going on in Ukraine.
		I mean, Russia invasion of Ukraine is based upon exactly the same logic of aggression that China wants to take Taiwan.
		That is, if a region, a sovereign country that shares an ethnic linguistic link to Russia or to China, and then Russia is justified to invade that country.
		So China's invasion of Taiwan is the same thing.
		So what I'm saying is not only to uphold the principle, but also economy.
		Keep in mind, Taiwan is geographically located in a very important pathway of global trade.
		Over something like $3 trillion of goods passed through that on an annual basis.
		Number even bigger than that.
		So what I'm saying is it's a global economy.
		Modern life depends on Taiwan maintaining free and open and economically dynamic country.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		While we're on the topic of sort of other issues that may be tied into this, the TikTok deal is also being affected by the trade war.
		There's a story here in the Hill.
		Trump's China tariffs derail push for a TikTok deal.
		President Trump's new tariffs on China have thrown a wrench into efforts to negotiate a deal over TikTok's divestment from its parent company, ByteDance, as Washington and Beijing sink deeper into a trade war.
		After the White House finalized a deal on TikTok last week, Trump's tariffs upended negotiations, prompting China to decline to approve the deal without further discussions on tariffs.
		How much is this going to be, is the trade war going to be spilling over into other areas of politics?
miles yu ▲ ● ▼		Trade war is not just about economical trade.
		It's, as I say, a lot of people agree, U.S.-China's problem is not really about economics or military.
		It's about the political system.
		The two systems were completely wired differently.
		TikTok, for example.
		Now, Chinese government has been able to sell in the three eyes, infallibility, invincibility, and inevitability to the Chinese people, mostly through total control of information.
		You go to China, you ask 10 people about the origin of COVID.
		Nine out of ten people will tell you is from the U.S. Army biodefense lab in Fort Ditch, Maryland.
		That's because they don't have any other information.
		Government tells them this, that's the only thing they can get.
		If you ask 10 people in China, who are the Uyghurs, none of them will tell you they're terrorists.
		So this is one reason through the control of several key information outlets in China is WeChat and the Chinese version of TikTok, which is Daoyin, right?
		This is the fundamental harm, danger of TikTok in the United States.
		It captures enormous population, a portion of population in the United States.
		At some point, they're going to ask the TikTok people in this country, is American democracy better than the Chinese democracy, as Chinese government always said, their democracy.
		And the Chinese government always hoped nine out of the American people will say no.
		So that's basically the national security is about the Americans' fundamental systems.
		That's why TikTok is very dangerous.
		It should be banned.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Karen is in Alabaster, Alabama, on our line for Republicans.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Karen.
unidentified		Hey, good morning.
		Yeah, so first of all, I just want to say I agree with 100% whatever what Trump is doing, however he's doing it, I agree with it because I know in the end it'll work out okay.
		But for the guests today, so yeah, so China's been a big problem for a long time as far as trade.
		Earlier you had said there's supposed to be free trade, but China, well, and then there's the real world, but China, they take it the next level, I think.
		I mean, they lie to their trading partners, they cheat, they steal our products.
		And they're currently in our country right now buying our farmland, hacking into our system.
		So they're just kind of a bad actor.
		And why no one has ever pushed back on them all these years?
		Nobody has.
		I don't really understand why they haven't done that.
		And you guys were talking about Taiwan chips.
		I thought that Trump said that Taiwan is bringing a manufacturing, the manufacturing to America.
		They're investing a billion dollars in the chips in America.
		I'm assuming they're building some kind of manufacturer, but I don't know that for sure.
		But my questions are: how can Xi be removed from his seat?
		I mean, if the Chinese people realize that he's a bad actor, then do they just, you know, I mean, how would they ever remove him?
		That's number one.
		Number two, what's the difference between the sanctions?
		Because we have sanctions on China too versus the tariffs.
		And then how can we talk directly to the American to the Chinese people if they control all that information?
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay, so Karen, before I let you go, I want to give you some follow-up details on what you mentioned.
		This is a story from the Associated Press.
		Taiwan says chip makers move to invest $100 billion in the U.S. wasn't because of U.S. pressure, but Taiwan's president and top chip maker, TSMC, held a joint news conference on Thursday.
		This was a month ago, by the way, to defend the company's decision to invest $100 billion in the U.S., saying it stemmed from customer demand and not pressure from the Trump administration.
		But that investment that you referenced is indeed happening.
miles yu ▲ ● ▼		Yeah.
unidentified		Oh, that's awesome.
		All right.
		And Kim Lee, I just want to say before I hang out, you do a great job.
		Thank you so much.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		You guys have a great day.
miles yu ▲ ● ▼		I agree on every point that I've got to make, particularly the last one.
		Yeah, that's a very good question.
		Taiwan's TSMC make an additional $100 billion investment in the U.S. to build two more foundries, factories on chip making.
		In addition to the $65 billion they already committed during the Trump first term.
		This also reflected the Trump administration's grand strategy of security.
		That is, they normally try to integrate economically, technologically, with the countries the United States want to protect.
		For example, Ukraine, and also Taiwan is another one.
		Through economic integration, the United States can provide security guarantee because attack on Taiwan could also be interpreted against American interest.
		So having said that, you ask a very good question, Karen, about how to address the Chinese people.
		You know, if you're a Xi Jinping sitting there in the Chinese Communist Party's compound called Zhong Nanghai, what keeps you up at night is not just the United States, it's about whether the Chinese people are going to wake up someday and say, listen, enough is enough.
		So that's why the Chinese Communist Party's real enemy, real enemy, biggest enemy, is Chinese people.
		That's why they built up this Aurelian surveillance system and the build of all kinds of police state inside China.
		So that's one reason why to break the information firewall of penetrating into China is very important.
		Unfortunately, we actually have sort of committed some kind of self-harm.
		That is, we dismantle most of our very powerful tools of information, such as Radio Free Asia.
		And so those things have to be restored, in my view.
		And I think that's one of the few channels that we can do that.
		Another thing is, I think American politicians, senior leaders, particularly like Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Would do something like Secretary Pompeo did during his tenure as Secretary of State.
		That is, directly talk to the Chinese people.
		Explain to the people in China that the relationship between the United States and China is not just bilateral between two governments, but also between American people and Chinese people.
		That's what the Chinese government fears remote.
		That's why China has enacted all kinds of laws, regulations preventing Americans from studying in China.
		We have right now close to 300,000 Chinese students studying in the United States.
		But there are fewer than a thousand students, 1,000 students study in China because China made the conditions untenable for American to be there because they were afraid of marketing's impact over there.
		So those things were very, very important for us to do.
		The real power of the United States is not the economy.
		It's not as a military.
		It's the soft power.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		We have a question that we received on X. What lessons were learned from President Obama imposing tariffs on Chinese tires?
miles yu ▲ ● ▼		Well, I think Obama during his first term, he realized China was a threat.
		And since 2008, we had during his administration, first term, and then there was a pivot to Asia.
		So that's instinctively very correct one.
		The problem is during the second term, when John Kerry becomes Secretary of State, he totally not interested in China at all.
		He's interested in Europe, in France, riding bicycles over there and speaking French.
		So I don't think that's really good.
		So there is no consistency.
		However, I must give the Obama administration a little bit of credit.
		That is, it is the Obama administration that started imposing very heavy tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum.
		And President Trump during his first term imposed additional tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum, which have been dumped to the United States.
		But that March 2018, steel and aluminum executive order had one major problem.
		Now, the problem is it has too many exemptions.
		Over a dozen countries has exemption.
		Australia, Canada, UK, Italy, Vietnam, you name it.
		It is those exemption countries that really began dumping Chinese cheap steel and aluminum to the United States through transshipment.
		So that's one reason why right now President Trump says, you know, enough is enough.
		We're not going to give no more exemption to that steel and aluminum tariffs.
		So this is basically to try to try to sort of stop the loophole.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		There's a question we received via text.
		Mark in Linfield, Massachusetts asks, did Mr. Yu say Chinese currency can't be converted to other currencies?
		That's not fair.
miles yu ▲ ● ▼		That's totally not fair.
		So many problems about China were so apparent, so obvious.
		We just do not want to recognize to deal with it.
		Yes, Chinese yuan is the only major international currency that is not convertible.
		You cannot use yuan to buy any goods in the United States.
		You can only use yuan in mainland China and in places like Hong Kong.
		That's it.
		And so that's why you give China absolute advantage to manipulate currency.
		So I also force you to use Yuan to conduct business inside China.
		And which brings me to another issue, that is Chinese government stringent control over capital flow.
		Capitalism is to a large extent based upon free flow of capital.
		You have the money invested in one place.
		If you don't like the place, you can get out of it.
		Chinese government has all kinds of rules and regulations restricting you from moving your money, investment, or profit out of China.
		And this is basically like hostage taking.
		It's blackmailing.
		So this is one of the things that the many issues we have to address.
		So many issues are so obvious, we have to take the most obvious response.
		So I think we should stop treating China as if it's a normal country.
		It's not normal.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		I think we can get in one more caller before we have to let you go.
		Ed is in Maine on our line for independence.
		Good morning, Ed.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Thank you for C-SPAN and Mr. Yu.
		I'm a huge fan, and I read all your stuff.
		But that being said, you're being incredibly insincere to the American people about how we got into this mess.
		It has very little to do with what China is doing to us.
		It has much more to do with the idea of the draw for cheap labor.
		And I spent 36 years in manufacturing, and I watched those jobs go over when I was working.
		And you know that the people who sent our manufacturing infrastructure overseas knew what they were doing.
		And they sent our infrastructure that is a part of national security, and they got rich off of it.
		And now you're imposing tariffs on guess who?
		The poor slobs like me that worked in manufacturing, and now I'm going to pay the tariff.
		And you know better than this.
		You also know that the best way to handle this would be to take some of that money out of those fat cats that got rich off of this and take some of the money from them and incentivize manufacturing in this country.
		Otherwise, they should go to jail, just like the bankers in 2008.
		This should have done time.
		Okay, now you've done it to us twice, and you expect us at the bottom to pay that penalty.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So, Ed, I want to let him respond.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead.
miles yu ▲ ● ▼		Well, this is my best friend, you know, who is read everything I wrote and also still very critical of my arguments.
		So I really appreciate the criticism.
		Let me just respond by this.
		First of all, thank you.
		And secondly, I think, you know, there is truth in the fact that international capital always go after cheap labor.
		But think about this.
		Cheap labor is not really cheap in the case.
		That's one reason you have to incur cost to cheap goods out of China made by cheap and slave labor.
		So that's one reason, the way to level the play field, number one.
		Number two, I don't think Wall Street really likes President Trump that much.
		I mean, as a matter of fact, if you look at the kind of the vitriol reactions from the street, I mean, so I don't think international capital really, really cares about what Trump is doing and care for much about that.
		Another thing is that you mentioned about the cost of inflation as a result of tariffs.
		Let me just, I agree with that.
		I think, you know, the prices go up.
		But let me just add a couple of caveats over there.
		A lot of people market and buy the cheap goods from China are discretionary.
		You go to Walmart, you buy cheap shirts made in China, maybe cheaper by $3, but how many shirts can you buy?
		So in other words, it's discretionary.
		You can't buy stuff made in, say, Argentina or Vietnam or Indonesia, which is increasing in value.
		Number two, there's another issue of safety.
		The Chinese products, a lot of them were not safe and also not durable.
		I'll give you one example.
		How many American dog owners would buy dog food made in China?
		You know, we have cases where dogs get ill or killed by food made in China because a lot of chemicals and toxic elements in there.
		So what I'm trying to say here is that I would personally spend a little bit more money to buy something that's much safer and much more durable.
		So I do not want to go to stores that sold 100% Chinese tools, for example.
		And knowing that its life will end sooner than another very good quality American.
		So I will say, you know, I sympathize with you.
		I don't think that is America to blame.
		I think it's China to blame.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Well, that's all the time we have with Miles Yu, who is a senior fellow and the director of the China Center at the Hudson Institute.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Thank you so much for your time this morning.
miles yu ▲ ● ▼		Thank you for having me.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		And coming up in about 30 minutes on Washington Journal, we're going to have a conversation with Vanessa Cardenas, who is executive director of the immigrants' rights group America's Voice.
		We're going to talk about the Trump administration's immigration and deportation policies.
		But first, it's open forum.
		You can start calling in now.
		Our line for Republicans, 202-748-8001.
		For Democrats, 202-748-8000.
		And for Independents, 202-748-8002.
		We'll be right back.
brian lamb ▲ ● ▼		Richard Overy is a British historian who has spent most of his professional life writing books about war, primarily World War II.
		Professor Overy's current work is called Reign of Ruin: Tokyo, Hiroshima, and the Surrender of Japan.
		Liner notes on the cover of the book say, quote, with the development of the B-29 Superfortress in the summer of 1944, strategic bombing, a central component of the Allied war effort against Germany, arrived in the Pacific Theater.
		1945, Japan experienced the three most deadly bombing attacks of the war.
		Professor Richard Overy is 77 and lives in Great Britain and Italy.
		He has written close to 30 books.
unidentified		Author Richard Overy with his book, Reign of Ruin, Tokyo, Hiroshima, and the Surrender of Japan.
		On this episode of Book Notes Plus with our host, Brian Lamb.
		Book Notes Plus is available wherever you get your podcasts and on the C-SPAN Now app.
		Next week, watch a primetime encore presentation of our 10-part series, First 100 Days.
		We explore the early months of U.S. presidencies from George Washington in 1789 to Donald Trump in 2017.
		We'll learn about the decisions made and how they shaped the White House, the nation, and history.
		I am prepared, under my constitutional duty, to recommend the measures that a stricken nation in the midst of a stricken world may require.
		All I have, I would have given gladly not to be standing here today.
		My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.
unidentified		Each program includes historians, authors, and archival footage from the C-SPAN Video Library, providing rich context and analysis of presidential leadership during the critical opening stretch of new administrations.
		Watch first 100 days, starting Monday, April 14th, at 8 p.m. Eastern on C-SPAN 2 or online at C-SPAN.org.
		Washington Journal continues.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Welcome back.
		We're in an open forum ready to hear your comments about public policy or whatever news items are on your mind.
		Mike is in Rockford, Illinois on our line for independence.
		Good morning, Mike.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Happy anniversary 50th.
		A few things I jotted down since my last phone call that could kind of sticking out.
		40% of our naval ships are out of commission.
		No one can tell me why.
		Also, the delijitimizing of Wall Street by bankrupting with insider trading is apparent.
		I think your last guest kind of had a front-end slip about an international market wanting to be formed with China and other people.
		I think we just watched Trump destroy Wall Street last week with insider trading, and they can't trust nobody.
		But also on this, recently I watched the ag show before Wall Street Journal, and they're promoting this new company called Rooster, the buy of farmland and run it back to you secretly without your neighbors knowing.
		I thought that's very alarming.
		And also for Doge, we find out that U.S. Mail lost $9.5 billion last year and $6.5 billion the year before.
		If Doge wants to do something, maybe go over to U.S. Mail and check that out.
		Because the reports Doge is giving us seems one-dimensional.
		They're almost like a referee.
		They won't tell us who formed this snowball money that's in there that's been paid out and how many years it's been paid out.
		It's very one-dimensional.
		They're just showing one payment.
		Okay, and then they're privatizing the AI with our info on a private, instead of the government saying, hey, we're going to buy AI and call it Uncle Sam painted red, white, and blue to put our information in there.
		No, they're saying we're going to give our information in the private server and then buy it back, which is really weird.
		And the Pentagon doing the investigations on the executive branch is very alarming.
		With the frat mentality, the intelligence agencies doing these strikes like a video game, and they're all high-fiving each other and chatting back and forth with no records being kept on this chat line.
		Very, very alarming.
		I can go on.
		Thank you, C-SPAN.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
		Next up is Bill in Jefferson, Pennsylvania, on our line for Republicans.
		Good morning, Bill.
unidentified		Yes.
		Good morning.
		Thank you for C-SPAN.
		I was listening to that man talk about China.
		And I think that what we need is no tariffs.
		I think we need free trade, zero tariffs around the world.
		I think tariffs will not be good for the economy.
		They'll just increase the inflation, the cost of everything.
		And if we can, if Trump can get us at least equal tariffs, in other words, if somebody is charging us 50% tariffs, we can't, that means that we can't sell them anything.
		So it should be reciprocal.
		In other words, we should charge them 50 if they charge us 50.
		But the ideal is no tariffs at all.
		And that would be conducive to free and flow of business and free trade.
		Let's not be hostile to, let's not, let's not try to make friends with all nations, you know, and not be hostile to any.
		It's not good to really to have enemies.
		It's very, very costly.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So, Bill, in an environment of no tariffs at all and open free trade, would you be at all concerned about maybe countries where the cost of labor is cheaper taking jobs from the United States, which was one of the points that Mr. Yu was raising in terms of what happened when China entered the World Trade Organization?
unidentified		Well, that could be a problem, but what we have to do is compete.
		We have to, with either the quality of things or, you know, business is about competition.
		And that's what makes it healthy.
		If we can't compete, you know, we, you know, we should strive to do it.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
		Next up is Mike in Youngstown, Ohio on our line for Democrats.
		Good morning, Mike.
unidentified		Yeah, good morning.
unidentified		How are you today?
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Fine, thank you.
unidentified		Okay, this is the open forum, right?
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Yes, that's correct.
unidentified		Okay, you know, what gets me is we have a president that was, you know, guilty of 34 felonies and never will, I don't even he'll never get sentenced for that.
		This is amazing that the power of this con man, Donald Trump, which he is a con man and an outright thief.
		If you read about his business procedures, the way he treated subcontractors for years is just horrible.
		Horrible.
		And people have faith in this guy.
		I hear these working people call up, and he's their savior.
		Well, you know what?
		He's going to take the, he'll steal the teeth out of it.
joshua in pennsylvania ▲ ● ▼		If they have gold cavities, he'd steal the teeth out of their heads.
unidentified		It's amazing what our country, what's happened to our country.
		And it's just not 30, 35 years ago, it was a much better country than what it is today.
		Everybody is, I mean, they're following this guy.
		He's the con man, the greatest con man that ever was.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
		Bruce is in Summitville, Indiana, on our line for independence.
		Good morning, Bruce.
unidentified		Hi.
		Thanks for taking my call.
		I really like the last speaker, Mr. Yu.
		He's saying things that nobody else seems to want to talk about with how the Chinese government is.
		And one of the things that I haven't heard anybody talk about is the fact that when we first started doing trade and they wanted companies to come over,
		like he mentioned, they have to come over and give them their technology, which has allowed China to build up their military to be equal to or stronger because they have so many people than the United States.
		And I think we're going to end up in a war not too long with about Taiwan and possibly the Philippines.
		So none of our congressmen or senators don't care.
		They're not interested in thinking about the future.
bob in new york ▲ ● ▼		And they talk good, but for the most part, they don't say anything.
unidentified		And They've allowed China to become as strong as they are because they allowed these companies to overseas and give them all this information.
		So we're getting close to be on the losing end.
		We can't fight another war like World War II because we've lost all of our manufacturing.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Next up is Vivian in Dakula, Georgia on our line for Republicans.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Vivian.
unidentified		Hi.
		Yes.
		Thank you, Washington Journal, C-SPAN, for having me.
		I appreciate it.
		I have questions about health care.
		Health care is right now needing to be fixed in many ways.
		I work in health care, and especially our elderly, we should have something where they can go in and get seen, where our insurance are taking care of them person by person.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Kavin, I want you to finish your point, but can you turn down the volume on your TV a bit?
unidentified		Yes, I can.
unidentified		I'm mute it.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Thank you.
unidentified		Okay.
		Hi.
		Thank you, Washington Journal and C-SPAN, for having me.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		We heard the beginning of your point about health care.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		You were talking about health care.
unidentified		And I believe that we need to fix health care.
		By the time we get patients into the hospital, there are about 10 things wrong with them.
		And you can't fix all 10 of them in one visit because there's only a certain amount of time, certain doctors that can see them for the ailments that are coming against them.
		Whether it's cancer, whether it's cardiac, whether it's lung disease.
		We have an issue where our patients are now not getting 100% care.
		And that is because we're rushing them through the system.
		Instead of them having good primary care doctors that are taking care of them on a regular basis and making sure that they come in and they make their appointments, whether it's cardiac, whether it's pulmonary, or whether it's lung disease.
		We need to do a lot of preventative care with patients and preventative saying that we're going to prevent you from having lung disease because we need to educate you on smoking.
		We need to prevent you from having cardiac.
		We need to educate you on what foods not to eat.
		I understand that we have someone as far as in the White House right now that's going to be our health czar.
		The health czar needs to look at the whole body, eyes, ears, mouth, lungs, heart, liver, kidneys.
		And when you look at the whole system, everything has a different doctor, but everything works together.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
		Let's move on to Carrie in Phoenix, Arizona on our line for Democrats.
		Good morning, Carrie.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I want to talk about two things.
		First, the tariffs, and second, the immigration.
		I worked for a semiconductor plant for 45 years, and I know about electronics.
		I've been to China.
		I've been to Malaysia.
		The people there have a different attitude than Americans.
		We could not compete with them because the American people want higher wages.
		They took our jobs because the Chinese and the Malaysians would work for less.
		But their work is very high quality.
		And unless the American people want to refrain from having to make so much money till our standard of living comes down, we don't need a $35,000 car.
		We don't need a million.
		So that is my thought on tariffs.
		We need to look at ourselves.
		President Trump is a blackmailer.
		He'll blackmail anybody, bully anybody to get what he wants.
		My thoughts on immigration are more important to me than the tariffs.
		I will survive the tariffs.
		We all will survive the tariffs.
		We will all survive President Trump.
		But the immigration people here, because I live in an immigration state, I do want the bad people deported.
		I do want the people that sell the drugs or come and live in our squalors deported.
		But I want it done fairly.
		These people, other than President Trump, have gone to school.
		They have studied the law.
		My people came here in 1802, and they are birthright citizens.
		But a lot of my people came through Ellis Island, and they were given the right to come to America.
		They were questioned.
		Christy, what's her face?
		She's a lawyer.
		She knows about due process.
		That's a part of our Constitution and our Bill of Rights.
		We as Americans fought.
		We fought the French.
		We fought the English.
		We built a Constitution.
		We made a Bill of Rights.
		That Bill of Rights and that Constitution is for my children, my great-grandchildren.
		And these people who flaunt it.
		So, you know, I was at a protest.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay, I am going to go ahead and get in some other callers.
		Let's hear from Kenneth in Fayetteville, North Carolina on our line for independence.
		Good morning, Kenneth.
		Kenneth, go ahead.
		Yes.
unidentified		Yes, I've been sitting there watching these politics, and I cried on January the 6th.
		The United States of America has lost our way.
		How is it that we can sit here and congratulate our leader who absolutely lived in insurrection?
		Talk about all the evil people in this nation, but sit here and congratulate the ones that commit the evil, who threaten us inside the border, who absolutely kill us inside these borders.
		America is not going to be okay until we change our wicked ways.
		That means our racism and our hate.
		And when it comes to the jobs and economy, we have to make more money according to the cost of living.
		If we wasn't so greedy from the top to the bottom, then we all can live comfortably.
		We all can have a piece of a pie.
		But they do not talk about the poor and needy.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
		Brenda is in Christiansburg, Virginia on our line for Republicans.
		Good morning, Brenda.
unidentified		This is the first time I've ever called in.
		I just started watching this show a couple weeks, maybe.
		Thanks for calling.
		And I am a Republican.
		I am on Social Security Disability.
		Eight months ago, I became a cancer survivor.
		I just barely make it through the month.
		At the end of the month, I mean, last four years, it was 50 meals.
		I mean, I went through it all.
		And I watched one of your shows a couple of Saturdays ago, and they had a woman on here talking about Social Security.
		Well, you go through news media channels, and man, they are scaring people to death.
		They are lying about stuff, and this isn't helping our situation.
		And some of the callers that you call in, you can tell that they are totally unhinged.
		And, you know, I just hope people take a breath and quit listening to the ones that's baiting people to so scared.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
		Next up is Sam in Hillsdale, Michigan on our line for Democrats.
		Good morning, Sam.
unidentified		Hi.
		I'm glad you mentioned earlier the government proclaiming several people dead on Social Security because Barton O'Malley was on CNN recently, interviewed by Caitlin Collins, and he talked about that and warned, of course, that if it could happen to them, that could happen to you too.
		And he said, welcome to the beginnings of the Pinochet government, referring to Pincher in Argentina or Chile.
		And anyway, there's a book and a documentary called Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein.
		And exactly this happens.
		A culture or a civilization or a city even can suffer a shock by weather or earthquake.
		Anything could shock the community.
		And that gives the government a chance to take over and change the workings of that community.
		And this could happen.
		The government could cause a shock and take it over.
		And that's exactly what's happening right now.
		The government is shocking our country, and we are in danger of being taken over by the wrong people.
		Thank you for taking my call.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Scott is in Los Angeles on our line for independence.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Scott.
unidentified		Good morning to everybody out there at C-SPAN.
		I have a few things.
		The first thing is, Kim, you are doing tremendous work, and we've watched you improve steadily.
		And this is a tremendous trait of a human being.
		Just the improvement in you is just spectacular to watch.
		Now, it's also a big thank you to C-SPAN for some of the programming lately, which has been tremendous.
		Now, a couple weeks ago, you show us a PBS hearing that I was just fascinated by.
		The lady, perhaps you could help me with her name, a very pleasant lady, is now in charge of the PBS.
		And it came out that in 2022, she had sent out, I guess, a tweet that Donald Trump is a racist.
		Now, again, she's certainly more than entitled to that opinion.
		There's certainly no problem there.
		But I just found it interesting that she is in charge of the PBS.
		And it just makes me question the.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Just a moment, Scott.
		Who you're referencing is PBS president and CEO Paula Kerger.
		And also speaking was NPR President and CEO Catherine Maher.
unidentified		I think it was Miss Maher.
		And thank you so much for that, Kim.
		But I also wanted to say that, again, just tremendous coverage, all the things I learned in that.
		And again, just I pulled out of that slightly questioning that perhaps she could be evenly fair in this role, okay?
		And I just wanted to also mention, please, that yesterday, Jeff Mason was questioning Donald Trump on the airplane about this man who had been deported to El Salvador.
		And I want you to correct me if I'm wrong.
		I don't hear this mentioned.
		My understanding is that he was marked for deportation as an MS-13 member, but not to El Salvador.
		And the mistake was that he was sent to El Salvador, not so much that he was deported.
		But anyway, just one last quick thing, and I'll let you go.
		I thought Donald Trump missed a tremendous opportunity there as Jeff Mason, intrepid reporter, was questioning him.
		And he asked him about the basic facts of the case.
		And I didn't appreciate the way Jeff Mason kind of played like he didn't know the facts there.
		I'll bet everything I have he knew the facts there.
		And when Donald Trump questioned him, he said, well, is that the guy who was actually MS-13 and not Salvatruccia?
		I know I'm not saying that right.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So, Scott, I'm just looking at an article here on NBC News.
		The Maryland father, a legal resident protected from deportation by a 2019 court order, was mistakenly sent to the Salvadoran prison along with other men who were alleged to be gang members.
		The Trump administration claims Abrego Garcia is a member of MS-13, though he has never been charged with or convicted of a crime.
		His attorneys said that there's no evidence he was in the gang, and immigration officials have conceded he should not have been sent to El Salvador, his country of birth, calling it an administrative error.
unidentified		Okay, well, again, I completely appreciate that.
		And I just thought that perhaps in some of these situations, I know that we have to follow the law.
		I know that we have to adhere to these people's rights.
		And I also consider what has happened to some of our citizens at the hands of some of these people.
		You know, you let 1020.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Scott, I do want to get a couple more folks in in open form.
		Thank you for your call.
		Let's hear from Billy in Anderson, Indiana on our Line for Republicans.
		Good morning, Billy.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I just want to talk a little bit about the legal drugs that the Biden administration let come in in the four years.
		These vapes, especially, that's killing off our kids and all the vodka that's flooding in the United States and it's killing them.
		So many people's getting liver damage from this vodka that's coming over here from Russia, especially, I think.
		But we need to stop these vapes.
		Our kids, our young kids is smoking these vapes and they can't breathe no more.
		They can't run.
		They can't even play.
		And it's going to be an epidemic here if we don't get rid of them right now.
		Trump trying to do it.
		But it's just into our system so bad right now.
		Where I live here, we got vape shops all over the place.
		And it's just Chinese coming in Riding your neighborhoods and killing your kids.
		These are young kids that's doing these vapes.
		I mean, it's nine, ten-year-old kids.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay, let's hear from William in Philpot, Kentucky on our line for Democrats.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, William.
unidentified		Yes, good morning.
		Thank you for taking my call.
		It's open forum, and I've got a question and then a comment about your previous guest you had on this morning.
		My question is, whatever happened to all the Secret Service back during the insurrection, all those messages disappeared.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So our guest isn't with us anymore to answer any questions.
		But what was the comment that you wanted to make?
		Oh, it looks like we've lost our guest or our caller.
		But thank you for everyone who called in on Open Forum.
		Coming up next, we're going to be joined by Vanessa Cardenas, who is Executive Director of the immigrant rights group America's Voice.
		We're going to talk about the Trump administration's immigration and deportation policy.
		We'll be right back.
unidentified		Watch our signature interview program, Q&A, all week on C-SPAN 2.
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		In her memoir, Written in the Waters, Roberts discusses the training and preparation required to undertake the diving missions and the work done by the nonprofit organization Diving with a Purpose, which is primarily composed of African-American divers.
		But when I saw this picture in the museum of these women, and it turned out that they were a part of this group called Diving with a Purpose, and that they spent their time searching for and documenting slave shipwrecks around the world, I was like, oh my God, there are people who look like me who are living a life of adventure.
		Maybe this could be for me too.
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		C-SPAN, bringing you democracy unfiltered.
		Washington Journal continues.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Welcome back.
		We're joined now by Vanessa Cardenas, who is Executive Director of America's Voice, here to talk about the Trump administration's immigration and deportation policies.
		Welcome to Washington Journal.
unidentified		Thank you for having me.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Can you tell us about America's Voice, your mission, and how you're funded?
unidentified		Sure.
		America's Voice is a pro-immigration, nonpartisan advocacy organization, and we believe that our immigration system should be fixed in a way that's consistent both with our needs and our values.
		And we are supported by foundations and everyday Americans who believe in our mission.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So your organization recently launched a campaign called At What Cost, urging members of Congress to oppose funding for deportations.
		And that campaign is centered around the cost of President Trump's mass deportations agenda to Americans.
		Can you give us some examples of what you're talking about there?
unidentified		Sure.
		Well, what we're asking ourselves is, you know, just what the goal is of moving so much money towards an enforcement agenda.
		And by doing so, removing funding from key domestic essential programs.
		And what we mean by that is that we have limited resources and our immigration system is already very well funded.
		And right now, congressional leaders are asking to invest over $200 billion for enforcement activities.
		And what that means is that we will be moving money away from programs like Medicaid, like food stamps programs, and other programs that really are essential for our families to fund the efforts around deportations and family separations that we have seen in the last few weeks and months.
		And that's what we're trying to drive home, that there's a real cost.
		And I will end by saying that we all agree that our immigration system is broken and we need to fix it.
		And I think the way to fix it is by coming up with a program that legalizes the people that have been here for a long time, that, yes, invests in our borders.
		So we have a functional border system as well as legal pathways.
		And if that is the interest and that should be the interest, then we should be working on policies that do that versus just focusing on enforcement only policies that are hurting our families and our communities.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Now, meanwhile, Congress this week actually approved a budget blueprint with more funding for immigration enforcement.
		And polls show Americans largely approve of the president's deportation efforts.
		There's a CBS News YouGov poll that looked at this finding 58% of Americans approve of Trump's deportation policies thus far and 43% disapprove of it.
		Despite all of these lawsuits surrounding them, what do you make of that and how do you think you can change people's minds on that?
unidentified		Yeah, thank you for the question.
		Well listen, I think that what these polls reflect is the deep disappointment and just impatient with our government and the fact that we are not able to tackle, we have not been able to tackle this system.
		Pro-immigration advocates have been for decades saying that our system is broken.
		It does not work.
		It's outdated.
		We need to improve it.
		And I think what we're seeing in the polls and the support for Trump is this desire to bring order to our system so that it functions in a more effective manner.
		However, I think that the more people see the real impacts that this deportation agenda is having on people's lives in their neighborhoods, in their communities, in their places of work, the more they're going to reject it.
		Because we know, based on all the research that we have done over the years, that actually the majority of people, the majority of Americans, want a system that first and foremost provides a path to legalization for people that have been here a long time.
		Those essential workers, farm workers, dreamers that have been in our country for sometimes decades, making significant contributions to our economy.
		The second piece is Americans do want a functioning border system that is resource and that puts in place smart enforcement measures at the border.
		And the third piece is creating legal pathways so people can come here with a visa and not with a smuggler.
		And we know that's what Americans want.
		And I think, again, the more they see that this enforcement only approach that creates panic and fear in communities and that is in many ways not just affecting immigrants, but American families, the more they're going to reject it.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		This past week, the Supreme Court actually backed the administration in a controversial deportation case involving Venezuelan migrants.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Can you first remind us how these deportations have been carried out and what the court decided there?
unidentified		Sure.
		Well, a couple of things.
		You know, we have seen, again, an effort to deport in the president's work towards people who are criminals.
		But what we are finding is that a lot of people that are getting in the dragnet are actually not criminals, do not have a criminal record, do not have convictions.
		And in this example of the Venezuelan men that were sent to prison in El Salvador, we've already heard of many stories of many of them not having any type of criminal record in the U.S. nor in Venezuela.
		And in fact, there was a media report by 60 Minutes that said that almost 70 and even to 80% of the people that were sent to El Salvador did not have criminal records.
		So it is deeply, deeply problematic that we are not only arresting and detaining people here, but then sending them to another country and then abandoning them without any access to due process.
		And let's remember, these men were not allowed the opportunity to talk to any lawyers.
		And they're in a prison right now in El Salvador where they cannot talk to their families.
		They have not seen their families.
		They do not have access to, again, lawyers.
		They do not have access to medical care.
		So this is deeply, deeply, again, I think, un-American and not consistent with the rule of law and this fundamental right, which is due process.
		But as you said, the Supreme Court agreed with the administration that they can use this power around the Alien Enemies Act to detain people.
		However, the Supreme Court also said while the administration can use that power, they must provide legal access to the people that they are detaining.
		And if they want to deport them, they have to provide counsel.
		So while it's a mixed decision from our perspective, we are very pleased that the court has said to that Trump administration that they have to provide legal counsel to those detainees.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		The Immigrations and Customs Enforcement says that it mistakenly deported an immigrant with protected status.
		What has been the reaction to the story among immigrant communities?
		And has it had anything of a chilling effect?
unidentified		Oh, 100%.
		Listen, the case of Mr. Abrego Garcia is so, so just egregious because it is this person, this father.
		He lives in a community, in an immigrant community in Maryland.
		He is from El Salvador.
		Again, no charges, no criminal record in the United States, or as far as we know, in El Salvador.
		And he was taken from his family and sent to, again, prison in El Salvador, has not spoken to his family or his lawyers.
		And here's the point.
		He had legal authorization to be in the United States.
		And the government, the Trump administration, admitted that it was a clerical error.
		Now imagine having a family member being taken, not being able to communicate with him, and now this person being in another prison in another country, again, without access to any communications, and the government is now stalling.
		And the recent Supreme Court order was that he needs to come back.
		And we see that there's a stalling effort and not really making the efforts needed to bring him back as soon as possible.
		And again, I think the message that this is sending is that the administration is not being careful about who they're picking up, who they're sending to these other prisons, and that even when they're making a mistake, they are actually not moving fast enough to bring them back.
		And that creates a lot of fear, that creates a lot of panic.
		But again, I think it's a question for all Americans whether this administration is following the rule of law and is following the really important process of providing due process for the people that they are detaining and deporting.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		The topic of the case of Mr. Obrego Garcia came up in open forum, and we had this reaction from someone on X. Host read about the deported MS-13 gang member, which had a carefully worded statement that said he was deported by mistake, a lie, but did not deny he was an MS-13 gang member.
		So any judge who wants him here is corrupt.
		El Salvador is his home country and where he belongs.
		Before I let you respond to that, Vanessa, I'll just ask, read here from an article in the Associated Press, An Administrative Error Sent a Maryland Man to an El Salvador prison.
		I said, President Donald Trump's administration has acknowledged mistakenly deporting a Maryland man with protected legal status to a notorious El Salvador prison last month, but is arguing against returning him to the United States because of his alleged gang ties and the U.S. government's lack of powers over the Central American nation.
		Lawyers for Kilmar Amondo Abrego Garcia, 29, maintain he is not affiliated with MS-13 or any other street gang and argue the U.S. government has never produced an iota of evidence that he does.
		Ms. Cardenas, do you have any thoughts on what our viewer mentioned on social media there?
unidentified		Yeah, well, listen, I think the key word here is alleged.
		There is no proof that Mr. Brego Garcia actually is or was a member of a gang.
		There's no proof that the government has produced.
		So I think, again, this is a, as far as we know, they made a mistake and now they're sending him to a prison and now they don't want to bring him back.
		And I think that should raise an alarm to every American who cares about their own safety and security and access to due process before our government implements these policies.
		But also, let's be clear again, the United States is paying millions of dollars to El Salvador to imprison the people that this administration is sending to El Salvador.
		So this idea that they cannot bring him back for me is also not real.
		I would also make the point that the president of El Salvador is coming to visit the White House this week on Tuesday.
		And I think it will be a great opportunity for President Bukele to bring Mr. Brego Garcia back.
		I should also note that there's a large Salvadoran community in the DC area and I think that hopefully Mr. Bukele cares about his El Salvadoran families and that he should also hopefully bring Mr. Garcia back.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Now, the administration says their actions are about reducing crime.
		Specifically, DHS this week revived an office that's focused on aiding victims of crimes committed by immigrants.
		And Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Christy Noam, held a press conference on Wednesday with Victim's Family.
		Let's listen to a bit of what she had to say.
kristi noem ▲ ● ▼		Now we have consequences for people who break the law.
		Now there is enforcement of our laws that people know that it matters when you do right and there are going to be severe consequences when you do wrong.
		These families behind us stood up and told about their grief and their suffering, what their children went through, what their siblings went through.
		And because they did that, American families rallied around them and they put a president in the White House that now is willing to take tough actions to take our country back.
		Let me be clear, we have enemies living among us.
		Because of what the Biden administration has done by opening our borders, they have allowed terrorists, people that are on the terrorist watch list, dangerous criminals, gang members, and criminals to enter our country and to perpetuate violence on American families.
		And that is going to stop now.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Ms. Cardenos, here a reaction to that.
unidentified		Listen, I think that let me make something clear.
		If somebody has been convicted, if somebody is a threat to public safety, yes, our government has all the rights to deport that person if there's a threat.
		And however, what we know is that most immigrants are actually assets to our country.
		They make significant contributions to our economy.
		They are our neighbors, our friends, our coworkers.
		So I think to just issue a blanket statement and say that all immigrants are criminals, which is what often we're hearing from this administration, is actually inaccurate.
		I also would like to say that, again, if somebody has a conviction and is a criminal and the government can show that that's the case, then I think most Americans would agree and it's common sense that this person should not be here.
		But what we're seeing is not a targeted effort to go after people with convictions.
		We're seeing an indiscriminate effort in which even people with status, with legal protections, are being caught in the dragnet.
		We're seeing legal permanent residents.
		We're seeing even U.S. citizens, even Native Americans being caught in the dragnet.
		And that is our concern, that it is an indiscriminate effort and it's not, again, targeted.
		And it's also not a sincere effort to actually fix our system.
		You know, I believe that this administration has a lot of support on this issue.
		And what we would like to see is for them to actually work with Congress to actually resolve this issue in a way that's consistent with our values and our interests.
		And what that means for us is taking the people that have been here for a long time and providing them a path to legalization because they are people that are already incorporated into our economy, are making contributions, are deeply rooted in our communities, while also investing at the border so we have smart enforcement and we have an orderly process for people to come to the United States.
		That is what our country needs.
		But I think mass deportation efforts do not address the fundamental problems and are actually creating real, again, real concerns about our freedoms, not just for immigrants, but for all Americans.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Well, we have some callers ready with questions for you.
		Anyone can call in.
		Republicans at 202-748-8001, Democrats 202-748-8000, and Independents at 202-748-8002.
		Let's start with Jackie in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey on our line for Democrats.
		Good morning, Jackie.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I was wondering if your organization was doing anything to work with other countries in Latin America that maybe could be places where some of the people who are actually in asylum, I agree with you, and in the legal process but are still getting deported could actually go.
		Are there any policies like that based on the fact that people with no criminal record in their native country of Venezuela or America are being deported to a terrorist prison and then cut off from all contact from their attorneys and the U.S. government?
		And I was wondering if now that the cases are before the courts in terms of the AEA, which you had noted the Supreme Court said is not going to be open for judicial review,
		and based on the criterion that they're using to determine whether or not someone's a gang member, which a lot of it can be built upon insignia and association when a person may not even know who they're associating with.
		If there is a push by the nonprofits that help immigrants to maybe self-deport, and again, if there are any countries in Latin America regarding the Venezuelan situation that are trying to help here so that these men don't end up in the chat, yes, thank you for the question.
		My organization does not work with other countries, but here's what I can tell you.
		Many countries in the region have taken Venezuelan migrants because of the terrible conditions that Venezuela has been going through for the last almost decade.
		And this is actually an important point.
		Many countries like Colombia, for example, have taken millions of Venezuelans and they have integrated them in their communities.
		And this is why, from our perspective, there is a way for the United States to manage migration in a smart and compassionate way.
		For example, the United States set up a program for Ukrainians in a matter of weeks and processed over 100,000 Ukrainians and resettled them here.
		So, which shows us that when we want to actually, when we lean in and try to tackle this problem, we can create systems so that people can migrate here again with legality.
		And I think that is the lesson that we should take away from this.
		There are other countries in Latin America that have absorbed the migration of Venezuelans because they have not only come to the United States, they've also gone to other countries.
		But there's also this other piece that our asylum system is deeply, deeply underfunded.
		And what we need to do is invest in our asylum process so the adjudications are fair and fast.
		And yes, not everybody's going to be allowed in, but we also have to make investments so we have more judges, more staff into our asylum system so that people can actually have a chance to present their case.
		And that is part of reforming our immigration system again in a way that functions.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Velma is in Ashland, Kentucky on our line for Republicans.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Velma.
unidentified		Thank you.
		I disagree.
		We need to invest in taking care of the American citizens and not illegal aliens.
		You know, there's constant rhetoric about we need to fix the broken immigration system is rhetoric.
		It's not broken.
		It was never enforced in the first place.
		And why should the government, taxpayers, spend millions of dollars to prove anything about when someone's deported from the country or about to be deported?
		You know, they're not legal.
		They're not entitled to due process.
		And if they end up in another country rather than where they came from, that's their own fault.
		You know, and due process that people keep talking about for illegal aliens would take years and years and cost millions of dollars.
		And that is, again, is on the taxpayer.
		This is just so ridiculous.
		I can't think of a correct adjective for it, but I'm just so tired of hearing all this.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay, well, we'll let our guest respond.
unidentified		Yes.
		So thank you for your question.
		And listen, I agree with your frustration and I agree with, you know, this sort of sense that things are not working.
		Completely agree with that.
		And that's why we need a system that works.
		I think that we can do both.
		And from my perspective, I think we can take care of Americans and also have a system that works that's consistent with, again, our rule of law, but also our values.
		I think this question of due process is a fundamental idea and I think a fundamental right for most Americans.
		And I think the question for me is when you start not using that for some people, it's a very slippery slope.
		And I think we've seen examples of people that, again, as in the case of Mr. Prego Garcia, he was here with legality and he was still sent by mistake.
		And that is a big red flag for us.
		Because how do you prove that if the government is telling somebody that this person is alleging has gang associations, but they don't present any proof and then they send them overseas and then they abandon them in a prison, that's a big red flag.
		And I think that presents a lot of problems.
		And again, it's not just about immigrants.
		It could happen to any of us.
		How do I know if I'm not being targeted?
		And again, I'm a U.S. citizen.
		I was actually born here, but I do have an accent and I look different.
		So, you know, I also want to just say that there are many concerns in our communities that these efforts are targeting people.
		And again, not following the law.
		And many folks we already see are being caught in this dragnet.
		And what we're asking is if there's somebody that has a record that's a public safety threat, we understand.
		That's common sense.
		But I think that the government, if the government is going to offend someone's life and remove them from their families and their communities, they should be able to show proof on why they're doing that.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Excuse me, Patricia is in Chesapeake, Virginia on our line for independence.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Patricia.
unidentified		Yes, ma'am.
		Good morning, Tua.
		I was calling to ask about, well, one, the Garcia.
		I read that, I forget which post, but I thought that he overstayed his visa.
		And number two, you mentioned about the Native Americans being deported.
		Could you be more elaborate on that?
		Yes, of course.
		Yes, thank you.
		No, we have seen cases, press reports of Native Americans being detained and questioned.
		We've also seen examples of U.S. citizens being detained and questioned.
		And there have been many press reports in the last few months.
		I have not seen an example of a Native American being deported.
		But the point being is that if this administration is making a mistake with one person and again, not bringing this person back, I think that's deeply problematic for all of us.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Her other point was about whether or not Mr. Obrego Garcia had overstayed his visa.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Are you familiar with those details?
unidentified		As far as we know, he's here illegally.
		He has a withhold of removal, which meant he should not have been deported.
		So that is a legal status.
		And that's why the administration said that they made a mistake, that it was an administrative mistake.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		And just for Patricia's benefit, I was able to quickly find a story from NBC News about Trump immigration raids, snagging U.S. citizens, including Native Americans, raising racial profiling fears.
		A U.S. veteran and Navajo residents have been asked for identification.
		Critics are complaining of racial profiling as the raids and deportations increase.
		Let's hear from Chuck in Syracuse, New York, on our line for Republicans.
		Good morning, Chuck.
unidentified		So our guest says she's nonpartisan.
		Apparently, she's against deportations because if I, as a white American, moved to Montreal illegally, learned French, which is the official language, English is now the official language here, opened up a French pastry store, was in there for 10 years, and they allowed it, and then a new leader comes in and he says, I'm going to crack down.
		You're getting deported.
		They're going to deport me.
		So this, and there was an example in New Jersey of a sushi joint guy who's very popular.
		He's Chinese.
		He's been in the country decades, but he was convicted of spying for China.
		And now he's being deported.
		And by the way, I left a gas station the other day and I was stopped and questioned because my car looked like the car that was involved in a robbery.
		They pulled me over.
		I pulled over.
		I was let go.
		But people are stopped and questioned every day in this country who are illegal, who are born here.
		One case does not mean we need to get rid of our entire legal immigration system.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Okay, Mr. Cardano.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Ms. Cardanas, would you like to respond?
unidentified		Listen, I, again, agree that we need to make sure that we have a legal system.
		And I think that the best way to do it is to make sure that the people that are here and contributing and are deeply rooted in our communities are able to have a path to legalization.
		Let's also not forget that many of these immigrants actually are essential to different industry, whether it's the healthcare industry, the farm workers, hotel workers, and construction workers.
		So I can go on and on.
		The fact is that the United States has always needed immigration.
		That's what actually makes us stronger economically.
		Immigrants are essential for our future prosperity.
		And immigrants have always been part of the American story.
		So I think, again, it's not an either or.
		I think that, again, there are people that have been here for many years.
		And I think there should be a path to them to become legal because they are making contributions.
		They have built families.
		They are essential to different industries.
		And the question for me is if we really want to tackle this problem so that we can put this issue to rest, which has been in the political discourse for so many years, let's get Congress to work in a bipartisan way so that we legalize the people that have been here, again, making billions of dollars in contributions, being essential to different industries.
		Let's have an enforcement mechanism at the border that actually works in resourcing our asylum system.
		And let's create legal pathways so people can come here, again, with a visa and not with a smuggler.
		I think that is the conversation that we should be having.
		I think that, again, based on what we know about what most Americans support, that's the combination of reforms that they want.
		And of course, deportations for people that should not be here, that are public safety threats, that's common sense.
		We understand that.
		So it's not that I'm against deportations of people that have committed a crime.
		But the question is, it has to go beyond that.
		We have to have a functional system that has the elements that actually help us, not just today, but in the future.
		Because as long as we just not address those pieces of our immigration system, we're always going to have this problem.
		And just tackling the border or just implementing enforcement measures do not address the roots of the problem, as well as the fact that we have people here who really, you know, again, are essential to different segments of our economy and our communities.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Robert is in North Carolina on our line for independence.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Robert.
unidentified		Yes.
		Yes, I'm a truck driver, and my wife is a bus driver.
		And we've been living in North Carolina for about 21 years, but I'm originally from Virginia.
		I just wanted to state with the immigrants that this is right, this is what's going on.
		Now, when they move into a house, they live all the way around.
		I'm not a prejudiced person.
		I'm not, you know, I'm married to a white woman and I'm black.
		So I'm not prejudiced.
		But it seems like somebody's giving these immigrants money.
		I mean, I'm talking about other than just a house.
		And how we know is not falling through drug lords or people that's over Mexico that's sending innocent people over here to buy houses.
		And because when they get a house, they fully, you know, renovate it.
		They got brand new cars coming in.
		I mean, they just got here.
		They just got here.
		They got all this.
		It took me 20 years to put a fence around my yard, to get my driveways right, and to get the car always wanted.
		I'm a truck driver, and my wife is a bus driver.
		And then you got immigrants coming over into schools.
		She's a bus driver that can't speak English.
		They send the kids to school that can't speak English.
		My wife be telling the mamas, hey, your kid, tell us we're getting off school early.
		And they just smile because they don't understand.
		And the kids don't understand.
		Kids are going to school, don't know English.
		They don't understand.
		It's putting their own.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So do you have a question for Ms. Cardenas?
unidentified		Yeah, but what I'm saying is this right here.
		Okay, just give them their own land.
		Just give, they got the Indians.
		They gave the Indians their own land.
		Just give them their own land because they don't want to integrate no way.
		And they don't want to even have nothing to do with Americans no way.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		So Robert, I want to give our guest a chance to respond to some of the points that you raised.
unidentified		Yeah, no, I will tell you that I was one of those kids.
		I didn't speak English when I came to the United States.
		What we know for most immigrants today, most of them integrate within one generation.
		And I can tell you my kids, for example, they only want to speak English.
		I have to actually fight with them to speak Spanish.
		So I think immigrants, the immigrants of today still have a desire to integrate into America.
		I would also say that most immigrants want to come here.
		As far as we know, most immigrants want to come here legally.
		And if you give them a path, they will follow the law and get into the land if you create a path.
		And we saw that with the parole program that President Biden instituted for Cuban, Haitians, Nicaraguans. and Venezuelans.
		So we actually know that when you create legal pathways, people will get in the line, but they have to know that there is a line.
		And I would also say, you know, that, again, immigration has always been part of our DNA.
		That's actually what makes our country what it is today.
		And I know that there's a lot of concerns right now on our immigration system.
		And that's why for many years, advocates have been saying we have to reform our immigration system.
		So I think, you know, the last thing I would say is that most of us, most people that come here to the United States, we believe in what this country stands for.
		We believe in the promise of America.
		And that's why we decide to come.
		And by far, immigrants make contributions.
		They're an asset to our country.
		And I think as we tackle with this issue and as we struggle on how to fix it, we have to also recognize that they are, again, part of our values.
		And I think we really need to demand our lawmakers to come to the table to compromise and to come up with solutions because there are policy solutions and that this issue needs to stop being used as political football.
		It needs to be used to stop being used as a political strategy to anger people.
		We need to come to the table and talk about solutions that actually are going to fix the problems that we are seeing in our immigration system.
		And I think there's a path there.
		The question is whether there's the political will and the desire to come to compromise on this.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Nathaniel is in Irvington, New Jersey on our line for Democrats.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, Nathaniel.
unidentified		Hi, how are you guys doing?
		Good morning.
		Love this show.
		I just have one comment for your guests.
		I definitely have empathy to what's going on with a lot of the different immigrants in the country, but I think there's haven't been a discussion about accountability.
		As a person of color, we try to warn a lot of immigrants that this was coming, you know, and a lot of immigrants voted in align with this administration, and now they're crying wolf.
		But, you know, people of color have been trying to tell them during the whole time that Vice President Harris was running that if you voted for this administration, these kind of tactics was going to happen.
		So I think also we have to talk about the accountability of voting for against what our best interests are.
		And I think a lot of immigrants did that and now they're facing American.
		So we all have empathy for what's going on, but I think it also has to be covered with a little bit of accountability because this wasn't forced upon us.
		You know, this was voted into this administration.
		And I'll step offline to your comments.
		Thank you so much and have a great day.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead.
unidentified		Yeah, no, thank you for that comment.
		And I do agree that a lot of the sentiments that people are expressing on the calls are sentiments across the board.
		And like I said, there's a lot of frustration with our system.
		And I think in the absence of solutions and in the absence of a strong vision of what our country needs to do when it comes to immigration, the Trump agenda kind of came in and has garnered support.
		But I think what we know is that we need to tackle this issue for the benefit of all of us.
		And I think what we're seeing right now are a lot of red flags in terms of, again, how this administration is implementing their policies.
		And I think we need to sort of turn the page and say, okay, how do we actually fix the system in a way that works and hopefully protects our rights?
		But I get your point about accountability.
		I think that, yes, there is a sense that Trump is doing what he promised he will do.
		But as I said earlier, I think the more people see the actual impacts that's going to have, I think they're going to want to see other solutions that are more aligned with our values.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		Next up is Anna in Chicago, Illinois on our line for independence.
		Good morning, Anna.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I have a few suggestions for immigration repair or broken, as you call it.
		One, anyone who comes here expecting to get asylum must show that they were denied asylum by the country they came through.
		If they came from someplace farther in South America and they came through Mexico, they have to show what Mexico denied them that asylum before they could even apply for it here.
		Also, I'm going to talk about language, make English the official language.
		And if you're here illegally, you cannot own a business, you cannot own real estate, houses, land, buildings, or businesses.
		Any state that gives a non-citizen an ID that can be used to vote, then everyone in that state must have a federal ID to vote because the state ID will be voided to help prevent fraud of illegals voting.
		And the two others, one is, well, the 14th Amendment was enacted solely to give the slaves citizenship because they were forced over here not to be hijacked by the world to come here in the ninth month, have a baby, and then go back home.
		And now that baby's a citizen.
		That's not what it was meant, and it should be reinterpreted by the Supreme Court to stop this.
		That's my comment.
		So just a few comments on that front.
		You know, birthright citizenship is a constitutional right.
		It's in our constitution.
		And I think it is one of the most cherished rights in our constitution.
		And I think it's also the reason why there's a lot of integration by immigrants in our country because by having access to citizenship, people are able to integrate and be part of the broader society.
		So again, I think birthright citizenship, it is a constitutional right, and I think it's a very important right for everyone.
		I think on the question of the asylum, listen, our asylum system needs reforms, and that's why it's really important to resource the asylum system so that they could adjudicate cases in a fair and fast way.
		I think somebody, it is the law that people have the right to request asylum, and that's international law.
		And this nation should be able to manage that by making sure that people have access to a judge so they can present their case.
		If then they don't qualify, then that's a decision that, again, should be made and should be accepted.
		But I think that the question is that right now we don't have enough judges.
		We don't have enough staff to actually process our asylum petitions.
		And that is part of the problem.
		And it goes back again to the question about how to actually reform our system in a way that works.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		To end the segment, could you tell us a little bit about your story?
		It says on your bio page that you came to the United States when you were 14.
		Can you tell us about that?
unidentified		Yeah, well, I have a complicated immigration story.
		My mom migrated to the U.S. in the 70s and I was actually born in Brooklyn, New York.
		I hope your viewers heard my Brooklyn accent, but maybe not.
		And then she left.
		We went back to Bolivia and I grew up in Cochabamba, Bolivia for many years until I was in high school.
		And that's when my mom decided to come back to the U.S. and we came back.
		And I have been very, very blessed.
		And I am very grateful of what this country stands for.
		And I think all of us really believe in, again, what America stands for.
		And we want to protect the American dream, not just for us, but also for future generations.
		And I believe that most Americans also want that.
		And my hope is that both political parties in this country will stop using this issue as political football and come to the table so we can have real solutions for a functional system that actually works for our values and our interests.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		Well, thank you so much.
		Vanessa Cardenas is the executive director of America's Voice.
		Thank you very much for your time this morning.
unidentified		Thank you.
kimberly adams ▲ ● ▼		And thank you to everyone who called in with your questions and comments to Washington Journal.
		We'll be back with another edition of the show tomorrow morning, starting at 7 a.m. Eastern.
		We hope you'll tune in then.
unidentified		C-SPAN's Washington Journal, our live forum inviting you to discuss the latest issues in government, politics, and public policy.
		From Washington and across the country.
		Coming up Monday morning, Republican strategist Adam Goodman and Democratic strategist Michael LaRosa discuss the Trump administration's first 100 days in office and other political news.
		Then, Francesca Chambers, USA Today White House correspondent, previews the week ahead at the White House and Politico's Ankush Kardori on President Trump's executive orders targeting law firms and why some of them are reaching agreements with the administration.
		C-SPAN's Washington Journal.
		Join in the conversation live at 7 Eastern Monday morning on C-SPAN.
		C-SPAN now, our free mobile video app, or online at c-SPAN.org.
		Well up next, President Trump hosts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.
		And during the Oval Office meeting, the president also answered questions on his tariff policies.
		And then Democrats from the House and Senate Judiciary Committees hold a meeting to examine the Trump administration's agenda and protecting the rule of law.
		And later, Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel announced the seizure of nearly a half billion dollars worth of drugs.
		Tonight, on C-SPAN's Q&A, travel writer Rick Steves talks about his 1978 journey along the hippie trail and the 60,000-word journal he kept of the trip, which he recently published as a book.
		During the 3,000-mile trek, the then 23-year-old Steves and a friend visited Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Nepal.
		He recalls the people he met along the way, the challenges of traveling in foreign countries in the 1970s, and the lifelong impact the trip had on him.
rick steves ▲ ● ▼		It's fun to look back on it with the help of the journal and see how naive and green and uneducated I was.
		But it's the growing pains of a global perspective, of gaining a global perspective.
		And I've got this notion that culture shock is a good thing.
		A lot of people try to avoid culture shock.
		To me, culture shock is constructive.
		It's the growing pains of a broadening perspective.
unidentified		Rick Steves with his book On the Hippie Trail tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern on C-SPAN's Q ⁇ A. You can listen to Q&A wherever you get your podcasts and on the C-SPAN Now app.
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