>> today's washington journal will feature ned talking about chronic absenteeism. we begin with a look at the news of the day and your phone calls. washington journal starts now. ♪ host: good morning it is saturday, april 20th, 2024. late last night, the senate passed legislation reauthorizing section 702 area despite

opposition within both parties to the controversial program. today, the house of representatives will meet with the aim of voting on several foreign aid bills and legislation that could potentially ban tiktok in the u.s. those votes prompting\in the republican party with several members promising to take steps to oust speaker mike johnson. the south -- the house is scheduled to come in at 9:00 a.m. eastern. we want to hear your top news story of the week. republicans can call in at 202- 748-8001. democrats at (202) 748-8000. independents at (202) 748-8001. if you would like to text, you can text that (202) 748-8003. the foreign aid bills hitting the headlines and front pages of

many of the newspapers incding the wall street journal, which has the headline aid package passes. democrats clear a key hurdle in funding for ukraine and israel. the house appeared poised to pass a $95 billion foreign aid and weapons package saturday after democrats rallied behind republican house speaker mike johnson to clear a major hurdle friday afternoon. friday, 316 -- fridays 316-94 vote was a major step for a package seen as critical for helping ukraine with russia's invasion and arming israel. democrats act up the efforts to set up a final passage over the objections of dozens of gop colleagues. they pushed the package through even as a small number of republicans, skeptical of ukraine aid and upset over the lack of u.s. border provisions have called on mike johnson to resign as speaker.

yesterday, house speaker johnson spoke to a reporter after the passage of the foreign aid bill. here are his comments. >> we are happy that it passed today. we look forward to final passage on the bill tomorrow. there are a couple of things that are important. -- would stand as a blank check for foreign aid. it did not work with the policies or the processes of the house. everyone can vote there will and their constituents desires on the ukrainian aid. and then our national security package that has all of our renovations in it. because we did this process, we got a better outcome. we approved the repo act. we introduced the loan concept,

providing a loan instead of a gift. we included some important sanctions on russia and china and iran. they are the ones who are the aggressors in this situation. the reality is if the house did not do this better policy and process, we would have had to eat the senate supplemental bill. that is because we were very close, given the timeline of israel and ukraine, to a discharge position being brought. in layman's terms, when a majority of members get together, they can override the speaker. that would have happened, imminently. by doing this, even though it's not a perfect legislation and it's not the legislation that we would write if republicans were in charge of the house, senate and white house, this is the best possible product we can get under these circumstances.

we look forward to every member voting their conscience and their desire and that is exactly how this process is supposed to work. we are happy to provide that. we hope to give you more comments tomorrow. host: a little more on what's in these various bills. it includes more than $60 billion to ukraine. more than $24 billion for israel. $8.1 billion for taiwan and indo pacific funding for security. and then the 21st century peace through strength act is the piece of legislation that includes new sanctions on iran, china and russia and would force the sale of tiktok and eight of ukraine in the form of a loan. chadf fox news reports on x in

terms of senator schumer, we are working on agreement for considatn of the supplemental without an agreement. we wilvo olang down the supplemental as we receive it -- as soon as wreceive it from the houstorrow. we are working on the agreement now. that's in referceo what might happen if the house passes that legislation in terms of how the senate may take atp. some of the other top news stories that we are watching at c-span this week includes the housfoign aid ve as well as speaker johnson's role potentially being pil. iran and israel, trading military strikes earlier in the week. the jury was selected in former president trump's hush money ial. and the impeachmentf ejandra mayorkas -- alejara o ma -- alejandro mayorkas.

the kennedy family has many members who have come out publicly to endorse president biden. let's go to your calls on the top news story of the week, starting with larry in chicago on our line for independents. good morning. caller: good morning. i am wary, phoning in from chicago, illinois. the top news story, april 19, 1995, timothy mcveigh used a van filled with manure to blow up a building in oklahoma. he was convicted and executed. his last public statement was the greatest threat to liberty are many people lacking understanding. unfortunately, before he knew what he did, i was in chicago, doing something similar to get into a courthouse. not to do something disruptive, but to actually get a fair

hearing on my right to practice law. justice amy barrett is the circuit judge for the second district. hopefully she can get me a fair jury with two other judges and brian lamb would love to get a live camera into the courtroom. i'm betting brian lamb and justice amy will help me make this a better country. host: thanks for your call, larry. the fbi has a history of the oklahoma state bombing, which was the -- oh, city bombing, the major tragedy in 1995. an army soldier named timothy mcveigh parked a truck in front of the federal building in downtown oklahoma city. he was about to commit mass murder. inside the vehicle was a powerful bomb made out of a cocktail of agriculture fertilizer. he got out the door and headed

toward his getaway car. at 9:02, the bomb exploded. within moments, the surrounding area looked like a war zone. a third of the building was reduced to rubble with many floors flattened like pancakes. dozens of cars were incinerated and more than 300 nearby buildings were damaged or destroyed. the human toll was still more devastating. 160 eight souls lost including 19 children with several hundred more injured. it was the worst act of homegrown terrorism in the nations history. next up, we have luna in burbank, california on our line for democrats. what is your story of the week? caller: hello and peace be with you. my top news story is title ix, the title ix revision biden did. i think that is really good and it's a really good way to celebrate for 20 and the small

wins he did -- 420 and the small wins he did. have a good four/20 -- 4/20. host: thank you you, luna. stephen is on the line for independents. caller: good morning, america. thank you for taking my call. host: good morning. caller: my topic is the foreign aid bill. this is absolutely incredible that the possibility of this thing is going to pass. i'm not sure what happened to speaker johnson and his flip-flop from conservative agenda to this globalist agenda. this is what it's all about, people. it's a globalist agenda versus a nationalist agenda. the only way we can get out of this is by electing donald trump. thank you. host: yesterday, house minority leader jeffries commented on those house foreign aid bills and his interactions with

speaker johnson on getting the measure passed. here are some of those comments. >> can you talk to us about how your conversation with the speaker may have happened today around getting democrats to vote in a larger majority than republicans on this rule? and then secondly, the idea that because of that, -- >> what's important is making sure we finish the job. which is to make sure that we take up the national security bills tomorrow and that robust majorities of democrats and republicans exist in order to meet the national security needs of the american people. democrats will provide a majority of our majority as it relates to funding israel, humanitarian assistance, ukraine , and our allies in the indo

pacific. it remains to be seen what republicans will do in terms of meeting the national security needs of the american people. but it was important for house democrats to make sure that the national security bills will be considered. i speak with mike johnson frequently. we have an open, honest and communicative relationship. i have not talked -- did not talk to him this morning. we made a decision last evening that we would do what is necessary to provide the votes on the rules committee. to ensure the legislation could be heard on the house floor today. once we made that decision, it was clear that we would do what was necessary to make sure that the national security legislation was considered by the entire house of representatives.

host: as a reminder, the house will vote on final passage of that legislation this afternoon. you can follow all of the action here on c-span, online at c-span.org and on our mobile video app, c-span now. this is also a big moment for mike johnson. here is a story in axios that a third republican has joined the motion to remove mike johnson. the republican of arizona announced he is joining a motion to vacate against house speaker mike johnson, the third republican to do so. it's the latest salvo in a growing gop rebellion against johnson that aims to topple his speakership unless democrats come to his rescue. the move comes after the house advanced the foreign aid package with democratic support. he said i have added my name in support of the motion to vacate the speaker. the passage of the foreign aid bill which includes aid to

ukraine that right-wing hardliners staunchly oppose as well as republicans recent difficulty in passing border legislation. we need a speaker who puts america first rather than bending to the reckless to man's of warmongers and the military-industrial complex making billions to make conflict and endless war half a world away, he said. he joins marjorie taylor greene, the republican of georgia, who introduced the measure and thomas massie, the republican of kentucky. let's go back to your calls. renee is in woodbridge, virginia, on the line for democrats. good morning. caller: hey, hi. host: hi. caller: i was listening to everything about mike johnson and, you know what? they talk about everybody being old, they talk about joe being old. i think they need to -- i'm on tv. hey, how are y'all doing today?

host: we can hear you. can you turn your tv down and tell us about your top news story? caller: yeah. i think everybody in the capital and senate, they all need to be removed, except the democrats. because they are old. and they talk about biden being old. he uses his brains. i think it's wrong. that man's name, -- i think they should lock up trump. if he thinks black people will vote for him, why doesn't he let your buddy out of the jail? then he can have everybody vote. but the way the world is going,

god is going to get all the bad. the blood is on the white man's hands. i think they need to stop talking and do some work for american people. host: thank you, renee. once again, we are looking for your top news story of the week. our line for republicans is (202) 748-8001. for democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. renee was mentioning who should potentially be in and out of their positions. the senate dismissed charges against alejandro mayorkas. here is a story about that in the new york times. the senate dismisses impeachment charges against mayorkas without a trial. democrats -- of accusing to enforce immigration laws, calling them unconstitutional. they voted along party lines before the trial got underway.

i a vote of 51-48, with one senator voting -- by a vote of 51-48, with one senator voting present. it failed to meet the bar of high crime and misdemeanor. senator murkowski of alaska was the lone president vote while democrats were in unanimous favor. ms. murkowski voted against the second count of dismissal on the same grounds. it fell on party lines on a 51-49 vote. chuck schumer moved to dismiss each charge, arguing a cabinet member cannot be impeached and removed for merely carrying out the policies of the administration he serves. republican leader mitch mcconnell on the senate floor voiced his objection to the adjournment vote. >> we have set a very unfortunate precedent here, which means that the senate can

ignore, in effect, the house's impeachment. it doesn't make any difference whether our friends on the other thought he should have been impeached or not. he was. and by doing what we just did, we have, in effect, ignored the directions of the house, which were to have a trial. no evidence, no procedure, this is a day that is not a proud day in the history of the senate. [applause] host: more from the new york times that mr. mcconnell did not mention, he voted in favor of an unsuccessful republican effort in 2020 one to dismiss a second impeachment case against former president donald j. trump over the january 6 attack before the senate held a trial.

we have a few comets we have received via text message. sandy in bloomington, indiana, says my top story is speaker johnson's willingness tbuck the far right wing nuts like marjorie taylor greene and put up the national cuty bill r te. i disagree in every way with speaker johnson's politics i give him credit for the stand he has taken. next up, the top news story from scott in essex, massachusetts, who is an independent. on thursday, the biden administration announced plans to restrict the oil and gas leasing and 13 million acres of alas's petroleum reserve. let's go back to your calls. david is in ohio, on our line for independents. good morning, david. what's your top news story? caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. i wanted to comment on something hakeem jeffries said. he called this the best bill,

meeting the needs of the american people. it's not meeting the needs of the american people, it's meeting the needs of the wall street elite. i'm a main street patriot, not a wall street patriot. wall street runs our foreign policy. they will tell us it's in our best interest but i am 70 years old and i have studied history. in 1954, the cia sponsored a coup and iran against the democrat who was elected. that was to help oil, not the american people. also around that same time, -- in guatemala was overthrown because he wanted to nationalized the fruit companies land over there and give it to guatemalans. he was overthrown. eisenhower warned the american people of the military-industrial complex. i was fully supportive of the

soldiers, the brave men and women who went over there and gave their lives. but they told us back then, if you don't go to vietnam, we are going to have -- vietnam was a farce. it was a shame. they lost probably a million people over there. for hakeem jeffries to tell me that this defense authorization bill was for the american people, i just know my history. american people need to learn their history. it doesn't make you anti-american. it makes you anti-greed. any you have a war, it should truly be for a good cause, like fighting the nazis was a good cause. fighting for wall street and dying for them is not a good cause. i'm sorry. host: thank you, david. a little more information about the ukraine security supplemental appropriations act. it would include 60.8 alien dollars. it converts -- $60.8 billion and

converts the aid to ukraine's government into a loan. it would require the administration to submit to ress, within 45 days, a strategy establishing a specific achievable metric that prioritizes u.s. national security its. it includes $13 billion of $60 billion -- $7 billion for current u.s. military operations in the region. $13.9 billion for procureme of advanced weapons systems. $13.7 billion for purchasing u.s. defense systems for ukraine. that is according to speaker mike johnson. next up, we have tony in waterbury, connecticut. what's your top news story? caller: good morning for a we are getting a little rain out here. my top news story is mccall shanahan. i don't like what's going on

with my economy. but this nicole shanahan, she's as progressive as progressive you can get. she's out of oakland, california. i'd like to have you guys talk a little more about her, for us democrats who can't go republican and can't go with the orange guy. but we definitely cannot take biden. rfk jr., that is a great story. we need to get on board with rfk and nicole shanahan. thank you very much p to a nice day. -- thank you very much. have a nice day. host: thank you. a little bit about rfk from the detroit free press, reporting robert f kennedy qualifies for michigan's presidential ballot as a third-party candidate. independent presidential candidate robert f. kennedy, jr. will appear on michigan's presidential ballot this fall,

after the natural law party nominated him to be the parties candidate, his campaign announced on thursday. kennedy qualifies after receiving the party's nomination and filing the necessary documents. kennedy will appear alongside running mate nicole shanahan. according to his campaign, michigan is the eighth state in which kennedy has secured ballot access. and then it says, further down, in addition to being part of one of the country's most notable political families, he has made his career as an environmental attorney. he has had stout anti-vaccine rhetoric, most notably during the covid-19 vaccine rollout. other members of the kennedy family have endorsed biden in a show of force against rfk jr.. members of the kennedy family appeared in mass and enforce to

endorsed president -- endorse president biden on thursday. a public display of support that reveals a weakness that democrats privately acknowledge. biden is likely more at risk from kennedy's third-party challenge than trump is. democrats are increasingly petrified that a kennedy named on the ballot will throw the election to trump. cary kennedy, robert f kennedy's daughter spoke for the family at the event in philadelphia. here's a portion of her remarks from thursday. >> we want to make crystal clear that our feeling that the best way forward for america is to reelect joe biden and kamala harris took four more years. [cheers and applause]

four more years. four more years. four more years. four more years. four more years. >> four more years. four more years. >> president biden has been a champion for all of the rights and freedoms that my father and uncle stood for. that's why nearly every single grandchild of joe and rose kennedy supports joe biden. [applause] that's right. that's right. the kennedy family endorses joe biden for president. [cheers and applause] host: next up, in palmdale, california, on the democritus line. what's your top story? caller: thanks for taking my call trade i love that you guys are still on and i pray you guys

stay on forever. my top news story, the first is about these bills that are coming up. the first thing involving how they snuck in that they are banning tiktok. the main reason i have that i am opposed to this is because they are just actually pushing this on everyone that it is such a bad thing, because of so-called information that can get out. but they are not restricting the same type of enforcement on the other social media companies out there who are doing the same exact thing. it seems to me that they just don't want information on their, because mainstream media does not cover a lot of the stories that are on their. and it's not that they are getting new stories that are deceitful. they are actually getting actual news stories of what's going on. another top news story is how,

sadly, the government of israel, not the people of israel but the government of israel is slow walking us into world war iii. and everyone is blaming it on biden and the democrats, when it does not matter who's in there, democrat or republican, they are going to allow this to happen. and the way they did this is because they bombed and embassy in syria -- an embassy in syria and did not claim accountability. they are coming and they do not claim responsibility and then they are forcing these other countries to do some type of retaliation so they don't look weak to their people. and it is very appalling. i pray for our nation. i pray for our people in this nation that we all wake up and see that, sadly, we are dealing with the coin and both sides of the coin, they keep flipping it on us.

i pray that we can all wake up and get good leaders inside of our government that are looking out for our own best interests and not their own. thank you again, c-span. god bless you all. host: thank you for your called heard a little more information about that piece related to tiktok -- thank you for your call. a little more about that piece related to tiktok. the house plans to vote this weekend on a revised tiktok legislation that would tie it to a package of aid for ukraine and israel. the new approach give tiktok up to a year to find new ownership versus the six months previously proposed with the fate of the wildly popular video sharing app hanging in the balance. if the house approves the bill, the senate can vote on the matter as soon as next week and send it to president biden's desk. biden previously said he would sign a bill banning or forcing a fail of tiktok. it would be the --

a law would likely start a wave of lawsuits, whether from tiktok itself or from u.s. users or the army of creators and small businesses that rely on it or their livelihood. it could also accelerate efforts to put together a deal among non-chinese buyers to acquire tiktok's u.s. operations. if the law ended up resulting in a ban, it would mark an outcome with little president in the -- little precedent in the u.s. next up, howard in minnesota on our line for democrats. good morning, howard. caller: good morning. i think the issue of today is the funding for ukraine. i've been there four times. i return april 30. it has been too long between the

house and senate to restore this funding for ukraine. ukraine stands in the watchtower of freedom and democracy for the rest of us. it is unconscionable it has taken this long, but i am glad we are finally here. host: thank you. josephine in new jersey on our line for independents. what is your top news story? looks like your line is a little bit difficult. are you still there? caller: yes, i am. host: can you try calling back? we cannot hear you so well there. let's try ronald from new york on our line for republicans. caller: good morning. i would like to speak on behalf of robert f. kennedy, jr., because i believe, without question, that he is someone who really can help end this totally

corrupt government we have in washington and sweep out the corruption. and ironically, he is one who his uncle and his father would -- the policies he would go for would be in line with what they would want for this country. i think that his relatives supporting biden, they're fools. it's sad to see that they want more of this totally corrupt biden administration. it's unbelievable that they would even want that. thank you for the opportunity to mention this. host: thanks for calling in. jackson, mississippi on our line

for independents. caller: hi, that is jackson, michigan. my top news stories how black americans are leaving the democratic plantation. i am a black american. identify as independent. however, i historically voted for the democratic party, up until now. i will not support the democratic party unless -- an anti-black american hate crime. third, stopping legal economic immigrants and deporting them. my last point i would like to say is, please, i would implore listeners stop referring to black americans as african-americans. some of us are not africans and some black people were in this land prior to flavoring, so i

think that is a point -- prior to slavery, so i think that is a point of contention. host: some data, this report out in february of this year. democrats lose ground with black and hispanic adults, showing that democrat's party advantage among blacks and hispanics are at new lows. they retained small advantages in younger adults, and educational gaps continued to expand. the democratic party's wide lead has shrunk by nearly 20 points over the past three years. democrats' lead among hispanic adults and adults aged 18 to 29 have slid nearly as much, resulting in democrats holding only a modest edge among both groups. democrats were at parity with men in 2009, they are now in the red with both groups.

here is that chart getting into that, especially when it comes to race and ethnicity and the balance of where non-hispanic, black americans are. that information from gallup. let's go to david in west virginia on our line for independents. caller: good morning. host: can you turn down the volume on your tv and tell us your top news story of the week? caller: certainly. host: what is your top news story? caller: what i would like to talk about is supposedly, we are supposed to have the best economic package we ever had in this country. the thing is, you can't find anybody to work -- host: are you trying to hire people? caller: yes, i am.

i can hire 20 right now. host: what field are you in? caller: in coal. host: and it is a struggle to find people to hire? caller: yeah. if you listen to the news, we have the best economy ever. host: is it because there are not enough people in your area with the skills, but they are just not enough people -- caller: no, there is plenty of people, plenty of people willing to work. they get free stuff from the government. yeah. host: ok. thank you for sharing that experience. next up, elizabeth in las vegas, nevada on our line for democrats. good morning. caller: hi, how are you. had a slew of good callers here. the last one, people do not want their lungs infected with coal

dust. i want to say one thing. i love bobby kennedy junior. i wish he had a chance to win. sad, because he probably doesn't. i like reading. i've known who he is since the 1980's. i just want to say about israel one thing. lenny bruce once said this -- i found a note in my basement, and it said, "we did it," signed morty. what you want us to do, wear little electric chairs around our neck for the rest of our lives? israel is just defending itself. i am half jewish. it scares me to death. have a good day. host: thank you for your call. next, tim from coolidge, alabama. is that how you say your --

caller: the rights of the american people are being taken away by the christian nationalists and the republican party. the right of women to choose whether or not to have an abortion, the right for people to vote, the right for people to protest, like we have seen at what happened at columbia university and harvard and penn. anytime you say anything that they want to misconstrue as being what they call anti-semitic, which means being anti-european jew -- you say anything regarding that, then you are going to be not allowed to speak, like they did with this young lady who is a valedictorian at columbia college. the last thing i would like to say is, a lot of times, you read

more than you allow the persons to call in, almost every other call. thank you, have a good day. host: thanks for your call. next up, james in mississippi on our line for democrats. caller: good morning. i am concerned about the hypocrisy of mitch mcconnell and the u.s. senate. i am a student of history, and i recall, very vividly, that he -- host: are you still there? caller: yes, i am here. host: go ahead. james, did you want to make another point about mitch mcconnell? caller: yes. mitch mcconnell is the person who deviated from the norm in the u.s. senate when he was the senate leader, and is

responsible for the makeup of the u.s. supreme court as is currently constituted, and he also is the person who did not allow the vote regarding former president trump to go forward, who probably should have been impeached, had he stuck with the normal protocol. so he is not the person to talk about what is going on as far as this past vote in the senate and the failure regarding mayorkas. he is going down in history regarding those two things i mentioned. host: anthony from detroit on our line for -- caller: this rotten military-industrial an answer that they are about to give away to ukraine and israel just floors me. israel, it is grotesque what they are doing. but ukraine, it toggles my mind,

because i hear "fight for democracy" from everyone, especially on c-span. fight for democracy. i am wondering, when is president zelenskyy's next election? when is the election in ukraine? are they having that? business term expired? i do not know if c-span can look into that. i do not know if it is a democracy if they do not have elections. we all know it is not a democracy. they are using ukraine to weaken russia. people -- i've heard it on this show, too -- you say it is russian disinformation that there are no factions of nazis in ukraine's military, but let's put away that. let's talk about the nazis they put in nato. that is serious history. host: thank you for your call.

let's go to gary in jacksonville, florida, on our line for democrats. caller: good morning. my top news story is the only president to go to trial. the corruption of donald trump is breathtaking. -- to the treason he committed on january 6 with the insurrection, the coup attempt. he is finally being held accountable. and the maga wing of the republican party cannot stand it, because he is finally being held accountable for all of his tremendous amount of crimes. i love it. host: next up, rose in texas on our line for democrats. caller: hi, good morning. i wanted to say about marjorie taylor greene, and the other ones that are in that group. they are dividing our country.

i am a democrat, but i listened to both the republicans and the democratic conventions. i'm not under nobody's temptation. there's a part of me that is republican, a part of me that is democrat. i think ukraine should be helped in any way we can help them. they are fighting for their own freedom. i think russian aggression will not stop at ukraine. i also think that we need to take another look at israel, but i do not think that is going to happen because of the support from other sources besides the government. i cringe at the thought that we, as black folks, are from a plantation, because we've been

freed too long. host: teresa on our line for republicans. good morning. caller: how are you doing today? host: doing well, thank you. caller: thank goodness i live in the free state of texas. abbott is doing an outstanding job. if you live down in the area we have lived in, you will see what biden is doing. biden has done nothing for the american people. i travel across the country, and i watch inflation everywhere else, the cost of groceries, the cost of gas, and i realize i live in the free state of texas. i don't know what all these democrats think biden has done for them, but they have not done anything to the worst thing is if we do not support israel, we are condemned. we are a blessed nation because god looks at us for supporting and protecting israel, and the moment we stop doing that, we're in a lot of toruble.

host: thank you. next up joe in florida on our line for independents. good morning. caller: good morning. host: what is your top news story? caller: my top story is what happened in the senate this week. it's very sad for the american people. host: are you referring to the fisa bill? caller: no, i'm referring to the impeachment trial. and what i'm basing my facts on is the fact that the constitution very well spells out that, if the house has evidence that someone should be tried for impeachment, it's the senate's job to do that. when the democratic party would not even have a trial that is against the laws, and it's also

a fight against the american people. so i do have a message for the american people. please, i'm pleading with every american, stop being biased. stop this baseball game that we are having of the democrats and the republicans. and really find out what is really happening in the united states, because our country is being destroyed. the open border is killing us. i mean, look on the news. just look on the news of what is happening on all the college campuses. most of this is being done by people that are illegals in this state. they are destroying our country. not only do we have three wars

going on across the water, we're getting ready to have a war right here in the united states if we don't put a stop to all of this. so what i am asking the people to do is, please, tell your congressman, when there is evidence that there could something wrong, instead of taking sides, whether the democrats or the republicans, tell your congressman, we want to hear these trials -- host: joe, the wall street journal editorial board made some similar points, saying that senate democrats refused to hold even a token trial on house articles of impeachment, further diminishing this check on executive abuses of power, saying that while president biden's immigration policies have been a debacle, the failure is mr. biden's. we do not think there is

evidence to impeach secretary mayorkas. yet the republicans in the house went ahead and impeached the homeland security chief's, sending the articles to the senate, which the constitution says should have the sole power to try all impeachments. the senate should have at least held a trial of some limited sort, and democrats could have used it to make the case mr. mayorkas was innocent. instead, they dismissed the two articles as unconstitutional with two separate votes, one 51-498 -- 51-48, the other 51-49. let's go to your calls. joe on our line for democrats. caller: good morning. how you doing? listen, it's so disgusting what is going on in manhattan with this trial with trump. and all these trials, all over

the country. it is disgusting. he's got no rights. criminals have more rights than the president of the united states. we are losing this country so bad. when you have chuck schumer saying the things he says about israel, it is disgusting. those poor people that got taken by hamas and raped and 40 kids had their heads chopped off, and they had babies put in ovens -- it is disgusting that anybody could agree what is going on. and the democratic party is spewing so much hatred through this country, and we are losing this country -- host: and you identify as a democrat? caller: i am american, and i want to keep america. host: joe did mention the harsh money trial in new york. the full jury, plus alternates, were seated in the trial. axios has a stor on that, --

story on that, -- the 18 jurors were impaneled after intense scrutiny to find citizens that could be as fair as possible in one of the most high-profile cases in u.s. history. after friday's hearing, former president trump made some remarks to reporters. here are some of those comments. [video clip] >> we just had another hearing. the trial starts monday, which is -- the judge wants us to go as fast as possible. this -- it is a witch hunt. like numerous judges, democrat judges, you take a look, it is a whack job. what he did is a disgrace.

it is being reviewed. i hope the two it justice. no businesses coming into the city, none whatsoever. the look at the case as a threat to democracy, frankly, what took place with the ag, the crooked ag, letitia james, who campaigned on the fact that i am going to get trumpcare that is all she said for two years. people don't want to see this stuff. host: lester in minnesota on our line for republicans. can you turn down the volume on your tv? caller: i just did. host: great, thanks. caller: i'm calling in on this unbalanced reporting you guys do. i can't see your face, but i can hear you. right now, it is 13-2 for callers you allow in, against

the republicans. i wish you could look in the mirror and say, i am an independent person. but you can't. you are far too left. you grin when you get a democrat on there and let them rattle right on. lines don't make a difference. i'm the third republican that got on. host: and what is your top news story? caller: that is it. you guys got public money, you got to be shut off. host: ok, thank you. let's go to greg in ohio, on our line for independents. go ahead. caller: oh, yeah. i agree with everything that man just said. you people went left. all you republicans out there, just start boiling up the independent line. that is the only way you will get in with these people. host: we take the calls as they come.

let's hear from elizabeth in tennessee on our line for republicans. go ahead. caller: ok. i will tell you all something. you will need to lay off of donald trump. -- you don't got the right to do a damn thing. do you -- host: it is a little challenging to hear you, but keep going. let's see if we can get your line a bit more clear. caller: ok. but these things talking about donald trump -- let's talk about joe biden. put donald trump back in and let him take over the capital again

at the white house, because he's done a good job. you all got him going through this court, and i'm listening to it right now by him. these people calling in about donald trump and "i don't like him" -- i don't think it's right what that girl done. that girl should have kept her mouth shut and took the harsh money, you know what i mean? host: are you referencing stormy daniels, the woman who was allegedly silenced in this case? caller: yes. i don't like her. you tell her that -- i vote for donald trump. host: thank you. let's hear from stacy in

virginia on our line for independents. go ahead. caller: good morning, america. jesus, i don't know where to start. i guess i will start with the biblical line going on. i do not care if you are democrat or republican. what disturbs me the most is mark twain is right. the book which everyone phrases, no one reads. for people to say that we have to blow up people to defend israel, it is blasphemy. mark 12, 29:31, it is only time god speaks in the bible to jesus, and he said, here, o israel, you are the love of god with your whole heart, soul, body. and the second is this. like thy neighbor. there are no greater commandments than these. every bomb we are dropping on the palestinians, in the name of god, it is blasphemy.

let's be honest. and as far as america being divided and this inflation nonsense -- it is not inflation, it is greed, corporate greed. it is the congress that should have been passing laws to stop the gouging, because they did not lose money during covid. they made trillions, these corporations did. as far as the illegal immigration is concerned, corporations want them here, because they need the cheap labor. if they want to stop it, they would stop it by starting to arrest of these companies that hire these illegals. but they don't. they want them here. they want to lower the wages for americans, and that way, they do not have to pay these people any benefits or anything. host: thank you. bob in topeka, kansas on our line for republicans. good morning. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call.

my top story is biden's uncle being eaten by cannibals. host: dee in maryland, our line for independents. caller: good morning. i came on the fast there. good morning, and thank you, c-span. you are truly america's champion. my issue is the amount of plastics we are ingesting. i saw a report yesterday where they're really concerned about the increase in colon cancer, autism affecting us. a report is due to come out in 6 months, and i am hoping and praying they have solutions, how we can detox some of these plastics out of our bodies. this is paramount for the human

race. every thing else is really secondary. we need to get on this. thank you. host: thanks for your call care that is all the time we have for calls for this segment. coming up after the break, we will turn our attention to the issue of chronic after -- chronic absenteeism in america's schools and how to address it. that position with nat malkus from the american enterprise institute. we will be right back. ♪ >> american history tv, exploring the people and events that tell the american story. martin luther king the third commemorates the 56th anniversary of his father's april 4 assassination at the

national civil rights museum. american history tv's series congress investigates looks at historic congressional investigations that led to changes in policy and law. this weekend, we look back at the 1950's mccarthy era hear ings, which explored whether communists had infiltrated federal agencies. north carolina central university history professor jasmin howard discusses student activism in the civil rights movement at historically black colleges and universities in north carolina. watch american historyeekend and find the full schedule on your program guide, or online anytime at c-span.org/history. >> next week on the c-span networks, the house and senate are out for the passover holiday. from the washington natial cathedral a conversation between

liz cheney and john meacham on how america's leaders can put principles first and americans can improve on relationships. on thursday the supreme court will hear in oracle -- an oral argument to decide if president trump is immune from prosecution for his alleged role for trying to overturn the 2020 election results. the former members of the house and senate meet at the penn biden center talk about the current state of congress and changes it could implement. on saturday, white house correspondent's dinner. the headliner is colin jost and thpresident is expected to speak. you can watch it on c-span.org or c-span now. or to watch live or on-demand any time. c-span, your unfiltered view of government.

>> the house will be in order. >> this year c-span celebrates 45 years of covering congress like no other. since 1979 have been your primary source for capitol hill providing balanced and unfiltered coverage of government. taking you to where policies are debated with the support of america's cable companies. c-span, 45 years and counting. >> washington journal continues. host: welcome back we are joined by nat malkus who is a senior fellow and deputy director of the american enterprise institute dear to talk about chronic school absenteeism. talk about your background as your educator -- as an educator and analyst that led you into looking into this. guest: i was a public school teacher in maryland and then

went to pursue an education policy background and has been -- and have been at the american enterprise institute studying data about schools. i crunch numbers. when the pandemic started we started tracking school's responses to the pandemic. first we tracked the closures and then masking and other things. the thing that we have been focused on is chronic absenteeism which is a measure of the percentage of students who are missing at least 10% of the school year. and over the pandemic, this has really surged. in my mind it is the one -- the number one problem. host: for folks who are not familiar, can you describe a little bit about the organization. your funding, political affiliations and leanings. guest: aei is right of center

but nonpartisan policy think tank. we have a lot of scholars and the scholars work independently. when i represent views they are mine, not aei's. i work in the education department, the domestic policy center. host: your funding? guest: independently funded, no government money. we have independent supporters from across the nation. host: you write that "having catalog how the nation's schools responded to the pandemic over the last four years i see two challenges. the first is learning loss which at its height in 2022 saw students more than half a year behind in math and one third of a year behind in reading. the second is less well known but arguably more important, absenteeism." you wrote a report, long covid

of -- for public schools chronic absenteeism before and after the pandemic. guest: it is kids missing 1/10 of the school year. pre-pandemic it was a problem, it was not a new problem. it affected 15% k-12. it is not just high schoolers and neither is this truancy. this is the absolute number of absences that students have. the reason it is important is if you miss a lot of school it is not good for school -- it is not good for students. over the pandemic that jumped to about 28%. it went up a huge amount, and it has been stubbornly high. it has come down a bit in the last school year. we have data. but only to 26% so still more than one in four students. you ask about why this is such a

big problem. the learning loss problem is a large problem and we have seen progress on that. facing this huge learning loss problem will be very difficult at these levels. to have these -- this many kids absent, how are they going to learn faster than before the pandemic to catch up? that is why it is such a problem. host: let us dig deeper into the data points that you raised which are also your report. nationwide chronic absenteeism jumped from 15% in 2018 to 28% in 2022. lling in 33 of 39 states. the rates remain -- improved in 2023 but remain 75% higher than the pre-pandemic baseline. chronic absenteeism increased for all district types, but rates were highest in districts with low achievement and higher

poverty affecting over one in three students. in 2022, 16% of asian student and 24% of white students were chronically absent compared to 36% of hispanic students and 39% of black students. can you break down those areas where we are seeing improvements in areas where not so much? guest: the improvement and the surge are incredibly even. now, there are two things you have to understand at the same time to understand these changes. one, pre-pandemic disadvantage students had higher chronic absenteeism. if you are lower achieving compared to higher achieving you tended to have higher rates of absenteeism. that is also true after the pandemic. the increase was about the same. so about everybody was 90% higher before the pandemic, now

a little bit lower but not getting low fast enough. the important thing to understand is that the change we have seen is evident across the board in red and blue states, urban and rural, it is more broad than almost any other factor i have seen. host: let us get into some of the reasons that kids are missing school. theiatepress reports that kids are staying home marriage eve --. reasons. financing, illness, school staffing shortages, anxiety, depression, bullying, and feeling unwelcome at school. and the effects on online learning linger. school relationships have frayed and any parents and students do not see the point of regular attendance. does that lineup? guest: it does. i do not have perfect insight. i can tell you the data from

20,000 feet but understanding why kids are not showing up at school as regularly as they once did is something that i have to extrapolate. i do think that all of these factors contribute to chronic absenteeism. but, the key question i keep asking myself is but what changed over the pandemic? why over the pandemic did these things increase? is it transportation problems that got worse? i think that certainly points to a question about what did the pandemic itself due to the habits, norms, and behaviors that once made it routine to go to school for a vast majority of students. and now those habits and the culture of attendance seems to be more permissive for all of those reasons that you mentioned. host: "the washington post" ask the same question about what happened during the pandemic.

and paulim, shington, d.c.'s deputy mayor for education said thatthe pandemic d something to change students and familie'' relationship to schools to some degree that we do not fully understand. we have also come to understand that there are not insignificant number of families that do not think it is crucial to have their kids in school every day." you did mention that you are looking at it from 20,000 feet but as a former educator and somewhere out there in the world, what are you hearing? guest: i am hearing that. it seems like there is a change in culture, and i hear it frequently from folks who will tell me i see this as a problem, chronic absenteeism is a problem and my kid is probably chronically absent because it is ok for my kid. that is the rationale that has changed. that is a culture change. when you hear it for a lot of

people saying it is a problem for other people. and i see it in my own family or among my friends but it is not as big of a deal. if what we are seeing is broad-based agreement or discussion about absenteeism as if maybe it is not as important anymore we should expect this to continue and that is where we need to push back. we need governors, state officials, and everyone from principals, to teachers and parents to turn this around. i will tell you, kids who are chronically absent are less likely to be able to read and do math and less likely to succeed academically in middle school. they are less likely to graduate high school and have as much success in college and a career afterwards. this is not risk-free. this is a very risky number that we are talking about. host: we have some special phone

lines set up. if you would like to call in for a question and you are a parent or student, that number for you is 202-748-8000. for educators, 202-748-8001. everyone else can call in at 202-748-8002. we had a question that we received viaexmessage from kristin in maine asking "how much do you attribute bullying to chronic absenteeism? many students have a miserable experience in school. staying homeg the pandemic was a huge relief for them and they do not want to go back to unsafe environments. i believe that chronic bullying also needs to be addressed." guest: i agree and you can say this about many of the antecedents for absenteeism and she is right. bullying affects students. if you have experienced it when you were in school or you have a

child who experiences it this will be particularly salient. i completely sympathize with students who face this and we should address that and all of these individual components. but, i do not think that chronic absenteeism, the surge of over 90% is the result of a 90% increase or more of bullying behaviors. while it is true that it is a component that we need to work on it is not the culprit for the big change that we saw that is going to end up with that outcomes for a large percentage. host: going back to the idea of the culture of accepting absenteeism, are there laws at the state and local level requiring parents to make sure there kids attend school -- thier kids attend school? guest: there are laws on the

books but generally your kids have to go to school regularly. and enforcement of those laws is sort of all over the map. often times those laws are not enforced, often times the district will say, well we sent letters about this subset of parents to the attorney's office and the da's office has bigger fish to fry and so forth. enforcement areas. -- varies. and we have also seen during the pandemic a lot of the policies we had in place for teaching and learning and homework and grades loosened up across the spectrum. and, so far, we have not seen a tightening of those policies. so perhaps, some tightening on policies generally and the expectations that we ask of parents, really clear messages is something on order.

host: before we get to the calls, what are other recommendations for concrete steps for families and school districts and even governments to address this issue? guest: i absolutely think that we need to think about this differently from a policy problem. with a policy program you can set a program up. we are seeing very broad increases which is a cultural change, broadly speaking. it does not mean that there are not policy problems but it means the whole problem is larger than that and we need to fight it like a cultural site. that means government and state leaders need to put the s -- put this is priority number one. this means that local superintendents and building leaders to say this is something we are going to work on and turn this around. that has to penetrate the consciousness of the parents,

and not the teachers as much, but the students who think that this is not may be as big of a deal. over the pandemic we did set a lot -- send a lot of strong messages that it is more important to cover other priorities than to get kids in schools. that was appropriate when covid was raging. covid is no longer raging at those levels. we need to send countermeasures -- counter messages to get regular attendance up. for teachers, this is a very important role. they have the relational capital with students and families at a principal will not have across-the-board or no district email will have. they need to do some of this work about communicating the importance of attendance and when a student is missing making it a big deal to get it back -- to get them back in. because if teachers are not on this on the long-term their jobs

will be more difficult. host: let us go to some pulp -- some calls. paul in lexington, kentucky. a parent. good morning. caller: as it was mentioned, we need to force the laws to make parents get their kids back into the school system. but i think it is more of a problem in that parents got apathetic because they did not go to work, and they are not babysitters so they did not want to make their children work on their homework. so everybody sat around and played on their game boy or whatever. and the parents did not push the kids. and the kids got behind. they get behind and then they get depressed that they are behind. or they just do not care. and it is hard to get them motivated.

and my question is, why don't we just get back to holding the parents responsible? you do not want to work, you are not -- you are an adult now. but the children have to go to school. host: so what about that, increasing enforcement as a strategy to address the issue? guest: i think it is an important component of this. i also think that you cannot punish people into going to school effectively. i do not think it is likely to work. it is just let us give them consequences and turn it around. i do not think it is necessary but not necessarily sufficient. the caller raised a lot of good points. but the one that i want to hone in on is when he said a lot of parents are not going to work. they are sort of withdrawing from attendance at other institutions and i think that is

right. this is something we see not just in schools but for students it seems to matter more and that is absolutely true. we need to commence parents out there that even if you as an adult can make some choices whether they be bad or good, for your children if they are not going to school regularly, they are likely to suffer significantly. host: robert in new york, new york on the line for others. good morning. caller: good morning. i appreciate the topic, education is important but i am surprised that you would have someone from aei discussing education and that aei wants to defund the department of education. it is a libertarian organization that wants to starve government. and the last point that i will make is aei's board consists of republican billionaires who in some cases supported and funded

the capitol insurrection. host: do you want to sponsor those points? guest: i am a proud member of the aei community and scholar. one of the great things about aei is they allow scholars complete freedom and we are a conservative organization. in large part, the scholars have the opportunity to follow our own research. so, this is not only aei research, but mine and the numbers that we are putting out on absenteeism are drawn directly from states. there is no arguing with them. and you will see everything from the biden white house and department of education saying this is important information and aei has just been getting the most current data out to the public.

host: do you have a response about aei calling to defund the department of education? guest: actually we have different scholars and different scholars are allowed to disagree about things and we have multiple education scholars. aei does not have any policies where we as an organization think anything. and certainly about defunding the department of education or anything else. host: tom in chicago, illinois. who is an educator. good morning. caller: hello. i have two daughters going through high school. and i am also a high school teacher. and a big change that i have seen is, as we have talked about with mental health, and it is prioritized in families. but a 2nd avenue is the access to the internet and how kids

will learn things that are important. a big change that occurred is you cannot tell a student to learn something. you have to convince them that it is worth their while. this is the same thing that is happening with parents. parents listen to their students like i listen to my daughter, and they are constantly evaluating the value of education and what they are learning. there is a shift. students are prioritizing work and family trips, and there is definitely a lot of pitfalls that we have to address. with boys, especially, it is critical to monitor and decrease video games that are very addicting. and you know, in the schools there has been a big change, especially in chicago to address mental health concerns. the schools have been transformed very much into a

greater adult environment where discipline is not draconian, it is very gentle. and the kids have a lot more say in their education. and that is done -- that is definitely continuing on whether to attend school and what is valuable in life. host: let us let nat respond. guest: those are many great points and i have lots of concerns about the influence of technology on students. but, the teacher, who has first-hand experience with this speaks to the fact that it has gotten a little bit softer. we see things softening and i think he said for the students even attendance seems like it is up to them. i think that is probably part of what we are seeing, a large part. that really concerns me because of what the research shows. it shows extensive absenteeism

which can make sense on the day-to-day level. like i do not feel like it, that is probably not bad for me to miss tomorrow. that might be true. but missing tomorrow over and over is statistically linked to much worse outcomes for students. i would say that i appreciate the folks who work in schools and i think schools are fantastic. i think part of teaching that is fantastic as the behaviors and norms that keep people coming. let us keep those routines consistent and that will strengthen the schools and that is why i am pushing hard on this. host: teresa in los angeles, california. on the line for others. what is your question? caller: i do not really have a question but a valid point. the quality of education is what is keeping students from committing to their educational journey and the fact that the true history of the united states is not being taught.

i can speak for black students but the additional -- indigenous population that slaves had things going for the hand -- going for them before slavery, and then to have that not being told in the schools just turns off some students from wanting to learn because the true history is not being told. and then we all know that a quality education can prevent criminal justice involvement. we need to prioritize that. we need to prioritize having schools that actually teach students on a grade level of academic achievement. that is what i wanted to say. host: what do we know about the sort of way that children are being educated and how it ties into absenteeism? guest: first of all it is important to have engaging curriculum. students who wants to come to school who feel valued and engaged, who feel like they are learning and that it is a good

use of time or more likely to consistently show up. disengaged are more likely to be chronically absent. there are two points that i will make. one, i do not know that this shift that we saw over the pandemic that increased product -- chronic absenteeism was caused by a great increase or decrease in the quality or engagement of schooling. because schools were run so differently. i think while the caller makes a good point the real question about why this rise and almost doubling of chronic absenteeism, i do not think much of that can be attributed to a particular school quality. host: sean in vermilion, ohio is a parent. caller: i think that may have caused or contributed to the rise of absenteeism is government support for parents.

there is a certain parent who does not necessarily care for the kids, they are doing it for income. i am curious if you have looked at that question. the other contributing factor, a minor one that you have touched on is regular book learning versus on the computer. i think it benefits the kids but keeps them engaged in moving forward. do you have any -- having the answers in the back of the book is helpful. you try to launch something on the computer and you are trying to keep track of 300 pages. host: let us let nat respond.

guest: two questions and the first one, i appreciate it although i do not think there is much there. i do not think there is a large percentage of children in homes that are sort of engaged in government assistance programs without care for the child. there are parents who need to examine do i need to push my child to make sure that they go to school, that is one thing. i do not think it is government assisted tea -- assistance. i think there is trade-off with technology. exactly how it is hard to know. over the pandemic we shutdown down schools and bought many devices for a good reason. but, we now have a lot of those devices still in use because we bought them. and we might not have good reasons to continue using them. i have gotten more skeptical

about their value or how we figured out how to use them. but that is something of a different question. host: glenn is in detroit, michigan on the line for others. caller: hello kimberly and your gas. i think parents dropped the ball. i work in a large mall in michigan and i am seeing kids out at 11:30 or 12:00 on weekdays. so, they are not in school. it is almost like a hang out. i will tell you this. right now, our kids will not be able to compete for education or jobs or anything because other people from other countries take education seriously. and they do not come out of school with just a high school diploma or bachelors degree, they go on for a phd and masters.

you talk about taking your country back or whatever the case may be, you have people who are not even born running this country because they believe in education and we are dropping the ball. we are coming up with excuses. like my father told me, it does not take much to sit down, be quiet and learn something. i should come home a little bit smarter. host: i want to let nat respond to what you raised in the beginning at the connection between absenteeism and youth getting involved in things they should not be doing. guest: this is a tough question and we do not have the data to link these things. we have seen misbehavior in schools is up and so is absenteeism and so is youth crime in some areas more than others. i do not think we have good data to say well, the increase in

youth crime is directly related largely because we have so many kids chronically absent. most of them are not engaged in sort of criminal behaviors or anything like that. i will say on the international front which he raised, many other nations do not collect this data so it is hard to compare. in britain, new zealand and australia where they gather chronic attendance data they are seeing the exact same problems over the pandemic and they are very stubborn in those places. this is not unique to the united states but solving it is a key part to the long-term economic competitiveness. the caller raises a good point. host: next up ray in syracuse, new york. caller: i am a retired locational instructor. boy, this could go almost

anywhere. i have decided that i will come with this. the idea that the educational system in the united states, which tends to be pretty much the same state to state, it is really to my way of looking at it is not a problem. i think the society broke more than education in itself. education is one little function and given my background it is not the most important one. the educational system that i grew up in in the 70's really held me back more than anything. i quit in my senior year and went into the service and got a ged. and then i got the degrees so that i could teach vocations, and i was probably much more

successful had i stayed, went to an engineering college and tried to get an education. and i just enjoyed it much more, also. a lot of people like me had the same kind of issues with the educational system. host: that is an interesting point. nat do you want to follow? guest: i want to validate that for some people school is not a great fit or does not feel like a great fit. i do a lot of statistics where we look at millions of kids to see what the best thing we can do is on these things. when we look at this in terms of test scores we see that the pandemic cake kids hard in terms of their math and reading that they are still down on that and we also see that for most kids chronic absenteeism is really bad for the long-term outcomes. as far as a systemwide approach, the chronic absenteeism problem

is hard to understate. the last thing i want to add on is this is different from choosing to leave school and home school or drop out and get a job, and i am not advising for dropping out. but these are students who are enrolled in school and not showing up. almost anybody will tell you if you are going to be enrolled they had just like the legal and moral requirements suggest you should be there consistently. i think that undercurrent of hard work and diligence are things that we should push hard on. host: levar in district heights, maryland as a parent. go ahead. caller: a very interesting conversation and i wanted to approach it from this area. as a parent i have raised two children graduated through prince georges county schools and one going through it now.

what i have found really disingenuous about the school absenteeism thing, nobody talks about the aspects specifically in washington, d.c., how many schools have been shut down and how many people were misplaced and maybe we have an issue there with getting kids back and forth to school because they are in a whole new environment. and also when you take african-american history out in a play specifically like prince georges county and washington, d.c., you kind of lose some of the kids. i mean, that as -- that is the perspective i come from. guest: first of all i taught at prince georges county, go jaguars. while those concerns are valid and i get them and there is mobility issues, no doubt about it, i do not think, again that this huge increase that we saw

over two years is attributable to changes in teaching african-american history or mobility numbers. a lot of the things that you talk about are valid concerns that i do not think they explain the spike in absenteeism that happened so abruptly. host: just to visualize that quickly, some report that you have a map of the united states showing where chronic absenteeism looked like in 2019. here is the map of the united states. if you look at 2022 there is a lot more red on the map and it is pretty much across the board. guest: yes. and for listeners who are interested, the website that shows all of the data and you can look up your own districts and see it, it is the return to learn tracker.net. it is important because this data comes from states and it

comes out at different times. the most current data takes going from state to state to see the latest data and we are still waiting on several states for 2022 and 2023 data. it is key to look at the data that will come out early next year and say how was chronic absenteeism this year and i certainly await the data and will put it up as soon as it is out and listeners can keep up to date. last caller, shirley. go ahead. caller: good morning. i find it interesting that one on this chronic absenteeism is that he is not telling the fact that schools have had more shootings and attacks on students and teachers and schools are not as safe as they

were in the 70's. also, they need to take a look when they are talking about the data and the people enrolled in schools, i think students and parents are searching for a more safer environment. and those records are not updated commencement with the students not being present. so i think the absentee records in the schools need to be updated. because of students are out searching for a safer environment to learn. and they are not necessarily not learning because they are not in those public schools. some of those students are going to private schools and a large majority are being homeschooled. host: let us let nat respond. guest: yes. and i think you raise a decent point. we have -- we have tracked some

of the enrollment changes over the pandemic. as far as school safety concerns, they can influence absenteeism which are enrolled students not showing up to school regularly, not dis enrolling students and those are concerns. increases in violence and so forth have certainly not risen over the pandemic in proportion with chronic absenteeism. if we are looking narrowly at this issue, even if we raise other concerns it is important to understand that this is not students looking for a places, but students not being in the place which statistically speaking is one of the safest spaces that they could possibly. -- possibly be. host: thank you very much. jeanette malka's -- thank you to nat malkus who is with the american enterprise institute. thank you for your time. in less than 30 minutes, about

20 minutes at 9:00 eastern that house will dabble in ahead of a vote -- gavel in ahead of a vote on foreign aid bills. you can stay with us on c-span or follow the action online at c-span.org and the free mobile video app, c-span now. until then more of your thoughts on stories and issues that matter the most to you. you can start calling in. the numbers are on the screen and we will take your phone calls after the break. we will be right back. ♪ >> sunday on q&a, zachary tretiz and zachary hansen start their docuseries these -- docuseries

about the death of danny castle era in 1991. >> it was called the octopus because he starts looking into one d.c. area, one 1980's scandal and that takes them over into the iran-contra scandal and the october surprise and ci and new guinea and and the same kind of players, nefarious and the names are popping up here and the complexity of the story makes it difficult. >> there were a lot of obstacles to figure out what happens and to tell that story about what happens. >> zachary treitz and christian

hansen saturday -- sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern on q&a. you can listen to all of that on our free c-span now app. >> matt drudge started his website called the drudge report in 1995. he had just 1000 email subscribers. within a short time that jump to hundreds of thousands. and up into the mid to thousands he was very visible appearing on television and hosting his own radio show. without notice he has disappeared from public view. chris moody just finished hosting a podcast series called finding matt drudge and we asked him to tell us what he found. >> chris moody on this episode of book notes+ which is available on the c-span now free mobile app or wherever you get your podcasts.

>> 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 providing balance and unfiltered coverage of government taking you to where the policies debated and decided with the support of the american cable companies. c-span, 70 -- 45 years and counting. powered by cable. >> washington journal continues. host: welcome back, we are looking for your top new story of the week, some of which we have been following including the votes coming up in less than half an hour or the house session in less than half an hour tbrg up some of the foreign aid bills including aid to israel and ukraine. and the hat -- and the fact that mit be at risk because of

choice to bring that to the floor. we are following iran and israel trading strikes. that the jury has been selec inhe hh money trial for former president trump. that t senate dismissed the impeachment articles of alejandro mayorkas without a trial and that rfk is now michigan ballot even as the kennedy family endorden. weooki for what your top new story of the week is. republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8. . independents, 202-748-8002. 20748-8003, jusse beat sure to include yo name and where you are writing and from. francis, port monmouth, new jersey on the line for republicans.

good morning. caller: i want to talk about the coverage of this trial. i have been listening to andrew wiseman and they are talking about new yorkers are resilient and this is how they handle mob trials. this is nothing like a mob trial. i know about mob trials personally. i have been involved in them. and before i even testified there were four attempts to kill me and i failed -- and they failed. i am just saying that the jurors in this case are on trial because there are millions of crazies on the left and right and then people in the middle. i think that the judge should tell these people that when the case is over they are going to thank them and they are going to say good luck to them. and, like i said, there are so

many crazies on all sides you have to worry about millions of people trying to whack you. that is my advice. i think the court should definitely tell these people what they are in for. host: thank you for your call. next up is robert in tuscaloosa, alabama on the line for democrats. hello. caller: when is it going to talk so we are talking person-to-person. you are talking to me -- i am not talking to you but i cannot talk person-to-person. c-span should become so we can talk person-to-person. i taught kids with special problems and then high school math and i want to say to parents and people out there. some of the most important people in this country second only to good parents are classroom teachers and especially the elementary school teachers.

i am a parent with six children and the first people we sent our children to our to teachers. so teachers, nurses, and doctors, those people had their hands on the body of our young people are some of the most important people in the world. if -- they do not get the credit they should get. love your teachers and ask children to respect and love teachers because they are the light of their lives. host: thank you for the call. "usa today" has a story that they ran last month about the teacher shortage in the united states. and a survey conducted by the nonprofit research organization norc at chicago found that " fewer than one in five americans would encourage a young person to become a k-12 teacher. and according to analysis from the labor market think tank adp institute the supply of teaching applicants haven't cap dust kept

up with the demand. there has been a staffing shortage for some time but it has gotten worse since the covid-19 pandemic. and some graphics are showing the number of teacher vacancies across the united states and that can be particularly noticeable here in florida and also in south carolina and north carolina and also in the west as well. it is quite a nationwide problem. randy in michigan on the line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning, i would like to start thanking you and the other men and women bringing us this program you are doing a great service, my top story is i have to give a shout out to speaker johnson now me and my policies and politics and him, we do not agree on much, but i do not -- i do like to see in

american with the true american spirit stand up for america when he really needed to. i appreciated that from him and i just wanted to let him know that this democrat does appreciate it. thank you for giving me the time to say that. host: thank you for your scott -- for your call. scott in arizona for the line for independents. caller: good morning america and this is something that i've been trying to call c-span for a month now and it has been bugging me every day. for the american people please respond and help me out. as a vietnam veteran i get morning coffee like a lot of us old-timers. i saw a guy on his hands and knees and i thought he was puking, sick or party boy or whatever. i parked the truck and i ran over and i said are you ok and he says yes i am ok and i looked down and said what are you doing? he says i am praying. and i said what?

i saw a rug laying on the concrete and i said this is night time. i said what is going on? and i thought of the movie " scario" and i said are you muslim? and i said where you from? and he said palestine and i said why aren't you in the country. host: any particular news stories. caller: he says this is all the palestinian stuff going on and he says we will kill all jews and palestine will be kings of the world. host: thank you. let us hear from rick in tennessee on the line for independents. go ahead. caller: good morning and how are you. host: how are you doing? caller: well. thank you. this week, the trump trial, it seems to be the state would not take it up and the government

would not take it up. why is alvin bragg taking it up? if you could help me with that. and thank you for my call. goodbye. host: thank you for your call. one of the other top news stories that we were watching was what would happen with the foreign intelligence surveillance act, section 702, the controversial sentient -- section but the senate passed the reauthorization about the program. here's a story in the " associated press." "after its mid light deadline, the senate voted to pass a law over the fbi using the program to search for america's data force the statute to lapse. the legislation approved 60-34 with bipartisan support and would extend for two years a program known as section 702 of the foreign intelligence it now

goes to president joe biden's desk to become law. white house national security advisor jake sullivan said that biden will quickly sign the bill." here is a portion of senator chuck schumer's remarks just before midnight last night ahead of that final vote to reauthorize the section 702 statute. [video clip] >> in the nick of time bipartisanship has prevailed in the senate and we are reauthorizing right before this expires at midnight, 20 minutes before as the time is now. this bill goes to the president's desk. all day long we have persisted and persisted in trying to reach a breakthrough. in the end we succeeded and we are getting it done. democrats and republicans came together and did the right thing for the country's safety. it was not easy and people had

many different views. but we know one thing, letting this expire would be dangerous. it is an important part of national security to stop active terror, drug trafficking and violent extremism. thank you to senate colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their good work in getting this done. [end video clip] host: freddie in burlington, north carolina on the line for republicans. caller: a lot of these new stories does not cover one of the things that you do not want to talk about. and that is joe biden talking about black people and his uncle. and it is true. host: thank. james and memphis, -- in memphis, tennessee on the line for democrats. what is your top news story? caller: my top story is donald

trump and his trials. right now i think the judicial system is the one that will carry democracy over the threshold. you cannot count on or trust the supreme court right now. you cannot trust republicans in congress right now. the only people that can actually hold him accountable are those who have him in court right now. and this is what we have to hope for. that this one opportunity that we can prove that no one is above the law, we need to take this opportunity. thank you. host: chris in oak park, illinois on the line for independents. caller: there are two party related things. you have donald trump leaving his trial to campaign, it is kind of interesting considering the black vote that he is

choosing wilmington, delaware, the site of jim crow gone amuck as a place to have the rally. on the flipside with the democrats i have to wonder what the party is doing because of the stuff with the primaries where they have blown the schedule and now the state of ohio is saying that biden might not be on the ballot. these kind of political incidences have to be look at and questioned not who are you going to vote for and what can be done to reform the parties so they are not shooting themselves in the foot. thank you. host: thank you for the call. rodney in louisiana on the line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning. my comment is about the man who set himself on fire at the location of the trial. yeah, the location of the trump

trial. what i do not understand is what he is trying to prove, and at the end of the day, does anybody care? thank you. host: thank you for your call. adrian in houston, texas on the line for democrats. go ahead. caller: hello, longtime listener and first-time caller. something that i am getting very tired of, both sides, particularly as a democrat from the democrats is the self petting on the back saying that we got x bill passed at the x power because we had bipartisan unity in all of that. i am so sick and tired of that. as a democrat, just invigorate the base, yougo back to the daye

changed the landscape so much. the republicans have to fight for an amendment to be passed for him to be limited in presidential terms. every bill that has come out on president biden's desk that appeases republicans is a slap in the face to the base of the democratic party. thank you. host: donna in butler, missouri, the line for republicans. caller: hi. i have a question. could you please tell me why they are treating president trump the way they are treating him as opposed to joe biden? and give me an answer on that. especially on the measures he took in the oval office when he left as president when he had the right to do it. joe biden as a senator did not

have the right. they are not doing anything about that. how he is gotten -- he has created three wars. he's about to create world war iii. can you fill me in on some of the stuff a little bit? why is there one way for president trump and another way for president biden -- he ain't president to me. i'll show respect. anyway, tell me why are they treating trump so badly? this is like a witch hunt. gas was $1.38 a gallon in butler, missouri when president trump was president. now it is way up there. the groceries are so high. everything is ridiculous. even medical.

i'm having trouble with my medical now. illegals are getting free medical. can you tell me about that? please inform me. god bless you all. host: thanks for your call. we have several conversations on washington journal over the last few months touching on each of those topics. i would encourage folks to go to c-span.org and listen back to some of those debates we have had here on the show. next up we will hear from scott in lincoln, illinois on the line for democrats. caller: hi. i would like to congratulate the speaker the house on -- speaker of the house and allowing votes on aid ukraine to come to the floor. it's been way overdue. i certainly hope to see that today on c-span, then pass it. -- them pass it. host: we are waiting right now for the house to begin its

session. they are going to have some legislative business at the beginning as soon as they go into session, then begin debate. first we believe on the 21st century peace through strength act, then have debate and amendments on the indo pacific security supplemental appropriations act, followed by debate on the ukraine security supplemental appropriations act, then the israel supplemental appropriations act. we are expecting votes at approximately 1:00 to 1:30 p.m. while we wait for them to come onto the floor and start that session we will try to squeeze in one more call from lloyd in east strasburg, pennsylvania on the line for republicans. caller: hello. host: go ahead. please make it quick. caller: my top story of the week is that guy you had on earlier talking about the guy with the

rug and bowing down. the palestinian guy. the media silencing the voice of americans. i wanted to hear with that guy had to say. why did you turn him off? host: ok. caller: we are not free if you cut people off like that. other people speak. why didn't you let him speak? host: we try to get everybody their turn, lloyd. did you have a top new story? thank you, lloyd. eric in jacksonville beach, florida, the line for independents. go ahead, eric. caller: a note to everybody that the liberals and progressives of which i count myself as one have not gone away and are not bending over to the foolishness happening in this country. the progressives represents many of us. we are sick of the enemy, the