■# dean obeidallah talks about campaign 2024 and the israel-hamas war. c-span's "washington journal" is next. ♪ host: this is "washington journal" for sunday, june 2.

last week, former president donald trump w in the new york hush money case. two justices say they wi recuse themselves. we want to hear from you a. how confident are you in the u.s. legal system? republicans, your line is (202) 748-8001. . independents, (202) 748-8002. if you would like to text us, you can do so at (202) 748-8003. sure to include your name and city. you can also post a question ork comment on facebook at facebook.com/cspan■v or on x at @cspanwj. it was thursday that the jury came down with theformer presid,

guilty on all 34 counts. mp spoke to the press friday about the verdict. >> we are losing our country and i really think that this is an event, what took place yesterday with this judge that we have, and you will understand that. i say that knowing it is very dangerous for me to say that. i do not mind because i'm willing to do whatever i have to do to save our country and our constitution. i do not mind. so thank you. so we will continue the fight. host: the judge has set the date of the sentencing for july 11,

days before the republican national convention in milwaukee , wisconsin. the manhattan district attorney also spoke to reporters after the verdict was announced thursday. here are some of his remarks. >> first, i want tojury for its. drovers perform a fundamental civic duty. -- jurors perform a fundamental civic duty. we should all be thankful for the careful attention that this jury paid to the evidence and law and their time and commitmenteks. 12 everyday new yorkers and our alternates heard testimony from 22 witnesses, in and current employees of the

defendant, media executives, book publishers, custodians of records, and others. they reviewed call logs and emails. theyhecks and invoices, bank statements and calendar appointments. this type of white-collar prosecution is core to what we do at the manhattan district attorney's office. in the 1930's, a district attorney ushered-ája in the eraf the modern independent professional prosecutor. now, nearly 90 years dedicated professionals in this office have built upon that tradition. a major part of our practice has been public integrity work, including involving local estate

elections and others. k this phenomenal prosecution team. embodying the finest traditions of this office, professionalism, integrity, dedication, and service. they are model public servants and i am proud and humblserve s. the 12 everyday jurors vowed to make aecision based on evidence and law and evidence unlawful alone. their deliberations led them to a unanimous conclusion beyond a reasonable, that the defendant is guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree to conceal a

scheme to corrupt the 2016 election. while this defendant may be unlike any other in american history, we arrived at this trial and at this verdict in the same manner as every other case that comes through the court doors. by following the facts and law and doing fear. host: we want to hear from you. how c in the u.s. legal system? let's hear first from yce in kentucky on the republican line. caller: i am not very confident at all. democrats should not be throwing rocks. they spent over half $1 trillion of government money on illegals when the blacks were asking for

reparations. i think the government is out of control. host: you said the entire government. caller: the entire government is out of control. he needs to be reined back in and run by the people. host: let's go to jail in alabama on the democrat line. good morning, joe. >> i think we do have a fair justice system. to say that as a black american i think is kind of like fair to say in some cases and i think the only victim here was melania trump and i think she has to stand up and say guilty and she should stand for all women who happen treated on by their husbands. opportunity to stand for all of us and i think the next thing is

i hope the doj comes after her because she should have recused e is a weak link in the justice system. there are weaklings and we cannot let them get away with it. hopefully the next thing that happens is that eileen cannon gets thrown off the judiciary in florida. host: eddie in alabama, good morning. >> i don't think the justice system is fair because there are so many people■g, innocent peop, locked up for no crimes. and donald trump -- he has been to court already and found guilty of everything. i want to know about that $500

million and they ain't talking about that no more. they let him come on and he is saying something about all of africa coming in and how corrupt africa -- he named a lot of places and then these black people want to vote for him. this is crazy. no. the system is not made for colored people. it is made for talk. republicans just love him, making all kind of money. a gofundme. i did not get not one cent from nobody, but donald trump can be a criminal and all this money --

this is keeping him -- just coming on talking. i just heard his speech. it made me almost throw up. it isning, having him come on every day crying and complaining. he is the one doing all this crime and trying to get away with paying people to get away with his crime. people who want to vote for donald trump need to wake up. because -- host: we will go to mike in rnia on the republican line. good morning. caller: i am tired of the haalle and some of the blacks are waking up and liberalism does not equate to better and victim allah g -- victimology does not

equate to betterment. black people just want to go through life being victims. host: we are talking about the u.s. legal system and your confidence in it. caller: my confidence is shattered after this because it can be politicized. nobody can say this was not politicized the judges is a biden donor. they asked for a change of venue. they did not get that. it was all kinds of inconsistencies. i'm not an attorney, but there were all kinds of inconsistencies and they did not really circumvent president trump and it was unfair by everybody. i am embarrassed for the democrats but it really showed -- a really manifested how pathetic the people that run the democratic party are. they are really vacuous of any

sort of morals whatsoever at all , to engage in these sort of tactics against president trump. beat him fairly and squarely. if you cannot, that is too bad. to engage in these tactics and circumvention it isnd america sees it and i cannot wait to vote the republican line. host: chris in seattle on the democrats line. caller: i was going through some papers the other day and i cut out this article andolitical cartoon in the seattle times back in 2018 after john mccain passed away and the cartoon shows the former president looking on his tombstone with the quote by john mccain that says, nothing in life is more liberating than to fight for a cause larger than yourself.

something that encompasses you but is not defined by you alone. in the cartoon, it shows the former president standing there looking at it and his response is, i don't get it. there is nothing bigger than me. regarding our justice system -- i have one more thing about that. there was a provocative column attached to the cartoon and the question was what will? what will your legacy be? it says two ex-president agrd to eulogize mccain, a man with whom neither were personally closed but most regarded with respect. it is hard to imagine any ex-president eulogy, so who do you think you will get? kid rock or vladimir putin? regarding our justice system, i don't know. let's look at the central park .

how justice was done there. finally, it was, but what those young men had to endure at those young ages and the former president taking out full-page ads in the new york times saying there should be a death penalty for them, i don't know. now that they she was on the other foot, the republicans are all screaming about fairness. i find that the height of hypocrisy. it is disgusting on every level. and we will have to see how strong the country■i■l is. i just believe that he is getting what he asked for, so one last thing i wl say is, and i am quoting, he said what

will your legacy be? he says, the thing is we write our own eulogies. someone delivers it, but each of us authors his own in the life he lives and memories he leaves. despite having 72 years to work on, the written thus far is meager and pathetic. you -- your inability to muster even modicum of decency diminishes your eulogy even more. there is a cautionary wisdom here. if you only had the wit to understand it. your funeral is coming. you probably never thought about that. good time to start. host: that was trish in seattle.

before trish, we heard from mike and he talked about the fai with which former president trump was treated during his trial. here is from the press conference friday. >> as far as the trial itself, it was unfair. we were not allowed to use our election expert under any circumstances. you saw what happened to some of th witnesses that were on our side. they were literally this man, who looks like an angel but is really a devil. he looks so nice and soft. he seems like such a nice man. no, unless you saw him in action. that witness that went through help and when we wanted to do things he would not let us do those things, but when the government wanted something they got everything they wanted.

it was a rigged trial. we wanted a venue changehere we could have a fair trial. we did not get it. we wanted a judge change. we wanted a judge that was not conflicted and obviously he did not do that. nobody has eveseen anything like it. we had a d.a. who was a field to d.a.. crime is rampant in new york, violent crime. that is what he is supposed to be looking at. crime rampant■: in new york. yesterday you had a man hitting him up with a machete. whoever can imagine even a machete being wheeled in in a store, in a place where they are eating and watching the trial. host: one of press conference was that they were not allowed to use our

election expert under any circumstance. today's new york times says that is false. the judge did not bar the election expert in question, the former chairman of the federal election commission, from testifying but did limit what he could say. ultimately, mr. trump's lawyer did not call upon mr. smith. the justice ruled that mr. smith could testify generally about the election commission and defined terms related to the case, like campaign contributions. in make my the judge noted that allowing mr. smith to testify would invite testimony from an election expert chosen by prosecutors, resulting in a battle of the experts. we are talking with you about how confident you are in the u.s. legal system. we are hearing from you via text

and tweets. from perry johnson on facebook, he says at this point i have morence in gas station sushi. let's hear from james in tennessee on the independent line. good morning, james. caller: this is james from indiana. i won't have the ability to sit and rant and rave all i want to and get paid for it and get contributions the way that trump does and of course i will be called a hater because of the way i am approaching this thing, but have confidence in the system? i have less confidence in the system if he gets out of this. what we are supposed to have is a legal system that is about as good as we can get. all 12 of those people can be nullified because of the outcome

was not what they wanted -- a long time ago i knew people who got in trouble and people that were supporting them were such good friends even though they were guiltygetting -- they wered guilty of what they did. there was people that got mad and did not liket. it is just the best we've got. what are the young people supposed to think? if people do things like has happened here if he gets out of that, what are the people who are already in prison for things that are a whole lot less severe , are they supposed to getause d not like the outcome? it is the best we've got, so how much -- the confidence i have is this. i was confident because he was convicted and he should have

been. but if he gets out of this for whatever reason, if these politicians that are backing him -- i can't believe it. you got any questions for me? host: you said if you get out of it it would not be fair. is being convicted enough for you or with the sentence also factor in? caller: then't matter that much. he will be handled with kid gloves. all he has ever known is handled with kid gloves. at least the fact he was convicted did mean something. the fact that he had -- he was president and all that. the people who don't have riches to support them, the people who have come to■nderstand there is a way that people to -- do tend

to get out of things if they have good lawyers and good money. so yes, being convicted did mean something to me and it did give me confidence in the system. if he gets out of this, that is a poor example for young people in this country to see. host: that was james in indiana. l' tom on the republican line. caller: i would say i love america. i trust in all its systems, legal and and in his people. i am a god-fearing man. i paid my dues. host: go ahead. caller: going to church later on. i hope people in this country band together and -- for the

challenges that made us ahead. host: tom saying he has confidence in all systems. back in september 2023, their headline views of supreme court remain near a record. their chart shows that the approval rating of the u.s. supreme court is at 41% with 58% disapproving of their job. let's hear from freddie from texas on the democrats line. good morning, freddie. caller: i am very confident in the system. i think america would be great if a lot of us would get up and vote your conviction and president biden is a man of integrity and a good role model

for all of us for generations to come. no man is above the law. host: james in texas calling on the independent line. caller: hello. am i you are. caller: thank you for taking my call. i am a black 65-year-old man and i enjoy your program with all the moderators you have there. on the question of the confidence in the u.s. legal system, since when in the united states of america has the judicial system ever been justie fairness in the legal system? just by virtue of the constitution and the laws that are on the books of th language.

what we are looking at with the judicial system now, we are we are sitting back and playing with and we are looking at it as sensational news and something to talk about, but we are looking at a personality of demonic influence that is trying to go back to the beginning of how america was created with all of the people back then, but the only problem is that it targeted one specific culture. now there are multiple cultures that are in america that that demonic spirit is going to target. we talk about hamas and the things happening in the middle east and w shrieked at that but we haverstand that is a demonic presence that is soon to come to america if we continue to play with this daemonic spirit.

the fact of the matter that people in america can sit back and advertise the daemonic spirit and look at it like it is one individual is ridiculous because it is not that individual. he has no power. it is the power that is we are seeing that. we are hearing that. we are witnessing that. we are looking at everything that has happened. the judicial system was fair before. now it is partial because of one individual, absolutely not. we have 200 million people in america. why is demons just going after one individual? no. he is inception to get people to understand or to misse actually. host: let's hear from frank in texas on the republican line. caller: yes, ma'am.

i would just like to say that if you look at the democrats over the years, look what they did to a good christian black man in judge thomas. they tried to drive him down. a good, christian black man, judge thomas. let's move down. judge kavanaugh. they brought in a lyingh woman, just like they did on judge thomas come and try to lie about n. let's look at miguelmiguel astad around 2002 by the young george bush to be on the u.s. supreme court. the democrats all love to bring up the race card, like that man that just got off the phone. he is a racist.

he hides under a different cover, but he is a racist. miguel estrada was a good christian hispanic man that was fixing to get put on the u.s. supreme court and what the democrats do? just like they did on judge thomas, just like they didcavann estrada, they go out and try to destroy. in local decision with the trump thing is going to be overturned in the upcoming court. so democrats out there, you all enjoy your little laugh now because it is not going to last. if the appellate court don't get it, then the u.s. supreme court is going to start a mudhole. you have a corruptsñ da, a bot f judge. letitia james is nothing but a racist. bragg is a racist toward hispanic people and white people.

look what he did to that poor hispanic man that was defending his life. he killed a black man that was trying to beat him to death and bragg took that poor hispanic man and put him in rikers prison for six days before fox news, the only ones that tell the truth, fox and newsmax, they raised so much heck about it to get the poor man free. he was defending his life and bragg threw him in the pen for six days. he would still be there if it had not been for the great fox news and newsmax. you just got corrupt da's in these local courts like this. but it is going to be overturned . democrats out there, enjoy your racism. enjoy your lying and baby killing. host: frank mentioning getting

overturned. they will fight the appeal. on fox and friends on friday, house speaker mike johnson spoke about the verdict and the impact it has had on the justice system. [video clip] >> the national republican congressional committee, you guys raised $300,000 last night, which eclipses only the day you were elected speaker and you raise $175,000. so obviously angry voters are motivated voters. >> they are and there is reason to be motivated. this entire thing is absurd. i was a litigator for 20 years. i was in court with president trump a few weeks ago to see this for myself. what happened was outrageous. this is a purely political exercise, not a legal one. everybody knows that. they know

wrong and the people are outraged. i will be in illinois tomorrow. by the end of this week, i will have been in 115 cities in 29 states. something is happening out there. people see what is going on. they see the democrats are desperate because president ump's crushing joe biden in the polls. they see the democrat party so desperate to stop him that they will risk the destruction of our gal system. we broke records on our fundraising platforms. we set up a new website, supportdjt.com. that is how members of congress are going to stand with him and make sure the right verdict is rendered november 5, the american people's verdict. >> if i can get you to put your legal hat back on, not as a speaker, how does this play out? the former president is going to appeal this. do you think this will happen

before the election? do you think the supreme court has a duty to step in since this will impact the election? we want to act like he is a normal guy, but he is a leading presidential candidate. the voters should know what is going to happen here. what do you see playinou>> therf developments yet to come, but i do believe the supreme court should step in. it is dangerous to our system. you talk about it all the time. this is diminishing the american people's faith in our system of justice. to maintain a republic, you have to have that. people have to believe that justice is fair. they do not see that right now. i think the justices on the court, i know many of them personally. i think they are deeply concerned about that, as we are. i think they will set this straight, but the process takes a wild to play out.

democrats know that and they are dragging it out. that was the will objective. they want to diminish his credibility and go after his character. they wanted to keep him off the campaign trail and now they want to call him the convicted felon. this will be overturned. it is just going to take time. host: we are hearing from you about your confidence in the u.s. legal system. on facebook, william bronson says, i'm confident this most recent persecution will ignite legal jeopardy is for many in retaliation. just remember when the departing changed filibuster rules to help obama judicial nominees. the r party started using that change to get three supreme court justices. be careful what you wish for. gerald ernest says, in new york it is crooked. ■julie says, there are some

attorneys and judges who follow the rule of law and good judicial procedure. others have politicized and corrupted. the so-called prosecutors and judges elected using george sorrows -- george soros funds have damaged justice. let's go back to the phones and hear from jerry in south carolina on the democrats line. good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: i think the system is corrupt -- the judicial system is good. they have all the evidence on someone. why does people think that needs to be overridden? you have the paperwork and all that stuff. people arethat was not politica.

this investigation was going on before he started to run for office. when you have a little skeletons in your closet, it is going to come out. it is going to come up. a lot people that follow him no8 , it is like he is drinking aref of it. it don't make sense. a lot of republicans now are worse than their forefathers were. you would think things would be getting better, but they are getting worse. if it ain't my way, it is the highway. you cannot have it your way. host: sean in minnesota calling on the republican line. good morning, sean. caller: i do not understand how donald trump -- he has had he ae he is a poor picked on guy.

everything he says is a lie. if i had enough money, i would take a lie detector test. he knows the 2020 election was not stolen but he repeats his lies and lies. now he is going to die with it. he has to die with eli. i want my daughter's(7 spelling bee and she won. there were people, kids, saying it was rigged. how do you rigged a spelling bee? only if you do not know how to spell the words. host: mike in illinois calling on the republican line. caller: good morning. i think we have a fantastic legal system. a lot legal scholarsolicy, but they are not broken.

they are just not enforced. i don't care much for the relief of the student debt because the supreme court told them they cannot do it and they did it anyway. and the political trial is kind of weird because they waited to tell him the charges until after the trial? i do not think that is a legal maneuver. i have never heard of that and i worked in a courtroom. other than that, we have a great system, but there are other people proting it for their own uses and it is going to hurt us as a nation in the future. host: don in maryland calling on the democrats line. good morning. caller: i have a complement and criticism. you are relatively new in the

moderators chair, but you get that every week. the criticism is i wish you would refer to the democratic line, not the democrat line or the democrats line. it is the democratic line. as for my confidence in the legal system, i have a great deal confidence in the legal system. the only drawback is if you have sufficient funds to access it, like everyone should be able to. if you are rich, you have a good shot of getting off. if you do not have the funds, off to jail you go. james in louisiana on the independenli morning. caller: i think the system is filled with hypocrisy. case in point, the military does not accept convicted felons in the air force, navy, marines, army, but the republicans are ready to put a convicted felon in charge of the entire military

as commander-in-chief. thank you. host: bill in georgia calling on the republican line. caller: as ashamed of all the knuckle dragging going on in my party right now. being from georgia, i heard donald trump try to influence our secretary of state and beg for 11,800 votes. i heard donald trump in 2015 admitting to sexually assaulting women. i don't understand this approach to this man as the leader of my party. how we can justify supporting this man. it is still just beyond me and this was not even the most important trial. when this man took nuclear secrets war plans to his

home in his -- we don't know how much it is actually worth mention in -- mansion in florida and now he is manipulated and people who worked around him. i do not understand how people in my party do not understand what a danger this man is and how he will destroy our conservative values. thank you very much. host: jennifer in california calling on the democrats line. good morning. caller: what a breath of fresh air, that republican saying the truth. thank you for that. anyway, confidence in the judicial. i do. it was 12 jurors that foundguil. i don't understand, are we in an alternate reality? what is wrong with the republican party?

anyway, rock on. host: roger in milwaukee, wisconsin calling on the independent line. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. the gentleman who spoke from georgia was a republican and is fed up with his party. that is pretty much my -- where i came from. i'm an independent now. i find it just happens to be a safe place to be. after having confidence in the legal system, as a whole i believe i do. where i think it has become a pathetic mess is our supreme court. they come off as if they are even more entitled than the president. with the gifts that thomas and these people me how this is allo go on. knowing there are rules that have to be followed.

also, there was a gentleman on, i do not know if he is a gentleman, but he really -- at the side of fox news and newsmax. if you would check the fcc filings come a would find that those three news organizations have the highest level of false and disinformation and they are also known for not retracting when they do discover they have been found out they are wrong. i think that is wrong. as for the overall with trump and the verdicts are in and i like adding insult to injury when it comes to donald trump. the 34 indictments against him. it is more than that because each jurist had to vote 3, 4

times -- 34 times. that is 408 casted votes unanimously for this guy. so 34 makes it look small. then the specution comes about should he get jail time. all i know is that if soldiers who went to jail -- he should have to do the same thing. maybe not for a long period. a four year potential. so he gets six or eight months in jail, but i think it should be an absolute because he showed such disrespect for the judges, the prosecutors. every procedural side he insulted, so you want to have faith in the legal system, gave.

and donald trump still will not keep his mouth shut. as for the overall presidency, i have to say most of the people cannot be at republican -- most of the people, this is a man who supposed to represent the united states on a global stage. impeached twice, sexual-harassment harassment, the business fraud. there is a point where a man like that, i don't care what party you are in, he cannot be on the global stage representing our country. host: roger bringing up justice merchan oversaw the trial. this opinion piece from a retired new york city in ministry to judge and a former

police department fire deputy. he attended the trial. but for all the cases he saw, i never encountered anything remotely talent just challenging as what justice merchan faced while presiding over the first criminal trial of a former president. since donald trump was found guilty on 34 counts, justice mershon merchan has come under further attack. i attended each day of the trump trial. what i saw was a master class in what a judge should be, how one can serve fairly and impartially for the prosecution and the defense and remain a pillar for the rule of law in america. he goes on to say as a supervising judge i emphasize the importance of maintaining control of those under my charge. that is how a judge ensures that all defendants, especially the most difficult ones, get a fair trial.

that is how everyone is treated, with courtesy, and how rulings are evenhanded and fair. in this area, judge merchan excelled. we will hear from perry in north carolina on the republican line. good morning. caller: yes. give me as much time as you did that radical leftist roger from wisconsin, who was totally and utterly informed. the pc read from the new york times -- why don't you read something from breitbarthat people like alan dershowitz on how big of a travesty this judge was? if you want to get back to confidence, when should joe biden go back to trial?

obviously he lied to the special counsel. we can't hear the transcript. we can read it, but we can't trying to guide -- glide through his tax invasions. this is a man for the last 30 to 40 years that has enriched himself by the american taxpayer. donald trump has made joe biden and barack obama's paychecks for the last 30 years. [een it comes these people that call themselves americans that are on the democrat7c■ sid, you people have no idea. joe biden sold our manufacturing base out along with -- host: what about your confidence in the u.s. legal system, the topic we are talking about? caller: i have none. i hear democrats say we got all kinds of confidence in it, but the supreme court is people.

huh -- is evil. huh. when i hillary clinton or joe biden get off with murder -- they are pedophiles. what happened to epstein's clients? you know why it got shut down? there are leaks in arm -- the elites in our media and the elites in washington are the people with the money. all you democrats out there, who do you think benefited from 35 trillion dollars in debt? it sure wasn't us taxpayers out here. host: we will go to david in michigan on the democrats line. caller: thank you for doing a great job and i agree with roger. roger was absolutely excellent and he was telling the truth.

the new york jury did a great job. e bent over backwards to be fair with trump, although trump got on -- before he could get out of the courtroom, he was lying. he was going off on the judge, lying on the judge's daughter. he was fussing and raving. it with my -- a young man i had mentored. he was a troubled child and we went through the court system. i did not have a lot of money. i was going to stand up for the boy and two times i lost my bail money try to help him out. i thought it was unfair, but what could i do? trump has all this money. he has all these rich republican pport him and he cries like a baby when he is rolled on in a fair way.

i think the jury was fair. they tried to be honest with him. and i also think this. i wish president biden would get on tv and let them know the lies that trump is telling saying he is running all this and has all these juries going against trump. biden needs to speak up more and defend himself. because people believe that. this sunday, i will have to say the republicans that i heard calling in, they were true republicans. they are telling the truth on trump. these other people that is following trump, i do not know where these people came from. that is all i have to say. host: we have about 10 minutes left. let's hear from mary in nebraska on the independent line. caller: good morning. i want to agree with most of the callers prior to me except for

one regarding our justice system. i think donald trump got just exactly what he deserved. but i want to say also i was a republican until i fell to the party went off the rails on the crazy train. decided not to crawl in a puddle with blinders on. it is all about everybody when we vote, not just about who i want. i have to make my vote according to who is going to benefit the people that go on after i am gone and i wish that other pe think. there is simply one thing that tarnished trump, january 6. i have friends that i stepped back from who were aware ahead of january 6 that they were going to be there, not for a prt

was going to be wild. these are people i have known a long time and really respected as common sense people and they now are brainwashed fools over donald trump. i don't know why you would believe somebody just because they tell you they are fabulous. go back and doecking. go back to when donald trump was involved in sneaking into dressing rooms of teenage girls to peep at them half dressed. this man from as far back as anybody could remember has really not been what i would consider a president of the united states. host: let's hear from edna on the republican line. good morning. caller: the question was how much confidence do we have in our legal system.

our legal system is not justice for all. i know what we say in our pledge of allegiance, but it is not that way. in my 70 years, i have never saw the legal system as it is now. it needs to be reassessed. it depends on who you are asked whether whether you get justice. and it is that way whether you are a republican or independent or democrat. we just need to practice some good common sense. host: kristin on the democrats line. good morning. : i just want to say i am a democrat, but right now i am supporting donald trump. men are going to be men.

when it comes it. when it gets down to it, those who cast the first stone, if you have no sin, cast the first stone. the united states was doing a lot better with donald trump. i'm sorry. our economy was better. he may have had an attitude on facing 34 charges, how are you going to feel? host: what is your confidence in the legal system? caller: how are you going to feel? i think donald trump did a great job when he was in office. host: what is your level of confidence in the u.s. legal system? caller:é i honestly think noboy can do a perfect job.

but i think that with the way and the stake -- states that the united states is going in right now, i think the presidency is doing the best they can. host: let's hear from judy in pennsylvania on the independent line. caller: hello? i thought i was calling on the democratic line. but that is ok. independents are ok too. donald trump has been corrupt since he has been an adult. and everything that he has done, he has ruined the country. i have faith in our judicial system. there are faults, but every system hasaufor the most part, k donald trump is getting what he deserves. host: kevin in new york calling on the republican line. caller: good morning.

i guess for your direct question i think the bail reform is one of the major ones that with wite judicial system. things have gone out. people have gotten out and have committed crimes again, so i think when you're loong bail reform as part of the judicial system is failing. the judicial system needs to be revamped for it. in our area here where i am, we are seeing cases dropped because they do not have enough people to prosecute. to me, that a problem with the judicial system as well.

everyone else is talking about donald trump. governments do non-disclosure agreements. if they are going to do anything , nondisclosure agreements should be illegal so everything is out there. so i guess that is the only thing i have to say. host: we will go to the democrats line. good morning, gg. call: i wanted to say, having served as a juror several years ago, i felt the weight of the responsibility of judging someone and having their fate in my hands and i took it seriously. i feel if people do that they will judge by the facts and weigh carefully what their decision is. but i also wanted to say this

because i think it is important. i feel we are in a spiritual battle and people are not looking at donald trump the way he should be looked at because i feel he is like a false prophet coming in sheep's clothing but as a ravening wolf because he has sold so much chaos and distrust and put people's lives at risk. all the vicious attacks against the judges, i guess the jurors and witnesses, that is wrong. you judge a tree by the fruit that it bears and donald trump's tree is chaos and hatred. host: rebecca in virginia beach calling on the independent line. good morning. >> i did start as a democrat my entire life and then after

serving in theá: military and in the federal government and seeing how this corrupt that so money people within it, and i'm not saying the system. i am saying the leaders in the system that are serving other interests, that have just ignored andng the public good and unfortunately it starts with the legal system. that is what we are. that is what our nation is. we are supposed to be a nation of laws and when you use those laws you weaponize them to go after opposition, that is not in the public good and not in the public interest. ■ftshad donald trump been an attorney, he will not be facing this now. he is facing this because of the fact he is not an attorney and

he dared to run for president. just like everyone else serving on the supremeourt. everyone seems to think you have to be an attorney to serve the public and i am not sure where that misconception came about. however, i intend to file as many complaints as i can against the american bar association because the attorneys that are supposed to serve as model citizens for our country have fallen so far along the wayside that i do not even know if we are going to have a rule of law in the future, so thank you forever me on. host: our next caller is calling on the republican line. caller: good morning. i was a young person when i arrived to this country. my mother and father left cuba.

i learned a lot from them, what they went through, and it seems to me like we are repeating this again. host: what is your confidence in the u.s. legal system? caller: i've lost all confidence after what i've seen in the past years, let's say. it's almost like a repeat of what my mom and dad went through in cuba. it is a shame what is going on in america. people might not like donald trump, but this was not the right way of doing it. host: phillipe in illinois. that is it for this hour. next we are going to talk with the american executive director about political news of the day and later we are going to have a conversation aboutam 2024, the serious xmradio

host dean obeidallah. we will be right back. ♪ announcer: tonight, we sit with two world war ii veterans, steve ellis and rall flynn to talk about their experiences during the war. >> we were on our way to the invasion of the big island in the philippines. that convoy was under constant attack from the japanese day and night and there was one coming right at us. still out of range so i waited a

few seconds. i remember thinking i wonder if we are going to get that sucker. just a very calm thing and we got that sucker. >> that's when they had the aircraft pilots from the japanese -- starts to get close. on the dangerous mission, aircraft shells are exploding all over the place and the navigator, namely myself was just sitting there hoping the bombardier would say bombs away and they could take over again and get out of the flight that is coming out >> world war ii veterans,

tonight on c-span's q&a. you can listen to q&a and all of our podcasts on our free c-span now app. >> c-span celebrates 45 years of covering congress like no other. your primary source for thousands, unfiltered coverage of government. taking you to where policy is debated and de all with the support of american cable companies. c-span, 45 years and counting powered by cable. host: joining us now is kurt mills, executive director of the american conservative. thank you for being here. why don't you tell us about the american conservative and why it was founded. guest: it was founded in 2002 as

a sort of conservative hub ag war, not a popular stance in the bush administration days. some of the themes of antiwar, unfettered immigration, here we are 22 years later. host: so a couple decades later, who is your ancare some of the goals of your writing and your publication? host: -- guest: our audience is anyone who reads us but generally speaking we are trying to map out the biological battle space of the republican party, what we call the conservative movement. additionally, preparing for a potential change in the administration and seeing where we go from there. host: you took over as executive

director earlier this year in i believe april and january. april was your first issu under. there was an issue that we put out in february. host: talk a little bit about your background and what you are bringing to the magazine. guest: i'm from around here, i was born in the suburbs of maryland and i moved to virginia. i've roughly lived in the swamp which is highly unusual. i'm not trying to -- anyone that is from around here. i've heard attacks since i was 13 years old. it was very much instrumental in guiding my own views, and i think to the extent that being a native washingtonian is an advantage, i am a defender of this city.

i remember top of carlson's of the same thing, a great place to live. host: and what is your approach to the magazine? are readers going to notice any changes? guest:■ñ poteni'm very much tako basics, a magazine founded in opposition to a war that was not popular. foreign policy i think is going to be the front end of our coverage as long as i am e.p. i have quite a soft spot for domestic politics in campaigns into looks like we have a large one coming up here. host: you just alluded to former president donald trump who was convicted on 34 counts and that new york hush money case. your reaction? guest: i think this case was

always taken more seriously than potentially it was. a big show, porn star cas not an this country. if you are indicted it is a major deal. the jurisdiction was not particularly friendly to mr. trump. mr. trump in his current incarnation is from there. he always ran the risk of this. i do think it is the least damaging of the possible convictions to happen before the election. if this had been the january 6 case, that would have been a catastrophe for his political chances. it is too soon to tell what this will do. my instinct is there will be a polling bump for biden in the coming weeks, but as americans let this gestate, toward november there's going be a lot of pause about what we did here as a country. host: there is another trial

coming up next week that is going to be for hunter biden, in a delaware court on gun related charges. why should people pay attention to that case? guest: the hunter biden situation is not important in my opinion for his personal problems. like many americans he has an addiction problem, had a tough fe but that is neither here nor there. i do believe the trading on his father's name is relevant. additionally, where me of thes t active, relevant wars of the united states right now which is ukraine. it's not nothing, especially because this story was somewhat suppressed from discussion in 2020. i do think this will be of significance.

host: something that your outlet reported on with the libertarian national convention that took place last week, the fact that former president trump and robert f. kennedy, jr. both spoke. what do you think about the impact of third-party candidates like rfk jr. and others, what they could do to the election? guest: i tend to relatively -- where mr. kennedy is going to be. he is running a symbolic campaign at this point. that said, he could very well be the most important third-party candidate since at least nader in 2000. the expectations going into this year, i don't think that is on the cards. i'm not convinced he's getting 5% of the national vote. i think where is relevant is even 3% is a big deal. al gore diehards still blame

ralph nader and some people still for 1992. i think what is also interesting is how mr. kennedy's appeal slices. i would be very persuaded that the average candy voter liens democratic, but i would guess that there's going to be a lot e states where the kennedy brand name has strong association, california, new york, massachusetts, which could potentially hurt is popular vote. what should be concerning for the trump campaign if they lose independents, the younger people who feel very disaffected and kind of think rfk is kind of fun, for different reasons than residual loyalty to the kennedy brand.

and that is super concerning for them. if they are losing boats like that in phoenix, milwaukee, philadelphia, detroit, big problem. host: we are talking with the executive director of the american conservative about the magazine and political news of the day. if you have a question or comment, you can join in the conversation. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. when fear talking about the campaign, other than the economy and abortion, what issues do you think are most important to voters? guest: i am a believer in the foreign policy angle. foreign policy experts always tell you that voters don't vote on it. i don't believe it at all. it is a serious desire to relegate your ow■í profession to

the point of relative unimportance. the israel issue is the biggest foreign policy issue and as a top three issue on this campaign and has the capacity to sink biden. the protectors are not a joke. once they are back in school, this is a huge problem for the biden campaign. it will be interesting to see how it emerges. biden is in a position where he competes with nobody. his donors are disgusted with the white house and the left has sort of held its nose for him in 2020, this sort block, young people are totally disgusted

with the administration's response. meanwhile, trump is just this change agent candidate if you want a more hawkish response. if you want a candidate who has been calling with the israelis are doing a genocide, that is also trump. he spoke at a rally in the midwest where his own supporters shouted genocide joe and he said they are not wrong. that strikes me as a complete poison pill for biden. host: former president trump, we have seen some of his foreign policy in action while he was serving in office. remind us what that looked like and how it compares to what president biden is up against right now. guest: what is foreign policy look like? at least as it pertains to the middle east, trump is going to

advance the lie that he started no foreign wars, that all the administrations of this century expanded. iraq and afghanistan for george w. bush, ukraine under obama. trump got mighty close with iran but that did not happen and that of course, biden has brought us to the brink of nuclear war which is not occurred since the ;60's. so trump will say that he looks pretty good. in fact, i'm being prosecuted by the war party by the deep state. i think all of these lines could potentially be very persuasive in the electorate, especially ie of the callers on the democratic line complain where is biden?

he's not responding to any of these narratives. host: first to john in ygood mo. caller: thank you faki have a co make. one is i've listened to your show before and some people were at electric about the future and what is going to happen. people talking about civil war. i was pretty dismissive about that. but given this past several weeks, what is happening with bragg and the teacher james, i think there is absolutely nothing that the democrats wouldn't do to win the next election, and that does include things that are illegal and things that are cheating. and i say that basically because what they did is they violated a

sacred constitutional principle of due process. ■jgi mean, obvious factors of ts trial, it was a show trial at the very least, and it's really concerning. it's like there's no more moral clarity. they view trump as a demon, somebody that is going to bring down the country. and i just want to say i don't know what the solution is. i think that the democrats have no more moral clarity in their party. so i just like to say this, that i hope that whoever wins the election, ok, wins it with the best plurality so there is no disputeñç as to who has the will of the people. i just want to add this

parenthetically a quick second. when biden opened the bder coming from all over the world, the democratic caucus in both houses and congress never said a word, really. they supported him. the sex trafficking of young girls, the fentanyl and everything, nobody in their caucus ever did anything, said anything. i wonder where we are going as a country. i think we've lost our path forward in terms of morality. i'm not a religious person, i just think that is a dangerous thing. host: got your point, let's get a response. guest:8 sure. responding to the idea that we could be headed toward a civil war, i would go the other direction.

the absolute protest in reaction to the constitution. republicans widely speaking did. imagine the inverse were former president barack obama was convicted of a crime, i think there would be a lot of protest in reaction to that. i'm not convinced that it will utterly destabilize the system. as to the show trial nature of it, rule of law considerations are a major deal here but they have to be valid with the system itself. cted a current or former president, i think we had good reason to. as to the question of the democrats moral clarity or lack thereof, this is a simple fix. dean phillips, this candidate who ran against biden in the primary, i think pardoning trump

would be the right thing to do. as for the idea that we should have no dispute of the election, i agree with you. host: ronald in south carolina calling on the democrat line. caller: my line of questioning is -- in north carolina, south carolina. conservative people are pushing e they don't want a if they were conservative, hown would they feel about that? i think reputation is very important to individual states, that they shouldn't be running the lines up in that area to get

the right person elected. that is controlling the election. is there something that can be changed? thank you. guest: i share the anxiety. i would say gerrymandering, i think it is a bipartisan practice. beyou're referring to is the republican practice in north and south carolina, although the north carolina state house, it is overwhelmingly republican in south carolina. but another staple you see the lines of redrawn again for public that they will be relevant for control of the house this fall, i think the problem is a lot of times, the alleged bipartisan commission,

and i think we've seen with the cult of expertise has taken this country in the last five years. it is disquieting, it is uncomfortable, it is cynical. but my honest answer is that i think there should be a fairly high bar change around how miserable it is. host: massachusetts, independent line, good morning. caller: i just wanted to make a comment. i watched yesterday about the travel shows, and the program yesterday was all about fascism, covering mussolini and hitler and how everybody puts their own thinking aside and goes with other people who are against everything that anybody wants. i think there could be a good

program for other people to watch during what is going on he stays in this country. host: republican line, built, good morning. caller: i have some questions for the gas and the c-span audience. host: go ahead. caller: with the maga crowd have hanged vice president mike pence if they had found him? would they have dragged him through the crowd? also, was mitt romney running through the halls of the capitol because he was excitedly happy for the crowd, or was he in fear for his safety? was he just playing hide and seek, or were they terrified?

host: let's get some responses. guest: the essential nature of your question, january 6 was an unacceptable riot, a bad day in american history. i think it was not pearl harbor and it was not 9/11 and i think the idea that mike pence or nancy pelosi■y o were truly in mortal danger is overdone as far as all the evidence i have seen. the people who were involved in january 6 onol that day, i've seen their lives destroyed. they been prosecuted, based in met with the full force of the law, and that is the appropriate response to that kind of action. i really don't have anything further to say about it.

he is an active litigation /= we handled presumably after the election, but he could of course pardon himself. i really fail to see pit-- i'm l side. how this serve the country to continually harp on this episode. host: let's hear from kyle and clearwater, florida on the democrat line. good morning, kyle. caller: thanks. i have a questiohigher level when we get past the election and the results, whatever way it turns out. when we have 70% of the republican party that inks that the election is still rigged and kind of repeats these fox news

facts, all of that far right media structure which is then through the so powerful with the new trump government, how you think we kind of with that, no matter who wins, because i think the distrust just kind of amplifies. guest: yes, very much not good. there's much to the conservative critique of the democratic reaction in 2016. it was not a one-for-one trade. former secretary clinton has never quit in her adage that russia is the reason that trump is the president, even though there with the most exhaustively investigative issue in world history.

all we know about mr. trump, none of the investigators, none of the independent researchers could find anything of material substance on trump as an agent of the kremlin and yet the former secretary of state continues to populate that myth. as to their republican concerns over voter fraud, book, on record, i think if joe biden -- dividing was fairly elected the president of the united states. trump has been poorly served politically by advancing this narrative. in fact, i think we seen him relatively relegated in 2024 compared to 22. it was a major staple of rallies in 2022, republicans performing in swing states. at the risk of just saying i hope this goes:g away, itible ts

overstated. host: margaret in illinois calling on the independent line. caller: yes, i cannot understand how this gentleman wants to see trump get elected a second time. he cheated to become president in 2016. he has never served his country, he's never signed up for the military. he made fun of handicapped people, ridiculing a poor young man who couldn't speak very well. he himself is nothing but a second son endlessly looking for the attention of his mother and his father who almost drove his brother to an early death. he is a sickening, revolting man and the sooner he is out of the

lives of the american people, the better. host: any response from margaret? guest: to be absolutely clear we are a nonprofit organization severe not in favor of an individual. we are doing activist opinion journalism here, so our writers have their views. as for the idea that the election of trump is unconscionable, i think americans are clearly divided on the subject. i would submit that those analyses of him as a man are not going to persuade anyone at this point in his career. the question is if what you say is true about trump, whether or not it is, isn't it a political indictment of what so many americans still want to seem as president? host: nick in louisiana on the

democrats line, good morning. caller: good morning. i want to say to the gentleman you have sitting here, i can relate to him that has understanding and i'm not going to agree with everything he's saying, but i do believe that he has some -- this country. when this country was formed, we didn't want that. there is no other way to do that.

what did trump do for this country? tell me what he's done. people look at that who shouldn't even be looking. over time we've grown to be better than we were in 1940, 1930. we prone. a new that is a move of self-governance. trump has never known a person who had to work every day. he's never known what it is to

have to take food stamps. he'never known those things. and that is the problem with what his movement is about. to be on c-span right now, this is our right to be on c-span. host: let's get a response, nick. caller:- as for the idea that he didn't do anything, i would submit that the biden administration kind of point to that. trump was able to fairly quickly shift the paradigm on three key issues. number one, immigration. there's now bipartisan consensus that the border is a disaster. i think the country has grown more hawkish on immigration that it was 10 years ago with a good

legacy for mr. trump. more hawkish on trade, more nationalistic on trade. reorienting our foreign policy away from the middle east. also something that bind has continued with the monstrous exception of his error in ukraine. this is obviously somebody was born into privilege, but he's worked with numerous people throughout his life and i do think he is aware of the difficult circumstances. pretty confident in a lot of his ownupthese calls here that he is mussolini, that he i

don't think these are helpful analogies. there are better analogies than what occurred in europe. host: event in foreign policy. if former president trump were to be reelected in november, what would you like to see and focus on foreign policy-wise? >> i think it is very c ministrn ideologically allergic to it. it's very clear that trump is open to it. a cease fire armistice in russia and ukraine i think should be order number one of the day. host: we have about 10 minutes left with executive director of the american server the. you can call in, republicans (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002.

the tear from jane on the independent line calling from indiana. caller: i've got three things for the guest. i'm having a little trouble recognizing him as a conservative and i'm wondering if he could tell us how his brand of conservatism differs from william buckley? i'm seeing something that i n't think buckley would have agreed with him on.i'd like to k buckley would have given the caller who talked about show trials a bit historical difference between that form of government and hours. and my third question is what is his position and what would buckley's position has been on a

question of presidential immunity? and i will just listen off the air, thank you so much for taking my call. guest: the colors quite right, this is not the conservatism of william barclay -- william buckley. it was very much founded with the viewpoint of the now defunct weekly standard which championed a lot that abroad. so yes, we are not associated with the wing of conservatism that has brought so much ruination to this country. a long history that you're welcome to research. like i said, this is not in our conservativism. as to the question of immunity,

i'm not an expert on with lines should be drawn but i should non drawn in the classified documents case. he should have been given the benefit of the dowdy. i don't think we should be indicting presidents willy-nilly. looks like we are going down that road. host: liverpool, pennsylvania, republican line. caller: in 2015 lindsey graham set if they nominate donald trump for president, he will destroy the republican party. he has. he still hasn't admitted that he lost in 2020.

he's unqualified. no credibility. fox news has no credibility. 99% of the republican politicians have no credibility. and he has destroyed the party. he is a lying crook and you can even admit that. host: you're calling on the republican line, are you republican? caller: no, that number was already in my phone. guest: senator graham is one of mr. trump's biggest champions now if we are going to attack people for being craven. i would probably have some -- for people who are very against p in 2015 and are very for him now. i would submit are we a democracy or not? the american people continue to -- there were tens of thousands

of votes separating him from clinton and biden. it may yet happen again in 2024. a far more competitive candidate than mitt romney or john mccain. the most repetitive -- competitive republican since the one who got us into iraq. host: john in massachusetts: on the democrats line. good morning, john. ■caller: the previous caller kid of took the wind out of my sails because i agree with him. i think the guest is a very articulate, intelligent guy. but i think he represents the conservative movement and they have totally sold out their principles by not looking at the of trump and the people he surrounds himself they are jy and intellectually repellent to average people■

i'm sorry, but he is a shallow for trump -- shill for trump and i think that is the whole problem with conservatives. i used to respect conservatives, no more. you've sold out your soul. guest: sweet and sour there. host: we will go to david in california: on the independent line. caller: you ar and i would justy to you, the silent majority out here, we like to say thank you. this out there. a lot of these people calling up having a lot of hatred. that's all i've got to say. guest: the caller said he was from california. interesting that there are tens of millions of people who vote for trump in california.

this is a complete ideological simple vacation to typecast people based on where they are from. especially outside of the metro areas, it is pretty red. i just find it pretty fascinating. there are a lot of people who think like the caller just now, and i would just urges fellow citizens to try to incorporate the feeling there because if we are going to work together host: time for a couple more calls. good morning, william. caller: good morning. i have a very simple question that is one of frustration, i guess.

why can we do better as conservatives, and why can't the parties control the ts %9that we have? guest: tan to the question of why we can't do better, the reality of what our institutional conservatism is supports the idea that want or what is in the interest of the party. i think that is the theme of my tenure here, but the sort of bush when conservatism of free war did not serve the communities of republicans and trump is a vehicle of frustration, a private citizen for seven decades of his life against that.

so yes, he is not a figure in government, but i think he is a useful corrective for that. it will begin testing to see how it bears out in the 20 20's and 20 30's. there's actually not a secret room. i really think it is not a helpful way of looking at things. we have an open primary, the country used to have these backroom conventions. they have not existed in the past century. he was elected because he was elected. that's it. his own party did not want him, they hate him, they probably still do behind his ck. this is actually democracy in action. host: the tear from christine in

massachusetts calling on the democrats line. good morning. caller: good morning. this is regarding the trial. when trump was president and he couldn't be indicted as a co-conspiracy conspiraone, now s beenharged, guilty for the same conspiracy that michael c oehn was found guilty for and sentenced to jail, why should trump be allowed to commit many, many crimes without any accountability? i mean, this trial showed how corrupt heas far as i'm concernp is a malevolent clown. he is a malevolent monster. mean, obviously people feel very emotionally about mr. trump and that is their right.

i think the idea that there's no accountability for trump or no checks on his that's not true. he is not the president he just was convicted of 34 felonies. i would submit, though, that it's not clear to the american democratic system for a former president to be prosecuted on effectively paperwork, details, tax stuff for the time that he was president. and additionally, i think it is just not clear we should go down this road. if trump actually shot somebody on fifth avenue and was asking to get away with it, i think that wouldn't pass muster. it's pretty clear that mr. brad

theory, a bastion of conservatism, i think we essentially conceded that. this statute of limitations elapsed and then finally, he based it on attempting to conceal a crime that another prosecutor declined to prosecute. host: we have time for one last call. michael and connticut: on the independent line. caller: hi, just wanted to say thank you for putting some like this, ite exposed. but have -- i have a real question that he should have an answer to right now. i very quickly want to first say how shocking it is that this man would defend a convicted felon, someone paid half a porn star, someone who killed a bipartisan immigration plan. civilly convicted of rape, said

he will suspend the constitution, become a dictator on day one, promising to free insurrectionists that he led on january 6, and how shameful i tn real quick, where is donald trump's health care plan? where is it? for nine years he's been promising a health care plan for america and it's always a few weeks away. where is it? it is a plan he's been promising for so long. guest: for the record, i did not defend all the things that the caller said. i don't think that's what i've answered to on this program. as for r care, notably they are a disaster. they don't they have a plan. it would be pretty full hearty for them to try to advance it if they got elected. i think obamacare is this so

of limp but workable status quo and until somebody has a better idea, it makes sense -- it makes no sense for a republican administration to mess with. that is a point of extreme vulnerability on the part of the republican party. host: kurt mills, executive director of the american with us. and we are going to have a conversation about campaign 2024 with dean obñzeidallah, but firt we are going to hear from more of you in the open forum. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can start calling in now.

♪ announcer: on thursday, c-spany. soldiers stormed the shores of normandy, france marking the pivotal moment in world war ii. watch out coverage of the ceremonies of normandy featuring a speech by president biden, and then live on washington journal, we were take your calls requesting on and remembering d-day. and then at 10:00 am join us or a national ceremony in washington, d.c. followed by a remembrance ceremony at the d-day memorial in virginia at 11:00 a.m. eastern. and for the rest of the day, stay with us as we commit -- continue to commemorate d-day withpresidential speeches and or programs. watch all they coverage marking the 80th anniversary of d-day starting live at 6:30 a.m.

eastern on thursday on c-span network. weekends bring your book t featuring leading authors discussing their latest noicon books. the simon & schuster centennial celebrationthen, mike hicksonkús at how issues of race and identity are playing out in school districts acrs watch eveo and find a full program on your schedule -- schedule on your program guide.

c-spanshop.org has a selection of apparel, product, books, home decor and accessories. something for fan, and every purchase helps support our nonprofit operation. shop now or anytime at c-spanshop.org. washington journal continues. host: for the next 25 minutes or so we will be hearing from more of you during our open forums t from pennsylvania calling on the republican line. good morning, mark. caller: i want to talk about the case that just happened. i listened to all the testimony that has happened and such, and certain things have jumped out at me. first of all, they charged a federal case in state court. there is a supreme court decision many times on this that it is not ok to do that, so they

didn't abide by the separation of powers. the case itself, the jurist fountain eight kit -- guilty of a case illegally brought in the first case. but then i looked at michael cohen's testimony where he pled guilty to the crime of this election case he had. what he basically pled guilty to was paying $280,000. as a citizen you are only allowed to put in about $3000 in the campaign. he was acting as a lawyer which i think he should have pled guilty to it, but the real thing that showed that he pled guilty to the crime was the fact that he never paid the $150,000. so hli guilty of a crime they didn't even do, but yet they documented that he paid $280,000.

next, you come along that they wouldn't allow witnesses for trump, they didn't bring the linchpin to the whole case. you have to assume that he wasn't going to testify. the next thing, they wouldn't give the witnesses that were coming up, so he couldn't even prepare legally for it. plus, they vteent right by charm with crimes that shouldn't have been charged in that word. the whole case was a mess. when the democrats cheered us on a would be literally like saying if your landscaper did a crime and then you get charged the penalty. this penalty was only going to be five years for what he did maximum, so how is trump being charged 20 years? he didn't fill out the document. 12 felonies for that. he never told michael cohen, you have to believe the actually

told him to rip them off for $60,000. and then if the jury was reasonable they would say there's three payments he didn't even sign. three payments he didn't even sign, so that's $105,000. this is all misdemeanor stuff to begin with. this whole case is acountry. i don't trust of the legal system at all anymore. this is a disaster and this is the end of our doesn't get rectified. host: marian philadelphia calling on the democrats line. good morning. caller: i've worked for the government state of pennsylvania for 45 years. i'm hearing that these people are getting it all wrong. if you work any branch of government, we integrated all branches of government under

president reagan. not have been out there by himself. every prosecutor should have been out there on the federal, state and city level because we are looking at the same information regarding anybody that we are doing investigations on. the irs prosecutor should have been out there. the treasury department. if we saw ior transferred to other countries, the cia prosecutor should have been out there. so they are looking at it all wrong. all branches of government, especially with these white-collar cases, they are requiredw to be out there and not allowed on a district attorney to do the job of all the government agencies. they need to make sure that they get this correct on any other

case and -- all these government agencies. thank you and have a good day. jackie in waldorf, maryland on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. host: your on. caller: i'm calling about donald trump. they know the thread -- this man. he could have had more people killed on january 6, but they prayed to him. he was going to kill the vice president or have them kill him. so how are people saying good things about this man? you can look at him and see this

man is evil. he is a mess. and he is still lying. ■-host: jackie talking about former president trump found guilty on 34 counts in the new york city hush money trial he spoke to press on friday responding to the jury verdict. here are some of his remarks. trump: if they can do this to me, they can do this to anyone. these are bad people and i believe in many cases sick people. when you look at our country, what is happening where millions and millions of people are flowing in from all parts of the world, not just south america, africa, asia, the middle east, coming in from jails and prisons and coming in from mental

institutions and insane asylums, they are coming in from all over the world to our country. and we have a president and a group of fascists that don't want to do anything about it. today, they could stop it, but he's not. our country is in very bad shape. they are very much against me saying these things. they want to raise your taxes by four time they want to stop you from having cars with their ridiculous mandates that make it impossible for you to get a car or afford a car. they make it very possible for china to build all of our cars. it's a very serious problem that we have. one of many experiences where we had a conflicted judge, highly conflicted. there's never been a more conflicted judge. i'm under a gag order which no

presidential cdi been under a gag order before. i am under a gag order, nasty gag've had to pay thousands of dollars in penalties and fines. threatened with jail. think about it, i'm the leading candidate, leading by-and-by a lot and leading the republicans to the point where that is over. and the leading president -- person for president and i'm under a gag order by a man who can't put two sentences together, and they are in total conjunction with the white house and the doj. this is all done by biden and his people. i don't know if i've knows about. he is nevertheless president so we have to use his name. this is done by washington. nobody's ever seen anything like it. we have a judge was highly conflicted.

nobody wants to write about it and i'm not allowed to talk that it. if i do, i get put in jail. so game and a bit longer. but you are allowed to talk about it, i hope you do. there's never been anybody so conflicted is this. host: the house is back in session tomorrow. one of the headlines, talks about he is going to be facing the government response to the coronavirus pandemic. it will be his first congressional testimony in nearly two years. you can watch it liv on c-span2 starting at 10:00 a.m. we will hear from mike calling from arizona on the republican line. mike, are you there? one more time for mike.

caller:appen -- host: i'm having a hard time hearing you. are you there? all right, we will go to jack in georgia calling on the democrats line. good morning. caller: i just want to say a couple of things. one about your previous guest. they always talk about the russian investigation. the investigation was the sea of russia influenced the election in 2016. let me read one sentence from the first line. this is from the mueller report. favoring presidential donald trump and disparaged presidential candidate hillary clinton. that is the russian kgb, the new fsb. the republicans have to ask themselves why did the russian secret service work so hard to get trump elected? your previous guest said that

was not the case. you ha to call out these republicans when they lie on your show. i agree with the republans this bragg investigation is silly. he's going after trump going after a prostitute. every christian man wants to pay off the prostitute so that's a no thing for a christian meant to do to pay off their prostitute. even if it is illegal. host: we will move on to sergio calling from albany, new york on the independent line. caller: thank you for taking my call. it is interesting my call dovetails after the last two calls regarding about telling the truth. i was watching replay, and the t was talking to a woman who called on the republican line and she was saying joe biden has

stood with the grand wizard of the kkk for 50 years. she kept repeating that line. i know where that information is coming from. i was so grateful that the host took the time to go up and post the fact that was a false statement. this woman was being held to telling the truth. in that vein, as we head to this new election, americans have to realize there is a really big problem in this country when people like roger ailes and rupert murdoch inform the opinions of people who watch them religiously and lie to them over and over again. rupert murdoch, roger ailes and foxnews has done such a great disservice to our country by providing misinformation and lies to the american people. i hear it regurgitated over and over again every time i hear a

caller on the republican line. this is a callout and thank you for c-span for providing this forum and thank you for taking the time to call out the liars when they are lying. i just watched x president trump stand there and lie to people again on c-span. i'm going, man, we have a big problem in this country. misinformation, disinformation. just listen to the republicans regurgitate -- host: got your point. we will go to philip in tennessee on the republican line. good morning. caller: i was going to rebut your caller from pennsylvania but now that i heard the last caller, he's grossly incorrect.

he needs to get his information correct. i was going to rebut the pennsylvania person irs and othr people in. they didn't want to do that because then they would have had to bring in bragg, and they didn't want to do that because he would explain there was no crime. that is all i got to say. you don't have to hang up on me. host: tina in north carolina calling on the democrats line. good morning. caller: good morning. i tire of conversations about a rigged trial concocted by democrats before even one juror was selected and approved by trump's defense team. democrats cannot and wi not take credit for trump's adulterous behaviors. that is the root of the problem. you always start at the

beginning, not in the middle and not what's convenient for you. there wouldn't be a trial or any negative commentary had trump n ot willfully committed adultery. there would be no garland, james, bragg, all the other members of the doj we are bashing on this tv one of the 10 commandments post on municipal buildings across the country, inspired by so-called evangelicals, when god gave moses the law on mount sinai, it was for jews and gentiles. but, president trump, like david, tried to cover up his adultery. that is why we are here today, having theseadultery, adultery. and it was his choice to make.

he made it and we need to start talking about why we are here instead of the fallout because of what has transpired the past few months. thank you. host: donald in north carolina calling on the independent line. good morning. caller:i just wanted to say, i e glad and i am hopeful and pray the republican party will return to the normal republican party we always knew. way back in the late 1970's when i was in college and we used to see the radical islamic terrorists -- maybe it was the 1980's, after the hostage crisis, they were marching down the streets and beating themselves in the chest. i said that would never happen here in america because

americans are too well-rounded in faith and democracy. we've seen that principal turned on its head with this republican party. i do not know what's wrong with them. voted democrat and republican in the past, but it bothers me really bad that the republican party will sell out everything to support somebody they want to worship who is seriously flawed. final thing i want to say is that donald trump does not care about this country. he's already■ been debriefed frm the presidency and stole documents. if he gets out of there, he will sell those documents. as long as it takes similar he wants to go, he's on it. i don't care if it is a limo, car, a hearse, donald trump is

thank you for taking my call. host: james in myrtle beach, south carolina on the republican line. good morning. caller: thanks for taking my call. i've been listening all morning and especially these democrats, some independents calling in. first of all, i'm a republican. none of you people have to respect me. and the democrat party, can i talk about the morals and the principles of the republican party? we look at what's been going on for the last 12, 16 years. ok, if any of you think this trial that went on in new york was■ aboveboard and everything was right with it, i hope it happens to you and your family one day. i'm sick of being called a racist. if you look at all the big

cities in america run by democrats, who's suffering the most? the minorities. i'm done listening to you people. as far as holding people accountable, when joe biden can never get a sentence together, everything he says is a lie. what was the inflation rate when he took office? it wasn't 9%. have a nice day. host: another in fayetteville, arkansas on the democrats line. caller: good morning, how's everything going? host: just great. caller: sounds like we have a lot of problems. trump rode in on obama's back and the economy was good, but ruined it when he gave all the rich people a tax break. did he let a lot of semitrucks get loaded down with covid people? why couldn't he accept the

responsibility on that? because he wanted to look good? come on, was wrong with the republicans. everybody gets behind him and no one is looking at who's going for him. he ain't going for himself. that is all i want to say. i'm getting upset because no one looks at what he does. everyone thinks he's a perfect man. he's not. host: we have time for a couple more calls. we will go to tony calling on the independent line. caller: good morning. please give me a little time here. i understand you have worked behind the scenes for about th-xe yes there. this is my fourth call in to have "washington journal" have -- politico to discuss his book.

now, there's another book i would like you to have the author. mike mccormick. mike mccormick was the white house stenographer under three administrations, obama, bush and trump. he wrote a book about impeaching and jailing biden. now, he names in his book some of the media who are corrupt and he names some other people. so, please bring this man on. i wrote down today when you all put bragg on there, he said to conceal a scheme to corrupt the 2016 election. well, hilary is a citizen of new york. i wonder if he will file charges against hillary for the dossier we know is false. what about -- even though they

put out a phony letter saying it was russian disinformation, they concealed this scheme to corrupt the election. are they going to file charges? no, because they are democrats. now, ithe report on dominion vog machines. people, please google the report on dominion voting machines. lately, just this may, double counting of the votes in fulton county, they had to appoint a special monitor to monitor the election coming up. how about the immigration bill? host: i know you had a lot to get in but we are running short of time. we want to have rose give her thoughts. rose in illinois calling on the republican line. caller: good morning. i just want to mention a lot of these democrats that are calling

in, and it is all of them -- fi, everyone is picking onrump because he had clinton, what abt kennedy, what about dwight d. eisenhower? what about the common man walking the streets? they are not any better. those who live in glass houses should not tow stones. that is not what he was being persecuted for. he was persecuted to undermine the new election. he's been persecuted -- they've been undermining the election since 2016. all the leftists which are real communists. progressive means nazis. progressive means communist. when you wake up and see how bad they are in our government and trying to wipe us out, maybe you'll wake up and do something. that is it for this morning's open forum.

next, we will be joined by siriusxm progressive radio show host dean. campaign 2024 and political news of the day. we will be right back. ♪ >> tonight q&a,e sit down with two world war ii veterans. steve ellis and former u.s. army air force b24 navigator ralph flynto talk about their experiences during the war. >> wt remember was the invasion of the big island on th philippines. the co7vnvoy was under constant attack by the japanese day and night. i looked up and there was one coming right at us. still out of range, so i waited

a few seconds and i gave the order to fire. i see them coming. i wonder if we are going to get that sucker? was not afraid, did not feel any rush of adrenaline. a very calm thing. we got that sucker. >> the bomb runs, that is when we have aircraft fire from the japanese starts to get close. on the dangerous mission, the aircraft shells are exploding all over the place. the myself, is sitting there hoping -- get out of flight. >> world war ii veterans tonight

at 8:00 eastern on c-span's q&a. you can listen to all of our podcasts on our free>> be up tot in publishin with book tv's podcast about books with current nonfiction book releases, plus bestseller lists and industry news and trends through insider interviews. you can find it on c-span now or wherever you get your podcasts. ♪ >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us now is dean. the host of d obedalliah show on siriusxm. welcome to the program. guest: thanks for having me.

host: tell us about your radio show and what you focus on. guest: we are a progressive show. generally, democrats call and some people call because they want to argue. the idea is to make people smarter. i have a comedic background in addition to being a lawyer. i try to make them smarter, make them laugh, to learn. my goal is they know more, i ju, objective facts. now with the trump verdict, people are worked up. we've had hours of phone calls thursday and friday from democrats. some shedding tears of joy, some whooping and hollering. i think the term giddy would be the correctincluding myself. none of the people who called to

defend trump saide they are not denying donald trump a convicted felon and he deserved to be convicted of 34 felonies. we don't call him 45 on the show, we call him 34. they are saying he's above the law. that is what we are dealing with, this ongoing fight on this issue. host: you mentioned there has been a lot of interest about talking about the verdict and the trump hush mone that, what f topics are you covering during your show and what kind of guests you have on? guest: many elected officials, many congresspeople. we talk about samuel alito, the justice with the flag. we talked about clarence thomas and ethics reform. probably mostly progressive

members of the house and others. senators as well. all the grassroots activists. democrat and republican aside, people on the grounds like taking big money out of politics. i think people should agree that we should overturn citizens united and our vote should better more. so, a lot of times, the grassroots issues are where we find common ground. one of the big things is taking money out of politics, limiting the influence of corporations, and make the government being about the people. there are things we can agree on. i think there are people in leadership on both parties who n't want us to agree on those

issues. getting rid of gerrymandering completely. the best person winning, not the best contrived district winning the election. i hope we can find common ground there but i am not delusional that we would on other issues. host: going bt guilty on the 34. the headline from cnn is that trump's conviction is not doing much to shift these voters' 2024 pick. they talk to independent voters about who they may support in the election. what does the fact it is not moving the needle tell you about the state of the 2024 election? guest: it is interesting. when people called the show , not one said we are going to win the election. there was no excitement this would impact the results in november.

as democrats, and people who are independent who called, it was not we are going to win. it was donald trump finally being held accountable. a man who has escaped accountability on crime after crime. the january 6 crimes, he should've already been tried. the supreme court is now slowing down. in florida, the espionage case. trump is charged with violating the espionagec0that should haved already but trump gave cannon that job as a judge and now she's returning the favor by slow walking the trial. our frustration was trump attended a coup, incited january 6, not charged with that but charged with trying to stop the transfer of power. accountable.

the accountability here. the impact on the verdict -- election, i don't know. time will tell. i think many americans who are torn right now i don't know who they will vote for, the question will be asked do you want someone convicted of 34 felonies representing the u.s. on the world stage? deep down, think that will move some people. i just don't want a convicted felon representing the united states of america on the world stage. host: we are talking with the host of the "dean obeidallah show." if you have a question or comment for him, you can call in now. republicans --(202) 748-8001. democrats (202) 748-8000. independents. one of the headlines that came out before the verdict was

that biden's campaign plans to get more aggressive once the trial ends. it was talk about the possibility of labeling him as a convicted felon. what are the possible pros and cons of the biden campaign leaning into that kind of labeling? guest: there are no cons except for donald trump who might be a convict in the near future. he's a convicted felon. everyone listening to yourj4 shw -- we are not normal people. we follow much more closely than the average person. we know the conviction. there are many americans who don't follow this at all. they don't tune in. they are busy with their lives. deinform voters about the candidate that is running in the republican nomination. a whole range of issues. one being donald trump is the reason that roe v. wade was

overturned. he said "i overturned roe v. wade." informing people of donald trump felon, i don't think a lot of people know that so yes, they should put that out there. they should put out merchandise wi felonies. they should use sense of humor. joe biden should say i will debate donald trump at the end of june if his parole officer lows him to leave the state. it is not the only issue, but it goes to his character. there wes before thisresident. donald trump attempted to overturn the 2020 election. he incited january 6. the committee report said the central cause of the january 6 attack was donald trump. if he simply accepted his loss,

there was no attack on the capitol. the only reason for january 6 was donald trump. now, donald trump, almost traitorous, the idea of pardoning people who beat up police officers on january 6, almost killed them. if you don't find that man unfit, you have to look in the mirror and ask yourself what do you mean about being an american? that's my viewing. we cannot have two sides to our democratic republic. we for those on the right, i hope you are troubleby man tried to n office despite losing election and involved in an attack, and now celebrating the attack. the january 6 choir before his events, celebrating the attackers by saying they are being treated unfairly and vowing to pardon people?

that is the definition of an american -- un-american. host: you are a former lawyer. you went to law school worked as a lawyer for a while. your takeaways from the trial. did you find anything in particular interesting or what grab your attention? guest: the verdict grabbed my attention. a lot of other things. there was some misinformation and it was trump. there are people, good americans who listen to trump and repeat what he says like it is the truth. they don't fact him. someone said they charged him with federal crimes in a state court. does that make sense to anyone? of course not, that's not what happened, but trump said that so people repeat it. he was charged with 34 state crimes and he was convicted of 34 state crimes. to me, the misinformation is the problem.

i was not surprid looking at thy indictment, the plea deal and following the evidence, as a former attorney -- juries are not going in there to be lawyers. it is common sense. common sense dictates with the verdict will be on almost every case. a few exceptions. common sense donald trump had an affair with stormy daniels in 2006. he paid her off 10 years later one week before the election and we are supposed to believe that thought about cheating in the election? of course, it was. and the falsified business records covered up. donald trump was convicted of cheating in the 2016 election. what troubles me is his lack of remorse. donald trump saying he's innocent. he is telling us he will commit the same crimes again in 2024. that is why remorse is actually relevant in sentencing.

punish and deter. you punish people and deter others by the punishment. if somebody is convicted and ■xsaid i learned, i was wrong, i would never do that again. that is important for a judge to hear. the judge hears donald trpsaying wrong, it is rigged, the judge is corrupt. the judge is will do the same thing over and over again because he believes he's above the law. that is what is so concerning to me. donald trump could be sentenced to jail. won't go to jail untilappeal i. donald trump should be sentenced to jail. he was convicted of 34 felonies. find me someone convicted of 34 felonies, 34 felonies who did not get jail time. you will not find it. it is time to end the special

treatment for donald trump. he could get 130 years in jail. that will never happen. he should at least get one year ■ a message to everyone that if you try to cheat in the elections, you are going to jail. why can't i cheat? you have to protect our democratic republic. i know that sounds naive, but it appeals to certain people on the right who are republicans, conservatives, not maga. you are a patriot, you believe in our republic. stand against donald trump and protect our democratic republic. host: we have people lined uou. we will hear from sandy on the democrats line. caller: hi, i love your radio show. it is fabulous. it is finally an answer to the

trash you here every day. the mark levins, all that group. i do have a question. how many civil judgments does it take to make one criminal judgment? they are talking about 3000 to 4000 cases he has been charged. how many has he been convicted of? guest:■e he was found liable of hundreds of millions of dollars york. it is not like 10 civil trials equals a criminal conviction. i know what you are getting it. how much do you need to prove that trump is a crook? you cannot get through to maga. donald trump is now a convicted felon. 34 felonies, convicted by a jury. what troubles me is you see trump reject the 2020 election, he rejects the criminal conviction of the january 6 attackers, and now reject his

own conviction. the question i asked for him and trump supporters, what part of america do you embrace? if you reject our elections, our constitution, our judicial system, what part of america do you embrace except the loyalty to trump? this will all be on the history channel one day. wow, why didn't they see the signs? many have seen the signs. channel, watch what happened in the 1930's in europe. host: let's hear from dayton on the republican line. caller: if he's done the crime, he should do the time. guest: that is a good republican. i like this very much, dayton.a? guest: i think he's a genius. good job. host: lynn in columbia, maryland

calling on the independent line. caller: can you explain to us -- i thought of the john edwards case. it is just about the only precedent. can you draw a comparison between the two? can you address the fact richard nixon was an unindicted co-conspirator but never criminally charged? can you explain to me why stephanie crawford, a.k.a. stormy daniels, could shake down somebody? that is not the crime of black mail, extortion? how far is a client responsible for crimes committed by his own attorney, in this case michael cohen? is it a question of whether he's aware his lawyer is committing those crimes? what is the point at which a client of an attorney can be held also criminally responsible for crimes that his attorney has

been convicted of? i really wish you would compare this to john edwards. when this hole broke out, the first thing i thought of was the john edwards case but maybe that is not a correct comparison. guest: a lot of questionsi am nn edwards case. he was charged with campaign violation. that jury did not find him guilty. i don't know the evidence that was presented. i do know that a jury here in new york with donald trump -- the former top prosecutor in new york and his team are very experienced. they picked a jury -- they presented their evidence. at the end of the day, a jury of 12 people in new york, and the very county where donald trump was well known, was convicted unanimously on 34 felonies.

comparing it to another case does not matter, the fax to that was different. this jury found that donald trump committed 34 felonies. the stormy daniels thing. if she committed crimes, she should bena charged. the last thing is when did you as a client get implicated criminally for the actions of your lawyer? that is when you are a criminal co-conspirator. when you agree on an illegal goal and collectively work towards that illegal scheme. that's exactly what donald trump and michael cohen did. what they were doing is not legal. the idea of paying off hush money to win an election is nothing that he to a law school because that is not law. that is called crime. no onen the right is calling for trump's innocence. what they are saying implicitly is that trump is above the law because you like him. that is not how the system

works. if joe biden was convicted of 34 felonies, democrats would say let's get a new candidate in a second. thank you for your service but we have to move on. not convicted of 34 felonies. republic■cs go we love this guy even more. that says so much about how morally bankrupt maga is. i look at magae republican party. there are republicans who are patriots who are disgusted by maga. maga, i view as a threat to our democratic republic. i have to be blunt about that. you are faced with a budding fascist and authoritarian movement on u.s. soil. i never called republicans before fascist. we say it now academically based on the definition. just read the academic

definition. we are dealing with an antidemocratic movement on u.s. soil. host: let's hear from vicki in kansas calling on the democrats line. good morning. caller: good morning. thanks for call. i just wanted to tie this into a little historical fact with the january 6 incident that trump way back when, right after reconstruction, there were a lot of hangings and death associated with that had no access to the legal system. they were not entertained. people would hang them, take them out of the jails and hang them without trial or anything like that.

that kind of reminded me of january 6 when i saw that news. the president at the time, i think it was woodrow wilson, and the legal system has not been fair to minorities and poor people for quite some up to lately when the young man was killed in georgia and jury found him not guilty even though we all know they were guilty. it all depends on the jury. i think the jury got it right this time. i think there was no bias, as there are in other states. if the trump case had been held in one of the other states where they love him, where the thought is consistent with the culture there, yeah, he would have been found not guilty even though the facts were there. what got me was when i saw that noose on the grounds of the cato, and these people were

there and wanted to hang mike pence and whoever else they would've got their hands on at the direction of the president, because the president back then did nothing either. that is my comment. oh, i did want to mention one other thing. there's a book by ralph ginsberg called "100 years of lynching." read that book. thank you. host: anyguest: i think that wat point. i think where this case would have been held could have impacted it. trump picked from a trump rally. if there are any trump supporters upset the trial was held in new york, our constitution says the venue for your trial is where you committed the alleged crimes. if you don't want trump to be convicted in the future, tlto gn west virginia. if you commit them in the state

where it was charged -- it is about accountability. every democrat knows donald trump being convicted does not mean he will lose the election. we live in a very hyper polarized time where facts don't matter to a lot of americans sadly. it will be a close e no one knows right now who's going to win the election. who com out in the key states the most. we're 150 something days away ■and no one knows the results yet. host: a questn coming in to you from x. speaker mike johnsonqas been asked in court to intervene ove trump's conviction in new york state court. can they do that? guest: not dectly. it would be unbelievable if they were to get involved. i don't see them getting involved. they don't really like -- they

will appeal in the appellate division new york. the court of appeals. they could try to appeal the supreme court. they won't get involved. mike johnson is the one who wrote a brief after the election on trump's behalf and getting other members of congress to overturn the election. mike johnson does not respect the will of the people. that is what is so jarring for people who know better, people who are lawyers. josh hawley, yale law school. they know the law andeading othd americans. to me, that is the greatest sin. they are corrupting a system that needs protection, not corruption. host: let's hear from bob in republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to see how donald

trump things how the other trials are coming up, and what you■e■pthose trials coming up. i was a democrat all my life. as far as fairness goes, i'm sorry, maybe donald trump got hung out to dry as he deserved, but hunter biden got to slide. they had him dead to rights and they let it go by the wayside. they're letting president biden off for taking secret documents out of the buildings where he was a senator, not even as a president. the president can supposedly declassify anything he wants, a senator cannot, the vice president cannot and he did these things. he had them at home and had them in a garage and have them in the worst places in the world. the fbi did treat them both differently. anybody who says they didn't,

they are absolutely bananas. just like the llc's the bidens have. just like all the conversations on thattop that everyone has shown us all and nobody is admitting. goldman, the guy who sits on the house committee, he's probably the most corrupt human being i've ever seen. don't just call the republicans that people. the democrats don't seem that great to me either, ok? we do need an independentwe neef human beings in this country that care about this country. from what i am looking at -- the republicans have been infiltrated by democrats. barr is a democrat, christopher wray is a democrat. that guy before christopher wray, he was definitely a democrat. who cannot say you are a

republican and then let the democrats walk out the door without even looking at it, without even caring about it. they have all these documents that prove these guys have been doing things and nobody says anything to them. hang donald trump out to dry. host: bob, let's get a response from dean. guest: bob, you might not know this but hunter biden's trial is starting monday. second, between biden and trump, the classified documents -- they are not in the same universe. donald trump refused to turn over documents, intentionally over and over. joe biden cooperated fully. good they have charged joe biden? sure. if they have said we are getting a new nominee. republicans go, my gosh, he's

convicted of a crime, we love him even more. your bigger question about an independent party. i think there is some potential to that, a party for the people and not for the billionaires or wealthy class. the question is who will fund that? we need so much campaign reform in this country. even maga on that but the people in power won't let us do that. we have to return the power to the people, 100%. i will agree with that. host: dean, you are also a cnn contributor. one of your headlines was talking about the national convention. former president trump spoke at that event last weekend. what are your takeaways? guest: libertarian, i am a progressive but i wrote about they booed donald trump. he stopped speaking about a half hour.

he turned on the crowd and lashed out at the people there. i love that they booed him. they had signs up saying he's a threat to democracy. what i applauded is donald trump is what patriotism sounds like. they booed trump, i applaud them. they were making it very clear they rejected him. ultimately, he did not put his name into formal consideration. he knew he was going to lose so badly. i disagree with libertarians on many things, but i think it is important that maga people see that and see that americans outside of their little world see donald trump for who he is and reject donald trump for the threat that he is. the republicans could dominate someone else and that person could beat joe biden. we need to move on from the maga

era and to a time where we can disagree on policy all day, and we should. we should disagree on taxes, trade policy, middle east policy, all of that. but we should not disagree on protecting our democratic republic and ensuring an election is protected. and the people that attacked the capitol is held accountable. not that they will pardon that because they agree with us. this experiment cannot continue to at some point they will win and this ends. host: let's hear from teresa in texascaller: good morning. so, i have heard people say that the other side is not reasonable. i happen to be a democrat. my sister is a republican. she was very maga.

it. so, she talked about the election being stolen and rigged and how unfair it was. i talked her into becoming an election worker. if you think it is so rigged, go down there, become an election worker. you will see no one is trying to cheat. we don't have anyone out there casting 100 votes. so, she did. now, she no longer thinks elections are rigged. i would like to say that i think education is going to be the key to getting people to understand more about our system. we need to bring back civics classes in high school. junior highand that is pretty mi have to say. guest: that is a great point. i could not agree more. i think teaching civics in

school in a way t■n■hat is n■$ot having any right-wing or teaching critical thinkings■ skills -- i think teaching critical thinking skills in our country is so vitally important for everyone. because sometimes my fellow democrats will email me about an article from someone's blog and it is not fact-check that all. there is no proof to this. you cannot disagree -- you cannot just give it to people because you like what it says. check it out. i encourage democrats all the time. you get an article, you never heard of the publication, google it, see if it is true. look at articles 5vin media outlets that are above board. it could be bbc. it could be nbc, cbs35, more of the legacy media outlets that have a higher degree of fact checking.

cnn -- people will not agree -- they go through such a rigid fact checking from lawyers looking at it and standards looking at it, and that is an opinion article. sometimes people make mistakes, but at the end of the day,■v thy are fact checked. don't take my opinion. i hope my opinion articles, i ee or disagree but go fact-check on your own. click on the link and then google it. don't cite right-wing garbage sites. you are being intellectually dishonest. get a few sources. i think critical thinking skills will make our countrythe peopl't think one day there will be a democratic donald trump. who says i don't care about the election results, we will storm the capitol. if you don't think that will

happen, you are kidding yourself. we need people to be thinking clearly and understand what is real and what is not by fact checking things. right now, the primary threats are from maga. we have about 10 minutes left with dean, siriusxm progressive host. we will hear from anthony on the republican line. caller: c-span. host: hi. caller: good morning. i'm going to make a comment and then ask you a question. i'm going to ask you to use your critical thinking skills, ok? the whole method that you guys are using to get giddy, using your terms, to make donald

trump a convicted label -- it is the doj had something to do with this. it was a misdemeanor case that was frankensteined into a felony case. colangelo from the doj opened up the trial in new york. doj interference right there based oncritical thinking skille facts. you had a misdemeanor charge in 2018 which was now resurrected magically to become a felony. the crimes that he was supposed to be into a felony were never defined. election interference is basely

what this is. do you interference? be honest. i know your schtick is to make democrats giddy. be be honest. the honest answer you have to give me is this is election interference, bar none. guest: i think you answered the question for me. just so everyone knows, the investigation into donald trump began in 2018 when michael cohen implicated donald trump in the crime. trump's doj would not allow the manhattan da to investigate for about a year. then, donald trump filed a lawsuit saying you cannot investigate a sitting president. that took a year more.

jury heard all the facts. the statute of limitations argument made by trump was rejected by the judge. it could have been reversed on appeal, unlikely. the fact that donald trump cheated to win the 2016 election. would he have won anyway? maybe. that is not relevant to the crime. the doj did not bring this case, the manhattan d.a. brought this case and it was brought in 2019. i wish the corporate media and democrats would do a better job explaining. we cannot picture michael cohen testifying before aoc which triggered the ag investigation new york. trump is now coi did not convice did not convict him, joe biden did not convict him. a jury of our peers did. if you are rejecting our jury

system, which part of the system do you embrace? host: dean, what other stories are you following or interested in right now other than the trump trial? guest: is there anotno, of cour. i cover a lot about the middle east. i have palestinian heritage on my father'cs side. in differentave covered gaza a lot more. this week, president biden having a new proposal for a cease-fire. the massacre in rafah covered ts well. i think in the future we will cover that if netanyahu speech before congress, we will cover that in great detail. i predict massive protests in

d.c. arguably a war criminal speech before our congress. that is a big issue. there issues of the day. whatever they might be. supreme court issues about ethics to just democrats fighting on policy issues with republicans, to a lot about messaging. democrat callers want to talk about how they do a bad job messaging. if you listen to conservative radio, they call of about how bad conservatives are about messaging. it is probably somewhere in between on both counts. host: the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has accepted an invite to speak in front of congress. do you think that will happen and what is your reaction? guest: i think if you think it is in his best interest to come he, even chuck schumer who was

saying netanyahu should step lank that he's extended the were to remain in power. now that same chuck schumer is joining with the republicans and inviting netanyahu. i believe that was morally and politically wrong. i think inviting netanyahu -- there is more destruction to homes in any conflict since world war ii. we won't know the full details until they war is over. 70% of the infrastructure, making gaza unlivable. two invite him to speak here, you are celebrating him. it is not about israel and iron dome stuff, but this is about celebrating a man who's on the verge of being charged with war crimes along with hamas. they are a terrorist

organization, of course. the idea of celebrating this man i find morally repugnant. it is a political mistake. our two parties are not the same end by saying we had the se on netanyahu -- only 18% of democrats approve of him. that is where the democratic party -- we have to take control of this party. that are too many people who are wall street democrats, establishment democrats who are in positions of power. we need to change now as much as possible. host: we have time for one last call. jeannie calling on the republican line. good morning. caller: hello. i'm judy and i just want to make a comment to this man.

i don't know how to pronounce his last name. what is it? guest: just call me dean. caller: no, but what is your last name? guest: obeidallah. caller: ok. you know, i used to be a democrat, a lifetime democrat. so were my parents and my husband's parents. i lost my husband from agent orange from the vietnam thing in 2017. i change my vote and my affiliation before my husband died. i went republican. i like trump. that is the only reason why i changed. i don't agree with you. you are very biased. the show on cnn has turned

biased of himself. i don't know why i keep watching and people get on the air and they are republican and democrat and speak their peace. i think you are nuts. guest: thank you. caller: you have very biased -- host: we are running short on time so we will get a response. guest: she is right. this is america, you should be biased. the framers had duels over politics. we should not have that but i am saying we should be passionate over politics. i have all the respect in the world for republicans to disagree with me on policy. republican maga, you know he's

trying to do that and you are fine with the dictator as long as he's your dictator and that is the problem. host: siriusxm progress host, dean obeidallah, thank you for being with us this morning. that is it for today's washington journal. thank you to everyone who called in and our guests. we will be back tomorrow morning was another show at 7:00 a.m. eastern and 4:00 a.m. pacific. enjoy the rest of your sunday. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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