use to vote. and also the co-founder of the international rights center talks about civil rights in the u.s.. >> and the headlines this morning -- they are talking about highways and streets being shut down in chicago for the nato summit later this month and "the miami

herald" as a story about the blind activist in china. the u.s. said china had agreed to issue travel documents so he can study abroad. before we get to those stories, for the first 45 minutes of "the washington journal"we will talk about comments made yesterday by leon panettiere troops at fort benning, georgia. the troops were warned about conduct. we want to get your thoughts on the comments he made. we have special phone lines this morning.

you can get in touch with us electronically on twitter - 4 on facebook -- and you can send us e-mails -- host: here is the story we referred to this morning in "the los angeles times."

[video clip] >> these days it takes only seconds, seconds for a picture, a photo, to seven the become an international headlines. i know that none of you, none of you deliberately acted to avert your mission -- act to hurt your mission or put your fellow soldiers at risk. you are the best and that is why

i am here today. to tell you that i need you, i need your leadership, i need your courage, i need your strength to make sure we always abide by the highest standards. i know that these incidents represent a very, very, very small percentage of the great work our men and women do across this world. i represent 3 million people, 2 million in uniform, it is a small percentage of people. they sometimes make these terrible mistakes. these incidents concern me and they have to concern year and they do concern and our service chiefs. because a few lacked judgment,

lacked professionalism, black leadership -- black leadership can hurt all of us and convert all those men and women who serve this country with distinction. they concern us because our enemies will seek to turn them -- these incidents in their favor. at the very moment that they are losing the war. we're host: we're talking about leon panetta's comments yesterday warning the military about their conduct, particularly about incidents in afghanistan. our first call is from stamford, connecticut. caller: good morning and thank you for cspan. i think he was way out of line, making this big deal at fort benning. first of all, it was not regular

troops that were causing the big problems that were in the news lately. it was the secret service, the president's guard. this is like the top of the top of the top. to bring this down to the level of regular troops at fort benning is really inappropriate. host: what branch of the military were you in? caller: i was in for six years during the vietnam era. host: this is from "the baltimore sun" --

it's not just the incident that happened with the sequoyah service agents. caller: what about world war two japanese people? there was the bataan death march, how about the people in the middle east cutting the heads of people? this is minor stuff. the urinating, the body parts are not poor. but these are 18, 19, 20-year- old kids. this is not somebody 40 years old that has maybe a little more thought.

this was probably something done as a joke to stay within the con fines of the unit. all of a sudden it went virus. host: we will move onto hawthorne, new jersey, also retired. caller: i was in the navy. host: did you spend overseas? caller: yes, in the mediterranean. host: what did you think of the comments yesterday. caller: i think he was right on. he was parking as back to george washington and the policy he had toward english prisoners. basically statements he made to his own troops is that he expected them to carry out the principles that we were fighting for. i think all the way back to that time. we have held the higher standard portrait that secretary panetta

was right to bring forth and indicate what disasters can come with the technology we have now. host: quaker town, pa., james also retired, go ahead. caller: been a long time since i have been able to get through. host: what are your thoughts? caller: this is a generational thing. we are post-world war two and i was in the army in the 1980's but did not see combat. we never had to kill millions of people for our survival. all our infrastructure was put in place. you can talk to your father or my father or any father in world war two. my dad was in open now.

-- okinawa. our marines got the gold out of japanese soldiers' teeth. if there was a japanese prisoner taken, many of them concealed grenades and so they killed them. they took flame throwers and burned people alive. i remember seeing a horrible episode about how i put the flame thrower in a nursing school. that is part of fire -- fighting fire with fire. host: you are not talking about the behavior changing over the generations of the fact that we can see these things now because of the electronic and social media? caller: that's a good points.

no, i think we were tougher people back then. look at the bombing of tokyo. we done to catch gasoline on 100,000 people in one night. we had to do that to survive. we bombed dresden and we didn't really have to. there were a german civilians and we did not care about the holiness of a church. they bombed an historic christian sites. host: let's move on to robert in milwaukee, wisconsin, also retired. caller: i was in the united states marine corps. host: where did you serve? caller: i serve for 1963-1967, two years i was in vietnam. i was a grunt. that first caller was totally outrageous.

i believe that panetta is doing the right thing because there is something called the uniform code of military justice. we are all prepped about what lines we can and cannot cross when we are involved in a war. there are some incidences that do occur. in this day and age because of the internet, people have easy access to some of these things. when i was in vietnam, we burned down some hootches, way through somebody's on top of them and put lime on top of them but we were in the war. host: when you were in vietnam, were you briefed by your commanding officers or the nco's

in your unit about what was and was not acceptable behavior? caller: i was a noncommissioned officer. i was a sergeant. yes, we were briefed by the upper echelon captain and majors and tank commanders. host: more from the article in "the baltimore sun." back to the telephones. florida, william, also retired, go ahead. caller: sometimes you can see

that maybe the stress of the war gets to the guys. they may do stupid things but you also have to remember their respective a person that is deceased must be honored. the greatest conquest will be when we are judged by the lord. keep respect where respect is due. fight when the fight is due. thank you. host: that is william in florida. this is from " the new york times."

[inaudible] >> we want to show you more of what secretary panetta had to say in fort benning, georgia. [video clip] >> our enemies are losing on the battlefield. they will seek any opportunity to damage us. in particular, they have sought to take advantage of a series of troubling incidents that involved misconduct on the part of a few, on the part of a few who do not represent, who do not represent the vast majority of

those in uniform who serve this country. that brings me to the last point i want to make. i need everyone of you, everyone of you and all of your fellow service members to always despite -- display the strongest character, the greatest discipline, and the utmost integrity in everything you do. host: more discussion regarding those comments yesterday. caller: i'm here. host: you are active duty.

today address these kinds of incidences? -- do they address these kinds of incidences? two officers tell you what you are supposed to look for as far as behavior in the field? caller: it is addressed all the time and i disagree with the young person who called in from connecticut. the american people told us to a higher standard. things aso these leaders and as american soldiers. host: what did you think about what the secretary had to say? caller: i think he is right on point because we don't do those type of things. our job is to help protect one another and doing the right thing in other countries. host: have you had experience overseas in afghanistan?

caller: yes, sir and dealing with other cultures and countries, not just afghanistan and iraq but other nations. they look up to us to do the right thing and that is what we should be doing. host: our next call is from mike, retired, living in louisville, ky. caller: good morning, i agree with leon panetta's comments. we are not above -- barbarians we have been painted. i was in 24 years in the infantry. i was in the gulf war and panama. we, as u.s. military, we comply with the geneva convention, the code of context at the rules of engagement. regardless of whether things happened in world war two and vietnam and whether some was we have a code of

conduct and their rules of engagements of this is what separates us from barbarians. when we begin to display this behavior -- i believe this is a larger problem than what is being reported. host: what are you talking about? caller: as far as the misconduct of u.s. forces. host: you think more goes on and what has been reported? caller: i have a lot of battle bodies -- buddies. we talk with them in the va and we see what is being reported. there are multiple rotations. you cannot have someone who has friends who were killed affected by these battles. they are returning multiply.

there is an anger and resentment and retaliation that is being built and this is what is causing the misconduct for you cannot put someone back in a field three and four times i expect misconduct not to happen. that is the main problem. host: here is a tweet -- back to the telephones, virginia beach, va., margaret, retired. caller: my husband served in the navy. my son is currently serving in the u.s. army. host: what did you think about what the secretary had to say? caller: i think he was right on. my son was taught that. host: you need to turn your

television down because we are getting feedback. caller: sorry about that -- when the kids go on field trips to and they are little, they are taught that they are representing their school and our country when they go overseas greet when you are overseas and the military, you are representing our country. your also representing god if you're a christian. what do the muslims see when we don't act right? leon panetta was right. the troops are in harm's way when a couple of people cause problems. they make them angry and it scares me. host: more from " the new york times"article --

claremore, okla., jim is retired. go ahead. caller: i want to clarify that i am tired military. i'm not retired. i only served four years. i want to talk about the hypocrisy from leon panetta. what the marines did was wrong but there is a bigger picture that they tried to eliminate people from seeing and it is the little war and the illegal actions of panetta and all of them by bombing innocent people.

i think that is a little worse than someone urinating on someone that is dead. the drone attacks are horrible. if we were not there, these people would not be dying. what about hiroshima and nagasaki? i don't believe those people deserve what happens to them. host: we will taken pause from our discussion. glenn thrush, senior white house reporter for politico. he is here to talk to us by telephone. a little bit about the president officials launching his reelection campaign. welcome to the "washington

journal." the president officially kicks off his campaign. how'd you find -- how do you define it officially. ? guest: it comes as a surprise to no one that he has been campaigning for the last six months or so. his operation in chicago now has hundreds of people who are mobilized for him. as you know, as some republicans have complained, he has done a lot of these events including a slow them last week that really skirt the lines between campaign and governments. today is the official kickoff. i am at andrews air force base and we will fly to columbus, ohio to columbus state university and onto the

virginia commonwealth university in richmond to conclude the day. today is the official kickoff after months and months of actual campaigning. host: 04 the telethon's start lighting up. why those two states and why those two schools? guest: they represent the two pats to victory that obama will have to drive. ohio is the old democratic map the centers around what used to be three critical swing states, ohio, virginia, and florida. florida.nia and virginia is the new kid on the block. colorado, nevada, and new

mexico, this is the alternate map which has become a core map for obama. both of these states which are conveniently clustered close together today represent the two paths he will have to go on. host: kind of new school and old school. guest: it goes to show the extent to which things every origin -- reoriented themselves since the 2006 midterm election. without winning the upper south states cover without wearing western states, president obama does not stand a chance. for the first time in a generation, the electoral college map advantages a democrat this time. when you see these polls tightening up and the president is leading, i believe we will see mitt romney surging ahead at various points. the popularity numbers are less

important to the map and democrats and republicans think of the map advantages president obama. host: we will talk later with heather smith, the president of barack of the votes. why did the obama campaign decide to start off in two colleges as opposed to other sites, maybe labor organizations are places like that? guest: college campuses in 2008 were really the critical message point for the presidential campaign. there really formed the army, the volunteer army that created this massive grass-roots campaign in 2008. i recall being in iowa and busloads of college kids were coming across the border from illinois and overwhelming the clinton campaign in terms of grass roots.

the youth vote in 2008 when roughly 2-1, actually more than that fuel by this massive registration drive. in 2012, we are seeing a different dynamic. in north carolina, a state which has a tremendous amount of universities, there has been a sharp drop off in registration and there are more restrictive voter registration law is crimping the president obama campaign. the polls show that the youth vote is still pretty strong for obama but not as enthusiastic. they really have got to solidify on these campuses and create a sense of buzz and enthusiasm. when young people are not feeling so fired up. host: glenn thrush covers the

white house for a politico. last question before we let you go -- for the president, this marks marshaling the troops. is there any coincidence to the fact that he is talking to two colleges at a time when college students are getting ready to leave campus for their summer break? great point.s a i had not thought of that. maybe people are feeling elusi a a little loose. they created this culture. it really was not work for a lot of these kids. it became a social activity.

a lot of relationships started from this. there is a cultural component to this, too. host: speaking of relationships -- you wrote on may 3, the danger is new obama book. the author has been reaching out to his old friends and lovers for the past several years. how does this book redefine the self portrait? guest: this is not going to be a blockbuster.

there was a book about damaging revelations about bill clinton. this will not become a kind of book. president obama's 2008 campaign was largely fueled by this amazing life story and a biography of himself that he was able to control of being the personification of the american melting pot and a hopeful new vision for the future. the hillary clinton folks said they were not running against a man, they're running against a more. - memoir. these are not great and new revelations. because of the credibility of the author as a historian, he can challenge the vision obama has projected of himself as

being this organic force, somebody who was above calculation and politics. the portrait we saw from initial expert -- excerpt released last week shows that he was far from it. he was somebody who in the view of the people closest to him was somewhat aloof, some of calculating, and someone with sort of a steely eye on the future. while that is not a game changer, that pumps up against of obama thathe perception himself. host: you can find his work at politico.com and back here for speaking to us about the official kickoff of the obama campaign. guest: thank you. host: we will have coverage of the kickoff today.

the president and michelle obama are in a campaign rally in columbus, ohio and live coverage begins at 12:55 p.m. eastern time and online at c-span.org. the rally is taking place at the value city of arena's center on the campus of the ohio state university. later in the day, we will have live coverage of the president and first lady in richmond, va. for a second obama for america campaign rally and large -- live coverage begins at 4:00 p.m. eastern. the campaign rally is taking place at the verizon wireless arena of stuart siegel center on the campus of virginia commonwealth university. for more information on coverage of those events, you could go to our website, c-span.org. back to our discussion regarding secretary of defense a leon panetta's comments warning

military about contact -- about conduct yesterday at fort benning. our next call is from florida, andy, retired military. what branch of the military were you in? caller: i was in the army. i was in during the cuban crisis. host: what did you about what the secretary said yesterday? caller: i don't believe we should go against our troops. i was a rescue worker at the world trade center. i was there three days. i see what these people did to us. i think you should ask the families of these people if it is right to urinate on dead bodies. there was a street in brooklyn called atlantic avenue that was

all our of the population. -- arab population. there was they farouk mosque and all the people live here in this country cannot on the streets and were waving flags and blowing whistles. they were happy. we should never go against our own troops. host: let's move on to a council bluffs, iowa, tim, also retired. what branch of the service for your index caller: the marine corps from 1982-1986 and the army reserves from 1989-2004. we are missing the point here. the proverbial dood oo rolls down help. our soldiers are tired and

burned out and they have been sent out multiple times. you lose the senior nco's, you lose discipline with younger troops. that is the problem. \here isbeing set up pe that we will be losing troops, troop withdrawals, troop drawdowns, etc. host: called on a second -- there was an item in "the new york times" article. it says general dempsey dismissed one explanation for the episodes that the military is exhausted and stretched to the breaking point. he said the tempo of diplomas to iraq and afghanistan and the style of deployment had disconnected the tradition chain of command. what do you think about that? guest: i agree 100%.

we have to stop this talk about drawing down our troops. we need to stop blaming our troops and quit airing our dirty laundry. we have to do with the situation now. the stuff has to be addressed to boot camps. as to be addressed in special forces schools, everything. used to teach senior nco's before they became platoon sergeants and this is the kind of thing we talked about. host: we will move on to joe in salt lake city, utah, retired. caller: i was part of the big

red one. you cannot expect people to fight for you and conduct themselves in the proper way when you don't have a defined commander in chief that runs around the country like a rock star, acting like a clueless individual. the troops cannot respect somebody like that, that is why your secret service and all your other government agencies, morale has gone down to the bottom. those troops should not be in afghanistan getting themselves blown up and putting themselves at risk and all you people can do is worry about some pictures they did with a couple of dead stiffs over there. what's the matter with these people in these countries? what happened in japan and the stick kill at jap? they're going to make them a good jab the which means he was a dead jap. host: in "the wall street

journal" -- we will be talking about the jobs of dead later. this is from the "new york daily news" -- they are talking about khalid sheikh mohammed. in a woodbridge, va., our line

for retired military. brown is to do servant? caller: are made. host: it is yvette, i'm sorry. caller: 9 -- my time was 1984- 1985. host: tell us about what you think regarding the comments made yesterday by the secretary of defense. caller: it was wonderful. it was great because we are taught uniform of code. prior to was going on a mission -- just because of what the terrorist has done does not mean we do the same thing. when we do the same thing, killing their people are taking pictures of their dead loved ones, that causes them to retaliate on us. we have loved ones that get killed.

host: all right, let's move onto chicopee, mass., robert, retired military. caller: i served in the air force and started out in 1966. host: did you see any action overseas? caller: quite a bit. host: what did you think about what the secretary had to say yesterday? caller: i did not see all of it but my question to him is how do i get out of this chicken outfit? host: why do you say that? caller: s the guys who have been in combat how tough it is out there. pissing on a body is nothing. host: it is day three of cspan's six-day tour of north carolina leading up to tuesday's presidential primary and this summer's democratic national convention. our campaign 2012 bus today is

in greensboro, north carolina at the site of the international civil rights the center and museum. at 9:15 this morning, we will be joined by the museum's co- founder to talk about civil rights and race relations. before we get to that, we'll take another call and this was from south bend, indiana, joseph, retired. caller: thank you for having me. i have a comment. the things the military forces are doing seem to be indicative of a value sets across america. we watch when we hear policeman should people. they put doom sticks up their anuses and shooting little black boys.

it looks like america is in some crisis of values. whatever happens to the values that made this country great? there is nothing that can remotely be called the good old days in america. america has always been corrupt. host: from "the washington post"this morning -- kansas city, missouri, donald, go ahead.

what branch of the military were you in? caller: i was in the army, vietnam, 1970-71. host: what did you think about what the secretary had to say? caller: i am going against the grain but i think he acted like he was talking to a bunch of girl scouts or something. we would not have been talked to like that. host: one of the earlier caller is from the vietnam era said the difference was partly because of generational issues and partly because of electronic media and social media. picture is going on on the battlefield are getting out in different ways that they did not get out during the vietnam war. what do you think about that? caller: we got pictures out. we have electronics and

polaroid's and stuff. we got our pictures back home. they did do a good job keeping the news away from us that was happening back in the state's because a was not very good news about us. host: we will leave it there. coming up, a discussion a discussion joutz of george washington university to talk about the jobs numbers. we will also look at the huge impact on the campaign 2012. today is saturday, may 5, you are watching "washington journal", we will be right back. >> sunday on "q7a," i don't

regard this just as the biography of lyndon johnson. i want each book to examine political power in america. this is a kind of political power, seeing what a president can do any moment of great crisis, how he gathers and what does he do to get legislation moving? that is the way of examining power in a time of crisis. i said i want to do this in fall. may take 300 pages so i said let's examine this. >> robert caro on the passive power, his biography in three parts of lyndon johnson and look for our second hour of conversation with him may 20. this weekend on book-tv,seth jones documents the war against

al qaeda. he is interviewed by an intelligence reporter tonight at 10:00 eastern. also this weekend, your questions and comments for tom brokaw sunday live at noon eastern. book-tv is every weekend on c-span 2. >> here is the flatiron building going up in 1923. stop and think what is the technology. in the 1890's when they were introduced, they were explained as a railroad bridge on its end. most people were afraid and you might think role loving it. we love in ovation. this thing looked little scary. the poor guy who had this building was not too happy. he could not rented out or sell it and nobody wants to be in this building because they

thought would topple over. >> this weekend from cooper union, lectures in history with an architectural historian on new york city. later today as 6:00 and 10:00 eastern, part of american history tv this weekend on cspan 3. >> "washington journal" continues -- guest: professor joutz joins us to talk about the april job numbers. the headline in "the wall street journal" -- what happened?

guest: part of this is a phenomenon that has gone on the last three years. we had a dip in employment growth in 2010, 2011 and now this year. this year, it may well be due to seasonal factors. we had a mild winter. employment growth was relatively large in winter months. when we would have normally not have as much good job growth, we now have big job growth. host: how does this affect the jobs situation going forward? you say for the last three years, we have had strong performance in the first part of the year and it starts to trail off. guest: just in the spring it tails off. since i guess about january, 2010, we have had almost 26

months of positive employment growth in the u.s. economy. it is not spectacular. it is not what we would like to be. it is positive growth. host: from "usa today" -- would you go along with that? guest: absolutely. i think the job growth in various sectors has not been as high as we would like. it could well be that perhaps the u.s. economy is on a different growth path and what was before the great recession. host: the article a and "usa

today" says -- talk to us about those elements, hiring, housing, and consumer elements. how do they affect the consumer situation and where do you see that path going through election day? with jobs.s start if people have jobs, they have been done. they have been come, they will spend it. they will save some but hopefully as well that they will spend that leads to greater economic activity like you suggested. not enough to really bring the job numbers up very high but they are still there. one of the important strong points in the economy is still

automobile sales. that spills over to other sectors. host: we've got some numbers we want to look at and talk about throughout the interview. looking at the april, 2012 gains and losses -- transportation and warehousing were down 17,000. what do those numbers tell you? guest: i will accentuate the positive first. when you talk about the professional and business services, we had about 62,000 increase in employment there. since september of 2009, that is an increase of 1.5 million jobs.

on them have thought -- on the manufacturing side which we hear is weak in the united states, i have been suggesting it is stronger than what people believe. it may be on a rebound as relatively slow. we had a 16,000 increase in april but if we go back to january 2010, we have had almost half a million jobs created in manufacturing. host: we are talking with professor with joutz -- frederick joutz about the job numbers. you can call in on the numbers below on the screen. you can also get in touch of this via email, twitter and facebook.

our line for independence, go ahead caller: isn't true that because of this recession was due to a financial collapse that will take much longer to recover? guest: yes, this recession is very different from any recession we have had since world war two. it is the deepest with the possible exception of 1980-1981. we had a drop in the overall economy of 8% gdp. we had a drop in unemployment from 4.5% to nearly 10%. something was very fundamentally changed in the u.s. economy. it is not necessarily due to our activities but it had to do with an imbalance in savings rates and interest rates and financial

markets. host: our next call comes from lexington, kentucky, on our line for democrats. caller: good morning. the way these jobs numbers are put together, are they measured the same way -- have they been measured the same way for years? the republicans do not believe this is any kind of recovery. they say that the number of people who have given up looking for work basically neuter is these numbers. have these numbers been calculated the same way for years? guest: the numbers that we heard from yesterday, from the establishment survey conducted

by the u.s. bureau of labor statistics. these numbers have been pretty much collected the same way for four or five decades. there have been changes as a statistical sampling has improved. every single job is not measured. they come from samples. they are subject to revision. it is not that much of a larger revision. the republicans do have a point when they say that some americans have become discouraged or are under- employed. i don't think this is a republican or democratic issue. this is a fact of the economy. host: and another two or three weeks, the numbers we saw coming out yester day will be revised up or down? guest: yes.

host: based on what? guest: based on, other information the bureau of labor statistics has been able to collect. host: well as numbers be better? guest: i think they will be the same. they went up 50,000 each month for the last few months. that is why these numbers initially appear so disappointing. i will not say they will improve or get worse. host: the former massachusetts governor mitt romney is likely republican nominee and a had some things yesterday to say about the latest jobs report. [video clip] >> just this morning, there is music and across the wireless said the unemployment rate was dropped to a 0.1% and normally that would be cause for celebration. in fact, over 8% -- anything over 4% is not cause for celebration. in fact, the reason it dropped

from 8.2% to 8.1% sun was not because we created a lot of jobs -- it was well beneath what was expected. who the reason the rate came down was about 340,000 people dropped out of the work force. some money became discouraged that they stopped looking for work. if they stopped looking for work, the statisticians could say the on employment rate is lower is not so many people want to work. this is a sad time in america when people want or cannot find jobs, college kids half of the kids coming out of college cannot find work bit helps to of had a job to create a job and i

have and i will. host: economics professor professorjoutz, tell us a response to the governor's comments, particularly when he said that 8.1% would be cause for celebration. when would that happen? guest: i don't believe that whatever happened. it is a cause for celebration in some sense now in that it has not gotten worse. two years ago, we were at 10% unemployment. he is right when he says we have had an increase in the number of workers who have become discouraged and effectively dropped out of the work force or the number of workers who are under-employed in the sense that they are only able to work part- time or work shorter hours. host: back to the telephones and our next call comes in last vegas, nev. on airline for democrats.

caller: i wanted to ask a professor why we never mention the trade deficits we have all the time? our markets are dominated by we are purchasing things that are made by other people. is that ever considered in all of this? guest: well, we do have trade to other countries. we sell a fair amount of goods to other countries, the week to buy more from others than they purchased from aug. -- though we do buy more from others than a purchase from costs. in the last two years or so, the trade deficit has fallen, and part of that is due to lower world oil prices, but the u.s.

dollar has depreciated against other countries, and that has made us more competitive, however at some point the rest of the world has to start buying goods and services from office within we buy from them -- is from august, than we buy from them. host: birdie, saratoga, florida. bernie? ok. jim. independent line, louisville, ky. caller: good morning. every month since obama has been president, approximately 130,000 legal immigrants have been sworn in to beat americans. and how does that figure -- to be americans. how does that figure into the

unemployment statistics? guest: i did not noaa exactly how it figures in, but it suggests that people are coming to the united states because they feel it is a land of opportunity. not all of those will be members of the labor force. some of them will be children, spouses that stayed home. some of them are contributing. host: "the financial times" headline --

host: explained the relationship between the jobs numbers and the price of the barrel of oil. guest: it is difficult to explain, and not necessarily contemporaneously. there is enormous fluctuations in oil prices on a daily basis. if we look back at the last 11 recessions we have had in the u.s. economy, they have been preceded by large increases in oil prices, but they are not a direct indicator of changes in employment. host: you bring up the term recession. are we still in a recession? guest: we are out of a recession, but that does not mean the economy is booming.

we have in the nick growth which we have anemic growth. -- we have anemic growth. our long-term growth rate has been closer to 2.7%. economic growth has been very anemic. host: bernie, on our line for democrats in sarasota, florida. caller: yes. i would like to know why the u.s. is spending $750 million a day of the war in afghanistan. host: what does this have to do with the job situation? caller: it has to do with the total economy. when we are not spending that much money on war, we could spend money to make jobs for people.

host: frederick joutz? guest: well, a fair amount of that money is spent on american goods and services and employment for military workers and people who support the military-producing goods and services. i certainly agree with you that it would probably be better if we could have spending geared more towrds -- towards jobs here, towards the u.s. economy, but i cannot talk about how war has to do with job numbers. host: don, new hampshire. caller: i worked in the united

states economy, and i have people from china figuring out how to farm work out of this country. until people in washington figure out a way to stop this, that is when you will give your economy going. host: prof. frederick joutz? guest: we are in a world that is very interconnected. there are complex relationships between how we do business here, and how business is done abroad. i am sympathetic to the point that you make, but i think if we have rising income, which has been taking place in countries like china and india, when they become wealthier, they start buying american products, though i feel there is a an imbalance

in how information is exchanged and how markets operate between here and there. host: we have a tweet -- guest: high honestly do not know. -- i honestly do not know. we have almost 40 years of declines in manufacturing, in the last few years or so the decline has stopped, and it is sort of on an upward path. whether or not manufacturing will lead the u.s. economy out of anemic growth, that i do not believe. it is still a small fraction of where people are employed overall in the economy, but i do

believe manufacturing is a good source for potential jobs. host: on our program "newsmakers" this week, afl-cio president richard trumka talks about the latest labor report, in the irritation with president obama in the issue last year in -- and the union's role in campaign elections this year. we will look at what he had to say about the april jobs reports and the president's efforts to address it. [video clip] >> it was a disappointing report, into spent a lot of 2011 criticizing the president. had he taking your advice, where would we be? >> he did take my advice, not just mine, but most mainstream economists who said focus on jobs and put people back to

work. from last july or august he started on the program, and it has done some real good. we have had 26 months of job growth in the private sector, 19 months of job growth overall. unemployment is down to 8.1%. it is disappointing, the figures, 115,000 is not enough to keep up with population growth so we will not get out of the hole we are in, but we are moving in the right direction. host: you can see the entire interview on "and newsmakers" sunday, tomorrow morning, at 10:00 p.m. eastern time and it is also available on our website. professor frederick joutz, what did you think about what mr. richard trumka had to say? guest: i would have to agree with him.

one has to realize that the labor force in the united states, the people better off their working in or actively looking for jobs has been stagnant since about 2007, where we have about 83 million american males in the labour force, and 72 million females in the labour force. the number has jumped around a little bit, but not by much. it is not what was expected by this time. the u.s. congressional budget office thought we would have close to 159 million people in the labour force, and we are stuck at about 154 million. this could be an effective structural changes in the employment picture, the effect

of structural changes in the employment -- the effect of structural changes in the employment structure. host: we want to sell some -- showed some statistics. it took any surprises in those numbers? -- host: any surprises in those numbers? guest: unfortunately, not. you mentioned the teenagers and people under 25. one in the four is unemployed,

and this has long-run effects of the economy. these numbers are not unusual, but when people are young the start building skills and earning power for the future. .hat is important hos host: charlotte, north carolina. tim. caller: when bill clinton signed nafta, did that not have a snowball effect on jobs going overseas, out-sourcing? guest: we live in a world economy that is interdependent. one could say that moving some of those jobs to mexico, or having a free trade agreement with some of the companies in canada had a negative effect on

the u.s. economy, at least initially, but it also led to more jobs here. the net effect of international trade will be positive in the long-run. host: a tweet from right wing who wants to know, have we ever had a slower recovery? guest: that is a good question. i would say this great recession, which really it is, the deepest and longest recession we have said since the great depression, this is the slowest, and where it has been most disappointing is in the employment numbers. host: we're talking to professor frederick joutz of george washington university about the latest jobs numbers from april. he has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in

economics, money and banking and energy economics during the last 20 years, and has served as a consultant to the u.s. energy administration and several government agencies, the imf, and private corporations. brooklyn, new york. democrat line. morris. caller: i get upset when i see these professional people like the professor. they are afraid to say anything. host: what you think the professor is afraid to say? caller: they have outsourced hundreds of thousands of jobs. i worked one job and they sold

us out seven times. the company sold us off seven times. each company made a profit, and every two years, they sold us off seven times in the last 10 years. i watched all of my friends, approaching 50, 54, 55, let go with no skills but what they head on the job. that is why so many people are leaving. host: were these jobs going overseas? caller: they took them and move them overseas or to another state. host: tell us about what kind of jobs go overseas and will they ever come back to the united states? guest: i will start with the

last comment he made. we are actually seen that the increase in job growth that is going overseas is declining, and in a number of cases reversing. we are getting jobs that used to be done in india, where china, coming back to the united states, -- or china, coming back to the united states because of the fact there are quality effects and price competitiveness effects. i'm not trying to say these jobs are not shipped there permanently, or even in the caribbean where we have jobs in the financial sector, what are called back office jobs that are done to make sure the clearing processes or some parts of the accounting processes are done more cheaply. host: mobile, alabama, bill, on our line for democrats.

caller: i would like to point out in the current job numbers private jobs increased by 135,000, but the government jobs decreased by 15,000. the republicans have made a big issue about the government not creating jobs, but government jobs are decreasing. generally, is there anything to the relationship between private jobs increasing, government jobs decreasing? guest: well, one of the things that either party for guests is that when the government spends money in our country, that is income that creates jobs here. the reason we have said this decline, and this is not the only month we have had the

decline in government employment, is because government spending has declined. these are jobs that were done by government workers. that is a fundamental fact. if the government is spending money, it creates jobs. if it cuts back, it is going to reduce jobs, certainly in the short run. host: another item from "the financial times" -- host: is it going to continue to get worse for state and local

governments the next guest: it varies across the country, and even within states. one of the big factors driving the cutbacks is the decline in income additionally, in the slow rebound in income. people pay taxes on their income, on what they spend, and that money is used to run the government and in point government workers. some states are still having a rough -- and employee government workers. some states are still having a rough time, and all they have generally improved, we continue to seek cuts in jobs. host: chris, laurel, maryland, our line for republicans. caller: good morning. i wanted to get a breakdown of where the jobs are. the medical field, nursing, and

all sorts of things in the field of medicine are providing jobs. also, oil, yes, -- gas, states met have oil. kentucky called about immigrants. there are all lot of highly- skilled immigrants. we need people better tax city were steady in other areas -- attack savvy, more savvy in other areas. guest: ok. one of the important points that you mention is that people with technical skills have much lower unemployment rates than those

with nearly a high-school education, or a college education, or did not finish high school. for the technical savvy workers, they're unemployed rate is somewhere around 3%. these jobs that you mentioned, like 3d printing and so forth, those are exactly the ones that i am talking about in terms of manufacturing, and where we are taking back jobs from the rest of the world than originally went overseas for manufacturing because now we are more flexible and able to do jobs for american companies locally. the employment situation is improving. host: are there any jobs that seemed to be recession-proof or

less effected by the recession? guest: i would say there are some kinds of jobs where you need to head that at least a minimal level which have -- have at least a minimal level of workers, but that margin is declining. we could look it specific jobs. let's say making sure the telephone networks works, where the power sector continues to work, but it is a smaller number than it was historically, due to product changes in price competitiveness. host: the level of unemployment in these jobs stays the same because of our need to be able to communicate with one another? guest: it is a basic level of

services. in a hospital, in need a minimum number of nurses on the floor to check on the patients. you cannot have a robot do that. host: connecticut, independent line. caller: for the last 20 years we have been sending jobs overseas for customer service centers. why does someone not try to get people that use these centers back into the u.s. that would fill up these corporate parks that have become empty. it is a simple solution of a phone call, and no one is talking about this, they're talking about building and manufacturing. that is a long-term process. someone needs to focus on getting these jobs back. guest: in fact, those jobs are

coming back. what we have seen in terms of technical support -- i know we all complain about it when we called into places trying to get our computer to work, try to fix our refrigerator or dryer, trust me, i'd do it myself, but what has been happening over the last two years or so is that these jobs are coming back to america in part because of the difficulty people had with using support services that were in other countries. there are language, cultural barriers. these jobs are coming back to the united states. they're not all going to come back, but we do see a return of these jobs. host: in the may addition of "newsmax" they have a headline

host: briefly tell us how you think those three elements will effect job rates going forward -- the cost of guess, the expiration of the bush tax cuts, and the european? -- debt crisis? guest: i will say the primary initiative we face among those three is the deficit and debt situation in the united states, and currently, our deficit is about 8.5% of gdp. it has fallen bit, but it is

really due to the effect that the congress and the executive branch have not been doing their jobs. by continuingo go resolutions. congress is not agreed on most anything because of the way the two parties interact with each other, and they're not making changes to tax reform, like you mentioned, the end of the bush tax cuts, what should or should not be done about that -- there is so much uncertainty created by the inability of the congress to come up with a coherent plan. both parties have forgotten the part of a compromise and working together. they are out there making political points. they are not out there to do

their jobs from my perspective, and if they do their jobs they would reduce uncertainty for american companies, and they would have an idea of what kind of taxes they would be paying an where they could make investments to create jobs. host: another three-to-four minutes with prof. frederick joutz at george washington university, and our next call comes from california. max. democrat line. caller: in the 1970's and 1980's, we used to have the misery index, and that was huge. unemployment added to the inflation rate, which was about 18%, and interest rates were well over 12%. compare that to today. i would like to talk for a second about mitt romney and looking at where he has been in the last 10 years creating any

jobs? i have not seen him in the private sector creating jobs. they tell us you cannot get employed if you have been unemployed for six months, because you lost all your job skills. i remember when he was running for governor in massachusetts, his state was 37 in the country in job creation, and he ran on a "we can do better" and when he was governor they fell to 47. the third item, many people are retiring nowadays. that means baby boomers -- not just all people -- they are dropping out of the job market. i would like to. especially talk about the misery index of the past -- here you talk about the misery index.

guest: in simple terms it is the unemployment rate plus the inflation rate. if we have inflation of about -- and you add that to the unemployment rate, you get a misery rate about 10.5, which is half the size of what we had in 1980. we went through a fundamental change in a lowering the inflation rate, and that has been due to the federal reserve board in our country trying to bring down inflation rates, and it has been fairly stable between 1% and 3% for a number of years. that is a structural change between the nominal sector and the real sector.

host: this last call, massachusetts. independent line. sandra. caller: the worst thing the government has ever done to bring of this crisis is closing bases, bringing them overseas, taking down the ones we have. we need men and women back here on bases. they need to come back to our towns and cities. when they do, where are they going to go? the bases in the surrounding areas will build up everything around by having our economy improved. they will improve the economy. dollars will flow. how stupid can we be? we did it to ourselves. we shot ourselves in the fourth. -- in the fourth.

guest: i think you're referring to the military base closures that have been going on as the military has realigned its of over time. in some cases, those close to bases have led to downturns in the global economy, and in other cases they have been used to create new jobs. i am not saying it has happened in every case, but i'm not sure this is a strong reason why we have the unemployment numbers that we have right now. an important thing to realize is that the economy is moving along. it is not where it was on a long-term basis, and neither is employment, but ed least we are on a positive side -- at least we are on a positive side. host: george washington university economics professor frederick joutz has been our

guest. in "the natural journal -- national journal" you can find . in a few seconds we will talk with heather smith of rock the vote, and later we will be joined by melvin alston as we take a tour through north carolina. this weekend, we feature oklahoma city on c-span to the wall and c-span 3. we spoke with authors and historians. hear, -- here, someone who helped design the memorial texas and around the site. -- takes us around the site.

[video clip] >> you are seeing the gates of time. they act as our for all -- formal entrance. bill gates reference the moment of the -- they really referenced the moment of the bomb. we are referencing 902 is what this memorial room is about. each gate is comprised of two walls, and in between, a slight pause before you enter. you step away from the sounds of the city, get a little slice of the sky, and then you go into the memorial room.

right in the middle is a long reflecting pool. it sits where the street used to run through. this used to be a busy texas saint, and now we cannot go there any -- busy access street, and now we cannot go there anymore. it is an organizing element. it is kind of a common edge to meet and we really saw this main element as a place to remember those changed forever. >> "washington journal," continues. host: heather smith is president of rock the vote and is here to talk about the election and the

impact of young voters in the election. welcome to the program. guest: great to be here. host: there was a headline in "the washington times, called friday -- obama tries to rally a jobless generation. about the obama organization around the young guest: one of the things that is often left out is that young people are the most effected by the economic downturn. unemployment rates among young people are at the highest that they have ever been since the bureau of labor statistics started checking unemployment rates, so young people are struggling in this economy and they're looking for real solutions in terms of jobs and their economic well-being.

host: talk to us about what the differences between 2008 and 2012 among the young. in 2008, they were very excited. how do they feel in 2012? gee, they're definitely still looking for change. -- guest: they are definitely still looking for change. there is a different use voter today. what we see among the on young voter, the first-time voters, they are eager to have their opportunity to participate. there is still a lot of enthusiasm. as we get a little bit older, you see these young people that voted in 2008 that really expected that they would call a lever and the world would change the next day common and many are sitting here actually worse off than they were in 2008, and

while they still pay close attention to the elections, issues are very real and they're looking for very real solutions. host: the president officially kicks off his reelection campaign today and to the ohio state university and in virginia. what is the significance of going to two colleges? guest: the youth vote matters in this election and in general. motors under the age of -- voters under the age of 30 are 24% of the electorate. as the general election has kicked off with rallies on to college campuses and obviously with newt gingrich dropping out and mitt romney becoming the presumptive nominee, we see the campaign launched in the first

issue debated is student loan issues. we see the launch of the president's side from a college campus and that demonstrates the power the youth vote will have. host: we're talking to heather smith, president of rock the vote, about the campaign for 2012. we will show you what the candidate's head to say. [video clip] no matter how tough this time seven, how many obstacles may stand in our way, i promise you, n.c., there are better days ahead. we will emerge stronger than we were before because i believe in you, i believe in your future, i believe in the investment you are making right here in north carolina. that tells me you share my faith in america's future, and that is what drives me every single day

-- your hopes, your dreams, and i'm not quitting now because in america we get each other's backs, we help each other get ahead, and if we work together we will remind the world why america is the greatest nation on earth scared >> when you look at 50% of students coming out of college today not finding a job, how can you support a president that has led to that kind of economy? then, the debt that has been the best that they will pay off all of their lives? we are fighting to make sure we can reduce the deficits and eliminate the debt overhang, yet the president is continuing to amass these huge deficits. i think young people will understand that ours is the party of opportunity and jobs, and if they want a president that could create good jobs and allow a more prosperous future i hope they will vote for me.

host: heather smith, president of rock the vote" "national journal" has an article we have referred to this morning and you did the right -- guest: is great to see the president moving forward not just with talks, but with real plans. the top concerns of young people are jobs, finding a job in this economy, and also the incredible debt they are amassing as they graduate. i think young people will respond to this. not just the talk, but the plans in place for summer job

programs, into a chip programs, and the fight to stop the student loan interest rate from the boeing. host: -- from dublin. host: we are on with heather smith. we will show you some touts, think of them like video twitter. we guessed some in north carolina what they thought about the election. >> my most important issue with this presidential election is that everyone receives health care. that is very important for everyone to be healthy, and that is what i'm looking for. host: she is looking for health care. guest: yes, and what i think you will see the president talked a lot about him is that in the health-care act that test under his watch there were great provisions for young people in

their including allowing them to stay on their parents' health care program until age 26, providing health-care coverage they otherwise did not test. -- has. host: we will continue our conversation. in addition to our lines for republicans, democrats, and the independent line, we have callers and viewers number -- between 18 and 25. host: our first call comes from illinois. bill. caller: good morning. i am concerned about why young people would be interested in supporting president obama's

policies were these type of policies when it in here up similar ideas have led suit and an unemployment rate among young people of close to -- have led to an unemployment rate among young people of around 50%. there is an exodus of young people leaving europe. why would young people in this country think a similar situation would not developed here? we already have an unemployment rate in black young men in urban areas of 50%. guest: here is what i have been seeing as i travel the country in communities and high schools and on college campuses, and what young people seem to be looking for our real proposals and solutions to the issues that they face. i do not think they are aligning with democrats or republicans, as much as they are with people

that are willing to engage them and propose these ideas. i think they are open to a debate on the best way to address the economic situation, the jobless rate ecb of urban black use of up to 50% cat i think they will start to pay attention and this -- 50%. i think they will start to pay attention. young people are savvy. they are smart. they know the issues they face and they will be looking for real solutions. hopefully, the campaign will provide those and give them a difference and a chance to decide who will represent them the best. host: barbara, democrats line, philadelphia. caller: heather smith, and i'm wondering what you are planning to do to help the kids get registered and getting their

voter i.d. that has been put into place by a lot republican states? they're putting a lot of blockade's up there. i am sure in -- i -- i am sure you are doing something. guest: it is an important issue. for young people today, if you looked this age group, there is about 18 million that turned 18 since the last presidential election and need to be registered. rock the vote just launched this week our largest voter registration drive and it will be the largest nonpartisan voter registration campaign in the country to bring 1.5 million new voters into the process. we have set up online tools as well as training volunteers to go out to concerts', festivals,

campuses, communities, and also at our when set they can fill out the registration form. he bring out the second point. once registered, there is another barrier for young people, and that is making sure they have the appropriate id. in over 33 states this year, or in the last year, there has been legislation proposed that would make it harder for these young people, in particular stevens, to vote. in pennsylvania, -- students, to vote. in pennsylvania, in need a photo id. , meaning most likely a driver's license, and then it says you're anddent identification cards to not count.

-- do not count. hard,working really running education programs in senior high school class is, teaching about the power that comes with the vote and the process. we will launch an initiative to make sure people have the information they need to cast a ballot on election day. we have to make sure the process does not stop them. host: emma, columbus, ohio. are you planning to sue the president today? caller: -- to see the president today? caller: yes, i am, with my daughter. my son is working today.

barbara took my point about voter suppression. let's be honest about this. it is the republicans doing this, and that ought to give young people pause about interfering with our democracy. i am concerned about this voter i.d.. i have a nephew in michigan and they are changing so much in michigan it is ridiculous. he went to school in michigan, but he lives in california. i have to talk to him to see what he is going to do, and i have to talk to both of my children to make sure they have their id ready, and i tell them to talk to their friends. that -- host: that is from columbus, ohio, where the

president will be speaking today. heather smith, go ahead. guest: thank you. it is important issue, and you are doing the right thing, thank you for your work making sure people know that they need id and the rules have changed. it does feel like an attack on students. in texas they passed a law that says you're concealed gun license will count, but your student id will not. fortunately, that was overturned. in wisconsin, they said your student i.d. towns, but only if it needs a criteria that not a single student identification card actually would meet. the law in wisconsin was also stopped. we are fighting back state-by- state every time these are passing, but when you talk to

students and if they saying my vote is not powerful, it is important to say if it is not powerful, wired it tried to take it away from you? not -- why are they trying to take away from you? thank you for your work. we will continue to do the same. host: our c-span campaign bus has been in north carolina, talking to young voters, and we are showing you what they had to say with a new social media platform called tout. >> the most important issue is the unemployment rate for recent college it -- college graduates. that will be my biggest concern. host: another young person concerned about employment. guest: these young people are starting off, going to college,

and they are starting their careers, and we should really be investing in them as the future of our own country, but they are straddled with debt, answering an economy where the jobs situation is really -- and trade and economy were the job situation is really tough. -- entering an economy where the jobs situation is really tough. we need to do a better job. if there is a proposal that will stop the student interest rate from dublin, that will protect 7.5 -- from dublin, that will protect 7.5 million people. that is a step. we are anxious to hear real solutions. host: the next call comes from new jersey, fred, and our client for republicans.

-- on all were line for republicans. caller: write these down, because i would like you to respond to all of these. your comment about photo id. obama-care requires photo i.d., why don't people complain about that? how do the students feel if the supreme court throws out obama- care, yet we have a president that showed a port exercise of his education? in the first two years of his presidency he had 100% control of the house and senate, and could have passed anything he wanted to? why did he not work and jobs? he wasted two years. young people do not get as sick as old people. he should of concentrated on jobs. as far as i'm concerned, it was

always scared health care could come later. he couldn't face that in -- he could have faced that in. he should have worked on jobs. guest: thank you, fred. on the first issue around photo id, our concern is less about showing an identification, as much as it is what identification is required. we want to make sure that we are not keeping people out of the process by requiring something that they do not have. we believe in the integrity of our elections, absolutely, and think our election system should be modernized. we left in the office that voting is on a tuesday because it met the need of voters in 1845. we should upgrade the system and make it work for a 21st century electorate. unfortunately, some of the id laws that have passed have had a

narrow list of id and have eliminated many students and the ideas that they have. it is shocking to me when we did some of the research, but over 65% of eligible 18 and 19-year- old drivers do not have a driver's license. i was in philadelphia at a high school, and there were a couple of hundred students. i asked them if they had drivers licenses. we're trying to figure out what to do are wrong the lost, and only one person raise their hand. bass said why not? -- i said why not, and they said they live in the city, take public transportation. the idea -- the id required are things these young people do not have. let's make sure that the idea that they do have are expected so that they are able to cast a

vote. in terms of your second point, i am not here to defend obama and his decisions, and as i stated earlier in the shell i think audi number -- a number of young -- changee frustrated - the not come quickly. i think the president will have a lot of explaining to do about what he did for them in office, and how he has prioritized the voters that put him into office. i think that is his job over the next six months, and i am anxious to see what he has to say about it as well. host: las vegas, nevada. chandler, a 20-year-old. caller: good morning. i would like to talk about a few topics. four years ago, i was a junior in high school, and president

barack hussain obama was running for president, and i figured the way he got elected with the number -- the amount of propaganda aimed toward young people. i remember watching nickelodeon and there were talking about obama. mtv, every 30 seconds there was an obama ad tech a lot of television programs that this demographic watches outnumbered ad four-to-one. i live in a hispanic area in a lot of the stores there is nothing but obama flyers and so forth. i am a little scared that voters are going to vote for obama, and nobody did studying

into this man. nobody knew who barack obama was prior to the election. going toze, if you're vote, looking to what the person is about. i think obama is a communist. people might not agree, but i despise him completely, and that is my right. like i said, looking to the person. do not vote for him just because somebody told you to. host: chandler, are you registered to vote next -- vote? caller: i am. i voted for the senator -- senator. i am a strong, conservative republican. i do not believe in socialism. i think it is a step down from communism. host: we will leave it there. heather smith?

guest: i do not fault the obama campaign to target young voters. i encourage both campaigns to do that. talk to them in the media outlets they are watching, in the neighborhoods they live, and i would like to see both campaigns do that and start a real debate about the issues facing young people. i am excited to hear their advertising on mtv and bringing politics to the youth vote in a meaningful way, but i also agree that people should make up their own mind. at rock the vote we are nonpartisan for that reason. we did not want to tell people what to think or who to vote for. we want to win power them to get information, do the research, and make sure they vote for the person who represents them best. it sounds like you have done

that research, chairman, and you will talk to your friends about it. -- chandler, and you'll talk to your friends about it. hopefully, they will show up on election day and make educated votes that represent them as individuals. host: it is early in the campaign, but have you seen a difference in the way the campaigns approach the young vote? guest: it is early, but it is different against previous years. both campaigns are targeting the young vote. we have seen the romney campaign at the iowa caucuses,

talking to students, and he hosted a conference call to talk about the student loan issue. i saw one of the super pacs run an advertisement clearly attacking obama and promoting mitt romney. it was aimed directly at young people. we see them spending resources on the right, then obviously the president launching a campaign on a campus. i am hopeful that for the first time at least in my lifetime, we see a real debate about these issues, instead of just talk. we see competing proposals on how to address these concerns. that will change the dynamic. if that continues, it will drive young voter turnout. host: we want to remind our viewers and listeners that the libertarian party national convention is being covered

today, live on c-span. the libertarian party will select their presidential nominee this weekend in las vegas, nevada, and the theme is liberty will win. the party is celebrating its 40th year. live coverage begins at noon with the process. delegates will hear speeches from candidates and then vote for their nominee. do you see much interest in third-party candidates, an alternative to president obama and governor mitt romney? guest: you know, we have, and as i was saying earlier, there are really strong conservative, republican voters, like we heard with chandler, strong democratic voters, but the vast majority of people in between think of them selves as independent, and they are less about the party, and more about the person in the

ideas. he is also about what the candidate is going to engage them. we have been on the campaign trail since january, doing primary after primary, and the most in the zea's and we have seen is for the ron paul campaign. in iowa, for example, many of the candidates showed up, but it was the ron paul supporters with their signs standing there and were clearly the most engaged. i think there is a lot to be said for presidential campaigns that invest young people as volunteers and engage them in the process. there has also been a lot of enthusiasm for candidates like ron paul. host: like we have been saying throughout the morning, our campaign 2012 bus is in north

carolina, talking to young voters and we want to show you what they are saying to the use of the social media platform tout. >> i believe young people will have an impact this election year. a lot of people are graduating with degrees, and it is hard in the job market to find work right now. host: the next call for heather smith comes from pennsylvania. jerome, on our line for independence. caller: i would first like think the cable companies for c-span, and this will make my 50th year of being eligible to vote. at the time i started, you could not vote until you were 21. now, in those 50 years, i have become very disgusted with the performance of all elected

elite, and i wonder if we should not just an election, and see what happens if they had an election and nobody voted. i wonder what would happen. i take my answer off the air. guest: you sound like a lot of the young people that i work with every day. the system is not working for me. it is placing money interest over the interest of voters. that is what i hear from young people. and my answer is that talking out gives more power to those that have it, and it is a power game at the end of the day. if we opt in the and head massive participation, voters would trump special-interest any day of the year. when i look at the used votes,

record turned out. -- youth vote, the record turnout. the highest number, 51%. that is awful. what would happen if we had 60%? 70%? 80%? that 51%, we were able to elect a president and change social media and insert a use voice in the process. what would happen if we had 60% or 70%? i am if from believer in the process of democracy. sometimes it is quite frustrating, and that also firmly believe that full participation is what will come the special interests at the end of the day and ensure that the voice of the people is heard. >host: our next call comes from

cincinnati, ohio, on our line for democrats. caller: i wanted to know if i in your conversations with youth who are attending schools not in their home states, do you also tell them how they can use an absentee ballot to cast their vote? thank you. guest: thank you. as it turns out, public education programs in high schools have been drastically cut. we are experiencing what i consider to be a severe crisis in our country where we are not educating our young people about how the process itself works. there have been a lot of really great initiatives. providing information to students about what it means to be a voter and how to navigate this process so you can in fact exercise your right. that includes the fact that you

have to register your vote and in many places, 28 days before the election. one of the top two reasons a young person misses the opportunity to vote -- they did not get registered in time. they did not realize there was a deadline. the second is not understanding the process, or can you vote where you go to college. the answer is yes. the supreme court has upheld that. not, how does absentee voting work. it takes people preparing in advance. we do a ton of educational program to help young people just a just -- understand the process and try to be a resource for them and help them understand what they need to do in order to cast a ballot on election day. we know they wanted for dissipate. it is a real shame that sometimes the process gets in the way. host: next up, dave on the line for republicans. caller: when i first voted, i

voted for kennedy, and we've seen what happened to him. it would have been a completely different country if he had not been assassinated. i helped get president carter elected. i went through the process and got invited to his inauguration, and now, i am supporting ron paul. i hope the young people do not give up. in nebraska, you have to vote for republicans, so i will vote against the actual republican. it is obstructionist. this went on since our present now. it is ridiculous. they want to blame him, but the republican party is obstructionist. so hang in there, and i hope you have a good day. guest: thanks very much.

i appreciate that. host: these are social media platform that we are using here. think of it as a video tweak -- tweet. we have gotten this from young voters across north carolina by way of our c-span 2012 campaign bus. "washington journ[video clip] ae is people voting just for the sake of voting in understanding why they are voting. host: do you see a lot people going to vote having no idea who or what they are voting for? >> no one wants to show up and not know what they are doing. it is an intimidating process. it is intimidating to walk up to the polling place for the very first time. i have the right idea?

what is it going to look like? sitting where i said, we get tens of thousands of phone calls and e-mails every week asking for information, looking for how the process works but also was on the ballot and how to find out information. some of the issues that we do see are that if you look at the candidates, they seem very similar. a job statement or a student loan statement. as a result, we have seen more and more young people using social media like this, asking hard questions and trying to get answers and sharing that information with their friends. these are our young people taking this very seriously. it is their first chance to vote, and they want to know what they are voting for when they walk into the booth, as do all of us. i hear that often, but i just do not believe it. >> want to take a look at some numbers from the youth vote in

2008. shows that in the ages of 18 to 29, president obama -- then senator obama -- the 66% of the vote. senator mccain of arizona got 31% of the book. back to the phones. pennsylvania, asher on our line for democrats. caller: thank you. my question has two parts. that is what does rock the vote do, if anything, to prevent or repeal any of these changes to the voting laws, which require id's that are often difficult to get? and if they did engage in that, does that involve some kind of

commitment that would appear to be partisan toward one party or the other? guest: it is a great question. in many of the states where the laws have passed, we have taken a youth-scented lands to the issue asking how it affects young people to ensure there's not a new barrier between them and the polling booth. for example, in wisconsin, we worked with students in the university to reassure the student i.d. card so that there card would count at the polls. we're supporting these students and activities around the country to insure that they are getting the right one than that they are educated about the process, but there is one state where we have not been able to do that. we have taken more aggressive action. that is in the state of florida. there was a law passed in 2011

that put incredible restrictions on third-party or community- based voter registration drives, so groups like rock the vote and the league of women voters who are in powering volunteers all across the state to register their friends to vote, to set up a table in a high-school cafeteria or college campus or in the community center -- the laws have put such restrictions on that and penalties of thousand-dollar fines and up to a year in jail for not meeting these restrictions. it has actually force us to, with a very heavy heart, stop our volunteer programs on the ground in florida. the league of women voters has had to do the same period in response, we have filed a lawsuit in the state. we had our preliminary injunction hearing on march 1 and are awaiting a decision from the court, but this is not a partisan issue. this is the state taking away an opportunity for young people,

for high school teachers, for senior citizens who want to engage in their community and talk about voter registration, in gauge their community in our democracy, and it is stopping those efforts. to me, this is a democracy issue. we have to fight back to insure that the strength of our democracy, which is people engaging in their communities in a civic way, is protected. host: our next call comes from raleigh, north carolina. antonio, an 18-year-old. caller: i'm about to go to state this year, and i was wondering -- will the unemployment rate be better by the time i graduate? i really want to find a job. i did not know what major i want to do. thank you. host: are you still with me? you said you are going to nc state?

>> yes. host: are you registered to vote? caller: not yet. host: 1 not. caller: i'm not sure. i'm trying to figure out where to go to vote. guest: i can help you with that. you can do to our website, and it will give you all the instructions you need, where to send it, and where to follow up to get information about where your polling place is, when to go, where to go, and all the stuff you need. we will take care of you. if you do that, we will get you registered today. you have to ask these candidates running to represent you what they are going to do to make sure that you get a job and that there are jobs available when you graduate. i believe firmly that if we as young people stand up and ask these questions and demand answers, we can force these candidates and campaigns to address it, and the day after

election day, once we have elected that president, we will make sure we are holding them accountable. if we do not figure out this deficit situation in the next four years, we have a much bigger problem for our country, so i will keep fighting. host: there is the website -- rockthevote.com -- where you can go and do the registration. we have one more tweet from north carolina about the upcoming election. we talked with some young voters. and iso a marine corps veteran working toward an engineering degree. my biggest influence would be my mother. i cannot remember how long she sat there, watched the news. >> -- host: she talked about her

biggest political influence. who is your biggest political influence? guest: that is a great question. probably my parents. as long as i can remember, they have encouraged me to stand up for what i believe in, do what i believe to be right, and have supported me in all the various decisions i have made in my life, including the work that i do, but the number one indicator of whether someone is going to register to vote is if their parents did. good work to all the parents out there. take your kids to the polling booth. teach them about the process. for those communities that do not have the opportunity, we will make sure we are in those classrooms teaching your students as well. host: teach your children and know they love you. heather smith, thank you so much for being on the "washington journal." we begin our look at north

carolina, the side of the democratic national convention with a discussion with melvin alston from the international civil rights center and museum. he joins us to discuss race relations and civil rights coming up after this break. >> this past week, the congressional executive commission on china held an emergency hearing on the ongoing human rights abuses there and the case out chinese activist chen guangcheng who spoke by phone during the hearing. >> i fear for my other family members lives. they have installed seven video cameras and even an electric fence. he wanted to -- he said those security officers in this house basically said, "we want to see

what else chen guangcheng can do." >> watch the rest of the c-span video library. it is archived and searchable. >> sunday on "q&a," -- >> i do not regard this as just a biography of lyndon johnson. i want each book to examine political power in america. this is a current of political power. seeing what a president can do in a time of great crisis -- how he gathers everything, what he does to get legislation moving to take command in washington -- that is a way of examining power in a time of crisis. i said, "i want to do this in full." i suppose it takes 300 pages. >> robert caro on cassette and the passage of power -- on "the

passage of power." look for our second conversation sunday may 20. >> "washington journal" continues. host: the c-span campaign 2012 buses coming on a tour of universities across the state ahead of the may 8 north carolina republican presidential primary and the democratic national convention in charlotte. today, the buses in greensboro, north carolina, at the side of the international civil rights center and museum. we are joined by the co-founder of the center, melville a -- melvin alston, who goes by skip in conversation. welcome to "washington journal." talk to us about the importance of greensboro in the sense that we saw in the late 1950's and

early 1960's. >> the world knows that february 1, 1960, four men from north carolina state university's that down at this very lunch counter we are being interviewed here today so the rest of america could stand up for freedom, justice, and equality. in this very spot, they were denied service just because of the color of their skin. that was 52 years ago. host: was this a plan even, or have they been studying, working on some civil-rights material and decided to try to go get a sandwich and a drink, or was this something that was planned? guest: we tell the story here at the civil rights museum exactly how it happened on january 31 of that year. the day before, they plan on what they would do when they came down here so they could make sure that they did everything proper and in order.

they got arrested. they knew what to do in that respect. also, if they did not get arrested, they knew what was going to basically happened in that respect. host: we are looking at the lunch counter at the international civil rights center and museum. is this the exact location where that woolworth was, or were these counters and seeds and what not moved into a new museum? is this the same situation as -- guest: yes, this is the exact location where the event took place and the sack lunch counter that was here in 1960 where they sat down at. we did not move anything. this is exactly the way it was. the same flooring. basically the same seating. same restaurant.

the equipment that was there. same lunch counter that was there. host: talk to us about the idea to make this the location for the international civil rights center and museum. guest: this is one of the many locations that discriminated against african-americans were service. it just so happened these young men picked woolworth's. this is one place where they know african-americans because of the color of their skin could not get served in this place. next door, a couple of blocks down the street, probably the same situation, but they chose walworth because they knew that an african-american could come here and shop but not sit at the lunch counter and eat or have a cup of coffee, so they basically decided this was the right place and the right time. host: talk to us about how you got involved in the project from the international civil rights

center and museum, as its co- founder. guest: in 1993, woolworth said decided to close the store, and there was an uproar from the community that they wanted the store to remain open because of the historical significance it had. it is not the same as the rest of the stores across the country. we got together a committee, and asked to let them to stay open. even jesse jackson got involved. they agreed to keep this door open for another 10 months. i guess they examine the bottom line and decided they had it ultimately closed the store, and we found out that woolworth's did not own the store, but the bank next door owned the property and the store. woolworth's was just leasing it from them. we ask them to save the store as a museum, and they said they did

not own it. first citizens was planning on tearing the building down to make room for a parking lot because they had just renovated and killed another brand-new office building. that is when we went to first citizens bank and ask them if they would consider selling the property to us in order to preserve it as an international civil rights center museum. after a lot of discussion, they agreed to do that, but they insisted we buy the property from them, and we had to pay approximately $700,000 for the property. we had about three months to come up with that kind of money. that is done we launched the all-out effort in order to try to save this building from being torn down and made into a parking lot. and now we are talking with skip alston, the co-founder of the international civil rights

museum. this comes to us via our c-span 2012 bus, which is touring for north carolina and will be there for the next few days. we have been talking to university students and going through towns throughout the state. if you would like to get involved in the conversation regarding race relations and civil rights, give us a call. the number is 202-737-0001 for democrats. republicans, 202-737-0002. and then as -- independents, 202-7 -- 202-68-0205. north carolina residents can call at 202-628-0184. we will also be reading tweets and e-mails. our first call comes from

savannah, georgia, on our line for democrats. caller: good morning. let me just take my hat off and thank mr. alston for his heroics, and thanks to c-span for having this kind of dialogue. there was a young man on the show earlier today that stated he was 16 years old and said he was upset about the situation, but i wonder -- is he watching c-span now? because mr. alston and those four young men who made a difference in american life today -- my wife was an employee at woolworth's in savannah, georgia. she understood what it meant to work behind the counter but not serve anyone in front of the counter of her color. let me take this moment, sir, to thank you and those young men from greensboro who went to north carolina -- those are the giants. this is what makes america

different than those folks standing up. the young man from california who called and said he was 16 years old and did not know what was going on and called the president of united states a communist -- he needs to be watching this program here. host: we will leave it there. guest: that is exactly right. i agree with and appreciate the thanks and the accolades, but again, those four young men that set down on that cold february day -- they need all of the accolades because the -- if it was not for the -- as martin luther king said ~ zero weeks later, he said that was the start of the modern-day civil rights movement. because things had gotten kind of stagnated and kind of scale, so when they sat down, that rejuvenated the rest of the african americans across this country to start a new

revolution to bring justice and equality for african-americans across the country. host: our next call comes from don on our line for independents in oregon. caller: i would just like to remind everybody that, you know, the civil-rights movement started a long time ago and was called a civil war. a lot of white people died during that war. also, you know, it was white people that created the naacp, and we also created the black college fund. i understand the civil rights

movement here, but you cannot just say that it is black and white. guest: civil rights and the struggle for freedom, justice, and equality in the african- american community did not just start in 1960. it started the day after slavery when african-americans were enslaved just because of the color of this again, it goes back hundreds of years, but it has been a steady process over those hundreds of years, as it still continues today. what did not a lone star of the naacp. they started it along with african-americans and whites, yes, he is correct, but not only whites started the naacp. host: our next call comes from collingswood, new jersey, on our line for independents.

caller: good morning. it happens that my stepfather's name was alston. he was from st. louis, missouri, and i guess is folks came up the mississippi river, some help, but i was in the navy, got out, went to work in north carolina of all places, way back in 1956 and so happy about what has happened since then. i happen to get my first name from grandfathered nevada and civil war. he was irish, and a totally approve of what needed. he got wounded, but he lived to be 90 something. keep up your good work, and god bless you all. thank you. guest: thank you very much. we appreciate those comments. caller: our next call comes from

florida on our line for democrats. caller: the young man that call, the second caller made a comment about black and white and how we came up with all these laws to help everyone with civil rights. he is right, but we all are americans, black and white. we all fought in the civil war. we all fought for america. i feel like right now, today, 2012, that different people are trying to keep us fighting against each other. we fought for civil rights. we fought for everything. you have people today coming into this country, and they want us to keep fighting with each

other. if we keep doing that, we will lose the country, and that is just the bottom line. guest: i totally agree. very well said. >> we are talking with skip austin, a co-founder of the international civil rights center and museum. he is coming to us live from greensboro, north carolina. our c-span campaign 2012 buses run the on a tour of town throughout the tar heel state, so if you see the bus going down the highway, give them a home. if you are in greensboro, by all means, visit the international civil rights center and museum. our next call ironically comes from greensboro, north carolina. ashley on our line for republicans, you are on the "washington journal." caller: i just want to say i am calling from greensboro, and i have gone on the tour to see

woolworth and the sides and get the history, and i recommend anyone who visits to do so. it is a great tour, but i would also like to talk about the comments that are being said. i would really like to hear from the gentleman about -- i guess i am part of the crowd 5% of african-americans that did not vote for president obama. i like to hear his comments on the effect that president obama had on the election since the black vote. we pretty much gave him our support, and he does not really stand for anything that really helps the black community. he fights to get things which republicans have fought for to help get more choice for schools, better education for students.

for a comet -- by which people with the referring to him as the first black president, since his mother is white. he really is the first by racial president. host: skit alston -- skip alston, your thoughts. guest: i think president obama has done a lot of good for not only the black community, but the white community and the entire world. there's a lot -- it says a lot for our people that we can look beyond race and see the good that lies in a person's heart and mind, and it brings us back to the good -- back to what martin luther king jr. said that we need to love each other as brothers and sisters lest we die together as fools. also that he should be judged by the content of his character, not by the color of his skin, and that is what i think america did when they elected barack obama as the president of the united states. they looked beyond this person's

skin and saw his intellect and heart and that is why they elected him president. not because he was african- american. because he was the right man at the right time to lead this country and basically the power of the world as far as being president of united states of america. >> one of the headlines in the "washington post" this morning reads "minority voter registration has dropped since 2008." talk to us about black voter registration or minority voter registration in south carolina. >> -- guest: mainly in north carolina, we are very excited

about getting out the vote for the primary coming up may 8. we have done a lot of voter registration, voter education along with the naacp, the national action network, organizations that have been on the ground here in north carolina making sure that not only african-americans get the right to register to vote, but the entire state. we are looking forward to the national convention of the democratic party. that is going to bring a lot of excitement to us and around the world, so we are very excited, and we are getting people registered to vote, and they will be voting come november 6 for president of the united states. in north carolina, we are fired up and ready to go. host: our next call comes from colonial heights, virginia."

-- colonial heights, virginia. caller: how are you doing? it is an honor to be on the line with you. what are we doing for civil rights in 2012? it used to be a black and white issue. now, it is the one person -- the 1% against the 99%. it is about what the rich are willing to give to the poor instead of allowing the opportunity we used to have in america. how do you do civil rights today when it is no longer about skin color, even though it still has black people as the bottom feeders, but we are all now affected by the change of the economy. guest: i totally agree that the battles that my mother and my

grandparents fought -- we do not have those battles now. it is a different struggle. there is not as much blatant racism as there was 50 or 60 years ago. the focus now is not just on civil rights. it is based on silver rights, meaning economic empowerment for the african-american community. not only do we it -- what did some of the right to sit down at a lunch counter to have a cup of coffee, we want to be able to own those lunch counters. not only was the fight back then to sit on the front of us, now we want to be able to own those buses. the fight to be able to live in any neighborhood that you want to has been fought. now, we have to have the fight for economic opportunities to be able to afford the houses in any neighborhood that we want to live in. it is a different fight, more about silver rights rather than

civil rights at this point. economic of our net debt economic imperatives for the african-american community. their jobs, opportunities to be able to own your own businesses, and entrepreneurship is our focus now. not just being employees, we want to be employers so we can hire folks to do a job that we have already been doing for hundreds of years. there is a different focus, not only get about civil rights but also about silver rights and protecting the rights that we have also which we fought for and our parents so richly fought for 50 or hundreds of years ago so we will not be able to -- will now have to go back to fight the same battles that our parents and grandparents had to fight. this generation has to be looking at silver rights and economic empowerment. host: next up, texas, bob on our line for republicans. caller: i think it is great that we live in a world that the

united states can have a black president now. we have come to the point where obama may be the first communist president ever elected in the united states, but the communist party, henry wallace in 1932 was elected vice president because he was the leader of the communist wing of the democratic party. today, the whole democratic party has aligned themselves -- and you can check this -- across the world with communist programs, so obama just has solidified it at the top. the house of representatives and senate and president now are full of communists. thank you. host: during the height of the civil rights era, the fbi --

particularly j. edgar hoover -- were concerned about the presence of communists with the civil rights movement. is there anything at the international civil rights center and museum that talks about the fears that the civil rights movement was being infiltrated by communists? >> -- guest: know, that is not something we were focused on, and i think that was something made up by j. edgar hoover in order to put a dark light on our leaders at the time. at to was not justified or substantiate it whatsoever at all, so it is just another way of trying to divide and conquer and get away from the real focus, which was civil and human rights right here in america and the rights that people should have just because they are basically human. that is not something that we focus on. basically, it is a false premise

and something basically made up to divide and conquer as far as the african-american community is concerned and to put a negative light and an unpolite and the african-american leaders during that time. host: next up, renee on our line for independents calling from houston, texas. caller: thank you for taking my call. first, i wanted to say you do deserve accolades and respect because it took a lot for you and your partner to first of all, be concerned enough to raise the money to insure that we had this historical monument. i went to law school in north carolina to do civil-rights work. but here is what i would like to ask. what i think of civil rights today -- things might not be as

place at -- as blatant as they once were, but racism is still very much an issue in this country. thus far as economics, it has always been a problem. it seems to be just more over today. my concern is with the museum like yours, the museum in tennessee, do you think we need to do more to educate -- that might be going to churches and community organizations -- to really let people know that people need to understand this history so that then, we have the knowledge and power to begin really creating for ourselves not necessarily dependent upon government -- and i'm not anti- government, welfare support programs, but what i want to see is for us to become more independent and stop looking to the government to provide support programs for us. there is enough money in our community collectively to do everything we need to do and really live the dream for all

the folks that allow us to be here today. guest: i. fortunately serve as the county commissioner here in gifford county. have been serving for the best four years as chairman. i am deeply involved in government on a local standpoint, and i think government does have a role for people who cannot help themselves. not a permanent role, but basically a safety net so that they might be able to recover from a bad situation. i do not think the government should be the end all for every situation, but i think government does have to play a role because we pay our taxes for government to be that safety net for all people.

at the african-american community takes advantage of that, so be it. the government should be there because we have to look at people as people first and not by the color of their skin. i do not like to just say that african-americans are the only ones looking to the government for support. it is all people looking to the government for support when they need it. if african-americans need it disproportionately, then the government should be there in order to protect and help them in the time of need. everybody else should be able to have that opportunity also. host: talking with skip alston in greensboro while we are showing the website, can you

talk to us about what folks will see at the civil rights center and museum regarding that generation of civil rights leaders and what kind of influence it may have on the next generation of civil rights leaders coming up? guest: we tell the story first of all on how those young men decided to come down to will words, what courage it took for them to get together. we tell that story through video. we also talk about the hall of shame. we showed the picture and it still lying in his casket. we showed the bombing of buses during the freedom rides.

we showed basically a lynching for sport that whites had back then, lynching african-americans on the weekend and having their children to be able to witness such things, and they are they're basically celebrating and drinking beer and liquor and things of that nature. we showed those figures, and then we tell about how those young men came to woolworth's and sat down at the lunch counter, what they had to go through with people behind them yelling racial slurs at them, talking about them, trying to intimidate them, and we talked about how the masses and community came to their aid. after they came down on february fund, the white women's college, how the ladies came from the college in order to assist the

struggle, it became a collective effort among college students in order to assist those young men in their quest for freedom and how the community came up and bailed them out of jail. how they came and for seven home runs -- six home runs -- six and a half months, they kept up their fight. we tell that story and talk about the hall of courage. how african-americans during that time started their own businesses. we showed how they had to go throughout the whole country, and when they could not stay in

a hotel, how they had it carry the green book. a lot of people remember the green book. a book of hotels and places where african-americans could stay when they traveled. we talk about those different things, and we talk about the inequities on education. we showed those who are also in prison. we honor those who gave their lives for freedom and justice and equality, and we end with a picture of all of the people in the entire museum and a collage of the picture of our president, barack obama, of how far we have come and where we want to go for the future. without the that the international perspective, how they use the strategy of sitting down in a non-violent protest in tenements where -- in tianenment

square. host: we have an e-mail that says, let's go back to the phones. new york, new york, jerry, on our line for democrats. you are on the phone with skip alston from the civil rights center and museum. caller: i have two comments. i live in new york, but i'm originally from the south, so i know how things are down there. i don't think a lot of people do. the gentleman a couple of calls ago with commenting about the civil war was adequate.

i think that is a common-sense issue. after the civil war, we have the jim crow laws and the prison workers, which was equal to slavery, i guess. the other caller was commenting about obama is a communist theory to me, that is just what america is so paranoid about having a black president that they think of things like he is a communist. human beings by nature need to have rules. if that is why they call him a communist, so be it. if we had more bulls on wall street, we would not be in this mess right now. the other thing is we need to look at our civil rights overseas and how it affects us here. september 11, i watched 3000 people die in front of me, and that is directly related to our tax dollars going to israel to suppress other brown people overseas. we need to think about helping the people of color in our country, not sending tax dollars overseas to suppress other people.

host: your socks, sir. guest: let me totally agree with the caller. -- your thoughts, sir. guest: let me totally agree with the caller, and let me say i also agree with the person who did the e-mail. if it was not for what america being involved in the civil- rights movement, we probably would never have gotten as far as we have gotten here. whites have always been involved in civil rights, even with dr. martin luther king, jr., in his struggle for civil rights, and going all the way back to harriet tubman as far as the underground railroad. whites have always been involved in african americans bringing about freedom, justice, and equality. we have never said we did it all by ourselves and with ever be able to do it all by ourselves. even this museum, the white community throughout the state and country has embraced this museum.

if it was not for the white community working along with african-american leadership and the african-american community, we would not have this museum. i would be the first to say that what america has been a very intricate part of bringing about freedom, justice, and the quality here in america and also in our local community. host: our next call comes from shreveport. tim, you are on the "washington journal." caller: a couple of commons. has anyone seen the reporting that fox news did where o'reilly, those two white people that were news reporters, and they were pulled out of their van at a red light by a bunch of blacks, and that almost killed them. no reporting on any news but fox. the police are trying to hide it.

the commonwealth of virginia newspaper, because they are liberal, even tried to hide it. but it is all over fox. bill o'reilly has been reporting on it all week. my next comment is this is no black, white, brown, pink, or orange. it goes to all the unwed brothers that have children. that is the democratic playbook -- listen up, new york, that just called in -- that have done what mothers that are having children -- that have unwed mothers that are having children. cannot keep going down this road. host: we will leave it there. do you want to make a comment? guest: not really. the caller has his opinion about that. i do not think that we should limit people from having babies

or anything like that just because they are not married. that is not to say that they do not have a right to be able to have children, so to go that far as far as unwed mothers not having children, i do not support that at all. host: next up this jill on our line for independents calling from lima, ohio. caller: i was born in 1958, and my mother was from south carolina, and she was a nurse. my father is from ohio, and he was a farmer. we did a lot of traveling back and forth on old u.s. 25, and i can remember the signs on the restaurants. you know, the little diners. they said "white's only" or "

color entrants in the rear." my mother gave me a rich education and my father also about how it was so unfair and what the civil rights movement meant to work. i have family that struggled with an interracial situation. i think people don't realize until it affects their personal family what it means to have family, nieces, nephews, cousins that are by racial, and although i knew before -- i mean, i love all people. i don't care what color they are or even what religion they are. host: that is jill in lima,

ohio. before i let you go, i want to get your response to an "new york times article from yesterday's paper with the headline -- cassette and four years later, race still an issue for some voters." they say for nearly three and a half years, a black family has occupied the white house. in much of that time, what has been most remarkable about that that is how and remarkable it has become in the country. skip alston, you get the last word. guest: i think president obama will go down in history not just as the first african-american president, but as the best president this country has ever had because he had to bring the

country back from recession and still trying to do so. he has done what he said he would do as far as bringing about justice against osama bin laden. he has ended the war. for the past 20 months, we have had steady job increase in this country, but obama should be rewarded for what he has done as the president of the united states. if he gets four years, the best will be yet to come. host: we have been talking with skip alston, co-founder of the international civil rights center and museum in of carolina, brought to us by our c-span campaign 2012 s, currently on a tour of cities, towns, and universities in north carolina. thank you very much for being on the program. guest: thank you

mission and when you have a