host: it's the "washington journal" for february 25. former president trump achieved his fourth state victory, winning south carolina's primary

saturday with a strong standing among most republicans. that said, his challenger, nikki haley, vows to stay in the race, head to michigan in the leadup to its primary on tuesday. also going to other super tuesday states next week. to start the program, you can comment on the state of campaign 2024, considering yesterday's events in south carolina on the following lines. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8002 for independents. for south carolina residents in the audience, skull give your thoughts on yesterday's primary at 202-748-8003. you can use that same number to text us if you want. you can also post on facebook and on x. here are the results from yesterday's contest in south carolina. with 99% of those precincts

reporting, it was former president trump handily winning the state primary with 59.8% of the vote. 451,000-plus voters for him. and then the former govern, two-term govern of south carolina, nikki haley, 39.5%, only 296,000-plus of voters for the former governor. when it comes to what people were thinking leaving polling yesterday, cbs has a roundup. for those who identify themselves as very conservative voters, it was 86% supporting the former president, versus 13% for nikki haley. those with no college degree, 75% supporting mr. trump. 25% supporting governor haley. white evangelicals, 75% giving their support to the former president versus 24% for nikki haley. just those who identify as republicans, 73% of those saying they voted for mr. trump, 26%

for nikki haley in those exit polls. breaks it down a little more as far as certain categories when it comes to yesterday's events. when it's those who identified what they described as a candidate who fights for them, 91% of those casting votes yesterday in the primary saying they voted for former president trump, only 8% for nikki haley. for those who say they didn't think president biden won in 2020, 88% of votes casting their vote for former president trump, 1 is 1% for nikki haley. immigration, saying it's the most important issue, 82% saying their vote went to the former president, versus nikki haley at 17%. and then for those looking and favoring national abortion ban, 81% of those giving their vote to mr. trump, 19% for nikki haley. it's his fourth state victory, us winning the u.s. virgin islands. again, comment on the state of the race, considering last

night, 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. independents, 202-748-8002. if you are a resident of south carolina and you want to give us your perspective being a resident of the state, 202-748-8003. use that number to text, and you can also post on facebook and on x as well. let's hear from bill in georgia, independent line, on the state of the race in light of south carolina yesterday. bill in georgia, good morning. caller: good morning. yes, i was very impressed with nikki last night. i think she'd make a wonderful president, and even though i'm an independent, i voted with democrats for the last 40 years. but she does have a breath of fresh air as far as the republican party. however, if she's not the nominee and we still continue to have trump as a candidate, i

think it's going to be very simple race. it's a race not totally against trump and president biden. it will be a race between america and trump. now, personally, i stand with america. i stand with america above head and shoulders above any candidate. i will say this. trump has one goal. his one goal is to try to become a king, and he wants to be -- envies people such as stalin and putin. if the people of this country are so eager that they would give away our country to some punk like trump and all of his little red-neck gang, then we deserve -- host: ok, that's still there in georgia. let's hear from robert in indiana, republican line.

primary yesterday in south carolina. the former president winning that. robert, go ahead. caller: hey, good morning. the bad news is the 40% that voted -- this is bad news for republicans. 40% vote for nikki haley. 1/3 of all of the republican voters said that if trump is convicted, he's unfit for the presidency. you can't win the presidency without your party. number two, donald trump is straight to stay out of prison. a lot of people are not following these lawsuits. but if he's found pro-resolution, it could be that maybe he's running for asylum to stay out of prison. if you listen to donald trump, he is pro-resolution on ukraine -- he's pro-resolution on ukraine. he dumps on america, says america is pathetic.

you would think it's russian tv. and that is so that if it doesn't work out in these elections, he has lived a life of luxury. he doesn't want to spend the rest of his life in prison as a disgraced person. he would rather spend the rest of his life in russia. host: ok, joe in washington, d.c., again the primary yesterday, state of the race on our independent line. joe, good morning. caller: good morning, pedro and america. i guess i want to say that i think nikki haley will continue to be in this race, mainly because she has a whole lot of money in the bank. so the money has to -- if everybody donate to nikki haley, i think the money has to be spent, so she has money in the bank, so she'll continue it. host: what's the point of her

staying in the race if it's just about the money she has? caller: well, the point, she knows she's going to lose, but she has all these people working for her. if she had millions of dollars that has to be spent. the campaign must continue to move on. and if you have money, the money must be spent, and she has it to work with. so she can continue, and hopefully she might pick up some sting as she go into super tuesday. she doesn't know. but she does have the money. host: ok, joe in washington, d.c. giving us his thoughts. to his point, "usa today" reporting as of late last night, or later last night, saying the former governor may have lost south carolina's primary, but won't be the last time we see her. the former u.n. ambassador will move on from her lost saturday to begin stumping for the next race, in this case michigan's republican primary a few days

away on tuesday, february 27. michigan will mark the first time both parties' primaries fall on the same date in a month, which can offer a peek of what is to come in november as prejoe biden and donald trump converge on the stakes. that's from last night. it was governor haley she would move on not only to michigan, but super tuesday states as well. you can comment on that. you can comment on the former president trump's victory on the lines. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. and our independents, 202-748-8002. for residents of south carolina, 202-748-8003 is the number you can use to call in. use that same number to text. social media available to you too if you want to post there. let's hear from mike in massachusetts, democrats line on the events of yesterday, campaign 2024. caller: hi, even though i'm a deck, die sort of like nikki

haley in a -- i do sort of like nikki haley in a way. my argument with trump goes back a ways. he was the commander in chief of the armed forces in this country, and he made that remark at a cemetery in france that people who serve in the armed forces are suckers and losers. i've never heard of a world leader put down their own military other than donald trump did. and here's a man who got out of ever serving, a supposed heel spur. and i cannot see the commander in chief, him being the commander in chief of the armed forces. host: you spoke about nikki haley. what is it you like about her? caller: that she is starting to come around and expose him, the opposition, donald trump, for what he really is, and also the

fact her husband is serving in the military right now. and i think she would be great to run against biden or or vice president, if biden didn't run. that would be a tremendous match, nikki haley versus our vice president. carmela harris, that would really be interesting. host: cbs and that exit polling that we showed you, one of the questions asked by those participating in the primary yesterday about how they felt about the country as of today, 3% of those participating yesterday saying they felt enthusiastic about the country. 8% saying they were satisfied. 42% saying they were dissatisfied. and then 46% saying they were angry when it comes to the state of the country. one of the other questions asked, the condition of the national economy. 16% only saying that the

condition of the economy as it currently stands is good. 84% saying it's not good. and that factors into how people voted yesterday in that primary. again, we showed you figures at the top of the show with the former president winning from yesterday over the former two-term governor of the state, nikki haley. mr. trump getting 59.8% of those votes, versus 39% for nikki haley. here's the former president from yesterday. >> wow. that is really something. this was anticipated. and even bigger win than we anticipated. and i was just informed that we got double the number of votes that has ever been received in the great state of south carolina. that's pretty good. so it's a record times two.

there's something going on in the country, some really great things are going on. you look outside, and you see all of the horror. you see million dollars and millions of people coming across the border illegally. we don't know where they come from. they come from jails. they come from prisons. they come from all sorts of places that we don't want to know. they come from mental institutions and insane asylums. and we don't want that in our country. we're not going to stand for it. we're not going to stand for it. you have terrorists coming in. you have people coming in that we just can't -- no country could sustain what's happening to the united states of america, no country. so we're going to straighten things out. the border is the worst it's ever been. you know, in 2016, we won, and we had a bad border. and i talked about the bored air lot. talked about it a lot. and i said we're going to fix it. we're going to fix it. we fixed it very quickly. and in 2020 we couldn't talk about it, although we did get millions of more votes the second time. but now there's a spirit that i

have never seen. we ran two great races. but there's never been ever, there's never been a spirit like this. i just to want say that i have never seen the republican party so unified as it is right now. never been like this. host: again, there were more comments from former president trump. you can see that at cspan.org. also from nikki haley, we'll show you some of her comments in a few minutes. you can talk about either one of those candidates in the larger context of campaign 2024 on the line. brian in massachusetts, independent line. caller: hi, i'm an independent, and i support donald trump, mainly because nikki haley supports us, continuing the war in the ukraine, and she supports raising my generation's social security, as well as the political attacks on donald trump, both in the civil lawsuit

realm and in the criminal realm that have been completely ridiculous. the fact that, in my opinion, i think he won 2020, and i think it was a total manipulation of the ballots with covid and with mail-in ballots. now, whack jobs in massachusetts all the time, you have to ask these people why is biden so good? they can never give you an answer, and all they do is swear and yell at you. host: we'll hear next from john in new york, republican line. go ahead. caller: hi, pedro. that happens for taking my call. yeah, i voted for trump in 2016. i voted for him again in 2020. pretty much i've come to the conclusion he's the wrong guy that makes the right choices. i don't know if that makes sense, but he has moved this country forward. how far, was a desantis person. i don't think trump could win. i think he's very decisive. i still don't understand. here's a guy that if he only

watched his mouth, if he only acted a little more pleasantly, he'd be finishing his second term. however, in a primary, i would vote for nikki haley, only because i think personality-wise, which affects of people's vote, she would be a winner. i think she can vote joe biden and kamala harris, and i do think she would beat govern newsome. i would like to add something. we're talking about the ukraine issue. if biden didn't let these immigrants in and put such a tremendous financial stress on the major cities in this country, my guess is there would be money to give to ukraine. there would be money to give to israel. there will be money to give to taiwan. host: ok, let's hear from vincent in gaithersburg, maryland, democrats line. caller: yes, nikki haley is a

traitor. she calls herself a republican, yet she's taking democrat money. why? and why is she staying in the race? she hopes trump will be taken out by being convicted. that's how desperate democrats are. and the popular vote is not it. it plays a big role. it's the electoral vote. now, nikki has 1% so far. she's going to hold on to that 1%. and the electoral vote, that would knock trump out. that's her strategy. america, have a good day. host: we set aside a line for residents of south carolina, 202-748-8003. steve joins us from there. good morning. caller: good morning. my comment is it just seems, i don't know what world we're

living in that the biggest complaint about nikki haley is she gets along with republicans, democrats, and independents. that used to be a good thing. and now everybody just gets on their own side, and it just seems wrong all the way from the start. pipe do you have a preference amongst the two as far as the former president and nikki haley herself? caller: yeah, i like nikki haley. i just think we need to all get along instead of one side against the other side. host: you said that, but what is it about her that you like? caller: she just gets along with everybody. and people say about raising social security age, sooner or later they're going to have to do something about social security or it's going to go broke, and then nobody is going to have anything. everybody is living longer now, and i just think they aren't

using common sense anymore. host: ok, steve calling us from south carolina. again, a special line for those who live in the state, if you want to call that line. the previous caller before steve brate up he electric voluntarily votes. "new york times" looks at how things stand, particularly when it comes to the former president. as a consequence, the race is poised to come to an end and soon. oddly, it's not the final vote count that explains why the race might end so quickly, it's the delegate count, with mr. trump having 44%, governor haley with none, and still more still uncalled. mr. trump won nearly all the delegates in south carolina with just 60% of the vote. that's because republican primary rules allow states to award most or even all the delegates to the winner. and in south carolina, he was able to win nearly every delegate by winning the state in five of the seven congressional districts with the final still outstanding at the time this was written. there will be plenty more opportunities for mr. trump to win all or nearly all the

delegates of a state. california is one of the opportunities. anything over 50% of the vote would give him every one of the state 80's 169 delegates. every state has ruled so favorable, but with mr. trump faring so well nationwide, he leads the polling, no set of rules would preclude mr. trump from gaining the available delegates. there's more analysis when it comes to the piece at the "new york times." this is from gar in georgia, independent line. caller: good morning. my comment is you remember george w. bush beat dukakis with willie horton. trump is willie horton. willie horton was a black guy who rapped a woman and was let go, and that's how george bush beat dukakis, letting willie horton go. and the republicans are playing the willie horton. trump is willie horton.

that's all he is. and willie horton right now is in jail. and if trump don't go to jail, they'd make a mockery of law and order, thank you. host: rick in south carolina, you're next up, hello. caller: yeah, good morning. our state is like any others, we're actually two different states. i would assume that nikki haley did pretty well on the coast, but if you move west, this is a very red evangelical rural state, and they're good people. they're not racist and they're not all the other things that people want to call them. they just want things to be the way they were three or four years ago back when, you know, they could afford their healthcare and they can afford their groceries and their gas, and they just want things to be back to the way it was, and they think that donald trump is the way there. that's all it is. host: do you agree with that sentiment? caller: i actually do.

i think that the gentleman just a few calls ago said if you ask a democrat what has joe biden done for us that's so great, they just stammer. there is nothing. just to end on this, pedro, we don't know if putin would have invaded ukraine or if hamas would have broken across into israel or if any of those things would have happened under trump. all we do know is they didn't. and that's what people think. host: mayor any columbus, ohio, democrats line. you're next up. caller: hello. i think it's kind of righteous the republicans think that nikki haley should back out. her opponent refused to concede the presidential election, so, you know, good for you, nikki. play his game. stay in there as long as you can. and honestly, as a democrat, i

might vote for her, because i really do not like biden. that's alley all i have to say, so thank you very much. host: ok, that's mary in columbus, ohio. if you go to the "new york times" this morning and take a look at various breakdowns of the state from yesterday, it was lower income areas of the state, 5% of primary voters giving mr. trump 45%, 72% of support over nikki haley. in higher income areas, 36% of those participating yesterday, mr. trump garnering 49% of the support or the vote, 51% for nikki haley in that category. and in the rural areas, 36% of primary voters, mr. trump gaining 70% of those votes. mr. trump getting 54% that have support over 46% for nikki haley. and then it takes a look at strong biden areas that were in 2020.

15% of primary voters coming from those, 50% of those giving support to former president trump, 49% of those giving support to nikki haley. break that down and use that as if you wish as you talk about the results from yesterday. again, with the former president winning in south carolina, michigan holding their primary on tuesday, you can comment on the state of the race, particularly in light of yesterday's events. in new jersey, republican line, we'll hear from sam. caller: good morning, pedro. pedro, if you just break it down, people have been bad mouthing trump. look how your life was back when he was president. economy was booming. the market was great. the border security, the best we've seen in a long time. energy prices, i mean, gas in new jersey was like $2.20, $2.30 a gallon, shot up. safety of the country, you know, the blue states running amok. you can't even go into new york city during the day anymore, and

we know that's been unsafe. alvin bragg, look at what the arizona d.a. did, and god bless her. thank god. he was not a king as some people lefty lunatics called you. he wasn't a king his first presidency. look what he did, with the historically black college and university's, the major donation. look what he did with enterprise zones, which helped a lot of black businesses. he helped everybody. and he realizes he needs all the votes. and let's face it, biden is hemorrhaging right now black support. blacks normally vote about 90% democrat. if trump can get that to around 85%, 84%, biden could get destroyed. i do agree with one earlier caller, if you're going to come down to six states, georgia, pennsylvania, wisconsin, michigan, arizona and nevada, trump is leading in the early polling. but i think also from the last election, the republicans are

more ready election day as far as the shenanigans. and believe me, there were some shenanigans going on. you can't have all these votes turn around after midnight. and like you said, is your life better? host: ok, let's go to jean in north carolina, democrats line. hi. caller: hello. host: you're on, go ahead. caller: ok, i'm calling because i don't understand how -- ok, how can someone vote for trump when he's lied so much? do they realize you can't beat everybody, you can't be for everybody and then turn around and say america is a bad place. he's downgrading america. he made fun of the senator's

husband getting hit in the head with a hammer. and the church people were laughing, and i don't know what's happened to america. i really think that nikki will try to get us to get along. trump doesn't really get along with people. i mean, he doesn't want to. he's always making fun of somebody, that somebody did something, and we should laugh about it. and we shouldn't be laughing. we should be scared that we actually will vote for a man, and i've heard that he can't even vote for himself in florida. does anybody know if that's true or not? host: wayne is in south carolina. again, that line, 202-748-8003 for residents of the state. let's hear from wayne.

caller: good morning, pedro. yeah, a couple of quick things. i don't know who that young lady was from north carolina, but i 100% disagree with her. my only couple of comments about nikki haley, she should have dropped out a long time ago, because she's trying to tear the republican party up. my opinion, my opinion, she says she's not going anywhere. well, she might go independent. maybe it will be joe biden, a v.p. running mate, i don't know. but she needs to drop out. host: why exactly does she need to drop out? caller: well, i got my personal opinion of why i think she needs to drop out. i don't think she does very good for south carolina, very, very much so. biggest thing, trump helped her, now she's 100% against trump. i don't understand that. and i don't think trump is a devil that that north carolina

tried to say he was. when trump was president, everything was better, south carolina especially. host: as a resident of the state, did you support nikki haley when she was governor? caller: no, sir. host: neither time you didn't vote for her? caller: no, sir. host: why not at the time? caller: well, i didn't like her. personally, i just didn't like her. and i got my reasons, but i won't disclose that to america my reasons. i have one more thing, pedro. i was looking in the news yesterday last night about the votes. republicans voted 6-1 for the democrats in their primary. host: mike is in new york state, independent line in saratoga, springs. caller: good morning. i guess my problem is that it's common sense when it comes to trump.

i realize that he inherit the obama economy. and then the pandemic hit. we're still coming out of the pandemic. so these people that act like trump did something amazing and great, life was great, well, it was. he inherited that economy. then, yeah, it all fell apart in the pandemic. and biden is still suffering from that. so what do you expect? the rest of the world, go to the other parts of the country, we're doing better than every other country. i don't want to vote for biden, and i have no choice, because look at the other guy. i'm not going to repeat everything that's flawed about that candidate. i do think as far as nikki haley, she should stay in. she's setting herself up for the next presidential election after this one. she had some dumb fumbles when it comes to slavery and the in vitro fertileization argument, but she's learning and probably will be the favorite in 2028. host: ok, mike there in new york. it's 202-748-8001 for

republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. independents, 202-748-8002. residents of south carolina, 202-748-8003. that number is available via text as well. governor haley said last night after her defeat in her home state of south carolina she will continue on. as far as the race is concerned heading to michigan and other states, here's a portion of what her comments from yesterday. >> there are huge numbers of voters in our republican primaries who are saying they want an alternative. i said earlier this week that no what happens in south carolina, i would continue to run for president. i'm a woman of my word.

>> nikki! nikki! nikki! >> i'm not giving up this fight when a majority of americans disapprove of both donald trump and joe biden. south carolina has spoken. we're the fourth state to do so. in the next 10 days, another 21 states and territories will speak. they have the right to a real choice. host: her comments can be seen on our website at cspan.org. if you have the app, span now, you can also see the comments there as well. here are comments from people on

social media and texting. this is on x, lynn saying trp has not done that well as an cuent president. he should be in the 90's, but he's not. he's 30% to 40% on the table. he cannot get that. this is another view off of x. what's the big deal? nikki haley doesn't wanto ve up and she doesn't want he. this is kent from virginia sayingal will see it through until super tuesday. s does not do better, she will drop out, focus on 2028. we should still have elections then and then another viewer, kendra from rhmd, virginia, i'm an independent and i want nikki to stay inheace, especially since we don't kno trump's state with his charges. i'm part of women for nikki. text us to 202-748-8003. next up, bob from rhode island, democrats line. caller: hello. host: hello, you're on. caller: yes, i'm catholic. i'm from rhode island.

and if donald trump represents god, i am an atheist now, because this thing has turned right around. i hear people talking about the price of gas was trump was in, $2. that's because the country was shut down. get your information correct before they start spewing it. and joe biden will win, despite the criminal, rapist claims, thank you. host: this is mike in orlando, florida, republican line. caller: pedro? host: you're on. caller: good talking to you here. let's get one thing straight about the big-time elephant in the room from last night. i watched that. trump gave his victory speech, and he wanted to thank his family. when he start to thank his family, he looked down, like a note card or piece of paper, and he was reading his family's names from the piece of paper. and on top of that, he forgot to mention erik and lara trump.

i'm like, you need to read actually from a note card, your family members' names? he for got the governor of south carolina, and, of course, in the past, he's confused nikki haley with nancy pelosi. i mean, trump's father and mother both had alzheimer's toward the end of their life, the last two years of his father's life he didn't even -- his father, fred trump, did not know who he was or where he was. so this is the big-time elephant. there's a lot of stuff going around about biden, how he doesn't remember anything. you go back, and i challenge all you maga people who are just so in love with this guy, look at that victory speech and how he looks down and he has to read the names of his own family members. host: if there's concerns about both candidates as a republican, then who do you plan to support? caller: well, i would rather support nikki haley, because i think she's the future. trump is the past. so far, i really think if he gets his hooks into the r.n.c., and i'm very concerned here that he's just going to bankrupt the

r.n.c. and take money away from everybody else to pay his legal bills. if he's truly a billionaire, i mean, $50 million that he owes now is really nothing. but he has to get a hold of the r.n.c. this is truly concerning. host: ok, north carolina is next, independent line. this is david, hello. caller: good morning, everyone. by the way, all these nikki haley supporters calling, do they actually know her real name? her real name is not nikki, and i want them to tell us her real name without googling. host: nikki is part of her name. it's her middle name. you made the claim, i just wanted to clarify that, but go ahead. caller: well, nikki is in punjabi language, everybody over there accident the little girls are called kittle. so when they come over here, oh, that's a real name. no, let's put nikki as the real

name. host: ok, let's hear from linda. linda in south carolina, hi. caller: hi. good morning. thank you for taking my call. i am so concerned. tim scott would have been a senator had it not been for nikki haley appointing him. nikki haley was asked to be the u.n. ambassador. trump does not know his history, the people of south carolina have lost their way. they need to study. repeat the preamble to the constitution, as well as the gettysburg address. that's got to do with the history of south carolina, as well as history of the united states. all of us are immigrants except the native americans. thank you so much. host: let's hear from a south

carolinian. this is edna. go ahead, you're next. caller: yes, i voted for trump, and trump is the only one that can get america up straightened out. he has done a lot for us in the past. i'm from a little town. south carolina, we don't even have a red light, but we was there to vote for trump yesterday. host: why trump over the former governor? caller: well, we don't have a president right now. i'm 77 years old. i could run the white house better than he does. host: let me ask you, as far as nikki haley herself, why not support her? did you not support her when she was governor? caller: no. host: why is that? caller: i just didn't want to. host: ok. let's hear from dan. dan in massachusetts, independent line, hi. caller: how you doing? first things first. there were comments about trump not being able to do anything,

and everything that he did when he came into office on 2016, you know what hit the fan when the pandemic came in. but i know for myself, 401k was great. my family was doing great. my neighbors were doing great. i know everybody was doing great. and all the sudden had the greatest economy, blacks were working, hispanics working. the border was closed. not like it is now. now we have -- and pairing trump with biden, capacity of remembering, well, when you watch this guy on tv, it's evident that he can't run the country. he's got people behind him supporting him somewhere, that's helping him. he has to have his hand held on the tarmac. he's tripping up stairs. i know trump has slid down the stairs, but what biden brings to this country is three wars that

are going on. trump had none. he was told he was going to have ww3, and he was going to be in charge of the nuclear arsenal, his finger on the button, nothing happened. he had the abrams accord. there was more peace time. it's shambles. he went in and said the houthis were no longer terrorists. no, they were terrorists. and then he goes and gives iran $6 billion. well, who's the sponsor of terrorism? iran. host: ok, yep, we got your point. this is previous caller mentioned the r.n.c., a story from nbc from yesterday saying that a prominent republican national committee member is proposing two resolutions that will put some distance between the national party and the former president, at least for a little bit longer. the resolution is from henry barber, long-time member from mississippi, would prohibit the national party from coordinating

with mr. trump or fund raising with his campaign until he wins enough delegates to be the presumptive nominee. the draft says in part, the republican national committee and its leadership will stay neutral throughout the presidential primary and not take on additional staff from any of the active presidential campaigns until a nominee is clearly determined by reaching 1,215 delegates. this adding that those mr. trump has won all of the republican party's primaries and caucuses so far, former u.n. ambassador nikki haley has insisted she plans to stay in the race. that's just some of the goings-on behind the scene when it comes to primaries that take place. the next primary, michigan on tuesday. stay close to our coverage for that on tuesday. to make your comments from yesterday's events in south carolina on the phone line, post on our social media sites. democrats line in new jersey, this is susan. susan from hillsboro, new jersey, hello. caller: good morning, pedro.

that happens for taking my call. nikki haley has said several times that everyone is subject to the laws of our country. there's also said if she's elected and trump is found guilty of crimes, she will pardon him. in my opinion, that would be a disgrace to all the law-abiding citizens of our country. thank you, pedro. have a good day. host: republican line, larry in nebraska, go ahead. caller: this is the first time i called for you. yes, number one, when somebody says that trump said they called people losers and stuff like that, play the tape of john bolton and 22 other people that were there said that he never said that, that it was some reporter making this story up. so if you can get that footage of john bolton saying that

wasn't true, and when people say that, you got to correct them. you got to scold them or shame them for telling untruth. host: ok, the events of yesterday, what did you think of that? caller: i think haley needs to drop out, otherwise she's going to ruin her career in the future. it's a trust thing right now. the reason why i am for trump, and i was for some other people, too, i'm looking for somebody that would fight for me, and haley i think is more for the establishment. when it comes down to when the media attacks us, i want somebody to fight back and defend us. the reason i'm voting for trump is i want to clean up our justice system.

i read orwell when i was in high school, and i thought orwell was an idiot. i didn't think anything like this could ever happen. but we went through in the last eight years, what we saw for four years, the media and the democratic party tried to overthrow a president of the united states. and if you did that back in world war ii with roosevelt, you would have been shot for treason, ok? host: that's larry there in nebraska. there's a report this morning about how nikki haley did, particularly from those military veterans. it highlights the fact that perhaps how nikki haley took former trump to task for criticizings her husband, currently on deployment in africa. haley also played up mr. trump's past disrespectful comments about the late u.s. senator, john mccain, a deck indicated

vietnam vet. according to exit polls, former trump won among those who served in the u.s. armed forces, compared to 3 approximate 3% for those supporting nikki haley from. tom, tom in georgia, independent line. caller: yeah, hi. the real existential threats to our species is not climate fluctuation, which is natural. the real existential threats are iran as a nuclear power, space nuke, the race for space superiority, israel attacking, being attacked, and the ukraine. now, trump is an extremely talented negotiator. now, he can talk us out of all these existential threats, thank you. host: kevin up next, ohio, democrats line. caller: yes, i just want to make

a comment. i just want to say if nikki haley was to join a women's abortion proximate-abortion movement, she'd win this thing hands down. if she was to get along with the people that are pro-abortion. that's all i got to say. host: a question of mental heart, a part of the exit polls conducted by cbs news and others. after the primary yesterday, here's what they found when it comes to nikki haley. asked if she has the physical and mental health to be president among republican voters, 60% saying that she does, versus 39% saying that she does not. it comes to former president trump, 72% of those saying that he has the physical and mental health to be president. only 27% of those participating in the republican primary saying that he does not have those qualities. diana in mississippi, republican line, good morning. caller: good morning. i just want to say that we live

in a democracy, soverybody has the right to do and say what theyant to say regardless. and if she wants to stay in there, she can. one thing is that our veterans, joe biden gets to stand there right now because the veterans fought for this country, and he's a free man as of right now. maybe later on he won't be. but of all the democrats that they have in the united states, joe biden is the only one at his age that they can put for president? also, our veterans are being just abused. our old people are being abused. our children are being neglected, our own children. american children. and here the immigrants come in, and they are treated way better than we are. joe biden is protected. he has secret service. his family has secret service.

what about us? what about that little girl from georgia that was taken out, running, going to school? our freedom has been zapped because the democratic think. host: ok, susan is up next in massachusetts, democrats line. caller: hello. i was wondering if the people in south carolina and those that are going to vote actually know the definition of treason. it's aiding and abetting the enemy. right now, the republican party and trump are aiding and abetting by not passing the help for ukraine. ukraine is fighting for democracy. and against putin. if we do not help them, then we are actually helping putin.

and the only ones that are on the side of not doing anything are those johnson, trump, and the maga republicans. you are voting for a traitor. there would be no january 6, trying to take over our government, if it had not been for the constant lies of president trump. he is a traitor to our country. and i'm not sure why people don't use that word more often. host: ok, susan there in massachusetts, just to show up the breakdown of people from the exit polling. one of the questions asked of those participants, are you part of the maga movement? that was the question. 45% saying that they were. 49% saying no. and that's amongst the white he have jet cal voters, 61% of

those who identify as such giving their support when it comes to yesterday and participating yesterday. 39% of all others there as well identifying that way too. others were there at the cbs website if up to the see the breakdown. other major news publication offering their own breakdown from yesterday's events. you can always see the speeches that played out on our website at cspan.org, and our app, c-span now. if you want to check it out, there's plenty of other campaign 2024 coverage there, too, if you want to check that out. michigan is the next stop, next tuesday. and then it's other states up until super tuesday. hell anyone new jersey, independent line, hi. helen in new jersey, independent line, hi. caller: hi, thank you so much for taking my call. i'm calling because i think nikki haley is a great choice. talking about some of the things trump had done, and people

seemed to forget, like the attack on the white house when he had the opportunity to stop but he didn't stop it. if she's bankrupt, if he's such a billionaire and he can't get up that money for the court, and he bankrupted himself, what makes them think he going to do anything different for our country? and once he get in office, and like how he plays that people down and i am black, how he play us down, and all he has to offer are some bold sneakers for $400? he's clawing at straws. people need to wake up. look at what he he says. look at how he is and think about immigrants and black people, and he has no compassion for anybody. and yes, i did see where he was reading off a list of the name of his relatives, so he can't talk about somebody with

alzheimer's, because he's reading the list. i don't need a list to tell who my children are, who my family members are. i know them because it's better than my heart. he really has to pull up nikki haley as one of our best choices. host: ok, speaking of comments before and regarding african-americans, it was at the black conservative federation event on friday mr. trump made a speech, and one of the things made quite a bit of news, particularly as he spoke about his indictment, it garnered reaction from nikki haley as well. we'll show you both of those, starting first with the former president from friday. >> i got indicted for nothing, for something that is nothing. they were doing it because it's election interference. and then i got indicted a second time, and a third time and a forty time. -- fourth time a. lot of people said that's why the black people like me, because they have been hurt so badly and discriminated against, and they actually viewed me as i'm being

discriminated against. it's been pretty amazing. but possibly, i don't know, maybe there's something there. but i got also sued, and a lot of it comes out -- all of it comes out of the justice department or it comes out of the democrat party. and it's a disgrace. this is like a third world country. host: there are more comments from that event. you can see that on the website and the app. it was part of those comments that became part of nikki haley's comments from last night. here's a portion. >> what i saw today was south carolina's frustration with our country's direction. i've seen that same frustration nationwide. i share it. i feel it to my core. i couldn't be more worried about america. it seems like our country is falling apart. but here's the thing. america will come apart if we make the wrong choices.

this has never been about me or my political future. we need to beat joe biden in november. i don't believe donald trump can beat joe biden. nearly every day trump drives people away. including with his comments just yesterday. today in south carolina, we're getting around 40% of the vote. that's about what we got in new hampshire, too. i'm going to count it. i know 40% is not 50%.

but i also know 40% is not some tiny group. host: again, those comments available if you want to see them at the site and the app. those super tuesday states, alabama, alaska, arkansas, california, colorado, main main be, massachusetts, minnesota, north carolina, oklahoma, tennessee, texas, utah, vermont, virginia, and american samoa. so that's what you can look forward to as the contest continues. in iowa, dennis, democrats line. caller: yes, when trump was president, one of the first things he did was pick jeff sessions as attorney general. who was the biggest critic of jeff sessions as attorney general? it wasn't nancy pelosi. it wasn't chuck schumer. it was donald trump. so trump, why did you pick him? you got family values?

tell that to your ex-wives your family values. and oh, he protects the border. iowa, republican state, molly tims got murdered and trump was president at the time, by a person who was an illegal that looked for a republican farmer, and thank you very much. host: tom from spokane, washington, republican line. caller: i think nikki is very valuable in that she points out trump's downfalls. and when someone votes for biden, they don't really know who they're voting for, because he's handled by the 20, 30-somethings in the hallways and dark shadows, and writing his speeches and setting his

policies. and you're also voting for a party that's gone a little nuts. even alan dershowitz, a liberal democrat, doesn't understand what has happened to the democrat party. this is a party that thinks that there's nothing wrong with the supreme court justice can't define woman. reading stories to 7-year-olds. i could go on and on. i should have written them down. host: ok, got the point. let's hear from al in florida, independent line. al in fort lauderdale, hello. caller: yes, good morning. host: good morning. caller: the left-wing media complex better hurry up and find out if jimmy hoffa is buried at mar-a-lago.

and where was trump in 1963? it's amazing, we have to save democracy, the left is saying while we're blocking democratic royalty, mr. kennedy, out for the process. here's the question i have. if we're talking about treason with trump, isn't it treasonous if a former president is elected by the people? doesn't that prove that it was actually the democrats that created treason with their interference? because the authority comes from the people. go back to seventh grade civics. so if we re-elect donald trump as president, that proves he did not commit treason, because all authority of this government comes from the people. that's the irony of all this. host: judy in illinois, democrats line, hello. caller: yes, i hope the man that said nikki wasn't her real name

is listening, because trump is not trump's real name. remember trump said he likes stupid people. he's got them all. goodbye. host: one more call, james in georgia, republican line. last call, go ahead. caller: yeah, i live about 15 miles from university of georgia, and we're devastated with these illegals coming in our country. it was an illegal that killed this little girl. for biden to let seven to 10 million illegals in our country, and probably another million or two before the end of the year, we got to put trump back into office. host: ok, james in georgia. i thought that was the last call, but we're going to keep going for just a few more minutes if you want to participate. the events of yesterday, south carolina primary, the former president winning handily over nikki haley. if you want to call and make your thoughts known, there's a breakdown from yesterday, 59.8%, the former president.

and 39% for nikki haley. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. independents, 202-748-8002. eric up next in washington, d.c., democrats line. caller: hey, good morning, pedro. i'm a black guy in america, and i'm listening to these people. i'm telling you, for people to think that african-americans going to vote for donald trump, i don't even have words for it. i don't know where they get these. i mean, we already pissed at joe biden about israel. i have people talk about money, youmoney, the money for israel, money for ukraine, but no one is thinking about money for gaza. if we are a christian nation, this is not what christians do. it is crazy.

and i was listening to this thing and they were talking with a senator from maryland how it is getting to the point these people, they are starting these people. but nobody is thinking about it. they always mention ukraine and israel. but the thing is, 2% of african-americans might vote for donald trump. host: ok, that is eric. final call for this topic. we will continue on talking about things related to politics, particularly the events of yesterday. two guests joining us, posters b.j. martino and nancy zdunkewicz will talk campaign 2024 and join us later on in the program. just over two years since russia invaded ukraine. we will talk about that and what has happened since with nancy zdunkewicz from strategic and international strategies. those conversations coming up on "washington journal."

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>> if you ever miss any of c-span's coverage, you can find it anytime online at c-span.org. videos of key hearings, debates, and other events future markers that guide you to interesting news and highlights. these points of interest markers appear on the right-hand side of your screen when you hit play on select videos. this makes it easy to quickly get an idea of what was debated and decided in washington. scroll through and spend a few minutes on c-span's points of interest. >> tonight on q&a, patty davis shares her book "dear mom and dad." she talked about being in the spotlight after her father entered politics in the 1960's, her complicated relationship with her mother, and her views on the reagan administration's handling of the aids epidemic. >> there are people who still

think that my father did not care about gay people or that even he was homophobic, which was not true. so i wanted to bring in some other aspects of it in terms of people in his administration who were homophobic and who did not want him to address the aids issue and who successfully for a while kept things from him because one of my father's flaws, and we all have flaws, was that he delegated things to other people and believed what they told him. so when rock hudson died, no one could keep from him the severity of aids. his friend just died from it. and that was the turning point. >> patti davis with her but tonight at 8:00 -- with her book tonight at 8:00 eastern on c-span's q&a. you can listen on our free

c-span now app. >> c-spanshop.org is c-span's online store. browse our latest collection of apparel, books, home decorations, and accessories. there is something for every c-span fan, and every purchase support our nonprofit operation. shop now or anytime on c-spanshop.org. >> "washington journal" continues. host: a discussion of politics and campaign 2024 with two guests joining us today. b.j. martino, a republican pollster and strategist joining us. also, nancy zdunkewicz, democratic pollster and strategist. to both of you, thank you for coming on the program today. let's start with south carolina yesterday. what were the takeaways?

go ahead. guest: i am struck by how nikki haley is exactly where she was in the survey immediately after her announcement. all of the money and all of the campaigning that was done, she was a commodity in south carolina and was not able to move the needle adult. host: and then mr. martino? guest: i think it is clear at this point trump will be the nominee of the republican party, but he is not yet. there is still a primary process being played out and a delegation map. that map does not look particularly good for nikki haley at this point, even if she manages to keep the 40% going forward in the super tuesday states and those few far and beyond because the winner take all is the deeper sense. trump will have a massive number of delegates by mid-march, and it will be over, but it is not yet. we go back in history to say

1992, pat buchanan continued on and continued to campaign. there is a precedence for even after the delicate i location map -- allocation map. it confirms what we know, that donald trump will be the party's nominee ultimately, but that does not mean he is at this point and it does not mean she should not continue. that is her decision to make. host: put on your strategist hats. if that is what is projected to happen, what does it mean for president trump's campaign, for the people supporting that, the rnc, and what does it mean for the reelection campaign firm joe biden and the dnc? guest: any these are too -- to me, these are two different things these are two different things. the same things are not happening -- to me, these are two different things. the same things are not happening on both sides.

about 40% of republicans who are based republicans, the kind turning out in the republican primary, and they are saying they would like a different choice. i think we do not see the same narrative around joe biden. he is being treated as if he is much more vulnerable than donald trump, even though we don't see the same level of defection from him to another candidate in his own primary. i think this means that maybe donald trump has some issues to worry about. there are a number of people who say they would vote for joe biden instead of donald trump that are voting for nikki haley. guest: i think the democratic party has done a better job of limiting the democratic choices of some of their primary voters in a lot of the states even though the campaigns seem to be run by street magicians at this point.

he has not been a legitimate option alternative. the polling suggests the democratic primary voters are wishing there was someone else, but there are not any other options for them. so it is hard to compare what is going on in the republican process where it has been open, canada's have been on the ballot, versus the democratic process, where folks have been stymied by getting -- from getting ballot access in some of these places. the only thing that matters from being a presumptive nominee to being an actual nominee is unlocking some sort of the coordinations that can occur between the committees and the campaign. at this point that is still prevented until that point at which he becomes the nominee. but for all intents and purposes, donald trump is the nominee. he is running a general election campaign. at this point, it will be between he and biden. i think you will see a lot of

the attention focused even more so than it has been on the dynamic between those two rather than any sort of primary dynamic that will happen in michigan and states going forward. host: what do you think is the big message going forward for the two candidates? what is that dynamic, the message the campaign will send out? guest: from campaign, it is the classic -- from the trump campaign, it is the classic, are you better now than you were for use ago? we have folks coming out of inflation. that is still ongoing but coming out of the economic devastation that has been wrought. the issue of immigration is not going to go away. those things are the issues that the trump campaign and republicans at-large want to continue to drive. you look at all of the polling and all of the states as well as nationally, those are two of the most important issues that are on the map for all voters, not just republicans, and issues which trump has significant

advantages over joe biden. voters are more likely to trust him on those two. there are certainly ones that biden has an advantage on as well, but those are the places republicans will be running, at least in the near term, to create a dynamic favorable to them. host: for the biden campaign, we have seen a sharpening against former president trump. as that continues to but does not become the main message or are there other aspects? guest: it has to be. polling gives the biden version of what is going on in the economy, and you test the same thing against donald trump, and that is how we actually win the debate. or as people don't feel great about the way things are going in the economy, so you have to make it a competition between two different perspectives on how we will make sure the economy works for everybody moving forward. so they will be trying to make that message. this is somebody who does not actually look out for you, that is more concerned about the wealthy and corporations.

and here is what we are planning to do to help people like you and make sure you feel confident in your family's ability to thrive in the years ahead.and is not a backwards looking thing because i agree that is the question of how do you feel today? a lot of people would say i feel like i was better moving into 2020. it is a question of who has a better plan for you and who do you trust to do that in the next four years? right now, i am not confident we are expressing that but i feel like we can get there. also, abortion. this will be the number two issue. every single woman who is forced to give birth to their rapist's child, every woman struggling to get ivf, every single woman who does not have the rights and decisions about her own body, period, that is donald trump's fault and we need to make sure he owns it and that we are forcefully pushing that message

because a lot of people don't know what democrats are going to do to be able to protect those issues. a lot of people don't understand that democrats are having a plan to make sure they are able to protect those rights. host: our two guests with us. if you want to ask questions, it is (202) 748-8000 for republicans. (202) 748-8001 for democrats. for independents, (202) 748-8002 . if you want to text questions or comments, you can do that at (202) 748-8003. you brought up abortion. i suspect the supreme court decision will play in that going forward. guest: absolutely and the supreme court races across the south were a lot republicans have full control of state supreme court's. this -- supreme courts. we have been trying to say forever republicans are not just coming after your right to have an abortion at a certain number of weeks. they are coming after ivf.

they are coming after birth control. they don't believe in protections for exceptions. the even include the life of the mother, as we saw in texas with kate cox. all of these bullet points keep happening where they said this would not happen and we kept telling you it would. now we are going to very forcefully make that case. the ads write themselves. host: what about this idea that all of the things she described could be directly targeted to the former president? guest: democrats certainly effectively used that issue in 2022 against republicans who were sadly caught flat-footed, even though everyone knew what the after effects of dobbs would be. those messages, particularly with the alabama case, trump immediately that day came out in favor of ivf. republicans learned we cannot put our heads in the sand with regards to this issue. you see the virginia state

legislative elections of 2023, republicans very effectively pushed back on this republicans are extremists on the issue of abortion. when you look across those legislative races, republicans won every district that was biden plus eight or less. even though the issue was used in every single democratic campaign against the republican opponents. republicans won by deleting districts in virginia because -- biden leading districts in virginia. republicans spoke to the issue, made clear they took a reasonable position, and make sure it was clear to voters, just as having a position of no exceptions is not palatable to the vast majority of voters. having the position of allowing abortion up to the moment of birth is also not palatable to the majority of voters. so seeking out that ground. we may not win on it as republicans but we can fight it to a point where we can turn and talk about other issues. guest: to be clear, we have won

in every state legislative race i have watched play out because of the issue of abortion. flipped the statehouse in pennsylvania. we won legislature in virginia because of the issue of abortion. to say otherwise i think is a mistake. host: let me ask you one question. because we talked about super tuesday states coming up, michigan is coming on tuesday. any takeaways as far as what to expect there even if the president wins there and what it means for nikki haley moving forward? one of the things you mentioned was abortion was at play used to go. guest: at the same legislation as well because people care about abortion rights. i am interested to see what happens in the movement for ability to say that people are not committed to one of the presidential candidates. there are a number of people suggesting that americans should use this opportunity in the democratic primary to express

their interest in the biden administration taking a different approach when it comes to the conflict in israel and gaza. interested to see what it means. i don't think these folks will not actually vote for the president. but interested to see just how many people take that opportunity. host: mr. martino? guest: i think what we are looking at on the republican side right now is delegate counts. at this point, every state that goes by, president trump wins, is going to win the vast majority, if not all of the delegates as we go into the winner take all states. so now it is just coming up to the point at which point does he cross that threshold. probably won't be super tuesday itself, but certainly by sometime in mid-march. again, that delegate threshold will be reached and it will be at that point over. host: our guests joining us at this point. let's hear from bernie in new york state on the democrats line. you are ahmaud arbery guests. caller: good morning. i understand the recent polling with respect to the political

parties. however, what i would like to know is, why is it at least -- why isn't it released to the public? if you have a good answer for that, have you ever polled to see how many people, prospective voters, would say they are influenced by polling? thank you. host: mr. martino? guest: one bernie to another, i would say there are several good reasons why polling should be released, and you see why a letter public outlets release polling. i think it provides a public service for voters to understand not only what their own opinions are but what the opinions are of the public and the electorate at large. that is not to say that every poll that is released is done out of the kindness of their hearts. many campaigns release poles and organizations release polls to shape the narrative in some way, and i think it is incumbent upon journalists and the consumers of

polls understand who is releasing this poll and why they are doing it, but i certainly think it is a critically important -- it is critically important public outlets continued to release public polling so voters understand, how does everyone feel about this? not just me and the people i talked to. guest: i agree, and i would say to the second part of the question about wondering if people change their behavior based on what they see released in public service, there is a lot of evidence that that does not actually happen. so that is why it is hard for people to make strategic arguments. for example, you hear nikki haley doing this a lot where people will say the majority of people don't like either -- don't want either of these candidates being president. people have a hard time making decisions that would take them -- require them to have some

strategy involves based on what they would see in polls. there are more likely to vote other opinions. host: when you see a poll for donald trump's age or joe biden's age in the mental acuity, what role does that play? guest: that is a different question and we should take it seriously. listen to what people say. they worry about the ability of both of these older men to be able to do the most demanding job in the world. host: same question. guest: i think when you look at the polling today, and certainly tells you where opinion and concerns are today. i like at polling like meteorology. it can tell you, is it raining today right now, or not? if i am looking a few hours ahead, i can give you a relative sense or that. if you will ask me whether it will be a thunderstorm or a bright sunny day in november, ok, the polling today and the forecast today is not that effective. it is telling you where it is very effective at telling you

where is the mindset of the american electorate today. what are their concerns about their own lives and their candidates? guest: i would actually add to this it is important that to realize when we are taking information in with other organizations that we are using what we see right now and polling, and we do not take it as immovable. our job is to say we think we want to tell people a story. let's make sure they understand this about my candidate so they believe they are capable of doing the job and they believe they are trustworthy and understand they have plans that will help them so we don't just say we do not accept the data. our job is to run campaigns now to try to fix issues or take advantage of opportunities that we have. guest: polling can be used for descriptive, predictive, prescriptive uses.

the vast majority of what media cares about is who will win on election day, but much of what professional posters do is the descriptive part of that, helping understand how you navigate the public opinion help shape it to win an election, a campaign. host: republican line, this is from wisconsin from keith. hello. caller: good morning, pedro, the two guests, and my fellow americans. how many americans really know where this all started? going back with her trump took the oath of office, before he became president, before he did anything, there were calls for his impeachment. he was the president yet and there were democrats calling for his impeachment. everything since then has been election interference. with yesterday with more than a 20 point lead, donald trump took over nikki haley in her home state. besides being embarrassed, she should do what tim scott did,

drop out and endorse donald trump, but she will not do that. the reason she will not that is she will run as an independent. she is going to keep on running to raise as much money as she can between now and then and run as a third party. if she was a true republican, she would drop out and endorse donald trump because most americans know that what he did for his first three years before covid was the best for america and they remember that compared to the first three years of joe biden. host: jesus in wisconsin let -- kise in wisconsin -- keith in wisconsin. let's talk about their impacts and where it goes forward as the year goes on particularly. guest: i am not quite sure. we will have to see. i don't know what nikki haley's plans are for the future how long she plans to stay how much money she has come and how much longer she can put up a fight. it is clear there is about 40%

of republican voters who are interested in having another choice. who knows what the future holds for donald trump for any number of reasons? i to say, but if you think about what is happening in the general election, i am stuck by the polling that shows if nikki haley were the nominee that joe biden would lose mostly because of the independents. but if donald trump is the nominee, joe biden is able to win independents. the polling is undervaluing the competitiveness of nikki haley because a lot of the republicans are not yet saying they would support her in those surveys and yet she is still winning over joe biden, so assuming these folks all republicans -- are republicans, they are more inclined to say i don't love nikki haley that i would want to vote for her instead of letting joe biden become president.

so her margin would grow even further. she would be quite competitive. campaigns happen so who knows what would actually happen if we have a real choice between biden and haley and we have a chance to have a real conversation about her. i don't think that is going to happen right now. i think donald trump will become the nominee. i don't understand what the impact of that will be but it seems to be there is a number of people who voted for joe biden in 2020, even some who voted for trump and 2020 but who are disillusioned and are open to supporting joe biden in 2024. host: let me ask you quickly, robert kennedy, any measurable impact at this point as far as swaying the president's chances of reelection? guest: this is a ballot access question so you have to take it on a state-by-state basis so i would like to see polling actually in the states where

they are going to be on the ballot right now. i think it is more of a talking point because they will not be on the ballot at all in most of the states. guest: very much an intellectual exercise at this point until we understand how many states will give access to who will be there candidate. they seem to have some issues finding someone who will agree. joe manchin, hogan, who is next? same with the green party candidate. how is that going to play out? it is very much state-by-state and comes down to a handful of states. when are we looking at in arizona, nevada, wisconsin, michigan, pennsylvania, north carolina, georgia? that is the game. every state will be important to electing a president in 2024 so knowing who will be on the ballot in those states and will gain access is critical and then polling in the state to understand who they have that

impact with. host: this is from nancy in pennsylvania, democrats line. caller: good morning. yes, but i am finding is people, when they are getting interviewed about what they think of what is going to happen if trump gets convicted, would you still vote for him? an interview person said, yes, i would. he is saying democracy is gone, i am voting for somebody that got in our democracy system or was convicted of something, and we have to believe in democracy. i heard this speech from trump afterwards, part of it, and i heard nikki haley's that you just had on the show. and what she said is honesty.

i believe she is on the issues. trump was on, and he is former president trump, and that is how we should stay. his was on him. this was on his followers and a brigade of getting us back into division so bad. that is why we are frustrated still. i am very upset that people are not thinking about the issues. neither of them. i am democratic, as you know from the call, and i will not vote for president biden again for reasons that he made things happen to get us out of work trump brought us in, but people were saying stuff that is nonsense. he did not help us get out of much of anything. host: ok, got the point. thank you very much. it is issues. guest: nancy is a great example

for me of what i call the double haters. even president biden's super pac released a memo earlier this year calling them the nonos. sorry, nancy, to put you in that box, but there is a segment of the electorate, including many of the states, as many as one in five in some places, that say i don't like either one of these choices, and they are going to vote against someone ultimately or maybe if there is a third-party option, vote there. it is a dynamic we started to see in 2016. it was the first election where there was a sizable portion of the electorate that said i have an unfavorable view of both candidates, and ultimately, they voted against whoever was sort of in their direct line of sight the last 10 days. we have a lot of early voting and absentee voting happening but they will be late deciders and will vote against somebody. again to this point, it is whoever stokes the fire the most in the closing days.

to the point of issues, i think you will see clearly once we get the jockeying of the primary, you will see a focus on the issues and a lot of ads talking about the issues. guest: i agree. i am ready for the general election to start because right now, we are having the same conversation we have been having for the past two years. i am ready for people to put donald trump's feet to the fire on some of these things. right now, it is joe biden being held to a different standard as president and it is time for us to get more clarity about what donald trump believes on certain issues. two her point about donald trump being convicted of crimes, it is really interesting the number of people who say that would make it an impact on their vote if somebody was convicted of a crime. the problem is a number of those people when we actually asked them a little bit more, they don't think this was a

problematic process or they will find the other side will be just as guilty of something, and so everybody is guilty where it is just political or i just don't believe what that situation was with donald trump was a crime specifically. so they change the definition of crime to excuse it. that said, there is still enough people around the edges and especially in tight races and races that are going to be decided by the number of 20% of people who dislike both candidates. this could be a real factor. host: nancy zdunkewicz, talk about your work. guest: sure. i am proud to have watched the first 100% woman owned political polling firm a year ago today. i have a more tech forward approach to public opinion

research for the client you would expect from a legacy firm, and i really enjoyed getting to work with people to understand what people think about different issues, different candidates. really enjoy it. it is a great joy. host: b.j. martino. guest: a firmly gen z approach to polling. our republican firm, we do a lot of work with campaigns and organizations to help them make decisions about what are the right messages and who to talk to, so a lot of the polling you see, there is so much in the public space right now. you see polling every day in the news. as the tip of the iceberg for the amount of research that goes on underneath that for these campaigns and organizations understanding what is the best way to express themselves and navigate public opinion that is ever shifting.

host: david in florida, good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to talk about voter fraud and the surge of immigrants coming across the border as well as the current legislation in washington regarding border control that is being held up. so i have four examples of like you to discuss. the first is president biden has forgiven student debt, which appears to be in my opinion a clear effort to buy votes for the upcoming election. that is number one. number two, the current legislation and border control includes the right for these illegal immigrants across our border from all countries all over the world now to be given the right to vote in the upcoming election. isn't that voter fraud? three, the hopeful governor of

the state of new york recently said, don't worry about it, we are just going after trump. the governor's office in new york state covers the entire judicial system in new york state and was targeted to go after former president trump to prevent him from becoming president again. my fourth is cnn for the past four years has devoted the entire program to an antitrust campaign. you can show without trump being mentioned -- you can't watch a show without trump being mentioned all day long. trump did this and that. it leads to the focus that somehow republicans are people, trying to take over democracy but the liberals are good. host: ok, the four points you had come i want to mention at the onset if you would come immigration as of yesterday was

the largest category. maybe start there as far as how immigration plays out the cycle. guest: it continues to be a problem and voters understand it. they understand not only is it an issue at the border but back where they are. it is an economic burden to the places that they live. they have to provide housing and care for this vast number of folks who have come into the country as well as unfortunately the crime and the flow of fentanyl that has come across the border. so that is a big impact. i think when you look at the legislation that was being talked about on the hill and has been tabled, the problem for the biden administration is that they claimed first and foremost they could not do anything without legislation after unrolling, and now realizing how bad the issue continues to be for them, they say we can do all of these executive orders. power and authority that they had this entire time, they are

now backing off. so there is a messaging issue for the biden administration. the other one on student debt, all of the public suggest there is real softness for the biden campaign among younger democrats. there is a lack of enthusiasm. i think democrats will do a lot of different things to regain that enthusiasm for those younger voters, but this is certainly one component of it and a very expensive one for the american taxpayer, especially those who paid off their student loan debts or never incurred them in the first place. but that essentially correct and indicative of the problem the administer should and campaign sees they are having with their younger base. guest: sure, this is a major campaign promise that joe biden was going to do. it matters to people that people keep those promises. after the supreme court decision that made it impossible for him to do it the way they initially

were trying to do, they have been trying to make sure they can continue to do this in other ways. i think that is what they promised and what they should do. it was the number one thing that 18 to 34-year-olds had heard about coming into the 2022 midterms, the action on student debt relief. so it is something they care about. it is a message they are spreading and talking about themselves. not that many political stories are being carried by that generation so i agree it is an important thing when it comes to getting those folks to turn up in november. when it comes to immigration, immigration is one of the top issues, at one of the reasons why is because of the consolidation and report -- the consolidation of republican voters. it is one of the things that makes them republicans, and 90% of them if given the opportunity to talk about whether issue is,

it is that and the economy, the two things that they focus on the most. the issue of the pro-choice question. that said, there is a vulnerability for the biden administration. it is important we make sure this is an immigration problem and we need to fix our immigration laws. when you speak to voters about it, they understand this. then i want people to come to the country illegally and they understand that laws are outdated and we need to fix them so it is incumbent on democrats to educate people about their choice and where we provide people a pathway to citizenship in a real way to enter this country illegally so they can pay taxes and become americans and that people believe in that and we can celebrate that shared value together as a country. so having that will be a better

way to have this conversation. i would like to see that narrative a little bit more. guest: we dealt with this issue for a couple decades now. before 9/11, the bush administration was talking about immigration reform. pulling back then twentysomething years ago, starting to date myself, was certainly suggesting voters understood before they can be reform of the system, there has to be border security. that was clear 20 plus years ago. it is clear now that there has to be an order of operations here, that we have to have a secure border before we can talk about reforming the process and the system, because without this , this second piece is meaningless. voters have gotten that for a long time. host: let's hear from richard in georgia, republican line. hi. caller: yes, sir. i would like to ask a question about, the strategists, why not

use the prior to all of this immigration with the mayors and governors were saying about sanctuary cities? now compare that to what they are saying now. i have not been able to find an answer to that. thank you, sir. guest: i think i tweeted earlier this week governor pritzker of illinois of the state address and said we did not ask for this problem, and then you go back to 2021 where illinois made the state more of a century city, a century state, and he was talk about how happy he was about this. they did ask for this problem. they did create a situation where now they have to deal with the consequences and you are clearly seeing voters in some of those base democratic areas. and i think this is some of the issues that certainly the biting campaign is having with some african-american voters right now, that they are seeing services being diverted from

citizens and cities to those who are now showing up and are here illegally. host: nancy zdunkewicz, you sent the biting campaign and administration was on defense on this. what do you think as far as offense they should do and what should the message be going forward? guest: we are on defense and part of it is a reluctance to engage on an issue where we don't have an advantage to do a better job on it. it is not one of the top issues for the voters that are open to voting for democrats. i understand that, but to get anything done on it, we need to articulate what our values are better and it turns out people from a policy perspective agree with all of the things democrats say they want to do. they want to provide a pathway to citizenship. they are open to the different ways we send want to take action when it comes to border security as well. i think we just have to have a

conversation instead of letting people speak for us about what we are trying to do. right now, it is all the other side and what they are characterizing as our approach to immigration. host: we have if you work about your day jobs in this respect, please ask the pay for all of these polls. you don't have to reveal state secrets but in general, who pays for these things? guest: i love these people. a lot of them are at least for me campaigns, some wonderful unions, some nonprofits, issue advocacy organizations. why they are doing this is because what people believe is important to how they engage with the public. it is important for them to understand the public opinion. i appreciate their respect for the electorate. host: just one quick question.

generally, how much do polls cost? how much can it cost? guest: so many answers to that question depending on the mode you are going to do and the size of the number of interviews you will conduct and the length of the survey. but there is online research which is a lot cheaper, tradition search which is starting to go away as much more expensive. there is a wide range. i would say this, the question the caller asked his executive right and something every consumer of every poll they see in the public space should be asked, who paid for that? there are polls released on the kindness of someone's heart. even media polls are doing it to create clicks and attention to themselves. everyone who releases a poll has a reason they are doing it. it is critically important in every poll to ask that question. host: what makes a quality poll? guest: again, there are

textbooks written about that answer but i think it is careful. there are three legs of the stool. going to get academic. there is the survey sampling, how we draw the list of voters, and how we make sure we get a representative sample. there is the questions we ask. are we asking questions that are unbiased, and we are not leading someone in one direction or the other? that does not do anyone any good. finally, the mode of contact. how are we reaching them and are using a mode that allows us to get to every one of those voters and at least have a chance of participating? those are the stool. guest: when you are a consumer of public data, it is important to look at who funded the survey, number one. saw a lot of people flooding the zone that were organizations that had never existed before, including apparently two highschoolers. the same waiting as legacy posters. if you are someone who is doing a high quality survey on behalf

of a major media organization or university, you have a strong interest in getting it right, and you have a time series, you are making an adjustment to make sure you are accurate. two highschoolers do not have the same interests, nor do those those who are -- nor do those who are flooding the zone because they were a bunch of conservative outlets attempting to show momentum in a different direction. you saw that of course not being true. if you were a better consumer of the public polls and looked at which of these is a high-quality pollster, which of them has a long track record of doing polling, they are affiliated with, if they released a methodology statement, if you look at those polls, you had a better sense of what was actually happening in the race. who is funding it? are they associated with a party? did they release a methodology

statement? maybe there are differences in methodology, but you have to be transparent about it. the ones that don't anything about how they asked the question or got there simply are the ones you should not be attention to. guest: there are bad actors on both sides who have tried to manipulate. there was one on the democratic side last cycle was playing political prediction markets and releasing polling, the p rosa polling -- pete rose of polling to try to raise a few dollars. important to ask the questions and look at every public poll. come in with skepticism. not saying it is not useful but ask questions. guest: look at the polling average. you can have more trust in five. host: let's hear from barbara in michigan on the democrats line. caller: hi. i lived through quite a few republican and democrat presidents. and i always felt like somebody

will do the right thing. when donald trump showed up on the scene, i have been watching him and was fascinated with him. rich white guy, good-looking. but boy. and i watched the campaign last night. this man is just so empty. i watch nikki haley and am just delighted to see a republican woman come on there with dignity, courage. and even though i probably would not vote for her, i would not be afraid if she was president. i am afraid of donald trump.he is ignorant . he does not know what he is doing. and he is mean. i did not see nikki being mean. she was just flat out stating a case. i know you can't poll feelings

about the candidates, but my main feeling of donald trump is he is just mean. if he can hurt somebody, he will do it. host: in michigan there. mr. martino? guest: there are polls we are asking if you have a favorable there are polls we are asking beyond if you have a favorable -- there are polls we are asking beyond if you have a favorable or unfavorable view. what she said about nikki haley's campaign and what it means to i think a segment of not just republican primary voters but some swing voters as well, that we have a female republican nominee who is doing and running a campaign against a former president who has a lot of advantages to his race. i think that is well taken. but ultimately, the caller is a base democratic bowler who said

-- voter who said i don't mind if nikki haley man, i would not vote for her. it is hard to say a lot of the sentiments are something we would take into account because it would be a narrow band of voters in a handful of states that will ultimately decide this. guest: i have the privilege of facilitating some focus groups a couple weeks ago, and it was really interesting to talk to women who were moderate republicans, women philadelphia suburbs from -- women from the philadelphia suburbs. they also were central to the president by then -- biden's victory in 2020. but just the exact kind of voters you want to speak to. it was interesting to play videos of donald trump to them because you could see they were just reminded like, oh, gosh, i

forgot how awful he is. that strategy i think is what the biden administration is hoping for, that the republican women who are at least open to voting for somebody else, they don't like donald trump are exactly those reasons. he continually crosses their lines. they are upset with his conduct. the more it comes into focus, they hope it provides more opportunity for joe biden. i don't know that it works for every segment of the people who vote for democrats, but in this group ended. host: david is next in new jersey for our guests, independent line. hi. caller: good morning. i have an issue with all of this pulling. when i watch the news when i read the news, so much is about polling and opinions rather than a deep dive into the substantive issues that everybody really needs to understand to make an informed choice with their vote.

for example, let's talk about climate change. i think there is enough out there to where we could agree this is a critical issue that needs to be understood by voters and by our lawmakers. you can disagree about it, but unless you truly understand the substance of it, you cannot make the informed choice. but when you watch the news, you are going to hear about polling and opinions. you are not going to hear about the substance of that. there is the issue about funding ukraine and funding israel. we don't get below the surface. it seems as though everybody has a mile wide of opinions but an inch deep of information. so much is spent on polling. i think that does a disservice because there is only 24 hours in a day and there is only so much time people can vote to understanding -- can devote to understanding the truth about this and the issues such that we

might be able to change our minds from where we are now and make a different choice based on information that is trustworthy and that is presented in a bona fide fair manner. host: david in new jersey, thanks for that. guest: that is fair. it has changed a lot, the news. people are left with what he described as opinions a mile wide and an inch deep. i don't disagree with him. guest: i would say. -- i would say first of all do not believe the posters. this is about what the media has faced and it is very much generated based on what earnings clicks, what gets eyeballs on screens, and horserace polling, that gets that level of attention. don't blame us. look at the media space in terms of how they should be approaching addressing polling versus how they should be looking at it and approach

issues when it comes to a deep dive. there is a lot of good journalism that does deep dive on a lot of these issues but it does not tend to be the top of the headline at the top of your webpage when you are clicking. host: can i ask you both as strategists, the supreme court has two cases dealing with donald trump, one with ballot access and one with immunity. what does it mean for the campaign going forward pending on how they weigh in on that, and the public going forward. i know that is a big question, but what do you think? guest: i think there will be a lot of attention paid to it, but i ultimately think voters are not going to be making decisions about what supreme court rulings on these issues matter to them. voters very much -- going back to this other question, otis look at issues from their own perspective and their own households first. they look at their own communities and the at what has

changed in their lines. thatis what is important to them -- communities and what has changed in their lives. that is what is important to them. they are very intelligent on, how are these things affecting me personally, my family, my neighborhood? that is where the perspective that a lot of voters comes from, and rightfully so. we should not expect everyone to have that depth of knowledge on everything. they are looking at what is important to them and their families. host: same question.i don't know guest: -- guest: i don't know how much people will be paying attention to the supreme court cases specifically with trump. my sense is at his it is covered, they will wonder, is this fair to me? does it feel fair if he is not allowed an opportunity to be on the ballot? does it feel fair he is able to escape the ability to be held

accountable if he commits crimes? do we have a separate system of justice for former president? how people think about the supreme court in general, people have not been thinking too much about it but this is a major question that will be before voters. the supreme court has an all-time low approval rating. to the point about it is impacting you, every woman in this country feels very impacted by what happened with the dobbs decision. that will be a really important part of our upcoming election. who gets to appoint supreme court justices moving forward? right now, we are really not talking about it, but i assume we will bring it back into the conversation. i don't know that there will -- i don't know that they will be further court pieces concerning donald trump. host: this is george in georgia, democrats line.

hi. caller: hi. yeah. donald trump took people's jobs away from them, and after he got those jobs back in america, then he goes back and tells them if you want those jobs back, you have to come to america and get it. so they came in droves. now the second part is our board of elections does not have -- a lot of us thought we were registered but are not registered to vote, so i would advise everybody to go to the election board and check to make sure they are registered to vote. host: thank you. confidence in voting this cycle versus previous cycles. do you get a sense of who you are polling and who you are talking to? guest: there is an ongoing level

of concern, and it varies state-by-state in terms of voter concern about election security and ballot access, disenfranchisement, and concerns about that. that continues to exist. i think there are different aspects of it on both sides of the aisle. guest: was the caller from georgia? host: yes. guest: good point to see people who are registered to vote because they had maybe not voted in the elections so it is a good piece of it buys. double check to make sure your registration status, especially as we continue with the primaries. confidence in voting, unfortunately, i see it continuously dropping, especially on the republican side. the number one republican in the country continues to push -- it is interesting to see a quarter of republicans continue to believe joe biden is not a legitimate president. despite all evidence to the contrary.

it provides an excuse for this sort of behavior we saw on january 6. it is incredibly dangerous and something we should all be worried about as we enter into 2024, the misinformation and undermining of legitimate election results. we just had one of the safest and most secure elections in the history of the world in 2022. i think that should give us confidence. but based on what -- i think that should give us confidence, but based on what i heard, you do not have confidence in that aside. host: one more call from george as well. hello. caller: good morning. one of your guests mentioned that voters tend to vote things that are critical to them. one thing i don't think i hear a lot talked about, misinformation, that is what i hear, the safety issue. that is just day-to-day safety and life.

i love to go to atlanta. i enjoy it, but it is just not like it was 6, 7, 10 years ago. now, you can go to atlanta. if you want to go to one of the big malls there, people say you don't need to go past this time because that is when people get there and take your bag. if you go to a nice store and take something, they will give you a bag to carry it out. i can also tell you as far as in south georgia, when i get fuel for my car i just pull in and put gas in there and walk into the store while it is filling up. in atlanta, they have armed gasoline attendants with tasers. that is where most of the people get their gas, because they call it slide in were people slide in and take their car. that is my issue. my question is, am i safer now than i was six years ago?

that is both domestically and internationally. i don't think most people if you pulled that will say yes. host: ok, scott from georgia, you are finishing us off. guest: i think it depends on where you are in the country. there is a lot people who feel like they are safer than they were six years ago. actually, we usually put it in terms of covid. i feel like lately i have been asking it more than during the pandemic. there are people who say they feel things are going in the right direction and part of the country and other parts of the country they feel like things are still the same and other places they feel like things are getting worse. like it is getting worse. host: what are you watching for in the month ahead, leading up to election day? guest: in general? host: something interesting to you that you are watching out for.

guest: this is a great question. i'm interested to see how some of these trials play out with donald trump. what about the ones that are more substantial, related to classified documents or january 6? that would be a game changer. the whole cadence of this election cycle will be entirely different. one of the candidates is not even able to campaign in the same way. it will be in court room. i am intrigued to see how this happens. i'm interested to see if we ever get a debate between these men. i'm interested to see if we will see these men speak to each other again. guest: i think we will be

looking at the handful of states that will determine the election. trump has an advantage but to your point earlier, what happens when they are able to focus on both of them? every campaign is about choice. a president -- it is not just a referendum. it is a choice. where does it move once donald trump is the nominee? how do those votes in states start to shape up? we will be paying close attention to third ballot party access. right now, they cannot win. a lot of money to demonstrate how they can get 20% of the vote among but that is not enough. they can certainly play spoiler in one -- in some of these states.

guest: there are so many other elections, so many other offices and ballot measures that are going to be on the ballot. i am very interested to see what happens. nam a lot of control over education funding, a lot of control over abortion access. the sort of things that people worry about day-to-day. i'm really interested to see if democrats are able to continue to hold. and whether or not we are able to win some statewide offices and battleground states. >> the fountain -- host: you can find that online.

the president and ceo of the group. to both of you, thank you for joining us. the question we started with this morning as far as today's event. president trump winning the imary. nikki halesang she will stay in the race. you can comment on that. weiltake those callshe washington journal continues. >> the resolution is adopted. >> almagro mayorkas is only the second capital member in u.s.

history to be impeached by the house. this week, follow the process led by mark green delivering the articles of impeachment to the senate, refusing to comply and breaching public trust. senators will be sworn in as jurors. >> in the weeks that lie ahead, the famous influential men and women will have a lot to say about the society in which we live today and solutions. >> airing the 10 part series free to choose.

mr. freeman coproduced the series and it first aired on television in 1980. a vote a book with the same name. the friedmans advocate free-market principles. other topics include welfare, education, equality, consumer and worker -- on american history tv on c-span two. >> be up-to-date with about books. plus, bestseller list and trends through insider interviews. you can find it on c-span now, our free mobile app or wherever you get your podcasts.

host: south carolina's primary took place on saturday with former president trump gaining over 50% of those who participated with any 9% of precincts coming in. nikki haley with 39.5%, getting that support in south carolina. she was a two-term governor of that state.

that is what she ended up with yesterday as a result. to the event of yesterday, you can comment on those involved or the overall theme. in california, democrats line, we will start with mike. caller: how are you guys? i'm trying to think, what can you say to a trump voter? to get them to see the light? it is really crazy. that is -- one thing, if you realize something is crazy, do not forget your daily life and stuff, that when you go in that booth to vote, nobody else knows. host: arizona, republican line. hello?

caller: yes, hello. ok. good morning, america. i would first like to say that the woman who was just on, donald trump does not want to debate biden. i do not know where she gets her information. it was hard to listen to her. donald trump has said, i will debate biden today and every day until the election. it is biden and his handlers that will not let him debate. host: do you have something to say about yesterday in particular? caller: it was obvious. most conservatives are totally behind donald trump. we all know what he is capable of. we know what he can do.

that is what we want back because we are suffering. host: curtis in nebraska, independent line. caller: good morning. a couple items. i think the correct winner won. i'm going to vote for trump. c-span yesterday with the principles first, they had that girl on their from the view and charlie sykes with his language -- that foul language, i would like everybody to listen to that because i do not know why we are bashing trump so much. host: what you mean by that yesterday? caller: the correct winner won. trump won. host: what do you mean by that? caller: i think he would be the correct one to get us back in our stirrups.

america needs to get back on its feet and he has experience. host: the washington post asked about issues that mattered. on top of that, it was the economy saying that was the top issue versus those who voted for nikki haley in matters of immigration. 19% nikki haley on that issue. on the issue of abortion, 42% giving their support. 57 percent of those participating giving that support to nikki haley. only 26 percent giving support to former president trump on the issue versus 74% test eric south carolina's tv -- two term

governor, nikki haley. caller: hello and thank you so much for c-span. you are great for our country. everybody appreciates your efforts. i would just like to say one thing about the polling that has been going on. people talk about immigration and concerns, the potential for foreign terrorist coming over the border. there have been 180 or so that i have been detained and arrested, but we have over 1000 domestic terrorists who have stated that they want to overthrow our own government. people are not talking about that in the polls. host: what do you think of those results and south carolina? caller: i do not agree with them. i cannot wait until joe biden wins again.

he is one of the best presidents we have ever had. the policies he has initiated and fought for, if people actually look at the numbers and what is happening with inflation and what is happening with gas prices and renewable energy, and the status of our own energy independence outside of oil companies, he is doing a great job. host: let's hear from anthony. caller: some of your callers are obviously delusional, like the guy who first spoke. the first thing biden did when he got in office was to shut down the pipelines. host: as of yesterday? caller: yesterday, trump is going to win.

i do not know why nikki haley is even bothering to try to run. she has no way of winning. if you cannot win your home state, that means you need to stop. host: for those in examples, the washington post took a look at candidate qualities that people were asked about. when it comes to the category of people like me, 90% of those voters are giving their support to former president trump. others asked if the candidate share their values. of those giving their support to former president trump, the candidate to defeat joe biden, 13% responded to that.

saying that it was -- the right temperament was one of those categories. 95% giving it to nikki haley. let's hear from arthur in california. caller: good morning, pedro. you have a nice-looking tie on today. i would like to say that nikki haley is not a great candidate, but i think she has value for the american people, and stating some of the negatives that donald trump truly has. host: what makes her not a great candidate aside from what she that about the former president? caller: i think that her

wishy-washy around the segregation issue and the prejudice issue and racism caused her a great deal of problems with both voters. but in addition, trump is probably going to be the candidate, but he has not won anything. i do not think he will win this year either. host: why is that? caller: i think his negatives are just extremely tall. with all of the things he has himself into, it energizes the base because it looks more like they are after him and it is a conspiracy, but in reality, most know that he is absolutely quick. and has done nothing but my people since the day she walked

down the golden escalator to the day he introduced his golden tennis shoes. host: democrat line, hello. you are on. go ahead. caller: yes. do you hear me? host: do not pay attention to the television. go ahead with your statement. caller: yes. i would like to know. i am 85 years old. i would like to know -- host: he has won four states primaries since yesterday. what you think of that track record? caller: i did not call for that. i am not even on tv. host: there is a little bit of a

delay when we say things here and when they show up on television. let's go to the republican line. hello. caller: good morning. i'm just calling in reference to the win last night. it is america's choice, as far as the republicans right now. and they mentioned that there were a lot of macabre and independence voting for nikki haley. that is irrelevant. we need to get back to the trump policy that secured our borders. there are people being injured and killed by illegal immigrants. america is watching. it is a concern. host: this is richard in maine.

caller: president trump and nikki haley are both going to be on the ballot next fall? host: it is the primary process on the republican side that will decide that who do you support? caller: the former president. [indiscernible] she should go as vice president. host: richard there in maine. gel in chicago, democrat line. caller: good morning. i would like to say about the election yesterday, generally when they tell you about these totals, they will always tell you about the voters did not vote and we are not hearing that

this time. i'm not shaken up about the landslide, a number of voters that trump is by conservative republicans. the conservative title is a bunch of bs that these white christian nationalists give themselves. i applied nikki haley and i hope she stays in, but i have to believe that it is only a certain percentage that they are a part of. they are not representative of the republican party as a whole. great job, pedro. caller: i was wondering if we

could get a competence test for biden. host: the former president won south carolina yesterday. what do you think about that? caller: i think it is great. host: ok. gregory in new jersey. caller: yes, this is gregory and i am calling to say that the whole thing is a sham. the voting and all that. both parties are corrupt and we are always choosing between the lesser of two to be of evils. white folks are attracted to president trump because of his racist rhetoric. they love it. they are not going to change, just like the israelis are not going to change. host: gregory and new jersey

finishing off this round of calls. if you want to see the speeches given by the former president and nikki haley, you can go to our website at c-span.org or follow along. , maria on the second anniversary of russia's invasion of ukraine. that conversation is coming up. pres. biden: two years ago -- our democracy remains unbowed and unbroken. >> thursday, march 7, president biden delivers the state of the union address outline priorities for the country. watch live coverage with our pv

program, followed by president biden's state of the union speech and response. we will get your reaction by taking your phone calls, texts and social media comments. watch live on thursday, march 7 at 8:00 p.m. eastern. or online at c-span.org. >> c-span now is a free mobile app with your view of what is going on in washington. keep up with the biggest events with live streams. white house events, campaigns and more from the world of politics, all at your fingertips. you can stay current with information. plus, a variety of compelling podcasts.

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host: this is maria, the senior fellow in the program. thank you for joining us. here to talk about the second anniversary of russia's invasion of ukraine. what do you want americans to look at when they look at the last two years. guest: i think it became quite obvious to everybody, in the u.s. as well, how horrible the regime is. how brutal the invasion has been. two years since this war started. the west needs to show commitment to defend ukraine and not always for ukraine's sake or for our own sake. and yet, tbl years in, we are finding that the house is struggling.

they have not been able to pass it. they just had one to 10 compared to russia. unfortunately, the situation does not look as good. in the near term -- two years in . they have a growing advantage. honestly, russia is doing quite well and are willing to continue the war for several years.

unfortunately, two years into the war, i am saying something i did not think i would have to say. host: has the case held up over two years? guest: the kremlin of pressure yes argument, to justify -- many russians have no clue as to the real reason for the war. [indiscernible] they say it is defend russia, which does not explain. they claim russia is a special civilization and they are trying to keep it together.

at this point, honestly our understanding that -- [indiscernible] essentially they are fighting back. host: what do you think most americans think about the war in ukraine? guest: most americans completely aside with ukraine. they do not support vladimir putin or russia. we tend to think about the soviet union as people. but the -- but decided -- despite the continued support,

for some reason -- host: how much has the u.s. contributed compared to nato country of hush yes contribution? guest: i think it is exclusive, but there are different instances. they did not have enough to provide. they provided initially. it was to support ukraine. this is not going to help ukraine.

they have provided about $75 billion. ukraine needs weapons. the u.s. is a country that can provide those. host: i believe he said that the ukrainian side was losing. how do you look at that? guest: there are strategic -- they are of strategic importance to russia. so we can see. generally and this war, if ukraine is to recover -- the maximum goal -- [indiscernible]

russia has shown that they cannot continue to move forward. they are tired of this way. the problem is, if russia is allowed to stick with it, what is the staff russia pushes forward after sometime? it really needs to be shown that this is a violation and it will not be allowed. so far, we are not showing this. they just keep pushing forward. host: if you want to ask her questions about this conflict and related issues, you can call on the lines.

(202) 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8000 for democrats and (202) 748-8002 for independents. guest: there was that story with the nerve agent back in 2020. courageously returning to russia in 2021. consistently cap saying that the problem and russia was indifference. they failed to awaken the russians. we do not know what happened.

the conditions are horrible. unfortunately, that is why i think emotionally, it gets a lot of response. ultimately, it is the same fight , and my perspective. host: the things that you mention where the things that biden mentioned on friday. i will play you a little bit of what he had to say and then get your response to it. [video clip] pres. biden: a coalition of 50 nations to support ukraine.

we cannot walk away now. he is betting on us walking away. i will be speaking to those at nato today. i am announcing more than 500 new sanctions. [applause] to respond to putin. in response to alexei navalny's death. make no mistake. vladimir putin is responsible for alexei navalny's death. alexi was an incredible and courageous man. i assured them that his legacy will continue to live around the world. we will ensure that vladimir putin pays the price for his aggression abroad. host: a new set of sanctions on

top of the sanctions already in place. guest: 16.5 thousand sanctions in russia. russia is under sanctions. but unfortunately -- they did reduce the revenue. they unfortunately did not reduce it to the extent where there would be any issues for the russian war machine. they undermined oil, but it is important to keep pressing oil on the market. not having it would be problematic. at the same time, there is the oil price cap. it has shifted.

so the new sanctions, they did not have a big issue. all of it is needed. they're not going to be radically altering the results. they need to force russia, in order to decrease the revenue. we need to push the oil, otherwise we will keep finding this war machine. host: our first call is from vicki in texas. caller: i just wanted to first say -- i'm center cry. i'm outraged and disgusted by our country for not helping to arm ukraine.

ukraine is brave and represents democracy. they are fighting. i have done all i can by my calling, supporting ukraine. i cannot seem to get through by email or phone. so if washington journal can help us know how we can contact people that need to be contacted, that would be helpful. i would like to know from the guest, what else can i do? i have called my representatives and they support ukraine, but i only had to be of senators and one representative that i can influence. i do not need to -- i do not need to influence them because they already and for ukraine. i cannot contact mike johnson and i cannot boost my opinion to them. what else can i do? host: if you want to call

congress' main switchboard, they can direct you. they will direct you to an office. guest: thank you very much. thank you wholeheartedly for your stance on this. maybe you have some friends in the state that can help. but honestly, i wish more people have this attitude that you host: what are some -- that you do. host: what are some argument? should that money go to americans instead of other lands? guest: the money that they provide for the military industry for ukraine's weapon, most of them stay in the u.s. to use weapons. it creates more jobs. more jobs for people and more

weapons to ukraine. it is good. the second point, it is important for the u.s. in general. they are interested in the preservation. they realize that there are -- there is gaza and israel. honestly, we are all interested. this is not ok. eventually, americans will have to waste more money. it is much cheaper to do it now by helping ukraine.

host: joel is in tampa, florida. caller: that other point of view that you talked about, i feel like we should help ukraine while we can, but in a real world of limited resource, and a country that is trillions of dollars in debt, hundreds of thousands of people dying of sentinel overdoses -- fentanyl overdoses. unfortunately, the european union i feel like they should be the leader in making sure that ukraine has already need. it seems like the world has flipped. the u.s. has become the main support for ukraine and the european union has become the helper. that is a world that cannot be sustained. this is not the situation where

we were in the second world war, where the country was in a much more robust situation. our situation has changed dramatically. the real situation has changed dramatically. guest: i do not disagree, but the problem is they do not have the military capacity to provide enough weapons to ukraine. for example, the discussion an issue. providing a lot of money to ukraine. exceeding the amount of funds that have been distributed, except that ukraine is in a horrible economic state. nobody else --

it will incentivize your up to invest more. it is not an option. there are a lot of domestic prices. the investing in weapons will create more jobs. there is a lot of drug abuse. but it is together. this is an opportunity to do good things. host: ethan in newark. caller: i have a totally

different opinion. i want to push back. a quick example. you have the german tanks going across the steps of the ukraine. this is a flashback to world war ii. they lost 25 million people. you are not going to demoralize the russian people. they are not going to stop. ukraine is right on the border and they are going to march through. they just had that counteroffensive that got smashed. russia has the superiority. this recent attack where they blew up or dropped massive amounts from the planes. annihilating ukraine. what will happen is they will

cross the river and come down. they will loop it around and that will be the end of ukraine. it does not matter how much money you give them. we do not manufacture anything. our manufacturing base is done. guest: it is giving me flashbacks to years ago. two years fast-forward, pushing behind that. it is not a battle. they moved to holding off.

as long as the u.s. keeps providing assistance. when russia continues, they point at an ambitious plan. they were going to push it with moldova. they just keep pushing further and further. it is about when we want to spend the money now. fast-forward eight years. they were not contained. we have proof.

even now, both show that you can demand talks. they are carrying this burden. this is where the approval for the award is. they actually cost a lot. it is not impossible. we just need to try harder. i moved here when i was about 27 years old.

host: let's hear from elizabeth on the democrat line. caller: i am 100% behind ukraine. i am disgusted that they have not approved the funding for the next round. the level of carnage, the loss of life is devastating. the poison of the land is also of great concern. is there anything you can say about how you can tell next steps? i do not want to use the word negotiate, but how can we get next steps?

guest: based on the experience, there is a way. it is too late in the game. in general, it is about military. the point where they can push further against russia. to the extent that russia understands that it is not worth it. it is not impossible.

ukraine can still show remarkable courage. even in the last year. this, i think they can do a better job with the strategy. this is not the case. it is strong enough to resist. just comparing ukraine. it is two different countries. many analysts expect -- host: they make the case that the president should look at the

reserve funds for russia to pay for things and offer support. guest: in terms of incentives or legislation, i think russia is responsible. host: susan, republican line, delaware. caller: do you think that trump possibly has any influence on congress, in terms of the republican side? throwing down funds in support for ukraine? i do not want to believe that, but i just wonder because at one point in time, there was much more support.

but i just wonder if there is any level of support from him to slow it down because of his admiration for vladimir putin. guest: absolutely. he posted repeatedly on social media that he did not back ukraine aid. the incentive from trump's side -- we know that there is enough. the question is about putting it to voting.

they know the right thing. we need to help all of the american people to keep pushing. host: in particular, how long is he expected to say that? what could possibly happen when the next person comes into power? guest: unfortunately, putin is much more likely to die in power. there is a reelection in march. we will see you will get. the number -- our new report, unfortunately even after his

death, i think we need to moderate. first of all, there are expectations. a second, they are not going to allow democracy in the future. it is less materialistic and imperialistic. we need to be very careful. they have shown that they are not very willing to be peaceful. it is not unlike what the soviet union did before. unless there are serious concessions, even with putin

gone. host: let's hear from frank in georgia. caller: my question relates to a previous caller. i'm worried about trump, if he becomes president. everybody knows that he loves vladimir putin. i think vladimir putin has a hold on him that we do not know about. congress has passed a law that the president cannot single-handedly withdraw the u.s. from nato, but it does not matter if trump is commander-in-chief. he commands the military. he can do whatever he wants. let's take the worst case scenario. let's say ukraine is decisively defeated. the next thing putin can do is

have some kind of incursion in the baltic states. all trump has to say is a lack of response. host: before you get to the bulk of that one, i want to ask about a statement that the former president a couple weeks ago. what did you think about the statement? guest: i think it is motivation to push europe and other countries to pay more -- it is justified. the way -- he presents himself as being a fantastic negotiator. this is perhaps not the best way to deal with this issue at this

moment. at this point, we see that europe is boosting its production. they did increase a lot of investment. general, it matters and politics. if we want to remain alliesn aco way that is not threatening. certainly, it is challenging. i think it will create more problems and questions of commitment in the future. at the moment, more than ever, we need to stay strong. having said that, it is a little

bit of an upset. trump said -- the administration was the first to provide defense missiles. host: last call from robin. we are running short on time, but go ahead. guest: -- caller: we are never going to send them enough money to defend themselves. the most we can do is offer them alone. my final question, she has to know all this stuff because she is a bright woman. is she a spy? guest: no, i am not. i am an american citizen.

but the last few years have shown that it has been possible for us, if more weapons are supplied to ukraine. we can make ukraine strong enough to further their chance to fight off incursions of russia into ukraine. hopefully, that will help it -- hopefully, that will help. host: what are you watching for in particular? guest: we are looking at the situation beyond now. it is a weak moment for ukraine. it is an interesting dynamic to see how far we will be able to push it. the second question is about

mobilization. the question is, will he announce mobilization to push further into ukraine? host: maria is with the center for strategic and international studies. her work can be found online. thank you for your time. that is it for the program today. another edition of washington journal comes your way smile at 7:00 a.m. -- tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

host: