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Feb. 5, 2026 06:59-08:06 - CSPAN
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Washington Journal 02/05/2026
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Journal Starts Now 00:01:37
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WASHINGTON JOURNAL STARTS NOW. GOOD MORNING.
It's Thursday, February 5th.
Mike Johnson's Priority Critique 00:15:33
A new AP Nork poll asks this question.
Is President Trump focused on the right priorities?
According to the survey, about half of adults say the president is mostly focused on the wrong priorities, and about two in 10 believe he's focused on the right ones.
So we're starting this morning by asking you that same question.
Do you think President Trump is focused on the right priorities for the country?
What issue do you think should be at the top of the national agenda?
The economy, immigration, health care, foreign policy, or something else?
Here's how to share your thoughts.
Republicans can call us on 202-748-8001, Democrats 202-748-8000, and Independents 202-748-8002.
You can send a text to 202-748-8003, include your first name and your city-state.
And we're on social media, facebook.com slash C-SPAN.
And X at C-SPANWJ.
Welcome to today's Washington Journal.
Let's start with that poll from the AP with the headline, the public is concerned about Trump's policy priorities.
Here's the result.
So they took the same poll was conducted both in April of last year and January of this year.
So you can see kind of the difference in the movement and what people think.
This is this green color is mostly focused on the wrong priorities.
That came in at 47%.
18% said about an even mix.
And 21% mostly focused on the right priorities.
You can see that that number has slightly increased from April.
Well, President Trump was speaking to NBC last night in an interview, and he talked about immigration.
That big change on immigration, 700 officers leaving Minneapolis.
Did that come from you?
Yes, it did.
But it didn't come from me because I just wanted to do it.
We are waiting for them to release prisoners, give us the murders that they're holding, and all of the bad people, drug dealers, all of the bad people.
We allowed in our country, I say 25 million people with an open border policy for four years under Biden and that group, the Autopen group, I call them.
We allowed to come into our country people the likes of which no country would accept, and we're getting them out.
But we've gotten a lot of them out.
So crime now in Minnesota, crime now in Minneapolis is down.
Crime in all cities is down.
Speaking of why it's down, it's down because of us.
It's down in Chicago by 25%, despite the fact that we are always dealing with these people, and they happen to be Democrats.
Speaking of don't know anything about crime prevention.
Mr. President, speaking of Minneapolis, what did you learn?
I learned that maybe we can use a little bit of a softer touch, but you still have to be tough.
These are criminals.
We're dealing with really hard criminals.
But look, I've called the people.
I've called the governor.
I've called the mayor, spoke to them, had great conversations with them.
And then I see them ranting and raving out there, literally as though a call wasn't made.
We've done a great job everywhere.
After the shooting of Renee Good, you said ICE made some mistakes.
What were the mistakes?
Well, look, I'm not happy with the two incidents.
It's not, you know, it's both of them.
That one or the other.
He was not an angel, and she was not an angel.
You know, you look at some tapes from back, but still, I'm not happy with what happened there.
Nobody could be happy, and ICE wasn't happy either.
But I'm going to always be with our great people of law enforcement.
ICE, police, we have to back them.
If we don't back them, we don't have a country.
Wonder what you think about that.
If you think immigration should be the top focus of the Trump administration, do you feel that the administration is focused on the right priorities?
This is the front page of the Hill newspaper that says this.
GOP fears Trump backlash could cost them Senate control.
Senate Republicans are concerned that a public backlash to President Trump's handling of the economy and his aggressive deportation policies could give rise to a Democratic wave that not only sweeps away the House Republican majority, but also threatens their own three-seat majority.
That's at thehill.com.
And speaking of congressional leadership, here's Democratic congressional leadership yesterday with reporters talking about those negotiations on DHS funding.
The speaker's already rejected two of your demands, judicial warrants and removing face masks.
So if that's still his position, will you vote to shut the government down, shut the Department of Homeland Security down if he sticks to that position?
Mike Johnson and John Thune rejected the notion that the six appropriations bills should be divided.
They rejected that notion.
And I'm thankful for what Leader Schumer and Senate Democrats did, which is to draw a line in the sand and say, no, it's not going to go down that way.
And that's why we're at this moment.
So understand something.
We get it over in the House.
Mike Johnson and John Thune aren't working for the American people.
They work for Donald Trump.
And so many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, they function like a wholly owned subsidiary of the Trump cartel.
So at the end of the day, listen, Trump understands that the public is not with the administration's cruel and chaotic policies here, and that we actually need to restore law and order as it relates to how we proceed.
And we're ready to proceed in good faith.
But are those red lines for you?
Are those red lines for you?
Mike Johnson has articulated unreasonable positions.
He's actually supporting the notion that mass and lawless ICE agents should be deployed in communities throughout America.
That's Mike Johnson's position.
That's contrary to what the American people believe should be taking place.
Mike Johnson called the Fourth Amendment an inconvenience.
It's not an inconvenience.
It's part of the fabric and DNA of our country.
Just like the First Amendment, yes, even the Second Amendment, the Tenth Amendment, the Fourth Amendment.
We're standing up for all of these constitutional privileges that have been part of who we are since the very beginning as we celebrate our 250th birthday.
Chuck?
I'm just going to say we're sending them a proposal and we await their response.
But I think the American people are going to be amazed that the Speaker says that these secret police should continue to rove around in our cities unchecked.
Let's go to calls now and start with Brenda in New York.
Line for Democrats.
You're on the air, Brenda.
I feel that President Trump has been violating the Constitution of the United States.
He is not listening to the American people and their positions on what is happening in our government.
And he's trying to nationalize voting, which is horrendous and inappropriate and against the Constitution.
And so, Brenda, what do you think should be the top priority then?
Following the Constitution of the United States and not breaking those laws of the Constitution.
And he's doing it every day in every area as far as policy and trying to put forth laws.
All right.
Here's Kent, Republican in Illinois.
Hi, Kent.
It's kind of hard for me to listen to this.
I don't know.
It's kind of they want to keep the illegal immigrants here.
I'd like just one Democrat that calls in to tell me why the millions and millions of people were let into the country, and then they're not offended by that.
The Democrats don't have any problem with the millions of people that came into the country illegally.
So, Kent, as far as priorities go, you think that immigration should be the top priority, so you are happy with that being a top priority for the Trump administration.
Is that correct?
Absolutely.
That's why he was voted into office first and foremost.
That, and to take care of things like Iran, which nobody talks about.
To me, that's one of the very top priorities.
He pulled the teeth from Iran, who was the sponsor of terrorism all over the world.
I'm 78 years old.
I fought with the anarchists in the streets, and I despise anarchism that people can go out in the streets and say, okay, you have a law.
People elected Trump to get rid of the millions of illegal immigrants.
That's what.
Yep.
So, Kent, let's take a look at that, go back to that AP Nork poll.
This asked about certain policy issues, certain areas, and President Trump's job approval.
So, overall, as far as President Trump's job approval is currently, this is a real clear politics average.
Sorry, it's not the same poll.
Overall, he's got a 55% disapproval rate, 43% approve.
When it comes to the economy, it's 55% disapproval and 41% approval, so pretty much the same.
Inflation, 60% disapproval, 30% approve.
Immigration at 52% disapprove and 45% approve.
And then foreign policy, Kent mentioned Iran is at 53% disapproval, 40% approval.
And he did mention Iran at that interview yesterday on NBC.
We will get that ready for you as soon as it's ready.
We'll show it to you.
Lester is an Alabama Democrat.
Go ahead, Lester.
Good morning, Mamie.
How are you?
Good.
You know, Mamie, I can tell you, I hear these Republican calling, Democratic call in.
First of all, we are American, but we have seen the Republican Party turn to be communists.
Most of these older callers calling in, at least in their 70s, they need to go back and look at history, how Adolf Hitler came into power.
This is the same thing Trump trying to pull.
We remember not too long ago when Trump told the Republican Party, don't worry about the immigrants coming in here.
We'll use it.
All right.
And here is that portion where President Trump mentions Iran at the interview yesterday.
Should the Supreme Leader in Iran be worried right now?
I would say he should be very worried.
Yeah, he should be.
As you know, they're negotiating with us.
I know they are, but the protesters have said, you know, where are the Americans?
You promised them we would have their back.
Do we still have their back?
We've had their back.
And look, that country is a mess right now because of us.
We went in, we wiped out their nuclear.
So that's the way we wiped them out.
Peace in the Middle East.
If I didn't take out their nuclear, think of it.
If we didn't take out that nuclear, we wouldn't have peace in the Middle East because the Arab countries could have never done that.
They were very, very afraid of Iran.
What do you think about President Trump's priorities?
Do you think that he's focused on the right ones, the wrong ones?
What would you like him to?
If you think it's the wrong ones, what do you think he should be focused on?
We'll talk to Caleb, Silver Spring, Maryland, Independent Line.
Yes, good morning.
I think his priorities are completely wrong from the roving patrols from ICE, from with him concentrating on tariffs and these other countries when he should be concentrating on the American people.
So that whole notion of, oh, America first and all of that.
I mean, just think about it.
We had free trade with Canada that he negotiated the Mexico America, U.S. and Canada a free trade.
But then when he came into this term, he started putting tariffs.
What is better than free?
The whole notion of free tariffs is so that all three countries can prosper and the citizens of those countries can trade freely.
And tariffs are not something.
Yeah, the U.S. government makes money from those tariffs, but that's from American companies importing and running businesses.
And now their costs are higher.
And then that cost in turn gets pushed down to the consumers.
And a lot of my frustration with Republicans is that they do not see what's in front of them.
The whole, even with the shooting of ICE in Minneapolis, we saw the videos, but what they're telling us verbally is like we did not see it.
It's just astounding to me how even if you blatantly show them what's in front of them, they're going to tell you completely something different.
And I'm glad he keeps doing this because we're going to what the Democrats are going to take over both the House, the Senate, and in 2028, the presidency because of his actions.
So Republicans can blame him for anything that happens.
All right.
This is Chuck, a Republican in New York.
Good morning, Chuck.
I voted for Donald Trump, but I have to say I'm very, very disappointed in his performance.
He appointed his son-in-law's father, Charles Kushner, as a diplomat to France and Monaco.
Charles Kushner is a convicted despair attorney.
He's focused so much on Israel and making sure that Jared can have his city by the sea.
And every time you turn on the TV or you even go on the internet, you see layoffs, layoffs, layoffs.
The economy is trash.
And I was a big Trump fan, but what is he doing with this obsession with Jews in Israel?
I don't understand it.
They don't represent America.
He needs to put Americans first.
I thought he was America first.
What is this guy doing?
And let's talk to Kevin next in Washington, D.C., a Democrat.
Mistrust and Public Health 00:02:04
Good morning.
Hi, Mimi.
Sorry, keep bugging you.
I don't think it's immigration.
I think the mistrust of people is the biggest problem.
And the way to get over the mistrust is to follow those sides.
There was an editorial in the Washington Post December 30th, 2011, by Anthony Fauci, Gary Mabel, and Francis Collins.
It was called A Fruit of Flu Risk Worth Taking.
And it was about a gain of function research experiment on bird flu and was a 50% mortality rate.
The experiment was done on the bird flu virus.
They turned it into a mammal virus and tested it on ferrets.
So there's also this play with an NPR.
It was called The Enemy of the People, 1800 play by Isman.
And Francis Collins in it.
So, Kevin, I hear you talking about public health.
Do you think that that should be a higher priority for the administration?
Are you unhappy with how HSA Secretary Kennedy has run the department?
If you heard me, the mistrust over COVID, the guys who were the main champions of gain of function research, you can still have personalized medicine without taking a dangerous pathogen and making it worse to infect humans.
So this gain of function research should be banned.
All right, we got that, Kevin.
Here's Phil in Michigan, Independent Line.
Good morning, Phil.
Comparing Trump to Hitler 00:15:26
Yeah, Mimi, just to suggest, you really got to start cutting off these people that compare Trump to Hitler and to his administration to the fascist regimes back in the 30s, 1930s, okay, back to the person that mentioned the history.
Sir, if this were a fascist regime, all the people on the side that this person didn't like would be dead.
Okay, he would come around the country and kill you.
Okay?
Now, because you allow this conversation to lean towards fashion and lean towards Hitler, all of that.
Okay, okay, hold on.
So we do cut off people who say that Trump is Hitler or Trump is a Nazi.
We do do that.
What this caller said, who you're referring to, said people need to go back and read about how in the 1930s, how the Nazi regime came to power.
That's about history, and that is not a comparison to an individual person.
It's a fine line, Phil.
I get it.
But it is very difficult for when somebody says, look, this is historically how the Nazi regime came to power and what their tactics were.
I don't know.
I mean, what do you think about that?
Let's talk about it.
I think that you should listen to me talk.
Okay.
And by me talking, you might learn.
Thanks for that.
John, New London, Ohio, Republican.
Go ahead, John.
Yeah.
Yeah, he's doing the right job.
Listen, everything is just crazy.
For one, you can't let the problem is you can't let 10 to 20 million people into your country in a short time.
We was already, we wasn't prepared for that.
We already had a housing shortage.
We already had electrical problems.
It's just, and then when you do that, it runs the price up on every single thing.
Instead of you got, if you got 2,000 people living in town buying these groceries and this stuff, you add another 2,000 to it, and now all the prices go, they just double.
It's crazy.
It has to go.
They have to leave and come back in the right way.
I'm for immigration.
It's not a bad thing.
It kind of keeps the prices down when it works right because what I think they was trying to do was bring in all these people, all the cheap laborers, just slave labor is what it is, and to bring the prices down.
Well, it backfired and it ran everything up.
I don't know, but it's crazy and it needs to stop.
All right.
Here is Ed in New Jersey, Independent Line.
Good morning.
Yeah, good morning.
In 2020, I voted for Joe Biden.
Okay.
But I was really kind of fed up with the Biden administration when the war in Ukraine started because the Biden administration were insistent that they were not going to do any kind of talking, any kind of negotiation with the Russians.
What I heard out of the Biden administration was repeatedly that this war in Ukraine was unprovoked.
Every one of you, Biden, Lincoln, Sullivan, Austin, all of them were insistent on saying that that war was unprovoked.
So I started doing a good bit of reading in the last couple of years, and I think it was the encroachment of the advancement, the possibility that NATO was, that Ukraine was going to be part of, that Ukraine was going to be part of NATO, provoke the Russians.
So I was really, became very much fed up with the Biden administration.
I was not going to vote for Democrats again.
So in 2024, I voted independent.
Okay.
Now, I'm not happy at all with the Trump administration, but I am kind of happy that at least they're making some, but quote, some unquote attempt to negotiate with the Russians.
And I'm hoping, hoping that there's going to be some kind of solution.
I'm not really very optimistic.
As far as the Middle East is concerned, I think it'd be well for some of these people who call into this into your program to know something about the Middle East and Palestine.
Go back to 1917 and see how the Palestinian language was stolen from those people.
And that's why for the last 107, 110 years, there's been trouble over there.
And these dumbbos who call into your state.
So, Ed, it's keeping with our topic, which is the focus on the priorities.
Do you think that there should be more of a focus on foreign policy on solving the Ukraine war on peace in the Middle East?
Well, I don't know about more focus, but there are a number of issues that are critical for this country.
And the problem is the vote.
We don't really have a choice in this country now.
Who do we have that's going to lead this country that is responsible?
I don't know.
So, you talk about priorities.
There are a number of them.
Yes, immigration, illegal immigration is a factor, of course.
But these people are insisting upon go to war against Iran.
Iran is one of the most preeminent countries in the world.
It has a history going back thousands of years.
Those people are very smart.
The attack in June by Israel in the United States was provoked.
They got the balooks, some of the people in Iran to rise up.
All right, Ed, got it.
Let's hear from freshman Democrat Luz Rivas of California.
She was on the House floor earlier this week, calling out President Trump and House Republicans for not focusing enough on cost of living issues.
We are 13 months into our first term in Congress, and my colleagues and I have yet to see a meaningful piece of legislation from Republicans that makes life less expensive for our constituents.
Over the past year, Republicans chose to rename the Gulf of Mexico, redefine what a showerhead is, rename the Kennedy Center, look into annexing Greenland, regulate fridges and gas stoves, and perhaps the most egregious one is to make the largest cuts to health care in our country's history in order to give billionaires more tax breaks.
The fact that Trump and Republicans are prioritizing these bills over lowering the cost of living is insulting to our constituents.
I fail to see how renaming the Gulf of Mexico, redefining the definition of a showerhead, or annexing Greenland will help families in our districts afford groceries or pay their rent.
A few more minutes on this topic, and then we will open it up to open forum.
If you've got other topics, you can start calling.
And now here's Pete in Massachusetts, line for Democrats.
Go ahead, Pete.
Yeah, hi.
Yeah.
Yeah, I feel like his priorities are always been out of whack with mine.
And I think most of the country, you know, I don't think I hear enough people talking about the grifting and making money, which, you know, he's an expert at.
And now he's brought his wife into the family business of grifting.
But yeah, I think he's making the same mistake, or they made the same mistake also about this affordability.
Biden did it, trying to tell people how wonderful everything is, and it's not.
And people really are offended when you try to tell them.
So I think that's the another thing the fellow just mentioned, the Ukraine.
That is an important issue because if we've learned anything from history about, you know, we talked about World War II, this Russians will not stop.
They will never stop.
And his, I don't even know what to call it, his Neville Chamberlain-esque posture with Putin is really mind-numbing.
And so, yeah, the priorities, and all I can say also is if you've got a non-functioning government, meaning the legislative and the judicial system, the country can't stand.
And that's what's happening.
So, yeah, the priorities are just totally out of whack.
Julian, a Republican, Stanford, Connecticut, you're on the air.
Thank you, Mimi.
How are you today?
Good.
You just had a gentleman talk to you about how these Democrats keep calling them Hitler.
And you told him that as soon as they mentioned Hitler, you cut them off.
Nope.
As soon as they say Trump is Hitler.
But mentioning Hitler in a historical sense, I feel is okay.
What do you think of that, Julian?
Historical sense.
Historical sense.
Hitler in a historical sense.
How can you possibly, how, not you, but how could they possibly compare Hitler to him?
Obviously, the history of Germany in the 19th century.
I think we can all agree that Hitler is worse than anybody else.
We get that, Julian.
But tell me, where do I draw the line?
That's the point I'm trying to make.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, no, no.
I want to hear from you.
Go ahead.
Well, if you let me speak, see, you made me lose my train of thought.
Okay?
What I'm trying to say to you is that you twist yourself into a pretzel.
Every time I see you, you need to bring up the Washington Post, all these polls that you show, okay?
All these polls that you show.
Mimi, are you there?
Yes, I'm listening.
It was nice talking to you.
You made me lose my train of thought.
You made me lose it.
Okay.
But write down what you want to say next time, Julian, so you don't forget, okay?
Mimi.
Yeah.
You got to stop these people from talking about Hitler in the 1930s.
And you said, yo, I cut them off.
No, you don't.
You let them talk in nauseum.
If they talk stuff about Trump, about 30s, Hitler's Gestapos, you let them talk in nauseum.
So is your line, Julian, any mention of Nazism, Hitler, the Gestapo, anything?
Mimi, do you think that Trump is a Nazi?
I'm asking you.
No, I don't.
Absolutely not.
Okay, then stop these people from talking about it.
Okay.
Doyle in Tennessee, Democrat, you're on the air, Doyle.
I don't have too much to say, but I don't think you're doing the right thing.
What do you think he should be focused on?
Focused on the whole, everything he's done.
Say, Finance, North Korea.
North Korea don't have the power to even look at us.
They're little boys.
But everybody thinks they're bad boys.
Damn bad boy.
1964.
I was on the destroyer.
DDG.
I've been around the world.
One time.
I've been up to Alaska.
I've been up to the Arctic.
I've been here.
Do the math.
How much money do the illegal aliens produce in this country?
I heard it was $97 billion, right?
All right.
Can I get an answer?
I don't know that number off the top of my head.
I'm sorry.
But your point is that immigrants are producing, even illegal immigrants are producing in the country and improving the economy.
Is that what you want to say?
Yes.
If you give a country $97 billion and you got 21 million illegal aliens, how much are they taking from the country?
All right.
And we'll take, sorry, we'll take one more point on this, and we will open it up to open forum.
So if there's other things that you'd like to talk about, now is your time to call in.
You can dial one of the numbers on your screen.
According to your party, Republicans are on 202-748-8001, Democrats 202-748-8000, and Independents 202-748-8002.
And we'll hear from Ernest in St. Petersburg, Independent Line.
Good morning.
Go on in America.
I hear him talking about Joe Biden and open waters.
Before Joe Biden got to be president, Donald Trump was the president.
He ran on he's going to close the border by building a wall, make Mexico pay for it.
If he wouldn't have lied, Joe Biden wouldn't have had no problem with accumulating at the border.
And as far as these people that back them from the 40s, 50s, and 60s, all he ought to mention to them is race and gender because that's what they're about.
Their parents taught them that.
These Jim Crow people that called in, so they used to be Democrats.
They were Democrats with George Waters, that's the Maddox, Strong Scrum, that douchebag from Alabama, the sheriff.
That's when they was Democrats.
And lies have consequences.
If Mr. Trump wouldn't have told a lie, we would be talking about this today.
But nobody mentioned that.
It's all Joe Biden.
Thank you.
Let's go to the Democrats line in Louisville, Kentucky.
Patty, good morning.
Good morning, Mimi.
Am I open forum?
It's open forum.
Go right ahead.
Okay, I want to talk about immigration.
You can look this up, but the states of Texas and Florida have more immigrants than Minnesota.
So my question is, why Minnesota when other states have so many more?
And also, the Democrats came up with an immigration reform bill a few years ago, a couple years ago.
And several of the Republicans in Congress, I think, were for that bill.
Even Lindsey Graham said it was the best immigration bill they were ever going to get.
And when they came up with it, and it looked like some of the Republicans would vote for it, Trump put a stop to it.
He told the Republicans not to vote for that bill because he needed immigration to run his campaign on.
Drawdown Of Border Agents 00:08:27
So I want everyone to think about that.
I mean, really think about it.
All right, Patty, and let's hear from Border Czar Tom Homan yesterday in Minneapolis announcing a drawdown of 700 agents.
The state prisons already cooperated with us on this coordinated transfer of custody, and we thank them for that partnership, and we plan to do more with them.
I also want to reiterate and emphasize, we are not requiring jails to hold people past their normal release time for immigration purposes.
We're not asking anyone to be an immigration officer.
We are not asking any state or local official to do immigration enforcement activity.
They are not by merely notifying us before they release them.
They don't hold them one minute past they normally would.
Given this increase in unprecedented collaboration and as a result of the need for less law enforcement officers to do this work in a safer environment, I have announced effective immediately.
We will draw down 700 people affected today, 700 law enforcement personnel.
We're in open forum.
This is Steve in Massachusetts Republican Line.
Good morning, good morning Mimi.
I want to talk about the UH priorities and Uh, just go on about um, what I think like C-span's priorities are and how, how.
I think that they're messed up.
Because you look at all the things that have gone on over the years with Donald Trump, what he's done, but it's never announced.
Like I mean, I don't think you've done anything on the hostages from Israel that have been released.
I don't think there was anything.
What happens is is constantly with the Democrats.
It's every week the sky is falling, every single week.
It's one thing right, and if you can make a list of Iran, of Musk with Doge, of of Minnesota, it just goes on and on and it's and and then when you show a poll and it shows that you know 46 percent say this or 57 percent.
Well, Donald Trump's 100 percent is 50 percent.
Okay, that's a hundred percent.
Right, there is fifty percent.
It isn't like saying, do you like Congress, and it's a 25 percent rating, that's 25 percent, but Donald Trump's is is 50, is 100.
But when you sit there and you put all these polls together and everything's negative, and it's been negative for 10 years.
I mean that.
You know, i've watched for like the last six years and the Republicans are constantly on the defense because C-span is based more on Democrats.
I, I i've noticed that when people from C-span the monitors leave, they end up on Msnbc or they end up on CNN.
But so I think priorities go on to what the media feels the priorities are.
I know there's a lot more going on than what's reported, but my question oh okay, I got one question yeah, right now is, if we go into a war, where do all these young men that are illegal immigrants, what do they do during a war?
Where do they go?
Do they go to war or do they stay here with our women and children and in in Europe?
If Europe went to war, which is a much, much smaller area, and they had to go to war to to you know uh, for Ukraine or whatever and all their young men go, where do all the illegals go that are staying in Europe?
And I would like a Democrat or someone from from the politics to answer that, because right now South America is.
They have so many young people gone that their birth rate has collapsed.
So I want to know where, where we are with with the 15 million young men, because they're all young men that came here, and I want to know where they are.
And let me just say one thing is, I think Democrats have gone manic and it goes on from one thing to another.
So Steve on your earlier point on the freed Israeli hostages.
We actually have, um a portion of first lady Melania Trump's comments when she met with them at the White House.
Uh, this is yesterday.
I would like to welcome, uh Viva Sego and Keep Seeko in the White House.
Uh, Aviva was hostage for 51 days, captured by Hamas on october 7 2023, and Keith was captured for 484 days After Aviva was freed,
she called me, wanted to see me, and we set up a meeting in New York in January 2025.
It was emotional meeting, and it is captured on camera and available to see in my new field, Melania.
Feels very emotional.
Aviva presented me with two of Keith's books.
And when I came home that evening, I gave it to my husband and informed him the situation.
And I know he was fighting for all of the hostages.
And as we know now, all of the hostages are free and home with the families.
We have that full event on our website, c-span.org, if you'd like to see it.
Ingrid in Florida, Line for Democrats, you're on Open Forum.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Yes, since we're on the subject of immigrants, and I know there were too many that came in, but all I heard under Biden was the Republicans bitching day and night.
They seem to forget how they can bitch.
So, and one thing that I have called in in the past regarding immigrants and when they work, they pay for American Social Security for the future.
Everybody doesn't seem to realize that.
And are Americans going to get out there in those gardens and factories and chicken places and work there?
I don't think so.
I mean, these Republicans seem to be holier than thou.
Thank you.
Mike in Ohio, Line for Independence.
You're on the air.
Yes, I'm calling from Lick Skill in Ohio, and I struggle.
It looks like to me that we are on a roadmap that is all road and no map.
And along that road, we're hearing about warehouses abandoned that needs to be converted into ICE prisons.
Now, look at this genocide on the Gaza Strip.
It is like half the size of most counties in Ohio.
And it has been decimated for three years.
And this continues on.
And it looks to me like we need to look at Article 2, Section 4 of the Constitution.
Why isn't that a part of the equation?
Article 2, Section 4 of the Constitution.
Could you please display that for the listeners and watchers?
Because it's turning into a Disney production wrapped around the Twilight Zone.
No logic, no reason.
So thank you very much.
All right, Mike, and this is Bill, also in Ohio and Cleveland, Republican line.
Good morning, Bill.
Good morning, Mimi.
How are you today?
Good.
Worst Nurse's Worst Crimes 00:03:07
Okay, I had a question, you know, for all these people.
Like, do you have a body count of all dead Americans at the hands of illegal immigrants?
Do you have that, Bill?
No, no, that's why I was asking you.
I have quite a number.
I know of at least 12 women that were raped in murders.
And we're talking about the drunk driving, the lighting people on fire, the stabbings, all that stuff.
And I think the Democrats really, I don't understand.
They're the ones who flooded these people in here.
They opened the border, lied to us about the border, saying, well, the border is fine.
Camilla Harris has been to the border, you know, but she hasn't been to Europe either.
You know, you got to remember all this stuff.
And what ICE is doing, you know, mainly the killers, the worst of the worst, but you're going to take who you find on the way.
Anybody who crossed in here illegally is a criminal or lost.
And, you know, all this due process, they're not citizens.
They don't deserve due process.
American citizens are, you know, you earn that stuff every day, you know, and these disruptors, it's crazy to me.
That woman who got shot was trying to disrupt them all day long, driving in and out of the vehicles, causing chaos.
And, you know, the nurse, you know, as tragic as it is, he brought a gun with clips to the protest.
And, you know, if you're a nurse, why don't you bring like a first aid kit in case somebody got hurt?
You know, why bring a loaded gun to some situation like this that can escalate?
I mean, that's terrible.
And these are federal agents, you realize.
I've never seen people going after federal agents like this.
You know, he did the week before the video of him kicking a taillight out of an SUV and spitting on, you know, spitting at them and stuff.
That's antagonistic.
So, Bill, you asked me for numbers, and our producer is able to find this.
This is from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the website, Criminal Alien Statistics: Arrests of Individuals with Criminal Convictions.
So, this is not the same as these are the acts themselves committed.
So, this is, and it says criminal aliens refers to individuals who have been convicted of one or more crimes, whether in the United States or abroad, prior to interdiction by U.S. Border Patrol.
It does not include convictions for conduct that is deemed criminal by the United States.
Arrests of criminal aliens are a subset of total apprehensions by U.S. Border Patrol.
And then it has it here.
So, you can take a look at it by the fiscal year, going back to fiscal year 17 up to fiscal year 25, and then fiscal 26 to December.
And then it lists it by type.
Properties of Criminal Aliens 00:15:15
Yeah.
Okay.
Does that can't include Godaways or whatever or on you know, unsolved crimes?
So, so this is the point being, you know, the like with the body count of the ones I know, Rachel Moore and Lake and Riley, who, by the way, was a nurse.
And where's the Democratic outrage when she got her head bashed in by a would-be rapist?
She fought him off and then he killed her.
But, you know, the outrage.
I mean, how dare they?
You know, it should be an outrage for every life.
You know, these people should all be alive.
They would have been alone without the open border.
All right, Bill.
Let's talk to Bob next in Illinois.
Democrat, go ahead, Bob.
Hello, Bill, Mimi.
You know, the Republicans, they ought to get smart.
And, you know, they ought to.
Are you still there?
Yes.
Yes, we're listening.
Go ahead, Bob.
They ought to impeach this man.
He exaggerates about immigration.
He's going to get us in a war like Cheney did.
And ICE is ridiculous.
Keep on playing around, Republicans.
They're going to get us into a war.
So, you know, you better act smart and get with the Democrats and impeach that man.
I'm just warning you.
Thank you, Mimi.
All right.
And there was a hearing at the House Financial Services Committee, and it got heated.
Here is an exchange between Democrat Gregory Meeks and Secretary of the Treasury Besant from yesterday's hearing.
When a foreign-linked investor is putting hundreds of millions of dollars into a company controlled by the president's family, and at the same time, this president is conducting foreign policy with that country.
You know what that causes or creates?
It creates a national security concern.
So, I'm not going to ask much of you, Mr. Secretary.
I just want to know whether you will commit today to pause and heighten the scrutiny of any bank charter or licensing application at the OCC connected to the World Liberty Financial until all of these conflicts of interest and foreign influence reviews are completed and shared with the United States Congress.
All I need to know is: will you halt it and do a complete investigation and scrutiny of this licensing application?
All you have to ask is yes or no.
No, Congressman, all you have to ask is the OCC is an independent entity.
And I would know, Congressman, I take that as a no.
You traveled to Venezuela.
I take that as a no.
On behalf of behalf of your donation.
You do not want to answer that question.
I take that as a no.
For a $7 billion time.
I'm asking you to do your responsibility as Secretary of the Treasury.
You do not.
You cannot erase the trend.
He's the one that went past your time, Mr. Chairman.
He did not answer my question or he wouldn't concentrate.
He had six seconds left to try to answer your question.
It was a yes or no answer.
I asked him, will he?
No, was it yes or no?
The OCC is a gentleman.
Stop, Mr. Cheek.
Well, stop being his flunky.
Okay.
And gentlemen, gentlemen, she's talking to me.
I'm responding on her 2006 trip to Venezuela.
Stop covering for the president.
Don't be a fucking work for the American people.
And back to the phones now to John in Missouri, Independent Line.
You're on the air, John.
Yes, the only thing I'm kind of griping about is Sarah Kalman.
He said the economy is good.
How come the seniors are paying high gas bills, electric bills, and food's still high?
We're on a monthly check.
We just barely get by some of us.
Why doesn't he help?
Just like on this terrorist check he's supposed to send out to the seniors.
No one's got him yet.
What is the deal on that?
Is that all a bunch of bull crap?
That's the only thing I have to say.
All right.
And this is Mark in Chester, Virginia, Republican.
Good morning, Mark.
Good morning, Mimi.
Good morning, America.
Look, I just wanted to make a comment the last couple of weeks I've been here.
We were talking about old Trump shot down the immigration bill.
In that bill, it would have codified by law that we had to allow 5,000 asylum seekers a day to cross to the border: $150,000 a month, $1.8 million a year.
And then a lot of those ones that got the asylum to enter doesn't mean they're going to pass the test when it comes to the end.
They could have still been searched out and removed.
And as far as who's going to pick the vegetables, we have agricultural visas that we've used for decades.
People come in, I've seen them build here in Virginia, they come in, they pick the cantalaf, they move from farm to farm, they stay seasonally, and then they go home.
So that's, I mean, we keep hearing that all the Trump shot down the bill.
Well, there was a reason for that.
You can't close the borders, but then still, by law, have to allow 1.8 million illegals to come in a year and grant them asylum, and then they'll be able to kick them out where they don't pass the asylum test.
All right, Mark.
And the caller before asked about the tariff checks.
This is the latest from USA Today in January 13th.
So it says, when will the 2,000 tariff checks go out?
Trump's latest answer says that President Trump has again discussed sending $2,000 checks from tariff revenue to Americans.
The legal pathway and funding for the checks are in question as Congress is in charge of appropriations.
A single round of checks could cost $600 billion, while tariffs are projected to generate only $300 billion annually.
And it's so that's at USA Today if you would like to see that.
JC, Richmond, Virginia, Democrat, you're on the air.
Good morning, Mimi.
I'm so glad I got you this morning.
And all this tape from some of these cult members that have been directed towards you about letting about the Hitler thing, this is perfect time for me to, for you to put up an article from 1945.
You Google it or put it in your computer, Army Talk Orientation Fact Sheet 64.
This was the U.S. Army gave to the service members on how to find fascists, try to find out what people.
And then I'm going to read you a couple excerpts from this article.
You can put it up in all these haters where you can see for themselves.
This is from the Army from 1945.
A couple of things to take away from it.
It's a lot of good information that fascists, it says here, and any fascist that comes to power is not going to do what Hitler did.
It said they're going to work under the guise, under superpatriotism, super Americanism, and some other things it would say it would do is pit religious, racial, and economic groups against one another in order to break down national unity.
Other things that it said to look out for is that they would call any member of a opposing person a communist for short.
If someone opposes their views or political views or anything like that, which is all these things are going on now.
But if you put this up and read this to some of these people, maybe they'll understand that, you know, some people are calling certain people fascists and stuff like that.
This was something that was given out from the Army to soldiers to spot fascism.
So it's very, very informative.
Anybody that's listening, look up Army Talk Orientation Fact Sheet 64.
And if you can put that up there, that'll be excellent.
And one other thing, the immigration, it's not a problem because if people really thought it was a problem, then they come out to the business owners that are hiring people.
If you didn't have the money, then why aren't they raiding people and pulling them out of their houses that are hiring people?
People would go home for free.
But thank you for taking my call.
All right, JC, let's talk to Glenn next, Republican, Philadelphia.
Hi, Glenn.
Good morning.
First, I'd like to say that forget the extremist.
You and Jasmine are better than Brian Lamb.
You put effort, the two of you, into making this show work.
We're on open forum.
My biggest thing is Social Security.
I would like to know on the left, do you think that letting all these people in without knowing the weather conditions and the crops, can we feed everybody?
And to the crazy right, do you think you should threaten Canada, Mexico, Greenland, the Dutch, Europe?
I don't think this is right on both sides.
And I think we better start elected people with some common sense or we're done.
And Social Security is within six or seven years of paying less money.
Yahoo News says it's going to go, the average Social Security recipient is $2,000 and some change.
It'll go to $1,500 and some change.
And then it depends on the payroll.
If the economy is doing good, you might get a little more.
If it's doing worse, you'll get a little less.
I think people's priorities better be checked in this country.
But thank you, Mamie.
You're a great host.
Thank you, Glenn.
And staying in Pennsylvania, this is Terry, Independent Line.
Hello, Terry.
Yeah, I kind of agree with some of these other people that are calling.
I think the demographics of the country are changing so much.
All you have to do is listen to the show.
Most people are calling in right now are older people because the younger people are at work or school.
But we're in a trouble because we're getting older and the people, the kids, the younger people are not having enough kids.
So we kind of need these people coming in.
We need them for the jobs that are available now and also the kids that they will have in the future if they get here and get good educations and assimilate and things like that.
That's kind of my feeling.
So we're kind of between a rock and a hard place, I feel.
And one other thing, I think, if you're independent, next time you're on, maybe you've got to wear a blue dress.
Why is that, Terry?
Well, you're wearing a red dress now, so next time you're going to have to wear a blue dress, just to be fair.
And then I got to wear purple.
Okay.
Yeah, that's right.
There you go.
Thanks.
Dana in California, line for Democrats.
Good morning.
Hello.
Good morning.
Actually, because the Pennsylvania caller was right before me, I would like to say I am of childbearing age as a younger person.
And the reason why I am not having children is because the economic conditions for my generation were so different from previous generations.
If I want to send my kid to college, for example, I have to save a ton more money.
Buying a house seems out of the question.
There's so many different considerations I have to make in order to give my child the best life possible.
I just wanted to gently address the gentleman, but why I called was because I would like to remind everyone that last week, officials from the FBI raided an office in Georgia's Fulton County and actually seized ballots from that office that may potentially be a pretext to examine the current results from the midterms that we will have coming up.
So I would like to please remind my fellow Americans to get out and vote and just keep that in mind that that happened last week.
Thank you very much and thank you for taking my call.
Okay, Dana.
And she did mention housing costs.
And here's another portion from that Financial Services Committee in the House yesterday.
This is Representative Sylvia Garcia, Democrat of Texas.
I think you said 10 to 20 million immigrants that are responsible for the driving up the housing costs.
Is that what you said?
I'm referring to a Wharton report, yes.
Do you know what they based it on?
What data, what information they looked at?
Yes, the survey by survey, community by community.
You could go, if you'd like, I will have my people posted on the Treasury X account as we speak.
Well, thanks for the cooperation because I'm just completely baffled.
The average new home sale is about $500,000, and you're saying it's driving up the housing crisis when DHS is over there trying to pick up and deport people because, quote unquote, they're a drain on society.
They're dependent on public benefits.
So if you're on public benefits, how do you afford a $500,000 house?
Well, let me clarify your confusion because...
I'm not confused, sir.
Don't...
Don't be demeaning to me, all right?
Because I'm going to object and ask the chairman to make you answer questions.
Anyway, I'm trying to explain to you that it is rental income and rental properties that you really think that people are.
Have you been to the rental income rental places of immigrants?
I have people in my district that are in rental houses that I wouldn't rent to anybody.
They're not expensive.
They're probably $500 or $600 a month.
You think people that can barely afford housing like that, that's the housing that we're talking about when we talk about the housing crisis?
D properties push up the price of C properties.
Inflation in C properties pushes up the price of A properties.
Inflation in the price of A property, B properties pushes up A properties.
So it moves up the stack.
And if you think that somehow the laws of supply and demand do not apply to housing, I would say you're incorrect.
And also, this caller brought up the population growth.
And this is from the U.S. Census Bureau from just last month, January 27th, with this headline.
U.S. population growth slows due to historic decline in net international migration.
You can see that at census.gov.
U.S. Population Growth Slows 00:04:11
That's a U.S. government website.
If you want to read about that and look at the actual numbers on the population growth.
Gary, Sterling, Virginia, Republican.
Hi, Gary.
Hi, baby.
How are you doing?
I'm doing okay.
All right.
I understand that.
I feel the same way, just halfway.
Thing I'd like to talk about is in 92, I worked for, I knew five teenage girls that were pregnant.
One of them was embraced by her family and church.
The other four were not so much.
In fact, 14 years later, I ran into all of them again, and three of them offered to let me spend time alone with their children.
And one offered to said I could stick anything in their mouths.
This is Mike in Oregon, Independent Line.
Go ahead, Mike.
Yeah, I'm calling about immigration.
We always seem to be concerned about the undocumented immigrants, but what about doing it legal?
I mean, I've been working on a legal visa with my wife, who I married two years ago, for 18 months with no results.
I mean, isn't that important also?
Yeah, explain, does that, so she does not have a green card yet?
No, she hasn't even had an interview with the consulate in Bogota.
I mean, it's been 18 months.
Oh, so she's still in Columbia.
She is not here in the United States.
No, she's not here.
I can't get her here because I can't get an interview.
Even though you guys are married.
Yes, we are married.
We've been married for over two years.
We filed in September of 2024, and we still have no results.
Isn't that important also?
But all we hear on the news and on C-SPAN is about the undocumented immigrants.
Nothing about doing it legally.
I mean, no wonder they come here illegally.
I mean, if it takes two years to get your wife to America, doing it legally.
I mean, and, you know, I've been down there three times.
I can only stay for six months at a time.
Every calendar year, you're only allowed six months.
And, you know, we can't get her here.
Isn't that important also?
But we don't hear anything about that.
It's always the undocumented immigrants.
I wonder, Mike, if you've reached out to your elected officials.
I have.
And I've been told by my congresswomen that, oh, I can't do anything.
You're not in my district.
I reach out to one in my district, Susan Bonavici.
I talked to both my senators, not talked to.
I've emailed several times, left messages on their phones, and have heard nothing.
That's the way the government seems to work now.
All right, and this is Carl, Republican in Maryland.
Good morning.
Hi, Amy.
I just wanted to say thank you very much for what you moderators do.
I'm a regular listener, and I realize you guys are faced with opposing points of opinions, and often they are very strong opinions.
And it struck me this morning that you guys do an excellent job at maintaining composure and your temper.
And I just think that's very great.
And I think it should be acknowledged that you guys, you moderators, do a great job.
So I just wanted to call in and say thank you very much.
Thank you, Carl.
And President Trump will be participating in the national prayer breakfast later this morning.
And later on the show, we'll hear from the religious community how the religious community is reacting to the Trump administration's actions with Interfaith Alliance's Reverend Paul Brandeis Roschenbush.
Ceasefire: Where the Shouting Stops 00:01:09
But coming up next, author and law professor Jonathan Turley will discuss his new book, Rage and the Republic, which looks at the impact of the American Revolution.
That's coming up right after the break.
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