♪ host: good morning, it is saturday, may 11. president biden paused some arms shipments to israel and said that he could halt offensive

weapons transfers if israel follows through on a full-scale invasion of rafah. speaker mike johnson survived and outstripped out. adult film star stormy daniels took the stand for two days this week in the trump hush money trial. those are a few items making news this week. we would like to know what your top news story of the week is. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans call (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can send us a text at (202) 748-8003. include your first name and city, state. you can post on our social media account, facebook.com/c-span and on x @cspanwj. we are glad you are with us. let's start with the comments that president biden made on cnn about the weapons transfers to

israel. [video clip] >> i know that you have paused, mr. president, shipments of 2000 pound u.s. bonds to -- bombs to israel in concerned that it could be used on any offensive in rafah. how have those bombs been used to kill civilians in gaza? pres. biden: civilians have been killed in gaza as a consequence of those bombs and the way that they go after population centers . if they go into rafah, they haven't yet, i am not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with the cities, to deal with that problem. we will make sure that israel is secure in terms of the iron dome and the ability to respond to attacks, but it's not wrong. we won't supply the weapons that

have been used. >> artillery shells as well? pres. biden: yeah, artillery shells. >> right now, is that not going into rafah? has ovide and they haven't gone into population centers. they have gone next to the border. we have worked really hard to make sure that we have a relationship, but i've made it clear to bibi and of the war cabinet that they won't get our support if they keep going into these population centers. we won't walk away from israel's security or the ability to wage war in those areas. >> it is not over your red line yet? pres. biden: not yet. host: that was the president on cnn a few days ago. u.s. weapons may have been used in ways "inconsistent with international law in gaza"

according to a u.s. assessment. the article says that secretary blinken delivered to congress on friday, yesterday, a highly anticipated report on israel's military operations in gaza that accused israeli forces of potentially violating international humanitarian law, but didn't formally find that they had already done so, according to the documents. the report states that though there are allegations that israel violated international humanitarian law during the time covered by the report, from the beginning of this year through late april, the u.s. doesn't have "complete information on whether u.s. weapons were used in those actions." the authors cite the difficulty of determining facts on the ground in an active war zone and the use of hamas using civilian infrastructure. we have other stories that we

are following from this week addi your top news stories of the week. speaker johnsonurviving a call to vacate his chair and the subsequent vote. here is the associated press. failure to outs speaker maga mike johnson's shows strength and weakness of his alliance with trump, and we will look at a portion of what he said after wednesday's vote. [video clip] >> members have just voted. we have important work to do for the country. there are a lot of things. last week we announced the house-wide effort to crack down on anti-semitism on campus. this morning we introduce legislation to fortify american elections and ensure that only american citizens can vote. i am glad that this distraction will not inhibit that important work and all of the important things on the table and engender

-- and agenda for us. hopefully this is the end of personality politics and frivolous character assassination that has defined the 118th congress. it is regrettable, not who we are as americans, and we are better than this and need to get yonder it. the speaker of the house serves the whole house, everybody, but i am a lifelong movement conservative republican and i intend to continue to govern in accordance with those core principles. we believe in the seven core principles of american conservatism that also the core principles of america itself. i believe in individual freedom, limited government, the rule of law, fiscal responsibility, free markets, human dignity. those are the guiding principles that inform our work and that we work for every day to pursue, to ensure that all americans have more liberty and opportunity and security. those foundations are in jeopardy now. we need steady hands at the

wheel, people who understand what made america the strongest, most powerful, most free, most successful, most netherland nation in the world. we have to fight for that every day. host: this morning's question is your top new story of the week. the phone lines are on your screen. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. we have a line that you can use to text us, (202) 748-8003. we are watching our social media feeds. we have facebook.com/c-span. and we are on x, formerly twitter, @cspanwj. the phone lines, andrew in sterling, virginia. caller: before i make my comment as to the top story of the week, i want to say that you are, without a doubt, my favorite host on c-span. you are a class act.

you asked really good follow-up questions, you are very respectful of all of the callers. you are a pleasure to watch and i wish that you were on every day. having said that, my top story is i saw where former president trump had a couple of large dinners at mar-a-lago hosting the big oil companies, the ceos of the big oil companies, and multibillionaire's. he promised off the bat that if they donated to his campaign he would make sure that he would extend the massive tax cuts for the rich that are due to expire soon. he promised the oil companies that he would get rid of regulation on the drilling of more oil, even though this country has produced more oil this past year under the biden administration than ever before in history. i want american voters to

realize that in order to make these promises to these multibillionaire's and huge corporations, in order to do that trump will have to make massive cuts to social security, medicare, and the entitlements. to all of those maga voters out there, what are you going to do if he is able to succeed and make those cuts? you guys are going to be in a world of hurt. you think the price of gas will save you if he drops it a dollar or so? you won't have a pension. you won't have anything in the way of social security. you will be doomed. thank god for president trump. host: all right, andrew. this is what andrew was talking about, an article from "politico." trump pressed oil executives to give $1 million for his campaign. this is a scandal and an indictment of the system, but

probably legal, according to a legal watchdog. it says that the former president asks oil executives last month to donate $1 billion to aid his campaign to retake the white house. campaign finance experts said the request appears troubling but is probably legal. the request first reported by the washington post occurred during a meeting of oil industry executives at the former president's home in palm beach, florida. the oil industry has a long list of policy actions it would want trump to take, including dismantling parts of president biden's green agenda and rolling back pollution regulations that threaten to crimp their profits. politico reported on wednesday that oil executives are preparing highly specific requests for trump, including executive orders that they hope he would sign if reelected. at the least, the one billion points to problems

governing law in politics according to a finance director at a watchdog group. "at a high level it perfectly captures so much of what is wrong with our big-money campaign-finance system." lucas is next, republican in delray beach, florida. caller: good morning. once again, the so-called hush money trial president donald trump in manhattan is my top story of the week. the whole deal is so wrong. i know it's not a profound statement, but for goodness sake. putting him on trial -- i am not a lawyer, but from what i can gather from watching cable news -- but me be clear, i am not a right wing lunatic. i watch everything from newsmax to msnbc and everything in between regularly. from one end of the political media spectrum to the other, none of them are describing what he is being charged with. you have for example, not

picking on msnbc, but he was talking about stormy daniels walked up to the stage. it was a poetic description of her appearance, but what is the actual crime? right-wing, left-wing, somebody needs to explain it. i feel like they have yet to do so on cable news. host: you are in luck. later on our podcast segment we will have a law professor talking to us. we will definitely ask about that. what he is being charged with and why and things like that. caller: fantastic. thank you. host: william in ohio, independent, good morning. caller: good morning. host: what is going on in ohio? caller: my major thing is -- my major thing right now is also the trial. trump has been held in contempt nine or 10 times.

why hasn't he done any jail time yet? it seems like he should have to. he goes after people all the time and threatens people with bloodshed and everything else, which is ridiculous. he's a loser. period. host: there are people who say that the gag order is completely unfair. what do you think about that? do you think that it's fair that he not be allowed to talk about witnesses and the families of the judge and things like that? caller: absolutely. his followers, it gives them reasons to go after them. look after the election. they went after people. it is like he has his own gestapo out there. host: let's hear from the former president speaking to reporters after stormy daniels wrapped up her testimony. [video clip] mr. trump: thank you, everyone

saw what happened today. i don't think we have to do any extra explaining. this judge is corrupt, a corrupt judge. this judge, but he did, what this ruling was, was a disgrace. what happened today, he is a corrupt judge and is totally conflicted. i've got to get back on the campaign trail. on not supposed to be here. we are so innocent. there has never been anything like it. every single legal analyst, i'm innocent, and i'm being held in this court with a corrupt judge who is so conflicted. take a look at his conflict. it is a disgrace to the city of new york, the city of new york and the country. thank you. ho: he mentioned getting back on the campaign trail. he will be getting back today and we will cover that live for you starting at 5:00 p.m. eastern. the former preside wl have a campaign rally in wildwood, new

jersey. thatilbe covered at 5:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span and on our app, c-span now, and online at c-span.org. marcus is in columbus, ohio. what is your top new story? caller: i think my top new story is probably the united states more so on the international stage with the u.n. vote to treat palestine as a member and the security council to revisit the issue. the report that the state department released, there is actually a state department employee that has resigned over the support for israel's genocidal campaign. josh paul. he started or is working with a group called just security.

he essentially did the report as if you were still working for the state department and utilized all of the same information that the united states has access to and has gone over -- it is about 40 pages -- identifying details, factual, data over multiple war crimes that the israel government is committing. even where they are dropping some of these 200-pound bombs on apartment complexes. where they are not even giving any targeting data for it, so in the report it spells out how israel is indiscriminately -- or has been dropping bombs on palestinians. in the recent few days between dropping weapons shipments, they have closed down gaetz allowing

in humanitarian aid, which the nine administration says israel isn't breaking. i think that the shift in the geopolitical relevance of the united states because of joe biden's support of israel i think will create changes in the future that most americans are expecting because we don't see information and how the rest of the world sees our actions and blind support for a genocide. it is kind of a big deal, shifting our power in the country. host: this is what he was mentioning about the u.n. the associated press with the headline, the u.n. assembly approved resolution granting palestine you rights and revising its u.n. membership bid. this is the general assembly voted by a wide margin on saturday to grant new rights and privileges to palestine and

called on the security council to reconsider palestine's request to become the 194th member of the united nations. dan is in oregon, republican, good morning. caller: good morning. i am a little horse this morning. it is about israel. i didn't ever think that our nation would come up against -- that is why the nazis went after them, because they were god's children. it might've been one of the seals opened in the bible about covid. it tears my heart, because a lot of jews got killed in the holocaust, and something about there is a valley where the blood is getting to the horses'

bridles. it is all about hate, not enough love, didn't care. the christians and the jews and the muslims and all of us got to quit shedding blood. forgive me, i shouldn't say that because last time i called i said something about anarchy. host: what do you think is the solution for the war in gaza? caller: what about the 1947 accords? where was the palestinian's land and where was the jewish homeland? jerusalem is set up for the jews. host: a two state solution going back to the 1947 agreement? caller: i have heard that they

were from lebanon, syria, and the bordering areas. i'm not sure. i know -- what would you call a -- how about a space coup? host: the president was speaking about the holocaust on holocaust remembrance day and antisemitism. here is a portion of his remarks. [video clip] pres. biden: we must give hate no safe harbor against anyone, anyone. our jewish americans represent only 2% of the u.s. population and helped the cause of freedom for everyone in our nation. that experience, we know that scapegoating and demonizing any minority is a threat to every minority and the foundation of our democracy.

in moments like this i like to put these principles we talk about into action. i understand that people have strong beliefs and deep convictions about the world. in america, we respect and protect the fundamental right to free speech. two debate and disagree. to protest peacefully and make our voices heard. i understand that's america, but there is no place on any campus in america, any place in america, for antisemitism, hate speech, or threats of violence of any kind. [applause] whether against jews or anyone. attacks, destroying property, is not peaceful protest.

it is against the law and we are not a lawless country. we are a civil society. no one should have to hide just to be themselves. [applause] the jewish community, i want you to know, i see your fear, hurt, and pain. let me reassure you that as your president you are not alone. you belong. you always have and you always will. my commitment to the safety of the jewish people, the security of israel, and its right to exist as an independent jewish state is ironclad even when we disagree. [applause] host: that was the president's remarks from tuesday. we are getting your top new story of the weekend going to our line for independents.

john, hello. caller: good morning. i had a couple of things. i saw a story on fox, i think, and i was wondering if you could look it up because i didn't see it on msnbc or any other stations about the illegal immigration. denver had a list of demands for free stuff that they were demanding and it was unbelievable is true. but i don't know if is just a couple of people or if it's a big movement. i was wondering if you could look it up to see if it's true. the other thing that i was wondering is, how could burnett when she is interviewing the president, joe biden, and he said that he inherited 9% inflation, how could she not correct him? in order not to embarrass the president? everyone knows that that's not true. thank you.

host: on fox news, the thing that you mentioned, it says -- foxnews.com -- denver migrants refused to lee's encampments. the list includes demands for better food, access to immigration lawyers, and unlimited shower time. you can find that at foxnews.com. harold in livingston, tennessee, democrat, good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. i really wish she would do more on shows of what legislation is being proposed up there that cuts the social security and what the candidates say they will do about social security. the legislation that is local or whatever that they are talking about up there, if you cut social security off you are really going to hurt this country big time. or if you cut any margins at all.

i really wish we would do more about women's rights. we are all the time talking about the foreign country, and that has to be talked about, but not 24 hours a day by every channel. it is either that or trump's lawsuits. he and that woman have done what they done and that doesn't need to be talked about all the time. there are important things. this past week they voted down the veterans' pay increase. we can do health care. this country is in good enough shape. there are more people working now than i can remember in my lifetime, because there are all kinds of jobs. how many open jobs, 60 7 million open jobs in the united states? the problem is we need to get to work but we need to spend money helping these older people and do something about this thing

with women. women are not going to have rights. i guess that is all i have to say about that. thank you for taking my call. host: harold, you started with social security. are there any changes that you would be ok with two social security? caller: no! not if it requires taking the blame. we could roll back the trump tax breaks and take care of our social security problem now. he is promising to give them more tax breaks if they will give him $1 billion, the oil companies. no, it is time to working person -- the working person cannot afford to keep this country going and paying taxes while you give all of these wealthy people all of this money back. people don't make that kind of money. you have people like trump and

all of these millionaires paying basically nothing in taxes. compared to what the working person pays. people out here, it takes what they make to live. if we cut social security back, what is going to happen with our old people? senior citizens, a lot of them have to go back to work. host: all right, harold. we will check in with social media on facebook. his top new story of the week is, marjorie taylor greene being booed by her colleagues is the top story. john on facebook, they continued disaster of the israeliamas war and the protests and everything. it iheartbreaking. all of it. on facebook, withholding arms from an ally after congress approves the sale of the arms is an impeachable offense. tell me where i am wrong.

before anyone makes a full of themselves, you can't -- fool of themselves, you can't. gary in sterling, virginia, republican, good morning. caller: good morning, mimi. i am an old-time republican. that is a lot different than these newbies. my main subject, h a talk about plastic waste in congress this week. i thank it should be talked about more. i have a real mundane issue. a famous man once said waste not, want not. that is the way that i feel about the plastic type on the milk carton or juice jug. that is a waste of good, high-quality plastic and is an impediment to get to the product. if your fingers are what you have to get a pair of pliers to open it. host: what other things are you

looking to do to reduce your carbon footprint? caller: grow my grass longer. that gives you more shape. gives you a cooler lawn. that is one of the things i do. i try not to waste water. it's totally worthless. we don't need it. it is an impediment to get to the product. if i was a dairyman or orchard owner i would be madder than a wet hen. host: a wet hen? caller: a wet hen. if you get a hen covered with playing, she gets mad, man. host: baltimore, maryland, good

morning. caller: our top new story of the week is we the charges for trump is he tried not to have stormy daniels' story come to light so the voters wouldn't know in 2016. he is being charged because he falsely put in his records that he was paying michael: was already his lawyer. he was paying the money back that michael cohen paid stormy daniels. that is why he is in court now. host: would you say that the trial is your top story? caller: top story of the week, absolutely. host: there is other news on trump's trials. this is from nbc. it says that the federal judge

indefinitely postpones trump's classified documents case in florida. the judge postponed the trial pending the resolution of multiple pending pretrial issues according to a new court records filed on tuesday. it says that the trial was scheduled to start on may 20. they said in a five-page order that it would be "imprudent" to finalize a new trial date now, casting further doubt on federal prosecutors ability to bring trump to trial before the november presidential election. as a reminder, trump faces dozens of felony accounts accusing him of illegally hoarding at his mar-a-lago estate in palm beach, florida classified documents that he took with him after he left the white house in 2020 one. and then, obstructing the fbi's efforts to get them back. he has pleaded not guilty and

denied wrongdoing. joan on facebook also mentions that as her top new story, saying that cannon has die americans a judgment in the documents se before the election. if she cannot act on anything, she needs to withdraw. america deserves better. mike a democrat in woodstock, virginia. hello, mike. caller: good morning morning, good morning. i agree with your previous callers. you do a very fine job when you are hosting the program. your wit, intellect, quick response, and quick action to respond with your research at your fingertips. i think the pertinent subject at hand, i think that a number of

your callers have touched on all important stories and important events, not just this week but ongoing. certainly, the decimation of gaza is a horrible thing. yes, the hamas attack on october 7 was horrible, but i don't know if that justifies 35,000 casualties in gaza or not. yes, i think that the action of judge cannon, being a person who worked with carrying clearances for many years, as did my father and my brother, if i had violated my oath or even been accused of and had charges brought against any of our

fellow citizens you have to carry a clearance. the actions would have been quite a bit different. social security, you asked for a suggestion. if individuals or households have an income above a certain degree, whether they have paid and like most of us -- i am retired now -- but all of our lives, then they shouldn't get those benefits. but there are so, so many complicated issues. i will leave you with, and i hope that you and your listeners will take this to heart, i am 70 years old, i have seen stuff, a lot of people have that they don't talk about around the world and in our country. the first three words of the preamble to the u.s. constitution are "we the people."

in my belief, the only thing that can take down our republic is those three words. lincoln said "united we stand, divided we fall. a house divided cannot stand." if we as a people choose to continue to bicker and act like kids on the playground, look at the u.s. house and how that has been handled by the majority party there for this house session just as one example. how divided. the divisions in terms of the wedges that have been drawn by different factions, it's -- we the people. host: mike mentioned the house. here is representative gree ne defending her actions in an interview. [video clip] >> i considered that a victory,

part of the unmasking. trust the process. it will take time. what a great start. you went in and in front of all of america and all the world, you heard the k street money through the instruments of the democratic party and republican people who have been bought off, booed you. your thoughts, ma'am? rep. greene: that is what i expected. it was a great victory for the american people to see the truth for the curtain to be drawn back. the unity party is alive and well in the people's's house. that is where the iron he is screaming. you are right -- the irony is screaming. you are right, but the vote yesterday proved that mike johnson is completely bought and paid for by the democrats. nancy pelosi, the two democrats

that led the effort to impeach president trump twice, voted to save mike johnson, as well as hakeem jeffries and the leadership team, but so did republicans. that shows you that we have a lot of work to do in our gop conference. if we are going to be the republican majority that holds the house under president trump our republican majority needs to be whipped into shape because yesterday they completely capitulated to democrat control over the house of representatives even though we have solid control with republican votes. it was proven yesterday, all of the lies were proven. democrats cannot take control of the house. hakeem jeffries cannot become speaker because we hold the majority. democrats saved mike johnson. host: here's an article in politico saying that failing

acts of political theater, greene ostracized after ouster push. now, she is even losing conservative allies. she was never hugely popular among her more centrist colleagues. after forcing a vote on ousting speaker mike johnson even conservatives seem to have abandoned her, leaving the georgia firebrand with next to no allies in the house. "people are calling me saying, please tell her not to do this. mike is a good man doing the best he can. trump is calling her telling her not to said representative barry loudermilk. "i think that she has lost a whole lot of respect in her district." that is politico if you would like to see the rest of that article. wayne in junction, texas, a republican. caller: how is it going? host: good.

caller: i think that george washington is turning over in his grave with the political prosecution of donald trump. how do you expect the people are going to react when they try to put the leading candidate for president in prison? how do you think the people are going to react on the streets. how are these transgender democrats handling all this? host: all right. springfield, ohio, independent. caller: good morning. what really bothers me, and it should be of concern to everybody, is the way that the student protests have been handled by the police. we have young people, the future of our country, getting guns

pointed at them for a protest. for tely a genocide somewhere else in the world. along witthsame thing, fair and ba news says you can't have -- students an other people protesting. everybody should have the opportunity to protest, but we are keeping this protest as something that is illegal and eventually it is going to lead to some family losing a son or a daughter. it has happened before and is inevitable if they keep pointing guns at these young people.

the other thing is young people, give your thumbs a break and see what kind of country is coming your way. words you can't use, topics you aren't allowed to talk about, pictures and statues you can't look at anymore, and we almost had a candidate who is going to be deemed ineligible to run for office. this is your country, young people. host: all right, carlos. there is an article here in the new york times, below the fold, with this headline. columbia protest also brings pressure from a private owner. you can see that at the new york times. louise in lewisville, texas, democrat, good morning. caller: good morning, america.

good morning, mimi. my top story of the day is donald trump should really fight his case in the courts. he should sit there, listen to it, and if he doesn't like it get on the stand and defend himself. to come out and complain every day that it's not fair what they are doing to him is showing you how weak of a man he is. he committed this crime. he needs to face it and stop coming out trying to get the american people riled up because he thinks he is being treated differently. he is. nobody else that is out on bail could come out and complain about what's going on in the courts. donald trump, be a man. fight your case in the courts. leave the american people out of your problems.

thank you, mimi. host: there is an article from thehill.com, that says stormy daniels trolls trump after testifying in hush money trial. it says the adult film actor stormy daniels said this on x. "real men respond to testimony by being sworn in and taking the stand on court. oh, wait. never mind." tyrone, a republican in illinois. caller: it is always a pleasure to talk to you. i haven't heard much about the hunter biden case lately and i thought it was supposed to come back up in april. i haven't heard anything or seen anything on c-span about it. serious about what is going on there. i also wanted to say that i'm very disappointed with our

democrats and republicans when we are talking about doing stuff for the american people. i hear a lot of world news, but right now we have our farmers. we haven't passed a farm bill in a couple of years. they are hurting out they are pretty desperate. their inputs are way up. making it very hard for them to make a living. like a lot of other people in the united states right now with the higher price of insurance, gas, food, and everything else that is going on. i just don't feel like our government right now for our tax dollars is doing much for us. host: the farm bill is coming up for renewal. tyrone, here is what is happening on hunter biden. reuters says that hunter biden loses bid to dismiss gun charges, clearing way for june trial. so, be looking for that if you are interested in june to kick off. iris in alabama, independent. caller: how are you doing this

morning? host: good. caller: hello, c-span. i think this trial of donald trump is stupid. we know they're not going to do nothing to that man. they want him sitting there every day because he ain't out being able to run his mouth. they want him shut in there where he can't say nothing to make nobody mad. that is the best place for him. they want him in there. he comes out, he talks about how corrupt the judge is, or this or that, he could be telling us what he is going to do for the country. as far as president biden, look at what has happened. catastrophic events that have

happened. drugs, hurricanes, tornadoes. host: you are not blaming natural disasters on president biden, right? caller: no, i'm not. i'm just saying, look what all has happened. my god, he is trying to help. he is doing the best he can. he come in with covid. he come in with all the natural disasters that have happened. there's only so much he can do. it is just awful. the fires. we tried to help haiti. we are trying to help over in gaza. we are trying to feed the world. there are people here who don't even have things to eat. no, i think he is doing the best he can for what has gone on. we have to take a look at that, all of the things that have went on since he became president.

i don't know how anyone could criticize his soul. it is just horrible. host: the republican line in aurora, indiana. hello. caller: yes, ma'am. people are so -- i listen to these people talk. how can trump do anything? since he has been in office and out of office? trump does not run the world right now. he tells you what he's going to do if he gets in there, he is going to straighten this country out. a man who has taken what he has taken and still wants to run for president to help the people. he tells the people, i am here to help you. he has a family, he has grandchildren, he is not trying to destroy america. the people are trying to destroy him. you need to wake up. israel is surrounded by all

nations right now. it is in the bible, the last days. christ said, we will be persecuted from our namesake. christ died for israel, he died for the world. if people don't realize that christ is god, he came and died for us, it just makes me -- and hear people put down god. they need to get god back in this country. host: all right, earl. ryan in cedar rapids, iowa, democrat, good morning. caller: how about separation of church and state? that is not actually why i called, mimi. i was going to give you a top new story, but i think what surprised me is that you didn't know what madder than a wet hen ment. host: i am kind of a city slicker. i didn't know when you wet hens

they get mad. caller: i wouldn't have known that either because i am a city guy myself, but i'm 70 years old so i've heard it a million times. obviously, people hear what they hear or don't hear what they hear. but madder than a wet hen is so common. it just surprised me. i respect that you are as sharp as a tack. my top story would be the whole idea that there is a persecution of donald trump. that is nonsense. the justice department is bending over backwards to give him every opportunity. the fact is, the justice system is rigged against the people, i think. trials are getting delayed left and right. in georgia, with the judge cannon thing, a trump appointed

rookie judge who keeps finding excuses for putting off the trial, and now the supreme court. ways to delay the trial after the election. anyway, i think that's nonsense. there is another story that i wanted to add, the boeing star liner space launch was delayed and it is something that i think that people need to pay attention to, because this is the sixth crewed spaceship that will go into orbit to get ready to go to the space station, the iss. over and over it has been delayed because of boeing's problems. that is one the caught my eye this week. host: that also happened this week. here is usa today. massive delays. boeing star liner launch after rocket issue.

when is it set to happen now? the boeing crew flight test announced another blast off delay after a data review revealed a valve issue. bill in midland, texas, independent. caller: good morning. this is addressed to senator tim scott who says that america is not a racist country. my mom and dad taught me that america is a racist country. that you cannot do the things that white people do. case in point, the airmen in florida who was killed by the police officer did nothing wrong. he didn't have the benefit of a white person. he was shot immediately and that is so, so sad. one other point that i don't know if you were aware about, but the va hospital in texas has

recently hired a lot of trump supporters, a lot of maga employees and staffs. they have the trump flags in the office. they have been denying americans care and referring to african-americans as the n-word. i'm not sure if you are worried about it, but that is taking place at the facility. thank you for taking my call. host: bill mentioned the shooting of the florida airmen by sheriff's deputy. it says that the florida sheriff releases bodycam video at the airmen fatally shot in his apartment. he disputes the families claim that the deputy went to the wrong unit. the article says that the okaloosa county sheriff showed the video during a thursday news conference shortly after an attorney for the 23-year-old airmen's family called for its

public releasing. the victim's girlfriend was face time with him and believes that the deputy was at the wrong unit. that is on cnn.com. aubrey peterman, alabama, democrat. caller: how are you doing this morning? input on some of the stuff going on. hoping that the whole world would do better at what they're doing. trump got in trouble whether he did or he didn't, so let's move on and make this world a better place and try to love one another. host: let's go to wallingford, kentucky on the independent line, ronnie, good morning. caller: thanks for taking my call. i have a few things. i have been hearing a lot of and

everything, and politicians, and up there, and about impeaching people and everything. how can somebody get impeached up there when the people elected them for that office, but everybody wants to impeach somebody? they don't have no grounds to impeach anybody. that people who put them in office should have the power to impeach them. all they talk about is electric for traders -- electric refrigerators. we have people starving right here in our country.

you want to help in other countries. $96 billion. they could have throwed it over to social security and get social security people out of poverty. we are living in poverty. we need help. serious help. a lot of us don't even make enough to cover all of our bills. or have gas to even go to the store later in the month. you know? we are hurting, hurting bad. politicians don't care. getting back to i was hearing a bunch of them talk about biden. biden came in on this, on his term starting, the world was totally messed up because we

wouldn't be in this shape if trump would have got off that medication. and throwed that medication when we had the covid. host: ronnie, we will try to get in another caller. california, republican, good morning. caller: good morning, mimi. host: how's it going? caller: good. my top story would be the aileen cannon situation. i know that the mainstream media doesn't like to talk about this, but i heard a report that the archives actually had those documents for at least six weeks after donald trump left office and had to contact him about transferring it to mar-a-lago. host: wait a minute. why would the archives be giving the presidential documents back

after donald trump leaves office? caller: that is what they say on real americans voice last week here the archives actually contacted donald trump and said these boxes are still here. do you want them? host: i have a hard time with that, because the documents were at mar-a-lago. the archives asked for them, because all the presidential records and official documents have to go to the archives at the end of an administration. caller: right, but he didn't take them directly to mar-a-lago . they were boxed up and he left office and he did not take them with him but he wanted to. they stayed at the archives for at least six weeks before they were transferred to mar-a-lago,

which begs the question that if he wasn't supposed to have them in the first place, why on earth did they allow them to be shipped after he left office? i heard this on real america's voice. nobody is talking about it, which i find suspicious. generally when something like this is said they knock it down. but the silence is deafening. host: let's talk to shirley in fort myers, florida. independent. caller: boy, that was a mouthful coming about the archives and donald trump and judge cannon. they need to get that court case moving because i think that that is one that truly shows the nature of the man who took documents he wasn't entitled to. let him talk in court, just like he has the opportunity to do now. no person in this country is above the law, and they need to start treating him like the criminal he is for everything he

did while he was in office. we can't survive four more years with donald trump at the helm. check out project 2025. that is a scary proposition that they really want to push. anyways, thank you for taking my call. host: that is going to do it for the first hour, but we will revisit this question of your top news story later in the program, so you will have time to weigh in later. next, we have benjamin storrow of e&e news following the money on the $1.6 trillion allotted for energy and infrastructure programs passed by congress. we will speak to him after the break about what he has learned. later, our weekly spotlight on podcassegment featuring loyola law school professor jessica levinson and her law and politics podcast called "passing judgment." we will be right back. ♪

>> american history tv, exploring the people and events that tell the american story. mckendry university professor lauren thomas with her book "friendly enemies" talks about how union and confederate soldiers often fraternize, sharing coffee, tobacco, and newspapers. remembering the korean war. a korean war veteran and medal of honor recipient lay in honor at the u.s. capitol in washington, d.c. then, a symposium on the korean war. the american history tv series congress and vest gaetz looks at historic congressional investigations that led to changes in policy and law. this week, the 1987 hearings on the iran contra affair, examining the clandestine operation of selling mission -- selling missiles to iran in exchange for releasing hostages.

exploring the american story. watch american history tv every schedule on your program guide, or watch online anytime at .org/history. ♪ >> book tv. every sunday on c-span 2. it features leading authors discussing their latest nonfiction books. at 9:15, mike gonzalez and kat harine gorka argue the mac and left embraced a form of radical maxim that threatens the future of the united states. then at 10:00 p.m. eastern on after words, author johann hari reported on weight loss drugs. watch book tv every sunday on c-span 2, and find the full

schedule on your program guide or watch anytime on booktv.org. ♪ >> the house will be in order. >> this year, c-span celebrates 45 years of covering congress like no other. since 1979, we have been your primary source for capitol hill, providing balanced, unfiltered view of government, taking you to wear that policy is debated and decided, all with the support of america's cable companies. c-span, 45 years and counting, powered by cable. >> "washington journal" continues. host: welcome back to "washington journal." we are joined now by ben storrow, a reporter at e&e news. welcome to the program. guest: thanks for having me. host: first, tell us about e&e news and climate wire and how you are affiliated with politico.

e&e, we write about energy and the environment. we are a division of politico. host: you and other politico reporters recently co-authored an analysis of the federal spending for that $1.6 trillion in tax and spending passed under president biden. how are the ways that you are actually seeing how that money is being spent and how much of it is being spent? what kind of information is out there? guest: that is a good question. it was essentially our question that we started with. there is $1.6 trillion for climate and infrastructure money that has been approved by congress across four laws, so our basic idea was to try to figure out what was going on with that money.

in the most simplistic sense, what we found is a lot of it has not been spent yet. there is a lot of reasons for that, and we can talk about those, but those short version is there is so much money here that the administration had a lot of work to do to get these programs stood up, and they are only now really just seeing those efforts come to fruition. a couple months before the election. host: and i will put it on the screen. there are several programs that you looks at. there's $838 billion for the bipartisan infrastructure law of 2021. there's $145 billion inflation reduction act. $54 billion for the chips and science act. $45 million for the american rescue plan, which was covid related. of that,$331 billion is unavailable to spend until future fiscal years.

i want to set with a big line item, the bipartisan infrastructure law, $838 billion for that. can you give us an idea of how much of that has been spent, and on what kind of projects? guest: yeah, so i guess as a starting point, there's a lot of bureaucracy in terms of when we talk about money that has been spent. in budget speak, they would call that an outlay. under the bipartisan infrastructure law, we have seen $86 billion that has actually been spent, or outlaid. but there's a lot of money that has either been announced or awarded. what that means is the government has basically identified the recipients, but the money, they still have to negotiate a contract for spending it. then you have money that has been obligated, and the money

that has been obligated, that means the contract has essentially been closed, but it hasn't been spent yet. when it comes to the bipartisan infrastructure law, the biggest source of spending to date is highway repairs and things like that. host: so what is the hold up? why hasn't all the money been spent by now? guest: there are a lot of different reasons for that. in some cases, in a lot of cases, what will happen is, for instance, for ev charging more broadband, these really work as grants to the states, so the states need to submit a plan for how they plan to spend that money. in some cases, that process has moved pretty smooth -- pretty slowly. we wrote about, until this year, louisiana was the only state that had a broadband plan

confirmed. i lost my train of thought there, so -- why hasn't it been spent. so we've got the states moving slowly on the one hand. on the other hand, there were whole departments at places like the department of energy that had to be set up to spend money, so there was this huge bureaucratic effort to actually get the money out the door. and there is a lot of due diligence that the government does to ensure that the money isn't being wasted. there was one person -- we did not mention it in the story -- one senior d.o.e. official called it darwinian due diligence they do on the potential recipients. but there are other factors as well, and some that are within the government's control.

we spoke to some companies who received grants two years ago and have not yet seen the money, because things like environmental reviews have not in completed yet. host: is this typical for government programs, or is there something specific about these particular infrastructure, climate, energy bills that are just slower than usual? guest: that is a really great question. i think, on the for structure side -- on the infrastructure side, it is fair to say that this is sort of typical. the way it would work, an example we given the story of a breach connecting kentucky -- a bridge connecting kentucky and ohio. it had been a long-standing priority of mitch mcconnell, the minority leader. that bridge is a $1.6 billion project. to date, only $15 million has

been spent. the way it works and the reason so little money has gone out the door is basically that states are going to get reimbursed for that once they spend the money. so that kind of thing is fairly typical. i think the thing that is different here is the pure scope and scale of what we are talking about. we are talking $1.6 trillion across these four bills, which is a huge sum of money, and there's a lot of bureaucracy that goes into standing all the programs up and getting the money out the door. host: i want to ask you about the tax bricks are also a part of this -- tax breaks that are also a part of this. tax breaks for clean energy, ev's, home energy -- can you explain those tax cuts,

how they are going, what is going on with those? guest: so for a long time, in this country, we provided tax credits to renewable energy sources, like wind and solar. basically, what the ira did was it expanded those. there are tax credits in there for wind and solar, but it expanded those two things like ev's -- you could get tax credits for things like an electric heat pump or things like that for your home. but also, too, newer climate technologies like green hydrogen or sustainable aviation fuel. the latest estimates that we report in the story is these could be worth over $500 billion over a decade. host: we will take your calls

for ben storrow of e&e news, a reporter there. you can have us a call online spy party. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. if you have any questions or comments about that $1.6 trillion in climate and infrastructure spending. ben, i want to show a portion of president biden's remarks when he was at gateway technical college in wisconsin about some of these efforts we are talking about. ♪ ♪ -- [video clip] >> some of -- a lot of businesses support it as a key to the economic growth we are seeing now. members here recession last week, recession last week, no soft landing. but when the united states

decides to invest considerable resources and we need to build, does that encourage or discourage them engagement -- engagin? my investing in america agenda is showing a historic room in rebuilding our roads and bridges, revitalizing american manufacturing, and so much more. so far, we have created $866 billion in private sector investments nationwide, almost $1 trillion. historic amounts in such a short time. it is set to great hundreds of thousands of jobs. building new semi conductor factories, electric vehicle battery factories, so much more, all here in america. today is another example of the private sector optimism. microsoft is investing $3.3

billion to build a new data center here in racine that will offer one of the most powerful artificial intelligence systems in the world, and i've gone around the world, literally, meeting with the leading architects of ai. as a result, there are 2300 union construction jobs to build this. host: your reaction to that. he is talking investing in america will cause a historic boom in the economy. that has not been trickling down to the common man. is that because these things take time for them to affect people and their idea of how the economy is doing? guest: yeah, i mean, that is one of the big questions. when you speak to the administration, as we did for this story, they cite a lot of economic data, low unemployment,

a rise in any factory activity that really suggested the economy is doing quite well. then, when you see surveys of the economy, people still seem quite gloomy. as it relates to our story and what we are talking about here, yes, many of these investments are things that are going to take a lot of time. what is sort of interesting and may be one of the main tension points here is the administration has done a lot of work to try to get this money out the door, but it's only now, six months before the election, they are really only now making its way out into the real world. the question is, are voters going to notice, and are they going to see enough of these projects before the election to reward or punish the president?

host: you report that there's major ev battery, solar, and wind projects being delayed because of changing or uncertain markets or, in some cases, being canceled altogether. what happens to that money? because i get reallocated, does it get wasted? -- does it get reallocated, does it get wasted? guest: it depends. on the tax credit side, that all depends on companies, whether they claim the tax credits or not. so the amount of money the government ultimately spends on those tax credits, they're not capped. it could grow. but it could also end up being a smaller number of companies do not end up taking advantage of those subsidies, basically. on direct spending, that is a

good question that, to be honest, i don't know what would happen if money that had been obligated or earmarked for specific purposes went unspent. host: let's talk to viewers. owen in pennsylvania, independent. caller: good morning. i am really upset, being a small farmer here in pennsylvania, regarding this type of spending on climate budgets that are way out of hand. one of them i wanted to ask the reporter and author if he has ever heard of stratospheric aerosol injection and the program of solar radiation management? that is number one, and i have a second point, too. host: ben, have you heard of that? guest: i assume he is referring

to solar geo-engineering, which is a very early stage and controversial proposition. it would involve in just -- injecting aerosols into the atmosphere to dampen the sun rays, the sun radiation. but there is a lot of potential implications to that that we do not really understand and that are being researched and debated vigorously. host: owen? caller: yes, yes, definitely. yes, if you stay on stratospheric aerosol injection, which is injecting strontium, barium, cadmium, aluminum dust into the skies, we see it here in the contamination of our soil, our water, and our air, obviously, and the death of thousands upon thousands of trees. if anybody wants to look at geo-engineering monitoring,

there are maps online that you can see, as well as geo-engineeringwatch.com -- host: are you saying that is actually happening now in pennsylvania where you are? caller: absolutely. and the united states government is fully involved in this. the air force, there are small private companies also. i would like the e&e news to go and do the research to look at this, because this is a huge problem, and it is really a smokescreen of filtering the sun from reaching the earth, and the philosophic society in england has authored papers -- there's another paper by the united states air force -- about owning the weather by 2025 -- host: alright. ben, any comments on that? guest: i mean, i am not aware of solar geo-engineering actually

happening anywhere in the world right now. it is something that is, to my knowledge, is being researched. and like i said, it is being debated. you could potentially change weather patterns, and what that means, there are a lot more questions as it relates to that than answers at this time. host: jean is next, republican. caller: good morning. i am so happy to follow that last question, because it is all related. here in syracuse, new york, we have some stores are very popular in the area, grocery stores, and they have had these stations for charging ev's, electric cars, installed for several years. i've never seen anyone using

those stations. and those stations have been put in front of their pregnant women places to park -- in front of the pregnant women places to park and the handicap places to park. they are next door to the store, and they are never going to be used. i knew, they day they announced these and started putting them in, that they would never be used. so this money going to these projects is not going where they are saying it is going, and it is a big scam. those ev's are never going to work out, certainly in this area. they are just not practical. i am from technology, retired. i can tell you it is not going to work, and they know it is not going to work -- host: why not? why do think it is not going to work, ev's? caller: because, number one, the climate is terrible in this area for any kind of sun hitting the car and charging the batteries.

even at our homes. you can find many homes in the area where they have had boondoggles of money to put solar collection on their roof, and they do not return a dime. they literally do not return a dime. so these are scams. the money is not going where they are saying it is going. it's a big scam, and we are so busy we do not even notice it -- host:. . alright, let's get a reaction i think, on the ev charging, that has been slow going. host: why is it? guest: a lot of it is the states develop plans for the money, how they plan to spend the federal money for charging

infrastructure, and those plans have been slow-moving. the chances are that most of the charging infrastructure that the caller is referring to or that most people would see would be built by the private sector at this point in time, because the public money has really been slow getting out the door. host: i was going to ask you about the role of state and local governments and also the role of congress in getting the money spent. guest: yeah, like i said, a lot of these programs, they work as grants. so states will submit money -- excuse me, submit a plan for how they would intend to spend the money to the federal agencies that they would then parcel it out. do you have a specific question on congress in particular? host: yeah. are they involved at all -- once

they pass the bill, are they completely hands-off? is it completely the biden administration, then state and local governments? guest: yeah, you know, i think, at this -- obviously, congress is interested in how the money is being spent. what is interesting about a lot of these laws is when we had the obama stimulus and the pandemic law, the american rescue plan, congress set up an independent third-party committee to track the spending. and there's not an equivalent sort of committee for the ira and the bipartisan infrastructure law and for chi ps. host: danny is in south carolina, republican. good morning. caller: yes, ma'am, good morning, how you doing?

mr. storrow, have you talked to anybody about ford about elektra vehicles? because they are losing their behinds. i think bmw is another one. you are talking to the government, you're talking to the wrong people. talk to the people making electric vehicles. there are no charging stations i see in south carolina. ma'am, you questioned somebody this morning about blaming joe biden for happening -- for all the storms happening in florida. but if i remember, back in the past, we, the people, were being blamed for the storms and the change in weather called climate change. i don't believe we are responsible for none of that. i would hope your guest here would get some information from these people that the taxpayers are investing, not the federal government. i will take his answer off the air. thank you.

host: alright, danny. go ahead, ben. guest: we spoke to quite a few businesses for this story. in terms of car companies, one of my colleagues spoke to the american ceo of hyundai, which is building an ev factory in georgia and has actually accelerated his plans because they are trying to get their cars to qualify for tax credits under the ira. as i remember his interview, it was something that there was before the ira and after the ira, and the ira had made ev's profitable for them in a way that had not been the case beforehand. host: so are they still bullish on ev's, ben? are they going to be scaling back? are they going to go more towards hybrids? guest: my understanding on ev's,

it really depends on the company. different companies have had different strategies. but i think what we can say generally, when we look across the sector, there is a tremendous amount of investment and everything from r&d to new battery factories, so i think you would expect to see more ev's than less in future years. host: john, cleveland, ohio, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to pick up on that subject of solar geo-engineering, better known as chemtrails. i've been watching, for the last 30 years, our skies. yes, the planes get out there and they spray. you can watch it spread. then you have this mist that does filter out the sun -- that is the purpose of it.

something i noticed, for the first time -- i mean, for the last 25 years in ohio, i've been watching them. i lived 15 years in california, i lived 10 years in hawaii. i started watching them when they were in hawaii. so for at least the last 30 years, i've been watching. and i noticed that, last year, july, it actually stopped. stopped july, august, september, october, november. and that is when we had these record heat waves, which is understandable, because the solar geo-engineering, better known as chemtrails, were filtering out the sun. that all stopped last july. very interesting, that we had these heat waves. so it's nothing new. it has been going on for a long, long time. host: alright.

i know you have already addressed that, unless you have anything to add. guest: no. host: from auburn, maine, independent. caller: good morning. i think the reason some of these programs are not taking off is they are simply unattainable for the working class. these should be programs -- these seem to be aimed at the professional class. i have looked into them here in maine, and to put solar panels on our house, even though we get the tax credit, it is up to $19,000 out-of-pocket. to get an ev in maine, you're looking at $48,000 average. we are just trying to buy groceries and put regular old gasoline in our old cars, because the working class aren't able to access these programs. host: what do you think, ben? guest: yeah, that is a really

interesting comment and interesting to hear how people are interacting with these programs. and that is the way the caller described it --technically, that is how it works. you pay out-of-pocket for the solar on your house or whatever, the home energy, that qualifies, then you get reimbursed by the government. so you have to have that money up front to be able to access those credits. it is something that the government is aware of. there is a new epa program for low income solar, for instance, a $7 billion program. having said that, it is really interesting to hear how the general public sees and interacts with these credits. host: ben, has former president trump indicated what he would do to these biden era programs if

he is reelected? guest: former president trump has spoken quite a bit about the ira in particular. he has referred to it as "the green new scam." speaking to former officials and his administration, what they told us was a lot of the loans and grants that are outstanding, that they would be paused and reviewed at the time, if you were tothe big question is cong. right now these laws are the laws of the land. legally speaking the money would need to be spent if president trump for two win -- were to win . whether congress will cut the money or not is the big question going forward. host: is there anything

president biden can do in the meantime or does he need to start as many projects as possible before january 20? guest: i think the biden administration is trying to do as much as they can before the election. as i mentioned at the beginning, i think they are trying to get to the point where a lot of this money is obligated legally. at that point it is very difficult to be clawed back. obviously, you know, from their perspective they see these projects as beneficial to the country but also to the president's reelection chances. i think they are eager to do as much as possible before november. host: let's go to the republican line. figure city, wisconsin. randy. caller: i have a couple of things here. the data centers take labor to

put them up. they take a huge amount of electricity. we have one going up a quarter-mile away. once that data centers put up they will check things or there is something wrong. there is nobody in these big data centers. they run by themselves and use a huge amount of electricity. the climate. the earth is twisting on its axis. we used to have very bad winters. i am talking snow. when i was young back in the 1950's and walking to school everyday, i was up to my knees. but now this last summer or winter, i don't know. we had a winter that was like summer all winter. the earth is twisting a little bit. it has taken years, millions of

years to change. we used to have ice through the hiawatha valley. now it is going to get bent. as follows -- far as the tornadoes, mother nature does its thing. host: is your point that it takes up a lot of electricity and will be too much on the electrical grid? was it more of a labor issue? i was not clear in your point. caller: they build them close to a substation as they can. they take a lot of electricity to run the big data center. host: ben, your comments on the electricity, the electrical grid? guest: that is a huge issue. one of the biggest issues in the power sector now.

for a long time electricity demand has been essentially flat. when you look around the country today, utilities, great operators are projecting one to two or little more annual increase in demand, which might not sound like a lot but you take it over a decade and it is quite a lot. this is an issue a lot of people are thinking about, both in the reliability of our power grid and in terms of climate and how to supply the power in a way that does not emit greenhouse gases. host: is there any funding allocated for improving or modernizing the electrical grid? hardening it for potential cyber attacks and that $1.6 trillion/ -- trillion? guest: a lot of it is being done

for the department of energy. we saw some announcements this week for new transmission corridors. building transmission. it's one of the hardest pieces of infrastructure to build in this country. one of the things that when you talk to grid planners and people who work in the power sector, you know, they will talk about transmission as the top issue in terms of what we need to have a reliable and clean electrical grid. host: let's talk to tom on the independent line from michigan. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. host: go right ahead, tom. caller: i believe as soon as the electric car industry -- actually the battery industry

develops a battery that meets the equivalent of a gas powered engine in distance to travel before refill is required, safety and other elements, i believe that is right on the horizon. there is a company out there creating solid-state battery that will give us the equivalent of the gas powered engine. as far as regeneration stations, that will follow very quickly once the electric car industry takes off. just like when henry ford with his model a, model t, there

were no gas stations available. as soon as those stations became necessary they shot up on every corner in the country. it is right around the corner. there is a company out there i think that will have the answer. i won't give you the name but it is there. host: any comment on that? guest: the amount of work that is happening on batteries right now is really pretty incredible. it is not just electric car batteries. most of the batteries are lithium-ion batteries. for instance, one of the companies we talked to for this story is a battery maker outside of pittsburgh. they set up a factory at the complex of an old westinghouse

factory complex. they are making zinc bromide batteries for the electric grid. they will have longer duration than the lithium-ion batteries. the materials are easier to source. i mentioned that because there is a tremendous about from the private sector and the public sector, people experimenting with different chemistries and applications. it's an area where we expect to see a lot of innovation in the future years. host: on the front page of the wall street journal and new york times is the story, biden to hit beijing with ev tariffs. administering -- administration plans to quadruple levees. guest: i have not covered that. what i do know about that is

that there has been a lot of concern in the ira about language called for an entity of concern where basically any country that is an adversary of the united states, companies from those countries would not be able to qualify for those tax credits. there has been concern in congress that maybe there are loopholes that would allow chinese companies to qualify for those credits. host: on the line for democrats in beaverton, oregon, donna. caller: thanks for taking my call. i listened to the local news here in beaverton, oregon. there has been several projects that have come to our area from these funds.

just a couple i have written down are we have had several different sewer and water projects and improvements. also replacing lead pipes in our area. another project is different bridge replacements from the infrastructure funds. also i have been seeing a lot of ev charging stations at grocery stores. that is what i wanted to contribute. i will let you talk. thank you. host: ben, how do you know the difference between ev charging stations that are private-sector or funded by taxpayers? guest: there are some

consultancies that track that thing. the government strategy is to build a backbone. usually focused on major roadways like interstates. you can link things up and leave it to the private sector to do the local distribution networks. i think the caller -- what was interesting about the comment was we spend a lot of time talking about these things in terms of ev's or batteries. the sheer scope of what the administration is trying here is really across-the-board. there's a lot of money for things like leadpipe removal. the epa announced $3 billion a couple of weeks ago for that. like i said at the onset, highway repair has been the biggest bucket of spent money to

date. interesting to see a caller seeing some of that spent up in oregon. host: eric from kensington, maryland. democrat. caller: good morning. i read an article about the batteries. i'm not a huge fan. i appreciate the idea but it think it was the democratic republic of congo where the minerals are coming from the buildings batteries. the land is just getting destroyed. once you have these batteries, what happens to them? when you have a aa battery you are supposed to bring it to a recycle center. what happens in the flooded areas in florida that get nailed with these hundred year storms every month now or whatever, cars are wasted? you cannot use them. finally, you know, it took 50 million euros for the planet to cool after the asteroid hit. we have dug up all the coal and

burned it over the last 300 years or less. the planet is as hot as it was 2 million years ago. we need to stop using electricity. every human being can get a terabyte of storage data to store cat videos and whatever they want. loudoun county, virginia, has the largest cluster in the country. they take an olympic sized volume of water for cooling. as the other colors said, the electric grid, they are draining all this power from the electric grid. the idea we will just build nuclear power plants, not use cold anymore, do solar and wind, we can't keep up with this demand. when covid hit and everyone was locked in their house the planet cooled and was cleaner. biden loves the environment but he had to push everybody back in the car. i sit on the american legion bridge for 45 minutes each way going to work burning fossil fuels.

i have an electric car, i have to plug it into my grid system. host: you work for the government and you had to go back to work? caller: private-sector. banks have pushed people back to work. government facilities, they want you back to work. if you're a contractor for the government, you were back to work. host: go ahead, ben. guest: there is a lot there. the way the ira works is if you want to get ev tax credit for your car, the car, they are broken into buckets. one bucket you have to have the car. it has to be assembled in the united states or built in the united states. the other bucket is the materials and where they come from. they either need to come from the net it states or from a country -- the united states or

from an allied country with a free-trade agreement. part of that was done because the ira is trying to stimulate jobs domestically. another reason is to address some of the issues around mining for critical metals -- minerals. there is a lot of concerns ranging from environmental concerns to human rights concerns about where the minerals are coming from. upon the private-sector side you see a lot of battery makers experimenting with chemicals for those reasons. because some of the minerals going into the batteries are hard to get. if you can come up with a chemistry that has good energy density and made up of materials that are more easily sourced, it would be a win all the way around. host: one more call from ryan and pennsylvania, independent. -- in pennsylvania, independent.

caller: the first thing i would like to say is the only logical solution in the near term is plug in hybrids. i'm a battery enthusiast. i traveled across the country because of health problems for my wife in an rv. i stop every couple of hours and check out charging stations. that is kind of my hobby. it is amazing how few of them are in use. b, how many are out of service. i went to washington, d.c. i went into a parking lot that had four charging stations. two did not work. one that i tried -- i saw another i could use and i thought the cable would reach. there was a yellow post-it note, out of service. host: let's get a comment.

go ahead. guest: i love the hear comments like that. it is great to hear from people on the road and can tell us what is really happening out there. we hear stories like that. a bunch has been written about not just the lack of charging infrastructure but the ability of the upkeep of charging infrastructure. whether the stations are in working order or not. host: benjamin storrow, reporter for e&e news. eenews.net. guest: thanks for having me. in 30 minutes we will have our weekly podcast spotlight segment. we will be joined by loyola law school professor jessica levinson to discuss her law and politics podcast called “passing judgment."

we returned to the question we asked at the top of today's program. what is your top news story of the week? you can start calling and now. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. we will be right back. >> next week, the house and senate are in session. the house will take up a final version of the federal aviation administration reauthorization bill to extend his programs past that may 17 deadline. they are expected to consider police related and border security bills during national police week. on wednesday, aland bat -- shaylan bat and jennifer homondy

teified on the collision of a container vessel dolly at the francis scott key bridge. on thursday, martin greenberg testifies before the senate banking committee following a wall street journal investigation reporting the agency fostered a culture of racism, sexism and abuse, prompting lawmakers to call for the chairman's resignation. jessica and rosen will appear before a her agency's 2025 budget. watch live on the c-span networks or on c-spanow, our free mobile video app. head over to c-span.org for scheduling information or watch live or on-demand anytime. c-span. your unfiltered view of government. ♪ >> since 1979, in partnership with the cable industry, c-span has provided coverage of the

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unfiltered congressional coverage for 45 years. here is a highlight from the key moment. >> something else i saw firsthand was not a surprise to me. it was the outpouring of love from you, my colleagues. both republican and democrat. right after the shooting we were practicing on the republican side and the democrats were practicing. my colleague and friend and sometimes archrival and baseball from back home in new orleans, unfortunately the start of the game too many times, cedric richmond figured out which hospital i was sent to. got there probably desk out there. -- got there. probably the first person to check on me. so many of you reached out in ways i cannot express the gratitude at how much it means to me, jennifer and our family. it really does show the warm side of congress that very few people get to see.

>> c-span. powered by cable. >> washington journal continues. host: welcome back to washington journal. we are asking you for the next 20 minutes what your top news story of the week was. we have a couple of major stories. president biden halting -- sayingrms could be halted israel. speaker johnson survivi the ouster vote. stormy diels testified in former president trump's hush money ial. thother trial, the classified documents, the election interference cases. those are in limbo. rfk junior running for president and th worm story. this is the new york times. rfk junior said doctors found a

dead warming his brain. the candidate has faced previously undisclosed health issues, including a parasite he said a part of his brain -- ate part of his brain. in 2010, he was experiencing mental fogginess. was concerned he had a brain tumor. you remember his uncle is senator edward kennedy who died of brain cancer. he did get that checked out. the doctors noticed a dark spot. they thought it was a brain tumor. other doctors said that they believed he had a dead parasite in his head. the doctor believed the abnormality was caused by a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and died. he said that in a deposition. he is 70 years old. he has portrayed himself for his

athleticism and relative youth as an advantage over the oldest people ever to seek the presidency, mr. cotton and mr. trump. -- mr. biden and mr. trump. he has secured himself a spot on the ballot in utah, michigan, delaware and has an effort to get on the more balance. -- onto more ballots. he has faced health issues, including the apparent parasite. it says from his 2012 deposition, "i have cognitive problems. i have short-term memory loss. i have long term memory loss that affects me." he says he does not have any symptoms currently. let's go to the calls. billy in crockett, texas.

caller: good morning. i would like to say i am a democrat but also a child of god. america is missing god. i respect the things president joe biden is doing in vice president harris. they are giving superior work for the world. if america was not the world's leader they would be more deadly things happening. we have a lot of people people but more people of god. that is why we are a nation of god. i have my own newspaper. i write for african-american news in houston, one of the largest black papers in america. america is the world's leader because we are a nation of god. thank you for c-span. host: anne in florida, independent. caller: hello? are you talking to me?

how can donald trump be running after he attacked the capitol. beat the hell out of those guards and smashed four -- four for five of them passed away. when you have money you can delay, delay, delay. that girl in florida, those documents are all over his place. he did not give them back they asked him. everybody that worked for him is going to prison. now he wants to put steve bannon back in there. he will but the guy -- the other guy there who went to jail for him, manafort. he wants to be a king. that is what he wants. he was the most expensive president we ever had. he added $8 trillion to the debt and now he wants to add more by giving another tax cut to rich oilmen.

jared kushner got $2 billion while he was working there from saudi arabia. now we will put them back in? i watched everyone of those january 6 tapes. everyone that testified was republicans. half of them said he's not qualified to do anything. he could not even handle the virus. host: let's talk to ava in -- eva in columbia, missouri. caller: i am glad joe biden keeps calling for everybody to pay their fair share. joanne jill biden -- joe and jill biden started a cancer fund. what happened to that money? in 17 or 18 days, the world health organization will do something that will affect us. congress is trying to do something about it. i have not heard that

mentioned on your show. what's happening with the world health organization? host: can you tell me more about the world health organization? caller: something about the pandemic. i'm not sure. that's why am asking you to explain. i'm not sure what's going on. host: i'm not seeing anything. we will take a look. tony in south dakota, democrat. caller: hi. i would like to make a statement. i would like to tell you about -- i was telling them about a close call i had. i said to him i almost bought the farm.

he had never heard that before. it's a common phrase in the midwest. i thought it was decent. i would like to make a comment on the police officer, the deputy that shot the airmen. his arms were extended. both his arms or extended. you know how they stand. if you are looking at that kid and he says to him step back, and as soon as he steps back, guess what comes into view? what comes into view is the gun. bam, bam, bam. he did not know if that gun was coming up at him. he did not see it at first.

there is something wrong. that is my comment. you have a lot of fans out here. it's a nice program. thank you. host: i did find this on the world health organization's website. this might be what you are talking about. governments agree to continue their steady progress on proposed pandemic agreement ahead of the world health assembly. that is the most recent thing. you can take a look at who.int, that's their website. you can see everything that is coming up for them. joe in maine, independent line. caller: good and thanks for taking my call. i think i will carry on with the embarrassment with the republican party. rick scott showing up in new york.

he is a senator from florida. what the hell -- what the heck was he doing in new york? standing there, lying for trump. the whole republican party. could you people show bill barr -- the interview of bill barr with caitlin collins where she says to him he is talking about trump being such a great guy? he will still vote for him. she played the text of trump calling him basically a lazy fat slob, idiot moron who could not do his job. it seems to me donald trump is the one who is a failure. he can't do anything. he can't do anything. all these dreamboat millionaire things.

he's broke. host: a lot of people that are trump supporters call and say we were much better off. the economy was better under trump. if he comes back he will bring back that good economy. caller: prove it. that is what i would say. it is a lie. four years ago it was covid. shut down the whole country. donald trump did nothing. he said drink bleach. that ain't ally. -- a lie. we have never had the greatest economy. you people have stephen moore on as an economic advisor to donald trump. he never was. he never was. look it up. that is what i would tell my republican friends. i would ask them if they remember mitch mcconnell's

uranium plant, the russian uranium plant in kentucky. host: susan, a republican in wester, massachusetts. caller: [inaudible] you are so afraid. you should be afraid of biden. the whole world is on fire. he don't say gay -- he don't say a damn word. she is in russia. she will be indicted because she said that biden raped her. is this america? they should be on this case. we want her back home where she belongs. she wants to testify against joe biden, the real rapist. he was like a pedophile going in the shower with his daughter.

i want marjorie taylor greene to mention that on the floor. ciao the people he is a rapist and a pedophile. you should be afraid of this goon, this -- host: we have an article from the new york times i want to make sure you are aware of from peter baker. biden is not the first president to cut off weapons to israel. other presidents including ronald reagan used the power of american arms to influence is really were policy. the comparisons underscore how much the politics of israel have changed over the years. that is in today's new york times if you would like to read that. rick, democrat from kentucky. good morning. caller: are you talking to me? host: go ahead. caller: i called about the

ratzenberger case in georgia. i got the answer this past week. they had a senate hearing -- not really hearing but they determined fulton county, georgia had 140 voting violations in 2020. they brought it up to send it to the attorney general. nobody would second the motion. the case in florida, the document case -- host: are you talking about the -- during january 6? caller: i was talking about 2020, the election. host: the certification? the certification process in the house that nobody from the senate seconded? caller: i am talking about the

georgia state senate. host: ok. go ahead. caller: they did an investigation and determined there were 140 violations in the 2020 election. one made a motion to send it to the attorney general for trial. nobody would second the motion. can the document case, do we kelly wrote the article -- dewey kelly wrote the article. it explains why it has been postponed. i'm a democrat. i can't believe what the newspeople ain't reporting about what happened in the 2020 election. host: ok. james in bradenton, florida. independent line. caller: thanks for taking my call. i'm calling about the trial, the trump trial. i'm 70 years old.

i have seen a lot of stuff. i have to say to republicans, independents, and democrats. democrats talk about they will take our freedoms and democracy away. look at this trial and tell me -- you should be afraid of what's going on. this is so scary, this trial. it is one-sided. it is totally political. if people can't see that, they are blind. if they find him guilty, that is terrible. these jurors have to be worked to death. they bring in a poor and start into a case -- porn star that has -- into a case that has nothing to do with that. gets the paper case. the american people don't see this is election interference at its finest, taking away the

democracy of this country. you should be very scared. this is crazy. that is really all i have to say. that is crazy. host: on the line for democrats in new york, sean. welcome to the program. caller: let me tell you about what president trump did and what president biden did. as far as we can based on everything, and trump's time everything went down. inviting'-- in biden's time everything is going up. they are not saying what is on the streets. they are not saying what is in the grocery stores. i will tell you the truth. they are lying just like trump. sounds like trump over and over again when you listen to the republicans. i'm a democrat. i try not to be biased.

i'm just saying what we have seen on the streets where we are living and they are not. host: joe in pascoe, washington. independent. caller: good morning. the article that caught my attention was on the hill, an opinion piece. four reasons this president election could blow up america as we know it. there is a pew research center report dated april 24, 2024. in tight residential race voters are broadly critical of both biden and trump. half of voters say that if given the chance they would replace both candidates on the ballot. that is what i hear from everyone i talked to. why are we stuck with these two old-timers that are both clearly incompetent for the job? i wish you would pull up the

research center article. it details 49% of the registered voters would replace both of these guys on the ballot. host: who would you like to see on the ballot? caller: there's a gentleman a couple of weeks ago who impressed me with his intelligence, his articulateness. i think his name was ray suarez. i think you hosted the program that morning. we need someone who can think on their feet, can speak articulately, and not have to read from a teleprompter to prove how dumb they are. host: shirley in north carolina, independent. caller: good morning to everybody. i want to say the republican that called talking about how things are two or three back, i

agree with everything he said. the people have gone crazy. we have no government. as far as four years ago, i was living a lot better than i am now. i'm having a hard time buying groceries, paying bills. if they don't get biden out of there, for use in that we will not have in america -- four years from now we will not have in america. he is the sorriest president we have had that i know of since i have been living. he is only wanting to stay in power. that is what the democrats want. they are railroading trump. trump ain't perfect. i agree there, but he is better than anything we have got up there. he is the lead one i have seen up there that might go in and do some good.

they have him in such bad shape now i'm not sure that anybody can cure america. i think america is just about gone. four years ago he did not have all this murder. i'm scared to go out at night. scared to go out on the streets. scared to go into stores by myself and walk out. you tell me those people that want biden must love it. they want to see the rich people making money hand over fist or people he is pushing money out to that we don't need for other things. host: marty in el paso, texas. mcgrath. caller: how are you -- democrat. caller: how are you? the lady that called in that accused president biden of being

a pedophile, if you pull up during the trial of donald trump when stormy daniels was testifying, she said that the reason he liked stormy is because he reminded her of ivanka. that is my comment. host: let's talk to scott next in los angeles, independent. caller: hello to everybody in the listening and viewing audience. a couple of quick things. i was able to see john fetterman interviewed. a big shout out to big john. i'm so happy to see him doing tremendously.

all the people who would say negative things about him, i think it is tremendous. i need to congratulate you. it was a few days ago. you had one of these -- i call them cheerleaders for the cause. you asked a question. it was a lady. you asked her a question. we got an incredible dance with no answer at all to the question. none. you were very gracious. you let her talk. when she finished you went right back in there and asked the identical question. we actually did get part of an answer thanks to you going in there again. i thought it was sensational. you deserve kudos. i wish more people would actually take that line of questioning and not let these people get away with their

nonanswers and verbal dances. the reason i called today, i have good news for the many of us who don't really want to see biden or trump in there again. we have watched them both work. donald trump is a dedicated, certified, bona fide liar. he called stormy daniels a horse, but he collaborated with the horse. they threw a picture of e. jean carroll in front of him. if you have a laugh track, it's a good spot. they asked who is this lady. he said that's my wife. we have seen donald trump. he is never going to be elected president again. joe biden, i would not know where to start. i heard him say a couple of days

ago 9% inflation rate when he took office. when he took office. no follow-up from -- you would have asked a follow-up. the lies. the underlying from these two candidates. we have watched them work. it is time for us, the macon people to deliver a message to these folks -- the american people. it's enough already. we need to come together as american citizens. we are all on the same team. this nonsense that you are on this team, so out of 100 things, 100 issues, you can't agree on one. most of us look at that. we just say to ourselves, how can we even conduct our lives like that? i'm looking at rfk junior in a

serious way. obviously it is by default to some extent. we have to deliver a message. enough of these two. enough of these two parties. let them do something to earn our votes. they are working for us. more than anything, just tremendous work on your part. i want to stress that and thank you so much. host: i appreciate that. steve in ohio, democrat. caller: good morning. i want to talk about the halt of weapons to israel. joe biden is making the tough decisions once again. probably not popular amongst many republicans. he recognizes exactly what has taken place here. bibi netanyahu has gone rogue.

president biden has tried to negotiate with him to change his strategy in gaza. he refuses to listen. we gave him $28 billion, iron dome money. ok. we are not abandoning israel. it is a minor shift in strategy and policy. there is no way the united states can criticize china, what they are doing to the uighurs or putting vladimir putin up on trial for what he did in ukraine. the world court has to recognize there is crimes against humanity in gaza. i think it is apparent. the college students in the united states are sounding the

alarm, rightfully so. i'm from ohio. i was only 10 years old but i remember kent state university. four students gunned down over the vietnam war protest. i digress a bit here. i wanted to say that joe biden had to make this difficult decision. the iranians, their proxies, hezbollah, hamas in gaza. the houthis. you have to connect the dots back to the iranians. my point is, we have asked hard questions but not getting the answers from that and yahoo! -- netanyahu and his ultraconservative government. we asked questions about october 7. what had happened. it seems very strange the

israelis were funding hamas for a number of years. also what is in question is their response time on october 7. i do want to get into these rabbit holes. i am saying that joe biden is making tough decisions again. host: we are out of time for this segment. coming up next after the break we are joined by loyola law school professor “passing judgment to --jessica levinson to talk about her podcast called “passing judgment." it is up next. ♪ >> c-spanshop.org. the parable, books, home decor and accessories. there is something for every c-span fan. every purchase helps support our nonprofit operation. shop now or anytime at c-spanshop.org.

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unfiltered congressional coverage for 45 years. here's a highlight from the key moment. >> something else i saw firsthand was not a surprise to me but it was the outpouring of love from my colleagues, both republican and democrat. right after the shooting we were practicing on the republican side and the democrats were practicing too. my colleague and friend and sometimes archrival and baseball from back home in new orleans, unfortunately the start of the game too many times, cedric richmond figured out which hospital i was sent to. got there probably the first on the scene in his baseball uniform to check on me. so many others of you, both republican and democrat, reached out in ways that i cannot express the gratitude and how much it means to me, jennifer and our family. it really does show the warm side of congress that very few people get to see. >> c-span.

powered by cable. >> washington journal continues. host: welcome back to washington journal. we are joined by jessica levinson, a professor of law at loyola law school. also the host of the podcast called “passing judgment." welcome to the program. guest: thanks for having me. host: tell us a little about your podcast. what are you trying to accomplish? guest: it is a weekly podcast, a legal podcast and it's about trying to explain the biggest legal events to a general audience. the idea is you should not have to be a law professor or lawyer or a law student to understand the intricacies of what is happening. i think given the current state of affairs in our country, sadly -- i say sadly to a certain extent -- legal news is current events.

it is our news. i wanted to say you should not need to be in class with me or have to be one of my colleagues to really understand what is going on and not just the trump trials or not just first amendment rights of protesters, but also things like the right to vote. what is going on with respect to the electoral college. a lot of supreme court. we devote most of june and july to talking about the big supreme court cases and what they actually mean for real people. host: let's talk about some of those topics you just mentioned. one being the protests on campuses. you have been talking about first amendment rights. talk a little about the common misconceptions about the first amendment as it relates to the campus protests. guest: one of the biggest his conceptions as it applies and we are talking about private schools.

there are some states like -- i'm from california. there are some states where by state law we have said the first amendment rights of campus protesters applies even to private institutions. there are about 13 states that have laws like that. most don't. when it comes to a private college being able to their students, they have a lot more leeway. i could be wrong on the 13 but you get the point. you need to by state law say we are deciding if private colleges in the state, the first amendment rights that would typically apply apply here. that is one of the big things. the other is that the first amendment is absolute. it means you can say or do anything. that is also not true. host: let's drill down on that. what kind of speech can be limited? is hate speech limited? how was that defined?

guest: hate speech is protected. it is not a prescriber will category. it is not a category like defamation that falls into a separate bucket and you can limit. the thing to remember when it comes to the campus protesters and what can be limited is that administration officials need to be careful they are not targeting the substance of the speech or the identity of the speaker. what they are doing is saying we need to for safety or security reasons move this protest or shut down this particular encampment. the key is that the administration is not asking because i don't like who is speaking are what they are saying. they have to act on the content neutral way. if we took the middle east out of this and thought about abortion rights, what you would have to ask is, with the administration treat pro-life

and pro-choice demonstrators the same way? that is what we are looking for. we don't with the government picking winners and losers when it comes to which speech they like and which they don't. host: you have been following former president trump's trials. one thing that happened was the delay. this is politico. trump wins further delay in a criminal case, this time in georgia. this comes after trump's judge in his florida case indefinitely delayed the trial there. can you talk a little bit about those two cases? what the rationale has been for those delays? guest: in georgia, it is a different framework. that is a state case that deals with election interference. in that case what we are looking at for the delay is that the court of appeals decided to take up the question as to whether or not the prosecutor fani willis is in fact -- does have a

conflict of interest based on her relationship with the person who she appointed to be the special prosecutor, nathan wade. in that case, because the court of appeals is going to hear that question, it means the trial is once again on hold. that has nothing to do frankly with trump or his behavior. it has everything to do with the behavior of the prosecutor and the question as to whether or not she should be conflicted off this particular case. in mar-a-lago, that's a federal case. is the federal from ok's dealing with the alleged unlawful retention of government documents. we have a judge who said the evidentiary issues, which documents come into the trial, which don't, they are exceedingly complicated and basically she needs more time. she is taking the case off calendar for now, postponing it

indefinitely. that is a big deal. in federal court almost everything is key to that trial date and you work backwards. both decisions mean they will not be trials in those cases before the election. host: in the documents case, jessica, is that completely up to the judge as far as timing of the case? can this be just delayed indefinitely? guest: i don't know that it can be delayed forever. it is within the judge's discretion to say i control my calendar. because of the national security issues at play here there are complicated questions for me. i would offer i think she has invited herself to be in this position. she can say we are taking this off calendar while i was all these initial questions regarding what type of evidence will be allowed and because of

the national security issues who will be allowed to see the evidence. host: it is there anything the special prosecutor jack smith can do to counter that? does he just have to wait? guest: to a certain extent based on controlling of judge cannon's calendar he has to wait. he can, as he has, say to her and try to find an order he can appeal up to the 11th circuit saying some version of -- this is not a legal argument. some version of justice delayed is justice denied. please force her to act. when it comes to controlling her trial calendar, i don't believe at this point we are at abuse of discretion. host: the hush money trial is ongoing in manhattan. some of our callers were asking, what is the law he is accused of

breaking? if this is about business records, why is there an adult film star actress in the courtroom? jessica: that's a great question. the allegation here, the first allegation is that the former president falsify business records. what do we mean by that? he lied when he said, again, allegedly, he lied when he said i am paying michael cohen, his attorney and fixer at the time, i am paying him legal fees. that really that payment was a reimbursement for michael cohen's payment to stormy daniels, the adult film star. why did michael: pay an adult film star? the alleged -- allegation is that was a hush-money payments. that is something called a misdemeanor, be asleep, a lower level -- obviously, a lower

level criminal defense. if the allocation was just, you lied about the business records, you said they were legal expenses, but excuse me, actually, it's a repayment for hush money, that would just be a misdemeanor. the allegation is the falsification was made in order to commit or conceal a different crime. what is that crime? the prosecution here is alleging basically three different buckets of crimes, federal and state election law violations and tax fraud. the idea is you lied and said this was a legal expense because what you are really trying to do is cover up the fact that you are committing or concealing another crime. i think what the prosecution is really going to focus on is the crime of campaign-finance violations. the idea that when michael cohen paid stormy daniels, it was tantamount to a campaign contribution. and it was way over the limit

and it was not disclosed. and therefore, we have a violation of federal law as well. host: let's go ahead and talk to callers for jessica levinson, loyola law school professor. we will start with herbert in romulus, michigan, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. the thing a lot of people are saying here is trump is being politically charged. this is a grand jury that looked at every one of these cases. they take it to the grand jury, grand jury looks at this, they decide if there evidence to charge this man. and in every single case, they decided yes, there is evidence. this is not joe biden or merrick garland who is looking at this. this is just ridiculous what people are thinking. host: all right, jessica. an idea of the special counsel and grand jury.

jessica: so, this is something that the former president says with respect to all suits against him, whether it be civil, criminal, state, or federal, that these are politically motivated prosecutions or cases. he said this in a civil context even when there is no grand jury with respect to the case that journalist e. jean carroll successfully brought against him for defamation. i would say this is just his typical talking point. in my view, it is not a legal argument, it is just a political argument. and if you look at the allegations, that's really what you need to do. the question is not assessing whether the former president, when he says this is a political prosecution, just looking at that statement. the question is looking at the facts that are actually alleged. host: michael, sterling, virginia, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead, michael. you are on.

caller: thank you so much, c-span. i really appreciate your work and thank you, jessica, for taking on this challenge dealing with crazy people's opinions on questions. my question is about the integrity of the supreme court. and let me assure you that i have no legal background or any expertise at all, which is why i wanted to ask an expert about it. but i feel like the supreme court is maybe the long pole in our democratic tent. that our legal system is one of the most wonderful things ever created. i feel like of the supreme court is maybe letting us down a little bit. i am not sure why i feel that.

i get a lot of information from a lot of directions. but i was hoping you could provide some commentary to either alleviate my concerns or increase my confidence that our legal system will make it for another 30 years into the future. thank you and i will take your answer. host: go ahead, jessica. jessica: i think the honest answer is not going to alleviate your concerns. i talk, and i'm sorry to say this, i talk about this a lot on "passing judgment", the podcast we are talking about today and i will have the honor of interviewing retired justice breyer in about a week and a half. he has sound the alarm on questions about the integrity of the supreme court. and sitting members of the court have sounded the alarm on the integrity of the supreme court. i guess the first thing we need to do, of course, is to remember

that the federal judicial system is made up of hundreds of judges and we are talking about nine judges, the judges that are most visible, the judges that are at the top of that branch. and i think that the reason that there are questions about the integrity of the court right now, and the reason why a lot of people feel that way, is that they are overturning a lot of precedent. and the idea behind a doctrine, which is latin for respect prior decisions, respect precedent, latin teachers everywhere will hate that translation, but it's the idea that the law should be predictable, that it should be something that we can depend on. the law should not change based on who's making the decisions. it looks like what people are doing, it's not quite judging, it's maybe just imposing their own personal views. i think because the current court has overturned a lot of precedent with great speed, it

gives us some exide he to think, is this really about -- anxiety to think, is this really about making legal decisions? or is this about trying to change the face of america and the face of our society because the composition of the court has changed? i think that's what becomes particularly unsettling. this is where i don't have, you know, a lot of news to say, no, you are imagining it, don't worry about it, it's fine. in the sense that i do think that's a real issue. having said that, i think that there are very thoughtful members of the supreme court. i think there are extremely thoughtful members of the federal judiciary. we tend to talk in the news about those where there is some cause for concern. but there are a lot of members of the federal judiciary and it makes no difference which president appointed them, who are doing an excellent job of deciding the vast majority of the cases. i could go on and on about this topic.

i love talking about the supreme court. but i hope that that is a semi-full and complete answer to your question. it's a really good one. host: let's talk to andy in phoenix, arizona, republican. caller: good morning. just have a question and may be a couple of questions maybe you could explain to me. you know, we are talking a lot about the trump cases. the only thing i cannot figure out is, so i am going to back up a little bit. we had the dnc fusion gps come up with the still dossier, it was opposition research by the hillary clinton team. that turned out to be two years of a russia collusion investigation into trump, which was nothing. james comey comes out and says that, with the 33,000 emails,

says even though there was wrongdoing with hillary clinton, no reasonable prosecutor would ever bring such a case. ok, fine, we understand you protect certain people, your own, whatever. joe biden gets caught with all these classified documents when he was a senator and vice president, scattered all over the country, well, his garage and university of penn. the hurr report says even though there was wrongdoing, he is too old and feeble to stand trial, but he can run the country. those do not coincide with one another. i am seeing a pattern developed that's why i feel there could be a little bit of two-tiers of the justice system here. but lastly, well, i guess those are my two points. host: that's plenty. let's get a response for you. jessica: i think it is a great question. i am going to take it as a true question and appreciate it, in

the sense that we are looking in the news and we are looking at questions of, you know, the headline is that, and it's of course not just president biden, it's also former president mike pence, and it's also former president trump, and they all have classified documents, and none of them were supposed to have those classified documents where they were found. let's start at the beginning with the idea that none of them were supposed to have those documents where they were. not president biden, not vice president pence, and not former president trump. and that we are not trying to make excuses for any of that. i think the difference in the treatment from the legal system, and you may not agree with me, but in my mind, is the difference between putting biden and pence on one side and trump and another. why do we make the division there where pence is closer to the biden side? it's because of the way that

they treated the discovery of the classified documents. you have president biden, former vice president pence saying i have these documents, i think you come look for more documents, or if you want to come, basically, here are the keys to my front door, here are the keys to my office, please come in and look. the difference, in my mind, and again, i think it's a really good question so let's talk about the details, the difference is that the basis of the mar-a-lago case against president trump is really the idea that there was obstruction here. that's why obstruction forms a key part of that case. that he was asked for the documents over and over again and said no, that the national archives asked for the documents, that the department of justice asked for the documents. and that that's why ultimately they needed to get a search warrant. and that when they did get that search warrant, they found even more documents. so, what i would ask or what i

would almost at this point beg of anyone is to change the names around. change it from, you know, biden, pence, trump to justin smith, jones, and applegate. think about the facts of the case and ask whether or not you think a federal prosecutor should move forward. and in my mind, again, i gave this as a law school question, if i gave this as a hypothetical, i hope my students would say a and b, the people in the first bucket that cooperated with law enforcement, you could never try them for obstruction. they did things they shouldn't have done, we shouldn't make excuses for that, that is not ok, those are our documents. but it does not amount to anywhere near the same type of behavior. when it comes to the hillary clinton question, just very quickly, i think james comey, arguably, did something worse by saying she was extremely negligent.

and i'm paraphrasing. because i think that was the almost the end of that particular presidential campaign. and i think what he said was, frankly, the case, which is that there is not a prosecutor with a straight face who would take that as a criminal case. that that simple negligence was not enough to bring a criminal case for the email server. host: angela is a democrat in maryland. good morning. caller: good morning. yes, i have two cases i wanted to bring up. i will give my opinion and see what you think about that. the first would be the trump immunity case that the supreme court took up. they took it up under the question that, what is an official or unofficial act that the president would do? i thought justice amy, amy coney barrett, she asked a great question, she was the only one that stuck to the topic. she basically ran down the list of what the jack smith has

charged trump with, she ran down the list, and she's like, are those official or unofficial acts? trump's lawyers like, they sound like unofficial acts, the male justices, however, did not want to touch any facts of the case. to me, what i think they are going to do is the male justices, anyway, will narrowly tailor some decision so that trump never sees a day in court over this. which is said, because i think they could have waited for the trial and then got the facts and then appealed it to the supreme court to see if, based on the evidence, was it official or unofficial? according to trump's lawyer, it's unofficial. second, the stormy daniels case. trump's defense is that he never had sex with that woman. but i think she proved they did. is entered true that -- isn't it true that, in a court aid judge

will tell a jury if you found a witness lied to you, you can basically disregard anything else they have to say. if trump lied about not having sex with her and it's proven heated, why can't we disregard -- proven he did, why can't we disregard when he says this had nothing to do with election interference? if you're going to lie about the sex, you are going to lie about the documents on what you are trying to cover up for the election. am i correct? host: jessica? jessica: so let's take stormy daniels first and then go to immunity. when it comes to stormy daniels, i think what you said is something key, which is you talked about basically giving credence to a witness's testimony or not giving credence to a witness' testimony. the former president is not a witness. who has not taken the witness stand. . i don't think that he will, despite the fact that he said that he will. his lawyer's arguments that part

of the case will be that they did not have an affair, that is different from him being on the stand and then the judge giving some sort of direction or jury instruction that if they think that there is credibility problems with a witness, then they can, you know, they can disregard portions or all of that testimony. i would say for just, you know, to think about that, that could be an issue for michael cohen, too. if, in fact, we think that michael cohen, who i think will be one of the key witnesses for the press cushion, the judge should with respect to the as well. either i don't understand or i am not familiar with the particular jury instruction that you are thinking about with respect to disregarding everything that particular witness said. i think absolutely if the jury thinks that somebody is lying,

they are just not going to believe what they are saying, by definition. and that's not going to be helpful witness. so, so that's about the stormy daniels case. and then, when we think about immunity, i agree with you when you said you thought justice amy coney barrett was an excellent question or. i think she has been frankly throughout the term, where she really zeros in on the key issues. response to a couple of things that you said. i do not think you could wait until after the trial to ask many of these questions because if there is immunity, then you just simply cannot move forward with the trial. i agree with you that there factual questions based on what's official and what's unofficial. and i think one of the big questions that special counsel jack smith has dealt with his some people think, well, why didn't you just move forward on those that are clearly unofficial acts? without getting into too many of the details, i think what i

would do is just offer for you what i predicted. i talked about this on "passing judgment" where we previewed the arguments and then we recap the arguments and i was able to listen and live on a set -- listen in live on a set and really try to think through the arguments as they were happening. i think the supreme court will probably come out with some sort of middle ground. where there say that it's not that there is absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for official act, and it's not that they say there is no immunity when it comes to criminal prosecution for official acts, that they will say that there is something like a qualified immunity, which is what we see from many other public officials. and the problem for those of us like me who want to that trial to move forward is that the court will then send it back to the trial court judge. she will then have to apply that standard of qualified immunity. if somebody does not like how

she applies the standard, you know what i am going to say next, it's going to go back up and be appealed. all of this means i think there's just no chance that we get a trial before the election. host: tim is calling us from wisconsin, independent. caller: yes. i think we all try to keep our biases, and a lot of times we don't. i know i do the same thing. a lot of these cases could have been brought three years ago. -- declined to bring the one alvin bragg is doing. jack smith went after governor mcdonald i believe in virginia and almost got disbarred because he used some type of tactics that were so unethical and so illegal that the virginia supreme court overturned that entire matter.

and as for hillary clinton, who smashed, bleach did, and smashed a bunch of information on a server, breaking the law, it was not supposed to be another broken law. she broke another. job ride -- joe biden broke many laws. he was the president. he did not get the right to take those documents. the only one that actually did it right was trump. trump was negotiating with the fbi to get the proper documents back to those people. so, this is a farce. the dnc, they see that their candidate is, you know, and it's sad because my grandfather got to that point where he got dementia, alzheimer's like biden already has, it's pretty of use to see. they know he cannot run a campaign. host: let's go ahead and get an

answer on those legal questions then. jessica: sorry, i am not sure that i heard a question. host: and a comment about, jessica -- any comment, though, jessica, on anything he said? jessica: i think we talked previously about why i think there are differences in why there were prosecutions of former president trump as compared to no prosecutions of vice president pence and president biden with respect to their retention of documents. none of them should have retained those documents. i think we talked before about why james comey and federal prosecutors decided that there simply was not enough to move forward with respect to hillary clinton. and i am not sure that there is a new portion of that to address. but i am happy to. host: carry is a republican in woodbridge, illinois. good morning. caller: good morning. i had one subject i wanted to talk about, one court case in florida.

but you should tell the people also that hillary clinton's lawyer wrote it up to claim it on taxes or whatever as lawyer expenses. so there. and also, how about clinton when he had the documents and the judge says presidential records and he got off with it? let's get back to florida. i believe in the rule of law, as written, as congress passes it. ok. jack smith is illegal doing that, unconstitutionally, because after clinton with his affair, they passed a law that they had to be appointed by congress. and also, when you tell the people about the real reason why they are postponing us along, what made the judge angry, is because the federal government mixed up all the paperwork, laid them out, and then took the

picture, and then took that picture to her and showed her all that stuff. i am going to let you go and you could talk about florida. thank you. host: jessica? jessica: so, with respect to florida, what we have is a judge aileen cannon, who i think has been very lenient with respect to providing delays in that case, even when they are not requested by the defense team. what she is dealing with is a fairly complicated national security act. one of the things that she is looking at is the question of who is going to see the documents at issue. because we are talking about very sensitive documents that i think we all should agree should be stored in a way that is safe and that protects our country' national securitys and that's true whether you have a r, a d or i to your name.

judge aileen cannon in my mind has not dealt with the statues as much as other judges in d.c. i think part of what jack smith might be looking back on in terms of a mistake or failure and there were potentially complications with doing this is witting and actually filing the case in d.c., in the district of columbia, where you have judges who are more familiar with these national security issues. for obvious reasons, in florida, you don't get these questions as much as you do in d.c. and potentially could have a judge who could move the case forward. what you have here is judge cannon saying, as i believe is her right, that she needs more time. now let's remember that, in part, she needs more time because trump has filed many, many motions, as is his right, and has aggressively engage in motion practice in this game, which is a delay tactic.

and he has been extremely successful in that delay tactic because the end of the story is that we are not going to see a case that is brought before the election. that i think was one of his primary goals here. host: she did mention bill clinton. if you could explain the presidential records act and the difference between private documents and official documents. jessica: the idea is that when it comes to presidential records and this particular statute, in the presidential records act, as i understand, it's actually not what's at issue in mar-a-lago. what's at issue really is unlawful retention and refusing to work with and comply with orders and demands and requests by the national government. but the presidential records act says that with respect to many, many documents that presidents deal with, except for things like birthday cards and holiday cards, that those are our documents, those are the

people's documents. and we are entitled to have them saved and we are entitled to have them stored in specific places that do not include a president's private residence or private office. and that's why we have the national archives, in part, so that they can preserve those documents for us. again, fundamentally, this is a government of we, the people. and those are documents that do not belong to donald j. trump. they might have belonged to president trump when he was working with them and then they go back to the people. host: last call from jerry in new jersey, democrat. caller: i have two questions for you. one, it came out, and the republican touched on it a bit, that the fbi planted, planted paperwork in mar-a-lago. that's why those pictures that you saw with the discover sheets -- the cover sheets, they were

not originally there, they were planted there by the fbi. i want to democrats to listen to this carefully. the fbi. host: what's your second? because we are running out of time. caller: the second is with trump 's trial, explained to me, now it has to be proven that trump did this for the election. but how do you prove his motive? what if he really was trying to protect his family? it is only in his head. how do you decipher from him wanting to protect his family, and you can call him a liar, but that's not illegal. host: ok. we got your point. let's get an answer because of time. jessica: this question of intent is a really important one because in any criminal case, unless you have the defendant saying i wanted to do this, it can be difficult to prove. . what are the prosecutors doing? they are bringing in a lot of

evidence that is used to prove to the jury this was not about, anterior question, this was not about trying to make sure that his family did not hear the story or even business partners do not hear the story. that looking at the timeline, looking at when he wanted to make the payment and comments that he might have made to others of we need to make sure this payment is made before the election, then all of that would allow the jury to say we think he formed the intent to commit or conceal this other crime dealing with fedor election violations. and so, again, i think the timeline will be key. it is right after the "access hollywood" tape comes out, it's right before the election. comments that other people will testify to as to what the former president said. i think that is one of the hurdles for the prosecution in this case that does have a number of hurdles. host: she mentioned the fbi planting evidence at mar-a-lago. jessica: i don't know what to

say to that, other than i don't know that that theory has been given credence. host: all right. jessica levinson is the host of a podcast called "passing judgment." it is at passingjudgement.com, and she's also a professor of law at loyola law school. thank you so much for joining us today. jessica: thank you. that is it for today's "washington journal." we will be back again tomorrow morning, 7:00 a.m. eastern. want to thank everybody that participated, everybody that called in and posted on social media. have a great weekend, everybody. ♪