♪ host: good morning. it's, august 18, 2024. the democratic national

committee kicks off tomorrow as the democratic and republican tickets continue to crisscross through key battleground states this weekend. you are looking at library charts from the united center in chicago where the convention will kick off tomorrow morning, and this morning, we will be showing the highlights from the campaign trail and getting your reaction to the state of the 2024 race. the number for republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats can call in at (202) 748-8000. independents, your number is (202) 748-8002. if you would like to text us, that number is (202) 748-8003. please be sure to include your name and where you are writing in from. and we are also on social media. facebook.com/c-span and on x @cspanwj. now for the latest in the campaign, we have some new poll numbers out this morning, including here in the washington

post, which lists a slender edge for harris in their latest polls. macbeth gaining as the dynamic shift pointing to a tight election in november. as democrats together this weekend in chicago for the upcoming national convention, harris stands at 49% to trump's 45% among registered voters in a head-to-head matchup. this is from a washington post-abc news poll. when third-party candidates are included in the survey, harris is at 47% and trump at 44% with robert f. kennedy, jr. at 5%. in early july, trump stood at 43%, biden at 42%, and kennedy at 9%. given the margin of error in this poll, harris' lead among registered voters is not considered specifically significant. we go to the new york times and there is other polling there with harris looking like a contender in the sunbelt. four states back in play.

vice president kamala harris has stormed into contention in the fast-moving and diverse state of arizona, georgia, nevada, and north carolina, not long after donald trump had seemed on the verge of running away with those states when president biden was still the democratic nominee. ms. harris is now leading mr. trump among likely voters in arizona 50% to 45%, and has even edged ahead of mr. trump in north carolina, a state mr. trump won four years ago, while narrowing his lead significantly in georgia and nevada. they are tied at 48% across an average of the four sunbelt states in surveys conducted august 8 to 15. some news directly from the ground in chicago. have the chicago tribune with the headline, all eyes will be on chicago this week. can the dnc help reverse the city' nationals narrative?

the eyes of thpolitical world turn chigo this week as tens of thousands of delegates, media, dignitaries, and political influencers arrive for a historic democratic national convention featuring vice president kamala harris's celebratory and ceremonial acceptance of the party's presidential nomination, an event that only a month ago saw democratic organizers trying to build enthusiasm over the anticipated renomination of president joe biden has now developed its own energy with the president's decision to drop from the race and back harris, the first black and asian woman to receive a major party nomination. now of course, former president trump has been attacking vice president harris in his ads. we have an ad here, a neutron campaign ad taking aim at vice president harris on the economy. [video clip] >> the alarming spike in inflation soaring to its highest level in newly 40 years. >> that is, biden a mx. --

bidenomics. >> gas prices reached a new all-time high. >> we are still dealing with inflation and have super high interest rates at the same time. >> bidenomics is working. >> two thirds of americans are struggling to make ends meet. >> the jobs report showed a spike in unemployment. >> we are very proud of bidenomics. >> i am donald j. trump, and i approve this message. host: vice president harris has been taking her ad campaign to the fox news channel. the vice president kamala harris's campaign began trying to persuade a surprise group of voters. fox news viewers. while fox news is known for its conservative coverage, interviewers particularly during the daytime are more ideologically diverse, d the harris team wants to reach them. the harris campaign on wednesday began running four spots on the network fox news.

the ads are largely positive about harris' life, a sharp contrast with the network's often critical programming about harris. here is one of the four ads running on fox news. [video clip] >> she grew up in a middle-class home. she was the daughter of a working mom, and she worked at mcdonald's while she got her degree. kamala harris knows what it is like to be middle-class. it is why she is determined to lower health care costs and make housing more affordable. donald trump has no plan to help the middle class, just more tax cuts for billionaires. being president is about who you fight for and she is fighting for people like you. >> i'm kamala harris and i approve this message. host: we will be covering the democratic national convention all week. you can find that coverage on c-span as well as our website, c-span.org. and also later on today, we will be covering the kickoff show. weill have a c-span kickoff

show for the dnc at 2:00 p.m. eastern live from chicago. now let's get to your calls. we will start with elaine and st. louis, missouri, on the line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you so much, kimberly. i just want to say that c-span's coverage of the election has been outstanding, and yesterday, i enjoyed mark. he founded democracy docket, and he did excellent -- an excellent program on we the average joe or joe-ette has to stand up and actually talk to people about the authoritarian dictatorship that donald trump and his

cronies put into effect. what gives him hope and makes him continue to fight is knowing that there are other organizations that are trying to stand up, that there are americans like me, 74, and things are better for me under joe biden and kamala harris. and i just want to say that there should be a law that average people have to watch 24 hours of c-span to keep themselves informed and to hear both sides. both sides. of an issue. thank you so much. host: next up is mike in ohio on our line for independents. good morning, mike. caller: good morning.

i am glad the last lady is doing so good under the bidenomics. listen, this lady -- they have not had a primary yet and all of a sudden they picked her above everybody else. she polled 1% at the beginning, had to drop out, and now all of a sudden she has all of the problem solvers. she is the one that greeted the problems with the bidenomics. listen, the democrats are doing what they always do. they are fluffing and then what? i cannot wait until the dnc. have her trot out with walz, the one who left his unit in the fight for freedom. that is somebody who is a real veteran. i am a veteran myself, and that is a disgrace. host: former president trump was in a rally in wilkes-barre, pennsylvania, yesterday, and criticized vice president harris along those similar lines.

[video clip] >> yesterday, kamala laid out her so-called economic plan. she says she is going to lower the cost of food and housing on day one, but day one for kamala was three and a half years ago. so why did she do it then -- why didn't she do it then? this is day 1305. we are at 1305, so why isn't she doing it now? why doesn't she get away from her nice little place with her wonderful husband, go to washington, and do it now? you can do it right now. why does she go to the convention? because it is a rigged convention obviously. she got no votes. he had 14 -- you know, sleepy joke had 14 million votes. she had no votes. she failed. she was the first one out. she failed. she never got to iowa.

the great state of iowa. we are going to win it big. the farmers love trump, and i love the farmers. but she never got to iowa. she was the first want to quit, and now she is running for president. i don't know. somebody is going to have to explain our system to our many enemies all around the world. they are watching and saying this place does not make a lot of sense anymore. everything kamala harris says in her speeches is a lie. she gets up and just lies. i was watching her yesterday and she talked about all the taxes i was going to raise. i never said that. i am lowering taxes. host: back to your calls on the state of campaign 2024. next up is gordon in kansas city on our line for republicans. good morning, gordon. caller: yes, thank you. the guy from ohio hit it all right and he took all my thunder. i wanted to talk about

bidenomics but i guess is he stole all my thunder, i want to say i hope all of you good soliciting to go to chicago today and be real good little boys and girls. host: ok. steve is in new york, pennsylvania, and our line for independents. good morning. caller: good morning. a couple of things. i noticed right after the gentleman that is going to be our vp if he is elected, he is a socialist. he used to be a progressive. this man also in his state is for young people changing their sex without their parents' appro val. he has taken illegal aliens across our border and giving them the rights to driver's license and some other things. our borders, are they secure? we have company millions of people coming across the border since the biden administration has been in office. we don't even know where they are.

we don't know who they are. the debt is $35 trillion. it is going to go to $54 trillion in 10 years. both parties don't care about the american people. food prices and stuff are going down they said. that is not really true. it is to a point, but it never goes back to where it started. and we are paying more for utilities and everything else like that. when a government gets bigger, regardless of what party, forget parties, we get less and less freedom and they have more and more control over us, so we got national debt, personal debt, which is your credit card debt over $1.1 trillion. we don't have -- i will be 78 in

january. i am concerned that within the next four to 10 years, this nation in some form or fashion because the american people want it, socialism and communism because there is all of these free handouts. as long as the government gives free handouts, the american people are still going to vote for them to get them instead of thinking critically. i thank you for this time. critically what is important for us, our children, their grandchildren. this nation is in serious trouble, and i want to for letting me hear. have a great day. thank you very much. host: steve was calling from pennsylvania where vice president harris and her running mate tim walz are scheduled to visit later today. they are supposed to visit rochester on a bus tour of beaver county and allegheny county.

this comes today, the day before the democratic national convention, and they are planning to go with their spouses, scheduled to land at pittsburgh international airport , then make several stops during the day, including one in rochester and beaver county. they will meet with voters, canvassers, and local business owners before heading to chicago , and we will have live coverage of that bus tour in pennsylvania later today starting the live coverage at 2:25 p.m. on c-span.org and on our c-span now app. next up, let's go to al in washington, d.c., on our line for democrats. good morning, al. caller: hi. i am al. i wanted to thank c-span for the excellent coverage they have given birgit i do disagree with the democrats throwing all of their votes to kamala without a floor fight like in 1968. unfortunately, 1968 was a bad year for a floor fight, but i

think what is really important to america is that we engage. i see a lot of people engaged but the younger people's votes will probably win this election, and the democrats need to have a floor fight to represent all of what joe has earned. kamala did not earn it. joe earned it. and we have to respect that. we have to respect the traditions of the democratic party. we have to respect the traditions of the american people. and the americans need to email the white house and say what we want done in the democratic party. i was also a republican for a number of years. i disagree with sacrificing human life. i think americans have all kinds of opinions, and this is the time for us to engage the system. thanks. host: mary allen in fort

washington, maryland, texted us and said, to the callers who will whine about the no primary, this was an emergency. i am not worried about that. we have a 34 convicted felon running for office. that is my worry. kevin is in windsor, connecticut, on our line for independents. good morning, kevin. caller: yes, good morning. thank you for taking my call. yes, i mean the old republican party is gone. you have this maga party now. they are coming out with this project 2025. now cnn is reporting the crossing at the border is down way low. you don't see fox news or newsmax at the border anymore. you don't see trump at the border anymore. this project 2025 is for dictators. they are just using scare tactics.

like the first few years when trump was in, republicans were in charge, they do not have the competence to know there were lawmakers making the law. they put the law on the wall and we are going through this mess right now. they had their chance in the first two years of trump and they blew it. that is it. host: ok. jim is in maryland also on our line for independents. good morning, jim. caller: good morning. how are you? host: doing well. thank you. caller: i want to reflect on the harris economic plan that was announced just two days ago. my seventh grader did the math on the 3 million new homes that want to be built, and using just an average cost per unit, we have to have over $15 trillion

to do all of this. as my seventh grader said, there is not enough money in the world to do this. this is -- this can't be real. the other thing that she brought out with great applause from all the communists there is price control and no gouging. she apparently does not realize that price gouging is done at the retail level, not at the manufacturer's level. there is something that is not quite right here. can you get somebody to come on and explain all of this? thank you. host: i am sure we will have lots of guests referencing the speech, but let's play a bit of it. this is vice president harris from her economic speech in

north carolina on friday, specifically on her plan to cut taxes for middle and lower income americans. [video clip] >> under my plan, more than 100 million americans will get a tax cut and we will do this by restoring two tax cuts designed to help middle-class and working americans. the earned income tax credit. and the child tax credit. through which millions of americans with children got to keep more of their hard earned income. we know this works and has a direct impact on so many issues including child poverty. we know it works. so as president, i will not only restore that tax cut but expand it. we will provide $6,000 in tax relief to families during the

first year of a child's life. think what that means. think what that means. that is a vital, vital year of critical development of a child. and the costs can really add up, especially for young parents who need to buy diapers and clothes and a car seat and so much else. and we will do this while reducing the deficit. compare my plan with what donald trump intends to do. he plans to give billionaires massive tax cuts year after year. and he plans to cut corporate taxes by over $1 trillion, even as they pull in record profits, and that is on top of the $2 trillion tax cut he already signed into law when he was president, which by the way overwhelmingly went to the

wealthiest americans and corporations and exploded the national deficit. you know, i think if you want to know who someone cares about, look who they fight for. look who they fight for. host: next up, we have mary in florida on our line for republicans. good morning, mary. caller: good morning. i turned my tv on when the lady from missouri was talking but president trump being a dictator. i just don't understand how all of these people think of him as a dictator. he just wants to save america, to make america great again. he lowered all the prices for everyone on everything.

you want to call somebody a dictator, call nancy pelosi and chuck schumer. host: ok. tom is in livingston, tennessee, on our line for democrats. good morning, tom. caller: yes, ma'am. thank you for taking my call this morning. calling about the border, that is one thing to talk about. donald trump killed a bill that would help the border. he told them not to pass it. that being said, this project 2025 is going to be the end of the united states. it cuts social security. it is just the worst thing that anybody has ever done. we are talking about this man, her vice president, with his service to the military. donald trump would not go. he called our militant receptors and losers.

in the vice president apparently did not go carry a gun or shoot anybody. come on, people. we got religious organizations. you are going this morning to church and we'll talk about what a fine fellow donald trump is. he is a convicted felon and a convicted rapist. we cannot stand kamala harris. everything is not perfect the way she would give everything to the wealthy people. look at the wealth gap between the wealthy and the middle class with the tax breaks donald trump did years ago. look at the welfare gap. put something up there that shows how the wealth gap has grown between those two lifestyles. i will just say we have one choice and that is kamala harris

because of donald trump gets back in there, everybody talks about inflation being low under him, but look at covid. check and see how many people died from covid years ago before biden took office. he denied covid was even real. i appreciate you guys. you guys do a superduper job. thank you. have a good day. host: i pulled up very quickly a chart from the urban institute about the wealth gap in america, which shows that the wealth is increasing, but so is inequality. this is the distribution of family wealth in 2022 for this chart. it says in the past 60 years, america witnessed a massive transfer of wealth from the middle class to the wealthiest families, increasing wealth inequality. in 1963, the wealthiest families had 36 times the wealth of families in the middle of. the

-- the middle of the wealth distribution. by 20, they had more. -- by022, they had more. i have a message from steve into some commit was on her, which seems that trump is attacking -- which says that trump seems to be attacking harrisernally. this is from stephen in florida. margaret thatcher said it st socialism is great until you run out of other people's money. price controls a me government legislation is not the soluti. we can trust in kamala to continue pandering and expanding government. here we go. next up, diana is in pontiac, illinois, on our line for independents. good morning, diana. caller: good morning. i want to thank c-span for their bipartisan-ness on this

election. all of the other news outlets are pro kamala. she will be the death of this country if she gets in. her views, i read her policy. they are all socialist leaning on communist views. and her economic policy will put this country $3 trillion more in debt. than what donald trump is proposing. he is proposing we start drilling again and exploring our own energy, which is smart. because when he was in office, we did have more money in our pockets. there was less unemployment, and the only reason why the economy got so bad is because joe biden quit the drilling and the

fracking. host: ok. sandra is in pennsylvania on our line for republicans. good morning, sandra. caller: good morning. thank you, c-span. i look forward to seeing your coverage of this election, and i would like to make a few comments. one is if we look at harris' and biden's repeated contention that the border is secure, we can judge that these people are either blind or cannot see what is happening with our own eyes. the numbers are terrible and remain so because the democrats did nothing to stem the tide of

illegal immigrants. they say the border is secure. no. the border has not been secured. this is the democratic contention. this is clearly not true, which indicates that many other claims they make are also not true. they keep saying we will do this and we will do that, democrats will do this, democrats will do that. every citizen ought to recognize that every time they say we will do and we the democrats will do, they need to say instead that taxpayers will do. host: we will be hearing quite a bit from democrats all week long during the democratic national convention. you are looking live at a shot of the united center in chicago,

and c-span will be covering the convention all week, but today on c-span, we are going to begin our coverage kicking at 2:00 p.m. eastern with a live one hour preview of this year's biggest event in democratic polics. we will be joined by the dnc scenic medications director backfill for an insiders look at the convention hall, the convention seen, and expted big-name speakers. we will also hear from the washington bureau chief who will provide political and historical context of the coming week's events. again, that ll be live today at two apart p.m. eastern on c-span, c-span now, and online at c-span.org. let's now hear from tiffany in raleigh, on our line for democrats good morning, tiffany. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i am just calling to -- first of all, it is curious to me the

other callers talking but coming is him and socialism and i am curious if they know the true definitions if they support a dictator and a fascist of about my liberal friends and i are very energized about and tim -- about kamala and tim and cannot wait to vote for them. i am pro-choice, and i don't want government to intrude on my health care decisions. i am just really excited to see what goes on at our national -- you know what i'm saying. host: the convention. caller: thank you. thank you. good luck to everyone out there.

caller: every democrat who calls

in, i would like them to defend the withdrawal from afghanistan. 13 dead americans. 10 dead afghan children because somebody decided to fire a rocket. how about a wide open border with 11 million illegal immigrants? i would like them to defend their position on that. yes. and men competing against women in sports. please. defend your position on that. caller: more broken promises. there is no such thing as a free lunch.

they teach you that in seventh grade economics. now we are being hit with inflation. too many dollars in the system. ronald reagan had to break that cycle and get us an increase to supply. ok, folks, this is seventh grade economics. if we make more big macs, they come down and cost. and you are selling more. that is the whole theory. but we will hear more government. that is all they have two by our votes. and in closing, i want to say they are mortgaging their grandchildren. they will not have the standard of living you had to get in order to gain wealth to me have to be invested in this country in equities. nancy pelosi has made hundreds of millions of dollars. meanwhile, they tell you not to invest in america. thank you. host: vice president harris's running mate tim walz was in nebraska this past week, and here is coverage from the nebraska examiner saying

nebraska and tim walz -- nebraskan tim walz gives the business. the native nebraskan tim walz, the minnesota governor, celebrated his first home state rally saturday by filling a suburban county concert venue and its overflow empathy or. the rally emphasized his nebraska roots putting his time as a teacher and coach in nebraska. his wife and one of his former geography students introduced him. walz was born in west point, grew up in valentine, and graduated from high school. he got a warm reception from the largely democratic audience, and here is a clip of that, of walz in the cornhusker state yesterday making his pitch for the electoral vote in the second district. [video clip] >> for 20 years i had the privilege of teaching in our

public schools teaching high school social studies and coaching football. to a state championship, too. but it was my students and my players really inspired me to run for office. they saw in me what i was hoping to instill in them, a commitment to the common good and a belief that one person truly can make a difference, each and every one of us. so in 2006, 42-year-old with little kids teaching, i took a leap and ran for congress. i did not know the time but in the district iran in, there had been one other democrat since 1982. but even though that district was red, my neighbors graced me with the opportunities to represent them in the united states house of representatives. and for 12 years i worked

bipartisanly on issues like veterans affairs, like agriculture, farm deals, growing rural economy. i learned how to compromise without compromising my values. as governor of the great state of minnesota, i took all those experiences and skills to tackling some of the most difficult challenges our state faces. but more than anything else, just like here in nebraska, minnesota's strength comes from our values. values of working together, seeing past differences, and always willing to be a neighbor to lend a helping hand. those are the values i learned out in valentine. those are the values i learned. those are the values i learned of the people here that i instilled in my students entered to the united states capital and

our state capital. now it is time for vice president harris and i to take them to the white house. host: back to your calls. bill is in virginia on everyone for democrats. good morning, phil. caller: yes. first of all, jesus taught a nation divided against itself cannot stand. some of these republicans who support trump advocating for civil war. a civil war would destroy the united states, openness up to our enemies, destroying us first of all, so trump is totally divisive. he speaks negatively against the united states military and he was the commander in chief. this guy is talk about withdrawal from the dust from afghanistan -- from afghanistan. this guy was the commander-in-chief speaking negatively about the military. and pence, trump sold him out.

he did not care if he got killed. he did not support what he will support. the man is selfish. he is a criminal. he is a racist and everything else you can imagine. why someone would back that is beyond my imagination. thank you. host: trump was in wilkes-barre, pennsylvania, yesterday. here is coverage of it from the associated press. trump is exact between economic marks and personal insults at a rally in critical pennsylvania. former president donald trump on saturday repeatedly swerved from the message focused on the economy into non sequiturs and personal attacks, including thrice declaring he was better looking than vice president kamala harris. trump wound back and forth between hitting his points on economic policy and delivering a smattering of insults and impressions of president joe biden and french president emmanuel macron as he held a rally in northeastern pennsylvania. the former president seemed to struggle to adjust to his new

opponent after democrats replaced their nominee. over the past week, he has diverged during camping appearances away from the policies and instead diverted to a rotation of familiar attack lines and insults. here is a clip of former president trump in wilkes-barre, pennsylvania, yesterday. [video clip] >> we have people that are -- in many ways i guess they are stupid. people say please don't use bad language. please don't call people stupid. they are stupid people. also would you describe this? i want to use a different word, a more sophisticated word than stupid, but it is a perfect word. they are stupid people. i think they are also, by the way, if i might, they are corrupt. they really are corrupt. they get a lot of money from a lot of people. we are not going to let the socialist lunatic -- and she is a socialist lunatic. that is the other thing.

please, sir, please don't call her a lunatic, they said. but that is what she is. she is a lunatic. she is a lunatic. she is going to destroy our country. and she is going to break our economy even more than it is broken. host: back to your calls. doug is on our independent line from ohio. good morning, doug. caller: yeah, good morning. how are you today? host: doing well. thank you. caller: i want to answer the gentleman who call before about afghanistan and the border. first, there was a bipartisan deal on the border, and trump told them to shoot that down. that is what they call morand against great america, maga. i have to say another thing about afghanistan. trump left a mess in that country and expected joe biden to clean it up. i am doing great right now.

i am doing a lot better than i was four years ago. the democrats, a genius we what biden and kamala did -- move what biden and kamala did. trump can go to the jailhouse when he does not get elected again. thank you very much. host: once again, you are looking at live shots at the united center in chicago where the democratic national convention will kick off tomorrow and we will have all of the coverage on c-span. let's go to joy in west virginia on our line for democrats. good morning, joy. caller: good morning. trump keeps talking about biden's policy on the border. when he was in office, what did he do about the border situation? all i can remember him saying is that the united states was going to build a wall, but mexico was going to pay for it. neither happened. he took those children and put

them in cages. he took those and shipped those off to parents to be adopted that they don't even know. and another thing about the economy. the president does not own every business in the united states for them to raise prices. those are private entities. they are the ones that are raising the prices on whatever you buy, however makes the eyedrops -- whoever makes the eyedrops. they have to buy the bottles that the eyedrops are put in. whoever makes the bottles that you put the eyedrops in. they have to buy the plastic from somebody to make the eyedrop bottles. so it is a trickle down and it comes down on us. the president cannot control

that. he would have to own every business in the united states to say that he is responsible for the inflation. that is not the case. and another thing. i was eight years old when i saw president kennedy be assassinated. that is the day that i became a democrat. host: ok. jeffrey is in east hampton, new york, on our line for republicans. good morning, jeffrey. caller: oh, hi. just a suggestion. i was a democrat my whole life, born and raised, but reagan was also a democrat at one point. he said i did not leave the democrat party, the democrat party left me. i wish we had a different candidate from trump. i have become a lot more conservative in my old age, but

my point is what i am concerned about, the use of the word attack. i hear it used consistently by you, and you guys do a great job compared to what is out there. but i wish people would start saying instead of using the word attack if we consider the word criticize. i think it would go a little to relieving some of the tensions. when i hear people say whining and things like that, it would be nice if they can use words like concern. because all of these derogatory terms the media is consistently hammering us with this not really serve the people. they deserve to be informed. host: your line is a little bit difficult to understand.

it is breaking up, but i think we understood your point, s t so let's hear now -- we have a text message that says both units are not talking but the most important subject that fects every american, shoring up socl curity and medicare. what are their plans in this case? silence is not golden. from palmdale, california, on our line for democrats begin good morning. caller: thank you so much for having me on the line. i love you, c-span. keep doing what you are doing. i just want to point out a few things. i would consider myself to be a republican but with the way things are going these days, it is making me lean more to the left, mainly because it seems to me that the republican party cannot admit any of their flaws when it comes to siding with rich and the billionaires and

giving them enormous tax breaks that we see the wealth inequality right now, but no republicans want to talk about that. they just want to blame the other side, which is proposing things that will help out the middle and lower class, so what i suggest to my republicans on the other side can democrats is that we need to be speaking about the major issue right now, that this country is being taken over by oligarchs and delete -- elites who are hoarding money, and this trickle-down effect is not working whatsoever. our country is crumbling, and we need to tax them efficiently like we did back in the day. if you want to make america great again so much, maga. thank you c-span and have a great day. host: veronica is in pennsylvania on everyone for democrats. caller: i just want to say, boy, do we have short memories.

when bush left the white house, trump -- obama and biden over. everything got back in order. when trump took, the pandemic hit. i had a hard time paying for my car because people were not going to work. donald trump came out with covid and took the mask off in front of everybody and acted like he was a superhero. let's be for real. every but he knows what happened. and then when -- everybody knows what happened, and then when kamala and biden took over, they tried to do is for the middle class, and everything is going up. the stock market is up. let's be for real, people. you want to say it is bad. no, they are scared to lose

their white privilege. that is their only hope, the great white hope, donald trump, and that is all they are. as far as him being president and the way he talks, he is a ghetto president. the way he uses his words and language and downgrades people, what kind of president ever have you heard talk like that? you let me know. host: sean is in chicago, illinois, on our line for independents. good morning, sean. caller: hello. good morning. from chicago. i used to be a supporter of kennedy. but unfortunately, mr. kennedy, i heard that he decided to support kamala harris. host: are you talking about rfk junior, the presidential candidate? caller: yes.

i was a member of the kennedy supporters. host: i have not seen that he has expressed support for harris. where did you hear that? caller: because i don't trust kamala harris. look at her face. she is just smiling, smiling, smiling. she doesn't have any economic policy. she is promising, promising, promising, and she thinks smiling will solve everything. host: you are in chicago. what is the mood like there ahead of the convention? caller: i live very close to the united center. i will go and see what is going on. i will join the protest because

i think americans are wasting money in israel and ukraine, a lot of money pouring in. host: so you are planning to attend the protest outside the dnc? caller: yes. yeah. of course, a peaceful protest. host: ok, thank you. speaking of those protests, we have coverage of that from the chicago tribune, that chicago is getting set for those dnc protests. that focus will be split when the democratic national convention arrives in chicago, inside the united center attendees and tv viewers will be glued to the harris-walz ticket but when the chemist go outside, they will shift to the protesters. they have planned at least seven large demonstrations with more rallies unsanctioned by the city likely to come. the groups plan a mix dust plan

-- the group plans to push a mix of issues. one is seeking to show solidarity. a tour was given ahead of the democratic national convention in chicago. 578 was the designated area for the 50,000 people who are expected to protest during the convention. however, the organizers of the protest preferred union park due to its larger size. let's have a look. [video clip] >> this is park 578. this is considered the designated area, free speech zone for the dnc. as you can see, the united center is not terribly far away from here. i am expecting about 50,000 protesters here and organizers for the protests have been very upset with the city of chicago and the dnc as far as what they

can and cannot do. so here they are supposed to be able to put up a stage riser and they are also supposed to have amplified audio where they can actually get their message out, but this park is not very large and the organizers of the protests would like to use union park, which you will see a little bit later. but this park right now is considered the designated area, free speech zone for the dnc protests. things like this have been appearing all around the united center. if you notice, this fencing goes all along the way right next to the park where the planned protests will be. so they are very much trying to control the crowd and making sure that nobody gets out of hand. there has been a much increased

police presence in the area and in the city, and so they are very much trying to make sure nothing gets out of hand. most likely, this will be where the protests will happen. they will probably put up a stage, have for the parties does have portable parties, amplify a. if you look here, you see the fencing and the united center just over there. so they are hoping the message gets out and they are able to influence what is going on in the dnc here in chicago. we are now at union park. this is where the protest organizes would like to have their protest originate because it is much larger parts, much larger than park 578. as i said before, they are

expecting 50,000 protesters. who knows how many more will show up? but this is the field where most of the protesting would happen black when black lives matter was doing protests, they did it here and had a stage, amplification, all of that stuff. according to the dnc and the city of chicago, they are not allowed a stage, not allowed porta potties, and not allowed to provide sound in union park, so this park is a multi use park. it has basketball courts, pickle ball courts, tennis courts. obviously, you can see there are some dogs getting walked out here. this is a very popular park in the area, and it is a multi use for many things, including protests in the past, but who knows whether there will be protests here for this week at the dnc? from union park, you cannot see

the united center. it is less than a mile away. probably a half mile or so passed that church down the street. it is not as close as part 5 -- park 578, but again, it is the size they would like since they expect 50,000 protesters. they would prefer to have a much larger venue. to speak their minds about what is going on at the dnc. host: that is another shot of chicago there, where the dnc will be kicking off tomorrow. let's get a couple more calls in this hour. from gina in mississippi on our line for republicans, good morning gina. caller: good morning. i am an avid watcher of this program and for eight long years i and my bed in the morning and

watch this show. what outrageous a ridiculous lie the democrats call in and say about donald trump. it is just a joke now. they love your show now because you are on their side. you let them say all of these outrageous lies without even questioning them. when you think you can call in and say something against anybody on the other side, and they quickly jump into action to protect what they say. i think it is terrible what has happened to this show. you had a great show going here until donald trump started running for president. another thing i would like to say to the democrats is you call in here all the time and you talk about how ignorant and

uneducated the few republicans that get in our. -- in are. i would invite you to listen to this show again and listen to the majority of the democrats who call in and just see what their education level is. host: kathy is in ohio on ever line for democrats. good morning, kathy. caller: good morning. i would just like to say that i think donald duck needs to be checked for dementia. he babbles on about things that happened in the past that doesn't even relate to what is happening now. that is all i wanted to say. thank you. host: that is all the time we have for calls this our, but up next, we will go live to the windy city for a conversation with rick pearson, veteran

political reporter for the chicago tribune, which i was reading from earlier. he will give us a preview of the democratic national convention and the key storylines both on and off the convention floor. and then later, we will talk to author and history professor luke nichter, who will discuss the 1968 presidential election, and that year's democratic national convention in chicago. we will be right back. ♪ >> hi. campaign 2024 has brought in some unexpected days, and from now until election day, c-span brings you unfiltered coverage of the candidates of the battle for the white house and congress. you may not know that c-span as a public company that operates without a dime. we've been impacted by cord

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family was sent to an internment camp in 1941. george: one of the soldiers pointed his bayonet at our father. henry and i were petrified. the other soldier said out of the house, we followed him out, stood on the driveway, waiting for our mother to come out. when she finally came out, escorted by the soldier who had pointed the bayonet at our father, when she came out, she had our baby sister and one arm, a huge duffel bag and tears were streaming down her cheeks. that memory is seared into my brain. actor and author george takei tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on

"q&a." ♪ >> next up for c-span's coverage of the summer's political party convention, we head to chicago for the democratic national convention. watch live beginning monday, august 19. hear democratic leaders talk about the administrator's track record in their vision for the next four years as they fight to retain the white house. the democratic national convention, live, august 19 through the 27, on c-span, c-span now, or online at c-span.org. don't miss a moment. visit our website for the latest schedule of dates and watch the 2024 national convention. you can also catch up in on demand at c-span.org/campaign or by scanning the code. >> "washington journal" continues.

host: welcome back. we are continuing our coverage ahead of the start of the democratic national convention in chicago. it kicks off tomorrow. from chicago, we are now joined by rick pearson, who is the chief political reporter for the "chicago tribune." welcome to the program. guest: thank you, kimberly. good to be with you. host: c-span wants to thank cruise for allowing us to set up our studio in their building with such great views of the city of chicago. we will be broadcasting from this location throughout the convention this week. we are now talking to the "chicago tribune's" rick pearson. you had joined the paper a decade earlier as a government correspondent. all these years you have covered illinois and national politics, what is your sense of the moon in chicago ahead of the

conventions getting started tomorrow. ? guest: i have to tell you, kimberly come a lot has changed, obviously, you know, since president biden decided not to run again less than a month ago. the mood coming into the convention with joe biden as the anticipated nominee was, i would say, not very enthusiastic. i won't say it was almost a funeral dirge, but it was almost like a going through the motions kind of process. since the support around kamala harris, you know, coalesced so greatly among democrats, i think there really is a greater expectation of excitement and opportunity with this convention as well as much more public attention will be brought to chicago and the convention itself. host: you have a story with the headline about that, that all

eyes will be on chicago this week, can the dnc help reverse the city's national narrative? there have been so many stories about the violence at the 1968 democratic convention in chicago, also the democrats held a convention in chicago in 1996 that went smoothly. does chicago have something to prove here? guest: well, that is kind of the thesis of my sunday story. when you've heard a lot of negativity about the city of chicago, a lot of it from former president trump, saying it is "worse than afghanistan," other things, even though he does have a substantial piece of property on the chicago river, when you hear that repeated narrative around the city, there are stereotypes around chicago, and yes, chicago has its problems. chicago had a number of problems

coming out of the pandemic, incidents involving the george floyd police shooting. sure, we are a big city, but i think in some respects, we are also a city that has a chip on its shoulder after being portrayed negatively by a number of people. host: so how is the city getting ready? guest: well, one, many respects, and you touched on 1968, which is perhaps the most contentious political convention ever come and a lot of the trappers are trying to raise the prospect of, you know, will this be another 1968? the dynamics, the atmospheric some of the emotions them and the politics, i think, are much from a much different than than they are now. sure there are great divisions them a great divides on issues. there will be protests. i would say basically there are going to be the protesters and

there will also be the disruptors. you are going to have the organized protests. a lot of those, of course, pro-palestinian protesters are against u.s. support of israel's military battles with hamas and all of the issues involving the more than 40,000 people who have died in gaza. you are going to have those, but you are also going to have, i think, a number of sporadic disruptions around the city. the police are promising to quell any violence immediately, but they are also saying, we are not going to be into the business of mass arrest incidents, those kinds of things. larry snelling, the chicago police superintendent, has been expressing confidence, basically since, almost since chicago got the convention, that times are different, policing is different.

they've done a number of trainings with law enforcement, not only with chicago pd but also with some of the 300 to 500 police departments that are contributing, law enforcement officers to the city cozy effort. that is kind of the lay of the land when it comes to protests. it was one of those things what we had to wait and see what develops, and obviously what is going to be law enforcement's response to it. host: what will we know as far as what significant protests are planned so far? guest: well, we know significant protests are planned starting tomorrow, and there was a lengthy legal battle between protest organizers and the city of chicago over kind of a parade routing area that would get them within sight and sound of the

united center, but also not detract from the security perimeters around it or detract from the egress, ingress and egress of the delegates that are going to be attending. another interesting factor here in chicago that is somewhat unique is the united center, that is where the made-for-tv primetime programming is going to be, but during the day, a couple miles away, on the lakefront is the mccormick place , and that is where the day meetings are going to be going on for the various caucuses. so you have kind of a bifurcated task for democrats here. and kind of a lengthy trek for delegates and officials to be moving from one place to the other. so it will be interesting to see, too, about potential disruptions them as protesters

and demonstrators try to disrupt the progress of people moving from mccormick place to united center. host: can you speak specifically about the protest regarding the war in gaza? as washington post reports here, there's a portion outside chicago referred to as "little palestine." little palestine is a community outside of chicago that is home to one of the country cozy large concentrations of palestinian americans in chicagoland, the highest number of palestinian americans in the u.s. what are you hearing from this community ahead of the convention? guest: well, we are hearing very much about disappointment about the u.s. military support to israel, from that audience, very much in line, and they are very vociferous about it, so it is no surprise that they will be

joining into these protests. the curiosity, i think, really comes to, is, you know, what is the size of these protests going to be like? no one is quite sure. basically we've been told there are tens of thousands of protesters that have arrived in the city. we also know that there has been some consternation among some of the people that are organizing the convention over, for example, issues like hamas and israel, actually proved to be kind of a detriment in some respects for fundraising for holding the convention, even though the organizers did raise a record $94 million, that apparently was kind of a setback there of business is not wanting to be associated with a controversial, political issue.

but there is no doubt, this is going to be the lead protest at the convention, and it is going to be interesting, too, to see, how is this reflected not only outside the hall but inside the hall? you still have a number, almost two dozen uncommitted delegates that are elected, and they want to have their say. they were elected uncommitted as a protest against the biden administration and israel. host: inside the convention hall, the dnc seems to have finalized all of its speakers for the week. are there any sort of outstanding questions about how this is going to go? guest: i think it is pretty well set out how it is going to be. i think, you know, when you look at the fact that, you know, just four months ago, joe biden was going to be giving the acceptance speech on thursday night as the party's nominee, and now he's going to be the

opening-night speaker, and he's not going to stick around. monday being the, i guess, start of what you might say is the long farewell of joe biden as he becomes a lame-duck president. it is going to be interesting to me. i think it is fair to say it is probably going to be a bittersweet moment for some of the democratic delegates here, because come at the same time, they certainly want to show their appreciation to biden and what he has done come at the same time, it's also, thank you very much, but now the party is going to move forward, and we are moving forward with kamala harris. you also have my believe, tomorrow night, too, is hillary clinton speaking. that will be very interesting to see how, you know, she fits into the movement forward as well.

you've got former president bill clinton speaking, former president barack obama, chicago grown president, and, you know, this is an anniversary of his famous speech in boston as a u.s. senate candidate that propelled him basically from that point, before he had even been elected to the senate come and propelled him onto the presidency. then, of course, we are going to have governor walz speaking wednesday as the vice presidential nominee, wrapping up vice president harris giving getting her speech as the presidential nominee. she will be here monday for president biden's speech and will be at the convention basically the entire week. host: if you have questions for rick pearson, he has decades of experience covering politics nationally and illinois. republicans can call in at (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002.

before we get to the calls, though, rick, are there significant figures from illinois who will be making an appearance at the convention, and who are you most excited to hear from? guest: well, one of the things we talked about is the transformation with the democratic ticket nationally. at the same time, there are some illinois-centric issues. democratic governor jb pritzker, a billionaire and air to be high hotels -- heir to the hyatt hotels. it was no secret that even when biden was filled the presumptive nominee that pritzker was starting to make moves to broaden his footprint nationally. the governor is an avid

supporter of abortion rights, something that was instilled in him by his late mother. he created an organization called think big america, that is actually doing funding of abortion rights initiatives, ballot initiatives, and legislative initiatives in a number of states. the convention was kind of seen here as a national showcase for jb pritzker, assuming that there was the potential for him down the road becoming a candidate for president and be on the national ticket. obviously, he was one of the finalists for vice. president harris as a running mate. did not get that. still, this is governor pritzker's convention as well as mayor brandon johnson. it is their convention, there

showcase. what is the future for pritzker? he is up for office in two years. does he seek reelection? a potential cabinet position, if the harris-walz ticket wins. he basically is the democratic party of illinois. and you have mayor brandon johnson speaking monday night, the traditional opening slide of the mayor of the host city welcoming the people to chicago. mayor johnson has had a pretty rocky launch since his election a year ago, and it is going to be interesting to see him address the national stage, a former union organizer for the chicago teachers union, which is one of the most politically powerful teachers unions in the country, and certainly unions in chicago. they are in the midst right now, the chicago public schools some of the teachers union, are in

the midst of contract negotiations. mayor johnson has asked the state of illinois for over $1 billion in support from state government. there's a number of issues that there have been some tensions between him and governor pritzker on and basically involving money from springfield. pritzker, during his tenure, has been a very solid money manager for the state of illinois. the state has seen a number of, i believe at least eight credit rating upgrades for a state that was very nearly in default under the previous governor, and pritzker is just basically saying, you know, this is not good money management. we are doing what we can. so those two, i think, are really important people, to see what their message is. and i think that a lot, as i say

come of the coalescing that has gone on around harris has kind of put these intraparty divisions down below the surface. they are still there, but it is going to definitely be an attempt to portray the total unity of this convention. host: let's get to some callers we start with. peterin buffalo, new york . good morning, peter. caller: good morning. i just want to mention, i hear about, you know, the millionaires and billionaires who pay their fair share. i'm on a fixed income, so i'm not even, but i don't have any jealousy towards the people who made that kind of money or are making that kind of money. if that was you, you would probably hire the best accountants in the world, you know, to save you money.

so, i just wanted to touch on that. i'm a retired roofing contractor, and my father told me not to go into business to him and i said why, dad? and he said, you don't have enough -- i was raised by johnny b democrats. host: peter, did you have a question for rick? caller: oh, yes, i'm sorry. i was listening to the show before he got on there. i'm a little confused as to what rick is -- host: rick is the chief political reporter at the "chicago tribune." you can ask him about anything politics, convention, national politics. caller: ok. should i just get to the question now? host: go for it. caller: ok. yeah.

like, i have great friends that are liberal democrats, but i'm going to be a three time trumper, so i just wanted to get what his thoughts are on, you know, trump doing everything he said he was going to do, he did, you know what i mean? what are his thoughts on that? and who does he think is going to win? how about that. host: ok. rick? guest: ok, one, i don't make predictions. there is a very popular weatherman in chicago who just retired named tom skilling who is a good friend of mine, and i always joke, if you want predictions them asked tom. he is normally right, and he makes a lot more money than i do. i do not make political predictions. number two, as far as trump

doing everything he said he would, i think there is some question to that. certainly off the top of my head, the issue of building the wall and saying mexico was going to pay for it. that did not happen. so, i mean, here in illinois, this is a state that trump lost consecutively by 17 percentage points. it is a state where the divides have grown deeper between the more populist, northeastern illinois area of chicago and what we call the collar counties that are in chicago and the rest of the state. and what is was fascinating, illinois has not voted republican since 1988, and prior to that, it was known very much as a swing state. the most recent demographics of

collar counties were known as a republican firewall for the democratic folks coming out of chicago. well, that firewall has burned down. those collar counties have turned more purple, it's not blue, and where they used to be kind of the heart of republicanism, moderate republicanism, social conservatives -- or fiscal conservatives, social moderates, that has all gone by the wayside, and republicans have been losing ground in this state at an alarming pace for republicans. illinois right now, every statewide elected office is democratic. the illinois supreme court, which is elected, is majority democratic. the illinois legislature has super majorities of democrats, the house and senate, and, of course, the legislature draws its own redistricting map, so

that plays a big role. we look at the illinois u.s. house delegation of the 17 members also helped by the legislature drawing, the redistricting map, it is democratic. that is kind of the lay of the land where this race is going to turn out in illinois. host: let's hear from paul in virginia on our line for independents. good morning, paul. caller: good morning. i'm an old guy, and i was in chicago in 1968, at the end of the month, to get a diploma at the university of chicago. i was heavily invested in the antiwar demonstrations. the atmosphere then was different than now.

lyndon johnson had announced that he was not going to run on march 31, and hubert humphrey became the leader, and there was a challenge from bobby kennedy, who was then assassinated. and four days after lyndon johnson decided not to run, martin luther king was assassinated. there was terrible violence. the politics were very different. right now, you have an arranged convention, a coronation of a candidate who, until it was announced and moved -- host: paul, back to 1968, were

you involved in any of those protests? caller: yes, i was in grant park. i was wearing a suit, because i wanted to give a good impression. everybody else was wearing other things. the hippies were there. consequently, i saw myself at the intersection, right near the hilton hotel, and the bar at the corner was called the haymarket, strangely, echoes of the haymarket riots of the 19th century. and there i was, and the peace corps had a contingent, and the police charged the sidestreets. host: paul, you talk about there

being a very different political setting then versus now. caller: there is one other thing, if i can say, there was journalism van. there was journalism, and "the today show, joe correggio and i think barbara walters were saying "there are kids in the street that are getting beaten up," and the governor convened a convention, and it was determined that this was a police riot. it was very different. host: i'm going to let rick respond to some of that amazing history. guest: i agree with paul that the atmospherics are a lot different between then and now, not only did you have the

political upheaval after lyndon johnson, who was leading a very unpopular war, decided to drop from seekingion. you also had basically the deca othe 1960's, which were filled with racial unrest, political unrest, and i almost believe 1968, even though it was the end of the decade, that became almost like an ignition point for the decade. and i really think a different atmosphere now. i don't see, necessarily, the point that chicago in this democratic convention is going to face the upheavals that were represented.

in 1968, we obviously have different political leadership in the city. you mentioned about the 1996 convention, which was the renomination of bill clinton, and you heard very few people talk about that. and that convention went off really without a hitch, but everybody refers back to 1968 and automatically harkens to those dark times. i just don't think we are anywhere close to that, as we approach the convention tomorrow. host: let's hear from david in new york on our line from republicans. good morning, david. caller: yes, good morning. hi, rick. good morning, america. guest: good morning, david. caller: i saw the story on fox the other day with liz mcdonald, and she is stating how these political ads are showing up where they are taking news

stories in the background, and they are changing the words with them, or they are changing basically the facts of the case, and they are replaying them, and it is allowed because it is a political act, and they are allowed because it says so at the bottom of the ad. i'm sure we are trying to find as many facts as we can about the candidates before the voting begins, but it is sure hard to do that when you can't actually find the facts on tv. and this phrase of the day thing that, you know, how can these news stations act like they are actually researching staff when every morning, it is the same on every one the phrase of the day? so they are really not checking facts. host: david, let's let rick respond. go ahead, rick. well, yeah.

certainly i'm not familiar with the phrase of the day. i don't know that we have that necessarily in our local news here in chicago, but certainly, i think, the effort to try to find truth in an era of miscommunication, misdirection, and this version of media is very difficult to do. but one thing that has fundamentally changed, i believe, and that is, don't just rely on one sorts of information for the facts. and also, the more you read, the more you learn from verifiably, authentic sources. that having been said, the issue of people running political ads, changing headlines, swapping out wards, putting up phony headlines some of that is nothing new. that has happened in illinois before.

yes, there are federal prohibitions about ads being yanked from the air because of free speech considerations, but at the same time, if a politician is running an ad where they've authored headlines or changed words, we will call them out on it. we will call them out very loudly on it. host: robert is in greenville, texas on our line for independents. good morning, robert. caller: yes, good morning. good morning, c-span. i've been calling in for about 10 years, and we have a convention with a great opportunity that i hope some of the candidates, and the guest speakers, reiterate to the american people what this issue

or what this election is all about. now, i called out nine years ago the issues regarding paul manafort. michael flynn, russia, i voted for trump. i'm an independent. i've been a lifelong republican, but i switched course, and i don't mean to go through history, which i won't do, because i really want to make my point about the convention and mr. pearson's view on this. i think the emphasis of this convention should be not on promises, future promises, most of either politician, republican, democrat, whatever what have you, will make a

lot outcome and most of them will not be kept. that's called vision, democrat'' vision, republicans' vision, for what they want this country to be. but the fact remains, the candidate at the top is a reflection of the party's moral dignity, beliefs, and i think at this convention, it would be wise for the speakers to focus on their opponents -- host: i do want to give rick a chance to respond. is there something you want to highlight? ok, go ahead, rick. guest: i think that is one definite element that you are going to see at this convention. indeed, i believe one of the theme nights of these conventions, they all have theme nights, and i believe one of them is, you know, basically,

what is at stake. i think you are going to be here, truly, a more constant reframe -- a more constant refrain of democrats and the trump-led ticket, you will hear that repeatedly probably more so then you will the vision. certainly one of the things that is always kind of a dilemma here, when you are dealing with kamala harris, this is basically her coming out party, and the issue of, you know, a chance for democrats to define her and what she stands for and what she wants to bring to the united states, and that is one thing we've seen in recent weeks, is that the upheaval and change in the democratic ticket has really thrown trump for a loop, and his ability to try, which will always be part of, you know, politics 101, you know, define

your opponents before they can define themselves, and he has kind of stumbled out that. and his lines of ridicule really don't carry anymore weight schoolyard insults. there is no more substance to the critique that he gives. so you will see that kind of defining issue, but you are very much going to see democrats try to portray themselves against what the trump administration data in four years in the white house and whether americans want that to come back again. host: richard is in minnesota on our line for democrats. go ahead, richard. caller: good morning, rick. you are looking good. guest: good morning. caller: my question is on the political spin, most of the

major networks are owned or ceo'd by republicans. they took all the major networks over. do you see this as a problem with our country? guest: i don't think so. the one thing i am kind of trouble by is, you know, the siloing of the media and people staying within, you know, finding their comfort silo and sticking into it, and programming that plays to that, where the cardinal rule of journalism has always been, regardless of party, to challenge authority, which is the way that i've always tried to practice things. i'm not sure, yeah, of course, everybody should look at the background of the media of which they partake. but at the same time, influences into the actual journalistic product, those become pretty

obvious, and, so, i think, when you know what you are going to be getting, take it for what it is worth. host: in tulsa, oklahoma, on our line for republicans, good morning, ken. caller: good morning. good morning, rick. guest: good morning. caller: i a big trump supporter, and trump is the one standing in the way of this headlong rush into socialism, communism. kamala harris-while spain ticket walz to get his big government, and walz is a good example of kids having sex

changes and abortion up to nine months, and that's not christian. we really don't know a lot about it, and the media has -- host: ken, we are running out of time for this segment. what is your question specifically for rick? caller: my question is, are you going to use the opportunity to find out the actual policies of big government and how the controls are going to be and to play that out? because venezuela -- host: ok, we are going to let rick respond to questions about the media and the convention specifically. go ahead, rick. guest: i will say, i think the caller has touched on one point, where the trump campaign has tried to do the framing, to try to reframe the newly minted democratic ticket as the socialist/communist.

and that is a perfect play for the trump base. and, yes, i will say, we are certainly going to be looking for what are actually the policy issues that come out of the harris-walz ticket. we saw her earlier attempts just recently about economic issues, created basically some discontent over the issues of checking into price gouging, not price control, but price gouging, giving the federal trade commission more authority to look into that, you know, supply chain, involving food prices, which i think has created some contradictory views , even within the democratic party. but that having been said, yes, we are all going to be looking to find more substance about the democratic ticket, and that is just the nature of this, and we

will be looking for this convention to try to see if there are actually specific policy goals enumerated. my guess is, not likely. host: roberto is in new jersey on our line for democrats. good morning, roberto. caller: good morning, america. i would like to make a comment, than i would like you to respond. first of all, i think there is too much corruption in our unions and our government. it is very hard for politicians, even good ones, to get anything done, because of the unions. so what i would like to ask them a maybe you can recommend an article, the federal government, for employees of the cities, states, counties, federal government, for federal section eight housing for low income

workers, and employees that make more money, that own a home, should be given something similar, something that 70% of the mortgage and taxes should be deducted, because i want to see a government that is run by the people and that elected officials should have the power to fire the employees once they are elected. host: there are quite a few policy suggestions that you are getting rick to respond to, so i will go ahead and let him take a stab at it. guest: i will have to take a stab, because there's a lot packed into that. let me say also, as someone asking about elections and government from someone who covers illinois

government is in a unique position to watch. one of the biggest hurdle to enacting any ethics changes is the fact that it has to be done by the governmental bodies that themselves would feel hamstrung by what would be viewed as ethical changes. so that is almost kind of a universal mindset. even the most altruistic politicians would acknowledge how difficult any ethics reform is. as far as the power of the unions, you know, especially public employees unions, certainly one of the most, as we see the service industry has risen in this country, public unions, and their power has grown rapidly. but, you know, when you look at, again, the divisions in america, the ability of super pac's and the lack of accountability that

you have over who is funding pac's, where the dark money can be used, you know, this is a race, just a big money race on each side. and it is going to be very hard to try to unplug one side and not unplug another side. host: last caller for now, kay is in richmond, virginia on our line for independents. good morning, kay. caller: good morning. i'm an independent and also african-american. i would like to make a comment commend and i have two questions for mr. pearson. presently, americans are excited about having a younger candidate and i guess a first woman president. if trump loses this election in 2024, i believe it will only be because people are voting off of emotions instead of voting off of policies, and it is a fact that people are voting off of

emotions only, because they were so quick to get behind kamala as the nominee without even hearing the policies. what i'm about to say next is just kind of, like, wishful thinking, but i wonder how things will play out if donald trump steps down and would let a woman like nikki haley be the nominee, instead of trump remaining on the top of the ticket, he would be on the bottom of the ticket, like vice president, and also be her advisor for the next four years. i think if trump allowed a woman like nikki haley or any other experienced woman to be at the top of the ticket, it would probably be a guaranteed win for republicans. in this way, people that are only voting for harris because she is a woman would now have a better option. i have two questions for rick pearson. assuming that if trump were at the top of the -- the bottom of the ticket instead of the top of the ticket, would his campaign

funds go to the person at the top of the ticket? my second question is, is it too late for the rnc to change who is at the top of the ticket? thanks. by. guest: that is a very interesting concept. one, i don't request to be an expert at federal, finance laws, but yes and i think the money would transfer over in that case. let me say, one, i would find it highly doubtful that donald trump would ever accept a number two spot on anything. so the chances of that happening are none. but i will tell you, i do agree with the caller, and i know this from talking to many younger people, and this kind of goes back to how we began our conversation today, about going into this convention. the lack of enthusiasm and the lack of excitement, and the fact that, with kamala harris, you have a younger person running for the

nomination is part of that enthusiasm. and, yes, it also is partly because a woman, it's partly because of her racial and ethnic background as well. and that is also, again, put trump on his heels, because he was used to campaigning against "li bin joe biden," and now he has no come back and has been on -- "sleepy joe biden," and now he has no come back and has been unable to come up with a come back. host: rick pearson, chief political reporter at the "chicago tribune," thank you and good luck with your coverage this week. guest: thank you. host: and thank you to the cruise for allowing us to set up. we will be broadcasting for the democratic convention. after a quick break, we will be talking more about campaign 2024

and the democratic national convention, which is kicking off tomorrow in chicago. later, we are going to hear from author and history professor luke nichter, who's going to discuss that 1968 presidential election that we were just talking about and, that year's democratic national convention, also in chicago. first, c-span spoke with jeff stevenson about how he expects the dnc to affect his small business downtown. >> we are here at the centennial craft beer and eatery with the owner. tell us about yourself and how long you have owned the establishment. >> thanks for being with us. we opened seven years ago, 2017. we took about six years to get open, and we just turned seven in march and are doing all right. >> that is awesome.

so, with the dnc here in town, how do you see all the festivities affecting your business? >> well, we are hopeful that with 50,000 people coming into town, we are going to see some of that activity over here at centennial. we feature 36 different beers on draft, all craft beers, and more than half of those are normally local craft beers. chicago, i don't know if you know, has more craft beer breweries than any market in the country right now. so we are a showcase to that. we have one arm and a handle, which is centennial ipa, and the other 35 are constantly rotating. we are always bringing in new beers, a lot of be one keg, and it is a new be replacing it. try to keep it fresh. >> this is your first dnc in the area? >> yeah. i think it has been a long time since the last one, so, yeah.

this will be a big convention. obviously a lot of activity going on, united center and mccormick. but river north where we are is a lot of hotels, and a lot of people will be in the neighborhood. we are hoping to see a lot of them here. >> i heard governor pritzker was around here last week. tell us about that. >> yeah. the governor had a private event with us last week. his kickoff to all the activities they are doing before and during the convention. he had a couple breweries, local breweries, cash book and alter brewing, make a beer for him, called j beer, for jb. he poured some beers for the guests. it was a really good event. >> thank you for joining us. >> come back and have a beer. >> "washington journal"

continues. host: welcome back. we are looking at a live shot of chicago, where the democratic national convention will be taking off tomorrow, and we will be covering the convention all week long here at c-span. that is the united center there in chicago. this technique, we will be taking your calls for about 10 to 15 minutes on campaign 2024, so you can start calling and we have the lineup for the democratic natnaconvention, some of the speakers that will be showing up onstage that you see right there. monday, if you tune into the first of the democratic national convention, we will hear from presbiden and former sry of state clinton. tuesday, former prt barack obama, wednesday, former president bill clinton, with vice presidential nominee tim walz. and then rsday, the convention will wrap up with vice president kamala harris officially accepting back democratic presidential nomination. and you can find all of our coverage on c-span, c-sp now,

our free mobile video at, and online at c-span.org. and we are goingkick the coverage off this afternoon at 2:00 eastern in chicago with a live one-hour preview of this year's biggest event in democratic politics. let's get to your calls now. randy is in oklahoma on our line for democrats. good morning, randy. caller: good morning. i'm always excited to be able to talk to you guys. media credibility, i'm just wondering, how come they are not, you know, putting the dossier out there. the dossier proves what a criminal trump is and how corrupt he is. why aren't they using that? and i'm happy with kamala. host: which dossier are you referring to? caller: oh, well, the russian

dossier. how come they are not -- there is so much dirt on trump, and what kind of person he really is. why don't they put that out there? just because it is a different election season doesn't mean they can't use this validated information. i mean, the fbi said that the laptop was stole, the dossier was real, and nobody is talking about that. why isn't anyone talking about the real problems in the country right now? the dossier spells it all out. they just need to use that. and the laptop, i mean, come on, man, all the stuff that they set about biden and the laptop about him taking bribes and his son sleeping with teenage hookers in russia and all the hours that they took, how come no one is pointing that out this year? i just don't understand. host: ok.

next up is mike on our line for independents. good morning, mike. caller: good morning. yeah. i think the fix is in. the proof is out there. the right wing globalism infiltrated many parts of our government and the party. we have the democrats bringing illegals from the border, we have republicans shipping them all over the country. one party will destroy the country when the other party is in power just to make the other party look good. this is the phenomenon, and prove his out there in the globalists, the documentary "the grab," where they are going after the water rights and for the rights of many countries. and like here, there are 100 wildfires, and they just passed a law helping farmers from farming, and they are going to pay them. we also see the military want to

build the country after they shipped manufacturing out. the military wants to building india, jet factory, saudi arabia, rocket factory, and many others. i think the fix is in. one candidate should just stay with his coffee cup like otis, and the other one is anointed and appointed. this is mad, and the supreme court is not doing anything about it was sitting on its thumb. this is ridiculous. host: kurt is in anaheim, california on our line from republicans. good morning, kurt. caller: good morning. host: what is your comment? well, i guess we can hear you. let's hear from ron in florida on our line for democrats. go ahead, ron. caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: trump has only been going after ms. harris with

insults because we know what his policies are. i have been right in front of me. it is the border, which he said mexico was going to k for the wall. that is his 2016 platform, he was going to take care of social security and medicare. he was going to take care of obama care, he was going to do infrastructure. he was also going to take care of the swamp, but his cabinet ended up being the swamp. he negotiated with other countries, and all he did was badger them and let a communist country, russia, be the first people into the oval office. let's not forget that fox was sued by dominion, who had to pay $800 million for lying about the

election, and the line was that trump did lose, and i am a veteran. and those people invaded my capital, my capital. and i like that she laughs and smiles, because trump never does. and between trump and bush, there was $8 trillion for trout, $7 trillion for bush, and if you walk that back, that is why trump has such a good economy, is because he put a trillion dollars on your children. host: christopher is in ellicott city, maryland on our line for republicans. go ahead, christopher. good morning. christopher, can you hear us? caller: i can hear you. can you hear me? host: yes, go ahead. caller: i would like to know why

there aren't more presidential debates, where you see them both together. i think there should be at least six more debates, where you can see them interacting together, and that is where you get the real view of both sides. having one debate is not enough. we need to see both candidates across from each other, answering questions. that is democracy. having all the pundits say what they said is not hearing what the candidates say. host: i do believe there are going to be three more presidential debates that have at least been proposed. the next one coming up, i believe, is on september 10, and there's also going to be a vice presidential debate that is scheduled for october 1.

so there are going to be more debates coming up. now let's hear from angie in illinois on our line for democrats. good morning, angie. caller: hi, my name is angie, and i actually have two questions. one in regards to, how do you project that the latino voters are going to influence the election for this year? and the other one is around, kamala harris has been influencing, obviously, how she impacts gen z come the new generation. and just curious, based on her history, she has been very focused on, like, trying to be more stricter on policies or stricter on, like, reforms and criminal charges. just curious how you see that

she has a balance of getting that influence from the newer generation. if you can speak on that -- host: host: unfortunately, our guest has stepped away but i understand the points you are raising for another shout. but hear from deirdre -- let's hear from deirdre. guest: i noticed you had commercials on your site. i just want to say i very much value independent news and how patient you all are with people not asking questions, just blathering on. i am going to cancel netflix and support you guys because i figure it is important and i would encourage everyone else to do the same. i do have a comment. when you talk about these demonstrations, i am an independent, i watched the

entire convention. nikki haley's speech on unity was so strong and united democrats. i have to wonder why people are protesting the democratic convention when the hardline for the republicans is much worse. nikki haley is going off about bombing the whole region. why were they not there? i have to wonder how sincere and authentic those protesters are or if the protesters are not working for the other side because they were not at the republican convention. anyway, thank goodness for c-span and thank you for taking my call. host: if you would like to donate to c-span, you can do that through our website, c-span.org. there is a button on the corner of the page.

on c-span.org, you can find all of our coverage of the democratic national convention all week. that is going to kick off today at 2:00 eastern in chicago with a live preview of the democratic national convention. we will be joined by the senior dnc communications director matt hill for an insider's look at the convention, themes, and speake coming up. will hear from the washington bureau chief live today at 2:00 eastern on c-span, c-span now, and online at c-span.org. also on c-span.org as well as our mobile video a wil have the harris-walz bus tour. that will be kickingith live coverage on our app and website at 2: 25 p.m. and will be on the c-span now app as

well. we will hear more about the democratic national convention in chicago, including from our next guest who is going to join us. also from chicago, we will hear from luke nichter, the author of "the year that broke politics." he will be joining us soon. we will be right back. ♪ >> ♪ >> tonight on "q&a," author george takei recounts the day he and his family were removed from their home and sent to an internment camp following the japanese attack on pearl harbor in 1941. >> my father came out and answered the door.

one of the soldiers pointed his bayonet at our father. henry and i were petrified. the other soldier said, "get your family out of this house. we stood in the driveway waiting for our mother to come out. when she finally came out, escorted by the soldier, pointing his bayonet at our father, when she came out, she had our baby sister in her arm, huge duffle bag in the other, and tears were streaming down her cheeks. that memory is seared into my brain. >> actor and author george takei tonight at 8:00 eastern on c-span's "q&a." you can listen on our free c-span now app. >> ♪

>> we go to chicago for the democratic national convention. watch live beginning monday, august 19 as the party puts forth their presidential nominee with their vision for the next four years as a fight to retain the white house. the democratic national convention alive august 17-22. don't miss a moment. watch our full coverage. you can also catch up on past conventions anytime on demand c-span.org/campaign or by scanning the code. >> ♪ >> saturday, booktv on c-span2 takes you live to the washington

committed to an our and role coverage of the national book festival. -- this year's guests include the librarian of congress and more. the library of congress' national book festival beginning at 9:00 eastern on c-span2. >> "washington journal" continues. host: welcome back. we are live with views of chicago where the democratic national convention will be kicking up tomorrow. we are joined by luke nichter, history professor as well as the author of the book "the year that broke politics: collusion and chaos in the presidential election of 1968." welcome to the program. guest: good morning.

great to be here. host: it looks like the ipad started playing. thank you for joining us. c-span would like to thank them for allowing us to set up where we can get nice views of chicago . i want you to talk first about your book, the year that broke politics. what did you focus on in a year known to be so iconic? guest: of course, prior to me, a lot of people have written about this seismic year of revolution in the united states and around the world. when you start out working on a book like this, you think, what can i possibly write about the others before me have not written? i think what inspired me was the 50th anniversary came and went in 2018 and there was not really any moment of national

reflection. meanwhile, i saw in archives like the l.b.j. library in austin that a lot of new records had been opened. personal papers like billy graham's diary. i thought, history does need to be rewritten about once every generation because the next generation needs to understand it on their own terms. i thought with someone like me born after this, i had a lot to learn. a lot of the names and events were not intrinsic to me as i grew up. but i felt it was time to revisit this, especially for younger americans. host: for folks who may not be aware and just hear references to 1968 being violent or chaotic, what were some of the events that preceded the democratic national convention in chicago in 1968 that made that moment so contentious? guest: 1968 has almost become shorthand for revolution. other revolution years like 1776

or 1789 or 1848. if americans know anything, it is usually their own history. a lot of these trends were going on around the world in 1968 had at the time the nation's longest war in vietnam, the chinese revolution, apartheid in south africa, a russian invasion of czechoslovakia in 1968, so a lot of things were going on. the tet offensive. it looked like vietnam was getting worse at a time when americans at home or being told it was going better. you had the seizure of the pueblo crew and the dramatic political moments the rest of the year. it seems in 1968, almost every month had some surprise, some shock that just a month before, we could have never predicted. host: sounds a little like this summer. guest: it does. i always say history does not

predict the future. sometimes, it can illuminate possible paths forward. politics is a bit like a magic show. the magic continues as long as no one figures out how the trick works. what interests me is figuring out how it works behind the scenes which is a place most of us as americans do not have access to. host: in 1968, president johnson opted to bow out of the race in march after the new hampshire primary. this year, biden decided to opt out in july after the nominating process was too much done. what are some of the similarities and differences in terms of how this will play out at the convention? guest: one of the big differences is i had been writing earlier this year on the way to new hampshire that from

an historical standpoint march was the month to march. two presidents have withdrawn in surprise announcements since world war ii. that was harry truman in 1952, march 29, and lyndon johnson in 1960 march 31. from an historical standpoint, march was the month to watch. it was early enough the democrats could still gather, they can organize before the convention. if you and i were to have this conversation just over a month ago, i would have said two of the biggest differences between 1968 and 2024 was this year the lack of political violence and the fact president biden did not appear to want to do what president johnson did in 1968, withdraw, and now two of those biggest differences have been erased. host: what are the biggest differences between the protests

then and now? guest: it is fascinating. this is one of those issuesi'm sure we ever completely understand because protesters by definition do not leave a lot of records. if you are behind the barricades of a protest or cause, you are not reporting your movements and thoughts the way government officials might be at the time that you are opposed to in the protest. i would say the issues are different. in 1968, it was the vietnam war and the draft that was not just a leading foreign policy issue but also a leading domestic policy issue because it united republicans and democrats in it united young americans across social and economic class in the oppoti to serve against their will in southeast asia.

this year, you have similarities with another unpopular war, really more than one you want to count israel-gaza and russia-ukraine. as i walked in grant park this morning, it was still quiet. there is a big police presence. we are waiting to see what groups show up and what their causes are. host: one of the issues recently is the topic of political violence with the assassination attempt on former president trump and political violence leading up to the 1968 convention. . how would you compare violence then and now? guest: i do not want to make light of the attempted assassination on former president trump. thankfully, it was not worse than it was. 1968, early april, you have first the assassinationf dr.

martin luther king jr. which shook the civil rights community. thishe civil rights era. and then just two months later, the second assassination that year of senator robert kennedy. st five years after his brother present kennedy was killed at a moment in his campaign in 1968 beginni t surge and hope to come to chicago and capture the nomination. in 1968, political violence is even more of a defining factor then it is this year but it is also a similarity we have with 2024. host: talk about the role of then democratic chicago mayor richard dal what the leadership of chicago means coming into this convention. guest: that is another great

unknown. my book came out last year, 55 years after the 1968 election. that is about how long it takes before we can look back in a less emotional, more dispassionate way, and piece together the records and archives the way historians do research and try to figure out what happened with more personal distance from those events. in 1968, this was richard daley's chicago. he ruled with an iron fist. he took direct orders from the police. the police had orders to shoot to kill, especially arsonists, shooaim those looting or vandizing the city. the police were ready. there was national guard. there were also fbi and secret service contingents here, as many as 1000. this year is different. i think most americans in middle

america have not seen a big city since the pandemic. it is surprising when you see how many storefronts are empty. to protesters are going to be here -- the protesters are going to be here in some number. it is not clear yet what that will be like. current mayor johnson, i do not know what relationship he has with the police. it was certainly not what mayor daley had with the chicago police back then. host: we are ready to take your questions. republicans can call in at 202-748-8001. democrats at 202-748-8000. an independents at 202-748-8002. we will start with susan in pennsylvania on the line for democrats. caller: good morning. you mentioned earlier about the assassination attempt. i don't have a question but i

have a statement about the republican national convention. the grand finale of the republican national convention was donald trump's acceptance speech, which is going to be seen around the world. a highlighted feature of his speech was honoring the firefighter that was killed protecting his family. when the camera pans back to show donald trump standing beside the firemen's jacket, the fireman's last name is spelled wrong. this is a highlighted feature of his speech. they had five days to confirm the proper spelling of this man's last name and could not take the time to do it. i think it was an insulting stunt and a slap in the face to this hero's widow and children. thank you. host: what role do you think the republicans might have in the dnc this week in terms of how

they are going to message around that? guest: that is a good question. i would assume from an historical standpoint, and it was true for 1968, that democrats watched the republican convention closely and republicans were watching what was going on in chicago in 1968. even in 1968, president johnson was not on the ballot having withdrawn march 31, but it was still arguably l.b.j.'s convention. he had marvin watson and john conley here who wanted to make the democratic platform did not get too far away from johnson's policies because he would be president for another four or five months. i think politicians are right to watch what goes on. in 1968, young donald rumsfeld was here manning the republican lookout at the convention. they do not advertise that fact but i think they want to keep a

close eye on or clues they can pick up as we enter the peak of the campaign that kicks off after labor day. host: brian is in cedar rapids, iowa, also on the line for democrats. caller: i wanted to mention, in addition to all of the people -- things that happened in 1968 with the johnson decision not to run and the upheaval at the convention, there was also the peace candidate eugene mccarthy that does not get mentioned much. there was a lot of joy for us in 1968 when he was articulating the importance of getting out of vietnam at that time. he was a major factor at the convention with the other candidates. one more thing i wanted to add. it is not political. but in 1968, there was a benchmark event at the end of the year which was the arrival of apollo eight at the moon.

this was the first time we had gotten out of earth orbit and reached the moon. 1968 was important in many aspects of u.s. history. i just wanted to add that. guest: i would say those are terrific points. eugene mccarthy often does get no more than a footnote in 1968 but he does deserve credit for being the first among the democrats, and not just a minor political figure no one has heard of, but a sitting u.s. senator to come out openly and challenge johnson for his party's nomination. he came close to beating him in new hampshire, close enough it concerned the johnson people going forward. ultimately, the problem for mccarthy is he was never able to live up to the high expectations set for him for the remainder of the year. frankly, i am not even sure looking at the archival records he really wanted the presidency. if you look at his rhetoric, it

seemed almost like he was running against the idea of the presidency and what the united states stood for at that time. i also want to say it is a great point about the moon. when nixon was president, the idea of going to the moon inspired him. when he would do things like go off the gold standard will go to china, he would sometimes reference on his white house tapes it is like going to the moon again. the idea being that something is possible that previously you did not think was possible. host: ron is in michigan on the line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning. i am a democrat. i was 19 in 1968 in chicago. i was a year out of high school. i was an apprentice. i had friends in the national guard i was playing semi pro football with. i had relatives in the police department. i had friends who invited me down to grant park, let's go fight with the cops. it was -- you know, there was

black-and-white youth altogether fighting the cops. you were facing the vietnam war. you did not know which leader would be killed. my brother was in vietnam. it is not the same vibe right now. the people i believe will be demonstrating will not have the numbers, maybe they will have the numbers, but we were demonstrating because we were trying to save our lives from the vietnam war and ready to fight. it was quite a time. like you said, it was revolutionary. a year later, i was in vietnam. i was antiwar in vietnam. what a time. what a time. these times are even more, what would you say, daunting. it is great to have history. host: you are saying even after

being in the protests in 1968, you think the time period we are in now is even more daunting? caller: yes, i think it is. you had the vietnam war. you had division in the country, but you did not have visceral hatred of each other. yes, there was hatred, there was division because you had the cold war, antiwar, people dying. there were 300 or 400 dead every week. how could that not affect you? it was just amazing. it was not the same vibe as now. now, there is a visceral hatred running through this country. hopefully, the democratic ticket will challenge that and get us out of this mood, this division. guest: yeah. i would add, it is interesting, probably more than any other

subject i have researched in my career, when you talk to someone like that caller, i do not encourage anyone to fight the police, but you can still many years later hear the passion in his voicend the hesitancy as he replays those events. more than any other subject i researched in my career, you talk to someone who was here or lived through that time and you can tell that emotion is still raw this many years later. host: joan is in atlanta also on the line for democrats. good morning. caller: yes, good morning. one of the things i have heard a lot of people speak about is kamala has been coordinated -- coronated. i believe that was the best choice for democrats because she is the vice president. [indiscernible] host: your line is a little

difficult to hear. while we are waiting to see if we can get your line steady, luke, i wonder if you can talk about the mechanics of what happened when it came to the voting on the floor in 1968. guest: yeah. this is one area too where i would say there is a difference between 2024 and 1968. i kind of understood where the caller was going. i keep taking it back to history. in 1968 when johnson withdrew on march 31, hubert humphrey, i don't think they used the word coronated in 1968, but by default, the nomination went to him. humphrey too did not enter primaries, did not campaign. i suppose the same charge could be leveled against him in terms of not winning the votes of electors. in 1968, the democrats used a

different process. when i talk about the passions of people who lived through that time period, never having heard from so many readers who say senator kennedy had he not been killed in early june was going to win the nomination in chicago in 1968. that is "what if" history. we do not know what would have happened. there is no doubt his campaign was surging before he was killed after the primary. this was 1968. in 1968, the process the democrats used was designed to coronate lyndon johnson for another term. it was not until the mcgovern commission recommended changes to the nominating process which took effect in 1972, in 1968 it was much simpler. you could be a party boss, a state or county chairman, and

you could wield votes on the convention floor. in 1968, it was designed to nominate lyndon johnson again and not reward an insurgent like mccarthy or kennedy or those who wanted to change the rules. host: let's see if we can get joan again if her line is more stable. did that address the point you were trying to raise? caller: yes. i just thought if she were a man, people would not be saying the same thing. yes, i think that is pretty much what i wanted. and my concern that people coming to the convention may be -- i guess because of what is going on in israel and they are basically bringing president biden and kamala. it really has to do with the president of israel who refuses to do the right thing and stop

killing the palestinians. again, i just wanted to know what the speaker would think about that. guest: yeah, that is a great question. as i say, history does not predict the future but there are certain things i am watching for between now and november. in 1968, one of the stories i think i told for the first time in the book was how the vietnam peace talks in paris, i make the argument in the book that the closer to november it got, the more those talks were used to try to find peace according to american political timing. this is another potential similarity this year, that there are peace talks going on in cairo and other places to hopefully get a cease fire between israel and gaza. i think the closer to the election things get, the likelihood these become a greater factor in the campaign. college students are returning

this month at many campuses. we are nearing the one-year anniversary of october 7. there is no doubt this issue is not going to go away. host: francis is in massachusetts on the line for independents. good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to talk about the vietnam war. i read an article about a female professor out of harvard. her animal's asian -- anal yzation was if we had the support of this country in south vietnam, south vietnam would be like south korea today, a free nation, plenty of mass production. you look at north korea compared to south korea. so, we made a mistake with those peace people. we are gradually slipping. china is very strong. who is defending that country? these kids are not.

they are too much on the computer. someday, they will be wearing chinese pajamas. thank you. host: luke, any thoughts on that? as a father of a 10-year-old daughter, there's plenty of thinking i do about the next generation, and young people always amaze me by what they know and also what they don't know. he raised a really good point, you know, the development of north korea versus south korea, even singapore and thailand. it is interesting come in my lifetime, probably relations today between u.s. and vietnam have never been better. it's amazing to think that these two countries that were at war, and the vietnamese with the french before that, that may be the result of all this is relationships are better. the enemies are adopting english as a second language in high school.

-- of the vietnamese are adopting english as a second language in high school. host: susan is on our line for republicans. good morning, susan. caller: yes, i just wanted to correct them if you had a democrat lady come on say the firefighter was the man who was killed at the trump rally, and his name was misspelled. cbs news found that the buffalo township fire company down that intentionally, because his name is too long, and they can only fit a certain number of letters. so this misinformation has to be corrected. i'm just getting that out there. host: let's hear from robin on our line for independents. good morning, robin. caller: yeah. i'm a volunteer firefighter.

i'm jewish but i'm actually a syrian, which is an ancient christian order. i'm going to compare what happened today with the demonstration. more people go to college then did back then, and people were literally going to be drafted, or some rich kid with sell their draft card to someone in poverty, and they would go off to war. i am antiwar. i worked on the senior campaign come and i left the democratic party a couple years ago. i'm actually a native liberal. hope you are selling bonds to israel. we are making a physical effort to ameliorate the west bank and gaza both, so we have very dirty hands. while those demonstrating in chicago are not facing the draft, they are probably aware of what is going on, and chicago is a pretty high rate of --

better terms. you cannot get out by going to college or stop sending bones to destroy third world countries. guest: that's an interesting point. yeah. as someone who grew up in the toledo, ohio area, south of detroit, i've always thought of southeast michigan as the greatest population of muslim americans. but i read that actually not far from the united center is a neighborhood called little palestine, which is the largest palestinian neighborhood i guess in the entire country. is an interesting contrast that you offer there. for those who criticize the u.s. war policy, every once in a while, a politician on one side or the other talk about really back the military draft, and usually those discussions go away pretty quickly. we would have fewer wars if we had a draft, and if people were required to serve again, as they

were back in the vietnam era. at least so far, i don't think a politician on either side wants to be voted out of office for suggesting a return of the draft. host: mary is on our line for independents. good morning, mary. caller: luke, i was 17 in 1968 and working a little weekend job at this water filtration plant as a tour guide and volunteering at a veterans hospital. and my dad had gotten tickets for one of the convention events, a concert. and i asked a friend from the hospital, jimmy, who was a double-amputee from vietnam, to come with me. i knew it was dangerous, because they had closed all the tours at

the water filtration plant, because the protesters had planned to drug the water supply. but we got into the place where we were going to hear the concert, and suddenly, this overwhelming smell of, it smelled to me like vomit, came through, and jimmy said to me, that is tear gas. we need to leave. and of course, there were no handicap areas back then, and we hobbled our way out. and thank god the police left us alone, i guess because of how we were dressed, to get to the car, to get back home. but in the meantime, those protesters were throwing feces and urine and beatinggs of people. so, i was just -- i will never forget that night. it was terrifying. and i left a week later to go to

europe, and all those protesters were out at the airport. if i could have come i would have spent on them. i hated them. it was a horrible time. the country was just torn apart come in here i had a hero with me, and they were throwing things at us. it was horrible. host: as was mentioned earlier, luke, you can still hear the passion and emotion in her voice from that experience. guest: you sure can. and, you know, that story sounds like it could have happened yesterday. and, you know, i hope those who live through that time period, who have this, document them for future generations, because for someone like me, who was born after these events and i have to read about them in books. i think it is important that we document our history going forward, so young people know

how we got here. host: in omaha, nebraska, on our line for republicans, good morning, charles. caller: yes, thank you. i wanted to ask, you know, now that the democrats are all against the border wall and stuff, and i did not know if in 1968 they pitched around the convention, but this year, i've heard that they accessed around it. if they hate the border wall, why do they want to have a fence around there? host: go ahead, luke. guest: for most people, i have not been to many conventions, but when you do, it is an intense security situation, almost like none other that i've seen. and 1968, they were at an international amphitheater in southwest chicago. that was torn down about 25 years ago. so now, this year, there are two

sites. even walking this morning to the studio long grant park, i wanted to stay at a hotel that was near these historic areas, i would say the fences are set up and kind of off to the side and the margins, and, you know, all of their links are not linked up yet, there are extra sections here and there. but there are cadres of police all over, you know, even two in my elevator at my hotel is nigh, riding up and down the elevator. you see a visible police presence, but nothing really happening yet. but it looks like pretty quickly, they could link up those fences and see a lot of big parts of chicago nearby here, if they need to. host: david in florida on our line for republicans. good morning, dave. caller: yes, good morning. i was calling initially because of the comments from the person who is obviously -- and the

media is not going to tell the truth, and people that they referenced, simply because they had to be put on it, and they had to keep it that way. the lack of information being put out about how this war is being funded. this money that was able to be gotten through restrictions, the cut off of their oil, which is giving them plenty of money to fund all these proxies to attack israel. israel was attacked and has been defending itself since. everyone who says they should stop defending themselves, ask somebody who said it's nothing but the extermination of your people that will be acceptable.

it is obviously unacceptable to the jews, so why would -- host: do you have a question for luke on the historical side of this situation? caller: well, the historical side, yes. it is the birthplace of all religions, in that area, but it will never be solved. it's the beginning of civilization, and it looks like it will be the cause of the end of civilization. guest: you make a good point. unrest in that area has been going on for a long time, so i think the idea that we arrive at a cease-fire that makes everybody happy between now and november seems unlikely. i would just say come i think the lesson of history is that before we figure out what is really going on behind the scenes, how are the wars being financed, as you suggest. probably our attention will figure something else, prescient at that moment.

unfortunately, it is up taking decades them if even then, for us to eventually pieced together and look back on this time period, because today, we are sort of in the eye of the storm, and when you are in the eye of the storm, you lack the perspective needed to figure out what is going on. it probably going to be the historians of the future that do the mopping up job here and make sense of the issues that you raise. host: christian is in florida is on our line for independents. good morning. caller: hi. i just wanted to ask, how do you see the democrat party moving forward, with the overlay, you know, of 1968. like, how do you see them moving forward? what is the path forward for the party as a whole? guest: yeah. as a really great question. i will tell you the things that i'm looking for, see and whether history can be a guide between now and november. vice president harris has a difficult task.

it can be done, but it is very difficult to be your party's leader, to be a party opposing nominee will also being vice president. -- party's nominee while also being vice president. the reason it is difficult is you have to be a candidate and both for a change and continuity at the same time. you have to keep doing the things you've been doing, but you have new ideas wasn't a when you are president. the difficulty of that is, you know, every statement you make during the campaign is measured against any previous statements, for any difference to him and especially for any difference between you and your outgoing president, you know, who might not be on the ballot anymore this year, can still do an awful lot behind the scenes to exert influence, either to exist or withhold support. and whether in 1968, with lyndon johnson and hubert humphrey, as the nominee, or this year with joe biden and vice president harris as the nominee, i think

these are strong parallels between now and january 20. host: robert is in atlantic city, new jersey, on our line for democrats. good morning, robert. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. going to elementary school in iowa city, walking to school with kids that the next-door door neighbor's parents were voting for nixon, my parents were voting for humphrey, we would debate back and forth. a couple years later, after learning to read through baseball statistics and the sports page, i'm looking at the front page, several hundred kids killed, 700 kids wounded, and right under that, kissinger was given billions to moscow and other warsaw pact countries, so those protesters in chicago come in a lot of ways you were right, and the parallel is, everything we buy at walmart is made with russian oils, manufactured in

china and india. so the younger people have a sense, even though they are against the war in israel and this and that, and they want cease fire's, and the older people don't learn from history in the same manner. backing both sides and just about every war. wall street companies were working in germany up until 1943, major ones. so these wars, i hope the protesters get through the party bosses, and the people, the donor class that bankrolled both parties. we need to have peace, for the sake of the inflation tax. host: before i let you respond to that, luke, i want to bring up the actual outcome of that 1968 election, which had nixon get a 43.4%, humphrey getting 42.7%, but also, a big chunk from the third-party candidate,

alabama governor george wallace. you know that in your books that his anti-elite tactics come in many ways, so-called anti-elite tactics, set the template for what donald trump later did in the 2016 election and is doing today. can you explain that? guest: yeah. you set that up just right. by the popular vote, tally in 1968, it was close. nixon squeaked it out by abo 500,000 votes. of course, by the electoral college, which is where we decide elections, it was a little more decisive, more like kennedy over nixon in 1960. but it was a parallel with 2024 for another reason, because we have potential stronger than usual third-party challenges, and of course one this year is robert kennedy. in 1968, you had wallace, an unusual third-party candidate,

who actually was strong enough to win electoral college votes, 46 of them, in the south. we have not had that. it's about once in a generation as americans we see a third-party candidate that strong. it would probably have to go back to ross perot of 1992, who had 39% at one point but did not win any electoral college votes. wallace in 1968 old 23%, and he did win electoral college votes. wallace's message, who ran on kind of race-based appeals in 1962 and 1963, by 1963, by 1968 kemeny had a taste of national politics, and he realized he had to have a message beyond alabama and beyond the south. he had a blue-collar campaign. as far as i know, wallace never

said "drain the swamp," but i think of that phrase had occurred to him in 1968, it is exactly the kind of thing he would have said. host: we have a question we received from jim in rockvie, maryland via text. in 1968, richard nixon delibete sabotage the paris peace talks through h ctacts in the vietnamese government. it probably swung the election in his favor. does your guest see similar interference in israel from trump? guest: that is a great question, and it is something i'm going to be paying attention to, and i think voters should come of the role of the peace talks between israel and gaza, cairo, and other places, and the role that they play in the outcome in november. 1968 is one where it played a

little bit of a roll. when you look at a economy, inflation, and crime, those individual categories, most ones come in gallup, were higher than vietnam. as to nixon's involvement in 1968, since the opening days of january 1969, at least so far, you know, i investigated this in the book, and i have a whole appendix about this, you know, there was maneuvering going on behind the scenes, and it is a bit of a gray area. let's bring it instead to the present. vice president harris said the party's nominee probably attends national scary meetings. she is privy to information as vice president that she would not have if she weren't vice president. it's a fair question to the debate. so her access to this information be greater than trump's, because he is the republican nominee in a former president? this is one area that is not

clear, showed her access be different? can trump or someone in the trump campaign make statements about israel or gaza, political statements, that might influence or detract from what the negotiators trying to get a cease-fire can do? i think this is a gray area in politics. i'm looking, going forward,, how the role displays in the election outcome. in 1968, the conclusion in my book is while there are always some murmurings going on behind the scenes, without going into the whole chapter on this in the book, i argue that the available evidence we do have is not add up very much. host: tom is in louisiana on our line for independents. good morning, tom. caller: hey. this is a very interesting segment. i would like to salute, if he's got something in his book about what effective rock 'n' roll had

on the 1968 experience. and i will hang up and listen. guest: it's a great question, you know, you cannot think about the 1960's without thinking about the pop culture of that decade, the music, the counterculture music. in the 20th century, to me, as a lover of history, it is up there with the color of the 1920's, in terms of the social, cultural movements that are taking place. that come of course, in addition to the political climate, which is what i write about. a lot of the books in 1968 are doorstops, 800-page books that were here in chicago, who observe the events and reported about them at the time. i tried to write a book based on what is new, what is new in archives that changes our previous perspective on what we thought we knew. i have very little expertise when it comes to music and pop

culture, so i knew enough to stay away from those subjects, but it does not mean they don't interest me at the same time, because they are very much part of the 1960's, as you say. host: loss is in spartanburg, south carolina on our line for democrats. good morning, ross. caller: that was interesting. that was a good question about rock 'n' roll. you are talking about the 1920's, i was always interested in using be deaths. the reason i called and was a previous caller said about vietnam, that was an immoral war, which is why, i think, tensions were so high in 1968. you had enlisted men openly threatening and commending -- committing murder against commanding officers in the field. that war was totally corrupt.

south vietnam was not worth fighting for and probably made a mistake was not backing ho chi minh years and years earlier, because he was the voice of the people. sometimes when we make a mistake, the democratic party come up pick candidates that are weak. mondale comes to mind. i think joe biden driving out and endorsing kamala harris has unified the party. whatever the protests are, i don't think anybody can defend arab culture, the kind of palestinians live in. i feel sorry for those people, but when they enlist a law of rapists and murderers, and that is what they are, no doubt about it. when you live with rapists and murderers, this is what you get. what place did abbie hoffman

play in the 1960's? i remember he wrote that book, "don't steal this book." anyway. guest: yeah. among the protest leaders, you would put abbie hoffman up there, jerry rubin, a lot of these names became household names. i think jerry rubin took a little bit of the spotlight. he wrote multiple books. abbie hoffman, whether it was the yippies, the youth international protest movement. i got into protesters of the book, but there are better people who have written about this before me, like david farber, who have really dedicated their careers to writing about protest leaders and the protest movement. so that is an area i did not get into as much, because i did not think i had a lot of new things to add over those who came before me.

but you are exactly right, in terms of a lot of them did write accounts of being here in chicago and what was going on that year, and it is very insightful to go back. and for those of us who did not listen that period, to see what it was like. host: gary is in new jersey on our line for republicans. good morning, jerry. caller: good morning. i was just wondering, pamela, as vice president -- kamala, as vice president, she was the border czar, and she did nothing. now come as vice president, she said she's going to change the border as president. but as vice president, can't she do that now? can she stop all the people getting murdered from illegals coming in? for 3.5 years, she said no fracking, no fracking, now i just saw on tv saying, yeah,

we'll frack . for 3.5 years, she did nothing with fracking and the border, but as vice president, didn't she have any say at all in the border? she was the a border czar. can she do anything now against the border, or does she -- and -- host: jerry, do you have a question specifically for luke about the 1968 protest or anything in the realm of history? caller: no, i was just so confused. if biden is still our president, we don't see him. host: ok, let's go to henry in maryland on our line for independents. good morning, henry. caller: can you hear me? host: yes, we can. caller: thanks for sponsoring this very thoughtful, historical review here.

american culture, conventions, campaigns. the idea has been mentioned several times, but with regard to the current confusion about the middle east, it's not possible to take a historical perspective. and i would like to mention something that i wonder if you could address as to whether it could have, this has to do with the role of us, actually just an idea, that we have all watched evolving in the middle east, starting in i ran in the late 1970's, this idea of "death to america," which was shocking when i heard it at first, firstly hostages were released, but then lebanon, when marines were killed by basically

hezbollah, and then nobody was surprised when they started saying "death to america," and then the horrible bombings in new york in the 1990's and 9/11 by al qaeda. and it continues. so this "death to america" idea has just been perpetuated now, generation after generation. i don't think there is any "eye of the storm" element to it now. i wonder, if either party has a registered independent, were able to simply address the mothers, if i ran and hezbollah and hamas, simply address then, like addressing the nazis

in world war ii, saying it is time to stop, for your children, it is time for it to stop. host: i think we have the idea. did you have any thoughts on that, luke? guest: yeah. a couple of things. at chapman university in the spring, when i was walking to class can every day on the way back on tuesdays and thursdays, we had a palestinian cabinet. frequently i would look for students, try to talk to someone come and see what they wanted to share, what was on their mind. and i think it was a reminder to me that this is a difference between 2024 and 1968, how much more diverse and multicultural this country is today than it was in "sundays at eight, and issues -- it was in 1968, and issues. we've always been a country of immigrants, and still is today, but it is always changing. we are becoming a democratic nation, and it is not clear where we will stand come about what does it mean to be an american, now and a 250 years.

i think you raise a really good pointer to the previous caller i would go back to history and say a lot of people leveled charges at hubert humphrey, and 1968, you were vice president for four years, why didn't you do and then, when you had time? humphrey decided the issues in 1968 were not national democratic issues. the economy, inflation, an unpopular war, and rising crime. and humphrey did an interesting thing. he switched to a message from a beginning in october, reminding voters what democrats have done for them historically, to create nostalgia for things like social security and education and jobs, and it seems like i'm hearing a little bit of the so far out of harris and walz, in addition to the issues i mentioned, maybe it is the affordable care act, is the infrastructure built. i think we are going to see that a bit this coming fall, because

the issues also are a bit unnatural, you know, for a vice president who, again, is in this awkward position of running both on change and continuity simultaneously. host: thank you so much, luke nichter, author of the book "the year that broke politics: collusion and chaos in the presidential election of 1968." also the presidential studies chair and a history professor at chapman university. thank you so much, luke. guest: you are welcome. thank you. host: and thank you to prove for providing c-span's space in chicago with beautiful views. we will be back tomorrow with another edition of "washington journal" at 7:00 a.m. have a good day. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪