>> thank you for that. i think it is been very important. what we've seen, i believe, something of a validation that training works. some say the army l a time, and we of seen it once again on the ground. remember, the iraqi army that we left in 2011 was an army that had been trained for counterinsurgency. that means checkpoint operations, ied reduction, that type of work. what the iraqi army that collapsed in 2014 was a counterinsurgency. they were not prepared and they were not trained and they were not ready for a conventional fight, conventional assault that isil brought to mosul and beyond. the last year has been a process

every constructing, rebuilding, and refitting the iraqi army. so now, they are outfitted with modern american equipment, modern conventional training, and of course, supported by this devastating air power. what are some exact examples. number one, probably the most notable is the crossing. they came to iraq to train the iraqi bridging battalion of how to do bridging operations. this is complex. this is grown-up work. this is advanced warfare. i don't know that we have seen a bridging operation in the middle east conducted by middle east armies since the 1970's. so this is advanced warfare, advanced technique at any rate.

they use those techniques to bridge the canal, a canal off the euphrates river, gain a foothold in southern ramadi, and pushed into the center of town. additionally, we have seen some good work in the combined arms breaching set. the iraqis -- in an effort to breach the ied minefields that isil has set up along the southern approaches into downtown ramadi. again, this is advanced work. this is using the principles of secure, obscure, reduce obstacles. all of this has come with the plan. the last piece is probably the integration of air and ground. the iraqis now have functioning air force, which includes f-16 possible step we assume the iraqis able to integrate their air with their ground. integration of coalition air underground, which is really we

have much larger role in that. so all of these pieces, the bridging, obstacle reduction, training, increment has all come together here in ramadi. but again, i think it is really important to keep in mind that we still have a fight ahead of us. mosul is a big, big city and it is when you take a lot of effort. it will take more training, more equipment and it will take patience. >> two of ramadi. on the attack phase, remus a patch is used? i know they been used for the ramadi campaign. any commanders or u.s. ground forces assisting the attack on ramadi? and could you describe the state of ramadi right now, cannot function as a city,

infrastructure, water, sewer? as the sunnis moved in, will they be mostly in a policing role? will that be a ring around that to ensure that isis doesn't end up moving back into ramadi after the fact? >> so there were no u.s. ground forces involved in any way, shape, or form in the fight for ramadi. there were no apache helicopters, no attack helicopters of any type. the only coalition, the only u.s. involvement in the fight for ramadi has been the delivery of air power and the training of iraqi soldiers and advising and assisting the iraqi security forces from their headquarters in off the top. that's it. the status of ramadi now, still a little early to tell. there's been significant damage done to that city, i will say right now.

that is just the natural result of modern combat. there is significant damage to the city. and it will take time to rebuild it. now, we do know that both the united states of america and the coalition have pledged millions of dollars for the reconstruction, the rebuilding ramadi. we expect we will begin to see, was the security situation is stabilized enough, the international community come in with humanitarian relief efforts. this is all part of the stabilization and reconstruction plan the government of and bar is now working very closely with the iraqi central government to finalize and coordinate with the united nations and other aid agencies so the moment that city

is secure, get the needed help, get the money flowing, and get the reconstruction going. >> just a follow-up on where the sunni -- will be sunni forces be inside the interior of the city and a policing role and still and a protective ring to prevent isis returning? >> so it will be the sunni tribal fighters along with the police, the federal and local police who will provide the security and stabilization for ramadi. it is up to the iraqi secured he forces how they will flirt her deployed -- further deploy and further use their forces. right now we envision the iraqi security forces moving to other battlefields.

>> hi, steve. sorry, i kind of have a cold. on the u.s. and ramadi, are there any advisers in there now in any place -- are they anywhere closer to helping the security forces? there were some ports does reports yesterday of isis leaving ramadi as the iraqi secured he forces started moving into the government center. you mention the shark's in area or whatever to the river, but are they actually leaving the city and going to other cities like solutia or moving west or do you have any insight into that? i've one question after that. >> there are no u.s. forces located anywhere other than -- no u.s. ground forces located anywhere other than takatum.

that is where the ground forces were that were advising and assisting iraqi forces as they conducted this fight. the enemy -- so, i think the few that remain alive, and i think those numbers are relatively small, are moving mostly into the shark's fin area north and used. surely, some onesies and twosies slip through. the rest are dead. >> there is still no u.s. anywhere outside of takatum your ramadi at this point? even today?

>> u.s. forces are only in takatum. >> the one about the guy killed on the 24th in the airstrike, you said he was actively planning attacks against the west. did any of those occlude -- include attacks against the u.s. homeland or with a broader against europe? >> i don't have that level of detail for release. we're just going to say the west. it is important to note that all of these terrorists had eventual designs on attacking the united states. let's be clear about that. that is what they want to do. as far as the stages of attack planning, we're not going to get into those details yet because we want to preserve some of our options to continue striking these terrorists. >> thank you.

>> there are some reports that 400 people are in the ramadi government conflict with the iraqi forces. do you have any information on that? and in the lead up to this assault, he talked about civilians within the city, where are they now? are they secure? have they fled? where have they gone? >> there are 400 civilian citizens that have come to the ramadi city center to seek shelter. iraqi security forces have received them and are doing the right things as far as settling them down and in ministering to them. you broke up on the second part of your question. >> in the lead up to this assault, you talked a lot about the civilians inside the city. where are they now? you are talking about presumably more than 400. had they fled?

are they so more secure? where are they now that the city has been mostly taken back by isf? >> it is too soon to tell. presumably, some left and others went into hiding. again, keep in mind, you see on your ramadi map, there is still bits of ramadi that the iraqi security forces have not yet had a chance to clear. that is the area not shaded. the point there south of the anbar center in and moving east. so this area all has to be still cleared as the iraqi security forces move into these neighborhoods, they will likely be some resistance. ambushes, ied's, and the like. as they're doing that, they will be looking for civilians who are in hiding or are being held and administered to their needs as well. we don't really have a good

count at this point of how many remain in the city. >> [indiscernible] isf are running into or the ied's and rigged houses and then, second question, the video of the flag being raised, do you think that will be released today? i think you're trying to show that to us earlier. >> maybe we can reset it and we can close that with the flag being raised. yeah, it will all be posted on the website. the booby-traps that we see, the isil forces setting, home and explosives so -- home and explosives. they get their hands on fertilizer and other chemicals that can be combined into make expose of charge. some are with captured military equipment they have captured over the years, whether it is in syria ormosul, and they will fashion us military quitman into

improvised explosive devices, we call them ied's. they will use these in various ways, tripwire, sometimes pressure points. they will use these devices often buried underground so the forces can't see them as their approach, often inside of the house, and they will either be a tripwire or a pressure plate somewhere in the vicinity of that house, which when triggered will cause the entire house to detonate. so these are some of the -- kind of what we're seeing here in ramadi. >> kernel, at their peak, how many isis fighters occupied ramadi? >> difficult to know. we think at points of probably was as high as 800 to 1000.

as any force does, they will reposition so as of -- when the iraqi security forces crossed the river to enter southern ramadi, we believe at that point there was maybe 250 to 350 left in a center of town. since then, we have killed at least 100 of them from the air. so the numbers continue to reduce. you are going to continue to see that as the iraqis learn how to conduct offensive operations, what happens is, as offensive operations place pressure on an enemy, they will cause that enemy to have to move. as soon as they move, they then make themselves a target for american and coalition air power. so we put isil in the spot where it can stay where it is and get

shot, or get up and move and be bombed -- which is a tough choice to make, but always ends up with the same result. >> did any shia militias take part in any of this operation to clear ramadi? >> there were no shia militias involved in this operation for ramadi. primarily, we see the shia militia operate more in the tigris river valley. some in the euphrates river valley as well. primarily, and the tigers -- tigris river valley. in ramadi come exclusively and iraqi army and c.t.s. fight. in fallujah, primarily iraqi army -- primarily. the vast majority is iraqi army. but maybe not completely. it is in the tigris river valley we see the pmf operating.

>> steve, i'm wondering if you could tell me if you see or have heard reports of any type of follow on insurgency style campaign from isis and its sympathizers in the gray shaded areas the ia has cleared? are you seeing evidence of that or do you have any expectation or concerns about that, or do you think this is going to be a pretty clear win and will clearly's guys out entirely? -- clear these guys out entirely? >> it is a little early to tell right now. we can certainly -- we have to and should expect to see some type of guerrilla insurgency operations. frankly, there aren't many left even to conduct those operations. you have to remember, the

approach we have taken here has really put isil in a tough spot. it is operationalizing in the battlefield. so as we have pressured ramadi, as we have rooted out the entrenched enemy there, there simultaneously -- pressure is being put against this enemy everywhere. so for them to be able to move forces around and conduct these operations, it becomes more difficult. it is like a fighter. the way you win a fight is through commendation punches, right? you throw multiple punches. that is what you are seeing us do against this enemy to whether it is the dam, al hall, sinjar, ramadi, bombs and mosu, whether it isl striking the leadership targets or taking away their ability to make money through operation tidal wave, it is this smothering pressure that is

beginning to build on this enemy that causes them -- is causing them real trouble. again, i don't want to be giving a bad impression. this is a big enemy. we still have capability. he is still spread throughout this operating area, but these is combination punches we are throwing our beginning to take effect. >> colonel, he said the iraqi consul dues were in low double digits. -- you said the iraqi casualties were low double digits. did they put up the type a fight expected? you talk about the leadership, but overall, what has the u.s. air campaign, including isis, the searing ground forces, done since the overall strength of the islamic state fighting

force? a >> yeah, so, you know, the overall strength of the fighting force, we still estimate someone to be between 20000 and 30,000. so this is something we have to deal with. i forgot the first part of your question. >> in ramadi is so you said the casualties for the iraqi army was low double digits. did the islamic state militants inside ramadi not put up the type of ferocious fight you had been expecting. >> it was tough finding. there was tough fighting, particularly in the last week when the iraqi security forces crossed the bridge and moved north into the city center. we sell real hard -- we saw real

hard fighting, but it was ineffective, right? the iraqi security forces had the unparalleled ability to place pressure on this enemy and suppressed them. the cps in this case, they're becoming much more well trained and are experienced now, so they know how to fight. so, really, this was overmatched. they couldn't withstand the pressure. >> hi,, david smith. >> no, he is talking. >> sinjar we had overwhelming combat power amongst the

peshmerga in the mountains, pushed south off that mountain into sinjar, we sell the same thing in effect. you asked me the same exact question. they are not 10 feet tall. these guys are not that tough. they're not any tougher than any other fighter out there. and when -- when iraqi security forces or any other forces are able to use final middles of warfare to bring pressure to bear on this enemy, they will crack and they will collapse. so next question. >> david smith of "the guardian." are there any estimates of civilian casualties in the battle of ramadi? also, rainy isil prisoners taken and you have a number for that and do we know what will happen to them? and one last question, this goes back to your list of isil people who have been killed.

you mentioned one man who is from bangladesh, educated in the u.k. do you have any more details of him, particularly, his age or how long -- >> all good questions. an force like, i'm going to disappoint you. we do not have an estimate on civilian casualties yet. i have not received a report on isil prisoners. that is a fair question. i have not seen much reporting of isil, prisoners being taken. some surrendered earlier on and kind of cross the lines as they got scared, relies the inevitable was coming they would frankly desert or quit. they moved into iraqi security force control and were processed accordingly. on our one high-value target who was killed, educated in the u.k., i don't have any more info

on him. other than what i put out. this guy was a hacker. she lets them of their hacking programs. he also facilitated development of weapons and some of their surveillance techniques. >> you talked about some of the specialized equipment that was used by the iraqis, trained by the u.s.. could you talk about that as it was used to try to get out -- at the ied's? and was at the same u.s. unit that helps them with that bridge across the canal? also, colonel, or you running into in ramadi the complexes that happened evident in other locations?

lastly, part of the specialized equipment, did they have use of line charges to get rid of some of the ied's? >> the specialized equipment, to her most notable, number one, the line charges. the iraqi security forces did fire a micclick line charge as they try to reach the southern defensive belt that isil has set up. successful execution of it. the other notable piece of mutual agreement, armored bulldozers. within about 21 forward after the iraqi security forces -- they use these armored bulldozers to do two things. one, to try to push minefields or ladies out of the way.

most important, they will use them for rapidly built up berms on the side of an advancing unit. this enemy likes to try to bring truck bombs or we call them vbids, around and into the flanks of attacking forces. so in a great combine arms maneuver, using mobility, tnaks will provide -- tanks will provide security. they will shoot down at anything that moves down the street while the armored bulldozers built up berms on either side of the road which will prevent these truck bombs from coming in and striking flanks. they will advance that way with tanks, m1's, others bringing protection and the armored bulldozers providing the mobility -- in this case, counter mobility, by erecting berms on either side of the road to prevent them from being attacked on the flanks.

we destroyed many tunnels used, not significant effect, obviously, because the iraqis were able to come in and sees the government complex. the tunnel that seem to be a problem is iraqis will go through the process of patrolling and clearing these neighborhoods. they will have to be on the lookout for these tunnels. these are areas where the enemy can hide. this is where the enemy can move around and reposition if there is a small firefight. so the titles continue to be something that the iraqis need to keep their eye on. our pilots and travelers have learned a lot about tunnels and how to identify them from the air. we strike them whenever we see them as well. you had about seven questions. was anything else? >> the unit, the u.s. engineering unit that helped with this?

>> the 814th out of louisiana trained the battalion on how to employ and construct what we call an improved ribbon bridge. i have a video of that bridge on my twitter feed, so check it out. again, the iraqis used that to good effect and allow them to move combat power from the south to the north, gain a foothold in the southern portion of the city, and eventually move forward into the city. >> thank you. there is a lot of talk, food especially from the iraqis, that retaking mosul. i'm wondering if the iss will first tackle fallujah, and in the isolation phase in fallujah. i'm wondering if you could expand what that means?

second, how many sunni forces actually participated in ramadi and whether there are enough in this fight to retake foley show or anbar or other sunni areas in iraq? -- retake fallujah or anbar or other sunni areas interact? >> good questions. a most important thing to keep in mind some of the fight for mosul started a year ago. we began shaping fires, and is continue. the fight for mosul continues. as we attacks out from sinjar and seized sinjar mountain, that country david does contribute it to the seizure of mosul. it further isolates mosul.

it further restricts this enemy's ability to resupply themselves. so the fight for mosul is ongoing. right now we are in the shaping phase. we continue to cut out various supply lines and capabilities. the fight for fallujah is ongoing. the iraqi security forces are approaching it from three directions. there are the isolation phase of that operation, which if you recall, we were in the isolation phase of ramadi for several months. we are the isolation phase. that is where the attacking forces positions itself all the way around the city adverse locations along the primary avenues in and out of the city. they build a fire and essentially they encircled the city come almost like a boa constrictor, and they will then squeeze in closer and closer into that city until eventually they are able to finally clear it, as we saw in ramadi.

so the same tactics apply. we do not have a we don't have a timeline yet. we will have to see how the fight progresses. does that answer all your questions? >> any tribal forces? even if 8000 are trained, is that enough? considering in mid-2000, there were like 90,000. i am wondering if there are enough sunni tribal forces now that can be effective. well, there has been enough to be effective in ramadi. that has been the principal. we see that success builds on itself. we might see more of these tribal forces now begin to come together. we think that there is enough combat power to get the job

done, yes. >> we are about out of time. a quick speed round from dan, jamie, and courtney. >> there has been a number of photographs released in the recent days of u.s. portman providing medical support for iraqi casualties coming back from ramadi. can you provide any kind of clarity what kind of metals: -- what kind of medical support the u.s. is providing? and more broadly, as the casualties add up? things.ren: two have off, it turns out we the flag waving video queued up. we will play that once we close out. there is a forward surgical team

that provides level one stabilization care. this is before they are evacuated to level two care facilities. >> there seems to have been an enormous amount of strikes in syria in the last couple days. i am wondering if you can expand on the strategic significance of this area. are those strikes designed to further impede isis to move into turkey, the turkish border, or further south? and have any of the 50 u.s. special operations forces been involved near this area? strikesren: most of the you are reading about have been at the dam operation.

i mentioned 26 strikes in the previous week as the syrian democratic forces were able to seize that dam. that is where the focus has been. i will not talk about our special forces. >> a quick follow up on ramadi. have you seen any numbers on how many isis fighters may have melted back into the population at this point? forming any kind of cells, do you have any kind of numbers on that? col. warren: unfortunately we don't have good numbers on that, courtney. it is something we will keepp an eye on. as this enemy begins to feel pressure, as i said earlier, it stands to reason they may tend to adopt insurgent styles of attack. i don't have good numbers for you on that. the numbers at this point are fairly low. we had a very significant

effectiveness of our air power. we really killed a lot of bad guys here. that said, it does not mean that we won't see some sort of insurgent cell develop. it has to be kept an eye on. that is the reason we want sunni tribal fighters from this area -- that is your best defense, is competent locals that understand their neighborhoods and towns and are much more able to counter these types of insurgent or guerrilla campaigns. here.t is it for let's roll the video. we have to watch this one, we spent a lot of time--

so there you have the first iraqi flag to fly on top of the iraqi government center building since may. this was a proud day for the iraqis. we are proud of them for their efforts. we will continue this partnership. with that, i will see everyone next week. >> was that video taken by a uas? col. warren: yeah, that was taken by an american drone, or

uas. >> thanks everybody. >> c-span's road to the white house coverage continues with remarks from bernie sanders. at a campaign rally in las vegas. he talked about the global economy, climate change, and health care issues. you can watch his comments tonight at exit caught him eastern on c-span. right after that, democrat hillary clinton holding a town hall meeting in portsmouth, new hampshire. speaking about the record of getting results for working families while serving as first lady, new york senator, and secretary of state. washer, that 7:00 p.m. eastern. -- watcfh her comments at 7:00 p.m. eastern. donald trump speaking to supporters in hilton head, south carolina, at 11:00 p.m. eastern -- 11:00 a.m. eastern here on c-span.

c-span takes you on the road to the white house. best access to the candidates at town hall meetings, speeches, rallies, and meet and greet. we are taking your comments on twitter, facebook, and by phone. as always, every campaign event we cover is available on our website,. c-span.org >> we are back this morning with two consultants from each of the parties to talk about campaign 2016. and republican consultant. thank you both for this conversation. i will begin with predictions. we are a few weeks away from iowa. what do you think is going to happen in the first caucus state? guest: i can't wait for iowa to get here. i think most people feel that way, and you too. the truth is, we don't really know what is going to happen, at least on the republican side. i think we have a clear idea

that hillary is going to win iowa. the question is going to be by how much? i think she will be the democratic nominee. i like senator sanders, i really do, but i don't see him having the organization and the background and frankly, the ability to get people to the caucus in iowa, which is not an easy thing to do, that hillary does. she has frankly been working on this sense 2007. -- since 20087. she is going to be the winner in iowa, and probably denominate. if she blows it out, if it is 80%, you are going to see support for senator sanders begin to dwindle. however, if it's closer, if he is at 40%, or even 45% of the vote -- and remember i what is not a traditional election. the caucuses are a little different. if you makes a strong showing in iowa, alright, we might have a race on our hands. i might be surprised because the

infrastructure needs in iowa to get people to those caucuses on night is not as easy as it looks. but we could have a race on our hands. host: i will turn to you -- a little bit more difficult to make it election. but donald trump seems to be ahead, but ted cruz looks to be as if he is ahead in iowa. what is going on? guest: most of the news media reports on national polls. having worked on 5 presidential campaigns, i can say it's not national polls that matter -- it's iiowa, new hampshire -- iowa, new hampshire. who comes out of iowa and new hampshire with all of the momentum? that is the key here. almost 12e to ask me years ago who would win the democrat primary, i would say

howard dean in a heartbeat. but as of today, ted cruz has the best organization in iowa. trump is pulling well in iowa. but it is hard to get people to 1, danger inruary the black ice. they will have a record number in the caucus, but no one is as organized as ted cruz, no one. and no one has as much support on the grassroots level. again, 12 years ago, dean probably have the same thing on the democrat side. this next month is going to be crazy. there is going to be so much money spent. rising, you are going to see people going after him. if trump starts spending money, which i debate whether he will, he's going to go after him. it's going to be a free-for-all over the next month.

-- youlet me add this have to be in line at 7:00 p.m.. it's not like you get to go vote anytime during the day. you have to be willing to participate to show up at that point. guest: you have to be a very committed person to do that. host: when it comes to the caucus, how many iowans have shown up to do it? guest: i believe, and i am sure that some caller can correct me, but i believe that you thousand eight democratic side -- the 2008 democratic side is the largest caucus attendance to date. but i believe it was only about 25% of the electorate potentially. guest: good point. guest: it is not that many people overall. guest: there were like 240,000 caucus-goers on the democrat side. romney got around 121,000 -- the

years agoucus-goers 4 was the largest number they have ever had. the bush campaign is predicting 128,000 this year. there are activists all over iowa saying it will be a hundred 50,000 caucus-goers. 150,000be caucus-goers. in 2000, about 80,000 caucus-goers came out for bush. you can see the trend. with so many candidates, there will be so many campaigns driving so much turnout that it will absolutely go up from 120,000. the question is how much. guest: i will go one step further. the chaos of the iowa caucus is what happens in the room. they have to be in line by 7:00 p.m. on february 1. it could be negative five degrees outside in iowa. they have to be there. they are going to be in churches, gymnasiums, maybe somebody's living room -- and

they are locked in that room from the moment that they enter. they lock the doors. when the time is right -- i think it is 8:00 p.m.. no one is alive -- no one is allowed to leave until the caucus is finished. there are sony candidates on the republican side. let us assume that there are 20 people in a caucus, somewhere in iowa. 2 for trump, 2 for bush, 2 for rubio, 3 for cruz, then you have 1 christie, 1 kasich, 1 someone else. well, on the first round of balloting, you have to reach a certain threshold as a candidate. what happens if no one reaches the threshold? all of a sudden, the people in that room get released as delegates. they, in that room, can go a reassign themselves to another candidate. no one is going to know what is happening in those rooms. 2008 democratic

situation, what you had obama and hillary, that was where obama won it. the obama campaign had cut deals with delegates in those rooms, saying if edwards isn't a viable candidate after the first round of balloting, those delegates would then go to obama. are you kidding me? this could go on for hours. we might not know for 2 days. host: c-span has been here to cover the caucuses. our cameras will be there to give the viewers a flavor of what is going on in these rooms. after i was, we move on to new hampshire. -- after iowa, we move on to new hampshire. we have an editorial the other day saying that the trump campaign is insulting new hampshire voter's intelligence. comparing donald trump to biff from back in the future.

-- from "back to the future." mr. trump: we had an interesting thing. you have a very dishonest newspaper. ings also a feeling -- faill newspaper. it's going down the tubers. [laughter] if they cut it down anymore, you won't be able to find it. [laughter] you know the things when you go to the grocery store, which is a call them? coupons? this guy is named joe mcquaid. [boos] mr. trump: he is a lowlife, i tell you. host: the publisher and union leader comes out against him. what -- what do you think of donald trump's strategy? is it a smart one to go after john mcquaid? guest: he seems to change the rules on everything that people

think should happen. i tend to think he is trying to make news. there is a pattern when a candidate starts getting more momentum, he will start attacking cruz. he started attacking christie last night because he has a lot of momentum in new hampshire. you can usually tell how well a candidate's doing in these early states. there is some momentum for christie. some inside campaign polling is saying so. now you see trump going after christie, for he is going after the clintons and the news media. that story is now back in the news, now he's going after the leader, and he's back on the front page of every article. and it stops christie's momentum. that is been his strategy the whole campaign. you have something outlandish,

the media reports on it, he is number one in the news. and others get stopped by these headlines. host: do headlines produce voters? guest: no. but i think there is a base of support for trump. i don't think he will win iowa. but if we have a big group of candidates in new hampshire -- and right now, kasich does not see any reason, rubio will not drop out -- you have all those votes spread out. it gives donald trump a chance. if he wins new hampshire, then he takes that momentum to the south, where he is doing very well in polling. he does not win iowa and new hampshire, then he comes to the south with total loss of all momentum. he looks like a third-rate candidate at that point. people are going to be -- the media is going to be focusing on so many others. new hampshire is the battleground for trump. host: before we get to calls, i want to go on donald trump going

after bill clinton. hillary clinton saying that she would let her husband off the campaign. he says "if hillary thinks she can unleash her husband, with his terrible record of women abuse, she's wrong." some say that bill is fair game. she is smartly using her husband as a campaign circuit. "these moves open a dangerous door. it should surprise no one that trump has barged through it.' guest: i agree absolutely with that statement. no one should be surprised that trump has barged through any door. the truth is, watching the footage from new hampshire, i have to admit, i don't like donald trump and will not vote for him. but i kind of admire his ability

to stand up in front of any camera he can find and make fun of, tear down, leaders from across this country with absolute abandon. every time he does it, people begin a following. there is an antiestablishment staffer that is running through the trump campaign. by attacking joe mcquade in new hampshire, does that help him? yes. because he's part of the new hampshire political establishment. everybody in new hampshire knows who he is. doesn't get voters -- does it get voters to the polls? that remains to be seen. we are all waiting to see. i have to admit, every time i see trump, i am personally appalled as an american and it certainly as a democrat, but as a communications consultant i am secretly blown away by his ability to throw caution to the

wind, barged through those doors. callout anybody from bill clinton to joe mcquaid to ted cruz, and gain headlines and media coverage by doing it. which is what fueled the fire behind him. while i don't like him, i have to admire stigall sometimes. host: we go to michael, independent. ok, everybody pronounces it incorrectly. i'm a social liberal, fiscal conservative. i voted for obama in 2008. and unloading -- and i'm voting for trump. what your guests are missing is that this whole primary system is rigged. the general elections are rigged. not that a steel -- that they st eal votes. but they influence weak minded people, of which we have so many people in this country, it's

disgusting. and chomp is the only guy out there -- it's more than antiestablishment. those of us know that the republican party only caters to the rich and the democratic party caters to minorities and foreign immigrants and everything else. there is a whole pool of us left in the middle. host: let's take your point. guest: i tend to disagree with this. i don't disagree that trump has tapped into something different in the angst of america against the way things are going in washington, the political parties. there is no way that someone that can't articulate a policy point, as shown cannot do on basically anything other than a wall -- is able to dupe voters. that is my personal opinion. i believe his rhetoric is strong

. for me, there is nothing behind it. i still have not seen him articulate a policy point that goes beyond two sentences. to me, that is duping voters on another level. host: two that -- to that "trump's attack raise eyebrows on wall street." in new go to donna jersey on the democrat line. good morning. the air.are on your question or comment. let's move on to charles, independent. hi charles. about: i was worried house speaker boehner recently, and now they have paul ryan in there. with the republican establishment not wanting trump in there, if there is not going

to be a conclusion with the rest if thecandidate, republicans are going to broker paul ryan to be a presidential candidate. turn to you. whether trump can run as an independent. guest: i think the lessons republicans need is one more person running for president. i don't see paul ryan coming into this. but a brokered convention is legitimate. i don't know. i will defer to you on that point. whether you believe in the primary system or not, it is the system. these are the roles we play by. personally, having gone through the 2008 primary with obama and hillary that went all the way to south dakota. even though no one else it was going to happen, i actually think by the time we get halfway

through the republican primaries, you are going to see the field whittled down to 4 or 5, maybe fewer. it's expensive to stay on the air in all of these states. it's hard to keep people on payroll. literally running a positive campaign is like running a multimillion dollar corporation. it's why it costs so much money. you have to be on the air, on the ground, paying salaries every 2 weeks for those going door-to-door. i don't see this going all the way to the end to july with 13 people. i think you're going to see at least the field whittled down to 2, 3, 4 by about halfway. is trump going to be one of them ? going back to the point of running as an independent, i don't know. if i had the crystal ball, i be making my whole lot more money some. i don't know. if his voters, if this fervor that is behind the folks showing up in his rallies -- if they show up at the polls and catch

votes, he might still be in the next. that could be fascinating. -- still be in the mix. do i think he could run as an independent? i do. will you throw it to hillary? probably. again, i don't have a crystal ball. but the likelihood is if he ran and took 5, 10, even 15% of the vote, it would be hard for any republican nominee to get enough votes to win the election. host: before we go, let me show you this headline. next year's debate could shrink to six candidates. guest: i think the caller made a good point. i don't have a crystal ball either, but i have a crystal brain in this sense. [laughter] running for president is the most humiliating thing you will ever do. people watching right now may not understand that. let me peel back a layer. you have to call and ask people

for money all the time. you have to be told by your friend, "oh sure, i'm going to send you a check," and they don't send you a check. you are humiliated on a daily basis. a lot of these candidates are running before and they know how to be simulated. they know the game and know how it works. trump has never had to run before. no one has said a lot of negative things about him. he is constantly being attacked every single day. his ego is not to that. my thing is that it will come down to new hampshire. if he does not place well, i "why am mygo says, being humiliated on the campaign trail? i can run as an independent and not be simulated by the establishment -- be humiliated by the establishment." guest: and stay in the news, which is what he really likes. host: and if he is making

headlines, he's not spending money either. guest: exactly. host: ted cruz, if he wins iowa, then you go to new hampshire. marco rubio is in new hampshire. trey gowdy, a lawmaker making headlines because of the victim -- the victim of -- the benghazi committee. what do you think the strategy is here? guest: trey gowdy is looked as a straight shooter in the republican base. his organization isn't as great in iowa or new hampshire as others. i think he is saying, why should i make a big run to the top? i can lay low and build momentum to february 1 when the caucasus begin. i think is strategy is to hang back and make a run in the last few weeks. host: with southern states? guest: i think he is try to do well enough in iowa and new hampshire to make it to the

south. trey gowdy will help them a lot in south carolina. it is on to the southern primary. he thinks -- i would say the most viable candidate running against hillary. this is what pulling is exciting. -- polling is saying. i am not making this up. this is one candidate that democrats really fear against a hillary candidacy. they have work to do. cruz is so well-established in iowa. christie and even bush and kasich are so well-established in new hampshire -- trump, too. he has a road ahead of him. republicane go to a from maryland. caller: i just called to make a comment. the guest just made a statement

on donald trump being embarrassed to be in the same room. i would last for someone to ask her, how about hillary clinton? i know she's a democrat, but is she embarrassed to be in the same room with her? i remember as far back as john f. kennedy, and never remember someone being on tv and lying as much as she does -- or barack obama. polls have shown that hillary does not do well when asked about her trustworthiness. guest: i would love to be in a room with donald trump to watch the megalomania in person. i have been in a room with hillary clinton. i think she is a pretty terrific woman. you are absolutely right, she has enormous trust issues within the american population. even within the democratic party. however, here is what we have all come to realize 2008, she

has already put herself out there. for those of us involved in the 2008 primary, it was civil war. it was brother on brother. the 18 million people that voted for hillary in 2008 have been waiting 8 years to vote for her again. my mother is one of them. trust me, they are all coming back. that is why i am sure she will be the nominee. that's the thing about her trust factor. 99% of the american people have already decided whether they like or don't like hillary clinton. the truth is, in a strange white, we have moved on. -- in a strange way, we have moved on. i see her as a cable, experienced leader. there also needs to be a caring leader. part of the question is going to be, does she faced a republican

candidate that can win the trust factor? that could become a real contest. but we've already decided whether we trust her or not. frankly, i think we have moved on. host: do you agree? guest: the only person that can help change the narrative on hillary clinton is probably donald trump, and his attacks recently. jeb bush, everybody last spring was saying he was going to be prolific. trump came out and said, "low energy," and he has never recovered from it. he has laid the narrative on rubio and on christie. if trump -- what is ironic is that when hillary was invited to trump's wedding -- but if you wants to go after bill and attach it to the corruption on the clintons, he might be good at making it stick.

host: democrat from georgia. welcome to the conversation. caller: i am a 65 years old black veteran. let me tell you something. i want trump to win it. because hillary will beat trump. and i want rubio and cruz. neighborhood is different. you go to the puerto rican neighborhoods of miami, all cubans think that other hispanic people are second-class citizens. people know about the cubans. they have the easiest laws coming into america. they are the issue here. one thing about the democratic party -- obama knows how to win. republicans have the wrong black people representing them in their party. they can get the votes.

you need michael vesey, those are those that get the votes. castro as a running mate, i guarantee you we will win the election all over again. host: let's talk about onwhat donald trump has said about immigrants and mexicans. and what the republican party did after 2012, when mitt romney -- president obama had 77% of the hispanic vote. the republican party knew that they had to change something. guest: look at our candidates on the ballot this year, even the ones that have dropped out. 2 hispanics, and african-american, an indian american, and a female ceo, which is a rare point. while the democrats have old white people on their ballot.

we do have a pretty diverse ballot right now. i am proud of that. i thought it would be much more formidable before trump before he sucked all of the oxygen out of the air in terms of how we grow our party from the hispanic and african-american perspective. it is a challenge for us right now. frankly, it's at the doorstep of trump. host: brian in michigan, independent. caller: yeah, that last part -- that is where you have it all wrong. if you are worried about the party, they should be representing everybody. -- thes, blacks, whites major point is, neither party wants donald trump in there. it's because it shows that you

don't have to be beholding to lobbyists on either side to get where you need to get to. that is what we need. host: i will take that point because it is one that trump brings up. "i'm not taking any money from special interests that will expect something from me." is that gaining traction with the electorate? guest: i don't think it is, at least not right now. as we move forward the process, it may gain a little bit more traction. i hate toy process -- say it is a pretty insider process. anybody can participate as a registered voter in the state. but for the most part, those that participate are ideological establishment type voters. they are passed the special interest message. that resonates in a general election.

we are just not there. do i think donald trump financing his own campaign could be a message for him? if he runs as an independent, you betcha. in the republican primary? i don't think it gets him anywhere. himself. lobbies he has given money, and in a way, that is lobbying in and of himself.it supercritical for him to say that. -- it is hypocritical for him to say that. every stance that trump has has been a hypocritical stance. host: michelle on the republican line. caller: there is so much i don't know where to start. you mentioned as a democrat, that some trust hillary. i disagree. i have listened to c-span for a long time. dems call in, and frankly they know she lies.

she is dishonest, but they don't care. they will vote for the part no matter if it'sy mickey mouse. the problem is the republicans have to get through their heads that they cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good. you can fight on who your candidate in the primary is, but once that candidate is chosen, you better go out and folk for the party. i have family members that thought mitt romney wasn't christian enough, so they didn't go vote. you subtract a vote from the other party and add a vote to the other party. i have not been voting for people for a long time. i have been voting against people, against parties and not for. host: would you ever vote for democrat? caller: yes, i voted for bill clinton the first time.

guest: she brings up a good point -- why do people vote for who they vote for? yes, a good percentage of this country will wake up on election day and vote for the republican nominee. another percentage is going to wake up in november 2016" for the democratic party. the fun part is about the 10% in the middle. if the last 8% can get you, that is the battle. she is absolutely right there are people that vote republicans or republicans because they are against democrats, or vice versa. winston churchill once said that democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others. what i would say is that in terms of the trust issue, it is a problem for hillary clinton. nobody disagrees. is it has been plagued for 25 years. we are so passed. it is not that we have decided we trust or don't trust her.

we are sick of it. moving on. we have bigger things to worry about in this country than whether or not something happened in 1990 in arkansas. we are done. we are over it. host: who are the 10% everyone is fighting for? guest: they are in that critical key electoral college states of ohio, florida, virginia, north carolina, iowa, new mexico, new .ampshire, colorado a lot of states that, when i started out in politics were read and are now purple and a lot of states who were purple under no red. -- and are now ready. those are the voters in those states -- obviously, there are two elections going on, the popular vote and the electoral college. start good in the electoral college. 243 votes they can bank right now. need to find these

voters in these key critical electoral college states and to turn them out and try to sweep the other states that are in play. harry,incoln, alabama, democrat, good morning to you. caller: good morning. i would like to ask philip a question to see if the has an answer for me. host: we are listening. 61-year-old disabled american veterans getting ready to retire. i have been running into problems with the veterans administration about my health care. yesterday, i went to the veteran outreach center and they wouldn't even see me or anything, even though i signed a contract with the department for active duty in the marine corps and i got injured and have been getting compensation. host: can i ask you to get to your question?

caller: why does the republican party -- and trouble down on veterans? they had a congressional boost that says since i volunteered, i'm responsible for half my medical care instead of full as for the contract. getting sequestered. we don't get our pay raises or anything. i have to live with my family because i can't live on my own anymore. host: we heard your point. republicans, what they have done. guest: really quick, i'm from alabama. i totally empathize with your point. i would say that from the last 10 years, the v.a. has had a big problem taking care of our veterans. the scandal has blown up under this president's administration. there hasn't been a time to fix it yet. to donald trump's credit, he has

made this one of his bigger 2k --, to help veterans, take care of our veterans. i know a bunch of republicans have talked about it. awould tell you there will be better effort to take care of veterans within the v.a.. right now, the scandal lies on the doorstep of barack obama. host: pennsylvania, independents. caller: good morning. please let me explain something. as far as donald trump is [indiscernible] the next thing, talking about hillary, listen.

-- it costs us for trillion dollars. that is what we need to talk about. i am going to agree with the callers last point which is we just have bigger things to deal with in america. both in 2015, 2016, and moving forward then to worry about what may or may not have happened 25 years ago in arkansas. it is not the trust doesn't matter, it is that on this particular human being, hillary clinton, the issue has been so played. let's talk about what we are going to do next. let's talk about how we are going to fix the veterans administration which i actually agree with philip has failed as much under the obama administration as it has under the bush of ministration. it is a disgrace that we don't do better for our veterans in

this country. i want to hear hillary clinton talk about that. i want to hear any of the presidential candidates talk about that. when we rehash and rehash the past on hillary clinton, my have beenfine, i listening to it for 25 years, half my life. talk about what we will do next. host: a headline in the washington post, the past immigration stance is haunting marco rubio. his work in a gang of eight is something that ted cruz brings up repeatedly. he is jockeyed to become the replacement for donald trump. on? is going that a good strategy for him? how does marco rubio response? changed his has position and he is allowed that opinion. crews, trunk, everybody is harping on that. rubio downbly drug and he pulls in iowa, new hampshire, and softer line of. every candidate has their own

bag -- baggage that they have to deal with. this is rubio's. it is a big bag. there is no doubt. positive andt more i think they feel like if they can address it and move it to the next issue, he will be fine. the other thing i would say on this is obviously, there have been a lot of points done within -- polling done within a campaign and they know what will hurt another candidate. when you see these issues brought up with other candidates whether it is for trump -- i don't think travis bolling. if you see from other candidates, crews, christie, jeff. they know what punches will are -- land hardest and they are going after that right now. susan, arizona, republican. caller: happy new year, y'all. my question is i don't understand about the caucus and new hampshire and the other states. if they don't win those states,

the republicans don't win those states, can't they went with the other states? in arizona, if i had the money to open up a little building, do you know how many people want to vote for trump? they want change. they want jobs. arizona, i have two sons, they are so disrespectful. they wait for months to get in. my son waited for 31 days and i kept writing everything down. it is so hard on the family. you know how harry reid and the other guy in the republicans talk first about what they're going to do? -- i am sout down tired of it all. we have to get someone in the white house -- host: we will take your point

about why iowa and new hampshire -- guest: it is a momentum game. i will give you a great example. in 2008, rudy juliana -- rudy giuliani was leading all the national quarrels -- polls like trump was doing no he decided he could win iowa and new hampshire. he put all of his eggs into florida. toe florida came around vote, he was at zero. everything was in such a sweeping wave that that is why it is so critical. i would also say -- host: do you have to win one of the states? guest: you absolutely do. host: you have to win one of those? guest: every nominee from the republican party has come to win south carolina. that is a fascinating statistic i didn't know about south carolina. this incredibly crowded field, 13 viable candidates, correct me if i'm wrong, 13 viable candidates, i think you

can come in either number one, number two, or number three in any of those first estates get iowa, new hampshire, south carolina, and stay in it for a walk. i don't think you can come in eighth, 10th, but if you take one of those top three slots in one of those first three states, i think you will be in it for a while. there are just that many people running for president. also, if they make, i want to address the callers point about arizona. america will hold a presidential primary this year. whether or not it has been decided by the media, every single, all 50 states will hold a present shall primary. any voter who, depending on the roles of that state, an open primary, there is no party registration, or you are a registered republican or democrat which you must be to participate in your primary, every voter in america has an opportunity to get up on their states primary day and walk into a voting booth and vote for the candidate of their choice. if they are on the ballot.

if they feel strongly, they should do it. part of what is happening in america is fewer and fewer people are taking advantage of their rights as american citizens to cast their ballot. they have come in my opinion, no one to blame for that but themselves. host: that brings up the wall street journal. sees trump backers as his allies in these open primaries, as you are saying. guest: maybe. that is very interesting. i do want to get to, get it, but only half the states in this country require you to register by party. the other half, virginia is a perfect example. you don't have to register by party when you register to vote. i am ain virginia, democrat, it doesn't say that my voter a decision. that means on primary day, i can go in and choose either ballot, republican or democrat. that is what vendors -- bernie sanders is saying. is march,end that it april, and insert name of state is having its primary.

bernie is still in there with hillary and they are duking it out, but trump is out. could atrial flutter go in and vote for bernie sanders in a democratic president of primary -- could a donald trump voter go in and over bernie sanders? he could. host: it could work in the reverse. if john pistole in and going against hillary clinton and , supporters cross over and vote for trump. that could happen, but i'm not sure that would happen. i think there will be an independent before that scenario. guest: i agree with that. host: virginia, democrat, terrance, you're up. first, let me say as a disclaimer, i am in democrat but i'm an african-american woman who could easily vote republican. i am a democrat because i will tell you, i have an extreme it is it -- disappointed with the republican party and its candidates.

that is unfortunate. we have voters like me who believe in conservative values but the candidates that the republican party put up are absolutely dysfunctional, disruptive, and embarrassing. diehard -- i'm a hillary supporter. i think the trust issue was overplayed and it is horrible that there are people who do something so petty 25 years ago to hold it against her. what surprises me about trump supporters, what shocked me is that there are people who don't really understand how politics works. we all know just through the obama administration that i don't care who the present your candidate is or who is in office, you can't get a darn thing done msu work it through -- unless you work it through congress. and less you want to change the face of america, you need to win the midterms. people are try to elect this man into office.

he will have the same obstacles that obama had. the republican party in house can get itself together, what makes people think that donald trump is going to keep it together? it just amazes me and i'm really shocked at the mindset of american voters. i hate to say this, but the ignorance of the record voter. your point,l take midterm elections matter. guest: i don't think voters are ignorant at all. i think they are thoughtful. sometimes, they don't pay attention like people in washington, d.c. do to this 24 7, 365. i think they have families, i , kids thathave jobs they take to soccer practice. they have a lot of things going on in their life. what donald trump does on a or whaty minute basis paul ryan or john boehner did on a minute by minute basis is not their main priority until election time and then they have a right to vote. i would also say this about the midterm election. not voting is eroding. -- is voting.

if someone decides not to vote, they cast the right not to vote. i have to respect that process. she doesn't care what happens with hillary clinton 25 years ago, but what happened in benghazi, e-mails, that is not to be five years ago. that was during her tenure as secretary. guest: you are absolutely right. that is important one. i think that secretary quentin has, for the most part, been cleared in the issue of benghazi. i don't think at this point of the american people believe she willingly let an ambassador die and an entire embassy under siege go, knowing that that was going to happen. i think, in retrospect, there are many things i could have been done. if she could go back in time as president obama and back to president bush, we would do things differently to prevent that tragedy. as per the e-mail scandal, hillary clinton, with all the respect to secretary clinton, is 6, 67 years old.

i am 48. e-mail is something that i didn't even get until i was out of college. the idea that you are supposed to understand when you switch back and for the between your yahoo! server, gmail server, personal server, state department server, that you are supposed to use four different -- do i think she did this on purpose? i don't. i think she had one device and was a busy person and she made the mistake of using the same device and the same e-mail server to talk about her daughter's wedding as she did to talk about secretary duties and secretary of state. do i think there was a conspiracy? no. do i think she did something illegal? unintentionally. like rolling a stop sign. do i think it is time to put that behind us and recognize we have bigger problems than whether or not hillary clinton used the wrong e-mail server? guest: i was in the bush of ministration on day one. bush was inaugurated and

generate, two dozen one. i went into demonstration ministration on the day. we had very clear guidelines that if we were to e-mail personally or about political campaigns or anything else, we had to use personal e-mail and that our government e-mail us for government work on it. that was in 2001. i find it -- it is hard for me to believe. second, we have 8000 e-mails that are going to be released on december 31 from hillary's. that will be interesting to see what the media gets on that. romney in conroe, texas, give money to you. caller: i was going to say something that i read a while back about donald trump and leona hensley. only little people pay taxes. what she said about donald trump, i wouldn't leave if his tongue was notarized.

-- believe donald trump of his tongue was notarized good i don't understand -- i can understand why people are leaning toward donald trump. he is paying for his own campaign, he is in a two by politicians, but that being said, people -- they areo vote willing to vote for a people who has done the buying? that does make sense to me. host: i'm sorry. guest: i will give one quick example of the angst in american life, wally -- why donald trump's resume. i live in washington, d.c. for a long time. my wife and i became foster parents in the city. we contributed to our local parks. we paid a town in taxes. when we go out into the neighborhood and tell people what i did, people would tell me i'm a horrible person. for me, it resonates with donald trump because, let's 80 south, i is the bullymp

bullying the bullies. people in the south are raising their families, going to church, , butg to their communities are being told by washington, d.c. and new york any media how horrible they are, they are racist, they are these horrible people. trump is standing in front of them saying i have your back. i am went to bully them -- i am going to bully them. that is so powerful, the people who have been did -- being down for a long time. the problem is donald trump will turn his back on them, too. he has turned his back on everybody. what happens when those people who put so much faith behind him and he turns his back on them? what do they do then? this is a chance to make good on a mistake. it is coming. i understand how they feel. caller: i am a registered democrat voting for trumped i love him. i don't know why media isn't

backing him up with this virginia thing. i'm a democrat, i want to go in and vote. i shouldn't have to find something saying i'm a revote in -- a republican. c-span is fair with your representatives. you guys have a young lady on and she is all hillary. do you ever have a guy on who his all trump? it is always a representative from the republican party, but like you just said, trouble eventually turn his back on you. that is not balanced. one last thing, the benghazi the trust issue is still there with hillary. how can she protect our country if she couldn't protect those for individuals that died and then told her daughter the real deal but told the families it was a video? anyway, i just wanted to voice that. host: let's take your point

about what is happening in virginia. guest: they are requiring a loyalty pledge to get on the ballot in virginia. republicans do this all the time. donald trump just signed a loyalty pledge to get the data that the republican national committee has in all the states. he has assigned to these before. this is clearly something that would help prevent trump from turning into an independent candidate. that is why he is mad about it. as far as me being anti-trump, i give donald trump a lot of credit. i really respect that people are supporting him. he has run a formidable campaign, i cannot deny that, and i was back to his opinion. host: massachusetts, independence. caller: happy new year's. studds, you said you are with the bush of ministration?

-- administration? wasn't it bush who said that iraq had bombs of mass distraction and they didn't? wasn't that true? guest: that was. not me, personally. caller: he brought us into a war. was no good, but they kept that whole country in check. host: let's take up your point. people say this is a vulnerability for jeb bush would like to be economy -- nominee and president. what his brother did when it came to the iraq war? we have admitted our mistakes on the iraq war. president bush after 2006 stabilized that country, barack obama has destabilized the country. we have chaos throughout the middle east. oft is a direct result barack obama. i don't see a lot of people

coming out on that. i think i will one day. i think the republican party is standing on that we need a aronger military presence and stronger military stance in this campaign. you're seeing a from a lot of people. host: willie democrats run on the bush years? think it is possible. i think hillary clinton will try very hard to focus on the future for several reasons. the least of which is the 25 years going all the way from arkansas to benghazi, as we discussed today, i think she is interested in leaving behind, focusing on the future. bill clinton was famous for saying all campaign's are about the future. scenario that was recently described to me by republican consultant under which jeb bush is the nominee. when that is fascinating? -- wouldn't that be fascinating? guest: i think you will hear a lot of commentary by the clinton campaign on the bush years,

george w. bush years. absolutely. is not jeb bush, if it is marco rubio, ted cruz, john kasich, i don't think so. i think you will hear a lot more about the future and how we get past. bill is right, there is chaos in the middle east. whoever saw that is. we are going to need to deal with it anyway that makes americans more secure. i think they will see hillary focus on that. if jeb bush is the nominee, that could change things. host: douglasville, pennsylvania, republican during your are last in this conversation. caller: good morning. i think for the last 50 years, most of the time, all republicans do is start wars and take as much a way the average worker as they can. there is no site inside of them doing any better. alwayse always -- they want credits for the rich people and take away from the poor. you want to take more from social security and everything

else the average man works for and they are worried about every other country and they don't do anything to help this country. actually, when you think about it, we are still fighting the civil war down south. that is my comments. host: i want to ask both of you about the coming weeks and who might come out of this race on the republican side? guest: hopefully, we will clear a field for new hampshire. i think a larger field in iowa is fine. i think in new hampshire, some of the candidates -- for the betterment of the party. would say the key thing to watch in january 1 to february 1 is how much money these super pac's go after donald trump. there is angst in our party right now over donald trump. they are nervous. trump is talking about spending money. i don't believe it. he may spend it week to week,

but he won't spend $100 million. there are big donors and the republican party who are so anxious now that they are about to dump a lot, millions and millions of dollars on trump. not a national primary. we don't have national primaries. we have iowa, hampshire, south carolina. that is where you are going to see it. hampshire. new do you think a democrat gets out? guest: i think martin o'malley will likely get out, if not after iowa, then after new hampshire. i like o'malley, but he is never been able to build any traction. i think it is monetarily going to get hard for him to stay in. however, i do want to say this about iowa and hampshire. keep in mind, does anyone remember who won iowa for the republicans in 2012? it was mike huckabee. one thing i want to caution

everyone about, particularly ish the republican field, it so stronger 13 incredible, viable people whether you like them or not. i would tell everyone, don't worry about who wins. look at who comes in third. both in iowa and new hampshire and south carolina. deep in mind -- or 1992 who came in third in new hampshire? bill clinton. i think it is not about winning these early contests with this big of a field. it is about who comes in second, third, fourth, who can therefore stay in it longer as you begin to see people drop off. i don't know who it will be. i am surprised that some of the ones -- i am surprised walker got out as early as he did. i am surprised christie is still in it, frankly. six months ago, i would have called a different. i have no idea who will make it through this. i will be more interested in the number three slot in all three of those states than the number one.

today, q&a.ater her book examines the kent that housed japanese and italian detainees. tonight, a look at entertainment figures on several issues including lgbt here's more now from alan page and phil robertson. >> there was a time when i thought it would be impossible to be out. with the help of your love and support, i shared my story. and everything changed for me. and i and still feeling the effects of that moment today.

i know how lucky i am to be in this position. i remember the pain i was in for i was out. i have been able to experience a lot of things for the first time the last 1.5 years. having my arms wrapped around my girlfriend, samantha, when we walked down the street. holding her hand on the red carpet, kissing her in the ocean while we searched. yes, she taught me to surf. id getting to say in public am in love. >> he is saying, jesus was here.

we're all counting time. he is the one through whom the cosmos was created, jesus. the resurrection takes care of your fear of dying and you say -- there's a way off planet earth alive. you got a better story? lay it on me. all of these isms. atheism, agnosticism, humanism, post-modernism, naturalism, idealism, what is all that about? trying to get around what i just told you. announcer: that was part of two

events. see their entire remarks as well as those by elton john tonight at 8:00 eastern. tomorrow, c-span's wrote to the white house coverage continues with the donald trump rally in south carolina. as 2015 reps up, c-span presents congress, year in review, a look back at the newsmaking issues that took center stage this year. 8:00 as wersday at revisit mitch mcconnell taking his position as senate majority leader, pope francis addressing congress, the resignation of john boehner, and the election of paul ryan. the debate over the deal with iran and reaction from congress

control,hootings, gun terrorism, and the rise of isis. this weekend, american history tv has three days of featured programming. ,eginning friday afternoon pamela smith hill discusses the life of laura ingalls wilder, comparing and contrasting the television show in this series to her real life. >> she chose to write about places, and memories that were important to her and that would resonate with adult readers. as reviewers have pointed out, pioneer girl contains themes of domestic abuse and a man who let

himself on fire. saturday, author and historian james swanson compares the assassinations of president lincoln and kennedy, highlighting the similarities and differences. then 1965 meet the press interview with daniel moynihan who authored a report on the causes of black poverty in the united states. >> i believe what president johnson said in his speech. jamesnnot keep a man in -- you cannot keep a man in chains. people have to be given the opportunity to compete. i believe that we should make a special effort. announcer: sunday night, a visit to the persian park to hear about -- pershing park.

for our complete holiday schedule, go to c-span.org. the atlantic and the aspen institute held the seventh annual washington ideas for an. slaughter talked about her book "unfinished business: women men work family". the forum brings together --repreneurs, journalists ? >> hello everybody. >> this little article that you wrote three years ago which electrified the country. i think there is no overstatement to say that the headline was "why women can't have it all, still."

mary louise: it was the cover story of the atlantic. overnight it became the most read story in the history of the magazine. within two weeks he signed a contract and turned it into a book which is out this week. "unfinished business: women men work family", congratulations. anne-marie: thank you. mary louise: can we assume in the three years between 2012 and now that you have figured it out, we can now have it all all the time and you are here to tell us all? anne-marie: read this book, your life will be transformed forever. i think the thing to start with is that i cannot have her in this book three years ago. i absolutely could not have written it because i did not believe what i now am arguing. it really was -- we overuse the idea of a journey, but it was a process of giving lots of speeches, listening to people

who wrote to me, engaging with people, talking to my own family . i found out things about the way -- why my father had raised me in a very progressive way in virginia and the 1960's. it was because he represented women who i been abandoned by their husbands and did not have anything to live on. he vowed that his daughter would actually have -- be able to make a living. mary louise: support yourself. anne-marie: looking at my mother's work and her work as an artist and her work as a really nurturer of our family, and then talking to my own husband. one of the great paradoxes of this whole thing is i did go home to the state department to be with my children. after two years, when his article came out, i was in more demand than ever and actually, gone more, not gone as much as i had been in the state department, but definitely on the road -- it was a great irony. they would tease me. go out there and give a speech. mary louise: this is obviously a very personal journey. anne-marie: it is. mary louise: walk is back to

that moment. you are in a high-powered job with the state department and you are commuting. your family is back in princeton, new jersey. is there a particular moment where you went, this isn't working. something has to give. anne-marie: i would say for two years i had been in this constant tug-of-war where i left the work and this is what i wanted to do and i would get these phone calls and my son was being a teenager. a particular acute case of teenage head. i was saying, what am i doing here? why am i here? that was not new. what was really the moment was -- and i describe this, when secretary clinton's chief of staff asked, do you want to put your name in -- there are only a couple of jobs above mine and

they were all good. at that moment, it was -- i could say, i could go up, maybe andy and the boys can come to washington, but i knew that was not going to work. that was the moment that i said no. two years later i did not the my name back in. that was equally a surprise, because at that point i decided that i wanted to be home. mary louise: here's my confession. in anticipation of interviewing you, today, your publisher kindly gave the book to me at my hotel in new york where i was on a work trip this week and i tried to started on the train home but my youngest sons soccer -- was falling apart. then i was trying to read it in between meetings and interviews and my other son got injured and we had to get the pediatrician on the line. long story short, i ended up raising through the final chapter in the taxi in the back seat on the way over here. a number of question. one of which is, are the people who would benefit from your book too fragile to have time to read it? [laughter]

anne-marie: that is such a great question. somebody wrote me and said you are clearly not a working mother because if you were, you would know that no one can read 13,000 words. [laughter] anne-marie: i think that is definitely an issue. i think it is very readable. you can read and chunks. the biggest change from that article in this book, this book is not just written for working women. indeed, this book says that as long as we keep thinking of this as a working women's issue, we are not going to fix it. we have been doing that for 20 years. [applause] anne-marie: so, i actually tried to change the frame. to widen it and to say, this is actually a care problem. it is a problem of workplaces not making room for care. that -- it is as if women went into the workforce, 60% of american women, over 70% of

american mothers are in the workforce. the workforce still assumes that all of us, women and men, have somebody at home so that when the carpal does not work and there's an injury and my favorite as always, when your kid says, i have this project, it was assigned three weeks ago and it is due tomorrow, no, i do not have any of the materials. it's that kind of thing. this is really about making room for what is a fact for all of us. the second part of the book says, not just women, but men. unless we think of man as working fathers in the same way that we think of women as working mothers, where we are all both, we are not going to make the changes that we need to make. mary louise: you just use the term working fathers.

not something you hear as much as working mother although i think you just use that as well. one of the things that you stress over and over in the book is that it matters how we talk about this that. it may be semantics, but that matters. i was on stage doing different interviews and a man in the audience who noticed that i was going to be interviewing you about this today grabbed me and said, you know what i love that she does, she is just the term leads parents. that is so much more empowering than stay-at-home mom or stay-at-home dad. semantics, but it matters. anne-marie: i am old enough to remember when we went from this and mrs. to ms. i member everybody thought that this was terrible. i lived in the south and we have been saying ms. forever. a different meeting. people thought it was silly. it was not silly because miss and mrs. told everybody that what mattered most about a woman was her marital status. nobody could tell whether a man was married or not. similarly, absolutely the fact that we always say that we use working mothers, what we say

about that is we are still assuming that a mother's job is to be caring for her children, so if she is working you need an adjective. we never say working father when in fact if you described all of the men out there, all of the men in this audience who have children as working fathers he would be saying, his job is to raise those children and not just to provide an income. it is to raise them through care. the other one, i hate the idea, never ever say that a man is babysitting his children. let's kill that. this one i think is a little less intuitive. we have to banish the word he is helping at home. helping is not actually taking the burden off of you. you are still figuring out what needs to be done. and you are asking him to help. he is not the agent. he is the assistant. if we are going to get to where we need to go, men do have to be lead parents. or fully equal coparents. that means, and this was hard for me, and he said, i'm happy to do this or want to support you, i'm going to do this, but

i'm not going to do it your way. i'm doing it my way. i don't care if you don't like how i fixed up the kitchen. and i don't care if you think that i am disciplining the boys in a different way than you do. if you want to do it your way, you can come home. that is something i think a lot of us, as women, actually kind of secretly think we really do no better at home so we really do need to direct them. that is sexism just as much as the man in the office thinking he knows better and he is going to tell you. that is a big change. mary louise: in my house, we summarize this as they milk challenge. my husband says that, i'm always happy to stop on the way home for work and we are out of milk. yes, but you will never notice, that is being the lead parent. anne-marie: would you let him though, let him decide? mary louise: i think we would all end up tricking orange juice. [laughter]

mary louise: i know people want to hear some of your advice for how -- and your three years of pondering this what you have come up with. one of the strategies that you advocate is interval training. explain. anne-marie: we think about our careers. again, sort of 1950's. you get into the workforce, you go up as fast as you can, pretty much, and then at some point it is over and you make of it lateral and then down. as it that athletes we think about interval training where for an athlete to bmp performance they go really hard and then they slow down. and then they go really hard again. actually, young people are going to have many, many different jobs. that change is already happening. and they don't have a plan for their careers to think about, all right, there is this time where i do not have kids and i am not taking care of my own parents, i can travel around the world and work those crazy jobs that do require you to be on all the time. and then there are these times where in my case after i got 10 i spent five years trends of

kids. i was still working, but work was not my primary focus. then i became a dean and i went really hard. then i slow down again. what into government. mary louise: offramp, on-ramp. anne-marie: part of it assumes that you keep your hand in. one of the great things about the on-demand economy at the high-end is that you can still work on a project basis. doctors, coders, lawyers, engineers, there is way to do this on a project basis. it is more, not on ramp as it is ramping up and ramping down. in deciding, we were talking before, you are saying that your kids are now the same school. that is a wonderful thing. that gives you time to go harder or you can trade-off with your husband. your husband can be lead parents for a while and then you country it off. mary louise: your boss at the state department was hillary clinton whose latest trove of

e-mails came out yesterday. your name pops up a number of times. i want to ask you about one e-mail that has been made public from christmas 2009. and you wrote, basically, taking hillary clinton to take a day off. dear member this? what prompted this? anne-marie: the e-mail says, please leave on the 21st so that those of us who are necessary to make christmas happen, and here i will say with all deference to my lead parent has been that for a long time he believed in santa claus because -- [laughter] anne-marie: stockings were filled by the tree with care. magically happens and he would say to me the first week in december, you seem really stressed. so, i was essentially saying to her, look, for those of us who make the holidays, christian, jewish, any other holiday -- if

you leave, we will feel free to go home. if you stay until the 23rd or 24th, everybody is great if you like they have to stay and i was basically saying, and my house my children will not have much of a christmas. but i knew that she cared about that. that is the piece that does not come out. i was not writing just out of the blue, i knew hillary clinton caret and i talked to her about having kids and juggling this when she hired me. cheryl mills had twins at home. she did. that is the other thing. you can't see in the know, but she did actually leave on the 21st and i did go home. she was very, very sensitive. mary louise: no diplomacy was conducted for a few days. anne-marie: somehow we all survived. mary louise: what i think is so fascinating about that is that you are upfront and gracious in acknowledging in the book and in the article that you are writing from a privileged condition. for many, many people it is not about having it all is about having enough to just barely

make in sneaks. but, it is fascinating to be reminded that it could be hillary clinton, one of the most powerful people in the world with more staffers then you can come up with things to have been due and she is still struggling with the whole workplace balance. the way that we all do. anne-marie: if you worked for her, you knew that she cared. i give the anecdote in the book of jim steinberg who is to 80 secretary of state and there's this one week where he is just not making the early-morning meetings. his assistant is showing up and by day for, secretary clinton was a little bit irritated. she sort of says, with just eight touch of -- where is jim? his assistant said that his wife is traveling this week so this is his week. he is on and taking his daughters to school and he will be back. of course her reaction was, why did you not tell me? he went up in her estimation at that moment. we knew that there was a ready willingness to accommodate to

the extent that you could. mary louise: it's one thing's you are the number 12 guy in the state or if you are the janitor trying to get the office ready or the secretary who is backing everybody up. one of your messages is leading from the top. anne-marie: this is also where i really do think that focusing on care changes the conversation. because, focusing on advancing women, and again, i want women in the top of every profession. but, when we think about it that way we start counting. because that is the way that you measure how well women are doing. we count how many women are in the fortune 500 and we count how many are in your management and how many women computer sciences. all of that focuses pretty much on wealthy, white women, by and large. it does not focus on the millions of women at the bottom because one of the things that i realize is we have to few women at the top and to many women at the bottom. care, or lack of support for

care plays a role at both ends. at the top and it means if you take time out for care, your career goes off track. for the millions of women at the bottom, not supporting their care means that if they take a day off, they could lose a job. focusing on care says we have to put in place the policies that rich women can buy their way out of, often. we have to put in leave. paid family leave, paternity leave. -- maternity leave. quality, portable childcare. [applause] mary louise: i'm sure it is not lost on the audience that we are two women appear having this conversation. i want to close by another concession i guess, which is when i was asked to do this interview i was ecstatic because

i knew i would want to read your book and was delighted to talk to, but there was a tiny part of me thinking that we should give this to a man which speaks euro earlier point about having men in this conversation. how many book interviews have you done that have been with male journalists? anne-marie: i've done a couple. i've done a couple and i'm getting lots of responses from men. yesterday, i did a radio show where a lot of men called in and talked about how they are just as confident at home and they don't like the assumption that they are not. i do think that this conversation is ready to be broken open. by men. and part of it is that men are missing out. one of the things i has been said, he read this article in the atlantic, why up of wife's career first, and he says, it was hard on his career, it was better for his marriage, it was better for our son. it was better for him. that he has a relationship with them, that his father never had with him. that he feels he is grounded as

one of the anchor of our family in a way that i think women -- that is part of what we get out of being mothers and also being professionals. so, why should men not have equal ability to really enjoy what fatherhood is about or to be with your own parents as they are toward the end of their lives? it is not a burden, when it works it is the greatest thing in the world. we just need to make it work for everybody. mary louise: and empowering message. anne-marie slaughter. thank you. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] tomorrow, wrote to the white house coverage continues. donald