and then on afterwards, a political reporter talks about his book on georgia turning purple during the 2020 presidential election and its again in future state and national elections. he is interviewed by national reporter eugene stott. watch book tv every sunday on c-span two. find a guide or watch online anytime at book tv.org. >> c-span has unfiltered coverage of the u.s. response to russia's invasion of ukraine, bringing you the latest from the president and other white house officials, the pentagon, as well as congress. we also have international perspective from united nations and foreign leaders. all on the c-span networks, the mobile app, and our web resource

page where you can watch the latest deals on demand and follow tweets from journalists on the ground. go to c-span.org/ukraine. >> "washington journal" continues. host: is open form, your chance to weigh in on any political issue you are a form impaired for republicans, (202) 748-8001. for dem that, -- for democrats, (202) 748-8000 for all others, (202) 748-8002. the lead political reporter at cleveland.com is joining us to talk about the ohio primary that is coming up in just over a week or so and the political rally happening today in the state of

ohio. donald trump in support of assented -- a senate candidate. on both sides, who is in the ohio senate race? guest: on the democratic side, you have congressman tim ryan, who is seen as the favorite. there is an upstart challenger who is a former attorney at the protection bureau but to brian has garnered -- but tim ryan has garnered most and is seen as the odds on favorite. the republican site has been much more chaotic as plenty of your viewers know, where you have five or six candidates. you have former treasurer josh mandel, who is to been seen as the front runner for quite some time in known around the state. most recently, the author and

venture capitalist, he recently received a trump endorsement and has shot into the upper tier of those candidates. then you have cleveland businessman mike gibbons who has spent a massive amount of his own fortune, more than any other candidate in the country as of right now. you have the former ohio republican party chairman but he has seemed to falter as the contest has gone along he has the endorsement of former senator rob portman but has not picked up steam. then you have a senator from chagrin falls who has tried to position himself as the only candidate who isn't really seeking donald trump's endorsement. he has actually said he is net doing that or that is unlike the other candidates who said that anytime they had the chance they were the most trumpian of the

candidate are the most closest to the president. host: the former president's influence in ohio senate races is still very strong. what has that endorsement meant to jd vance? guest: you would think an endorsement would completely clear the field, president trump won the state by eight points in both 2016 and 2020. he is popular here. one of his senior advisers is the now chair of the ohio republican party. he has a lot of connections in his words carry a lot of weight. when he came out and endorsed jd mance, i think your viewers know that vance has a long history of being very critical of the president, saying things people

might find vitriolic, especially fans of the president. but trump endorsed him but it has caused some fissures in ohio politics. you've seen quite a few county chairs sign onto letter saying this kite hasn't been around and he was bad mouthing you while we were doing work. you have supporters of the other candidates saying the same things. there is a grassroots pushback on vance because he has not really been in the state doing anything. unlike the rest of the field who have been operating here, he has not been as active in republican pauly -- party politics and that has soured someone. whether that is enough to overcome trump's word, which who knows how many people paid that close attention to what is going on to the networking of republican party politics, that is something we will have to

wait until election day to see. host: your most recent piece talks about the fundraising on the republican side as they are spending $50,000 in the gop senate race. where is most of that money coming from? guest: is coming from the candidates themselves would just kind of different from what we normally hear. it is always about super pac's and independent expenditures coming in. don't get me wrong, they are spending a lot of money, but you have a guy like mike gibbons who has put $16 million of his money in the race, i mean -- i think between $9 million has gone into advertising. a guy like matt dolan, his family is the owner of the cleveland guardian has put $10 million, a significant son has -- some have -- sum have gone to

advertising. they have spent a lot of money on ad spending. mike gibbons before the race started, he had run in 2018 the field was cleared for jim renee esi. not too many people knew who he was. he has been bombarding airwaves with his advertising and it seemed to have work to a certain extent. there was pulling showing him around first or second place. the candidates and some super pac's have turned their eyes on him. that will probably change with the torp -- trump endorsement. a ton of money flying around this race. right now it is the most expensive. i suspect we will see probably pennsylvania might get up higher than ohio, but $50 million in a primary is nothing to sneeze at. host: on the democratic side,

tim ryan, what is the issue driving his lead as the presumptive leader on the democratic side? guest: i think there is familiarity within the democratic party of who he is. the democratic party is very familiar with him and there is also this idea that the only democrat who has had success over the decade here beside barack obama's sherrod brown, the democratic senator, the m1 elected to a partisan office statewide peer he has been very successful at it. democrats see him like a blue color mentality. he comes from youngstown and sort of talks about the same things. i think they think that tim ryan can replicate that success and hopefully pick up a senate seat. host: that primary in ohio is

may 3. seth richardson, with cleveland.com, thanks for the update. guest: thanks for having me. host: care is our upcoming political coverage this week. on monday -- here is our upcoming political coverage this week. on monday, a debate from the pennsylvania senate race. that is live here on c-span. you can follow it live on our free mobile app, c-span now. it is open forum, so let's get to your calls on any public policy in the news you are following. on the independent line, joe in laguna woods, california. caller: i would like to encourage privity to invest some time in educating yourselves about false flag operations. the one sore lining in ukraine is bringing up false flag operations saying rush is going

to do something. listening to the january 6 coverage, only one person alluded to that. if you look at ray epson, his haver and more important of senate -- evidence of the fbi when asked whether agents committing criminal acts of violence that day, the representative said i cannot answer that question. that blows the whole thing that it was a white flag operation. -- false flag operation. it has been used from the boston tea party to 9/11 to tremendous, horrible things going on by people who just lost power and they use deception as a tool to advance their agenda at the heart of humanity here let's all learn about false flag operations and hold those accountable and we have a lot of fixing to do.

host: let's go to pat in temple hills, maryland. caller: how are you today? host: i am doing fine. caller: i have a question in regards to student loan. a person commented earlier. is there any program out there that anyone might know of two assist the person who is not a public official? i will be retiring cap because i want to continue working -- i will be determined, because i want to continue working. i still have student debt loans. it was just to get an associates degree, but after getting the degree, i was unemployed for quite a while and was unable to pay back.

host: how did you handle a moratorium on student loan interest, payments during covid? what did you do? caller: i kept up with the program. i did not make any payments to that process, because my husband is now retired and i have children who i still support. so financially, it was just on postponement. host: we will put the question out there. we will go to spring, texas, and mike on the republican line in open forum. caller: what i would like to say about the january 6 committee and the 2000 elections is, if we go and take the 30,000 foot view

and focus, it is clear that mr. trump's strategy was either when the election or claim fraud. that obvious. in the primaries when he lost the iowa caucus to cruz comic-con there was massive fraud in the iowa caucus. no basis in fact, -- i will caucus to cruz, he claimed there was massive fraud in the iowa caucus. it is clear he attempted to overthrow the election. he reported on tape trying to overthrow the election, tried to get both out of georgia. there were audits in arizona, georgia, recounts, and they all showed, i think in georgia they found two people fraudulently

using dead people's names. it is clear, and i understand republicans supporting trump for certain policies, antiabortion and other things, school education and so forth, but my point is, these policies won't make a difference if we don't have a country. right now mr. trump failed in the coup attempt. he studied and knows why and now he's putting in the groundwork so that next time the coup will be successful. he is working diligently to get elected officials, state and county election officials in place so that next time he will be able to overturn the result of an election if he needs to. host: an update on ukraine from

cnbc. the headline zelenskyy said the ukraine invasion only beginning. there is deep concern on the border of ukraine. on friday, a major official for russia released at moscow's goal is to fully control the donbas area and it is unclear if it reflected official comment from russia. he also said the russian-speaking population -- was being oppressed with unrecognized breakaway state that is officially part of moldova which borders ukraine to the south. president zelenskyy said the comments meant that russia had ambition to invade other nearby nations. next up is james in canton, ohio, on the independent line. caller: yes, he had a couple of questions about the social

security the guy was talking about a little bit ago. why aren't they doing anything about it and why are they paying any of the money back they have stolen out of the social security fund all of these years? host: our guest is no longer here, james, but we appreciate the call. diane is in jacksonville, florida. caller: good morning how are you? host: i am fine. caller: i am so happy to see a republican person from texas calling to talk about our elections. i thought i was the lone republican that new that donald trump did not win. nevertheless, i am calling about the court hearings with marjorie taylor greene. i am very upset about the way she appears to be disrespecting the court, making a mockery of it.

this is a very serious case, and she is sitting there as if it is a joke and that really disturbs me and i am wondering what is happening to our country that even our leaders do not respect our court system. they sit there and they plead the fifth, which they are entitled to do, but the problem is some of the questions are just simple yes and no questions and they sit there and make a joke out of it. in the audience is clapping during the court hearing. the judge is stopping to tell the court -- to tell them to respect the court. it is like everyone is taking january six and joke and people died. host: this is reporting from political, gop lawmakers deeply involved in trump plans to overturn election. they write that republican members of congress were heavily

involved with calls and meetings with former president donald trump and his top aides as they devised a strategy to overturn the election in december 2020, according to evidence filed in court. excerpts, part of an effort to force former white house chief of staff mark meadows to appear for an interview, suggests that some of trump's top allies in congress were frequently present in cash present in meetings and efforts -- present in meetings and with figures who would sow doubts about the legitimacy of the election. you can read that at politico.com. it is rosetta, next up, in danville, virginia. caller: i want to speak about donald trump and i would like to know come out of all of these little things that he has done and everybody knows he has done, i am just wondering why the

republicans keep holding on to a man like that. in our country, we all should be free, but it is so sad that our country is not free. i am an 86-year-old black woman and i worked all of my life, and now, it is so sad that america is in this condition now. if we read our bible, people wouldn't be like the way they are. thank you for taking my call. host: minnesota come up next on the independent line, clyde, go ahead. caller: i would like to make a few quick points here about the retirement issue and the a couple other things if i can get them in. the corporations that lobby congress, and that is one of our

biggest problems, corporations tend to write laws more than our representatives. systematically they worked to whittle down the unions to lose the power of the worker and the pension plans that used to be in order, the corporations decided, we needed to get something done here, so the 401(k) was a supplement and that eventually became the beast a resistance for -- p stay resistance -- peace day resistance -- piece date resistance. they know they would make more money getting rid of pension plans and if they could control the workers and take away their power. what we need to do in this country is make the service of this country unattractive to those into prestige, power, and money good when you run for office, you should get your basic income, period.

you should not be allowed to buy stock or anything and as a matter of public record, that oath you take should be taken seriously at if we get rid of the dark money and all of the lobbyists, which it should be a capital crime to be a lobbyist, the representatives we elect should be our lobbyists. but it doesn't work that way. that is the point i would like to make. host: dominic is on the republican line in jakarta, florida. -- punta gorda, florida. caller: that is a great point. lobbyists and lawyers are running politicians and the politicians are supposed to be our lobbyists. on january 6, if we add all the crime that happened on january 6, does it equal half the crime that happens all summer in all of these cities and riots that went on over one stupid police

officer? and archery green will go down -- marjorie greene will go down saying she had a role in the right and what is the difference between adam schiff and the official that went on trial for the russia collusion? that will take everyone that had a false story, cnn plus, everybody out. host: a couple social media stories. this is from writers -- reuters. meta-and other large platforms will have to do more to tackle illegal content or risk hefty fines under new internet rules agreed between european union countries and eu lawmakers on saturday.

let's hear from james in new york city. james is on the independent line it. go ahead. caller: on false flags, i just want to elaborate out in 1999, president bush at the time had just been reelected -- or elected and they found billions of dollars missing from the pentagon. the false flag, we got two planes hitting the towers and one plane hit the pentagon in the bookkeeping department. host: to plano, texas, republican line. caller: just to follow up on the caller from florida. i was watching tv last night and

i guess it was fox news, i don't know, and they were showing i don't know if it was a riot or something, but a kid comes running out of a store, hit a gentleman who is walking down the street, not some into the street, and a car, i don't know if it ran over his head or what. but this is the kind of stuff we have put up with for the last year or so and everyone is concerned about trump and january 6 and law, blah -- and blah, blah. you have them turning killers, thieves loose and they are out doing this work for him so he could become possibly president

of this country. takei look and listen to what is going on -- take a look and listen to what is going on, especially in california and new york. you have seen what is going on. host: islands in the new york times on the potential effort by elon musk to buy twitter, there take on it from a media column. musk takeover twitter could endanger trump's truth social. they say it is slow and clunky and artemis -- audience participation remains low and the merger could bring $1.3 billion in cash to mark donald j. trump of hospice media seems far away. elon musk's plan for a potential hostile takeover of twitter is the latest challenge for trump media technology group of

hospice flagship truth social app which strip trump has put his freewheeling conservative counterpart. mr. rupp -- mr. musk had received financing for the takeover bid and suggested he would loosen twitter moderation policies that he has shaped under an famously led the service to bart mr. trump for inciting violence over the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. it just buckeye, arizona, on the republican line. jerry, go ahead. it looks like we lost jerry on that line but thanks for your calls. there is more ahead here on "washington journal." we will focus on a podcast with the western post jen abelson and nicole dungca in their podcast called "open doors," about no-knock words from police.

your calls coming up next. >> next week on the c-span networks, both chambers of congress in session. the house will take up legislation to increase aid to ukraine. they will consider president biden of hospice federal reserve nominations. members of cabinet will testify before congress on their departments' budgets, including secretary of state anthony blinken. on tuesday, how the air becerra and michael j mccord -- heavier -- javier becerra and michael j mccord. live coverage of the funeral for madeleine albright. and homeland security testifies the -- at the judiciary oversight committee on the next

can border. watch on c-span.org and c-span out cap. and cover of the white house correspondents dinner from sites and sounds inside the ballroom and highlights from past dinners at 6:00 p.m. eastern. and then trevor noah headlines a first white house correspondents association dinner since 2019. president biden and vice president harris specter to attend. watch next week, live on the c-span networks or our free video mobile app. to see video live or demand on live, c-span, your unfiltered view of government. first ladies, in their own words , are eight part series looking at the role of the first ladies, their time in the white house, and issues important to them. >> it was a great advantage and

know what it was like to work in schools because education is such an important issue, both for a governor, but also work president, and so that was very helpful to me. >> using materials from our award-winning biography series, first ladies. >> i am very much the kind of person who believes you should say what you mean and mean what you say and take the consequences. >> and c-span's online video library, where we feature lady bird johnson, betty ford, rosalynn carter, nancy reagan, hillary clinton, laura bush, michelle obama, and melania trump. watch on american history tv on c-span two or listen to the series as a podcast on the c-span now free mobile app or wherever you get your podcast. >> now available, c-span's 2022

congressional directory. order a copy of the congressional directory. this book is your guide to the federal government with contact information for every member of congress, including bios and committee assignments and contact information for state governors and biden administration cabinet. order your copy today at c-spanshop.org. every shop purchase of support c-span's nonprofit parisian. -- nonprofit operation. host: and on "washington journal," our regular focus on podcasts. we are joined by two investigative reporters with the washington post. jenn abelson and nicole dungca , who are not only reporters of the team that produces the podcast "broken doors" for the washington post about the police use of no-knock warrants.