| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
| Democracy belongs to us all. | ||
| We are here in the sanctuary of democracy. | ||
| Great responsibilities fall once again to the great democracies. | ||
| American democracy is bigger than any one person. | ||
| Freedom and democracy must be constantly guarded and protected. | ||
|
unidentified
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We are still at our core a democracy. | |
| This is also a massive victory for democracy and for freedom. | ||
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| We'll finish out this hour with Open Forum. | ||
| If you want to continue to talk about today's vote in the House on Jeffrey Epstein's files or other matters of politics, Open Forum is how you can do that. | ||
| Same lines, 202748-8000 for Democrats, 202-748-8001 for Republicans. | ||
| And Independents, 202748, 8002. | ||
| Texting throughout the day is 202-748-8003. | ||
| And as always, you can post on the social media sites, facebook.com slash C-SPAN and on X at C-SPANWJ. | ||
| Let's give you the perspective of Speaker Mike Johnson. | ||
| On Sunday, he was asked about today's pending vote, what he thinks it will accomplish in the long term. | ||
| Here's Speaker Johnson from Sunday. | ||
| They're doing this to go after President Trump on this theory that he has something to do with it. | ||
| He does not. | ||
| The people have already said the Virginia Jeffrey, whose name was redacted by the little leaked email that the Democrats put out, they cherry-picked three emails out of 20,000 documents to try to imply that the president was guilty, but they took her name out. | ||
| Why? | ||
| She's the one who came out and said he had nothing to do with it. | ||
| President Trump has clean hands. | ||
| He's not worried about it. | ||
| I talk to him all the time. | ||
| He has nothing to do with this. | ||
| He's frustrated that they're turning it into a political issue, and it's not surprising because the Democrats have nothing else to talk about. | ||
| What did they accomplish in 10 months? | ||
| Epstein is their entire game plan. | ||
| So we're going to take that weapon out of their hand this week. | ||
| They hit the 218 signature threshold. | ||
| And you know what I did? | ||
| I offered it on the floor to pass by unanimous consent, the discharge petition. | ||
| Guess who objected? | ||
| The Democrats. | ||
| If they were really for transparency, if this is really about helping victims and all that, they would not have stopped the passage of the discharge petition. | ||
| So it'll be on the floor again next week. | ||
| I suspect there'll be lots of votes that we'll just get this done and move it on. | ||
| There's nothing to hide. | ||
| And the Oversight Committee is releasing far more information than the discharge petition, their little gambit, ever even anticipated. | ||
| They never been mentioned in the discharge, the Epstein estate files. | ||
| And that is the treasure trove of documents that's given us Epstein's flight logs, his personal records, his financial ledgers, his daily calendar. | ||
| None of that was anticipated. | ||
| So the discharge is totally moot. | ||
| It is a political exercise, and we're going to dispense with that this week. | ||
| Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday talking about today's vote. | ||
| You can again comment on that or other things during this open forum portion of the program from Lake Charles, Louisiana. | ||
| Melissa joins us Independent Line. | ||
|
unidentified
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Hi. | |
| Hi, Pedro. | ||
| So thanks so much for having this discussion today. | ||
| I really have to agree with the wonderful gentleman from Texas who laid out quite a few facts about this Epstein situation. | ||
| And I agree with him that Democrats are going to be in for a big surprise because I think Trump just played chess with them when they're only capable of checkers. | ||
|
unidentified
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These are all Democrats involved. | |
| Every name that has been on this list throughout the years has been a Democrat, and they still are. | ||
| I've yet to hear one Republican name. | ||
| And I've followed this situation since like 2009. | ||
| Also, and God bless the victims. | ||
| I hope that they're doing well on their journey to healing. | ||
| I watched the approximately two hours that y'all had on C-SPAN where they were at the Capitol with several representatives, and they were speaking at the microphone. | ||
| Multiples of them spoke at the microphone. | ||
| No names were mentioned. | ||
| And these are the victims or survivors, however you want to refer to that. | ||
| And these are women in their 40s now. | ||
| I mean, these are middle-aged women at this point. | ||
| They could have told us some names, but yet no names were spoken of that day. | ||
| So I hope one day that there can be a cure for TDS. | ||
| We need to work towards that. | ||
| But I want to co-sign everything that gentleman from Texas and Mike Johnson just said. | ||
| Okay. | ||
| Okay. | ||
| Melissa there in Louisiana. | ||
| Some of those women appeared in a public service announcement from the anti-trafficking group World Without Exploitation. | ||
| Here's that PSA. | ||
|
unidentified
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I suffered so much pain. | |
| So much pain. | ||
| So much pain. | ||
| I suffered so much pain. | ||
| I was 14 years old. | ||
| I was 16 years old. | ||
| I was 16. | ||
| 17, 14 years old. | ||
| This is me. | ||
| This was me. | ||
| This is me. | ||
| When I met Jeffrey Epstein. | ||
| This is me. | ||
| when I met Jeffrey Epstein. | ||
| There are about a thousand of us. | ||
| It's time to bring the secrets out of the shadows. | ||
| It's time to shine a light into the darkness. | ||
| That group, by the way, of World Without Exploitation, also is putting billboards up when it comes to demands to release the Epstein files. | ||
| This is from the website Philly Voice saying that the banner that was located near exit 37 in Ben Salem, Pennsylvania reads, Courage is Contagious. | ||
| Release all of the Epstein files. | ||
| It's part of a national advocacy campaign from the group, unveiled the billboard and others in states such as Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, and South Carolina this week. | ||
| We'll go to Walter next. | ||
| Walter's in North Carolina, Republican line. | ||
|
unidentified
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Hello there, young man. | |
| As a former psychotherapist, it really disheartens me to see all these women who've been abused by these perverts and all this stuff not come out. | ||
|
unidentified
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And I also am somewhat flabbergasted by the fact that during the previous administration, they had all this information. | |
| Why did they not come out with that? | ||
| That answer has not been ever been established, and I just don't understand it. | ||
| But I sure appreciate what you guys do, but it is disheartening. | ||
| Thank you now. | ||
| From Anthony in Michigan, Democrats line. | ||
|
unidentified
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Hello. | |
| Hey, good morning, Pedro, and kudos to you because you are sitting there taking in incoming from a lot of twisted people. | ||
| I'm glad that this is finally coming to a head, but I believe that it's already been washed. | ||
| If these people are willing to go this far for Donald Trump, then there's no way that Pam Bondi wouldn't already have destroyed information on Donald Trump. | ||
| But I want to say this. | ||
| This is a pointless conversation because these people are beyond the pale. | ||
| These Trump supporters or followers, they are brainwashed beyond reason. | ||
| It doesn't matter to them about pedophilia or the little girls or they don't care about that. | ||
| They worship a God of the God of the air. | ||
| Evangelicals and all of that, that's beyond Jesus Christ. | ||
| This is Satan at work. | ||
| So anyway, God bless you, Pedro, and have a great day. | ||
| We'll hear from Jerry in Virginia, Republican Line on this open forum. | ||
|
unidentified
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Good morning. | |
| Good morning. | ||
| I'll change the subject. | ||
| I'm going to go back to the Democrats blaming Donald Trump for high prices. | ||
| How can they do that? | ||
| I remind them, we are still under Joe Biden's 2023 budget. | ||
| Congress did not even pass a budget last year. | ||
| Donald Trump's first budget hasn't even been written yet. | ||
| We are still under Joe Biden's 2023 budget. | ||
| Everything that Donald Trump has spent was already approved by the Biden administration. | ||
| If that's the case, how do you think that the president's going to actually lower prices like he promised? | ||
|
unidentified
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Well, he already has. | |
| A lot of things have already came back down. | ||
| And one of the things people are complaining so much about, price of bananas, I buy bananas every week. | ||
| They're 47 cents a pound. | ||
| They go from 45 to 47 and back. | ||
| What's the problem there? | ||
| Gasoline. | ||
| Look how much gasoline has came down. | ||
| Turkey's 25% that lower than last year. | ||
| Everything has come down. | ||
| Okay. | ||
| Kat is in New Jersey. | ||
| Independent Line. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hi. | |
| Hi. | ||
| Good morning, Pedro. | ||
| I was at an event this past weekend to support survivors and to bring attention to human trafficking and to promote fair trade. | ||
| And I usually try to stay very neutral on political issues and just stick to the topic. | ||
| But I had an opportunity to speak to a woman who is a survivor advocate who's very involved in the human trafficking movement. | ||
| And I asked her, because her opinion was important to me, how she felt about releasing the files. | ||
| And what she said to me was, you know, the victims' names so many times are put out there, and they're the ones that are put in the spotlight, and they're the ones that are exposed. | ||
| But we don't expose the names of those who have committed these crimes. | ||
| So she was in support of calling attention to this. | ||
| So I guess in summation, you know, let's not make this about politics. | ||
| Let's just keep our eye on the ball here and realize that these are real people whose lives have been overturned. | ||
| And I appreciate you calling attention to the PSA that the survivors have put out there. | ||
| And forgive me if I missed this, but if you haven't done so already, it would be wonderful to have somebody like a survivor advocate who's entrenched in the trafficking movement on your show just to call more attention to the real issue here and get us out of the mess of all the politics. | ||
| Thanks so much for taking my call. | ||
| Thank you for calling. | ||
| Thank you for the suggestion. | ||
| Let's go to Marsha. | ||
| Marsha in Washington, D.C., Democrats line. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hi. | |
| Hi. | ||
| I just want to mention that I think it's really comical and awful that our Congress has totally lost control. | ||
| And I'm not even going to get into it. | ||
| They're having a vote today. | ||
| I don't trust any of it. | ||
| I don't trust the administration. | ||
| I don't trust Trump. | ||
| You know what my stand is. | ||
| But I also think what's amusing is that today is the day that Jim Jones convinced his cult to drink the poison. | ||
| And actually, that's what I called for. | ||
| The irony of what has happened historically and what's happening today is just outrageous. | ||
| And that's it. | ||
| John is joining us in Oklahoma. | ||
| Republican line on this open forum. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hello. | |
| Yes, I'm a registered Republican. | ||
| I was able to vote against Trump probably twice as many times as most everybody else. | ||
| If they're unprepared for this, you know, it was a good ride, but it's over. | ||
| I think Trump is on the way out soon. | ||
| He's like a cornered rabbit animal, fight or flight, adrenaline. | ||
| He's what they call a waffle now. | ||
| He's flip-flopping everything about it, and there's something psychologically wrong with him, is my opinion. | ||
| Of course, I'm not a medical doctor, but it's going to be fun to watch. | ||
| That's about all I got to say for right now. | ||
| Asked John in Oklahoma, the Associated Press reporting this morning that the Justice Department engaged in a, quote, disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps in the process of securing an indictment against former FBI Director James Comey. | ||
| That was, according to a federal judge ruling that on Monday, directing prosecutors to provide defense lawyers with all grand jury materials from the case. | ||
| Those problems, wrote Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick, include, quote, fundamental misstatements of the law by a prosecutor to the grand jury that indicted Comey in September, the use of potentially privileged communications during the investigation, and unexplained irregularities in the transcript of the grand jury proceedings. | ||
| Quote, the court recognizes that the relief sought by the defense is rarely granted, he wrote. | ||
| However, the record points to a disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps, missteps that led an FBI agent and a prosecutor to potentially undermine the integrity of the grand jury proceeding. | ||
| More to that from yesterday's news that came out there. | ||
| That's the Associated Press headline. | ||
| We'll hear from Jack next. | ||
| Jack, Independent Line. | ||
|
unidentified
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And leaving this here to take you to the U.S. House. | |
| Live coverage on C-SPAN. | ||
| The House will be in order. | ||
|
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The prayer will be offered by Chaplain Kibben. | |
| Would you pray with me? |