in congress throughout 2015. next, we talk about the top news stories of 2015. in one hour, we are joined by clarence ♪ host: good morning even in some parts of the world, already 2016 on this new year's eve. the world is on alert is a headline. 6000 police officers in new york , and paris have been canceled. the washington times writing about five foreign trips on the president's agenda and more expected to be announced. the financial times writing about the troubles with the russian economy beginning with what could be another year of deep recession. questioning what it means for vladimir putin in europe.

it is thursday morning, ahead on this final day of 2015, we look back at some of the most significant stories of the year. we look forward to you joining in on the conversation with calls and comments, tweets, and facebook postings. our face -- our phone lines opening, for republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. if you are an independent, 202-748-8002. getting your comments on facebook.com/c-span or send us a tweet at @cspanwj. thank you for being with us. happy new year. let's begin with some of your comments on our facebook page. this is from democrats for liberty saying our lgbt brothers and sisters finally achieve full personhood in the u.s. claire saying all things related to the success of president obama.

gary says rand paul for president. the big story, saccharine says bernie sanders running for president. richard says donald trump running for president. another comment on bernie sanders and his bid. tell us what you think at facebook. it today writing about what is like in new york city and capitals around the world. in cities around the world on alert for new year's eve. of timesbright lights square to the capitals of europe and the football stadiums from florida to california, revelers will not be the only busy people this new year's eve, police and security officials in force across the globe less than two months after the terror attacks in paris and san bernardino, california. the national terrorism advisory system says of no intelligence specific plots by a terrorist organization. they warn people to if you see something, say something. the new york times had photos of

the year including this photograph of president obama with pope francis. his historic visit to washington, d.c. and philadelphia and new york city. and a first for the pope and one of the final ask of the john boehner, one day before he would officially step down as house speaker. the pope spoke before congress and talked about the golden rule and climate issues. doubtrancis: i have no that the united states and this congress have an important role to play. courageoustime for strategies and a plummeting a culture of change. poverty, restoring

dignity to the discredited, and, at the same time, protecting nature. host: the comments of pope francis as he spoke before a joint meeting of congress. among between its, the top story of 2015 has to be john boehner's resignation as the speaker of the house of representatives. state has the islamic conflict as the top story of 2015. janet yellen making news early this year, announcing the first rate hike in nine years by the federal reserve. here is what she had to say. >> the federal open market committee decided to raise the target range for the federal funds rate by one quarter percent, bringing it to one quarter to one half percent. this action marks the end of an extraordinary seven-year time during which the federal funds

rate was held near zero to support the recovery of the economy from the worst financial crisis in -- and recession since the great depression. it recognizes the considerable progress that has been made toward restoring jobs, raising incomes, and easing the economic hardship of millions of americans. it reflects the committee's competence that the economy will continue to strengthen. janet yellen, the federal reserve chair as she spoke to reporters earlier this year announcing the first rate hike iv fed in nearly 10 years. one of the most iconic photographs from this past year was released earlier as one young boy -- a refugee found off the mediterranean coast. the picture became a symbol of the troubles in that country, refugees trying to flee their troubled nation.

kim from murfreesboro, illinois, democrat line. what was your top story of the year? the $140 billion to iran. we are fighting isis, we cannot fund them, we need the money in the united states for the disaster areas that were hit. that?id for taxpayers. host: timothy, thank you. another tweak, it is unlikely we know what the most important news of 2015, usually i can only be determined in retrospect. the president with a busy 2016 agenda as travel will include at least five trips and the possibility of a trip to cuba. , the president, who liked to joke that his lease on

air force one is running out plans to put a lot more mileage on the costly presidential aircraft in 2016. in the final year, the president has a trip to japan in june, poland in july, china in september, peru in november, all the trips will coincide with stops at international meetings such as the nato a group of seven summit. grows, the white house announcing wednesday that the president will swing by germany in late april, to confirm with angela merkel and the possibility of a trip to cuba. nikki haley, the governor of south carolina on the other significant story in that state following yet another deadly gun shooting at a church in south carolina. announcing the removal of the confederate flag on state ground. here is the south carolina governor. >> we do not need to declare a winner and a loser, we respect freedom of expression and for those who wish to show respect for the fight on their private property, no one will stand in your way.

the statehouse is different. and the events of this past week call upon us to look at this in a different way. 15 years ago after much content just debate, south carolina came together in a bipartisan way to move the flag from atop the capitol dome. today, we are here in a moment of unity in our state, without ill will, to say it is time to move the flag from the capitol grounds. [applause] 2015, nikki haley announcing the removal of the confederate flag that went through the state legislature in south carolina and has been removed. from thee photographs scenes in the baltimore and around the country, conflict between african -- african-american men and women and police officers. in baltimore and in chicago more recently. from the washington post, in

democrats line, phoenix, arizona, what was your top story? caller: we have been following something locally that has had national impact, the trial of joe arpaio, the sheriff who has been on trial for -- since april about contempt of court issues. we are waiting a judgment that should come out shortly. in the next few days or -- from a federal judge. during the trial, a lot was revealed about the abuses and excesses of power in the sheriff's department in maricopa county. we hope that something positive will come of it. we had a monitor who has been reviewing all of the racial profiling problems in phoenix. that is the fix.

we hope the judge can bring criminal charges against the share of so that we can get justice. nationalhas become a figure on the issue of immigration, he was recently at a campaign event for donald trump, not endorsing him, but his appearance gives the impression that he would support his candidacy. isler: part of the problem the republican candidates have all come in to kiss his ring for the last 10 years. every candidate in the 2012 election came in and asked for his endorsement. he has done the same thing now. he is a divider in the community. to promote the excessive policies we are seeing in the republican party. host: another tweak from another from anotheret

viewer, the endless wars of bush and obama. the hill newspaper writing about government regulations and the story available online at the hill.com, 2015 was a record-setting year for the federal registry. this year's daily publication of the federal government rules, proposed rules, and notices amounting to 81,611 pages. 81,611 pages, higher than last year's more than 77,000 pages and higher than the all-time high of 81,000 pages in 2010. in a blog post on the libertarian think tank website, the vice president for policy saying there has been 3300 final rules and relations among the pages this year alone. the story available online at the hill.com.

we welcome our listeners on c-span radio. streaming on the web at c-span.org and xm. independent line, stephenville, texas, good morning. caller: congratulations on a year well handled. .ost: thank you her caller: next year, the you think on fridays you could have a free forum where your viewers could call in with ideas they might have for new legislation? a whole 30 minutes dedicated? independent i am an , i was talking to a broken -- a republican judge. prisoners joined the

national guard. if there is a grass fire, they will know they are on call. being, -- always [indiscernible] if you might could present us a forum on friday, you could have the c-span forum. ideas, because things connect us that are different. host: have you been listening to our planning meetings, that is what we will do tomorrow, devote an hour and a half of the program to focus not only on foreign priorities and domestic priorities. boy.r: i am an office

for a big law firm. i was always a step ahead. they said that is what we were just talking about. host: tune in tomorrow. we open our phone lines all the time, not only on specific issues, not only on the washington journal but on some of the major events we cover. a forum for all the time and you can weigh in all the time on our facebook page or send us an e-mail. the new york times reporting on the development in chicago and the announcement by the mayor of chicago that by next june, officers who answer police calls will have tasers and will have been trained to use them, currently only about a fifth of the city's roughly 12,000 police officers are trained to use a taser. the police department is updating its policies to encourage officers to deescalate

situations whenever possible. the mayor cut short his trip to cuba in order to be on hand to announce these changes in light of another shooting that resulted in the death of among others, a mother of five children. this is from bilking, saying -- bill king, saying i am hoping the top story will be the disarming of the police, let's start in chicago. the latest shooting took place in oregon and the president speaking out on the need for .hanges to america's gun laws here is the president from the briefing room in the white house. >> this is a political choice we make. to allow this to happen every few months in america. answerablevely are to those families who lose their loved ones. because of our inaction.

killed incans are mine disasters we work to make mine savers, when there killed in floods and hurricanes, we make communities safer. when roads are unsafe, we fix them. to reduce auto fatalities. we have seatbelt laws because we know that it saves lives. that gun violence is -- that ourerent freedom, our constitution modest regulation of how we use a deadly weapon when there are law abiding gun owners all across the country

who could hunt and protect their families and do everything they doesder such regulations not make sense. from october from the white house, the president with another call for changes to america's gun laws. that likely will come up and he delivers his final state of the union address on january 12, we will have live coverage on the c-span networks. steve harrison has the top stories, more racism, a contentious and polarized nation , was this the 1960's? another iconic photograph from paris following the terror attacks in that country. that resulted in the deaths of more than 100 people. mike is joining us from atlanta, georgia, republican line. your top story of 2015? caller: good morning, to me be top story was the donald trump phenomenon.

he got me energized back into a voting. when he comes to georgia i will support him. a -- i want to send something to greta, i hope she goes to work for fox news, i am a republican. did brian lamb ever run for political office? you are doing a great job. host: brian never did. he is the founder and chairman of c-span. former navy veteran. worked at the pentagon and moved his way to the cable industry and started this great network more than 35 years ago and is still in the office every single day. watch and sunday evenings on q&a at 8:00 eastern and pacific. an florida,aden to democrats line, what was your top story? caller: good morning, my top story would be any that are gun

related, such as charleston, the planned parenthood killing, the killing of the newscaster with her photojournalist. host: in virginia. caller: the divisive this we are seeing -- divisive this we are seeing in our officials to the point we see them in a lie. in the planned parenthood shootings, where i believe that their rhetoric is what caused it. i believe their rhetoric is what caused charleston. it concerns me because i live in florida where i am a more worried about some redneck and his pickup truck with his rebel flag flying. that if i get in a fender bender with him, he will pull out his gun and shoot me.

it is like the wild west, you are worried about what the outcome will be. host: thank you for the call. richard rogers with this tweet, baltimore paying 75 -- $7.5 million for the killing of freddie gray. speaking of guns and the nra, this from wayne lapierre who has the organization out of washington dc. >> you and i did not choose to be targets in the age of terror but in a sense like us will be slaughtered in concert halls, sports stadiums, restaurants, and airplanes. no amount of bloodshed will ever satisfy this demon among us. these cowards dream of inflicting more damage, more suffering, more terror, no target is to intimate or to sacred for these monsters. they will come to where we worship, where reeducate, and where -- where we educate, and where we live.

when evil knocks on our door, americans have power no other people on the planet sure, the right to defend our families and ourselves with our second amendment. i am the national rifle amociation of america, and i -- freedom made this place. host: from the nra and wayne lapierre. from a viewer, the democrats will lose on the gun issue, do not need modest wreck -- regular nation need enforcement of existing laws, the republicans know it and welcome the issue. looking back on the year in cable news, the fox news channel is number one in terms of news and information. from the new york times, the fox channel keeps its lead in cable news but cnn and msnbc showing modest gains. the story from inside the new

york times, in a year that featured a number of prominent new stories, a presidential campaign upended by donald trump , unrest in baltimore, pope francis visit in the united states, and the deadly terrorist attacks in paris and san bernardino, california, the number of people turning into 24 hour cable news channels went up according to nielsen. fox news dominated. significant improved ratings and msnbc have a slight bounce in viewers. gary in danville, virginia, republican line. good morning. caller: good morning, go trump. i am glad that our constitution said they cannot make any laws to take our guns away. i think obama is wrong on that. i think he will eat the democratic lunch. god bless america. keep a strong, bye-bye. host: jody responding to the earlier caller saying brian lamb

! fox cannotand no have greta bronner -- brawner. independent line, rich. was thethe issue for me militarization of the police and how they have engaged the black community. i am hoping to see a future. some of these weapons, some of the equipment moved away. and also resource officers -- i think the way -- i am a veteran -- i was in the army, served in iraq. some of what i see at the police -- how the police deal with these situations, how quickly they react, a lot of the situations we would not be -- i do not know that training can fix that.

i feel like some of that is who they choose, who they picked to be police officers. i feel a lot of the situations could have been talked down. and conversation -- engaging could have changed a lot and we would not be having these conversations about people being killed for minor offenses and find out they are minor offenses after the fact. host: thank you, from richmond, virginia. a story that got a lot of attention this week and will likely resonate in the year ahead can be felt -- found on the washington -- wall street net on website, u.s. by israel snares congress, president obama announcing he would curtail eavesdropping on friendly heads of state after it was learned of a long u.s. surveillance program. behind the scenes, the white house decided to keep certain allies under close watch,

current and former u.s. officials confirming this, topping the list, the israeli prime minister. the u.s. pursuing a nuclear arms agreement with iran captured communications between the israeli prime minister and his aides, an issue that inflamed mistrust between the two countries and planted a political minefield at home when mr. netanyahu took to his campaign against the deal on capitol hill with that historic speech before congress. the wall street journal pointing out that the national security agency targeting of israeli leaders and officials swept up the private conversations with u.s. lawmakers and american jewish groups. the story available online at wsj.com. more with the israeli prime minister as he spoke before congress later worked out between u.s., iran, and other european countries. >> this deal has two major concessions, one, leaving iran with a vast nuclear program.

lifting the restrictions on that program in a decade. bad.is why this deal is so iran's path tock the bomb, it paves their path to the bomb. why would anyone make this deal? because they help iran will change for the better in the coming years? or they believe that the alternative to this deal is worse. i disagree. i do not believe that iran's radical reaching will change better -- for the better after this deal, they have been in power for 36 years and his relations -- gracias appetite for aggression grows with each passing year. this deal would wet a rants appetite for more. -- iran's appetite for more. with a be less aggression --

aggressive when sanctions were removed? how many more countries will they devour when sanctions are lifted? what they find a less terrorism what it has mountains of cash with which to fund more terrorism? why should the radical regime change for the better when it can enjoy the best of both worlds, aggression abroad, prosperity at home? host: from march, a meeting with the israeli are -- israeli prime mister, during that visit he did not meet with president obama. there was a session this past fall between the israeli leader back in november and the president in the oval office. related to that, the front page of the wall street journal, u.s. readies new penalties against iran. the reporting of jake sullivan, the administration is preparing to impose the first financial sanctions on iran since it

,greed to an agreement presenting a major test for whether to iran will stay committed to the deal. it is directed at a dozen companies and individuals in iran, hong kong, and the united arab emirates for their alleged role in developing iran's developing that's ballistic missile program. they warned that any financial penalties would be viewed by the supreme leader as a violation of the nuclear accord. the u.s. readies penalties against iran is the headline in the wall street journal today. randy, michigan, democrats line. what was your top story? caller: i would like to start by thanking you and all the fine folks behind the scenes that bring us this great program. it is a great service. mine is a michigan story.

it is about lead poisoning of all the men, women, and children in flint, michigan. i am a fifth generation on our property in michigan. i would have never in my wildest dreams thought somebody in this day and age could make such a third world decision and affects so many men, women, and children for generations. we do not know what it has done with the people passing by. look at all the folks who passed by that went through this eight and set there and fed their kids the water from the state. that blew my mind. i know it is a local story, but that is the one -- i cannot comprehend that. how you could do that too that many americans. i cannot understand it. steve, thank you for this program and i hope you and everyone else has a great new and i eve, a safe one,

hope we have a great year. host: our officials doing anything to correct the problem? caller: my governor is sorry, that is about all i have heard. i am sorry when i bump my little toe. host: randy, thank you for the call from michigan. craig has this point, the death of the tea party, which is proved that the gop cannot govern without the help of democrats. the year in review and this photograph from the new york times, donald trump on the campaign trail in iowa. one of the more controversial statements, a ban on any muslim coming into the united states. here is donald trump. >> donald trump -- you have to listen to this, this is heavy stuff, common sense and we have to do it. remember the poll numbers, 25%,

51%, remember the poll numbers. trump is -- donald j calling for a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the united states until our countries representatives can figure out what the hell is going on. [applause] we have no choice. we have no choice. host: donald trump on the campaign trail, we caught up with him yesterday in south carolina and all of our campaign coverage available on our website at c-span.org. in new hampshire next week as we cover many of the candidates, democrats and republicans, including bill clinton, who will , the firstampshire solo campaign appearance of this cycle on behalf of his wife, hillary clinton. live coverage on monday under way at 5:15 eastern on c-span and c-span radio.

john in boca raton, florida, independent line. caller: good morning, happy new year. host: to you to. caller: i am calling about the clip you paid of obama, about the guns. the 1970's,tory, in the aclu and the democrats filed suit against the government to remove people from mental hospitals. by doing that, they were supposed to be on medication and it was supposed to be some kind of follow-up. they never did it. fast forward to today, all of these people on the street, it is considered normal. it turns out that you have your crazies going out telling people , yet he wants to take guns away from law-abiding citizens. peoplesays 83 million did not kill anybody yesterday

or today, law-abiding that owners -- gun owners. why would he want to go after the guns? halina says journalistic integrity died in 2015, her choice for the top story of this past year. in, weare just tuning are getting your calls and comments, terry jeffrey and clarence page warning us at the top of the hour to look ahead and back. philadelphia courtroom as comedian bill cosby charged with sexual assault in a case that dates back to 2004. the case moves from the media to the courtroom. next step is -- is bill from riverside, california, independent line. caller: good morning. want to wish everybody a happy new year and i hope that everybody brings a little more

in the future. after hearing about an earlier caller, mention something about how the police overreact. was the quick the first initial shooting, in missouri, the do not shoot situation. i watched it in a timeline in it could not have been but less than 24 hours when you first sayinghe initial report -- we have quotes in the media quoting this young, unaccountable statement from one witness saying that he held up his hands and said "do not shoot." that escalated all the way from

city officials to state officials. before you know it we have a president of our united states reacting in what turned out to follow-up of the initial statement quoting this "don't shoot" statement which turned out bogus. the consequences, this exposure from our state representatives all the way to our president seemed to escalate a lot of personal -- a lack of integrity of understanding the situation without jumping on the thewagon or jumping into prevalent thought processes in people.

bill, thank you for the call appeared up early from riverside, california. tweet --the democrats seating the 26 -- 2060 presidential election by paving the way for the worst candidate and political history. another headline from puerto not the country, they plan to default on a $174 million in bond debt. they will default in principle in the interest payments on friday, the first day of 2016, that announcement from the governor, increasing the likelihood that the island will face lawsuits from an array of creditors. from the new york times this morning. we have put together our own youtube of some of the big stories that we have covered and what you have found most interesting based on what we have seen.

among the top items from the white house correspondents dinner, the president and the entertainer this past year and the president and the translator. bernie sanders at liberty university. the white house correspondents getting 19 million views. speak or write on donald trump with 2.5 million views. general density singing at his retirement ceremony getting about 2 million views. you can check out the most popular videos through the c-span social media lens, on our website, c-span.org. let's go to john from pennsylvania. good morning, democrats line. caller: yes, i think -- good morning. isis isrussia bombing the story of the year. host: why is that? caller: i do not know.

i did not hear it in the media. how about you? thet: another tweet -- biggest story is the ignorance of the american voter who votes against their own best interest. sue is next from kentucky, republican line. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. my biggest story of the year, there were several but the biggest one is the election of -- he will open up a new picture in kentucky, bring back religion, hopefully if he cannot take over obamacare and do something with it, he can make people realize that we have a serious crisis in the health care system. paul will keep up give kentuckyand

a new outlook for a better year and i appreciate you taking my call, i am up every morning listening to you and i find everything entertaining. i get my information from you and the wall street journal and i thank you so much, have a happy new year. i am thankful we have a new governor in the state of kentucky. thefully we can bring republican party back to where it should be. thank you, so much. host: thank you for adding your voice to the conversation and happy new year. technology, where things are at this past year and what to expect, 2015 technology so many milestones reached. some new barriers overcome and developments are about to get even more cutting edge. in the personal tech section in the new york times, they watch points to the future. -- a watch points to the future. the apple watch show signs that

one day it may be essential for everyone, comparing it to the laptop computer and the iphone. never a from florida, -- deborah from florida, democrat line, what was your top story? caller: the article about benjamin netanyahu. he has embarrassed our president. he showed no respect for president obama. just the other day, he said that iran has turned their weapons in like they said they were going to do. i do not like benjamin netanyahu. he disrespected our president. thank you. host: paris is intensifying -- the attacks in paris at since buying the debate over how many syrian refugees to allow into the u.s. in this story from the new york times. post looks at the problems in sweden, which has

opened its door but found that they are dealing with a lot of issues by doing so. from dave, donald trump is the top story, he wants to paint all the national monuments in gold and built a $10 billion wall, the debt is just going to grow. steve from new york. republican line, good morning. storiesi have two top 42015. the first one being -- for 2015. syria and bruce jenner getting his -- host: our next call. ones is thetwo main ignorance of the voters in this country. it is unbelievable.

i do not know where they get their information from. either that or i am the most ignorant person who walks around. the other top story, this is happening in nashville tonight, they will have cops sticking needles in people's arms giving them sobriety test. they are opening themselves up for lawsuits. i cannot talk -- believe the americans put up with roadblocks, that is what page -- did in germany in 1938 and 1939. they use this use they are checking or drunk drivers which is bogus. if you get stopped and they want to search your car, you better get a warrant. host: thank you. from donna, the biggest story, lb gt equality. from the would -- from the washington post, the white house david indie rainbow colors.

chris from maryland. democrats line. caller: good morning. i love your show. thank you for taking our calls. for me the biggest worry is the is the urgency -- insurgency a bernie sanders. he went from being unknown to being the top competitor to hillary clinton and winning in new hampshire. and likely to win ohio and some of the states to follow. colorado. his campaign has been unfortunately undercovered because of the shadow of donald trump. donald trump is of course a big story in 2015. bernie sanders is a positive antithesis to donald trump as a

candidate. i think his rise is resonating with people. his message resonates with people. i think that should be, if you were asking me -- host: we are. do you think he can win the nomination? caller: absolutely. if he takes new hampshire. if he even comes close to tying showry, it will logically -- if nothing else, show inkness which will resonate the primaries to follow. i know that he -- hillary lost a lot of her support in south carolina. the fact that she is coming down to suggest people are undecided in those states and we could see a domino effect if he takes the early primary states, especially because i believe his message lotbeen buried underneath a of other news with isis and donald trump dominating the

news. his message, once it gets out, if he does well, you will see positive press her. his message will get out more. when people hear his message, more often than not, it resonates with the american people. his message is positive. it is a diplomatic one. he has a very good chance of winning the primary. host: we caught up with senator sanders in las vegas on monday. his speech we covered on the c-span networks available on our website, c-span.org. on our twitter page, the biggest story was the worsening of race relations in our own america caused by a divisive media bent on increasing it. one of the first comments about the big story of 2015 was a few feet from where we are located on capitol hill. john boehner announcing one day

after pope francis spoke before a joint meeting of congress, announced he was stepping down. my oh my, what a wonderful day ♪ i need to sing that on my way to work. my mission every day is to fight for more accountable government. over the last five years, our majority has advance conservative reforms that will help our children and their children. it has become clear to me that this prolonged leadership turmoil would do irreparable harm to the institution. this morning, i informed my colleagues that i will resign from the speakership and resign from congress at the end of october. as you have often heard me say, this is not about me. it is about the people, the institution. yesterday, we witness the awesome site of pope francis

addressing the greatest legislative body in the world. i hope we will all keep his call to live by the golden rule. last night, after i thought about this, this morning i woke up and i said my prayers, as i always do, and i decided, today is the day i will do this. as simple as that. int: john boehner announcing september that he would be stepping down as the speaker of the house. to be replaced by paul ryan later. bloomberg politics writing about the republican party. it includes an interview with cory gardner, a republican from colorado, this is the headlight, colorado republican saint donald trump is hurting the party, adding this quote from senator gardner, the idea we would create some kind of religious test for entry into the united states is absolutely wrong. following a shrewd and cautious politician, he supports marco rubio, says the anti-donald

trump rhetoric is stronger than most other republicans underscores the concern among officeholders over the impact of the billionaire showman is having on the party. the story available online at bloomberg politics.com. mark, florida, independent line, what is your top story? atler: it is about the v.a. the way they treat their veterans. beennot oh why it has not investigated whether. systemery government run , it gives benefits to those who keep the cost of treatment down. mistreating the veterans, putting them on hold for months, and then decide we will put them on pain believers instead of treaty problem. they get bonuses to these clinics and doctors for keeping the cost down. it would be the same way with obamacare in the same way with

medicare. it is a shame that it is our country. host: people are writing about veterans affairs, privacy violation rising in medical facilities. that story caring on the npr station around the country. on our facebook page, what are your top stories of 2015? sure, it's on facebook.com/c-span -- share your comments on facebook.com/ c-span. republicans only help the rich according to robert. waynesboro, georgia, independent line. caller: good morning. happy new year. same it has been since the first time president obama got elected. we do not get along. i think it is the racism more than anything.

i am a 66-year-old vietnam veteran. i do not see much change in everything we tried to do. we cannot work together. before i leave, i cannot understand why black people call themselves republicans when , thee like michael steele congressman from florida, the one-time congressman, tom --the supreme court justice, clarence not understand the way the republicans and people treat the black people and say disheartening things about us as human beings, that alone would make us not want to be a -- vote republican. can we get over the racism and just work together? i do not have to go home and eat do what istuff but good for the country together. have a good day. host: thank you, from ways

broke, georgia. kristie says the big story is three american heroes support a terrorist attack on a train in europe, telling americans they need to act. the washington post, stories from 2015, they will shape how 2016 unfold. one of the political announcements that came late in the year, vice president joe biden announcing he would not seek his party's nomination after two previous bids for the white house and serving his second term as vice president to barack obama. >> as my family and i have worked through the grieving along,, i have said all what i have said time and again to others, it may very well be that that process, by the time we get through it, closes the window on mounting a realistic campaign for president.

that it might close. i have concluded it has closed. i know from previous experience that there is no timetable for this process. the process does not respect or much care about things like filing deadlines or debates in primaries and caucuses. thiso know that i could do -- i could not do this if the family was not ready. the good news is the family has reached that point. as i have said many times, my family has suffered a loss. i hope that there will come a time that sooner rather than later, when you think of your loved one, it brings a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye. are is where the bidens today, thank a.

god. beau was our inspiration here i believe we are out of time. to mouth a winning campaign. bidenthe passing of beau one of two sons by joe biden and his first wife who died in a tragic car accident in december of 1972, a month after he was elected to the u.s. senate. beau biden died from cancer and the announcement came in mid-october that the vice president would not seek his party's nomination, leaving the field to three candidates led by hillary clinton, bernie sanders, and martin o'malley. a viewer says the top story of 2015, the rise of donald trump and bernie sanders. it may say more about u.s. voters than donald trump and sanders. the key to new hampshire's primary, the headline from the new york times, patrick healy

fewting out that there are titles in american democracy as privileged as undeclared new hampshire voter. president joe candidates obsess over them, operatives tailor advertising to their whims and more volatile than any campaign, the state's electoral free agents are grappling with how to exercise their unusual power to control the fate of candidates in either party. about 40% of new hampshire voters are described as independent, officially called undeclared, a greater voter shared than either party can claim and are allowed to participate in either primary. that is the key point from the new york times. ivan from lake worth, florida, independent line. what was your top story? caller: caller: about the chief of police in massachusetts who

has entered a program in which individuals on heroin bring in their supplies and are put into treatment. what a way of saving lives and money. host: how are you familiar with this living in florida? host: i read the article in the newspaper. i wasn't sure if you had family. caller: i am an addictions professional. i appreciate your program. host: thank you for the call. gas prices, the lowest in m president,r a de his top story. greenbelt, maryland, good morning. caller: good morning, c-span. i am a concern scientists, a phd, physicist, african-american scientist, i have three major concerns. i will do this quickly.

about the hate bashing against women in this country. overly permitted. if you care donald trump and the hate bashing against women, i think it is planned and my concern is the african-american women are one of the strongest voting blocs in this country, obama.ed for barack it has planned against women and what concerns me is the african --rican women talking about hillary clinton is the most qualified candidate, none of the other candidates have the experience. she is very qualified. the other thing i am concerned about, people are very misinformed. and your-wing media

high-powered a.m. broadcasting's, the right-wing media dominating the airwaves and that will hurt our country. we need to get beyond that. countryd people in this , asian people, european people good people, but unfortunately they are being misled and targeted by these broadcasters. the right-wing media will get revenge very soon on white people. because they have been misinformed, especially with the health care, barack obama has done a marvelous job, given all the blocks against him. country's faltering because, as a scientist, i speak are goingnguages, we backwards because of the fact we

allow these things to happen. what is going on with all behave mongers in the airwaves -- with all the hatemongers in the airwaves. the republican party is in shambles. in panic mode. host: we will move onto a few more calls and comments, thank you for sharing your thoughts. richard says 2015 will prove to be the hottest year ever recorded, saying that is a fact responding to a previous caller. the year in pictures, this must be one of the most iconic from this past year. it took place yesterday, four-year-old ryan lemm with a in new york city for a police officer and his father joseph, killed while on duty in afghanistan. that photograph and the highest tribute i the men in blue in new york city as they carried the body of joseph lemm in new york city. -- in vancouver, candidate

canada, independent line. grace in new jersey. good morning. caller: hello? host: good morning. caller: my name is joyce. host: good morning. to donaldlistened trump for an hour and five minutes on the way to the doctor. i had a tumor in my head and i am fine. inis the number one person my heart and everybody's heart, should be, because he wants what is best for our country. he does not take money. he do not have to ow nobody nothing. women, the people in the media do not answer his

questions. they distort his questions. he does not want cartels in here. host: thank thanks very much foe call. the outgoing speaker, john boehner, replaced by the chair of the ways and means committee, and the 2012 republican vice presidential nominee paul ryan, bringing sharply different leadership style to the house of representatives as he took over the gavel. [video clip] for a different understanding because when you're up here, you see it so clearly. whatever you believe, we are all in the same boat. i never thought i would be speaker. but early in my life, i wanted to serve this house. i thought this place was exhilarating because here you can make a difference.

if you had a good idea, if you worked hard, you can make it happen. you can improve people's lives. the house of representatives represents what is best of america, the boundless opportunity to do good. frank, the house is broken. we are not solving problems, we are adding to them. and i'm not interested in laying blame appeared we are not -- laying blame, we are not settling scores. we are waiting -- wiping the slate clean. host: writing about what is next for 2016, and one other tweet from a viewer. the continuing human crisis, one of the top stories of the year and it will continue to be in the coming year. the director of the national counterterrorism center is our

guest on "newsmakers," which airs every sunday. talking about some of the changes and challenges in modern social media and how that is impact thing officials in searching for what people are writing and posting on their personal websites, facebook, twitter, and instagram. [video clip] >> the challenge of monitoring social media is an immense challenge. it is one of the things i have found most troubling about the kind of counterterrorism environment we are in these days. so much of the information that we find relevant to our terrorism analysis is now showing up in social media rather than in the usual traditional disciplines of human intelligence. while that in some ways makes it much more accessible to look at, as you can imagine, the volume of that kind of information is so, so vastly greater than

traditional intelligence information has been. we are struggling, i would say, to find ways to make sense of all that information we have available to us. it is simply impossible for an analyst or our intelligence community partners to be monitoring -- and i put that word" a little bit -- monitoring the social world utterances. and yet when you look retrospectively, looking back at attacks that have taken place, you will often see signs that someone was radicalized on social media. so that is something we are going to have to build a little bit into our expectations in terms of what level of warning we can expect from our intelligence community. host: the director of the national counterterrorism center , our guest this sunday on "newsmakers." we hope you tune in here on

c-span and for those of you listening on c-span radio. yearop stories of the and what to expect ahead. clarence page and terry jeffrey will be joining us to take your calls and comments, but first, we have been sitting down with reporters and editors to talk about some of the major events that shaped coverage in congress over the last six decades. theget talked about how paper covered the debate over television cameras coming to congress. here is a portion of that conversation. [video clip] "rollcall" this is front-page news. this is going to have an enormous impact. there is a lot of debate about whether or not to bring cameras to the chamber to some -- to the

chamber. some of the arguments was that the american public could now see the members in action, they did not have to come to washington. they could see it from their living room. and also educate them about the institution and what is really going on. another argument was that it was unfiltered. so they were not getting their information through the media, but they could watch it and judge it for themselves. there was an argument that it would just promote grandstanding. and you saw that this debate also progressed even after the house started letting cameras in the first televised debate in 1979. a few years later in 1984, you saw this really contentious event on the house or between speakership colonial and -- o'neill and a more unknown congressman at the time, newt

gingrich. and the speaker got really fed up with this and at one point ordered the cameras to pan the floor to show members of the public they were speaking to an empty room. it was really interesting that that catapulted newt gingrich. the reaction tended to be positive i think around five years after the house implemented television cameras. there was a front-page headline that said how stevie is a success. liked the fact that they could talk to the public directly. there was a concern about the increase in the number of one minute speeches. so you saw that concern the kind of processed. -- that concern -- kind of processed. and you saw this play out in former secretary of state

hillary clinton's testimony to the ben ghazi -- benghazi committee. the big thing you saw in that hearing did not happen in private sessions, but the fact that it was public made this kind of a grandstanding of and paid it is interesting you still hear the same arguments playing out today. announcer: "washington journal" continues. host: we want to welcome back clarence page of the "chicago tribune" and terry jeffrey of cnsnews.com. welcome back. guest: thank you. glad to be here. guest: thank you. host: let me begin with one of the top stories. in this photograph from baltimore in the "washington distressedies the between many communities and the

police officers. mayor ofeadline, the chicago cutting short his trip to cuba. in announcing there will be new police training and also tasers required for all 12,000 police officer starting next june. guest: you can see there is a spirit of change in the air. this has been a series of tragedies that we have had in chicago that have involved encounters between police and civilians that made national headlines. and i'm glad to hear they are going to have the tasers. therend everybody that was one tragic is out in oakland, california of a young man police were wrestling to the ground, and one policeman grabbed his gun instead of his taser and killed the young man,

so it is very important to have proper training with tasers as well. would have seen it in so many other communities, including not too far from here in baltimore. guest: i think it is a good idea for the police to have tasers. they are in a dangerous situation, they are worried about their own lives, but if there is a way to stop a situation where you can use a taser instead of a gun, that makes sense, so why not let them have them? newspaper isll" pointing out that this year will be another record year for government regulations. topping close to 90,000 pages in the federal register. you write about this year being a year of bigger government and worse schools. guest: for example, he talk about worst schools. when you look at the department

of education, the most recent progress test, 93% of the not proficient in reading and 94% were not proficient in math. public schools, particularly in large cities in the united states, are failing horribly. so there you have a classic example of the growth of government and the cost of government is not working. but i would say in exit delete because of the structure of federal government, socially security, medicare, medicaid especially, neither party is doing anything to stop the growth of government. and the burden is going to come to the point where it cannot be born. host: we talked with senator lamar alexander, who is a supporter of the rewrite of note had left behind, giving more control, more authority to states. will that change? guest: i do not think it will

significantly change. if you go back and look at no child left behind -- host: and supported by george w. bush. guest: signed into law by george w. bush. it was an example of republicans increasing government. in per-pupilcrease spending on education, but you pretty much flat lined on the national test. personally, when i believe should happen, and it should have been on the local level, local communities say let's give kids a choice, let's give parents a choice. let's take the amount of money spent and give the vouchers to parents. and let that parent take the child to any school they want. baltimore, detroit, washington, dc, let's have freedom of trace in education. guest: well, i have come around

on vouchers over the years. i have been to cities like cleveland, milwaukee, the district of columbia here has a public-private cooperation voucher program. and the thing about school is every tiled learns differently. and one-size-fits-all education plans have those kinds of problems could some kids -- those kinds of problems. some kids do great, others don't. my parents could not have put me in a private school. if they could have had a voucher, that would have been a good additional choice for them; however, where i grew up in middletown, ohio, john boehner's district, back in the 1950's and 1960's we had postwar prosperity going on. there were lots of jobs for young people and families that

we don't have now. college was much cheaper. $700 was my tuition when i first entered back in the 1970's. the fact is those opportunities are essential in our society for young people to make it now. education is more important than ever. host: you mentioned john boehner. his decision to step down. what does this tell you about where the gop is? guest: i think that what happens with john boehner is emblematic with a bigger phenomenon that is going on in america, which is insatisfaction people see washington, no change in the direction of the government. i think you are going to see paul ryan fall to the same thing. indeed i think there will be tremendous dissatisfaction if he continues down the path he started sp good. host: you do not think he will

succeed as speaker? guest: i think what we saw in the omnibus spending bill and the extension of the debt limit , is that both parties in washington dc decided they want to have a status quo 2016. they do not want to have any significant public policy fights. they are in power, they want to stay in power. i think you see that being spoken about in a different way out in the country. host: we have shared a lot of headlines, but i have never ever said these two words together: two of a kind, donald trump and -- what the heck is that? guest: george w. bush, that was his pet name for putin. he did not use that in public,

but in the white house. the column is about putin's recent nice went about donald trump. complement him, he complements right back. john kasich, another republican candidate that was governor of ohio putting out fake ads advertising the trump-putin ticket for the presidency. but that column was looking at the similarities between the two personalities of putin and trump. i am endlessly intrigued by larger-than-life figures, such as those two. , now and focusing on this accepting applications for president. a primary that is disqualified to qualify. rick perry was forced out of the race for a number of reasons. guest: i believe at this point , the have the iowa caucus

first we will have -- i think people focus too much on the national polls and presidential races, even when you are just as far out, a month. but it really matters now. and if a candidate can't cut it and i with voters -- personally believe that voters in small states take very seriously their role in the process. , one of therubio leading contenders, and this is a story that has been talked about inside the "washington post," marco rubio pulled strings for his coke dealing brother-in-law. based on the story on how marco rubio used his office to help his brother-in-law apparently when he was the majority whip of the florida house, he sent a

he be recommending that licensed to be restored. failing to remember that the former coke dealer was married to his sister. guest: well, that is the first i have heard of that story. i would want to look at it very carefully and see what the facts are before i make any judgment about it. think thisree, but i is almost inevitable. i always look forward to various probes of various candidates. and it is an opportunity to go examined see -- thoroughly various candidate's backgrounds. i have not read the story either, but i'm already feeling sorry for him. because there is only so much you can do about family. [laughter]

how theyyou look at have handled the situation in their family, and their public office, rubio -- he was ahead of the -- host: speaker of the house. guest: speaker of the house, excuse me. so he has an extensive record in public office. i'm sure we will see more stories like this. i am obviously not familiar with the details, but for someone to try to help the family is a good thing. and to do so within ethical bounds is an excellent take. -- thing. guest: i am thinking about bill clinton and carter, who had brothers that had flamboyant reputations or whatever. people do look at how people handle things inside of their family in relation to their public life did it doesn't

necessarily mean that it's going to hurt them. host: and todd harris in the story from the "new york post," saying that his brother, orlando, made some very big mistakes, but paid his debt to society. another story saying jeb bush chris christie taking aim at marco rubio. i do think that is true. if you look at what is going on in iowa and new hampshire, you see trump has been trending down recently. cruz has been trending up in iowa. win in iowa, it think it significantly changes the dynamics of the republican race. you are likely to have cruz conservative

candidate. rubio would clearly be at the top of that list. host: clarence page of the "chicago tribune," and terry jeffrey who is the editor in chief of cnsnews.com. focused on bill clinton, who is back on the campaign trail next monday. he was paid $1 million for an two appearances -- for two appearances sponsored by the obligor be government back in 2001 -- by the abu dhabi government back in 2001. they have a long list of the other speeches and his fees over the last 10 years. guest: i think it does raise serious questions. the former president of the united states is reaping massive

amounts of money from foreign interests. that clearly is a question. and i think it should be examined. the something worthy of public debate. guest: government needs to be examined, and it is not a new story. among democrats i have talked to, they tend to view bill clinton as a guy involved in international foundation work. so there are different ways of looking at it. guest: that money went to him, though, right? guest: like a said, there are many different ways of looking at it. host: again, the complete list -- let's show this from the "wall street journal." you can see here athletic -- af lec and the speaking fees. let's take your phone calls.

dorothy in baltimore, the democrats line. good morning. caller: good morning. i want to make two comments about medicare and social security. but what i want to say is that medicare and social security have a surplus, but you put it in the general fund. our government put it in the general on and they are still spending it. in order for them to pay for these trillions of dollars we own now, they need to take the rest of our money. that is what they need to do and use it in a general fund for this government to run. we needed independent board to look at this -- need an independent board to look at this. donald trump, if he gets the president will either be arrested or in pizza. merkletrump talked about

on the front of "people" magazine. he can't represent us. he is a good motivational speaker, or president of the united states and he is going to show anybody who says something he doesn't like or disagrees with them -- how in the world can we handle that? host: ok, we will get a response. guest: what she says about social security is correct in that when they are running surpluses, the government took the money and immediately spent it. not just immediately spent it, they went out and borrowed more money. there is public held that, which -- debt, which is mostly things that we can buy. now on anurity ongoing basis is running in the red often. they are drawing down the intergovernmental debt --

intra-governmental debt. and this is at the core of what the united states i believe is heading towards a major financial crisis. guest: [indiscernible] guest: there were a few years where he had a budgetary surplus. there was a republican congress and a democratic president. but i would argue that the underlying forces of medicare, social security, and medicaid were inexorably driving the government towards this moment, unless they were reformed. administrationy has a special group to look at medicare, medicaid, and social security, which are the biggest items in the budget after the defense department, of course.

i blame our politics. it is still too easy to promise people more in terms of spending and promise them lower taxes at the same time. and you can't do both. host: and you make reference to vladimir putin. in his own words. made reference to donald trump, calling him bright and colorful, talented without any question, and the absolute leader in the presidential race. guest: [laughter] believe in realistic foreign policy. do in terms of our dealing with foreign leaders should be predicated on the dallas whose that what preserves our liberty preserves our security and advances our prospects. sometimes he is doing things that are in our interest,

sometimes he is doing things that are against our interests. i don't think you romanticize them, i don't think you demonize him paired -- jim. host: robert, henderson, kentucky, the independent line. caller: good morning, gentlemen. particular, -- has said many of the things that donald trump has said, not as a bombastic type of a rhetoric, racist rhetoric, but i'm talking about going into libya. he said it was a mistake to go into iraq. many things that have come out to be true. mr. trump is -- [indiscernible] -- for a lot of the things he said it mr. trump wants to not allow muslims into this country. does that mean he is going to

arrest a muslim who has been here 82 years, nonviolent , selfing responsibility responsibility? catalyst to bridge the gap between muslims in america and christians. host: we will get a response. thank you. guest: he has done that in the black community. it is intriguing how much -- try to find similarities between the minister and donald trump in that they have both found constituencies that are discontent with what is going on , feel left out of the process, like washington is not talking for them, and looking for somebody to express the anger and frustrations they feel. blue-collar white males, in

particular, are feeling dispossessed. the they have seen structural changes in our economy and have left them behind. if you do not have some school behind high school, your ability to have any wage increased in the lifetime is greatly reduced. like donald trump said, what the hell is going on? that is a new mantra out there. it just so happens that the ministers constituency is smaller than -- minister's constituency is smaller than trump's. back in thee post-civil rights, he became a spokesperson for blue colored -- blue-collar people in particular. guest: the absolute number of

manufacturing jobs in the united states today is fewer than there were in the late 1960's. according to the census bureau, the real median income of households who graduated from high school but didn't go to college is lower now than it was in the late 1960's. i think this is a very serious problem. and i do believe it is part of the driving force behind the disk and see. guest: it is not new. we have seen it with my buddy pat buchanan back in the 1990's. and we have seen ralph later, for that matter -- ralph nader, for that matter, having an appeal to blue-collar voters. there has always been these voices for discontent out there, what will we are lacking is a real program for addressing. -- addressing the culture. factor is another

that back in the late 1960's, you had single-digit number of kids in america were born to unmarried mothers. in recent years, you had 40% of kids born in america to unmarried mothers. for ak it is very hard person being raised in a nontraditional family to get through school and graduate. host: terry jeffreything or two about pat buchanan, serving on his campaign, previously with human events, and he now serves as the editor in chief of cnsnews.com. at work available online townhall.com. who is ance page, author, and is, of course, is syndicated columnist for the "chicago tribune." this is a comment from gene, who

is a regular tweeter from all hell. he says let's stop blaming government for everything. it is the politicians who run our government. go to andy, kentucky, the democrats line. good morning. caller: hey, good morning. i would like to wish you all a happy new year. with the things -- education department, i think there should be -- it should be done away with and given back to this date. and this common core is not good for education. it is downgrading our students. there are not learning anything with common core. then for president, i like ms. clinton. if you look at the clintons, when president clinton was in office, we did have a surplus while he was in office. so he did a good thing.

and on the republican ticket, the three that i like would like to see one of the three come out and win would either be ted cruz, walk over be a, or mike huckabee. rubio, or mike huckabee. i would not walk across the street to vote for donald trump. he is a joke. host: andy, thank you for the call. guest: on the education comment, common core is something the obama administration have, with a new program, but, core was put together by -- but common core was put together by the governors. likethis is the latest -- no child left behind -- the latest program to try to reform education in the country, which has had some successes and some setbacks. snowden,ma, clinton,

the top list of 2015 tweets. online,ne available president obama, who says today is a big day in a much towards equality. gay and lesbian couples now have the right to marry, just like anyone else. is this issue off the table in 2016? guest: no, i think so. all of the republican presidential candidates have said they are not in favor of same-sex marriage. thomas'ook at clarence dissent committee thought is ultimately going to leave the questions of religious liberty. i do not doubt that is already the case. i mentioned how the traditional family is breaking down. another factor is historically we were rooted in religion andan

natural law. and i honestly don't think you can argue that if there is a right to same-sex marriage, this is all right people are endowed with by their creator. guest: i am surprised at how much public opinion has shifted on this issue in favor. left tothe 1990's, the be arguing about the military, and that has been done away with a lot because it was generational change. are playing with the general society now. i agree, same-sex marriage is still an issue out there, but not as much in 2004 when it proved to be critical for the bush campaign. -- support same-sex marriage

legally, but when it comes down , things likeund this involved public schools, private schools, religious were stillthat is have disputes that are going to have to be ironed out. host: let's go to robert joining us from brooklyn, new york. the democrats line. caller: i have a comment i would like mr. paige to respond to. for rahmve called emanuel and others of the city of chicago to attend to the razak nation. i don't want to see them give their resignation. i would like to see them indicted as assessor is after-the-fact. if i paid $5 million in hush money, i would be indicted. host: robert, thank you for the call. and that is what you wrote about. guest: that is what the caller

is addressing, the $5 million refers to the money paid as a settlement to the family of laquan mcdonald, who was shot 16 times by a police officer and caught on video. the settlement was asked for by the mayor's office, and his corporation counsel attorneys, and approved by city council without the alderman being fully informed or being shown the video, etc. and there are people who claim he said he didn't see it. the state attorney, however, is also in trouble. people calling for her to resign. and she is facing a primary in march where she is expected to have a real problem beating her challenges. rather manual was reelected -- rob emanuel was reelected earlier this year when the

public had not seen that tape. and aldermen are upset that they were not fully informed. protests calling for emanuel to resign. i do not think that is going to happen, but i think what we are seeing is he is going to have problems trying to get anything passed through city council unless he takes some tracks the -- some drastic means to reform the police. [indiscernible] i used to cover police into cargo back in the 1970's in my reported this. it was better than it used to be, but it can still be better than it is. host: in springfield, illinois, tony, good morning. caller: good morning. i would just like to make a comment. i think the top news story is

the continuing lack of the media to educate the people, the disintegration of the fourth branch of government, with the people. perhaps we should heed certain words of our forefathers because i think a nation that forgets its past has no future. abraham lincoln said we the people are the masters of the fourth branch of legislators. not to overthrow the government, but overthrow those who covered the constitution. and perhaps his speech should be read at every single of and. the news media, the top story is the continuing lack to -- misinform the people or distract the people. they have not got to the roots of the problem. host: we will get a response.

guest: i think the caller makes .ome good responses i believe the role of the press is to work as an adversary against government to keep government honest, and in my view to keep it small. that too much is an advocate of government. i also agree about abraham lincoln's speech. americakids all across should learn what abraham lincoln stood for and what was in his speech. they do not know our history, including what was the argument that abraham lincoln made when he was running for president. why do we have a monument to him in washington dc? in of the greatest things this town, go down to the lincoln memorial and read his second inaugural address.

it is a powerful and brief statement carved in marble, and people need to remember what he said. host: let's turn to foreign policy again, and your reference to pooti poo. did george w. bush have a nickname for you? guest: the first time i met tim, he mistook me for walter williams, a well-known black conservative syndicated columnist. and notas very gracious awkward at all about it, but i owed to him all the way to washington dc on that plane we're riding in to say the least. i didn't talk to him again until a couple years later. he was president and i was on the receiving line of the newspapers convention. i saw his hand come over the crowd to me, and he said my old travelmate, how are you doing? host: let me go back to vladimir

putin. i want to get your sense on where this is heading in 2016. has been sliding, down 26% this year. russians fearful over jobs and income. and in his prediction section, what is the next up for vladimir -- it's prediction -- its prediction section, what is next for vladimir putin? guest: the federal reserve has more data than anybody else. after that it is china and japan. but the russians own a significant amount of u.s. debt. we are six and a half years into a quote unquote growth cycle. at some point, we are not going to have another recession here, we are going to have an economic downturn and other major economies.

and that will spell political problems i believe. host: let's go to indiana, the republican line. with clarence page and terry jeffrey. good morning. caller: good morning. i just wanted to say that i left the city in 1982 because of the patronage, the ongoing corruption. it is not just chicago. it is indianapolis, detroit, st. louis. wherever you have a fully funded through the democratic party, you are always going have this problem. this has been going for 50 years. with the schools, with the education system and how they dumb down all these children and don't teach them anything. back andou want to go start living history like we used to, we might have some of these problems off. but because of political

incorrectness, you are never going to get any of this done. my suggestion is term limits, and every other year you have a report card. the scripture going on, it all stems from term limits. that would help a long ways towards strengthening this country out if we could do -- straightening this country out if we could do term limits and reports cards -- report cards. host: do you want to respond? guest: i think term limits on a federal level would be a good thing. they want a status quo year because there highest good is staying in power. they come in, they are very principled, they are very connected to the voters that put them in. after a few terms, they start to move away and become more of a part of the washington

establishment. you might lose a little bit on that, which is an important thing with term limits, but on bettergin he will have a federal government with term limits. guest: calls for term limits are in expression of frustration when government isn't working. but there is a lot of irony surrounding the issue that you do lose experienced people and then people say, oh, we have term limits. if you have term limits on capitol hill, it would empower the staffers. i remember when newt gingrich became leader of the house back i'm sorry, the 1994 election. after that, one of the promises they made was term limits in terms of seniority -- yeah,

chairmanships. and as soon as they got in, there were efforts made to try to undermine those term limits. i want flexibility and government, but what we have seen recently is we do have term limits, they are called elections. guest: you mention that story about bill clinton and the $1 million he got, there is another phenomenon in washington here. they get elected, they come here, and they end up being lobbyists. you have big business interests that have an interest in making sure all the tax laws and other regulations work to their interests. and they form sort of a coalition here in washington dc that works against the interest of small government and american liberty. perhaps that is one wall for the press to show how that works as what they arehow

doing within the walls of congress. host: leonard, the democrats line. caller: good morning and happy new year to you all. mr. page, they talk about entitlements. could you explain to us what welfare for the states means when presidents lincoln cited for all the slave states? and mr. jeffrey, there is a word that is going around, white people. have you ever seen a white person in your life? and when did the white people become grouped as a whole nation, a whole group of people here in america? host: you need to explain that a little bit better. what do you mean by that? caller: i was a veteran and i had the opportunity to meet veterans from a different -- from different countries. and i said why people. and he said, only people in america call themselves white. why does that not mean the

, thens, the russians french, the greek? why do people run away from that? guest: well, i think he has a good point. i believe what martin luther king said that we are a colorblind society. we don't want to be divided by skin color, we want to be one people, united by a certain set of values that guide us in our personal lives and our government. when very sad thing that has been happening recently is people are beginning to be more polarized than they were a decade ago. and that is not good. guest: i agree with you to a certain degree, terry. eloquently about how there were no black people in africa, there were no white people in europe. we became black-and-white in

america. your race is defined differently here than it is in brazil, south africa because race is a social construct and a political construct. but we have -- be careful, though, quoting dr. king out of context. everybody quotes i don't want to be judged by the content of my character by the color of my skin. but he also talks a promissory note that was made for black folks that was never kept. so dr. king talked about that. he also wrote in favor of affirmative action. race is astion of more complicated one, but at the same time, though, i'd appreciate the spirit of the caller. i was born in dayton, ohio, one

of the most sensible towns in america. ashink one thing we do learn we talk about macro social issues, like race. i think we get along better than ever, terry. i think people think we are more polarized, but lack folks have voice- getting more of a since obama has been president. guest: by the way, if i remember correctly when dr. with -- dr. king was talking about that schoolory note, every child in america should read, he was talking about the principles that were enshrined in our declaration, independence, and constitution that were not filled for so long because we did tolerate slavery until the 13th amendment and we did tolerate --

i would like to see us continue to progress along that line, redeeming that promissory note and delivering truly as a society according to those principles. guest: yes, i think we are moving toward it. we have to keep on traveling. host: another headline from the "washington times," bill clinton the most traveled president. 54 trips during his two terms in the white house. visits to germany and poland. also set to go to china, possibly a trip to cuba. he will likely eclipse bill clinton. so far he has had 49 foreign trips with one year left in the white house. guest: first of all, i disagree with president obama's foreign-policy. i disagree with his transpacific partnership. i fear of eventually china, which is still a communist

government, is probably going to come into that deal at some point. and i think he is taking the wrong approach to the middle east. focus has to be the security of the and that is states. so for the president to be engaged with what is going on around the world is an important thing. host: catherine in new hampshire, the independent line. caller: good morning. i have a comment and a couple questions. and it is really about top stories, plural. and it has to do with violence with handguns. and my husband had suggested -- i said, oh, this is really good -- when a person buys a gun at a gun show or a gun shop, this person would be required to buy liability insurance and are new the insurance each year. ,e have car liability insurance and proof must be carried when driving.

if a person was carrying a handgun without carrying proof of liability insurance, this would raise a red flag and consequences. wouldn't this help prevent violence? thank you. host: thank you, catherine. guest: the thought reminds me of .he old idea of taxing bullets we have a lot of different proposals along these lines, but one of the big problems is dealing with people who are breaking the law from the very beginning. we are moving around on a lot of different issues, but a tweet, top story, the rise of donald trump and the amazing gullibility of his misguided supporters thinking he cares about anything but himself. guest: well, as i said earlier, i think we will find out a lot when we have the iowa caucus and

the new hampshire primary. the voters are very serious there. i do agree that i think that donald trump is -- part of what is going on with donald trump is a reflection of the deep satisfaction -- deep dissatisfaction with the elite in washington. host: let's go to tom joining us in tennessee, the republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. is soop story for 2015 many people lying. newscasters, news anchors, politicians, sports people, movie stars. and they get away with it. there are so many people lying to cover up the liar. there is no punishment, there is no nothing. it starts at the very top in

politics, works down. even the military allies. i don't know what is wrong with the united states of america, but we have all turned into liars. and there is no consequence, no matter to who it may be. host: tom, thank you. guest: i would say that people have always lied, we just have more ways of uncovering it now. i think it is a tribute to the explosion of news media that we have. a lot of our callers still talk about the media as if it is this monolith. we have more media than ever before thanks to the internet and other alternative media. it is having a hard time -- however, a lot of independent journalists -- we were talking earlier about the police in

chicago, the video of laquan became public because of an investigative independent journalist. the stuff is out there and you have to look at it. don't just take with one new source. host: fox news again this year, number one in cable news. guest: roger, another former n, he was very smart when he started talks. he sought that there was this market segment out there that did not feel like they were being serviced. that were not having a voice. i call it sarah palin land because at the time we were talking about that back in 2008 and 2012. there are folks who wanted to angle that foxf presents. that is a big segment, and they don't have any competition ford. msnbc has been trying to be the

anti-fox, but liberals do not have that same sort of a need. we could talk for days about that. msnbcr, at the same time, has been going back because they are having a hard time figuring out another segment the way roger did. my hat is off to them. and some of my good friends work over there at fox. they have some good journalists. whether i agree with them or not. guest: the national media is overwhelmingly liberal. guest: a thought you're going to say that. [laughter] guest: there are just a very few conservatives who are journalists on a national level. and fox fills a unique role. people are yearning for a different voice than they see in the establishment media. host: and the o'reilly factor names number one, with nearly 3 million viewers a night.

mike. rockford, illinois. the independent line. caller: good morning. or story -- a head scratch for a top story i've got is the san bernardino shooting. no disrespect, but they were telling us on the news during what was going on, they were saying three big guys with go pro cameras. the second interview with the police, they said, well, there is an argument. you know, supposedly the guy -- the next thing you know, supposedly the guy went back to his wife, got the baby sitter, went back and shot the place up. are you both sold on that story? guest: thank you. i am not sure if it is a cover story, but it is -- well, this san bernardino shooting did not follow the usual pattern of what

we expect in terrorist attacks. the big question is are we going to have more like this? people who are inspired by al qaeda or isis or whatever rather than receiving direct orders. host: in hearing what the caller is saying, isn't that often the case, the early information is often erroneous? guest: almost always. guest: i think people have to withhold judgment. when we don't have enough investigative recording -- reporting. i agree, and i would also like to add one other thing. it used to be that small towns all across america had small newspapers. they were owned by local families, they cared. now we have newspapers collapsing, many of them have been bought up by large chains, and i don't think we have the sort of local craft that we need in cities across this country. guest: i agree, and that is one

area where we are really seeing growth in newspapers. the smaller market papers, as opposed to the big metro dailies like the one where i worked. circulation.losing papers around the country, middle size and smaller, are the ones that have been having more growth of their paper media. guest: on a federal level, we are having a federal government that is moving towards $4 trillion that is spending -- in spending every year. to do investigative reporting, you need to be able to pay someone to sit and spend time and be studious and really dig into things and really get things right. there are simply not the resources to do the kind of investigative reporting to keep the size of federal government

honest. i think it is a very big problem for this country. host: since you have been pointing with pride to ohio so much, i'm going to read this tweet. we do not solicit it. he says, i do not pay attention to ratings. i pay attention to c-span. the best thing news current events channel out there. guest: what a coincidence you run across that. [laughter] host: let's go to utah. caller: good morning. i think the top story of the year should be not only does structure and of the republican party with i see happening, but the divide of the country, aspect.n a civil war you have barack obama who is a great president but the republicans brought out all the racist people they could find to go against him. now, you have one side, donald

divide almost by race and religion. on the other side, you have bernie sanders bringing everybody together, going back .o a people's government i think that is the biggest story we should look at. what would that be if it was donald trump versus bernie sanders? bigotedtionist, racist, man up there who doesn't know policy and someone saying the truth about our government, being ran by billionaires and the people have no say and taking it back. gone forlican party is probably the next 40 years. you brought up donald trump and his most recent comments. here is what he said earlier this fall when he announced that muslims should not be allowed to enter the u.s.

[video clip] >> donald j trump is calling -- this is pretty heavy stuff and it is common sense and we have to do it. remember the poll numbers. 25%. listen. donald j trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the united states until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on. [applause] we have no choice. we have no choice. host: clarence page, your response. with thesympathize republican party because they have the same divisions in the democratic party bring the mcgovern days.

people talking about the left extremists in the party versus the centrists. itmocrats eventually worked o out. are heading down that road. right now, they are vulnerable because you have a large body of people donald trump is speaking to directly when he says it is common sense. it is a lot more complicated than that. me of rosshe reminds perot, who is more physically conscious than trump but the same cut of this contact -- but the same kind of discontent. host: keith in ohio. independent line. good morning. caller: good morning.

i could listen to these two guys all day long. there are so many different issues, it is overwhelming. i would like to talk to them all day about it. issue.tion is the big the interest on the national debt -- how much are we paying an actual interest right now in relation to all the money we spend on everything? when will it be to the point where -- if a family has to much interest, it will crush them and they file bankruptcy. when will this happen to our country? everything else is moot if this happens. host: $18 trillion. guest: i looked at the treasuries page. debt is 2%. on the

slightly over 2%. you get to that point in 2001, it was 6%. they are paying three times as much. debt --d is public the rest is the inter-government that. we will have $20 trillion in debt that people like the chinese and russians own. this is why the united states is headed toward a financial crisis. host: bob in minnesota. good morning. caller: happy new year. story ofhe biggest 2015 is the fact that donald trump is getting traction. he kind of blatantly lies a lot. there's a few reasons for it. there's a lot of people who suffer a lot.

after the george w. bush years with the economy. of dollars andns give tax breaks at the same time. he is the one responsible for the debt. we are starting to climb out of it. likeear stories on tv and the coming on fox big as he investigations sold purpose was to bring on hillary clinton's poll numbers -- benghazi investigation's sol purpose. stepped down from the investigation, he is fired for trying to conduct an objective investigation.

the story keeps going and going. point finally reached the with the corruption is so blatant that they will listen to somebody like donald trump. another thing donald trump said was that he was going to stop the mexicans from coming across the border. building a wall sounds kind of foolish to me. if i had my way, what they would do is punish the people that hire undocumented workers. then grant citizenship to the people who are already here. host: let me share this map this morning from the new york times. where donald trump is most popular come along the east coast, new york and new england and pennsylvania.

,own south to the carolinas florida, louisiana and parts of oklahoma. your thoughts? i don't think donald trump has a long-term future of success but we will see. the early states will be crucial indicators. what we see in iowa and new hampshire is people who are serious, who take a personal -- how to candidates dare they. trump has not been that active on the ground in iowa. if you can still win the iowa , if trump can win this caucuses without that much of a , i don't think he

will make it -- ted cruz is much more likely. we are referring to ted cruz as the moderate alternative. hillary clinton was on capitol hill for 11 hours. when she testified on october 22, was asked about just what happened in benghazi on september 11, 2012. hillary portion of clinton testifying before the house. [video clip] >> i thought more about what happened than all of be put together. i've lost more sleep than all of you put together. i have been racking my brain about what more could have been done. or should have been done. when i took responsibility, i

took it as a challenge and an obligation to make sure before i left the state department that like afterld learn beirut and nairobi and the other attacks on our facilities come i'm sure all of them, republican and democrat alike, especially where there was loss of american life said ok, what must we do better? how do we protect the men and women that we send without weapons, without support from mostilitary into the dangerous places in the world? host: the full nine hours on www.c-span.org. your thoughts? guest: what did we learn from this?

back in 1998 when our embassies were attacked in nairobi, congress passed a bill that her husband signed. chris smith was the main sponsor. one of the things that's how do we solve this? co-location. this inagencies doing the same city were supposed to co-locate in the same place. if they did not, they had to get a waiver from the secretary of state that had to be done in consultation with the head of the agency, which was not going to co-locate. the accountability review board that looked into what happened in benghazi said the say inx -- the cia annex in the facility were not relocating because it was a temporary facility. it was open for well more than a

year. there's been fruitful investigations in congress. the senate intelligence committee put out a report that shows the threat coming through the military -- the real question people have to ask is why was our government so negligent that they let those two facilities sit there over that long period of time? when he testified in the house committee back in 2013, he said one of the main principle reasons that chris stevens was was becauseon 9/11 they wanted to look at making a permanent facility then. they needed to do some things september 30 and hillary clinton was planning on

visiting libya that year. central to it is negligence on the part of our government, not following wisdom we learned back in 1998. guest: how many investigations have we had? somewhere between 4-6. guest: there are key issues here. there's the whole question of what we did in libya. our policy there was foolish and not realistic. we are paying the price for it to this day. host: we conclude where we began. the top story, your topic for 2015. what you think would be among the most interesting stories and 2016. guest: when you asked me earlier, the political changes in leadership this

year. there were changes in the house republicans leadership toward the right. moving from the john boehner house to the paul ryan house. these are very significant trend stories as far as showing where our politics are going these days. on a more personal level, my number one thing would have to up of newing movements in favor of police accountability in the wake of ofeotaped evidence police-civilian encounters that led to death or injury. guest: the bipartisan support for the trajectory of government that is financially unsustainable and will eventually reach a crisis point. it is the extension of the status quo to the interest of the elites of those parties in

washington so they both come out the way they both want to come out. and terryence page jeffrey. to both of you, happy new year. guest: thank you very much. host: it already is a new year in parts of the world, including australia. your cause and comments on your topic for the story of 2015. our phone lines are open. for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. we have a line for independents, 202-748-8002. you can share your comments on our facebook page at facebook.com/c-span or send a @c-spanwj.

we interviewed a number of reporters and editors about the major events that shaped the stories over the last six decades. richard bowman talked about how the paper cover the debate that led to cameras inside the house of representatives and later into the u.s. senate. her is more from that conversation. [video clip] >> the senate implemented televised proceedings several years after the house. the first session was in 1986. the debate over television in the senate happened many years prior. senator byrd and baker were two members pushing and. that's pushing it. it you saw this increased momentum from his backing up trying to get television in the senate chamber, including a series of hearings around april of 1981. they were asking members of the house, what has it been like asking tv executives how we do

this correctly? there were unique arguments around the senate in terms of tradition of the body. it was known as the world's greatest solicitor body. will it become less deliberative and more rhetorical? will they just be speaking at each other and to the cameras? you saw those in same arguments in the house in terms of whether or not this will lead to political grandstanding. there's concern in the senate, will the members of the public be able to understand interview sees a procedure the intricacies of procedure? senator baker said he did not want the senate to get left behind. members of the public were watching the house and were interested in what was going on. he really wanted to bring this to the senate as well. in 1986, one of the first speakers was al gore.

he gave the first televised speech in the house. cameras andwhere televising government go from here, there is an ongoing debate about whether or not to put cameras in the courtroom of the supreme court. you see the same arguments playing out again from people warning about grandstanding come the people sing the public has a right to see this, this is history in the making. other people saying the public has a right to see this. you see members from both parties and on both chambers pushing for this. there's a couple of pieces of legislation calling on the court to televised proceedings. host: a live look at the u.s. capitol on this thursday morning , the last day of 2015. we want to hear from you on your 20 15.ry of

our phone lines are open. the financial times looking ahead at what the world will see in 2016. today, theof usa world is on new year's eve alert in new york city. 6000 police officers expected to patrol in midtown manhattan where million people expected to watch the crystal ball drop at midnight. fireworks planned for brussels and paris. they've been put out because of the recent terror attacks. we are getting your tweets as well. one of the political events from abc news, bernie sanders on the issues facing his candidacy. [video clip] >> you have a rig economy. the middle class in this country for the last 40 years has been disappearing. are we better off today than we were when bush left office? absolutely. ,or millions of american people

they work longer hours for low wages. deeply worried about their kids. what do we do? we tell the billionaire class they cannot have it all. they will start paying their fair share of taxes. [applause] >> you raise the minimum wage to a living wage commit $15 an hour over the next several years. pay equity for women workers. women should not be making $.79 on the dollar compared to men. [applause] unemployment 5%, real unemployment 10%. youth unemployment office charts. -- off the charts between we rebuild our crumbling infrastructure. we create 13 million jobs. economy,etitive global it is imperative that we have

the best educated workforce in the world. that's why i will have a tax on wall street speculation to make certain that public colleges and universities in america are tuition free. [applause] host: the issues shaping the sanders candidacy. nexte of bill clinton -- monday come of bill clinton in new hampshire. coverage from the first in the nation primary state starting next monday. susan in oklahoma. republican line. my top stories anybody poorould talk about the news reporting we have in this country. the reason everybody is so angry and the reason we have these candidates who will tell you anything to get elected is because we have no one reporting news to us and people don't feel like they have a voice.

we stand up and tell people what they believe, we've divided the republicans and democrats because we have the news on each side telling these stories and not telling the truth about what people believe. my suggestion would be to have more news about what is not news and get away from the overbearing, loud, obnoxious news. host: roger has this tweet. the washington post with,"'s and his look back at the year -- tulls and his look back at the year. in reference to the comment by donald trump to not allow muslims into the u.s. john in fairfax, virginia. democrats line.

caller: good morning, steve. i would like to recommend viewing the washington journal, spending more time going into the goodls inside bil and bad of any budget deal. exposed theideo has social racism of police departments and other parts of society that have been holding black people back. i would like to recommend a win-win plan which would pay descendents of slavery to do well in school and show up. years,did that for 20 there would be no need for other forms of racial help. host: you mentioned the video

cameras, though cell phone cameras. the washington post looking at the year in cartoons, the same sketching of a police officer, one called adjuster file and the other called indictable. chattanooga free press. minnesota. republican line. caller: good morning. the best thing that has happened in 2015 was we finally got a can bit -- a candidate in donald trump who tells the truth. the reason why people don't like him is because he is telling the truth for once. host: can donald trump get the nomination? can he defeat the democratic nominee? caller: i think so. there's enough people who like the truth he is telling.

host: thank you for the call. glenn from phoenix, arizona. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you doing today? i just wanted to bring up the fact that black lives matter, no matter if you are for it or against it, it is a movement of that america has not witnessed since the 1960's. in the righte step direction for our country. right to god-given have an opinion heard. when there is an injustice happening, people should have the right to protest. on the other hand, on the criminal justice system is the fact that michael couch this famously known to

be let off as killing people just for the fact that he was rich. host: his name is ethan couch who remains in mexico. his mother has been returned to texas. forn began with her topic buchanan with her top pick for 2015 -- joining us from cottonwood, idaho. republican line. it is a variety of things, but mainly all stemming from one thing. i think it is the corruption in our media, actually. in not being biased and not reporting. for instance, on the lies that

have been taking place, stemming from our government, from the top down. the irs scandal where nothing was done to irs officials who were corrupt. the benghazi hearings, the lies that hillary clinton has been getting away with. , thelinton foundation corruption there, not having that foundation audited. they give token support for good support --they rather than doing charity in africa, they support causes such as abortion and homosexual activities and people that support that in africa. and then they take care of themselves and their political ambitions.

all of these different lies that have gone on in media covering up -- for instance, planned parenthood. they're selling of body parts. that should be aired completely. it is just covering up all the different things that they don't want to have heard. and not investigating all the corruption in our government. that would be one of my great big topics for 2015. go for thisdo you information? caller: i watched c-span when i can. watch as much as i can i'm just all kinds of different news media, such as the news and news, fox

they also watch different , different ones just to get dish c-span is a big source of my news. what congress is doing, the senate, the house of representatives. it is just amazing, the lack of coverage -- i would like to see c-span have an hour with each presidential candidate. let them talk and have people call in and ask them questions. i think that would be a wonderful thing for our political system. host: we would love that as well. we have an open invitation anytime -- it has been a challenge to get these candidates to come on. many have declined repeated requests to do: programs with us. -- call in programs with us.

we will continue to offer this forum to any of the candidates at any time for any length of time. you touched on an issue that is very close to us, especially as we move into 2016. james r has this tweet -- a syrian father, one of the pictures in the year in pictures in the new york times as people reflect on what is happening in that country. these comments from the senate floor by the republican senator from arizona, john mccain. [video clip] >> we may well look back on 2015 and realize we were present at the unraveling, present at the unraveling. president obama was still committed to degrading and destroying isil.

could pose a growing threat beyond the middle east. in 2015, that is exactly what happened in paris and san bernardino and it will not be the last. , promise my colleagues underds administration -- this administration with the present policy and of strategy, there will be other attacks on the united states of america. i regret deeply having to say that. owe myy constituents -- constituents to tell them the truth. -- we arertant winning. if we are not winning in this kind of warfare, you are losing. stalemate is not success. is isis contained?

it is not. isis is not contained, contrary to this statement made by the president of the united states literally hours before the attack on san bernardino host: earlier this month just before the senate recessed for the year . we are getting your top stories on our facebook page as well. you can join in on the conversation at facebook.com/c-span. to hissident responding critics in general. here's more from that npr interview. >> what exactly are you talking about? we will bomb more. who are you going to bomb? when you talk about something my carpet bombing, what do you mean? strikes out precision based on intelligence of where

isil is. where their infrastructure is, where their oil tankers are. if the suggestions is that we kill hundreds of thousands of innocent iraqis, that is not who we are. that would be a strategy that would have enormous backlash against the united states. terrible for our national security. many can get away with suggesting that bombing more or being less discriminate and how we approach that would make a difference. let me put it this way. i trust my commanders, folks who have fought long and hard in places like iraq and afghanistan , when they described to me, here is how we will gather intelligence, here is how we will approach the target. we have been at this for a long time.

afghanistan, iraq. places like some all you and yemen -- somalia and yemen. the key is to make sure that we have sound intelligence. i make no apologies for us wanting to do this appropriately. in a way that is consistent with american values. host: the president in an interview with npr as he responded to his critics. the new york times sunday review with the year in pictures and the syrian refugee crisis has dominated many of the photographs in this segment. including, of course, this one photo that drew some much attention. a young syrian boy washed ashore in mediterranean. a relief worker there to capture the moment. let's go to larry in georgia.

independent line. caller: good morning america. event that has happened this year is the ascension of donald trump. i know that there are lots of lambasteo want to donald trump for not knowing the political scene or not having been part of the political scene. that has been the problem. we have suffered under liberalism for just about forever. liberalism has seeped into the american society like termites in a home. you do not know they are there until it is too late. we suffer from political correctness. you've got people being sued because they don't want to make couplefor a homosexual

and they get sued and find hundreds of thousands of dollars -- fined hundreds of thousands of dollars. if you say something but before you know it, we are being pushed down and continually pushed down by the liberal agenda. before you know it, here comes donald trump saying the things we want to say that we want to expels upon. upon -- expouse upon. donald trump is out there telling people i don't care what you think. this is what i'm going to do and this is what i believe. host: thank you for the call. --ertain kind of democrat log on to the new york times website. you will see a map of the country. he is strongest the darker the color. jesse from pennsylvania. democrats line.

good morning. -- ir: i'm calling about am from the millennial generation. i'm a manufacturer. that's one thing you do not hear any more about. down so i could read it to you. it was a major hurdle for the white house. it seems to have been forgotten. i was at a meeting earlier this year about tpa. it was so for passing he could read it with his aides, so they could read the tpp. tpa onlyeans is that needs a 51% vote to pass tpp.

basically, the question i have for congress with tpp, doesn't mean they cannot allow foreign countries to bid on dod contracts? i will leave it there. host: thank you for the call. another tweet from another viewer -- the washington post, stories from 2015 that may shape 2016, including the battle against isis. the situation inside syria, dropping oil prices and politics and paris. busyresident who has a foreign-policy agenda in the year ahead expected to travel on five separate occasions, likely to be added, a possible trip to cuba. the president made this historic

announcement earlier this year. at the than 54 years ago height of the cold war, the united states closed its embassy in havana. today, i can announce that the unite states has agreed to formally reestablish diplomatic relations with the republic of cuba, to reopen embassies. this is a historic step forward in our efforts to normalize relations with the cuban government and people. and begin a new chapter with our neighbors in the americas. when the united states shuddered our embassy in 1961, i don't think anyone expected that it would be more than half a century before it reopened. our nations are separated by only 90 miles. there are deep bonds of family and friendship between our people. there have been very real differences between our governments. sometimes we allow ourselves to be trapped by a certain way of doing things. that meant clinging to a policy that was not working.

instead of supporting democracy and opportunity for the cuban people, our efforts to isolate cuba had the opposite effect. cementing the status quo of isolating the unite states from our neighbors in this hemisphere. in of the demonstration we don't have to be imprisoned by the past. when something is not working, we can and will change. host: the president back in october as he announced changes with our relations with cuba. victor sends this tweet -- obama to pack plenty of travel in his last year in office. likely to add cuba. bill clinton had 54 trips during his eight years in the white

house. has been on 49 trips. ann in sugar grove. good morning. caller: good morning to you. i love washington journal. i've been watching it for 11 years now. my top story is the fact that so many americans have no clue about independent media. i'm here to plug free speech tv and link tv. you don't even need a tv to tune in. you can go online and watch what they have. it is total independent media. if you do have dish network, channel 9411 four linked to be a 94154 free speech tv. tv and 9415 for free

speech tv. open your horizons. , the bottom line ror them is thei shareholders. it is not the truth. ge insnbc was owned by his run-up to the iraq war, they did not have anybody against the iraq war because ge was making the bombs. happy new year, everybody. thank you for listening. host: thank you for still having cable as well and for watching a spirit we appreciate it. caller: i turn this on every morning and i used to flip back and fourth and listen to fox and msnbc and cnn. i cannot even stand those channels. it is unbelievable.

free speech tv, link tv. check it out. , 50 stories from 50 states in today's edition of "usa today." big guns has this tweet on hillary clinton. next on the republican line, dave is joining us from branson, missouri. how is the weather been in your neck of the woods? caller: it is beautiful here. very cool weather. i love it in branson. i've been here a year. a great place to come and visit. your top story for the year? caller: my top story for the year -- i appreciate c-span and utilizing the freedom of speech.

that is great. my top story is the $73 billion debt hovering over puerto rico. mom are from puerto rico. listen to governor alejandro, some bonds will be paid that are due january 1. with all due respect, i love my country, i was born in chicago. the $73 billion debt is a result capitalistic practices. there's too many political s that have not the interests of puerto rico.

puerto rico became property of the unite states of america in 1898. this united states of america in 1898. it has been a journey for puerto rico that has resulted in the -- puertovernment rico is in a stranglehold of politics. political people have rodrigo in a stranglehold. -- puerto rico inextricable. thedebt is a reflection of debt the united states of america owes. host: we will hear from the governor of puerto rico on friday. indicating the problems for puerto rico and default in on that on monday that is due on january 1. let's turn to politics and jeb bush announcing that he is again shifting his campaign strategy

to a focus including new hampshire, sending many of his strategists from miami to redeploy them to the areas that matter the most. announcing he is retooling his television advertising. the campaign searching for momentum in a race that has not gone his way. deploying all of its staff to the early states commit $50 million in tv ad reservation. frederick in pennsylvania. good thursday morning to you. thank you for joining us. your top story for the year? caller: the possibility of having a first woman president of the united states. 2016 is the year of the woman. , if we get a republican president in that republican-controlled congress, all hell will break loose for the 47%. that includes young people come old people, the middle class.

the number one target is women. the republican party has a large base they don't want to get rid of. they want to privatize social security. as far as the republican voters, sometimes -- there's a lot of republican voters who like medicaid and social security the way it is. they're willing to sacrifice their own best interests for the sake of their party. women -- allr women should get together and put this woman and because you will finally have a woman who understands your issues as far as health and economics. host: thank you for the call. issue ofrds to the planned parenthood and women's rights, this is the exchange

that took place. [video clip] reflecting that on that video, not any particular that did not reflect the compassionate care that we provide. >> is what you said in your video untrue? you were not apologizing for stamens made? >> i was apologizing for what was said in a nonclinical setting in a non-appropriate way. you cannot say i am apologizing for statements in one video and then not tell us what the stamens were. -- statements were. you can say what i said in the video was not true. i wasn't really apologizing for any statement. it can be both editions. .- cannot be both positions

, it was judgment inappropriate to have that conversation in a nonclinical setting, in a non-confidential area about clinical matters. i told that to the doctor. >> why didn't you say that? this was a video you produced to send out to the whole world. >> we may just have to agree to disagree. >> i don't think we are agreeing to disagree. i think you are not answering my question. >> i've answered it repeatedly here. the congressional hearings. an exchange between jim jordan and the head of planned parenthood. you can check out all of our campaign coverage and public affairs and congressional coverage on www.c-span.org. mark in eureka, california. independent line. good morning. caller: good morning.

i caning to that -- understand why these congressmen keep talking when other people are trying to answer questions. there can be two different answers to the question. or three or four. i wanted to plug free speech tv, too. it is the best independent news you will find on tv. is, of course,ry senator sanders. i think hillary clinton will be that she is not quite understanding or prepared for. , but a lotod debater of people don't trust her.

she says a lot of things. i don't know whether i believe her or not. i can believe just about everything that comes out of mr. sanders' mouth. i agree with 99% of his solutions. host: thank you for the comment. you lived in new hampshire, you would be a key player in that story from the new york times. how the independent voters could sway the election in new hampshire. every nine is primary day for bernie sanders and donald trump. -- february 9. this tweet from if the were saying the biggest story is untold. in case you missed it, and in the tour all -- an editorial

from the union leader aimed at donald trump. of the news media lavishing coverage on trump not because he is good for ratings, but because he is good for hillary clinton. an insult to the new hampshire voters's intelligence. let's hear from larry in las vegas. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. now that i have you in particular on the line, i cannot

pass up the opportunity to state that your father is a national treasure. i think you are confusing me with somebody else in california. he is not my father, but thank you. i consider my dad a national treasure, but i think you are referring to somebody else. caller: i'm sorry. i know that your policy is not to correct callers. on,two journalists you had you had the democratic caller stating that for the next 40 years, the republican party is dead. two atldn't one of those

aller that that co for the first time since 1925, you have the biggest majority in the house and the last election, nine senate seats went to republicans? if this is how we are going down in flames, let it burn. story along those same lines has to be donald trump. exactly whatsaying we are saying. the political correctness is off the charts. it is unbelievable. once that i'm 72 years old. this will probably be my last election and our last chance to set this country straight and get that damn debt down.

host: thank you for the call. both journalists were a opinion makers, columnists. susan in fort myers, florida. good money. your top story of 2015. that's good morning. caller: happy new year. i think mr. trump is playing a real reality game. he knows he is not going to win. by the demeanor and his manner of speaking. brutonbined with mr. meeting with mr. one thing that no one seems to mention with women's victims's writes --

everyone is talking about abortion. where do the men come into the equation? these are not immaculate conceptions. , but are wonderful men there are those who are irresponsible and not so wonderful. republican bashing of witnesses at hearings have nothing to do with listening and learning to what they have to say. chase is joining us from liberty, texas. public in line. -- republican line. caller: happy new year to everyone. 2016 will be a make or break year for the entire country. why do you think it will be make or break? caller: it is his last year in office. like many presidents before, they just do whatever they want. you have a lot of people waking up and a lot of people speaking

out for alternative forms of information. -- lady from north carolina i like things like worldnet daily. those networks are growing big. are millennial's, youth out here that have energy and mild intellect -- there are smart young people in this country that can have the ability to lead. i wish these baby boomers would step aside. it is not 1968 know more. -- no more. we have to pray. false flag. say it with me. false flag. happy new year, everybody. host: front page of the new york times. cosby chargedill

with sexual assault. a case that stems back to 2004. 50 women claiming sexual assault , this case now moved to the courtroom. joe joining us from richmond, virginia. democrats languor good morning. line.ocrats good morning. i really think that as far as the top news story of 2015 from my view is black lives matter, the movement and the impact it is having on political and cultural leaders and people. as a white guy that grew up in tennessee, you mentioned martin luther king junior's martin luthe speech on the steps of the lincoln memorial. i changed a lot over the years.

one thing that affected me this may'sas reading gary "heading toward justice. a which i rea heard about on c-span3. black lives matter is simply the movement that says take a look at a large body of people who cashcontinued to try to that promissory note. 1966 and 1965 and 1968. we have not gone far enough. in the one 60th anniversary of reconstruction -- 160th anniversary of reconstruction, we have to be cognizant of that.

thank you for the call from richmond. happy new year. jody.s from if trump thinks he can run the usausa like putin the runs russ, he will be in for a huge surprise. from listen in to judy myrtle beach, south carolina. caller: good morning, steve. seniors not is getting a cost-of-living raise when all of their other bills went sky high, and congress probably got a raise. that is what i think should be our top story. host: judy, thank you very much for your call. we are back tomorrow morning every day at 7:00 a.m. eastern time, 4:00 on the west coast. a full weekend of holiday coverage on c-span3. ""booktv."'s