♪ ♪ don't know much about history don't know much biology

♪ don't much about science books ♪ . the great sam koch singing in a movie that never gets cold. i'm "smerconissmerconis michael philadelphia. the test for naturalized citizens. the test is longer and harder. questions were asked ten questions and had to answer six correctly to pass. now, the testing score has changed 12 out of 20. according to the "the new york times" it's also more complex. eliminating simple geography and adding dozens of questions some nuanced and involving complex phrasing who could trip up applicants who do not consider them carefully. here are three examples of the new questions. who does a u.s. senator represent? the previous answer was all people of the state. the new test answer is, citizens of the state. second question, why does each state have two senators?

acceptable answers are equal representation meaning for small states, or the great compromise, meaning the connecticut compromise. how about this one. what are three rights of everyone living in the united states? some of the accepts answers include freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion. interestingly, not listed, the rights to counsel, due process, equal protection and freedom from cruel and unusual punishment. or reasonable search and seizure. the test is going to be overcovered by the incoming president-elect joe biden but it will take months. they're warning this is too much. and it will make it harder for nonspeaking americans and suppress the vote. speaking from san francisco, he said this, it's a last-ditch effort on their way out the door from the administration to keep

people from realizing their dreams of becoming citizens. there's no legal reason, no regulatory reason, to do this. the u.s. citizenship and immigration services says the current pass rate for the exam is 91%. last year, when the agency announced the exam, ken cuccinelli serving agency the acting director defended the move saying updating and improving the test that is current and relevant is helping citizens fully understand the meaning of the u.s. citizenship and the value that unite all americans. it reminds me two years ago, i delivered a commencement address at a university, my focus was on civics education. in fact, i opened it by telling graduates i had one last test for them before they went out in the real world. no grading, only four questions. each was a question on the older version of the naturalization test. first, the house of

representatives has how many voting mechanics? 435. second, what do we at all the first ten amendments to the constitution? that would be the bill of rights. third, how many justices are on the supreme court of the united states, always remember, switch in time save nine. and fourth, on what day was the declaration of independence adopted, july 4th, 1776. in fiscal year 2019, 834,000 people became new citizens by answering questions like those. so, i asked the grads for a show of hands how many had gotten all correct. and many did. my point was, that most of us bypass this process. because our citizenship was confirmed with birth in this country. but if your citizenship were dependent upon your knowledge of our government, would you make the cut? if not, you've got a lot of company. according to an august survey by the edinburgh public policy by

the university of pennsylvania americans' knowledge of civics has improved this year because of the pandemic but that's not saying much. only 51% could name all three branches of government. over half, 54% know that a supreme court 5-4 holds the same weight as a 0 decision. and remember how that test asked hopeful citizens to ask three rights given to american citizens. 19% couldn't name a single first amendment right. it's easy to strengthen a test for newcomers. the real question is not how we quiz the understanding of those seeking naturalization, but how do we raise the civic knowledge of those who are citizens by virtue of their birth? in june, i moderated a virtual fireside chat with secretary leon panetta and ambassador susan rice for the national

commission on military and subservice. the commission had just released its final report. inspired to serve to the americans and the president, to build a culture of service in america. they did great work. in the executive summary, they made this point. in the course of its work, the commission identified a major flaw in the american educational system. the lack of exposure to high-quality civic education for students throughout much. fixing that, that's the hard part. i want to know what you think, go to my website @smerconish.com this hour and answer the survey question, do you believe the u.s. citizenship test should be increased in length and difficulty? joining me now to discuss is american historian kenneth c. davis, it's been 30 years since

he wrote the best-selling book "don't know much about history." it's been updated. including "strongman" the rise of five dictators and the fall of democracy." mr. davis, love your books, do you think most americans could pass the new citizenship test? >> thank you, michael, thank you for having me, it's a great pleasure. and the answer is no, if we go according to most surveys and studies. but this is not a new problem, not what the school s have been doing wrong in the last two years. when i wrote "don't know much about history" it was the same problem. this is an old problem that's been around for a long time and i believe it specifically relates to our inability to turn out in decent numbers in an election. we are set greating the fact that we got into the 60%

percentile this year, in the election. typically, 50% in a presidential election, 40% in a midterm, that's woefully dangerous. >> so, i understand that it's not a new problem. i worry that it's a problem that's getting worse. i'm of the age that i'm the product of an era when civics was still a part of a public school education. as a parent, i wonder with all of the emphasis on s.t.e.m.-related testing by which we hold schools and educators accountable does has this driven out out of the curricula? >> s.t.e.m., certainly, the emphasis on coding has been a part of it. also as we mentioned earlier, the move to standardized testing so that social study teachers, history teachers are being pulled away from teaching their subjects to prepare kids to fill in bundles on tests.

that's not only sad, it's dangerous. this goes back a long time. more than ten years ago that justice o'connor, sandra day o'connor thought this was a serious problem and she began a program called icivics to address this. i've been talking to teachers about this for a long time. social study teachers primarily, they are more concerned, perhaps, than you are. they know that social studies has been taken off the front burner of the stove, in some places, not just moved to the back burner, but taken off the stove entirely. there is a movement afoot to restore civics education. of course, we're on state-by-state level. sometimes, within states it's different from district to district. i believe that congress is appropriating money for improving civics education. the problem is this is not just a problem in schools. it's a problem in general society. because we didn't learn this for so long, it's really transferred

down over decades. and there's a related subject that we have to raise here too, which is is that we've always made it difficult for immigrants. it's a tradition of raising of the hurdles in this country. even though we like to call it a melting pot in a nation of immigrants, from the very beginning of the republic, we've made it difficult for people to become citizens, largely because we've always had say position of thinking that the others, the immigrants are the dirty, dangerous, diseased people we don't want here. >> quick final comment, i'm encouraged by the fact that you have built an entire cottage industry from people's desire to know much. isn't that encouraging? >> it is encouraging to me. and it's encouraging that people read my books and say, oh, i hated history when it was school, it was all dates and speeches. when we talk about history as the story of real people doing

real things it becomes more compelling. i'd just add one thing about the new test because it stuck in my craw, this question about senators being representing citizens. if we are going to be originalists, my copy of the constitution says that the senate is -- senators are elected by the people of their state. and so are the house of representatives. so, we either stick to what the constitution says, or make something up for an exam. i think that's an important idea that we have to talk about. >> and you well know that within the last two weeks, the supreme court of the united states has heard argument on exactly that issue, as it results to the census count. so, we'll see soon what they say. mr. davis, appreciate your time. >> great, michael. thank you for having me, it's a very important subject. >> what are are thoughts? tweet me @smerconish. i'll read some.

from facebook, i feel all citizens should pass the civics test before their allowed to vote. they definitely should not be president if they can't answer these questions. they should all get the questions right because they are all american citizens. son sonja, i'm sure that there are many beating their chest saying damn right, they ought to be able to answer the questions. my comment to all of them, i'm in the category, too, cow pass it? frankly, if you sat and studied it, it wouldn't be that difficult, but off the cuff, a little barroom information, i bet most americans would not. i want to know what you think. answer this survey question, do you believe the u.s. citizenship test should be increased in length and difficulty? up ahead, although the first covid vaccines will be distributed this month, many states are saying their state will already fall short of what's needed just for health care workers.

i'll ask a physician and ceo of a major health care system, more than 800,000 employees, who gets the first shot? and after not getting the proverbial next four years, president trump raising money for a possible bid in 2024. only one president before, grover cleveland has made that kind of a comeback after a hiatus, can trump pull it off? and with a senator threatening the georgia runoff. what message will he convey, it be about the grand old party or himself. >> if the republican establishment stands back and stands by and allows the deal to go through, we will do whatever it takes to completely destroy the republican party. door bell: hello but fitbit makes you smart about your health. this isn't some phone on your wrist. it's a way to help manage stress...

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president trump is beating the drum of voter fraud over losses in key states essentially claiming the deep state went down to georgia looking for an election to steal. in the process, he's even thrown republican governor brian kemp under the bus after he certified the election results for joe biden. but these unfounded claims could back fire. there are indications that some trump supporters are looking to boycott the january 5th, georgia senate runoff elections. and the outcome is crucial, it could change the balance in the senate as republican senators kelly leffler and david perdue try to hang on to their seats. some of the logic behind skipping runoff elections has gained steam on parler. for one, there's a conspiracy vote about the rigged election

machines is decided. last week, ronna daniel improved a voter not to stay home. >> how are we going to use money and work when it's already decided? >> this is the skey, it's not decided. we have to work hard, trust us, we're working hard, we're fighting, we're looking at every legal avenue. >> then there's the idea that republicans shouldn't support any candidate who won't echo trump's claims of voter fraud. at a stop, the steel rally in al s alfreta -- >> they've got to demand publicly, repeatedly, specially,

brian kemp call a special session of the legislature. and if they do not do it, if kelly leffler and david perdue do not do it, they have not earned your vote. don't you give it to them. why would you go back and vote in another rigged election. >> georgia's voting system implementation manager gabriel sterling told cnn that's, quote, looney tunes and everyone's vote is secure. but what message will voters hear from the president themselves when he visits valdosta, georgia, for a rally tonight. this is a monster of his own making and maybe he can convince supporters to show up for loeffler and perdue. joining me up, political reporters for the atlanta constitution. i start every day looking at the ajc website. i want to know what you're writing about the race. greg, i'll begin with you, what

is it tonight, a trump rally or a loeffler/perdue rally? >> well, it should be a loeffler/perdue rally, but he's calling it a rally. is he spending more time looking back and focusing on his grievances, the false narrative of a stolen election. that's why republicans are so ant antsy about what will happen tonight in valdosta. >> patricia, you note how perdue has been threading a needle. here's what you wrote, the two senators have been wary of the president until refusing to explicitly say that biden won and promising to promote trump's agenda. explain. >> as you said, this is a monster about trump's making.

we have two republican senators that need to get re-elected, obviously, on january 5th. they need the donald trump voters to come back out for them. these are people, once republicans, maybe once democrats, now they're there for donald trump. loeffler and perdue cannot get elected without them. they need to toe the line with donald trump. you cannot have both at the same time, you cannot have a successfully united get out to vote campaign and also say that the election apparatus cannot be trusted and completely damaged. one thing to point out, you had footage from that rally, that was the biggest rally in georgia other than a donald trump rally. so, we see where the energy is. it's really not with perdue and loeffler, it's with president trump. >> greg, it seems to me the best

argument for republicans to fire up the base is to say we, loeffler and perdue, are the only thing standing in the way of total democratic control, white house, house of representatives and the u.s. senate. but because of this dance, you know, the emperor has no clothes dance about what what happened at the top of the ticket, they can't expressly say that, am i right? >> it's robbed them of one of their best arguments which is exactly that, the republican-controlled senate is a check on biden. because they haven't acknowledged that president-elect biden won the election, they can't make the case. this stolen election narrative has seeped into the base. i had interviews with more than a dozen republicans at various events over the last week. while many say they're still planning to vote, i talked to many who are openly wrestling to, in their words, waste a vote

in a election that is rigged. >> patricia, did governor kemp be there today? >> we don't know, governor kemp lost a young man very close to the family, actually a man on senator loeffler's staff, even with this, it's a tragedy that cast a pall on them. >> i read the story, 20-year-old young man working for senator loeffler, very, very sad. another observation of yours. catherine, i'm going to the third cut, not of the second. this has to do with rigging and the two of you on a story wrote this -- in other words, there were 28,559 trump fatigued vo r voters in gvote voters in georgia who refused to

endure the president's re-election. but were willing to send a republican to congress. greg, will you explain the significance of that observation? >> yes, essentially, you've got republicans willing to vote down-ticket for non-trump candidates who didn't vote for president trump. it's emblematic of what's happening in the nation. the republicans did much better than president trump did in some of these elections. and that's what david perdue and kelly leffloeffler are banking . maybe it's a check, maybe a firewire or conservative values but again, president trump's narrative is complicating their message. >> right. but, patricia, i read that from a thousand miles away a little differently. i also read that as sort of belying the argument, the argument that president trump makes, about this having been rigged because the republicans did so well down-ballot.

as if he alone were the victim of the so-called rig. >> i actually talked to republicans the night of the election. thinks what a terrible night, they were disappointed that president trump didn't win but very pleased with how republicans did in the state legislature. they did not have the sort of bloodbath that democrats were threatening was going to come. and i think what we have also now are these two republican senators who are acceptable to those joe biden voters, maybe country club, sort of chamber of commerce republicans. and their own leadership i think is coming into question among those most moderate voters as perdue and loeffler refused to distance themselves from this notion, that it's a rigged election. it's, frankly, on its face, crazy and ridiculous that we have these two senators who are perceived as being responsible, good kind of down the line republicans, also making these wild claims or not distancing

themselves from them. so, i think that hurts them among these moderate people who voted for joe biden and would have and did vote for kelly loeffler and david perdue. and will they do it again? we just don't know. >> greg blewstein and patricia murphy, keep up the work. the coverage in the "atlanta journal-constitution" has been exem exemplary. thank you. smerconish tonight's rally will be all about trump and voter fraud. then after ranting, he will introduce the senate candidates. jay, the issue i just confirmed with my guests, or confirmed with my guests is that everybody is kind of backed into the corner until the president -- and you know, very soon he'll have no choice but to acknowledge this. december 8th is a key day, this coming tuesday is a key day when

it comes to the electoralit's i from the challenge. up until that time, he, trump, is denying perdue and loeffler, the ability to stand up tonight and say you need us as a bulwark, against biden in the white house, sure eschumer in te senate and pelosi in the house. we better not say that donald trump lost the election because that will piss him off, right, and therefore hinders them -- wild. it is wild. answer this week's survey question, do you believe the u.s. citizenship test should be increased in length and difficulty? up aheader the day that president grover cleveland left the white house after losing his bid. his wife frances said take care of the mansion, saying, quote, i

want to find everything just like it is now when we come back again. and we are coming back just four years from today. and so they did. might president trump also return? and next week, the pfizer biontech covid-19 vaccine will start shipping to several hospitals as part of operation warp speed but supplies are limited. i'll ask a physician who runs a major hospital system who gets the first shot. >> this literally is a light at the end of the tunnel, only a few months ai. - [announcer] your typical vacuum has bristles that can leave cleaning gaps and wrap hair. so shark replaced them with flexible power fins to directly engage floors and dig deep into carpets. pick up more on every pass with no hair wrap. shark vertex with duoclean power fins.

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some americans will start getting a covid vaccine much sooner than expected, but states are already reporting that their allotments won't cover the amount needs for first in line health care workers. so, who gets them first? at an event thursday, vice president and coronavirus task

force leader mike pence said this. >> help is just on the way. we are just we believe days away from when we will begin to distribute tens of millions of doses of a safe coronavirus vaccine for american people. >> what might this mean practical tale at the local level? joining me, an emergency medical physician, co-person and ceo of cam dem hospit camden hospital new jersey. you're running a health care system of more than 8,000 employees. i'm interested in the practical implementation issues. here's what the president-elect said yesterday. watch. >> there is no detailed plan, that we've seen, anyway, as to how you get the vaccine out of a container, into an injection

syringe, into somebody's arm. and it's going to be very difficult for that to be done. and it's a very expensive proposition. >> respond to that observation. what are your practical challenges? >> sure, michael, thanks for having me. most importantly, we're going to talk about the challenges, the positive aspect of having a vaccine very much outweighs the downside of any challenges. then there are certainly are challenges. the first two vaccines, pfizer and moderna are easier to make but tradeoff is harder to distribute. they require cold storage, that's number one. pfizer requires ultra cold storage at 103 degrees below zero. second, they're not prepackaged syringes. they have to be drawn up from multidoses. third, each of these vaccines requires two doses. pfizer, second dose in 21 days, moderna in 28 days. that means if you don't get the second dose in those days,

you've wasted the dose. the capacity to give out the first dose to people dramatically drops or you need more steps, because by the way, all of this planning and execution is happening with the backdrop of rising covid admissions and staffing challenges that are facing every health care institution. >> i've looking at data, not of health care workers, catherine, put it up on the screen, of percentage of americans who say they're ready to get this vaccination. there it is, a total of 60% of americans willing to get a covid vaccine. my question for you with those 8,000-plus health care employees do you think you have to convince any of them to get it? and what will you do if they refuse? >> well, we know the majority of health care workers are slated to get the vaccine, but there are certainly those we have to convince. we've been planning at the health centers in new jersey and we'll intensify that campaign. it's reasonable that even health care workers want to know more

about a vaccine that was made through a process called operation warp speed before you put it in your body. but, the vaccine process was sped up in a general fashion. generally, a person who wears a white coast and uses flasks and burners, the safety in the background didn't not have to cut corners. it's the suits. those are the processes cut short. the government eliminated the business risk and need for those steps by agreeing to buy a certain number from pfizer and directly investing in moderna. now, what if people refuse? we're not planning to force people to take the vaccine. while the corners are cut there's still a chance that distribution like any vaccine before, that the fda process, as people go through the vaccine

process, still could have side effects so that's not unreasonable. we believe health care workers, we know they want to get it, they will be influencing those signaling people need to get vaccinated and so everyone is doing a critical part to get vaccinated to protect everyone. >> these are good problems to have. by that, i mean, it's good we're talking about how best to administer a vaccine. doctor, thank you so much. >> thank you, michael. >> let's check in on your tweets and facebook comments from the twitter-verse. the covid vaccines are encouraging, however i worry about how many will voluntarily get the vaccine as confidence is waning and anti-vaxxers are increasing in general. should we make it a law to be vaccinated against of course? >> i found it to be encouraging the view of president obama and w. and president clinton, and

president-elect biden, you know, we're missing one, wouldn't it be great -- i don't mean jimmy carter, bless him, but i mean president trump, wouldn't it be great to have them all on camera roll up their sleeves at once to instill confidence? that would be great. i want to remind you to answer the question, do you believe the u.s. citizenship test should be increased in length and difficulty? still to come, president trump is signaling that he may try to become only the second president in american history to win another term after being defeated. the last time this was done was 19th century. i'll talk to a constitutional law professor, the author of "the forgotten presidents" michael gerhart about the unprecedented campaign. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occurred. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor.

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problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. take a stand and start a new day with trelegy. ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy. and save at trelegy.com. the 2020 election has come and gone, and president trump has been hinting he could be back in 2024, even as he insists he did not lose the 2020 election and refuses to concede to president-elect joe biden,

president trump has hinted at his intention. and did so to a group of republicans at a white house christmas event this week. >> it's been an amazing four years. we'd litrying to do another fou years, otherwise, i'll see you in four years. >> typically when disinterested voter, become disinterested and trump has proven repeatedly he always finds a way to stay in the spotlight, enabling him to raise funds in this case. can a campaign be redone? turns it out it was 120 years ago with president grover cleveland the 21st and 24th president. he, too, left the white house with aspirations to be back in four years. joining me now is professor michael gehrhardt, distinguished professor at the university of law at north carolina.

he wrote in his book "the forgotten presidents." you'll remember he testified before the house in favor of president trump's impeachment. professor is the model here closer to grover cleveland? or closer to, you correct me, van ndburen, fillmore and grant? >> that's a great question, and i think we don't know the answer yet, with van buren, for example, he was a one-term president only -- who tried several times to come back, but only was able to come back as a third party candidate. he never came anywhere close. with regard to grant, he was thinking for going for a third term, hesitated. didn't try to come back. by then, it was too late. and his administration was associated with a great deal of corruption. as far as grover cleveland is concerned, i don't know we know enough yet to say that president

trump would be like cleveland even having won the pluralitity of the popular vote three separate times. that's not something that president trump has done once. beyond that, president trump retained complete control of the democratic party between his two terms. and we've yet to see whether president trump can do that. and last, but not least, cleveland had a reputation for great honesty and integrity. and that was one of the things voters liked in him. and i guess, i'm saying most americans don't find that same trait in current president. >> it's interesting that in the more moderate era, the expectation is that if you lose the election, even when you've won the popular vote, there's not an expectation that you come back. al gore in the year 2000. secretary clinton in the last cycle, both win the popular vote, and yet, maybe for personal reasons in each instance, don't come back four years later.

>> that's right. and i think that tells us something. they don't come back, in part, because they don't have the wherewithal or the support within the party to be able to continue as a presidential candidate. it's very difficult to be nominated by a party more than once. typically speaking, only presidents who are seeking re-election might be ones that get renominated. and beyond that, the difficulty is that you get tagged with the representation of being a loser. gore came close. he might have come back, but he wasn't really able to maintain party control after that election. and i think the tag of loser stalk with him. hillary clinton -- >> one final thought if i may. i want to show you in the audience, writing on the subject for "the atlantic" an interesting essay, the odds that

americans will grow bored with the ever more histrionic antics of the sore loser they just kicked out of office are pretty good." i'm not so sure. he's got a hold on his base more than anything i've seen in the last 30 years. you get the final word. >> that's a great point that you make and yascha makes. i think one reason why president trump lost this time is because i think people were already tired of his schtick. he were already tired of the combativeness, the divisiveness, the lack of truth. and it's hard to see that trump would get any better over the next four years, in so far as his truth-telling would be concerned. so, i think people have signaled they're tired of him, therefore, i think actually, i've come around the other way, i think yascha does make a point that people are not likely to come

back and support him. i think he's unable, in all likelihood, to change people's perception of him, to maintain the base, but it's going to be hard, if not impossible, to expand. >> is the glass -- you know, is the glass half empty or half full? because it is the way he is that arguably drove 75 million to go out and vote for him. to be continued. thank you so much, professor. appreciate your time. >> thanks, i really appreciate it. >> let's check in on your tweets and facebook comments, from twitter, what do we have? smerconish, melania will divorce him if he tries to run in 2024. i hate to see that happen. that would not be a good thing. i have no further comment on that. i'm suddenly at a loss for words. still to come more of your best and worst tweets and facebook comments. and we'll give you the final results of the question from smerconish.com. do you believe the u.s. citizenship test should be increased in length and difficulty?

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and free assistance from experts to get more californians covered. starting with you. covered california. this way to health insurance. enroll by december 15th. time to see how you responded to the survey question this week at smerconish.com. do you believe the u.s. citizenship test should be increased in length and difficulty? survey says -- 86% say no. wow. i'm in the 14%. 26,000 votes. thank you for that. i am totally cool with making it more difficult. i just want to make sure that the rest of us who simply, by virtue of our birth, aren't off the hook. that's sort of the dichotomy

that i tried to point out. what came in from social media? let's see what we've got. i actually agree with smerconish about something. 2020 sure is weird. okay, tim. one more, if i've got time. quickly, what do we have? forget about taking the vaccine. i want to see trump take the citizenship test live on tv. i would like them all to. i think a lot of people would be stumped, including elected representatives. hey, finally, this tuesday my full length film called "things i wish i knew before i started talking" will be released by virgil films and available on all digital platforms. i'm talking amazon, itunes, or wherever you watch movies. i hope you'll check it out. that does it for me. enjoy your weekend and see you next week. advil targets pain at the source. acetaminophen blocks pain signals. new advil dual action with acetaminophen.

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vaccines, they are the light at the end of a dark coronavirus tunnel. we're going to tell you what it's going to take to get there. >> plus, president trump goes down to georgia today, a state that's on the minds of republicans, hoping he'll help, not hurt, their senate hopes. >> and the challenge to get kids back in classrooms and keep them there, safely. former president obama's education secretary schools us on how we can get it done.