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Dec. 2, 2025 13:24-13:31 - CSPAN
06:40
Washington Journal Open Forum

C-SPAN’s Washington Journal Open Forum tackles U.S. drone strikes in the Caribbean, with Democrats like Chuck from Delaware demanding transparency on captured individuals and a Minnesota caller slamming the policy as "disgraceful" while linking it to Trump’s Venezuela focus. Republicans counter with non-citizen deportation logic, praising Trump’s fentanyl crackdown, while Independents—David and Mike—expose inconsistencies: why not target Sacklers or gun makers? Mike also flags underreported SNAP/Medicare changes and deregulation, hinting at potential election interference. The debate reveals stark divides over justice, foreign policy, and systemic oversight. [Automatically generated summary]

Participants
Clips
p
pedro echevarria
cspan 00:19
Callers
bob in new york
callers 00:20
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Speaker Time Text
unidentified
Today, the U.S. House is considering a number of bills, including two small business-related measures.
One would require the Small Business Administration to ensure that any agency roles do not increase costs for small businesses.
The other permanently authorizes the SBA Office of Advocacy red tape hotline, allowing small businesses to report federal regulations that negatively impact their business.
Also, this week, lawmakers will consider legislation to address how college athletes are paid by setting national standards for charging for the use of their name, image, and likeness, or NIL.
Watch live coverage of the U.S. House when lawmakers return here on C-SPAN.
C-SPAN, Democracy Unfiltered.
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pedro echevarria
Dave, on this open forum, he's from Minnesota Democrats line.
Your first up.
unidentified
Hello.
Yes, good morning.
pedro echevarria
Morning.
unidentified
Just a quick comment on the strikes on these drug boats in the Caribbean.
Approximately 80 to 100,000 Americans die from overdoses every year.
If we were to go after and make this analogous to other substances, tobacco kills approximately a half a million Americans a year.
We probably should be bombing tobacco companies.
bob in new york
Further comment regarding this is that these people on these boats are generally blackmailed into doing this smuggling by the cartels.
unidentified
They're ordinary people whose families are threatened if they don't cooperate with the cartels.
So what we're doing is we're really killing pretty innocent people.
bob in new york
And it's really disgraceful, cowardly, and it's more of Trump's thuggery, basically.
unidentified
So I would encourage thug, I mean, I would encourage the president, if he's trying to stop the tragedies from drugs, that he pursue nicotine.
Thanks very much this morning.
pedro echevarria
Steve up next.
Steve in Idaho, Republican line.
unidentified
Hi.
Hi.
I kind of agree with what one of the people were saying 10 minutes ago or something.
If there's no demand on it, then there'll be no supplies here.
And in order to get a fair trial, you have to be a citizen.
You just can't have a fair trial when you're not a citizen.
You don't have citizen rights.
And anybody who doesn't have citizens' rights ought to be put back in line in their own country.
And with the people that we are bombing their boats, they're not innocent.
I understand what the guy is saying is they're threatening their families and stuff.
But at some time, you have to make a point and say, am I going to do the right thing or am I going to do the wrong thing?
Facing God doing the right thing is going to be better than facing God doing the wrong thing.
And I also think that Trump is a little hard, but he's also been a little successful.
And him, by him standing on his ground and finding the way to help us fight this drug war, he has done a good job on that.
We are under war with drug people.
And a lot of that fentanyl shit is coming from both places.
pedro echevarria
Okay, let's go to David in Minnesota, Independent Line.
unidentified
Hi.
Good morning, Pedro.
Yeah, if the U.S. really had a problem with death from substances, why aren't we actually drone-striking the Sacklers who kind of kick-started the opioid epidemic?
We simply gave them a fine for what they did.
Why aren't we drone-striking gun manufacturers because firearms are the leading cause of death of children in this country?
How many people die from alcohol?
Why aren't we drone-striking alcohol companies?
This whole thing is just a front for a coup in Venezuela, which we've already heard talk of CIA agents in Venezuela if you listen to sites like Dropsite News or The Intercept.
Also, if you have 11 people on a boat, that's really going to affect the amount you can carry because, you know, displacement's a thing, and you can't just put unlimited weight in these.
And with these tiny boats, you wouldn't be able to move the amount of drugs you need or navigate the open ocean between Venezuela and the U.S. I'm not sure if anyone's actually been on a boat in a large body of water, but the waves will capsize something that size.
pedro echevarria
Okay, let's go to Chuck and Delaware, Democrats line.
unidentified
Hello.
Good morning, America.
Hello.
Mike, a few months ago, it was all tied in with this.
There was two people captured on one of these boats after the boat was destroyed, and they were immediately sent back to their countries.
Whatever happened to those people, and are these the two people?
Are they tied into this somehow?
Where did they go?
Where did that story go?
I heard no reporting on it since.
That's my question.
Thank you.
pedro echevarria
Mike is in Illinois, Independent Line.
unidentified
Good morning.
Hey, four or five stories are underreported.
The new regulations on SNAP and Medicare as they take off the regulations for utilities and insurance is a little shocking.
Also, could election interference be when the president tries a primary elected official?
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