CSPAN - Washington Journal 07/08/2025

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July 8, 2025 07:00-10:00 - CSPAN

02:59:56

Washington Journal 07/08/2025

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john mcardle

cspan 41:32

Appearances

donald j trump

admin 02:04

karoline leavitt

admin 01:06

ted cruz

sen/r 01:09

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adam goodman

r 00:04

benjamin netanyahu

isr 00:14

bev harris

00:22

dana bash

cnn 00:10

justice neil gorsuch

scotus 00:19

patty murray

sen/d 00:04

peter schiff

00:08

rachel maddow

msnow 00:07

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denise in florida

callers 00:24

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Speaker	Time	Text
unidentified		Live.
		Then David Makofsky with the Washington Institute discusses developments in the Middle East and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington, D.C. and Politico's Daniel DeRocher on President Trump's trade and tariff policies and the delay of the U.S. tariff deadline.
		Also, END News climate reporter Chelsea Harvey talks about her reporting on the role of the National Weather Service in the lead up to the recent Texas floods.
		Washington Journal starts now.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Good morning.
		It's Tuesday, July 8th, 2025.
		The Senate is in at 3 p.m. Eastern today, but we begin on that historic and devastating flooding in central Texas.
		The death toll has now risen to over 100, with dozens still unaccounted for and recovery efforts still underway.
		President Trump is expected to visit the area later this week, but this morning we're opening our phones to get your reaction to that tragedy.
		Here's how we're splitting up the phone lines today.
		Texas residents, 202-748-8000.
		Those who've had experience with natural disaster, especially flash flooding, 202-748-8001.
		All others can call in at 202-748-8002.
		You can also send us a text, that number, 202-748-8003.
		If you do, please include your name and where you're from.
		Otherwise, catch up with us on social media.
		On X, it's at C-SPANWJ on Facebook.
		It's facebook.com slash C-SPAN.
		And a very good Tuesday morning to you.
		You can go ahead and start calling in now.
		This is the front page this Tuesday morning from the Dallas Morning News.
		Death toll rises and hopes ebb.
		Over 100 dead and more rain is expected.
		The Dallas Morning News notes this morning.
		It was late yesterday that the president spoke about the Texas floods from the White House, and he also talked about his plans for later this week.
		This is what the president had to say.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		Well, we're going to just make it as comfortable as possible for the state of Texas.
		They have a great governor, they have wonderful senators, they have wonderful representatives, and we're going to work together with them.
		And we have been working really, very hard.
		This whole table has been working.
		That was a terrible event.
		Terrible event.
		You saw that maybe where Texas was just absolutely so badly hurt by something that was a big surprise late in the evening.
		So we'll be working with the governor and all of the people of Texas.
		We'll be going on Friday.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		President Trump yesterday from the White House making those comments after his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
		We'll talk more about that meeting a little later in our program today.
		You're seeing some of the footage from those floods happening over the weekend starting on Friday and some of that footage from Saturday on your screen.
		Also back here in Washington yesterday, it was Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, calling for a probe of the National Weather Service in response to what happened during the tragedy.
		This is the story from Reuters asking the government's top watchdog to investigate whether cuts at the National Weather Service affected the forecasting agency's response to the catastrophic and deadly flooding.
		The story noting that Chuck Schumer asked the Commerce Department's acting inspector general on Monday to probe staffing vacancies specifically at the National Weather Service's San Antonio office and asking whether that contributed to delays, gaps, or diminished accuracy in forecasting the flooding.
		It's the letter that Chuck Schumer sent to the acting inspector general that said in part that key forecasting and coordinating positions at the National Weather Service's offices responsible for this region, including San Antonio and San Angelo, were vacant at the time of the storm.
		The roles left unfilled are not marginal, they are critical.
		These are the experts responsible for modeling storm impacts and monitoring rising water levels, issuing flood warnings, and coordinating directly with local emergency managers about when to warn the public and issue evacuation orders.
		To put it plainly, they help save lives.
		That was the letter from Chuck Schumer yesterday to the Commerce Department.
		This topic coming up in the White House briefing room yesterday.
		Caroline Levitt, the press secretary, taking questions from reporters.
		This is what she had to say.
unidentified		Question is: Is President Trump reconsidering his plan to phase out FEMA given what officials have said is their critical role on the ground now in Texas?
karoline leavitt ▲ ● ▼		Look, the president wants to ensure American citizens always have what they need during times of need.
		Whether that assistance comes from states or the federal government, that's a policy discussion that will continue.
		And the president has always said he wants states to do as much as they can, if not more.
		And in the state, in the case of Texas, the state and local officials are doing a tremendous job.
		And I know the president, Secretary Noam, and the federal government are very proud to be working with them.
		And the president has promised to give Texas the assistance that they need during this tragic time.
unidentified		Just one follow-up on cuts overall.
		Over the weekend, President Trump said that Elon Musk was a train wreck.
		Are there, given this current viewpoint, are there concerns within the White House or from the President himself over the cuts that happened under Musk while he was advising Doge, including the National Weather Service?
karoline leavitt ▲ ● ▼		I think I've already addressed that, Kristen.
		And what I can tell you is that these offices were fully staffed.
		The San Angelo office was fully staffed with 12 forecast meteorologists.
		There were no vacancies.
		The San Antonio office was operating with 11 forecasters.
		And as Brian said, the union themselves said that there was adequate staffing.
		So I think those words speak for themselves and the numbers speak for themselves.
		This was a once-in-a-century flash flood, a tragic natural disaster, and the administration is doing all that we can on the ground to help these families during this time of need.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Caroline Levitt yesterday from the White House briefing room calling it a tragic national disaster.
		It's now listed among America's worst floods.
		A wrap-up of some of the numbers from the Washington Times this morning.
		This Texas July flood with now over 100 fatalities and that number expected to rise.
		Hurricane Helene from 2024, the storm that left so many towns in North Carolina devastated with 108 deaths.
		Other storms listed as causing major flooding throughout the years.
		You can go back to Superstorm Sandy that struck in October of 2012, killing 147 people, 72 in several cities around the country, 110 deaths there attributed to drowning.
		Hurricane Ike back in 2008, causing some $29 billion in damage, responsible for more than 100 deaths, many of them caused by flooding.
		And then, of course, Hurricane Katrina back in 2005, the costliest storm in U.S. history, caused nearly 1,400 deaths and estimated $200 billion in damages.
		Some of the numbers from the Washington Times there.
		We're getting your response, your thoughts on the historic flooding in Texas.
		And a special line for Texas residents, 202748-8000, setting that aside for you to call in.
		Also, a line for those who have experience with natural disasters, particularly flash flooding, 202-748-8001 is that number.
		All others, 202-748-8002.
		We'll begin in Connecticut.
		It's Cindy in Norwalk.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Good morning.
		First, just a couple things, but I wanted to just offer my condolences to the families who lost children and family as really just such a horrible thing, which should have been a happy time.
		That being said, I know there's been a lot of talk about the cuts.
		As Caroline Levitt said there, there were extra people on duty because of this event, 4th of July weekend, and all the campers.
		I've heard a lot of horrible things from the left that these people deserved it because they were Trump voters.
		I think that this has to stop.
		Chuck Schumer wants to investigate the Weather Service.
		I just want to just beseech you, people, that didn't these things happen under other presidents?
		Let's take Lahaina.
		They had the most advanced alarm system in the country, tsunami and wildfires.
		But what good is an advanced system if the officials don't sound the alarm, which did not happen in Lahaina, I'd like to point out.
		No one set off the alarms for that fire.
		So, you know, money doesn't buy competence.
		The cuts have not gone into effect yet.
		So this panic, the response in North Carolina, nobody blamed Joe Biden for what happened with Hurricane Helene.
		But the response is really what matters with regards to the president.
		It's the response is everything.
		And I just want to mention one thing.
		Maybe Chuck Schumer could investigate the cloud seeding companies that cloud seed, namely Rainmaker, who was cloud seeding on July 2nd.
		Thank you.
		Have a great day.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Cindy in Connecticut.
		This is Mike in Arlington, Virginia.
		Good morning.
		You are next.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Good morning.
		Listen, I am so mystified.
		Everyone is doing finger pointing at whose fault is this, whose fault is that.
		And not one media outlet is mentioning climate change.
		The climate change problem is responsible for this tragedy.
		Warmer air in the clouds holds more moisture.
		The warmer air comes from fossil fuel industries that are heating up our planet.
		And each degree, one degree temperature rise holds 13% more, about 13% more water in the clouds.
		The second point is that the jet streams are slowing down because of climate change, and they don't push along these fronts.
		They allow them to linger over places, over cities and camps like Camp Mystic.
		Yes, this is a terrible tragedy.
		But the real reason that this is happening is it's climate change.
		It's not President Biden.
		It's not President Trump.
		It's not the National Weather Service.
		It is climate change.
		And we are going to continue to have these kinds of tragedies develop because we are ignoring.
		And the media, not one media outlet, ABC, CBS, they all talk about this problem of climate change that has created this terrible, terrible tragedy.
		That's all I have to say.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		It's Mike in Arlington, Virginia.
		There have been a few media outlets that have talked about it, including some that have pointed to the release from the Union of Concerned Scientists, that group of scientists, that union of scientists that often puts out statements in various weather situations and other scientific situations.
		They put out a statement in response to the floods in Texas saying that several of the issues here were made worse by climate change.
		Their statement saying that climate change is increasing the risk of these types of extreme precipitation events.
		For example, there have been clear increases in higher rainfall intensity events for nearby Austin, Texas.
		According to the fifth National Climate Assessment, the Texas region has experienced some 21% increase in total precipitation in the heaviest rainfall days since the 1950s, pointing to several different factors to keep in mind throughout this tragedy.
		The letter from the Union Concerned Scientists UCS.org is there if you want to read it.
		This is Alex in Brooklyn, New York.
		Good morning.
		You are next.
unidentified		Yes, sir.
		Good morning.
		Yeah, I mean, I live in New York City.
		We actually just had a flood warning this morning.
		There's just flash floods around here.
		But I just want to go back to the last two callers.
		The last caller is absolutely right.
		I call this program all the time.
		And it's ironic that people that are saying that climate change and global warming is a hoax now become agitated because the left reminds them of the fact that, you know, people on the right think that this is a hoax.
		It's not.
		You know, the UN has put out a report.
		There's a complete scientific community backed up by thousands of scientists that said that we have to maintain global warming at no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.
		We have surpassed that already.
		We are beginning to see the effects of what is to come.
		And people yet celebrate the fact that this idiot of a president is saying that we're going to leash American energy.
		You're talking about fossils here.
		You're talking about energy that comes from dead animals that lived here millions of years ago when we have technology to surpass that.
		So you are going to see more of this.
		It's going to intensify.
		And no matter how ignorant you are about the situation, it's going to get worse.
		I feel for the people of Texas, but when you have a president that is cutting back on agencies that are supposed to have warning systems for this, now everybody wants to say, well, you have even people, there's a woman in Georgia running for Congress that said that this was a hoax, that this was a lie.
		You have Marjorie Taylor Greene putting out a bill saying that she wants to prevent chemtrails and all kinds of stuff in the clouds.
		I mean, this is how idiotic these people are.
		It's happening because we are warming the planet up.
		It's that simple.
		So, you know, I don't know what else to say.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Alex in Brooklyn, New York.
		Phone numbers again.
		If you are a Texas resident, a social phone line for you, 202-748-8000.
		If you have experience with natural disasters, especially flash flooding, 202-748-8001.
		All others, 202-748-8002.
		Let me take you to Texas yesterday.
		Senator Ted Cruz speaking to reporters concerned about the politicization of a natural disaster and tragedy.
		This is what he had to say.
ted cruz ▲ ● ▼		I will say, in the wake of every tragedy, there are things that are predictable.
		One of the things that's predictable is that you see some people engaging in, I think, partisan games and trying to blame their political opponents for a natural disaster.
		And you see that with a hurricane, with a tornado, with a wildfire, with this flooding, where people immediately say, well, the hurricane is Donald Trump's fault.
		You know, look, I think most normal Americans know that's ridiculous.
		And I think this is not a time for partisan finger-pointing and attacks.
		Now, after we come through search and rescue, after we come through the process of rebuilding, there will naturally be a period of retrospection where you look back and say, okay, what exactly transpired?
		What was the timeline?
		And what could have been done differently to prevent this loss of life?
		And that's a natural process.
		I think it should not happen in a bitter and partisan sense, but it should happen in a reasonable sense of saying, what lessons can we learn?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Texas sender Ted Cruz yesterday taking your phone calls this morning.
		Again, the latest numbers, the death toll overnight rising to over 100 and dozens still missing after those deadly Texas floods.
		This is James in Houston.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Thanks for having me.
		Just a couple of things.
		First, I can't imagine watching all of this unfold on TV while living in Connecticut, while living in New York and living in Georgia, wherever, and really understand the scope of the, I guess, the event, because you really have to live in Texas to know what it's like to, I guess,
		deal with the tragedy with such a, you know, such a large geographic area.
		Texas is so different than Connecticut.
		And it's, or New Jersey, New York.
		Things happen fast and things are so large that you can't point the finger at, you know, there weren't any sirens, there weren't any early warning systems.
		I turn mic off on my phone because it goes off all the time.
		So it's not the weather service's fault, and it's not climate change.
		This climate change stuff, the world has been heating and cooling for a billion years.
		It's a cycle, right?
		You learn it in science class.
		It's a cycle.
		And it was doing it before humans were here.
		So we're not the ones causing it.
		The Earth does it as a cycle.
		And we can't turn it off by using less fossil fuels or going all electric.
		So people need to, I guess, do some basic science research before they start blaming people for all the global warming and fossil fuel usage.
		You know, natural disasters happen, and there's no way to stop them.
		So I just think people just need to back off of all the finger pointing and trying to figure out how they can, you know, I guess use a tragedy to their advantage from a political standpoint.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		It's James in Texas to that line for those who have had experience with natural disasters.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		This is Ted in Mooresville, North Carolina.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Yeah, good morning, John.
		Thanks for taking my call.
		The flood in Asheville looked very similar to what happens, what recently happened in Texas.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		How far is Mooresville from Asheville, Ted?
unidentified		I'm sorry.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		How far is Mooresville from Asheville?
unidentified		Mooresville is approximately 30 miles north of Charlotte, which is in less of an area that's flood-prone, thank goodness.
unidentified		I was waist deep in water in our townhouse living room.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And Ted, go ahead and talk through what happened to you and these questions about early warning systems and weather service.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		What does it bring up for you a year later?
unidentified		Well, actually, when I saw on your screen that Samaritan's Purse had was heading to Texas to help the recovery efforts, they helped us directly in our townhouse after we were flooded in Asheville.
		I don't know what we would have done without that group of people.
		I'm very grateful to them for helping us.
		We were without power, without water, without phone service for approximately two to three weeks after the event.
		And so to watch it on TV, it brings back a lot of memory.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Ted, did you have any interaction with FEMA?
unidentified		Yes, I did.
		As a matter of fact, people gave us the impression after the event that FEMA was not available.
		We received $30,000 immediately within a few weeks after the event.
		And we were very grateful for that as we were completely in shock and had no idea what we were going to do next.
		But thank goodness to FEMA, Samaritan's Purse, the local police, and everybody who came together, especially around our neighborhood.
		We had a lot of neighbors that helped clean things up.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And Ted, just take me through what happened that night for you.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		You left it at waist deep in water.
unidentified		We had 14 inches of rainfall within about two to three days, approximately 30 inches of rainfall on the hills around us.
		And what was a small creek I'm watching on television, it turned into what it looks like on your screen right now.
		It was a rushing river.
		It ended up coming directly through our living room.
		I was waist deep in toxic water, and everything we had inside our home was lost.
		But you have to actually, I think, live through a flood to understand how severe it is.
		And thank goodness we survived.
		And thank goodness we had the financial means to pick up and relocate to Mooresville.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Ted, thanks for the phone call from Mooresville.
		You mentioned those agencies and groups that are looking to help out the USA Today with a wrap-up of some of those agencies and groups.
		The Red Cross, of course, opening shelters and relief centers in Kerk County.
		The World Central Kitchen, the nonprofit founded by Chef Jose Andres, setting up shop on July 4th quickly in Texas, the organization providing food to those in the area.
		The Kerk County Relief Fund is another one they mentioned.
		The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country has started a Hill Country, a Kirk County flood relief fund, providing aid to various vetted organizations.
		Those looking to help the pets in the area.
		Austin Pets Alive is one that's mentioned.
		The Salvation Army mentioned as well.
		Taking your phone calls this morning, again, that line for Texas residents, 202-748-8000.
		If you have experience with natural disasters, especially flash floods, 202-748-8001.
		All others, 202-748-8002.
		This is Helen in Kentucky.
		It's Campbellsville, Kentucky.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I have been listening and watching all of this disaster, you know, that has happened, and it has broken my heart.
		I have never had to endure a disaster like this.
		But you know, I watch a lot of C-SPAN and I watch a lot of our governmental sessions as they're happening.
		And I noticed how people are at each other's throats.
		But when a disaster like this happens, you've got these things cross all political parties and everybody has to come together to come to the aid of one another.
		So why is it so hard for our politicians when they're having their sessions to work together and understand that we are here one for the other.
		And I think I saw on TV the other day where three of our weather satellites was defunded, so they were turned off.
		I don't understand how that's going to be helpful turning off weather satellites when something like this happens.
		And now everybody wants to point fingers and say, well, this one was responsible or that one was responsible.
		Seems to me we would need all devices that we could get to help us to forecast and to look back and see what happens so that we can prevent these things from happening again, John.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Helen, you might be interested in Mary Ann Tierney's column in today's New York Times.
		She's the former acting deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and acting deputy administrator of FEMA.
		She worked in emergency management for some 25 years.
		This is what she writes in her column today.
		When a flash flood inundates your town or a wildfire devours your neighborhood, you expect the federal government to show up fast, focused, and fully mobilized.
		That expectation underpins our natural resilience.
		But today, that system is cracking.
		The help Americans rely on in their darkest hours is in danger of arriving late, underpowered, or not at all.
		She said, I've spent over 25 years responding to disasters.
		I know what it looks like when government rises to the moment.
		And I know the warning signs when it's about to fall short.
		And those signs are flashing right now.
		Since January, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which helps people before, during, and after disasters, has lost more than 20% of its permanent staff, its most experienced field-ready responders.
		Thousands of temporary employees remain on the job, but their contracts are running out.
		These are people trained to work with disaster survivors.
		FEMA cannot replace them or bring in new talent because of hiring restrictions.
		Local hires, who are once a flexible community-based option, now require many slow approvals.
		And FEMA Corps, which was meant to be a pipeline for young Americans trained to support response and recovery efforts, has been defunded.
		Contracts for evacuation, logistics shelter operations, and flood insurance agents have been allowed to expire.
		She says, compounding the crisis is a growing culture of fear and paralysis.
		FEMA staff members, as well as other federal workers, now hesitate to make basic decisions, worried that they'll be punished for acting without clearance.
		Those on the staff are told to stay in their lanes even when their work demands flexibility and urgency.
		Mr. Trump, she writes, recently announced his intention to phase out FEMA after the 2025 hurricane season and shift long-term recovery responsibilities to states or other parts of the federal government.
		That may appeal to those who want a smaller federal footprint, she says, but the reality is that states are not ready to absorb the role.
		And that's the heart of the problem.
		This isn't a thoughtful rebalancing of responsibilities.
		Critical government tasks are being dumped on state and local partners who are without the staffing, funding, and infrastructure to succeed.
		Yes, we do need to modernize, but recovery isn't a handoff.
		It's a partnership.
		Mary Ann Tierney in the New York Times today, again, former acting deputy administrator at FEMA 25 years in disaster response and recovery.
		If you want to read more, the New York Times is where to go.
		This is Brett out of Des Moines.
		Good morning.
		You are next.
unidentified		Good morning, John.
		I hope you're having a good morning.
		We're all praying for Texas.
		I remember the floods in 93, and we had plenty of time and didn't know it was all coming.
		So God bless USA, and work with our president.
		He's not perfect, but neither was the other ones.
		God bless you.
		Thank you, John.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Brett, remind me about the floods in 93.
unidentified		Oh, I worked at a little place called Walnut Creek Inn, and it's still going.
		I've been there for a long time now, but I've had to bring water home to my house because the water even shut down.
		You know, well, we thought that was horrible, but this is like 10 times worse.
		But if you look around the world, it's been getting that way for a long time.
		It's not so much climate change as much as it's our world, who we are in those times.
		And Jesus loves you all.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Brett out of Des Moines, Iowa.
		This is Jim Decatur, Illinois.
		Good morning.
		You are next.
unidentified		Good morning, Mr. McCarthy.
		I got a suggestion of an idea of something it could be.
		Last year, there were 1,700 space launches.
		This year, we're scheduled to go 2,000 space launches.
		I believe that that is affecting the upper atmosphere and causing this weather change.
		It's not just in Texas.
		Illinois has been crazy lately hot.
		And it's just a thought, but I don't know.
		That's all I got, John.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		It's Jim in Illinois.
		This is John in Connecticut.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Morning, John.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead, John.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Yeah, we're all praying for the people in Texas, the one that lost loved ones.
		Yeah, this is another tragedy.
		And I listened to your program since it started this morning, and the finger pointing's got to stop.
		It really does.
		That's the worst of what I'm hearing right now.
		No one has said anything about when the tragedy in East Palestine, Ohio, when it took former President Biden over a year to get there.
		Let's not do this.
		Let's just concentrate on what's happening in Texas, save these people, help these people.
		Yeah, there's a lot to be done in this country.
		Let's all work together and try and get it done instead of pointing fingers.
		Mr. Schumer shouldn't be doing that because that's just adding fuel to the fire.
		I'm sorry.
		I just hate this politics of our country right now in my life.
		I never experienced anything so awful right now when it comes to politics in our country right now.
		It's very disturbing.
		People got to come together.
		That's all I have to say, John.
		Thank you.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		John, before you go, when was the last time people came together?
unidentified		I wish I could answer that, sir.
		I really do.
		I wish we could come together and show unity throughout this country as a body.
		We're all Americans, John.
		You're an American.
		I'm American.
		We all live in the same space, just different states, whatever.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		John, no natural disaster is apples to apples, but we had flooding in.
		We had flooding in Asheville, North Carolina last year.
		Did people come together after those floods?
unidentified		Yes, well, they did.
		They helped each other.
		The people of North Carolina and from outside of North Carolina came together to help each other.
		I mean, the worst disaster I've ever experienced here in Connecticut was we had close to three feet of snow and we couldn't move and get out of our doorways.
		But we made it.
		But we had great neighbors, younger neighbors, because I'm 73, helping us out get out of our driveways and get our cars cleared.
		So I'm thankful for that.
		And I see it right now on the screen where the Cajun Navy is down there helping out these people from Texas and all over.
		There's a lot of good things going on right now in Texas by people that coming from all spots of the country helping out.
		And I'm proud of our America right now, the way we're sticking together at times.
		And there are bad times.
		We all know that.
		But I'm very proud of America right now.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's John in Connecticut this morning.
		This is Michael Ramirez, his editorial cartoon in today's Washington Post, simply, America mourns in memoriam of the Texas flood victims.
		202748-8000, if you're in Texas, to call in 202748-8001 if you have experience with natural disasters, especially flash floods, and 202748-8002 for all others.
		Go ahead and keep calling in as you're calling in.
		It's just after 7.30 on the East Coast.
		Did want to keep you updated on a few of the other stories that we're going to be talking about on today's Washington Journal, including this one, tariffs back on the front burner.
		It's the lead story in today's Washington Post.
		President Donald Trump yesterday threatened tariffs of between 25% and 40% on imports from some 14 different countries, including Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and Bangladesh, saying that negotiations are continuing on trade deals ahead of a new August 1st deadline for the implementation of tariffs.
		It was yesterday, also after that meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu on issues on the Middle East peace process that President Trump was also asked about the tariffs.
		This is what he had to say.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		We've already taken in over $100 million worth of tariffs, and we haven't even started.
		And all I say to the other countries is, you know, some of them wanted to make a deal and want to be fair.
		Others perhaps got a little bit spoiled.
		They were a little bit spoiled because for 30, 40 years, 50 years, they were taking advantage of the country.
		So we're going to, I would say final, but if they call with a different offer and if I like it, we'll do it.
		I would say firm.
		No, I would say firm, but not 100% firm.
		If they call up and they say would like to do something a different way, we're going to be open to that.
		But essentially, that's the way it is right now.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		President Trump, yesterday on tariffs, we're going to talk more about that in the 8 a.m. Eastern Hour.
		Daniel DeRocher of Politico, their international trade reporter, joining us for that discussion and taking your calls as well.
		But for this first segment of the Washington Journal, we're focusing on that tragedy in central Texas, the death toll from the flooding there, tops 100 dozens still missing and getting your reaction on special lines this morning.
		If you're a Texas resident, 202-748-8000.
		If you have experience with natural disasters, 202-748-8001.
		We want to hear your stories.
		All others, 202-748-8002.
		Jacqueline out of Philadelphia.
		Good morning.
		You are next.
unidentified		Hi, I'm a retired kindergarten teacher, and there's no way we would have gone to bed that night.
		The radios would have been on.
		That would have been part of the rehearsal.
		No way.
		And it's too late now.
		Everyone wants to say, well, this is what you should have done.
		You know, I'm very upset over.
		There should have been rehearsals, fire drills.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		You're talking particularly at that camp?
unidentified		Any camp, really.
		Any camp, that's what we would have done.
		That would have been something that I would have been required to do.
		Rehearsals.
		There's no way I would have gone to bed that night listening to the radio and hearing that was a flood prune the area.
		No way.
		I would have been out of there.
		But that's me.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Jacqueline in Philadelphia this morning.
		This is the message posted on Camp Mystic's website that Camp for Girls, where so much of the tragedy hit over the weekend.
		Camp Mystic is grieving the loss of 27 campers and counselors following the catastrophic flooding of the Guadalupe River.
		Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy.
		We are praying for them constantly.
		We have been in communication with local state authorities who are trying tirelessly to deploy extensive resources to search for our missing girls.
		We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of support from our community, first responders and officials at every level asking for continued prayers and respect and privacy for each of the families affected, saying, May the Lord continue to wrap his presence around all of us.
		The posting on Camp Mystic's website.
		It's Axius who has been noting some of the identities of those who have died in the tragedy, including, they note, Lenny McCowan.
		Eight-year-old Linny was from Austin where she attended Cassis Elementary School.
		Linny's father, Michael McCowan, told the Houston Chronicle that his daughter was a bubbly, spunky, and amazing big sister to her younger brother, George, and an amazing younger sister to her older brother, Bates.
		And Margaret Bellows, her family confirmed to the Houston Chronicle that the eight-year-old died at the floods at Camp Mystic.
		She was from Houston.
		Mary Stevens, eight-year-old Mary, was a Camp Mystic camper that her mother described as full of joy.
		Our world is shattered, but I have peace getting your letters and knowing you were having the time of your life at camp and had a dance party with all your friends before the Lord decided to take you.
		That was her mother, Stacey Stevens, writing in a social media post that was noted by the Austin American statesman.
		Renee Smashdrarla, a nine-year-old, was identified by her uncle as one of the Camp Mystic attendees who went missing and whose bodies has since been recovered.
		We're thankful that she was with her friends and having the time of her life.
		As evidenced by the pictures from yesterday, she will be forever living her best life at Camp Mystic, said the posting on Facebook.
		And Sarah Marsh, the eight-year-old Mountain Brook, Alabama girl, was attending Camp Mystic per the city's mayor.
		Quote, this is an unimaginable tragedy for her family, her school, and our entire community.
		Sarah's passing is a sorrow shared by all of us, and our hearts are with those who knew and loved her.
		And the stories go on from there.
		Axius noting some of those names and stories.
		This is Lynn in Rome, New York.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning, John.
		Last year, when North Carolina got hit real bad, didn't Maggie Taylor Greene say that the Democrats had a machine that could control the weather?
		And that when the Republicans got into office, they were going to take over that machine and we weren't going to have any more big storms like we did.
		Lynn, where do you remember hearing that?
		I remember seeing her post on Axe that said, and yes, the Democrats can control the weather.
		The ignorance of this country is what's killing us.
		Thank you.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		It's Lynn in New York.
		This is Steve out of Des Moines.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Hi, John.
		First time caller.
		I heard the other caller from Des Moines.
		During the flood in 93, we got inundated.
		The Des Moines River and the Raccoon River overflooded the water treatment plant.
		We lost drinking water, couldn't take showers.
		Anheuser-Busch out of St. Louis, we had they were bringing in trucking and water.
		So I just wanted to call.
		We had a Sailorville reservoir that went over the spillway and just caused great damage to the power infrastructure and everything in Des Moines.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Steve, do you remember the federal government response to that or the state government response?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And what do you remember about warnings and ability to communicate back in 93 before we had cell phones to be able to warn us?
unidentified		It was nothing.
		They never thought that the spillway would ever experience anything of that magnitude.
		When that water went over the dam at the Sailorville Dam, there was federal response.
		George Bush, I think, was the president, or I can't remember, back in 93.
		They were flying over.
		We had just tons of people coming in.
		But like I said, it was a city of over 150,000 people that lost their drinking water.
		We weren't able to shower.
		Everyone just, the water treatment plant was contaminated.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And Steve, I think it would have been Bill Clinton back in 93.
unidentified		Okay, that's who it was.
		And I believe there was a response by the federal government, too, because a lot of houses were flooded.
		I think it was the first time ever in history that a town the size of Des Moines lost its water, drinking water, and then Anheuser-Busch had to bring it in.
		So it's a tragedy.
		But like I said, all these floods and everything, first-time callers.
		So it's just, and when you can't take showers and you lose your water, I mean, that's, and luckily for Anheuser-Busch, they we still have, people still have cans where it came in.
		They stopped making beer and started producing water.
		So shout out to Anheuser-Busch.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Steve, sounds like you'll always appreciate what they did for you.
unidentified		Oh, absolutely.
		Yeah, without that water, and we need water to live.
		And Anheuser-Busch stepped up.
		And like I said, this bottled water, I think they were probably the first ones that they stopped production of beer and bought in tons of water in cans.
		So Steve, thanks for like I said, on these pictures, the worst thing about natural disasters, tornadoes, stuff like that, if you have never been seen it, I mean, just one glimpse of the TV just doesn't.
		If you've never been there and until you see it, like I've been through tornadoes, what you see on TV, and then when you're actually there on the scene of a tornado, it's horrible.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Steve, thanks for sharing your memories out of Des Moines.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		This is Lisa, Texas resident.
unidentified		Good morning.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Lisa, you with us?
unidentified		I'm a senior for tornado.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		One more try for Lisa, then we will go to Paul in Palm Desert, California.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead, Paul.
unidentified		I think it's pretty sad that these people in Texas were left there like sitting ducks to fend for themselves.
		I think it's reasonable that somebody in charge, some authority, should have issued an evacuation order at some point when they could have predicted that things were going to get worse.
		That's what happens when they have fires.
		The sheriffs or whoever in charge goes door to door.
		They say it's time to go.
		And if you don't go, you're on your own.
		Was that ever done?
		I don't believe it was.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Paul in California.
		This is Kathleen in Illinois.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
unidentified		How are you doing?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		I'm doing well.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead.
unidentified		Okay.
		First of all, my condolences go out to the family of the missing and the ones that have perished in this awful catastrophe.
		But I'm here to say, I just saw you play a clip of Ted Cruz saying, This is not the time to be pointing fingers.
		You're right, it's not the time.
		But pull up, just like you did, his thing.
		Who stopped pointing fingers about this catastrophe a couple of days ago when either he was getting on the plane to go golf or to get off the plane to do whatever he was doing?
		A reporter asked Donald Trump about this.
		What's the first thing that came out of Donald Trump's mouth?
		This is a Biden setup.
		Why would he do that?
		Biden is not in office.
		Trump is in office.
		Republicans are very hypocritical.
		When catastrophes like this happen, on their watch, don't talk about it.
		It's too soon.
		That's like with the shootings.
		But if a Democrat is in office, they jump on it right away.
		It's wrong.
		These are people that have lost their lives.
		We should all come together.
		But Ted Cool should go talk to his boss and tell him it starts at the top.
		He should have never came out.
		Biden didn't do this.
		Biden didn't do this.
		This was not up under Biden's watch.
		Biden didn't take away funds.
		It's on here now.
		Listen to him.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Kathleen in Illinois.
		This is Bob in Franklin, Indiana.
		Good morning.
		You are next.
unidentified		Yes, good morning.
		I'm a conservative Republican, and I'm just so saddened.
		There's a scripture in the Bible, and I try to apply that to my life each and every day.
		But it says that when the wicked rule, the people mourn.
		And it seems like every day there's more nasty going on.
		And it's not that the cuts are conservative.
		It's we're spending less on good programs and spending more on just nasty programs.
		And every day it's just more nasty going on all the time.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Bob, what's that?
		What's a nasty program?
		What's a good program?
unidentified		A good program would be something that protects people from natural disasters.
		Why would you want to cut those and then turn around and spend money on trying to throw people, good people, out of the country?
		You know, every and just being nasty to our allies, you know, taxing the poor people through these tariffs.
		You know, it's just every day, it's more nasty going on.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Bob, it sounds like you disagree with several of Donald Trump's initiatives.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Did you vote for him?
unidentified		I voted for him once, and I have voted Republican all my life.
		I couldn't vote for him the first time.
		The second time, It was an ignorant vote, but I couldn't vote for him this last time.
		I can't vote for Vile.
		My Bible tells me that I'm not to support a vile person.
		And I cannot support someone that violates the Constitution.
		Every day I pledge allegiance to the flag and to the Republic, which is a constitutional republic.
		I can't vote for someone that doesn't stand up for a Constitution, and I cannot vote for someone that is just plain vile.
		And I'm sorry to say that.
		It's sad because the Grand Old Party is just not being very grand these days.
		I hope someday we get back to being grand.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Franklin, Indiana.
		That's Bob.
		The caller, Lisa is back on the line in Texas.
		Lisa, are you there?
unidentified		Yes, good morning.
		I just have a couple of comments.
		I just found out yesterday that there were some people that I worked for that died in this storm.
		I think what bothers me the most is that, can you hear me okay?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Yes, ma'am.
unidentified		Okay, I'm sorry.
unidentified		What bothers me the most is that people want to sit on here and on social media, of course, and they want to politicize this when this shouldn't be.
bev harris ▲ ● ▼		I want to 30 years ago, people wouldn't have had the opportunity to be on Facebook or wherever or on here even blaming Trump, blaming the government, blaming our meteorologists that when the meteorologist did put the warnings out, I want to ask people, where is your empathy?
unidentified		If you're a Christian, especially, where is your empathy?
		Why are you doing this when we still have family members missing?
		The meteorologists were fully staffed that night and warnings went out.
		And I'm sure that after this is all over and they can find the missing, maybe they will look into this and try to do some, instead of being reactive, maybe be proactive.
		But I just don't think right now it's doing people any good to bitch and complain about what Trump did.
		I don't care what side of the party you're on.
		We don't need to hear that right now.
		We need to be praying for these families.
		These families, I feel sorry for them.
		They can see all these people on here attacking Trump or whoever.
		It does not matter.
		We need prayers.
		And I can tell you, we're going to need more help down here on the ground, just like North Carolina did with the recovery process and rebuilding.
		But I just wish people would ask themselves, you know, in other words, chew your words before you spit them out.
		And please think about these families.
		Thank you for letting me vent a little bit this morning.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Lisa, how far are you from where the floods occurred?
unidentified		Well, I live on the coast of Texas.
		So, you know, we've been through hurricanes, but I'm probably about three hours from Kerrville.
		But it's just the fact that I found out that, and even my boss, he's got some friends that are missing.
		And it's just terrible.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Lisa, very sorry for your loss.
		This is Carl in Washington, Pennsylvania.
		Good morning.
		You're next.
unidentified		Good morning, sir.
		This is Donald Trump's Katrina.
		People need to remember that while little children were dying and drowning in this blood, the chief executive was playing golf all day.
		Then he turns around and blames Biden.
		Biden hasn't been prison since January 20th, 2025.
		Is he not responsible for anything?
		That's my question.
		Is he responsible for anything?
		He takes responsibility for no one and nothing.
		And he's going to shop on Friday more thoughts and prayers like we have at these regular shootings across the country.
		They don't do much good, apparently.
		Thank you.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Carl in Washington, Pennsylvania.
		Less than 10 minutes left in this first segment of the Washington Journal this morning getting your reaction to those deadly Texas floods.
		Line for Texas residents, 202-748-8000.
		If you have experience with natural disasters, especially flash floods, 202-748-8001.
		All others, 202-748-8002.
		This is the story from USA Today polling in the field from USA Today on extreme weather before the floods took place.
		This polling from back in mid-June, but they found most Americans fear extreme weather is getting worse.
		It's a concern underscored by the rising death toll from the flash floods in central Texas.
		As rescue workers today frantically search for survivors in the Texas Hill Country, a third of those who were surveyed in June said that sometimes or often they worried that they themselves will be the victim of a disaster like a hurricane, a tornado, or a flood.
		A 58% majority predicted that extreme weather events will become more frequent in the near future, though views differed on partisan lines.
		An overwhelming 84% of Democrats felt that way compared to just 38% of Republicans.
		A few more numbers from the poll.
		Americans said that they felt the dangerous impacts of weather in their own lives.
		30% said they personally experienced extreme weather events in the previous month.
		57% said unusual weather had become more frequent compared to 10 years ago.
		51% said unusual weather had become more intense compared to 10 years ago.
		54% said extreme heat had gotten more intense.
		Again, some new polling out on Americans and extreme weather.
		This is Renee, Fort Worth, Texas.
		Good morning.
		You're next.
		Renee, you with us?
unidentified		Yes, I'm here.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead.
unidentified		Can you hear me?
		Yes, ma'am.
		I just want to say we're all Americans and we should be ashamed.
		I'm so sick of the blaming and taking sides.
		Just do what's right.
		They've gotten rid of the early warning system.
		It's not a blame for anybody.
		Gotten rid of FEMA.
		It's just we're getting rid of so much stuff and everybody wants to blame somebody else.
		It's just we're not doing anything for the people.
		We're doing everything for trying to get people out of the country and making up stories.
		There's so much lies and misinformation.
		It's just the same.
		I'm ashamed of America to put up with and take sides instead of just standing and doing what's right.
		It's unfortunate for those families.
		This can happen to any of us because climate change is real.
		We're still playing it like climate change is not real.
		I just wish we would be more honest with ourselves and stop repeating the lies and stand up against the lies and stand against hate.
		And that's all I have to say.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Renee in Fort Worth.
		This is Ricky out of South Carolina.
		Good morning.
		You're next.
unidentified		Yes, sir.
		Thanks for taking my call.
		I went through Hugo in 1989.
		Didn't experience no flooding, but uh, through the hurricane with 140 mile an hour wind and uh, thanks to, we were able to survive it.
		And uh, we uh need to uh uh get together and uh quit blaming the other party for not doing what they're supposed to.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Ricky, after Hugo, how much experience or how much interaction did you have with FEMA?
unidentified		None, any.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		With state officials and recovery officials?
unidentified		No sir, I did it on my own, with my neighbors.
		We took care of it and my insurance uh didn't come out uh, until about two or three months after that.
		We uh re-roofed the house and all that neighbors helping neighbors yeah, that's what, that's what you had to depend on and that's what it looks like they're doing in tech.
		You shouldn't depend the federal government to take care of your stuff.
		You've got neighbors that do that, and that's what I say, and people pointing fingers at President Trump that that's the caller.
		He calls that they're they're, they're terrible them, terrible people.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Thank you, it's Ricky.
		In South Carolina to Baltimore.
		This is Aaron.
unidentified		Good morning hey, good morning.
		Thank you for taking my call.
		Um, hearts and prayers go out to these uh victims of families of the flooding, and I just wanted to share my thoughts.
		Um, you know, I don't think, as everyone else has said, it doesn't make sense to blame anyone here.
		It's an act of God and there's, you know, no reason to bring politics into it.
		As an upcoming parent, we're looking at daycare centers and you know that's just one of the first things we're asking, what's your emergency plan, what's your evacuation plan?
		Where's your, your meeting place, in case there's uh, something to happen?
		So you know, I just think, if there's any questions to be asked, I'd like to know whoever's running this camp, like, why weren't those protocols in place?
		Thank you for the time.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		It's Aaron in Baltimore to Philly.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		This is Tamika.
unidentified		Good morning, Tamika.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		I can't hear you because I think your television's on.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Can you mute it and speak through the phone?
unidentified		I'll go, I'll go, I'll go, okay.
		Let me see.
		Is that better?
		How you doing?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead now, Tamika.
unidentified		Hi, how you doing this?
		My name is Tamika Hopkins.
		I'm calling up from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
		I would like to send my prayers out to the families who lost their lives and the ones who's trying to survive out there.
		I would just like to say a point about where people are coming with a lot of negative thoughts about the USA, about the president.
		People had to learn to understand that we have to unite together One, when we have these types of catastrophic situations, a lot of people are just trying to judge, it's like a lot of bitterness.
		And the president is really trying to hold people accountable for their actions if it is a malicious situation going on.
		People not thinking with their brains, they're not understanding that it's like people just jumping on each other, jumping on each other with bad, bad energy and stuff like that, bad lives.
		And these children really did lose their lives out here.
		These families lost loved ones that could never be replaced.
		And I like to say that as one.
		So nobody should be jumping on nobody.
		They should go to their head higher officials and start talking to these people, these governors, these mayors, these Congress council all over to get to the bottom line of these people with the Democratic parties, the independent parties, and the Republican parties, because they're not united.
		That's what we're supposed to do.
		We're supposed to be being united as one country, one nation, with all the nations, with all the different little countries.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Tamika and James, Akron, Ohio.
		Good morning.
		Go ahead.
unidentified		Yes.
		You know, I hear people talking about being united and all these different things, but you have to remember something.
		Right now is when all of this stuff is happening.
		And right now is the time that everybody should be complaining and talking about what's happening so that you can correct this problem.
		When the fires were in California, Donald Trump said the governor made the mistake.
		He didn't do this.
		He didn't do that.
		He's blaming everybody except himself.
		Here we have floods right now when he's gotten rid of most of the scientists and the people that would have been involved to give you an early warning to let you know this was going on.
		And this is his design.
		He doesn't want to spend money on anything that's going to help anybody except himself.
		So as he makes these efforts to save a few dollars so that he can give it in tax breaks, he's killing us.
		And then we have poor people out here trying to tell everybody, don't say anything right now.
		It's not the time.
		Well, I would like to know when is the time to say something to the government.
		Say when they can look right there and everybody can see that they're not doing their job.
		That's when you complain because when you complain and nothing's going on, nobody recognizes the problem.
		And right now, we have the worst administration that we've ever had when it came to helping poor people and trying to make things better for us.
		If anything he's done for us poor people is trying to exacerbate the problem that we have.
		I'm sorry, I didn't vote for Donald Trump, and I'm never willing to vote for anybody like that.
		Thank you.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's James in Akron, Ohio, our last caller in this first hour of the Washington Journal.
		Stick around, plenty more to talk about this morning, including a little later, we'll be joined by Daniel de Rocher, international trade reporter for Politico.
		We'll talk about trade and tariff policy.
		But first, it's the Washington Institute's David Makofsky on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington this week.
		Stick around for that discussion.
		We'll be right back.
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		C-SPAN, Democracy Unfiltered.
		Washington Journal continues.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And we welcome back to the program.
		David McCofsky is a distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute here in D.C., focusing on Arab-Israel issues, Middle East peace.
		Mr. Makofsky, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is in D.C. this week.
		Lots on the table for him to talk about with President Trump.
		What sort of expectations did you have coming in to this week of meetings?
		And what do you think will come from it?
unidentified		Look, this could be a rolling picture.
		I wouldn't be surprised if they do another round or two rounds this week.
		There's like three live wires kind of that they have to deal with different baskets.
		One is obviously the Gaza ceasefire question and the release of hostages and all that is connected That.
		Second is the whole issue of Iran in the wake of the U.S. attacks on Ford and the like, which is how do they envisage future, will there be negotiations with Iran about their nuclear program or not, or will there be repeated bombings by Israel?
		I don't think anyone envisages the United States getting more involved in this.
		And the third is the question of opportunities regionally for what they call expanding the Abraham Accords, which is something that Trump started in his first term, which is a series of peace normalization deals between Israel and Arab states.
		And what could be done with things that people couldn't even imagine in Washington a year ago, which is could there be a non-belligerency with the new Syria?
		It's not the Syria that was under Iran's thumb.
		Could there be some arrangements with the new Lebanon, which seemed fantastical to even consider when it was under Iran's thumb and under Hezbollah?
		These are things that are now in play.
		So I would say three different baskets.
		They have to sort through all of them.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Let me start on that first basket.
		How do you go?
		What's the path from ceasefire to peace in Gaza?
unidentified		Well, that's a great question.
		And the truth is that no one knows 100%.
		I mean, the plan now is to do a 60-day ceasefire where you would release half of the living hostages, which is about 10 of the 20.
		And it's a hellish situation for anyone who's left there, of course.
		There's also another 38 dead bodies that they're trying to retrieve.
		18 would come out in the 60 days.
		And the question is, if during this 60-day cooling off, could there be some understandings beyond the 60 days?
		Could there be a transition for a day after, so to speak, in a post-Hamas Gaza?
		And that is a huge question, which I'm happy to discuss with at length.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		What do both sides say they need to get to that peace?
unidentified		Well, basically, it's the right question, because right now, the problem is that all the negotiations seem very binary in that Hamas says, well, I know it's after 60 days.
		Israel's out of Gaza.
		And Israel says, well, I know what's after 60 days.
		Hamas is out of Gaza.
		So is there some situation that both are out of Gaza?
		Could there be, if Hamas really is disarmed, will there be the Palestinian Authority from the West Bank?
		Could they come in?
		Could there be Arab governments and security forces that would provide economic assistance to help start a reconstruction process and to alleviate a lot of the misery in Gaza?
		I mean, these are questions.
		And right now, each side has been very binary, saying, we know what has to happen.
		You have to leave.
		And until they solve that impasse, you know, negotiations in Doha, which we hear Steve Witkoff, the President's Middle East envoy, is going to now, you know, seems very limiting because they could agree on 60 days, but they can't agree much beyond that at this point.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		I'm staying on Gaza for another minute.
		In Gaza, this is the headline from the Washington Post front page.
		In Gaza, a fatal rush for aid in hot zones.
		U.S.-backed relief project routes crowds through militarized landscape.
		It's a story about an investigation they did into the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
		What is that for folks who don't know?
unidentified		Look, this is a huge point, and it's good that you're raising it.
		Look, it's clear that what Israel has seen is that it sees that the UN trucks are being hijacked by Hamas, and they're selling things on the black market to keep Hamas going.
		And so Israel's conclusion is Hamas not just embeds itself in a civilian population, the only army that wears a uniform during a ceasefire and takes them off during the fighting, but that they're using the aid in order to maintain their control over the Palestinian people.
		And so what the U.S. and Israel try to do is what about if you created a different type of an aid which was protected by a private security company and which would be focused both largely in the south but also in the north that would not be hijacked by Hamas.
		And they will say we have distributed over 50 million meals to Gazans.
		But there are organizations that say, yeah, but the security situation around it isn't good because people are rushing the aid and the security system isn't ready for that.
		Others will say, no, Hamas is firing at these people because they don't want to see an alternative humanitarian aid distribution program.
		So what we have is different versions.
		Journalists are trying to get at the heart of this.
		But there's differences.
		I would say to your question, though, John, that at the core of this idea is that Israel is clearly trying to look at southern Gaza, the area between Khan Yunis and Rafah, as a kind of with this thing called the Morag corridor between there and the Egyptian border as a Hamas-free zone.
		As to say, anything there are people who've been vetted.
		They are not out to kill anyone.
		Again, hard to do because Hamas doesn't wear uniforms.
		And so that's at the heart of the fight in Doha, too, in the negotiations, is is this zone going to be expanded as a no-go zone for Hamas and aid can be distributed freely or not?
		This is what they're discussing there.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		David McCoffsky is our guest of the Washington Institute, a distinguished fellow there taking your phone calls this morning as we go through a lot of issues related to Middle East peace, the U.S., Iran, Israel.
		And I want to move to Iran.
		There's been questions in this country about the effectiveness about the U.S. strikes in Iran.
		With Benjamin Netanyahu in town, what has he said about the effectiveness of strikes?
		What have Israeli intelligence officials told Israelis about the effectiveness of those strikes?
unidentified		I think that the tone coming out of the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission has been that the program has been set back a great amount.
		How much is a great amount?
		Is it years?
		I mean, you know, this is all being debated.
		I think the big issue is where's a stockpile of what's called 60% enriched uranium.
		It's about 400 kilo, 908 or something pounds of enriched uranium that at a certain point, if there is a reconstituted program, that would be used.
		I think it's pretty clear.
		I mean, the president likes to use the word totally obliterated.
		These words are going to be debated.
		But I think it's clear that the big facilities, Ford, Natans, Isfahan, which is the conversion plant, that those areas have, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency that is supposed to be the reputed expert, they have undergone severe, severe damage.
		So how many years, you know, we could debate it, but I do think there's no comparison to what was now.
		So it is a historic moment.
		And the question is, how do you seize upon that moment to create more stable arrangements going into the future?
		And that's why the issue of negotiations with Iran has come up.
		Will they agree to talk to the international community?
		Did the IAEA, the International Energy Agency, Atomic Energy Agency, on the basis of zero enrichment and surrendering their stockpile.
		Those are the big questions.
		And I think Netanyahu was saying, okay, I'll back off.
		I'll back off.
		But I want to see that this isn't just a time-wasting exercise.
		Talk to them.
		Trump claims last night that the Iranians asked for a meeting, and Steve Witkoff said, well, I'll meet them in a week or so, I think was the direct quote.
		So we'll see if those negotiations bear fruit.
		Some people think, no, they just want to waste time and Israel is going to be back at it.
		But I don't think the United States isn't going to be in the picture anymore.
		From our perspective, Ford was unique because only the B-2 bomber and something called the MOP, the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, could hit Ford.
		But now that it's been hit, I mean, Israel did 95% of the work in this war anyway.
		I don't expect the United States is going to be involved again.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Benjamin Netanyahu seemed optimistic that negotiations would bear fruit to the point where he nominated Donald Trump apparently for a Nobel Peace Prize.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Here's that moment from yesterday's meeting between President Trump and the Prime Minister.
benjamin netanyahu ▲ ● ▼		President has an extraordinary team, and I think our teams together make an extraordinary combination to meet challenges and seize opportunities.
unidentified		But the president has already realized great opportunities.
		He forged the Abraham Accords.
		He's forging peace as we speak in one country and one region after the other.
		So I want to present to you, Mr. President, the letter I sent to the Nobel Prize Committee.
benjamin netanyahu ▲ ● ▼		It's nominating you for the peace prize, which is well deserved.
unidentified		And you should get it.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		Thank you very much.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		This I didn't know.
unidentified		Well, thank you very much.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		Coming from you in particular, this is very meaningful.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		Thank you very much, Bibi.
unidentified		Thank you.
unidentified		Thank you for everything you're doing.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		Thank you.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		David Makofsky, what is that exchange?
		Thank you very much, Bibi.
		What does that say about the relationship between these two men?
unidentified		Well, look, I think Netanyahu and Trump have hit some rough times.
		I mean, he congratulated President Biden when he won his victory in November 2020.
		And then the president, you know, former president at the time, Trump, refused to speak to Netanyahu for the next almost four years as a result.
		I think Netanyahu is sometimes a bit unsure.
		He sometimes feels on eggshells.
		Sometimes they're very close.
		But I think sometimes this kind of gesture or a gesture where he gave him a gold-plated beeper after the whole Hezboa strike last year is that he's looking for ways to sometimes ingratiate himself with this president.
		But by the way, almost all the foreign leaders do the same thing, except for Zelensky.
		And I think that was a kind of a cautionary tale that no foreign leader wants to get on this president's bad side.
		So if, you know, Ty goes to the runner here that they feel if it's a question of what to do, it's to try to ingratiate themselves with this president.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Plenty more we can talk about, but let me bring in viewer calls.
		202-748-8000 for Democrats to call in.
		202-748-8001 for Republicans.
		Independence 202-748-8002.
		We've got about 35, 40 minutes left with David Makofsky of the Washington Institute.
		This is Max out of Silver Spring, Independent Silver Spring, Maryland, I should say.
unidentified		Go ahead.
		Hi, good morning.
		So I'd like to bring up the civilian death toll in Gaza since October 7th.
		I think it's pretty clear.
		I think we all understand that bombing civilians does not get rid of a terrorist organization.
		In fact, bombing civilians, making them hopeless, and living in despair for so long is what allowed Hamas, the terrorist organization, move in.
		That's what they do.
		They take advantage of those situations.
		And I think Netanyahu has taken advantage of this situation, of the fact that Hamas exists to do the ethnic cleansing on the Arab people in Gaza.
		It's also continuing in the West Bank, which we don't hear a lot about, but it's happening there too.
		And I know you're going to bring up October 7th, and that's certainly fair.
		But you also have to think about what the Zionists and what Israel has been doing to the Arab population there in the region since before the creation of Israel.
		And I'd like for you, sir, to talk about why bombing civilians, killing 50,000 men, women, and children indiscriminately is going to get rid of Hamas.
		Everybody knew that.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Got your point.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		David Mukowski, give you a chance to respond.
unidentified		All right, well, thank you very much.
		First of all, look, I've devoted my life to Israeli-Palestinian peace.
		I believe in coexistence.
		I've written books.
		I'm very much identified kind of with the two-state solution.
		I want dignity for both sides.
		There's a terrible tragedy.
		If one innocent person dies, it's one too many.
		The question here is, that's why there needs to be a day after.
		There needs to be a way out.
		The figures of the Hamas-based Gaza Health Ministry, I think, are in question.
		How many of those people are fighters?
		The Hamas Health Ministry does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants.
		Is the number 30,000 fighters and whatever the number is, there's still civilians who are suffering.
		And I think we have to know that.
		This is, like I said, this is not a state-to-state conflict where these people have thought a winning combination for them is to embed themselves in a civilian population.
		I totally reject the idea of genocide and these kinds of arguments because genocide means you need intent.
		I mean, the IDF has always dropped leaflets.
		Now, just this morning, they told people, Khaninas, please evacuate these zones because there's going to be an attack.
		And also, there have been humanitarian corridors.
		If you've been following this, and I mean, this was all on television.
		I mean, none of this is like secret stuff.
		You know, how do you get 1.1 million people out of the way in northern Gaza where there was bombing that they came to the south?
		That was in November 2023.
		How in May, June 2024, you get 1.4 million out of the Rafah corridor out so they don't get hurt.
		So I think this idea that it's all indiscriminate is really unfair.
		And there needs to be ways to minimize, you want to bring the suffering to an end.
		We want to bring this war to an end so that they have dignity.
		And that's why I think bringing the Palestinian Authority back to Gaza with funding from the Arab world and maybe some security assistance is the best way to do it.
		You're not going to bomb your way out of this problem.
		But, you know, none of us in America, we wouldn't live with this kind of a group that just fires rockets at our civilian population and hides them in schools and mosques and hospitals and says that they are immune, that they found a winning formula.
		So this is like a problem set from hell that I don't wish on anyone.
		And I just wish for a more dignified future for both Palestinians and Israelis alike.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		You said you believe in a two-state solution.
		How popular is the idea of a two-state solution in Israel?
		Is that something that's more popular from those who are outside looking in than the parties involved?
unidentified		It's true.
		No, you're right.
		You're putting your finger on something very important.
		Look, for an American audience watching this, we got to define it as this.
		If a Palestinian state was Costa Rica, they would all sign up in Israel to say, great, let them have Costa Rica next door, a demilitarized state.
		They don't believe it, that that's really what a two-state solution will look like.
		In 2007, and I'm not just trying to bring up the past, but 2007 is where we're living in in a certain way, is Hamas, because Hamas out-muscled, outmaneuvered FATA, the Palestinian Authority, the mainstream group, and they threw them out of Gaza.
		And so Israel said, wait a second, we've made a deal with the Palestinian Authority with Fatah, and now Hamas has overtaken it.
		And these guys don't want to live in a two-state.
		So the Israelis would say, wait a second, if I didn't like the book in Gaza, do I want to see the movie in the West Bank?
		Is that really the future?
		I don't believe in this stuff.
		So there's a sense of disbelief, and you can understand that.
		And so therefore, the whole idea of two states is each side has to feel they're more secure and they're not more vulnerable.
		And that is what has not been resolved.
		I mean, to put this in sports terms, and I worked in the Obama administration for John Kerry.
		You know, we tried to hit the home run ball on the two states.
		And before us, Condoleezza Rice tried, and before her, Bill Clinton tried.
		The United States had three efforts to try to create a two-state solution.
		I was part of the third effort working for the Secretary of State.
		And my feeling was, you know, it was a noble effort that we were engaged in to try to reach that two-states.
		But when you try to swing for the fences, you know, you could strike out.
		And sometimes you have to hit some singles and doubles.
		You can't always go for the home run ball.
		We have to think differently.
		Abraham Lincoln said, you know, we have to think anew, we have to act anew.
		And I think the idea of a regional dimension of this, trying to have peace also with Saudi Arabia and some of the other Arab states could contextualize this in a way that there would be much more resources at this and that Hamas would not be able to exploit this always for its purposes of violence and terror.
		So we need to think differently than we've thought in the past.
		This wasn't a possibility in the past.
		I don't think there was a failure of imaginations.
		The Arabs just weren't ready at the time, but they're ready now.
		And so we got to think in a way that would bring more security.
		But I think it would be a very wrong characterization of a listener to say, oh, these just people, all they want to do is bomb and kill.
		That's not what we're talking about.
		Most people want to know one thing.
		What makes me and my family safe?
		And whoever can offer that most convincingly, most people will take.
		Doesn't mean that you won't have ideologues at the edges of this football field, so to speak, in the end zones.
		But most people want to be in the middle of the field.
		They just want to be safe.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		This is Brittany waiting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Independent Line.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, you're on with David Makowski.
unidentified		Hi, good morning, Mr. Makowski.
		My question or I guess opinion about the two-state solution is that I feel like it's kind of a dead on arrival consideration.
		I really believe that at this point, considering what's been going on in the West Bank, it seems like the one-state solution is the only real option in order for the Palestinians to remain on that land and the Israelis that are there.
		I don't know how much each side would want that, but that seems like the only real option.
		This doesn't seem to be rocket science to me.
		It's been a very simple answer since 1947.
		You can't occupy people indefinitely in increasingly inhumane conditions and think that that will have any good results that come from it.
		As an American learning about this, I become very ashamed and extremely disturbed by what the United States has been perpetuating for this long, including what goes on in the UN, what's constantly vetoing any resolutions to this, and just all the diplomatic cover.
		I mean, the fact that Benjamin Netanyahu is in this country and we have no inclination to arrest him as we should.
		It's just, it's very weird and it sets this tone for the entire world.
		And it's not a good reflection of the United States and the human rights that we claim to uphold.
		But I believe that, sorry, ending the occupation would be the only way to end Hamas and all these other groups that come up.
		People that are oppressed are going to resort to means to liberate themselves.
		I'm not agreeing with violence, but this is not anything new that's happened.
		This happens throughout history.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Well, Brittany, I got your point.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		David Makofsky.
unidentified		All right, so look, I would say here, I mean, the word occupation, I think she's talking about the West Bank being occupied.
		I mean, the idea of one state is to throw together two people who have their own nationalist aspirations.
		Israel wants itself as a Jewish state, of course, with equal rights for its own citizens.
		The Palestinians want a Palestinian state.
		The idea is, like, you would say here, America and Mexico become one state.
		Just work it out.
		Somehow, you don't speak the same language.
		You have, you know, very different nationalist aspirations, but just figure it out.
		You know, the hard right in Israel also uses the word one state solution.
		It's used both by the hard right and by people who are more on the left side in that left end zone, I would call it.
		And yet they mean very different things.
		They use the same words.
		They use the same words.
		They say one state.
		But when the hard right says it, they mean Israel dominates everything.
		And people, others say one state is just give it up.
		Just create a binational state, figure it out.
		You don't speak the same language.
		You have traumas that have inflicted a lot of pain on each other.
		But somehow it'll come together.
		No one has come up with a blueprint how this is going to work, by the way.
		Nobody.
		And yet they throw around slogans that sound nice on television without knowing what it means.
		And so with respect, I really think you can't tell the Palestinians, oh, they don't have a right to their aspirations.
		And Israel, you don't have a right to your aspirations.
		The land has to be partitioned, and the goal is to have dignity for both sides.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		If you were to go to WashingtonInstitute.org and check out your bio, it says this in your bio.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		In the last several years, David Makofsky has made over 120 visits to American college campuses.
unidentified		Over 200 now.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Over 200 now to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has done a TED talk on that issue to a college audience.
		Certainly a fraught topic on college campuses.
		What is the message that you bring to this talk?
unidentified		I often go with a Palestinian colleague, Raithel Omari, who was on the Palestinian negotiating team.
		And what we try to do is to model kind of, you know, civic discourse that, you know, that basically focus on the idea of what is realistic here, what could be achieved, not just slogans, and how can we promote the idea of coexistence?
		Because there's a lot of shouting at each other on campuses.
		And we just want to bring down the temperature and have like a more of a rational kind of discourse.
		But from someone who was on the Palestinian negotiating team, I was on the American negotiating team.
		We both care deeply about the Israeli-Palestinian issue.
		And our view is, you know, just, you know, try to get people to just stay cool and discuss it.
		Because in the Mideast, too often, it's just, it's all emotion.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Is that getting harder to do on American Tower campuses?
unidentified		Oh, it's much harder.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Why?
unidentified		It's harder because people don't always want to hear, like, you know, hear the possible policy arrangements.
		They often want to vent feelings in a way that does not always connect to policy outcomes.
		And our goal is, you know, is more light, less heat.
		And we just keep repeating that: more light, less heat.
		And let's talk about the zone of the possible.
		How do we build a zone for coexistence?
		How do we bring in the Arab world, Europeans, and certainly led by the United States, which is the leader in the Middle East?
		What could be done to enlarge the circle of coexistence?
		So, yeah, it's much harder after October the 7th because it's heat, not light, that often dominates the discourse.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Larry, Albany, Georgia, Democrat, good morning.
unidentified		Yes, I want to make two quick statements.
		I saw that the president from Israel was here talking to the president.
		And the president knows he wants that Nobel Peace Prize.
		But I want to make two statements.
		Number one, we are Americans and we believe in peace.
		But what Donald Trump has done is the people in Ukraine, which we as American citizens donated money to help save these people.
		And Donald Trump has turned his back on Ukraine.
		And the reason he turned his back on Ukraine is because of the fact that he wanted to take the uranium or something from him.
		And now, one more thing about the Gaza Spill.
		The Gaza Spit, BB is killing a lot of Palestinians, and President Trump is not trying to make peace.
		And what I want to tell you is this: BB said that he felt like Donald Trump should have the Nobel Peace Prize.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And Larry, we played that clip.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Let me come back to Ukraine for a second and how the war in Ukraine has impacted how it's cast a shadow on what's going on in the Middle East.
unidentified		Look, it's hard to know.
		I don't claim to be an expert on the Ukraine, so I'm going to start with that.
		You know, I was glad at least to see the president say yesterday about the need for at least defensive weapons, which he hasn't always been saying recently, to help the Ukrainian people.
		I think that there has been a connection where the Iranians have been giving drones to Russia that they have fired at Ukraine.
		I was wondering in the 12-day war between Iran and Israel if Russia would try to come to Iran's defense because of the drone production.
		And Iran was pretty much isolated.
		Neither Russia nor China came to it.
		And I think that's because they came to the conclusion they have other fish to fry.
		So I think that's a point worth noting.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Damien Laurel, Maryland, Republican, good morning.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		You're next with David Makovsky.
unidentified		Hi.
		Very interesting.
		My thing is the way I see it, it looks like Gaza is just going to have to become part of Israel and the Palestinians are going to have to have some autonomy.
		They're going to have to do the law of their independence.
		I think that's the only way it's going to work this.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And Damien, we're losing you, but back to the idea of one state versus two states.
unidentified		Yeah, yeah.
		Look, I don't think Israel wants to annex two million Palestinians.
		And the Israeli military is also very much aware of its own limitations.
		I mean, you have people doing 300, 400 days of reserve duty since October the 7th.
		The army does not want to become the military occupier of Gaza.
		So I do think we need to think about transition to a post-war situation, but not one where, you know, the problem is that Hamas, in the Middle East, the people who fire the shots call the shots.
		And that's for Americans.
		It's very alien to us because we have government.
		We have federal government.
		We have state government.
		But in the Middle East, Hezbollah, let's say, in Lebanon, they were not formerly the government, but they had the weapons.
		So they told the Lebanese government what to do.
		Now, actually, after the defeat of Hezbollah, the Lebanese government, for the first time, has a chance in 40 years to reestablish sovereignty over their own state.
		So the question will be is, has Hamas lost that kind of veto by loss of its weaponry that enables Gazans to have a better future?
		Maybe they want the Palestinian Authority to come from the West Bank and not to be terrorized by Hamas.
		So this is a question, but I don't think Israel wants to occupy them.
		I think they got out in 2005 and they don't want to go back.
		I think they see this as a temporary deal and they want to get out.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Talking about the history of Israel, David Makofsky, one of your books from 2019, Be Strong and of Good Courage, How Israel's Most Important Leaders Shaped Its Destiny.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		If there was a Mount Rushmore in Israel, who are the leaders that would be on Israel's Mount Rushmore?
unidentified		I love that question because it's a term that I've thought of myself.
		And look, we chose four leaders.
		David Ben-Gurion, who established the state in 1948, was an autodidact, totally self-taught.
		He spoke, I think, 13 languages and believed that this Jewish state, which maybe the Arab states all rejected in the 1947 UN partition plan, will somehow find its place and Arab-Israeli coexistence would take root.
		Menachem Begin, who had a partner in Anmur Sadat of Egypt, Anmur Sadat was a visionary, and he thought, look, there have been all these cycles of wars, 1948, 56, 67, 73.
		I'm going to break from that.
		I'm going to go to the Knesset.
		I'm going to go to the parliament.
		And Begin, who might have was a right-of-center leader, but actually was a partner with Sadat.
		He said, okay, Israel will pull out of the Sinai if it gets peace.
		Again, they just want to know if they pull out of land, are they more secure?
		They're more vulnerable.
		And Begin, because he had these right-wing credentials, it's kind of like Nixon going to China.
		He was the one who did this with Sadat.
		And I thought that that took courage to go against some people in his base, too.
		Third, I think Yitzchak Rabin, who was, I had the privilege of traveling with Rabin, and it was like being in the presence of Israel's de Gaulle.
		He was this soldier statesman who believed he had won the 1967 war where Israel had an electrifying move at one on all three fronts against Arab states, but thought, hey, cash it in.
		If you could secure Israel as a democratic and Jewish state, then give up the land.
		You know, you're going to maybe have to amputate an arm to save the body, but it's worth it.
		And Rabin had that stature.
		And I'll never forget being on the White House lawn here under President Clinton in 1993 when the handshake happened with Rabin and Arafat.
		Tragically, he was assassinated by a fanatic in Israel because of his beliefs.
		But for me, he's very much at the top.
		Ariel Sharon was someone who was a soldier all of his life, yet in 2005, he was the one who told Israelis, you don't want to be an occupier.
		Israel should get out of Gaza.
		He was the architect of the settlements in Gaza when he was the head of the southern commander in 1971.
		But in 2005, he said, enough, let's get out.
		I built the settlements in a different era before there was peace with Egypt in 1979, and before Sadat came to the Knesset.
		We don't need these settlements.
		And that took courage.
		So these are people who all had to say sometimes tough things to their own people.
		But that's why they're up on Mount Rushmore for me.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		So with that said, how do you think Benjamin Netanyahu, 20, 30 years from now, will compare to those four men?
unidentified		That's a great question.
		Great question.
		I don't know.
		I think Netanyahu's self-image is that he, all of his life, all of his professional life, I know for an American audience, this will sound strange because we're not used to people being on the kind of the political stage so long.
		But in Israel, you know, Netanyahu started in 84, around then as the, well, before that, he was the DCM, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Israeli Embassy in Washington.
		But really, when he became ambassador of the UN, he becomes prime minister in 96.
		And really in the mid-90s, he hears about the Iranian nuclear program.
		And he says, like, this is my role in life.
		I'm going to save the Jewish people from, you know, annihilation.
		So there'll never be another Holocaust like there was with the Nazis.
		And so I think in many ways, what has just happened in the last few weeks, he seizes as the ultimate vindication is this was his dream that the nuclear program is in tatters.
		You could argue, but it could be reconstituted at some point.
		Yes, I mean, look, in 1981, Israel hit the Iraqi nuclear reactor.
		In 2007, it hit the Syrian nuclear reactor.
		And the media, within a few weeks, said, oh, but it could be reconstituted really quickly.
		It was never reconstituted.
		By the way, both of those regimes fell, both in Syria and in Iraq.
		But anyway, the point is, is I think Netanyahu's sense of himself is more as averting danger as he sees it.
		Does he want to be now consolidate that and say, okay, now I want to turn all these battlefield successes into a stable peace?
		I think, sure, he would love to be the guy to preside over normalization with Saudi Arabia.
		Him and Trump view this as the Super Bowl of all peace agreements, that this is not just one Nobel Prize, two Nobel Prizes maybe, that this is the end of the Arab-Sunni war with Israel from 1948 because there's 56 Muslim states.
		You get Saudi Arabia, you've gotten, you know, you have ended that Arab-Sunni state war with Israel for over 75 years.
		So, does he want that?
		He definitely does.
		But you've also got to solve the Palestinian issue.
		And I think here, his ideological base, he is not willing to defy them in the way that Begin did and the way that Sharon did.
		And that's what sets him apart.
		So, can he do the big macro piece?
		Yes, the Saudi deal.
		But the Saudis have said since October 7th, look, we have a public too.
		And even while the crown prince tells everybody who meets them, I don't really care about the Palestinian people.
		They've had 100 chances and they missed every single one of them.
		And the American media never focuses on all the chances.
		But whatever it is, it is, you know, and I'm the leader of the Arab world and the Muslim world of Saudi Arabia.
		They need something as a part of that deal.
		And I don't know if he could do that component.
		I think if he had a different government that he would say, the two hard right ministers, Ben Vir, Smotrich, these two guys, I'm going to create a unity government in Israel that excludes the hard right, maybe he could do it.
		Because I think alone he's more pragmatic.
		But he has prioritized his coalition at times over this.
		So he would love to do the Super Bowl of all peace agreements, the World Cup, the World Series, the Stanley Cup.
		Call whatever you wish.
		This is the granddaddy of the grandmother of all peace agreements.
		And he would love to do that, but he's got to solve this component to it as well.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		We're trying to get a couple more calls in this.
		Bethany, Connecticut, Republican line, good morning.
		Thanks for waiting.
unidentified		Yeah, I would just like to say, we give Israel foreign aid carte blanche.
		We've been doing it for years.
		But when we have a natural disaster like what's going on in Texas now, the money's nowhere to be found.
		And that's all I have to say.
		Thank you very much.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Dave McCoskey, where do you want to take that?
unidentified		Look, I think that, I mean, look, first of all, your hearts have to go out to these families in Texas.
		I mean, it makes you cry to see these children in these camps who are just the victims of these floods.
		The amount of money that goes to foreign aid in America is less than, I think, a half of 1%.
		I think it's really unfair characterization as if, you know, 90% of America, the budget goes there.
		It's not even half of 1%.
		I'm talking about foreign aid to the whole world, by the way, not just to Israel.
		So I just think that's a mischaracterization.
		We could do both.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		To Dave in Chicago, Independent, good morning.
unidentified		Good morning, gentlemen.
		Thank you for taking my call.
		Mr. Makovsky, just wanted to ask you as an expert, how do you think it is that, you know, whatever we think of it, I guess as Americans, how do you think it is that Israel has come to its position of influence over American foreign policy?
		And, you know, related to that, now we're in a situation where the U.S. authorized, obviously, airstrikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.
		Where does that go?
		And do you think that the relationship between the U.S. and Israel, as it's played out over the past couple of years in Gaza, has lessened the credibility of both countries?
		I guess what I'm worried about is supposing that you really do think a Jewish state is important, is this good?
		Are we in a good place for that to continue?
		Okay, that's a lot of questions.
		I would, look, on the last point, if I could, no.
		I mean, I clearly would like, like I said, devoted myself to the idea of a peace process.
		I feel that there needs to be a more stable future here.
		And there's no real substitute except to bring the Palestinian Authority back from the West Bank into Gaza.
		Are there problems with them?
		There are.
		Are there corruption allegations?
		There are.
		Is Abbas 89 years old and they should be replaced by a more vigorous leader who's younger?
		There should be.
		So I know how imperfect the PA is, but I know that Hamas is 100,000 times worse.
		And so, you know, you can't make the perfect the enemy of the good.
		And so that's why I hope that we go to the next phase here on Gaza, because, you know, I know how destabilizing Hamas is, but if you don't kind of consolidate this into a more peaceful, stable arrangement, it's just going to be perpetual conflict.
		I'd like to have the other question.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Where did Hamas come from?
unidentified		Hamas really was, you can go way back to Saad Qutub.
		There was a Muslim Brotherhood and, you know, who was, they had a critique of Arab nationalism going back to the 1950s that said Nasser and all these other Arab leaders were secular and this and Islam is the answer.
		And the Muslim Brotherhood has often, in Egypt, they were briefly in power after the Arab Spring of 2011 and then General Sisi came in into Egypt.
		Really, Gaza is really one of the only places where they've really taken hold of government.
		They have been suppressed in Egypt and in other places in the Arab world that sees them as very destabilizing.
		Hamas has viewed itself as the kind of the Gaza chapter of the Brotherhood.
		Now, in the late 70s, it was focused on more good works, on charity and things like that, on social welfare in certain places.
		And there actually, Israel was supportive of that when it was doing good charity works.
		But with the start of the first Intifada in 1987, it decided, no, no, no, the only pathway is violence.
		That's the only way you win.
		So in some ways, it's a civil war against the Palestinian movement ever since that first.
		But by its leadership of the first intifada against Israel in Gaza, it kind of grew politically.
		But they have never joined what's called the PLO, the Palestine Liberation Organization, which is the political framework of the Palestinian Authority, because the PLO's view is two states, and they don't accept two states.
		They don't accept Israel the size of a telephone booth on a Tel Aviv beach.
		They just think Israel is a cancer, an illegitimate entity, and the only way to deal with it is to kill them all.
		And have they made claims to certain modifications?
		They have never come and said that they want to coexist with Israel in any way.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		I'm trying to get one more call.
		This is Sam.
		Been waiting in Baltimore.
		Line for Democrats.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Good morning to the guests.
		I have two points.
		The first is there's been a steady sort of drip-drip drip, which really doesn't make the news cycle where the right has pushed into settlements and these eras have been started.
		The second more important point is that I understand that Netanyahu, and I got this from the Washington Post or the New York Times, that Netanyahu has financially supported Hamas to keep them viable.
		So he'd have a reason not to have a two-state solution because, ah, here's my enemy.
		I don't know what happened with that terrible event with October 7th there, but I'm surprised that that was able to happen with as sophisticated as the Israeli military is with being able to see their borders and all.
		But the more important question, please, sir, is to address Netanyahu's support of Hamas and how that's kept this idea with.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Sam, got it.
unidentified		Yeah, no, it's a great question.
		Look, what happened is, and I, you know, I've been critical also of Netanyahu that he's not tried to bolster the Palestinian Authority.
		Like I said, Hamas threw out the Palestinian Authority, even threw them off literally off rooftops in Gaza in 2007 and says, you are out.
		You're gone.
		We are running this Gaza by ourselves.
		And could you have reunited them under an invigorated peace process?
		You know, could the PA have reasserted control?
		This is a debatable point.
		I think what happened, though, is the security services in Israel said, look, there's a problem here, is that the lid is going to blow off Gaza.
		Unless someone puts money in, you're going to need at least 30 million a month.
		By the way, the PA took funding away from Hamas at that time.
		That 30 million that they took away because Hamas tried to kill them.
		Israel said, well, let's see what could be restored.
		Israel went to the Qataris.
		Qatar is a controversial actor in this whole drama.
		But Qatar was the only Arab state that was willing to put in $30 million a month.
		The original plan, which the security services supported, was give to you indigent cases, give to humanitarian cases.
		But that worked for a few years.
		And then by 2019, though, it is true what the caller's point was that Hamas said, no, no, we want at least a third of the money because banks won't handle the money because they're afraid to be sued in American courts.
		A third of the 30 million, like 10 million a month, that you give in suitcases to Hamas itself.
		And Netanyahu was on the verge of his election.
		I think one of things quiet.
		And he acceded to the modification of the terms of the Qataris monthly payments to Gaza.
		And I think that was a huge mistake.
		And when you add it together, people say, yeah, but there wasn't enough to bolster the Palestinian Authority in all this.
		And I would agree with that assertion.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		David Makovsky, a conversation that will likely continue down the road, but always appreciate your time with the Washington Institute.
		If you want to check out his work, WashingtonInstitute.org is where you can find it.
		Thanks for coming.
unidentified		And also on Twitter, if I could throw in a plug at David Makovsky on X. Easy enough to find.
unidentified		Thank you.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Coming up next, Daniel DeRocher joins us, International Trade Reporter at Politico.
		We'll discuss the latest this week on trade and tariff policy.
		Stick around.
		We'll be right back.
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john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		A focus now on trade and the latest on tariffs from the White House.
		We're joined in this segment by Politico's international trade reporter Daniel DeRocher.
		And just start by explaining what we were expecting to happen this week when it came to tariffs, what happened yesterday, and now what we're expecting on August 1st.
unidentified		Yeah, thanks for having me.
		It's been kind of a whiplash.
		I think the expectation going in, you know, there was uncertainty because President Trump kept talking about wanting to send letters out to people with just giving them a number, but then you had some of his top trade officials who were saying, oh no, this might actually get pushed back.
		And so what was theoretically supposed to happen was the reciprocal tariffs that President Trump announced on so-called Liberation Day, these higher rates between 20 and 50.
		They were supposed to go into effect today or tomorrow, July 9th.
		And so we were thinking that, you know, those who hadn't made trade deals, these were going to kick into effect.
		They were going to have to start paying a higher rate.
		But the White House, again, had been talking a little bit about pushing that back.
		And that's really what we saw.
		We saw about 14 letters go out to various countries, you know, from Myanmar to Japan, just kind of laying out, here's the rate that we want you to pay, which is similar to the reciprocal rate that he put into effect on Liberation Day.
		But we won't make you pay it until August 1st.
		And it was a kind of, you know, a have it both ways of, you know, we're still going to keep negotiating.
		We're going to push this higher rate off until a month from now in case that there's a deal before then.
		But we're serious about trying to impose a rate on you, and here's the rate.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		What's your read on the 14 countries whose letters President Trump posted to his own True Social page?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Are these the countries that the White House is most interested in making a deal in before August?
unidentified		I wouldn't necessarily say that.
		It was really a kind of grab bag of countries.
		A lot of them were from Asia, but there were also some African countries and European countries like Serbia.
		And I think it was mostly, you know, they were saying that it was the countries that hadn't engaged as much with this trade negotiation process.
		You know, when you talk to those countries, they say, well, we were trying to get a meeting and they just wouldn't meet with us.
		And so there's varying opinions there.
		But the real big one was Japan and South Korea.
		These are two major trading partners, two major allies for the U.S. and important allies in the Pacific.
		And they weren't necessarily happy that they were included in that first list of countries.
		They got letters rather than a sign of progress like the EU got, because the EU didn't get a letter and they've been negotiating back and forth.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		For viewers not on True Social, I want to show them what it looks like.
		It was about a page and a quarter's worth of text.
		This is the letter from President Trump to various leaders.
		It's very much in President Trump's voice.
		If you listen to him and read the letter, here's an example of what he said to the leaders of Japan and South Korea in their individual letters.
		If you wish to open your heretofore closed trading markets to the United States and eliminate your tariff and non-tariff policies and trade barriers, we will perhaps consider an adjustment to this letter.
		Japan, South Korea, some of our closest international partners in Asia, what were your thoughts specifically on the tariffs put on those countries?
		Potential tariffs, I should say.
unidentified		Yeah, well, the threat of tariffs, I guess.
		Well, we've known that the negotiation hasn't been going particularly well with those two countries.
		So, first of all, South Korea was in the middle of an election.
		You know, the president was thrown out of office earlier this year, and so they were trying to reform their government, and that makes it really hard to strike any type of trade agreement in the first place.
		And so, once they had a new leader in position, they've been trying to negotiate, but there are still challenges.
		Japan has made it really clear all along that it wants the auto tariffs dropped.
		And those are the 25% tariffs on automobiles and auto parts that the president has put into effect.
		There's a really long laundry list of tariffs, and sometimes it's hard to keep track of all of them.
		And so, they've said that they, you know, that has to be on the table.
		They really want that lowered.
		That's a difficult negotiation because you have the American auto industry, and they don't want it to be cheaper for imports from Japan or South Korea to come in than automobiles or auto parts that are made in North America.
		And so, you have this kind of tension there.
		There really wasn't that much progress that was happening.
		There were issues on agriculture as well.
		President Trump posted on social media about how Japan wouldn't accept more U.S. rice, and he couldn't understand why.
		And so, it just seemed like they were in a sour note.
		The president has also asked for them to increase their defense spending, and that met resistance as well.
		And so, I think it was a little bit of a message, right?
		He was sending a message that, hey, I don't think that these negotiations are going particularly well.
		You're on notice.
		This is what's going to happen if you don't kind of give more in our direction.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And President Trump was asked about the tariffs late yesterday.
		This was after his meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, taking questions from reporters.
		This is about 45 seconds of the president.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		We've already taken in over $100 million worth of tariffs, and we haven't even started.
		And all I say to the other countries is: you know, some of them wanted to make a deal and want to be fair.
		Perhaps got a little bit spoiled.
		They were a little bit spoiled because for 30, 40 years, 50 years, they were taking advantage of the country.
		So we're going to, I would say final, but if they call with a different offer, and if I like it, we'll do it.
		I would say firm.
		No, I would say firm, but not 100% firm.
		If they call up and they say would like to do something a different way, we're going to be open to that.
		But essentially, that's the way it is right now.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		President Trump yesterday talking about deals, negotiations.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		How many trade deals has the Trump administration made since coming into office?
unidentified		Well, how do you define a trade deal?
		I think the administration claims three deals.
		And, you know, you can quibble over whether or not they're actually deals.
		But you have the United Kingdom.
		That was the first one out of the gate.
		And it was kind of an agreement to continue to negotiate.
		They laid down a framework of what they've kind of agreed to.
		There was lower tariffs for a certain set of automobiles that are specifically coming from the UK, lower rates for steel from the UK.
		And then they made a commitment to purchase U.S. agriculture.
		And so that was the first kind of framework and agreement.
		They throw China into the deal bucket, although that is kind of more contentious.
		Obviously, there were really, really high tariff rates between the two countries.
		They were able to negotiate those lower.
		You know, I would call it more of a ceasefire in a trade war.
		And then they had a kind of second round where they made sure that the exports were still moving between the two countries, but there's a higher, you know, a higher tariff rate right now than there was before.
		And then last week, we had a deal with Vietnam, and that one laid out that Vietnam would have a 20% tariff on their goods and 40% if it's coming from China.
		And that was actually higher than the status quo, right?
		We were probably at 10% with the current tariffs that were in place, and now Vietnam is going to be at 20%.
		And so it kind of sent a signal about the administration's pretty adamant that it will be putting tariffs on these goods and that it'll potentially be as high as 20%.
		And in some cases, they've threatened as high as 40%.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Tariffs and trade policy is our topic.
		It's just after 9 o'clock on the East Coast, and we are joined by Daniel DeRocher, a politico-international trade reporter there.
		Taking your questions.
		Phone lines, as usual.
		Democrats, 202-748-8000.
		Republicans, 202-748-8001.
		Independents, 2027-8002.
		It's a busy world covering trade policy, and he's happy to help guide us through it.
		Greg is up first out of Tampa.
		Line for Democrats.
		Good morning.
unidentified		E.S., good morning.
unidentified		How are you doing, sir?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Doing well.
		Go ahead.
		You're on with Daniel DeRocher.
unidentified		I actually think that I have more of a statement than I do a question.
		This is a suggestion for all the countries that Mr. Trump is trying to set up all these trade policies with.
		For all those countries, they need to tell Mr. Trump to take those trade deals and shove them up his butt.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		That's Greg in Tampa.
		It begs the question, how do countries who are negotiating with the Trump administration or have made the three deals that you talk about, how do they sell it back home?
		How has it been received back home?
unidentified		I think that's the real challenge.
		And that is probably why we don't have more deals, right?
		In any sort of trade deal, both sides want to be able to claim victory, right?
		They want to be able to say, look, I made the best deal possible for our country.
		And when you start getting into some of the kind of trickier areas where the administration wants to touch, say, agriculture, that's really hard to kind of sell to your people, right?
		Particularly because a lot of countries try to protect their farmers.
		They try to protect that sort of industry.
		You know, way back in the day when the U.S. was trying to negotiate another deal with the EU, there was a fight over chlorinated chicken.
		And it was the EU's version of saying, you know, oh, you don't want to take chicken from the U.S. because it's all chlorinated.
		They have these unhealthy processes and you want real EU chicken.
		And so it's really easy to kind of shape the rhetoric around these sorts of issues.
		And so that's the real challenge.
		You know, I think countries are also, though, having to take the administration seriously.
		I mean, they have followed through on their threats of tariffs for the most part.
		I mean, we've only seen reciprocal tariffs for about 12 hours.
		For the most part, it's just been a 10% baseline.
		But they've also followed through on their, you know, their sectoral tariffs, and he's made various threats.
		And if he does actually go through with tariffs as high as 50% or as high as they were on China, we saw that take effect and really slow the imports that were coming from China in particular.
		And that would be devastating to a lot of economies.
		They're reliant upon the U.S. market.
		It's a major factor here.
		And so what we're seeing countries grapple with is this, like, well, how far can we push?
		How much can we get them to concede?
		But we do have to take him seriously, even as Wall Street's been doing this, you know, Trump always chickens out trade.
		They're taking him seriously despite what Wall Street's doing.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		A minute ago, I think it was Japan or South Korea, I forget which one.
		You were talking about how one of the factors was domestic defense spending by that country.
		How does domestic defense spending, why does that get included in a trade or tariff negotiation?
unidentified		Everything's trade.
		No, I think that the president really likes tariffs, and he likes tariffs as a tool to try and bring people to the table and to squeeze out concessions from them.
		And he's been, the example of this is the EU, right?
		He's been pushing the EU to, or European countries to step up their defense spending for a while.
		And he finally got a commitment of 5%.
		He was thrilled, right?
		That was a great thing that he was able to accomplish.
		And he's been trying to do the same with some of these Asian countries, and they're not necessarily budging in the same way.
		So if he can threaten tariffs, if he can say, you know, that automobile industry is really important to you, Japan, well, I'm going to tariff the heck out of it, then you kind of have a cudgel to try and bring them to the table a little bit more.
		It's kind of the classic Trump tactic of, you know, you threaten the hammer and you hope and you see how much you might be able to get from people.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Jason in Perlin, Texas, Independent.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Good morning.
unidentified		Hi, good morning.
		Thanks for having me on.
		I just wanted to ask a question because we don't hear a whole lot about software jobs, IT jobs going overseas, and what ways can we do to protect those kind of jobs tariff-wise or any other kind of manner?
		Yeah, so I think that that's actually part of the deal with India, or it's one of the things that is being discussed in negotiations with India.
		They want to make sure that there's some sorts of protections for IT jobs and IT products.
		But yeah, I mean, I think that the administration's looking at specific sectors, and you're right, software isn't necessarily one of the sectors that they're focused on.
		But we, you know, I think that that would be a matter of, you know, folks having to take it to the administration saying, you know, there's a real national security risk, or it's really important that we have these software jobs in the U.S. and we should figure out a way to apply a tariff to maintain that.
		There are mechanisms, and this administration has been pretty open to trying to preserve certain jobs that they view valuable enough or important enough to national security that you never know.
		It might end up being back on the table, or there might be things in some of these deals where the software jobs are going to try and bring more of those jobs back to the U.S.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		A headline from Time magazine on the latest on trade: Trump threatens an extra 10% tariff for countries aligning themselves with anti-American BRICS policies.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		What is BRICS?
unidentified		That is a coalition of kind of up-and-coming countries, economies.
		That was the word I was looking for.
		So it's Brazil, Russia, India, and China.
		And some countries are either engaging with them or not engaging with them.
		And so it's really a threat.
		He's basically saying, because there's a risk diplomatically here.
		And we're already kind of seeing it happen where if you're threatening all these tariffs, countries will be like, okay, fine, we don't need to play with you.
		We'll go play with somebody else.
		And they'll make deals with other countries and they'll try to boost their trade in other countries.
		And we're already seeing some of that accelerate in this moment.
		And so I think it's also his attempt to try and say, you know, don't go do anything with those guys.
		You know, you still have to come to me.
		And, you know, there are a lot of different moving pieces here.
		And he's trying to make sure that the U.S. market is still the one that everybody wants to be engaged with and wants to come to.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Wayne, Rocky Mountain, North Carolina, line for Democrats.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Good morning.
unidentified		Hi, good morning.
		I was just curious.
		When I listened to the president talk about tariffs, I understand that the money basically is coming out of the American people's pockets when these tariffs are increased.
		You know, isn't that just like what you just said a minute ago, forcing these other countries to just look for other markets?
		That's all I have to say.
		Yeah, and so, yes, tariffs are, if you talk to economists, tariffs are attacks on people or on companies because it depends on who's swallowing it, right?
		Whether it's the person who's bringing the good into the country or whether they're passing the cost off on to consumers.
		But generally, it tends to raise prices.
		We will see how high prices go.
		We're already seeing them pick up in certain areas, like in cars, a lot in kind of products like shoes and t-shirts, that sort of thing.
		And so we'll see where they continue to rise.
		But yes, I mean, that is generally the effect.
		He talks about the money that's being brought in, but either that money is being paid for or is coming from someone.
		And it's usually either the business or the consumer.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Jim, Texas, good morning.
		Line for Republicans.
		Go ahead.
unidentified		Hello, thank you for taking my call.
		I have a couple of points I'd like to point out.
		First, the tariffs are a tax on the U.S. citizens, and they just gave us a big tax cut.
		So basically, what they're doing is robbing Peter to pay Paul, aren't they?
		And number two, your first caller, who talked about the fact that the rest of the world is telling Trump to shove it was the term that he used.
		Yeah.
		Shove it.
		I think Trump is teaching the rest of the world a very interesting, serious lesson that they can live without us.
		They don't need us.
		We're not that important.
		We don't think we're that.
		We think we're that important, but we really aren't.
		That's all I have to say.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Daniel DeRocher.
unidentified		Yeah, I mean, I think diplomatically we're in a kind of challenging period with countries figuring out where things fit, how much they can rely on the U.S., that sort of thing.
		But I do think that, you know, the president campaigned on this.
		He has been pretty clear that he wants to be more protectionist.
		He wants to put America first.
		I mean, that's really a key proponent of his agenda, and he won the election.
		And so I think that, yes, we are seeing this, and yes, we're seeing a kind of shakeup of the world order in some ways.
		But I also think that the president has been clear about it all along.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		We talked already about three trade deals that have been made.
		14 letters go out yesterday to 14 other countries.
		At some point, we were talking about, the White House was talking about 90 deals in 90 days.
		The headline from your story last week, he likes the game too much.
		Why Trump is not sweating his lack of trade deals?
		Explain.
unidentified		So there's this kind of inherent tension that's going on, I think, with all these trade deals, right?
		You have this president who has defined himself as a deal maker.
		He's the deal man.
		He is the author of the book, The Art of the Deal, right?
		But then he's also this guy who really, really, really likes tariffs.
		For the longest time, he was saying, oh, yes, it's my fourth favorite word after wife and God.
		And he's been so consistent about his appreciation of tariffs.
		He's said that we should be tariffing countries more since the 1980s.
		And so those two things don't often work together, right?
		If you're going to have really high tariffs, it makes it harder to also have a deal.
		And so I think that when you talk to Republicans on Capitol Hill, they say, yes, yes, yes, he's just doing this because he's trying to open new markets to other countries.
		But what we're really seeing is he's going to maintain a higher tariff level.
		It's going to be probably higher than it was before.
		The best deal so far, it's 10%.
		And so when that happens, because there's a goal here, he wants to try and use tariffs to, one, bring in more money, and he wants to use tariffs to try and reshore American industries.
		When that happens, it's hard to make a really kind of substantive deal that is going to be approved by Congress.
		It's going to be seen as a free trade deal that both sides say, yes, this really kind of reshaped things for the future.
		And so what we're seeing more are kind of these purchasing agreements or these will lower the tariff rates a little.
		They're not necessarily the kind of big, larger, grander things like we saw during Trump's first administration with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, which was an overhaul of NAFTA, which Trump had railed against and needed the approval of Congress.
		I don't think we're going to see anything, or it's unlikely that we're going to see anything that's as big or as ambitious as USMCA this time around.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Does that mean that these deals are less likely to be lasting past a Trump administration?
unidentified		I think so.
		I think because you're not going to get congressional approval, and that makes it more difficult.
		And there are some areas where they might be able to make a bilateral trade agreement.
		India is one in particular that they hope to make a bilateral trade agreement with that would look kind of like the agreement that they made with Japan during Trump's first term.
		But he made that agreement with Japan during the first term, and now we're back.
		He's sending letters threatening higher tariffs.
		He's tariffing automobiles.
		And so, yeah, I mean, I think that countries have to be asking, how much is this going to stick?
		Even if we do secure an agreement, we haven't seen any paperwork for the Vietnam deal.
		We haven't seen any paperwork for the China deal.
		How lasting will they be?
		Who's to say that he won't just say, ah, I'm annoyed at you today.
		I'm going to put a 50% tariff on you.
		There's really kind of no framework here that can assure you that he's negotiating in good faith.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Christina in Massachusetts line for Democrats.
		Good morning.
		Thanks for waiting.
unidentified		Good morning, and thank you for taking my call.
		I just wanted to say, you know, Trump can really make all the deals he wants with these countries, which we all know what it is.
		But if I was the people of those countries, citizens of those countries, I wouldn't buy anything after he bullied and insulted my country that said made in the USA, if you understand what I'm saying.
		Why would people from those countries buy anything marked made in the USA after Trump has bullied and insulted their countries?
		I wouldn't do it.
		And I think we've actually already seen that, right?
		Particularly with Canada.
		You know, Trump was really aggressively going after Canada, saying he wants to make it the 51st state.
		He was ridiculing former Prime Minister Trudeau.
		And the Canadians responded.
		I mean, besides just booing the U.S. national anthem at hockey games and basketball games, they have basically pulled U.S. liquor off their shelves.
		People are actively not trying to purchase U.S. products up there.
		And people aren't traveling to the U.S. at the same rate that they once did.
		I know my family is from New England, and they're just seeing less Canadian tourist visitors, that sort of thing.
		And so it really is having an impact.
		And that's not something that lowering a tariff rate couldn't do.
		Canada kind of has lower rates right now than most other countries because if it goes through the existing trade deal, it's not tariffed.
		And yet we're still seeing these kind of lingering effects and these challenges with the Canadian market because of just the rhetoric that has come out of the White House.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		John in Massachusetts is on the line for independence.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Good morning.
unidentified		Thank you for taking my call.
		This is the continuation of Anglo-American colonizing.
		From Zimbabwe to Africa, we've colonized all these countries.
		We put bases on all parts of the continent.
		And this trade is nothing but thievery and mob.
		They take our tax money.
		We use it to murder other people in other countries.
		And then we threaten them.
		Oh, if we don't do this, you don't do that.
		This is nothing but colonialism.
		It's a continuation of colonialism in the Gaza Strip for resources.
		Resources.
		This is it.
		We're murdering people for profit for the Wall Street oligarchs, your corporations.
		And then they take our money and they give themselves tax breaks.
		This is treason.
		This is called.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Well, John, we'll take your point.
		Just a few minutes left with Daniel de Rocher here.
		I want to come back to what happened yesterday.
		14 letters go out to different countries, at least the ones that President Trump posted on his true social page.
		Which one was most interesting to you or maybe least expected?
unidentified		Well, first of all, it was interesting that they were all form letters, right?
		He was sending them to everybody.
		He was just kind of changing the country, who it was addressed to and the tariff rate.
		I mean, it was telling that Japan and South Korea were on there.
		They're really, really important trading partners.
		That matters.
		Kazakhstan, Malaysia.
		There were just some kind of random countries.
		Myanmar particular was a kind of interesting one.
		The U.S. hasn't been negotiating with them since 2021 when there was a coup to overtake the democratically elected president there.
		And so the idea that they could even engage prior to this, and now they have a 40% tariff, like it was just a kind of, it was one that made me raise my eyebrows the same way that on Liberation Day, Lesotho was raising my eyebrows because they had a 50% tariff or some of the territories of countries that were on the list where maybe there wasn't any human beings living, right?
		Like it was just one of those where we don't do that much trade with Myanmar.
		It's interesting that it's in the first batch of letters.
		And It makes one wonder, you know, how much rhyme and reason is there here.
		How methodical are they being about how they're laying this out and which letters are coming when?
		I mean, the Japan and South Korea ones were posted at 1 a.m., I think, in Tokyo in Seoul time.
		And so, you know, there are questions about how thoughtful is this about how the other countries will receive any of these orders.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		What are you watching for today?
unidentified		More letters, of course, right?
		We want to see other countries.
		I mean, the biggest ones, the two biggest things that are hanging in the air.
		One, a deal with the EU.
		The EU is obviously a massive trading partner.
		They've been really working towards trying to accomplish something.
		They've been getting more comfortable with the fact that they're going to have to swallow at least a 10% tariff.
		But there are all kinds of sectoral tariffs, the tariffs on specific industries like pharmaceuticals or semiconductors or pharmaceuticals is a really big one that is hanging over the EU and makes them kind of cagey about how do we get a deal if those aren't going to come down.
		And then Wall Street is also worth watching.
		I mean, we're kind of seeing the straight to VHS sequel to the Liberation Day here.
		He's setting all these rates all over again, giving a deadline.
		And how are they going to respond to this?
		Because last time that kind of pulled him back from imposing these, particularly the bond market.
		And so I think that we're going to have to kind of keep watching how Wall Street navigates this, particularly because they've gotten a little jaded.
		They've kind of said, okay, yeah, he's doing tariffs, but they've generally stayed at the same level.
		And we'll just have to see what actually happens.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Last call for you is Craig out of Nashville, Republican line.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Thanks for waiting.
unidentified		Yeah, I feel like that I'm so proud of President Trump for standing up for America.
		And I think we should stop buying all this foreign stuff and have made in America signs everywhere.
		And people be proud to buy stuff made in America.
		A buddy of mine was, he's an entertainer.
		He was in Canada.
		And he said that there's signs everywhere, everything made in Canada here.
		And how proud they are of that.
		Well, we need to do the same thing here.
		And we need to put these people to work because we got too many people sitting around.
		And we're basically living off of our grandchildren's taxes.
		So that's my opinion.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Daniel DeRocher, give the final minute here.
unidentified		Yeah, and I do think that that's the goal for President Trump is he wants to see more products that are made in America.
		Obviously, reshoring every industry is really challenging, right?
		There are some things that are done in Asia for very low cost that would be challenging to do in the U.S.
		But we are living in the middle of a big trade experiment.
		We haven't seen tariff rates this high since the 1930s.
		And there have been some predictions that have been right, some predictions that have been wrong.
		And we're going to kind of continue to watch this play out.
		And anybody who says they know where this is going is probably lying because there's still a lot to unfold here.
		And we'll see how successful the administration is in boosting that made in the USA line of products.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And a good place to watch it, playoutpolitico.com and check out Daniel DeRocher's stories.
		He's the international trade reporter there.
		And we appreciate your time.
		Thank you.
		Coming up in the last 40 minutes or so here on the Washington Journal today, it's open forum.
		Any public policy issue, any political issue that you want to talk about, phone lines are yours to do so.
		Numbers are on the screen.
		Go ahead and start calling you now.
		And we will get to your calls right after the break.
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		This fall, C-SPAN presents Ceasefire, where the shouting stops and the conversation begins in a town where partisan fighting prevails.
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		This show and C-SPAN is one of the few places left in America where you actually have left and right coming together to talk and argue.
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		Sometimes I get to do fun things like go on C-SPAN.
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		That's why I like to come on C-SPAN is because this is one of the last places where people are actually having conversations, even people who disagree.
		Shows that you can have a television network that can try to be objective.
		Thank C-SPAN for all you do.
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john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		About 35 minutes left in our program today in that time.
		Open forum.
		Any public policy issue, any political issue that you want to talk about, here's how you can call in.
		Democrats 202-748-8000.
		Republicans 202-748-8001.
		Independents 202-748-8002.
		As you're calling in in this open forum, we want to return for a few minutes to the tragedy in Texas, the floods there.
		This morning, the headlines noting that more than 100 people have now died.
		To talk more about it, we're joined by E ⁇ E News climate reporter Chelsea Harvey.
		Her story at eenews.net.
		Texas flood forecasts were accurate, but it wasn't enough to save lives.
		Ms. Harvey, why wasn't accurate forecasts here enough to save lives?
unidentified		Yeah, I think, you know, forecasts and warnings from the National Weather Service, they only go so far.
		So in this case, the science was on point.
		The forecasts were accurate.
		The warnings, they all went out when they should have gone out.
		But, you know, there's also responsibility on the part of local authorities.
		And so, you know, this particular case, there was a very big challenge in that the most urgent alerts were going out in the middle of the night.
		This was also a rural area.
		You know, people have to have their phones on, they have to have alerts enabled, they have to have cell phone service.
		If they don't have service, they have to have a NOAA weather radio.
		And, you know, if there are failures in any of those cases, then it's on authorities to be ensuring that the warnings are reaching people and that they know what to do and they understand the dangers and they know how to get to safety.
		So I think that was the issue here.
		The forecasts, they did what they were supposed to do, and there were still people who were not getting the warnings.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		In your story, one National Weather Service employee referred to it as the last mile of communication.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Explain what that term means.
unidentified		Yeah, exactly.
		I mean, so everything starts with the National Weather Service.
		They put the forecast together, they issue the warnings, and then there has to be coordination with local authorities or with emergency managers to ensure that those folks understand what the dangers are, where the dangers are, how to communicate them to the public, how to coordinate evacuations, when and where.
		There's definitely communication at all steps between National Weather Service meteorologists and the people who are out there on the ground making sure that the public knows what to do.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Yesterday, the Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer put a letter out to the Inspector General Office at the Department of Commerce looking into whether National Weather Service offices were adequately staffed ahead of these storms.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		What have you been able to find out on that front?
unidentified		Right.
		So there were two National Weather Service offices that were serving most of the affected communities in Texas.
		Both of those offices did have vacancies in some key roles on staff.
		So there are certain top positions that aid in coordination between meteorologists and with local authorities.
		So both offices were missing some key roles.
		They did not have permanent people on staff in those roles.
		That said, what I have heard is that during this disaster, both offices called all hands on deck.
		So they did have adequate numbers of meteorologists on staff.
		The right number of people were at work when they should have been at work.
		But it is true that there were some key vacancies in terms of those positions.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And then that's the forecasting side, now the recovery and response side.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		What do we know about FEMA staffing, FEMA funding, and concerns there by some federal leaders about whether it will be enough?
unidentified		That's a great question.
		I think there are big open questions right now about FEMA.
		Of course, over the last few months, the Trump administration has proposed big overhauls of FEMA.
		We still don't know exactly how those changes will shake out.
		If they do, the proposals have generally suggested that states will become more responsible for more extreme weather events.
		In this case, President Trump has approved a major disaster declaration.
		So that has already gone through.
		But I think there is a big question right now about, this is the biggest disaster that has happened so far on the Trump administration's watch.
		So are these overhauls of FEMA still on the table?
		Is this going to change anything?
		And I think that that does still remain to be seen.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And then finally, as a climate reporter at ENE News, as you look at the questions, and it played out in the first hour of our program today when callers were calling in about this topic, what this will mean for debates about climate science, some callers saying that this is not something that will change their views on climate change.
unidentified		Ian, I think that this is a very prime example of exactly the kind of event that is worsening with climate change.
		The science is very, very clear on that.
		Extreme rainfall events, they are worsening as global temperatures rise.
		This exact type of event is only expected to happen more frequently and to grow more intense in the future.
		The science is very clear on that.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		President Trump referred to it as a once-in-a-hundred-year storm.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Why do we seem to be getting more and more once-in-a-hundred-year disaster, whether it's a storm or a hurricane or another natural weather event?
unidentified		Yeah, I mean, there are all kinds of extreme weather events that are worsened by climate change.
		You know, as global temperatures rise, heat waves are getting worse, hurricanes are intensifying.
		In the case of extreme rainfall events, like what caused these floods, it's simple physics.
		A warmer atmosphere can hold more water.
		In this case, also, the Gulf, the water temperatures in the Gulf are growing warmer, and that allows more moisture to seep into the atmosphere and then condense into clouds over Texas.
		And that's exactly what we saw in this case.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		ENE News covers all these topics.
		It's eenews.net.
		If you want to read Chelsea Harvey's latest story on this, Texas flood forecasts were accurate.
		It wasn't enough to save lives.
		What are you working on next?
unidentified		Oh, I'll be continuing to do Texas coverage, so stay tuned.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Eenews.net is where you can go.
		Thanks so much for your time this morning.
		I appreciate it.
unidentified		Thanks for having me.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And now your phone calls in open forum.
		Jane's up first out of Augusta, Maine, Republican line.
		Jane, good morning.
unidentified		Hi, John.
		This is Jane, and I appreciate the presentation of your past speaker about disaster preparation, because I've been a camp cook a long time ago at a camp up in northern Maine.
		But I just wanted to reiterate, I was on the call on June 7th, and I'm a registered licensed dietician, and I've worked in many facilities, nursing home, food service, and fast food restaurants, too.
		And I just wanted to bring up a suggestion about topics, address possible guests.
dana bash ▲ ● ▼		Workplace bullying and nutrition both have been really in the news lately, and they both affect individuals.
unidentified		And my two guests for C-SPAN, I haven't seen them in your log, is the Workplace Bullying Institute.
unidentified		This is Dr. Gary and Ruth Niami.
dana bash ▲ ● ▼		And they've been around since 1997.
unidentified		And they have an estate initiative among the workplace states.
		It's called WBAA.
		It's the Workplace Bullying Accountability Act.
		And my second guest for a recommendation, who I've not seen, is a representative of AND.
		AND is the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
		I haven't seen anything from them or them as a guest regarding this SNAP and Medicaid and health care debate.
		So thank you very much for your time.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Jane, thank you for the suggestions.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Always appreciate it.
unidentified		Okay.
		Bye.
		Thank you.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Constance in Chesapeake, Virginia.
		Democrat, good morning.
		It's open forum.
		What's on your mind?
unidentified		Well, I'm upset at our country right now and everybody because we have not been helping Ukraine.
		We need to help Ukraine.
		This Brotherhood that Trump seems to have with Putin is disgusting and sickening.
		So, I mean, this, he has, I'm going to thank Trump for one thing: exposing all the criminality that we can see in our own government and the UN, because Putin should have been dealt with years ago.
		And these oil companies are the reason we're having global warming, and they don't want us blaming them, but it is their fault.
denise in florida ▲ ● ▼		And Duke Pont, we've all stood by and let them poison the world with plastics.
unidentified		So, when is justice ever going to show up?
denise in florida ▲ ● ▼		I want our country to have good law, but all we've got is law that only helps the big corporations and craps on all the little people.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Constance, on your first topic, a headline from Politico just within the past 24 hours, and one of our earlier guests mentioned it: halted military aid for Ukraine may start flowing again is the headline.
		High-level meetings between U.S. and Ukrainian officials this week could unfurl some of the weapon shipments paused by the United States.
		That's the story.
unidentified		So, we're going to finally give them some stuff to help them.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		The keywords there may and could in that headline and sub-headline.
denise in florida ▲ ● ▼		Well, the thing is, we have a chance for a World War II moment where we could be heroes again and do something right, and we've just thrown it away.
unidentified		I respect my father fought in World War II as a bombardier and a navigator and all that.
		And I have respect for our allies.
		I love our allies.
		I am insulted for our allies by this ridiculous orange man.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Constance in Virginia.
		This is Tim in the Buckeye State Independent.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Go ahead.
unidentified		Hello.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead, Tim.
unidentified		Okay, how are you doing?
		My name is Tim, and I'm coming from an open forum.
		I listen to C-SPAN every day, and the hypocrisy and the way you say Republicans, how they point the finger and say, oh, it's Obama's fault, it's Biden's fault.
		But then when you look at the things that go on in this country today, and it's so obvious that the hate and the discord and the division that's coming from the administrator in the office right now, it's sad to see people defend that and say that that's not it.
		It's always the other side.
		And I just, I listen to C-SPAN every day, and it's just unbelievable how I hear people call in and make those statements.
		And it's totally not true.
		And I just wanted to share that.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Tim in Ohio.
		This is May out of California, Republican.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Hi, my name's Maisie.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Maisie, go ahead.
unidentified		Okay.
		So I, on my mind, is Indigenous people.
		And I want to give a shout out to our former President Biden because he appointed two Indigenous peoples to the, let me think, Secretary of the Interior, I believe, is Deb Holland, and another one that I just heard about the other day.
		I can't remember what it was.
		And I bet you can look it up, John.
		Anyway, that's on my mind.
		And then for the disabled people, some of which Trump maligns, like he says, oh, all these people are coming over from Mexico that are mentally this and that.
		I'd like to point towards his own brother.
		I don't mean to be insensitive as he's listening in.
		He says he does, but that, you know, he had a brother named Fred who passed from alcoholism at the age of, I'm not sure, but it was under 40, I believe.
		And that's, I think, considered a mental illness anyway.
		And then I just wanted to ask, yeah, why the disabled people, when they're getting their SSI checks, for example, they're not allowed to earn any savings, which my dad was always like, you know, get credit, get savings.
		Well, you can't have, I believe it's more than $2,000 in the bank if you're getting SSI or maybe Medi-Cal, sir.
		And so it just doesn't seem fair to me that people can't build any wealth or equity and still maybe have a little help if they have a disability like PTSD or whatever word you want to use.
		So I'd like to address that with Mr. Trump, you know, write him a letter about it because I feel the whole system, quote-unquote system my mom used to talk about is unfair to the disabled.
		We can't build any wealth.
		We can't buy any property or even buy a lipstick or something.
		Anyway, blah, blah, blah.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And they, when you say we, do you have personal experience?
unidentified		Yes.
unidentified		Yes, I do.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Do you want to talk about it?
unidentified		Well, sure.
		I mean, oh, gosh.
		I was diagnosed in my 20s as bipolar, and so I was given Section 8 housing.
		So my rent was at that time in the 80s, late 80s.
		It was $200 a month.
		And the area I was in, the going rate was probably at that time $1,500 for an apartment.
		So once you get a check that's like maybe $900 and your rent's $200, you have $700 to spend on fancy haircuts.
		And, you know, you run around, but you don't, I was never given a path towards employment, a path towards savings, a path towards credit.
		Even maybe my parents were running that for me.
		But anyway, so then off and on, I've been on medication.
		I've been off medication.
		I've been successful off it, on it.
		I always tried to work because I wanted to be like the normal working people, et cetera.
		And I had difficulty with that.
		I did do a lot of child care.
		I wound up working as a peer counselor in mental health, which is not a well-paid job, unfortunately, but it's very valuable.
		I've worked as a caregiver, a nanny, many, many things that, you know, helped people.
		And at the same time, I didn't know how to help myself financially.
		So the financials are huge, as most people know.
		And then I'm embarrassed to say I've never paid taxes since about the early 80s because I never had the income to support paying taxes.
		So when all the people here are calling you and telling you, I don't want my tax money to go towards this and that.
		And I'm also against what's going on in Gaza.
		And I don't want my tax money going there, but I don't pay any taxes.
		So I feel I'm out of the loop.
		So the whole thing I'm trying to say is the disabled would like to be in the loop, get some equity, get some money.
		And of course, the indigenous people need that as well.
		Black people need reparations.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		I appreciate a lot of topics you're bringing up, but I appreciate you sharing your story.
		I've got some other folks waiting.
		We'll talk to you again in about a month.
		This is Naomi in Maryland.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Hi, good morning.
		I just want to say thank you to all the people who tried to rescue everybody during that flood.
		But I'm not hearing enough talk that Mr. Trump fired over 800 people in NOAA.
		Over 800.
		Now, you don't fire all those people and expect nothing is going to happen.
		There was one man who was the coordinator.
		He was there for 32 years.
		He was the guy that coordinated the warning signals with all the smaller offices across the country.
		And also, Mr. Trump, he decided, well, we don't need weather balloons anymore.
		Now, the weather balloons that would fly throughout the country in different states, they forecasted things like, oh, there's going to be a hurricane in two months or in one month or in one week.
		When you fire those people and you don't have that information, what do you think is going to happen?
		And that's the problem.
		They don't think.
		They didn't think.
		I guess all of this relates to this Big Bad Beautiful bill, right?
		There's eight, it seemed to me that what people are reporting is 8% of people don't know the truth about this.
		I don't hear the truth enough.
		And I have a message for everybody, and this has been on my mind for quite some time.
		If you want to protect yourself and your family, turn off Fox.
		I think that Fox is one of the most dangerous stations and the most dangerous that people are facing because they're not learning the truth.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Naomi, do you ever go to the BBC?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		What do you think of the BBC?
unidentified		Yes, I would recommend people have choices.
		You have PBS, you have BBC, you have NPR, you have MSNBC, you have C-SPAN, CNN.
		Those are choices that people certainly can choose to learn the truth because you're not going to be able to protect yourself and your family from weather, from any kind of tragedies, unless you know what the truth is.
		And that's my message.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Naomi, on cuts that the Trump administration have made impact in the National Weather Service.
		This is the BBC article.
		Did U.S. government cuts contribute to flood tragedy?
		BBC examined the impact of the cuts under Trump, and while there have been a reduction in the workforce at the National Weather Service, experts that we spoke to, they said, said that staffing on hand for the Texas flood appears to have been adequate.
		The Trump administration has proposed a 25% cut to the $6.1 billion budget at NOAA, the agency which oversees the National Weather Service.
		Though these cuts do not take effect until October, staffing levels at the National Weather Service have already been separately reduced by the Trump administration's wider personnel cuts, which began in January, they note.
		In total, the National Weather Service lost 600 of its 4,200 staff, according to Tom Fahey, the director of the National Weather Service Union, causing several offices across the country to operate without the necessary staffing.
		But Andy Hazelton, a climate scientist who modeled Hurricane Pass for NOAA until he was fired during the layoffs in February, says of the Texas floods, I don't think the staffing issues contributed directly to this event.
		They got the watches and they got the warnings out.
		That's from the BBC story, their take on cuts and the Texas tragedy.
		This is Kathy out of Boca Raton, Florida.
		Independent, good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
unidentified		There's a couple of things.
justice neil gorsuch ▲ ● ▼		And one, I'd like to say I would love it if I don't understand Big Beautiful Bill.
unidentified		I don't understand any of the bills because they have multiple things in them.
unidentified		A lot of them aren't connected to each other.
justice neil gorsuch ▲ ● ▼		I do not understand why we can't make individual issues and have them voted on one by one.
unidentified		Why does it have to be all put together to where there's something that's 700 pages or 1,000 pages or whatever it is?
		It just seems wrong.
		And the other thing is, I would love to see them be able to put on some channel on TV what is in that bill.
		I don't mean something that somebody has made an abstract out of.
		I want to see the whole 900 pages.
justice neil gorsuch ▲ ● ▼		I want to read for myself so I can decide what the truth is.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		So, Kathy, I think the truth is.
		You can read it.
		Have you tried to read it?
unidentified		I don't know where it is.
unidentified		Yes.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		So there's several different places you can go to read it.
		The Maine Congressional website is where you could go for one.
		I could pull up the link for you and get that for you as we listen to Andy in Georgetown, Kentucky, Republican.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Thank you.
		Just a few things that would be nice if we could discuss sometime, or if you could have someone with some knowledge or background on these subjects here.
		The constitutionality of unions in America and also the Communist Control Act of 1954, since that seems to be coming around pretty prevalent now.
		And the Johnson Amendment, where he purchased all gods.
		And then do away with all 501c3 corporations.
		Everybody has to pay for them.
		They're all paid through government anyhow.
		Everybody, businesses or whoever individuals that contribute, they get to write that off their taxes.
		Well, the people that pay their taxes have to pay that for them.
		So it's not like it's free money or somebody else is doing it.
		Everybody has to pitch in and pay for all these, I'll call them institutional religions and all these radio and TV stations.
		And sorry about that.
		And then the other thing is.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Oh, Andy, got your point.
		Let me come back to Kathy's question about finding the one big beautiful bill.
		Congress.gov is where you can go at the top of that page.
		It's pretty easy.
		They have a most viewed bill section.
		And HR1, the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, is the first one of those.
		So under Most Viewed Bills, you can just click on HR1.
		It takes you to all the information about the bill.
		And the website there has these tabs along the bottom.
		They offer a summary of the bill.
		It's fairly long for this one, as you might imagine.
		But it also offers the text, the second tab on the bottom, the text of the bill.
		And you can go in and you can read the entire One Big Beautiful Bill.
		So Congress.gov is the website for Congress and where you can go.
		And when somebody says that this is a 700 or 900 page bill, what they're doing usually is printing out that text from congress.gov and it comes out to 700, 900, whatever it is of printed out pages.
		So that's a good resource to have to be able to read these bills for yourself if that's something that you want to do.
		This is Patty in Virginia Independent.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Thank you for taking my call.
		I have not called for zillions of years, but I still watch you every day.
		And especially I like the way you are with your callers.
		I could go on about that for hours.
		But I believe I'm 73 years old and I've been in this country 48 years, 49 years, and a taxpayer and still working.
		I believe that I have not seen anything like this in terms of Changes happened that made everybody think about I, what I like, what I think.
		And I think that two things can happen to CSPAN: that once in a while, at least you should take the party name off and just ask people to call.
		And if they feel like saying, I'm a Democrat or blah, blah, they can.
		But it will eventually make the ones that have their opposite party talking not go to take something from the refrigerator and switch their ears.
		It will get everybody listen to everybody.
		But one thing very important for all of us is that to always come with a solution, even though it sounds crazy, because greatest things in the world happen with just an idea, just a thought.
		And I start with myself.
		I think that if we eliminate, not make new laws, because new laws have now, we are very advanced through internet, through money, through moneymakers, that we can abandon laws.
		But if we have authority to block, like for example, if we block the presidents to elect Supreme Court members,
		and instead we would have a board that would elect Supreme Court members when one of them dies or resign, as well as if we would block that anyone within the immediate party of the president ask to become a president,
		and therefore like Biden did for Obama, then it wouldn't linger into long presidency into authoritarian thing.
		You know, no daughter, no son, no vice president should really become president.
		They should decide before they take that position that I'm going to stop the future.
		Only the senators and representatives.
		So these are the two ideas that will eliminate.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		third one that I apologize taking time the third one well patty I'll take your two because we we are running short on time but But those are Patty's suggestions for making this country run better.
		We have about seven minutes left in our program today, though there is plenty going on in Washington, D.C. throughout the day, including at 11 a.m. Eastern, President Trump is set to hold a cabinet meeting, and we'll be showing that here on C-SPAN and c-span.org and the free C-SPANNOW video app.
		You can tune in for that.
		9.40 a.m. Eastern this morning, a discussion on AI and crypto technology.
		The former chairs of the House Financial Service Committee, Patrick McHenry, will join a discussion on the future of AI.
		And that's on C-SPAN 2 at 9.40 a.m. Eastern.
		11.45 a.m. Eastern.
		House Speaker Mike Johnson is set to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
		That's taking place up here on Capitol Hill.
		You can watch, again, live at 11.45 a.m. Eastern.
		That's also going to be on c-span.org and the free C-SPAN Now app.
		A couple more items taking place this afternoon that you could watch.
		The Atlantic Council at 2 p.m. Eastern is holding a discussion on national security challenges, challenges, and resiliency with policy advocates and former government officials.
		And then at 6 p.m. Eastern today, David Rubinstein, the founder of the investment firm Carlisle Group, is going to discuss his most recent book on the American presidency.
		It's a discussion taking place at the National Press Club.
		Live coverage, 6 p.m. Eastern here on C-SPAN, C-SPAN.org, and the free C-SPAN Now video app.
		So a lot going on today.
		Hope you stay with the C-SPAN networks all day long.
		And we will finish out with our open forum for about the next four or five minutes.
		This is Frank out of the Keystone State Democrat.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Yeah, John.
		Unlike a lot of people that call up, I'm a real live emergency management coordinator on the municipal level.
		And I am a coordinator on a municipality that borders the Delaware River that has flooded numerous times.
		There is some real issues with emergency planning right now in this country, and you see it bearing fruit in Texas right now.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		What are those biggest issues, Frank?
unidentified		Well, for one thing, right, there is, I think, a real hesitancy and a fear on the part of state officials with PEMA to having to scrub a lot of their files and whatnot.
		And I'm not an environmentalist on this environment and whatnot, because it's evidently not in style with FEMA.
		Number two, one of the two legislators that voted against this big, beautiful bill was my legislator from Pennsylvania.
		You can figure out who it was.
peter schiff ▲ ● ▼		And I have contacted him in April, and I have still not gotten an answer from his office as what the fate of FEMA is going to be.
unidentified		I'm trying to contact state senators who are trying to make the budget in Pennsylvania.
		They're a week and a half late to see if they're budgeting extra dollars for emergency appropriations in case Trump does get rid of FEMA.
		This is a scary situation right now.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Frank, say your area where you are along the Delaware River got $10 million from the state or federal government.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		What would be your recommendation on the best, the most effective way to use that?
unidentified		Right now, I've been involved with stormwater management in the town that I live in.
		I've been involved with getting rid of 10,000-gallon oil tanks next to the river.
		The town right now is a canal town.
		And unfortunately, $10 million is not going to help that.
		If the river goes above 30 feet, in depth, the town's going to flood.
		It's that simple.
		I have to get into evacuation, housing people, etc.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		When's the last time the Delaware River got above 30 feet where you are?
unidentified		It's been since 1903, it happened six times.
		The last flood we had was in 2021 with Ida.
		It went up to 26 feet high.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And what did that mean for where you are?
unidentified		Well, in the case of Ida, we didn't have much in the way of damage, but the other six floods did damage the town.
		The 100-year flood was in 1955, and the river went almost 39 feet deep.
		State Route 611 that goes through town at four feet of water in it.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		What town is it, Frank?
unidentified		Town of Rigglesville, Pennsylvania.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And how long did it?
unidentified		Northerly Borough in Bucks County.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		How long did it take to recover after that flood, that 100-year flood?
unidentified		Well, from what I read, and I was only two years old when it happened.
		I worked the 06 flood.
		There was a much different situation.
		There was a real cooperative effort among a lot of different agencies, but you don't have that today.
		And like I said, I don't know.
		I was asked at a gathering last week about what areas of Brigglesville are safe from flooding.
		And I told them, I said, if we have a flash flood, which we had in Bucks County two years ago by Washington's crossing that killed nine people, I said, if we had a flash flood like that, no place in town is safe.
		If it's a regular round-of-the-mill flood, there are certain areas that are higher than others.
		But like I said, it is not a good situation.
		The situation with FEMA, I'm hoping against hope that the administration gets their act together and stops killing FEMA and work with the system is cumbersome, but it is a system.
		If you dump it on the states or get rid of the system, people are going to die.
		And you saw the effort of that in Texas.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And Frank, there's a column in today's Washington Post.
		Actually, it's the New York Times.
		You might want to read.
		Mary Ann Tierney, the former acting deputy administrator of FEMA.
		She worked in emergency management for 25 years.
		Her column today about the future of FEMA and funding for FEMA.
		If you haven't seen it, it sounds like something you might be interested in.
		Let me go to Stan.
		Last caller today out of Birdstown, Tennessee, Democrat.
		Good morning.

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