CSPAN - Washington Journal 08/22/2025

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Aug. 22, 2025 06:59-10:02 - CSPAN

03:02:57

Washington Journal 08/22/2025

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greta brawner

cspan 43:07

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donald j trump

admin 03:08

gavin newsom

d 01:36

jd vance

admin 03:28

jon ossof

sen/d 01:14

steve bannon

r 00:49

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father gerald murray

00:19

glenn ivey

rep/d 00:04

jim marrs

00:07

larry pinkney

00:05

richard perez

00:09

robert f kennedy-jr

admin 00:10

russell means

00:14

sean spicer

00:14

tylease alli

00:15

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		Coming up this morning on Washington Journal, your calls and comments live.
		And then we'll talk about President Trump's federal takeover of D.C. police and threats of similar actions in other cities with Savannah, Georgia Mayor Van Johnson, president of the African American Mayors Association.
		And then the Daily Signal's Robert Bluey on today's election of a new chair of the Republican National Committee during its summer meeting.
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		Washington Journal is next.
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greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Good morning, everyone.
		And this Friday, August 22nd, Vice President JD Vance on the trail yesterday in the battleground state of Georgia to tout the economic benefits of the One Big Beautiful Bill.
		Republicans and Democratic lawmakers have been talking about this legislation over the August recess.
		So we want to do a check-in this morning.
		Has your view changed about the One Big Beautiful bill?
		Republicans dial in at 202-748-8001.
		Democrats 202-748-8000.
		Independents 202-748-8002.
		If you don't want to call, you can text at 202-748-8003.
		Join us on facebook.com slash C-SPAN, or you can post with the handle on X at C-SPANWJ.
		Morning, everyone.
		Let's begin with what is in this legislation.
		$4.5 trillion in tax cuts.
		Existing tax rates and brackets would become permanent.
		State and local tax deduction would quadruple to $40,000 in five years, for five years.
		$350 billion for Trump's border and national security agenda.
		New Medicaid work requirements and restricting state-levied fees on health care providers.
		Restrictions on food stamps.
		New tax deductions on tips and overtime.
		And rollback of clean energy tax credits.
		It raises the debt ceiling to $5 trillion.
		And the CBO, that's the Congressional Budget Office, says the deficit would increase by $3.3 trillion over 10 years.
		What is your view of the One Big Beautiful bill?
		Take a look at a poll done by Pew Research recently.
		They found that 46% disapprove, 32% approve, 23% were unsure when they asked folks at the beginning of August.
		If you were one of those people that were unsure and now you've changed your opinion, or if you liked it, now you oppose it, you opposed it, now you like it, we want to hear from you this morning.
		There are the lines on your screen.
		Politico's headline ahead of JD Vance's visit to Georgia, the GOP's big problem in selling the big beautiful bill, says the vice president JD Vance was in Georgia on Thursday to take a stab at pitching a massive bill that hasn't yet been fully implemented.
		Here's what the vice president had to say on the economic benefits of the one big beautiful bill, which he referred to now as the working families tax cut.
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		This law means for you is that your take-home pay is going to go up over $10,000 over the next few years.
		What that means is that if you're working an hour of overtime, the federal government is going to keep its money the hell out of your pocket.
		Because if you're working hard, the government ought to leave you alone.
		Ain't that the truth to any single moms out there?
		Any single dads?
		Any people who work hard every single day?
		I had a single mom, and for a time my mom worked at a restaurant.
		She waited tables like a lot of folks out there.
		And you know what we did in this new law?
		We said that if you're working hard and you're making your income via tips, we are not going to tax tips anymore because we want to give everybody out there that's working hard for those tips a little bit of relief.
		And that's what the Working Families Tax Cut did.
		No matter where you are in this country, if you're working hard and play by the rules, you ought to have a government that stands up for you instead of fights against you.
		That's why we increased the child tax credit in the Working Families Tax Cut.
		That's why we eliminated taxes on overtime and on tips.
		And that's why we had the biggest tax cut for families that this country has ever seen because we believe that you ought to keep more of your hard-earned money.
		And we believe that if you're busting your rear end every single day, the government ought to make it easier for you and not harder for you.
		And that's why we fought for that legislation.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		JD Vance in Georgia, Battleground State.
		As many of you know, here's the Atlanta Journal Constitution headline about his visit.
		Vance leans into pitchman role for Trump's new tax law in his Georgia visit.
		He also attacked the sitting senator, John Ossoff, who's up for re-election.
		That's why it's a battleground state in the Peachtree State.
		This is from the Washington Times this morning.
		Mr. Trump carried Georgia by slightly more than two percentage points over Vice President Kamala Harris last fall.
		Four years earlier, Democratic Joe Biden won the state by roughly 12,000 votes.
		Listen to the senator, Democratic Senator John Ossoff, who voted against the One Big Beautiful bill.
		This is his criticism of it and the vice president on MSNBC.
jon ossof ▲ ● ▼		The reason that they're scrambling to redraw maps in Texas ahead of the midterms is because there's a big Democratic wave forming because their agenda is so darn unpopular.
		I mean, you can't go just about anywhere in the country and sell an agenda that is defunding hospitals and nursing homes to cut taxes for the wealthiest people in the country.
		That bill is like 20 points underwater in Georgia, and the vice president is coming to do damage control because they realize that even in a purple state like Georgia, the public is opposed to what they're doing.
unidentified		I mean, we've lost nine rural hospitals in 15 years in Georgia already.
		Just this week, it was reported that Evans Memorial Hospital in Georgia, small rural hospital, 49 beds, faces a $3 plus million dollar hole in their budget now next year.
		And the hospital is saying they might have to cut the ICU.
jon ossof ▲ ● ▼		This is exactly what we warned would happen when they passed a bill that guts America's health care system, cut taxes for the rich.
jon ossof ▲ ● ▼		So Vance is being sent on this little errand to come and play defense in Georgia, defending a bill they can't defend, trying to sell the unsellable.
unidentified		And let me just say this about JD Vance, because he was supposed to be this avatar of a new GOP that was for working-class people in the United States.
jon ossof ▲ ● ▼		His legacy forever now is casting the decisive vote to throw millions of Americans off health care, throw seniors out of their nursing home beds, all to serve the wealthiest and most powerful people in the country.
jon ossof ▲ ● ▼		He has zero credibility as a champion for America's working class, and the damage control he's trying to do in Georgia this week is going to fall flat.
unidentified		And Georgians have already rejected this policy.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Georgia Senator John Ossoff on MSNBC.
		Now let's get your take on this one big beautiful bill.
		Has your view changed?
		James, in Virginia Independent.
		James, good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Thank you for citizen listeners.
		I've been a city listener for the past six years, I would say, and the second time caller, the last time I called her was in 2017.
		I'm an independent and I have a small business pretty much on healthcare.
		What my views hasn't changed since the big beautiful bill was passed.
		What I can say is we Americans, sometimes the media misled us into understanding what the negative aspect of this bill was instead of focusing on the positive aspect of it.
		Yes, it's true that most people will lose their Medicaid, but do they qualify for the Medicaid in the first place?
		Or they were put in there and there were no checks to know if these people qualified to be on it in the first place.
		During COVID, a lot of people were put on Medicaid because a lot of people were out of job.
		But after COVID, most people went back to job and started earning income, but there were no reviews to really understand why people were still on it when they are working full-time and making sometimes more than $50,000 a year.
		And they're still on Medicaid.
		And I think that wasn't fair to taxpayers because the program is supposed to meet the needs of the most needed people who are in the country, who need it, not just randomly open for anybody that can tap into it.
		So for me, on that part, that was the big take for that I see as a positive on the bill.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Okay, James, hang on the line because Kaiser Family Foundation puts this analysis together.
		They base it on the Congressional Budget Office and they say this: that the CBO estimates relative to its estimates of insurance coverage prior to the law being enacted, the law will increase the number of people without health insurance in 2034 by 10 million because of changes to Medicaid, which will be 7.5 million, the ACA marketplace, 2.1 million, and other policies and interactions among different provisions.
		So that makes up about 0.4 million.
		James, how do you respond to that?
unidentified		Well, I still see that I am for everyone having health insurance, but is it a program that gives everyone health insurance?
		If that is the case, then we need to change the legislature to affect that everyone can get health insurance.
		But if it is based on qualification, for what Medicaid stands right now, it's for the poor who cannot afford health care.
		It's not for everybody.
		So if people were on Medicaid, but did not need the qualification to be in there, they shouldn't be in there.
		But if we want to change the laws and everybody to be on, to have health insurance, I am on board for that.
		But I am not on board for something that you don't need the qualification.
		Like able-bodied person that can work and be able to get insurance with the employer, they're not doing that.
		And they still talk into the system that take away from the very poor who need it.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Yep.
		Understood your point.
		Understood your point, James.
		Mark in Philadelphia, Democratic caller.
		Let's hear from you.
unidentified		Yeah, Greta.
		Good morning.
		Can you hear me?
		Yes.
		Okay.
		The reason I'm against the Big Beautiful bill is the climate, the climate conditions here.
		You know, the climate, throwing out all the climate legislation that President Biden and the Democratic Party passed.
		I'm an old guy.
		I go back to, you know, President Eisenhower.
		I remember the 1960 election, like it was yesterday, Nixon versus JFK.
		I was a teenager then.
		But I've been jogging outdoors for about the last 40-something years.
		And when you're outdoors jogging like I am for hours, you can really see the climate change.
		The winters here in Philly area are getting warmer and shorter.
		We're hardly getting any snow.
		This summer, most of July and in August, I've had a run indoors at a mall.
		It's called Franklin Mills Mall.
		It's an air-conditioned mall.
		It's too hot for me to run outdoors in the summer now.
		I mean, the other day, early August, I went to plug in my smartphone to recharge it.
		It was 90 degrees at midnight.
		I can never remember in my lifetime at midnight in Philadelphia being 90 degrees.
		And now I see a commercial, the local car dealership, Cadillac.
		He's trying to get rid of his, you know, electric Cadillacs.
		The EV credit expires, $7,500, expires the end of September, thanks to the Big Beautiful bill.
		What are we doing here, Greta?
		All right.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Mark's thoughts there.
		A Democrat in Philadelphia, Jackson, Tennessee.
		Edna is there, a Republican.
		Morning, Edna.
unidentified		Well, I'm a very old woman.
		I had my son dial your number this morning, and I'm ashamed.
		I'm really so ashamed of our Republicans.
		I get 20 to 30 phone calls every day from Medicare telling me how this is going to be cut and that's going to be cut.
		I would like to challenge Mr. Vance's wife to come and live in my house for one month, leave her pocketbook at home, live on my $1,200 a month, and let her help me decide what medication I'm going to take this month and what I'm not.
		And what I'm going to eat, she can eat just what I eat.
		Or even Ivanka or Ivana, whatever Mr. Trump's wife's name is, but tell her to leave her $8,000 straw hat home that she had made for the inauguration.
		I bought one at the dollar store just like it for $2.95.
		I'll buy her one.
		And I just, I'm ashamed.
		This big beautiful bill will not go in effect until after the Republicans got back in office.
		And then they'll stand back and laugh of all of us stupid Republicans that put them back there.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		And Edna, you are a Republican.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		You voted for President Trump?
unidentified		Yo, unfortunately, I did.
		And oh, I tell God every day, I'm sorry.
		I am so sorry.
		Because he is going, he cares nothing about the people.
		I have listened to him.
		You know.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Edna, let me ask you about those Medicare calls that you received.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Are they saying it's because of the one big, beautiful bill?
unidentified		Yes.
		They say that the president had changed the Medicare laws.
		I'm not on Medicaid.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Right.
unidentified		I've worked since I was 14 years old.
		I am 96 years old, and I retired two years ago.
		And by damned, if he messes with my Social Security, there's going to be a whole lot of us in Washington sitting on his doorstep.
		We'll have nothing to lose.
		Now, I am tired of the Republicans trying to shove stuff down our throat that they know.
		JD Vance knows he's lying.
		He just, you can tell it in his face.
		And just, it's just, I'll tell you, I lived.
		I was alive in the last depression.
		And Republicans, God, I hope you get what you wish for.
		And if you do, don't be standing up there saying, well, I didn't want this.
		I didn't want that.
		Well, you got what you wanted.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Edna.
		Edna, they're 94 years old, I believe, in Jackson, Tennessee, Republican caller.
		Sylvia Alexandria, Virginia, Democratic caller.
		Sylvia, your turn.
unidentified		Yes, I'm here.
		Yeah, I definitely, this bill is going to be the most terrible thing that affects the majority of the people in this country.
		No, I haven't changed my mind about it.
		My mother-in-law lived with us for the last seven months of her life.
		She died at 90.
		It was this year.
		And she was on Medicaid.
		And Medicaid provided so much for her, especially through the last few months of her life.
		And their support helped us so much that if that's taken away from people, it's going to be devastating.
		The fact that, yes, people who work and get tips and stuff like that for two years, I think they don't get taxed on it.
		That is nothing.
		That is nothing if you think about it.
		The fact that the people who make so much money can't be taxed to help towards this country and to pay down our debt, I can't see the logic there.
		I'm sorry.
		I run a household.
		I try to take care of my bills.
		And I think most Americans are in my shoes.
		And I'm pretty comfortable, okay?
		I'm not desperate.
		But yes, they are people who are on Medicaid that they don't have their life together.
		They need the help, even if it's one physical during the year, that have a doctor tell them, hey, look how you're living your life.
		You need to change.
		But they have to hear it.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Sylvia.
unidentified		They don't want to hear it.
unidentified		Well, let's listen.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Let's go back to Georgia yesterday where the vice president was talking to voters down there.
		And this is what he had to say about concerns over cuts to Medicaid.
		Here he is.
jd vance ▲ ● ▼		Well, you know what?
		The President of the United States made a promise, a sacred promise, that the only people who are going to lose access to health care are illegal aliens who shouldn't be in this country to begin with.
		Because I happen to believe that Medicaid belongs to American workers and American families.
		I happen to believe that when you are struggling in this country, we're generous people and we want to help you.
		But we want to help the people who have the legal right to be in the United States of America.
		So it's not about kicking people off of health care.
		It's about kicking illegal aliens the hell out of this country so that we can preserve health care for the American families who need it.
		And that's what the Democrats never talk about.
		That's what they'll never tell you.
		They'll say, well, Republicans want to do this to health care.
		They want to do that.
		They want to do all these terrible things.
		When in reality, if you look at what the Democrats have done, what they've tried to do is to allow millions and millions of illegal aliens into this country to give benefits that ought go by right to American citizens and then to attack Republicans when we dare to stand up for the American citizens who have the right to be here.
		Now, we understand that reforms are complicated.
		Sometimes this stuff takes time to work itself through the system.
		Many of the changes in the working families tax cuts to Medicare, or excuse me, to Medicaid, you're not going to see that stuff.
		It's not even, some of it doesn't even go to effect for six or seven years, in part because we want to give enough time to work with people to make sure that American citizens do not lose access to those critical benefits.
		So if you look at the way we design the law, if you look at the way that those reforms are implemented, and if you look at all the other things that we're doing, we want to work with people to make sure that American citizens get what they're entitled to.
		What we do not want is people who have no legal right to be here to benefit from the generosity of the American taxpayer and to bankrupt those programs.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		JD Vance in Georgia yesterday, the vice president saying it's mostly illegal aliens, illegal immigrants who will be kicked off of Medicaid.
		Take a look at this chart that we showed you from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
		This is the map of the United States.
		An additional 10 million people nationwide could be uninsured in 2034 due to the budget reconciliation package.
		About 7 million of those would be cut from Medicaid.
		And the darker states here is where the percentage of those increases.
		It's also changes to the Affordable Care Act that would impact those uninsured, make more people uninsured as well.
		Democrats on X. Here's Representative Ted Liu saying no amount of rebranding.
		You heard the vice president call it the Working Families Tax Act, Tax Cut Act.
		No amount of rebranding by JD Vance can change how bad the big ugly bill is.
		In fact, Republicans cut health care to fund tax breaks to billionaires.
		That's what Ted Liu had to say, the congressman from California.
		Nancy Pelosi from California.
		From groceries and utility bills to health care and housing, Donald Trump's America is too expensive for families.
		But instead of working with Democrats to make life more affordable, Trump and Republicans are hiking costs with reckless tariffs and their big, ugly bill.
		And then you have Ways and Means Democrats saying they're in charge of the tax legislation in this country.
		With their law, Republicans are transferring wealth away from those at the bottom to shower those at the top with over $13,000 per year.
		The Republican agenda is a reverse Robin Hood scam.
		It's your turn this morning on the Washington Journal to tell these lawmakers and the White House, the President and the Vice President, what you think of the one big, beautiful bill.
		Michael Smithfield, North Carolina, Republican.
		Hi, Michael.
unidentified		Good morning, Greta.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Morning.
unidentified		I just wanted to say that I'm disappointed in my Republican Party because the whole idea of getting the government reviewed by an outside, an outsider like Elon Musk, I thought it would be a great idea to bring in Elon Musk and a Republican or known to be conservative and then bring in a liberal or known to be Democrat Bill Gates and let them find a way to make money, not cut.
		We have nothing to cut.
		I've spoken to you a couple years ago around Thanksgiving about this, and there just seems to be nowhere else to cut.
		I mean, we have so many entitlements going out to baby boomers, and a lot of these baby boomers have to be on food stamps.
		So the whole idea, once again, was to find a way to make money in government.
		How could the government make money to pay its bills and to pay its debt without having to raise so many taxes?
		But I see no alternative, but somebody's going to eventually have to raise taxes.
		And I'm disappointed about the Medicaid cut.
		No one should lose their Medicaid in this country unless they are really well off to the point that they don't need it.
		The people that have these entitlements or these things like Medicaid or food stamps, they should be left alone.
		And you remember how hard Obama worked to increase food stamps during his administration.
		I don't know if it was the first administration or the second administration, but of the Obama, you know, Tom.
		So Obama had increased food stamps quite a bit, had raised the level up to 35 or 45,000, I believe.
		The threshold for getting food stamps is a family.
		And it's sad to see my party.
		They've always been against food stamps.
		If you can remember during the Lyndon Johnson administration and passing of food stamps, most Republicans were dead set against Michael.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Where would you like to see your party cut then?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		If not food stamps, if not Medicaid.
unidentified		We're going to have to raise taxes.
		You don't always have to cut.
		You have to raise taxes, don't you?
		And I'm not asking you, but I'm just saying, can't we just raise some taxes in some spaces?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Yeah, well, let's pose that question to our viewers, and maybe we'll get some Republicans and Democrats to call in and respond to you, Michael.
		Raymond in Homestead, Pennsylvania, Democratic caller.
		Hi, Raymond.
unidentified		Hi, how you doing?
		Morning.
		First off, I've yet to see anything.
		I mean, you put beautiful maps up about Medicare and Medicaid.
		I haven't seen anybody put up a map that shows or put up any information that shows just exactly how many illegals are on there that account for this amount of money that they're cutting.
		I mean, how many are there?
		Who knows?
		Where's the proof?
		I haven't seen any.
		So maybe the Republicans could come up with a proof of how many illegal aliens are on that the Medicare and Medicaid, which I don't believe they are anyway.
		Second off, when you presented the bill and what was in the bill and that kind of stuff, I don't think you were being given all the information that people need on those bills, the items on the bill.
		Because I know I've heard that some of them don't take effect for a couple of years or many years.
		They run out in so many years.
		They're not really tax cuts.
		They're just some kind of deduct you take.
		And you're not given complete information.
		And so people don't know that all taxes on tips is going to run out in a couple of years or and stuff like that is not really what they think it is.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		And that's why they're well, I mean, it's a huge bill, as you know.
		I mean, it was, what, over a thousand pages?
		So difficult to get all the bullet points of this legislation.
		What we're showing you here is just broad strokes of what's in the legislation.
		Go ahead and make your point, though.
		That's why we're asking all of you to join us this hour this morning on the Washington Journal is tell us your view of the bill and what you like, what you don't like.
		So continue, Raymond.
unidentified		Well, don't know what you like or don't like because they don't know how long it lasts and how many years it would last.
		And I mean, how long, how long has this bill been passed?
		It's been months.
		I mean, doesn't your staff go through things and when it's in the beginning?
		You should know that and it should be put on there.
		That's all I'm saying.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		We'll take that feedback.
		Thank you, Raymond.
		Ed in Columbia Station, Ohio, Republican.
unidentified		Ed?
		Yeah, you know, most callers, everyone, not just today, but anytime I hear the Democrats or the callers that supposedly say they're Republicans, I've heard even called today, they don't understand nothing.
		They're very ill-informed voters or opinions.
		Nobody's lost that deserves Medicaid, these cuts you're all talking about, or often that one person.
		There's probably 30% of the Medicaid bill yearly that we're trying to cut that is fraud.
		That's not counting the illegals.
		Just the state of the city of New York City spent $50 million a month giving these people debit.
		They're still getting, and there's sanctuaries.
		Ed Mappy's showing the country.
		All these blue states, California, so-and-so.
		There's over probably 30 million people illegally getting benefits.
		Those would be cut.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Let me ask you, because a caller before you said, where's the proof?
		So where would you point that caller who's saying, where's the proof that it's illegal immigrants that are on Medicaid?
		Where would you point them to?
		How did you learn about it?
unidentified		You're showing.
		There's numbers out there, tons of numbers.
		Show how many states are paying Medicaid.
		California, right now, been paying Medicaid for years.
		That they had an open border policy just the last four years, which was, you could call that treason.
		20-some million.
		That's probably a low figure came in.
		And now they're making lawyer up.
		Right now, the Democrats will want to spend millions just to fight for these people illegally to keep them here, go through lawyers and everything else that clogged everything up because they're looking at them as a census.
		Well, the census gives them more voting, more electric college loans.
		That's why they that was all politics with the border.
		And even when I hear the one caller said something about, I doesn't like the big bill about the green energy cuts.
		You know, this planet has been extinct multiple times, wiped out.
		You should worry more about astro, whatever.
		The pollution they make with this green energy, which is all funnels.
		If you follow all the big money, green energy is nothing but a big scam.
		It goes back to almost that money's funneled all of these Democrats and club things.
		It goes on and on.
		And it means those from the world looking at it.
		It's all money, Grand from one of the last down United States.
		They're like third world country.
		They don't like the sparrow polling rate.
		You know, but it's just amazing that people are ill-informed.
		There is so much, there's 20-year-olds.
		I know people make, there's, there's people 30, 40 years old or 100,000 in college that are on Medicaid because they don't want to work.
		That was one of the requirements.
		What's wrong with you?
		I'm 65 and still work, make money, and I just, and I get taxed up the butt.
		Even the stuff that I was taxed on before, I just got hit with another $48,000 tax bill up my CPA for taxes I already paid.
		They wanted me taxed to get on some dividend that I paid prior to that.
		For what?
		These deadbeats in this country?
		And Social Security ain't being touched.
		As a matter of fact, they're getting the taxes off it.
		And young people that live to be 80 now 90 when Social Security started, okay, I'm not even collecting it yet.
		I'm still working.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		Ed there.
		Ed there in Ohio.
		Marilyn, Cottage Grove, Wisconsin, Democratic Caller, your view of the one big, beautiful bill.
		Go ahead.
unidentified		Yeah, thanks for taking my call.
		You know, I think there's a lot of people that just don't understand that there's people that work.
		I work also.
		I'm 83, but I still work.
		But I see all these people that I work with that don't make enough money to have to go out and buy insurance.
		So they need something to supplement what for health care.
		And they get it, but that means that they're healthy human beings to come to work.
		And also, these people get rent assistance, but they have to work 40 hours.
		And JD Vance standing up there and saying all these terrible things about immigrants getting health care.
		When you go and fill out a form, they ask you, Are you a citizen?
		Then maybe you can get something.
		But if you're not a citizen, you do not get anything.
		That is the biggest lie that there ever was.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Well, Marilyn, hold on because this is from Kaiser Family Foundation.
		The headline says this: less than 1% of total Medicaid spending goes to emergency care for non-citizen immigrants.
		So emergency care is important here.
		This is what they write: a new Congressional Budget Office report shows a total of $27 billion in federal and state spending on emergency Medicaid for non-citizen immigrants between the fiscal years of 2017 to 2023.
		This report could fuel further false claims, they say, from former President Trump and Vice President Vance that immigrants are accessing public benefits and draining federal resources, leading to continued misinformation.
		This is what Kaiser says: $27 billion certainly sounds like a lot of money, but this spending represents less than 1% of overall spending in Medicaid over the entire time period, and in some years is less than 1.5%.
		So it's emergency Medicaid.
		Undocumented emigrants are not eligible for federally funded Medicaid coverage.
		Emergency Medicaid spending reimburses hospitals for emergency care they are obligated to provide to individuals who meet other Medicaid eligibility requirements, but who do not have an eligible immigration status.
		This includes lawfully present immigrants who are subject to a five-year waiting period for Medicaid and undocumented immigrants.
		Emergency services include those requiring immediate attention to prevent death, serious harm, or disability, although states have some discretion to determine reimbursable services.
		So Marilyn, now respond to that.
		So it looks like there is some for emergency care, but as you were pointing out, according to Kaiser as well, that they cannot apply for Medicaid.
unidentified		And let me tell you, I think that that is fine.
		If anybody comes into this country, let's make sure they're healthy.
		If a woman comes in and she's having a baby, or it's a child that needs health care, that is fine.
		And I think that's fine with anybody.
		That has happened over many, many years.
		Okay, so that's not something that just happened the last year.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		What about the price tag, Marilyn?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		$27 billion over five years.
unidentified		In five years, that's nothing.
		That is absolutely nothing.
		For what I get for Medicare, I don't think that's much of anything for healthy people.
		And I always think of my neighbors.
		I don't care who they are.
		They should have health care.
		And you go to Walmart.
		They don't make enough money to buy health care.
		They subsidize those people at Walmart with health care because they have to have it.
		Kroger's, where I work, they get health care, not from Kroger's, but from Medicaid.
		So, I mean, hey, do I want them not to have health care?
		No.
		I want them to have health care.
		Medicaid should stay, and I think it's terrible that it should be taken away.
		It's not good for our country.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Okay, Marilyn's thoughts are a Democrat in Wisconsin.
		We'll go to William, who's in Ohio, an independent.
		William, talking about the big, beautiful bill here.
		What do you think?
unidentified		I think it's a big, terrible bill myself.
		It's just getting worse and worse in this country.
		Ever since Donald Shorty Johnson Trump has took over, it's a convicted felon and it passes all these laws to protect the rich and hurt the poor.
		And, you know, the man is a disgrace, and so does J.D. Vanson.
		He's from Ohio.
		He's a disgrace from Ohio.
		But the big, beautiful bill is nothing but a big mess for the poor and a big rip-off for the rich.
		And I just stated because they're just hurting everybody with what they're doing in this country.
		It's disgusting.
		And I'm tired of it.
		And I don't know how other people feel.
		But right now, I'm independent.
		But God bless people.
		I left the Republican Party because of that idiot that's in charge right now, back in 17.
		And he's just not doing a very good job.
		And he's getting worse all the time, especially to the poor.
		Thank you very much.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, William.
		We'll continue this conversation this morning.
		There are the lines on your screen.
		Has your view on the one big, beautiful change, one big, beautiful bill change?
		We'll continue here until the top of the hour this morning with your thoughts on that.
		But I want to share some other news with you this morning.
		Powell, under pressure, tries to keep cool.
		We are going to hear from Jerome Powell this morning at 10 a.m. Eastern Time about the Fed policy going forward.
		He's going to be giving remarks at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium.
		And it's one of the most important speeches that he'll be giving, given the recent pressure put on by the Federal Reserve Chair by President Trump and also the economic situation that we are in here in the United States.
		So we will learn more about Fed policy in the long term, as well as what he is thinking and the board is thinking for September.
		Will we see an interest rate cut?
		So tune in at 10 a.m. Eastern Time right here on C-SPAN, our free video mobile app, C-SPANNO, or online at c-span.org.
		Some other headlines to share with you this morning as well.
		This is from the World News section of the Wall Street Journal.
		The attack hits a U.S. factory in western Ukraine.
		Russia launched a rare drone and missile attack on western Ukraine overnight.
		Thursday striking targets, including a U.S.-owned electronics plant.
		The strikes with 574 drones and 40 ballistic and cruise missiles mostly targeted regions where much of the military aid provided by Ukraine's Western allies is believed to be delivered and stored.
		The strikes killed at least one person and injured 15 others.
		So that comes amid the president's efforts to try to negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
		And then there's also this headline below the fold here on that same page in the Wall Street Journal.
		The Israeli prime minister approves Gaza operation.
		So new attacks there in Gaza by Israel.
		And compare that to this headline from NBC News.
		Famine officially declared in Gaza City as Israel vows to open gates of hell on besieged area.
		Those are the headlines this morning here.
		And we'll also share this with you on the front page this morning of the New York Times.
		This headline.
		New York court rejects $500 million judgment in Trump's fraud case.
		The rest of the ruling is still under review.
		No decision to eliminate the penalty was a rare point of agreement on this five-judge panel yesterday.
		While the court effectively upheld the fraud judgment against the president, several of the justices raised major questions about the case, which was decided by a state trial judge last year.
		A primary goal of their decision was to allow Mr. Trump to move to New York's highest court, giving him another opportunity to challenge the findings that he was fraudulent on tax returns.
		Letitia James prosecuted this case, you'll recall, and this five judge panel voiding that 500, over 500 million judgment in that case.
		Another quick headline to share with you.
		We covered this here on C-SPAN this week.
		California rushes to offset new Texas map.
		The plan to redraw the districts to favor Democrats will go to voters in November.
		Here's the California Governor Gavin Newsom on this redistricting effort yesterday.
gavin newsom ▲ ● ▼		We got here because the President of the United States is struggling.
		We got here because the President of the United States is one of the most unpopular presidents in U.S. history.
		We got here because he recognizes that he will lose the election.
		Congress will go back into the hands of the Democratic Party next November.
		We got here because of his failed policies.
		Those are being exposed hour by hour, reinforced today by Walmart announcing they'll be raising prices because of the tax increases, because of the tariffs.
		Reminded every day by a slowing economy, growing mistrust, distrust all across this nation, across the board, he is failing.
		He recognized that, and that's why he made a phone call to Greg Abbott asking for five seats.
		Can't win by playing by traditional sets of rules.
		He plays by no rules.
		I remind you all the time, it's not the rule of law, it's the rule of God.
		And we're standing up to that.
		We're responding to that.
		They fired the first shot, Texas.
		We wouldn't be here had Texas not done what they just did.
		Donald Trump didn't do what he just did.
		He went so far as to follow up and say that he didn't just want those five seats.
		He said he's quote unquote entitled to those five seats.
		Just pause and reflect on that.
		Everything should have just stopped there.
		President of the United States claiming he's entitled to five seats.
		That should put chills up your spine.
		Every Republican, not just Democrat and Independent, every American.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		California Governor Gavin Newsom yesterday, after California approved their redistricting efforts, it goes to the voters in November.
		This morning here in our first hour with the Washington Journal, we're getting your take on the One Big Beautiful bill.
		Has your view changed of it?
		Republicans dial in at 202-748-8001.
		Democrats 202-748-8000.
		And Independents 202-748-8002.
		We'll get back to your calls here in just a minute, but first I want to show you what Steve Bannon had to say in his podcast, The War Room, critical of Republicans for not doing a better job of selling this legislation.
steve bannon ▲ ● ▼		For instance, we sell the Big Beautiful bill here and the supply-side tax cut of it in a more sophisticated way, not just the Fox News talking points, in a more sophisticated way with bright people than anybody.
		Okay?
		I noticed, Speaker Johnson, that, you know, on the August recess that everybody had to have, you had to have the August recess.
		You had to do it because you had to get back to your constituents.
		You had to get back to your town halls.
		I noticed a paucity of town halls.
		And I realize that there are, you know, Democrats, some of these groups, thugs are showing up and trying to shout people down, so it's not the easiest.
		But I haven't seen a massive effort to sell the Big Beautiful bill and actually what it stands for.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Steve Bannon there, one of the president's advisors in the first administration, frequently talks to the president in his second term as well, critical of Republicans for not selling this legislation.
		There have been ads in the lead up to and after passage of the One Big Beautiful bill, both in support and in opposition to it.
		Here are a couple of ads from two groups opposing the legislation.
unidentified		Look me in the eye and tell me that a billionaire's yacht is more important than my health care.
		I'm a single mom.
		My son has special needs.
		We rely on Medicaid, and without it, our care would cost about $800 per month.
		I can't afford that.
		Republicans want to take away our health care so billionaires can get another tax break.
		Say it to my face.
		Their wealth is more important than my health.
		Congressman Zach Nunn and Congresswoman Marionette Miller-Minks just voted to make the biggest cut to Medicaid in history.
		So they can pay for more tax breaks for billionaires.
		That means taking away our health care that we rely on.
		When our senator, Joni Ernst, heard how damaging this bill would be.
		Her response was basically, well, we're all going to die sometime.
		When we all are going to die.
		She's right.
		People here are going to die if that bill passes.
		Medicaid saved my life.
		Without it, I would not be here.
		I rely on Medicaid, so I don't die, Senator Ernst.
		People are going to lose their lives over these cuts.
gavin newsom ▲ ● ▼		Senator Ernst, do we matter to you?
unidentified		When we all are going to die.
		Senator Ernst, you have an opportunity to protect health care for people like me.
		Please listen to people in Iowa who would be hurt by this.
		We need health care.
		More than billionaires need tax breaks.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Ads in opposition to the One Big Beautiful bill.
		We're asking this morning, has your view changed on it?
		JD Vance was in Georgia yesterday selling the legislation, touting its economic benefits.
		Let's go to Terry, who's in Canton, North Carolina, Republican.
		Terry, what do you think of it?
unidentified		I think the big beautiful bill is great.
		I would soon have my tax breaks instead of tax increases to pad the pockets of somebody like Gavin Newson or Bernie Sanders or AOC or Joe Biden who have got enriched off my taxes.
		Gretchen, number one, those commercials you just played, they should have been in Spanish because those are the people who are going to lose the Medicaid, the illegal aliens, the 20-some million that the Democrats brought into this country to steal my Social Security.
		Oh, and by the way, all you Democrats are complaining that I sarading Home Depot.
		Well, if you get a job at Home Depot, you have to have a Social Security number.
		And where do these illegals get that Social Security number?
		A Democrat steals it from a hardworking person like me and gives it to an illegal alien so they can enrich theirselves.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		And Terry, why Terry, why do you believe that all immigrants are here to steal Social Security numbers?
unidentified		They're not here to do it.
		The Democrats brought them here for power.
		Number one, the census, they can get more seats and have more power.
		Oh, and by the way, Gretchen, how do these Democrats get so rich?
		How does Bernie Sanders have five or six multi-million dollar houses?
		Him and how about a broke bartender like AOC and comes to Congress and within six years, she's a multi-millionaire.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Terry, do Republicans get rich in Congress?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Have you looked into that?
unidentified		I'd say they do.
		They all do.
		They're politicians, aren't they?
		But who's the hypocrites on it?
		Who's the one out there saying that, oh, we're for the poor while we're getting rich?
		Let me tell you something.
		I've had to work in Asheville, North Carolina for the last 40 years.
		You go downtown, it is not safe.
		It's a urine-soaked hell.
		You're not safe.
		Go to Atlanta and go down.
		Go to the Fair Swill down in Atlanta and tell me if you feel safe.
		I wouldn't even feel safe going to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, going to the aquarium.
		There's no way I'd take my family there.
		But what do we have here in Washington, D.C. right now?
		We have the first week without a murder.
		We have clean streets now.
		Every major city should be that way.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		Terry, I'm going to jump in because we are going to talk about that issue coming up here on the Washington Journal.
		We're just moments away from it.
		So stay with us.
		Van Johnson, who is the mayor of Savannah, Georgia, and he's also the president of the African American Mayor's Association.
		We'll talk about it coming up.
		Let's go to Tyrone in New York.
		Democratic caller.
		Tyrone, what do you think about the One Big Beautiful bill?
unidentified		My opinion haven't changed.
		Thanks for taking my call, Greta.
		In the last call, he sounded like he's blinded by hatred of the Democratic Party.
		Just like Trump said, he hates the Democrats.
		That's the first time I heard an American president say how he hate the other half of the electorate.
		Most of us don't want to pay taxes.
		Most rich or poor people don't want to pay taxes, but we want to benefit from what taxes give us.
		And unfortunately, the people that have the most money to be able to pay, to buy politicians, to change the law to work in their favor is disadvantaging the whole country.
		And that's what's happening.
		Part of that big, beautiful bill is allowing the rich, the well-off and well-connected to make the decisions on what happens to the rest of us.
		And the reason why we don't have the finances to be able to maintain the social safety net our military, our police, I'll keep our air and water clean is because these people, these multi-millionaires and multi-billionaires, is able to buy the politicians to be able to make the decisions that help them and disadvantage us.
		I hear most of the people that call this show is on Social Security, a disability, some kind of social safety net.
		Social Security people pay into.
		Elon Musk said it's just a Ponzi scheme.
		But these people paying, I pay into Social Security.
		These people pay into this.
		Now, what are they doing?
		They're trying to triple it, cripple Social Security and downgrade this so that these people won't be able to get the benefits that they pay for.
		And they voted for this.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Tyrone.
unidentified		This is ridiculous.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Got it.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		I'm going to go to Jay, who's an independent in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia.
unidentified		Jay.
		Hello.
		You know, I'm negative on this bill, still negative.
		But I just want to make, in relation to the bill, two points.
		It adds trillions to our deficit.
		And then there's too many aspects inside the bill which are covered.
		It should be several different bills.
		And then I have another point that kind of relates to this.
		It concerns our legislatures who don't listen to us and who don't respond to us.
		For example, I saw on C-SPAN you had a program of a town hall of Representative Cleo Fields.
		And he talked and talked, and then he says, well, I'm going to give you now, I'm now going to give you the number.
		You can call my office and you can stay in touch.
		Well, then he starts to rattle off this number.
		And the people are sitting in the audience and they didn't come prepared with pens and pencil paper to take this material down, which just tells me that they're not interested in hearing from us.
		If he and his staff were interested, they would have this material and a mailing address, email address, and phone numbers on a separate piece of paper and they would give it out to the people in the audience.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Jay.
		Jay is talking about our coverage of congressional town halls here in August.
		We have covered town halls across the country.
		And you can go to our coverage and find it at c-span.org.
		Jay, another reason to watch C-SPAN and participate in our viewer call-ins because we know the decision makers here in Washington watch our network, whether it's the senators or the House members and the president himself watching C-SPAN.
		We'll go to Richard Rockland, California, Republican.
unidentified		Yeah, hello.
		Just you had one thing there from Kaiser where it said that illegals or migrants aren't eligible for Medicaid.
		And in California, not too long ago, Governor Newsom had a news conference, and he explained that they were paying illegals Medicaid in California just in that alone.
		They had a $12 billion deficit.
		And he was lamenting that he was going to have to cut that $12 billion down to $5 billion for the next year.
		And what we have, I think, is a and you hear it all the time, we don't have a revenue problem or a taxing problem.
		We have a spending problem.
		So I think of the Democrats.
		And okay, this big, beautiful bill, it hasn't been that long.
		And we've had, I don't know, you've had a couple other sessions on this.
		A lot of it hasn't even kicked in yet.
		It's complicated.
		And you had one caller say, well, you ought to have people there that know about it and can explain it.
father gerald murray ▲ ● ▼		But a lot of this stuff isn't going to the media is, depending on who you're getting information from, they have an agenda, and there's a lot of things that if it doesn't fit their agenda, they won't report it.
unidentified		Richard.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Yeah, do you agree with Steve Bannon that Republicans are not doing enough to sell this legislation?
unidentified		I agree with that.
		But I mean, this thing affects our whole country.
		I mean, both sides probably should get together on it if they could just talk reasonably to each other.
		Okay.
		And I know you've got this, what, crossfire thing coming up or something?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Ceasefire.
		Ceasefire.
		The opposite.
unidentified		Ceasefire.
		Well, that would be good.
		But you have some intelligent people on and they can go both sides.
		But I think you need, it would be really great.
		I think if you could educate people both sides on this and get everybody to cool down.
		But I don't think.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Richard, I'm going to just jump in and note this.
		This is factcheck.org.
		They say the same thing as Kaiser.
		Medicaid is a joint federal state government program that provides health coverage for low-income individuals and families.
		People living in the U.S. illegally are not eligible to receive Medicaid benefits other than for emergency medical services.
		So I'm not sure if the $12 billion that Governor Newsom was talking about was the $12 billion that they spend on Medicaid emergency services.
		Just noting that, that's from factcheck.org.
		I'm going to go to Richard, who's in Mulden, Massachusetts.
		Richard.
unidentified		There's nothing wrong with this bill that I can see.
		But my big problem is that these people that call and talk about the risk getting all this burden, people don't understand the risk pays 49% of taxes in this country.
		If it wasn't for the rich and the corporation, they wouldn't have their welfare.
		They're fraud and everything that this government puts in no oversight over it.
		Just illegals.
		Don't tell me, you know, it's only an emergency.
		They can go in and say, yeah, I got an emergency.
		How do you know?
		I went to an emergency room with my son who had a broken toe and was ripped open.
		And he had to wait three hours.
		And it was all Spanish people, black people, everything.
		Just taking all of them.
		That's not even, you know, kids with backpacks lost.
		They're getting their free shots and all this.
		You know.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Okay, Richard, I'm going to jump in.
		Let's go to Howard, who's in New London, Ohio.
		Republican.
unidentified		Good morning.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Morning.
unidentified		Yeah, a couple of them stole my thunder, but that's okay.
		The same thing got out.
		As far as the big, beautiful bill, from what I can tell, so far it's okay.
		The one thing I never understood about it is how does our deficit grow if we're saving money.
		That's the part I never figured out.
		But as far as the illegals and everything, ma'am, it was way, way overdue here.
		You cannot bring 20 million people into somewhere without prices skyrocketing on everything.
		Food, you got more demand for food.
		Housing, you got more demand for housing.
		We was already in a housing problem as it was because people don't want to build houses.
		They just want to rent them.
		We already had that problem.
		Now, I retired about five months early because I'd been there for 35 years.
		I just couldn't take another day of it.
		And I retired a few months early, and I had to go to, I have no insurance, no nothing for that time period.
		And I had to go to urgent care.
		And there was some people in front of me.
		They was, I won't say that they were illegal, but they were Mexicans, right?
		And they walked up there and I noticed that they didn't pay $90 right off the bat.
		And when I got back in to the doctor, you know, I was telling her, you know, when you're in pain, bad pain, you just, you don't care about nothing or nobody.
		You just don't.
		And she realized that, and I, you know, and she had really, really high blood pressure.
		She said I was ready for a stroke, get my butt to hospital.
		And I told her I had no insurance.
		And I said, how can these other people walk in here and get care and not pay a thing?
		I spent my last 90 bucks to walk in there.
		I didn't even have the money for the medication once I got out.
		And she says, don't let any of them tell you any different.
		Yes, any of them can walk in here.
		They can get care and they do not get charged a dime.
		Now, later on, after this big, beautiful bill thingy pops up, I hear, oh, all these hospitals are going to foreclose or they're going to go, you're going to lose all your hospitals.
		Well, yeah, that's because the government or somebody is paying the hospitals for all this work and time and money that they're spending on these illegals.
		So you take the money away from the hospitals that they're not going to pay for all these illegals coming in there.
		They're going to shut down.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Howard, I got to jump in at that point.
		We're going to take a break.
		Later on in the Washington Journal, we'll talk economic policy with Allison Schrager of the Manhattan Institute as central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming gather for their annual economic symposium.
		We're going to hear from the Fed chair at 10 a.m. Eastern Time live here on C-SPAN on their economic outlook.
		But first, Savannah Mayor Van Johnson, president of the African American Mayors Association, will discuss President Trump's federal takeover of D.C. police and threats of similar actions in other cities.
		Stay with us.
		We'll be right back.
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greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Welcome back to the Washington Journal.
		Joining us this morning is the Mayor of Savannah, Van Johnson, and he's also the president of the African American Mayor's Association.
		Mayor Johnson, thanks for being with us here to talk about Trump control of D.C. police and the threat of doing it in other cities.
		Before we get your take on that, sir, I just want to show our viewers what the president had to say and have you respond to him last week when he announced the takeover of the DC police.
		He talked about other cities as well.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		We have other cities also that are bad, very bad.
		You look at Chicago, how bad it is.
		You look at Los Angeles, how bad it is.
		We have other cities that are very bad.
		New York has a problem.
		And then you have, of course, Baltimore and Oakland.
		We don't even mention that anymore.
		They're so far gone.
		We're not going to let it happen.
		We're not going to lose our cities over this.
unidentified		And this will go further.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Mayor Johnson, your response to the president.
unidentified		Oh, it's unfortunate that our president feels that way, but the president's assertions are just not based in fact.
		The reality is that cities around the country, particularly those that are led by black mayors and mayors and members of the African American Mayors Association, have experienced dramatic decreases in crime.
		Mayor Bowser is experiencing historic lows in violent crime in Washington, D.C.
		And the reality is when you look at the top 30, I mean, sorry, the top 30 cities in terms of crime issues, about 67 of them are not led by mayors that are of color.
		And so I think, you know, the reality is there's the rhetoric and then there's the reality.
		And the reality just says it's just not true.
		If it's retribution, then say it's retribution.
		We get that.
		We know elections have consequences.
		But to say it in the public safety context, the statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation from these cities just does not bear out.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Here are the numbers that NBC put together.
		They pulled the data from each of the city's police departments.
		Los Angeles and Baltimore data is through August 2nd.
		Chicago data is through August 3rd.
		And Oakland data is through August 10th.
		New York and Washington, D.C. data is through August 11th.
		You see the numbers down 31.5% in Oakland, down almost 16% in Los Angeles.
		Chicago seeing a drop of 13%.
		Baltimore, a drop of almost 12%.
		Washington, D.C., 7.1%.
		New York, 4.9%.
		Mayor Johnson, what do you make of those numbers?
unidentified		Again, your own independent research bared out the magnificent work that mayors have been doing.
		We don't have the comfort of really dancing in the end zone.
		We're charged with solving problems.
		We don't have the opportunity to be partisan.
		The reality is that people look to us to be able to solve problems.
		And so you have mayors not only in D.C., but in New York, in Baltimore, around the country, in LA, that have been working very hard trying to find ways to be able to lessen violent crime in violent crime in their country.
		We want partnership with our federal government.
		We expect partnership from our federal government.
		And there are ways and there are things that we can do.
		But I think the way to achieve that is to ask us a partnership is you have willing partners.
		But to be able to just do a unilaterally overreaching step, as the president has done, certainly to us is just nonsensical.
		It certainly does not follow good policy or good sense.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Respond to Anthony Coley.
		He was the director of the Justice Department's Office of Public Affairs from February of 2021 until January of 2023.
		So the Biden administration, he says this: if Democrats want a governing majority again, they must meet voters where they are, not where they wish they were.
		That means facing hard truths, like the one playing out in our nation's capital.
		Even as crime rates fall, many Washingtonians do not feel safe.
		The Washington Post recently found that 50% of D.C. residents and the overwhelming majority of D.C. residents are Democrats view crime as, quote, an extremely serious or very serious problem.
		Noting stark divides along lines of race and income.
		Black residents and lower-income residents were significantly more worried about crime than white residents and those with higher incomes.
		Black women are among the most concerned, with 65% saying crime is a very or extremely serious issue.
unidentified		Mayor Johnson well, I think there is an intersection.
		I think there are two sides of this.
		The first side is that people need to be safe, and statistics bear that out.
		And then they also need to feel safe, which is an issue of perception.
		And so I think mayors are working very hard in their communities to be able to make sure that people not only are safe, but they feel safe.
		To that end, the African American Mayor Association, we're a nonpartisan organization, and we have mayors that are all over the political spectrum.
		We don't ask where they are because the reality is mayors are charged to be able to solve problems.
		We know that in majority minority communities, that we know that crime is an issue in there.
		But to us, instead of helping us in creating ways like community-focused police programs, intervention programs, prevention programs, youth programs, jobs for young people, things that are working in our communities, helping us to end the iron pump pipeline that has guns going all over the country from places like Georgia.
		That we could work together to be able to help make those things happen.
		Human trafficking and drug trafficking.
		And so I think there are ways that our federal government, and we would expect our federal government to be able to partner with us.
		And unfortunately, that has not occurred.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		We'll go to calls.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Carol's up first in Appleton, Wisconsin, Democratic Caller.
unidentified		Carol?
		Yes, thank you.
		Yes.
		Washington, D.C. gets its money from the president and Congress.
		Mayor Bowser has been begging Congress to give her enough money for 500 more police officers.
		And what did Trump do?
		He took away a billion dollars from Washington, D.C. when he was president.
		So they don't have the money.
		And what he is doing right now is just a show.
		He is sending in troops for tourist areas so that the press can come.
		He's not sending them into areas where there is actual crime.
		And he just causes a problem and then makes a big show of trying to solve it, where he really isn't solving it.
		If he really wanted to solve it, he would take some of these ICE officers and try to solve drug problems and such.
		But he'd rather have it be a show president than a work president.
		Thank you.
		Bye.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Mayor Johnson.
unidentified		Well, I think Nicola is correct.
		The reality is that these are distractions.
		These are diversions from the real issues that Americans are talking about.
		We're still talking about the economy.
		We're still talking about the cost of things that are too high.
		We're still talking about these conflicts that are going on in Ukraine and what's happening in Gaza.
		We're still talking about the examination of these files that people have been asking to talk about.
		So these are diversions.
		The reality is, again, mayors continue to work and do hard work.
		You know, we're working in a very strategic way.
		And we want, we think our residents expect that our federal government, our state government, our county and local governments are being able to work together.
		We serve the same people.
		To that end, I think it's very important also to note that black folks, as you said earlier, although concerned about crime, they don't want to see the militarization of police in their communities as well.
		We survived that during the pandemic.
		And of course, with George Floyd, we ended militarization of police because we knew that they had disparagedly affected black communities.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Phillips, next.
		In Brooklyn, Independent, you're talking with Savannah Mayor Van Johnson.
		Go ahead.
unidentified		I think that you mayors are more concerned about your own well-being and how you look to the public because any help against crime should be well welcomed.
		I mean, I think that's all it's all about.
		You're only concerned about yourself and your next election.
		I would accept, if I was there in Washington, blacks should come out and thank the president for what he's doing because in the last six or seven days, they said there haven't even been one homicide.
		You should welcome them.
		It's the same old story.
		You don't want to hear the truth about yourself and don't want to take responsibility for your actions.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Philip, let's take those two points, Mayor.
unidentified		Well, first of all, I'm from Brooklyn, but secondly, that being said, we don't live like that.
		We live to be able to solve problems.
		And the reality is that the military is a much different function.
		Military is formed for war and not for municipal or urban policing.
		It's a different skill set.
		And the fact is, although they're there in a very impressive show of force, they're not doing policing.
		They're not doing policing.
		They're there.
		Many of the folks that are there have been reported, they're just standing there.
		They don't know what they're necessarily doing.
		They're just kind of standing around in a show of force.
		Again, we welcome the partnership with our federal government.
		We've certainly asked for it.
		The African American Mayors Association.
		I think we should be able to work together.
		But the reality is, ask us how we can work together.
		Let's find ways of common ground that we can make this work.
		I think our residents, our populace expects us to be able to work together harmoniously, not necessarily one-sided actions that are not getting to the root of the problem.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Mayor Johnson, the caller also brought up a murder-free week here in D.C. Fox News reports D.C. has murder-free week as A.G. Bondi touts 77 more arrests and federal takeover.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		The Attorney General reports 53 federal arrests plus 24 ICE arrests and 10 guns seized in a Wednesday operation.
unidentified		Okay, I think the D.C. police could also show you where they have crime-free murder-free weeks in which they have also confiscated guns.
		And of course, ICE's operations are federal operations.
		So those operations would not be conducted by a municipal police department anyway.
		So again, I think, you know, it could be a force multiplier.
		I think Mayor Bowser and her team has done a great job being able to make lemonade out of lemons and being able to try to marshal these federal forces in a way that makes sense to our community.
		I think it's a testament also to the Metro Police Department in D.C. and Mayor Bowser's leadership.
		And again, you know, working with what they have to work with.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Fox also says that since the president federalized the D.C. police on August 11th, 630 people have been arrested in total and 86 illegal guns have been confiscated.
unidentified		Jay.
		Let's find ways to stop the illegal gun flows into Washington, D.C. We'll go to Jay next, who's in Houston, Republican.
		Good morning.
		Morning.
		Good morning.
		I'm sure you're familiar with our late Mayor Turner.
		I believe he had your position before he passed away.
		This time last year, it was reported here in Houston, fourth largest city in the country, 256 000 cases got rerouted with some kind of a different code and they weren't reported.
		I'm not saying 2500, i'm saying 256 000, of which 4 000 were rape cases.
		At the time, the uh police chief, Troy Finner, got uh canned and we got a new mayor, John Whitmire, still a Democrat, and I haven't heard anything about it.
		It was reported in the news briefly and and Jay, your question then for mayor Johnson, how come Houston doesn't make the list?
		It's.
		You know, we are the fourth largest city uh, catching up to uh Chicago.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Okay, mayor Johnson, do you have any thoughts?
unidentified		Um, I don't have the slightest idea, to be honest with you, about what is happening uh, in Houston.
unidentified		That is no longer an armor uh city, but again uh, these are uh isolated issues that happen in cities and, of course, they have to be addressed locally.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Ron in Maryland, Democratic caller.
unidentified		Ron, good morning uh, good morning, and thanks for C-span.
		The problem with all these uh guns in our cities and everything uh that's, that's the reason we have so much crime.
		The Republicans are putting all these guns in our cities.
		Now, I don't know if most Americans know, but uh, just about every town you go in, these young kids got glocks.
		We only have one manufacturing company in the United States that makes Glock guns and uh you, our president uh, he's not talking about that all the kids that have been killed in these school shootings.
		Now that, if you want to bring uh crime down, that's what you need to do.
		These uh people that's got all these uh a R-15s, these military style weapons.
		If, if they want to use those weapons, they should join the military.
		We don't need those in our communities.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Okay Ron, and also mayor, i'm i'm gonna have the mayor jump in.
unidentified		Well again we I, I agree.
		We talk about the demilitarization of not only police forces, but also um, the iron pipeline, uh guns that are all over the place here in Georgia.
		Georgia has very, very liberal gun laws.
		It is easier to get a gun in Georgia than it is to get a driver's license.
		As a result uh, more guns come from Georgia that show up illegally in other cities and anywhere else.
		Uh, we need our federal government to help us in that way, come up with comprehensive, common sense gun policy that respects the rights of Americans uh, to own a gun, own as many guns as they want, but also respects the right of communities to be safe from from those guns.
		So I I agree with you.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		We'll go to Green Cove Springs, Florida.
		William is watching there.
		Independent caller.
unidentified		Yes um, i'm from Georgia, Georgia.
		I've moved down here to Florida.
		And this mayor here, I wish you'd go back up to Brooklyn because if you check his past, you go down River Street.
		I worked down at the paper mill and I've worked at Elbow Island for 30 years.
		And the crime has just climbed up there.
		You go to evening meal with your wife, and they'll be caught killing you across the street.
		If it gets dark, you're lucky before 10 o'clock to get back to your car without somebody hustling you.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, let's take those points.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Mayor Johnson?
unidentified		Well, obviously, you have not been in Savannah in quite some time.
		Our crime is down over 20%.
		And the paper mill announced yesterday they were closing after 88 years.
		Savannah continues to be an international city with over 17 million visitors a year.
		And so I don't think you have a clue about what you're talking about.
		You might want to get your facts straight.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		We'll go to Boyd, Texas.
		Billy, Republican, you're on with the mayor.
		Billy, in Boyd, Texas, it's your turn.
unidentified		Yes, this is Billy.
		I wish the mayor would just address the criminality in the black community with kids being raised by single mothers.
		There's no father.
		That all leads to crime.
		I bet you could go out there any day and ask them kids they got a father in their home.
		There are hundreds of them running up and down the street.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Billy, how do you know that?
jim marrs ▲ ● ▼		It's common knowledge that what 75% of all mothers are single in the black community.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Mayor Johnson?
unidentified		That is absolutely foolishness.
		The reality is from the beginning of time, we've had people raised by single mothers.
		That did not mean that they had a propensity to do crime.
		Crime is a function of some environment, but it's also a function of choice.
		I know single mothers around this country, certainly also here in Savannah, every day to get up and bust their behinds, raising strong children that are ready to grow up and take on the world.
		And that does not mean because they don't have an active father in a home that they're going out to commit crime.
		I think that's part of that crazy narrative that's being pushed.
		It's just, you know, nonsensical.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Jim is in Delaware, Democratic color.
unidentified		Good morning, Greta.
		Thank you for taking my call and thank you for C-SPAN.
		I also want to take a second to applaud your anchoring of the coverage of the summit meeting the other day.
		It was very informative.
		Mayor Johnson, welcome.
		Thank you for coming on.
		In regards to D.C., I lived and worked in D.C. for a very long time.
		The president's comments about his concerns for crime don't add up when you factor in the billions of dollars he took away from the D.C. budget back in March.
		And part of the issue that is, I think, not talked about enough is that there are more than 700 vacancies on the Metropolitan Police Department right now.
		And I don't even know how many judges and U.S. attorneys or prosecuting attorneys are vacancies right now.
		And they're crowing about all the arrests they've made.
		Let's talk in a couple weeks and see how they go through the system and what happens.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Also, Jim, I'm going to have the mayor respond to the vacancies point that you're making.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Go ahead, Mayor.
unidentified		Well, we know, and as a former law enforcement officer, I will tell you that it is a hard, hard job right now of being a police officer.
		God bless our police officers that get up every day, put on their uniforms, and go out into this world.
		Oftentimes, they're outmanned and outgunned.
		Therefore, we have municipal police departments around the country that are finding it hard to be able to actively recruit because people can make more money with less dangerous jobs.
		And so, we find ourselves in a war for talent.
		Well, obviously, the federal government can help us to be able to come up with creative ways to attract law enforcement officers to our municipalities.
		To your point earlier, if this is retribution, then say it's retribution.
		It's not good public policy.
		Again, as I said at the onset, out of the top 30 cities that are challenging with violent crime, you know, 67% of them are not led by black mayors.
		They're not, but yet the ones that are always called are the ones of black mayors.
		We understand elections have consequences, but for mayors and for cities around the country, we're not afforded the ability to be partisan.
		We have to play with who's on the field.
		And so, when President Trump took the oath of office, he became our president as well.
		And so, we hope, we wish, we expect that we have partnership with our federal partners.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		We're going to go to your state there in Macon, Georgia.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Gwen is joining us, Independent.
unidentified		Yes, thank you for taking my call.
		My hometown is Valdalia, Georgia, which is not very far from Savannah.
		But I'm concerned when I see black children being murdered all across this country, predominantly in cities run by black mayors, particularly Washington, D.C.
		And I agree with a caller who said you should be glad to have the president step up.
		When you have three-year-olds being shot by scray bullets, it makes no sense.
		And then they want to criticize the president who's doing something.
		And even though they're cleaning them up, now if you have the city council who have these children, who I say children because they say they're 13, 14, 15, 16 years old, and they don't have a severe consequences for them, you're not going to be able to clean things up.
		You have to send these kids to juvenile detention or to prison, or maybe you should even bring back reform schools.
		All right.
		I don't.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Gwen, let's have the mayor respond to what you just said about juvenile detention punishment.
		Mayor Johnson, how does it work in your community if a juvenile commits a crime?
		What is the process?
unidentified		Well, it's two things.
		And of course, we love Bildalia, Georgia, and our friends up in Macon, Bibb County.
		What she's saying is really talking about state issues.
		How juveniles are treated when they commit crime varies from state to state.
		It is not a federal issue.
		And again, the federal government can come up with uniform ways of being able to address that.
		However, they don't.
		The other issue the caller has missed is: let's talk about how these guns get in the hands of people who should not have them.
		I believe that we can protect the Second Amendment and second graders at the same time, that we can be smart enough and wise enough to come up with ways to protect people to have guns if they want to and responsibly have them, but then at the same time, make sure that they are not in the hands of people who should not have them and make sure we have strict penalties for those that are engaged in them.
		I think to be able to say that this is happening exclusively in cities run by black mayors is terribly short-sighted, short-sighted.
		For us, we live as long as our next election.
		So, you know, why does the narrative change like in Houston when you have a black mayor and then the next mayor happens to be of another hue and then it goes away?
		I mean, again, it's steeped in racism.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Lisa's in Alexandria, Virginia, a Republican.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Lisa, welcome to the conversation.
unidentified		Thank you for having me.
		Mayor, I just want to say that I agree with you on one thing, that it's not just happening in black grand cities.
		I'm here in Alexandria and there's no black mayor or commissioner running the city and we have crime rampant here.
		But I do think you should walk it back some because we need to be protected.
		So if Trump brings in the National Guard and it deters people from committing crime, let it happen.
		We need to stop all this partisan, and that's what you're doing.
		Partisan saying, well, Trump coming in the wrong way.
		If help comes, you know, you need to take that vote or you need to take that plane or you need to, you know, take the help that's coming and just work with it so that they have a united voice saying, we're getting crime off the street.
		You're not going to be mugging old lady.
		You're not going to be breaking into our cars just to go in Walmart, come back out, and your window broke just because you left packages on the seat.
		And it's ridiculous.
		So all I got to say to you is, man, work with him now.
		Stop all this.
		He's not coming the right way because we know there is crime and we need to deal with it.
		Thank you.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Mayor Van Johnson.
unidentified		Thank you for your call.
		Again, I think you might have missed what I said at the beginning.
		Our mayors are not necessarily Democratic, not necessarily Republican.
		We are nonpartisan.
		We run the spectrum of political ideologies.
		Again, we're saying we want to help.
		We want to be a part of the solution.
		But I think there is a reality that we were also elected.
		We were also elected by the same individuals that have elected the president of the United States.
		We think that home rule, local rule is important.
		We understand our cities better than the federal government.
		And so work with us to help us find ways to be able to do the right things that we need in our communities.
		No two communities are alike.
		So therefore, there might be some that might need one type.
		They might need federal prosecution.
		They might need investigatory services.
		The reality is the National Guard, in many cases, don't have arrest powers.
		So, I mean, the fact that they're there is doing what?
		I agree with you.
		Absolutely.
		We should be working together.
		And as I've said before, the African American Mayors Association stands ready to work with the Trump administration because we recognize we are all serving the same folk.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Mayor Van Johnson, Mayor of Savannah, Georgia, Democrat and also the president of the African American Mayors Association.
		We thank you for the conversation this morning.
		We appreciate it.
unidentified		Thank you so much.
unidentified		Thank you.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Coming up on the Washington Journal, we'll talk with Allison Schrager of the Manhattan Institute discussing the meeting this week among global central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and what to expect from the federal chair Jerome Powell.
		He'll speak at 10 a.m. Eastern Time.
		We'll have live coverage here on C-SPAN.
		But first, after this break, more of your calls in open forum.
		Any public policy or political issue on your mind, start dialing in.
unidentified		We'll be right back.
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		Washington Journal continues.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Welcome back to the Washington Journal.
		We're an open forum.
		Any public policy or political issue on your mind, we want to hear that from you this morning.
		We'll start with some news here that's been developing about the former John Bolton, the president's former national security advisor.
		This is from the Associated Press.
		The FBI has searched the home of the former National Security Advisor John Bolton.
		According to the Associated Press, CNN was reporting that John Bolton was unaware of the FBI search at his home here in the Washington, D.C. area.
		There's also this from NBC News that you can respond to.
		Famine officially declared in Gaza City as Israel vows to open gates of hell on the besieged area.
		The world's leading body on hunger declared famine in the Gaza government on Friday as the Israeli military vowed to destroy the area if Hamas doesn't agree to its terms.
		That's the NBC News with that headline this morning.
		And then there's also this to share with you from ABC.
		Yesterday, this was the action in California.
		Governor Gavin Newsom signs redistricting plan to counter Texas's new congressional map.
		And we've been covering the California debate here on C-SPAN.
		We covered the hearings, the action in the Assembly and in the Senate.
		And then yesterday, there he is, the governor on your screen, signing into law this redistricting map.
		What it does is it lets the voters in November decide whether or not to move forward on this.
		And it's in response to, of course, Texas.
		We're in open forum.
		Chuck in Syracuse, New York, Republican.
		What's on your mind, Chuck?
unidentified		Well, I think the Democrats are going to continue to have a problem with not filling law enforcement positions because they're biased against law enforcement with the defund the police and then the mess with the George Floyd killing up there.
		And so now they're running into a void where they can't find people.
		But I found it funny that your previous guest doesn't want the federal government to be involved in law enforcement, but they want the federal government to be involved in education and health care.
		They don't want any local role or state role for those two issues.
		So unless they stop their bias against law enforcement and people feel they'd be supported, you could give them a $250,000 bonus.
		Nobody's going to risk it.
		Nobody wants to go to prison for a mistake.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		And Chuck, but you bring up an interesting point because Republicans are, and the president, you know, often say they believe philosophically that most policies should be left up to the states and not the federal government.
		The president taking action to eliminate the education department, eliminate federal programs, because he wants it done by the states.
		And then the president has the federal government take over D.C. What do you think of that?
unidentified		I think it'd be wrong to go into other cities.
		I think he's right with D.C.
		I have, I'd love to move to Virginia, Washington, D.C. area.
		I hope to do that someday.
		But the problem with that is that with D.C., you have the federal government, you have all this federal control down there.
		I don't think the military should be in the cities, but the Democrat states, Democrat-run cities have to show support for police.
		If they don't do that, nobody's going to put their neck down the line.
		But I think it'd be wrong to go into these other cities and your previous guest.
		I just think he's wrong to welcome in some and not other.
		I just, I don't understand that.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Got it, Chuck.
		Chuck in New York there.
		Eli in Fayetteville, Georgia, Democratic caller.
		We'll hear from you.
russell means ▲ ● ▼		All right, I think One of the problems is if you look back in the 70s when they flooded their poor neighborhood with all this drug, if you give a man what he wants and not what he needs, you'll keep him coming back.
larry pinkney ▲ ● ▼		And if you look at all the real estate in the United States, it makes it easy for you.
unidentified		You can buy a gun.
		They make it easy for these kids to get a gone because they know they're going to destroy each other.
		It don't even make sense.
		A 15, a 14-year-old kid have a glock, AK-47.
		They make it easy for they can get to gone, and now the president is going to go up there and stop the crime.
		He demanded crime because he's already gone to get all in the communities.
		So I'm not a call-in talk show, I guess, but that's what I want to say.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
		All right.
		All right, Eli there in Fayetteville, Georgia.
		We mentioned a couple times this morning we're going to hear from the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell later this morning, 10 a.m. Eastern Time at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium.
		We're going to have live coverage right here on C-SPAN on our free video mobile app, C-SPANNOW, and online at c-span.org.
		The Wall Street Journal this morning says that it has become the central banking world's most closely watched annual address.
		All eyes will be on the Federal Reserve Chair this morning, 10 a.m. Eastern Time.
		And we're going to talk about his address and what we likely may hear from him about Fed policy coming up here on the Washington Journal.
		Right now we're in open forum.
		Joyce, Houston, Texas, Republican.
		Hi, Joyce.
unidentified		Yes.
		I'm Joyce from Houston.
		And I want to make it clear to the guest that was on prior.
		And this person from Houston was talking about what had happened here.
		He didn't make himself clear.
		It was under a black male.
		That was his point.
		And, you know, with all this crime in the black community, and let me say this.
		I'm a 92-year-old black senior citizen, and I know what I'm talking about.
		And you think about all this crime in these black areas, and you look up, dash their black males.
		And one of the main problems in the black community, with all this crime with these young people, there are no fathers in the home.
		When I grew up, jails were, prisons were not full of our young black men because they had fathers in the homes and the fathers kept them out of prison.
		Not all these rules that you have, you put them in, you arrest them, and before the link, the ink dries, they're out on the street again.
		And our communities, and I am supposedly living in the most dangerous city in Texas, Houston, where you can't go to a store and shop.
		You see the young people coming in, they just get what they want.
		They walk on out the door.
		And here's a senior citizen in line paying for it.
		And nothing can be done to them.
		You can't stop them.
		I'm looking at them walking out the door and the managers can't stop them.
		And we are wondering what's going on in this nation.
		You should be proud of President Trump.
		I'm a black senior citizen, and I'm going to tell you to black America, we should be proud of him trying to help us because we're in trouble.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Joyce in Houston, Texas, Republican, with her thoughts.
		Some other headlines to share with you in the front pages of the newspapers this morning, New York Times, a New York court rejects the 500 million judgment against President Trump in that fraud case, voiding it out.
		The rest of the ruling is still under review.
		And then you also have this front page of the Wall Street Journal this morning.
		Biggest retailers prosper in tariff economy.
		Walmart, Amazon, and the owner of TJ Max are scooping up market share from rivals by offering shoppers good deals and convenience.
		That's the Wall Street Journal this morning.
		And also to share this on the Russia-Ukraine talks.
		This is from the Washington Post.
		It's Marco Rubio.
		Excuse me, this is a story about immigration.
		U.S. will vet all 55 million foreigners who now hold visas related to Marco Rubio.
		It's a story in the paper this morning that he'll be in charge of security guarantees and negotiating that.
		So a couple of different topics there for you on Marco Rubio to respond to.
		And then there's also this front page of the Washington Times: Poland spends big to arm frontline against Russia.
		Poland is expected to spend more than $3 billion after signing a deal last week with the United States to upgrade its fleet of F-16 jet fighters to the top of the line F-16 Viper models.
		Defense giant Lockheed Martin, which has built a 20-year partnership with Polish Air Force, will carry out the contract.
		Those are some headlines this morning in the papers.
		Ann, in Lithonia, Georgia, Democratic caller, we're an open forum.
		What's on your mind?
		Ann in Lithonia, Georgia, Democratic caller.
unidentified		Yes, yes, I'm calling.
		About the guns.
		Listen, I don't think that if we were to have this open carriage in Georgia, we wouldn't have so much crime.
		We already had enough.
		And all this stuff about Esteem and all, we don't give a darn about that.
		Congress needs to be working on the gun laws.
		They got so much other stuff to work on.
		Donald Trump and Estee, we don't care if he's caught on the front of Smart Simmons.
		They ain't going to do nothing to him, no way.
		So we need, when they did this open care, they need to be in Congress working on the gun laws, something that benefit us.
		Okay, well, they weren't, they were about the wrong thing.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Ann.
		And let's listen to the president.
		He addressed a crowd of federal law enforcement officers while visiting an operations center at the U.S. Park of Police, Park Police in D.C. last night.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		Here's what he had to say: Never received so many phone calls thanking me for what we've done in Washington, D.C. from people that haven't gone to a restaurant in literally in four years.
		And they said, you know, what you've done is it's unprecedented because what they said it was just unsafe.
		We couldn't do it.
		We'd go out and you'd see the stories, you'd read the stories, you'd see all of the things that are happening.
		And they said we just, we couldn't stand it, sir.
		Now, I take my wife and my kids to dinner.
		One of them said he's gone out four nights in a row and he hadn't gone out for four years.
		So it's a great tribute to you.
		And when I look at you people, I understand why.
		Because there's no games, right?
		We're not playing games.
		We're going to make it safe.
		And we're going to then go on to other places.
		But we're going to stay here for a while.
		We want to make this absolutely perfect.
		It's our capital.
		And I guess it used to be many years ago safe, but it's certainly not had a very good run.
		And you got to be strong, you got to be tough, you got to do your job.
		Whatever it takes to do your job, you got to do your job.
		But the crime numbers are way down.
		I'm looking at, you saw some of the stats.
		They just read them out to me inside.
		The numbers that we haven't seen here ever, actually ever.
		And I think it's probably right now.
		To me, I feel very safe now, and I'm hearing people are very safe, but I know within two weeks it's going to be, Pam, it's going to be at a level that's even far superior.
		So I just came, I just wanted to thank you all.
		You're doing incredible.
		You're incredible, people.
		You make the country run, frankly.
		You make the whole place run.
		We're going to have the best Capitol ever.
		We're going to have the, it's going to look better than it ever did.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		President Trump in D.C. talking to law enforcement yesterday.
		We're in public forum.
		That issue, if it's on your mind, you can continue to call in.
		Also, this morning joining us is Robert Blewy.
		He is the president executive editor of the Daily Signal here to talk about the Republican National Committee set to elect a new chair today.
		So Robert Blewy, why is there a new chair headed toward the RNC, headed for the RNC?
unidentified		That's right.
		Michael Watley, who has been serving as chairman, has announced that he's going to run for the U.S. Senate in North Carolina, his home state where he was born and raised.
		And obviously, that is a key Senate race.
		And so all of his attention needs to be focused on running for that election.
		And incumbent presidents get their choice of a new chair.
		So it's not particularly surprising that President Trump in this case has hand-picked the next person for the job.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		And who is that?
unidentified		That's Joe Groiders.
		And he is somebody who has a history in Florida.
		He comes from Sarasota, Florida.
		He has served as the chairman of the Florida Republican Party.
		He's currently a state senator.
		And he had considered a bid to run for CFO of Florida.
		Governor Ron DeSantis picked somebody else for the job.
		So that made him available to step up to this position at the RNC.
		He's currently the treasurer of the RNC, I should point out.
		So he's already holding an official position in leadership at the RNC today.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Is he uncontested?
unidentified		He is uncontested.
		And that is typically the case when you have an incumbent president, whether it be a Republican or a Democrat.
		Usually the person in the White House will choose who the chairman of the party is.
		The party chairman will obviously be responsible for the elections in 2026, the midterm elections, which will be critically important for President Trump if he wants to maintain those majorities in the House and Senate.
		And then usually that person will serve through the next presidential elections.
		So you would expect that this chairman would be in place for whoever were to succeed President Trump and run for the Republican ticket.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		President Trump has called him a mega warrior.
		How will he run the Republican National Committee?
		Will there be more changes?
		There were changes under Michael Watley.
		Will there be more?
unidentified		I expect that he's going to follow a similar pattern that we saw in Florida.
		So under his leadership at the Florida Republican Party, they saw massive gains in voter registration and they had quite successful elections.
		He served as both the vice chairman and the chairman.
		And so from that period of time, think about it.
		Donald Trump won in 2016, 2020, and 2024 in Florida.
		He increased his margin after each of those elections.
		You also had Governor Ron DeSantis and Marco Rubio win some pretty big elections there in Florida.
		He has said that his focus is going to be on voter registration and turnout.
		And if you can concentrate the party's efforts on those two issues, he feels that fairly confident that Republicans will be able to go up against Democrats who, by the way, the New York Times just this week revealing a big change in voter registration with Republicans making some substantial gains in the 30 states that were covered in their analysis.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		How does he feel about mail-in ballots?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		We heard from the president the other day on that.
unidentified		Well, he has spoken out about mail-in ballots in the past.
		He's been critical of them.
		I think particularly after the 2020 election when you had a lot of states expand mail-in voting access.
		I don't necessarily know as the party chairman what position he might take on that.
		Obviously, there's a fine line to walk.
		Republicans want to make sure that they're maximizing every opportunity to get people to vote while at the same time harboring some suspicion for good reason that there have been elections in the past, local elections and some even a congressional election that fraud was involved when it came to mail-in ballots.
		So it's that tricky line where you want to have that turnout while at the same time making sure that as many people vote in person as possible.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Will the Daily Signal be in Atlanta for this RNC summer meeting?
unidentified		We are not there today covering this, but we will be watching it from afar.
		Obviously, the party chairman plays a fairly critical role in terms of setting the direction, not necessarily the policy of Republicans or even selecting the candidates, but when it comes to making sure that there's a counter to what the Democrats are going to do.
		And remember, there's a lot of enthusiasm right now among Democrats.
		They don't particularly like Donald Trump.
		This is no surprise to you or me.
		But the big question is whether or not Republicans can go against historic trends, which typically show that the incumbent president's party suffers in the midterm elections.
		And so there's a lot at stake, particularly with the House being as closely divided as it is.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		What is the Daily Signal?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		What's your connection to the Heritage Foundation?
unidentified		Yes, so the Daily Signal was founded in 2014 by the Heritage Foundation at a time when we felt that there needed to be another source of news, particularly to cover Congress.
		That was our bread and butter initially.
		We've expanded to do investigative reporting and commentary from a conservative perspective.
		We don't hide the fact that we are conservative.
		Last year, we became our own independent entity, legally separate from the Heritage Foundation, in part because we were having trouble gaining access to cover Congress and the White House in the wake of some changes that President Biden had made at the time.
		And so now we are a standalone entity, and we have reporters in the White House and Congress and encourage C-SPAN viewers to check us out.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		Well, the Daily Signal reporters, along with our audience, can watch the summer meeting in Atlanta because we will have coverage of the Republican National Committee live 10.15 a.m. Eastern Time on C-SPAN 2 on C-SPAN Now, our free video mobile app, and online at c-span.org.
		I'll give you that promo again, but before we let you go, Robert Bluey, just let us know, too, what else is on the agenda.
unidentified		Yes.
		So there's a lot of things that the Republican National Committee will be doing at its annual meeting, including it's an organization meeting.
		So they will be talking about looking ahead at fundraising numbers.
		There were some new fundraising numbers that have come out recently that shows Republicans have a significant advantage with the money that's the cash on hand compared to Democrats.
		And so that is one of those areas where I think if you're President Trump, you're feeling fairly confident.
		Now, as an incumbent president, you do have an advantage.
		The Democrats don't necessarily have a national leader.
		They don't even have a congressional leader in terms of somebody who's in a position of power.
		So I suspect that they'll be focused on things like that as well.
		All right.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Robert Bluey is the president and executive editor of the Daily Signal.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Thank you very much for that.
unidentified		Thank you.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		And again, we will have coverage of the Republican National Committee, their summer meeting taking place in Atlanta around 10.15 a.m. Eastern Time on C-SPAN 2, our free video mobile app, C-SPANNOW, and online at c-span.org.
		Coming up here shortly, the U.S. House will gavel in for a pro forma session.
		Lawmakers are not in town.
		They are back in their home districts and their home states.
		We will go to that pro forma session.
		It should be brief, and then we'll come right back to the Washington Journal.
		In the meantime, we're an open forum, Jimbo, in Bakersfield, California, and Independent.
		Jimbo, what's on your mind?
unidentified		Three things, Greg.
unidentified		I got a couple of those stubborn things.
richard perez ▲ ● ▼		First off, Putin launched probably one of the massive attacks on Ukraine right after the red carpet visit to Alaska.
unidentified		So I want to know what that was all about and what we gained from that.
		The next thing is, is that I was wondering if he could possibly have Representative Thomas Massey, Republican from Kentucky, on September 3rd.
		He's going to be hosting the victims of Miss Maxwell, a convicted child sex trafficker.
		And he would be a really good guest to have on your show.
		So I just was hoping that you might have a chance to bring him onto the show.
		The thing about John Bolton is just terrifying because the director, he's been on all the talking head shows of late, and that's why I think he's being hassled by the Trump administration.
		And then the last thing I was wondering, if you could ask Allison, who actually believes our government data anymore.
		Because again, the Trump administration continuously fires those who bring bad news on the economy.
		So if you could ask Allison, who on the planet believes any of our government data anymore now that the Trump administration has completely corrupted the entire process.
		Hey, shout out to Brian Lamb.
		And again, thank you for your daily contribution to our democracy.
		You have a great day.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Thanks, Jimbo.
		Wrote your question down.
		We'll ask it.
		Homer in Florence, Massachusetts, Republican.
		Homer?
unidentified		Hello, yes.
		Thanks for pushing the Democrats' propaganda yet again.
		The rhetoric spewing is wonderful.
		Listen, the Democrats do not follow the rules throughout the country with gerrymandering.
		No one believes a poll of 1,000 people in a country of 350 million.
		I don't know how you expect us to believe that.
		The Republicans are not perfect, and they admit when they're not perfect.
		The Democrats think that they are.
		I've been hearing my entire life of 55 years that the Republicans are going to take away Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, welfare, and everything else.
		And it hasn't happened in my lifetime.
		How long are people going to keep getting the football pulled away from them like Lucy with Charlie Brown?
		The rhetoric is just absolutely hilarious.
		I mean, do you ever read from the Republican newspapers unless they say something bad about President Trump?
		We get one side of a story.
		And if you want, just for instance, I can tell you, I haven't heard zero seconds of the Jinder Singh who was an illegal alien given a driver's CDL driver's license for trucks, couldn't even speak English, couldn't read two out of ten road signs.
		He got a license not only in California, but in Washington State, and was in Florida doing an illegal U-turn, which any fool knows you can't do on a highway when a woman and her two children were killed because they couldn't stop fast enough because the tractor trailer covered the whole highway.
		Why don't you bring that subject up?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		You just did, Homer.
		You just did.
		We're an open forum, and that's what you get to do.
		Mark in Ellenwood, Georgia, Independent.
unidentified		Hello.
		Morning.
		What I like to talk about today is a lot of people got on here and say we should be happy that President Trump has the military in D.C.
		I disagree.
		I disagree wholly.
		We have to remember that we're pushing the buck.
		We're putting the responsibility of handling our business and raising our own children and resolving these crime issues on the government.
		The government is not in control.
		The people are in control.
		We must remember this.
		That's just a note for everybody out there who says we should be up and you should think about the fact of what he's setting us up for in the future.
		Nobody likes to live under military occupation, white, black, Chinese, or Japanese.
		It doesn't really matter.
		Mark, okay, so.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Understood.
		All right, Mark and Ellenwood, Georgian independent caller.
		We're in open forum here this morning, waiting for the House of Representatives to just do a quick pro forma session.
		The lawmakers are not in town.
		It's August recess.
		They've been gone since the beginning of the month, but they do hold these pro forma sessions.
		And when they turn on the lights and we can see the doors opening, we'll bring you up inside the Capitol here on the House of Representatives side just for a quick brief session.
		And then when they gabble back out, we'll continue here on the Washington Journal.
		The lights are on.
		We'll go up to the House of Representatives.
unidentified		The House will be in order.
unidentified		The Chair lays before the House a communication from the Speaker.
tylease alli ▲ ● ▼		The Speaker's Rooms, Washington, D.C., August 22nd, 2025.
		I hereby appoint the Honorable Jennifer A. Kiggins to act as Speaker Pro Tempore on this day.
		Signed, Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House of Representatives.
unidentified		The prayer will be offered by the guest chaplain, Monsignor Stephen J. Rossetti, the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. Good and gracious God, in a world rife with distrust and hatred, we pray that you would come and fill us with your peace.
		Help us to trust in you.
		May we live in love and unity with all our brothers and sisters.
		It is only in you that we come to see the true beauty and dignity of all humanity, especially those who are most forgotten and often discarded by our society.
		We pray this in your most holy name.
		Amen.
		Pursuant to clause 13 of Rule 1, the Journal of the Last Day's Proceedings is approved.
		The chair will lead the House in the Pledge of Allegiance.
		I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
		Pursuant to Clause 13 of Rule 1, the House stands adjourned until 11 a.m. on Tuesday, August 26, 2025.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		The House gavels in and out quickly here during this August recess in Washington, D.C. Back to open forum this morning.
		Any public policy or political issue on your mind, we'll talk for another 15 minutes or so.
		There are the lines on your screen.
		Before that, I want to let you know that President Trump plans to make an announcement at 12 p.m. Eastern Time in the Oval Office.
		It is not clear.
		There are no details yet on what the President will be speaking about.
		However, he is likely to get asked and respond to questions about Jerome Powell, who will be speaking earlier this morning at 10 a.m. Eastern Time at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium.
		The Federal Reserve Chair will give an indication of monetary policy to come here in the weeks ahead, as well as a possible rate cut in September.
		So tune into our live coverage of Jerome Powell, 10 a.m. Eastern Time, right here on C-SPAN, C-SPAN now, that free video mobile app, or online on demand at c-span.org.
		Shelby in Albany, Georgia, Republican.
		Shelby, what's on your mind this morning?
unidentified		Yes, I miss having.
		Good morning, Greta.
		Thank you.
		I missed the mayor, but I wanted to speak.
		The mayor, of course, represents is the mayor of Savannah, Georgia.
		Savannah, Georgia, of course, has one of the largest, most influential ports for our country where the manufactured goods come in that impact our daily lives.
		These are the consumer goods that we use every day.
		So the mayor actually is a very important, knowledgeable person because that port is so important to the country, right, Greta?
		I also want to comment that as far as Savannah's development, the Riverwalk development where they converted the old Georgia power plant into the JW, one of the JW Four Diamond hotels there, and they have developed that.
		I was just there for a convention.
		They have developed that entire area where his leadership the past six years created that economic development from a historic building that has been converted into a hotel and a convention center.
		That international paper, pulp meal, has been gone and is closing down.
		Hopefully, they can convert that into something as they have done.
		But I also want to talk about the fact that our cities, our cities in America, is where our lives are daily impacted.
		The cities, where we have our roads and sewer trash, utilities, our home property taxes, all of those things are the impact by mayors, not by the federal government.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		And Shelby, I've got other folks waiting, so I'm going to go on to Mark, who's in Lindale, Pennsylvania, Democratic Color.
unidentified		Good morning, Greta.
		Thanks for taking the call.
		Good morning.
		Good morning.
		Quick comment.
		I didn't want your previous guest, Mr. Bluey, comment about mail-in ballots to go unchallenged.
		He said that the Republicans had good reason to suspect fraud with mail-in ballots.
		Well, that's not true.
		It's been investigated many, many times over and over.
		There's no evidence, zero evidence of mail-in ballot fraud that would make any difference to an election.
		So he shouldn't have been allowed to get away with that.
		We do wish C-SPAN would correct comments that are incorrect.
		Another quick comment about the state legislature in Texas.
		It's a corrupt and cynical and nefarious legislative trick to redistrict in order to eliminate the voice and the votes of Democrats.
		So they will not be represented by the redistricting in Texas.
		And to do that blatantly and in the open like that, it just shows the corruption that has been accepted in this nation, corruption of the Republican Party.
		And my last point would be to thank you for pointing out the connection between Mr. Bluey and the Heritage Foundation, because that shows his allegiance to the Republican Party.
		Thank you.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Mark.
		Larry in Southport, North Carolina, Independent.
		Larry.
unidentified		Yes, ma'am.
unidentified		They're talking about redistricting Gavin Newton in Illinois.
robert f kennedy-jr ▲ ● ▼		They have it so redistrict toward Democrats they couldn't possibly squeeze another seat out of it.
unidentified		Democrats are and Democrats have redistrict.
		No one said anything about it.
		It's whoever's in control of Gavin Newson and government overvoid a joke.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Larry.
		Richard, Oceanside, California, Democratic caller.
		Richard, we're in open forum.
		What's on your mind?
unidentified		Hi, Greta.
		I have so much on my mind.
		I get to call in once a month, and so this is my chance.
		I would comment on as many things as I can get away with, but I know I can't do too much.
		I would say, for instance, the opening prayer that they did for the brief house business there a little bit ago was right on.
		They prayed that we would get relief from the current state of our nation, which is rife with distrust and hatred.
		In 1967, I think it was the great Martin Luther King Jr. said that the two most dangerous things in this world are deliberate ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
		I have never seen, and I'm almost 80 years old, so much deliberate ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
		People refuse to believe the truth, and they believe the nonsense that gets put out by, for instance, the reason I'm Democrat now, the Republican Party.
		There's a leader here that just makes stuff up.
		The business about balloting by mail.
		I've been balloting by mail ever since they let us do it and it became popular.
		It's proven to be a good way to vote.
		I'm an old dude now.
		I don't want to be standing in line.
		They do things to people now in voting places where they stand in line.
		They won't let anybody even bring them a cup of water.
		They'll stand there for hours, poor people and stuff, trying to vote.
		And there's a lot of business going on here you just can't trust.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Richard.
		I'm going to go to Sonia, who's in Rushford, Minnesota, Republican.
		Sonia, good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I'm calling about the voting, mail, and votings.
		In 2020, I had never asked to be on a list to mail, but I had voted Democrat, and I received three ballots in the mail that year to vote.
		So there is corruption on this.
		I only sent in one because I thought, my goodness, why would I get so many ballots to be voting for the Democratic Party?
		And so there is corruption going on in our country and the mail-in votings.
		And that's sad to say because in America, we should be very trustworthy.
		And thank you very much for the call, and I'm glad I got to come in.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Sonia.
		Yep, you bet.
		Rick's a Democrat in Boston.
		Hi, Rick.
unidentified		Yeah, I just want to make a couple comments about Russia and the United States, especially with Trump.
		I said, this clown here talks all this stuff in front of all these white people in this country.
		I'm talking about white people.
		I think white people need to wake up in this damn country, see that this guy is selling this country out.
		And he talk all this to Putin, I'm going to put sanctions.
		He didn't put sanctions on nothing.
		The guy went out there, and when he got in the limousine, I'm surprised whether he kissed him about whatnot.
		I mean, he's looking through the window, smiling and all this stuff.
		And then the guy talking, we want to ceasefire.
		Oh, I don't get a ceasefire, no percent.
		The guy do nothing.
		He's just got a big mouth.
		And all these white people are being lifted to this garbage here.
		This guy's going to overthrow this country.
		You're trying to kick me all these universities.
		You're trying to take money from all these different places.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Rick's.
		The latest on the Ukraine here in the World News section of the Wall Street Journal.
		Attack hits a U.S. factory in western Ukraine.
		The strikes with 574 drones and 40 ballistic and cruise missiles mostly targeted regions where much of the military aid provided by Ukraine's Western allies is believed to be delivered and stored.
		The strikes killed at least one person and injured 17 others.
		This happened Thursday in Ukraine by Russia.
		Randy in Brilliant Alabama, Independent.
		Randy, good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Thank you for taking my call.
		I want to talk about the Ukraine-Russian war.
		Russia brought in another country, North Korea, to fight with them.
		And I don't understand why Ukraine can't have other countries come in to fight for them, too.
		I mean, America does not have a dog in this fight, actually, because Russia could take the whole Ukraine and not affect our borders one way or the other.
		But it will affect the European nations' borders.
		Now, I understand the European nations are under NATO, but they can go into Ukraine not under the NATO flag, but as independent countries and help fight Putin.
		You know, that's my opinion, and thank you for taking my call.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Randy, we have a live shot outside of John Bolton's home in Bethesda, Maryland.
		There it is on your screen.
		And we shared with you earlier, reporting by the Associated Press that the FBI searched his home here in the outskirts of Washington, D.C.
		And they also, CNN reported that John Bolton was unaware of the FBI search.
		That's breaking news this morning to share with all of you while we're in open forum.
		Renee, Westchester, Pennsylvania, Democratic caller.
		Hi, Renee.
unidentified		Hi.
		Yes.
		I've done mail-in vote.
		I have an elderly mother who does mail-in voting.
		And before, I had a son-in-law who moved newly to the state, wasn't from the state.
		And that year, he could not do mail-in voting because they have to check and search and make sure through taxes, through your state ID or license or whatever.
		In my state, they check.
		I don't know what goes on in some of those other states, and maybe they need to be a little bit more stricter in checking for identity for mail-in.
		But I know here in Pennsylvania, they do, and there's nothing going on that's not right or proper.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Renee, Westchester, Pennsylvania, Democratic caller.
		Another story to share with you, especially our avid C-SPAN watchers.
		House GOP Maverick Roy joins the Texas Attorney General race.
		Representative Chip Roy, a member of the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus with a history of sparring with his Republican colleagues, announced Thursday he is running for Texas Attorney General, joining a crowded field vying to replace Ken Paxton.
		In a campaign launch video, Roy made no mention of his past clashes with GOP leaders, including President Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson.
		Jeannie, Spring Hill, Florida, Republican.
		Hi, Jeannie.
unidentified		Hi, how are you?
		I have a couple of things.
		Number one, just found out Alcatraz is shutting down.
		Judge ruled against it.
		That will be gone.
		I'm thrilled.
		I am in black.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Alligator Alcatraz, Alcatraz?
unidentified		Yes.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
unidentified		Yes.
		Just announced on the news.
		Judge voted against it.
		Environmental reasons.
		Testing was never done.
		So I'm happy.
		I also heard this morning the president say, we are at Washington, D.C. has never been safer, ever.
		Get out of here.
		I am Republican, but I can't do it anymore.
		I cannot keep up with the constant lies.
		I can't do it.
		I'm happy for California.
		What's good for Texas is good for California.
		It should have never been started.
		It has been.
		Now we're going to run with it.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Jeannie, let me ask you, then, how many times did you vote for President Trump?
unidentified		Once.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		In what year?
unidentified		This past year.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Instead of Joe Biden?
unidentified		Yes.
unidentified		All right.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Jeannie there in Spring Hill, Florida.
		Republican caller.
		We'll leave it there for open forum.
		We're going to take a break.
		When we come back, we're going to turn our attention to the economy.
		Allison Schrager of the Manhattan Institute will discuss this week's summit of global central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and the prospects of an interest rate cut coming up here.
		Stay with us.
		We'll be right back.
unidentified		Tune in to C-SPAN for highlights of our America 250 coverage.
		Join us as we continue to explore the American story through the voices, sites, and stories that shaped it.
		I am authorized by the province of Connecticut.
		I must take possession of this fort and all effects of George III.
		Tonight, we'll feature a reenactment of the capture of Fort Ticonderoga in May 1775.
		Then, historian Bruce Venter on the impact of the fort's capture.
		Watch C-SPAN's America 250 highlights tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern on C-SPAN.
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		I'm a huge C-SPAN fan.
		I listen every morning on the way to work.
		I think C-SPAN should be required viewing for all three branches of governing.
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		Thank you, everyone at C-SPAN, for allowing this interaction with everyday citizens.
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		Washington Journal continues.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All eyes this morning will be on Jackson Hole when the Federal Reserve chair delivers remarks at 10 a.m. Eastern Time about the state of our economy and the future of monetary policy.
		You can watch it right here on C-SPAN, 10 a.m. Eastern Time, or our free video mobile app, C-SPANNow and online on demand at c-span.org.
		Joining us is Allison Schrager from the Manhattan Institute to talk about the U.S. economy and what she expects to hear from the Federal Reserve.
		Allison Schrager, it sounds like this is a pretty important speech here.
		All the newspapers are talking about for central bankers, people will be listening very carefully.
unidentified		Yeah, I mean, for a lot of reasons.
		I mean, I think first and foremost is the political dimension that I think people are expecting for Jay-Powell to reiterate a commitment to central bank independence and whatever happens with rate cuts in the coming months and year will be, at least for the rest of his term in May, will be driven largely by data and not by politics.
		And if you listen a little bit more carefully, there might be some hinting of the upcoming framework review where they might rethink how monetary policy is conducted.
		But I think what a lot of people are going to be listening for is some clue about whether or not they're going to cut rates in September, but I wouldn't expect that as much.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Why not?
unidentified		Well, I mean, this isn't really the forum for it.
		Jackson Hole is supposed to be sort of a rethink of, you know, what monetary, the philosophy of monetary policy and how it's conducted.
		It's sort of a bigger picture than one particular rate cut.
		Also, I mean, he might not genuinely know yet what they're going to do.
		They still have a jobs report to go.
		They still have a lot of data that's going to be revealed before the next rate decision.
		And I imagine, especially because it's so murky right now, whether or not it makes sense to cut rates, that I'd expect that they're still waiting to see that data and don't want to box themselves in.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		The notes from the last framework board meeting were out.
		Have you had a chance to look at them?
		And what did you make of the decision last time by the Federal Reserve Board?
unidentified		You mean in 2020?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		No, just not this speech, but just the last time they got together on interest rates.
unidentified		Oh, you mean the last Fed rate decision?
		Yeah.
		I mean, I think they're definitely trying to hedge their bets and sort of not really stay committed.
		They keep saying they have to see more data.
		And I'm not sure that that is the, I mean, I think people interpret it as they need more information.
		I don't think it's that so much as I think the look, read of the data right now is it's hard to justify a rate cut.
		They still have not achieved their 2% inflation target.
		Inflation is running, you know, 2.5%, 3%.
		And the labor market, while there's certainly signs of weakening, I mean, people aren't losing their job, but firms aren't really hiring either.
		So there's just not the data there to justify a rate cut yet.
		And I think that's different than saying, you know, we're, you know, we need more clarity.
		It's pretty clear, I think, that it's not, there's no slam dunk for case for a rate cut.
		And to cut rates while inflation is still above target is sort of an admission, I think, that you are giving up on your target, which is a big deal.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		So explain to our viewers why that 2% is a big deal.
unidentified		Well, there's this philosophy in monetary policy that your strongest tool isn't necessarily cutting rates.
		It is setting expectations in the economy because inflation is often self-fulfilling.
		You maybe negotiate your pay raises, you make your spending plans based on what you, or like if you're a business owner, you set prices based on what you think inflation is going to be.
		So it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, whatever you think inflation is going to be.
		So what the Fed aims to do is, and this is considered honestly one of their more powerful tools rather than a single rate cut, is to set expectations around what inflation is.
		So that's why this inflation target is supposed to be very powerful, but it's only powerful.
		And this is just saying we target 2% inflation.
		You can expect inflation to average around 2%.
		Make your plans around that.
		But for that to work, people have to believe the Fed can actually achieve that.
		And there's a lot of question about whether or not they can.
		Before 2020, they were almost consistently below target.
		And since the pandemic, they've been well above target.
		And now it seems that the economy is sort of landing around, I said, 2.5%, 3%.
		So close.
		And you can have a very healthy economy around 2.5%, 3%.
		That's not necessarily bad, but it isn't what they said they would do.
		And they've never been able to achieve what they can do.
		So if they start on a big rate cutting cycle now, they're effectively saying, yeah, 3%, which, you know, as I said, it's not necessarily a bad rate of inflation.
		You can have a healthy economy in that as long as everyone expects it and it's realized.
		But they are effectively saying we can never make our target.
		And, you know, that's a big deal for credibility and makes the Fed overall less powerful.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		So do you agree with the Fed, most of the board members' decisions so far not to cut rates?
unidentified		Yeah, I mean, I tend to, just my personal predisposition is to be hawkish.
		It's not like, because the Fed has this dual mandate, right, between stable, maximum employment and stable prices.
		And it's not that I don't think unemployment's important, in some ways, even more important because you lose your job that is so financially devastating.
		And lower income Americans tend to lose their jobs more.
		And it's terrible.
		But the thing is, I think in a lot of countries, they just worry about inflation.
		And it's not, again, that they aren't worried about unemployment.
		It's that unemployment, it's a hard thing for the Fed to control.
		And it's sort of like the evidence is even murky.
		They even do have a lot of direct influence on unemployment.
		But we do know that good monetary policy can have a lot of influence on inflation.
		And the theory is that stable prices, good inflation is something that the Fed can control.
		And when you do have a healthy economy with low predictable inflation, then unemployment, you know, I want to say it takes care of itself because unemployment rate is driven by a lot of factors, a lot of big macro factors the Fed honestly doesn't have a lot of control over.
		So I think that's why I tend to err a little bit more hawkish is that it concerns me when inflation is high.
		And as I said, unemployment is still not that high.
		It's still definitely in the range of what you could say maximum.
		And not to mention the stock market is still, I mean, this week is an exception, is still running really hot.
		We still see a lot of areas of hotness in the economy.
		So to say we're going to cut rates and pour more fuel on this, I think is hard to justify.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		Well, Allison Schraeger is with us.
		She's a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
		We want you to join us in this conversation.
		We'll take your questions and your comments on the state of the economy, U.S. economic policy as well, what it's like for you and what's on your mind when it comes to the economy.
		Republicans dial in at 202-748-8001.
		Democrats, 202-748-8000.
		Independents, 202-748-8002.
		You can text if you don't want to call at 202-748-8003.
		Alison Traeger, listen to the president.
		This is during one of his recent visits to the Kennedy Center, and this is what he had to say about the Federal Reserve Chair's resistance to lower interest rates.
donald j trump ▲ ● ▼		Every point costs us $360 billion.
		You think of that, $360 billion for one point.
		And we should be down at 1% because we're the leader of the world.
		We were always the lowest interest rate for until like a certain time ago, decade, couple.
		But we were always because we were the United States of America.
		So even if the country has run badly, we were considered like to be super prime.
		And now he's got us in a bad place.
		So we're paying $360 billion a year for each point.
		Now, I believe we should be three or four points lower.
		So that's over a trillion dollars we pay every year in interest.
		And it's really just a paper calculation.
		You sign a document and you save almost a trillion dollars because that number equates very much to the bonds that we have to buy.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Allison Schraeger, how would you respond to the president's argument?
unidentified		Well, I mean, he does bring up an important point.
		But I think, you know, why the, and it's honestly going to become a really big issue in the coming years, which is higher interest rates make it a lot more expensive to service the debt.
		And we're a very high debt country and we have no plans to be anything else.
		I think the issue here is that the interest rates we tend to pay, say interest rates of duration, say more than two, maybe five years, depending on your calculate it, tend to be set by the market more than what the Fed chooses.
		And there's a lot of evidence the Fed doesn't have a lot of control over these longer-term interest rates, which are often determined, say, the mortgages rates we get and also the cost of servicing our debt.
		So, and what determines how expensive debt is further out on the curve?
		Inflation.
		So, if people expect inflation to be consistent and for it to be low, then we pay less in interest rates.
		So, he's right that the Fed has an important role to play here, but it's not by just setting where interest rates are.
		In fact, if they set rates lower than where they should be, then that actually can cause inflation to run hot.
		And that actually can mean we end up paying more for debt.
		So, you know, I think the argument for a 1% federal funds rate, especially in a 3% inflation environment, that means negative 2% real.
		I think that might be a little hard to justify, but I'm sympathetic to the concern that he has about, you know, paying our debt and what a high interest rate environment would look like.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		There is some speculation, Alison Draeger, that even if the Fed were to cut the rate in September, that it wouldn't impact mortgages and what you were talking about, that mortgages could just stay where they are and or go higher.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Explain.
unidentified		Yeah, it's like I was saying, is that mortgage rates are largely based on the 10-year bond yield.
		And that is largely, as I said, it's how that comes from.
		As I said, it's a market price.
		The Fed doesn't set it.
		It is like where the Fed sets rates is a function of that, but it is mostly sort of where the market expects inflation to be in the future.
		So if people expect higher inflation, you're going to pay higher yields.
		Or if people expect more, say, volatility in the bond market, they have less certainty.
		They're taking on more risk by taking on a 10-year yield.
		So that also increases it.
		Like the 10-year yield is largely a price that reflects risk in the macroeconomy more than just a number the Fed chooses.
		So if there's a perception that the Fed has become sort of just a toady of political preferences and is actively trying to keep rates low to service more debt, then that is actually inflationary.
		And that can have this counterproductive impact of pushing rates higher on the long end.
		And that's a rate that really actually matters a lot for consumers and also servicing our debt.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		And there's some that believe that the market's already baked in an interest rate cut in the fall.
unidentified		Yeah, I think, you know, if you listen to a lot of financial news networks, you're seeing a lot of bank economists expecting several rate cuts.
		I mean, it seems to me that bank economists always expect a lot of rate cuts.
		I think it might be a lot of wishful thinking, maybe hoping their expectations will be realized.
		And to be fair, really since the financial crisis, the Fed, or arguably since Paul Volcker, the Fed does tend to give the market what it wants and tends to run towards being more accommodative than contractionary.
		I mean, when I said that I think it's hard to justify a rate cut right now, I think it's also very hard to justify a rate increase.
		I think, you know, where you want interest rates to be is there's something we call, and we don't really know what it is, so it's confusing, is something called the natural rate.
		And if the Fed sets interest rates to where that is, then you're neutral.
		You're not putting gas on the economy, but you're not slowing it down either.
		But no one knows exactly where that is.
		But I think if we didn't, it might be around where we are now, or maybe just slightly lower.
		But given where the economy is, it said fairly low unemployment, inflation that isn't obscenely high, but above target.
		You know, I think there is definitely an argument that we should be at neutral.
		We should not be putting more of our foot on the gas.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Well, let's turn to our viewers.
		What does the economy feel like where you live?
		And what type of economic policy would you like to see?
		Elizabeth in Franklin, Michigan, Democratic Caller, you're up first.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Yes, good morning.
		I am so happy that Jerome Powell did not step down.
		We need more people like him that have integrity, will stand up to Donald Trump and say, no, I'm not going to lie.
		Our economy is not good.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Allison Schrager.
unidentified		Yeah, she's absolutely right.
		Because I was saying before, the strongest tool the Fed has is credibility.
		And that really does require a central bank chair that has integrity and repeatedly, I mean, one actual good effect of Trump bullying the Fed chair is if he can withstand the bullying and sort of stay consistent with his mandate and can justify not cutting rates or cutting rates, whatever he decides, is that could have actually really enforced central bank independence by showing, hey, you might have a president who bullies you, but ultimately this is an independent institution.
		And, you know, they'll stand up to political pressure and do what's right for the economy.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		You wrote on the Manhattan Institute a recent piece with the headline, Jerome Powell is not the greatest Fed chair ever.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		What was your argument here?
unidentified		Well, I'm thinking more back to what happened around the time of the pandemic.
		And, you know, while Jay Powell deserves a lot of, I think, praise for managing to bring inflation down while not setting off a recession.
		I mean, maybe that was luck, but you know what?
		We'll give him credit because he was watching the economy when it happened.
		But on the other hand, I think he did make some major policy errors between 2021 and 2022.
		So inflation had taken off and he waited a whole year to cut rates.
		And I think even worse, which I think is really going to do damage for the economy for the time being, is around 2020 when the pandemic hit, bond markets just froze, particularly mortgage markets froze.
		So what the Fed ended up doing was buying a lot of mortgage-backed securities.
		So, you know, when you buy a mortgage, the bank sells it on this other market, and this really determines mortgage rates.
		So they continued buying like a very large fraction, really almost all of the sort of new runs of mortgage-backed securities for two years.
		Now, you could justify the low rates, but like if you recall, even in the summer of 2020, the mortgage market was really hot.
		This is when people were moving to Boise.
		There was bidding wars all over the place.
		And mortgage rates, that's when they fell like around 3%, lower than, often even lower than 2%.
		So because the Fed was buying all these mortgage-backed securities, everyone got really cheap mortgages.
		And then inflation took off.
		And eventually they had to stop buying these mortgage-backed securities.
		And now you have half the country with these very low mortgage rates and they can't move.
		And this is going to really slow moving.
		It's going to really mess up with the housing market ultimately for like a decade.
		And I think, again, maybe you could justify buying all those mortgage-backed securities in the spring of 2020 when the market was frozen.
		But they kept doing it for two years.
		And this is really going to mess with the housing market for a long time.
		I think that was a major policy error that we honestly are not critical enough of.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Front page of the Wall Street Journal this morning, Allison Schrager, home sales edge up.
		The sales of existing homes rose unexpectedly in July, boosting hopes that the long-stalled housing market may be improving.
		Do you buy it?
unidentified		Well, I mean, some people do have to move because things change in their life and you do have that buildup.
		But ultimately, the fact that 50% of Americans have very low mortgage rates is just going to weigh on the housing market.
		I mean, as I said, you're looking at like a third or fourth derivative there, looking for hope.
		But the idea that we're going to go back to what the housing market was pre-pandemic, you know, is highly unlikely when you have this weird situation of mortgage rates now being honestly closer to what they were historically and having so many people having these very low mortgage rates from a different era.
		All right.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Calls are lined up.
		Bob, Port St. Lucie, Florida, Democratic caller.
		What is your question or comment about the U.S. economy?
unidentified		Well, I see so many people losing their houses because their mortgage rates went up, that they didn't have a fixed rate, and also that the rate, there's so many houses that are being sold.
		And at the last minute, they're canceling.
		And this is important to the building industry and our economy.
		It's going on everywhere.
		In Texas, Florida, people can't afford everything anymore.
		All right.
		Especially the food.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Bob, we'll take that the variable rate.
		Interesting.
		His comment about that.
		And then these contracts being canceled.
		Allison Schrager.
unidentified		Yeah, Bob brings up, I said, I think what we're seeing is the sickness in housing from just things being so screwy from before.
		I mean, one thing that really concerns me is everyone I know who's bought a home since 2022, you know, is getting a variable rate mortgage.
		There's nothing wrong with that product, depending on what your expectations are.
		In fact, it's very unusual to have a fixed year, 30-year product at all.
		Most countries don't have that.
		It takes a lot of government intervention that even exists.
		But the problem that worries me is that everyone I know who's taking on a variable rate mortgage is counting on rates to go back down to what they were before.
		In fact, like their mortgage broker promises that.
		I see it in their projections.
		And I'm like, I don't know if this is, that's going to happen.
		I mean, mortgage rates now are really high.
		And at the same time, housing prices have not come down a lot in part because people, you know, don't want to accept that maybe their house is.
		I mean, I bought when mortgage rates were low too.
		I don't want to accept personally that maybe the home I bought is worth less than what I paid for it.
		Anyway, I paid for it with a much lower mortgage.
		So everything is just sort of stuck.
		And housing affordability is a nightmare if you're not, if you didn't buy, if you weren't lucky enough to buy before.
		So I think, as I said, this is going to be a real issue.
		A housing affordability is only going to get worse in the coming years.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		John, West Jefferson, Ohio, Republican.
unidentified		Oh, okay.
		Good morning.
		I read something a while back.
		There was a story about a man who bought, went to Brooks Brothers Suitmakers in New York City in the year 1900, and he paid for his suit with a one-ounce gold coin, which at that time had a value of $35.
		Now, the same man went into the Brooks Brothers last year and bought the same suit.
		And he paid for it with a one-ounce gold coin, which now has a value of $3,400.
		Now, see, I can't, I have trouble understanding how the Fed does all their stuff and why they do it.
		But I'm wondering why instead of having a 2% inflation rate target, why don't they have like a negative 2% inflation rate target so that instead of our dollar having less buying power each year, it would buy more.
		It'd be worth more each year and the price of gold would come down.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, John, let's take that.
		Let's take those questions.
		Ms. Schrager.
unidentified		Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, for a lot of years, the economists did think the optimal inflation rate would be zero.
		Negative tends to suggest an economy that's shrinking.
		So as and I don't think, I mean, one issue with that is if you had a negative inflation rate, then your employer would also have to cut your salary year to year.
		And most people just won't tolerate that.
		So I think what economists came to terms with is that a low but predictable rate of inflation, you know, is actually the sign often of a healthy economy.
		Because, you know, as I said, when you get a pay raise, part of it is merit-based.
		Part of it is just to keep up with inflation.
		But people do expect to see pay raises over time.
		So often, like you said, something low and predictable is a sign of a healthy growing economy.
		As long as it's not high and as long as it is predictable, then you do want that.
		But you really, again, don't want this deflationary scenario because then you have things like people having their wages cut year to year.
		And then they get more pessimistic and the economy can really crater.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		We'll go to Valdez in Mapleton, Illinois, Independent.
unidentified		Hi, good morning.
		I first want to give you a background.
		I have never been in any kind of debt, never credit card, not once, not ever.
		And one of the biggest problems I've seen growing up, I'm in my 70s.
		I retired at 50.
		I have seen that the banks want lower interest rates so they can get the rates and put out a credit card to people that are paying, as I read the other day in the 20s of the low 20s.
		If people don't get credit card under control, which most people don't, since we have about half our population that doesn't have any assets at all, I'm a 10%er.
		I've never had to work beyond, like I said, 50.
		And all I've seen is I can sit back and I have for years seeing people chase their tails with trying to say what you're putting out, Ms. Schrager, is very important, but it's mumbo-jumbo to most people.
		Most people spend too much of things they can't afford, and now we're stuck.
		And this greatest economy, that's a talking point.
		We've never been the greatest economy because everybody's in debt, meaning half the population.
		So I'm not complaining about that.
		I'm just going to sit back and watch everything crumble because that's what's going to happen.
		Thank you.
		All right.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Lewis in New York, Democratic caller.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Hi, Lewis.
unidentified		Hi.
		Thank you.
		I appreciate listening to you.
		I need advice as to why when the economy was defined, it was defined not for the lowest economic communities, the low income, poverty, middle income, and low community.
		I mean, I'm sorry, it was based on the low-income community as opposed to the wealthier community.
		If our standards were monitored and the dialogue was based on how the lower income community exists, then we wouldn't be talking about mortgage rates and rising.
		We would be talking about how to put food on the table.
		Where can I get a job?
		I am 80 years old with a lot of graduate degrees.
		I taught at universities.
		I'm highly educated.
		And I can't find a job.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Okay, Lewis.
unidentified		And I need to work.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Understood.
		Understood.
		Allison Schraeger.
unidentified		Yeah, so there's a lot to unpack there.
		I mean, I think how you judge the health of the economy absolutely includes how lower income, middle-income people are doing.
		I think one thing that disturbed me when inflation first broke out was that people who had not dealt with inflation before, I mean, granted, I was one of them, kept arguing that high inflation would be somehow good for lower-income communities.
		And we saw clearly that that is not.
		They tend to be the most hurt.
		But I think when we think about the Fed, we need to separate out.
		And I think this is one of the reasons they got in trouble and waited too long to cut rates is what is the Fed's like mandate and what can they control?
		I think what you describe are serious economic issues that really need much better policy, but they're not things the Fed can control as much.
		We're talking like there's a lot of barriers to hiring that the sort of fiscal side of the economy really needs to work on.
		I mean, a lot of reasons why, even if you're highly educated but older than 65, make it just harder to get a job.
		Or why, particularly another population that's having problems finding jobs are new graduates of college or anyone who's just entering the labor force.
		So that's due to a lot of sort of say frictions in the economy that are largely regulatory as opposed to what the Fed can control.
		Again, is largely inflation, which also is super important for low-income people.
		And I think it was a mistake in around the 2020 era.
		People kept saying the Fed is the only game in town.
		And I think that made people think the Fed could control everything.
		And the Fed could just put its foot on the gas and solve all of our economic problems if the Fed did things to make people grow, made the economy grow enough.
		And what did we get with that?
		We got inflation, which ended up hurting the people, the most vulnerable people the most.
		So instead, and it also, I think, is most dangerous because it lets the rest of the government off the hook for doing all of these things that are really standing in the way of prosperity for a lot of Americans.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Which is what?
unidentified		Sorry.
		Oh, I said like regulations that make it really hard, I think, to hire, to work, to offer benefits that sort of depress wages.
		Sort of, again, like regulatory requirements in the financial sector that make it harder to raise capital.
		I mean, there's a million frictions in the economy that are really sort of, I think, weighing often on the most vulnerable people and sort of depress hiring.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		The CNBC and others reporting this morning, Allison Trigger, that stocks are up ahead of hearing from the Federal Reserve Chair.
		The Dow Jones traded 297 points higher or 0.7%.
		SP 500 climbed 0.3% while the NASDAQ composite hovered around the flat line all ahead of hearing from Jerome Powell at 10 a.m. Eastern Time, which we will have live coverage of right here on C-SPAN, C-SPAN Now, our free video mobile app and online at c-span.org.
		Allison Schrager, what do you make of the market up this morning?
unidentified		I think they're expecting a rate cut.
		I think they're expecting a rate cut and they're expecting J-PAL to hint at that.
		They're not going to get that.
		But, you know, markets, I mean, you've got to love them, are really optimistic.
		They keep, and, you know, I'm inclined to believe it, expecting new technology like AI to sort of make us more productive and richer, and they expect the Fed to keep easing.
		And you know what?
		Probably eventually they will get some rate cuts.
		So I think that's just the market optimism, expecting J-PAL to somehow magically thread this needle of cutting rates, being more loose, yet also maintaining independence.
		I don't know if they're going to get that.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		Dennison, Texas, David, a Republican.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Morning.
		I heard you mention mortgage-backed securities and the percentage that the Fed had.
		And this is the first time I've heard this mentioned ever.
		I've been following this for quite a while now.
		They hold 78%, by the way, per the last lookup I did on it, which was not that long ago.
		78% of mortgage-backed securities.
		Question is, why are they doing that?
		They only held about 5% in 2000.
		I hope you would go back and take a look at what happened when Glass-Steagall was repealed.
		Most of this stuff has happened since then.
		That's when you had the explosion of mortgage-backed securities because banks could then be involved both in the investment banking side and the consumer banking side as well, which they've been banned from doing since 1933.
		Mixing those two together created this environment where you had the countrywides and everything else supplying this pipeline through the banks, through the banks, and the bigger banks and whatnot.
		In 2008, when we had our crash, the bubble between the Consumer Price Index and the HPI, the housing price index, showed a bubble of about $3 trillion.
		Usually those two lines track together.
		Maybe the HPI is one or two points higher, but nothing like what it was then.
		But in two years, the price of houses came down below the CPI.
		Two years.
		It's never happened.
		It's gone back up, and the bubble is, I think, somewhere around $4.5 trillion.
		It's way more than it was before.
		Naomi Prince, who I don't like her politics, but her economics are good, read all her stuff.
		Permanent disorder, it says it all.
		By manipulating the economy to keep things where things look okay when they're very much not okay, not just our Fed, but the central banks around the world, they have created this scenario.
		Look at the Federal Reserve.
		There are no reserve banks anymore.
		They don't require reserves.
		They changed this in 2020.
		You've just started hearing reporting about Fed losses the last couple of years where they're not paying money to the Treasury like they normally do.
		That's because in 2021, they raised the interest rate that they were paying banks for reserves for practically nothing.
		Okay.
		4.6%.
		Please don't cut me off at this point.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		No, but David, because there's other people waiting.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		So what do you want Allison Schrager to respond to?
unidentified		The Fed is paying the banks to keep $4 trillion out of the Main Street economy.
unidentified		Why did they give them that money in the first place to pay them a quarter of a trillion dollars a year not to use it?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Okay, Allison Schraeger.
unidentified		So I think David is bringing up a really good point.
		And something, again, I've been very critical of the Fed for doing, which is quantitative easing, which we started doing in 2008.
		And everyone thought this was a big deal and it would cause inflation.
		It didn't.
		So then in 2020, we did quantitative easing even more, significantly bigger.
		And that's when David points out they bought all those mortgage-backed securities and did it for two years.
		And that's honestly also why the Fed is losing money now.
		They bought a lot of mortgage-backed securities.
		They bought a lot of long-term bonds.
		But that then exposes them to interest rate risks.
		Interest rates then went up, partially because the Fed rose them, partially because inflation came back and market rates went up.
		But when the Fed buys all these long-term securities, that also means if interest rates go up, they lose money.
		And that's what we're seeing now.
		And also, as I said, I think he's right.
		That justification for the Fed to interfere so much in mortgage markets where they were holding, what he said, 78% of mortgage-backed securities or buying them at that point.
		That really is, is it artificially lower mortgage rates, which is why we are where we are now.
		So I think when the Fed is doing its framework review this fall, they should really think about QE.
		If they want to say then this is buying all these assets, if they want to continue doing this, and if they insist on keep doing it, because they do find it to be a valuable tool, sort of really restrict the circumstances in which they do it.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Newport News, Virginia, Anthony is a Democrat.
		Welcome to the conversation.
		Question or comment?
unidentified		Marshall, a comment.
		Would you hear, keep on hearing about how people feel about the economy?
		And you heard that in the last election.
		Now going forward, we hear this thing about we're the hottest country in the world.
		I'd like to ask Ms. Schraeger, where would you point someone to to ask, say, where are we economically for folks working day to day, not somebody with a million-dollar trust fund, but somebody that's working day to day.
		What numbers would you point them to if not the Fed?
		Well, I mean, it depends.
		If you're asking for like, where is the economy now?
		I think the average person knows.
		I think their daily experience, what they're getting, you know, how they feel about their job, is it stable?
		What's their outlook for a raise?
		How much are they spending when they go to the grocery store?
		What's amazing about being an economist is you're paid to have this very informed opinion on something everyone has their own opinion about, and that own opinion is absolutely true because their experience of the economy is always informative and valid.
		But I think where an individual might want to look outside is also, as I said, looking at where they expect the economy to go and how they want to form their own expectations.
		And, you know, I think the best thing they can do is just stay, you know, somewhat engaged with the news.
		I think even sort of taking tidbits from the Fed's outlook is you can get a sense of where they see the economy going and where they are going to set policy rates.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		We are about eight minutes or so away from hearing from the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
		He's in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for the annual economic policy symposium.
		We're going to have live coverage right here on C-SPAN.
		So keep your channel here to hear from the Federal Reserve Chair.
		Allison Schraeger, when he talks today, do you think the average person is going to be able to make sense of what he's saying on economic policy?
		It's not always the easiest to listen to him when he holds his news conferences talk about what the board decided.
unidentified		Yeah, and that's honestly kind of by design because they don't want to box themselves in.
		And he knows everyone's watching because there's so much political pressure on them.
		So I imagine it's kind of going to be a sort of elaborate sort of kabuki theater, if you will, of what to expect and what he's going to do.
		He's probably not going to give away a lot of what he's going to do.
		He's not going to say the economy's in awful shape because that will also lower expectations.
		So probably you'll expect a lot of hand waving and a lot of sort of even-handed, well, we're worried about weaknesses in the labor market, but inflation is still high.
		And, you know, but ultimately, he will give you a somewhat data-driven, accurate view of the economy.
		And also, he might make references.
		The Fed does a lot of forecasts of where they expect the economy to go, particularly individual banks, about their region.
		So, you'll probably get some of that.
		But a lot of what he's doing is sort of an elaborate communication ritual to both banks and to the government.
		And it's meant to be sort of opaque and hard to discern.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		And what will central bankers from other countries be listening for from our central banker?
unidentified		Well, I mean, as I said, like other countries are very dependent on what we do, not only because, you know, interest, you know, it's a global interest rate and a lot of other countries have a lot of their assets in treasuries.
		And also, you know, where the treasuries go largely impact borrowing rates for other countries.
		So I imagine if, you know, when the ECB, they've been cutting rates more than we have.
		When they go too out of line with us, then, you know, then that impacts sort of demand for different European countries' treasuries.
		So I imagine they will also be looking very carefully.
		Also, you know, central bankers tend to get together, and there'll be a lot of foreign central bankers in Jackson Hole this week.
		So what the philosophy is of monetary policy and the philosophy and how monetary policy has been conducted has changed a lot in the last 15 years.
		And it's largely been pretty coordinated across different countries.
		So I imagine they'll be looking very closely.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		Denver, Colorado, Kevin is watching there, Republican.
		Go ahead, Kevin.
unidentified		Hey, good morning.
		Thanks for taking my call.
		I was wondering: if there's an affordability housing crisis, what will letting in 10 to 15 million illegal immigrants do to the housing market?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Allison Traeger.
unidentified		Thank you.
		Well, I mean, when we say there's a housing affordability crisis, we're talking about different segments of the labor market.
		I can't imagine a lot of illegal migrants are buying homes.
		So, probably when it comes to the things like the mortgage market in terms of house prices, it probably won't have a big impact.
		But they might have a bigger impact or do have a bigger impact on rentals, particularly cheaper rentals.
		So, if you're a low-income person who can't afford to buy and you're renting in an area with a lot of migrants, then it might impact you more.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		We'll go to Personville of Virginia.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Tom, Independent, good morning.
unidentified		Good morning, ladies.
		Thank you.
		I love hearing smart people on TV and on the radio, and you're both great.
		I'm curious when Trump says to lower the interest rate, how much he has in personal stake, and we will never know this.
		So, let's say that he borrowed money to pay off his debts or pay for his hotels or whatever he did, and he's got some long-term loan, but it's based upon the interest rate, the federal interest rate.
		How are we ever going to know this?
		I mean, we didn't find out until he got out last time that the Saudis had given his son-in-law Jared Kushner $3 billion.
		That's with a B.
		And it's like, is there ever going to be any transparency in this world when it comes to politicians and what they're doing?
		Because the technology is there.
		You could find out tomorrow if I paid off my car or if I took out a loan, but you can't find out for the president of the United States.
		And I just, I don't know how this is ever going to be like legit if we don't know whether he's got $125 million in the bank or he's got $125 in mean coins or whatever.
		It just seems like in this day and age, everything's so murky.
		And I just wish we really, really had more transparency in this.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		All right, Tom, we'll take your comments.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Allison Schraeger.
unidentified		Yeah, I mean, I think what we see with Trump, I don't know his financial situation as well as you do, is, again, I've noticed this with people in real estate in general, always are inclined to lower rates, right?
		Because that just, you know, helps buoy real estate.
		Although, as we point out earlier, that can also lead to bubbles.
		But I think one thing that, if this is his motivation, and I honestly don't know, is that I'm not sure the Fed cutting rates would have a big impact on any debt he owes anyway, because that would be, again, based on either long-term rates or there's a spread with loans and private markets versus what the Fed does.
		And that is largely driven by risk conditions.
		So if people anticipate a riskier economy, potentially from a less independent Fed, that would actually just drive up costs further for him.
		Or also, particularly if you're going to a bank for a loan, the rate you get is also largely driven by a lot of sort of regulations, bank regulations, which the Fed also does have some control over.
		So it wouldn't be rate setting per se.
		It would be more sort of the regulatory environment.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Mary in Philadelphia, Democratic caller.
		Welcome to the conversation, Mary.
		Go ahead.
unidentified		Thank you.
		A lot of people covered some points that I was making.
		The gentleman, Republican gentleman from Texas, I agree with him about Glass Siegel.
		And my husband and I bought a home in the late 80s and we paid 12% interest.
		And then our mortgage was sold multiple, multiple times.
		And then when the whole subprime mortgage thing was going on, unbeknownst to us, we were wondering why our mortgage was being sold off so many times.
		And then the economy fell apart.
		And then who scoops in and buys at that time are real estate investors, hedge funds, and all that, like the Cushners and the Trumps and the Blackstone and the rest of them.
		So as of 2024, one in four, one in four, 25% of all real estate purchases are made by investors.
		So when whether it be an investor in a neighborhood that's buying up properties to turn them into Airbnbs or LLCs, or whether it's an investor that's sitting on multiple high-rises for their tax refunds, that they get tax loss.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Mary, let's take your point about the impact of real estate investors.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Is it a concern of yours, Alison Schrager?
unidentified		I mean, it is a big growing area, and I think we're definitely going to see more of it, particularly private equity buying up real estate.
		Who wins and who loses is a complicated question.
		It depends who you are in the housing market.
		There is evidence that, you know, they might make it harder to buy a home, but they also, depending again, who you're concerned about, is they also do expand the market for rentals and can even make rental prices lower.
		I think particularly cities like New York have a lot of rent-controlled units.
		The most likely mayor has vowed that landlords of rent-controlled units or rent-stabilized units can't increase rents at all.
		So when you see things like that, it's very hard for small landlords to stay in business.
		And that will probably increase the ownership by companies like Blackstone and all these private equity because they can better manage a highly regulated rent-controlled environment because they can own a very large portfolio of real estate.
		So in the end, that will probably increase over time and maybe even benefit renters, but it will make it harder for people to buy.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		We'll go to Crystal Lake, Illinois.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼		Cassandra, a Republican.

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