pursuant to section 3-z of house resolution 5, the house stands adjourned until 1:00 p.m. on tuesday, february 20, 2024. >> as always live coverage of the house on c-span. the georgia hearing considering misconduct allegations against fulton county district attorney fani willis is in a break waiting for a defense witness to arrive. earlier an attorney for fulton county said they had no more questions for the district attorney. we'll have more live coverage when the hearing resumes here on c-span. this story breaking durie course of our program that alexi novelli -- alexei navalny died in prison according to russian

news agencies and the cause of death is still being extrapolation -- established. he had been serving a sentence at a penal colony for more than 30 years on the various charges. he was 47 years old and had been behind bars since january 2021 when he returned from russia to germany. doctors concluded that he had been poisoned. with soviet era noise -- nerve gas. he blamed the kremlin. it's open forum so start us off on the democrats line area caller: a big bark out your team sanity. i'd like to talk about popular conservative economic policy. it's responsible for the eight point just 30 -- $33 trillion debt we have right now.

for starters, tax cuts have never paid for themselves. the only thing i've seen the tax cut increase is the national debt. it really doesn't trickle down to the rest of the classes. the lower classes worse off in the middle classes were off -- worse off. i'm sure when the rich guys get together and whine and dine, they have a good laugh that they convinced some poor old north carolina knucklehead to get fighting mad. host: we got your point. bonnie in pennsylvania, republican line. caller: yes, thank you for taking my call. i am a 74-year-old woman who probably won't be around in 10

or 15 years. i plead to all americans whether they are d's or r's or i's, we need to exist. my grandparents came here separately in the 1930's to ellis island. they made a wonderful life and had a wonderful family. both sides, both democrats and republicans, it's all about power. we the citizens of this country need to solve our problems at the voting booth. we need to go there and say do we want to be like we were in years past or do we want to continue going through all of the turmoil? i have a relative who just passed away from a drug issue who is not a druggie. we cannot live like this. if we know what happened in china with mao zedong and ho chi

minh, they destroyed their people, covered of hunger, covered up no jobs with opium. that's with happening here. host: that's bonnie in pennsylvania. you can continue to call in our open forum. stay on the line for a few moments. later on today, the president will travel to east palestine, ohio to talk about efforts after that train wreck you remember from last year. joining us to talk about the trip in the larger issues is mike lee. thanks for your time. guest: thanks for having me. host: you write in your recent story, to give you the headline that mr. biden is confronting unfinished business when it comes to the ohio train wreck, can you elaborate? guest: i'd like to give a shout out to mike colleagues. just to my colleagues on that story. after that train wreck happened,

there was ge concerns in east palestine abouthe potential for chemical contamination. also about the potential for moin wrecks because of an increase in the number of train wrecks on the railro les. over the last year, nothing has been accomplished to fix those problems. host: when it comes to the president's visit today, how much will he specifically mention efforts by his administration about this and what is the response expected to be? guest: at this point, we don't know who he will talk to or how long he will be there. we don't know what he will say. host: what has the white house done in this situation even if this is a year later than the incident? guest: the biden administration has said this was caused by the railroad, norfolk southern and the railroad should be responsible for any claims. host: the environmental protection agency, what has

their role been since the accident? guest: they are basically in charge of overseeing the cleanup and making sure norfolk southern does what it's supposed to do. host: what does the administration expect from norfolk southern? guest: they want to see the chemicals cleaned up, they want to see long-term monitoring of the soil in the area and there is discussion about how they need to monitor people's health going forward. people are concerned they might get sick in a couple of years. host: aside from the administration's efforts, has congress taken any role in correcting the incident in ohio or the larger issue of report just of proving rail safety? guest: a month oafter the train wreck happened, the two senators from ohio plus two senator from pennsylvania which is the neighboring state

introduced a bill that w supposed to improve railroad safety. there is a lot of provisions in eithat would address several long-standing issues with the railroads. that bill has been bottled up since it was produced. it passed one committee in the senate. but it hasn't gone to the house. host: why do you think that is? guest: my colleagues have reported there was a lot of lobbying around it. the railroads are cost-conscious and don't want to pay extra for some of the safety provisions and things like that. host: you spent some time in east palestine. as far as the residents themselves, year later, how intense is the concern about the aftereffects of the accident? guest: i was there last summer. there is a lot of people that are still concerned about what will happen to their town and

will their kids get sick and will they lose the value of their homes and things like that area a lot of folks just want to move on. host: when it comes to the larger issue of rail accidents, how often do these things occur? guest: this was unique because it was a derailment and a fire and there was the sort of second effect where the railroad came in and blew up one of the cars. that was a huge plume of smoke th made the headlines. that's fairly rare. the jerome it's happened almost every day. -- the derailments happen almost every day. host: he is looking at the issues involving east palestine where the president is expected later today. thanks for your time. guest: thanks for having me. host: you can also follow along c-span as the president travels out there and makes remarks. stay close to the website for that. back to open forum, let's hear from sharon in maryland, democrats line.

caller: good morning. i just wanted to call in and say that as we are americans, we all have full together and do the right. thing for want to take this country down. if we don't pay attention and be looking out, that's what's going to happen. we shouldn't be in this state right now. we need to come together, republicans and democrats and do their job and do it right. that's why we vote. we vote the ones in that are going to look out for the constituents. we've got to stop this hateful racism and this greediness and all of that that's going on. our country is chaotic. it doesn't even seem like the united states of america. it's just a shame it has to be like that. i am a 72-year-old woman and i

have grandkids. and one great grandchild. with them, trying to teach them to write things, no lines -- no lying, do what's right and you will be all right and say a prayer. host: let's hear from britney in michigan, independent line. caller: good morning. nice to talk with you this morning. i specifically wanted to go over an issue brought up earlier about immigrants on the border. i think it's very negative and terrible to talk about an entire group of people who are trying to be in these conditions out of desperation. there's such negative under tones but also we are missing an entirely important part which is we deep stabilize the global south. we did that for resources. we overturn governments.

we overturned their capacity to have sovereignty and we know demonize the people for trying to find themselves in conditions . it's unfair and it is morally bankrupt. the amount we could spend to ukraine in israel, we could be sending it to the global south. people will say what about us? we can also actually fund the initiatives we have at home but it's being able to look at our budgets. host: mike in illinois, independent line, good morning. caller: good morning, thank you. we are being guest lit on the front and we are getting gas lit on the backend. netanyahu showed his hand this week or last week. you mentioned tote just two things that nobody caught.

no one is asking the question about the israelis. the other point is the two areas that were attacked in israel on the seventh were liberal areas. he almost smiled when he said that. politicians want to write a check with the flood of palestinians without even answering the question. the second part is hearing that israel was taken over by the right wing party and netanyahu we saw last week and a few other countries didn't take it over but americans did it and washington, d.c. was out of control and taking over. the states are in the news right

now or the voting problems, the barb wire and the fences and the federal government is coming after the 50 states about it. host: we got your point. we did the story about the russian earlier in the program. the vice president was speaking at the security conference referenced that and made comments about it. there is a portion of that. [video clip] >> we have all received reports that alexi navalny has died in russia. this is of course terrible news is we are working to confirm. my prayers are with his family including his wife who is with us today. if confirmed, this would be a further sign of putin's brutality. whatever story they tell, let us be clear -- russia is responsible. we will have more to say on this later. host: the vice president at the

munich security conference and you will see more comments at our website and their app. let's hear from jeannie in kansas, democrats line. caller: thank is a much for taking my call. i want to speak about women's issues. i'm 80 years old and no one ever seems to mention that trump is convicted of rape. i do not understand host: it was technically sexual assault but go ahead. caller: the judge said it was rape. host: he elaborated on his comments but i get the point. caller: he sexually assaulted a woman and then insulted her. this is trump. when he kept insulting her and i heard him that night at the rally, he humiliated her an 80-year-old woman got $80

million because the judge said much money will it take to make him stop? the year found $80 million. i'd like to ask for the women out there -- would you have a man who is a convicted of sexual assault even work in your school? would you have them teach sunday school? would you have him in your house? why in the world are we considering this man? the other thing is this -- i was 26 years old when roe v. wade became law. it was a nightmare before then. he is responsible for the three judges that overturned roe v. wade. be careful out there, be careful because -- thank you for taking my call. host: that's jeannie from kansas, let's hear from robert in florida, independent line. caller: i used to be a republican but i left because they wanted the loyalty of oath

to the party. this is what you get when you have someone like donald trump as the parties leader. we cannot have this in america to be loyal to america, be loyal to the constituents and don't be loyal to an individual that some people call orange jesus. i wish we could do something about it and hopefully this election will move the house of representatives who have done nothing. they are the worst one since herbert hoover. what was happening in that time? it's terrible and we can't have this, it's got to stop. host: pennsylvania, democrats line. caller: hi, yes, i have something very disturbing -- i heard something very disturbing that trump said he will make stephen miller head of the immigration and they will go door to door to hispanic and black houses and knock on doors and make sure that there is no illegals in there.

that reminded me of nazi germany when they went door-to-door to door looking for jewish people. it was very disturbing area than they also made the daughter-in-law in the rnc so she will make sure the money goes to her father-in-law. this is not democracy and not the united states of america. it's just disgusting. that's all i have to say. host: if you go to the website at the atlantic, a recent story about trump's quote knock on door. you want to read more, that's at the atlantic website. we will go next to vivian in tennessee, democrats line. caller: good morning, can you hear me? host: i can, go ahead. caller: trump and the republicans are trying to gerrymander our states.

he wants to keep black people from voting. they are against women's rights. a woman should have the right to choose with her body. when i heard them say they will let ladies suffer. they are going to track you down and have you arrested. something is wrong with our country but you know it sounds like? i'm 73 years old and it sounds just like russia is trying to do our country like that. we had one man up there and some republicans trying to do what russia is doing to the people over there. i remember when i was a little girl back in the 50's, they wouldn't let us write on the bus. when people come up to the stand to get burgers, when black people are there, they make their order and why people come up and they push us to the back. i remember all of this. i remember my cousin being killed.

by white men because he was talking to a white lady. i remember all of this. what is wrong with our country? wake up america. host: speaking of russia and related stories, there's a story in the wall street journal about the revelations yesterday from the white house about moscow developing an anti-satellite weapon. this is from the wall street journal. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [video clip] >> i know that sherman's -- the chairman's comments on a weapon were open yesterday. i can confirm it's related to an

in-flight sidelight capability that russia is developing. i want to be clear about a couple of things right off the bat. this is not an active capability that's been deployed. though there's -- though their pursuit is troubling, there is no immediate threat to anyone's safety. we are not talking about a weapon that can be used to attack human beings or cause physical destruction on earth. that said, we've been closely monitoring this activity and we will continue to taken very seriously. president biden has been kept fully informed by his national security team including today. he has directed a series of initial actions including additional briefings to congressional leaders, direct diplomatic engagement russia and with their allies and partners as well and other countries around the world who have interests at stake. the intelligence community has serious concerns about a broad declassification of this and -- of this intelligence. they assess that starting with

private engagement rather than immediately publicizing the intelligence could be a much more effective approach. we agree with that which is consistent with the manner in which we have conducted downgrades of information the past. this admission has just this administration has put a lot of focus on this in a deliberate way but tickly when it comes to russia. when we consider about downgrades, we work with the intelligence community to conduct a thorough scrub of that intelligence to make sure we are protecting sources and methods. we sequence our private diplomacy with their public disclosure to ensure the maximum effect. in keeping with that approach, the national security advisor jake sullivan is meeting this afternoon with house leadership and committee chairs this afternoon to brief them on the latest intelligence and our analysis. we will brief the senate when they are back in session on the 25th of february. i will not get ahead of those discussions.

as i said, we make decisions about how and when to publicly disclose intelligence and a careful, deliberate and strategic way that we choose. we will be knocked off that process regardless of what has found its way into the public domain. i can assure you that we will continue to give members of congress as well as our international partners and all of you and the american people as fully informed as possible. host: the new york times when it comes to vladimir reporting yesterday --

let's hear from christine and marilyn, independent line. christine in chevy chase, maryland, independent line. one more time -- barry is up next in ohio, democrats line. caller: hello? the problem is the american people need to wake up and they have to do it now. they have to get trump out. trump is a dictator and he wants to be just like putin. he's taken the united states down and get rid of all the republicans working for trump. trump is not our president, biden is. please, america, wake up and look at your grandchildren and your children when you are watching them sleep because he wants to be a dictator like putin. thank you. host: fernando in california, republican line, go ahead.

caller: thank you for taking my phone call. i wanted to talk about comment made earlier about immigration. i understand it's a very important topic. to understand the topic come you got to understand the destination of the people of where they're coming from. you have to understand reform from having it done from another country before passing it into our country. i hear topics about immigration but no one is talking about the infrastructure how to create a positive and safe pathway. it needs a fair base for all. we have an overload of immigrants coming in. i am mexican and i understand the process getting over here. by bypassing every safety that we have, we cause a danger to our infrastructure in the united states.

to all our public servants, go across the aisle and work together and work with other countries but don't just blindly accept that people are coming in. that's it. host: let's hear from pat in north carolina, republican line. caller: good morning. i've heard so much this morning i don't know where to begin. trump does not want to be a dictator. he made a joke about that the first day he would start drilling again and he would close the border. it's the democrats that have tried to have attacked free speech, states rights, the second amendment. trump didn't try to do any of that. he did close the border. the thing about the border being open is deliberate. the more that come in, they will be counted in the census which will give those states where the

immigrants are more seats in congress. that means more votes. that's the reason they have the open borders. it's not that they feel sorry for these people. it's to get votes for the democrats. let me make one last comment, please. host: quickly. caller: as far as israel and the palestinians, israel didn't occupy gaza. that's the jewish homeland for 3500 years. israel has done everything they can to protect innocent people. they send out flyers, they warned them they will be bombed. host: ok, let's go to john in florida, independent line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i want to talk about democrats. i want to talk about democrats. i'm biracial. i want to say i can't understand

why any democrat would vote or any black person, or person of color would vote for a democrat. if you look at your history the k.k.k. was founded, all the jim crow laws, these are democrat policies. as long as they keep us down, the people of color, as long as they keep us down with giving us free money to vote for them, things will never change. we'll always be their slaves. thank you. host: i want to show you the headline on the calmer's point. several fact checks as far as the democratic party and their ties to the k.k.k. i'll show you this from fact check going back to 2020. democratic party did not found the k.k.k., did not start the civil war. if you want to check out that, do it for yourself. this is from "the new york times" this morning. greece making same-sex marriage legal. they legalized same-sex marriage

and equal parental rights for same-sex couples thursday. drawn vehement opposition from the country's [captioning performed by thenat, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] >> c-span, your unfiltered view of politics.

>> american history tv, saturdays on c-span2. exploring the people and events that tell the american story. at 6:00 p.m. eastern, authors talk about the role of african-americans in the civil rights movement before the 1950's and 1960's. and at 7:00 p.m. eastern, we continue with the series, free to choose, co-produced by nobel prize winning economist milton friedman and his wife, rose friedman, in 1980. this episode is titled, "what's wrong with our schools." then at 9:30 p.m. eastern on the presidency, constitutional law and criminal justice professor looks at franklin roosevelt's relationship with the supreme court, having appointed seven of nine justicers, and if the court reflected his war-time vision. and at 10:30 p.m. eastern on historic campaign speeches, we look at a 2000 speech by republican presidential candidate john mccape and of -- mccain at a michigan campaign rally followed by vermont independent senator bernie sanders speaking at a campaign

rally in dearborn, michigan in 2016. exploring the american story, watch american history tv, saturdays on c-span2, and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online anyime at c-span.org/history. >> book tv every sunday on c-span2 features leading authors discussing their latest nonfiction books. at 6:30 p.m. eastern, oregon democratic senator jeff merkley shares his book where he argues that bringing back the talking filibuster will fix the problem of stalled legislation in the senate. then at 10:00 p.m. eastern on after words, wesleyan university pressor talks about his book which looks at how the concept of race emerged during the 18th century enlightenment period. he's interviedy george mason university history professor.