words", former cia director john brennan speaks about his life and career in his book undaunted, my fight against america's enemies at home and abroad. he's interviewed bynational security reporter julian barnes . watch tv this weekend on c-span2. >> was live coverage of the senate confirmation hearings for judge amy barrett, starting monday with opening statements byjudiciary committee members judge barrett . live coverage on c-span and c-span.org. listen live on the free radio and be ready to visit c-span to view a playlist ofillegal use . >> good friday to you, more on that governor gretchen would in michigan story in a minutebut first to those polls that we mentioned . this is the usa today story from yesterday published in usa today about a whole, some

2000 registered voters found that nearly half, 47 percent as agreed with the idea that the election is likely to be fair and honest . and that significantly more than half, 51 percent will generally agree on who is the legitimate president of the united states . conducted october 2. notes another, 1500 voters found the six percent said they to see an increase in violence as a result of the election. >> ..

those figures both up from a june poll when 35% of republicans and 37% democrats expressed the same sentiment. the story goes on to note there's a larger increase in the share of both democrats and republicans who believe there would be either about or a great deal of justification for violence if the party were to lose. they share of republicans be substantial justification for violence if their side loses jump from 15% to 20% in september while the show democrats jump from 60% to 19% in september. that's why we're asking are you concerned about political divisions in this country, whether you think they're going to spread violence before or after the election. phone lines -- considering the story out of michigan yesterday especially today for michigan

residents. we'll get right to your calls. bob up first out of pittsburgh. good morning. >> caller: good morning. i think violence spread by the news. everybody should listen, michelle obama gave a speech about no violence from antifa or black lives matter. teenager shot and killed by a black cop, he was a black teenager and since then -- this was in february. they went at a white come broke windows and harassed all the people it was on tv. she put out a dog whistle for them to start writing again. that's the way i looked at it. >> host: to this the other quen we ask, how do we do with the temperature in this country especially right now at the height of an election? what can we do right now? >> caller: to people like michelle obama to keep their opinion to yourself instead of

causing riots like this. not only her but nbc, cbs, abc, cnn, msnbc, edit it should these riots on tv. >> host: bob in pennsylvania. dwayne in north carolina independent. are you concerned about political violence connected with the election, political violence? >> caller: i do believe there will be violence regardless of whoo wins but my comment i wantd to express this morning is that my son was over at my house over the weekend and we was talking about the people that made less than $400,000 a year, would not have tax increase if mr. biden won the election. my son told me that -- i'm retired, and he told me if mr.

biden wins that my taxes for 2021 will go up at least $2000 if he eliminates the trump tax cut. and i did not realize this because i wasun under the impression that my taxes was not going up based on what they had said. and people need to realize out there, everybody, that if you vote for biden you are going to be paying in 2021, you are going to be paying out of your pocket over $2000 more than you are going to pay this year. >> host: that is duane in north carolina echoing some the concerns expressed at the vice presidential debate this week and the conflicting opinions on that by senator harris and vice president pence. act ii calls on this issue of political division in this country whether they will spur

violence.. candy is in lake city. candy, good morning. >> caller: good morning. >> host: what did you think of that story yesterday and doesn't lead you to further concerns as you look at the next three to four weeks? >> caller: i don't know what to think about it what i will say this. if it is something that really did happen, the president of the united states of america is the commander-in-chief so he therefore kind of runs the fbi, a little bit, and so if it is true and its did happen it's vy sad.n' he had to authorized investigation for months to watch over the governor. there is too much division. i have faith in the american people, and i think just because the media showsws us pockets of violence i think overall our countries go to stand up and do

the right thing. i don't think the whole country is engulfing racismk and violence. but the fbi, that had to be approved watch over the governor for months to protector and to uncover this. ident trump made that point on twitter yesterday, when talking about it, that his justice department was leading that investigation, foiled that dangerous plot against the governor. he went on to say, "rather than thank me, she called me a white supremacist." but candy, you say you are confident that the country is going to stand up and do the right thing. what gives you confidence right now in that? american, i love my country, and i just believe in the american people, that we are going to do the right thing, that they can see through this, show us the bad se

and not the good -- i just have confidence in the american people. and i am so thankful that whatever was out there, that nobody did get hurt, though. and i do support the police. i think they are awesome. i am thankful i live in a country that we d there is an electoral process, we have laws, and you have to think about all the law-abiding citizens that have suffered because of all the violence and the writing that has happened. those are not peaceful protests. we have the right to protest peacefully. we don't have the right to destroy other people and other citizens property and businesses and well-being. host: candy, thank you for the call out of lake city, michigan this morning. joint on the phone now by "detroit free press" lansing bureau chief.

most of the stories coming out about this plot, to kidnap the governor. mr. egan, take us through what we know so far, how far it got before it was foiled. know isk, well, what we there were a number of conversations that were going on, both in person, and, in some cases, encrypted over private facebook groups, discussing a number of plots, including one to kidnap a governor, possibly from her summer vacation home. that is one that seems to advance the furthest to the point where a high-voltage taser was purchased, night goggles. there was supposed to have been a purchase of explosives taking place this week. there was discussion about designating a bridge near her summer cottage to divert police. there was actually evening surveillance that had occurred on two occasions of her summer

home. that's -- that's about what there was a know, lot of talk, which, you know, sometimes you can ask the question -- were they just talking? or was there going to be action? but there were certainly some element of action taking place, including purchases of weapons and surveillance of the governor's home. host: and now 20 individuals have been charged in this case. the group, the militia group, the name, "the wolverine " what do we know about that and how widespread the movement is in michigan? watchmene wolverine was founded by two of the individuals that have been charged in this case. there's some association with, you know, what has been come to

be known as the boogaloo apparently ach is codeword word for a second civil war, you know, there is anarchy with some of these groups associated with some of these movements, talk of, you know, sparking some kind of a war that would allow, you know, people that believed only in the bill of rights, then to sort of, you know, create a new society among themselves. you know, a lot of the stuff is pretty far out there, but michigan has long been a hotbed of militia activity. i mean, when you go back, there were ties to the oklahoma city bombing in michigan. a number of years ago, the feds brought a major indictment against a militia group called hutari that were apparently plotting to blow up police funerals. that went south, although people

spend a considerable amount of time in custody. really no convictions resulted in that case. it gets difficult at times to say well, you know, this was just crazy talk, or it was action, and then, you know, it verythe feds in a difficult position, because if they do not act like some of this talk that looks like it is proceeding to action, then, you know, the commentary always leader is going to be, well, there were all these warning signs. why didn't somebody do something? host: explain the emergency orders that are in place in michigan, how they played into and whole story yesterday, are the emergency orders in michigan significantly different than emergency orders in other states? guest: well, that is an interesting topic, because on friday, the michigan supreme court struck down as unconstitutional the main

emergency law that the governor legalen using to -- as a underpinning for these orders, so a large number of these orders have basically been declared unconstitutional. now, many of them are backed up by separate orders under another statute, but to get to your original question, yes, there is definitely a link here. the governor, like in many states, i would say michigan was probably more aggressive ban many states in imposing a stay-at-home order, which was imposed in march, lifted june 1. many businesses were closed completely. this was certainly a point of contention among the alleged conspirators. there was talk about, you know, governor whitmer being a tyrant, that she had taken absolute power. a number of the people, at least two or three of the people that have been charged in this were photographed at the capitol, at demonstrations that were taking place against the stay-at-home order, or, in one case, a second arose,nt rally that also

so there is definitely a link between the emergency orders and this anger that these men were apparently feeling, but, yes, there has been a recent twist on, you know, technically, it could be right now that michigan is the only state in the union that does not have a statewide state of emergency in the moment, in light of this friday michigan supreme court ruling, which is a 4-3 ruling on a partisan line basis. host: what is next in this case? are we expecting more charges coming? what do we know about stepped up security around the governor now? guest: um, it sounds like more charges are possible. you know, there were references in some of the affidavits that were filed to other planned kidnappings. you know, the question always is, you know, at what point, again, was this talk proceeding

into action? but there are certainly a number of arraignments taking place yesterday. has been stepped up for the governor in recent weeks. there was a new, high fence erected around her official residence in lansing. normally, this is something we would have really noticed more. governor rick snyder, the former republican governor, after the flint water crisis, there were a number of threats made against his life, and we noticed a huge increase in security around him. you know, because of the pandemic, the governor really has not been out and about as much as a governor normally would be, so other than seeing them erect that new fence around the residence, the stepped up security was not as apparent, because of the pandemic. but certainly there have been a

number of extra efforts to protect her and her family. she is married with two daughters of her own and two husband, who is her second husband. host: paul egan, with the "detroit free press." i know it was a busy day for you yesterday. thank you for starting your day early with us. we appreciate the time. guest: thanks for having me on. host: staying on the michigan story for a moment more here, these are the remarks from governor gretchen whitmer yesterday, reacting to the charges that were released by federal authorities. [video clip] governor whitmer: this should be a moment for national unity, pulled together as americans to meet this challenge head, with the same might and muscle that put a man on the moon. soon, the humanity in one another, and doing our part to

help our country get through this. instead, our head of state has spent the past seven months denying science, ignoring his own health experts, stoking , andust, fomenting anger giving comfort to those who spread fear and hatred and division. just last week, the president of the united states stood before the american people and refused to condemn white supremacists and hate groups like these two michigan militia groups. "stand back and standby," he told them. "stand back and stand by." hate groups heard the president's words not as a rebuke but as a rallying cry, as a call to action. when our leaders speak, their words matter. they carry weight. when our leaders meet with, encourage, or fraternize with domestic terrorists, they

legitimize their actions, and they are complicit. host: governor gretchen whitmer of michigan yesterday. we mentioned president trump tweeting a response. it came in a series of tweets at 9:30 p.m. eastern last night. here they are from the president. "governor whitmer of michigan has done a terrible job," the president said. "she locks down the entire state except for her husband's voting activities. federal justice department foiled a plot, and rather than say thank you, she called me a white supremacist, anarchists, burn downnd mobs that democrat-run cities. what i will always do as your president, governor wimmer, open up your state can open up your schools, open up your churches. " that was the president on

twitter last night, asking you your first hour of "washington journal," how concerned are you about this country spurring violence, and what can you do to turn down the temperature? ,an and winchester pennsylvania, good morning. glad that the am government is safe, and i am glad that law enforcement was able to get in and, you know, get in and get those people under arrest. even after that happened and president trump sent out another tweet, it was a very nasty tweet. says a lot of things, and there's people out there that act on some of the things he says. and as far as the protests, the protests -- there's peaceful protesters, and sometimes it seems at the end of their

protesting, when they leave, these opportunists come in, which burned down things, loot things. they are not part of the protesters. that's other hangers on people. do alll come in and these things, and that is why -- and then fox news shows that part. peacefulot show the people who protest and chant or maybe sing or something. they don't show them. violenceys turn to the . and, you know, it is just disgusting. and the president could have reached out and said something nice about the governor of michigan. i mean, it is just nasty. host: jan in pennsylvania. this is barry in wisconsin. good morning. you are next. caller: good morning.

yeah, president trump's response to her was nasty, but she had basically just called him a white supremacist. , itourse what happened sound like white supremacist, far-right, scary people, to governor whitmer. it is horrible. of course it was horrible, and thank god she was ok. and yes, of course, i was trump aide given a nice, warm, fuzzy answer, like biden did, sounding much more presidential. but i am very concerned that the political divisions will stir violence as a result of whatever the election -- the national election, you know, presidential election brings, from both the far-right and the far-left. you were reading an article earlier, though, that was talking about the percentages of people worried about violence, and i think in the that you did not read, it was talking about -- i think it was

twice as many republicans are worried about democratic violence, spurred violence, as democrats versus republicans or whatever. and then come again, this is my republican opinion, and whether or not it is right come about from my viewpoint, it appears there's ahope -- small percentage of republicans that are extreme right, like the white supremacists and all that stuff, and in the more extreme left democrats who kinda feel like they have to resort to violence to be heard and to get change. so, again, as a republican, i am more concerned if trump won when, that there would be -- would win, that there would be more violence from democrats, then if biden wins, which would really bomb out half the country. but that is my opinion. host: the story from politico, this is the very you were referring to peer i

will read it for you. "the numbers from this nation's gay poll of 6000 americans that they are talking about, about partisan -- ideological partisan, the numbers are higher among ideological partisan come among democrats who i did buy is very liberal, 26% said there will be a great justification for violence if the president -- if their candidate loses the presidency compared to 7% if they had and if i i simply liberal. of republicans who identify as very conservative, 16% said they believe there would be a great deal of justification for violence if the gop candidate loses compared to 7% of those identifying as simply conservative. this means the ideological extremes of each party are two times to four times more apt to see violence as justified than their party's mainstream members." bringing up the comments of former vice president joe biden about the

plot in michigan. we will show you those comments from yesterday. [video clip] mr. biden: there is no place for hate in america. and both of us have been talking about this for some time, about andthese white supremacist militias are a genuine threat. i would like to complement the fbi and police agencies for what they did and how they stepped up, but look, the words of presidents matter. we have said this before. they can cause the nation to have a market rise and fall, grow the war, bring peace, but they can also bring oxygen to those filled with hate and danger. and i just think it has got to stop the president has got to realize the words he utters matter. talk to gretchen, the governor, earlier, before i landed. she is feeling secure and good, and i think that the fbi and others deserve a great deal of credit for what they have done. host: joe biden yesterday.

we mention president trump's tweet about this matter, his response to governor gretchen whitmer's comments. his campaign team responding as well. on fox news yesterday, campaign aide jason miller responded to the governor's comments. [video clip] jason: this is absolutely horrendous that anyone would be conspiring to commit such a crime and to put another american, especially someone who elected official, in harm's way like this pure i'm glad have such good law enforcement. we stand by our law enforcement to make sure they can stop things like this. but i have to say, bill, these are some pretty shameful comments from governor whitmer. bill: how so? jason: how we can go from a moment of unity to attacking president trump, i think is completely ridiculous. if we want to talk about hatred, the governor whitmer, go look in the mirror. the fact that she wakes up every day with such hatred in her

heart toward president trump, and president trump is the one out there condemning these radical groups, whether they be on the right or they be on the left. we saw it two weeks ago when he was in atlanta, introducing his platinum plan, his contract with black america, where he labeled the kkk and antifa terrorist groups. we saw him do it again last week when he was on sean hannity's

you live by the sword, you die by it. nobody is really scared of the guy. those days are over. be better to go home and go to sleep before it gets turned around on me. >> host: jack in south carolina. clarice in missouri a democrat, good morning. >> caller: good morning. i'm very concerned because the president is stoking it. he's the president of chaos, and as soon as he is defeated the better because this country, the people are just so divided, and

it's just a horrible situation. >> host: how do we fix that, clarice? >> caller: we vote him out. he needs to be out. biden is not my favorite but -- >> host: even if that happens do you think were going to be united again after the election if the result that you talk about happens? >> caller: he loves division. he is only the president of the people who like him. he's not the president of every american, which is what he should be. i have never seen a republican or a democratic president do this. it's just amazing to me. i have never seen anybody stoke the vision, the president stoke division. >> host: this is james out of lancaster. good morning. go ahead. >> caller: good morning, good morning. i'm just curious, when have we

ever not been divided? you go all the way back to the revolutionary war, civil war, 60s, '70s. we are a divided country. if you want to stop the division, reached over and turned the tv off. that's where the division comes from. it comes of our media. it's attack attack attack. they highlight the divisiveness instead of showing any type of unity. i have quit watching the news. a user listen to npr. i only listen it yaar. i listen to c-span for two hours in morning and i read the news. we have become torn apart and if you go back and look at our history, the needy have stoked it all all the way from the revolutionary war. i'll give you a prime example of our division. i what about the oklahoma massacre. i never knew about it. i heard about some read about it. do you know who started it? the media. the media newspaper put out

three articles when did multiple prints per date and they stoked the fire. you go back and read any history -- >> host: stoked the fire of what, james? i guess my question is the needy has been around since the revolutionary times that you talk about in this country, and it's been all along. why is a worse today if you're saying it is worse today? >> caller: because the media has taken the corners, you know, from fox to cnn, that is so extreme to the right and left. who would you name as a modern-day walter cronkite right now, off the top of your head? you couldn't. you can't name a person that is a walter cronkite today. can you? >> host: can you, james? >> caller: when i was going up everybody listen to walter cronkite because he reported the news. if i looked at him i did not see

a left sidebar right side. i seen the news. i went to bed with the facts. you today turn the news off, there's no facts. it's my corner or your corner, you're right, you're wrong. if you want to stop division turned the tv off and look in the mirror. >> host: that's james in virginia. we will stay in virginia. independent, this is larry, good morning. >> caller: hello. good morning. this is larry from montross virginia. look, i fell in with the green party. i don't have any use for either one of these people and to listen to c-span because i get this little party out here and were fighting for our very survival. thanks a lot, no thanks at all democrats. the violence, i remember, i was around when they blew up the edward murrow building