that had compassion for people that would not get frustrated and have been really proud of what we have done. we have helped veterans and people on social security that have been fighting in some cases for years to get the justice. because we got involved, people get checks for a few thousands. one case where we got somebody a check for $40,000 that had been denied to them. i never dread at that. it is what informs my proposal of legislation. most of the bills i've proposed have come out of interactions with my constituents. host: a couple of fun questions about your office. the broken skateboard on your wall, what is the story? rep. macarthur: that is my campaign manager who's now my chief of staff in new jersey. he is a skateboarder.

maybe i am too old for that. he is an active skateboarder and that is one of his great passions. host: we saw the photographs of u.s. some of the new jersey cranberry rake and an instrument that looks very old. rep. macarthur: everything reminds me of something back home. it is an antique cranberry rake and reminds me of the farming community about 800 family farms in my district. i have paintings of boating and seascapes and a lot of military things. one of the largest bases is in my district. back to the rake and that is how they picked cranberries. today it is mechanized. host: tom macarthur, third district of new jersey. a pleasure to speak with you. rep. macarthur: thank you.

>> this week on newsmakers, new jersey congressman ranking member of the energy and commerce committee. he talks about president obama's climate change plan and the future of u.s. energy. newsmakers, sunday at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. eastern on seas am. -- on c-span. sunday night on cue and a, former emergency manager of talks about the traits financial issues and his job overseeing the largest municipal bankruptcy in u.s. history. taken thatit had money when the stock market went edison had just invested in an index funds. tradingk market is now at 18,000, almost three times what it was. they not only what of triple

their money, they could have paid the pension sinful and gotten back to the business. it could have fixed itself if there had been some sort of sober management going forward, just like any organization. if you have some strong leadership and some focused leadership, you can resolve these problems. it takes a lot of effort. >> sunday night on c-span skua day. -- q and a. theodore roosevelt becomes president after the assassination of william mckinley. to accommodate her family, first lady edith roosevelt renovates the entire second tour of the second of mansion. thus of the west wing the house the offices. i adding a social secretary to the payroll, she creates the office of the first lady and changes the name from executive mansion to the white house.

edith roosevelt, this sunday night at 8:00 a.m. -- at 8:00 p.m. eastern. privateg the public and lives of the women who fill the position of first lady and their influence on the presidency. to michellengton obama. sundays at 8:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv on seas three. -- on c-span3. >> now, a discussion on the debate for the 2016 election. from washington journal, this is about 40 minutes. >> we are now by rebecca berg. she is here to discuss the gop presidential field after the debate this week. thank you so much for being with us. everyone is still talking about this debate on fox news.

let's just start by getting your take on how it went. it was a very big stage with a lot of republicans on it. it is hard to say whether there was one definitive winner or loser, but there were some people who did a job in the debate that will help them. fiorina at thely top of the list. she was in the second-tier debate. they split the republicans into two groups. there were the seven lowest ranking republicans. it took place earlier in the night. it did not have an audience. slightly easier questions. there was not as much back and forth allow between the candidates. they chose the top 10 by looking at the most recent national created some

controversy in the republican party. carly fiorina was in the undercard debate. not been in politics before. she performed very well. she had a very polished performance. and now, a lot of people are talking about her. she could potentially be in the top 10 the next time. in the primetime debate, everyone was talking about donald trump. >> he performed as people expected. there was some thinking that he would come on the stage and be a little more subdued. that did not happen. he was as bombastic as he always is. interestingly, he did not try to start any fights with the fellow republicans on stage with him. he stuck to answering the questions from the moderators. the moderator asked some very tough questions.

he did get a little testy with a some of those questions with the moderator and got into a personal exchange with megan kelly which has escalated since then. >> let's talk about that now. there was news recently from the red state that donald trump was going to be disinvited to a gathering that they are having. here is the statement from eric erickson. -- i have disinvited donald trump to the red state gathering. decency is one of those lines. he is referring to an interview that donald trump gave to cnn in which he said of megan kelly that -- you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, and blood coming out of her wherever. eric erickson said that was inappropriate. todid not want someone

receive a hostile question from a lady. attendted megan kelly to in donald trump's place. what is the fallout for donald trump from this debate? to be anathema to women now? >> my inclination would be to say yes, he will be. he will be less popular among women. donald trump continues to be a tough line candidate. he makes a offensive comments and people expected of him and they are entertained by them. they are not offended by what he has to say. instead of going down in the polls, he says these things and rockets up in the polls. basically has been the most counterintuitive candidate i have ever encountered. i hesitate to say that this will necessarily hurt him. pollinghere been any

post debate is see where candidates stand? informative an focus group that fox aired directly after the debate. the viewers that he spoke with were very turned off by donald trump and his performance. that could be an indication of where we are going to see polling go from here. we're taking your calls from the segment. what do you think about the campaign overall. we're going back to the local lines for this segment. democrats can call us as well. independents can call. we are on twitter as well. we are on facebook at facebook.com/the spam. you can send us an e-mail. our guest is rebecca berg of real coil -- real clear

politics. robert, good morning to you. i've listened to these debates. donald trump is just a distraction from the real issues. issue. a very serious ago, a fellow working at a plant in harrison, had his leg torn off and he died on the plant floor. the whole plant shutdown and has been shut down for three days. the employers are paying everyone to not work. osha is getting ready to come in there. on the other hand, all of these candidates that are standing up there, they support what is cold -- called -- free market capitalism. into -- industries are already in malaysia.

country that the war was fought and americans were drafted to stop communism. is free market, free enterprise capitalism is for one thing doing more to spread communism to get the product. you spoke about maternity leave. that comes through the process. -- when you allowed are allowing any kind -- country to have free access to our market, and are getting ready to seek no telling what with osha, there is no way you can compete. >> that is robert from arkansas. we do have a clip from donald trump's exchange with megan kelly that we want to bring you now.

kelly: one of the things people love about you is that you speak your mind. -- that hast is not had its downsides where it comes to women. you call women you do not like dogs, and fat pigs. your twitter cap -- mr. trump: only rosie o'donnell. megan kelly: no, it was not. -- for ther account record, it was well beyond rosie o'donnell. --r twitter account had some several disparaging comments about women's looks. does that sound to you like the temperament of a man we should elect as president and how you will answer the charge from hillary clinton who is likely to be the democratic nominee that you are a part of the world

women? mr. trump: the big problem this country has is being politically correct. [applause] by so been challenged many people and i do not frankly have time for total political correctness and to be honest with you, this country does not have time either. this country is in big trouble. we do not win anymore. we lose to china and mexico in train and at the book -- in trade at the border. it is fun and getting what i say. what i say is what i say. honestly, megan, if you do not like it, i'm sorry. i have been very nice to you although i maybe would not have to be because of the way you treated me. but i would not do that. strength, we need

energy, we need quickness and we need brains in this country to turn it around. that i can tell you right now. trump at theonald gop presidential debate on thursday night. we are speaking with rebecca berg. talk a little bit more about how donald trump has handled the situation after the debate. what is his relationship with megan kelly looking like now? >> it is looking cigna -- significantly worse. he felt that megan kelly was not treating him fairly in that debate. subsequent to the debate, he has gone on and on a number of other interviews with competing outlets. the way criticizing that megan kelly has treated him, but obviously you noted the controversy regarding his remark about how she was treating him

may be due to her hormonal state offended a number of people. he is not winning over anyone at fox news. it is really an amazing thing to see a republican candidate though after fox news which is basically the most friendly network of all to these conservative candidates. it is one in which conservatives often try to win over fox news as opposed to going to war with them. republican candidate usually go to battle with the new york times. that goes well for them in terms of fundraising. i kelly is very popular among conservatives. the very people that donald trump includes in his base. it will be interesting to see how they react to this. >> glenn, you are on the air. >> good morning. to hear republicans

talk about jobs for american citizens. -- we lacked jobs because of the legal foreign workers here. they are working against the law. they need to change immigration law so that the fines are enforced. that will pay for welfare and housing. plus, american citizens who go back to work right here in our own country where it illegal jobs ande taking our ruining our schools and our streets. they are jobs that we want to do. berg, why did the economy not play of their part in thursday night's debate? >> that is an excellent

question. voters in what drives presidential elections and the economy and jobs are usually at the top most of the time. voters,ly republican ,hey care about taxation, jobs and so i thought it was interesting that this did not come up more. we did see a lot of immigration reform discussion. implications for the economy when we talk about immigration reform. -- as thelar noted collar noted, they are afraid their jobs could be compromised if immigration reform is not tackled by these politicians. debate it the next would be safe to say that there will be much more discussion regarding the economy. >> do see a shift in the issues that will energize the

republicans from the economy to other issues or is it too early to get to some of this discussion? be a question of what does the economy look like on the day the voters go to the polls. we will have the iowa caucuses coming up in the beginning of february and new hampshire will be shortly after. it is still a few months away. immigration in terms of the conservative base of republican voters is a litmus test. you see marco rubio has struggled with this issue, he has had to work his position over with conservatives. at the debate, he took a more conservative stance than he has, focusing on building a wall and border security. that is what we have seen from a lot of republicans because this is very much a -- an energizing issue.

here is what marco rubio said about immigration. let me set the record straight. the evidence is now clear that the majority of people coming across the border are not for mexico. they are coming from guatemala, honduras -- those countries are now the source of the people coming over. i also believe that we need a fence. the problem is they will try to build a tunnel under the fence. that is why you need a tracking system to prevent illegal immigration. frustrated. this is the most generous country in the world when it comes to immigration. there are a million people a year who illegally immigrate to the united states and people feel like they are being taken advantage of. despite our generosity, we are being taken advantage of. officeple who call my who have been waiting for 15

years to come to the united states and they pay their fees, and they hired a lawyer and they cannot get in and they're wondering if they should come illegally. these are important issues and we should address them. otherwise, we will keep talking about this for the next 30 years. >> that was marco rubio talking about immigration on thursday nights republican debate. our next caller is from washington, pennsylvania on the republican line. kimberly, what did you think about the debate? i think megan kelly's first question to donald trump was uncalled for. it is as if we are not allowed to have an opinion. it is better than what bill clinton did. marco, this problem has been going on for 30 years and he is talking about doing it the right way.

i am a strong supporter of donald trump. moxie. >> that is what i was talking about earlier. donald trump supporters are very much his supporters. he can say anything. it can be a offensive and controversial but they think that he is the candidate with moxie. they believe he is authentic. they like his brash way of thinking -- speaking. do people think that megan kelly was in fact going after donald trump and unfair to him or do they think that he is not gravitawith the proper s to be president?

so far, it has been giving donald trump the benefit of the doubt. it is a question of when voters will no longer give him the benefit of the doubt. >> our next caller is dave from date, ohio on the democratic line. kelly gotthat megan what she deserved from donald trump. i think donald trump stood up to her. when i can't stomach to watch fox news, especially her. she is rude. i feel she got what she deserved. i don't think it is right that she is hiding behind being a woman. she is a newsperson. she is an interviewer. i feel that donald gave it to her and he gave it to her good

and i am proud that he did it. i am even a democrat. that is what i have to say. >> that is dave from ohio. this is what wiki thing. >> people are drawn to donald trump because he says what he thinks. he comes off as a strong person. is that presidential is the question that voters will need to look at. here is more evidence of exactly what is driving donald trump in the polls and continues to drive him. are people going to stick with donald trump as they have? he still has a well of support. people saw something in him during this debate even in the way that he was treating megan kelly. they found it attractive.

he continues to surprise republicans. otherlk to people in campaigns and in the rnc, they cannot understand what is going on. mattere thinks it is a of when his campaign will explode. when will it sink itself. it is not happening. moving on from trump for just a moment. you covered a form in new hampshire earlier this week. gop field got a brief respite from the donald trump show on monday. the without donald trump on stage, other contenders struggled to hit their stride. is part of the issue the quality of the other candidates? >> i think we saw this in the debate this week in cleveland. there are other good candidates on the stage. the new hampshire form was different because it was not technically a debate. they did interviews with each candidate.

this debate on thursday, i thought that many of the candidates were very strong. you saw people who are even underdogs in the race, chris got one and john kasich the stage and made salient points. had something of a breakout night. scott walker even posted a good performance even though he did not get as much talking time as some of the other candidates. you have jeb bush who has a well-funded campaign. who allrump is someone americans know. most of the other candidates have not been introduced to the greater american public yet. he gets media attention that these other candidates cannot. that is part of the challenge is breaking through all of donald trump's noise and getting attention when he is getting all of it. it is very difficult. >> one moment that has garnered some public state is the

exchange between rand paul and chris christie. here is a little bit from the debate on thursday night. >> i went to collect more records from terrorists and less records from innocent americans. for which amendment we fought the revolution, john adams said it was the spark that led to our war for independence. i am proud of scanning for the bill of rights and i will continue to stand for the bill of rights. megan, that is a completely ridiculous answer. i want to collect more records from terrorists. and less records from other people. how are you supposed to know? >> youth the fourth amendment. warrant.en'-- can say things like that. when you are responsible for

protecting the lives of the american people, then what you need to do is make sure that you -- >> you fundamentally misunderstand the bill of rights. you have to have a warrant from a judge. that is what i fought to end. i do not trust president obama's record. i know you gave him a big hug. senator paul, the hug that i remember are the hugs that i gave the families who lost their people on september 11. those are the hug that i remember. those had nothing to do with politics unlike what you are doing by cutting speeches on the floor of the senate and putting them on the internet within half an hour to raise money for your campaign was still putting our country at risk.

megyn: we have plenty more to get to. host: that was chris christie and rand paul talking about n.s.a. data check. we're talking with anna berg. dissect that and tell me what we learned about the candidates. guest: this was a moment donald trump was not in the spotlight and you look at social media like facebook and twitter, that was the most talked about exchange of the entire debate and most talked about moment and it shows if these candidates are having interesting discussions, they can actually break through all this noise which is refreshing, i guess. and this was very much a loud discussion that rand paul and chris christie were having and also substantive getting to the heart of one of the most important debates the republican party is having now over civil liberties and the collection of metadata by the n.s.a. it was fascinating to watch and this is a debate where you didn't see rand paul or chris christie come out of this clearly as the winner but each

represented their own policy, very clearly and articulately but it got a little personal at the end with the hug comment but it was fascinating to watch and i think that's what voters might want to see more of. host: our next caller from independent line from number, millie, what do you think? caller: good morning. i'll tell you one of the best -- one of the most appealing things about donald trump is he can't be bought. every other one of those candidates is beholden to the big donors and megyn kelly's -- we wanted informative questions, not snarky comments. and she was smirking and i will tell you what yesterday every single one of fox's f.b. pages, facebook pages, was thousands and thousands of complaints, and we were ignored. fox has been number one because of the viewers, and we were disrespected by somebody not

addressing that. guest: millie from north carolina. and her remark not being able to be bought is fascinating. this is the point he's making time and again and made it in the debate. there was a moment he pointed to the other candidates onstage and says i've given money to each of your campaigns and you would do whatever i told you. he had given money except john kasich and marco rubio. and ben carson who have never been a candidate before. but this is attractive to people, he's not a politician. you saw the model could be successful with steve forbes who ran for the presidency in the past, also a self funder. this is a case a lot of self-funding candidates have made successfully. arnold schwarzenegger did it running for governor of california and made a case because he was so rich he wouldn't listen to these special interests with money because he didn't care about them, he was

incorruptible is the case he's making and is the case donald trump is making and one that appears to be resonating with people. host: donald trump wasn't the only celebrity to make news on thursday night. kim kardashian, not a name we normally discuss on washington journal, she tweeted this picture of herself with hillary clinton. i got my selfie, she tweeted, i really loved hearing her speak and hearing her goals for our country. you can see kanye west there in the background with kim and hillary. so this is how "the new york times" reported the story, clinton has her own celebrity moment as staff monitors debate as republicans bickered thursday night and accused ms. clinton of being a scandal letic of old ideas and she sought to solidify her pop culture status and increase her youth appeal by posing with two of the most popular celebrities on the planet.

critics dismissed the selfie as gauche. the social media moment only added to the impression their candidate, despite not being on the stage had won the night. you agree? guest: a moment that got a lot of publicity from mrs. clinton, not that she needs it because she's well known by all these voters but will help her, the kardashians and kanye have a very strong social media presence, perhaps more so than anyone. i can't think of anyone who might have a stronger presence, really. it's good advertising for her, good free advertising for her. but it also reminds us that on the democratic side we have basically no primaries going on at all. bernie sanders is doing very well of course but at the end of the day people look at secretary clinton as the obvious frontrunner, the prohibitive frontrunner, really. so as the republicans are duking it out for months to come, secretary clinton will be out getting selfies with celebrities, raising money and not really having to worry about getting out there and defending herself against attacks from other democrats.

host: next up is byron calling from cleveland, tennessee, on the republican line. byron, you're on the air. caller: good morning. i like the way he talks, like i would. i'm not politically correct and don't make any apologies for it, i like donald trump. let me say, yesterday he said that there was going to be a head job on donald trump and you saw it play out last night there. it was not just necessarily megyn kelly but probably the republican party, put a head job on donald trump. and donald trump, while he is fighting, he is fighting socialism and communism is what he's trying to take away from the democrat party. you've got bernie sanders, he's a socialist and he calls himself a socialist, so hillary clinton is a socialist, also, but she hides behind the progressive title. and people need to be aware we've got a serious problem.

socialism is the first step to communism so they need to really check these folks who they are and they need to really wonder if we want to go down the socialism path like greece and these european countries. i don't think the united states of america needs that path. host: we're going to leave it there. that's byron from tennessee. he also mentioned bernie sanders as you did in answer to an earlier question and according to this story on politico, bernie sanders was the most retweeted candidate during the debate with this comment. he wrote, it's over not one war but economic inequality, climate change and student debt and why they're out of touch and had been retweeted nearly 22,000 times as of friday afternoon. guest: you want to talk about social media presence, bernie sanders has that in spades. he has a active social media

following and has for a long time and his supporters we've seen on the campaign trail where he's drawing crowds of thousands and thousands of people, tens of thousands sometimes, they're very much engaged in his campaign which is actually something rare to see at this stage in the primaries because you look at the republican side, donald trump obviously getting a lot of traction but none of the other candidates have broken through yet in that way, being able to hold rallies with thousands of people. bernie sanders has, and says a lot about his power as a candidate, how he can communicate his message to vast numbers of people quickly and that message spread very quickly and something to be aware of as we look at his campaign moving forward. host: next up from connecticut on the democratic line, marge is calling. good morning to you. caller: good morning. thank god for c-span, i'm so blessed where i live, i get c-span 2 and 3. a quick comment to all of the previous callers so enamored with mr. trump.

he can be bought. are they forgetting, or maybe they're too young, they don't remember. oh, how many decades ago his first wife, then ivana, accused him of marital rape, and what kind of stupid lawyer does he have today who said there's no such thing? they settled. to remind those callers, yes, he can be bought. he paid off ivana back then and now she came forward two weeks ago to say oh, i think i might have made a mistake, something to that effect. well, he probably gave her another $3 million or $5 million to come forward. he can be bought. he would be a disgrace in the white house. i would be ashamed to be an american if he were our president. thank you, lovely ladies. have a good day. host: marge from connecticut. can you tell us about the incident he's referring to?

guest: this was news long ago as the caller remarked physical first -- his first wife, i don't think it was ivana, i think it was a later wife. he was accused of raping his wife at the time, forcing her to have sex even though they were married and there was a settlement and this was resolved long ago but came up recently and the lawyer said there's no such thing as marital rape which was in a conversation with a reporter and that sparked a whole other controversy and many we've seen with donald trump but one that hasn't had major political implications for him so far. host: next up is adam from connecticut on the republican line. go ahead. i wanted to say i do like donald trump and think he would be a good candidate.

however, i think he's got a low ceiling. i don't think that he appeals to the masses. i think that he will not get any votes across from democrats or independents and i'd rather see somebody like rubio emerge who i think could appeal to a much broader contingency and would like to see us win instead of giving it away. host: the issue of marital rape did involve ivana trump. our next caller is randy from huntsville, alabama, on the independent line. good morning to you. caller: good morning. host: what are your thoughts for rebecca berg. caller: i'm an independent. i was a democrat but i like donald trump, the way he stands up for the country. i think he'll make a great, great president. host: turn down your tv, randy. go ahead. alright.

randy, we'll have to move on. our next caller is jasper from memphis, tennessee. caller: good morning. the guy from tennessee, i'm not too far from gave me an interesting segue about citizens united. between donald trump and megyn kelly, i'm glad that for donald trump put her in her place because she's no more than a big mouthpiece for the special interests and further he's saying about the country going socialism, who do you think is buying us out over here now, citizen united. that's what megyn kelly and fox news represents. and these southern republicans now, they better wake up because when your job is gone, who you going to turn to for help? i guarantee you those big corporations aren't going to help you and you'll be out there by yourself. host: jasper from tennessee. guest: so these callers hit on a few interesting points. the most recent caller we had touched on citizens united and campaign finance.

this is going to be a big issue i think in this election and moving forward. we're starting to see democrats touch on this as an area for potential reform. bernie sanders, of course, his whole campaign is based on the premise of not accepting money from billionaires and fighting back against their influence in government. he's not accepting any of these big money donations that's some of the other candidates are and that message resonated with people and shows a lot of people are thinking about campaign finance and donald trump to some extent though he's not calling for campaign finance reform yet he's talking about money in politics. certainly there's great awareness on both sides of the aisle on this issue. and of course the counterbalance, the counterexample to that i suppose would be hillary clinton and jeb bush for going to raise hundreds of millions of dollars already the super pac supporting jeb bush has raised a hundred million dollars and that will be a conversation we're having on this election. another caller made the point of donald trump having a low ceiling and that's actually something the polls have borne

out. he has very low favorability ratings. there are more republicans -- host: beyond the g.o.p. is what you mean? guest: and beyond the g.o.p. he's a very divisive candidate. people really like him or really dislike him and that's something we don't see with a lot of candidates, that polarization. and there are more republicans i believe for donald trump than any other republican who say they would not vote for him no matter what and that's the feeling for him. he can't really convince those republicans to ever come over to his side. most of these other candidates you see scott walker, marco rubio, jeb bush, they can convince some voters maybe they'd be the best candidate for them. donald trump is merely too polarizing for many people. host: next up is dominic on the republican line. good morning to you. caller: good morning. i got to tell you, as a republican, when trump first announced, i thought it was a big joke but i'm going to tell

you something, i've changed my mind in a big way. first of all, the man has guts. he can stand up and take a lot of junk and come back and fire back even more. as far as the megyn kelly and all this women type thing with rape and that woman from ivoryton brought it up. the reality is, and those two lovely women are not old, you're young. you know snooki and j-wow, a lot of american women don't act like ladies anymore and when people from ivoryton call up all irate, they have no clue about what's going on right now. right now as we speak with women in the united states, megyn kelly is a show. host: we'll have to leave it there because we're trying to get in one more caller and that will be connie from northburg, new jersey on the democratic line. what's your thought this morning? caller: good morning.

i'm a democrat. so i am not going to vote for none of those people but i was looking at the debate. and i realize one thing, it was too bad, rubio and kasich, when they address, then to kasich they address about the gay people and they further went and asked about their daughters. if they will be gay, if they'd allow them. who i really like is when they went to rubio, they did something i did not like it. they talk about abortion. he's against abortion and rape or incest or whatever the case may be. but they didn't follow up. if his daughters got raped, what he is going to do. now, that's i think it was the same thing. it was not really going after

rubio or getting him, how you call it, a tough question. host: connie, unfortunately we have to leave it there because we're almost out of time. rebecca, we'll give you the last word. what are your thoughts on the kasich, same-sex marriage answer or rubio's answer on abortion? guest: the kasich moment, i'll pick that because i thought that was a really fascinating moment in the republican debate. it's not what a lot of people tuning in might have expected to see in this debate. being a republican onstage talking about how he went to a gay wedding of his friend and if his daughter was gay would be fine with it and love her anyway. that's not what we hear a lot from the g.o.p. and kasich, this is why it makes him an interesting candidate to watch. he's someone moderate in a lot of ways and fit in medicaid in ohio and was raised in this debate. he's more moderate on something like gay marriage and these social issues. he explains it in a way he's not apologetic for it and more compassionate explanation than a

lot of republicans are giving. and i will be interested to see if the conservative base can accept that sort of explanation from a candidate like kasich and whether he can appeal to republicans outside of the more moderate base that he might be talking to. host: rebecca berg from real clear politics. thanks for joining us. guest: thank you. >> on the next washington journal, 538 chief economic writer ben castleman discusses the july job numbers. robert daly, corporal exchange beijing,n exchange in discusses economics. and a lecturer at the john jay college criminal justice looks at community relations at the first anniversary in ferguson, missouri. we will take her calls, and you can join the conversation on

facebook and twitter. live at 7 a.m. eastern on c-span. on thursday, david brock took part an interview with michael allen. brock is the founder of clear the record, a team supporting the repentant. topics included an analysis of the 2016 campaign, candidate hillary clinton, and republican presidential candidates. this interview was part of politico's playbook lunch in washington dc. it is about 30 minutes. >> david, thank you for coming out. this is debate day and david brock is our debate day guest. david who founded correct the record, who is the human embodiment of the left-wing

conspiracy in some ways. mr. brock: having been in the right-wing, but the difference is it was much more of a ragtag operation in the 90's versus what we see today. it is much more sophisticated. we know all about the incredible amount of money the koch brothers are willing to put down in the selection to defeat hillary clinton. it is such a big number. we saw the republicans last weekend where they were out there competing for the affections of the koch brothers. with that kind of money being spent, whoever the candidate on the republican side is coming

they will be beholden to the koch brothers in their agenda. they probably didn't plan for the frontrunner to be a billionaire himself, someone they cannot control. secretary mcdonald: you are the most vocal defendant of hillary clinton. which is going to be a full-time job. at this moment, are you more irritated with fox news or the new york times? mr. brock: the new york times. easy question. look, -- mike: you have been complaining about the new york times. their coverage of an investigation of e-mails. what if they just made a mistake? mr. brock: institutions in general have been making mistakes all the time. there are a couple issues. one, it is not the first time. there is a pattern.

the first e-mail story they broke was botched and they had to walk back from the second thing is the way they handled it is questionable. readers still don't know thinks about how this went down. i think the issue is how did this happen? in the case of 60 minutes, when they botched the story, there was internal investigations. there is no review going on at the new york times as i am aware of. the sourcing is questionable. we were very heavy on right-wing media but people don't have to take my word for it. the reality we are living in is

they are out to get hillary clinton and to elevate her opponent. that is the dynamic we are living with and it is not just mistakes are getting things wrong, there is collusion here. you have hillary clinton as the sole target of 17 republican candidates, congress, and the media. it goes all the way back to watergate. mike: you don't really think the political reporters are a secret den of right-wing nuts. mr. brock: not theologically but i do think there are a number of cases. mike: they get used. there is an intense competition on the clinton beat. mr. brock: everybody wants to be first. it is certainly possible that they rush the story out. that is something we don't know because we don't know about the

internal workings of the story . but the incentive is to try to be first and to nail that pray. i think that it goes back to this model of theirs, at least to whitewater. in 1992. i think the press has not learned from those mistakes and a lot of people now are repeating those same errors. whitewater was designed to show the clintons to be untrustworthy. playbook is in play today. last92, it was much sophisticated. the mainstream media sometimes is a vehicle for that. mike: you're one of the most sophisticated understandings of media. you are a former investigative

reporter. what can the clinton campaign due to turn around that dynamic? mr. brock: number one, i think this goes back to one of the principles of the 1992 clinton war room that every charge be answered. that does not have to be by the campaign. but you cannot let these things sit out there and be unanswered. a lot is beyond their control. frankly, i think what is in their control has been going really well. you can't necessarily control press coverage. but there is room for organizations like ours to get in there. you have to give people their factual information on what they can make decisions. if you let the stuff go, it can metastasize. mike: you can see it is difficult to draw david out. tweet us your questions.

#playbookbreakfast. we will ask david brock your questions. explain the difference between correct the record and media matters and tell us about your empire. mr. brock: there are 12 distinct legal entities. but basically five missions. media matters is the mothership started in 2004. that is monitoring a cross-section of mainly national press every day, posting about 400 critiques of media coverage. then came american bridge. that was an innovation on the democratic side in the way opposition research was done. it was an innovative model. we are combing through the records of republican candidates .

federal races so far. we have done some governor races. for two years now, we have been tracking and doing research on all of the republican field. we are further ahead than any other democratic organization has been in collecting that data. we have trackers, more than 50 young people in the field. in the states, not just at the federal level. every event they can get into, they sell. when we have news, we put that out. we were first out of the box putting that video up from jeb bush.

we are looking for -- mike: tell us how that happened. who spotted it. ? mr. brock: we have to move so we have become a streamlined process. i don't even know until it shows up in my e-mail that we have done some. the trackers are outfitted to be able to move very quickly and there is probably one check point in d.c. and then it goes. mike: my colleague recently did a story about trackers. what is the new frontier, the cutting edge? mr. brock: we have done some innovation not so much on technology but i think the next thing is for the tracker to be not fairly passive. that is something we will see more of. i think the whole tracking

operation though is now going on on both sides. i found that if you innovate, you get copied. we started american bridge. now both sides are outfitted with these tracking operations and we are always looking for a way to get a competitive advantage. and that is what we are doing in this cycle. mike: this idea is very fascinating. in the past, trackers have been trained to be quiet. to stand back. why the change in philosophy? mr. brock: people are used to being tracked. they become more careful. ,f you look at chris christie that was a question that irritated him. that is why you got that moment. jeb bush deer in the headlights on what the fairness act was. that was a question and he either did not know what it was

-- i don't know what the question was but that was one of our people. i'm just kind to illustrate you can change the dynamic in the room with questions. you throw people off their game. then you catch somebody saying something they really think and that is what we are looking for. mike: this will come from asking more aggressive questions. how else will we see this more aggressive philosophy? mr. brock: on the technology side, the details i don't know but we have been able to act much more quickly to get this video out than ever before. it is down to a matter of minutes. mike: secretary clinton has a problem that has nothing to do with fox news. she loses ground with white women. this is the latest wall street journal nbc poll.

secretary clinton losing 10 points among white women from june until july going from 44% of white women having a favorable view to 34%. another shocking number here, in the first three months of the 18%r, suburban women had an 80% positive review of her. they now have a negative view of her. what happened? mr. brock: do they say why? i don't know what happened. i can just say a few things about the polling. poll numbers come down the more active you are as a candidate. that has happened. secondly, in every poll, secretary clinton is leading. her favorability have stayed relatively steady even in the midst of the onslaught we

described in the spring. benghazi, e-mails, the clinton foundation. at this early stage, perception of candidates and those numbers don't mean a ton but she has pretty much weathered the storm. mike: what are your worries at this point? mr. brock: i don't have any worries. mike: you would be the first person in politics and the clinton camp if that were true. if she is not president, it will be what? mr. brock: i think that there are things under your control in the campaign. as i mentioned earlier, in that sphere, we see that she is doing swimmingly. but something in your control could go wrong. you could make a mistake, make a

bad decision. if the question is is there something they will do to her that will make a difference, i find that unlikely. that is just having studied all this on both sides for all these years. we have seen the playbook. remember that president clinton won reelection twice in the face of these kinds of phony scandals. we have seen the strategy, and we know it. mike: they got she is so well known, she is probably the best defined person in the history of american politics. is that an advantage or vulnerability? mr. brock: it could be both. i think the problem would come in and that if people believed that they know hillary clinton, and yet they don't, there is an awful lot in her 30 year public record that i think people don't

know a lot about. i think that will come out in the campaign and that will be a plus for her. i wrote a book about newly clinton published in 1996. i want through a process as a reporter of looking at her record firsthand. at the time, i was in the conservative movement. i have done some of the early clinton scandal work. every incentive was to find ways to attack hillary and one of the things i found, one of the reasons i support and trust are i found somebody who had this lifelong commitment to public service. at every step of the way where she had choices to make, she was the embodiment of the everyday

american values people can relate to. to me that all added up his , strength of character and integrity. in the right wing, you couldn't even say hillary clinton did a good job raising chelsea. that wasn't greeted so well by my colleagues at the time. i feel like i are and that the hard way and i wrote in the book that i thought that it was possible sunday that she would be as a greater historical figure than her husband. that was almost 20 years ago. i still believe that today and i think as americans are seeing, this is a lot of what i fall back on. mike: you believe she will be greater than bill clinton?

mr. brock she has been such a : trailblazer in so many ways. mike: how do you think history will regard her? mr. brock: i expect we will win this election and i expect that will likely lead to reelection. the obvious precedent here is the first woman president. i feel like people are ready for that and i think that will happen. mike: how powerful is that single point? does that single fact mean she is more likely to be president? how decisive will that be? mr. brock: i think it will play a role. as you know the history of it is , that it is very hard to win that third term. certainly one of the reasons recedent will be broken

is because people are ready. it is not just for a woman, it is for this one. mike: you mentioned, it says his hard-hitting journalism has cast him as the bob dorn of the right. how did the right turn you left? mr. brock: basically, to make a long story short, i was trying to do two things at once. i was trying to be politically active for the conservatives and do journalism. at some point, there was a train wreck that happened between towing party lines and going with what you are finding in your journalism. i very specifically learned that the sources around clarence thomas had seriously misled me. the book was written in good faith but when i found out, that

was part of the story. it was mutual use. it shook my foundations. it wasn't like one day i woke up and said applied economics doesn't make sense. it was about the character and integrity of the people i was working with. and how i was gradually becoming more complicit mike: if you have in that. a question for david brock have indicated and we will bring you a microphone. what do you hope to learn about the republican candidates tonight? mr. brock: a lot of the attention is on donald trump and rightly so but i think were is more interesting thing jeb bush.

the political story of the last week has been the way hillary clinton took him on and shredded his reputation as a moderate. she showed that what he stands for is a policy platform approved. we're almost waiting for him to start to advocate -- it is like the 47% all over again. what did he do when there was almost a knockout? he did nothing. showed that he cannot stand up to hillary. mike: we're talking now of the confrontation in florida. she attacked him. he came out and did not respond. mr. brock: the only thing that happened later was that there was somehow a breach and that read to me that it was kind of a

class entitlement. he is obviously running a general election campaign in the primary. the contradiction is that if you want to stay above the fray, and you crumble, that can show you to be very weak. and happened. tepid. on the other hand, if you get in the fray, that is against our strategy. i don't think getting bloody was part of the script. i am looking for a republican who will stand up and say he can stand up to hillary because judd has failed the test. jeb bush has failed the test. in the tradition of the kinder and gentler h.w. bush, that is the strategy.

the question is how do you handle the contradiction of doing that in the primary? at the end of the day, you know i think what we will see tonight , is that there are stylistic differences but on every issue, they are all the same. that will come through as well. mike: do you worry more about marco rubio or scott walker? mr. brock: i could be worried about either one. i didn't mean that i felt this election was going to be a cakewalk. i think you have to be prepared for any eventuality here. it is a very hard race to predict. as you know. if the republicans followed their tradition, you would think that would be jeb bush but i think anything can happen and we can be back in 1964. i just don't know. mike: tell me what that means. mr. brock: the nonestablishment

candidate could end up with the nomination. mike: somebody not viable in the general election. mr. brock: right. somebody who has 45%. mike: if secretary clinton becomes president clinton, what will your role be? mr. brock: to do everything i can with the organizations i mentioned. mike: you're not going to the west wing? mr. brock: no. i am very satisfied with the impact we are having as an independent organization. if we are successful in aiding her in the election, the next half -- he could still have a republican congress, rough terrain. our role would be to try to ensure that she is able to govern successfully.

that is keeping track of the press, opposition. a couple organizations i have does media training, one is an ethics watchdog. we do some independent journalism as well. i want to put all of that to work for progressive government. mike: if she loses, what will you do? mr. brock: that is a good question. i don't know the answer to that. i am not planning for that so i am not really thinking about it. mike: do you think you are unlikely to remain in washington? mr. brock: not really. obviously right now, corrected the record working with the clinton campaign is clinton aligned but if you go back to 2004, we were very young and weren't able.

to defend john kerry effectively. we have done the same for progressive leaders for president obama and planned parenthood. the organizations were not founded around any particular candidate. they are meant to live on. they will live on no matter what i do. mike: you mentioned the media training. correct the record has an accused of pushing the boundaries of the campaign-finance wall, including trading clinton supporters. where do you see the line between what you can and cannot do? mr. brock: the line is that our communications are through free media and the internet. what we are not doing are being big advertising campaigns. that is the distinction that allows us to work in court nation with the campaign, -- in coordination with the campaign,

and that is what we are doing. mike: you have a book coming about six weeks from now you work very hard on. it is called "killing." you may be saw the cover in playboy. it has a big red cover. it is called "killing the messenger." what is the big idea in this book? mr. brock: it is about how the art of scandal mongering has evolved in the time from when i was one of the people who invented it, if you will, through my time looking through these progressive organizations to fight that. it basically has three parts. one for those who read "blinded by the right." it is a memoir. it takes the reader from 2002 to the present.

it was based in part on a speech i gave at the library. and what is the republican playbook against hillary and why is it all bs? and i take you through all of the pseudo-scandals. i think the value of that is that if people start to understand what propaganda is, it ceases to have an effect. i'm trying to precondition to understand. we have seen this for almost 25

years now. we know what it is. it is nothing to be concerned about. mike: as we say goodbye coming up you have had an apartment in new york for a while. what is it like to be a part-time new yorker? mr. brock: i love it. i try to get out of there a week a month. the downtime -- there is more to do. mike: you talk about the balance. what is the difference in the culture? mr. brock: d.c. can be a bit all work, no play. in new york, there is room for both. mike: what do you like to do there you don't appear? mr. brock: there are more places to go to dinner, which i like to do. i have been here for a long time. since 1986. washington has gotten better.

you can have a great meal pretty much anywhere. mike: anybody who has visited you knows toby. we have about 250 people in these organizations. mr. brock: we got a grandfathered into our lease. mike: what is his role in the conspiracy? [laughter] mr. brock: i just hope he is not a double agent, let's put it that way. mike: thank you for watching and our friends at bank of america for making these conversations possible. i thank my colleague, politico. who put on these events, i think all of you for coming out. david brock, thank you. enjoy the debate. at 11:00 after the debate, hop

on politico.com. i will be there with a post game statement with my colleagues. come see us and we will see you then. >> in his weekly address, president obama talks about voting rights -- now 50 years after the voting rights act. senator bob corker has the republican response. talking about the iran nuclear deal. president obama: hi, everybody. the right to vote is one of the most fundamental rights of any democracy. yet for too long, too many of our fellow citizens were denied that right, simply because of the color of their skin. 50 years ago this week, president lyndon johnson signed a law to change that. the voting rights act broke down legal barriers that stood between millions of african

americans and their constitutional right to cast a ballot. it was, and still is, one of the greatest victories in our country's struggle for civil rights. but it didn't happen overnight. countless men and women marched and organized, sat in and stood up, for our most basic rights. for this, they were called agitators and un-american, they were jailed and beaten. some were even killed. but in the end, they reaffirmed the idea at the very heart of america. that people who love this country can change it. our country is a better place because of all those heroes did for us. but as one of those heroes, congressman john lewis, reminded us in selma this past march, "there's still work to be done"" 50 years after the voting rights act, there are still too many barriers to vote, and too many people trying to erect new ones. we've seen laws that roll back early voting, force people to jump through hoops to cast a

ballot, or lead to legitimate voters being improperly purged from the rolls. over the years, we have seen provisions specifically designed to make it harder for some of our fellow citizens to vote. in a democracy like ours, with a history like ours, that's a disgrace. that's why, as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the voting rights act, i'm calling on congress to pass new legislation to make sure every american has equal access to the polls. it's why i support the organizers getting folks registered in their communities. and it's why, no matter what party you support, my message to every american is simple: get out there and vote -- not just every four years, but every chance you get. because your elected officials will only heed your voice if you make your voice heard. the promise that all of us are created equal is written into our founding documents. but it's up to us to make that promise real. together, let's do what

americans have always done. let's keep marching forward, keep perfecting our union, and keep building a better country for our kids. thanks everybody. and have a great weekend. sen. corker: i'm senator bob corker from tennessee, and i'm honored to serve as the chairman of the senate foreign relations committee. over the last several weeks, congress has been reviewing the nuclear agreement between iran, the united states, and other world powers. the deal has profound implications for the safety, stability, and security of our country and our allies. and it deserves close scrutiny from congress on behalf of the american people. that is why despite stiff initial opposition from the white house republicans and democrats in the house and senate overwhelmingly passed a bill to force the president to submit the nuclear deal to congress so lawmakers can review it, debate it, and vote. as we evaluate this deal, we must understand the character and nature of the iranian

regime. this is the same regime that today remains the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world. it is the same regime that is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of u.s. troops in iraq. and it is the same regime that is funding terrorist groups like hamas and hezbollah and syria's dictator bashar al assad. the iranian supreme leader applauds those who chant "death to america" and we know they threaten the state of israel as they stoke violence and instability throughout the region. that is why the stakes of this nuclear deal are so high and the consequences are so great. over the years, iran has routinely violated international agreements through development of an illicit nuclear program that included covert facilities and previous work on a nuclear weapon. in response, the united states, led by efforts in congress, built an international sanctions

regime to isolate iran economically, imposing a severe cost on their country that ultimately brought iran to the negotiating table. in 2012, president obama declared that he would only accept a deal requiring iran to end their nuclear program. it was a goal that both republicans and democrats rallied behind, and still do today. that's why there is bipartisan concern with the deal that has been presented. rather than end iran's nuclear program, this deal allows them to industrialize it over time -- with our approval. instead of the once promised anytime, anywhere inspections, this agreement gives iran nearly a month of advanced notice to hide any evidence of developing a nuclear weapon. and this deal won't allow a single u.s. inspector on the ground, relying on an arm of the

united nations to conduct those inspections. even worse, there are two secret side deals. that appear toee restrict inspectors' access to key sites. and after only nine months, all major sanctions will be relieved. at that point, the leverage shifts from us to iran. iran will get access to roughly $100 billion in cash within a few months, maybe nine, some of which it will use to help fund terrorism and instability. over the next decade, it will gain hundreds of billions of dollars of additional funds. and we will have paved the way for iran to have an internationally-approved nuclear program. iran will go from a weakened state to an economically-robust country, without being forced to change any of its roguish, destructive behavior. the president has said

repeatedly that this is a choice between accepting this deal or going to war. it is not. throughout the negotiations, the administration routinely asserted that no deal is better than a bad deal and threatened to walk away if necessary. so clearly there was always another option for the white house -- and it wasn't war. our nation's top military general also confirmed that such a stark choice between this deal or war was never discussed during his conversations with the president. and in addition, the administration, iran, and our partners have known for several months that congress would have a role to play in whatever the united states will accept in the final agreement. unfortunately, the administration has tried to undermine the spirit of the law by going straight to the un for

approval in hopes of pressuring congress to accept it. congress must not be intimidated by this. the real decision for lawmakers isn't this deal or war. the real decision is whether congress believes this deal is in our national interest. do we believe this deal will prevent iran from getting the capability to develop a nuclear weapon? do we believe this deal will make america safer? when congress returns in september, it will consider a resolution to disapprove of the iran deal. this decision should not be taken lightly. it could be one of the most consequential votes we cast in our time in public service. there is perhaps no greater geopolitical issue facing the world today than preventing a nuclear-armed iran. and so we owe it to the american people to have a thorough and

thoughtful debate. thank you for listening. it is an honor to speak with you in this way and it is a great privilege to serve the people of tennessee. >> on the next washington writer ben8 economic castleman discusses july job numbers and the economy. robert daly, former exchange officer for the u.s. embassy in beijing, examines u.s. and china relations. and eugene o'donnell, a former new york city police officer and lecturer at the john jay college of criminal justice, looks at the state of police and community relations on the first anniversary on the shooting and ferguson, missouri. you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. live at 7 a.m. eastern on c-span.

on monday, president obama addressed a summit of 500 young leaders in africa. it was part of the mandela fellowship program. it aims to train young african leaders with entrepreneurial skills they can take back to their communities. this is just over an hour. [applause] pres. obama: well, hello, everybody! audience: happy birthday to you! happy birthday to you! happy birthday, mr. president, happy birthday to you! [applause]

pres. obama: thank you. everybody sit down. thank you so much. well, this is a good crowd here! first of all, can everybody please give grace another big round of applause. not only does she do incredibly inspiring work in nigeria, but i have to say, following grace is a little bit like following michelle. she's so good that you kind of feel bad when you're walking out, because you're thinking, i'm not going to be that good. but she's just one example of the incredible talent that's in this room. and to all of you, i know that you've been here in the united states for just a few weeks, but let me say on behalf of the

american people, welcome to the united states. we are thrilled to have you here. [applause] and your visit comes at a perfect time, because, yes, it's soon my birthday and that's a very important thing. but that's not the main reason it's a perfect time. the main reason is because, as many of you know, i just returned from africa. and it was my fourth trip to sub-saharan africa, more than any other u.s. president. and i was proud to be the first u.s. president to visit kenya, -- [applause] -- the first to visit ethiopia, -- [applause] -- the first to address the african union, which was a great honor. and the reason i've devoted so much energy to our work with the continent is, as i said last week, even as africa continues to confront many challenges, africa is on the me.