then the former u.s. ambassador to morocco talks about the strategy to combat isis. you can join the conversation and we will take your calls. "washington journal" is next. ♪ host: good morning. it marked the third time the democrats met in a presidential debate from new hampshire as martin o'malley and bernie sanders going after hillary clinton, while the former muchtary of state focused of her criticism on the republicans. it is sunday morning, december 20, as we begin this christmas week, congress is in recess for the holidays, and the president against his vacation in hawaii. we will focus on last night's debate. the state of the presidential race, and what is next with six weeks before the iowa caucus, seven weeks before the new

hampshire primary. for republicans, (202) 748-8001. for democrats, the light to call is (202) 748-8000. if you are an independent, (202) 745-8002. we will also take your tweets at @cspanwj. join us on facebook, facebook.com/cspan. good sunday morning to you. thank you for being with us. this is the headline from "the union leader" which cosponsored last night's debate saying, democrats found some common , calling donald trump the runner recruiting islamic sentiment. martin o'malley calling trump

untried and incompetent as he panned his repose of an immigration reform ideas. senator bernie sanders highlighted the importance of muslim troops in the middle east. that, this morning from "the union leader." of twitter andck facebook, they have also been following what happened last night and the key moments. in terms of traffic on twitter, hillary clinton getting about 44% of the twitter conversation, tied with bernie sanders at 44%. former governor martin o'malley at 12%. joining us on the phone is scott , who followed the debate for "the huffington post." let me begin with apology put forward by bernie sanders last night. what impact this has on his campaign. let's take a step back and thatabout the breach

resulted in the firing of one of his staffers and to others removed from their position, but still on payroll. where does this but the campaign? guest: it puts overall debate on the democratic side at a point where people are talking about process. regardless of how this is viewed overall, i think bernie sanders has showed us time and again that he is talking about process. he wants to keep this thing squarely focused on the issues. that moment last night where he oflogized reminded me a bit a moment in a previous debate where he said he was sick of talking about hillary's e-mail. this is obviously a much different situation. there were a lot of tempers raised on both sides at the staff level. it was another instance where i think hillary clinton was able to stand up above the fray, which is what she has tried to do during the whole campaign.

i do not think bernie sanders did himself any favors with this, but his attempt is always to move on and say, let's talk about the things american people want to discuss, rather than things on the staff level and conflicts within each of the campaign. the keyat was one of moments that took place last night in the two are debate in new hampshire. let's watch. [video clip] bernie sanders: i apologize. not only do i apologize to secretary clinton, and i hope we can work together on independent investigation from day one, but apologize to my supporters. this is not the type of campaign that we run. if i find anyone else involved in this, they will also be fired. hillary clinton: i very much appreciate that comments. it is important that we go forward on this.

i know that you now have your data back, and it has been an agreement for an independent .nquiry into what happened obviously, we were distressed when we learned of it because we have worked very hard -- i said at the beginning of this campaign -- we wanted to reach as many voters as possible and we have tens of thousands of volunteers doing that, entering data all the time, to keep up with what people are telling us. now that i think we have resolved your data, agreed on an independent inquiry, we should move on. i do not think the american people are all that interested in this. i think they are more interested in what we have to say about all of these issues. [applause] moments fromthe the abc news debate. by the way, "the new york times close low rights about why the data is just so important. it is available online. scott conroy, who is joining us

manchester, was at the debate last night. i want to share with you one aeets saying, and debate on saturday night five days before christmas, one with a the democratic party does not want anyone to see their candidates. that was a common theme leading up to the debate and watching the twitter traffic last night into the morning. guest: that has been sort of the , and kind theory unbelievable conspiracy theory, i must say, about how all the debates on the democratic side have been scheduled. christmas, anre nfl game, a lot of people going out and enjoyed the last week and enjoying the last weekend before the holidays. i have to say, the press file in man manchester last night -- they did not seem to be a whole lot of reporters there that were happy to be covering the debate. it is quite different from the republican side where all these

things seem to be events that people look forward to, almost from an entertainment perspective. there's always some major event that happens. there's always a great among all the candidates. the tone is much different on the republican side. that clip that you just played where hillary clinton and bernie sanders were finding common ground and saying, let's move on, let's talk about keeping the focus on how we will defeat the republicans which is, i think time and again, they have reverted back to that. you see that rarely on the republican side. i think people are not tuning in nearly as much to democratic debates, the numbers show that, and the dnc decision to schedule so many of these on weekend nights has really kept the numbers down. i think about if you don't believe that was done for hillary clinton's benefit.

host: we are talking with scott conroy of "having to post." me ask you about martin o'malley , who has been trying to use these debates to break through. he remains a distant third in all the national polls. did he, in any way, move the needle last night? guest: he definitely was trying to insert himself aggressively throughout the contest. it reminded me a bit of john kasich on the republican side in the last debate where he kept trying to take his turn, even when it wasn't his turn. governor o'malley clearly he realizes this is probably his last chance to leave any major, significant mark on the debate. i do not know how effective it was. he was left with no real choice in a race that has boiled down

to two candidates. i think he made every effort he could to contrast himself on the issues. gun control, and a host of other things. his whole tactic in this race has been, i am appear on the stage against two talkers, former senators. he does not seem to be getting any traction. on hand,ally, you were watching you in person. what was your take away. what is your headline from last night? the first halfd of the debate in the press hour. second half at a bernie sanders debate watch. my takeaway, having said that, is that not a whole lot changed last night. there were a lot of people watching. i want to mention that i was at

the bernie sanders debate watching because it was extremely well attended -- several hundred people. we tend to analyze these things in the media from a certain way, but certainly here, there is a lot of energy for bernie sanders. that will not change. i think his supporters will be more riled up than ever after last night. host: scott conroy, senior political reporter for "huffington post." online. available thank you very much for being with us. we appreciate it. our phone lines are open. (202) 748-8001 from republicans. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. the debate last night, we want to find out from you who you think won the debate. by the way, our thanks to abc news, a chance to hear it on abc radio and see it here on c-span later this afternoon at about

4:00 eastern time. it will also be streamed, as weak. on our website. it will not be archived, but we think abc news for allowing you a chance to see the debate, if you missed it last night. alice, new jersey, democrats line. good morning. caller: yes. on hands down. this thing that happened friday afternoon, when it was reported, they were calling in to radio stations -- bernie sanders -- they are acting so ,iciously and making up things and before you knew it, it was not -- it went from debbie wasserman schultz to of being hillary clinton.

i mean, they start to sound like they are alex jones making up things. clinton won last night, and she will prevail, and she will be our candidate. host: final thought? caller: i have one other thought. i never in my life heard such a thing -- bernie sanders told the huffington post the other on he was already working his inaugural address, which i find funny. viewer whois another says, i'm starting to think that our method of selecting a president is not the greatest. democrat, eric, joins us from seattle, washington, up early on a sunday morning. basically, what is going to happen with the democratic party is you have the republican who debate.

the democratic party, they see an african-american, like me. here is what all happened. the democrats will disenfranchise the black votes. isis. not worried about ice is not a threat to the african-american community. the police, and these neo-nazi racist groups like the ones who want to kill the people in south carolina -- you go outside our houses, and seabees rebel flags flying. needs toratic party come to realize that you have to feed your base some red meat like these republicans always do. all of them have been complicit in the criminal justice system. martin o'malley, hillary, and bill, when he was in office. they come up with these crime

bills. host: we will move onto to other calls as well. we go to bernie, florida, democrats line. good morning. caller: good morning. i thought america got a good view of the democratic party last night in that they had a discussion of issues. yarddid not go to school name-calling -- my dad is bigger than your dad. they talked about what is important to the american people. as far as it being on a saturday night, i am concerned about america. i stayed home, i watched the debate because it was an important tool in selecting who will be the next president of the united states. in theas there a moment debate last night, a takeaway moment for you? all three didght well. if you want me to pick a winner,

i would say hillary clinton. she handled everything beautifully. call.thank you for the facebook also keeping track of some of the moments and what got the most traction at facebook.com. this was released this morning isis, guns, and terrorism leading the list. won andays bernie clinton again was shown to not be consistent in supporting progressive principles of peace and populism, and she showed up late, could not even bother to be on time for the debate. bob allen says, the viewers, such a stark contrast to the oted hawkish blather that debate.d the gop

jimmy says, it's hillary clinton is the nominee, she definitely has my vote. bloomberg politics saying, hillary clinton strongly endorsed action against bashar al-assad and sanders and martin o'malley taking exception, . also, sanders arguing that the former secretary of state is too much into regime change and to aggressive without knowing what the unintended consequences would be. max, illinois. hower: i do not understand hillary can even be a candidate. i hope the fbi does the right thing. she needs to be indicted. anybody else could not get a pass like that.

this is wrong, what is going on. host: we will go to carl, joining us from west virginia. caller: good morning. wednesday presidency, she will make history by being the first female president, but she will also make history by being the first president that was under investigation by the fbi. ift i would like to know is obama can pardon her before she takes office. forlieve i could vote someone else before hillary clinton. host: another viewer says, won because he is not a war machine.

trump a winner. no one loves more attention than the donald, and he was mentioned over and over again last night. moderator, also a winner. she was the start of the show as the chief global correspondent did exactly what a moderator candidates allow the to mix it up, and interjected when something was not right. martin o'malley came in with a by his low point came when he mentioned he came from a different generation than the other candidates on stage, a not so subtle attempt to call sanders and clinton old erie everys also a loser, sanders answers seemed to

devolve into shouting and outrage. also, no justification for hosting a debate on a saturday, six days before christmas. john, democratic line, good morning. caller: yes. i was calling to say, on the they askedhen it as about the hair when epidemic, they did not say anything about .he mexican cartel we need to get a handle on this immigration to see really who our friends are. overids killing each other the drugs.

you really need to pay attention to this. this is a real issue. that is all i have to say. host: thank you for the call. this is a headline in "the washington post," saying clashing over syria. also this tweet on donald trump -- hillary clinton lied when she said that isis is using video of donald trump as a recruiting .ool, that was false emily, california, republican line. did you watch the debate last night? caller: i did. i think ernie sanders was much too apologetic. he seems to always find a way to for hillary, for example, she is investigated by the fbi and congress. i personally feel, and i watched her, that we have 1.6 billion

and havingthe world, a woman, at that age, running the world, and being the commander in chief, i find difficult. the moderator asked about libya. libya had to do with the investor being asked -- the thatsador being asked those weapons not fall into the hands of the terrorist. that night, they happened to get to them, and they got the weapons. the terrorists got the weapons. i'm asking myself, why do we have to have hillary clinton and the democrats who do not want to defend this be in this race. can't they find another candidate, not so old, not so full of crime. thank you. host: thank you for the call. from "national journal," there bernie sanders tried

to full behind his campaign real scandal of the debate. unlike politicians whose statements and motives are often viewed with skepticism, one of his key selling points has been his personal brand. almosty supporters o always cite his credibility as one of his attributes. another moment focusing on guns and the brady bill. we will get to that in just a moment. let's get next to beverly in north carolina. caller: i enjoyed the entire debate. it showed people that america still has credibility. they have real knowledge of all the issues.

they touched on the issues. it made me very proud to be a democrat. i'm in favor of hillary, however, i would feel very good voting for bernie. they showed me that they are for the people. that is what the constitution says. the republicans, they really should have hung their head in shame last night. thank you. host: thank you for the call. carol says abc should have asked hillary clinton about the two newly discovered e-mails that were definitely highly classified at the time when she receives them. the headline from "the new york clinton's focus and third debate is on gop. assailed they republican field, led by donald

torump, calling him a threat the nation safety, becoming isis' best recruiter. dyslexia repeated attacks from bernie sanders and martin o'malley over gun control, wall street and foreign military entailment. here is the moment last night on gun control. [video clip] against the brady bill. senator sanders voted against research dollars to look into this public health issue. secretary clinton changes her position on this every election year, it seems, having one position in 2000, and then campaigning against president obama, saying we do not need federal standards. what we need is more principle. isil says the easiest way to get an assault weapon is at a gun show, then we should all be

waking up. we need comprehensive and safety legislation. host: part of the debate last night, focusing on the brady bill. this response from senator bernie sanders on the charges put forth by the maryland governor. [video clip] just upset the record straight, iran for the house. three candidates in the race. one candidate said, i do not think it is a great idea that we sell automatic weapons in this country that are used by the military to kill people very rapidly. there arele said -- three candidates in the race, you vote for one of the others, but not bernie sanders. i lost that election by three percentage points, very likely for that reason. please, do not explain to me whereing from a state republicans and democrats have