[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] host: good morning hank and ed is wednesday, may 1. we begin on capitol hill. the studenttestover that israel and hamas were. new york police department returned to remove students who had occupied hamilton hall on campus. across the country, violence broke out and cla -- at ucla.

we are hearing about the ongoing protest. we will be discussing free speech and its limits. democrats can call (202) 748-8000. republicans at (202) 748-8001. independents at (202) 748-8002. a special line for students, administrators and faculty members is (202) 748-8003. you can also send us a text at the same number or catch up with us on social media. a very good wednesday morning to you. you can go ahead and start calling in now. the columbia campus, to break up -- the new york post with this headline.

cops finally arrest anti-jewish writers. and from the new york daily news , dozens arrested. some of the headlines out of new york, focus across the country at ucla. they know that dueling groups of protesters clashed on wednesday. grappling in fistfight and using sticks to beat one another. police wearing helmets and fascial slowly separated the two groups.

going on to note that across the country, some 1100 people have been arrested at least protests. this morning we are asking you about those protests and are wondering if free speech has limits. if you are a student, administrator or faculty member you can call (202) 748-8003. before police moved into columbia university last night, it was -- chuck schumer of new york spoke about the unrest at columbia university. this is what he had to say. [video clip] >> taking over buildings is not free speech. it is lawlessness.

they should probably face the consequences that are not merely a slap on the wrist. even strong disagreement of fundamental values and campuses -- campuses should be places where those values are cherished. they cannot be places of argument and discussion when protests veer into criminality. those who commit such acts are doing nothing to convince others that their cause is just. it is also unacceptable when protests exhibit verbal abuse. systemic intimidation or the violence of october 7. as i said in my speech on the floor last november and many times sense, that is anti-semitism. it is unacceptable.

host: vito chuck schumer after students had moved into hamilton hall on campus. and then last night, yesterday evening around 9:30, this update from columbia university came out after 9:00 p.m. the decision was made to restore safety and order to our community. we regret that protesters chose to escalate the situation through their actions. hamilton hall had been occupied, vandalized and vacated. many were forced out of their building. you will not risk the safety of our community. the statement goes on from there. that happened after police arrived. we are getting your reaction this morning, talking and asking

you about free speech and what its limits are. alana, go ahead. caller: good morning. i wanted to talk about free speech and what the protesters are actually saying. the idea of shaking offomne who is oppressing you. the palestinians areeing oppressed, so it was not a call to viole they are calling for palestine to be free it is basically a -- an apartheid state. they want to end the occupation. i watched my video of the ucla

broadcast on people on the ground. there was a group of protesters lined up and they were peacefully occupying that space. a group of zionist protesters came in and started blaring obnoxious sounds. they started using actual fireworks and started shooting them at protesters. they were attacking people. the mainstream is not going to cover the fact that the group of anti-protesters came over to antagonize the students at ucla. the -- i just wanted to put it out there that the ucla protests -- they are just trying to hold their ground.

we are being attacked by this mob of outsiders. the cops will not do anything about it. i think that is the story. how the students are protesting, many of them jewish. they are the ones actually suffering violence right now, trying to speak out. host: in new york. good morning. caller: good morning. i said we had over 100 million illegal immigrants in our country and i still believe that. i think the largest migration that has ever taken place in the history of mankind is coming to roost, and we are seeing what is going on. the number of people not involved with the colleges --

there should be some kind of mandate that you are not allowed to have a face covering that would keep people from seeing who you are. i think most people have a worm's eye view. 1985 -- i was in caracas a lot. the disrespect. americans do not have our tunnel vision towards what we are trying to achieve. all individuals that are there, they should be sent away immediately. not even -- it is a no-brainer.

they should be taken to task. they are spending their hard earned money to put them into colleges that they need to be altered by what is taking place. they come from their families and some type of punishment should be instilled. thank you for your time. host: go ahead. caller: i noticed through the conflict bleeding in to our colleges that there is a disparity. i think a lot of kids are getting information from tiktok

they will get the information from a different source. what i noticed is anti-semitism is an extmebut i feel that people on the othershi it is ok to havehiextreme behavior. what i have seen thus far is definitely an age difference of her opinion. one side of israel having to defend itself but also the extreme that is going on in gaza. i think the point has been proven. they are now -- they feel like

the new generation is not right. it is kind of a unique parallel. the difference i see is that we are not involved necessarily in the middle east with this kind of strike going on. that is just what i have seen at least. host: that is matthew in hanover, maryland. the headline echoes and haunts the president during the protests that are happening now. that story, taking a look back through the years of protest. we are going to do that in our next segment on the washington journal, joined by angus johnson, a history professor who focuses on activism on college campuses. that discussion coming up in about 35 minutes.

does free speech have its limits? good morning. caller: good morning, first of all. i think the question of free speech. a lot of it is revolving around how much they are spending on their school. many are pro-genocide. i think the framing is kind of gold level gymnastics. these protesters keep saying it is dangerous.

it was so dangerous that we -- host: is she doing alright this morning. caller: yes. i just had to put her down for a second to make the call. host: taking your phone because this morning about the campus protest. talking about columbia university protests. it was former president donald trump who reacted to the columbia protest on fox news. this is what he had to say. [video clip] mr. trump: where is schumer? why is schumer not sticking up? he is looking at --

you have to stop this war. october 7 was beyond violent. things that were done to people that had never been seen before. a lot of people deny october 7 even happened. it did happen and it was disgraceful. when you have people out there protesting, denying that october 7 ever took place, they are either brainwashed -- we want israel back. you have to get them back to where it belongs. what is happening now is not sustainable either.

we have to let them complete their war on terror. they have to do it fast and we have to get back to order. host: last night reaction to the columbia protest. clashing outside encampments. it was karen bass who took to twitter last night. that was around 2:00 a.m. pacific time to say thathe violence unfolding is absolutely abhorrent single us in those police department arrived and this morning, yeah getting your response to what happened overnight, asking, does free speech have its limits? caller: yes.

i do believe it has its limits, but i also believe it is a matter of context. host: what is the context? you had to turn down your television. what is the context? caller: i feel it is reflective of 1968. no doubt about it. both parties now are stuck on the same political that israel must complete this mission. i think the concept is, a step back needs to be taken, but you cannot take a step 1 yard dealing with someone like benjamin netanyahu. it is not so much about october

7 anymore. not even about -- not even about the last 75 years. it is about power. you see young children on both sides. you have the vice versa. it is a confusing thing. no one has articulated to the younger generation what is really taking place in the area of the world. until that happens -- hamas is not going anywhere. all you are doing by injuring these young kids -- i do believe there are limits to free speech. you cannot allow property to be destroyed. it is a situation that you have to handle gently. whether you are a politician or

just a humanitarian, law and order has to be restored, but the next-generation is -- host: on the international front , in the middle east. pushing for a cease-fire deal. israel declares that the rafah invasion is a certainty, talking about the invasion of that city in gaza. they said -- this is to achieve total victory.

more -- they are calling for more aid to gaza. caller: are you there, sir? i just like to say that the palestinian people in gaza, from the time the our children, they are taught in their schools to hate and be antisemitic. that is the reason the arab countries surrounding in that area -- they were told -- they do not want them. they do not want them because they are so anti-somatic. that is where hamas is getting it. they recruit from right inside

of palestine. no wonder because they do not want anything to do with them. mining has come out and said he wants to bring them over to our country. you saw what happened. these people are so antisemitic. the amazing small children to hate. anybody that puts babies and ovens and cooks them alive --that is what hamas did. host: justin in laurel, maryland. caller: good morning. can you hear me? i just think our value system is deplorable.

it is just amazing to me. 20,000 palestinians. the way our country acts to destruction of african and brown people around this world is deplorable. the so-called immigration crisis -- there is a crisis going on. our economy cannot grow without a robust consumer class. host: we are going to stick on the protests for now. jim, go ahead. caller: shout out to brian them, my personal hero.

first, if the police and not responded on january 6, i really doubt they would have reached the police line. second thing, i would like to make comment to david. he vote in incredible piece in the atlantic, dealing with the democratic convention that will take place in chicago. i think that is where the real alliance really starts. this was basically a dress rehearsal for what is going to happen in chicago. everyone should be deeply concerned and worried about that. a final comment, the neil young song, ohio. give that a good listen, people because if we do not deal with this in the appropriate way,

anyway where people do not get hurt, it gets more violent. thank you for the opportunity to get my voice out there. you have a great day. host: out of california, this is -- the new mob rule is the headline. for readers of a certain age, they protest and opposition of the vietnam war. they even took over the same building at columbia. it has become the political default for progressives. they keep going to the barricade. it often gets them what they want. the left used that murder to trigger and condone violence against what they claim was widespread police abuse.

the mating many crimes. protesters were arrested in minnesota. today's campus eruption, they say maybe aimed at the middle east but they are a symptom to achieve political goals. they have a duty to call this out and enforce public order. wall street journal editorial board this morning. taking your phone calls. this is connie out of illinois. good morning. caller: good morning, everyone.

this is all played out in the bible. it was all written over 4000 years ago. in the last days -- that is what we are living in. god is getting ready to take this world down. i thought we were a christian nation. but i would say, if we have one for us of the people in america -- knowing god as their father, the god of the fully bible -- i would be very surprised. host: connie in illinois. it was speaker mike johnson he was asked about student protests , but should be admissible on college campuses?

this was before police moved in. but this was speaker mike johnson yesterday. [video clip] >> look, you respect the ideas. it is intended to be a free market of ideas. lawful debate and consideration of weighty issues. you will have vigorous disagreement. that is what the first amendment protects. this is not that. what these students are doing is shutting down campuses, taking control of buildings, threatening students lives. they are championing death to america. at some point, you crossed a line. what this is doing is violating the rights of others. jewish students on campus trying to get an education are playing by the rules. they are impeded from going to

class. they are told not to come onto campus where they are paying tuition. when you cross the rubicon and threaten the lives and intimate a people to the point where they cannot engage in freedom, that is unlawful. there are restrictions that the law has long respected. this is not even close. this is not a close call. at least they have done heroic work in the committee. as gone viral because she asked university administrators, some of the top universities in america, if they could simply say that the calling for the genocide or the elimination of their fellow needs -- they equivocate each time. it is shocking.

we have to reestablish where the lines are. this is out of control. host: a vote expected today on an antisemitism bill. we will have more on that. this toy from the wall street journal. democrats blocking any effort to remove speaker johnson following efforts to vacate the chair in the wake of speaker johnson. marjorie taylor greene filed a motion to vacate. whether she will act on that motion and have enough support to remove speaker johnson has been a question in recent weeks. democrat authority leader appeared to end any threat to the speakership. saying that they would provide

votes for hand that would not support an effort to remove him. audrey taylor green expected to speak with reporters on capitol hill at 9:00 a.m. eastern. we will dip into that when she does on whether she will move forward with the decision to vacate. this is david, west virginia, democrat. the morning. caller: this is the dumbest thing i have ever seen. they are too afraid to say anything because they do not want to lose any of the in the upcoming election. if donald trump had been in there, this would have never happened. i went to college. we never had this problem when i was in college. these kids have no respect for our country or anything.

if all these big corporations see all of this, they should hire not one of these kids for a job. not one. they are not grown up. they had just a bunch of little kids acting up. our country is the saddest thing i have ever seen in my life. host: wyoming. susan, republican. in morning. -- good morning. caller: i just want to take a stance on the vietnam war protesters. weaver protesting on behalf -- there is genocide occurring all over this world. it is not just in gaza.

my protest, the war machine that is america is involved in killing many people over the world. host: before you go connie said weaver protesting -- he's protesters are protesting on behalf of palestinians losing their lives amid the ongoing war between israel and hamas. it is a were causing so much destruction and loss of life. caller: yes. we were in college and we had our own lives on the line.

if they want to protest, they can protest what is going on in china. they are hypocrites. host: susan in wyoming. north carolina, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. these young people protesting -- right here in charlotte, north carolina, 24 hours ago, we lost police officers. they are going to regret. the university of north carolina , it is a disgrace. these young people -- you have a

great day. host: noting the clashes with police. that happened yesterday. a wrap up of other places where protest happened on buildings occupied and schools, university of connecticut, florida and georgia. of course, we saw the main focus on the media. nypd living in their. living in on clashes between protesters and counter protesters. some 1100 or more arrests over the past two weeks. asking you about done this morning, this is charlotte, north carolina. good morning. >> --

caller: [indiscernible] the other caller was saying earlier, this is nothing new. it is normal. but i wanted to talk about the mike johnson comments. whether it was a antisemitic thing for jewish ainst the palestinians. the maj t protests are being led by jewish students.yop making it a thing like it is and antisemitic -- it does not make any sense. they are both cousins. host: reports about jewish students being part of the protests. i did not see that.

where did you see that? caller: he was saying -- there is a big number of students in line. they are saying that israel is overstepping their boundaries. [indiscernible] who else is protesting this morning? host: do you think we have seen leadership from congress where they are concerned about that? are they speaking for this cause? caller: the people who believe

-- get caught up in the same beliefs. they only hear one side of the story. it is more about guys trying to state in power. it is coming to a point. host: thomas is in texas. caller: good morning, america. how is everybody? somebody was timely the other day about this. i was watching bbc last night. first of all, we had peace lags. i do not know why they are

carrying a palestinian flag. but they found two more mass graves in gaza. last night in jerusalem, they had the kids over there. you guys have a nice day and a great summer, and vote. host: in texas. virginia, good morning. caller: these are the same students that we want to forgive the student loans for? this is america. we do not fly other country's flags. these people should be arrested and expelled. these colleges should lose all support from the federal government.

18-year-olds could not the. they were going to war and cannot vote for the people sending them to war. this is an embarrassment. people are going to realize that if he were in hamas, they would kill you because you are american. if you think there is a large death toll, what happened in hiroshima? it happens. i wish we would go back to the 1960's and get our country back in order the way it should be. thank you. host: talking about funding for colleges. it was the secretary who was on capitol hill yesterday facing questions at a senate budget

hearing. here is some of that interaction. caller: secretary, d believe what is happening across this country is ok? >> -- [video clip] >> secretary, do you believe what is happening across this country is ok an -- is ok? >> absolutely not. some students are afraid to go to class because of the harassment they are facing on campuses. a hearing to title vi enforcement. we have 137 open cases. we take this very seriously. we have increased the number of communications to college campuses to make sure that they have what they need, in terms of the law and best practices, in terms of making sure that they are protecting students. protecting students is our number one responsibility.

anti-semitism that we have seen on campus is unacceptable. >> we agree. how long does a case take? by the time he gets through the system, it will be over one way or the other. that is good. i'm glad you are doing that. but you have more immediate means at your disposal, removing federal funds from institutions. if they are in violation of title vi. are you intending to do that >> investigating cases is the important part of it. with guidance and regulation around how to do that, that is why in the budget we are proposing an increase in

investigators, so we can move on those investigations that are open. if the school refuses to comply, yes, we would remove federal dollars. host: testifying before senate leaders with more testimony expected in recent weeks around the country. the chairwoman of education taking to task and calling them before congress yesterday. here is some of what she had to say. [video clip] >> thank you for making this and all the house issue. it is an issue for our country. we have a clear message. congress will not tolerate your dereliction of duty to your

jewish students. american universities are officially put on notice that we have come to take our universities back. i applied the committee on their ongoing investigation. no stone must go unturned while buildings are being defaced. college is not a park for playacting juveniles. everyone affiliated with these university as well receive a healthy dose of reality. actions have consequences. one of those is that i have given notice to apa before the education of workforce committee on may 23 for a hearing on their

handling of the most recent outrages. i look forward to working with fellow house leaders on additional action to address these right. host: the chairwoman yesterday. they will be joining this program. we will talk to him more about those upcoming hearings. about 15 minutes left in this hearing. once you hear from you on these college protests. for democrats, still holding that line aside for student administrators, faculty members. we do want to hear from you, if you want to share your story. (202) 748-8003 is that number. caller: good morning, america.

i find it ironic that some of our colleagues are calling in about law and order. i am first free speech. i'm not for the destruction of campuses or anything that puts lives in harm's way. just like i was against the right that happened january 6. we should not speak out of both sides of our mouse when we talk about law and order. when we hold that candle when it comes to students, our children are following. that is my comment. host: this is steve in indianapolis. good morning. caller: good morning. i must say, i praise these young students for the action that they are taking, regarding free speech.

these kids are sick of what they are seeing and what they have learned over the years. seeing their parents, who are majority white and allowing jewish people -- that they have the right to take the land of others who are nonwhite. i praise them for what they are doing. host: that is steve in indianapolis. militarizing the campus. university administrators need to realize that time is not on their side. history will remember the way they called the police on their own students. a group of people so committed to the lanai's in themselves in the eyes of the schools. i have repeatedly said that gaza

would be one of the issues in the election. what we are seeing on college campuses is proof of that. the pulling that we have seen that shows generation z is sympathetic to the struggle. it should not be surprising that this generation is mobilizing. an entire generation telling you how to feel about it and i do not think they will be backing down anytime soon. part of the columbia university protests last week -- you can read more of her column in today's usa today. john in massachusetts. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. i hope what i say, people will understand. this has been going on for a long time.

it is the same thing that has happened throughout the centuries. the same people are the ones in power. i have a prediction. there is no free speech in this country. there never was. the patriot act was signed number one. number two, the terrorists are already here. it is called colonial imperialism. watch how zionism -- these are the same people, rockefeller, j.p. morgan, the war is on both sides. all the presidents are related to king john of england. host: philadelphia, independent. good morning. caller: good morning, america. i agree with them. colors, your incredibly ageist,

just talking and yelling at protesters that are very antiwar and doing things that you yourself are going to do. host: tyler, how old are you? caller: i am about to be 32 years old. but what the student protesters, but they are facing, police brutality, as we speak. the nypd are beating up protesters. and there are possibly soldiers coming into these campuses and antagonizing these protesters and disrupting them. what i share about people talking about free speech -- host: you think the israeli military is trying to incite violence on campuses? caller: that has been evidence of soldiers coming into america

and antagonizing these protesters. host: i have not seen that story. where did you see that? caller: the generalists on twitter x have reported on these soldiers possibly coming into america. i would be surprised -- i would not be well -- i would not be surprised to be honest, but the only people that have free speech are the zionists. they have been able to antagonize the protesters. they have been able to shoot rerks at them with no repercussions. that is all i neo say. thank you. host: this is charles, in virginia. good morning.

caller: good morning. how are you all doing? tyler, i think has lost his mind, for one. these college campuses -- they need to shut them down and defund them. anybody here on a visa should be sent back until we can straighten all this mess out. our ancestors did not go to war to fight for freedom for all of this to happen here. it is senseless, sad, and where is our leadership? they are gone. he is in lala land somewhere. i call her a nonexisting vice president but you have to solve this problem. these people cannot keep getting away with instruction of property. what do you think would happen to me or you, if we had done it?

so why should they be exempt? when they do pick them up and put them into a courtroom, they get slapped on the hand and then they are right back at it again. it does not work. our justice system has failed us. i do not know what we are going to do. thank you. host: focusing on president biden. he said he made no immediate comment after that columbia takeover. condemning the actions as unacceptable. the president believes that forcibly taking over a building on campus is absolutely wrong. it is not an example of peaceful protest. going on to say a small percentage of students should

not be able to disrupt the academic experience for the rest of the school body. students should be able to get an education without disruption. this is louisiana, good morning. caller: good morning. i agree with everyone who has spoken prior to me but i have one comment nobody has said anything about. speaking with xi jinping not too long ago, he said that their goal and russia's goal was to destroy this country through total chaos. neither side, democrat or republican is standing up for the united states. thank you.

host: good morning. how close are you to the campus of ucla? caller: i go to school maybe five miles down the 405. we had a meeting between the supporters. my is antisemitism seen as hate but anti-is seen as a micro-aggression? you have the fbi investigating antisemitism, but they do not have the same response to anti-blackness at these universities. it is a question i would like to ask the intelligence agencies or the education secretaries. it is not one that really gets brought up. host: what do you think the answer to your question would

be, karen? caller: it is -- cameron? caller: it is unfortunate, but hate is hate. it seems like sometimes it is being minimized. we obviously have the palestinian problem, right? what is happening in gaza. they need to take these actions to support what you are going to do, but not in america. host: have you seen violence on your campus that we saw last night? caller: not violence, but they came out in the news because we would not let the pro-jewish club. the school pass it through and we took a vote. the school got complaints and

they passed it through anyways, so what is the point in voting? they get funding and everything. host: what is the pro-jewish club that you are referring to? caller: it was just students according to israel. what if they were supporting south africa in the middle of apartheid? not that i have anything against them, but there is a time and a place. host: are you a member of the student body? where was this the? caller: i am a member of the club. at santa monica, actually. actually, it was a point that was brought up to me.

where is our investigation? we see all these heat speeches, right? we see things like that and it is frustrating. but i understand. host: cameron, where does free speech turn into hate speech, into -- in your mind? what does it mean? caller: when it comes to hate speech, when you call for the death of anyone -- whether israelis or the death of palestinians -- that can formulate hate. when it comes to free speech, you should be able to advocate for people being able to be free. it is interesting when you bring up the free speech argument, how we had -- there was no -- it did not seem

like there was much of an investigation there. but now we have these campaigns against the students. and it is interesting to see that happening in real time. we really dropped the ball there. host: for those students trying to farm a club to support israel -- were they calling for the death of anyone? were they hate speech? caller: no. they were not calling for the death of anyone. israel has said that they are going for the death of all the palestinian civilians. we, as a student body decided that is supporting hate. it is supporting a state that is going to kill a civilian

population. now, if we had a students for hamas club, i could understand that but as far as palestinian deliberation -- not necessarily calling for the death of israelis. host: this is william, republican. good morning. william, are you with us? caller: [indiscernible] i am 74 years old. it all goes from one thing to another. our borders are being

controlled. they are coming in here and studying this. -- starting this. they are not american citizens. host: you think only american citizens should be college professors? caller: no. well, yes, actually. you should be able to get your citizenship first by legally coming into this country. host: in the virginian, democrat, good morning. -- virginia, democrat, good morning. caller: you can protest peacefully, but i think they may need to come back and say, if it is violent and i think they all

need to be arrested regardless. if they are foreigners, they need to be expelled from this country. if they are americans being violent, they should be kicked out of school and ought to be told, you are not going to another college and you are in the country. i think people who are not being taught in school and going onto the campuses participating, you should be in jail. i think if everybody in the colleges would make these announcements, then you would see part of this column -- calm down. you would see a lot of them combing down. host: that is helen in virginia.

we are going to focus on the campus of protests throughout the program. up next we will dive deeper into the history of campus protests. we will be joined by angus johnston, a history professor in new yor founder of the studentactivism.net. and then later we will be joined by rep. glenn grothman, a republican with the education and workforce committee. >> the house will be in order. >> c-span celebrates 45 years of covering congress like no other. since 1979, your primary source for capitol hill, providing balance, unfiltered coverage and taking it where the policies are debated and decided, all with the support of american cable

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c-span's coverage, you can find it anytime online at c-span.org, videos of key hearings and other events future markers that guide you to interesting and newsworthy highlights. these points of interest markers appear on the right side of your screen when you hit play. it makes it easy to quickly look at what was debated and decided in history. spend a few minutes on c-span's points of interest. >> "washington journal" continues. host: the conversation now on student protests past and present. our guest is history professor angus johnston, who studies student activism. on the scope of the protests over the war in gaza, how do they compare to other student protests of the 21st century and how do they compare to the vietnam protests in the 1960's

and 1970's? guest: we are nowhere near the level of scale of the vietnam war protests yet. the thing that is extraordinary about this wave of protests is not just the number of a protests we are seeing in the number of students who are participating in them, but the incredible pace of acceleration we have seen. these have gone from something fairly small to something sweeping the country and continuing to grow in the space of two weeks. host: why the timing of this? obviously the war in gaza has been going on since early october. why is this happening now and why have the past two weeks been such a focal point? guest: it is clear that columbia university's decision to weeks ago thursday to send the police and shut down the encampment sparked a response among students around the country. we began to see a lot of

reactions to that. as it got more media attention as people started hearing about them, they continued to snowball. we have seen that in the past, including in the 19 60's and earlier. there seems to be a particular level of intensity of the student response around the country this time. i have some theories but i don't think we fully understand it yet. host: what are your theories? guest: this is an issue a lot of students feel strongly about. we are in an era where images from war and violence across the world are things that we not only see in our living rooms on television but on our screens on social media and so on. i also think we need to start thinking about the fact that this is the post-covid generation of american students. it just about every underground -- undergrad on campuses now

started college after the covid at lockdowns. this is the first post-pandemic or post lockdown wave of american student protests. i think that suggests interest sting -- interesting things about what is going on. host: how much did you watch of the police clearing out students from hamilton hall in overnight seeing violence between protesters and country protesters in l.a.? the l.a. police department moved into separate the two of them. guest: i was watching in new york and listening to the columbia student radio station. i found an old fm radio i found somewhere. the images and certainly the columbia images in the columbia college arrests and violence were very troubling. th thing that really struck me was what was going on at ucla, where the encampment at ucla was

raided by country protesters with violence. it took hours for the police to be called in and once the police were called in according to the los angeles times, they stood and watched as country protesters were firing off some sort of tear grass -- teargas kind of thing or pepper spray and fireworks and in physical altercations with the demonstrators as well. host: in terms of what we are seeing, there was a caller in the first segment that said in the 1960's we weren't waving vietnamese flags, we were waiting piece flags. -- peace flags. she didn't understand why they were flying palestinian flags.

compared to the past, what are you finding? guest: we really do miss remember a lot about the 1960's. it is a cultural memory we have of what was going on in the 1960's is in many cases different from what happened. during the vietnam war protests, there were people waving north vietnamese flags. there were students chanting viet cong is going to win. and hey, hey, lbj, how many kids did you kill today? student organizers went to north vietnam and toured some of the sites. this is why some of the people and probably a lot of your viewers, are still angry at jane fonda. she did a photo op with an anti-aircraft. the idea that american 1960's protests that were protesting

violence and protesting the brutality of war was not critical of a mirror, and not finding common cause with the people on the other is a misremembering of what actually took place. host: angus johnston is with us from the university of new york. go ahead and start calling in with questions and comments. same lines as before, democrats (202) 748-8000, republicans (202) 748-8001, independents (202) 748-8002, students, administrators faculty at colleges and universities (202) 748-8003. as folks are calling in, saturday is the 54th anniversary of the kent state massacre. we had a caller who was a freshman on monday on this

program to talk about his experiences and how these images have brought back the experience that day. how did kent state become such an historic tragedy? guest: kent state is only one of four campu the late 1960's where police officers or other law enforcement officials deputize in one way or another, killed protesters or passersby. there were people killed at berkeley in 1960 nine, south carolina state college in 1968, and jackson state just a week and a half after kent state. kent state was significant and transformative for a few reasons. one is that kent state happened in the middle of a huge upsurge of a protest in response tomin'e

cambodia. -- nixon's decision to invade caodia. many campuses stepped back from the kind of confrontation that happened at kent state. but the governor of ohio was running for the united states senate and he did not want to appear weak so he sent the national guard onto campus. four students were killed, all well over several 100 yards away from the national guard troops. crucially, two of those were just passersby. there was a journalist for the student newspaper who had a camera and took a bunch of photos which were then able to be delivered to the ap and ran on the front page of newspapers all over the country the next morning, including the famous one of the woman wailing in front -- behind a dead body of a

fallen student that is so well-known today. then, as now, images are very powerful in shaping national coverage and national memory. host: talking with angus johnston this morning and taking your phone calls about the student protests, past and present. matt is out of falls church, virginia, democrat. caller: good morning, professor johnston. my comment is, i'm not really well-versed in the palestinian -israeli conflict long-term, and i don't really have an opinion on what would be best for them. i really look at the right to protest in this country that seems crazy to me, the overreaction of the protesters on the college campuses. just small groups of kids being

surrounded by giant cords of police seems crazy to me. my question is, do you think more college campuses are going to have protests now that this overreaction will probably lead to another reaction? guest: i think there are two parts to the answer. one is clearly the crackdowns are prompting more protests. we are seeing that spiral happening. it is important to remember that police have been called and arrests have been made in only a minority of the campuses where these protests are happening right now. there are a lot of campuses where the administrators have chosen either to let the protesters be and allow them to continue their encampments or to negotiate with them. add brown just yesterday, it was announced they had negotiated a settlement and students were going to step away and there was going to be a discussion on

campus about israeli divestment. my own daughter is a student at m.i.t. and there the encampment the last i heard have been allowed to go on peacefully for more than a week. the crackdowns we are seeing are not inevitable and not something that is happening at every campus and many campuses that are not experiencing these crackdowns are finding that they are able to continue their business continue the semester peacefully. host: returning to kent state, you mentioned a photograph, was it howard rocker the photographer? guest: yes. host: he spoke about taking those photographs and was releasing a book about the photographs from 1970. we are going to air it's on saturday on american history tv so viewers can watch that program on saturday.

when it comes to kent state, what lessons did universities take from kansas state and how to deal these protests in the years and decades to come, and do you think students took lessons? are any of these students today at the colleges and universities looking back and saying, these of the lessons we need to learn from that day? guest: the immediate response to kent state and the united states was largely, where they supportive of the national guard troops. polling showed overwhelmingl they blamed the students rather than blaming the national guard. there was clearly a sense that things were spiraling out of control. president nixon appointed a national commission on student unrest and protests after kent state and jackson state. and the report is worth reading

a half-century later and concluded federal government policies needed to change, specifically local police policies needed to change. they said a nation that is driven to use the weapons of war on their youth is a nation on the edge of chaos. americans pulled back from that after 1970 eight. campuses not only reevaluated their policies on campus protests in terms of willingness to bring in the police but began negotiating with students around questions of governance, curriculum, of how the campus would run, bringing students into the governance process. student governments on campuses gained new authority. in 1971, the 26th amendment gave 19 to 20-year-olds the authority

to vote for the first time and they could now engage in electoral organizing and lobbying for the first time. all of this leads to a transformation in the way that student protests and organizing works in the 1970's and 1980's, where students are working much more inside the system. the gains that were won and those tears would have been largely rolled back in the last couple of -- those years have been largely rolled back in the last couple of years. many in response to crackdowns or attempts to dissolve by state governments. student governments have lost a lot of the power they used to have. faculty as well has had powers stripped from them. students have been reduced to the role of a consumer on the campus in many cases, rather than a member of a campus

community or citizen of a campus community. that is part of the reason why students are turning to protests in these ways that reflect the protests of the 1960's. host: damien in maryland, republican, you are next. caller: the reason why these protests are devolving into hate speech and violence is because the pro-palestinian students are following their idols, hamas. palestine is hamas and hamas is a palestine and you can't say it's not because the palestinians, one of their virtues is killing the jews. they teach their children they should kill jews and that is what palestine is today. they had gaza and turned it into an absolute you know what hole.all they did was build tunnels and

teach hate. the protesters of today, the students, don't even know what vietnam is. there were protests in the 1960's because men from america were dying in vietnam, a whole big difference. host: professor johnston? guest: in vietnam, it was important to remember the vietnam's were not just against the draft and americans being sent over to fight, they were protests about america's involvement -- campuses involvement in the military-industrial complex, the relationships with war contractors, relationships with government agencies as well. there was a critique of american policy that spread far beyond the draft in the 1960's. the second thing is, the question whether campus protesters today are engaging in hate speech, setting aside the

way the colleges characterize palestinians as a group which is a separate issue, but the question is whether these students are engaging in hate speech is an empirical, factual question. one of the things we know it is as the protests have grown, a number of eyes on these protests and cameras on these protests is huge. what we are seeing overwhelmingly in the course of the last week as they have grown is not that the students are engaging for the most part and hateful chance or yelling or anything like that. we are seeing very little evidence of that. the conflicts we are seeing are when protesters encounter protesters and coming into contact with each other. that is a whole other question that i could spend 10 minutes discussing the ethics and norms around protesting and counter protesting right now. the claim that these campus

protests are full of hate speech, full of people calling for jews to be killed, full of overt, aggressive support for,, none of that is borne out by the evidence i've seen so far. host: halfway through our conversation with angus johnston , history professor in new york. taking your phone calls. folks are seeing in your id on screen, student activism.net, the founding -- and founder of studentactivism.net. that is a blog that i started in 2008-2 thousand nine, which was very active during devious waves of a protest. since then, i have been spending a lot less time on blogging, as

frankly most people who blogged 10 years ago have. right now the work i am doing around student protests right now is mostly in public education like this, where i am talking to media outlets and talking to campus groups. but if you go to studentactivism.net, i hope to put something up for you soon but there is not much up there right now. host: when you talk to student activist groups, what are you telling them? guest: i get invited by activist troops or campus administrators a lot. these days i am in conversation with the student activists about what they are doing, answering their questions about history of student activism, tactics and strategies that have been used in the past, or, frankly, i'm trying to get a better grasp on

what's going on right now. i gave a talk and participated in a panel at a college in new jersey last fall, and i was on a panel with six students, all of whom had entered college during covid. and talking with them about their experience with student activism was tremendously enlightening. frankly, most of the people, and i count myself in this company, most of the people who are going on television talking about student protests are very far removed from the campus themselves. host: what are one or two examples of common questions a student will have for you? guest: it varies a lot. if i would speak now, we would be getting questions about protests. one of the questions i always get asked is, how do we grow our movement? we are trying to build something on this campus and how do we build it and get two people to

come to our events? the events i give is in two parts. the first is find something you can win and win it. people like winning like they said in the old movie "bull durham." winning makes people feel their power and feel like they are doing something meaningful. if you can find even a small thing you can win, you will gain positive attention and find that people like you. the second thing i say is that you should look at the way you're conducting what you're doing and the way you are trying to build this organization and see whether it is something that if you weren't already involved you would want to be involved with. i have sat through as a student in the olden days a lot of very long, very boring meetings and when somebody came to one, they often would come back to another

-- wouldn't come back to another. what connects this to today's moment is that there is an excitement around these encampments. there is a passion for the cause but also for a generation of the who have been told that they never want to talk to each other, but they never want to leave their screens, that they never want to leave their house, they are socially isolated, not building the bonds of friendships and previous generations did, i think it is very interesting that the first wave of a mass protests in the united states since covid has taken the form of encampments, where people are just getting together, spending time together, hours and hours just sitting and talking and hanging out. host: do you see any of these tests having a win? you talk about people liking a win. one university said they would

hold a vote on divesting from israel, not committing to do that but holding a vote. is that a win in terms of what the students are looking for? guest: the brown student saw it as a win. if we look at the things people are demanding in these protests, there is a lot of variation but four big things keep coming up again and again. one is divestment from israel. that was the issue at brown and the second is disentanglement of relationships with israeli government, military institutions in terms of projects that are being done by the individual campus. the third is transparency, where they just are looking to have exactly the nature of these relationships be made public so they can be assessed by the students and public at large. ended forth in many cases as they are looking for amnesty -- and the fourth in many cases is they are looking for amnesty.

the last two are winnable in many cases. the first two are in most cases going to be a heavier lift for the student to win. the idea that this is an all or nothing thing and students are asking for the moon and never going to get anything they ask for doesn't really reflect, to me, what i am seeing in the demands being made. host: forest, ohio, miriam, langford democrats. caller: can you hear me? host: yes ma'am. caller: i think too that the people make their kids do this. think of the calls you get in your program where the people are hateful, i mean hateful to each other and when you put these two groups together on

college, you know they are going to interface with each other. i just think the hate needs to stop in our country. i think that would help the college students too. i've seen vietnam protests and this protests. that is all i have to say. thank you. host: david is in wesley chapel, florida, independent. caller: hello. i just want to say that the social media had indicated months ago that the increasing volatility of this issue and colleges and universities should has taken steps with the possibility of controlled protests and administration failed in bring proactive. yes, you should be able to protest but also the outside

agitators should have been identified and prevented from intermingling with the students and the protests. i have nothing against the protests. this country is based on protests in college campuses and universities, but it has to be done in a very big way and i think people are not proactively cultivating proper protesting environment. host: professor johnston? guest: the charge that there are outside agitators behind protests is one that we see over and over again in american history. to a large extent, it is false in most cases. every indication that i have suggests that these protests are springing up on campus in response to local students' leadership to a large extent.

to the extent claims of outside agitators are not false, it is important to impact with the -- unpack with the claim is. is it that students are talking to other students in campuses and reaching out to national organizations working in the field they are interested in, that they have perhaps had contacts in the past which they are reaching back to? students don't live in a bubble. nobody organizes politically in isolation from other political organizers. so i don't think there is anything particularly sinister about the idea that students are reaching out beyond the campus. host: to charles in omaha, nebraska, republican. you are next. caller: i have a question from the people talking in the previous segment. they said something about the teachers in new york and those

colleges, that they are not even american citizens. i think they are the ones that are spreading all the problems between the students and everything. the students when they interview them, they don't even really know what is going on over there. and i also heard on the west coast stanford in those schools, they won't even run republican speakers into have a change in view. they just shoot them down and run them out. i just would like to have the professor talk on that. host: we had a touch on the role of college professors in these protests. guest: my experience as a college professor is that indoctrinating students, even if it were something i was interesting in doing would not be something i would be particularly successful at.

the idea that faculty are behind these protests, again, it is an empirical question and there is very little evidence for it. when we see a group of students arrested at the university of utah yesterday, 17 arrests, are we thinking they were radical protesters and radical faculty at the university of utah that were somehow inducing these students to protest? it just doesn't feel plausible to me. on the question of speakers on campus, i think it is really important to note that even an organization like fire, which is often regarded as not particularly friendly to the left, has found consistently that pro-palestinian speakers, speakers critical of israel, have been very likely to be suppressed on american campuses and that students who protested israeli officials or pro-israeli

speakers were likely to have a more intense consequences than the students protesting a lot of other kinds of speakers. pro-palestinian speech is not dominant on american campuses and has not ever been dominant on american campuses and in fact is often selectively suppressed. host: there was a viral video yesterday and before the police removed students from hamilton hall at columbia university, we probably would be talking more if that had happened last night, but one of the student leaders at columbia talking about hamilton hall and she was talking about trying to get a commitment from the university and nodding -- not blocking food and water. what was your reaction? that video got a lot of reaction online. what was your reaction? guest: i think one of the things

you need to have if you are going to be engaging in student organizing is a willingness to get up in public and forcibly present your view. student movements are extraordinary and american hosiery -- culture and history and you can rise to prominence very quickly. if you are working in politics or labor unions, if you are working in the nonprofit sector, you are going to be toiling in anonymity for a very long time before anyone puts a microphone in front of your face. i always found, and i've always said to students, that you will make mistakes and in some instances. you will say things that you go on to regret, and how you respond to those moments and what you take away from those moments is absolutely essential to your development as a person

and an activist. nobody ever gets to be really good at anything without making some mistakes. i think that in that case with that video, i think there were probably parts of the way she phrased what she was paying that she probably regret now, and that is ok. host: on twitter following along, one tweets that protesting the draft in vietnam was protesng something real and tangible. u.s. citizens and a very directly to u.s. citizens, getting drafted or your kid getting drafted can really ruin your day. today's protests seem performative. what would you say? guest: i have already said there were very similar kinds of protests against the military industrial complex we are seeing in regard to the divestment and disentanglement stuff we are seeing now. i would also say there were a lot of northern america students

who spent a lot of time in the 1960's protesting against racism and jim crow, which was not tangible to them. so the idea that self interested protest has always been the norm in the united states is not accurate and the idea that self interest in protest is somehow preferable to protest that is motivated by other causes is one that i don't really resonate with either. host: richmond, virginia, independent, you are on with history professor angus johnston . caller: i have two questions. the first one is, universities have marked obligation to divest from endowments that fund genocide and the military-industrial complex? and the second is, how is the federal government part of education posting their agenda toward free speech?

will that affect teacher activism? guest: i think the department of education has very little direct role in what kind of speech is taking place on campuses. there are some ways in which federal government policies influence that but it is largely indirectly and on a broad scale than individual campuses. in terms of the question of whether there is a moral obligation to divest from israel , my take on this as on most things is that i've come as a historian, and and less interested in my own perspective on the content of the protests and the things the students are protesting for, my opinion on that would be on my opinion is just a random person. my opinion on how the protests are taking place, what they are doing, the ethics of protest,

all that is stuff i have a professional opinion on. host: do we see college professors -- didn't see college professors being called before congress in hearings in the 1960's? guest: yes, he feels that the 1930's, 1940's and 1950's, there were a tremendous amount of college professors being hauled before state legislatures and congress because of complaints they were communists who were, again, to echo something we discussed earlier, indoctrinating students. we saw a lot of that in the 1950's. in the 1960's, i think that the perception was -- was, i would have to look at the question of whether professors were being called. host: i should clarify, administrators too. guest: yes, that was certainly the case.

there was certainly a lot of heat on the administrators of these campuses and some became household names because they were perceived to be they were handling the protests very well or badly. yes, there is a tremendous amount of pressure on campus administrators right now. one thing we haven't talked about yet is the fact that right now the question of israel and palestine is one politically that tends to unite the republican party and divide the democratic party, so that republicans are generally fairly unified on their views on israel and palestine, where as democrats increasingly are not, which is a change from 20 years or so ago. one of the things that means is there as partisan advantage to be gained by playing up these protests on the part of the republican party and we are certainly seeing some of that. host: kingwood texas, republican. this is bob.

caller: good morning. i would like to challenge many of the things this professor has said. i have a lived experience in campus riots. i was at the university of california in the late 1960's, early 1970's, and my access to campus was blocked by protesters. it soured in my view of college. i was ready to get out because of the lunacy of the protesters. what i want to challenge this professor about is, he says things like, there is very little, if any, hate speech or violence in these current protests. i would like to know his opinion, does the river to the sea, does that not constitute hate speech to jewish people? how about intifada, death to america and israel? these are vile things, yet people on campus put in safe

spaces if you want to miss gender or say there is no such thing as transgender, things like that. these riots, these protests that are going on now are primarily funded by people like george soros and people from overseas. what does this professor think about that? guest: on the question of hate speech specifically, i absolutely did not say there is no hate speech taking place in any of these protests. i didn't say that and i don't believe that. certainly we have seen evidence of hate speech that was coming out of these protests. what i did say is as these protests have expanded, have gone from half a dozen encampments two weeks ago to dozens and dozens, probably over 100 now. we have not seen a corresponding increase in the direct visual evidence for the kinds of chance

in -- chants and slogans the caller was talking about. if we saw those at every protest, we would be seeing this all over media. i am going to the social media accounts most critical of the protests and looking at what they are putting forward and looking at what they are getting attention to. and we are just not seeing that the kind of rhetoric the sky was describing is a standard or common in the protests. there is just very little evidence for that. host: who are the social media accounts most critical? guest: i would have to go back. i have a list on twitter and i go back and scroll through it. i don't remember usernames. host: karl, brooklyn, democrat. caller: i have two quick

commentaries to make. the commentary is to say that, to talk about the media and how they protect the idea that the people who are protesters are kids. they are not kill its -- kids, and when you go to college campuses, like your daughter as you said, it is a product that advertises itself. if you buy the start up and whatever it college or university or whatever it is, just like any other product you buy in a democracy and it is defective, right, and you can get compensation. we know there is something defective in the colleges and universities of this country. this is a democracy and they bought a product and the product

is that if someone is doing something wrong in a democracy, whether they be jewish, whatever race they are, the people that bought the product have the right to say that and that the tactics they are using now against those people that bought the product is fascism. host: that is carl in brooklyn. guest: i absolutely agree that college students aren't kids. i would encourage people who support these protests to not refer to them as kids. i think they deserve the respect they have earned. they are grown-ups, adults. in terms of the question of the product, i am not sure i understood everything that was being said. but one thing i would like to turn back to is the idea of the student as a consumer of a product. a lot of people are critical of students saying, students think they are just buying the grade and they feel like they can order professors around because

professors have a responsibility to give them the grade that they paid for. the ideology, the analogy of students as being consumers is not one that ever came from students. it came from something administrators in colleges developed over the course of the 1970's in response to students' demand in more of a say in the university. i go to campus and i work and i come back home. faculty who work at four-year colleges, residential colleges typically do the same. when i was an undergrad at suny, college was the place i lived for a period of time and the place that i worked and studied and place that i hung out with my friends and the place i played pool and video games, the place i made really important friendships, the place i met the woman would become the mother of

my two children. college isn't just a place you go to shop for an education. for an american student, college is in many cases their home, the community in which they live. i think it is entirely legitimate for students to want to have a say and how those communities are run. host: you talk about the students should be treated like adults. what do you think about the adult punishments they may face some of their actions, specifically at columbia university? the wall street journal -- the washington post had the run down they could be carbon -- charged with burarand criminal trespassing and the outdoor ones could be charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct. guest: one of the things that is clear about these charges is that they largely depend on what the university's preferences

are. the university chooses to charge these students with these kinds of crimes. i suspect they will be able to. i would draw a little bit of a distinction between the two categories you were just describing. i think there are a lot of students on campuses who have a moral intuition, and this goes back to what i was saying a moment ago, a moral intuition that the idea can be arrested for trespassing on the campus of which you are a student in the middle of the afternoon, just because you are sitting on the lawn as a registered student and declining to leave that lawn. i think a lot of students feel that is morally wrong and even morally incomprehensible. i think this is one of the reasons why colleges need to figure out a language of dealing with these protests and a set of tactics for dealing with these protests which is not currently based on legal rights -- purely

based on legal rights but an image of the university community is and what their rights within the community is. that is going to be tricky, hard as protest tactics developed and conditions continue to evolve but i think it is essential. host: this is susan in caldwell, idaho, dependent. caller: i would just like to suggest for anyone who would like to know how the students are being -- what other people are saying indoctrinated, just google their campus paper, like the columbia spectator or the ucla paper, and you can see what is actually happening through students on each campus and you can pick any campus in the world and do that. there is no pay wall on the student papers. guest: thank you for that. that is a great place for us to

end. the student journalism coming out of these protests is absolutely essential. i absolutely agree that even in times when we are not seeing these kinds of protests, the student journalists are a great way to get an insight as to what is going on in the campus. i was listening to w kcra, the columbia station last night and that was essential to following what was going on in campus. this morning i was reading the twitter feed of the ucla paper and they were talking about the fact that again, counter protests had been allowed to come onto campus and brutalize the encampments and that the police were four hours, first not even called and then doing nothing. that was an analysis of the situation which i saw in real time early this morning, which

was later picked up by the los angeles times and frankly the new york times in its coverage this morning hadn't quite reached that level of analysis yet. host: professor angus johnston, a history professor in the city of new york. thanks for your time. guest: thank you so much. host: coming up in our last hour, we will be joined by two members of congress, brad sherman of california, a member of the foreign relations committee and rep. glenn grothman, a member of education and workforce committee. until they join u we will go back t the question we began the program with today, on the campus protests, the idea of speech and what its limits are. the lines for democrats, republicans, independent and for his and administrators, the numbers are on your screen and

we will get your calls on the other side of the break. >> will you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you god? >> saturday watch american history tds congress investigates as we explore major investigations in the house and senate. authors and historians will tell the stories and see footage and examine the impact and legacy of key congressional hearings. this week the 1975 senate committee hearing led by the idaho democratic senator church with alleged abuses in the intelligence committee. watch better days at 7:00 p.m. eastern on c-span 2. >> nonfiction book lovers, c-span has a number of podcasts for you. listen to best-selling

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conference with marjorie taylor greene who filed the motion to vacate the chair to remove speaker johnson from the speakership. a lot of focus on that in the wake of the house and moving the foreign aid bill that included billions of dollars for ukraine. she has told reporters that she will chat with them starting around 9:00 a.m.. we will get into that when it happens to hear what she has to say about whether she will push the motion to vacate. as we are waiting for that, we are expected to chat in the next half-hour with the democratic congressman sherman of the house foreign relations committee and a focus on what is happening overseas and secretary of state antony blinken traveling to israel focusing on a cease-fire in gaza also focus on the ongoing campus protests. last night, protests happened from coast to coast from columbia university, ucla.

here is the wrap up from the associated press on the overnight action at columbia. police officers carrying shields stormed columbia university building being occupied by pro-palestinian protesters, coming in through windows and arresting dozens of people. protesters had seized the building hamilton hall more than 20 hours earlier and what was seen as a major escalation of the demonstration against the israel-hamas or that has spread nationwide. it was the front pages of newspapers in new york city tt focus on that this morning. the new york post headline, cops finally arrest anti-jewish writers after they were invaded the building and calling for intifada. it was also the front page of the daily news that focus on cox crush columbia takeover. dozens arrested and students facing expulsion.

focusing on those protests as we await the event on capitol hill and hearing from you on phone lines for democrats, republicans, independents, and a special line for students, administrators and equity of college universities. we have put the numbers on the screen. we hear from greg in pendleton, indiana, a republican. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i want to express that the media is run by democrat and the funding from george soros is just about ridiculous. why does not anybody go after george soros for disrupting this country. host: do you want to talk about the protests on campus? caller: yeah, none of this would

be happening if it weren't for guys like george soros. host: dragon indiana. as richard in illinois, democrat. caller: i want to point out that th history has not been clearly the was a book about arab jews living throughout north afric you can look it up by appropriate terms, aaron jew and the like. -- arab jew and the like. this book explained how zionism was mapulated by the british and all that kind of stuff. history is mis from all of this. the jews and the muslims have had long centuries of very good and this is all being ignored in this mania going on now, which is absolutely necessary given

what is happening. i think we need to get the facts right and realize that the war criminals. host: what is necessary in light of what has been happening? what do you mean? caller: what is necessary to do something about it and fix this for the future of the human race on this planet. it is not just about gaza but the entire planet, the military-industrial complex everywhere that needs to be humbled. host: this is bert's in nevada, independent. caller: good morning. i just wanted to touch base on the protests. big part i find confusing is lots of people seem to be ok with the kind of abuse and arrests of these students protesting.

i guess i am just confused because they like to point to the legality of the protests. i feel like i should remind everybody that at some point it was legal to own a person and lots of protests adopt that. host: what did you think of the occupation of that building at columbia university monday night -- i guess it was more tuesday and that was what caused the police to come in late last night? caller: i think that occupation was absolutely something worth looking into. perhaps they would like to bring a little bit of information, knowledge and spread of what happens. the fact that a lot of the demands and requests of the protesters are being ignored saying hey, we have no idea what

they want while ignoring a poster asking to divest from israel, asking for amnesty. it is a bit -- it is a bit unfair the showing claiming violence when literally known violence is being done by the protesters but seems to be done to the protesters. -- i feel like another part is being overlooked. it feels like you are ignoring something. they are protesting this -- you know, this cleansing in the middle east. it feels weird. if you look at the casualties, at the end of the day, 90% of all casualties in that area throughout the entire -- host: we will end it there. marjorie taylor greene talked to reporters in kentucky. [video] >> it is really easy once you

get elected and come to washington, d.c., to be in cruise control and just go on with the status quo. but that is not why i ran to congress and that is not why i came to washington dc. as a matter of fact, i was one of the americans in 2016 that looked at a presidential stage of 17 republican candidates, and the only one that stood out to me was donald trump, the very man that stood up and represented republican voters and americans all over the country that were sick and tired of a republican establishment failing us over and over again. that is why i supported him in 2016. that is why i supported him in 2020. and that is why i support him now. what happened when president trump became president and the republican majority in the house and the republican majority in the senate is the republican establishment under paul ryan,

failed president trump, and failed what we wanted to get done. they passed a $1.3 trillion omnibus that did not fund the wall after we had said at trump rally after trump rally "build the wall." they failed us. they funded the unit party agenda. they funded the status quo that washington, d c wants to keep going. you know what happened? that is why republicans plus the midterms in 2018. nancy pelosi became speaker. republicans did not fight. they allowed us to hope. and then what happens? when democrats took over the house, it was impeachment number one and the entire war against president trump continued. that war on president trump's the war on the same voters today that are ready to go and vote for that man in november and put him in the white house in january. and that is exactly what is

happening. he is winning poll after poll after poll because he is the only one fighting while republicans in the house and republicans in washington continue to cave and be part of the uniparty. mitch mcconnell has a 6% approval rating for a reason, and that is because he caved to the democrats and continued the business model in washington, d.c. that thrives on forever wars and thrives on building a bigger government and taking away freedoms bit by bit of americans. republican voters in america -- americans altogether -- gave republicans the house. they gave us the house in 2022. you want to know why? because they were fed up with the democratic agenda that is destroying the country. wide open borders. an economy that is crashing. freedom is being stolen.

covid shutdowns. all the horrors that happened when joe biden took the white house and democrats took full control. that is why we won the house in 2022. but what have we done with it? what are we giving republican voters to vote for? president trump is the reason why people are going to turn out in november, and i am here fighting every single day to push my party to be a republican-controlled majority that will fight and pass his agenda when he is in the white house in january. and right now, we are not that republican majority. we have a speaker, mike johnson -- by the way, i elected him. i voted for that man. so i have every right to be standing here. it was not a choice of america. it was a choice within our republican conference. i voted for mike johnson because

his voting record before he became speaker was conservative. he voted against funding ukraine. he was solidly pro-life. he voted to secure the border. he voted to fight against democrats, fight against the witchhunt against president trump. but once he became speaker, he has become a man that none of us recognize. he passed three continuing resolutions, and then he finally passed a two-part omnibus that fully funded joe biden's agenda and the democrat agenda, funded the department of justice that wants to put president trump in jail for the rest of his life, which is a death sentence. mike johnson fully funded the fbi, which rated mar-a-lago, and gave them a brand-new building as a gift. pro-life mike johnson funded full-term abortion clinics,

funded the trans agenda on children that 70% of americans are completely against, on both sides of the aisle. and he fully funded joe biden's open border policy, the number one issue in america. so i entered a motion to vacate but i did not call it for a vote. i was controlled. i was responsible. i was being conscious and caring about my conference and our majority. it was a warning to stop serving the democrats and support our republican conference and support our agenda. and he did not do it. and we all went home. and republican voters everywhere -- americans were raging at mike johnson and he doubled down. he did not change course. he continued. when we came back, he reauthorized, and he was the deciding vote himself to stop

the requirement of fisa. he voted it down when only six months before that, before speaker, he was for it. that was the second betrayal. we all went home and america raged. i was still responsible. i was still patient. i was still being careful with our republican majority. and then we came back. then, we came back. and that is when mike johnson fully joined the disgusting business model of washington, d.c., to fund forever wars. yes, that is what this is. the uniparty is making ukraine great again. the uniparty is all about funding every single foreign war. they think this is a business model that needs to be done.

americans do not want to send their hard earned tax dollars to fund the murder and killing in foreign countries. we are fed up with it. and they are screaming as loud as they possibly can. our economy should not be built on the blood of wars in foreign countries. that is not what our economy should be built on. that is not how we grow jobs in america. that is horrific. it is evil and needs to end. that is what the uniparty does, and that's what they continue. mike johnson fully embraced it. he funded 61 more billion dollars for ukraine while he funded hamas and gaza. why do you support israel when you are funding hamas? he gave more money away while our border stays open and today 300 americans will die from fentanyl. tomorrow, 300 americans will die

from fentanyl. the next day, 300 more americans will die from fentanyl poisoning because of the war on america. that is led by the cartels in mexico. nobody in washington, d.c. gives a damn. americans are sick of it -- sick and tired and fed up. you want to know something? nobody wants to rock the boat in washington, d.c. that would be uncomfortable, marjorie. don't want to face the issue, marjorie. let's just wait and get through the election. let's just assume president trump is going to win. we will fix it next conference. i'm sorry. how many more americans have to die? how many more dead american buddies have to pile up before the house of representatives that is paid for by american tax dollars actually does something about it? i want to know when this town is going to give a damn about

americans, and that is what this is really about. there is one thing i know. there is one thing i know. if we get president trump back in the white house in january of 2025, and we are lucky enough to earn the trust and for america to have a republican majority -- we have a job to do. we cannot let people down again. cannot fail president trump. this cannot happen. the mega agenda that i believe in will make america great again. the agenda that i support an american support -- the whole reason my republicans are going to turn out and vote in november is because they support president trump. we leaders in the house of representatives are going to get this done. we are not working for hakeem jeffries. they're not working for joe biden.

we are not going to twist to continue the disgusting practices of washington, d.c. mike johnson is not capable of that job. he has proven it over and over again. now we have hakim jeffries and the democrats coming out, embracing mike johnson with a warm hug and a big, wet, fluffy kiss. they have endorsed him. they are ready to support him as speaker. they want to keep it going, keep the band together. why? because mike johnson has given them everything they want. host: marjorie taylor greene speaking to republicans on capitol hill, saying mike johnson is not capable of the job of speaker. continuing with that conversation with reporters -- if you want to watch it in its entirety, it is on c-span two. we are going to continue here on "washington journal." we will

monitor that conference and any reactions under speaker johnso'' is conference. we will take phone calls in this section of washington journal. we have been talking about police removal of students from columbia university, clashes between protesters and counter protesters at ucla, police moving into separate the two. we are asking you for your reaction on "washington journal." in every, illinois, kent, a republican. guest: as a four tour vietnam veteran it makes my stomach turned to see what is going on in these campuses today. i think america should take note of what happened in europe as they became more and more tolerant of the muslim influence to actually spread their religion all over the world and kill those who disagree.

to allow this on the campuses is just -- it is criminal. and it is criminal. you hear those democrats calling in, saying no one is against the law. no one is above the law. well, you are above the law if you happen to be doing something in an election year that the democrats find would be a problem if they would actually enforce the law and came down on these students and said, look -- we don't care what you think about everything. you are here to learn. you are not here to teach. the idea that they are tearing down the american flag and replacing it with a hamas flag -- hamas are terrorists.

this coverage about the poor palestinian people -- the palestinians are hamas. host: matthew in new jersey. go ahead. guest: the statement that gentleman said is ridiculous and sad. there are many -- i am independent, ok? i support the republicans. i support president trump and marjorie taylor greene. but i am an independent who votes that way. i strongly am against, along with many republicans and independents, the heavy-handed, unnecessary treatment of the palestinians -- innocent men, women, and children with nothing to do with the attack on israel. there are many republicans and independents who also are

against that. not as many, may be, as the democrats. but two wrongs don't make a right in this situation. they have a right to protest. this ringing of the hands with all this protest is ridiculous. they should protest. thank you. host: that is matthew in new jersey. he mentioned marjorie taylor greene. we are showing her press conference over on c-span two. it was a few minutes ago that she declared that mike johnson is not capable of the job of speaker. it was just about a minute ago that she announced she will trigger a solution for a new -- a motion to vacate is what it is known as in congress speak. next week is when she said she would do it. she chatted with reporters. she also chatted with a republican colleague from kentucky.

this call is from fredericksburg, virginia, democrat. good morning. guest: thank you for taking my calls. my comments are to do with democrats and republicans. i totally support the students. i think they have a right to protest. we have a habit of solving problems from the branch rather than the root. this has been going on since 1968, which is 70 years. the students do not live in a bubble. they just want a fair chance to live in a world that is free of all this killing. and we expect them to go sit. when you want a change, what do we do? the students can do it.

the students -- i hope that what the students are doing will bring a permanent change for israel and palestine. we have been living in this for such a long time. we have to give a break to the world. protesting the killing -- all the years we have gone through this. all of this nonsense. host: we are going to step aside now as we are going to bring in via zoom congressman ben sherman, democrat out of the state of california, a senior member of the house affairs committee. we are going to start in california this morning. congressman, i appreciate you joining us. the violence we saw overnight at ucla -- the protesters, the counter protesters, the police

department eventually having to separate the 2 -- what is your reaction to what happened on that campus? guest: it is obviously a tragedy. we want everything to be calm and orderly. i am a brew and myself. at the same time, we cannot have a circumstance where students are not allowed into the library, or into classrooms unless they swear that they hate israel. that is a level of anti-semitism and a violation of title vi of the civil rights act. i look forward to order being restored, and i would hope that those who protest on one side would stay away from those protesting on the other side and should not be preventing students from going to the library. host: overnight at ucla, and

people removing protesters from columbia university. we are expecting votes on the antisemitism awareness act. what with that building and are we supporting that legislation? guest: i support that legislation. i cosponsored it. to advocate the destruction of israel and all israelis, pushing them literally into the mediterranean, is antisemitic. it is strange. that should be obvious to everyone. apparently there are some who deny it. it is like saying abolish slovenia. if i said that, you would probably think i was anti-slovenian. this establishes a base of principal that of course you can criticize the israeli government. i do that often. every israeli i know does that at least once a week. but when you call for the

forcible removal of all jews or the end of self-determination for those jews who live in the holy land that that is anti-semitic i think is pretty clear. by the way, that is the definition that the united states government has been using for 15 years and evaluating anti-semitism in other countries. the state department of course comments on human rights, including antisemitism and other countries. that is the definition we used to criticize the university of bucharest. we can use that same criteria to criticize columbia. host: jerry nadler of new york, member of the judiciary committee, warned that it buttoned to chill culturally protected speech, saying speech critical of israel alone does not constitute unlawful discrimination and this bill speaks too broadly. guest: i think jerry has not

focused on how this definition has been used by the u.s. government under previous administration's. there is a belief that anti-semitism is free speech nazi-ism is free speech, racism is free speech. but on campuses, we do have a rule that when that rises to the level to interfere with education, it is not allowed. just defining something as anti-semitic or racist or homophobic does not mean that it is illegal. it may in some cases be protected by the first amendment. but when it forms the basis of an effort to prevent jews from getting an education on campus, it is not only anti-semitic -- it is illegal. host: going to overseas foreign relations but staying on the topic of israel, expectations for anthony blinken as he travels to the middle east, to

israel this week? guest: the israelis have made an offer for a cease-fire that is basically the position that hamas was taking a month ago. the release not of all the hostages -- but every hostage that is seized is a terrible violation of human rights. but the release of those who are wounded, a release of some of them. hamas sees what is going on in the united states. do you think the position they took is something they are going to back away from and that somehow the united states is going to protect them while they refuse to even stick to the position that they offered a month ago? i think it is up to hamas to

accept -- this is the position of egypt, qatar, the united states. host: as israel makes this offer, "the new york times" had netanyahu comments that israel wants to keep the fighting going. achieving all the goals is out of the question, he said in a meeting with families of hostages being held in gaza. he said we will enter rough of -- raffah with or without a deal to achieve total victory. guest: every side, every war asserts that its goal is total victory. this is a 30 day cease-fire brokered by egypt, qatar, and the united states. at the end of that cease-fire, hopefully, they will negotiate the departure of hamas from the region and the return to the

palestinian controlled peaceful non-hamas gaza. if that cannot be done, keep in mind the statement of hamas's that they will drive israel's forces out of gaza and then repeat october 7, in their words, again and again and again. that is not a cease-fire. we need the release of some. and there needs to be governance in gaza that is not hamas, that is not dedicated to trying to kill a thousand israelis every night they possibly can. host: on this topic on the foreign relations front, the international criminal court is preparing to arrest -- issue arrest warrants, i should say, to israeli officials over the prosecution of this war in gaza. what do you make of that?

is there a goal for the u.s. here? guest: if that were true, then someone call the international criminal court a kangaroo court, and i think that would be an insult. this is a court that has not indicted hamas, that has seen 500,000 people die in tigre in northern ethiopia, and has not issued an indictment. this is a court that has done nothing with regard to suydam for about a decade. this is a court that seems only to convene to get big headlines by attacking israel. the fact is that we have not ratified and joined this court for a reason. i think that they do themselves more damage, but i think they have done themselves great damage by their failure to focus on all the conflicts and all the

crimes that the media does not cover, such as the nearly a billion people driven from their homes in myanmar and verma -- burma are the half-million who died in tigre, or the 18 million who are facing famine conditions in sudan because of war crimes. the icc only seems to focus on israel. host: if the icc does issue these warrants and israeli officials or benjamin netanyahu are targeted -- if they were to travel to the united states, with the united states have any responsibility to the icc? guest: absolutely not. if the north korean court were to indict you, that does not mean the american police will arrest you and send you two for phnom penh.

we do not acknowledge and have not signed or ratified the treaty for the icc, nor do we recognize the north korean court. which of those two is less credible will be determined in the weeks to come. host: coming back to capitol hill, about half an hour ago, part of marjorie taylor greene's press conference, she said she would trigger her motion to vacate resolution against speaker johnson next week, moving ahead with that effort. your reaction to what this means for congress in the weeks and perhaps months to come? guest: i think this shows the disarray of the republican party , the conference, and the reason why democrats should be put back in control of the house of representatives. here is what speaker johnson -- he did the right thing, finally.

they ask him to retreat because these defensive weapons are getting to them six months late. he finally did the right thing. instead of punishing him for delaying arming the ukrainians for six months, she is trying to punish him for finally doing what was necessary in order to defend ukraine. i think democrats -- i know democrats will not let that happen. i believe speaker johnson will be the speaker right through the end of this year. i look forward to electing hakeem jeffries speaker next year. host: the senior member of the house foreign relations committee. appreciate you giving us some time this morning. that is going to do it for this segment of "the washington journal." half an hour left this morning. in that time, we wilbe joined by republican congressman of wisconsin wilson, a member of the educatn workforce

committee. we will talk about the campus protests. and calls for campus presidents to appear before his committee. stick around for that conversation. we will be right back. >> c-span has been delivering unfiltered congressional coverage for 45 years. >> i stand here with my colleagues from the arizona delegation. we are very close friends of congresswoman gabrielle giffords. to remember a tragic event that took place three years ago today. on january 8, 2011, at 10:10 a.m., and just 19.6 seconds, 19 people, including congressman giffords and myself, were shot

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night, on c-span, online at c-span.org, or download the podcast on c-span now, our free mobile app. c-span -- your unfiltered view of politics. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we are joined by a republican congressman from wisconsin, a member of the education workforce committee and budget committee. good morning. thanks for the time. we will start with marjorie taylor greene, the congresswoman half an hour ago saying she will move forward with that motion to vacate and try to remove speaker johnson from his gavel. your reaction to that? guest: i don't think she is going to be successful. you have got to remember, even though mike johnson is a very

powerful person as speaker, he is one of 200 the one republican congressman right now -- 200 between one republican -- 221 republican congressman right now. i think people overestimate of what mike was capable of doing. shutting down the government before the second big omnibus bill -- this was a disagreement that should not be surprising. host: is it surprising to you or a problem for you that it appears that democrats will vote to table a motion to vacate and essentially give mike johnson the votes needed to avoid the removal from speakership if it does actually come up? guest: you are right. it is bothersome. the problem is not everyone will stick to the majority. i would bet 190 out of the 220 republicans want mike johnson to be speaker more than anybody else. the traditional rule is once the majority of the republicans get together, everybody stick with it.

whatever it is going to be -- my guess is 10 to 15 republicans are going to break with precedent and it creates no choice. it is bothersome because then mike johnson owes the democrats his speakership position. but i don't put the blame on speaker johnson. i put the blame on the people who will not stick with the majority of the republicans. host: is that a favor you worry he will return at some point? guest: certainly, he did not have to give up anything there. it is a concern if we establish the precedent that some republicans will ignore the rule that everybody -- once the majority of republicans agree on the speaker, everybody is supposed to stick with that person. if you have a solid number of 10 to 15 or 20 republicans who say i am not going to vote for the speaker, you wind up inevitably having to go to the democrats for votes. it is a bad situation. i think in this case, the fact that he brought the ukraine bill

to the floor by itself will be enough for the democrats to stick with him. but we cannot have it become commonplace in which to elect the speaker you need democrat votes. host: on college campuses -- your reaction to the arrests overnight? police removing the protesters who occupied the hall at columbia university, and the clashes at ucla, the protesters and counter protesters being separated by the lapd? guest: it is something that had to be done. it is disappointing. a couple comments on it. as i understand it when i look into it, in many cases most of these protesters are not connected with the university, right? they are just troublemakers. maybe they are being paid to be troublemakers. maybe not. they show up to the university and protest. in a case like that, the universities get a bad rap. our universities and faculty -- in an ideal world, it would be

50% republican, 50% democrat. i think a lot of these campuses it is 90% to 95% democrat, 5% may be republican. you wind up having kids go off the deep end. that is what is going on. host: we spoke to virginia foxx, the chairwoman of your education workforce committee, calling these college presidents to task, requesting a hearing with leaders of yale, ucla, and michigan, who appeared before your committee on may 23. if they do show up -- do you expect them to? what are you going to ask them? guest: i do expect them to show up, and i'm going to ask them, what is the ideology of your campus? like i said, this country is about half republican, half democrat right now. if these campuses are made up of 80 or 90%, or in some departments 99% -- you are not

getting a balanced view of the world. and i think these presidents of universities right now are conscious of that and realize the leftward ideological tilt of their faculty is one of the reasons why these kids are participating in these stupid protests. host: congressman glenn close men joining us, a republican, a member of the education workforce committee on capitol hill, taking your phone calls this morning before the house is set to come in at 10:00 a.m. eastern. about 25 minutes left. democrats, 202, 748-8000. the antisemitism awareness act is going to be on the floor today. what is your understanding of what that bill does?

guest: it will be making more specific the definitions of what antisemitism is. it will give the department more clarity on what anti-semitism is going on on their campus, to crackdown on it. host: is it something you are going to be supporting? guest: i think right now, i would probably vote for it. you always have concerns when you are playing around with the first amendment. i think some of the definitions are a little bit vague. vagueness is never good. i think we have seen a lot going on in the last couple of weeks. as a result, a lot of people feel congress should be doing something. host: what is the line for free speech and hate speech? guest: well, i think hate speech can be something in which you are clearly trying to cause people to break the law or harm

somebody. i think that is where you cross the line, right? i'm not sure i like the idea of hate speech. who knows what hate means? host: the limits of free speech -- are there limits to free speech? guest: i think if you are encouraging or causing people to break the law, then the government has to do something. so far, i don't know. we have heard of some very serious injuries. somebody could be seriously injured, die, insofar as you are fermenting these riots. a lot of times, it is not even the university people. it is people we believe are paid for by outside interests to try to create the disruption in america and probably to encourage people abroad to dislike america, dislike israel. host: sharon is in greenville,

maryland, democrat. sharon, you are on with the congressman. caller: how can you be so negative about what is going on with the students, who -- on january 6, you did not do a thing. you let a crazy man control everything. people were murdered. please stop the hypocrisy. the home to where you came from. guest: there is a levelheaded woman. what side of the aisle did you think she was from? host: she called on our line from democrats. guest: i think we could have guessed that. on january 6, people were arrested. people went to prison -- sometimes went to prison for years. i don't know what she expected congress to do that day. run out there and fight with people? i think justice was certainly served for anybody who

physically tried to harm a police officer. host: independent. good morning. caller: if they love hamas so much, they need to get over and fight, is the way i look at it. that is all i have got to say. thank you. host: anything you want to respond to? he was saying if they like hamas so much, he should go fight for them. i think that means college students. guest: i don't think these people realize what a great country -- this is kind of a broad statement -- what a great country israel is, and what a problem these hamas people are. i don't know if your listeners are aware. people come from all around the world to live in israel, even if they are not jewish. you notice when they took the hostages, some of the hostages were from thailand. some of the people who were killed were from thailand. israel is such a great country

to live in, such am accepting country, people would come from thailand to work in israel. they are trying to work to get people from ecuador to work in israel. israel is such am accepting country of people from all sorts of races and backgrounds. it is hard to believe anyone can be critical of it. host: what do you expect from secretary of state antony blinken as he travels to israel? guest: i think he is purely a political figure putting a finger in the air. i think maybe he will appear a little bit more pro-israel this time because some of these protesters kind of are embarrassing to president biden. host: the icc, the international criminal court, there have been reports they may be considering issuing warrants against l.a. -- against israeli officials over the war in gaza. what do you make of that? guest: the united states should not get involved in any of these international agencies.

they are run by a bunch of left-wing kooks. israel has had 1000 people killed, their heads cut off of little children. and they are saying israel should be more patient. but israel has been very patient. the hamas fighters hide behind civilians, hide in hospitals and that type of thing where civilian personnel are, and inevitably anymore, if the war fighters are hiding behind civilians, some civilians are going to be killed. that is entirely the fault of the hamas army, it is hiding in the wrong places. i want to point out that war could end tomorrow if hamas would come out of their stupid tunnels, say here are our hostages, and then we would not have a problem at all. it is hard to think of anything other than anti-semitism to justify it. these people who blame israel,

the stupid international agencies blame netanyahu for defending israel. what type of country would enable neighbors to come in, kill a thousand people, and he is supposed to do nothing? of course he is supposed to respond. i think it is incredible, the restraint exercised against hamas. host: this is liza in charlottesville, virginia. good morning. caller: good morning. i have two questions really quick. my niece is currently at university. she was a stellar, most prepared student. and she got included in this incredible business school. she is more prepared and more educated than almost anyone i know. these kids work their tails off to get into the schools. i want to ask you -- what do you know specifically about their demands? not the behavior -- what are

they asking for? what do you know, and what is your response? guest: i think they are asking, among other things, to divest from any investments, which they think would favor israel. i think -- like i said, i met a lot of the people there. they are not necessarily students in the first place. and i think insofar as their demands are siding with hamas or the people in gaza against israel, or feel israel must pay any price whatsoever for defending themselves, i think your daughter is going down the wrong path -- which is not surprising. i think a lot of times at that age the children of the upper class or upper middle class are looking for a cause to live for, and they are getting sucked into this ridiculous hamas-palestine conflict. ik said, people come from all around the world to work in israel or parts of palestine.

just like the united states. people complain about the united states, but for some reason the whole world wants to get here. a lot of the world wants to get to israel. host: in october 7 -- what you think the last two weeks have become the flashpoint for these protests on college campuses? guest: i have no idea why all of a sudden they are more excited. like i said, i believe some of these people are not connected with the universities. perhaps at this time people may be getting orders or being paid by somebody, and that is why it is happening in every campus at the same time. another thing i know is a lot of times this is happening at the most prestigious colleges, right? harvard, penn, m.i.t. why isn't it happening at university of wisconsin in oshkosh or something, all the other universities around the country? this is why it is concerning

that it may be orchestrated, because it isn't popping up at anywhere except for the most well-known 20 or 30 universities in the country. host: orchestrated by -- who would want to orchestrate something like that? are you talking about an international group? guest: i mean, when you have people show up who are not connected with the university, simultaneously, all around the country, have got to wonder. there were riots a few years ago, right? those were inspired by the tragic death in minnesota. it would not surprise me if there are people, like the people behind the scenes who pushed antifa -- if those people are saying we are going to have riots in such and such a week. i think these demonstrations have international consequences because i think it encourages people in other countries to

think that we have a real problem in america and there are people supporting hamas, other than realizing where a country of 300 million people. we have a handful of people at the university of michigan or somewhere -- it is not a lot. it is not a significant share of the campus of columbia. host: rochester, a republican. good morning. caller: am i on? host: yes, ma'am. caller: i wanted to ask you gentlemen -- i know prior to the october 7 -- prior to that day, we were aware of the tunnels. that is what israel was contending with. allegedly, palestinians were coming over.

if we knew about it, why didn't they do some preventative measures to deal with those tunnels? guest: hindsight is always 2020, right? -- 20/20, right? they are there. they are monitoring. i think at the time israelis were more concerned about missiles coming from lebanon. i'm sure in time there will be plenty of internal investigations going on in israel in which somebody is going to get the blame. in the united states, we had a huge intelligence breakdown on 9/11. israel had its own intelligence breakdown. host: when the house comes in for the day, we will take viewers therefore gavel-to-gavel coverage. we will continue to take phone

calls. a republican from the state of wisconsin -- this is joel insult saint marie, michigan. good morning. caller: it is pronounced "sue" saint marie. host: i knew that. i apologize. caller: representative, the last time you were on, i was the last caller. search your archives. he called me an idiot and said i should read the constitution. second of all, i have two medical degrees and what we discussed did not involve the constitution. host: what is your question today? caller: it has to do with republican hypocrisy. the question is this. mike mccarthy and jim jordan were issued subpoenas. they never responded.

there are divisions or whatever you want to call it. the first word was we will use subpoenas to get what we want. what is the difference? guest: i don't know. i think there is a difference when you subpoena a sitting congressman. i'm sure mr. mccarthy or mr. jordan can speak for themselves. host: mckinley bell, california, dave, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. just back up what the congressman said, i saw the results of a survey that only 7% of the faculty members at our colleges and universities regard themselves as conservatives. so it is no wonder that the students are being radicalized when they only get exposed to a narrow, limited set of political and ideological viewpoints. i think if it were up to me, i

would require that until they get another dime of taxpayer money, these colleges and universities should require, one, take a course on the holocaust, so they get some understanding of what the jewish people have been subjected to. and maybe they will notice similarities between what is happening now and what was happening in nazi germany before the jews were rounded up and herded into concentration camps, where they were systematically exterminated. in ways not dissimilar to the ways hamas exterminated 1200 israeli men, women, children, and babies on november 7. the second requirement would be to require these universities and colleges to have affirmative action programs to attract more conservative faculty members, so that the students at these universities get exposed to diversity of ideological and

political viewpoints, so that they learn to think critically. i think it is more important to be caught -- taught how to think then what to think. maybe they would not be so easily indoctrinated by these extremists. guest: well, i agree with all you are saying there. i do feel that universities should aim for more ideological diversity. around the washington area, people register as a republican or democrat. it would be nice if somebody do a study of some of the local universities around the country -- george washington, georgetown, what have you -- say look at the journalism faculty or the law school faculty, or the literature faculty. is there diversity of thought there? instead they got hung up on diversity of rigor great, great grand parents were born. were they born in mexico, in france, in the philippines?

ideologically, they should ask themselves, if all of my faculty or 90% of my faculty in key areas is left-wing, am i giving my students a broad base of opinion? the answer is, with a few exceptions around the country -- it is overwhelming. it affects what they are telling the kids. in general, if i had to stereotype, the democrat, the left-wing is filled with unhappy people who don't like america. the statistics will show that they are unhappy. because they are unhappy, they encourage fundamental changes or revolution in the united states. if you think about it, we are the envy of the world, right? it should not be happening that you go on the news every night -- the whole world wants to get here. despite the fact that the world wants to get here, our universities are filled up with

faculty who too often think like barack obama did that america has to fundamentally be changed. host: why do you think left-wingers are unhappy with america? what are reasons why you think left-wingers are unhappy with america? guest: i think maybe sometimes they are overly concerned about money, so as a result, they are a little bit more subject to the sin of covetous. secondly, i think in general people who are less likely to believe in god are more likely to be unhappy. i think statistics will show that people who vote democrat are certainly less likely to believe in god. host: before the house comes in for the day, 10:00 a.m. eastern -- there is legislative business. you can of course watch that on c-span two. this is a call from lakeland,

minnesota, independent. caller: good morning, america. congressman, what do you think about the eco-health alliance subcommittee happening today? can you tell me, c-span, why it is not on your programming? guest: i'm sorry. i did not hear what his question was. host: i think he is referring to a hearing that is happening today, one of many hearings that happens on capitol hill. we cannot cover them all. we do have a meeting every day where we look at all the hearings that are happening and try to pick the few hearings that might -- that viewers may be most interested in. it is something that occurs on a daily basis. it is not a science. it is more of an art, try to figure out what viewers might be interested in. that is how our programming is scheduled on c-span3, online, and on the web.

there are more hearings that happen every day than we can actually cover. are there hearings you are not aware of, congressman? i will look it up. this call is from delaware, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning, thank you. representative mann and green -- matthews and greene said they will call for a vote to oust speaker johnson over his funding of ukraine and israel. i want to know if the congressman thinks this is a distraction that is needed right now, and how he feels about this. guest: you are right it is a distraction. there are some of the problems in the country we could be talking about. instead, everyone is going to be asking congressman how you are going to vote on the movement to remove speaker johnson. of course i am going to keep him there. we are in an election year. we have seven months to go before the election. now it's not the time to switch

head coaches, right? it takes a while for a head coach to get his sea legs. i think i have watched speaker johnson grow since he has become speaker. always go into disagree with him on something. i wish it differently on the border. he is the guy who was elected a few months ago, elected in part by congress woman greene, and i think we have to stick with her through the election. host: asking what we cover -- some information on what we are showing today on c-span, so ews are aware -- the secretary is testifying on president d's budget. we are going to show that on c-span3 at 10:00 a.m. eastern, also on c-span.org and the free video app. house heari ocyber attacks with the united health group ceo , lking about the recent cyber

attacks against that company. also on c-span.org and the video app. and jerome powell, the fed chair, calling a news conference today at 2:30asrn time. we are going to air tve on c-span. that one is also on the free video app as well. that is to: 30 p.m. -- that is 2:30 p.m. there is a lot going on in a limited space and we try to show as much public affairs as we can. congressman, just about a minute and a half before the house comes in. we want to get you one more call. a republican from richmond, virginia -- good morning. caller: how are you doing, mr. congressman? guest: i'm very good. caller: good to hear. i am just curious. i mean, the holocaust did not happen, so why would anybody be -- host: you don't think the

congress -- the holocaust happen? congressman? guest: i did not understand the question. host: he did not think the holocaust occurred. guest: i would suggest there are many books on the topic, including people who participated in it. maybe that will educate your listener a little bit more. host: appreciate that from the congressman. appreciate your time this morning, joining us from the office building. always good to hear from you. thanks so much for your time. that is going to do it for us this morning on the washington journal. i want to keep you updated on a few things going on. the senate has a hearing on c-span two. the house coming in and just a minute or so. we will show you that live, gavel-to-gavel, here on c-span. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024]

[captioning made possible by th, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's rooms. washington, d.c. may 1, 2024. i hereby appoint the honorable erin h houchin to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, mike johnson, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 9, 2024, the chair will now recognize