>> i'm overwhelmed with gratitude to say i officially accept your nomination to be vice president of the united states of america. ♪ host: seven u.s. presidents have

come from ohio but j.d. vance is the first by presidential nominee since charles dawes who served under calvin coolidge to be an ohio native. this is day 4 of the republican national convention. we are back in milwaukee. president trump except his nomination tonight. we will be live with the convention as always here on c-span. we want your reaction to the political news, the republican national convention and campaign 2024 throughout the washington journal. here is how you can participate. dial in at (202) 748-8000 free democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8002s, (202) 748-8002. -- for independents, (202) 748-8002. try the text line. (202) 748-8003.

that is for text messages only. different going to text, your first name and city if you would. you can keep making comments on facebook. facebook.com/cspan, or x at @cspanwj. the lead story in the new york times this morning. an apology broke the ice as vance courted trump. . the meeting got off to j.d. vance walked into donald trump's office in 2021. the former president had a thick stack of papers, vance's broadsides against drop. the passcode is is him and kidded one of mr. trump's least favorite magazines, the lentic, where he described mr. trump as cultural heroin, a purveyor of

false promises to the white working-class. mr. trump bluntly told mr. vance you said some nasty stuff about me. the discussion that followed was described in detail by two people with knowledge of the meeting who assisted on that insisted on anonymity. mr. vance's next move was crucial, the first time he was meeting mr. trump. mr. vance needed the former president to like him or at least have the meeting with an open mind. mr. vance was running for the open u.s. senate seat in ohio as a republican populist, a never trumper turned pro-trumper. he decided to admittedly apologize and told mr. trump he had bought into what he described as media lies and he was sorry he got it wrong. he told mr. trump mr. vance

himself should've understood. mr. trump agreed, telling mr. vance he should have understood because mr. vance had written the hillbilly elegy book. the application was that mr. vance has supported him because mr. trump's own base of non-college-educated voters angry about globalization, immigration and foreign wars comprised exactly the people mr. vance purported to represent. at that point mr. trump seemed disarmed in the meeting went on for almost two hours. they discussed the election and the ohio race. mostly they talked about the difficulties of politics. it had been less than a month since mr. trump left the white house pariah in the wake of a pro-trump mob storming the capitol after the president spent two months lying about his stolen election. mr. trump closed the conversation by asking mr. vance what he wanted. mr. trump told him everyone else had already been down to

mar-a-lago begging for his endorsement, a reference to mr. vance's potential opponents in the ohio senate primary. mr. vance, along with a spokesman for mr. trump declined to comment on this article. he told the former president he was not going to do that. mr. trump asked mr. vance if he wanted the endorsement. mr. vance said of course he wanted it, but mr. trump should let him run his race and see how he did. mr. vance said he would not be the type of candidate who would attack the former president when the media came after him. that is the front page lead story in the new york times this morning. it goes on for another page, giving you details of that meeting in case you're interested in reading for yourself. we want to talk about j.d. vance 's acceptance speech and what's going on and the democratic side of the aisle. we want to talk about the secret service this morning. 202 is the area code for all

numbers. (202) 748-8000 free democrats. -- for democrats will (202) 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8002 for independents. here is more from j.d. vance's speech of last night. [video] >> we have a big tent and this party. my message to you my fellow republicans is we love this country and we are united to win. [cheers] i think our disagreements actually make a stronger. that is what i learned in my time in the senate where sometimes i persuade my colleagues and sometimes they persuade me. my message to my fellow americans, those watching from across the country is, shouldn't we be governed by a party that's unafraid to debate ideas and

come to the best solutions? [cheers] that is the republican of the next four years. united in our love for this country and committed to free speech and the open exchange of ideas. [cheers] tonight, mr. chairman, i stand here humbled and overwhelmed with gratitude to say i officially accept your nomination to be vice president of the united states of america. host: we want to hear your voices. spot from asheville, northglenn. democrats line. what did you think of j.d. vance 's speech? caller: i'm very worried. as a lifetime democrat i'm upset

right now. i interned with the great roy cooper, an internship with him. a great governor. my family goes back three generations with the fulton county democratic party. we are proud, independent. we are losing this race. i don't know what to do but everybody is upset. i'm sorry. president biden has given his all and they will just dump him. jd will wipe out the midwest. i have looked at the polls from last night. i have internal knowledge. they said trump is up by five to 10 points. i know it is early but we need to turn this thing around. fellow democrats, please give president biden. he needs to carry on. he needs to give the torch to kamala and we need to get the

minorities and the enthusiasm. trump has the enthusiasm. he's a marketing genius. i do not like the man. host: do you think that president biden should step aside as a democrat? caller: look, the man is having some kind of medical problem that we have been ignoring for the last probably six to eight months. we don't talk about it in democratic circles because we are kinda pigeonholed. we are kind of pigeonholed. we wait until the last second to turn against the guy. what are we going to do is democrats? it's very upsetting. i went to college, got my masters degree in political science. i went to brown university. i want to work for the democratic party but we are going to be out of power real soon if we don't turn things around. host: do you think kamala harris could be the presidential

nominee? caller: we don't know because we never give her a chance. we never gave kamala a chance because biden for some reason, his inner circle, they do things their own way. now it is too late. it is too late. we are losing in the polls. this is like a nightmare, sir. i'm sorry but i don't like donald trump. it's going to get nasty on the streets if he becomes president. i'm not threatening but people will not even vote. they are not voting. they are not going to vote. the democratic party in asheville, we are not -- host: thank you for sharing your point of view with us this morning. joining us milwaukee is mary spicuzza what the milwaukee journal sentinel. we will be talking in just a

second about what is going on in milwaukee. did you listen to that caller on the democratic side of the aisle? what was your reaction? guest: i did listen. we are hearing a lot of concerns and a lot of nervousness from democrats. it does seem like donald trump has a ton of momentum. there's a lot of enthusiasm in fiserv forum. i think a lot of our democrats are nervous right now in wisconsin. host: what about the republicans? are they energized? guest: yes. i have been in the hall inside pfizer form every night. there is a lot of energy and cheering. it is a very motivated crowd i would say. host: as a member of the media, how has your reception been inside the republican hall? guest: everybody has been nice to me one-on-one. if you have been listening to

the speeches there has been talk of the media being the enemy and some boos and things like that during speeches. certainly, they have been nice on a one-on-one basis but definitely there's an attitude the media is the enemy. host: mary spicuzza, how was the reception last night for j.d. vance? guest: he got a great reception. there was a ton of applause. there was chanting for jd, for jd's mom, for his grandma, for ohio. he got a very overwhelmingly positive reception to his speech. he did steer clear of controversial issues. i did not hear him out of the word abortion during his speech, which has been an issue that has not come up in any of the speeches this week. certainly, a lot of his life story.

his story of his family and received overwhelmingly positive reception from everything i saw and heard. host: mary spicuzza, two things. he talked about his mother, 10 years clean and sober. and mamaw's love of the f word. guest: god and the f word. it sounds like she had a healthy stash of guns around from what he said. lots of personal stories. if there was any skepticism about him before i was not hearing that in the crowd from the response to his speech. host: as the audience noticed or appreciated donald trump has been an attendance every night of this convention? guest: oh yes. he has not spoken from the stage but his presence has certainly been felt and seen. he has walked into a standing

ovation and thunderous applause every night. just about every speech has cut over to him as the speaker is on the stage for his reaction at least once if not 2, 3, 4 times. he has certainly been a presence every night. host: tonight is his night. have you heard anything about his speech and who else is speaking? guest: there is a pretty packed lineup like every night. i have not seen any excerpts from his speech. they have talked about unity. some folks have had a more message of unity than others. we will have to wait and see what donald trump's message is and how much he has rewritten his speech from -- since the assassination attempt and whether that i unity is going through his speech remains to be seen. we have not seen his medical records yet. i have not seen anything released about his ear and the damages and any updates on that.

host: this will be the first time he gives a speech since the rally in butler, pennsylvania, isn't it? guest: right. it feels like it's been longer but it's been less than a week. six days. to my knowledge, unless he's given some private speech, this will be his first speech since that shooting. host: mary spicuzza, axios reports this morning the trump bandage is the newest fashion trend at the rnc. members are wearing -- putting on a bandage on the right year -- ear. guest: yes. some people are putting paper or tape over their ear. some bandages. it has been nothing cropping up probably everyday of the convention. some more elaborate than others.

host: what has security been like for you? guest: it has been tight. i would not try to commute around milwaukee this week with the fencing, the cement barricades. i have my media credentials so i can get in and out of the security zone. host: is it tough for you to get home? guest: no. nobody else is the streets commuting. this has been the fastest commute of my life. i'm just avoiding the closed streets. a lot of people who don't have to be downtown or don't want to be for the convention are not coming downtown and are commuting and telecommuting to work. it's an interesting mix of almost carnival like atmosphere within the confines of the security zone and then outside it's almost like vacant streets. we did have some protests of a few hundred. there was also someone was tragically killed, that sounds

like an unhealthy person was killed near the security barrier -- unhoused person was killed near the security barrier. it had nothing to do with the rnc. he was arguing with somebody and they saw a knife in his hand. that is a tragic thing that happened near the rnc but not directly related to the event. host: a native and someone who lives in milwaukee, would you recommend to a midsized city to sponsor a convention like this? guest: maybe ask me after tonight. it's been a pretty smooth event so far aside from that incident. some commuting frustrations but it will be interesting to see more about whether the economics -- whether there is a boost to local businesses. we have amazing local restaurants and shops and businesses. i am hoping that they make money off this event and don't lose money.

maybe check back with me on that one. host: mary spicuzza, thanks for your time. guest: thank you for having me. host: back to your calls on campaign 2024. doug in ohio on the independent line. what did you think of j.d. vance 's speech? caller: i think is a disgrace to ohio, just like jordan and to wine -- dewine. the democrats have got to stop this false prophet from taking over this country. don't you remember how destructive donald trump was as a president? how bad he turned everybody on each other? i don't care who the democrats put out there, i will vote against trump every day of my life. that made us nothing but a disgrace to america. thank you for allowing me to talk this way. i'm telling you the republicans are brainwashed. they ain't republicans anymore.

that is why left the party back after charlottesville. donald trump is a pied piper of idiots. they don't call it maga for nothing, lawrence against great america -- morand's against -- morons against great america. host: ralph, good morning to you. caller: none of the speeches of the convention will change who donald trump is and what he did as president. he is still a felon. he has been twice impeached. he participated or organized and spoke and directed the crowd on january 6 to riot and shut down the capitol and stop the electoral college vote. it doesn't matter what j.d. vance says in his speech. we can debate. i without the here j.d. vance on who won the 2020 election.

navy that's the first thing you should ask j.d. vance, did biden or trump win in a landslide and was a lot of fraud? host: let's pivot to your party. do the democrats replace joe biden? what are you looking for coming up in august? caller: i don't know. if you want to get into the machinery of the nomination of a president, do you have to have a vote of the delegates? what do you do with the primary votes? joe biden won overwhelmingly. there wasn't even much opposition in the primary. almost nothing. i don't think any of the opposition candidates got over 5%. did anybody get over 5% of the vote against joe biden? host: joe biden has the 4000 delegates locked up currently at the democratic national convention. caller: let me ask another

question. let's say they dump biden. what do we do with the ballot? how do we have as vice president? that's another thing. let's say we dump him. we will have to pick a second vice president. can we get on the ballot in all 50 states? what is the campaign machinery? i have not heard any of that. host: what is your answer to all those questions? caller: the only -- my answer is trump is totally unfit to assume the presidency. he's a criminal. host: linda is a republican from dallas. what did you think of j.d. vance 's speech? caller: i thought it was wonderful. i wasn't that familiar with him because i did not read his book. i did not know anything about him. i can tell you now i thought he

gave a great speech. host: by the way, sunday night we are rearing on q&a -- re-ai ring an interview with j.d. vance on sunday night at 8:00 p.m. on c-span. j.d. vance was introduced by his wife last night at the republican national convention. here she is. [video] >> when jd met me he approached our differences with curiosity and enthusiasm. he wanted to know everything about me. where i came from, what my life had been like. although he's a meat and potatoes kind of guy, he adapted to my vegetarian diet and learned to cook food for my mother, indian food. before i knew it, he became an integral part of my family. a person could not imagine

living without. the jd i knew then is the same jd you see today, except for that beard. [laughter] his goals are the same that he has pursued for our family. to keep people safe, to create opportunities, to build a better life, and to solve problems with an open mind. it is safe to say that neither jd nor i expected to find ourselves in this position. it's hard to imagine a more powerful example of the american dream. a boy from middletown, ohio. [cheers] [chants of "j.d."]

raised by his grandmother through tough times. chosen to help lead our country through some of its greatest challenges. i am grateful to all of you for the trust you have placed in him and in our family. with that, it is my great cleavage to introduce my husband and the next vice president of the united states, j.d. vance. [cheers] host: jennifer harper in her column in the washington times reports former president trump and vice presidential nominee j.d. vance will appear together and deliver remarks at a 5:00 p.m. saturday rally in grand rapids, michigan. that's according to their campaign, their first joint appearance. kenneth, lakeside, oregon. independent line. give us your take on the gop

convention, on politics, campaign 2024. what's up? caller: i am 100% disabled veteran. i have had problems with the v.a., the local v.a. here in oregon. i tried to voice my complaints. no one will listen. no one will help. i also tried to get ron wyden, the senator here to help me. his aid shut me down and delayed the problem until the complaint was completely over. he never, ever said anything to the u.s. senator or try to help me. -- tried to help me. i want to let everybody know

that if you are one citizen, you can't get any kind of help at all from any of our government agencies. i am old school. i don't have a smart phone or a computer. i'm a senior citizen. i can't get anybody to help me in any kind of government agency. that is my complaint. host: i prescient your calling in -- appreciate you calling and sharing your concerns with us. jill, jamestown, north carolina. democrat. good morning to you. caller: it is gill. host: sorry about that. caller: i would like to make some important points regarding j.d. vance and his wife.

they are models of political expediency. his wife was a lifelong democrat. when donald trump asked him to be vice president she just changed her registration to republican. no surprise there. i would like to make two other points. to my brother, fellow brother in asheville, north carolina, his profound concern regarding the general election. if president joe biden, who i admire very much, should decide to leave his campaign, i would recommend from an executive point of view governor jay inslee to fill the role. that will be a hard road for him. having said that, i would like to address the gentleman from michigan regarding who could be

-- who could fill the ticket. kamala harris would be the obvious selection. i would like to see her select cory booker as her vice presidential partner. i think that team could definitely win in november. my last comment is that thank god for saving donald trump's life. i pray he thanks god and is remorseful and is very grateful. host: as a democrat will you be watching his speech tonight? caller: probably not. let me finish please. the last point i would like to make is that gerald ford on september 5, 1975, win streak you from --when squeaky frohm -- september 22, 1975, the

second attempt to assassinate him and san francisco. october 14, 1912, president the at her roosevelt was in milwaukee -- theodore roosevelt was in milwaukee campaigning. john shray approached teddy roosevelt -- host: you have to finish up. caller: he was saved because the bullet hit his eyeglasses. he had a speech in his suit pocket. the bullet remained four inches from his sternum. president gerald ford and teddy roosevelt conceded the election and the general election -- in the general election. i hope donald trump will do the same. preferably he will lose to kamala harris or joe biden or whoever else the democratic party nominates. host: that is gill in north carolina. he brought up some of the

machinations that may be going on in the democratic party. politico delivers a daily briefing. this is their playbook. i will read some of the articles. over the last 24 hours the uncertainty is given way to take growing clarity about the reality facing the president. the walls are closing in and his position leading the ticket appears increasingly unsustainable. the president's reelection bid has now lost the confidence of congress's seniormost democratic leaders, as well as party elders across the country. abc news's john carl skipped that chuck schumer and house majority leader hakeem jeffries told biden he should end his reelection campaign for the good of the country.

cnn reported former speaker nancy pelosi told the president you can't win and it's dragging on the party. adam schiff became the latest hill democrat to publicly call on biden to step aside. biden's confident and campaign advisor jeffrey katzenberg confronted the president about the new financial woes, telling him donors of all but stopped writing checks. senior democrats are privately circulating jarring numbers from blue road research that found that 18% of voters and 36% of people who voted for mr. biden in 2020 believe he's mentally fit and up to the job. dnc officials were pressured by their own party into pushing back a virtual roll call nominating biden after an attempt to move it up was seen as a way to assure biden could run out the clock on the dump

biden crowd. this flurry of stories yesterday is no accident. senior democrats had hoped to address the matter privately. hello see herself certainly advised members to try to do so -- pelosi herself certainly advised members to try to do so. democrats are leaking tidbits of private conversations with the president himself using the news media as a microphone to send the message we are no longer with you and we will force you off the ticket if needed. this is all from politico playbook which comes out every morning. it is free. look for politico playbook on. andy in kentucky on the republican line. what is your comment? caller: campaign 2024 is about money. it's always been about money. i would love to see c-span,

who's in a unique position, other campaigns have given up various money from people that donate to them. i would pledge $100,000 per year for the next 10 years if you guys would give up your campaign donations from all the troublemakers who are very vicious and vile people you give money that corporations get money from. that is the cable industry. you have gotten people so riled up and out of their minds to where they will do or say anything. i don't care about any of these politicians that are running. i don't care personally about any of them. trump, vance, none of them. i just want to know what their policies are.

i want to know how they are going to make this country more godly and a better nation for people to live in. stop stealing from everyone. stop making everyone a thief. host: that was andy in kentucky on the republican line. here is the washington post. the third prong of political news going on. j.d. vance on the left-hand side. clear lead story is secret service was warned of security gaffe. local police alerted the secret service before former president trump's rally. that they lacked the resources to station a key building where a gunman later positioned himself and shot at trump. that's according to local and federal law enforcement. last night at the republican national convention, senators marsha blackburn, james

lankford, john barrasso. three republican senators confronted kimberly cheadle. this is from marsha blackburn's x account. [video] >> [indiscernible] we didn't get any good responses. i'm very disappointed [indiscernible] start answering our questions right now [indiscernible] go on stage in pennsylvania at a time when you have already been alerted [indiscernible]

identify the never before and he went on stage with the team on the ground. [indiscernible] a full x with nation for us right now -- explanation for us right now. >> [indiscernible] according to the timeline of your deputy to identify a potential threat. [indiscernible] can you give us an excellent nation -- explanation? why would anyone allow the president to go on stage when

you know [indiscernible] >> i don't think [indiscernible] >> we are here. [indiscernible] >> we can find a place to go right now. [indiscernible] [crowd cheering] >> thank you very much. >> no, no. we are going with you. >> don't walk away from us.

[crowd cheering] >> [indiscernible] >> you owe people answers. you owe president trump answers. >> i'm john barrasso, chairman of the senate republican conference. senator blackburn and i went face-to-face with the director of the secret service asking for specific answers about what happened with president trump in pennsylvania and how that shooter was able to get a clear

shot when the fbi, secret service knew there was a suspicious person an hour in advance of when the shooting occurred. >> they identified a potential threat at 5:51. she would not answer our questions. she wanted to say it was not the time or place. this is after we have been through a conference call that was cut off. i have a message for her. she can run but she cannot hide. the american people want to know how and assassination attempt was carried out -- an assassination attempt was carried out on former president donald trump. host: according to axios, secret service director kim cheadle told house members we failed at a no fail nation. -- mission. this was at a briefing for house members. chris in bonita springs,

florida. independent line. it's been an interesting campaign 2024, has in it? that hasn't it -- hasn't it? caller: it's been interesting for quite a few years. -came in independent when ross perot ran. i grew up not in middletown but in cincinnati. host: i think we lost you, chris. steve from long island, democrats line. good morning. caller: good morning. i look to j.d. vance's speech last night. it's a little hypocritical of him to criticize wall street when he worked -- he had his own hedge fund. he was not too successful at that either. other than the book he wrote he's been a puppet for petert

thiel. he took one company public that went bankrupt within a year in kentucky. the fact that he called trump america's hitler not long ago and now he is the vp candidate. he lied about the north american trade treaty that was started by george bush senior. most democrats or a lot of democrats at the time were against it, especially in the state of ohio, pennsylvania. it's his party that really brought it over. it is a speech. it's a convention to make everybody get all excited and stuff. there will be a lot of problems with j.d. vance and other people in the party. host: are you looking forward to

the democrats convention in a couple of weeks? caller: i don't really look at conventions much. i will tune in for five minutes to hear but it's a rally to pump people up. you not going to learn too much. i am curious about what they are going to do about biden. if he turns it over to vp harris, who her vp candidate will be. i'm expecting it to be a white male with a business background. i think that would be a good one. as far as i'm concerned trump can have it for a couple of years. he will almost be a lame-duck when he's in there. the dems have a heck of a bench for 2028 and the public in party will be in pieces -- the republican party will be in

pieces. host: talking about watching the conventions, this is axios. rnc ratings on first night down 21% from 2016. the first night of the republican national convention. it drew 18 million viewers monday night, up slightly from 2020. down 21% from 2016. monday's convention marked former president trump's first public appearance since an assassination against him on saturday night. viewership also dropped 18% from monday to tuesday. fox news drew the most viewers, about 7 million on monday. 5.3 million on tuesday. this is in axios this morning. the next call is earnest in columbus, georgia. have you been watching the convention? caller: i have watched most all of it. i have a couple of comments. i have been a conservative --

i'm 83 years old. i have always been that way. it is something to listen to the callers for the democrat party. even on the news networks that are democrats, they are not bragging about all the great things that biden has done. all they want to do is beat up on the republicans. they talk nasty about them. they don't understand how anybody could vote for trump. tom not voting for trump. i'm voting for the conservative party because in my life i had a better life when the conservatives were there. maybe that is just me. i am voting my heart for the party. i don't care if it's biden or trump. if biden was a candidate for the republican party, i would vote for him. the conservative values is what i look at. i don't look at the person. thank you for taking my call. host: next up is chris from bonita springs, florida. independent line. go ahead.

caller: thank you for getting me back on. i don't know what happened to my call. i grew up in cincinnati not far from middletown. i observed the decline of manufacturing, which is why i was passionate about ross perot. ross perot was a very passionate man when it came to preserving the manufacturing base in this country. he understood the importance of it. donald trump used to actually support him. i voted for republicans. i voted for democrats. i have been disgusted with both parties when it became globalist controlled multinational corporations and banks. trump thrilled me when he first ran, because he did not need the

money so he didn't have to take legalized bribes, a.k.a. campaign contributions. he seemed to really be interested in returning the manufacturing base back to the united states where it belonged. people think it will hurt them if tariffs are put on products. the basic misunderstanding in that scenario is the fact that people charge whatever the market will bare. the only people who make more money are the people selling the products. the cheaper the labor, no matter where it is coming from, the cheaper it is for them -- host: all this said, where you going in 2024? caller: 100% with the republicans this time. the democrats have proven to be disloyal to this country.

i say that very adamantly due till logic and observation of the obvious. for example, they just went against a bill that would require proof of citizenship to vote. they are letting massive numbers of illegal immigrants enter this country. that says it all right there. host: that was chris in bonita springs. tom in fort myers, florida. democrat. caller: good morning. good to see you on washington journal. i enjoy your work on book tv. you just showed that video of shaking down ms. cheadle. obviously, there was a huge mistake there. almost a fatal error with the assassination attempt. nobody has mentioned the fact that the word assassination -- we rarely hear that. it's a specific thing. it implies trying to murder a

political opponent or somebody in politics. we did not hear that word until donald trump himself prodded up in regards -- brought it up in regards to the raid last summer on mar-a-lago when they try to reclaim the documents he had and he would not return them. he just recently asserted over and over again that they were there to assassinate him. when you think about that, they are trying to figure out what made him climb up on that roof with that rifle and shoot at the president of the united states. who knows what it could be. the thought of an assassination was raised by the president -- the ex-president himself. i thought it was an outrageous claim. host: that is, in fort myers. christine and grayson, georgia.

republican line. go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call this morning. i just want to clarify a couple of things as i have heard them so far. the gentleman from fort myers might need to check his air-conditioning or if he's getting too hot in the brain. i have never heard that kind of explanation on the attempt of someone's life. it seems to me that we are now trying to turn the victim into the perpetrator. there was a terrible event that took place on saturday. it was a plethora of errors that seemed to have gone unheeded. i am very concerned that ms. cheadle is not really giving an

answer, not being accountable for her position. i worked in the real world. a mistake of those proportions, somebody's head would have been dismissed. i'm a little concerned that the democrats seem to be circling the wagons and not giving the answers to exactly what happenned on saturday -- happened on saturday when we discussed the life of a former president. it looks to me like the next president of the united states. host: christine in georgia, thank you. gary up from connecticut. independent. what do you think about campaign 2024 so far? caller: good morning. i have been watching it pretty much every night. j.d. vance said the republican party had a big tent.

pt barnum had a big tent and he said in america a sucker is born every minute. the think of the serves me -- thing that disturbs me is that during the 2000 election i voted for john mccain. i was on the fence until john mccain had a public meeting with people, corrected a lady who had repeated donald trump's lie about barack obama not being an american. i said that is a man who is honest and has courage. john mccain was a great patriot. for donald trump to excoriate him the way he did is disgraceful. every person who goes into the voting booth in november should remember what was said about john mccain, the real american patriot. host: thank you for calling in. prior to returning to delaware

because of the covid diagnosis, president biden appeared on bet. here is a little bit of that interview. [video] >> is there anything you would look to personally, not anybody else, not even perhaps family members, that you would look to to say if i see that, i will reevaluate? >> if a medical condition emerged. the doctors said you had this problem or that problem. i made a serious mistake in the whole debate. when i ran i said is going to be a transitional candidate. i thought i would be able to move from this and pass it on to someone else. i did not anticipate things getting so, so divided. quite frankly, i think the only thing -- age brings a little bit of wisdom. i think i have demonstrated i know how to get things done for

the country. there is more -- host: back to your calls. james in rome, georgia. democrat. caller: i know you're going to cut me off because i'm going to tell the truth. the last election biden was not peoples's first, second or third choice. a lot of people voted for him because of what clyburn did. biden is weak. what black people want, the people who put him in office. they did not get the voting rights, the minimum wage, police reform. he did not do anything with marijuana. a lot of the things that's hurting the black community. the police are still killing us. we are the ones who are supporting biden. he says he's the president for everybody. you go to the dance, you dance with that person.

trump is a racist. his wife said he has all of hitler's speeches on his nightstand. you cut people off. look at his agenda. it is racist. it helps all white people. biden needs to go. he will not add people to the supreme court. the supreme court has made no difference because the supreme court can overrule anything. if the minority ruled through the courts they could not add any of those laws. what did they do? the democrats will not even change the filibuster. a parliamentarian stopped them from raising the minimum wage. thank you. host: that was james, democrats line. this is jd in mobile, alabama. independent line. caller: you talked a lot about

or mentioned j.d. vance purports he is a catholic convert from atheism and protestantism. i want to make something very clear. he is not following the catholic teaching. he's -- there was a big story about his full endorsement of methyl presto. it is the chemical abortion used up to 70 days. it is nonsurgical but nonetheless it absolutely is an abortive drug that kills the developing life within. right there on the face of it, he is not following catholic doctrine. he has made a big deal about his conversion and he read a bunch of fancy philosophers, rene girard and whatnot. what god has revealed, he doesn't follow. he went to yale. he's not following the very primary teachings, the

fundamental foundation teachings on life. host: does that prevent you from supporting the trump-vance ticket? if so, where do you go with your vote? caller: great question and things are asking. the answer is absolutely my conscience will not let me vote for him. who i will vote for is a little-known party called the american solidarity party. nine children. 100% pro-life. i have to go to the megan solidarity party -- american solidarity party. peter sonski. host: thank you for calling in. here is more of j.d. vance's acceptance speech. [video] >> this moment is about all of us. it's about who we are fighting for. it's about the autoworker in michigan wondering why out of touch politicians are destroying their jobs.

it's about the factory worker in wisconsin who makes things with their hand and is proud of american craftsmanship. [cheers] it's about the energy worker in pennsylvania and ohio who doesn't understand why joe biden is willing to buy energy from dictators when he could buy from his own citizens right here in our own country. [cheers] [chanting] you guys are great crowd. wow.

[cheers] [chanting] [laughter] it's about our movement. single moms like mine who struggled with money and addiction but never gave up. i am proud to say that tonight my mom is here. 10 years clean and sober. i love you, mom. [cheers] host: that was a little more

from j.d. vance -- james david vance's acceptance speech last night. an article you might have seen if you're watching the convention. you might have seen this. this was babydog who came on stage with governor jim justice of west virginia. a bulldog. i don't know if you saw her last night or two nights ago. she was on stage with jim justice. he has her at several of his speeches. state addresses and things like that. he brings her around the state with him. there she is. bob, massachusetts, republican. what do you think of the convention so far? caller: i'm kind of depressed. i don't like j.d. vance. as a show on tv called

"supernatural." demons have black eyes. host: why don't you like j.d. vance? who would you have liked to have donald trump pick? caller: byron donalds. he's a decent human being. j.d. vance it is not. he couldn't get mike pence. delia the comment is when it comes to the fbi -- i served in the u.s. military. that was the best sniper spot on the planet. the snipers for the government -- that moron of a secret service leader said we couldn't put people up on that roof. that was a two pihost: that's bn massachusetts. we're going to take one more call here. this is barry, maryland, democrat ,hi. caller: good morning.

i watch c-span and it saddens me how terrible the democrats are at being able to support their own candidate. repetitively, i watched the campaign for the rnc and see what they are doing. it's a perpetual lie after the next after the next, after the next. they will still back this president and now, his vice president, who lies just as much as the original, lies as much as president trum. we can't get it together to bag one candidate and stay focused with this person. if we could we would be fine. host: do you think that joe biden should be the democratic candidate? guest: he already -- caller: he already is, how can you debate something that is a fact? host: let me ask it another way,

should he step aside? caller: why should he? he's already turned of the right. we can't get behind one candidate and support him like republican support trump. whatever that guy does, they are just right there. host: thank you for sharing your point of view. coming, sebastian gorka, he'll be taking your calls. first, we want to show you a look at the media operations in milwaukee. >> at the panther arena we are in media row, where radio stations, television stations, bloggers and content creators are here covering the convention. we are talking to the host of one of these programs. how are you? >> my name is tori lo, i have the tory low show that comes on every day from 1:00 to 4:00. >> what was your interest in

broadcasting live from here? >> this is one of the rare times we have the rnc in the city of milwaukee and i'm having a great time. enjoying myself, talking to new and interesting people. it's a great thing. >> what kind of information do you want to communicate to the people that listen to your show? >> this year there's a lot of conversation about the black vote and we want to talk to elected officials about what they can do for the black community and i've been having a great conversation, what does the black vote in particular mean to the republican party? at this time i think that more people are now interested in that conversation due to feeling inflation, due to feeling how democratic cities are ran. it's a great time to have those conversations right now. >> did you come into the week with expectations and how were they met or changed? >> when i saw the gates go up, i was like what is this?

i never saw a convention like that. once you get in, people are having a great time, having good food. i attended the convention and heard a lot of speakers. it's just something where if you want to have an open mind and learn about the ideas and the practices of the republican party, this is the place to be. >> thank you for your time. outside of pfizer center, a series of booths where television reporters can do standups. it's a part of the large media presence here. not just television but radio, international radio. what is your name? >> josh crosby. >> what brings you to the rnc? >> what doesn't? it's the christmas week of u.s. politics, if you like, i can't get over it. first thing that hit me is the weather, we are not used to this weather here in ireland -- back in ireland, it takes some getting used to. but it's the scale and the

security. the incident on saturday, security was ramped up, but this is just another level altogether. when you enter the main area in the evening, your eyes open up to how important it is for the people of america. >> what information do you want your listeners to find out? >> what makes america tick. i came here to interview the ordinary joe, the general public. i met with the demonstrators to hear their concerns. here i want to find out what -- why people want trump back in. why do they want change? in to ask why do they fully endorse and support all of his views as well? >> talk about this technology. >> this is a zoom h4, standard recorder, with a pop shield to stop any wind or loud noises in the background. >> what are you going to get

from this week, do you think? >> plenty of color. the american people love the wacky hats, the bright colors, there's no shortage of it. all through the break, i met a different with cowboy hats come everywhere. color, color, color. >> enjoy your time. >> thank you, pedro. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we are sebastian gorka back live with sebastian gorka -- we are back live with sebastian gorka, host of a newsmax tv show. mr. gorka, how did j.d. vance do last night, do you think? guest: [laughter] he had the tens of thousands of patrons in milwaukee in the palm of his hand. they started shouting his name. the moment with his mother,

recognizing his mother from the floor, she got teary-eyed. you don't have to be a lip reader to work out what she said, that's my boy, love you. an incredible evening. my first ever convention. yesterday was my first day here with my wife, chairperson of the gop for fairfax county in virginia and it was quite an evening, quite an evening. host: was he or picked for vice president? guest: i didn't have a pick. it's a binary decision, between the catastrophe of joe biden and saving america once more under my former boss, president trump. i'm convinced that the old world logic of the 20th century, where if the top of the ticket was a yankee, you had to have a southerner in the veep slot to bring in another demographic or

another steak, not relevant anymore. nobody in our nation who is a voter who is going to say -- well, i was going to vote for biden, but donald trump chose john smith for his vp, therefore i will vote for him. so, i don't think it really matters except for one thing, which is why this choice is so strong. he is somebody who can pick up, pick up the mantle of maga, of america first, and he's a really good pick for that. host: speaking of which, here's a headline from this morning, "gop economic populism clashes with pitch to donors." a lot of ink this week about establishment republicans versus populists versus maga first, america first republicans. what's your take on all of that?

guest: the donor class has been blown out of the water. we don't care about the people who sold out america for the last six years. this is the message of j.d. vance and his phenomenal autobiography, "hillbilly elegy ," i read them in the white house, i hate autobiographies but my boss then steve bannon said you have got to read this book by this j.d. vance fellow and i thought -- ok. i got a copy of it that thanksgiving weekend and i could not put it down, read it cover to cover. fascinating, for a man who was really not a trump supporter back then, that book is the best explanation of why tens of millions of working crest -- working-class democrats voted for a billionaire from manhattan because it was a tale of his hillbilly family as they moved to ohio and how they were

basically betrayed by that, by the establishment rhino class a hand in glove with the democrats, with the chamber of commerce, who sold their jobs down the river to mexico, to china. we don't care about, you know, the corporate establishment. donald trump was elected despite it. this is our party now. this is america first, it's mag up. it's not about the big interests of the war machine or anything else. this is about the forgotten men and women of america. host: sean o'brien, the teamsters president speaking monday night, your take? it wasn't necessarily, you know, a pro-trump speech, either. guest: as you get off the plane in milwaukee, i was so -- not wasted -- let them continue to burn their millions of dollars, massive digital billboards calling the teamsters union

teeth -- chief a traitor to the working class, we are annoying all the right people. j.d. vance said it yesterday, we are here for all working americans, union and nonunion, and that was a very powerful message. host: let's take some calls. if trump gets back into the white house, would you like to go back and be an assistant to him again? guest: i've spoken to him. he would like me back. it's a duty. first and foremost, i'm working on getting him reelected november 5. let's talk about personnel after that. host: north carolina, independent line, you are on c-span with sebastian gorka. caller: it's an honor to speak with you. i want to make a couple of evidence points i'm very familiar with since i retired

and moved next door to camp lejeune, home of the marine corps. going back a little bit, i'm very familiar with nafta, it retired me in 1992, when i could not compete with my business over china goods coming in at half the price of what i could make them for. i went into the construction business as a licensed contractor. finally i retired in 2016 in swansboro because i like to fish. when donald trump was president, gas in swansboro was $50 a gallon for most of his term. the practice range at camp lejeune -- host: we are going to need you to bring this to a period to get some more calls in. caller: all i can say is that when trump was president the first time, they flew the

harrier jets daily. they were active. biden took over, camp lejeune stepped down pretty much. host: thank you, sir. sebastian gorka? any reaction to his comments? guest: yeah, this man calling the speaking to my heart. before i joined the white house i spent two years as a professor at the marine corps university. what they have done to this nation is unconscionable, including the military. the fact that a general friend of mine had his son, a green beret, returned from the baltic where he was training the brave baltic states on how to resist if russia invades their countries, along with ukraine, this brave green beret gets back to fort bragg, not for liberty, but fort bragg, he's put into mandatory training for pronoun

use. sheer, utter insanity. the world is on fire. i would like to remind all of you, especially on the democrat and independent mine, when we were in the white house not only a prosperous and safe, not only did we have a border, the world was stable for four years. no new wars. in comes joe we surrender afghanistan, putin invades ukraine and we have the greatest loss of life of jews since the end of the holocaust. whether it is domestically, international affairs, the state of our military, we have to stop the dismantling of america by those who hate it, including joe biden in the coterie that is the democratic party. host: here's a tweet that you sent out yesterday, now it's time to lower the temperature, -- now is not time to lower the temperature, now it's time to turn it up and crush them.

to what guest: are you referring? guest:the election on november 5. we have heard even from friends of mine inside of the conservative movement after the assassination attempt on my firm -- former boss, this mindless mantra of let's come together. it's a kumbaya moment of lowering the temperature, and i will not have it. i will not have it. we did not increase the temperature. we are not the ones who said let's put the other one, the other leader in a bull's-eye. we are not the ones who said, like congressman goldman, on television, that we need to eliminate donald trump. there is one radical pro-violence party in america, it is the democrats. from kamala harris raising funds to bailout arsonists, from maxine waters on camera in public saying that if you see a member of the trump cabinet in public, you harass them. to the democratic party of today

. it's not the party of your father or your grandfather, not the party of jfk or scoop jackson, it's a radical america hating party, no compromise with people who want to kill our president and put our supporters in prison. god bless peter navarro for his incredible speech yesterday hours after he was released from a political prison in florida. no, no compromise. the democrats must be crushed into the ground november 5 and maybe from the ashes of that radical party a rational person will be able to rebuild it. host: why do you call peter navarro in political prisoner and have you had a chance to talk to steve bannon since he has been in prison? guest: steve doesn't want to communicate with anyone on the outside. he made a very transient video clip before he went into prison saying don't contact me, don't write to me, i don't have time for that, you don't have time for that, make sure that we win in november, that has been his

request. peter is of course a political prisoner. let's be clear. the january 6 committee was legal. you can't have an investigative committee on congress without two conditions being met, both parties must nominate candidates and secondly the investigative committee must be tied to pending legislation. neither of those applied to the illegal january 6 committee. nancy pelosi refused to accept the nominees from gop to that committee, instead taking trump hating lunatic rhinos. there was no legislation tied to the committee, it was illegal. therefore when she subpoenaed my former colleague, peter navarro, who said that this was any legally constituted committee and even if it weren't, i have executive privilege, trump has granted me executive privilege because our communications, we have to have separation of powers in america, my communications with the chief

executive are protected. what did the fbi do? the fbi instead of asking peter to show up with attorneys to deal with a misdemeanor charge, they surveilled him and tracked him to reagan airport where they arrested him. not only did they put him in handcuffs, they put peter navarro in leg shackles for misdemeanor contempt of congress , shuffled him out of the airport in a complete police state tactic and then took him to the fbi, where they put him, they said they are going to put him in hinckley's cell. where they proceeded to execute a strip search on peter navarro for a misdemeanor white color of congress charge. that is gestapo police state tactics. he was a political prisoner it now he is free. sadly, steve bannon is now a political prisoner. these are the police state

tactics of the biden administration and the merrick garland doj. host: michael is calling in on the republican line. go ahead, michael. caller: thank you so much. good morning, mr. gorka. thank you for taking my call, i appreciate what you're doing 100 percent. i'm a ukrainian orthodox priest, have been for 40 years. i was never involved in politics, but in 2016 i heard that a nonattorney non-politician was running for president and i got on board. he was coming to columbus, ohio 2015 and i was blessed to give the invitation at the rally. when i stood and i talked with president trump before i went out, we talked for a little bit and he said you know what, i will even get prayer back in school. look at what he did, months after him being president, he got prayer back in school. we were standing there, i had a little icon of the virgin mary and the christ child.

i said take this, carry this with you. i truly believe, not because i gave him the icon but i truly believe that the president is a spiritual man. i believe he is like abraham lincoln of old and at night when no one sees him, he is on his knees or sitting at a table with his hands on his brow, praying for the direction of mighty god to lead this country. i believe that with all my heart. host: michael, thank you for calling in. guest: god bless you, michael. i have just one thing to say. we need a rebirth of this nation. we need a spiritual reverification. so much of what we witnessed today is a function of postmodernist secularity and the denial that there is objective truth outside of us and it is our lord and creator. let's be clear about what happened on saturday. there is no better piece of evidence for divine

intervention. look at the stunning videos, frame by frame, that were posted just yesterday across the internet. you can see them on my twitter feed. president trump in the last millisecond turns his head literally one inch and that bill -- bullet instead of penetrating his cranium and us witnessing the murder live on television of the most popular politician in america today, instead it grazes the top of his ear. that's all the proof that i need. as well as his victory in 2016 when the deck was stacked against him. hillary clinton had outspent us by 100%, she owned all of the mainstream media and we were the winners nevertheless. i said it back then, that was divine intervention. we saw it again in buffalo. a message from the bigeye, supporting donald trump, he loves america like you do. host: sebastian gorka, 2016, did

you think you were going to win? guest: it's weird. i hate predicting the future because nobody holds you to your predictions. so, i didn't make any statements. i just remember the evening so clearly like it were yesterday. sitting on the porch of my house in the commonwealth of virginia with my young son, both of us with our laptops on our laps, watching the results come in. there was a moment when we looked at each other and said -- it looks like it's happening. what a day. i want to relive that in four months. we shall see. host: is kamala harris a stronger candidate against trump than joe biden? guest: well, ask the democrats. that's the irony. [laughter] the deliciousness of the catch, the ultimate insurance policy,

the diversity higher that they could jump over. this is a woman who couldn't get 3% of the democratic vote in the primaries. of whether it is a senile husk of a man at the top of the ticket being pressurized by pelosi and schumer to step down, or if it is this woman that they cannot jump over because of her skin color and gender. less than 3% of the democrats wanted her as the candidate. it doesn't matter who it is, it does not matter who they picked. it looks like joe is in big trouble. host: pompano beach, florida, that's where kathy lives. she's a democrat. go ahead, you are on with sebastian gorka. caller: thank you. if you watch the conventions on florida day or florida night, you got to see floridian stupidity. but i want to just make mention

of mr. gorka, he's really been turning down the rhetoric here. i wonder, the first night when trump came out, he looked like a deer in the headlights. last night he looked much better, until jd started talking . i think all of a sudden it dawned on him that the deal he must have cut with elon musk, the $45 million a month to put j.d. vance and there may not have been worth it. what do you think, mr. gorka? host: there is kathy's analysis. sebastian gorka? guest: what do i think? i'm sad for you, kathy. you are a perfect exemplar of that hate filled democrats that are running your party today. you come on national television, on c-span, to call the people in your state of florida the stupid

people. you call your state the stupid people. that's just sheer bigotry. but it is endemic amongst your party. your hatred with each other unless you repent. but i will pay for -- pray for you, kathy. host: mike, maryland, independent mind, go ahead. caller: how are you? good morning, mr. gorka. my main observation of all of this, excuse me, character. calling people names, that's just kid stuff. i am nowhere near a supporter of mr. trump and i'm glad that he's not injured more. the country is in trouble. mr. gorka, you continue.

have a great day. host: sebastian gorka, where were you when president trump was -- former president trump a shot on saturday night? were you watching it live? guest: i was on vacation in the beautiful forests of new hampshire with my daughter and my wife, on my way to a dinner, when my wife was in the tech -- passenger seat and she said that they shot trump. the image burned into my cerebellum, when she said that, i will never forget. of course, we turned around and i started watching analysis in doing interviews for the next 72 hours. just like with jfk, with 9/11, we will all remember where we were when we heard the news. host: marie is a republican, tennessee. caller: mr. gorka will like it is not love what i have to say.

conservatives will be the new world order and we will win. we will not play nice. we will not be kind and bend a knee to make biden policies look better. democrats have been threatening conservatives for four years to put a new world order in that none of us voted for. we will take the progressives who push perverts like transgender and ai robots for replacing human workers with chips under the skin and insect agriculture and pedophilia, we will bury it six feet under and six feet apart. we will stop the 53 your plot by the council on foreign relations to give our borders open to create a north american union. and they will face judgment for crimes against humanity. we will also stop the funding of

cia proxy wars through democratic llcs for criminal activities like drug running and child sex trafficking. host: one more line and then we have to move on. caller: that is the only thing that will bring about restoration of the republic and the world peace. host: thank you, ma'am. what did you think of what marie had to say? guest: quite a litany, eladio is no longer a thing, that was a cold war project. but with regards to the broader strategic concepts of what i had to sit -- you had to say, i have one thing to quote from president trump, a lion of a man , a warrior, go back every day and watch the video from pennsylvania. he is shot in the head by a bullet traveling 3000 feet per second. doesn't know how badly he's injured, pushes away the secret service, raises his fist with his head held high and he says a

fight, fight, fight. he wasn't thinking about himself , he was thinking about america and that is what we must do, fight politically until those who hate america and hate themselves are utterly vanquished on november the fifth. then we can begin rebuilding. absolutely churchillian moment. we owe it to him to have his back, register hundreds of extra people who haven't been registered to vote and we win this election. that is all we have to do. president trump and his team will do the rest. host: where can people with listen to your radio show, american first, or watch gorka reality check? guest: three point 5 million listeners on the sale metric -- network. you can get it on stitcher, spotify, listen to it whenever you want. my website is gorka.com.

seven 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. eastern is my television show. my latest book is "the war for america's soul." host: eric, buffalo, democratic line, hello. caller: yes, sebastian gorka. america first, donald trump's wife is not even from america. this nonsense a few republicans hijacking every single thing that takes place -- abortion, christianity, these people are clowns. you know, donald trump had no choice. one thing is for sure, when the reaper comes to get you, there is nothing you can do. you can all pat yourselves on the back, you are on your little high, but i want to know one thing, when you lose, will you cry like babies like last time and say that they cheated? you are going to lose, you are going to lose.

while you all have a good week, enjoy yourselves, but guess what is going to happen, you are going to lose and you're clowns are going to face reality. host: that was eric in buffalo. any reaction to what he had to say? guest: for eric. a bigot, a racist. what kind of human beings as my gosh, he is married to an immigrant. you racist pig. i'm an immigrant. you are a bigot and a racist and we will defeat you, dear friend. goodbye. go somewhere else, we don't need you. host: in the last week, we have been getting a lot of calls here , project 2025 put out by the heritage foundation. do you know anything about it? what is your take on it? guest: absolutely, i'm very familiar with it. my wife worked on it. kevin roberts was on my show

last week to discuss all of the strange hullabaloo. so weird, the heritage foundation has been doing this for 30 years. every time there is an election day write a book called mandates for leadership that is a recommendation on things a conservative president should do if they come into office and they did it again. they gave it a snappier title this time and the left-wing wing are melting down collectively. it's delicious to watch. people should purchase shares and popcorn. it's what the heritage foundation does, the most important conservative think tank in the nation and the world . it's all fake news. it's a great document, people should read the actual document, not the left wing spin to the mainstream media. host: thank you for being our guest here on "washington journal," we appreciate it. a couple of more hours coming up this morning, extended journal, four hours live from milwaukee.

a couple of guests we have coming up are ed martin, he will be talking about the rnc platform. and mordercai lee is coming on to talk about presidential history. that's all coming up. we will continue to take your calls on camping 2024 and we will be right back. ♪ >> discover the heartbeat of democracy with voices 2024 as we engage what -- voters nationwide asking what issue is most important to you in this election and why. >> the most important thing to me is the economy. as the economy has gone down it has caused working families to

tighten their belts, it has caused a secondary impact on local businesses that provide services regarding secondary income. as far as tightening their belts they have not been able to sustain local businesses in the community. >> as a journalist i think one of the most important issues to me is figuring out if they are telling the truth. as journalists it's important to tell that story. >> the most important issue facing the united states right now is illegal immigration. we have a wide open border, we need to close it and finish the wall. immigration is taxing our infrastructure. schools. medical centers. it is destroying the country. >> hello, i'm gregory from vermont. i am a vermont candidate for

lieutenant governor. as a republican, the largest issue to me is about taking care of the people, bringing the people together with unity. we are all out for the same goals, we just have to get there together, work together with the and transparency. >> c-span's voices 2000 24, be a part of the conversation. >> "washington journal" continues. host: live from milwaukee, we continue to hear your views on the campaign, the issues of joe biden, the democrats, secret service, these are all issues that have made the week a remarkable political week. here are our numbers. (202) 748-8000 if you are a democrat. (202) 748-8001 if you are a republican. s independent -- independents,

(202) 748-8002. if you cannot get through on the phone lines, you can try to send a text, (202) 748-8003. we love getting and reading your texts. include your first name and city, if you want. you can continue the conversation we are having on facebook.com/c-span or you can make a comment on x, c-span wj. from inside of the washington times column, saturday morning following the convention the first joint appearance of donald trump in j.d. vance will be at 5 p.m. saturday in grand rapids, michigan. that will be their first joint appearance this saturday. harvey is calling in from dallas. republican, hello. caller: thank you for taking my

call. i have enjoyed watching the convention and i look forward to the democratic convention. what i was impressed with the most is the positiveness of the everyday citizen. there is a model -- a motto in journalism that if it leads, it leads -- bleeds, it leads. if i wanted to criticize something, i would say that don jr., instead of bashing the democrats, he was supposed to choose j.d. vance. i have a question for you. i called and she's been multiple times. i tried 75 times this morning -- i called c-span multiple times this morning, 75. i called years ago and spoke to pedro and said that i enjoy ccn -- c-span because it is unfiltered. i went between c-span, cnn, and

fox, and if i want something unfiltered i go to c-span and use my own mind, but i don't like the format. these call-in lines. to prove my point, you said to text if you can't get in on the phone. i notice that you have a text message, it gives a question. it does not say democrat or republican. i think that format sets up antagonism for whatever you identify with. host: i hear you, i hear you, harvey. you know, we like to hear a variety of points of view. that's the whole point of that. it's not to set up any antagonism. we just want to hear a variety of points of view, that's what that is about. does that answer your question? it might not satisfy you, but that is the answer. anything else, harvey? caller: no, but what about

nationality and race, have a question? we could have a discussion. host: i understand. your point is well taken. what do you do in dallas? caller: i'm a retired physician. host: what kind of doctor? caller: podiatrist. i had the pleasure of traveling the world, talking to people, even hearing international news to see the image of this country. the common denominators that i hear is that people are good in general. it's our politics we are upset with. rather than having scripted messages, let the people talk. host: that is harvey in dallas, texas, the retired podiatrist. marilyn is calling in on the independent line from west virginia. good morning to you. caller: good morning. host: what's on your mind? caller: i'm 82 years old. my husband, we were married 59

years, was a 29 year retired army veteran. he served a more than one year tour in korea. he served in vietnam. two of the worst days of my life were we were in a small post in france, standing in line to see a movie when president kennedy, we were informed he was shot. when i was 25 years old, my husband was in vietnam. i got a knock on the door. it was western union with a telegram. i had a three-year-old, a two-year-old, pregnant with our third child. i had to call my sister to come over before i could open the telegram. thank god he survived that. he suffered the rest of his life

with symptoms from the injuries, but he went on to live a successful life, raise children and grandchildren. my worst nightmare was seeing the afghanistan withdrawal and the loyal patriots that were killed there. as an independent, i have voted on both sides of the aisle. this makes me vote for trump, i cannot with good conscience vote for someone who would leave soldiers and civilians behind. host: last night at the convention, some of the gold star families spoke. [video clip] >> when those bodies were returned to delaware, joe biden met the plane and made the occasion more about his son then our sons lost on his watch.

and he never said their names out loud. during the debate last month, he claimed no service members have died during his administration. none. that hurt us all deeply. alicia and i are here to say the names of all 13 servicemembers who lost their lives. [applause] all 13 servicemembers that lost their lives at the gate. david espinoza. [applause] nicole jeeves. [applause] taylor hoover. [applause]

ryan c kenaut. [applause] riley mccollum. [applause] dylan morollaugh. [applause] kareem nadui. [applause] reagan hayes. [applause] johanai ricardo. [applause] umberto sanchez. [applause] jared smith. [applause]

mathin sylviak. [applause] and my son, hunter lopez. [applause] joe biden has to go. he failed the american people. he failed the afghan people. in our military service members, he failed our family and he failed hunter. donald trump has a proven record of keeping the peace and honoring those in uniform. host: that was last night at the republican national convention in milwaukee. tonight, trump accepts his party's nomination. kenneth is calling in from georgia. what is your take on campaign 2024 so far? caller: good, thank you for

taking my call. i really and torn from all of this. i was listening to your guest. he was not toning down the rhetoric. the country is divided so much. whoever wins the election will still have a problem because of the fact that there is no unity in the country. i believe that what will happen is the same thing that happened before, as far as when donald trump told his senators and other republicans not to complete the border and defend the border so that he would have

a better chance to win. again, this has got to be a roadmap of whoever wins in two more years, we will have another cycle of changing's and problems that we are going to have throughout the whole cycle. it's a revolving door. i don't really see a change until we start having people in politics who are looking out for this country as a whole. not democrat, not republican. >> kenneth, where you put yourself on the political spectrum? zero to 100, however you want to define it. very conservative to very liberal, where you put yourself on that spectrum? caller: that's a good question. i think that what i basically do is, i believe i'm not totally

liberal. i'm not conservative. i'm right there in the middle. but i just believe that everybody should be treated fairly. i believe that everybody has a voice in this united states and that's a good thing that we have . but trump has forced people to go one way or another, that's the problem i have. host: what do you do down there in columbus? caller: i sit back and relax. i enjoy c-span and trying to get an understanding of where we are going in this country. host: enjoy that retirement. next call is dave in clifton, texas, republican line. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i would like to point out something about the nature of this country. people call in, democrats or

republicans. i'm an american. i would like to see black people call saying i'm an american black, not a black american. regarding diversity, equity, inclusion, i don't want the seals or my marine corps to become diverse and equitable in inclusive. they kill people. but you won't apply the same rules to the nfl. i want to see the new york jets, i want to see more women on those football teams. and as regards baseball, hey, how about the boston red sox?

how about they get some more asians or hispanics? you can't do that? because you want the best of the best. host: that's dave in clifton, texas. pat is up next on the independent line. how do you pronounce it? caller: [indiscernible] thanks for having me on your show. let me tell you how much we all appreciate c-span as a voice for all of us, at every level of the pyramid. two things i wanted to bring up, i was surprised that the speech by, i'm not sure his name, sean something, the teamster resident. host: that was sean o'brien, monday night. now you have given me an opening, if you can go to our

website, c-span.org, you can watch everything we have covered the convention and all of the ancillary stuff we have covered as well. there is your commercial. apologies. caller: thank you, i will look into that. i was surprised at how he defended the workers and workers rights over employers. he named a lot of things that, looking at trump as he was listening, he was kind of shocked. kind of like when he had to listen to fauci. the thing that i wanted to say was, one of the things i noted during his presidency, he lowered big business, big industry, big corporation taxes from 32% to 19%. the tax burden was shifted onto the people. mostly the middle class and below. this 2025 thing, i'm not too sure about it, but it seems like

it may hurt things like pensions, like social security, like medicare, affect rules and laws that may provide affordable education, affordable medical, perhaps home and property. the poor white families, not just black families, but white families too, affected from the south to california. do they want a policy in with a system in government that may take away securities for the average middle-class person? that was one thing. they talked about moving away from violence here in america after what happened to donald trump. bringing down the rhetoric, we

cannot accept violence in america, it's unacceptable. yet we practice violence abroad. the reports coming out of gaza on a daily basis are horrific. what's happening there. the policies of that government are no less worse, no less better, but worse than below savage, who we handled much differently. under this system, how can we guarantee security, no violence and safety here in this country, when we practice it abroad? the perspective of the world is on us, 150 nations, the best thing that we can do is not get involved in all. host: one of the issues that pat mentioned his economic issues. i'm sure that it will be explored more as the campaign goes on.

here's the headline on this article from the post, economic populism clashing with the pitch to donors, donald trump trying to present a more worker friendly vision of the republican party this week at the convention -- convention but has continued to make it clear in private that he view -- views himself as the best choice for billionaires and big business according to donors. even as trump leans into populist themes that make some republicans wary, he has told corporate leaders that he's the only bulwark against democratic plans to raise taxes and has told wealthy backers that he needs their help to counter the financial haft of the unions he's simultaneously trying to court. the convention has also showcased voices friendly to the national business elite. the conflicting versions of the future of the gop leave unsettled exactly how the former president will try to balance

these factions if he wins in november, setting up a freeze on the tensions of the policy characterizing his first term. it goes on in the article to say that some mainstream party leader said that they are fine with this framing. the governor of virginia is firmly rooted in the gop business friendly traditions, but in an interview with the post in milwaukee, he praised the choice of j.d. vance as the vice presidential candidate, pointing to his military service and by the bootstraps biography. the governor said that he does not see the selection of j.d. vance as a signal that the gop is turning towards more populist economic policies, primarily because it is the president who sets the agenda, one that he expects to be an extension of the first trump administration featuring more tax cuts than

pare down regulation. that is again in "the washington post" this morning. deborah is in baltimore on the democratic line. good morning to you. caller: good morning, how are you? host: you got your volume down? caller: i muted the tv. host: i'm good. go ahead. caller: i have a question. do you think that the attempt on saturday that everybody is talking about, the assassination attempt on the former president, everybody's talking about biden's age, but i have been around long enough to know that this is a high profile assassination attempt. the fact that we have had no medical transparency is disturbing to me. at this point, all i have is everybody saying that trump got almost assassinated and gorka

was talking about a bowling -- bullet going past his head. i'm retired military. those ar-15 bullets, personally, no matter the fact that i'm a democrat, even if i had been republican, i would still want to know more about this man's wound instead of just taking it for his word that he had a part of his ear taken off for his strongest reporters telling us how he almost got assassinated and only needed a couple of inches to the left or right. we have heard nothing regarding medical transparency. all we have heard so far since saturday, including the comments from the people that you have on this show, the only thing we have heard about this man's wound is from this man. there is no medical transparency . can anyone explain that to me? host: are you suggesting that

there is a compete -- conspiracy or other injuries? caller: hold up, don't twist the words around. host: i didn't, i'm asking a question. caller: and i'm answering. this is not about conspiracy theories. this is a quote unquote high-profile assassination attempt. why is there no medical transparency? why is the only information that i'm getting with regards to his ear and he's got a patch on it is from his camp, not from medical. you cannot tell me about, doctors have done this -- you cannot talk about hippa, doctors have done this before. the only information we got was from him. host: one more question for you, what would you like to see the democratic party do with regard to the conversation going on about joe biden?

caller: i would like to see the conversation to not be 150% on joe biden and the question i just asked about medical transparency be addressed. that's what i would like to see is a democrat. it doesn't matter if it's biden or trump. i need consistency. everything dealing with donald j. trump, they seem to have a different path forward on discussion for how we deal with him or answer his actions. i need medical transparency. host: thank you for calling in. we appreciate it. two more hours of "the washington journal," your calls and views are coming up. our next guest is ed martin, president of the phyllis schlafly eagles and we will talk to him about the republican platform and some of the issues out there in milwaukee. first, we want to show you this history of milwaukee that we

videotaped. >> the first human inhabitants arrived 12 years ago and were following large game. there have been a number of images -- indigenous nations here over the years, so by the end of the 1800s milwaukee had 4000 people living here already, various villages. beginning in the 1600s, the first trade took off in the area -- fur trade took off in the area. by the 1700s that was the main source of the economy in the area. right around the turn of the 19th century, european settlers started setting up trading posts here. one of the first significant ones hired a man south of juneau who was considered the forefather of milwaukee.

immigration has been fundamental to the development of milwaukee. we are at an immigrant city. in the 1830's a large wave of german immigrants came here. by 1860, milwaukee was a majority german heritage city and in those early years there were a lot of irish immigrants with people coming from the british isles and it kind of new york, new england areasindustryr half of the 1900s. a lot more from southern europe and eastern europe including poles, italians, greeks and other ethnicities. all the way through the 1920's, the city was dominated by an immigrant population. in the last 50 years we have seen that pickup again as well. immigrants, asian immigrants and other groups as well. for a long time no was an

industrial city. in the early years it was a shipping center, things like wheat and agricultural products. it turned into a processing center making things like meatpacking and canning. in 1890, milwaukee was the largest producer of tanned goods in the world. it was one of the largest shippers of wheat. in the late 1900s or 1800s we developed large industry as well. a lot of machine building. nasa gears and -- massive gears, pumps, engines. the city was a manufacturing-industrial city which drew a lot of immigrants that came here. beginning in the 1960's, there was a process of de- industrialization. had hurt the economy and a lot of ways, especially people who

had a middle-class lifestyle working in these industries. it reduced the employment base. the city had to shift significantly. that was more of a service economy than industrial economy. beer. this is what milwaukee is known for. the first breweries emerged in 1840. it took off after that. with the german population we had immigrants who had knowledge of making beer and financial resources to develop breweries. lager beer became the staple of what milwaukee did. milwaukee had an advantage over a lot of other german cities like cincinnati and st. louis. we could make lager beer year-round. it needs to be stored in cool temperatures. we can ship it worldwide. milwaukee became one of if not the largest producer of beer for much of its history. it never completely dominated

the milwaukee economy. there was only one year it was the number-one industry but it's become synonymous with the city. over the years we saw contraction. in the 1860's, there were 35 breweries. by the early 1900s, down to six or seven. now we see it back up around 35 or 40 breweries. we have returned to our roots with beer. given the recent events of the attempted assassination on former president trump, milwaukee had its own assassination attempt on a former president. back in 1912, teddy roosevelt, similar to former president trump, was campaigning to get himself reelected as president. while he was here he stepped out of the kilpatrick hotel, a couple of hundred yards from where we are now. a person who had been stalking him all over the country shot him in the chest. it happens that teddy roosevelt had his speech folded up in his pocket. a 50-page speech doubled over,

100 pages. it slowed the bullet enough that he was able to continue on, went out, did his 90 minute speech in front of thousands of people before finally going and getting medical treatment and having the bullet removed. >> how is your condition documenting current events like the republican national convention? >> this is one thing we started focusing on, remembering that history is always happening. we will be out on the street, picking up items and things that physical material things that document. lots of photographs. we will do with interview -- we will do interviews with people following the event and touching base with organizations about collecting some of the material afterwards. >> thank you for your time. >> my pleasure. >> washington journal continues. host: we are back in milwaukee, the site of the republican national convention. on your screen is ed martin,

president of phyllis lashley eagles. he was the deputy policy director of the rnc platform committee. ed martin, tell us about your group. that is a mouthful. guest: thanks. thanks for having me on. i have another reason to encourage my children watch c-span. i love watching and -- the eagles, when phyllis was alive she called her followers eagles. she used eagle form as the name. there was a famous $45 million series on fx with cate blanchett called mrs. america. we wanted to say we want phyllis schlafly. she's an iconic figure.

she was a great conservative. she was one of the really smart early organizers of how to operate in the political sphere. we are conservative on principles of policies but we pride ourselves, the phyllis schlafly eagles on knowing how politics works. if you want to put it in politics, that is what the phyllis schlafly eagles do. at the convention sprinkled throughout the delegations are phyllis schlafly eagles who are making a difference in politics in their home states. host: ed martin, what is the importance of having a party platform? does anybody read them? guest: when bob dole did not like it 15 or 20 years ago he said nobody will read that thing. there's that conversation to be had about what it means and how people relate to it. for the conservative party, a sense of a blinken wrote the

platform. -- abe lincoln wrote the platform. he was active in 1856 writing the first platform. it matters to say what you are doing and care about. a lot of us, not everyone but everyone in the republican party believe words matter. many of us are men and women of the book, of the scriptures. when you put into paper and write in words what you stand for and what you are intending to be about, it matters. both parties have done this now in our political history. in america, phyllis used to teach you study where you are. we have two major parties. each parties has contrasting positions and policies and preferences. therefore politicians. other parts of the world you will see 5, 6, 7 parties with a different take on things. there platform i change. it's important. we care a lot about it. do enough people read it and study it and think about it?

probably not. one reason we took the approach we did was because we were encouraged by the president and others in the party to make this one more accessible, more readable. something people could understand better and try to make that clearer. that's a challenge. words matter. it's important to us. host: during her career phyllis schlafly was well known as being pro-life. how does this year's platform treat abortion? guest: you are right. phyllis was well known for a lot of things. in the first 25 years of her life she was the most respected commentator, lay commentator on the strategic balance. she came out of the 1940's married with a degree from harvard. she knew the threat -- she was catholic. the threat was communists. until the e.r.a. fight she was

not a recognized profamily or pro-life fighter although she was. she was next read on the soviets and what they were doing. she was a hard-line hawk to stand up to them because she recognized communism. she pivoted after the fall of the soviet union to china because of communism. russian corruption is terrible. what is worse is world communism and the chinese. when she became more active in the political parties on the life issue was after roe v. wade, a pivotal moment for people that believe in pro-life and oppose abortion. i should note she went to every convention either as a delegate or involved in a significant way from 1952 through 2016. she was a delegate in 2016. we don't think there is anyone with that span. martin blackwell, the great virginia national committee man is here again. he's close. she really cared about the life. she wrote a book about her

experience called "how the republican party became pro-life." it was about fighting for the platform and the words mattering and making sure the words were strong. this year i tell people we went from 35,000 words in the last platform to 5000. everybody lost words. israel was mentioned 19 times in the 2020 platform. it is mentioned once with israel. the pro-life platform plank got smaller. i think it is very strong. especially after roe v. wade, it lays out a vision of how we have to move forward. if you recall, it is principles and policies and how politics fits in. in this case there is a lot to be done at the states. there are some aspects of pro-life that will be done federally, mostly having to do with regulatory decisions that joe biden has made about abortion drugs. i think it's a great pro-life

plank. i fed up leisure going around to state delegations talking about it. host: ed martin, you have to know politics. has abortion and the supreme court decision hurt the republicans in the last two cycles? guest: i think that is conventional wisdom among pollsters but i disagree. i think it created an extraordinary opportunity that many of us in the pro-life movement may not have been completely ready for. for 50 years we were saying roe v. wade was poorly decided. it really didn't make sense. there's a man named clark foresight who said americans united for life. wrote an extra in every book, when the notes from the supreme court justices from the roe v. wade decision where published. he wrote a book about how they really made it up. they made at the trimester framework. the notes show that. clark wrote this book. many thought eventually roe v. wade will be reversed.

as president trump said, liberal commentators, people who regularly said it was a bad decision. we want abortion available. we don't want a decision that is so poorly constructed and has created such a framework. dobbs happened faster than many expected. the pro-life movement had to move quickly to try to say we spent 50 years opposing the decision. how do we now talk about our issues? that's been a real challenge. i don't think anyone should be surprised by that. the best of those people in the movement with the best vision have said we are going to focus more on serving the mother. before there is a baby there is a woman, a mother. in many ways that's been a shift you are seeing. we might have lost some elections because people can sometimes demagogue the abortion issue. what we have to do and this is what president trump challenged us to do and continues to do is build a consensus on life.

on affirming life. j.d. vance, when his mother is in the crowd and you talk about human suffering and how we have to get through what's going on, everybody feels that. sometimes it is dramatic and your son as a vp candidate. the life movement had to adjust. we are not fighting about a legal framework. we are talking about how to promote life and has been the biggest challenge. we may have paid a price because the last election they were able to use the issue. i think in the long run people will be open to what the life argument is and hopefully will build more people who consider themselves pro-life. host: ed martin is our guest, president of the phyllis schlafly eagles. he was deputy policy director for the rnc platform committee. 202 is the area code. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001, republicans. independents, (202) 748-8002. we will take your calls in a

minute. we want to show you video from 2003. here is phyllis schlafly on c-span. [video] >> feminism is not defined editing law -- in any law. if you want to define yourself as a feminist, you can do that. the majority of women do not want to call themselves a feminist. you have to ask, is this a person who believes that the right to abortion is the number one women's right? that is true of most of the people who call themselves feminists. it is hard for me to respect a group that thinks that is the most important factor when you talk about women's rights. you can call yourself whatever you want, but i think the feminist ideology is based on the notion that american women are oppressed and mistreated. we live in a patriarchal male dominated society that has been unfair to women.

that maybe women have been treated like blacks in this country. that is total nonsense. then you find them in their effort to try to de -masculate meant. title ix. it was perfectly fine to make sure the women had equal opportunity in colleges. now it is being used simply to abolish wrestling teams and the other teams where males outperform women. in the clinton administration the radical feminist took over. that is what is being used for today. it's a shame to abolish wrestling teams. you need to realize the feminists are doing that because that, anything that -- they don't want anything that allows meant outperform women. host: ed martin, title ix is back in the news today, isn't it? guest: it sure is. phyllis -- thank you for letting

me hear her and see her. she was a wonderful speaker and writer. title ix is huge. that whole e.r.a. fight, she talked about how the fact that if you passed the e.r.a. men can go and women's bathrooms. you will have into military combat. she talked about those issues. title ix is a huge one. joe biden said title ix, we will use that to force communities and states and local schools to act in the ways we want on a preference, transgender and others. that is a huge topic. one of the great eagles, kimberly fletcher who started moms for america, and one of the other great organizers tiffany justice from moms for liberty are both out here this week. they are talking about title ix and parental control. we have gone from protecting health information to saying parents can't know. governor newsom said parents will not be allowed to know when their underaged children are doing things that have to do with their gender and their

decisions on who they are. this is the kind of insanity that phyllis talked about that we did not expect. it is definitely back. in our platform that's a big issue. the platform focused on common sense. it also focused on the forgotten men and women. when the feminist fight for abortion, and they are a small percentage in america and loud, most women are saying i'm just try to figure how to get my kids through school and to be smart and have a chance to go forward. that is who we are talking to and that is who president trump challenged. host: let's take some calls. heather in bismarck, north dakota. republican line. caller: thank you for letting me speak. i'm kind of outraged from what i'm hearing as far as talking with the issues of abortion and the things going on in the country. my full name is heather meyer.

when it comes to illegal aliens coming over the border, i will be blunt. i had an illegal alien coming to my home in january and rape me in my own home. when i went to the police department they laughed at me. they told me i deserved it because i was flirting. that was outrageous. he was a canadian. he didn't belong in our country. he was here on an expired work visa. when i got a restraining order, he fled. somewhat and the police department tipped him off and he fled. host: i'm sorry for your experience. we will leave it there. ed martin, in a generic sense can you address how the republican platform addresses immigration? guest: well, thank you on that. generically, when you look at the document only 5000 words. the preamble is thoughtful. i hope people read it.

we have 20 promises. to give you a bit of a glimpse into this, president trump was working on the 20 promises, marking them up 24 hours before we actually published it. he was talking about how it sounded in the linkage. but first of your four promises are directly related to immigration. they are related to what is sometimes controversial, mass deportation. the president believes this lawlessness and the platform shows lawlessness is at the top of the list of things people are feeling. your caller commenting, i join you in being sorry for that terrible tragedy and help law enforcement handles it. it's a big priority and it goes on throughout the platform and a big way. host: including the words "extreme vetting," is that correct? guest: that's right. we are not afraid to be up front on this.

the factor is it is the scale has gone so far. if i may just give you 30 seconds, when i was asked three months ago along with two other gentlemen to be a part of this we wanted the process to be different. we opened up our lives and offices to anyone to comment and give us their thoughts and feedback. that had not happened in the republican party. the platform was generally written by one guy in the past when five years. a lot of the things we kept hearing from what people said, the scale of the problem -- it's a hard one to say. they are not all illegal because the biden system says you can be on a pathway to some sort of application to get a hearing. we think it is close to 20 million people. that will require when we go to the porch millions of people you have to have a system. it will include vetting people

in a specific way. that is a phrase. host: catherine, vermont, democrat. caller: good morning. my comment is a rebuttal to the earlier caller who called in today great and trash diversity, equity and inclusion. he made a comment that the best of the best -- he wants the best of the best when it comes to certain fields of professional areas. i guess it is hard for him to even fathom that sometimes the best of the best is someone who is black, indigenous, asian, latinx. i found his comment to be offensive and inappropriate. i wanted to say that. my own lived experience

regarding my employment history, i have had more education and experience than people who work my supervisor. i find that, you know, the comment that he made about diversity, equity and inclusion was very offensive. i wanted to say that. host: ed martin, earlier caller was not a fan of dei initiatives any talked about sports teams. does a republican platform address dei? guest: yes. especially in this instance. the critical race theory and how it is starting to dominate our lives. anyone who wants to act racist -- nobody wants that. the republican party condemns that. get the best person to do

the job. dei says it is not the best at the job. she describes better qualifications and skills. it says hire according to these categories. in america, the one group that can be just committed it against actively, openly, pointedly is white men. white men feel this. they see it. anyone in a corporate setting recognizes that. what we are saying when it comes to things like our kids -- he mentioned education --boys playing with girls in sports because of the cover from an argument from a small group, we will reject that. the forgotten men and women are people left behind by systems that were created by governments, our government, that damage us. one of the systems that donald trump rejected was a system that allowed trade and immigration to take jobs away from men and women in america.

especially in the heartland. the jobs went overseas and the corporation said it will even out in the wash and 50 years and stock prices are up. in dei and other preferences, if were trying to say get the best people, great. if you're trying to say the system must treat everyone in a way that prefers not the best qualifications, education, experience, but some other things, it doesn't work as a matter of math. there are not enough people of the quality this woman called that can do it. that is what we address in the platform. we want americans to get the opportunities. we don't want to be driven by government preferences. by the way, the dei is not always done by a government passing a law or a reg. it's pressure on businesses. the biden administration does this and obama and clinton did masterfully. bush and others -- it is not one party.

they will use government to pressure corporations. we need to encourage more freedom and more opportunity that is based on all the right things and set of preferences that are frankly racist and sexist. host: john from cincinnati on the independent line. go ahead. caller: thanks for taking my call, c-span, and thank you to mr. martin. on the issue of choice, pro-choice, every female that finds herself in a family way will have the opportunity to make a choice. either to abort or not to. every day of her life ever will remember what that choice was. the entire issue is taken care of by the 10th amendment. it is exactly where it is supposed to be with the states.

thanks for taking my call. host: that is john in cincinnati. ed martin? guest: a couple of things. while i encourage the caller's instinct it is a mother or woman at the center of this, the pro-life movement and the republican party after dobbs has to reinvigorate ourselves. some are talking more frankly about things like money put into the budget to pay for pregnancy, pay for health care, cover that. if your low income, you can generally get your pregnancy covered because of the safety nets. a lot of middle-class folks are not in a position where they can do that, women. we should change the way we look at this. women are in a position where they have wonderful opportunities that maybe they did not have in the past. when they are faced with this kind of life-changing challenge when need to be supporting the more. the new republican conservative mantra should be how can we

build around our mothers more support and more encouragement that can let them decide that. as to the caller's statement on returning, president trump has been clear on that. he thinks you have to have the consensus in the states on what life is. therefore we now have what many call for. get the federal government out of the roe v. wade decision and let the people decide. you are seeing that. over time as we develop more consensus and have more discussions i think there will be natural -- national consensus on these issues but it's not right now. to the encouragement for states to take it up and arguments in their communities and see what we can do to help. the help has to change. it is not just the legal argument. i think many people in the country feel like we as conservatives are not paying attention to the human part of it. i think that is a post dobbs challenge that maybe we were not quite ready for and now

adjusting to. host: ed martin is the past chairman of the missouri republican party. is that correct? guest: yes sir. host: chief of staff to missouri governor matt blunt. how long ago was that? guest: governor blunt, 2006 and 2007. sometime in there. host: phyllis schlafly was from illinois but a lot of the organization was across the river in st. louis. guest: phyllis was born in st. louis, race in the depression in st. louis city. she married a man from st. louis. at the time the merit he was a lawyer. -- they married was a lawyer. the best job was at the river about 20 miles. she spent her life up there with her family of six children and her husband. after he passed away she moved back down to st. louis. that is where the headquarters has been for almost 30 five to 40 years. host: ed martin, are you familiar with project 2025?

have you been involved with the heritage foundation developing the settle? guest: i have not been involved. i really have not read all that has been written over there. i will tell you if people actually want to have a serious conversation, there are four or five differ groups of leaders who came out of the trump administration after a term and have been involved in articulating what the future could be. i have never seen anyone of them be definitively that is trump's people. stephen miller started a whole organization that litigates cases about some of these key issues. there is rust vote. heritage has one project. i don't believe myself -- i'm superstitious. i don't like to talk about an election being won. i don't do it. it made me nervous. when people talk about this has been going on for a few years,

if you want to work in the new administration, put your resumes in. that is one thing various groups are doing. heritage foundation has some of the smartest and thoughtful men and women looking at lots of these issues. their job as opposed to what i told you we do is to dig deep into policy and principles and talk about what could be. i think that is maybe what they are doing but i would have not tracked it closely. host: david in north carolina, republican line. caller: good morning. two quick points and then ask a question to the guest. addressing democrats, you talk about the civil rights act of 1964. read about the civil rights act of 1957 and 1960. we sponsor them and supported them and who opposed them. that is a challenge to them. the second point is, i agree 100%. it's about the mother, the

expectant mother and helping her come to term and choose between keeping the baby or adoption. we have to reform adoption to make it easier and cheaper. the big problem coming up, and it's not been talked about recently because of the campaigns, etc. the speeding train that left the station. the national debt. my question regarding the platform. how can the gop, assuming they are elected and gain maybe one or two chambers of the white house, how can they explain the problem of the need for spending cuts? this is a call for unity and understanding among the american people. how can they explain the magnitude of the problem and the inevitability of cuts in mainly domestic programs? other than a world war, this is going to be an internal war. it will be a major problem that

is going to show up in the next two to three years. host: thank you, david. ed martin? guest: on the first -- second comment before the question, i agree completely on adoption. we need to make adoption something that is both meaningful and positive for people -- for women that maybe facing our have the incentives to help fund it. i will channel my phyllis schlafly. it is just offensive that this country -- we have tons of adoption overseas. people go to china to get a baby. we need to build a culture that says -- pregnancy all around us. let's make this easy and helpful. adoption is really hard on the child and the mother and father. we need to make it something that is meaningful. it is off to the side. i think it's really bad. thank you for that comment. if you look in the platform, one thing the president has set and i applaud this because i've been

in this for 25 years. when a republican -- paul ryan did it and all these people say we will cut social security or cut medicare. you will see we will never cut social security, never cut medicare. you say now you have a big problem. you have all these unfunded mandates coming. that is a starting point for the seniors. we will not do that. we made a deal and we will honor that deal. we have to pull back and say what can we do? it's one of the greatest problems we face, the national debt, that we don't understand. in the documents, the two ways we think we can start to make a difference is to drill baby drill. find the energy. make a so energy independent and energy costs so low anything we do is better with lower energy costs. this president has taken our money and funded certain side projects in the name of green. we find solar and this there.

nuclear, solar, gas, oil,. drill, baby drill. stabilize the world economy because of iran and russia and others. then we can change it. the second aspect of the document is change the rate of the tory framework. donald trump -- regulatory framework. donald trump has talked about new cities. west virginia. you started with a change in the massive regulatory burden both of the feds and the states and see what you can do. we will have to try dramatically to change the regulatory burden that has built up since about 1970 and see if we can change it. we will have to make some decisions on cutting. i don't believe we can as a society ever put on the table medicare and social security cuts. we are into places where you have to cut. we have not had a serious dig into health care.

health care is wasting so much money. there's a number of groups, hospitals, big hospitals, insurance companies, and even pharma that make lots of money off a system that is dominated only by special interest, not by a preference for serious health care. our system is complete the broken. medicare advantage, which is supposed to serve seniors, it does give them a benefit. it is better control for them. it is a boondoggle. the insurance companies are making money hand over fist and paying the politicians of both parties to make sure the medicare advantage stays the way it is. that is an area of health care where we want more health care availability from others. we have to figure out a system that is better. the hospital systems in the country, most are nonprofit. they are just taking american people to the woodshed in terms of actual care and the cost. host: ed martin, president of phyllis schlafly eagles.

we appreciate you being on the washington journal this morning from milwaukee. we have an hour and a half to go this morning. we are going to have another guess coming up. mordecai lee, presidential historian. he will be here in half an hour to take your calls. we are talking with you and hearing your views throughout this next hour and a half. we want to show you a little more history of milwaukee. this is a history of the third ward. >> we are the heart of the historic third ward south of downtown milwaukee. broadway and st. paul. the milwaukee public market. the start of our shopping and restaurant district. we are surrounded by water. the milwaukee river and the milwaukee harbor to the west and south. the lake over on the east. it is one of the most iconic tourist neighborhoods now. it is a growing community with

over 3000 residents, over 450 businesses. it's been an overnight success 30 years in the making. >> can you talk about the history of the district? >> this was a vertical manufacturing district back in the day. 5, 6 story buildings. the products would come in the top floor and shipped out. broadway was a commerce way of produce. as businesses started closing they got it converted one by one into residential. we have amazing loft space for residents with large wood timbers and exposed brick. offices started coming in and about 2010 or 2011. we have a robust 18 hour district now where it was a ghost town more or less in the late 1970's, early 1980's. >> what events are you hosting for the rnc? >> special event tonight. we're trying to bring people together over beer. we have an event at the end

of broadway. we are inviting people to come of all stripes to enjoy beer and have some unity over a beer in our lovely beer garden park. that's tonight from 4:00 to 7:00. a lot of private events are going on. the cafe behind us has a delegation from the rnc they are hosting on the rooftop right now. there's a lot going on. we are hoping more people continue to come down. the main message for the locals is we are not in the security zone. you can get to us by freeways and major roads. come on down and see the buzz of the rnc and enjoy a great week in the third ward. >> what events do you have year-round? >> we have a large art festival labor day weekend that takes over 150 art vendors on broadway. we have a large christmas celebration that's over 35 years old will relight a tree -- where we light a tree.

we have a large concentration of galleries. that's happening this weekend friday and saturday. always check the website. we have something going on. >> thank you for your time, jim. >> thank you. >> washington journal continues. host: the phone numbers are going to be up on the screen. it is (202) 748-8000 if you are a democrat and with the comment on campaign 2024 or anything going up at the republican national convention. republicans, (202) 748-8001. that's the number for you to call. independents, (202) 748-8002. if you can't get through on the phone lines and would like to make a comment about the stories of the day, text us at (202) 748-8003. please include your first name and your city if you would. you can continue the conversation we are having on facebook o via twitter -- or via

twitter or x. here is washington times. senator menendez is going to resign from the senate. he has reportedly decided to resign from the senate. the new jersey democrat is facing growing calls from both state and party colleagues to resign or face expulsion from the senate. calls he has resisted since his indictment on federal bribery and corruption charges that he was convicted yesterday of acting as a foreign agent. right below that is the story. more republicans calling for cheatles resignation. this is the head of the secret service. marsha blackburn videotaped kimberly cheatle at the

republican national convention. they confronted kimberly cheatle yesterday in milwaukee. we want to show you the video that was put out by marsha blackburn's x feed. [video] >> [indiscernible] -- to answer questions. everyone has questions. [indiscernible] very disappointed in your leadership. i have spoken your resignation. you need to start answering our questions right now. you allowed him to go on stage in pennsylvania.

you were alerted there was somebody [indiscernible] identified an hour before. you let him go on stage without [indiscernible] resignation or full explanation. >> [indiscernible] -- according to the time when every deputy. you identified a potential threat. [indiscernible] someone told [indiscernible] can you give us an explanation?

why would anyone allow the president to go on stage when you know you have a potential threat [indiscernible] >> i don't think [indiscernible] >> you hung up on me. >> [indiscernible] >> [indiscernible] >> we can find a place to go right now. >> [indiscernible] [crowd cheering] >> [indiscernible] [crowd cheering] >> thank you very much. >> now, no. week -- no, no.

we are going with you. >> don't walk away from us. [crowd cheering] >> thank you. >> [indiscernible] to the people answers -- you owe the people answers.

you can run but you cannot hide from us. >> you are the head of the secret service. >> you owe us answers. >> the past president. you owe answers to the people of this country. >> [indiscernible] >> on john barrasso, chairman of the senate republican commerce. senator blackburn and i went face-to-face with the director of the secret service asking for specific answers about what happened with president trump in pennsylvania and how that shooter was able to get off a clear shot when the fbi and secret service knew that there was a suspicious person an hour in advance of when the shooting

occurred. >> k identified a potential threat -- they identified as potential threat at 5:51. she says it is not the time and place. we had a conference call with the question was cut off. i have a message for her. she can run but you cannot hide, because the american people want to know how and assassination attempt was carried out on former president donald trump. host: that is one of the major stories that is happening this week, the secret service investigation into the shooting in butler, pennsylvania. the other story is this one. this is a headline in axios. biden's political isolation deepens as pressure to step aside builds. here's the headline in politico. fiery private chats reveal how

deeply biden has divided dem delegates. politico sends out a playbook every morning. this came out at 6:00 a.m. this morning. we will read a little bit of what is in the playbook this morning. for weeks the democratic party has been paralyzed by uncertainty about whether president biden should stay atop the ticket or step aside. over the last 24 hours, that uncertainty has given way to growing clarity about the reality facing the president. the walls are close again and his decision leading the democratic ticket appears increasingly unsustainable. the president's reelection bid has lost the confidence of congress's seniormost democratic leaders and party elders across the country. abc news scooped on world news tonight that seven minority leader chuck schumer, house minority leader hakeem jeffries

told biden in person he should end his reelection campaign for the good of the country. cnn reported former speaker nancy pelosi told the president he cannot win and is dragging down the party. representative adam schiff became the latest hill democrat the publicly call on biden to step aside, arguing he has serious concerns about whether the president can defeat donald trump. it is time for him to pass the torch. biden's confident and campaign advisor jeffrey katzenberg confronted the president about new financial woes, telling him check said all but stopped, etc., etc. this goes on. political playbook since the email out every morning at around 6:00 a.m. you can get yourself. you can google it or look it up

online. you will be able to get this political update from politico every morning. the third major story is that j.d. vance accepted the nomination for vice president. president trump will accept his tonight at the convention. this is the new york times maggie haberman story, the lead story. an apology broke the ice as vance courted trump. the meeting got off to a bad start. j.d. vance walked into donald trump's office at mar-a-lago on a warm winter afternoon in february of 22 anyone. the former president had a thick stack of papers on his desk, printouts of mr. vance's broadsides against mr. trump. mr. vance's past criticisms that included an essay and one of mr. trump's least favorite magazines, the atlantic, where mr. vance described mr. trump as cultural heroin, a purveyor of

false promises to the white working-class. esther trump using an -- mr. trump told mr. vance, you said some nasty stuff about me. the discussion that followed was described by two people with knowledge of the meeting who insisted on anonymity to talk about a private conversation. mr. vance's next move was crucial. this was the first time he was meeting mr. trump and mr. vance needed the former president to like him or at least have the meeting -- leave the meeting with an open mind. mr. vance wrote a best-selling memoir about his troubled up bringing in the stories of the white working-class. he was running for the open u.s. senate seat in ohio as a republican populist, a never trumper turned pro-trumper. mr. vance apologized and told mr. trump he had bought into what he described as media lies and that he was sorry he got it

wrong. of all people, mr. vance told mr. trump, mr. vance should have understood. it goes on in case you want to read it. is the front page of the new york times. c-span will be live with the convention at around 6:00 p.m. eastern time when it kicks off. with all the speakers and gavel-to-gavel coverage. now to your calls. campaign 2024. the republican national convention. day 4 coming up. jason on the democrats line, good morning. caller: good morning. this entire conversation illustrates the unlevel playing ground or playing field we find ourselves on. we have democrats arguing over whether or not to support biden simply because of his age, or his perceived mental decline. on the other side you have a man

who could not spell truth if you spotted him five letters. who has been found criminally liable her sexual assault and defamation. who has yet to concede the 2020 election, still spreading all the lies. who gas lights us every day. whose entire four years in office were completely exhausting because he cannot -- he simply cannot stop putting on a show. he is selling god bless america usa bibles. he is selling sneakers. what we have to do as voters in america is simply remember donald trump is the same scumbag he always was. regardless of what happened over this past saturday. a zebra can't change his stripes, at least not in this case. we have to vote with that in mind. either we want four years of trump doing whatever the

heritage foundation and all the other people want him to do because he has no principles. it's completely transactional. or, we kick it off to a biden administration or whoever's administration to where politics and government can get back to being boring because we are talking about policy as opposed to who spent money paying up orange start -- a porn star or rehashing an election from five years ago that someone lost. we have to vote against trump no matter what. it doesn't matter if -- host: jason dunham montgomery, alabama. jay in texas on the end up in a line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i call in as a former republican voter that is pretty disgusted with what i'm hearing at the republican national convention. i am trying to keep an open mind and hear what is being said. however i think there is a real

integrity issue when it comes to donald trump. being a public school employee, the teacher for many years, i am embarrassed by president trump and his lack of integrity, the way he speaks down to his political enemies and within his own party. he not a good example for any child growing up in america. frankly, he make my job as a publix will educator much more difficult -- public school educator much more difficult by some of the taxes he uses verbally to put down others. -- tactics he uses verbally to put down others. host: rick in nampa idaho,. republican line. caller: top of the morning to you. your next secretary of transportation. the previous colors, here's your

--callers, here's your education. updated april 16, 2019. a 30 page pdf report. you will see 71 years of foreign aid and spending. who listens to the voice of the american taxpayers? president trump did. these the only president in the history of foreign aid to do what he did. if you look at 1946 to 1952, president truman. out of curiosity, president trump to george bush and bill clinton. four presidents and 20 for years is $428 billion. adam joe biden's and barack obama's eight years in office, $470 billion.

what does i do for you, america? when barack obama was in office he said we had to pay our fair share. the outcome was -- if you look at the social security adjustment. if you look at the social security adjustment from 1975-2019, 43 years of colas. host: you are throwing a lot at us. i will give you 10 seconds to say one document you think people should look at or a website or whatever. my head is spinning. too many numbers. you have got to stop. tell us where to go. caller: ok. host: rick. you tell us a website or somewhere to go and then we have to let you go. everybody's head is spinning from what you're talking about.

caller: you can type it in on your laptop. crs report 40213. host: crs report 40213. richard, missouri, democrat. caller: good morning. this guy about the abortion. i'm 86 years old. i remember back when women had to fall downstairs over go to a back alley to get an abortion. most of them died, a lot of them. they wanted an abortion. you can pass a law against abortion and pass a law against drinking and against drugs. you are just passing a law. you are not treating people. these women now, they can go to a back alley to get an abortion or commit suicide. one other thing. this past holiday they said 40

million people going in cars. each one takes police five gallons of gas. drill, baby drill. you might have a $50,000 for arrari but if they don't have any gas, it's just wasted like we did the buffalo and landon kansas. we never learned -- land in kansas. we never learned. mike in rockford, illinois. independent line. good morning. caller: good morning, c-span family. we see you out there doing your thing. congratulations. two things on the invisible platforms on both sides. two things that are republican and democrat. we know his last platform consisted of a $1.9 trillion tax for the billion years. -- billionaires.

the problem is it is times 10. 1.9 trillion times 10 is $19 trillion deficit. that is one part of his platform that is questionable. the second part was bigger. at the end of the debate they had two minutes. donald trump mentioned something about the right to try with a signature. back in the kevorkian days there was the right to die with assistance. is donald trump promoting the right to try with just a signature? is that assisted suicide and he's promoting that? on national tv during the debate? host: mike in rockford, thank you for your comments today. we just read an article in the washington times that says senator menendez is going to resign after being convicted.

here is cbs news. senator bob menendez refused reports he's resigning following guilty verdict in bribery trial. in a few minutes we will have mordecai lee out here, a retired professor from the university of wisconsin milwaukee. we will talk presidential history, etc., can talk about the convention, etc. after that we will continue to take your calls. we will continue to take your calls. the house is coming in for a short pro forma session and we will show you that as our commitment to gavel-to-gavel coverage of the house is sacrosanct, and we will show you that, and we will be back with more of our extended washington journal.