threes or defeats -- victories or defeats in the field of battle or politics but we will be remembered for our contributions to the human soaring on from the steps of the lincoln memorial, i looked down and i saw the vietnam war and world war ii memorials. these were people who fought and sacrificed and some died for those ideals of this country. then i looked beyond that and there was the washington monument, currently clad in a temporary, artfully designed scaffolding. [laughter] you laugh but i thought it looked rather at theriault and, at the same time, having substance, soaring up there to the sky. i looked beyond that, far beyond that, and i saw the national

nuthouse. [laughter] [applause] the place where some wackos closed the government and throw hundreds of thousands of people out of work and then they turn around and say they are creating jobs. these wackos that disrupt funerals for military personnel who died abroad and then they say they are doing that to strengthen our military. it is absolutely crazy, absolutely irrational. this on the other end of our national mall. total irrationality and the shining ideals of our nation. it's not two separate cities. it's the same city and it's our

national capital. it is very representative of what america is all about. the irrational and the ideals. those two opposites have defined my life totally because i grew up as a child imprisoned him barb wire american prison camps. pearl harbor was bombed and overnight, american citizens of japanese answers straight -- ancestry were looked at with suspicion and fear and outright hatred. but despite that, young japanese-americans, like all americans, rushed to their recruitment centers to volunteer to serve in the military. this act of patriotism was answered with a slap in the face. they were denied military service and labeled enemy --

non-aliens. it was outrageous to call people who were voluntarily there to fight for this country the enemy but to compound that but calling us non-aliens. what are they? non-aliens? they are citizens defined in the negative. we became enemy non-aliens and we were some hourly rounded up at gunpoint and imprisoned in 10 barb wire american prison camps and some of the most desolate places in the country. i remember those barbed wire fences. remember the tall carrots with the machine guns pointed at us and i remember the searchlights that followed me when i made the night runs to the latrine. to tell you the truth, as a five-year-old boy, i thought it

was kind of nice that the search light lit the way for me to pee. [laughter] i was too young to really understand what was happening. children are amazingly adaptable. what would be grotesquely abnormal became my normality behind those hard wire fences. it became routine for me to line up three times per day to eat lousy food in a noisy mess hall. it became normal for me to go with my father to bathe at a mass shower. it became normal for me to go to school in a black tarpaper barracks and begin the school day with a pledge of allegiance to the flag. i could see the barbed wire fence and the sentry towers right outside my schoolhouse window as i recited the words " "with liberty and justice for all."

i was too young to appreciate the irony of those words. for my parents, it was the most painful, degrading, and turbulent period of their lives. a year into imprisonment, the government realized there was a wartime manpower shortage. and so as suddenly as they rounded us up, they opened the military for service by japanese-americans. as a standing as it might sound, thousands of young japanese- americans, the same ones that were rejected, when from behind that barb dwyer imprisoned leaving their families in imprisonment and volunteered to fight for this country. they were put into a segregated, all japanese-american unit, the 442nd regimental team and sent

to the battlefields of europe. they were sent out on the most dangerous missions. and they sustained the highest combat casualty rate of any unit of its size. they fought with amazing courage. they became heroes. and when the war ended, the 442nd returned to the united states as the most decorated unit of the entire war. and the american flag that covered the coffins of those that perished on those battlefields were delivered back to their wives or their parents, still behind those barbed wire fences. it is a stinging irony. that is a part of american history. when i became a teenager, i started reading civics books and

history books. i read about all of the glorious chapters in american history. but i could not find anything about what was my childhood. i engaged my father in conversations after dinner, sometimes they became very heated. from those conversations, i got a better understanding of our democracy. my father said, "ours is a people's democracy and it can be as great as the the people can be but it's also as fallible as people are." our democracy is vitally dependent on good people being actively engaged in the process. sometimes democracy's feet have to be put to the fire. shortly after those conversations, my father took me to the at least evenson's campaign headquarters and we

volunteered and that was my introduction to electoral politics and that was my introduction to advocacy for social justice. i became inspired by the words of dr. martin luther king and i was actively involved in the civil rights movement. when the vietnam war started, i joined the anti-vietnam war movement. i became a member of the eipj - the entertainment industry for peace and justice and worked alongsid donald sutherland and jane fonda and in 1972, i became a mcgovern delegate to the democratic national convention in miami beach. in the 1970s when the movement began to get redress and an apology for that incarceration of japanese americans, i joined

in with that as well. i testified at the congressional commission gathering information on the internment. i was involved in all the civil rights and social justice advocacy campaigns except for one issue that was organic to me. that was an immutable part of me from the time i was a young boy, i knew i was different in ways more than my asian face. the other boys would say, "monica is hot." [laughter] sally is cute. i thought monica and sally were nice -- [laughter] but bobby was exciting.

[laughter] when ever he came near me or talked to me, my heart started to pound. the other guys did not feel that way. i was the only one, i thought. i was very alone. and i had a need to be part of the gang, to be part of everybody. and so i acted like monaco was hot and sally was cute. i dated girls. i went on double dates. i went to the senior prom. i played a part. as i got older, i met others who are like me. and i discoveredgay bars. i was comfortable there. people were friendly and they were who they were as i could be who i was. i could relax.

but i found something else that we shared in common. it was a fear. a fear of being exposed. we were living double lives. they told me about some gay bars that got raided by the police and the patrons there were all herded out and loaded onto paddy wagons and taken to the police station, fingerprinted, photographed and put on a list called deviants. that was a fearsome thing. whenever i walked into a new gay bar, i always looked for the exits. we lived in constant, ever present fear of eating exposed ever present fear of eating

exposed. in 1969, two earthshaking events happened in my life. the first one was "star trek" got canceled. [laughter] i had been working on a tv series for three seasons and the ratings were low and the network had the numbers to justify cancellation. and i was unemployed. as low as the ratings were, "star trek" was a respected show and a good credit. i needed to parlay that and build some momentum to continue my career. all the way across the country, on the east coast, in new york city, something else happened -- there was a gay bar there called the stonewall inn.

its patrons were gays and lesbians and some drag queens. on that july summer afternoon, the police decided to raid the stonewall inn but this time, something different happened. the people inside the bar had had enough. they were not going to take more of that bullying and harassment. they fought back. those drag queens stood strong on their high heel shoes and started throwing things. empty beer bottles, salt shakers, chairs, everything they could throw and they fought fiercely and forced the police to retreat. they called for reinforcements but in the meantime, it inside the stonewall inn, phone calls were made to friends around greenwich village and by the time the police reinforcements arrived, people had been pouring out of the greenwich village

buildings and they attacked the reinforcements with stones and trash cans and whatever else they could throw. a major riot ensued and that riot continued for six nights straight. and that was the beginning of the gay liberation movement. it was the buzz and all the gay bars across the nation. all were thrilled and excited. and motivated and galvanized but i was silent. i had a career to protect. and then i had many relationships with many men, some brief, some more and i met a guy named brad.

[laughter] [applause] he was a runner and i was a runner but he was a great runner. he was lean then -- [laughter] he was tight muscled and he was handsome. and he was the best runner i had ever seen. i heard that he had run a few marathons and i had never run a marathon. so i asked him to train me for my first marathon. [laughter] and i finished that first marathon is to brad. and we became great running buddies. soon, we became more than running buddies. he moved in with me. and he too, shared the fear that i had, the constant, ever

present fear of being exposed. he was a young journalist. he was not a member of the national press club yet. but he had to protect his career as well. and then in the 1980s, a strange, mysterious disease started affecting a lot of our friends. they suddenly became very ill and started drastically losing weight and became skeletal and had to be rushed to the hospital frequently. and we were outraged by the kinds of care they got. it was perfunctory at best. the treatment that they got was reprehensible. it was aids. organizations began to form to

demand appropriate funding for research to find some way of dealing with this horrible disease. and it was not forthcoming. and for the first time, we donated money to a gay-related organization. but we remained silent. the horror that getting worse. our constant fear had now turned to terror. it kept getting worse and worse and worse and so, i marched in my first aids walk. i became physically present on the issue. but i marched as an ally, a cloak to disguise me. it kept getting worse and worse. gay organizations, gay and

lesbian organizations, became very vocal and very visible. and that generated the homophobic blowback and they were connected. they had -- some more gay politicians, members of that homophobic group. and they started institutionalizing their homophobia. they passed laws to confine us, don't ask, don't tell, defense of marriage act -- of those laws, to me, looked like barbed wires, legalistic barbed wires with the sharp, hard barbs of prejudice and ignorance. and still, i remained silent. but exciting, positive things started happening. the california legislature, both

houses, the senate and the assembly, past the marriage equality bill in 2005. it was a landmark event. it was unprecedented. all it required was a signature of our governor to become the law of the state. the governor will happen to be, at that time, arnold schwarzenegger. when he campaigned for that office, he said "i'm from hollywood and i have worked with gays and lesbians in some of my best friends are gays and lesbians." i thought surely he would sign the bill. when he vetoed that bill playing to his archconservative republican base, we were enraged. but we were at home watching the news. on the news, we saw young people pouring out onto santa monica boulevard venting their rage on arnold schwarzenegger and we

shared that bridge but we were at home, comfortable in bed. and we talked about it and that's when i decided i've got to speak out on this issue. we are getting so close and we have people like arnold schwarzenegger to squash it. i've got to speak out and for me to speak, my voice had to be authentic. and so i spoke to the press for the first time as a gay man. and we became actively and vocally and visibly engaged. i joined with thehrc, the human rights campaign, and went on a speaking tour at universities, governmental agencies, at corporate meetings. i came to washington and lobbied our legislators.

i went to sacramento and lobbied our legislators. things began to happen. in california, our state supreme court in 2008 ruled that marriage equality is indeed constitutional according to the california state constitution. and so brad and i immediately seized the opportunity and got our wedding license in west hollywood. we were the first couple to get that license. we were married in the democracy forum of a japanese american national museum. we loved the idea of adding married in the form of democracy. we had 200 of our relatives and friends there with us. amongst them was a distinguished american. he is a veteran -- he was a veteran of the second world war,

a member of the 442nd regimental combat team, a bearer of the medal of honor, the highest recognition, military recognition the nation can grant. and he was the senior senator from the state of hawaii, a very good friend of ours, the late senator daniel inoutye. he was there as our guest at our wedding and we were absolutely thrilled. other good things started to happen. the matthew shepard-james byrd junior hate crimes prevention act was passed. don't ask, don't tell fell and now, gays and lesbians can serve proudly and openly as who they are. they are true patriots having gone through pe thatriod of silence. this summer, the supreme court

of the united states ruled that marriage equality is, indeed, constitutional in the states that approved it. 13 states lost this city -- 13 states plus the city, our national capital, has marriage equality but our work is not done yet. when i pledge allegiance to the flag, i pledge allegiance to one nation under god, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. we have divided our nation 1/3 with the quality and 2/3 with people who hunger for equality but do not have it. our work is not done but i am optimistic because recently in california, the california field poll showed that 78% of young people under 39 support and support strongly, equality for

lbgt people. 78% -- it's a matter of time. i'm very optimistic and i love young people. especially young straight couples because they are going to be making the gay babies of tomorrow. [laughter] [applause] it is for them that we have to be agents of change today. my life has been shaped and formed by people that i consider change agents. those young man who went from behind those prison camp fences to fight for this country and some to die for this country, they changed america for us, japanese-americans, and they were might change agents.

my parents were also might change agents. when we were let out of the camp, our first home was on skid row in downtown los angeles. we did not have anything. and from that, by working long, hard hours, they gave their three children fine educations in outstanding, great american universities. the university of california at berkeley, the university of california at los angeles. the university of southern california and the university of wisconsin. they were our change agents and yes, those drag queens at the stonewall inn also are much age agents. just are my change agents. this nation has been defined by

change agents. when this nation was founded, women had no rights, they could not vote, they could not own land, they could not even have rights over their own children. because determined women and fair-minded man challenged and debated and marched for equal rights for women, today we have three women sitting on the supreme court of this country. we have had three women serve as u.s. secretaries of state. and we've had a woman astronaut lead a team of astronauts and go soaring out into space. they were all change agents. the first change agents were our founding fathers who articulated the shining ideals of this country. they were change agents but they also kept other human beings as slaves.

because those slaves hungered for freedom and justice and they struggled for it, and because their children and their grandchildren and the generations that followed continued their struggle, through the jim crow years and the years of the civil rights movement, inspired by dr. king's eloquence, today we have an african-american in that big white house on pennsylvania avenue. and they are all change agents. we are a nation of change agents. and that's why i am optimistic about our future. but, i still have a continuing ever present fear. i fear that big white building with the dome on it at the far end of pennsylvania avenue.

we still have january 15 and february 7. be afraid, america. be afraid. thank you very much. [applause] [applause] [applause] >> thank you. we have a lot of questions on a lot of topics. we will try to cover a little ground in a bunch of areas. this questionnaire asks -- you talked about the work yet to be done in terms of gay marriage being legal in all states. what do you see as the next civil rights fight on the horizon after gay marriage?

>> we still have a long ways to go. as long as there are young people bullied and made to feel very inferior, as long as young people get kicked out of their homes when they come out as gay or lesbian, and as long as some young people feel that their future is so hopeless and they kill themselves, we have a lot to do. we have to have, first of all, education and then some legislation to make sure that those horrible things don't happen to young people. >> this questionnaire says -- for first generations americans whose parents are not as progressive and liberal as many parents born in the u.s., what advice do you have are bringing up touchy subjects like being gay?

>> that's very difficult. it depends on the culture from which that first generation parent comes from. i am most familiar with the asian culture and particularly the japanese culture. the japanese culture is not so shaped and ruled by religion as it is here with the bible. it is primarily a boost nation. -- a buddhist nation. the culture is to work collectively and it's a very uh- they have a big middle-class and so there is a lot of utilitarian as him. -- a lot of e galley at terry and as him -- a lot of egalitarianism.

it is not so much religious values as being a part of a comfortable society. for young people to come out in a society like that, there is not that fear of being struck down by the devil or anything like that. the concern is it will embarrass the family. once society is educated, it's not going to be an embarrassment. that's why i think it is so important for more -- silent gays and lesbians, particularly in the asian culture, to come out and be open and be as they are, insurance salesman, schoolteacher, policeman, whatever you are and it makes it more socially acceptable. there was a quote that i was

going to suggest putting on the congress -- the walls of congress, because i use a lot of quotes on the memorial and what i think of is the quote from the great former congressman who said, "these days it is more socially acceptable to be gay than to be a congressman." [laughter] i think that should be carved into the walls there. [laughter] >> you talked about your enjoyment of running and carry the 1984 olympic torch. you called on the national olympic committee to move the 2014 winter games out of sochi because of the russian laws banning the promotion of gay relationships and the games are less than four months away. do you think the u.s. should bike -- boycott those games for that reason? >> no, i don't believe in a boycott.

the athletes that participate in the olympics have been training for years now. they are reaching their peak and they should not be penalized. the homophobic laws in russia that was passed recently -- when they made the presentation to the international: pics committee to have the right to present the winter elliptic's atsochi, russia, they pledged to honor the olympic code which says no discrimination. they breached that pledge. russia needs to be punished but it's too late to pull it out of sochi now. we have sent messages and petitions to the international olympics committee to be responsible and call russia out [applause]

>> this questionnaire says she did not learn about the internment of japanese americans until she was in high school watching [inaudible] how do you feel about this lack of information on this part of history? >> it is a regrettable part of american history. i think we learn more from those chapters of our history where we faltered them from the many glorious chapters we have. it's important that we learn from our mistakes and if we don't know about it, we will keep repeating the same mistakes again. that is why we founded the japanese american national museum where an affiliate of the smithsonian -- we are an affiliate of the smithsonian and send it around the country. senator inouye was the chairman of our board of governors. he was a strong and active supporter of the museum. we work with the teachers

association in arkansas, that's where we were first incarcerated, in southeastern arkansas. we have established teaching curricula on this subject of the internment of japanese americans. it's being taught in the schools. it has sent out a ripple effect. there were two internment camps in arkansas, oath in the swamps of the southeastern sector. we were at it cap calledrohr and there was another called jerome and in the middle of those two internment camps there is a small town called mcgee and earlier this year, they converted their abandoned railway station and to the world war ii japanese american internment museum.

it is a small museum but it is very comprehensive and beautifully done. if any of you should be driving around southeastern arkansas, you might visit that museum in mcgee, arkansas. >> what is the status of" allegiance?" is it likely to come to broadway? and when is it likely to come to dc? >> "allegiance" began about three years ago. we developed this musical and we developed it because we can have books and lectures and talks about the internment which helps us understand intellectually but the most powerful way to understand a story is to feel that story. musical theater hits you hear, emotionally.

it humanizes the story. we developed "allegiance" and we first opened at the old globe theater in san diego, distinguished regional theater. we were greeted with rave reviews and that was followed by sold-out houses and our run was extended another week and when we finally closed, we had broken all box office attendance records at the 72nd year old old globe theater. then we won the best musical of 2012 from the san diego critics circle. that all bodes well for our transfer to broadway. however, something unusual is happening this year. usually, there are few new plays and musicals coming into broadway and there are theaters

that are dark. this year, we have a plethora of musicals and thomas trying -- and dramas trying to find a home on broadway and we are particularly fussy. we want a certain size capacity theater. we are looking for a theater of about 1200-1400 seats. it's very difficult to come by. we are like vultures perched on time square buildings looking down and looking for the weak ones and waiting for them to die. [laughter] >> moving onto social media, you are known as the king of facebook. what have you learned from your popularity on social media?

any surprises you have discovered there? >> let me give you a little background on why and how my social media activities started. it's related to "allegiance." we have invested a lot in this musical with their energies and ideas and our resources. but it's about something that's little-known and america -- in america and it's a rather unhappy chapter of american history. and so, first of all, we had to raise the awareness because there is so many people still to this day, people that seem well informed, to tell me that i knew nothing about this internment story. we had to raise the awareness of americans about the internment of japanese americans. and then, once the awareness was raised, we wanted to let them

know that there is a musical on it. and there are wonderful songs, moving songs, and great production numbers that are jazzy and resume says. [laughter] broadway musical numbers and one on baseball that's a real terrific number. and it's relevant to the story because it was playing baseball that made us a community. it brought us all together. we developed this musical and we wanted to let people know that there is this musical. and then to whet their appetite and make them want to come and see it. the best way to do that v isia social media. i began on social media but my base is made up of sci-fi geeks and nerds. [laughter] you are there areas yes, i see you.

[laughter] [applause] so we had to develop that and the best way to do that, i thought, was to say funny things about sci-fi or science itself and occasionally throw in some serious snippets in. as the audience grew, i talked about lgbt equality and suddenly, the audience grew even more. there is a great overlap between sci-fi geeks and nerds and the lgbt community. [laughter] then i started blogging about the internment of japanese americans and opened a few eyes. there was a lot of engagement there. it kept growing and growing. that's why we began the social media campaign. what i learned is that there are

millions of people out there. [laughter] i had no idea it was going to grow so big. i am absolutely astounded. it is like a topsy from "uncle tom's cabin." i just growed. i learned that there are a lot of people out there that you can reach via social media and the best honey to catch those flies with his humor. something funny will always grab them. >> we got a couple of questions about "ohhhh myyy." tell us about the genesis of that. >> somehow, my oh my has become my signature. i have been using it all my life. it's a word that when you're surprised, you say " oh my" or

when something wonderful happens. when you see a beautiful sunrise or a radiant sunrise, you say "oh my." or when we land a man on the moon, you say "oh my." it's a very handy and all encompassing word. [laughter] i have been using it all the time. but, i had one experience that started it all off as my signature. i did the howard stern show. yes, there is a howard stern fan. howard stern says a lot about racist things. in response to something outrageous he said, i said "oh my." he had it on tape. that's all he needed. whether i am there or not, [laughter] when someone says something

outrageous, he has a button and presses and my voice comes on "oh my." [laughter] [applause] >> we certainly cannot leave today without a "star trek" question. how did your fellow starcher cast members embrace your coming out? >> uh - at the end of the week, we have what we call wrap parties, the beer is rolled out and the pizza is brought in. people bring their wives or girlfriends or the women bring their husbands or their boyfriends with them to join us for the end of the week wrap party. initially, i was bringing my friends who happens to be girls but later, i started bringing my buddies.

one day, there would be ron and the next week there might be mel and then another week there might be a brad. they are sophisticated people. they said, "oh, george, i get it." they understand that if they talked about it, it would be damaging to my career and they are cool people. they remained silent. but, occasionally, i get some clues from them. when we report to the studio in the morning, before we go to our dressing rooms, we go to make up and get into make up and then

gather around the coffee urn and sip coffee. this particular morning, i was at the coffee urn with walter and we were chitchatting. all of a sudden, walter started going like this -- you know, urging me to turn around. i turned around to look and there was this dropdead you're just extra. [laughter] dressed in that tight starfleet uniform. [laughter] and my heart stopped. and then i turned around and looked at walter and walter was smiling and he went -- [laughter] i knew he knew now. >> we are, unfortunately almost out of time but before i ask you the last question, a couple of housekeeping matters -- i would like to. remind you of our upcoming speakers on november 5, we have rolled it

on -- we have goldie hawn and then walt bettinger from charles schwab. i would like to present our guest with the traditional national press club coffee mug. [applause] >> thank you. [applause] >> and for the last question -- tell us, are there gay vulcans and if so, how do they socialize? [laughter] >> i can answer that. it's a changed world now. we have the new version of "star trek." the last two movies had younger actors playing our roles. the actor who plays spock, a vulcan, is played by zachary quinto who is gay. we have an out gay vulcan and he happens to be spock.

[laughter] zachary is a real great guy and he's also a very serious actor. as you know, he was on "heroes," and i was mr. knocker mora -- nakamura, the father of hiro who has magical powers. zachary was the villain in that. zachary was the villain. he had evil powers. after the series was canceled, he went to new york, and he had been doing off-broadway plays. in a challenging role in a great american drama, "angels in america," playing the gay attorney. or, he was not an attorney yet, but a very important, dramatic,

demanding role, and he got good reviews for that. he opened on broadway with a wonderful actress, cherry jones, and one to tony awards in tennessee williams "the glass menagerie," and he got luminous reviews. the new york times said he was the best tom winfield that he had ever seen. zach is a wonderful actor. as a matter fact, we have tickets to see him tomorrow. we are headed to new york right after this event here. so, he is a gay vulcan. that is how they celebrate, they become serious actors. [applause] [laughter]

>> thank you for coming today. also, i would like to say thank you to the national press club staff for organizing the event. you can find more information about the press club and a copy of today's program on our website, www.press.org. thank you. we are adjourned. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] >> looking ahead tomorrow, we'll be live with governor pat mccrory. we will be talking about some of the challenges his state is facing and new voter id laws. you can watch the live tomorrow at 12:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> this is eleanor roosevelt's typewriter.

have here are the original drafts of some of the columns i wanted to share. this first one is eleanor my datet's first column. it sets the tone of the columns to follow. clipping is a my day clipping from election day. she talks about how admin that crowd came in with a band. it the president went out to agree to them. this is a tradition on election night. the roosevelts would come to hyde park and await the election results. when they were announced, the president would come out and greet them. rooseveltady, eleanor . >> next, a look at where most americans stand in their

political views. based on a recent survey. this is from today's "washington journal." host: joining us live on the phone is deep medical editor, thank you for being with us. what was your biggest surprises you looked at the numbers? a lot of people try and break down the two sides. thatith this poll found is may hold true still when you look at red and blue, but there is a lot of common ground in the middle. i think how this started is because president obama's campaign really started to identify who these groups were during the campaign and started to target a lots of them.

even though there are a couple of these groups on the right and ,he left, those middle groups the president campaign one all those groups and tied with one of them in the middle. politically, when you look at this, you can target your andaging to these groups try to figure out how to get them on board. the president's campaign was really able to do that and i think that is something that the republicans should pay close attention to. host: when we look at these labels, how did you come up with them? caller: they were looking at a way that would make some sense to people. minivan moderates, two thirds of women, sort of that suburban white woman, that target group you have heard so much about. it is a pretty big gap.

the middle, all four of these groups are groups that are pretty socially liberal but conservative on things like the environment, capital punishment, and diversity. when you look at the mba middle, moreover businessman, wall street type who might be socially liberal but more fiscally conservative on some of these issues of diversity. host: you are calling this the new american center, but there was another finding in the poll i want to get to, how people view their own personal finances and it seems the vast majority say they are staying where they are. only 14% say they are getting ahead. 17% -- 27% slipping behind.

9% falling backward. caller: there are always a myriad of issues that people are going to vote on and the economy is always front and center and whether or not you think the country is headed in the right direction. those will always be things that move you to the polls. it still shows that the american center is not doing that well and that they are concerned about the direction of the country and the country that their children will inherit, even though they still think america is the greatest country on earth, which is an important distinction that people look for. host: i want to ask you about this side-by-side survey, because if you look at republicans, self-described 28%, 36% for democrats, but only 20% identify themselves as liberal,

25% conservative, 55% moderate. caller: people may put themselves into the category of where they voted because they think that a lot of what politics does is build alliances , but when you break down what people actually believe, then there becomes some gray area, not just who they would vote for, but what they're spectrum of beliefs are. i think that that is instructive to understand when we are talking to our neighbors and whether or not politicians can win these groups over when you try to evaluate. there was more nuance there. host: based on this survey, our people optimistic or pessimistic about this country? caller: this is a very pessimistic group of people who

do not see things headed in the right direction and they are very to turn about what they see coming for their kids. it is an important thing, looking forward. host: how did this come about with nbc news and "esquire magazine"? caller: we wanted to look into whether there was such a hard left or a hard right and we had been hearing about this from the obama campaign and the group that did the president's campaign about how you guys are looking at this all wrong and there is more to it than meets the eye, more than the folks that conducted the romney campaign also got on board with. we wound up with some pretty interesting results. host: the deputy political editor for nbc news, domenico monta narrow, joining us on the

phone. thank you so much for being with us. caller: no problem, thanks. >> on the next washington journal, we'll talk about the week ahead in washington. democraticre the strategist, steve mcmahon and republican strategist, bryan walsh. later, a discussion on how the fbi plans to deal with the budget cuts under sequestration. reportsreet journal" with us. span area:00 a.m. on c- "newsmakers." chris van hollen talks about the budget proposal now that the .overnment shutdown has ended

after that, a discussion on the obama relationship with the press. >> today on "newsmakers," congressman chris van hollen, a democrat in maryland and one of the conferees after an agreement to open up the government and raise the debt ceiling has been reached. you will sit down with your fellow colleagues to broker some sort of deal. here to help us with bastions this morning, to reporters -- andrew taylor with the associated press and david lightman. and he has the first question. go ahead. >> it you are a member of the conference. you are also a member of the supercommittee which failed. there have been various grand bargain talks that have failed.